Hunter the Old Man

Today was Hunter's two-month appointment. What an old man he is!

When Brianna was two months, she weighed ten pounds, ten ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long. Hunter surpassed her weight, tipping the scales at 11 pounds, 2 ounces. He is also 21 1/2 inches long. He did so good, and so did Bri! One of the first things Bri did was sit down and color on my sheet that I had to fill out to make sure I don't have post-partum depression. Oops. I got her her own paper and pen from the counter and she was quite content after that. Especially since she wasn't weighed, checked by the doctor, and she was encouraged to comfort Hunter after his shots. She even got a sticker! So this doctor's appointment really worked out in Brianna's favor...

Hunter did great, being very calm for Dr. Sherrington and our family friend Pam. He cried while getting his shots, of course, but he calmed down extremely quickly. I do believe he is a little sore because he whimpers every so often when he is moved. I'll probably give him a tiny bit of Tylenol soon.

That's all for now, I just didn't want to forget to write about this!

#68 - Donate 500 ounces of water

Charitii.com is a website where you can play word games and it donates to charity for you. You can choose from several charities for your donation to go to. My first one I chose was water. Sponsors are how the website gets money for donations. So by playing a few word games while nursing Hunter, I was just able to donate 500 ounces of water to this charity.

This wasn't really a challenge - it was much easier than I expected to reach the 500 mark. For this reason I am changing my other two charity picks on this website to reach 5000 instead of 500.

#45 - Picnic at Morrow Mountain

It just worked out today that we were able to go to Morrow Mountain this afternoon for a picnic and hike! Stephen and I packed up the kids and met mom and dad. We drove up around lunchtime and had packed picnic lunches to chow down on. After lunch, we hiked one trail and then spent some time down by the river.

Of course, first things first - EAT!

Then we have to burn off the calories from lunch:

And examine leaves!

Beautiful view from the mountain:

Brianna hitched a ride with Grandpa!

She wanted to give "knuckles" to all the trees within reach:

And Grandpa obliged her whenever he could:

Brianna ducked, but we still had to stuff the backpack under this low branch!

Down to the river:

This is more on Brianna's level:

Drop rocks in the water? Why, yes I will!

Hunter did come with us - I just didn't take very good pictures when he was around for some reason. Sorry!

Bri loved to hear the big splash that the rocks made... but where did they go after she dropped them??? Mystery...

101 in 1001 Take Two

On December 4, 2007 I started my first list of 101 things I wanted to do in 1001 days. I recently completed it and since then have been working on my second list! Here are the rules if you missed the first round:

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

I tried to split mine into categories, somewhat. It was much harder to think of 101 things this time... I was stuck in the 70's for a long time. These are goals I'd like to complete that maybe in the past I've felt like I couldn't complete or I just need a little boost to complete, and crossing things off lists is a huge motivator to me! So without further ado, here is my 101 list, Take Two.

Food-Related:
1. Make bread from scratch
2. Fix my bread machine
3. Cook 50 new recipes
4. Try 5 new local restaurants
5. Make yogurt
6. Make homemade poptarts
7. Make homemade vanilla extract
8. Make homemade cream of chicken soup
9. Make sundried tomatoes in oil
10. Make homemade pasta
11. Make dill pickles
12. Make candied apples

Craft-related:
13. Complete a 3-D puzzle with Stephen
14. Grow sunflowers
15. Make a purse out of a pair of jeans
16. Make "Points of Light" candle craft
17. Make Christmas Tree cookie ornaments
18. Make tie-dye Easter eggs
19. Make potpourri sachets
20. Make lace votive holders
21. Make a cute pillow
22. Make "Snowball Soap Surprises"
23. Make an egg wreath
24. Make a T-shirt backpack
25. Do 5 projects from my "Easy Fun Projects" book
26. Make "Fruitful Endeavor" craft
27. Make "Poker Faces" craft
28. Make magnets for Secret Sister at least once
29. Make canned candles
30. Make a felt advent calendar
31. Make a monogram wreath
32. Make a draft stop

