*What We Have Been Up Too*

I know, it has been forever since I last posted. I really am sorry for that. So much has been going on in our lives (especially mine!) and I just haven't been taking the time to update this. So I'm trying now, but it is late, I just got done working out, and I'm feeling the glaze wash over my eyes. So bear with me as I explain it all. Lets start with the pip squeak:
Abby is great. She talks. A lot. And screams (happy screams). A lot. And moves. A lot. That is pretty much the sum of her day. She isn't quite to crawling, but she is closer and closer to getting where she wants to be in terms of movement. She is getting smarter about it all it seems. She also loves when we read books at night (which I'll explain in a bit).
Onto the big biker:
Hunter has now learned to pedal a bike! This was a long time coming folks! He also has an extreme love for spider man the movie. I'm not sure why he loves it so much, it kind of scares me (but not him in the slightest!). After watching it well over 50 times I have come to learn that the directing in Spider Man 1 is horrible. Potty training is coming along, although we are in a bit of a decline in him being willing to do it, so we are still pushing through this and I'm sure it won't be long before he is getting excited about it again. I'm sure it is just a bit of a learning curve.
Jake is wonderful. Working on working out lately! He is up to running 2 1/2 miles per day 5 days a week. He has to date lost 35 pounds! We have been working on Weight Watchers together, and it is paying off.
I'm great. Started my new internship at Dove Healthcare-West today. Finished working with Girl Scouts last week. Running a 10k this weekend on Saturday, and gearing up for my 1/2 marathon in September. I haven't blogged about all of this yet, because it wasn't until recently that I became comfortable with how quickly I've seen changes! I have been doing weight watchers as well as running training and have lost 20.5 pounds! I hit a bit of a plateau lately, but again, I think it was me needing to slow down and become comfortable with what I've done before I can move on. I'm moving on now though!
I've started a few new resolutions/goals lately. 1. Play more, clean less. (at least when the kids are awake and I'm  home!). 2. Read 5 books before bed with both of the kids and Jake and myself. 3. Take Hunter to the library more.
I love these goals and am seeing a fun difference in how much we can bond when I'm not trying to do fifty things other than hang out with my kids. And well, lets be honest. I was getting sick of spider man, and the best alternative to a 2 year old instead of spider man is his mom :)

 Here are some pictures of what we have been doing! Thanks for reading! 

Hunter with his cousins Gavin and Kylin



He loves to go in the deep water! (and give me a heart attack doing it!)





Happy at the waterpark!



The St. Pauls crew at the 10 year HS reunion



This photo is my reminder to play the genetics game (I did this on Hunters blog) and post a photo of me that is so very similar to this!

Happy Abby!!!!

*Abby Attacking Tucker*

What can I say? It must be puppy love :)

*Como Zoo*

Hunter's photo of Jake and I

Hunter refused to smile for the camera (and actually I got a picture of him screaming about it!)

Add caption

Happy Abby!

Now he is all smiles and silliness!

Cool kids!

What a great weekend we had! On Saturday, despite the rain in the forecast, we decided to head up to Como Zoo. Neither Jake or I had been there since we were little. It was easy to find but parking was a bit tough. We immediately ate lunch when we got there and enjoyed the ability to stretch after the car ride. Then we went into the zoo. It was so much fun! Hunter thought that the monkey's were monsters. He kept saying he wanted to go back and see the monsters. Really, when you look at an orangutang, they DO look like monsters from Monsters, Inc. the movie! We then saw many other animals. Hunter wasn't very good at labelling them correctly. Such as the Lion Tigers, and when he was calling peacocks- chickens. I'm guessing I shouldn't be too worried as a parent that he doesn't have all of his animals down. He does know the difference between a loader and a dozer though! After a few hours we left the zoo. It was a great time, not too long, not too much, just enough for us! And like Jake said- "the price was right!". Have a great week everyone, I know we have a busy busy busy one ahead of us!

*Hunter the Photographer*

I promised some photos that Hunter has taken, so here they are! I think it is funny when he is taking pictures, he doesn't look at the screen, he just keeps pressing the button. He also moves around A LOT so they look like action pictures. I also have to sift through a lot of the photos of the couch, floor, ceiling, etc. to find the ones that are of people!  He is so talented ;)

Hunter's first photo shoot



I love looking at the photos after he is done! You never know what people do! Ha ha!

His first self portrait.... everyone say "Awwww...." (love the headphones! He was listening to music while photographing!)

Here is his papa from his perspective

Ummm... a bit overboard on the cheese!

Still one of my favorites from him! He was laying on the floor on his elbows when taking this!

Mom from his perspective!

*5 Months!*

Our beautiful baby on her 5 month birthday!

This is the photo Hunter took of her! Ha Ha!

Always smiling!!!

5 months!  What a big girl! Here is the breakdown of where Abby is at 5 months old:

• Still rolling over from back to stomach. Only once in a while the opposite direction and most of the time she will roll right back to her stomach again. She loves to be on her tummy!
• Can sit up unassisted for about 30 seconds and then starts to fall over. 
• Has cereal 1-2 times per day. She loves the oatmeal and bananas and tolerates the rice and mixed fruit. I think she will like just about any type of food though. After a couple of bites she gobbles it right down.
• When she eats cereal, she waits for the spoon to come out so she can insert her thumb and suck it down... ha ha it is so funny to watch!
• Happiest baby ever! She wakes up with a smile every day. Just saying her name sends her into wiggles and giggles. It is so adorable. 
• She loves to have long conversations with mom before bed. We lay in bed and just talk. She gets out everything she wants to say and then lets me know it is time for bed by getting ever so slightly whinny. 
• She is still breastfed and takes bottles during the day at daycare. She does really well going back and forth but does have tendency to eat more than I can pump at work. That is ok though, I have backup and can pump more during the night. 
• Her favorite toy is her elephant and of course, her blanky
• Her favorite person is dad by far, he just has to look at her and she can't contain her happiness!
• Brother is starting to pay more attention to her as she gets more interactive. She loves watching him and seeing what he is doing. 
• She loves watching and petting her dog Tucker. He loves her too and frequently will lay next to her on the floor. Perhaps he thinks she is his?
• By the numbers:
• 0- Number of teeth
• 17.2- weight in pounds
• 7- average number of hours she sleeps in the first stretch
• 9- a.m. the time she would prefer to wake up on the weekends
• 3-6- months size of clothes she currently wears (although we are only weeks away from needing the 6-9 months!)
• 100- the number of smiles that come from her every day... she is such a sweetheart! We love having her in our lives. She makes it all so complete and wonderful!