Hunter's 2nd Birthday

One of the things about having family all over the country, and seeing them as much as we do, we get the opportunity to celebrate our kid's birthdays on several occasions. It will be a sad day for them when they realize that not every year they will get 3 or more birthday celebrations. Until then they are enjoying lots of treats.

Hunter turned 2 on November 23, 2009. I couldn't believe how fast his first 2 years went. I can't wait for this year to fly by simply for the "terrible 2's" to be over.

For his actual birthday we got him a cake from "Nothing Bundt Cakes," you can't go wrong with them. I picked Red Velvet since it's my favorite and he'll eat anything.

We had some friends in town on November 22nd, so we went to Serendipity to meet up with them. Aunna had come in town for the Thanksgiving holiday so we split a mini-banana split and shared with Hunter. I still don't think we finished it, but it was awesome! Hot fudge, whipped cream and ice cream, how can you really go wrong???? As you can see Hunter LOVED this. What you can't see from the picture is that he is standing up in the highchair, as much as the strap would let him, trying to get us to give him another bite. It was hilarious. He really enjoyed it. I so rarely let my kids have treats so they take full advantage of it when they get them, I figured it was his birthday the next day so what the heck. It's not like I could have eaten it in front of him and told him no.

We drove up to Utah the day a few days after his birthday and as soon as we got there he opened his present from Ryan's parents. He was so excited, he got to tear paper so he was in heaven. He even gave us his "look of concentration," i.e., his tongue hanging out of his mouth. It was awesome. He has been sticking his tongue out of his mouth since he was tiny, I still love it.

We even got to go to Grandma Ainge's house that weekend for more presents. He loved his bucket with Lego's. His favorite thing to do with it now is dump out all the Lego's, get in the wagon and make Madison pull him around. As much as Mads is a mini-Ryan, Hunter is a mini-me. That is totally something I would have done as a kid. He thinks it is great fun.

Madison is cool with it most of the time, but she gets sad because she is too little to get in and be pulled around. She doesn't mind playing with her little brother, but she is all about fair (that is one of the few things she gets from me. I don't know if Ryan was that way, but I sure was/am).

We were able to get a great picture of the two kids and Grandma Ainge before we left. She is so good to our kids, they just love her.

Hunter's Story

Like I said with Madison's birthday post I keep this blog as a journal of sorts, so here is the story of how Hunter was born.

Hunter was born at 6:36 pm on November 23, 2009 in Henderson, Nv at St. Rose De Lima Hospital. He weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz, was 20 inches long and was 6 days early (he was actually due on November 29th).

He was so much different to deliver than Madison was. I was truly expecting a similar experience, maybe a little shorter but that's about it.

We had had the pleasure of spending the day before he was born, Thanksgiving day, with Ryan's aunts and their families (it was such a fun day). About 1:30 am the next morning I started getting contractions every 3 minutes. They didn't hurt that bad and I was able to sleep pretty well through most of them so I didn't think that much of it. About 4:30 am I figured that the contractions coming every 3 minutes for hours on end meant I should get to the hospital. I had to get IV antibiotics and I wanted to make sure I got enough before the baby came that he wouldn't end up with Strep B, that would have been awful!

I got up and showered and put the rest of my stuff together for the hospital. We called Ryan's aunt, got Madison up and ready, took her over there and headed for the hospital figuring the next time we saw her we would have her baby brother with us.

Since my water hadn't broken the hospital didn't admit me, they just wanted to monitor everything to see if I was really in labor. Finally at around 10 am they sent me home since I wasn't "in labor," even though I was having contractions every 3 minutes. They even had me walk around the hospital for an hour to see if that would get me going. It didn't.

They told me to go home, maybe go shopping (it was black Friday after all), eat, take a bath, take a nap, whatever. But they figured they'd see me again that day or the next.

We tried to go shopping, but after standing in the Old Navy line for 30 min, having contractions every 3 minutes and not being able to sit, I went to the car and had Ryan finish checking out without me. Needless to say we didn't go anywhere else....I think it's the only time I have passed up an opportunity to shop. It just wasn't worth it.

We picked up Madison from Pam's and grabbed lunch. I think I ate all of 3 bites....I had no desire for food (again, another first). We went home, I took a bath and a nap.

About 3:30 pm I woke up having much harder contractions. I got up, took another bath (the nurses said it would help me get going) and called Pam again.

At about 4:30 pm we got everything ready to go again and as we were walking out the door my water broke. I knew we weren't coming back home at that point.

We dropped Madison off and returned to the hospital (it was about 5 pm at this point), I was actually admitted this time. We got situated in the L&D room and Ryan got settled in to wait it out all night like we did with Madison. I was expecting a lot more hours of pain and was in serious pain, after about 15 minutes I asked for an epidural. There was no way I could have made it hours longer with the contractions I was having.

By the time I had an IV bag and they got the anesthesiologist in it was about 5:50 pm and I was already starting to push. I got the epidural and by the time it kicked in it was a little after 6. I almost said not to do it since I was starting to push anyway, but they kept telling me not to push since the doctor wasn't there yet. Plus I was getting a little hysterical and hyperventilating a bit-it was painful! I figured the epidural should stall the labor a little bit and then I wouldn't have to have the nurses deliver Hunter instead of the doctor. Apparently I went from a 6 to a 10 in about 10 minutes. That would explain the extreme pain. He was an easy, easy delivery. It took no time at all and he came out perfect. Hard to complain about that.......

During the labor Ryan turned on my IPOD and we listened to a playlist I put together for the hospital. I think it is hilarious that he was born to the song "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad. Well, he was born during the end of "Resolution" by Nick Lachay, which is one of my favorite songs ever, and then "Queen of Memphis."

Judging from the times of the songs I was in the hospital just over an hour for him to be born. It was fast and painful.

Some special things about him when he was born:

He likes to sleep by himself. From the first night he wanted to sleep in his bed, by himself. He was not a cuddler. It worked great for me because I was able to take care of Madison and the house easily.

He almost never fussed. He has always been a happy, content kid. He goes with the flow with no problem. Madison was always a stress case and has had to have a schedule. It's amazing how opposite they are.

He LOVES his older sister. When she came to the hospital he heard her voice and looked right at her. I couldn't believe it, but he has been enamored with her from the beginning.