The Hunters

We're moving!

2009-12-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

In a few more ways than one! We are moving out of the apartment in a few weeks and will be spending the remainder of our homelessness bouncing between both our parents houses. We are hoping to move into our new house the beginning of March! I will still be able to blog and post pictures during this transition time. Secondly, we are moving blogs! It's about time I changed from "atleyandavery.blogspot.com" to something that fits the entire family. We will now be at www.4godbetheglory.blogspot.com. Everything will be the same over there. My same attempt to update as much as possible, my lack up updating, and my constant stories about our crazy nomad lives :) Stories such as this: While typing this the girls are "trying" to nap - something that has been HARD since we've moved into the apartment. They are sharing a queen bed, in a room with no curtains and full of sun, and lets face it...they are still 2! After much screaming, I finally decided to go in and check on them, Avery was on top of the play refrigerator standing up! We are anxious for their new room, which they will still share, that will be big enough for two twin beds!
again, our new blog is www.4godbetheglory.blogspot.com
i'm signing off, so long to this blog!
Shelly :)

Baby, It's COLD outside!

2009-12-09T09:00:00.001-08:00

We took Phillip to work this morning and it was 25 degrees outside, freezing wind and snowing. We all had on our winter hats and ran to the car. What better excuse for Starbucks drive through right? Needless to say, we are staying home the rest of the day, making cookies for our cookies exchange at MOPS on Friday, and trying to come up with creative ideas to pass the time. Anybody got any?

Canon and I the other day, he had an animal cracker in his mouth :) This boy is the sweetest thing. Last night he went with Phillip to a big basketball game with all the boys (the girls were at Noah's playing while the mommies were at the Christmas Tea). Phillip said that Canon sat with him and watched 75% of the game, ate his dinner, clapped when everyone else clapped, was SO happy, and loved having that daddy time. He fell right to sleep in the car, woke up when Phillip got the girls, watched them in the car, and at home when Phillip was putting on his jammies he was smiling and laughing and so calm....just waiting to be put to bed. Phillip layed him down and we didn't hear a peep out of him until 7:45am this morning. He usually does not cry to get out of bed until we are getting out of bed. What a polite little cutie pie! Too bad the girls are up anywhere between 6-7am every morning, regardless of what time they went to bed :) Canon is also standing on his own now. We will stand him up and he stays there for up to 10 seconds at a time. He loves clapping for himself while he is standing up so proud!

His new hat. I love it!

We took the kids to a Parents as Teachers event on Saturday called Winter Wonderland. They got to do many kid friendly projects and games.

Canon really liked pouring the rice....or just eating the shovels...

Our house is really coming along! They are putting shingles on the roof this week and we are getting more and more excited with all the progress.

Sitting with daddy looking at Christmas lights

Canon snoozing in the backseat...he missed the whole thing :)

Avery driving the car :)

Atley "smiling" while driving the car. She smiles all the time, but when we tell her to smile for the camera, she does this funny pose. What a cutie.

Here are just a few of the random things the girls have said lately:
Avery: "mommy, your hair is dark." the next day I showered, and she said "mommy, your hair is yellow now"
Atley: she was playing in the bathtub and Phillip walked in, she said "look, it's a giant!"
"get your hats on kids" "I need to take a bathtub"

I can tell 3 is going to be a fun age with lots of talking and many new funny words :)

It's all about Jesus

2009-12-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

I saw this today on a friends blog, thefourbroomes, and had to do it with my kids as well. The nativity is all about Jesus, not Mary and Joseph-even though they played an important role. So we are going to start setting up our nativity like this instead. Thanks Lindsey for sharing!

despite the rest of our apartment looking like mayhem and toys everywhere...we did put up our stockings and little Christmas tree. I actually put them up weeks ago and planned on posting about it, but I accidentally deleted ALL of the pictures on my camera on Saturday - leaving me with no Thanksgiving pictures either. sorry!

today was pajama day. we all stayed in our pj's all day (well, except Phillip who works from about 8:30am-1am on Wednesdays) and the girls really enjoyed painting with finger paint.

Canon didn't get to paint today, but I did attempt to have him color. He usually is really good at it, but today he only wanted to eat the crayon :)

I had an enormously long ultrasound on Monday. Champ was breech and on his back, making it difficult to see all of his organs perfectly. He was so still the whole time and not much of a mover. It is wonderful now to be able to feel him move more and more, but I am praying this is a sign of what's to come, a calm and peaceful 4th child! I am still having the same issues as with my other pregnancies, a shortening cervix, and am currently taking weekly progesterone shots again - which proved very successful with my full term Canon! Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we keep our eyes on Jesus, trusting Him to walk us through our next 4 months of pregnancy, moving OUT of the apartment at Christmas, living with both our parents for 2 months, and moving into our new house hopefully by March! Praise the Lord for all His blessings in our lives right now~
also, keep your eyes open for some new changes to my blog coming soon!

Canon's Birthday, Dallas, and the haircut

2009-11-14T19:47:00.000-08:00

We were moving out the day of his birthday...sweet house we loved.

how much can I stuff in my mouth?

in Dallas, the girls spent so much time with their cousin Brenley. She would spend the night some nights and they would play all day together. They would go on the walking path to the park each day with Nana and Pops and sometimes ride in this wagon...it was so cute!

Birthday boy again. We really miss his hair :)

We carved a pumpkin and being the girls that they are, no one wanted to touch the icky insides:) Here are all the grandkids. Sweet Brooklyn is hiding in the back, precious baby!

About to get his haircut!

What are they doing to me?

Stop what you are doing to me!

Ok, I'm happy now it is all over.

Back in the car with mom and dad...what a cutie with his haircut. We still miss his hair...

Playing with his friend River.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! I love you!

Back to life, back to reality

2009-11-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

We've had a pretty crazy couple of weeks. Now I am sitting down to my Christmas music, kids napping, computer time and trying to catch up on life. I have almost no pictures to show for any of our current craziness, but will try to catch you up somehow!
*we are having a BOY!!! Champ (no middle name yet) Hunter, due April 30th, 2010.
*Canon had his first birthday, first "real" haircut, and first trip to Dallas in a forward facing carseat! hurray he did so good!
*we moved out of our house - we filled a POD in one day, and had all of our furniture left!! Phillip made about 15 trips in the ZOE van to a friends basement! (thanks Cossey's)
*we lived with Phillip's parents for a few nights, went to Dallas to see our sweet niece Brooklyn!!!, came back to Phillip's parents, went on a ZOE girl's retreat, and then finally moved into an apartment last night!
*there has been lots of cleaning, moving, laundry
*all three kids including myself have a cold...no fun! it's hard to get rid of when you are moving all around
*Avery and Atley are sharing a queen size bed
*They are doing wonderful with potty training, despite our crazy life. thank goodness!
*Atley had her first eye doctor appointment. She got many tests and her eyes dilated today. Please pray for healing in both her eye muscles by January, and no surgery required! (sometimes either of her eyes will turn in, broadly known as a lazy eye, but it has a more specific medical name and diagnosis)
*I've been so out of touch that I still don't really understand or know what happened to MckMama's son Stellan?! could someone fill me in :)
*I'm adjusting to life in a two bedroom apartment, sharing a room with my one year old, and using couches, dishes, furniture that isn't mine. I will be very excited for a brand new house!!!
*Despite circumstances, Jesus is my JOY! Man, if I let every little thing get me down I think I might just live under a rock some days. Praise the Lord for freedom and life in Him!
Pictures to come:)
Shelly

Annual Pumpkin Patch Picture

2009-10-19T09:54:00.001-07:00

Each year we go to the same pumpkin patch and take a picture in the same exact place. Well, as I'm learning, each year it is getting a little more difficult. I love pumpkin season, FALL, and all that it entails. Here are a few pictures from our trip this year.

The girls holding hands this year...and below was last year. They sure have grown!

Mommy and the girls

Playing in the pumpkin wagon

Sweet Canon...who will turn ONE tomorrow!!!

Sweet Avery loves to smile for the camera

Sweet Atley likes to smile too, but usually looks away before you have time to snap the picture :)

2009
Each year we keep adding one more to the patch
2008

I always love these kissing pictures :)

This was where we take our family picture every year. Our attempts were so difficult that Phillip didn't even get in the picture this year! We took another one in a different location. Two year olds are sure on the go!

The annual Pumpkin Patch Pictures:

2006 - pregnant with the twins

2007

2008 - very pregnant with Canon

2009 - 12 weeks pregnant with #4

We can't wait to see what next year will bring! Our life is full, and blessed. Praise the Lord!

What I'm loving right now

2009-10-13T12:15:00.001-07:00

Fall colors, smells, activities
Christmas music!
my new little niece, Brooklyn, will be born Friday!!
the pumpkin patch
college football
the homecoming parade
pumpkin spice lattes
not being at all surprised, but still joyful, of the Lord's provision in our move and decisions
TOT school - it is going great
not really leaving the house Mon.-Wed. and staying in PJ's all day, every week!
my hubby let me sleep in today
being more in love with my husband all the time
my morning (afternoon and night) sickness is SLOWLY, but surely going away
it's getting dark earlier at night
the girls are doing better potty training (finally!)

my little boy standing and happy, almost ONE YEAR OLD!

My "little" girls all bundled and ready for the homecoming parade!

Even though I'm not enjoying packing, I do like that they all love playing in the boxes so much

cutie in his new carseat! he LOVES it and looks so cute and big in it! He literally couldn't fit into his old one with all the winter clothes I've been bundling him up in!

Sweet Atley posing for the camera, showing off her pumpkin shirt. I was made fun of for my smile until I was about 18, so hopefully she will grow out of this before I did! :)

Avery posing for the camera. Her hair finally fits into one ponytail and it is so cute! I made them all pumpkin shirts a few months ago and can't wait until the weather is nice so we can go take our annual pumpkin patch picture!

Spending time with my hubby (and all our friends) for a really fun limo ride, picture taking, salsa dancing, nice dinner, scavenger hunt date!

My Pumpkin Patch

What 11 month old doesn't want to eat the pumpkins?

I love this time of year, packing, moving and all. We are slowly packing and will move out the week of the 23rd-29th. We will stay in a rental apartment until we move into our new house in March...just in time for the new baby to arrive! Lots of change ahead for our little, growing family. The Lord is taking care of us, praise His name!!

2009-10-01T08:18:00.001-07:00

oops

2009-09-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

Opps, to say the least, has been happening a lot around here lately. On Friday when Phillip and I got to Walmart, I remembered that my cell phone was ON top of the car! Well, it wasn't there by the time we got to walmart and had fallen off somewhere between there and home. We looked and looked when we got home...but to no avail. Phillip went that night and got me a new one...what a sweet husband!
Then on Sunday afternoon the kids got locked in the car, with the keys! Right after I had buckeled them all up, I shut the door and all the doors locked! I realized right away I was in trouble, the keys were on the floorboard, the kids all buckeled in, Phillip was out of town, I had no spair set of keys. I was a little panicky. I tried to get Avery to get out of her seat to help me unlock the door, but she was confused and this eventually led her to tears. I had called Phillip immediantely and he had a friend coming over who does this all the time. I was pretty calm when 15 minutes later he showed up and began working on the passenger side door. After that door wouldn't cooperate and unlock from the inside he said this might be a problem. It was then I started to get really nervous. It was like Canon could tell from inside the car, and he started screaming. Avery had fallen asleep by this time, and Atley was content just watching Mr. Paul pry the door open and mess with the locks. By this time Phillip's dad, and our family friend Joe Brooks came over. When nothing was working and Mr. Paul, who does this all the time, couldn't figure it out, I was about ready to break a window. One more man to the rescue, Brad Gilbert, who helps us buy and fix all our cars. He said he'd be over in 5 minutes and he knew he could get it. 4 men, a golf club, and an hour later, the door FINALLY opened! Canon was screaming for more than 30 minutes, and when I got him out he was COVERED in sweat! Poor thing! Avery was still asleep, and Atley was content to just sit there. What a sweetie! Needless to say, some lessons were learned on my part. Get a second set of keys, always double ckeck the doors before you shut them, and don't let your two year olds play in the front seat :)
We haven't gone anywhere since Sunday, I'm staying away from the car:)

More Big News

2009-09-23T18:40:00.001-07:00

Well, first of all, we sold our house today. We are moving in ONE MONTH! We don't know exactly where yet, but I'll keep you posted. I am so happy to be done with the house showing part of this, but there are quite a few months of change coming up for us. Not to mention I am now 9 weeks pregnant and definitely feeling sick more often. But, the Lord gave us this baby, and His timing is perfect.
Secondly, the girls are finally sleeping in big girl beds. I wanted to hold off as long as possible because well, they are twins, girls, best friends, love to talk, play, laugh, jump, read books together, pretend to be mommy to each other, and more....and the idea of them being able to have free range of their bedroom once the lights were out was more than overwhelming. But really, they were doing all of this anyway in their cribs, so I figured it really couldn't get any worse so why not! They did great the first week, and this second week has been more of a struggle. Especially nap time. But they are learning, and I think this comes as a blessing since we will be traveling, moving, and needing to be flexible in the next few months, and now we only have one in a crib instead of 3! It also helps that their big girl beds are actually their cribs, just with one of the sides off.

