Trick or Treat!

Hunter's first birthday present from Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jayme! As always they went above and beyond.

Happy Halloween!
Trick-or-Treating with Aunt Jayme. I think she is going to give Hunter a trick instead of a treat :)


Mackenzie dressed up as a cute baby!

The "PS man" (as Hunter says it).

His costume was a hit. I think he was the only UPS man in the neighborhood that evening.

The UPS man strikes again! The story behind the costume: Aunt Wendy works for UPS. When Hunter was 1 Aunt Wendy gave Hunter a UPS costume. He has worn it every Halloween since. This year it fit perfectly! He even wore it to the Fall Festival at school. I was worried that he would look around at all of the superheroes in his class and then look at his costume and be wishing he was something else. However, he came home from school that day and said that he loved being the "PS man" and didn't want to be Spiderman or any of the other characters.

This year, we visited Kevin and Jayme's new neighborhood. The UPS man was a hit. We went Trick-or-Treating until his bucket was full. Then we went back to Kevin and Jayme's and helped handing out the rest of there candy. Hunter enjoyed giving the candy away more than receiving it. Mackenzie did really well. She enjoyed the evening stroll and I consumed a few pieces of candy for her ;)

Carving Our Jack'O'Lantern

Opening up our pumpkin was interesting. All kinds of "yucky" stuff to discover.

Hunter was brave in sticking his hand in, but as you can see below, he wasn't expecting the gooy-ness he put his hands in.

He wanted to wash his hands off immediately.

The finished product.

I never knew that carving a pumpkin could be so fun, but at the same time so challenging. I didn't do anthing too special, but we had fun. Hunter lost interest after a few minutes and I finished it off. We enjoyed him for a few days and then had to do the annual pumpkin toss in the back yard. Happy Halloween!!!

Hunter's 1st Field Trip

Mrs. Betty's Red Shirt class
I love their posing for pictures.

Holding hands as they go.

Hunter showing me how to walk in the hallway with bubbles in their mouths and hands on their hips. (The bubbles are so they won't talk, and the hands on their hips are so they keep their hands from wandering.)

Hunter and a friend showing me their class pumpkin.

Hunter's pumpkin all dressed up.

Hunter had his first field trip. I was able to go with him. It was perfect timing, my last Friday off. The field trip was to the local pumpkin patch, which happened to be right next door to his school. He was so excited that I was there to go with him. We walked together with his class over to the pumpkin patch. On our way we saw Ed, the black snake that hangs around the school, and an ant village. The kids were so cute picking out their pumpkins. I had a blast.

Just Some Candid Moments

@ Zookies with the Burke's

Hunter is on-call with the Naples Fire Department

Hat, belt, ax, and all.

Not much to put on this blog other than we are enjoying being a family of four.

Mackenzie's 1st Day @ Eagle's Nest

Mackenzie started school on the Monday before I went back to work. I thought I would be a mess, but I did well. (Little did I know that the "mess" would come later.) Adam and I took advantage of having both kiddos at Eagle's Nest and spent my last Monday off together. We had a day date. We didn't do anything too spectacular, but it was REALLY nice for us to have some time together.

Uncle Donnie, Aunt Martha, and Briley Come to Visit

The Cooper Family

Daddy's little girl

Hanging out with Daddy while enjoying the view.

The new truck!!! Hunter's old truck finally fell apart. Adam found one exactly like it and hunter was happy it was replaced. I don't know what we would have done without THE truck.

Hunter, Adam, and Uncle Donnie playing a little Frisbee.

Riding in the back with mom!

Briley and Mackenzie hanging out together. They really could be brother and sister.

Neither one look happy, but aren't they cute?!?!?!

Donnie, Martha, and Briley stopped in for a quick visit on their way to the Keys for Donnie's sister's wedding. We love having family down. As always, we took advantage of having family down. We went to the beach, out to eat, and grilled out. Living in Florida is fun, but it is even better when we have visitors make us stop our daily lives to enjoy the Floridian life. Martha and I enjoyed sharing our babies with each other. Hunter loved having them here. After they left, Hunter asked for days where they were and when they were coming back. Hopefully they will come back soon!

