camera love

Had a mini-photo shoot with my favorite subject today! :) Here is a pic. I only have time to post the one right now. It is 10:30 and I need to feed the little guy and put him to bed. But I couldn't go to bed without posting this picture. It is too cute for words:

D5000

So breaking my camera has turned out to be an awesome thing. Thanks to both of Hunter's grandparent's generosity, and our savings account, I am now the owner of a digital SLR camera. I never thought I would own a camera this nice! Josh and I did tons of research and debated. We finally settled on a new Nikon SLR that not only takes photos at 4 fps, has 12 megapixles, and has a battery life of 510 photos... it also takes VIDEO. Yep, I have the world's most awesome camera.

Here is the very first picture taken on our new camera. It is of us in the photo shop:


We bought it and drove immediately to the ocean.


We were so excited about how awesome the photos were turning out. But Hunter wasn't sure he shared in our excitement.


He did calm down and look how awesome this turned out. I mean don't you just feel like you are there with him? Like you can touch him through your computer screen? AMAZING!


Here are some more pics:






Look, you can even see Hunter's bubbles. He loves to blow bubbles:


Thank you Grandma Frances and Grandma LaVonne! :) We promise to take lots of pictures of Hunter!

pounds and ounces

I am experiencing something new right now.

I am actually waiting for Hunter to wake up. He woke up at 7 a.m. and I changed him and fed him, but as per his new "usual" he fell asleep right after eating. I am working today, so I proceeded to get ready. I have the diaper bag ready, my car full of swings and toys for Hunter, and I have had breakfast. This has NEVER happened before.

I am going to let him sleep a few more min, hopefully while I have time to write this post...

I decided yesterday that I am obsessed with knowing Hunter's weight. I went to get him weighed again yesterday. I am fascinated by how his little body grows and changes everyday. Here are the results:

At 10 weeks and 4 days, Hunter weighs:
14 lbs and 5 oz!

That is almost a pound gained in 2 weeks. Can you imagine if that was our growth rate for the rest of our lives? Yikes!

I am very proud of my giant baby who grows so fast.

He is doing better with his gas. Yesterday we had a little bit of fussing mid-day, but he must have felt better because he was a little joy last night! I took him to a mommy and me group last night where women who had recently given birth talked about their experiences. Hunter did great! It was so nice to be out of the house and around other moms.

I think I hear him now. Waited on him for 10 min...

Verdict: gas

Today was rough.

Hunter slept well last night, but woke up so fussy. He was crying so hard all morning. Every time I tried to put him down he would cry soooo hard. Usually, he is very pleasant and okay with being set in his swing or on his boppy to watch me, but today, the second I put him down he would scream.

I thought he was just fussy. Nothing I did helped! I learned something from my wise cousin today.

Yes, we had an extra special treat tonight! Time with family! My dad's cousin, Margaret, and her husband, Adam, and their children, Lily and Wyatt, came over for dinner! They live in DC and came to the Beach for vacation. It was sooo fun to see them. I loved introducing Hunter to more family!

Hunter was asleep when they got here. When he woke up, he very quickly became fussy again. Margaret to the rescue! :) She knew how to hold him to help his little tummy. Turns out he had a TON of gas. Poor guy. She held him with pressure on his belly and walked around with him. He didn't cry and he was able to get rid of a lot of gas. He has felt so much better ever since then!

I am so thankful for Margaret's help and advice. And it was so wonderful to be around family. Once again, I have no photos. But Margaret took some, so I will add them when I get them! :)

STTN

I have been hesitant to use that long-awaited phrase...maybe because I thought it was too good to be true... but I think it is official now.

Hunter sleeps through the night!

Last night he ate at 9:40 p.m. We talked to him a little bit afterward but he fell asleep pretty quickly. And we didn't hear from him again until 6:25 this morning. WOW! Isn't that impressive?? Little guy understands day and night. I am on the road to no more dark circles under my eyes! :)

Monday, August 10 was the first night that he slept all night long. I was sooo tired and I was literally shocked when I woke up and saw the clock. I woke up maybe 30 minutes before he did. I really didn't know what to do with myself. I was awake, not exhausted, and Hunter didn't need me yet... first time that had happened!

The next night he didn't sleep very well, because that was the night our air conditioning went out. We were so blessed to have friend's that invited us to come stay with them. Because of the 10 p.m. move from one house to another, his sleep was interrupted.

But since that night, he has gone 8 hrs, 7 hrs, 7 hrs, 8 hrs 15 min, 6 hrs, 7 hrs, 8 hrs, 7 hrs, and then last night's fabulous 8 and a half hours. I think it safe to say Hunter is sleeping through the night.

When we first brought him home, this milestone seemed unachievable. But looking back, it hasn't been that bad. Though I have been very tired, waking up to take care of him is a wonderful reason to wake up-- even at 3 a.m. This reminds me of a quote my friend Courtney always says, "No season has all the joys." Even though the past 2 and half months have not had the joy of sleep, they have been marked with many, many other joys. Like cuddles at the 3 a.m. feeding times. And smiles when he catches my eyes. And adorable kicks in the water at bath time. And tiny baby hands that love to grasp my finger.

Hunter brings lots of joy.

I am learning from this to relax more and enjoy what has been given me. Even though I love sleep, God has given me what I need and Hunter is worth every minute I am awake.

Smiles

Look at that adorable face! :) I love the half smirk and obviously happy expression on his face! He is 9 weeks old in this photo. Look how giant he is! :)

At his 8 week well-check his stats were as following:

13 lbs 7 oz.
(92nd percentile)
24 inches
(90th percentile)
head diameter: 42 cm
(88th percentile)

We have a big baby on our hands.