We also started TOT School. I found THIS blog a while back and have been planning and preparing to start this with the girls...on a mini scale. It is so fun to have a few easy, structured, planned activities to do with the girls when Canon goes down for his morning nap. They are learning some simple skills that they would be learning in preschool, but since they are home with mommy, they are doing TOT school:)
Here are our Tot Trays. See the website or email me to find out more information about this.

Canon, sweet boy, now has 6 teeth! And he is only 11 months old today!

Atley playing "dominoes" as part of her tot school on the first day.

Avery is waiting for school to begin

GO MIZZOU. Phillip and I are going to all the home games for Mizzou again this year, thanks to the sweet Willitt family. All the kids dress up in their Tigers gear every Saturday. You can't tell but Canon even has a Tigers outfit on,and the girls have on cheerleading outfits. So cute.

BABYFULL

2009-09-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

ATLEY, AVERY, CANON, + 1 MORE! I'M DUE AT THE END OF APRIL!!!

again?

2009-09-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

why is is that my child will not have a BM for an entire day and then have a blowout all over the floor? and yes, then the dog ate it. so sick! my dog has now officially eaten all 3 of my kid's poop at one time or another. no wonder i don't really like her :)

more to come later tonight hopefully!

What can you do but laugh!

2009-09-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were at chick-fil-a and right before we were leaving we all began smelling "pooh." The girls were wearing underwear so we were hoping they hadn't had an accident in their pants...and thankfully they didn't. So we were about to get ready to leave when I literally heard a SPLAT on the ground underneath Canon! He was in his high chair and dripping out his leg was liquid poop!!! And it was splattered all over the floor, looking like throw up, but smelling much worse! My mother in law started helping me wipe it up, and Canon as well since it was STILL dripping out his leg. I didn't have any baby wipes, and the smell was getting worse! I got enough off the floor, and enough off of Canon to take him to the bathroom. Phillip was gettting a worker to come clean it up, and meanwhile Avery is wetting her pants:) In the bathroom I was really tempted to just stick him in the sink and begin stripping him down...but someone walked in behind me so off to the diaper changer in the stall I went. Again, with no baby wipes, I used dry toilet paper to try to wipe him down. Needless to say, I felt all covered in it by the time I was done, and Canon was happy as could be. We left the bathroom with all his clothes and diaper "wrapped" in paper towels and Canon in a way too small disposable diaper. It will always be a funny story to tell about him, but it wasn't very fun cleaning it up! It was one of those moments when you realize what just happened and it takes a moment for it to sink in becuase it was SO unexpected and you really don't want it to be real! Wouldn't it be funny to have had video or at least pictures of this from across the restraunt. I wonder what the people around us were thinking. We had already shoved 4 adults and 3 kids into a booth for lunch anyway, why not add a huge amount of liquid poop on the floor...while people are eating!

cooking

2009-08-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

It is no surprise that I have still not mastered the art/love of cooking. I don't really get excited about most recipes and dread spending any large amount of time in the kitchen preparing dinner. But because of my desire to feed my family healthy and nutritious food, I do actually spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. Just not preparing dinner most of the time. My favorite way to cook is to get a healthy recipe and make it my own. Case in point. My mom has been making homemade granola for years. She still makes it for my sister and I when we are pregnant. So until recently, I had never had to make it on my own. Since I have been making it, I have been slightly changing it. My mom is the same way when she cooks. I don't think we ever ate the same thing twice! She always added or took out something just to make it different. I have begun to really enjoy making foods like granola, nut butter (a mixture of many healthy nuts in the form of peanut butter,) pureed beans, peas, legumes, and veggies. When I am making Canon's purees, I just make more and then use them in our food. Simple Creative.
The only problem is that most of these things my husband doesn't like to eat. Can someone give me some ideas of healthy, easy things to prepare ahead of time, freeze extra for later, that a man would like? :)

Here is the finished product. Granola in 3 big baggies. 2 for the freezer, one for the fridge!

Baking the granola...

My kitchen on most nights....I never dry anything.

Nut Butter. Again, I don't usually make anything up on my own. I have to copy it. This applies to most areas of my life. I need a basic idea, and then I can add/change it from there. This was from McKmama's Nut Butter blog, and I tweeked it just a little.

Canon loves to walk when you are holding his hands

He is beginning to pull up on furniture. His favorite piece of furniture right now is the girl's potty chair! I found him yesterday standing, holding onto it, and wet toilet paper thrown out...disgusting!

The other day before church I wanted to document the flower in my hair, and the fixed mohawk Canon gets before church most weeks.

lately in pictures

2009-08-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

ZOO

Hippos

Hippos

Hippos swimming right by us - the girls keep talking about how the Hippos liked them at the zoo.

Canon watching too

Hanging out on the front porch

Playing "train"

New haircut! Stacked in the back

And here is my handsome little boy: 10 months old today!

Bye Bye Paci

2009-08-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming...
We realized a while back that it was time to give up the pacis...but with our hectic summer the girls have literally reverted and been wanting their pacis every waking moment of the day. Even my attempts to use them only for sleeping, were draining and with all the whining I would just give in. So we took the drastic route...and threw them away! Phillip and I had talked with the girls a few days earlier about how they are big girls now, and don't need paci's any more. We were going to throw them away and then watch the trash man take them. On Monday it hit me...I want Phillip home to help with our first bed time after no pacis and I knew he would be home on Monday and Tuesday night of this week, so all of the sudden the day was here and the girls did GREAT!

They took their last nap with their paci's and them put them in their kitchen pots and marched into the big kitchen to throw them away. Don't mind Atley's swim suite...we were NOT swimming that day, but she wanted to wear it, so hey, why not!

Smiling with their paci's one last time!

Throwing them into the trash can. They kept saying "trash man take them."

Later that night Phillip actually dug back into the trash and pulled them back out...for just in case, you know:) They are hiding in the garage now...
The girls have done a great job without their pacis and truly understand what they did. I think it helps that we watched the trash man take the trash away the next morning. They know the paci's are gone, and they can't get them back. They have been talking, singing, crying, playing a little more when it is time to sleep, but overall we are really pleased. Whenever they ask for their paci, the catch themselves and then say, "trash man take them...but I have my lamby now." Even since the paci's have been gone, their lamby has been staying in their bed most of the day and they are making other milestones with potty training as well!
Today they both only wore a diaper for nap and bedtime, and had NO accidents all day long. We even went to the ZOE house, where Avery peed on the potty 2x, and played at the playground. I was very proud of them! This is not so new for Avery, but for Atley to be using the potty now without major resistance is a BIG deal! They both even learned how to climb up on the big potty all by themselves tonight. I'm never going to "start" any kind of new transition at the beginning of summer...our summers are so crazy and it is too hard to be consistent.

School started on Tuesday here... and for Atley and Avery school starts in September! Homeschool TOT school that is....more on that to come!

Of course I couldn't leave out my sweet little snuggle boy who now has FOUR teeth, 3 of which all came in in 10 days! He is getting faster and faster with army crawling, and just began pulling up on me the other day. I am glad he is not on his knees crawling around really fast yet...I know it will come and it will be hard to keep up with three fast movers!

And finally...
Hot Summer Nites at ZOE was incredible. It was such a blessing to have Generate, Gateway's Youth Band, lead the worship! They are so intentional about inviting the presence of the Lord into worship, and it was exciting to see the kids so passionate about worshipping the Lord. Kari Jobe came in on Wednesday and I ended up picking her up from the airport all by myself! It was fine once I met her, she is so real and quite/soft spoken too. I just talked talked talked, and by the time she left on Friday I was texting her and taking her to the airport again. She was in love with Canon and kept calling him her "boyfriend". She did an awesome job of leading worship on Thursday night and a few people even gave their lives to the Lord. We got to hang out with the band, and Kari quite a bit. It was great for me to have my mom here that week because she would stay at the house with the kids, or help me when we all went out, and since she was staying here, I could stay out late at night with everyone! I haven't done that in over THREE years! So fun for me...I was even doing back flips at Skyzone one day. Thank you for praying for Hot Summer Nites! The enemy really didn't want it to happen the first night, and after much prayer and techinal difficulties, the Lord won!!

for now

2009-08-11T08:01:00.001-07:00

for now it's only pictures, more about Hot Summer Nites later...so great!!!

HSN

2009-08-02T13:13:00.001-07:00

Hot Summer Nites this year is going to be amazing! If you live in the St. Louis area you should really come and check it out! The Generate Band from Gateway Church, in Southlake TX will be leading the worship and on the 4th night Kari Jobe will be in concert! It is THIS WEEK, M-Th. at West County Community Church. If you want more info you can go to the ZOE website at www.zoeland.com. If you know any middle-high schoolers who want to come, each night starts at 7pm. I am really excited about all that the Lord is going to do in so many kids lives this year. This is ZOE's biggest event of the year and Phillip has been working so hard to create such a fun atmosphere where kids can really be blow away by Jesus! If you can't come, please at least be praying for these next four nights. Thank you!
Jesus Plus Nothing!

While Daddy was gone

2009-07-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

Each summer Phillip is gone for at least two different weeks on mission trips or youth camps. This year ZOE went to New Orleans for a World Changers mission trip in June. Last week they went to Daytona, Florida for Beach Camp with Student Life, and Loui Giglio and Chris Tomlin, and David Crowder. It was an amazing time and everyone has been raving about the trip since they've been back. Best of all, tons of kids were refueled to live for Christ daily, and 5 kids accepted Christ as their savior and Phillip got to baptize them in the ocean. I knew it would be a great trip and thought of literally EVERY possible option of how I could go too, but with these 3 under 3, I wasn't able to this year.
So, I planned and prepared a few things to get me by this past week.

Day 1, Sunday: Phillip got up and left at 7am. Megan (our college friend who is living with us this summer) and I were just pulling into the Church parking lot at 11am, and Canon threw up all over himself. On the way home he did it again, and 5 more times at home...needless to say we didn't go to church, or anywhere that day. So it seemed like a VERY long first day of Phillip being gone.
Poor Canon had to lay on the towel so he wouldn't throw up on the carpet (not that it matters since he threw up multiple times again yesterday all over that same carpet!). The girls have still never thrown up! Canon must have a very sensitive stomach!

Playing with their new Clippo table instead of being at Sunday school

They took a few mid morning baths last week. I put new toys in the tub and let them play for as long as they liked. Something to do!

Canon is back to all smiles. Standing up on his activity table.

