15 months... kind of.

Hunter had his 15 month check-up about half way through his 15th-month, so it's not too bad that it's taken until he turned 16-months to get it posted. Sometimes blogging takes a back seat to the other things in life! I'm sure no one will be shocked to learn that he's still big... he'll be nice and tall like his daddy and uncles!

Length -34" (100%)

Weight - 27lbs, 15oz (90%)

Head - 19" (90%)

Hunter is still my sweet little love. Nanny Leah and our friends often use the term "busy" when referring to Hunter. My Mom asks if there is anything he seems to be afraid of. My response is "no." Mr. Jesse, our story-time teacher at the library, calls him "Mr Hunter the Handful." I prefer to call him "spirited!" I just saw this description on another blog I read and it fits perfectly. Boy does this precious guy have spirit!

Spirited Child – high energy, feisty and very active. They are ready to climb into almost any situation, and exercise little impulse, control or caution when they do. They are highly reactive. They are often described as a handful. Always into something. I don’t have the energy to keep up. Fearless. (The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems; Tracy Hogg)

We had some family pictures taken when all the grandparents were here for Braden's birthday! It was nice to be able to have them done with everyone here. Now does this look like the face of a spirited child?? :-)

Flagstaff!

We had a nice, long weekend in Flagstaff! It was great to escape to cooler temps and spend some time together doing some stuff we do normally and some stuff that was new. It was a nice, little get away. The boys did great at the hotel and liked spending most of each day outside. Only bad thing was that Anthony's iPad was stolen from our hotel room on our last day. But to look at it from the bright-side hopefully he'll be able to get an iPad2 now!

Here's some pics from our adventure!

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More summer fun.

No, "summer fun" is not always an oxymoron in Phoenix! We had a great weekend and it was actually nice out. I even have to say that we were all cold in the pool last night - even Anthony - and it was 104 out! It's because we had a break from the humidity this past week. I guess the humidity is worth it if we get some rain out of it... but I am definitely not a fan!

We've been enjoying our waterproof camera and had a fun day hanging out with the Minnick's. One of these days we'll have a Harmon family pic underwater - once Braden decides he wants to go under!

Braden calls Kyndal - "yummy Kyndal!"

Fun with the alligator sprayer!

I had a quick overnight trip to Denver for a meeting. Hunter helped me with my suitcase. He loves pulling it around the house just like Braden did. I think between my couple night trip to Chicago and my one-night to Denver I was away from home more than Anthony in June and July! Yes, we're still loving his new job!

Hunter LOVES his bear. I LOVE footed jammies.

Summer fun!

We love going swimming in the evenings after dinner. The sun is down enough that we can just wear suits and not the full "get-up" of sun shirts, sun hats and swimsuits! The kids love it and it's a great way to spend a summer evening in AZ! So thankful we have a pool!

Underwater shots. That's about as far as Braden goes. And, of course, Hunter goes all the way with a smile on his face.

Braden does laps in his whale!

Hunter likes to stand on the bottom step on which he can only stay above water on his tip-toes. Yes, he is standing in this picture.

No, this is not an old picture from Ash Wednesday. This is after climbing into the fireplace...

And no, this table doesn't always go in this location. Hunter moved it over there to get the fun balls he found on the table!

A friend offered us tickets at the last minute to the Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star game events that happened here this week. Who could pass that up? So we headed down to the ballpark!




Braden kept his eyes on the action on the field. Hunter made friends with the people all around us and tried to figure out how to keep his pretzel on the fold-up seat!

Braden even got into cheering, especially for David Ortiz!

Happy 4th!

The boys are different in so many ways...

Hunter devours his popsicle, while Braden does experiments and makes "popsicle juice."

Braden is hesitant about the rain storm, while Hunter would walk right out in it. We were oh so thankfully for the rain storm! Too bad the haboob happened the next day and blanketed us with an inch of dust! Lesson learned - close your garage during haboob season (now that we know what a haboob is)!!

And there are so many more examples I could share.. Hunter jumps right off the step/side/whatever right into the pool with no regard for where he lands or if someone is there to catch him, while Braden contently sits on the step and plays with his ocean animals and "mosquito" (aka - torpedo).

Hunter climbs onto the table/chair/hearth/wherever, while Braden tells him "be careful, Goingy." Goingy is Braden's name for Hunter (and a few other chosen ones).

But I love it when Hunter gives me that "look" that reminds me so much of Braden that there is no doubt they are brothers!

We found another cool room at the Children's Museum... the vehicle room.

And it has a pickle car straight out of the pages of Busytown!

Braden thought of Uncle Matt as he was riding the motorcycle.

Hunter is communicating more and more. He has many ways that he asks for more... the sign language one is the newest addition. Usually he just makes monkey sounds and points until you know what he's talking about!

My "other" job

Most of the stories on the blog definitely relate to my "Mommy" job, which is my favorite job, of course. But I do get to do some cool stuff with my "other" job too! I basically get to figure out effective (and fun) ways to give away my company's money... who wouldn't like that! Although I do hate the day-to-day requirements of working, I love what I do, the difference I make and know without a doubt that this "other" job makes me better at my favorite job.

Back to the "cool" parts... I had the chance to attend the first Clinton Global Initiative America event this past week in Chicago! Events like these are usually a nice opportunity for good intentioned people to get together, talk about ideas and then go back to their lives. The great thing about CGI is that commitments are made that have the potential for real change. So, although I did not vote for Mr. Clinton when he was running for public office, it is motivating to see how he is now using that public office to make an impact. And it's a good reminder that we all have a chance to make an impact! What will you do?!

On the Mommy job front, I was very glad that I didn't have to make a stop at the American Girl shop while in Chicago! And don't worry, I'll be back to cute kiddo pictures next post!

My working group was Rural Economy and here's a clip about a cool project that was a commitment from the meeting.