Hunter Kids, 2009

We went to our neighborhood lake in Waterview to try to get some cute pictures of the kids with a pretty background. We got a few really cute posed pictures among the other 100 or so random silly pics.

Alyssa is always willing to pose and now loves having a little sister to hold in her pictures.

Wyatt is very well behaved and willing to pose which is a huge change from just a couple of years ago. We use to have to have the camera on the sports setting just to keep the pictures from being blurry and I would stay to help him sit still for school pictures.

Darion as you can see remains a 2 year old for the camera and a very comical one, but we always get a few good poses out of him.

Audelia was good enough for Alyssa to hold and since we have plenty pictures of just her we didn't feel the need to lay her on a rock or the soggy grass to take more.

The Witch, Batman, Mickey Mouse, and the Pumpkin

I have a confession to make, these were not even taken on Halloween, they were taken a few days ago, and the picture of Alyssa is even from last year. Our new camera has a rechargable battery and it ran out before we even started trick or treating. My kids were not very happy about dressing up again and because of that I didn't ask Alyssa to do full makeup which is why I posted the picture from last year of her.

I love seeing the younger kids dress in costumes that the older kids have worn. Wyatt wore the Mickey twice before and all of the kids wore the Pumpkin for there first Halloweens.

Audelia, 4 weeks

Audelia is so cute and patient and was so good for me while I was experimenting with the camera.

love the flowers.

She finally has chubby thighs with rolls.

Her profile proves that she looks just like her Daddy.

This was one of the first pictures that I took, she hadn't fallen asleep yet and was trying to console herself.

Saturday Wyatt begged to go to the Castle park pretty much all day. We have always been inclined to give him what he wants when he speaks to try to motivate him to speak more but especially so when he is so persistent.
Cory always plays so well with the kids at the park. Once he was having so much fun playing tag that Wyatt ended up in the lake up to his waist before a lady asked Cory if that was his kid. I still remember our first time out in the greenbelt by my parents house when we were dating. I was able to sit and relax while Cory played and wrestled with the kids, it was so great and one of the reasons that I fell for him.

Wyatt found a friend that went to his school last year and he played well with him which doesn't always happen. Getting Wyatt to play let alone play well with friends is a task but with a little encouraging he seemed to enjoy hanging with his buddy this time.

Darion is such a little boy. We are lucky that he didn't try his new peeing in the bushes trick at the park. He has decided now that he knows the major advantage to being a boy that instead of using the toilette he may as well go outside and use a bush. We are now working on encouraging him to use the potty unless he has to figure something else out in an emergency. We have yet to convince Wyatt in emergency situations that a bush or on the side of the freeway is an acceptable place to go. He says "that is not a toilette" and we can't argue with that to much.

Alyssa had fun playing tag with some kids. She learned the hard way that boys are just faster than girls. We had to help her understand that if she was going to win she would have learn to outsmart the boy and learn to try to loose him in the play equipment wrather than stay out in the open where he could catch her. She and this boy went back and forth for so long that she had to hide in the equipment for a while to catch her breath.

This was Audelias first day at the park and she slept the whole time. The weather was so nice and there is not much threat outside of catching the icky stuff that is going around so the park is a great way for us to get out with a little baby.

3 weeks old and the kids still love her.

Audelia has been such a blessing.....

My children continue to amaze me everyday. Alyssa and Wyatt have the Swine Flu and the thing that is bothering them the most is the fact that they are not allowed around the baby. We have had no jealousy issues even with Darion. The kids all just want to hold her as much as we will let them and when they do they are so gentle and sweet.
Audelia is so pretty and is such a sweet girl. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She is 3 weeks old now and our main focus is keeping her healthy and free from the flu. We are all on Tamilflu to treat and try to prevent the Flu and hopefully that will help keep Audelia healthy. I am wearing a mask now as a precaution so I am hoping that between that and breastfeeding her little body will be Flu free.

I had fun playing with the camera and my photo editing program yesterday. I haven't been taking as many pictures as I normally would have because I keep having to hide the camera instead of having it out at my reach so that we don't have a repeat of what happened when the boys found the old camera, may it rest in peace.
Audelia fell asleep after her bath on her changing table yesterday so I took advantage of this photo opportunity. I had just put her first pair of beaded socks on her that Aunt Joanna had made. They are still big but that just means she will get to wear them longer.

On Friday Alyssa got an award for Excellent Conduct and for Being on the Honor Roll. She is enjoying her new school and all the extra stuff that the Classical Center has to offer. On top of the extra classes she goes to daily she gets to participate in an enriched art class that she goes to once a week before school. She was also invited to participate in a district wide storytelling competition that she has practice for once a week untill later in November when the competition takes place. She is still taking Piano and I am amazed when I hear how far she has come since she started a year ago. Her teacher is a very talented musician, and a good friend of our.


This is the boys playing in the tub and driving each other crazy. They usually beg to get in the bath and then yell at eachother most of the time.

This is Darion doing to Wyatt what Wyatt always did to
him, I guess it's payback. Maybe Wyatt will realize someday that whatever he does to Darion is really a lesson for Darion on how he can later annoy Wyatt.

Our new little Princess

Audelia coming Home- Audelia was able to come home from the hospital the day after she was born because she was born so early in the day. Our hospital stay was typical, nurses waking us up every time we fell asleep, someone coming in to take blood at 4:oo am, janitors coming in all day to clean and empty trash cans, and so on. Needless to say we were very anxious to get out of there and luckily the doctors were willing to let us go as long as we saw the pediatrician the next day. The food was actually great and you could order whatever you wanted from 7am-7pm which I did because I was trying to help my milk come in ASAP, plus I was starving from the labor and delivery.

The Kids- The kids were able to come and visit the day she was born which worked out great because starting the next day they were not allowing any children under 12 through the doors, sibling or not because of all the icky stuff that is going around. Alyssa and Wyatt were instantly in love and interested but Darion took a few minutes. It wasn't until Darion saw Alyssa holding Audelia that he said he wanted to hold her. Once he got her he became very protective saying "Wyatt is poking the babies eye" and "Wyatt is steeling the babies chin." Wyatt was being great, Darion was just being overly protective. Alyssa has been very helpful and is so thrilled to have a little sister.

The Nursery- It was so great to get to bring our little girl home to a nursery fit for a little Princess. We worked so hard on it and Cory was so patient with me and all my ideas. He actually repainted over the boy paint, installed wainscoting, chair railing, and new baseboards. I was able to paint a few pictures for her room since I was unwilling to pay the $100 they wanted for the cheap looking ones that go with the bedding set. I got a few canvases and the paint and supplies for less than $30 and now she will have some original artwork done by her Mommy, if you can actually call it artwork. Of course we have included the scale that my Dad gave to my Aunt Carol when she had her first baby that she gave to me when I had my first baby, and I have loved using it in all of my kids nurseries. This of course in the same Carol that we named Audelia Carol after.

We are very pleased with how the room turned out!

Grandma Shaw was here for it all- My Mom came to be at the birth and to take care of the kids and help out with everything else. Her being here allowed Cory to stay in the hospital with me and the baby. She did a great job and we loved having her around! She even held the baby on her chest late into the night one night so that I could get some rest. I'm not sure how we are going to do it now that she is gone.

Audelia- Little Audelia is like a real live doll. She is so small and sounds like a mouse when she

makes her little noises. She is already deciding what she like a dislikes.

She loves- Her Family, Being swaddled, sleeping on anyones chest, Nursing, her space heater, being warm, her pacifier, and more to come....