We went to the park A LOT! It is a small park very close by so I can keep an eye on everyone. One day is had rained and was almost cold outside, so what did I do? I put them in rain boots and jeans....to go to the PARK! What was I thinking? Yay they finally get to wear their rain boots and cute jeans! Well, they could barely pull their legs up to climb and their feet were lugging around those clunky boots which kept falling off. I laughed at myself and thought, "live and learn".

Playing with a new doll house. The girls are also both very into babies. They were fighting over the baby that came with this doll house. We are learning to share, set the timer, and switch toys.

Movie night with Mommy! We did this twice. After Canon went to bed, we would make pallets on the floor, eat popcorn, and watch a movie! They did great and it was so fun.

Coloring and stickers

Library books

Avery really worked on her potty training skills. She has only had one accident in two weeks, at home that is. Still wearing diapers when we are out.

Playdough!

We started a reading program from the Library.

Played outside. They started out with clothes on...but wanted to get in the pool. Why put on swimsuits when you are in the back yard?

Canon is such a good baby. He plays with whatever toys we give him, and will stay content for up to an hour just playing and watching all that is going on around him.

Playdough outside (this was before the water)

We (ok, I) drew portraits of each of them and they got to color them and put stickers on them. I am not an artist, so they look a little scary, but it was fun. They are still hanging up and every day they add a little more to them.

Atley by Canon's picture. She really decorated his.

Some other things we did:
went on a walk
went to whole foods with megan
went to Gigi's 3 times
played at the Thoms house
played with Mr. Potato Head
played Starfall on the computer
stayed home most of the time
went to Starbucks too many times - its a drive through!
made MckMama's nut butter recipe - thanks Courtney!
made Date Muffins
I made Christmas ornaments and pumpkin t-shirts
We missed Phillip a ton!

Cute tots

2009-07-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

A blog I follow called "Totally Tots" featured us under their cute tots section! Click on the link to the right to check us out!

Spunky Beans

2009-07-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

First of all, this is how we are eating almost all of our meals lately. When Daddy is here for dinner we crowd around our kitchen table. But the big girls sit in the stools while Canon is in their old high chair. Lots of sweet little mouths to feed :)
And on to Spunky Beans.
We went to a friends 3 year old birthday party last weekend and the kids had so much fun. There was a lady there from Spunky Beans and she face/arm painted and did balloon creations. She was super speedy, very good with all the crazy kids, and also very talented!

Atley got a monkey on one arm and a pink flamingo on the other arm

Avery got a STL Cardinals bird on one arm and a butterfly on the other arm

They all got shaker balloons, and she even made Canon's with a little handle for him. Some of the bigger kids got big elaborate balloons, she was really good. Great idea for a birthday party!

Great Grandparents and Great Wolf Lodge

2009-07-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

On the 2nd of July Phillip and I went to visit his grandma at a very close by retirement home. She recently moved here from Washington state and we try to visit her as often as possible, with three little sets of hands who get into everything:)
Grandma Hunter is very good at throwing and catching the ball. This was good practice for them all.

The next day we met up with my family, who had traveled from Dallas, to Warrensburg, MO to visit my dad's parents. My grandmother also recently moved into a nursing home, while my very active grandpa still lives at their home. So we all met at the nursing home for a few hours to visit.
Atley (as always these days) was less shy and when asked hopped right up into Grandma Ruth's arms and hugged and kissed her. I got these three sweet pictures of them...my Grandma was crying the whole time. So sweet.

My dad with Avery and Murphy (who the girls still call Mercy).

Phillip was introducing Al to the Iphone, which Phillip just got, and now I agree...it can pretty much do anything!

Sitting and playing with the grandkids. This is the ONLY picture I got of my grandpa...my kid's only remaining great grandfather. He and my dad just went to Washington DC a few weeks ago for the veterans memorial. He is really with it for his age!

After we visited for a while in Warrensburg, we went on to Cameron to visit my Grandma Griffin. She lives at her home and the kids had a great time running around and exploring all of her toys.
Canon especially loved this tractor! I think he's really ready for some BOY TOYS!

Holding hands with Uncle Danny

Avery, Brenley, and Atley waiting for their ice cream cake. As always they had a great time with Brenley and love having another playmate around.

Sweet Brenley in her cute 4th of July outfit! She is always so happy and loves to play with the "big" girls.

I thought this picture makes Atley look so grown up!

My Grandma Griffin with Canon - this is the BEST picture!

We tried to get all four kids in a picture together and this was literally the best I had...

My sister and I with our kids and our grandma. By this point they were about to have melt downs. We were on our way out.

but not before we got a picture of all the family (except mom and dad) with grandma

After that we headed on to Kansas City and stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge . It is a huge hotel with an indoor water park. They had 4th of July festivities, and the kids (as well as the adults) loved playing in the water and going down the big water slides. Yes, we took our little kids(even Brenley went!) on the big water slides and they loved it!

Of course I have NO pictures from the Lodge, but my sister does on her blog
She has some great ones of all our girls going down the kid slides.
Thanks Ang!

Happy belated 4th of July everyone

showers

2009-07-08T19:29:00.001-07:00

my precious 3 under 3

yesterday:
phillip showered before work
both girls showered with me, just so I could get a shower
canon threw up on himself in the crib and got a bath
canon threw up on himself and me and we both took a shower
avery pooped in her bed and got a cold shower
we all went swimming with lots of chlorine and all 5 of us took yet ANOTHER SHOWER!

Christmas in July

2009-07-02T13:44:00.001-07:00

We've started singing Christmas music around here, and listening to it while we play. The girls are obsessed with "baby Jesus" which is just precious. They are already so excited that they share the same birthday. Nonetheless, they want to sing about him all the time too...which is why "Away in a Manger" is their favorite song. I love Christmas time and we are already anticipating celebrating Christ's birth this Christmas season! All of this to say...that is why I've changed my blog background :)

Summer Dallas Trip 2009

2009-07-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Again, my sister is doing a fabulous job at posting every day to share about our adventures while in Dallas for 2 1/2 weeks. This is a ginormous post of pictures with little captions...and does not do the trip justice. We had a GREAT time with family and saw a few friends too. Phillip and I are so blessed by both our families and count it a joy to spend such intense time with my family in Dallas every summer for a few weeks.

Phillip drove us down to Dallas, stayed a few days, and then flew back to STL to take ZOE on a mission trip to New Orleans. He then went back to STL and stayed a few days, working, and then flew back to Dallas again for a few days and drove us home. What a sweet, serving hubby I have! Here is is lounging with Canon beside the pool while Canon took his 10 minute afternoon power nap.

Avery swinging with pops, one of their favorite things to do together :) I didn't get a picture of this, but Atley's favorite thing to do with Pops is drive the Jeep out on the walking path. She can press the peddle down and Pops runs along next to her steering the wheel. Brenley is Atley's perfect passenger and just sits so quietly while Atley drives like a wild woman.

Atley loved playing with the Fischer Price toys that were ours when we were little.

Brenley is a wild woman in the pool and has no fear of the water. She was so cute, still loving to chew on shoes :)

Nana and Avery in the pool. We would get in the pool every afternoon after naptime. There was a great amount of shade and we only put sunscreen on one time because we really didn't need it...even though it was almost 100 degrees every day! Both girls really improved their swimming skills and can now go under water and blow bubbles in the water. Their favorite thing to do with Nana was go on adventure walks on the walking path. They would go for 1-2 hours each time and would explore the trees, play with frogs, and throw rocks into the pond. Thanks mom for awakening thier desire to learn and explore!

Aunt Amber with Canon. She and Danny were so sweet to come out 3 times while we were in town. They live almost an hour away and brought their sweet new puppy Murphy each time:)

Canon and Uncle Danny - such a cute picture

Atley and Avery playing with Murphy. They call him "Mercy" and LOVE him. They were asking about him every day, and loved it when he came out. Avery, being the little mommy that she is, would follow him around and try to feed him.

Brenley playing with Murphy. We had 4 babies and 4 little white dogs. It was crazy and so fun!

Sweet big boy Canon. He was really able to start scooting around on my parent's rug and now that we are home he is getting faster and faster at it!

Avery using the potty :) So cute and funny. Sidenote on pottytraining: we quit while in Dallas after Atley peed on my mom's new couch :) I am starting back up with Avery in another week :)

Aunt Angie running around the house chasing all of our wild kids

Sweet Atley and her pretty blue eyes. They all got their daddy's blue eyes :)

I just love him!

All the kids in the bathtub. We only did this 3 times while we were there. My parent's pool is a saltwater pool and that pretty much counted as their bath everyday:)

Sweet River Berre. He and Canon are best friends and really do like playing together. On this day, I noticed Canon's tooth coming in and he was cranky (which he never is!) so he was asleep most of the time River was here :(

Happy Birthday Uncle Danny and Uncle Al! We had a birthday party with Ice Cream cake and I had told the girls that they could have some after dinner.

Brenley and Avery waiting expectantly

Atley is eyeing the cake and waiting patiently. She loved the cake and kept asking for more. A little two year old can only have SO much ice cream cake!

This is what happened when I took it away from her. Seriously, this is why we don't let them have sweets that often. If they never knew it was there, they wouldn't know what they were missing.

Sweet precious pretty Brenley. Such a big girl this summer, running and talking and able to follow directions! My sister Angie and I have had our babies in Dec. Nov. Oct. and she's due in Oct. the day after Canon's first birthday. So our kids are always the same stages each summer. ex: brenley is the same age the girl's were last summer, doing the same things. canon is the same age brenely was last summer, and will be brenley's age next summer (crazy!), and Angie's new baby GIRL will be Canon's age next summer. it really is perfect because we never have a new walker stumbling around outside and falling into the pool.

Cutie boy ready for church

Avery all giggles before church (she didn't know we were going to church or she would have wanted to stay home). She is having a really hard time withe separating from mommy lately.

And yes, here is the poop picture. It was on ALL THREE walls, and this picture doesn't do it justice! It was on the floor, on their hands and feet, their lambs...everything. After much scrubbing, my parents are going to have to repaint the walls :) Twins instigate each other I am learning.

Canon had a high fever for 3 days, then broke out in a rash = roseola. Here he is laying on the floor in his swim diaper, totally chilled out, sporting a fever and new tooth...poor guy!

Right after I took the picture, he fell asleep

Here is the the next day, so tired he fell asleep sitting up in my sister's arms!

He started eating solid foods while we were in Dallas. (Lots of firsts for Canon!)

This was a typical day for us. 3 adults and 6-7 babies running around. My sister keeps kids in her home M-Th each week. And a few times we went over there to visit here, but mostly she came over to my mom's house. It is bigger with more space for them to run around. We even had rooms for all of them to sleep and would have them all sleeping at the same time most days!

kissing

eating popcicles

If you look close you can see Canon's red spots from the roseola

Car ride home. Avery and Atley had neck pillows to help them sleep and it actually did help Atley. Avery only wanted to feed her monkey and did not keep it on except for this picture. All three kids were in the middle seat of our car. The back seats were folded down to hold all of our stuff. From the looks of this you'll see we obviously don't have the minivan anymore...bye bye Goldie. We haven't come up with a name for our new car yet...it's a Yukon.

Here Atley is at home. I found her like this the other day. She had sorted all of her kitchen food and utensils! Such a smartie!

