Merry Christmas AND Happy New Year!!!

This is our annual Christmas card picture. Unfortunately I forget how little time I have during the day and never was able to get them printed and sent.

This season was especially joyful for us, having a new baby to help celebrate. Try singing "Silent Night" while holding a newborn baby in your arms...gives a whole new depth to the awe and sacredness of that special night when Jesus was born.

Our annual ward Christmas party was especially awesome. Santa came and the kids got to give their wishes for their Christmas list.

As you can tell from the Santa pictures, our kids LOVE Christmas and the Christmas Spirit is alive and well in the Hunter household. I love the excitement and joy in the kids faces as they are talking with Santa.

And because babies change so fast, here are some updated pictures of Spencer.

This one is just really cute.

Here's one of him smiling

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and best wishes for you and yours this time of year.

Happy Fall!

How could we not love this crisp fall weather?! As you can see from the joy on my kids faces, jumping in the leaves is obviously the highlight of the fall. We (okay - by 'we' I mean Jesse) made a huge pile of leaves right by the swingset. The kids and their dad had a blast jumping in the leaves off the swings.

Halloween is "totally awesome"! The pink fairy princess had way too much fun - see how it took two hands to hold up her trunk or treat goodies? Isaac had more fun that what his expression is showing. I think he was a little annoyed at having to wait to get a picture before diving into the goods.

Spencer came home last Sunday, he had gained a full pound and was feeding on demand, so we were all excited to go and get our precious miracle to bring him home. Now we are all sleep deprived, but loving his adorable ways and seeing his own beautiful personality shining forth. He actually is very laid back and sleeps most of the time. We were thrilled last night when his normal three hour feeding schedule stretched to a full four hours. It's amazing what a difference an hour can make!

Surprise!!!

Happy Birthday!

Spencer Preston Hunter

Born Oct. 18, 2009

5 lbs. 4 oz - 19 3/4" long

Hello Everyone! We have some GREAT news and wanted to share our joy! We had a surprise early arrival yesterday at 12:20 am...Spencer Preston Hunter was born via C-section six weeks early, weighing in at 5 lbs. 4 oz., 19 3/4" long! Mom and baby are doing very well.

Now the story, I'll warn you it's long. Saturday afternoon (around 1pm) I realized that I hadn't felt the baby moving that day. This was really unusual as Spencer was a very active baby - doing flips, stretching, kicking, etc. It really worried me for him to go from super active to nothing except a few flutters, which could easily have been explained as something else. So anyway, I started doing all the things that usually make him wake up and get active. I ate lunch - nothing...I laid down so he could stretch out - nothing...I poked my belly - nothing...juice, sugary foods, etc. - nothing. By 6pm I had myself conviced that something was really wrong and I needed to hear his heart beat on a monitor to reassure myself.

Jesse happened to be out of town (OF COURSE - my kids tend to pick the least convient time get sick) in Chicago at a Neuroscience Conference. I called a friend (Heather) and when I started to explain what was going on I burst into tears. I was trying to keep it together to not pass on the worry to Isaac and Keltsy. Well, of course the kids started talking about how the baby was just sleeping, etc. Anyway, Heather's husband came and got the kids and Heather, being the great friend that she is, went with me to the hospital. They got me hooked up to the monitor and immediately felt reassurance when I heard the heart beat and it was at a normal speed, etc. The doctor monitored the heart for a couple of hours. At this time I had definitly felt SOME kicking, but still not anywhere near what I was used to, but hearing the heart beat was VERY reassuring.

When the baby would move the doctor was looking for the heart rate to rise for 20 points and for it to last for 20 seconds. Spencer's rate was only pulling 10 points for 10 seconds, which made the doctor to want to get more information so he ordered an ultrasound. At this point I was ready to go home - it was 9pm, I was tired, thinking that Isaac and Keltsy needed to get to bed, etc...but who would turn down another ultrasound this late in the pregnancy?!

So I got the ultrasound, again heard his heart beat and for 30 min. I was waiting for him to move. They were rating certain things during the ultrasound and he needed a 8 or 10 for the doctor to feel that everything was okay - Spencer pulled a 2 (and that was having enough amniotic fluid, not really anything that the baby was doing).

While waiting for the results of the ultrasound test I called Jesse. It was around 10pm by this point. Jesse had his presentation, was going to dinner with some friends and Chicago is an hour behind our time zone - so I knew he wouldn't be back to get the phone until sometime after 8. We don't have cell phones so really no way or time to get ahold of him. About 10:30 the doctor came in, told me the results of the test and recommended a C-section. From the ultrasound he could tell the cord was around Spencer's neck, but could tell the blood was still flowing etc. and really they couldn't tell what was wrong. He was really concerned, as they could tell from his lack of movement and Spencer's heart not accelerating when it should have, they KNEW something was wrong, but not knowing what it was he wanted to get him out so they could treat ASAP. Spencer was laying sideways in my belly, with his feet down and head on my right side, so there was no way to try to deliver with him in that position, and the doctor felt that turning him might put Spencer under too much stress.

So I called Jesse back, explained what was going on, had him ask the doctor all the question he could think of and at 11pm started getting ready for surgery. Jesse rode the bus to the Conference so he rushed to the airport and rented a car. Being after 10pm there were no flights going out anymore and ALMOST all the car rental places were closed. He found Hertz out in the parking lot was open and made the frantic drive home. I was able to get a blessing before going into surgery, which was very comforting and I'm so greatful for. By 11:45 I was in the operating room and 12:20 Spencer was delivered! I was relieved to see his size and he was crying so I knew his lungs were at least functioning.

