Cousins

Hunter has the best cousins ever! Here is a picture of his cousin Aaron. He is almost 2 years old and he is so great with Hunter. He likes to talk to him and play with him. He always points, smiles & tries to say Hunter's name every morning when I drop him off for the day. It's so cute! Hunter smiles & stares at Aaron any chance he gets. I know they will be best friends!














Here is our attempt to get a picture of all three kids.....obviously, not so good. Selah was not having it. The two boys were chillin' while Selah demanded off the floor :) Oh well, maybe next time we will get a good shot.









Selah & Hunter are five weeks apart. It is so great to have them so close in age. I am sure they will have a ton of fun as they get older. Selah is catching up to Hunter!

Welcome home Uncle Aaron!

We welcomed home Aaron just in time for Thanksgiving. Aaron was serving as an Army medic in Iraq for the past year. We thank God that there are people like him who are willing to fight for our freedom.

We met him and his group at the old hanger bay at Sky Harbor Airport. It was really cool. They all marched in and Governor Nepolitano spoke & thanked them for their service. Then they were dismissed. It was amazing to see all the families there. I couldn't believe how many men & women had to leave behind their small children.


Hunter was only 2 weeks old the last time Aaron saw him. He has grown a ton since then! Hunter wore a little red onesie that read " My uncle, my soldier, my hero." We were all very happy to see him home safe and sound.

Random 3 month pictures

Here are some random 3 month pictures of Hunter. I love putting overalls on my little man. He is so cute in them! But pants make him look older than he actually is...don't know why, but they just do. We also bought him this adorable teddy bear cozy. we can put it on over his clothes to keep him warm. It has little bear ears on the hood and paw prints on the feet.

2 month pictures

Here are some random 2 month pictures of Hunter. He is so adorable! At 2 months, he was holding his head up really well, lifting himself up and giggling like crazy. He loves to smile too. He has to be the happiest baby I have ever seen.

Hunter's 1st Halloween

For Halloween, I went with my sisters & thier families to the pumpkin patch. We had so much fun. We searched around for the perfect pumpkin. But first, we had to get pictures! We took this cute picture of Selah hanging out with a couple of pumpkins, or at least trying to. The pumpkins are bigger than her! Jon & Sarah tried to get Aaron to pick out his pumpkin. They wanted to make this a tradition for him. Sarah had planned to use the pumpkin to make a fresh homemade pumpkin pie. Aaron kept picking out the sad looking yellow pumpkins....too funny! Finally he found the perfect orange pumpkin. We bought Hunter a tiny pumpkin, perfect for his size and of course we had to get one for each of us too (yes, I know, we will never grow up, LOL). By the end of the night, Hunter crashed in daddy's arms. He had a fun night with his cousins.

Hunter was a puppy for Halloween. His costume had floppy ears and a cute little tail. It was so funny but he absolutely loved wearing his costume. Everytime he had it on, he would smile ear to ear and giggle. He would snuggle with it too :) We went to our church's fall fest on Halloween night. They had fun games for the kids, raffles for the adults and even a petting zoo.

Kaiya

My good friend Angela recently lost her beautiful baby Kaiya. Kaiya spent two weeks with her family and touched each of them in a special way. Kaiya's heart did not develop properly and she had to undergo heart surgery. Sadly, she did not make it through this ordeal. But now her suffering is done and she is in Heaven.
Please pray for Kaiya's family - Angela, Kevin, Emma and Rylee. Pray that they find comfort in God, family and friends during this time. If you feel moved to, please donate or help spread the word of the need for donations for Kaiya's funeral and hospital bills. Money should be the last thing an amazing family like this should have to worry about during this time. There is a link to the right, please click on it to help or send the link to those who might be able to help.

Hunter is growing so fast. I can't believe how big he is getting. Here are some pictures from weeks 3, 4 & 5. He is so adorable! I still can't believe how perfect he is and just how lucky Dwight & I are to have him in our lives.

Hunter started holding his head up at 2 weeks. And by week 3, he could hold it up for about 4 - 5 minutes. He is so strong. He is going to be just like his daddy.
It's amazing that even newborn clothes are too big. So tiny! We are still trying to figure out what color hair he will have. It looks different every day. In this picture, it almost looks red. My bet is on brown....but time will tell :)
He loves his "binks". He doesn't want it all the time, just when he is not hungry and has the urge to suck. For some reason, he can't keep it in his mouth. He sounds like Maggie from the Simpsons when he sucks on it. He sucks really fast, the pacifer almost pops out of his mouth, then he sucks it right back in. It's so funny.
Hunter has lost most of his baby hair and now his regular hair is starting to grow in. I can't wait to see his full head of hair. Doesn't he look like a little model in this picture?
My little man's gorgeous blue eyes.....