Ok, sorry for the massive post. Hope you enjoy all the pictures, we sure enjoyed taking them!!

for now

2009-06-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

My sister is doing a blog every day to update about our trip to Dallas and all of the things we did there. Until I get around to doing my own blog with pictures and stories, just check hers out here. Thanks Angie!

our trip so far

2009-06-22T18:32:00.001-07:00

While here in Dalls, we've been doing so many things. Here are just a few:
spending time with family
playing with my sister Angie and her daughter Brenley every day here at my mom's house
swimming a LOT - Atley can go under the water for almost 5 seconds now, and loves it
Angie is having another GIRL
meeting our new nephew/dog - Murphy
watching uncle Al's baseball game
MISSING DADDY
going on walks with Nana
going to parks
shopping
dinging some lady's black BMW car door while she was watching
spending more time with family
Canon is scooting around and eating avocado, bananas and egg yolk
Canon got his FIRST tooth
twins are sleeping in a closet, on the floor, in sleeping bags
enjoying my friend Betsy and her baby River
grieving with our friend who lost a baby
Celebrating birthdays and anniversarys
getting excersise running up and down the stairs to check on the girls...which sadly last night I waited too long to do. another post for another day, but I'll leave you with this: poop on the walls!
so long! I'll have pictures next time:)
shelly

We are crazy like that

2009-06-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning I literally cleaned myself out of the house. Broom in hand, sweeping my footsteps away, I hung it in the garage, hopped in the car and off we went to Branson. We were going to visit Phillip's brother Matt and his wife Lauren at K-Kauai, the Kanakuk Family Kamp. It was a great day traveling, and getting to see Matt and Lauren. We got to tour the kamp, and swim in the amazing pool. Canon even fell asleep in my arms and the girls loved spashing around in the ginormous kiddie pool with fountains and water sprayers. It was great. We went to dinner with M & L and then headed back to kamp to stay the night. This would be the girl's first time to sleep in a regular bed, since they are still sleeping in their (super low) cribs at home. (side note: they can climb out of everyone elses cribs now, excpet their own. I know they CAN climb out of theirs, but Avery hasn't dared to do it again. However, when we are at anyone elses house, a climbing they go...) So Phillip went off to K-Life and I layed down with all 3 kids in the bed, thinking the girls would literally poop out after a long, no nap, day. After 15 minutes of bouncing and me wanting to pull my hair out. We put on our shoes and went to join Phillip at K-Life. Once in there, I mentioned just getting in the car and heading to Dallas. (We weren't supposed to leave for Dallas until the next morning.) So, spur of the moment, we loaded all three kids up, packed up the car, put in a movie, and within 10 minutes on the road...they were all knocked out. We kept thinking, what are we doing...just going to drive all night? Which is what my mom and I had actually done before. We are crazy like that. We were all set to roll into Dallas about 4:30am, until the storm hit. It was much like the storm that hit last night here in Dallas, and I'm sure has hit just about all over the middle pat of America by now. The kids kept waking up crying becuase really it's not that comfortable to sleep in the car, and by the time 11:30 rolled around, we were checking into a Holiday Inn Express in Miami, OK. It was an unexpected little "family trip" to the hotel, where the girls slept like big girls in a bed, and Canon, Phillip and I slept a little in ours. We got up, showered, ate a continental breakfast and headed out. Finally, we were really going to Dallas. We got in to Dallas about 1pm and got to spend the day soaking in the sun and playing in the pool. We got to watch our sweet neice Brenley last night and then spent our 4th anniversary sitting on the couch talking about our wedding FOUR years ago! I am SO blessed to be married to Phillip and admire and love him SO much more than I could have known only 4 short years ago. He is an amazing husband and father and I am so thankful the Lord gave him to me. When we met we were truly seeking the Lord first, not a mate, and when we both looked over (literally at the dinner table at Pine Cove) we were both running the race together, and we knew that by putting Christ first, in every area of our lives and marriage, we would have the sweetest marriage we could image. And after 4 years, I'm proud to say we are more in love now than the day we got married, and know that in 4+4+4+4+40 years later we are still going to be going strong....ONLY by putting Jesus at the center of it all:)
I love you Phillip Andrew Paul!

So we are in Dallas for 2 1/2 weeks and I'll try to post some pictures while we are here...that is IF I take any! I haven't so far.
There is never a dull moment :)
Shelly

Denver with some Besties

2009-06-07T21:33:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to Denver, CO. to visit my friend Lauren, who just had a baby girl, Annalea, 3 months ago. She and I and Betsy were all 3 a Tri Delt Trio in College, and have remained close friends ever since. Betsy had her first baby boy, River, just 12 days before Canon was born. The 3 of us had the best time in Denver, at Lauren's house. I don't have many good pics to show for it, but here are a few. Betsy has some better ones on her blog, check it out here.

for sale

2009-06-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

anyone interested in moving? moving to say...my house? we are hoping to sell our house and move to a new development in Eureka, where we can build a new house at a comparable price to living in Wildwood. We are excited about the opportunity to do this, but of course, need to sell our house first. We LOVE our house, and so will you! I know that most of you who read my blog don't even live in St. Louis, but for those of you who do, maybe you know a family who is moving, or looking for a home here. I just wanted to get the word out. If you have any helpful leads for me, you can always email me at shellyrhunter@gmail.com.
thanks!
in the mean time, I am really enjoying having a CLEAN house! Maybe I don't love cleaning it all the time, but it's worth it. We had our first "showing" tonight. And it was a bust. We left 20 min. early, and they called 5 minutes after we left saying it was cancelled. All that work for nothing:) Oh, well. We still took the kids to the park and had a picnic and then came home, put them all to bed, and enjoyed our pefectly spotless house.

May 09

2009-05-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Canon jumping in the garage

The girls playing in the garage, looking like thugs:)

Hugging

Canon's dedication. He is YOURS Lord!

Sweet baby can sit up (pretty much) on his own.

Hugging again:)

My friend April made me a baby sling, and then made the girls one too! They love them:)

Little boy is up on his knees rocking back and forth?! I think we'll definitely have a crawler soon!

Playing with mommy

Atley holding Canon

Baby blue

Happy Hunters

2009-05-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Cotton Babies

2009-05-07T10:51:00.001-07:00

I knew I liked this store, and every time I visit, I like it even more. Let me first start off by telling you that Cotton Babies is a store here in STL that carries cloth diapers, baby gear, and many natural products. I was introduced to them when I first bought my Bum Genius cloth diapers about 2 years ago. Come to find out, they were made here in STL, and the owner of Cotton Babies is who created them! So, now when I need anything cloth diaper related I can just drive over there! That is just the first of the many great things about this store. 2nd, they have a yearly resale wher eyou can sell/buy used cloth diapers and other natural baby products. I went with some friend about two weeks ago and got some new diapers to try out. I have always used Bum Genius diapers for the girls and now for Canon. But they are really showing their wear - two little girls later. So this time I bought a few Diaper Covers and some Prefolds. This is a much more inexpensive way to go, but a totally different type of diaper. I am really enjoying them, and having the different options for Canon and the girls when they sleep. I also bought more Hemp liners. These are great to double in for a super soaker like Avery :) Another thing I really like about this store is that they support missionaries here in the states, and overseas. They do a Diaper Grant program where they help out families in need who are helping to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. I just found their blog and now have it linked to my own blog. But you can get useful cloth diapering tips and advice, as well as other household and family helpful tools. On their website you'll also find a calendar of events with free 1-2 hr. classes on cloth diapers, food allergies, breastfeeding, baby wearing, birthing options, postpartum fitness, LaLeche League, and more. I wish the store was closer, but I am planning on attending a few classes this year. What a great resource!
So...if you live in or around St. Louis and need a good place to buy some cloth diapers or other GREAT baby items, head on over to COTTON BABIES, in South County.

Oh, I also got Canon and my niece Brenley swim diapers. These, and the cloth diapers themselves, really do help you save money...because they are all reusable! Plus diapers and especially swim diapers are so expensive these days. Isn't he a cutie in his yellow speedo diaper?!

Potty Training Twins

2009-04-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

Oh the joy's of Potty Training. Or should I say, "the craziness!" of Potty Training instead!?
sidenote: someday I am going to make a book out of my blog, otherwise I might not write so much about potty training, but it just might be interesting to go back and look at someday. Or for Atley and Avery to look at when they are mommies themselves and ONE of them wonders why her little girl is so hard to potty train....

So, we are on day 3. Let me QUICKLY recap days 1 and 2.
Day 1: I am pretty geared up for potty training and have thought of just about everything I can to prepare for the day. Our living room rug is rolled up and stored away for a while, two potty chairs are sitting right in the middle of the living room, reward charts are taped up, stickers ready, towels and vinegar/water spray are ready for messes. I also went to the library and got a copy of "Once Upon a Potty for Her" the book, and DVD! The girls love it, especially Atley and it has helped in leading up to potty training and we watch it about 20 times a day. seriously. Oh yes, I do have a 6 month old who regularly needs me to feed, change, carry him, love on him, and nap him, so this might prove to be more difficult than I thought. maybe.
Avery is a champ. The first time I ask, she pees on the potty.
Atley doesn't want to go.
So about 1 1/2 hrs. later Avery has gone about 6 times and Atley has had 1 accident on the floor. We're doing pretty good. All day they did a great job, we played outside and even though neighbors would drive by, only a few actually noticed that my girls had shirts on...but no underwear. Yes, they are going bottomless here at home for a while. I tried to fix dinner and in all my focusing on the girls...I nearly burnt the house down. really. We were out in the garage (which my wonderful husband so nicely cleaned out) playing and I forgot that I had started some pasta on the stove. When I came back in to check if Canon was awake...he was screaming in his room and smoke was everywhere! I had to open all the doors and windows and 2 days later, I still smell it! See the burt pot below for proof. This was by far the worst I've had yet.
You can't stop living, so on our first day of potty training, we put on diapers at 5:30 and went to watch daddy play basketball. It was totally worth it since we don't get to go to that many games.
Thoughts for the day: Avery is a peeing CHAMP! I knew she peed more than Atley since her cloth diapers are always soaked and leaking...and I know she loves to drink more than her sister as well. But I had NO IDEA she peed that many times during the day! I'm going to have to restrict her water consumption once she is in big girl underwear. Atley on the other hand is going through a hard stage called "I'm a little independant sweetheart, who thinks by whining or throwing a fit I'll get what I want." So...I'm reading "The Strong Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson and really enjoying it, but not the behavior. So the sweet girl is having a hard time wanting to do what I ask, or trying to go potty when I ask, so accidents are happening a little more frequently for her. But since she doesn't pee NEARLY as often as Avery, she only had 2 the first day. They both pooped in their diapers once we put them to bed. :)
Day 2: I'm a little less excited about the day now that I know how utterly exhausting day 1 was. I felt like I was constantly on the move.
Avery is a champ by now. Her only accidents are when she is sitting at the table to eat lunch or dinner. She catches herself and finishes on the potty. great job! We are still working on Atley's independance, and having her sister to watch is helping her. If she sees Avery do the potty dance and get a sticker too, then she wants one. So a few times she has gone straight to the potty and peed, just to get a sticker. But hey, that's why i'm doing stickers right?! Avery even pooped on the potty with no help from me!
Our goal today was to take a walk around the block without diapers. So even though it wasn't THAT cold here, they went bare bottomed but with hats and jackets on. They did a great job and neither girl had an accident on the walk. When we got home, they both peed in the potty.
Day 3: wow, i'm tired of potty training. when is this going to end? Ok, I'm going to have a good attitude and kick it up notch. First things first, we went on a HOUR walk with Ashley all the way to the town center. neither girl peed in the stroller (we had a potty in the stroller basket just in case) and both peed upon arriving home....Atley all over the floor. While I was feeling crazy, we then loaded up in the minivan and headed for the library and to Starbucks. Two SHORT errands, and hey...I deserved a sweet treat at this point right? I put towels in their carseats and Avery peed in hers.
Once we got home things got a little crazy. While I was nursing Canon, Atley pooped on the floor (at this point she hadn't gone since Mon. which is a long time for her). Once she made it to the potty there was no more to come, but she peed on the potty, so praises she got. However I am still nursing this whole time, and trying to keep them both away from the 3 poopies on the floor. Thank goodness for WOOD FLOORS is all I have to say:)
No more accidents all day!
So I know I'm on Day 3 of the rest of their little diaper free lives (except for naps and nights of course), and I'm so grateful they are interested in the potty and doing a good job for me. I know accidents WILL happen and that they WILL learn, but it won't happen over night.
More updates to come as we progress on this new journey of potty training TWO TWO year olds!

Watching the movie, while sitting on their pottys

Sweet Canon posing next to the Lemonade...thanks Aunt Julie!