The "big problem" that was causing all this panic was that the cord managed to get around his neck THREE TIMES! He literally couldn't move. I got a quick 'welcome to the world' touch and hug. The NICU nurse came at the end of her shift and reassured me that she was so glad I had done what I did, that he wouldn't have made it to term. Jesse made it back at about 3:30am and went down to the NICU to get the status of the baby. Spencer did need a ventilator until 10am the next morning, and they couldn't find a vein so they had to use one in his umbilica cord. But he's off of the ventilator, now has a little tube that's puffs air in his nose and helps him get his lungs filled completely. And they found a vein in his arm to use, so they took out the one in his belly and we were able to hold him this morning. You could tell he likes to cuddle and according to the nurses he REALLY likes his binky!

My mom is come in last night, and our ward has been fantastic with help babysitting the kids and lots of offers for meals, etc. Turns out Jesse is sick with an ear infection, so he can't come back to the hospital - our hospital is keeping out sick people, how funny is that? For me, the pain meds work great :) - and I've been surprised at how good I feel. We appreciate all the prayers we've been receiving at this point and would appreciate any more people would like to send our way.

Apparently, Isaac keeps calling Spencer by his middle name of Preston - who knows, maybe Preston will end up being his nickname.

Thanks for the love and support,
Jesse and Amy (Isaac, Keltsy, and most especially Spencer)

Summer Fun!

Isaac's been playing T-ball this summer, and having a blast with all his buddies! Here's his first game:

His team is warming up for their first game!

Gotta run fast for that ball, then throw it to first!

Ready position...

Team picture day is next week, but the coaches will both be gone and they each have a kid on the team, so we did some less formal pictures this week - I love the way they turned out. You can tell the personality of each kid in this picture.

We've also had fun with visitors as well. Jesse parents came out for a visit, unfortunately the pictures are all on the 'upstairs' computer, and I'm too lazy to go get them right now. We had fun seeing Nauvoo and visiting some church history sites, then Jesse and his dad went to a HAM Radio fest in Ohio.

A few weeks later my sister and her three boys came to visit and we made a trip to the zoo, the Indy 500, and did LOTS of swimming. We all loved having them here, and my kids especially enjoyed their cousins company.

Here's a few pictures at the zoo:

All the cousins looking at the polar bear, sleeping in the hot sun.

My little monkeys, climbing up the 'big rock' outside the monkey cage.

A few weeks later, my parents made a trip out to see us as well. We took them to the zoo as well and it ended up being a really hot week, so we tried to find some indoor things to do, that weren't too exhausting for all of us. Here we are resting in one of the indoor exhibits at the zoo (gotta love Keltsy's face in this one)!

And another with the kids getting ready to feed the giraffe:

And again climbing the big rock outside the monkey cage (I just thought this was a cute picture):

All in all, it's been a great summer!

I've had a miserable head cold for the last three weeks, but am FINALLY getting over that and ready to get my house back in order from the 'mom's sick and not doing it today' attitude I've been having.

Isaac is looking forward to starting Kindergarten in a few weeks, we start the middle of August here. We should be finding out who his teacher is within the next week or so. It'll be fun with just me and Keltsy for half the day during the week, at least until the baby comes. I think they could use a break from each other, although they do love each other, they love to bug each other as well. I could see a big difference in their relationship when preschool was over and they were didn't get that little break during the day. It'll be nice to have my routine back as well.

I'm always sad to see the remnants of summer pass, the fireflies, the fireworks, swimming, summer reading at the library, but I look forward to the changes that come in the fall...look at me, it's still July and I'm already missing summer!

We had the exciting doctor's visit today - found out we're having a boy! The sleepy boy wasn't very cooperative for the face picture, but here's my favorite profile picture we were able to get.

We saw he had the hiccups, but the video ended up in slow motion. We do have some video of him stretching his legs, but I can't seem to get it to upload.

So far the names we like are Andrew Preston and David Max - well, those are the names I like and we haven't debated on yet. Jesse keeps suggesting Ebenezer - but that's definitly OUT!

Yay! I can post pics!

We finally caved and bought a new memory card reader. Ours had been broken for awhile, but we finally got a new one and can post some fun pictures of the things we've been busy doing!

First, as a conservative family we wanted to voice our concerns over what we view to be some reckless spending that's going on in Washington. So, we attended our local Tea Party and were so glad that we did.

The organizers made a huge effort to keep the protest as non-partisan as possible and it was neat to be a part of something bigger than us yelling at the television :).

I thought Keltsy was just cute in this one.

Second, Isaac came home from Preschool on Friday, super excited because they had a "Rodeo Roundup" in school. They made all these cowboy related things and he told me he was "smart about cowboys" because he knew that the bandanas were to help keep the dust off the cowboy's faces. He kept saying "yee haw!" for the picture, but I think we got a cute one.

We've had a pretty good week, I've been tired, but felt great on Thursday and caught up with the housework that needed to be done...even Isaac asked me when I was going to clean up - that's how bad it got. But of course, now I'm really tired again and the house is a wreck. I can suffer, though, a baby is worth that sacrafice :).

Sale!

I'm having a shop sale - MyBUG. If you'd like to follow sales and updates on my shop, you can check out MyBUG's Blog at www.mybugonetsy.blogspot.com!