We are proud of our big baby. One of my friends was holding him at church on Sunday and she said, "Oh my, he is heavier than he looks." She is right. The best description I have heard for him is "dense."


He is now smiling all the time! He is such a happy little fella. When he gets really excited, he has a giant smile along with a little body wiggle. He puts both his hands up and puts one hand near his mouth. And he sticks his adorable little tongue out! It melts my heart every time. I love that he is so happy and pleasant.

His hands are currently his favorite toy. He loves to open and close his fists. Then he puts his arm up. It looks like he is concentrating really hard. You can see in this picture how he likes to play with his fingers. He always puts his thumb in between his first and second fingers. It is adorable!

My nicknames for Hunter are: Buddy boy, lovebug, and little man. Josh likes to call him Buddy. He is such a joy!!!!

Getting to know you...

Here are some pictures of us in the hospital and then as soon as we got home. He has always been an adorable baby! :)


In the hospital! Hunter was so perfect... we had a great time getting to know him during our long, long hospital stay.


We finally get to leave the hospital! Hunter was awake, alert, and looking around as we left the hospital. I was very overwhelmed but so excited to take him home!!!!


Look how tiny Hunter is in Josh's arms. This was right after we got home from the hospital.


I love this picture of Hunter sleeping! :)


Hunter's first outing! We went to the doc the day after we got out of the hospital to check Hunter's jaundice and weight. He was sooo small in his carseat! Poor guy had to get his blood drawn and he cried soooo hard. But overall, it was a successful outing! :)

2 years

This weekend Josh and I celebrated 2 years of marriage. CRAZY! Both of our lives have changed so much since we said, "I Do" in Denver. Changed in a good way, of course. I have moved across the country, obtained a real estate license, taken a few masters courses, made a lot of new friends, traveled to Italy, been pregnant, had a baby, and learned that life with my family is really sweet.

To celebrate, we hired two babysitters (sisters) to take care of Hunter one evening and we went to the Melting Pot. Wow, it was so good. I really enjoyed the time with my husband and the food was delicious.



Then, on our actual anniversary, Josh took the day off and we went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This is a stretch of undeveloped beach that is more than 100 miles long. It was beautiful. The drive was incredible and our time at the beach was fun. Hunter did great. We put him on a towel and then pushed our beach chairs together and placed another towel over him. He loved looking at the colors and seeing the light come through the weave.

Hunter got to be in the ocean for the first time! I moved my chair close to where the waves were shallow and mostly foam and held his tiny little feet in the water. He seemed pretty unaffected by the water-- but it was awesome for mommy and daddy to put our 9 week old in the Atlantic Ocean!!!

I love the ocean. I find the sounds relaxing and I love the sun. But I found myself more enchanted with Hunter than the water. Who knew a little guy could be so fascinating????

I am so in love with my son....

Unfortunately, there are no pictures from our NC day. Boo... I dropped the camera and now it will not turn on. Looks like we get to buy a new one! So the picture I share today is from our dinner at the Melting Pot!

Yay for 2 years with an incredible man. I love you Josh!

Hunter Daniel

Here he is. This is Hunter, just days old. We were still in the hospital when this picture was taken. He was so tiny!!

Hunter Daniel Hammans
born June 13, 2009
8 lbs, 0.6 oz., 21 inches
8:22 a.m.

He was a joy from the beginning! :)

Our hospital stay was long. I went in to be induced on Thursday, June 11 at 4 p.m. We had a doctor's appointment at 2 p.m. and in our ultrasound the amniotic fluid looked cloudy. Our doctor strongly recommended that I go immediately to be induced. I really didn't want to be induced and it shook me pretty badly. Reluctantly, I obeyed the doctor. The induction officially began at 6 p.m. Thursday evening. Many hours and lots and lots of details later, Hunter was born Saturday morning by C section. I was so disappointed. I felt a bit like a failure. I had done a lot of research and stressed and prayed and obsessed over the delivery of my baby. I had a "birth plan." Even though I knew you couldn't really plan a birth, I really felt like I had thought it through and like I was ready for anything. Wrong. As soon as the induction began, my birth plan got thrown out the window.

I am still processing my labor experience and Hunter's delivery. I praise the Lord that he is healthy and safe. But I still feel robbed in some ways. I am very glad that experience is over. I don't know why it all had to happen the way it did.

One of the things I remember about my labor was that God was with me. I remember knowing that He was guiding and directing and promising not to give me more than I could handle. What I could handle was a lot more than I realized! :)

Here is a clip from my journal a few days after Hunter's delivery:
"I just praise the Lord for all he has brought us through and for our precious, precious son, Hunter Daniel Hammans. The Lord has been soooo good to me this week—my whole life really, but this week the evidence of his goodness has been magnified in my heart. I am so blessed and so in love with my Savior who provides, loves, and encourages even the most weary and tired of believers."

9 weeks.

I have been trying for 9 WEEKS to get this blog started. Longer than that even. I originally wanted to start a blog to document the birth and growth of my son, Hunter Daniel. When I was still pregnant, I chose this domain name and the background and I had great intentions to blog my thoughts on Hunter's arrival. I really should have started writing here before he was born, because figuring out how to add this into my life after he was born has been difficult.

But today I was reminded how much I love to write. I love to journal my thoughts. Writing actually helps me to understand what it is I am feeling. I haven't written in months-- years even-- and a part of my soul has been left undiscovered because of the hiatus.

So with new energy I came back to this blog today with a broadened purpose for its existence. I still want to document my son's life here. I have tons of family and I live near none of them. I hope this will help keep us in touch and allow my family to know Hunter a little bit. But I also hope to use this blog as a place to document my feelings, thoughts, insights, and places where I am growing.

So Hello, Blog. I hope we can become good friends.