The burnt pot...I'm STILL working on getting it clean, yuck!

Our walk on day 2.

I couldn't resist! Sweet little bum peeking out from under her jacket :)

Cutie Atley in her new hat

Since I am not allowing them on the couch this week, they have to lay on the floor. You can make anything fun, and they were pretending to be asleep for this picture.

Phillip's Grandma Hunter moved here last week from Washington St! She is living in an assisted living home and we are so glad she is here. The dogs love her too :)

Canon fell asleep in Phillip's arms after church on Sunday

Little mommy Avery

Atley in her tutu.

Heads up for Potty Training 101

2009-04-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Today is my second day of potty training the girls. Let me just say that potty training TWO TWO YEAR OLDS with a 6 month old baby on my hip has been a little exhausting. They are doing GREAT, and as good as can be expected. But I'm a little on the tired side...so you'll have to wait until tomorrow night for some real potty 101 updates. I'll post some pics and stories while Phillip is at ZOE. Off to take a mini nap while my 3 small children are all sleeping! :)

Orange for Stellan

2009-04-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

Mckmama's son Stellan had surgery yesterday and literally thousands of people wore orange for him, took pictures, and sent them in, and they are posted here. We've been keeping up with her blog since before Canon was born. She has 4 kids, 4 and under. Her youngest son, Stellan, is a week younger than Canon so all of his health issues really touch a cord with me since I can only imagine Canon in the same awful situation. So we took a picture, along with all her other blog followers (her blog has reached almost 8 million hits at this point...) and sent it in. One of these days I will actually get a picture of ALL 3 smiling, but just getting the twins to smile was a feet in itself!

Atley in her bum genius cloth diaper. They are 28 months on Saturday, and we are starting Potty Training NEXT WEEK! Pray for me! :)

Speaking of potty training, you know its time to start when they are trying to change each other's diapers. This is what I walked around the corner to the other day.

Avery has really enjoyed sitting on Atlely lately. She likes to hang on her back, or sit on her back. Atley eventually joins in the fun, but has to protest at first. There are so many fun things about having twins, and this small thing brings me joy to watch.

Riding the pony....or her sister:)

my blog friends

2009-04-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

if you have never looked at my "blogs I love", now is the time.
Please click on the "praying for Stellan" link to the right, to catch up on MckMama's little boy who was just flown to Boston for a possible ablation of his heart. She is a Christian, proclaiming the Word of Christ in her blog, crying out to Him, and letting THOUSANDS of people join this journey with her.
Also, my friend Shalene just blogged about something VERY serious that you should all take a look at too. Check out the Roberts blog.

These are real life things that are happening and far more interesting than me blogging about Avery climbing out of her crib on Thursday, or Canon rolling over both ways, or Atley knowing shapes and colors at just two years old. I think Christ's return is fastly approaching, and my desire is to be ready!!

Easter

2009-04-12T17:23:00.001-07:00

Jesus is Risen! This is why we celebrate Easter! Looking back on our day it is easy to see how Satan so easily tries to steal our joy and Jesus' fame. A day to celebrate, and we did, but we also did our fare share of complaining. To make it short, we had the prettiest dresses, shoes, bows, Canon's perfectly new white outfit, and 3 hours to get ourselves all together for church. I also made a rice dish for lunch. I started the day by announcing, "Jesus is Risen! and explaining Jesus' life and death and resurrection. And then it quickly turned into planning how to get them all fed, dressed, Canon a nap, Canon to eat again, get myself ready, the girls to not tear or stain their outfits before they got to church. It seemed like a much more crazy Sunday morning than usual...and Phillip even came home to help for 15 minutes so that I myself could get in the shower. Once we actually got to church Atley fell out of the stroller, and then wanted to sit where Canon was, and nothing was going as usual. If I am calm and relaxed, usually it really makes an impact on them and they themselves are calm and don't get too uptight. But not today. Church was wonderful, lunch with our family at the Brookes was wonderful, but somewhere along the way in my heart I lost the JOY of Easter! I'm already planning and thinking how next year can be different and how I need to spend some time actually PRAYING about the day instead of just planning out outfits and food to eat. It is all a learning process, but in my heart I want it ALL to be about the Lord and HIS glory and not about my children's cuteness and getting to church "all put together".

This was my first attempt at getting a picture of Atley in her dress. They really loved their dresses and didn't mind staying in them all day long. They love their shoes, and even loved their bracelets. (After we put them on, took them off, and put them on like 3x)

Avery in her dress smiling up at me. She has been a little sick lately with a cold. Canon finally got it yesterday, and as we were putting Atley to bed tonight I noticed she is definetly getting it too. What goes around comes around :)

The girls got to hunt for Easter Eggs and it was SO sweet to watch them. Phillip's mom had filled eggs full of organic treats for the girl which I really appreciated (thank you!) and Phillip and his brother's hid them in the Brooks' front yard. It was all for them and at first they didn't really know what to do, so after some prompting and showing, they started to get into it. They went everywhere together and would give each other eggs when there were two to get. They are very good at sharing and I was proud of the way they took care of each other.

Atley filling up her basket!

Avery had the greatest smile and laugh as she would see an egg and start running toward it.

sharing sharing

After their "nap" they were sorting through their goodies, all excited about what they got.
"Nap" refer to climbing out of their pack and plays twice and being found in Joe and Bab's bathtub playing with excersise balls! TWICE! They had gotten spanked and cried, and then instigated each other to climb out again! I'm thinking pack and play days are over for them!

Our first Easter with 3 kids!

Matt and Lauren, Josh and Julie, Papa and Mimi, and us :)

Aunt Lauren and Aunt Julie with sweet Canon

My sweet hubby and I

The cutest little boy on earth! He had little white Robeez on with yellow ducks, but Avery had already pulled them off at this point and tried them on all of her baby dolls.

HAPPY EASTER
JESUS IS RISEN
Praise you Lord for your Grace on me!

QUICK look back at March

2009-04-10T12:05:00.001-07:00

So we have about 75 or more pictures just from the month of March. Here are about 10 just to sum up the month.

Avery and Atley love brushing their teeth. The trick is getting them to only brush their teeth...and not the floor, table, baby doll, etc. :)

Sweet smile

Here is Canon playing with his feet...which looks a lot like his sister Atley playing with her feet when she was 7mths old. (Canon is only 5)

Phillip gave Canon his first "official" haircut with the 3 guard. He had some stray hairs that were going crazy....like his hair isn't crazy anyway!

Sweet boy at Nana and Pop's house sitting so big in the rocking chair.

Atley was pushing Canon and he loved it.

We went to Purina Farms last week for their Easter Celebration and it was so sweet for the girls to get to pet all the baby animals. They loved it, and Canon thought it was something new to look at, and as you guessed...I didn't NOT touch one animal:)

Sweet boy wearing tights! It was April here, Cardinals Opening Day, and COLD! So what do you do when your Cardinals gear is all short sleeved and shorts? Put on tights! The girls did the same thing with their new pink Cardinals outfits, but before I could get a picture of them they had orange highlighter and orange soup all over their new white shirts...ahh! yes, I was able to get it out:)

And how can I resist taking tons of pictures of my little man who is so adorable?! Here he is LOVING playing with his daddy's face.

Feels good to have my computer back. I'll be updating a lot more often now...I think:)

we are back

2009-04-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

We made it. We are home. Laundry is almost done, spring clothes are getting organized, computer is still in the shop.

Things I'll be posting about soon:

climbing out of cribs (not our own thank goodness!)

my amazing hubby

purina farms (we went today!)

3 babes in a tub

Pink Dallas Driving

2009-03-24T11:09:00.001-07:00

I am in Dallas.

Canon and I flew in on Thurday to attend Gateway Church's Pink Impact Conference. Miriam Webster and Kari Jobe led worship...WOW. and the speakers were amazing. Canon was the perfect little baby. He loved praise and worship and just about everybody commented on how cute he was!

Phillip is on his way here now. He is driving the ZOE 15 passenger van with Atley and Avery, Ashley and 5 high school students. They are going to the National Yough Leader's Conference here in Dallas this week. I can't wait for them to get here! I miss my girls and hubby!

Shelly

As long as your ears are warm

2009-03-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Aren't they just the most handsome boys!

I'm in LOVE!

This is an example of their PJ's lately...yes, she has shorts on over her PJ's, and duct tape with her name on it.

Getting ready to go to the Chiropractor, ZOO, and dinner for Mimi and Papa's 36th Wedding Anniversary. Big, long, fun day yesterday!

A new "water/sand" table from Mimi! It was so fun to play in today, even though the weather turned a little cold, and the water was cold, at least their ears were warm!

This was before they discovered it was really just fun to water the dead looking plants. They literally pored all of the water out onto the plants, and had so much fun.

My Hoosier looking clothes line?! We are working on making a new one :)

They play peek-a-boo any way they can. So cute.

Big Cedar, Chopped Hair, Duct tape

2009-03-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

Phillip and I were completely blessed last week to get to go to Big Cedar Lodge for two nights. Some friends from church could not go, so we got their cabin all to ourselves!! It was amazing, so nice, and wonderful to get away in such great weather.

The girls are reading their new BOZ books on the way down to Branson.

As soon as we got to our cabin the girls were off and running, exploring every new room and drawer.

Sweet Canon was content to just sit and watch them run around. He was SUCH a good baby the whole time. We took THREE pack and plays. The girl's got their own room, Canon slept in the main living/kitchen area, and Phillip and I had a really nice master suite. Perfect.

This is the Kitchen. They had a huge shower with 4 shower heads, and a whirlpool bathtub, both of which the girls spent hours in.

At Bass Pro down at The Landing, looking at fish.

Avery's hair curled up so cute! Must have been the humidity.

Avery petting the horses.

Atley petting the horse. They were so cute, waving and saying "hi" to the horses every time we drove by the stables. Such simple things make them so happy. I love it!

Swimming in the indoor pool. They don't look that happy but I promise they were having fun :)

First time in the pool for Canon!

One ready, one to go.

We had a great time!

Avery and Atley got hair cuts on Sunday and sweet Avery's doesn't look much different. But her curls sure are cute~!

Atley's hair before....

And after! We got it chopped.

She looks precious and her hair is much easier to manage now. What a cutie!

Lastly, we are having quite the time getting Avery to keep her clothes on in her bed at night. Many times we will go in to check on her and she is completely naked. Or she will cry in the night because she peed, and was naked, so we have to change her sheets, clothes, diaper and all. So...my sweet, smart husband duct taped her pj's on last night. He wrote her name on it and called it her name tag. Of course Atley wanted one too, so they went to bed with duct tape wrapped around them and woke up this morning completely clothed! Way to go honey, don't you just love duct tape?
and who spells duct tape, duck tape?....me:)

February in Pictures

2009-02-27T10:33:00.001-08:00

Holding hands in the car

Showing Canon how to roll over

Reading a book to Canon

Walking in Mommy's boots

Scaling the refrigerator - it's not that I purposefully take so many pictures of Avery. But she is our little one who is into EVERYTHING and always DOING something. Atley will play longer with an activity and also actually watches a movie. Avery is so funny and I can't help taking pictures of all the crazy, cute things she does.

I got a little creative this month, making shirts and pillowcases for my 3 little ones and my friend Leah's little boy who just turned one.

Already trying to push his weight around :)

Big girl Atley. She is jibbering up a storm lately. And...Phillip and I really thought she read the word "Daddy" the other day. Probably a fluke, but as her parents we went ahead and called her an early reader. :) ha!

Daddy and Canon in their blue and brown

Avery with her lamb and paci, which are constantly attached to her.

Avery can now (almost) wear a big girl pony tail. Doesn't she look so big?!

Can those blue eyes get any bigger? I love this little man.

And I stole an idea from my friend Beth and made these blessing rings for my 3, and little Noah as well.

See you in March!
-S-

Bye Bye Bumper Pads

2009-02-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Its about that time...already! He is only 4 months old and can scoot around on his little tummy (when he is really upset and crying) and land face first in the bumper pad. I guess they call it a bumper pad because it really pads against the hard, wooden rails of a crib. But that is all he'll be bumping his head into from now on. I was so sad to take them out. I never had this problem with the girls...things were SO different with them. I LOVE these bumper pads. My mom made them for the girls and I didn't have to fully take them out until they were almost 2!

We got them cleaned and ready for Canon's bed.

Sweet baby sleeping...this was about a month ago.

Today. So bare! Also these sheets are not quite as cute as the circles, but they are so much softer. (right Besty?)

Who blogs about bumper pads anyway? Not me!
S

love dare

2009-02-25T06:48:00.000-08:00

Hopefully most of you have seen the movie "Fireproof" by now, but if not, you MUST watch it! And then, after you watch it you should get the book, "The Love Dare" . It is a 40 day challenge for husbands and wives. Each day is 2-3 short pages of great advice, wisdom, and scripture, and then one dare a day. ex: day 10 dare "Do something out of the ordinary today for your spouse - something that proves (to you and to them) that your love is based on your choice and nothing else. Wash her car. Clean the kitchen. Buy his favorite dessert. Fold the laundry. Demonstrate love to them for the sheer joy of being their partner in marriage." Phillip and I are doing this at the same time, and taking up to 2-3 days to complete some dares. We are on day 18 and we started The Love Dare on Jan. 20. I love taking it slower because we get to savor the sweetness of it! If your husband is unwilling to do this with you, just secretly start doing the Love Dare on him! He'll notice a difference for sure, and you'll notice a difference in your attitude towards him. Every day that I read it I am convicted of yet another area where I need to move myself out of the way and let the Lord work in me. He is my only hope for change in myself. That is how to be a better wife, not by trying harder, but by letting the Lord take over. Here is another great excerpt from the inside cover, "Receive this as a warning. This forty day journey cannot be taken lightly. It is a challenging and often difficult process, but an incredibly fullfilling one. To take this dare requires a resolute mind and a steadfast determination. It is not meant to be sampled or briefly tested, and those who quit early will forfeit the greatest benefits. If you will commit to a day at a time for forty days, the results could change your life and your marriage. Consider it a dare, from others who have done it before you."

I dare you!
-S-

all by myself...

2009-02-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

Phillip is off to Dallas to stay with my parents...and I'm staying here! Pretty crazy.
But so exciting because he is going to the Gateway Pastor's Conference and I can't wait to hear all that he learns there. He is going with other friends and family and they will be home on Wednesday, so it is a short trip. And leave it up to me to give him my camera so that I can't upload ANY pictures while he is gone for my blog. We took some video today so he could show my parents when he gets there. But now all you'll get from me is writing and no cute pics. Sorry!
We are just going to lay low while P. is gone. Off to Chick-fil-a in the morning to play with Mimi (since her hubby -Phillip's dad) is gone too. Bible study on Tuesday, and before I know it, he'll be home:) We have done some updates in our basement (nothing big, but fun) and I've been up to some crafty fun lately as well. So pictures to come...as soon as I get my camera back:)
And, since I have no hubby or camera...be on the lookout for a post about my newest favorite book in the next two days.
i love it!
shelly

call me mckmama

2009-02-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

the other day I was reading "mckmama's" blog and got inspired do try some new activities with the girls. keep in mind that mckmamas boys are 3 and 4, or maybe 5? Anyway, mine just turned 2! So here is how it went...

"Yeah! Shaving cream on cookie sheets! Lets play! I'll show you how and then you can do it!"

"Avery, we don't eat the shaving cream...yucky." which resulted in tears and then she just followed me around the rest of the time, wanting nothing to do with the "yucky" shaving cream.

Atley was finally getting the hang of it and enjoyed getting her hands dirty. She just didn't realize that when she picked up her apple to eat it, it would taste like shaving cream too. She didn't care at all, and only when I said, "oh Atley, yucky shaving cream" did she then break down in tears like her sister. I should keep my mouth shut :)

After the fun we had to take off her shirt because it was a tad dirty....but here is her play station, otherwise known as the kitchen table where we eat all our meals, which now has a very clean smell to it!

Right after capturing the previous picture, I turned around to see Avery carrying the container that holds all the pee pee from her little potty! And...it was empty. That was bad sign. After surveying the hallway, I came to the bathroom and found pee splattered everywhere. I immediantely begin cleaning it up, and spraying my favorite all purpose cleaner (vinegar and water) everywhere, even on Avery's feet. By the time I had finished cleaning up that mess...I went back to the kitchen to find this one (above).

On to a new project. Glue! This turned out okay and next time I'll add more glue to the water because nothing was sticking very well. After the glue spilled over twice, I had had enough and we were through with this project. Again, they just turned two:)

On to playdough. Something we've been practicing for a few weeks now. They really like the playdough, but are not really creative enough to play by themselves with it as of yet. They use cookie cutters and are good at putting it back in the right containers. Someday, this will be a lot more fun.

On to the outdoors... It was semi nice that day so we all went outside to eat our snack. Even Canon came along time. He sat in his bouncy and watched his sisters pick up sticks. We are anxious for summer around here!

And since we are stuck inside most days the girls have resorted to playing with baby toys, sucking on their paci's and carrying around their lambies all day. I think there is a tiny bit of "regression" happening around here:)

We went to the doctor yesterday for the girls' two year check ups and Canon's 4 month check up. They all did great, healthy and right on track for growth. The girls are up to 27lbs and Canon is a healthy 15!! He holds it all in his super chubby legs, sweet boy.

What a Wedding!

2009-02-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

We had the best weekend in Dallas, enjoying wedding bells as my brother Danny got married to the sweetest, most beautiful Amber. Hopefully I'll have some actual pictures of the couple soon, but for now I only have a few that I took. We are so happy for you Danny and Amber! Be on the lookout for 3 funny things about Avery as you look at the pictures.

Canon after the rehearsal dinner. He was SO good the entire weekend and spent the whole time being held, or in the baby sling with me. At this point he was really tired.

oops! This is what happens when you leave two 2yr. olds alone for 5 minutes....

Aunt Angie and Canon

Isn't he just the cutest! Look at his little outfit for the wedding! He is drooling all over the place lately so he had to wear his sweet bib too :)

Atley getting her hair fixed. She looked like SUCH a big girl on the wedding day.

Avery was content as long as she had her "lamby" and enjoyed relaxing in the wagon.

My Uncle Tony was the only one the entire weekend that got a picture with all 4 grandkids!
It was so good to see you Griffins!

Brenley and Atley in the wagon

All three flower girls. They were practicing riding in the wagon. They were PRECIOUS and adorable, all three of them together!

Atley was running all over the sanctuary and having the time of her life after we took pictures.

Avery is again content with her "lamby" and waiting for everyone to take pictures

Family picture!

Daddy picture
Phillip officiated the wedding and did such a GREAT job! We were all so proud of him and he got a million compliments that night. He pointed everything back to the Lord, and showed how a marriage is a binding covenant with the Lord. Thanks for speaking Truth baby!

Phillip and the girls reading and playing before the wedding started.

Canon's first super bowl

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
Do you have any ideas about Avery yet?
Well...
#1. Her bottom is hanging out in the "books everywhere" picture. For some reason, those pants just didn't want to stay up!
#2. She always puts her lamb up to her nose and smells it.
#3. She was wearing her pearl bracelet on her ankle. She always wants to do that with bracelets for some reason :) Sweet girl!

Check my sister's blog for more pictures of the weekend... I know she'll post them soon.
We love you Danny and Amber and are so happy we got to be part of the big day!

Wedding Bells!

2009-01-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

We are off to Dallas for my brother's wedding! Phillip is officiating and the girl's are flower girls, along with their cutie cousin Brenley. I can't wait to take pictures and post them next week. We are so excited about this sweet new union as Danny and Amber join their lives together.

a day in the life

2009-01-25T20:11:00.001-08:00

Whats up

2009-01-21T11:06:00.001-08:00

My two handsome boys! Yes, Canon is asleep sucking his thumb. How great is that!

I walked around the corner the other day and this is what I found. Little bear bottom has mommy's tennis shoes on :)

Whatever Canon does, they want to do too.

Who says a baby sling is only for babies? I've found more uses for it with my two year old lately than my ALMOST three month old! They fight over who gets to get in it with mommy. I figure its a better workout for me, more time to snuggle with them, and also get some work done around the house with two hands...kind of.

My little baby is getting so big! He was looking all the way up at the TV, which is mounted above the fireplace. Pretty strong neck there Canon! His favorite three things right now: 1. the bouncy seat of Aunt Angie's 2. laying on the floor with his pants off 3. "talking" with mommy

That was then, this is now

2009-01-14T10:21:00.001-08:00

Pictures from old times and new...

9 Months Pregnant with Canon

Sweet baby boy is 2 1/2 months old

One year ago at Christmas:
Atley-------------------------------------------------------

Avery-------------------------------------------------

Happy First Birthday

Atley 1yr old

Atley 2yrs old

Avery 1yr old

Avery 2yrs old

Sorry that these pictures are sideways....I can't get blogger to turn them around.
Delta Delta Deltas Jr. Year

Roomies. This was the day I ran into Phillip again after 2 years of not seeing each other since Kamp.

Here we are 2009

Feb. 07 First chance to meet the twins!

Christmas when it was just the twins.

Senior year - Blondies with the same haircut for 4 years!

Newborns and one on the way! + my two at home who didn't make the picture this year!

Happy Birthday Take 3 / Christmas

2009-01-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

I promise not to go this long without blogging again. I've thought a million times what I'll write in my blog, or a funny story I'm sure to blog about...and then how many weeks have gone by and I am just now getting to blog. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with Phillip's family. Tons of presents, laughter and fun! Then we got up at 3am and drove to Dallas to spend Christmas with my family. It was 70 degrees when we got there, and we had a great celebration and spent lots of time outdoors while we were there. Here is a quick update in pictures of our past two+ weeks. Here are my sweet little ones opening stockings on Christmas Eve Morning. Christmas Eve at Phillip's parents house. I look like I'm going to fall over...they are so heavy now! The Hunter clan Just the girls Just the boys The next morning in the car. I had been planning for a week in preparation for this trip and Phillip have even hooked up a dvd for them. I spent a lot of time in the back, but it was fun and seemed to go by fast for me, maybe not for Phillip since he was driving the whole time:) We made it in just under 10 hours. Sweet Canon was all smiles that day! Happy Birthday to you Avery! Happy little two year old Atley! All the grandgirls playing with their new toys Atley and Avery in their sweet "A" shirts and tu tu's. Thanks Grammi and Aunt Lauren! They loved playing outside and going on "nature walks" with Nana on the walking path out back. They are into hugging each other lately. It is just the cutest thing!

The Ruth family

All the boys were going to play golf
Avery was really into her mittens that she got. Now that we are home she has been wearing socks on her hands instead.
All the girls. Amber will officially be a member of the family in just 17 days! We can't wait!
Sweet girls, hugging again!

While we were there we got to see Betsy's baby River who is only 12 days older than Canon. So fun and so cute!
Our other best friend Lauren is due in February with a little girl and we were able to go to her baby shower, which was such a blessing. I got to see other friends from college, Beth and Kristen, and it was such a sweet time.

Betsy, River, Lauren, Annalea, Me and Canon

Check out more Christmas pictures on my sister's blog.
More posting to come....

Happy Birthday...Take 2

2008-12-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

How cute is he! He wears this little bear snuggle outfit every time we go out. This one is a size 6mth....I think we'll have to get a bigger one before winter is over :)

Happy Birthday to the girls, for the second time! Phillip and I celebrated on Thursday morning and started some new traditions for the girls. These pictures are really out of order...

First of all, Avery peed in the potty! They were just practicing before they got in the bath, and this was their first time to sit on it without a diaper on. Avery's potty made a jingle noise, and sure enough she had peed! We were so proud of her. We are not potty training yet, just getting them familiar with it for now. Their birthday was all about pottys. Potty chairs, potty books...as you'll see below.

