New Family Pictures

We finally have some new family pictures with Gordon. We did some vinyl work for a friend who happens to be a photographer. She agreed to take our pictures as partial payment, so we were able to get professional quality pictures for trade! I have to say that vinyl sure comes in handy at times!

We are doing great around here. I'm still getting used to having three kids to think about and take care of. Eddie is still getting used to not being the youngest as well, but it sure is a lot of fun when I am awake enough to enjoy having a new baby around. Gordon is 6 1/2 weeks old now, boy does time fly! Gordon is a slightly picky baby. He likes to be held while he sleeps and wants to eat at least every two and a half hours. Do you know what that does to your day? We're all learning a lot, that's for sure.

A New Member of the Hunter Family

I know that my mom has already posted about Gordon, but as the mom I get to tell it all again!! I also have pictures of Gordon with the Hunter family as well, so we will post them all for everyone!

On Wednesday of this week, I went to the doctor and scheduled to be induced to have our new baby on Friday morning at 6:30. We had our other kids taken care of already and thought we would have a nice night of sleep before heading to the hospital in the morning. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, my water broke at 2am. I got up and cleaned up while waiting for contractions to start. When the contractions were getting strong we headed off to the hospital, not knowing at the time that the labor and delivery was almost over! I got to the hospital and when the nurse checked to see how far along I was, she discovered that I was dilated to 8 cm and my contractions were getting stronger every time. If I had wanted pain medication, there wasn’t time and my body took over. I don’t know how many pushes it took, but Gordon Benjamin was born at 3:39am for a 1 hr 40 min labor from start to finish! The best part is that the doctor didn’t make it to the hospital until after the baby was born, so the nurse had to deliver little Gordon herself! It was a great delivery and I am recovery quickly as well. I don’t know if I can ever have more babies though because I don’t know if I would make it to the hospital before the baby is born!!

My mother-in-law says that I may have to find a doctor who is will to deliver at home like my mom did because I may not make it to a hospital in time! I really don't want to think about having another baby for a while though!

Gordon will be here soon!!!

If I don't go into labor before Friday - then I am scheduled to check into the hospital at 6:30 Friday morning to be induced!! The baby will be here very soon! We'll keep you posted.

December

Eddie's Birthday

This month has been a whirlwind. Eddie celebrated his birthday at the beginning of the month and enjoyed every minute of it. He didn't really understand what was going on when people called him and sang to him during the day, but that night, after everyone sang to him and he blew out his candles and opened his presents, he was really into the birthday thing. We haven't been able to get him to stop singing Happy Birthday since! I think the funniest part is that every time he sees a candle lit, he just HAS to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candle!

Christmas

Christmas was also quite an experience this year. We were actually able to really enjoy an extra long holiday because Kyle's family celebrated on Sunday instead of Christmas Eve like we have in the past. I think we all enjoyed the day, especially in the crazy snow. What made the week even better was having so much snow that Kyle couldn't go to work up until the day after Christmas. I loved that he was able to be home during the snow and we could enjoy being together as a family and helping others. On Saturday before Christmas, the snow was really deep and it was blizzarding outside really badly. We came home from my parent's house and there was a neighbor of ours out walking with her shopping cart trying to pull it through the snow to the grocery store. We offered her a ride to the store because she had to go that night or she wouldn't have food for the week. We sat at the Starbucks and had hot chocolate while she did her shopping and then took her home afterwards. We also had our own trials with the snow and Cavan and Casey had to help us a few times get out of the snow, but Kyle still had the opportunity to help a co-worker go Christmas shopping because he didn't have a vehicle that could get through the snow. It was also nice that Kyle was able to drive me places and I didn't have to try to drive myself and hope I didn't get stuck because I just know that I would have if I had to drive on my own!! (Can you imagine - me at 37 weeks pregnant, trying to dig my way out of the snow and put chains on the truck by myself? I don't think so!!)

Christmas Day was a nice relaxing day for our family. We woke up and got to see what Santa brought our family. Celeste baked in her new Easy Bake Oven and Eddie played with his cars all morning. We had a light breakfast and got ready to go to Nana and Papa's house. We had brunch at Nana and Papa's and opened presents there. Grandma came to Nana and Papa's house and then came to our house with us to see what Santa brought. We took naps after Grandma left and then had dinner over at Nana and Papa's house again. It's nice being close to our family, so we don't have to travel far and we can go home when we need to for whatever purpose we have! The new year is now coming and with that, a new baby will come as well. We are all excited for that, but what a flurry of excitement this month has been for our family!

Thanksgiving

I haven't written in so long, not even for Halloween, that I need to at least write for Thanksgiving. Yesterday we spent the day with my family, since most of Kyle's family was in Idaho. We enjoyed the day over at Cavan and Sarah's house with everyone except Mike, Brooke, and Adam (we missed them as always!) It was such a nice day that we didn't even notice we were leaving at the kids' bedtime instead of before, so we had to fight to keep them awake and from fighting once we got home.

Our family has so much to be thankful for. We have great extended family that love and support us. We are thankful for Kyle's job and the fact that he still is working, not just full time, but over time frequently to give us the comfort of knowing that Kyle will have a job for a long time. We are grateful for each other and the love of being a family. We are grateful for the gospel in our lives and the fact that we can be a family forever.

Our Beach Trip

Kyle had some time off before starting his new job, so we took a day trip to the coast. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. The only thing we planned on doing for sure was going to the cheese factory, other than that, we didn't have any particular plans and just played it by ear. It turned out to be a gorgeous day at the beach. There wasn't any wind and the sun came out while we were on the beach, so the kids were able to take off their shoes and socks and play in the water and sand. They absolutely LOVED it! They found fun seashells and barried their feet in the sand.

At dinner time we drove up to Astoria and went to this great little place called The Wet Dog. They were VERY kid friendly and they had the very best clam chowder ever! I totally enjoyed it and am ready to go back and get more!!!

We had such a nice time as a family. It was a wonderful day and we really lucked out with nice weather. I can't wait to do it again!

Kaelynn's World Premier!!

Cavan and Sarah had their baby and she is so precious. These are the pictures that we took of her while she was still at the hospital.