Jack and Julie

No, not Jack and Jill...Julie is our nanny :) Now that Hunter is back in school five days per week, Julie has more quality time with Jack in the mornings. They have been going to do lots of fun things together...she takes him to a class on Friday mornings, the park, the cider mill, hands on museum, etc. I love when I have that one on one time with Jack and it just is so much easier to do things with one kid versus two! I am happy that Jack has this opportunity to get undivided attention as well b/c when Hunter is around he demands so much attention and Jack pretty much tags along (at least that's how I feel). Here are some pictures Julie took and sent to me...I just love it when she sends me pictures and I can see they are having fun together :)

They went to Three Cedars Farm last week...I love this place. Pretty soon it will be too cold :(

They have this cool wooden train for the kids to play on...on the weekends when it's packed with kids they can all fight over who drives it.

I know he's having fun, but his face looks kind of pathetic here. I wonder if he's wishing Hunter were there?? haha.

Julie said that Jack was attracting all the animals over to him. They have all these pens with animals and then the corresponding story (three little pigs, three billy goats gruff, etc.). Speaking of Three Billy Goats Gruff, Hunter and Jack have this new game where they hide under the table and tell me to be the troll. That troll sure is scary and ugly. I giggle every time Hunter says, "Mommy, be the troll and come get us!!"

He looks so cute...like he's just chillin'
So big!
I can't believe how he's looking more and more like a little boy rather than a baby! My little baby is going to be two soon :( so sad.
Getting ready to fly on the coffee table??
Hunter is obsessed with jumping off furniture. I can't stand it. Jack tries to copy him, but Jack can't jump, so you have to be ready to catch him b/c he will just randomly dive off the couch. Like "they" say, you are just trying to protect them from killing themselves at this age. Or I'm spending my time protecting Jack from Hunter killing him. Just call me referee mom.
I love this smile...having so much fun swinging on the playscape.

Happy Friday

I'm glad it's Friday...Nick and I are in Grand Haven for the weekend. We come home Sunday and my parents are with the kids. We need some r&r and time away from our kids...that sounds mean, but it's kind of true. The other day on the way to school I was telling Hunter "Mommy and daddy are going away for the weekend, but you'll have fun with Nana and Grandpa". He was like, "but I really want to go with you!" I had to gently explain that sometimes mommy's and daddy's need time alone.

Anyway, we stopped at the casino and won $400 ($200 each) in an hour, so it's off to a good start. haha. Can't wait to sleep in tomorrow (sorry mom)...Hunter was in our room at 5:45am this morning.

Have a good weekend!

Visit from Gammy Dori and Big D

Last Sunday (October 2nd), Gammy Dori and Big D came to spend the day with us and see Hunter for his birthday. We met at Costco, did some shopping and ate lunch, came back to our house, and then went to Three Cedars Farm. We met Matt, Jacquelyn, and baby Alana there. It was such a nice day!

As you can see, Big D is missing from the pictures. He wanted to stay back at the house and watch tv. Who am I to tell my elder (HAHA) what they can and can't do. However, Nick had to come...and it wasn't my fault that we had these plans for a month and the Tiger's decided to play their make-up game at the same time!!! We are having a lot of struggles over the role that sports and tv has when it comes to doing things with the kids on the weekend. I want to smash the tv and his phone at times.

Gammy Dori with Hunter and Jack
Jacquelyn and baby Alana :)

Hunter being silly in the corn box. The corn must have gotten wet and it STUNK. We had to all come home and change our clothes.

Jack standing on the big haystacks

We always have to stop at the big John Deere tractor

Hunter loves jumping between all the haystacks and I had fun trying to get pictures of him where he looks like he is flying!

Jack was begging for donuts from Matt...he didn't want ours when we were all inside eating them of course.
This was Nick the entire time. ahhhhh.....

Jack just woke up from his nap :)


We had a super busy weekend this past weekend, but not many pictures. Friday night Nick and I went to an event at the club which was fun. Saturday morning we went to Michael's 2nd birthday party at the Hands on Museum...we had a great time! Saturday night Nick and I went to a wedding. Sunday we went to a fall potluck in our neighborhood. We had no time to relax at all this weekend.

Saturday Fun

Last Saturday, Angela and Mason invited Hunter and I go to go Mason's school for a fall festival thing they were having. Nick and Chris (Mason's dad) stayed at our house with Jack to watch football. We had so much fun at Mason's school. The school is also part of a farm, so the kids have this amazing experience with animals and learning about where their food comes from.