We bundled up and took all of our neighbors cookies. We wanted to say hi and merry Christmas before we hibernate for the winter. It is freezing here...it was 4 degrees this morning when we got out!

Birthday Banana Pancakes!

Atley and Avery opening their new books

Daddy is reading them their new books...I'm so glad they love to read!

Happy two year olds!

When they woke up they each had yarn tied to their cribs. They had to follow the yarn all over the house until it ended at their big present. Of course we had to show them how to do it this year, but each year it will get more fun.

Avery following her yarn

It ended at their big presents...new pottys!!

yeah!!

next post...Happy Birthday Take 3!
stay tuned

Happy Birthday...take 1

2008-12-15T10:34:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated the girl's birthday with Phillip's family, Joe and Babs, and Ashley. It was so sweet to see the girls interact more this year and be more excited about presents and cake. We missed you Lauren and Matt!

This is where I sat most of the afternoon :) I love my hooter hider :)

Sweet Atley

Avery and Atley playing with their new water color toys!

Uncle Josh and Canon staring at something....:)

Grammi helping Avery

Atley loves coloring

Avery reading the book she got Grammi for Grammi's birthday

They got Christian Barbies from Josh and Julie. Their names are Hannah and Sarah. The girls loved them! Especially Avery. Here she is kissing Hannah.

"Oh, Hannah! I think you're beautiful!"

She really likes her :)

"I'm stuffed!"

So silly, putting a bow on her head

"I think I'll do it too!"

Opening the bracelets Grammi made them. Mommy got one too!

"Hannah and Sarah, we love you!"

Eating Ice Cream Cake!

Daddy and Uncle Josh were helping them eat it.
See the bands on the girl's cups? They have their names on them. These were presents from Joe and Babs. How great to keep their cups separate now!

The girls with Grammi and Grandpa

Daddy and Mommy letting them taste the cake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN 10 DAYS AVERY AND ATLEY!!

December Days...

2008-12-12T14:47:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had Ashley come over to take our Christmas picture with her nice camera. Here are some shots from the day...

Atley getting ready for the pictures

One of our family shots

Atley getting some kisses from Lilly

All 3. At least Canon is not crying, he actually fell asleep sitting there!

My sweet babies

Here is Avery in her new coat from Ashley...so cute!

Me and my handsome little man

The girls in some other really cute new coats from a sweet ZOE family (thanks Paluzzi's!)

7 weeks old!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree!

This is our new game. I clap his hands together and he smiles at me. He is even laughing and coo'ing. I love it!

Here are the girls opening their new coats.

All smiles!!
He went to the dr. at 6 weeks and weighed 12.12lbs! 94% for weight!
We have been to SO many doctors in the past 2 weeks. My OB, Canon's Dr., the Dermatologist, and 5 times to the Chiropractor. Canon has been pretty colicky and we have been getting him adjusted twice a week. It has helped significantly and we are so thankful to Dr. Suiter! It's amazing what an adjustment can do. He is so much happier, sleeps better, and is overall less cranky in the late evenings (what a blessing!). We also got some colic calm, check it out!

Off to wrap some Christmas presents!
Merry Christmas to all, a little early...
Shelly

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T17:42:00.001-08:00

Usually for Thanksgiving we go to Florida with Phillip's family and spend a week at the beach, reading, relaxing, playing games and having a great time. But this year we didn't think it would be as fun to make the trip with a newborn so we decided to stay here. My family was so sweet to drive and fly all the way up to spend Thanksgiving with us and cram into our house...all 8 adults, 4 babies, and 3 little white dogs. We had a great time. Here are some highlights:
1. Trying to get all 4 grandchildren in a picture with Nana and Pops
2. Phillip borrowed the ZOE house's fancy new cofee maker and made us lattes, mochas, and yummy drinks each night
3. The 3 grandgirls getting all bundled up and going on a freezing walk with Nan and Pops
4. Going to the park and running, climbing, and mostly sliding!
5. Dressing all the girls alike
6. Canon getting his first bath in the tub, instead of the sink :)
7. Eating Thanksgiving meal ALL together
8. The girls (plus Brenley, even though she's not in the pictures) painting with pudding in the bathtub
9. After everyone left on Sunday the girls and I started feeling a little sick...and so did other members of my family. The next day they had fevers and all the yuck so they were laying on the couch with cold rags on their heads, blankets, pacis, water and their only tv show they watch on...Lazytown.
Here are all the pictures of our great weekend~ Thanks again mom, dad, Angie, Al, Brenley, Danny and Amber for coming all the way here! We love you!

Also, check out our newest family dance!

One month

2008-11-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

Canon is now one month old and the girls are one month away from turning two! It will seem crazy to have two 2 year olds. Even though I have another baby, time has gone by way too fast and they are growing up too fast. Here are some recent pictures from our last week.

Canon snoozing away....

Avery, Canon, Noah, Atley
Sweet Leah got the girls their sweaters when they were born and then got Canon one too. Canon and Noah's have their birth order on the front (01, 03) and Hunter and Schuster on the back. It is so cute. They all wore them to church on Sunday and didn't even plan it!

Atley getting tired
I just loved their outfits on Sunday. Daddy was preaching and we were so excited and wanted to dress extra cute. So I squeezed them into their boots that are from last year and bribed Avery with food to keep her bow in. Phillip did a GREAT job and we were so proud of him. But of course I knew he would do great :)
One of these days we will get a picture of all three where Canon is not screaming....
Sweet baby, I just LOVE him!
Merry Christmas early! We decorated for Christmas last Thursday and all dressed up in Red and played Christmas music. It is our favorite holiday, and of course the girl's birthday, so it is extra fun to anticipate it.
Canon is wearing Phillip's outfit from when he was a newborn. It is so cute and just barely fit Canon, but we were so glad we got a picture of him in it!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and goodbye to all, from the little monkey...

Brenley is One!

2008-11-17T18:19:00.001-08:00

My sweet little niece turned One Year Old on Sunday. Click here to see some cute pictures of her!

my 3 under 2

2008-11-15T08:25:00.001-08:00

Just as I predicted, Avery is in love with Canon. Of course Atley likes him as well, but doesn't try to meet his needs and want to hold him like Avery does. Even as I am typing (with one hand since I'm feeding Canon at the same time) Avery has her favorite baby doll and has put her in the bouncy seat and swing, wrapped her up in Canon's baby blanket, and now is wrapping her beanie monkey up in the blanket as well. She has always been such a little mother. There have already been multiple times that Canon has cried and Avery has run over to him, or gotten up on the bed to peek into his pack n play, and tried to put his paci back in for him. I'm trying to be relaxed about this since Avery has also had a snotty cold and I'm sure has dirty hands.... I guess Canon will have some good immunity!

Avery loving her brother

Both girls holding (or squishing) Canon

They were kissing him

Atley with Canon. Don't worry, he wasn't screaming, he was actually yawning!

Let's tickle him!

Atley is leaving and Avery is going to pick him up...or just let him fall into the corner of the chair.

I love him!

Baby Shower

2008-11-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago I had a super sweet baby shower up at the ZOE house. I was so blessed by so many with gifts and sweet blessings written for Canon. Phillip and I have received so much from so many people are truly our "cup is overflowing!" Thank you to those that came and helped and watched as I frantically opened SO many gifts. I had two (well 3 really) baby showers with the girls. One in Dallas, and one here. But I was in the hospital so I didn't get to go to either. So they had a mini one up at the hospital for me there, which was so sweet. So this was fun to actually be AT my baby shower this time, and get to bring along a healthy 9lb baby boy! We are so happy little Canon arrived on his DUE DATE, healthy and with no problems. What a blessing! Here are some more pictures from the shower.

Julie and I

My favorite, M&M's! Of course they were blue and brown to match the theme!

My mom with Canon, sleeping! He slept the entire time and then wanted to eat as soon as I finished. I used my "hooter hider", which my wonderful sister made for me, and everyone went on and on about how great that thing is....and it is!

My mother in love reading a few scriptures and doing a sweet job of affirming me in front of everyone. It was so sweet!

They are all asleep....

2008-11-12T17:51:00.001-08:00

I'm taking this moment to update my blog with some new random pictures of our past week. I know it is really common to take a million pictures of your firstborn and not so many of your second, or third children. Well...that is already happening. I'm really trying sweet Canon, I am!

Here is Canon's hair. I barely comb it up after washing it, and it stays like this for days! I don't put anything in it either. It's like grass growing right off the top of his head :)

On Sunday we went to church for the first time, and also to a wedding. Canon did great and was so cute in his little outfit, which we borrowed from Noah.

Yes, his hair is almost blonde when it is washed! We went to Columbia on Saturday for the Mizzou game. Noone went to the game because it was freezing, so we all stayed at the Willetts (our dear friends/semi-parents) and again, Canon did great all day! Here he is in his Tigers outfit sleeping with daddy before the big car ride.

Avery and Atley are still really into books these days. They are reading to themselves lately and babble words as they flip the pages, its so cute.

The girls are playing with Lilly. Avery has also started going up to Lilly and giving her hugs.

Canon went with us last week to vote. He wore this onsie in hopes to sway some voters by his cuteness :)

I had a baby shower last week and got TONS of great stuff! Here I am about to go through it all at home and organize it! My favorite thing...:)

Aunt Lauren holding Canon for the first time at the baby shower. :)
That is all for now. Have a great Wednesday!
Shelly

we are making it

2008-11-07T20:01:00.001-08:00

my mom left tuesday and i've had a couple of days now on my "own" with my many small children. Today was actually my first day all by myself since Wednesday my mother in law comes over to help at dinner/bath/bed time and Thursday mornings are Phillip's mornings off. So other than Avery spilling hot tea on herself and both girls having major poopies at the same time as Canon, and Canon going through FOUR outfits because he's peeing out of his newborn diapers (too small)...we had a relatively great day. Phillip came home for dinner and then went back to ZOE for the night so it is still just me here with my little ones. Canon is due for a feeding any minute and then I'm off to bed as quick as I can. Just like clockwork...he's crying and so is Avery!! I'm off! Until later....Shelly

New Pictures

2008-10-29T10:52:00.001-07:00

Canon is doing great! He is becoming a great sleeper, and has always been a great eater. Nursing is going well and this is a huge answer to prayer. He is adjusting quite well to our little family. The girls are having fun with Nana here and it has been a HUGE help for me. They like to look at Canon and take his things, but that is about it for now. Here are some recent pictures from this past week.

Atley and Avery about to go on a walk with Nana. They are collecting pine cones for our Christmas decorations.

Cool Cat Atley

Phillip promised the girls a bubble bath the other night. Once the bubbles were in the tub, they didn't want anything to do with them. They scooted to the end of the tub and were trying to wipe away the bubbles. Needless to say, he drained the whole tub and started over, NO bubbles this time :)

Here is Canon in the hospital, about to get his clothes on to come home! Our discharge went really easy that day because I had all my papers signed and ready by 5am. I don't think I slept at all in the hospital with my nurse, the baby's nurse, the PCA, the Pediatrician, the Anesthesiologist, my OB, and just about anyone else constantly checking on me and charting my every up and down. So what else do you do at 5am? Why not work on getting out of the hospital a day early?

There is nothing like college football in a hospital room :)

Nana and Atley, Grammie and Avery.

Yeah! Let's go home! Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks!

Sleeping in his "burrito" as Leah calls it :)

This was his second outfit on this day. I had some preemie diapers left over from the girls and thought I would try to use them up. Well, after 5 minutes in it his clothes were soaking wet! He's moving on to size 1!

Mommy and Canon

Daddy and Canon

His first Mohawk!
The end. Love to all!

Canon is Huge!

