The Kids 2009

I thought the pictures turned out so cute. The one with Caitlin smiling big is my favorite. We picked the first picture as the main one because both kids looked good in the picture.

Hunter's New Pictures

I thought we got some pretty good pictures of him. As you can see, Hunter is sitting so good now. He sat in the chair without any help and we would have picked it as his main picture, but he was doing something funny with his lips. I wish we could get him to smile, because he has a great smile. But we will settle for the little smurk ( at least we got that!) :)

Playing

Hunter loves his books :)

These are just some random pictures of the kids playing. It shows how well Hunter is sitting now.

Opening Presents

Hunter got a Barney shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Butcher.

Hunter had a good time opening his presents. He was a lot more into it this year. He got a lot of videos (Wiggles and Barney)-his favorites.

Hunter's 4th Birthday

The following pictures are of Hunter with his cake. He doesn't eat it, but he sure can make a mess with it!

Hunter got some of the frosting in his mouth and by the look on his face, he didn't like it one bit-lol!

We celebrated Hunter's birthday the day before his actual birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Butcher came down to celebrate with us. Hunter didn't eat any of his cake, but he did a great job of getting it everywhere else! He had it in his hair, all the way up his arm and all over his highchair. He was getting tired, so we gave him a bath and decided to let him open his presents the next day on his actual birthday. I can't believe that my baby is already 4 years old. Time has sure gone fast. He has come along way in the past year or so. He is such a blessing to have in our home and we love him so much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNTER!!

4th of July

Caitlin is trying to give Hunter a kiss-she sure loves her brother!!

Hunter was having one of those days where he was really oral. We couldn't get a picture without his tongue sticking out.

Below are a few pictures of Caitlin on her new swing. She wasn't sure of it at first but I think she started to enjoy it.

This year we didn't really do anything for the 4th of July. We spent the day hanging out at home. Dwayne and the kids were in bed and asleep by 8:30. Thanksgiving Point puts off great fireworks and we can see them from our backyard. I ended up staying up and watching them by myself. I didn't stay outside very long though because the mosquitos were really bad. I was glad to have a relaxing day at home.

Beautiful!!

Caitlin is getting so big and really becoming a beautiful little girl. She has such a great personality and does the funniest things. We love her so much!!

A Great Explanation

WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley