4th of July in Hawaii!

 I really really want to blog about my trip to Hawaii but I feel there's just so much to say that the idea of writing it all out is kind of overwhelming. So I decided to start with the easy stuff first even if it's out of order. So here's what we did for the fourth of July.... Well in the morning we went to Sharks Cove and that was one of my favorite things we did so it deserves its own post :)

 We stayed on base for the fireworks. They had a pretty awesome show but we missed most of it cause we stayed too late at the beach.

 

Aunt Jenny bought them all matching shirts! They are so cute!!

And of course we had to add their sister, Cookie :)

 We were able to walk there so Hunter got to ride in the wagon with Emma. He was a little upset at first cause he wanted us to hold him but he eventually calmed down. 

We got there and set up a little sunshade so the kiddos could play. 

Jen and I went to go get some popcorn and shaved ice and came back to the guys sleeping and the kids running around. Luckily they're all pretty good kids. 

Apparently the flash at night time does not always make people look their best. So this is Hunters best flash picture :)

And Andrews is pretty funny too!

And these beautiful little girlies!

Then the fireworks started!! Hunter was scared at first but his Daddy kept him safe :)

We all got to enjoy the fireworks then it started to rain so I don't have anymore pictures but we all got drenched. It was lots of fun though!

Luckily it stopped raining on the walk back. So Hunter had a nice little ride with Sophia!

18 months!

I feel like I have so much to say about Hawaii but I really feel i need to talk about all that Hunter has been learning. I only got to take a couple 18 month photos of Hunter but I'm sure you'll see plenty on the Hawaii posts to come. 

Hunter is such a goof ball! He makes the funniest faces.

Whenever I tell him no he makes this face at me

 

He isn't really talking yet. The only thing he'll say is mama (and he calls everyone and everything mama) tickle tickle and yeah. He knows most of his animal sounds. He loves to make piggy noises. I'm not sure where he learned it from but one day during church we were reading a book and there was a picture of a pig and he pointed to it and started snorting. It was the funniest thing! He also knows what a cow, rooster, goat, duck, and lamb says. But will only do it when he wants to, which is usually not in front of any one other then Andrew or myself.

He knows lots of sign language though. His best signs are more, all done, eat, drink, where, and dog. He knows all of his body parts. He is also a pro at blowing kisses! He thinks signing thank you and blowing kisses are the same thing. 

He loves giving hugs and kisses! His kisses aren't always open mouth kisses either anymore.

He LOVES his Daddy! Yesterday was Andrews first day back to work and 3 weeks and Hunter was definitely having withdraws. Today he was awake when he Andrew left for work and he had a breakdown. Once he calmed down he would still run to the door crying every 5 minutes for like 2 hrs. But Andrews off tomorrow so its all good :)

 He figured out how to beat me in our game of chase at our house. The layout of our house goes in a circle that goes through the hallway to the living room then through the kitchen then the playroom. Hunter has figured out that when I'm running from him all he has do is chase me enough till I'm around the corner then he turns around and runs the other direction so he catches me faster. He's so smart!!

I love this kid so much!!

 

First day in Hawaii

We had a very long journey going to Hawaii. We started our morning at 3am and headed down to Dulles Airport. We had no issues there since it was so early but then our plane got delayed till 7:30 which wasn't a big deal since we planned a fairly long layover at LAX. The plane we were supposed to ride was running too late so they switched us to a different plane which was awesome. The plane they switched us to was huge. Almost everyone had their row. Overall we had an awesome ride to LAX. As you can see in the picture below our little man did fall asleep for about 45min. Even though he was very tired from getting up at 3am he did really well.

 

 

 

Now here we are at the LAX airport! I was still excited at this point since the flight had gone so well. We had about 2 1/2 hrs at the airport so we got some lunch and charged our electronics and let Hunter run around. 

The plane from LAX to HNL was awful. It was super tiny and every seat was taken so there was absolutely no room for Hunter to move around. We were able to distract him for the first hour but then he lost it. He just screamed and screamed. There was no place to stand so we weren't able to rock him to sleep. After about an hour of him screaming Andrew took him to the restroom and finally got him to sleep after another 45 min of screaming in there. It was awful! I have never seen my baby like that. If it weren't for Andrew I don't know what I would've done. He is pretty amazing! Hunter slept for the last 2 1/2 hrs of the flight. We were all so tired and grouchy by the time we got there. But you can't stay mad long when you're in such a beautiful place!!

  

So after 18 hrs of traveling we arrived at the Honolulu airport. Jen and Rick had got us the beautiful leis. They smelled so good. Since we were so exhausted we just went the food court in the exchange and got some dinner and went back to their house and just relaxed the rest of the night.  