They have this HUGE barn with tons of animals--cows, goats, lambs, goats, etc.

Hunter got to milk his first goat! So neat :)

They also had mini-pumpkins that we got to paint and take home

Mason and his mommy. Mason is going to be a big brother in a few months!

Hunter had so much fun on this...he didn't want to leave.

Checking out the bunnies.
Mason and Angela on the big tractor.

Thanks again for inviting us!! We had so much fun.

They came back to our house afterwards and the kids ended up playing till bedtime :)

Happy Friday

Don't I look nice holding a baby girl???? Haha. You will appreciate this if you know me and know how badly I want a baby girl. Don't read into this at all. I'm not pregnant or anything!

I have asked Hunter if he wants a baby sister and he says, "No! I will step on her fingers and break them!!!" Lovely. What a nice young man we are raising.

It's my friend/sort of cousin, Jacquelyn's baby, Alana. She is so sweet!!! This was from a while ago, but I saw her last week and she is getting so big. She has these awesome blue eyes too. I guess if I never have a girl of my own then I will just have to buy her a lot of pink :)

Wordless Wednesday

Have a great day!

Hunter's Birthday Party!

Saturday (September 24th) we had Hunter's birthday party at Domino's Petting Farm. There were about 40 people there, so we a good time! We had a lot of Hunter's classmates there, some family friends, and some neighbors. Most of the parents stayed with their kids, so that was nice to get to meet some of the parents in Hunter's class. It started at 10:30a am, so the kids had time from 10:30am-noon to feed the animals, go on hayrides, and just play. At noon we went into the Griffith Station party room for lunch, cake, and ice cream. We didn't even have time to open presents. I felt kind of badly about that, but Hunter was SO wound up, plus we had to be out of the room at 1pm. We ended up opening presents after naps (well Jack napped, but not Hunter!). It was nice to do at home. We took pictures of him with each gift and I plan to send that with the thank you notes.

I appreciated so much the time and effort everyone took to come to Hunter's party. I'm thankful for our friends, neighbors, and the school he goes to. We even found out that a girl in his class lives in our subdivision and we didn't know it! I was worried b/c a week before the party we only had a few people RSVP and we ended up filling up the room exactly :-) It was a lot of work, but I think Hunter had fun, and when it comes down to it, that is the important part.

Hunter with Alex and his sister (they live on our street).

They took our party on two hayrides. Hunter was seriously in rare form--he was so excited and had so much energy. Here he is with two boys on our street. They are in 1st grade and in the same class. Hunter loves to play with the "older kids" on our street (there are four different boys he is asking to play with every single day)...I'm glad they are all so nice and don't mind playing with the younger kid!

Jacque and Michael. I'm so glad they were able to come...Michael is turning two in a few weeks and having his party at the Hands On Museum--can't wait!!

Our neighbors Connor and Calise. They are buddies and both the sweetest kids!

Janeel and her daughter. They live two doors a few doors down. They have one boy and two little girls...so cute! I love her pouting at me :)

A lot of the kids were in his pre-school class, a few family friends, and a lot of kids from our neighborhood!
Being silly!

Lunchtime...they had a lot of tables set up, and even a few outdoors thankfully b/c we had a lot of people there!

I called to order the cake the day before. Thankfully the bakery said they could do a cute farm theme to go along with our location! I love how it turned out!!
I can't tell what he is thinking--maybe a little shy that we are all singing? One boy leaned over and blew out two of his three candles...he looked upset, but we distracted him telling him to blow out the last one and it was all good.
Hunter and Lauren. She is really sweet and has a great smile!
Three girls in Hunter's class (I'll have to ask Hunter their names!!)

I'm glad it wasn't all boys and I love seeing how different the boys are from the girls.

We had a nice, but exhausting day. Jack has a cold, Nick has a cold, my back has been making me so miserable, and the kids are not sleeping. I have been up between 5 and 5:30am for at least 6 days straight. Ahhhhh. I have been feeling nauseous and I actually looked it up today and severe back pain can make you physically sick to your stomach. That is how I've been feeling. Not good. I have an MRI on Friday thankfully, so I hope to get some answers, but I'm not overly optimistic after all I've been through. I am at my wits end with it all. Maybe I need to do a pity party post? I am planning a "stay-cation" for the week of October 10th and then Friday-Sunday that week Nick and I are going to a bed and breakfast. I sure hope to recharge my batteries b/c I desperately need it. I would sure appreciate any prayers!!!