Happy First Birthday, Hunter!

Well here we are a year later.  This last year has been a whirlwind like nothing I could ever describe with exactly the right words to have you understand.  A year ago today I was headed to my doctor's appointment with sky high blood pressure just hoping she would give the go ahead to be induced.  Sure enough, I was admitted and 6 hours later, with one push, Hunter was born.

The next couple of days continued to deliver news that would alter the course of our lives.

This year hasn't been easy, in fact, it's been pretty darn difficult.  Hospital stays, heart cath, scary "pre-heart attacks", heart surgery, complications, and traveling out of state for care aside, Hunter was the hardest baby I've met! He cried until the day he turned 6 months old and finally became the sweet boy he is today.

He is a strong willed, non stop, bulldozer of a boy.  He says many words "Mama, Dada, Papa, Dow, dog, ball, Jinx (sounds more like "ginks" but he says it every time he sees our cat, Jinx), Pip, done, book, pat pat, bye, hi" and also repeats EVERYTHING we say, most of the time it's totally clear, also. He says monkey and dog sounds on command.  He isn't walking on his own yet, but I do think he will beat Corben's 14 month milestone.  He has been grabbing the dog toy box and standing up with it in his hands.  Corben even grabbed the box from him and he stayed standing and giggling for a few more seconds.

He can wave hi and bye, blow kisses, clap his hands, pat his legs, knows all of the toys and can get specific ones if asked, "pat pat"s the cats and dogs-with an open hand, we taught them to do that instead of grabbing at animals, does "touchdown", puts his hands to his ears to "talk" on the phone, and gives kisses on command.  He LOVES his pacis and I have no idea how we will ever get rid of them.  He only gets them in bed, for the most part, but is VERY attached to them.

He is obsessed with music.  His favorite song is "I will wait" by Mumford and Sons. Anytime any music is within earshot he gets a huge smile and starts dancing.  He follows his big brother everywhere and even is the instigator of their mischief at times.

He eats like a champ with any meat or carb.  He's not a fan of veggies but is finally starting to like some fruits.  His 10th month he lived on Nutrigrain bars alone....that was awesome.

His first 6 months he kind of hated Steve (and everyone except my mom and I, for that matter) but now he adores his Daddy. He has such a sense of humor.... I always find him and Corben giggling together.

We had a rough start and the road is not always going to be smooth for him, but we are so grateful for it all.  He has bonded our family tighter than we ever imagined.  He has taught us about life, faith, fear, determination, resilience, family, and pure joy.  He is a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew, and friend.  We love this little boy to the moon and back!

We love you Hunter McGunter, Chubbles, Chubby, Hunts-man!  Happy Happy Happy Birthday!

(Photos by my dear friend, Kelly Benbow)

Children's Museum of Phoenix

A friend of our has a membership to the museum and when I see her posts about it, I always think to myself that we really need to go.  Well they are running a special that with the membership, you get 2 extra months for free.  So basically, I will get 2 summers out of the membership.  To go and just pay to get in without a membership would cost us $33 (once Hunter turns 1) so it will only take me about 5 times of going to break even, and let me tell you, we will be going often.

There is SO much to do.  We only went into 2 areas today (they have like 10+ areas) and ate the lunch that we packed and the boys were exhausted.  They have a room for 3 and under only which is so nice.  Both of my boys enjoyed it in there.  Then the other areas all have a little baby corner in them as well, so Corben can be playing and Hunter also has a place to be stimulated.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day and intend on going once a week.  There is so much to do, plus at Corben's age, even if we only did the 3 and under room every time, he still wouldn't get bored!  On to the pictures!

Busy Busy Busy

We have had so much going on lately!  By the time the boys go down for their naps from 1-4, I have to pick up from the morning, get my chores done, and prep dinner!  Now that Hunter is on the move, the day literally never slows down.

This past weekend we got to go up to Prescott to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  The boys had lots of fun.  It was fun for Steve and I too, but travelling with little ones is always exhausting!

A funny thing happened on the way up.  We stopped in Anthem at the outlets for a bit.  While at Gap, a girl came up to me and asked "Is your name Lindsay?"  Turns out she is friends with a dear friend of mine, Alyson.  She told me she has read our blog and knew all about Hunter and what a rock star he is.  It was so cool!  Even funnier, on Monday when we stopped there again for lunch, we saw her again!  So Stephanie, if you're reading, Hi! I'm sure we will run into each other again soon! :)

Because a picture speaks a thousand words, here is our weekend in pictures.

 Corben's first s'more!

 Goldwater Lake

 Looking out for snakes with Uncle Dave

 Don't worry, the swatter was new and unused :)

 We put Hunter's pack and play in the bathroom to sleep.... he slept his full 13 hour nights!

Big Day for our Family

I made a choice when Hunter was in the hospital to use this experience to help others.  I think we are given challenges in our lives for a purpose.  I know how I have personally grown from the life that we now live, but I also want to use it to help make a change in others.

A couple of months back I was asked to speak to a group of first year med students at UofA's Phoenix campus. They just ended their cardio-pulmonary-renal block and the title of the session was "The Impact of Heart Disease on Parents and Families".

I have been preparing our story and really contemplating the message that I wanted to deliver.  Congenital Hear Defects (CHD) have forever altered the course of our lives.  We also have some very real experiences with and exposure to physicians and hospitals.

This morning finally came and it was time to deliver our story.  All of my boys were in tow.  Corben found one of the student's laps to sit on and flirted with multiple other girls.  Hunter crawled around everywhere and even climbed the stairs in the lecture hall (his first time climbing stairs!).  Steve provided his perspective at the end and also answered questions during the Q&A with me.

I spoke from my heart and truly wanted to get the message across that while they will be learning the clinical side of their patients' care, the families and even patients themselves have real lives and real memories that make up their personal side.  I encouraged them to remember that and to allow themselves to get to know the patients and families on a real level and use them as members of the team in the care plan.  I know when we were valued as members of Hunter's team, we had so much more trust and respect for the doctors than when we were not valued.

I made a video to introduce our story that we showed at the beginning.  I wanted to share it here.  Enjoy :)

Best big brother

This morning Corben is being so helpful with Hunter. He fetched a spoon that H ejected from the highchair, without being asked.

Then he hopped up next to me and took over feeding. A huge mess was made but both of them thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was the sweetest thing I've seen. Corben was very diligent about making sure Hunter had enough breakfast.