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this page. A lot has happened in the last few weeks. My uncle Chuck & aunt Lynn visited us from Chicago. They stayed for about a week and it was so great to see them! I was so happy that Hunter had a chance to meet them. They both loved to hold Hunter and Hunter looked even smaller in my uncle's arms.

Thanks Uncle Chuck & Aunt Lynn for visiting us. We miss you!

Hunter is now 2 1/2 weeks old...

Time goes by so quick but it feels as if he has always been a part of our life. He is doing great. We just took him to his 2nd pediatrician appointment and he already weighs 7lbs 110z! He is definitely a good eater :) He is going to be a big boy just like his daddy the doctor says. He is also going to be super strong. Hunter can already roll from his back to his side. He can even hold his head up for at least 4 minutes at a time and he even likes to kick off your arm to move himself up. And I know this sounds crazy, but last night his binky fell out of his mouth and he put it back in his mouth all by himself. Dwight & I still can't believe it!
Hunter has had a ton of visitors...he's a popular little guy. His grandmas, grandpa, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins & family friends have all stopped by since we have been home from the hospital. His uncle Aaron has also been on leave for the last two weeks and his visited him several times. Him and his fiance race into the house to try to be the first to hold him. It's so cute. I am really happy that Aaron has had a chance to see Hunter while he is this small. But he just left for Iraq this morning so Good Luck Uncle Aaron! Stay safe and Hunter can't wait to see you again.

Happy Birthday Hunter!

Our sweet little boy arrived on July 22nd at 2:17pm. He is absolutely perfect! He weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20.75inches long. The delivery went smoothly and I had a great doctor. Recovery has been a little tough but Dwight has been amazing. He has taken care of everything for baby Hunter and I. But now that we are home, we are finally starting to get on a schedule. Hunter eats about every 2.5 hours...he has a huge appetite! Then he sleeps for most of the day. He is such a happy baby. He rarely cries. If he does, we know its either for more food or a diaper change. Dwight and I love being parents. We are very blessed to have this little one a part of our lives.

Baby Hunter is almost here!

I'm already 38 weeks! We took some pictures to remember the pregnancy. My belly is huge :) I can't wait until our little man is here.
Hunter will be born on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at Chandler Regional Hospital. He is already showing his independence by not turning around in the right direction. He is breech, with his little tush in my pelvis so I will have to have a c-section. The good news is that he is completely healthy and so am I. So everything should go well. We can't wait to have him in our arms.

32 Weeks

Hunter is almost here! Time is going by so fast. My belly is getting bigger and Hunter is more active. Dwight is so excited to be a daddy. He will be great!

Dwight's Paint Ball Trip

Dwight had a ton of fun paintballing last week. He met about 8 other guys at Mormon Lake for about half the week. He said it got down to 30degrees up there! But that didn't stop them from paint balling in the forest from about 10am to 6pm each day. He came home with a few welts, but apparently he looked great compared to some of the others. He only was killed four times that whole time. He did manage to twist his ankle pretty good. But as they say, the show must go on so he just wrapped it in duct tape and kept playing.....boys are crazy! I think I am in trouble when Hunter arrives :)

A lot has gone on this week. Dwight and I just finished our childbirth classes. The time went by so fast. But we learned a lot. We've heard everything you learn in class goes right out the window when the contractions begin, so we shall see! We started on Hunter's room. Yes, I did just say that - 9 weeks away and we just started. But everyone has been helping with the house renovations so hopefully we will be done in time for Hunter's arrival. My mom and I tried to patch some holes and learned something new....you are not supposed to use a whole bucket of spackel on a 10x4 size wall. Who would have known?! Poor Dwight has spent the last couple of mornings sanding so we are hoping it will look ok when he is finished.

Meanwhile, we will take a break from the renovations while I decide how we will decorate his bedroom. The theme is sea turtles....with a Hawaiian flare. Now choosing the colors is the challenge. I'd like to use green & blue, but there are about 500 shades of each. Such big decisions! Here is a picture of the bed set we plan to use. Isn't it adorable?!

Dwight just left for his yearly paint ball trip this morning. He meets up with his best friend, Jeremy and about 10 other guys for a little bonding time up north. He was very excited so I will have to post some pictures when he returns.

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog page. But better late than never :) A ton has happened since our last entry. We are expecting a baby! I am now 31 weeks pregnant and our little boy, Hunter Dwight Sutherland is due July 26, 2008.
This has been an amazing pregnancy. I'm healthy and the the baby is doing great. He is growing more and more every day. Feeling his kick and him rolling around is the most amazing feeling. I can't wait to finally meet him!
Dwight and I try to imagine what he will look like and how he will act. The few things we can agree on is that 1 - he will have big feet. Sorry Hunter! You have no chance with the size feet your parents have LOL. and 2 - we think he will have Dwight's personality. He is a very laid-back baby.