Dear Hunter,

Today you are TWO YEARS OLD.

Never in my wildest dreams, while I was pregnant with you, did I realize what an amazing little boy you'd turn out to be.

 Hilarious (we call you "the Clown" or "Goofball" sometimes...and you've inherited that from both of your parents), stubborn (DEFINITELY from your Dad) , handsome, inquisitive, determined, a daredevil.  The boy with the 1,000 watt smile.  That smile will melt girls hearts someday, but for now, the only girl I wanna know it's melting is your MOMMY.    You are also a HUGE Daddy's Boy. Words can not describe the pure joy in your father's eyes when you run to him for a big hug and a kiss, when he gets home. And when he leaves for work and hears you crying and calling out "Daddy!" it just about breaks his heart.

You are talking so much now, buddy, and your enunciation gets clearer and clearer every day.  You make your Daddy and Mommy crack up so hard with some of your favorite words: "Niiiiiiiice!" and "Coooooo-eeeee" (for coffee).

You are just starting to show an interest in the alphabet and colors and you quite the parrot, imitating what we say, "1-2-3!"  You now try to put your own clothes on (and sometime succeed with your pants, but other times you have a shirt on your leg) and know how to take off and put on your velcro sandals. If we ask you to put your toys away, most of the time you gladly oblige (Thanks, Nana!).  When you are hungry, no matter what time of day it is, you ask for "din-din" (Mommy often times says that instead of dinner and i guess it stuck). 

Hunter, you are such a sweet-natured boy and always want to please! When Mommy is cleaning, you are quick to help in anyway you can: pushing your stool over to the washing machine so that you can put dirty clothes in with me, dragging out the mop when you see me sweeping or vacuuming the floor.  You love to help us cook/bake so often times, we let you have your own bowl and spoon to mix.

I didn't realize it was possible, Hunter, to love you EVEN MORE but when your baby sister was born that is EXACTLY what happened. You turned into this beautifully nurturing and loving brother who hates to hear Avery cry (you get upset and frantically tell me "Cry! Baby cry!" when you hear her crying) and you are always quick to share kisses on her cheeks/forehead/hand/foot.  You copy like you've seen Mommy do, and grab Avery's foot and sniff it then immediately pull back and exclaim "Pee-uuu! Stinky!" 

You've become a little fish, a boy who LOVES the water. This both pleases and worries Mommy! I'm so glad that you enjoy swimming like your parents do, however, your lack of fear scares the heck out of us sometimes! When we are holding you in the lake, you just want to leap out of our arms, like you think you can float/swim away no problem. This month we had your first EVER trip to the beach and it was enjoyed immensely. I could barely drag you away from the sand and surf, after your first initial nervousness at the small waves crashing in.

Hunter, you are SUCH the boy's boy.

You love trucks, cars, trains (no matter what we see when we're on the road driving, or any loud noise we hear, you excitedly call out "Train! Train!"). Your favorite place to be is rolling around in the dirt, picking up clumps of grass, sticks, or whatever you can get your hands on.  For your birthday, one of the gifts Mommy and Daddy got you is a very cool water table and I can't wait to see you messing around in the water and sand! You'll be in your glories!

Oh, bubba, I feel like simple words could never convey the depths of my feelings for you. I literally ACHE when you are sad, I am over the moon happy when you smile and I LOVE you more and more and more every single minute of every single day.  You mean more than we can ever say, little man. 

We love you forever and always,

Daddy, Mommy and Avery

Lots going on lately for us in the C-household!

Currently planning Hunter's 2nd birthday party (he turns two THIS THURSDAY...my big boy will be TWO. I still can't wrap my brain around that!) and it's been fun. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so that's our theme. I got Mickey ears for the kids to wear and I'm lots of little Mickey Mouse touches. :-) I know Hunter will love it! We're doing pizza and people can swim in the lake. Of course this morning the weatherman put the week's potential weather up and it hlowed rain and thunderstorms for this Saturday....GRRRRR. So fingers crossed he is WRONG.

Avery is getting so big and active. She is a rolling machine! She's even attempting to crawl...sticking her little booty way up and underneath her and then trying to scootch along. It's so cute. She's definitely teething but waaaaaaaaaay easier to deal with than her brother was while teething. Heh. That being said, though, I often times can't put her down! Makes it a tad hard to get anything done which is why our house is a total pigsty!

Well, it has been an experience having Daryl's grandma staying here this summer! (She stays for like 2-3 weeks then goes home for about 3-4 nights to just check her mail and keep her house in order) Some days it's VERY trying and annoys the crap out of me. Other times, like when Hunter leaps onto her lap on the couch and throws his arms around her for a big hug and a kiss? It's priceless. He's grown MUCH closer to his Great-Grandma than he previously was, and it is very sweet to see. I know it makes Daryl so happy! And let me tell you, my dog, Tucker, LOVES Grandma. She feeds him every night. She is home with him all day when we're at work and he gets to sit outside in the sun with her or hop in the lake for a quick dip...he is sad when his buddy goes home!

I'm DESPERATE for some ME-time.  I seriously have to work it in somewhere (and not feel guilty about leaving hubby home with the two kids...WHY? I have no idea why i feel like that...I handle the two of them on my own all the time so I shouldn't feel bad!). Saturday I was feeling very stressed and so I left the three of them at home and just went to the grocery store to get a couple things. Granted, the store is only about 5 minutes down the road, but I cranked the tunes, opened all the windows and sunroof, and jammed out the way there! I would have taken my sweet time in the store, too, but wouldn't you know it, I suddenly had to go to the bathroom VERY bad and had to leave. Argh! But my 20 minutes to myself was definitely appreciated!

Big D is doing good. He has been taking all his meds (which is something, cuz for a while he wasn't taking ANY thing and we were eating really bad, so he started feeling crappy again) and feeling pretty decent. And he's lookin' good too...heh heh...he lost some weight and the other day he had on a new red shirt and camo swim shorts and I was like, "DAMN, my husband looks hot!" ;-) Now, if only April can get back to "hot"....*SIGH*  The weight loss is slow and steady, which is okay, but my body is all weird after two kids and the fat just sits very differently. I STILL can't really fit into some of my pants, even though I weigh a pound or two less than my pre-pregnancy weight. Crazy. And when I attempted to try some clothes on the other day, it WASN'T pretty.

My little Tigger,and his Daddy, last Halloween 2010!

I'm a nut...I'm ALREADY thinking about Halloween. ;-) It's one of my favorite holidays and I'm super excited that Hunter will be big enough to appreciate it this year (last year he was veeeery tired and it was freezing, and I think he wasn't sure what to make of it). I'm trying to think what I want to dress the kids up as this year. Any ideas? I also am contemplating having a Halloween party. I'm a social girl and i LOVE having people over and entertaining. But back when we lived in the "ghetto", our house was way too small so we could only have small groups of people over at a time. Now? I can actually throw a party and FIT more than four people in the house. So, I'm torn between doing a kid party OR a party just for us adults. I'm leaning more towards an adult party, cuz I'm sure as the kids get bigger there will be plenty of time for all their parties! Plus I'd love to really get all crazy with spooky decorations and food. Heh heh. Can you tell I'm ready for Fall? Don't get me wrong, this summer has been fabulous, but Autumn is my most favorite season and I'm so excited that it's so close! I'm ready to put the a/c units away for the season!!!!!!!!!!!!