Gruene tea and great friends

Hunter had another welcome party today.  My very sweet co-workers from my old job hosted a welcome baby shower at a tearoom in Gruene, TX.  If you have never been to Gruene, I highly recommend visiting this quaint tiny town next to New Braunfels.  We had such a nice time and it was so wonderful to see them and share my joy.  It means so much to me that we have been able to keep in contact over the past four years and stay close.  It means even more to me that I was able to share this experience with them even though I no longer work with them.  My mother in law was in town so she got to come too.  After the shower, she and I walked around Gruene and tried to navigate the stroller through the cluttered antique shops.  Luckily we didn't break anything or make too many people mad.  We found this cute nursery and stopped by to take some pictures.  We did get into a little trouble by the owner.  I had the bright idea to put Hunter in a pot and take his picture. Evidently he didn't like this and told us that "everyone else always asks permission before doing that."  I tried to convince my mother in law to go distract that man so I could take more pictures, but I could tell he had a very watchful eye on me :)  What rebels we are!

Coming to an end

I have four days left of maternity leave.  I cannot believe this 10 weeks staying at home with Hunter is coming to an end.  When I think about the last 10 weeks I feel that my time with Hunter flew by so incredibly fast but I feel like i haven't been at work in a looooong time.  I am not ready to return to work, but at least I feel that I finally had a break.  I worked two years non stop, only taking time off when I was sick, to save up my leave.  It was so worth it and I have a new appreciation for time.  As I was planning my leave, I thought of all these things around the house I wanted to get done like clean and organize some closets and things.  And of course I got none of that done.  I was not counting on a baby who only cat-napped during the day.  I have, however, improved on my time management skills and can clean house faster than ever.  I have also found a new fondness for daytime TV and Target.  Even though I didn't get all the home projects done that I wanted to, I know I accomplished the most important thing--- spending quality time with my son and taking care of this precious boy.  And yes, I loved every minute of it.  As I end my leave, I am sad that I won't be spending so much time with Hunter, but I still have a hope that my dream of being a stay at home mom will come true someday.  It has been fun to pretend to be one though.  I feel like it is this elite club that I have always wanted membership and I was granted a temporary pass.  It was just enough time to get me wanting more.

Last weekend my family hosted a welcome Hunter party at my parents house.  I invited some of my high school friends who live in the area.  I was so excited to see that some of them came and brought their families.  It was so much fun to see everyone.  We also decided that 12 years is far too long between get togethers so we will be getting together A LOT more often.

  Here we are in 1997, on my 16th birthday

Here we are last weekend.  14 years and 5 1/2 kids later

Hunter has another girlfriend- Hadley.  She is 9 days younger than Hunter

Cousins on Papa's tractor

My little Monkey