Blooms

So, most people think of Phoenix and think there aren't any seasons and everything is brown. Well, here are a few pictures from around our yard that show there's no truth to that!

Our saguaro will be blooming soon. This thing is at least 25 feet tall!

Our prickly pear has lots of buds.

Flowers and thorns. Thankfully Braden knows better than to smell these flowers.

Along our backyard fence to the neighbors. A nice view from the kitchen window.

This ocotillo is much more mature than the one we planted at our old house that was only 3 feet tall!

Well, this is the result of flowers that require work on my part! I think we'll stick to the one's that "came with" the house!

Chilly

We had some chilly weather the past couple of days (ok, the 60's are chilly for us!). Hunter got to wear his cute little sweatshirt! He was one-month old yesterday!

Braden and Kyndal holding hands on a bike ride!

Braden loves seeing the recycle and garbage trucks come by! Recycle comes by early Thursday mornings and Daddy takes him out to see it in action. I think the Recycle Man likes the attention and he gives him a honk when he drives away!

Out and about.

Hunter is a great little traveler. He generally just happily goes along wherever we take him! He only gets upset if he wakes up and realizes he's hungry!

One of Braden's favorite places to go is the mall that is like a mile from our house because he loves to play in this hot dog truck! He makes food that we buy from him. He also loves the kiosk with all the candy machines. He'll just walk around it pointing out all the different "candies." Wonder what he would do if he ever actually got one?

The roses are in bloom in the desert! This is a little rose garden at the Zoo.

Braden still loves to smell flowers, whether in real life, in books or on TV.

Checking out the tiger with Daddy.

Happy 2nd birthday, Kyndal!

Checking out the stingrays at the Zoo. "Have it" is one of his favorite phrases.

Braden loves lollipops! Although he's never actually finished eating one.

Park

Even though we don't have our double stroller yet, we've still ventured over to our neighborhood park! It's awesome that it is so close. Braden went in the bike with Daddy and I push Hunter in the stroller. I might have mentioned that there is a horse corral at the park since there's a lot of horse property near our house. Braden and Anthony got to feed the horses and I guess B was mesmerized by the whole thing! He also liked finding the dandelions, as you can see below!

Our neighbors had an Ice Cream Social to help introduce some of the old and new neighbors. It was great and I'm so excited about our new neighborhood. I wish I would have had the camera because Braden realized that there was a table with a bowl of M&Ms, gummy bears and chocolate chips right within his reach. I never had to worry where he was. He was either there or checking out what the 30 or so other kids were up to! And yes, I found out that sugar, in large quantities, does make Braden hyper! The neighbor that had the party abuts to our backyard. We had to leave before the party was over and Braden was out playing in the backyard when he realized that he could still hear the party going on and needed to check things out over the fence. He's asked me a couple times since for "more party?" I'm sure there will be one of these days!

By the way, Hunter is 3-weeks old already!

I think Braden likes big words. Helicopter, honey-bee, ambulance, avocado, watermelon... are among some of his favorites. Notice too that it's oatmilk rather than oatmeal. I think this is because he knows there is milk in it!

Family Pics

Karen, Anthony's co-pilot's wife, is a photographer and was sweet enough to come and take some pictures of Hunter and our family. She did a great job and now the hard part is picking out which one's we want and where to put them!

Someday...

Braden and Kyndal might not think this is as cute as we do! They are both kind-of potty training, but nothing formal. Braden has gone poopie in the potty one time. Most of the time he doesn't want to try, but sometimes he gives it an effort, so that's all we ask at this point!

Yesterday we had 2 experiences with Braden that show the cuteness and frustration of parenting. First, he has decided he likes to open the fridge and get eggs out of the egg carton. He then brings them to us because he must think we'll be proud of his ability to successfully open the fridge, get an egg out of the carton and then carry it to us to show us. Well, in attempting to get it from him he decided to throw it... thankfully it was in the kitchen and only got on the throw rug and not the carpet. Urrrrr.

