Birthdays x 2

Do not feed the caged animals....
Max actually gets in there of his own free will (most of the time) and Hunter usually shuts the door.  Max can get out but he really likes being in there. He thinks he is hilarious.

 This was one of Hunter's Valentine meals.  We went out for Cold Stone ice cream and then made heart shaped pizzas. Yes, you read that right. Dessert first.  Being an adult is awesome.

 These two animals are slowly starting to play together.  Max adores Hunter, and now Hunter is starting to see Max as more of a person instead of a baby.  I think I made a mistake calling Max - "Baby Max" because Hunter is convinced that is his name.  He even corrects me most of the time when I just shorten it to "Max".

 Max is almost 1!  He also is into every drawer, cabinet, and trash can he can find.  Just when you think your house is baby proof......you find this!

Hunter's Birthday

Hunter wanted a garbage truck themed birthday.....so I made him this invitation.  He sat looking at this picture for a while.  He just couldn't seem to remember when he drove a yellow garbage truck.  He kept saying, "I too little to drive garbage truck....".

At the bounce house we tried to take a snapshot of Hunter's friends.  Not the easiest feat.  If you notice in the picture Keegan and Hunter are holding hands.  Hunter says Keegan is his best friend.

 Here is Keegan, Hunter, Norah, Miles, and Oliver (and Liz).  We tried getting a picture with Max too, but the result was only a picture of Max slowly falling down....and I decided not to post those.

 I made cupcakes in ice cream cones for the little party.  Yellow is Hunter's favorite color.  So, naturally everything was yellow.

 He was pretty pleased with his presents and that we had decorated the house with balloons and streamers.  If we went somewhere he would say to me, "Let's go home and see if it is still my birthday....Yep, the house is still decorated."

Hunter got a big tool set so he could "fix" things for me.

 He wanted me to make him "birthday eggs"....and he also got a very big birthday donut.  He ate that thing all day long and for the next couple of days.

 That night we had cake, ice cream, and let Hunter stay up late.  He also decided that during the day he would wear two different kinds of shoes....and he informed me that it was okay because "it is my birthday. I three years old."  I'm just glad he hasn't tried to do it any other day since then.

 My big three year old.

 Here is an amazing picture of Anna, baby Dax, Max, and myself.  Dax is just plain adorable and doesn't even feel real.  He already has more hair than Max.  (No thanks to me butchering Max's haircut recently....)

Gary

We just got to have Gary home for one whole week!  It would have been great if not for the reason behind it.  Gary was in Washington for work when he started to not feel very well.  He tried to "tough it out" until it peaked and he felt like he had the worst case of flu ever.  So, he drove himself to the hospital.  He mentioned that he thought it might be appendicitis, but they didn't believe him because....well, he drove himself to the hospital.  They began to do tests and after the CT scan came back, they stopped.  They were able to conclude - without a doubt - that his appendix had ruptured. So, they rushed him into surgery.  A normal white blood cell count is 3 - 10,000.  Gary's was 30,000.  They figured out that his appendix had ruptured almost a full 20 hours prior to the surgery.  So, he was in Washington with a co-worker, had surgery, stayed a few days, and then was driven the 9 hours home.  That is how we came to have Gary home for his birthday.  It takes his appendix to rupture.  He didn't feel so well, so we did some of the birthday things that day, but have been celebrating it for about a week and a half.  Every day Hunter asks, "Is it Daddy's birthday today?".  

 We had some great weather, so Hunter decided to make up his own recreation.  Tricycling and shooting.

 Max is trying to figure out what Hunter is doing outside.

 "I'm cool."

 I made Gary's cake over a week after his birthday, so that he would want to actually eat it.  It tasted amazing, but looked like it was melting.  It was a 3-layer-made-from-scratch-German-Chocolate-cake-with-cream-filling-and-homemade-coconut-pecan-frosting.  Mmmm......

 I tried to get everyone to look, but we cut our pictures short because Hunter started blowing out Gary's candles.....

 Gary said he actually felt his age this year.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the surgery.  We were talking about how old he was and Hunter was near us.  Hunter said to Gary, "Daddy, you're not THAT old."

Max is starting to ride the 4-wheeler.....it begins.