The Hutchins Family: December 2008

Well-this might be a long one. As some of you know our computer has been on the fritz and we have finally gotten around to getting it fixed (some 2 months later)-I guess that tells you how busy we have been! I really missed being able to do this-I have felt a little disconnected lately. I will try to recap the past 2 months-at least what I remember of it!

October was a busy month. Dickey (Kevin's dad) was scheduled to have surgery on his back. As he was going through preliminary stress tests they found he had severe blockage in his arteries. The next day, instead of back surgery, he had a triple bypass. He is recovering very well, and seems to be getting back to his old self. It still amazes me to see how Kevin's family operates. I think Dickey surely had a record number of people in the waiting room at the hospital during his surgery. Everyone was there to offer their prayers and support for him, and I was reminded how blessed I am to be part of such a wonderful and caring family...I really think that families like that are few and far between these days. Also, on October 30, my best friend Katy had her baby girl that they named Adalee Kate! She is healthy and beautiful and they are doing very well-I am so excited to have someone else to share motherhood with! And at the last minute we decided to get Halloween costumes. Hannah was a bumble bee and Hunter was a monkey (very fitting for him). We made rounds at all the grandparents so they could see them. The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves until the ride home when Hannah got tired of her wings and cried the whole way home!

November was a little more relaxed; we enjoyed Thanksgiving over at Pam and Dickey's and went to my Dad and Kim's the day after. Way too much food for one weekend that's for sure. Hannah and Hunter both started cutting their first molars which was not fun. Hannah's teeth never have seemed to bother her, but Hunter is so miserable. I feel really bad for him, but there's not much we can do I guess. I also have tried to start phasing out their pacifiers. They usually only get them when they sleep and in the car. The car thing is more of a crutch for me, because I can't stand it when they cry in the car-I feel so helpless. Evidently day care doesn't allow binkies in the Toddler room at 18 months, so we have a few more months to kick the habit! Also in November we went to a large "mothers of mulitples" garage sale-Pam got them a huge plastic pony for a great deal, and Hannah has fallen in love with it. She rocks back and forth on it and cracks up laughing! Hunter has also developed a few new interests: the first is climbing on anything and everything (scary for me); the second is trying to fit himself into things (boxes, bowls, cabinets, etc.); the third is his new fascination with his nose. To my dismay, he really enjoys sticking his finger up his nose and keeping it there (especially when there is someone trying to take a picture of him). You will see some examples in the new pictures!

December has been wonderful so far. Kevin and I went to my office Christmas party last weekend, Pam came over to babysit. We had a great time, we haven't been apart from the kids in a while. I am thinking of maybe picking up a 3rd day of work somewhere, I am not ready to go back full time, but wouldn't mind working a few more days here and there. We went on Sunday to take pictures with Santa. We were so worried Hannah would cry, but she did pretty well. The little girl in front of us had a major meltdown, but when we put them on his lap Hunter just looked confused and Hannah just stared at Santa with a very serious look on her face.

We are looking forward to the Christmas holidays and being able to see family and friends. I have posted some pics of the last few months that I liked(some are funny, some are random). Enjoy!