The Time has Come!!!

Well the time has come for me AMANDA to write something in our BLOG.  I feel as though I have been in a dream (or Nightmare) for the last 11 months.  My pregnancy was not fun I was sick all 9 months and huge.  Then Hunter was born with a feisty spirit and we will leave it at that!  We have been really blessed to have family near by and family visit. It has been a big help.  Our ward was also awesome bringing us meals for a week!  I finally feel that things are coming together.  Hunter is sleeping more and crying less and I am starting to get the hang of 2 kids.  I wish I could get the hang of housework along with that!  But that will come with time.  Thank you to everyone for your kind comments on our Blog.  I love to read them. 
As for my perspective on Hunter he is Stephan through and through!  He looks like him and will definilty have the same personality as him.  So Sam is my Mini-me and Hunter is Stephan's!  It's pretty funny.  Hunter greeted me with a big smile this morning and started talking to me.  It sure is rewarding after so many sleepless nights.  Samantha is my little helper and my little love bug.  She always says "Oh Mom!  You need Hug? Sam make you happy mom!  Snuggles?"  It's pretty cute.  So hopefully things will continue to improve and I will be able to update our blog more often!  Love to all!!!!

Getting the hang of two!

So Samantha loves her new brother as you can tell! Having two kids has proven to be quite the challenge but we are already seeing the blessings. Plus, when you have cute kids, it makes it a little easier! Amanda is a trooper with them. She is a good mom and has the patience that I don't have. Good thing too since Hunter had reflux and Sam was already a "mama's girl" before Hunter came a long. Yeah, you can imagine how needy she is being...well multiply that by 2 and you will be pretty close to accurate to what's going on.

Welcome Hunter!

Finally, Hunter has arrived! He was born July 7th, weighing in at 9lbs 3oz. He had a few little complications so he spent 12 hrs in the NICU but he is fine now. Amanda is recovering well from the surgery and is up and about trying to get back to normal life. We are ever so thankful to have Hunter and that there were no major complications. A thanks for everyone's prayers and support.

So now that we are home, it has been an eye-opening experience in adding another kid to the mix. Samantha is very good with him but feels the lack of attention that she is used to getting. It will take some work, and that is the hard part. I like to call them "family growing pains". I think that sums it up for now. More to come later...

About two weeks and counting!

As Amanda grows closer (no pun intended) to her due date, she is even more ready to have this be over with and be able to enjoy our new son! We are about as ready as we will ever be so anytime is good for us. I guess it's just up to Hunter now to decide when he wants to come. Samantha picked out a little toy cow for me for Father's Day. I say that she was thinking selfless when she picked that one out! Sam gets bigger and bigger and continues to astound us at the things she says. We love her and can't remember what life was like before her! Especially when she tells us "No" all the time (saying that sarcastically)!

On the NC front, we are getting more used to being here now. We have enjoyed spring time, the greens and trees are spectacular here. We are grateful for the friendships we have made here and look forward to more time here with them. And a persoal note, finally had the chance to try out Golf for my first time, boy was it fun! I may be a fan, now I just need to work on getting a set of clubs.

I will try my best to keep this updated as we get closer to Hunter's arrival. And of course there will be more pics when he is born!

Nesting...getting ready for Hunter!

So I titled this post "Nesting" because that is what Amanda has been going through this past week. I must say, it has been nice. Anyone that knows Amanda knows that housekeeping is not one of her most favorite things to do so I am enjoying while I can! We are definitely feeling the "baby buzz" around the house. Amanda has been working hard at going through all of Hunter's clothes and organizing everything. There is really baby stuff everywhere. Amanda is hoping that Hunter comes early. We are praying that everything goes smoothly with the birth as Amanda had to have a "C'-section last time. We'll see how it goes...

Samantha continues to grow and astound us with the things that she says and does! As you can see from the video below, she loves music and loves to dance. We have tried to expose her to different types of music while she is young; we both believe that music plays an important part in the Gospel and in loving life.

We are ever so grateful to be parents and are excited to welcome Hunter into our home. More postings to come later!

April 15th come and gone, glad it's finally over!

So April 15th has come and passed...and I made it! We have had a busy month with Amanda being in California and my self going to Kansas to drive my Grandma out here to North Carolina. Finally, we are able to have a breather and get back to life as we know it. We even took a quick escape to the beach for some well needed down time.
Our next event is Hunter (July 4th), and preparing for him is our task at hand. So along with rearranging furniture and scouring Craigslist for baby stuff, we are doing pretty good. Samantha is getting to be more like a regular kid, that is in giving her parents a hard time! I always think how we are going to do with two of them but I guess you rise the occasion and do what needs to be done. Amanda has had a hard time being pregnant this time around. It has made her rethink the 5 kids idea!
I was telling one of Amanda's cousins sometime I still feel like I am 21. It's hard to imagine me having two kids and being the family man, kind of surreal. We are really enjoying the spring here in NC, lots of flowers, lots of green, and no humidity yet!
We hope everyone is doing well. I am still trying to get Amanda to take over and make some entries, no luck yet but maybe one day!

A can see a light at the end of the tunnel!

Ok, I have almost made it all the way through tax season, only one week to go! Amanda & Samantha leave for California tomorrow so I will be alone to battle out the last week by my self. It is probably better that way so that I don't feel guilty for not being at home with my family. I have to say tax season has been a learning experience for both Amanda and I.
Amanda is growing larger every day! She swears that Hunter is going to be a big boy, I don't know why she would think that! We are experiencing new antics from Sam. We are learning how to be good parents as we go and Sam is excellent training for future kids. Bye for now, hope all is well, I will write more later, probably after tax season is over.