Hunter's 4th Birthday and Thanksgiving

This year Hunter's 4th birthday fell on Thanksgiving. We had a big party with his friends and some family the weekend before and then we celebrated again on Thanksgiving. He had a lot of fun with his friends at his party and can't wait for his next birthday when he turns 5. As a mom, I was a little heartbroken that these past 4 years have gone by so fast but I was also overjoyed at the same time. Hunter has become a very sweet and caring little boy who adores his friends and family. He has really grown in the past year and a half having to share everything around him with a little brother. It is such a tug of war as a parent when you leave behind a year that you look back on and see all the growth and fun you had with your child. I also know that this next year with a 4 year old is going to be such a blast, so I am holding on tight to all my greatest memories of the past year and knowing that we have just begun a whole new year with great memories to create!

Brayden checking out Hunter's birthday present on Thanksgiving.

Hunter playing with his new train!

His angel food cake that he requested for his birthday.

Thanksgiving night, Hunter told Brayden to "get on" and Brayden rode Hunter around the house for quite a while. They thought they were so funny and I couldn't believe they were still awake!

Hunter's birthday cake for his party with his friends.

Blowing out the candles.

The birthday boy and his green hair.

Lotus and Ireland

Brayden loves looking out this window

All the kids playing after cake and ice cream

Brayden is 19 months today!

Brayden Matthew turned 19 months today and it has flown by so much faster than I feel like it did with Hunter. We are so busy with the two boys and our house is constantly in chaos with toys and laughter. In just a matter of weeks Hunter will be 4 years old and something has changed in both the boys recently. Before we were constantly splitting up fights between them, and of course we will continue to do that for a long time, but they have finally realized that they have a constant play buddy. Sean and I have just been sitting back at night and listening to them play together and they laugh and really enjoy each others company. Brayden really looks up to Hunter but he has a very strong mind of his own which does not let Hunter lead all their play. I am also very pleasantly surprised that for the most part Hunter is very patient with Brayden. Of course when they do fight it gets pretty heated but we are close by to break things up quickly.

It has been fun these past couple months that I get to have a couple hours a week of alone time during the morning with Brayden. We both are enjoying this time together and it's great to get to know Brayden on a one on one level without the boys having to compete for my attention. He is a very loving and very busy little boy. He has been learning a lot of new words and some of his favorites right now are, quack, car, choo-choo, and of course barking like a dog. It is special to me when we get our alone time because he is more vocal since Hunter is not around to answer for him. I had always heard that the older children answer for the younger ones but until you deal with it, it's hard to understand. He is a smart little guy and understands everything we ask of him and he has brought such joy to our household. The relationship that is forming between Hunter and him I will always enjoy watching and I will continue to encourage it with hope that they will become the best of friends.

He saw the muffin on the counter and climbed to get it. He is determined! One of the strong points of his personality that I hope we can teach him to use in a positive way.

He loves cars!!!!

We were playing this morning and he was laughing at himself.

We had this puzzle for Hunter and all kids love the animal noises.

When Sean got home from work the boys were playing with their tools and it was Brayden's turn with the electric screw driver. Brayden had the idea of how it worked and Sean helped him figure it the rest of the way out.

He was so proud and so was Hunter!

Trick or Treat

Ah Halloween, my second favorite holiday after Christmas. I love seeing the imaginations come out when people dress up and am pleasantly surprised every year. I am not a huge fan of the gruesome costumes or looking for a gory Halloween. I just love that once a year people get to use their imaginations to dress up and be something else for a day. We enjoy going to the harbor in Gig Harbor where the store fronts open up from 3pm-6pm and give out candy to the kids. It is great that it is during the day because then we don't deal with bad dreams later at night. It is amazing how young kids can realize that someone dressed up during the day is not scary but you pair that with the night and darkness and they have a harder time realizing that it is all pretend.

Hunter dressed up as a crocodile this year and Brayden was a dalmation puppy. Since Halloween fell on a Saturday this year we decided to get down to the harbor early so we could beat the rush of people. We met our friends Matt and Merrilee at their house and drove down together. We got to the harbor at 2o til 3 and saw some people already started. We were very thankful to start so early and we finished up at 4:15 and there were tons of people down there by then. We headed back to Matt and Merrilee's where we ate pizza and watched movies. It was a great evening spent with friends and the best part was how much fun the kids had.