But, later in the day when we were getting home with dinner with friends, he found the moon in the night sky. He has had a fascination with the moon for awhile and always looks for it. We don't really like when the moon isn't out at night... although it does bring joy when he randomly finds it during the day. Well, he was quite excited to find the moon again in the evening time. After he showed it to me, he told me he was going to walk to the moon and took off across our front yard thinking he could walk to the moon. Sooooo cute! He made it all the way into the neighbors yard before he got distracted with some rocks - another favorite!

The latest

People ask if Hunter looks like Braden. There are times when he does and times when he doesn't. I think in the 2 pics below you can tell the brotherly resemblance, however! Things are going well. My parents left today... which is never a fun day. We can't thank them enough for everything. Hunter has a clogged tear duct (I'm pretty sure Braden had one about the same time). Hopefully it will clear soon, but it doesn't seem to bother him. He slept his first night in his crib last night. He'd been in a bassinet. One humorous thing is that on a couple of occasions while I've been feeding Hunter, Braden has asked for a "bite of Mama's milk." We tell him he already had his turn!

Hunter at 2-weeks.

Braden at 4-weeks.

A bit of a smile!

Hunter is a great sleeper and eater. We're hoping he'll keep it up and its not still the "newborn phase."

He's already been to check out Daddy's airplane!

Braden enjoyed helping Poppa work in the backyard. He also tried to use the rake to get some of the last oranges out of the tree!

Braden loves going to see the bing-bing (for the Goldfish crackers as much as seeing the airplane!). Actually, when it's Daddy's plane he's talking about it's a "bing-bing-bing!"

Anthony took the first dip in the pool! Way too cold for me, but he did succeed in going under! I think he said the temp was 72.

Braden likes to have "awfuls" (aka - waffles) for breakfast!

Stats

Hunter had his first follow-up appointment with Dr. Sotelo today. He is 9-days old! He's back up to 9lbs, 11oz after getting down to 9lbs, 0oz before leaving the hospital. The Dr said he's doing great with eating. He actually slept for 5 1/2 hours last night which is great! Hopefully he'll keep that up! He's in the 75% for weight and length and 90% for head size.

I know the Massillon blog readers will appreciate this picture! All baby boys born in Massillon (my hometown) are given a football from the high school booster club. Braden got one and now Hunter got his. At least they don't give the girls pom-poms!

It's amazing how much you can love someone!

Braden still loves giving Hunter kisses, tickling and patting him.

Happy Easter!

As we celebrated our Savior's resurrection, we enjoyed our blessings on Easter.

Braden liked his Easter egg hunt in the backyard. He was especially happy to find "candies" in the eggs. He quickly realized that some had M&Ms and those were much preferred over the jelly beans. He did another hunt later with just the eggs and kept asking "candies in there?"

He thought the grass was pretty cool... and so was the duck he got from Grammy Carla.

Checking out his bug viewer.

Trying out his new shovel and scoopers to help him find worms! This kid loves looking for bugs and lizards and things... he doesn't really like touching them though!

As close to a "brother picture" as I could get!

Cuddling with Poppa.

Hanging with Daddy.

Mommy loves her little guy!

More Pics

Hunter spends lots of time sleeping!

He passed his hearing test on the first try.

Lots of snuggle time.

Braden kept a close eye on the nurse.

We get to see his pretty eyes every now and then.

Poppa got here and got to meet Hunter.

First outfit.

Hanging with Daddy.

Heading home!

I might be big, but I'm still pretty tiny!

Checking out his crib.

Hunter liked tummy time!

Braden likes checking out Hunter. He does pretty good but has to be reminded often that he can't touch Hunter's head and can't "pat the baby" too hard.

Supervised!

Kisses.

Hunter in his chair.

Braden in Hunter's chair!

Braden's first time "holding" Hunter in his lap. Didn't last too long.

Hunter doesn't do too much here, but it's still a live action shot!