Christmas

Warning: This is majorly picture heavy! I just couldn't cut any out!

Christmas Eve is Grammy's birthday! So that just gives us another excuse to throw a big party!

So Grammy and Pop-pop came over early to open some gifts before the rest of the family arrived.  Just as the turkey was coming out of the oven the house kept getting fuller and louder! Just the way we like it!

Julie couldn't wait for the party to start, she had to steal some of Memere's cranberry bread.

The cousins set up in the living room and had a great time. I think Andy was the only one that actually ate any dinner. But aren't they adorable!?

Sadie slept the whole time.  She loves the loud hustle and bustle.  Here she is asleep with Arlene and Memere.

And Arlene and Jordan.  I love when my cousins come over!!

A small part of the meal. It wrapped around to the other counter too.  Luckily it was a pot luck, so it wasn't too much work for me, but there was so much food!!!

I could not believe what a beautiful day it was outside. We were outside until the sun went down.  It was such a warm sunny day!

Me and my Geek.

Cousin Lauren got to open a few gifts too! She is so funny sticking out her tongue!

Sweet Sadie fast asleep. She really doesn't sleep all the time. Just when there are other people around apparently....

Look over there Uncle John!!!!!

Most of us gathered outside to sing Happy Birthday to Grammy! Not everyone was in the shot......told you it was a great party!

That is Julie's hand stealing a taste of cake. She also arranged the candles.

This is what I call a living room full of love. Seriously, I think this is what the holidays is all about.

The above picture was taken after a bunch of people went home. If you are curious where Sadie is during this picture, she is right by the fireplace, next to Audrey and Lauren, in her chair....fast asleep.

I think this is one of my new favorite shots.  Uncle Sean and Uncle Stephen tickling Julie in the back ground. Uncle Justin tickling Andy in the front. The laughing was contagious.

After the house was quiet, Julie helped Sadie play with a few of her new toys. (see, she woke up as soon as it was quiet)

Then it was one more BIG hug and off to bed in hopes that Santa would come soon!

And he did!

I am still super happy with how the stockings turned out.

The next morning John and I woke up before the kids. But we stayed in bed and when the kids woke, we could hear them in the bunk beds.

"Andy, Santa might have come!"
"Yeah! Let's go see!!"
"Yeah, yay! Let's get Mom and Dad!"
"Yeah!!!!"

It was adorable. We all ran down stairs and the kids were so happy. It was so much fun opening gifts that I didn't bother to take any pictures. But I did get a few shots when they were testing out their bikes.

Soon Memere came in her sled (or her California version of a sled) full of presents and the kids showed off their gifts while we waited for Uncle Justin, Aunt Audrey and Cousin Lauren to come. I didn't get too many shots here either, we were just having too much fun!

But I did get this shot of Lauren on her new rocking horse! I think she likes it!!

It turned out to be another beautiful day. Justin couldn't resist a little swinging.

Me with one of my greatest gifts.

Julie tested out her new horse hippity hop.

And the big kids ate lunch at their new kitchen table!! Thanks Memere, it's PERFECT!

Andy was super excited about his new engineer overalls. He is OBSESSED with trains right now. Anything and everything to do with trains.

Phew! Are you keeping up with us?? 

After a quick rest, we packed up and headed to a nice dinner at Grandma Hazels.  I forgot my camera, so I just got these few shots from my phone.

It was a pretty quiet evening, we all left full and sleepy!

So we went home and the kids went straight to bed. Andy was out before we left the room.

Julie didn't even make it into jammies, just slept in her clothes!

John and I packed up Christmas after the kids were in their beds. We were exhausted, but it always feels so good to wake up to a nice clean house. 

This one was awake when we got home. But I put her in her bed and I went to sleep. She did too, and didn't wake me up for another 6 hours. Such a good girl.

And she was a super happy camper this morning too!  She joined me and Christina on our day after Christmas trip to Target. 

This was also this morning, but I just couldn't resist showing off how much Julie loves her sister and what a big girl she has become.

We had a wonderful Christmas.  We all received every gift we could have asked for an more. We were surrounded by all the family that supports and loves us all throughout the year. 

Fun Stuff and 1 Month Check-up

The past week and a half has flown by!! And we have done some fun stuff!!

Our friends April, Tom and Heather had a yard sale in Los Osos.  We went over to bring cookies and pick up some hand me downs for Sadie.  Being that close to Montana de Oro, we had to stop and enjoy the beautiful part of the world that we live in.

John and the kids searched for cool shells.  Julie found made it her mission to fill John's pockets with rocks. 

Andy was very serious about finding treasures.  Or very tired.

Julie showing me what she found.

Then we went on a hike. We are so lucky that we can do this, that we live in such a beautiful area.

The girls fell asleep in the truck, but Andy wanted to go on another "hike" so we stopped at the Elfin Forrest.  He and I walked around and enjoyed some time just me and my big man.

This is what happens after a long day of hiking. You get a tired girl on a bean bag.

On Saturday, Julie and I got to go off and have a special afternoon.  We went to a Holiday Tea Party with our friends Heather and Lina, Tania and Anna and April (who happens to be one an awesome Auntie. And I should know, because I have some pretty awesome Aunties).  April took all these pictures so we could focus on her girls.  Told you she was awesome.

We got there and they had a face painter, right there in the front. The girls got in line as soon as we got our tickets.  Julie was excited.

Pretty girls with their faces painted.

Me and my big girl. We had fun decorating gingerbread men, drinking apple juice out of little ceramic tea cups, coloring and being silly.