Traveling:
33. Go on a waterfall excursion
34. Go to the Natural Bridge
35. Go to another hockey game
36. Go to Callaway Gardens
37. Go to a rodeo
38. Go to another monster truck rally
39. Go to 1 show at Temple Theater
40. Go to 1 event at Sunrise Theater
41. Go to 1 event at SCC
42. Go to Fernbank Museum of Natural History
43. Go to Atlantic Botanical Gardens
44. Go to Pilot Mountain
45. Picnic at Morrow Mountain
46. Go to a comedy club or see a comedian live
47. Visit a planetarium
48. Go to the Biltmore House with Stephen
49. Go to a bluegrass festival
50. Go to Boone with Stephen, and kids if possible
51. Go pick muscadines
52. Go to Chicago on a girls trip

Health-related:
53. Take a multi-vitamin every day for 1 month
54. Make a living will
55. Run a mile in less than 10 minutes
56. Run a 5K
57. Complete P90X at least once
58. Do one thing with MooreFit

Giving-related:
59. Send an Any Soldier, Inc package
60. Participate in a walk for charity
61. Help at least 50 families through Fed By Faith (beginning in January 2011)
62. Pay for the person behind me at a drive-thru
63. Adopt a child every Christmas
64. Extend a loan on Kiva.org
65. Donate 50000 grains of rice at Free Rice
66. Donate a toy for Toys for Tots every year
67. Find a volunteer opportunity and participate
68. Donate 500 ounces of water on Charitii
69. Donate 500 points to Phillipine Aid Society on Charitii
70. Donate 500 points to Invisible Youth Ministry on Charitii

Finance-related:
71. Make $250 mystery shopping
72. Save $2000 towards our credit card (beginning in January 2011)
73. Pay off my car
74. Find 10 articles I am capable of writing on Demand Studios
75. Save X amount of money in my savings account

Miscellaneous:
76. See Rent again
77. Get rid of 365 material items
78. Find out my bra size
79. Keep my car clean for one entire week
80. Create an emergency car kit
81. Get more pottery from Christy and Cale
82. Say no to something I would normally say yes to but feel burdened
83. Don't be last place in March Madness pool
84. Memorize 30 different scriptures - put them into action.
85. Read 5 Pulitzer books
86. Seriously consider Moore County band
87. Get our piano tuned
88. NaBloPoMo at least once
89. Have my picture done doing the invert at the rock wall
90. A Day in the Life
91. Get recommendations from 15 people of one book to read and read those books
92. Purge my closet after I get back to pre-pregnancy body (or somewhat close)
93. Purge our freezers at least one time
94. Participate in a flash mob if the opportunity arises.
95. Find a way that works for me to keep up with chores, appointments, etc.
96. Go through every pair of jeans I own. Replace discarded ones with 7 For All Mankind from Plato's Closet if possible.
97. Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet.
98. Leave Stephen 10 random love notes throughout the 1001 days.
99. Participate in Operation Beautiful
100. Make a playlist on iTunes for Bri and Hunter
101. Complete 70 things on this list.

You can also follow my list here. It should be completed by August 15, 2013.

Update

Oh my gosh, there is no no no way that I missed blogging about the fact that I have a new nephew!! I absolutely thought that I had made the announcement but it seems I made it only on Facebook. I am doing a camera dump right now and hopefully some pictures of Evan are on there!! That just goes to show my mind is crazy. Edit: It's taken me over 24 hours now to do these few pictures. The next batch will surely have Evan pictures!!

These are Bri's favorite pants of Daddy's - Mountain Dew pants! She likes to wear them around the house as well!

When a toy breaks, you can call Brianna! She's very handy with a screwdriver.

Hunter's first Halloween:

Hunter had the Halloween spirit in his pumpkin booties!

Bri is ready for trick-or-treating... with a pail from my childhood!!

Claire the ladybug, meet Bri the pumpkin!

Granddaddy was content just holding Hunter:

The girls got goody bags from Granny! Filled with yummy stuff like apple slices and gingerbread, plus Halloween cookies from Grandma - these girls were racking up already!

There's always time to read a book with Grandma:

It's so funny to wear Daddy's clothes!!

Peek-a....

BOO!

This video is from being at the park with Lauren and Oma. I thought it was so cute!