Our first stop was the espresso stand.

My little crocodile walking with David, Matt and Merrilee's son.

Brayden would not wear the hood to his costume so most people thought he was a cow. He was very interested in what was going on with everyone around him.

Matt and Merrilee's daughter Rachel, dressed as a witch, showing us the toothbrush the dentist's office was giving out.

One of the store front owner's dressed up giving out candy. Hunter was not too sure about this and Brayden clung to Sean.

Hunter and Rachel waiting for the kid dressed up as the UPS man so they could go in and get their candy.

The sea monster! He growled at us and we were watching Hunter to see what his reaction was and he stepped back but then realized that he was a crocodile and he growled back and him. We all were cracking up!

Love the adults that dressed up.

This was the most beautiful costume we saw!

One of the houses along the harbor.

It was such a beautiful day out that Hunter got too hot with his hood on. At least it stayed on for half of the trick or treating.

Brayden was looking at another puppy. One of his favorite things right now.

He did so good. It only took a couple times before he figured out to take a piece of candy and put it in his bucket. Pretty amazing!

Hunter and Rachel stopping off at the firetruck.

Brayden getting his candy from the firefighter.

Look at the large chickadee, I didn't know they grew them that big!

A guy in the store front mimicking me.....hahaha

Mrs. Doubtfire

Some more fun costumes.

Towards the end, Brayden was dragging his bucket from all his candy. Around this point he gave up and just wanted to actually eat a piece.

Tumbling

Brayden has always liked standing on his head in the middle of the room but he now has a new trick. He likes to go over Sean's legs while he has them up on the coffee table. He loves to jump and fly through the air with Sean and now this. He will do it over and over and over again and so I am seriously thinking about putting him in a tumbling class. Crazy kid!

Fun with Boxes

When we got home from our field trip there were two large boxes on the front door step. Hunter ran out of the car and was yelling, "mom we got packages". He loves getting stuff delivered to our house but I distracted him with lunch and since it was a school day it was nap time soon after. While the boys were napping I opened the boxes and put away all the Christmas presents and left the boxes and brown packing paper out for the boys. When they got up from their naps they went straight for the boxes and spent the rest of the day and the next couple of days playing with the boxes. One of the boxes got ruined the first day because Hunter kept dumping Brayden out of it which made Brayden laugh and he would climb back in for more. Hunter was also pretending that one of the boxes was his Jeep and the packing paper was mud that he was driving through. Once again their imaginations blow me away! Hunter never once asked me what was in the packages because he was so thrilled with the actual boxes.

Hunter's First Field Trip

Last Thursday we went on our first school field trip to the pumpkin patch. Since we are with a co-op each parent drove their child and we were able to bring siblings. When we got there the kids were instructed to keep their hands to themselves and no throwing hay. We all sat down on the hay bales and the kids were read a story about Clifford's Halloween. Then they were shown different types of pumpkins including white pumpkins (which I think I need to grow next year) and gourdes. Next, half the kids went on a hay ride while the other half played in the hay maze and pirate ship and then we switched. It was a great time and even Brayden and I went on the hay ride.Then when it was time to go each child got to pick a pumpkin and then they each got a treat bag. It was a good experience for our first field trip. I can't wait for our next!



Story-time.

Elisha being a fun big sister and going through the maze with the kids.

Younger sister Johanna going through the maze dressed as Thumbelina.

Brayden going through the hay maze by himself. He definitely likes to do things his way.

The pirate ship that the kids all had a blast playing on. I think this was the hit of the day.

Brayden was determined to pick up this pumpkin. He's such a tough little guy :)

A little girl that had the best Raggedy Ann costume.

Brayden rolling around in the hay trying to decide if he was going to throw a tantrum.

Hunter and Elisha on the hay ride.

Waiting in line to pick out their pumpkins.

One of Hunter's classmates has a little brother Cameron who is only 3 months younger than Brayden. They look a lot alike and were playing together at the coloring station. I love this picture because Brayden knew that Cameron chewing on the crayon was a "no, no".