It is possible to fit 2 carseats in the back.

Emma and Andrew's Birthday Party

Haley and Dominique getting their "baby fix".

Hunter and the ol' gals (Haley and Emily).

Hunter's 1st horse ride by himself. He had one several years ago at the County Fair, but I was by his side.

Hunter enjoyed feeding the horse.

Hunter and his friends hangin' out.

BFF's! Aren't they cute?!?!?!

This past weekend we attended the Lussier twin's birthday. Emma and Andrew have turned 2!!! They are such a blessing to celebrate. Hunter was excited about seeing the horses and hanging out with his friends. When we arrived, he played the "shy card" for a few moments. Once he saw Haley, they were off. I continually asked him if he wanted to ride the horse. He said "No" several times. I decided to leave the issue alone. After about an hour of visiting and showing Mackenzie off, I felt a tug on my shirt. Hunter had decided that he wanted to check the horses out. We went out and fed them first. After a few minutes of observation, he decided that he did want to ride. I was a little skeptical on how he would react once on the horse. "Would he want me to ride with him?" "Would he change his mind?" "Would crying be involved?" Those were just a few questions on my mind. The lady put him up on the horse and off they went. He didn't hesitate or cry. It amazes me that just a few short months ago he was hesitant to do anything and now he wants to do everything. How he is growing up so fast. We had a blast celebrating Emma and Andrew's birthday. In fact, after we left Hunter wanted to know when we were going to go back. Happy Birthday Emma and Andrew!!! You are sweet blessings on this earth.

Picking Our Pumpkins

Mackenzie picking out her first pumpkin.
Hunter telling which one he wants.

Getting ready to load the car.

This afternoon we went to the "Pumpkin Patch" that we have gone to for years. (I put quotations around it due to it not really being a true pumpkin patch.) Last year, living in Virginia, Hunter was able to have the real Pumpkin Patch experience. I LOVE living in Florida, but I think there are going to be a few things I miss about the season. Changing of the leaves, crisp fall air, hay rides, wanting to bundle up, and pulling on the warm comfy clothes after a long day are just a few. Again, I LOVE the Florida life and would only want about a week of the true season of Autum. For now, our "Pumpkin Patch" will have to do. We did walk away with several really good picks.

Meeting Daddy's Friends

Hangin' with the fellas
Shawn, Amy, and little Lexi Floyd

Shawn smiles as Mackenzie screams for her dinner.

Kelly and Crystal Wells

We couldn't leave Nashville and not see the Wells and Floyd family. Both Shawn and Kelly were in our wedding 7 years ago. It seems just like yesterday they were posing with us in tuxedos. Now here we are posing with new little blessings. Life seems to fly by. We enjoyed our short visit. Kelly and Crystal have just finished the renovation from the flood. They had about 4 feet of standing water in their house after the flood in April. The house looked great and looked like nothing had ever happened. Adam was proud to show his newest addition off.

Our Little Scare

Mackenzie gave us a little scare this week. She woke up Tuesday morning, 2:30am, with a temperature of 102.7. I quickly got her in the bathtub and brought her temperature down to 101.7 before putting her in the car seat and rushing to the ER. Because of the time of night and Hunter being fast asleep, I made the drive on my own while Adam stayed at home. I drove with the light on in the car and continually watching her. I tried to keep the speedometer no more than 10 miles over the speed limit, but it was hard. There were many prayers being said during that drive. She slept the whole way. Once we arrived, they immediately gave her Tylenol and began running tests. The toughest part was having to hear her cry while they tried to do a spinal tap. I cringed as they were putting in her IV and took blood. We were admitted and kept a fever most of Tuesday. The good news was that her white blood cell count stayed at a good number during the whole hospital stay. Wednesday morning she had a small temperature at 5, but after she was given Tylenol it did not return. The blood cultures and urine cultures came back negative. Wednesday afternoon she broke out in a rash. She had caught the virus from Hunter that he had while we were in Tennessee. After the rash appeared, my blood pressure began to return to normal. We were able to go home on Thursday afternoon. Hopefully, that is the last time we will go to the ER with her for a LONG TIME.