The girls got to go up and sing with "the band".  Actually, they rung bells, but it was still cute.  I think Julie looks like me in this picture. Her hair looks so dark next to Anna and Lina.

The next day we decorated gingerbread houses in the back yard.

I was helping Julie with the frosting. She was trying to tell me how she wanted me to do what she wanted and I apparently was not understanding.  John started to explain what she was trying to get across and she shushed him and said, "Dad, I'll handle this."  Love that girl.

Andy wasn't quite so hard on John.

In fact, this is how Andy ended up once he decided his house was decorated enough.

Last but not least, this morning we went to Sadie's 1 month well check.  Biggest news first! Last night, she slept through the night!! From 10-7.  I know, she's wonderful. Such a good girl.  She is up to 10 pounds even (67th Percentile) and is now 23 inches long (98th Percentile)! That's right, she has grown an inch and a half in 5 weeks. Can you imagine?

Dr. Patterson gave her a clean bill of health and said she was perfect. She was awake the whole time and let him do the whole exam without a peep, well, at least not until she got her shot.

She's such a trooper. And look at that hair!!

1 Month

I can't believe it is time to do her 1 month blog. It is all going way too fast!!

First thing this morning we had a little photo shoot. Sadie loves her brother and sister more than anything.  This was the first picture of the morning.  She couldn't wait for Julie to come over and say hello.

She still has her dimples. I hope they stay forever.  She is the only Hunter kid that that has them and they are adorable.  When she really smiles (most of the time in her sleep and gas related) you can really see them.

Sadie is just starting to really focus on people and objects.  She can follow you if you move a little side to side or up and down.  Although, she seems to get annoyed when you make her work this hard.

We have LOTS of nick names for Sadie.

I call her Sadies, Saje, Biggie, Baby Sis, Squishy.  (I like nicknames, can you tell?)

John calls her Peanut.

Julie calls her Goo-goo.

Andy is sticking with what he has called her from the moment he saw her....Beautiful.

Sadie is proving to be a good eater and an even better sleeper! There has only been a few nights this month where she has woken more than once to eat.  A few times after she eats, in the wee hours of the night, she has wanted to stay awake and cuddle.  Fortunately, she is so adorable and affectionate that I don't even feel the effects of sleep deprivation!

I love these huge eyes.  She does this when she is surprised or when she is focusing or when she is trying to figure out what the heck is going on! Notice how her eyebrows are up?  She got that look from Uncle Justin.  Her eyes are also getting lighter.  Especially around the center.

And this shot is solely to show off her hair.  We get stopped when we are out and about by people who want to see the baby.  People almost ALWAYS comment on her hair. It sticks out in every direction.  It is dark. It is kind of curly around her neck.  And she has one wicked cow-lick.  But I still have a feeling, she will turn into a blondie like Julie and Andy.

We love our Sadie so much.  I keep reminding the kids (while they are "discussing" who gets to feed her, hold her or burp her next) that she will be with us forever. She is our sister and we never have to give her back. This always makes them smile and makes me feel so full of love!

Winter Fun

With it being Christmas time and having a brand new adorable baby around, our camera has been busy lately!! We have been hitting up all the holiday events, so here is another picture purge of all the fun!!

Last week we went to the SLO parade with some friends.  It was cold but lots of fun.

Julie and Andy were good about sharing Sadie with their friends.

But by the time the parade started, Julie made sure Sadie was back in her arms.

We also got to spend a little time with Uncle Stephen. He had not met Sadie yet, so we met up at the park so he could snuggle with her a bit and of course horse around with the big kids. Apparently Uncle Stephen is really good at the monkey bars.

And this is the most serious picture I got of them. But its pretty fitting and perfect.

Last night we went to Winter Wonderland where the kids got to play in the snow a bit.

They thought the snow was wonderful.  Of course the first thing they did was make snowballs to throw at Mom and Dad.

But then they decided it was more fun to get each other with the snow balls.

Don't worry, it went both ways.

Then we moved on to the carousel.  It was a funny little carousel, so the kids had to liven it up by giving high fives as they went around.

That was another COLD night.  All 3 kids were asleep by the time we got on the freeway.

This afternoon Auntie Kay came over and we made A LOT of cookies.  Look at that mess behind us.  But this was the first year that Julie was actually helpful, and that made it even more fun.  She rolled sugar cookie dough, mixed ingredients and was definitely the comedian of the bunch. 

Andy bounced all over the place and even watered the lawn at one point. Sadie slept.

We made some pretty awesome cookies. 

And one heck of a mess.

But yeah, more importantly, yummy cookies.

After the cookies were put away and way too many of them eaten, these monkeys turned their attention on harassing Uncle Monster and being silly in general.  Word Andy.

This little peanut has been keeping up with us, no wonder she sleeps so well!

Santa!!!

Today we went to see SANTA!!! The kids were so excited, and actually, Santa was too! He was super jolly and started hollering at the kids before we even got into his little house. They told him what they wanted for Christmas and Santa thought they had some great ideas. He even gave them new ideas (thanks Santa!).

Luckily Santa was also great at photos.

Even Sadie thought he was pretty cool!!

And tonight, I finished one of my HUGE to-do's before Christmas.  The Hunters now have matching, homemade stockings.  I am so happy with how they turned out.

This one is mine. They are all a little different.

Phew.  Feels good to have them done (probably should have started them WAY earlier or at least BEFORE Sadie joined us!) and now I am putting my sewing machine away...at least for a few days.