Take a Look

This week Aunt Nana was here Monday through Thursday. She has lots of pictures of her and the kids while they were here, but I didn't take a single picture of her with them. Totally not like me, I know! We enjoyed our week with her. We took her to see Lane's plane, then had a whole day of staying in our jammies followed by a day at the safari park and dinner before she flew home. It was great to see her and I was happy to introduce her to Hunter. She was shocked at how much he's moving around already and kept telling us that "he doesn't look like anybody" almost every time she looked at him. We loved having her here for a few days, but it wasn't long enough.

August 3 - We went to a friends house for dinner because Lane was out of town {have I mentioned how much I love our military "family" because they always take care of us!?} Because we were out later than bedtime, Hunter passed out without nursing before bed time and slept through the night just fine. He fell asleep on Eden's bed while I was getting her ready for bed.

August 4 - While Lane was enjoying paradise {he went to Hawaii for the weekend...without me!} he kept sending me pictures. I decided to send him a picture and show him that while he was sitting on the beach I was doing "his" chores for him. I cut the grass and made sure he didn't have to do it when he got home.

August 4 - Hunter enjoying a day in the bouncer!

August 4 - When Mom was here, she trimmed my rose bushes for us. She thought she might had taken it too far, so I had to show her that they're loving it and starting to bloom again. I love our roses! Thanks Mom!!!!

August 5 - Trying to buy shoes for Eden's Christmas dress {because you  can never plan too far in advance} and I needed a second opinion. I sent the picture to Mimi and she approved!

August 6 - Hunter fell back asleep after his early morning nursing session. I love to snuggle with him.

August 7 - Hunter is getting too big for the cradle. I love that he peeks over the side of the cradle and  tries to look around. I've officially retired the cradle for him, bitter sweet for sure.

August 7 - Lane brought roses home when he got back from Hawaii. They were beautiful and they were still looking good days later!

August 8 - What a happy baby! I don't get many smiles like this when I go to get him up because he's a belly sleeper. I was glad to find him on his back because he smiled as soon as he saw me.

August 8 - We went to the Safari Park with Aunt Nanna and this is how Eden ended her day. She kept telling me that she wasn't tired, and all of a sudden she was quiet. *She doesn't have her shirt on because we discovered the splash pad at the park and I let her get in with her clothes on. It was a super hot day.*

August 9 - I looked at the monitor to check on Eden when I woke up. I was surprised to see her laying on the floor next to the bed.

August 10 - Carlos, Kyle, and Lane sitting on the couch together. They all went to TBS together and are all now reunited out here in California. Carlos and Kyle were accidentally dressed the same, so when Lane got home from work he made sure to be dressed the same too. Carlos and Kyle were watching the 3D Olympics and Carlos was trying to tell me that there was something "coming towards me" as I stood in front of the tv to take their picture. 

Motherhood Is...{31}

Being Close

Part of the regression that I talked about in my last motherhood post has brought on a "Mommy, hold me!" phase. Though I don't mind, it can be rough when it comes at the wrong time - when I'm already holding a grumpy baby, when I'm cooking, when I'm walking up/down stairs, when I've got the car seat in my hands, the list goes on and on! Eden is also wanting to cuddle more and more these days. This I can totally do! My house is proof, ha ha. She wants to sit on the floor and read books and she wants to cuddle in my bed before we start our day. Before nap time she wants me to rub her arm, scratch her back, or play with her hair. She's my child - and a perfect blend of Lane in there too. I love when someone plays with my hair and every night before bed Lane wants his back/arm/head scratched to help him fall asleep.

Hunter is also in a phase that he wants to be close all the time. {I know, how did I get so lucky that both of my kids want to be held all the time at the same time?!} He'll let me put him in the swing or bouncer every now and then, but for the most part he wants to be held. Oh, but he's a cuddler and I love it. Eden quickly grew out of being a cuddler {until recently} and so I'm living it up and letting him stick in this phase as long as I can. I can more easily give into his needs to be held because I can put him in our carrier and have my hands free and he usually falls asleep. When he's in the carrier I can do just about anything!

I love cuddling with my kids and I love that they find comfort in cuddling with me too. Ah, snuggles, there's nothing better!

Pictures

I'm trying to get back on track when it comes to posting so that I don't get overwhelmed with the amount of pictures I have to put up {and so that there isn't so much posted all at once when I get time to post.} I'm loving taking the pictures, and I want to be able to keep them to look back at when the kids start to get older. I feel like that's a constant battle that I'm fighting - my kids won't stop growing up! ha ha Enjoy our week!

July 26 - He's just too cute not to post!

July 27 - Eden playing with Hunter in my bed before we got our day started.

July 27 - He was curious and she was letting him play around and be curious all he wanted. She thought it was funny that he would grab her nose. 

July 27 - Taking a picture for Daddy to say good morning since he was out of town.

July 28 - Another morning in bed. While I was nursing Hunter, Eden reached over and held his foot. Melt my heart!

July 28 - Another "good morning" picture for Daddy!

July 28 - Morning hike with the kids.

July 28 - I couldn't believe the hill that I came upon with the new trail I took! At one point I felt like I was under the stroller to get it up, not behind it like normal.

July 29 - Hunter up on his hands and knees ready to crawl!