2008-10-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone. Well the past 16 hours have been long and exciting. Everything Angie said is true. Shelly worked so hard. She was dilated to a 3 when we got to the hospital at 1:00am and by 3:00am she was already at a 9. Shelly so wanted to do this without a epidural but was so tired and in so much pain that we decided to take it. And I am so glad we did. She pushed for 3 hours and was having contractions every 1 to 2 minutes. After three hours of hard work, they told Shelly what she didn't want to hear. They began to prep her for a c-section. She was exhausted and frustrated but was still amazing. I was so impressed with Shelly and she really was incredible and gave it all she had. They took her in and the surgery went great. Afterwards, Shelly was sewn up and allowed to spend some time with Canon. Canon latched right on to Shelly and the nursing is going great so far. Keep praying for Shelly in this because we really want this to go well. Please also be praying for Shelly's healing. She is pretty beat up from 3 hard hours of pushing and having her stomach cut back open.

I think the doctors said he was the best looking baby they have ever seen in the history of the hospital. Here are a few of the first pictures.

I was trying to get Shelly fired up of what might be happening when she would have to start pushing.

Canon is a big boy. This is him being weighed at 9lbs. 3ounces.

This is our first family picture with Canon. Mommy couldn't really strike a pose because they were still sewing her together on the other side of the sheet.

Canon with Grandpa and Grammie Hunter
Canon with Pops and Nana Ruth
Canon checking the room out while he is with his mommy.
The girls were so excited to see Shelly. They couldn't quite understand why mommy was laying in the hospital bed but they just wanted to be with her and love on her.

Canon Phillip Hunter is Here!!!

2008-10-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Canon Phillip Hunter was born at 9:13am, this Morning, October 23rd, on his due date! He weighs 9lb 3oz and has brown curly hair, he was 21 inches long, and his head was 13 and 1/4 inch. He's absolutely perfect! Praise the Lord!

Shelly's water broke at midnight last night and her labor progressed quickly after that. She began pushing and seemed to push for a long time before her doctor came in and found that Canon was transverse, his head was turned and blocking his exit. The doctor thinks that since Shelly progressed so quickly, that he just moved down so fast and got stuck. They tried to move his head, but he wasn't going to move, so the doctor decided that a c-section would be best. Shelly is doing great now, she's just really tired. She and Phillip have both been up for at least 36 hours. When I talked to her Canon was napping on Phillip's chest and Shelly was about to take a long awaited nap!

We praise the Lord for a healthy baby boy!!! Phillip will send pictures later this evening, so check back tonight or tomorrow to see pictures of Canon Phillip Hunter :)

(This was updated by Angie, Shelly's sister. They wanted you guys to know their exciting news!!!)

No baby yet...but soon!

2008-10-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor today and I am 3-4cm dilated, but nothing else has really changed, so she seemed pretty confident about me coming in on Friday. I will go in early Friday morning and we are praying that after they break my water things will progress fairly quickly. Please be praying for us on Friday, and for Canon's safe arrival! I will try to have Phillip, or even possibly my sister, update my blog to keep you all in the know. Thank you again for all your prayers and support these past 8 months as we've had lots of ups and downs. We are SO excited to meet this little man finally!

Happy Early Birthday Atley and Avery! My parents bought this for the girls for their birthday and we have been waiting to put it up until Canon arrives. Since we know he is coming this week, Phillip put it up last weekend and the girls have had a BLAST playing on it. It's quite a big addition to our basement, but actually fits perfectly and still leaves them some room to run around. Thanks Nana and Pops!

Here is my most recent Pregnancy picture. 39 wks 5 days! I have THREE shirts that still fit! wow...it's about time to have this baby!

Yesterday I was once again in my "nesting" phase and was going through all of the girls summer clothes and replacing them with their new Winter clothes and rearranging their closet, etc. I heard them in the kitchen but figured there was nothing they could get into and just kept working and thinking I'd go in there in JUST a minute more.... Well, I guess I forgot to put the lock on the trash door and this is what I found....
If you look closely, you'll see that Atley is putting a chip with 2 day old meat on it, in her mouth and holding Jet Dry. Avery was actually the one who took all of this out of the trash and was giving it to her sister. She had just thrown down the egg shells she had put in her mouth. It was totally my fault, but they do know better than to get into the trash. I had to take a picture really quick and then they both got spankings :)

Thank you again for your prayers for Friday!

He's coming soon!

2008-10-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the doctor and I was 3cm dilated. I will go back next Tuesday to get checked again and then if I haven't gone into labor by that Friday, the 24th, I will get to be "pseudo" induced. I really had to talk my Dr. into doing this, and thank goodness she was willing :) I will go into the hospital that Friday to be admitted and they will break my water and then see if labor progresses on its own. If for some reason I do not progress, I will have a C-section some time that day. And, if labor progresses I'll get to have a vaginal delivery that day! So either way, we'll get to meet little Canon in the next 10 days! We are still hoping I go into labor on my own this week. We'll keep you all updated!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2008-10-14T17:55:00.001-07:00

On Thursday, October 9th, Phillip turned 33 years old. It was a perfect day because Thursdays are his semi day off. I made him waffles and eggs and the girls gave him their presents.

Here are Avery and Atley giving Daddy his ZOO puzzle.

They also gave him a "Daddy and Me" book by Karen Katz....their favorite author.

We then went to the Zoo, and it was a PERFECT day. Great weather and not crowded at all. The girls had a great time seeing all the different animals and were so fun! Here they are with the giraffe's.

Avery, Daddy and Atley with a Rhino....hiding behind Atley's head.

This was my favorite part! They have Hippos swimming underwater and they come right up to the glass. The girls loved it....at first. And of course once one of them gets scared, the other gets scared too. You can see Avery watching the super close Hippo, and if you look closely you'll see Atley's body in the right side of the stroller. She was hiding her face to the side...staring intently into her stroller, like if she just doesn't look, it will go away :) so cute!

All 3 of the Hippos came up at one time right by me! Then two started playing/fighting and this really scared Avery. But it was so fun!

On Saturday we all dressed up in our MIZZOU best (Phillip changed later because he was actually going to the game, while the girls and I stayed home). It was (as always) so hard to get them both to smile for the camera...so here are our best efforts. Don't they look so big and toddlerish in their outfits?!

Me and my 3 kids....well kind of. The dot on my stomach is from them kissing Canon...so sweet :)

Atley hugging Avery

Atley

Avery

Since Phillip was at the game in Columbia, we had a "girls night" and they took their first bubble bath, in our bathtub. They were really studying the bubbles and not too sure about them at first. In fact, when I put Avery in the tub she started screaming. So she sat to the side while Atley got in and played first.

Here Avery is wathching from the side.

And she finally got in :)

around the house

2008-10-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

A sweet friend gave me these the other day...aren't they cute!

Today Avery got into the kleenex box while she was supposed to be sleeping....needless to say ALL the klennex's were out of the box and her lamb was stuffed down in there :)

This is the "room" my mom, Phillip and I made in the unfinished part of our basement. The walls are curtains and there is plenty of space for visitors. My mom is making curtains for those windows as well. We love our new little "guest suite".
Phillip and Atley asleep on the new chair. Atley had gotten her leg stuck in the railing of her crib and it was really hard to get it out...so after that big ordeal she got to take her nap in her daddies arms.
ALL the candy we got at the homecoming parade last week. We are taking it to the Fall Festival at church for Halloween because we have SO much! Maybe it is because Phillip had a poster board with a target drawn on it and a trash bag attached to the back. The poster read "Throw Candy Here!" and the kids went crazy trying to make it in the hole. :)
This is our living room "revised"! We got a new rug because we put the old one in the basement guest room, and then got a new chair and ottomon last weekend. We love our new space!

The play house finally got moved. We put it in the girl's room and they love having another place to go play.

It may be a little crowded, but they are little people. They think it is great!

That's all for now. Phillip's birthday is tomorrow and we are going to the Zoo!~
Happy Wednesday!
Shelly

Grant's Farm

2008-10-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Grant's Farm with the girls and had a great time! We are trying to do as many things as possible before Canon gets here, and since we didn't get to go many places this summer with me on the couch, we are trying to make up for it. It was a great experience and the girls had a good time, despite being 21 months old and a little too young for most of the fun. They did enjoy the tram ride that takes you to and from the animals, and would really LOOK at all the animals with great detail and even clap for some of them.

Here is Avery and Daddy looking at the Clydesdale horses. Avery really liked this one and I ALMOST caught her smiling (a hard thing to do on Camera these days...)

Avery and Atley in their stroller. Atley wore these beads all day. She got them yesterday at the homecoming parade and once she has her "toy" for the day, she doesn't let it go.

At one point Phillip even said, "we need to put a gate around you, the way people are staring" we just laughed, because literally everyone was staring at us. Ok, mainly me and my BIG belly walking around with twins. I wouldn't have worn such a tight fitting shirt, but it is one of like 4 shirts that actually are long enough to cover me right now! I haven't bought one maternity top or bottoms this entire pregnancy. I've graciously had 3 different people lend me clothes, and now that I only have max 3 weeks left, I'm not going to go buy any now :)

You can buy milk bottles for $1 and go in and feed the goats, but we just decided to watch this year. The goats were trying to eat Phillip's shorts through the gate :)

Here we are by the Clydesdales again. Atley liked them at first but then the horse got a little too close for comfort and she clung to me the entire time after that.

I didn't even have to hold her. She was holding on so tight, and basically sitting on my belly...it was hilarious. I did have to hold her really tight after we took this picture just so she would know I wasn't going to let the horsie get her :)

Here is Avery sitting like such a big girl, watching the Animal Show. The show was 20 minutes, and we got there 15 min. early. The girls were GREAT and I was surprised at their attention span for something intended for much older kids.

Atley clapped after every animal "performance"
Do you remember the "rodents of unusual size" from the movie Princess Bride? Well, they actually had them here! These really are the largest rodents in the world. So gross! They were just sleeping in piles of mud!

Daddy and his girls, leaving the unusually large rodents.

The girls were so good in their stroller. We didn't even have to strap them in. They would lean forward to see the animals, but would never climb out, or even ask to get out.

After Grant's Farm we went to a furniture store and bought a new chair for our living room. We then came home and rearranged some furniture/play house/the girl's room. I'll take pictures of that soon. This morning I went to a Cotton Babies sale with my friend Leah, then of course to Grant's Farm, the furniture store, Silky's for Ice Cream, and home to rearrange, we also went to a birthday party for our God Daughter, Kaily, who is turning 14! Now Phillip is in the basement with a bunch of boys watching the Mizzou vs. Nebraska game on the big screen. At least he went and got me a Starbucks before the game started so that I could leisurely relax upstairs after a very fun and active day.

37 weeks = full term!

2008-10-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

I never would have thought I'd get to 37 weeks, but here I am! And....I'm not even any more dilated this week! How crazy that I layed around ALL summer (really for 4 months!) trying NOT to have this baby, and now here I am trying to walk a lot, carry the girls, bend over, pick up toys, and do all the straining things I can to make this baby come out! I still have 3 weeks until they will do a C-Section, so we are still praying I'll go into labor on my own before then.

This morning Avery really wanted her bear to eat in her high chair. I had to lower it and she put her bear in there, and I got her a bowl and spoon and she started feeding it. She is such a little mommy. Just tonight I was putting the girls to bed and Atley was crying while I was changing her. I asked Avery to get Atley's lamb and paci for her and she went about doing just that. She couldn't get her paci out of Atley's crib, so she went over to the changing table where I keep them and grabbed another one for her. She put it in Atley's mouth and waved the lamb in her face, as to say "here's your lamb Atley!" and then gave her the lamb. She is such a little helper for me already, and I'm sure she will blossom even more once Canon is born. It is so sweet to see their personalities forming!

slow fade

2008-10-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Have you see the movie Fireproof yet? Well, you should if you haven't. Also, check out this music video from Casting Crowns. It is a song called "Slow Fade" and was featured in the movie. Again, it is so relevant to the struggles marriages are up against these days.
Have a great Wednesday!