We skype on a daily basis with Jen and the girls and sometimes Rick. So Hunter was comfortable around them even though he'd never seen Rick in person and the only time he's seen Jen and the kids he was 9 months old and it was only for a few hours.

The next morning we went to the park to kill some time. Hunter had a blast playing with his cousins! 

It crazy how quickly Hunter is learning things these days! He's like a little mini Andrew. I love the picture above it really shows their silliness.

 

After the park we went to the mall for a little but Hunters diaper leaked all over Andrews shirt so we left. I was too excited to wait any longer so we went to the beach!! We weren't planning on going in the water so we weren't wearing our bathing suits but we just couldn't resist so we just wore our clothes in the water. Hunter LOVED it!! And the water was so warm and beautiful! It was AMAZING!!

 

 Then we left Hunter just like this to go spend his first night without us at Aunt Jenny's house.

One Word

This morning on Facebook Gerber posted "Describe your baby in one word." I thought about this for a little while and I couldn't think of one word that would capture everything my little man is. I guess the first word I would use would be (absolutely) amazing. He amazes me everyday with everything he does. He's growing and learning so much so fast. The next word I would describe him as is independent. He does his own this his own way. He has just started letting me feed him yogurt with a spoon again but for the last few months he would only feed himself and he'll only eat what he wants when he wants. Whenever we go somewhere he always runs off to do his own thing never checking back to make sure his parents are in sight. It makes it kind of frustrating when we're out shopping but it makes it easy to leave him with a babysitter. Hunter also will only sleep in his own bed. He was really sick last week and I tried to let him sleep in our bed. It did not work at all. He definitely needs his own space. Another word I would use would be cute. I mean just look at his face he's definitely the cutest baby in my mind. He is also soooo sweet. He gives the best hugs where he wraps his little arms around my neck. And his open mouth kisses are still cute for now. He is also a monster. Especially when he's trying to be independent but he's doing it during a time he's not allowed to. For example trying to run into the street. Then he screams and throws a fit when I stop him. I know this is all very typical for a 15 month old but sometimes it is just frustrating. But no matter what he is my best friend. I spend every second of everyday with him and I wouldn't have it any other way. He is so smart. He's been learning a bunch of baby sign language and parts of his body. He is just so cool. Every little thing about him. I never thought it was possible to love anyone as much as I love him. He is such a blessing!!

Hunters first farm trip!!

Over this last weekend Andrew, Hunter and I went up to my Grandpas farm property up in Grantsville, MD. We had lots of fun! It was beautiful!

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On our way up there we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings!! YUM! Hunter loved it!

This was right after we got there before he realized he was going to be miserable.

 

 Hunter was sick with a cold and he was teething and he had gotten his shots the morning that we left. So with all that added he was pretty miserable! He spent a lot of time sitting in his new camp chair.

 He also spent a lot of time snuggling with Daddy.

 

And he spent a lot of time crying! 

 

We ended up staying in a hotel since Hunter was feeling so awful. There were a lot of Amish people running around town and this was this hitching post behind our hotel.

 Everything was still dead from winter but it was still pretty. The weather was 75 degrees all weekend.

 We went down to the creek where someone had put up a new bridge so we spent time watching the water.

 

 Hunter got to ride on the old tractor. He loved it!

 

 We made some delicious s'mores. Andrews was made with oreos and mine was made with girl scout thin mint cookies!! The were AMAZING!  

 

Hunter ate some doritos by the fire.

On the second Hunter finally took a nap in my arms. This is only the second time in the last 6 months that he has fallen asleep on me. He is so independent but he is just so sweet!!!

 

 After his nap he was in a much better mood!

 

 He showed me some cheerios! I should probably stop teaching him to show me his food :)

 

 He loves his belly.

And right before we left Hunter got to watch Daddy shoot off a couple rounds. He thought it was funny. 

Overall we had a great trip! Next time though we won't go while Hunters sick.

No more wrinkles!

I was looking at old pictures today and realized Hunter doesn't have the little crease on his nose anymore! Although his little wrinkle was really cute :)

This picture he was just two days old!

This one he was nine months old.

And this one he was 13 months old.
Its crazy how these last two pictures are only three months apart. He has changed so much!! cute little baby face!
And I'm gonna miss that

DC ZOO

On Dec. 28 we went to the DC zoo to see the zoo lights. My friend Stephanie came down and rode the metro with us there and Andrews parents and sister drove and met us there. It was a very cold night which made it not as fun but they had indoor exhibits to keep us warm.

Hunter and Stephanie getting ready to go!

Hunter being cute!

There wasn't very many animals out since it was cold.

Panda hats at the gift shop!

The zoolights were pretty cool.

Hunter did not like being all bundled up.

This kid is awesome!!

Hunter was so sleepy by the end of the day.