July 30 - He looks scared. I love how he's becoming attached to his tiger! If he's tired and I lay it on my shoulder while I'm holding him he'll bury his face into it.

July 31 - Eden laying on the patio pretending to be asleep.

July 31 - Eden and Hunter SITTING together!

August 1 - Eden got bumped by a swing at the playground and I didn't notice the bruises forming {above her left eye and on her left cheek} until she layed down for a nap. She got hit once, tried to stand up and got hit again. It all happened in slow motion and I had to teach her that if she gets hit by the swing again that she needs to crawl away from the swing and then stand up so she doesn't get bumped again.

August 2 - I got my hair cut last night and wanted to send a picture to my mom!

August 2 - This is how Eden picked up so I could vacuum. She put everything on the couch...

August 3 - Hunter doesn't like it when Eden screams! After she screamed and he cried about it any time she talked in a not-normal voice that was higher pitched he would cry. He also wouldn't let me put him down!

22 Weeks Old

This week has been rough on me. I did the single mom thing over the weekend {and I'm thankful it was just a weekend and not longer like many are going through right now} and Hunter is starting to move around. I can no longer lay him on his play mat and go into the kitchen to do what I need to do. I can no longer lay him in the middle of our bed and go brush my teeth. He's rolling everywhere and trying to crawl, so there's no hope for me! If you see me these days and I haven't brushed my hair and my breath stinks and Eden looks like she's starving, just know that it's because Hunter is on the go. Things aren't THAT bad, I just have to get used to it and figure out how to deal with Hunter not staying put. He's starting to fight sleep a little bit more and this is very frustrating to me most days. He sleeps on his tummy, so when I put him down he just tries to crawl around in his crib. He eventually gets mad because he's not sleeping and he's tired. It's a total catch 22 and I'll be excited when he goes to sleep easier again. The good news is that as of right now, once he goes to sleep, he sleeps well! *knock on wood!!*

It is getting harder and harder to take pictures of Hunter for his weekly pictures. He's trying to get out of the chair, eat the chair, watch Eden, watch the dogs - anything! Most pictures these days are turning into "out takes" but I always TRY to find a few that are good ones.

And here are the ones that I consider "out takes" though they aren't too different from the ones above!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Eden's bed-head!

She was eating a plum from our back yard. I called her name to take her picture, and this is what I got.

Sitting big!

S'nores

This past weekend Lane had to go out of town with work. He wasn't too far from home, but he was out of town none-the-less. It was my first go at having the kids for a few nights all to myself. The night before he left he asked me if it was a bath night. Though the kids had a bath the night before that I told him that they needed baths because I wasn't sure if they'd get one at all while he was gone. Lucky for the kids, they were bathed, fed, and even had a few out of the house outings including a hike and church on Sunday morning. All in all I'd say it was a good weekend with just the 3 of us.

To make the weekend more fun and enjoyable for Eden {Hunter didn't notice the change of pace, of course} we had a camping trip planned - in the living room!

She learned what a s'more  - or s'nore, to Eden - was, so I promised her we'd bust out the tent, watch a movie, make s'mores and sleep in the tent. We did all of the above, but sleeping in the tent was vetoed by Eden. I think she liked the excitement of the idea, but when it came down to it, she wanted nothing to do with it. I was ok with that because I wasn't thrilled with the idea of sleeping on the floor anyways!

Before we headed to {my} bed we watched Happy Feet 2 from the comforts of our tent and ate our s'nores together.

We had a great night and were able to sleep comfortably!! This was my kind of camping, especially since I did it as a solo parent.

5 Months Old

I know it was just a few days ago that I posted Hunter's weekly update, but he's already so much closer to crawling that I can't believe it! I can't believe I'm going to have to put up baby gates and baby proof my house again. He's belly laughing at Lane and I, but even better is that I can start to see a relationship forming between him and Eden. She's picking up on the things and sounds that make him laugh and will take advantage of having him all to herself when we're in the car. Their seats are side by side and she's forward facing while he's rear facing, so they can see each other very well. As we're driving I can hear her say something or make a sound and then he laughs at her. It's usually more than just a cuckle too, it's usually a good and solid laugh that he gives her. When we're at home Eden will make sure to bring him toys {though she's also quick to take what she wants and "trade" toys with him}. She's so good to him and you can tell by the way he looks at her that he's falling in love with her, just as all little brothers should!

Movin'

My goodness, this kid is giving me a run for my money. Hunter can't be put on his belly because as soon as he's on his belly his knees are tucked right up under him and he's rocking on his hands and knees! Already! I'm not ready for him to crawl at all. But who am I kidding? I can't put him on the floor at all. If he's on his back, he rolls. If he's on his belly he's on his hands and knees trying to crawl. Today when he was rocking back and forth he was up on his hands and knees and he was rocking so hard that he was all the way over his hands, then all the way back with his hiney on his heels. Lane was on a road trip over the weekend for work and we had a chance to video chat with him. At one point I put Hunter down {because he's getting so darn heavy} and Lane was surprised and impressed with how much closer to crawling Hunter is in just a few days! We knew it would be soon, but we didn't think it would be THIS soon! I feel like it's a little surreal to me that Hunter is moving around already, so I needed to make sure to document it so I might believe it! Here's the proof that he's on the move!