2nd quarter 2010

Well it appears that I am keeping true to my word and only blogging once a quarter now...hoping that this will change but for now I suppose I need to recap for the past three months. I think we were up to Merrin's birthday which was the beginning of April so let's see, since then Keith has finished up yet another busy tax season, we have made several trips to the beach (three different beaches I might add), finished up Merrin's second year of preschool, completed two Kindermusic sessions, taught Vacation Bible School and started dance classes for the very first time. It has been a busy but wonderful past three months! In April, Keith finished up tax season and we immediately headed to Oak Island for a week long celebration.
We mainly spent our time doing a whole lot of NOTHING as it was a little too chilly for extended beach visits but we did manage to build some very educational volcanos while we were there!
It was also our first beach visit since Elliott had become mobile and we did learn a few things, first, Elliott has NO fear when it comes to the ocean and second, its not a lot of fun on the beach with Elliott!! While Keith was playing golf one day I decided to take the kids to the beach which turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought. Merrin wanted to stay as far away from the water as possible while Elliott would not stay out of the water so needless to say, we did not stay out very long. I truly believe Elliott would keep walking out into the ocean until someone saves him. After returning home from the beach we continued our Kindermusic classes which Merrin and Elliott both loved. We did two back to back sessions, one in April and a second in May. We are still listening to the CD's from both sessions every time we get in the car (mommy misses her music!!). In May, Merrin finished up her second year of preschool and it was bittersweet. Merrin had a great year and it was sad saying goodbye to her wonderful teachers and friends. Most of them we will see next year but a few will be moving on to different days or different schools all together. Merrin is still unaware that her very best friend who she still talks about, Kaitlyn, will not be in her class next year. At the end of the year the teachers made a scrapbook of the entire year for each child and gave it to the parents. I literally cried when I saw it for the first time. It is such a special book and something I'm going to treasure for a long time. I can just envision Merrin looking through it one day when she is older. We also did some strawberry pickin' in May and had the best time doing it. It was our first time picking strawberries but I have a feeling it won't be our last. Merrin really enjoyed it and talks about going pack (just like she talks about the pumpkin patch frequently). Elliott had a ball and ate his weight in berries!!

In June, we went to Hilton Head for the Jimison's (my family's) annual beach trip. We spent the week out on the beach, in the pool and riding bikes. Merrin & Elliott had the best time with their cousins and it was good to all be together as a family.. We also celebrated cousin Noah's 7th birthday in June via pool party which was another good excuse for Merrin & Elliott to see their east coast cousins. Also in June Merrin started dance lessons for the very first time and so far is really enjoying it. Some weeks she is more excited about going than others but says she wants to continue in the fall so we'll see. Our YMCA does a mini 8 week session in the summer but if you do the fall semester there is a recital at the end before Christmas, so cute!! Recently we were at Cherry Grove beach to celebrate the 4th but I'll talk about that in a later post...as it is offically part of the third quarter, HA! All in all we have finished up the first half of 2010 feeling extremely blessed and fortunate. I am continued to be amazed at the blessings God had given us and am trying to grow closer to Him daily. During Merrin's school year a group of young moms at our church came together for a Bible study and I am looking forward to another one starting back up in the fall. Right now I am in the middle of reading "The Shack" but am having a hard time wanting to finish it...definitely pulls on the heart strings!! That's all for now!

1st quarter 2010

Well obviously my last goal of blogging every day in December was a complete joke so maybe I should try blogging once a quarter! All I can say about the first quarter of 2010 for the Gunter family is that we have survived!! Tax season is almost over and we can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. It has been a busy start to the year but then again I guess it always is with a tax accountant in the family.
While Keith has been busy with work, I've been busy with Merrin and Elliott. We celebrated Elliott's first birthday in February and watched him sprint into toddler-hood. He is a ball of energy and SUPER mobile. He started walking a few weeks before his birthday and has not slowed down since. He is practically running now and LOVES to climb which is something Merrin never did. Elliott's favorite place to climb into is the garden tub in our master bath. He will find a toy and then crawl into the tub to play with it and when he is all done he will climb out. Today I found him in the water table, I turned around for a second and he climbed up on top of it and sat down...I guess he thought it was a swimming pool just his size! He also loves to put random things in places they don't belong, like his tools in the kitchen cabinets or Merrin's shoes in her toy kitchen and today when I started the dryer I heard an loud bang so I opened the dryer door and found one of his trucks inside. He is a mess but still melts my heart every time I see him. He is my sweetheart and LOVES to snuggle and is EXTREMELY ticklish so I tickle him every day just to hear him giggle. He has learned to tickle us now as well and loves to try and tickle Merrin's feet (which she hates by the way)! He had his first haircut in January and this past week was his first introduction to the buzzers/clippers which he thought were funny. Elliott thinks LOTS of things are funny, especially his sister, he laughs at her daily!
We celebrated Miss Merrin's birthday this past weekend and she is now the very big three year old! Merrin is my ultimate girly girl. She HATES to have a drop of water on her clothes or the least little bit of dirt in her toes! My girlfriends who have boys don't quite know what to think of her. She definitely brings the "drama" to the table but what girl doesn't? Merrin is my sensitive child which I can't blame her for, she does have ME as her mama! Merrin is my sweetpea though and LOVES to help whenever she can. She especially likes to help in the kitchen and there are very few times that I can be stirring food in a bowl without her wanting to stir it too. Merrin LOVES going to "school" at our church and asks to go almost every day. She also has become recently obsessed with anything "Disney Princess" ever since Santa Clause gave her Snow White for Christmas. Since then we have added Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty to our collection and she loves them all. Merrin will soon start her Kindermusic classes and she is super excited about them as she remembers them from last year. It will be more fun this year since Elliott will be able to participate considering last year he slept through them all in the baby bjorn. We are also planning on doing a short ballet camp this summer which I know Merrin will love. She already has the leotards and shoes which were handed down from a friend at church. Merrin LOVES to dress up and dance around the house. All in all Merrin is moving right along and definitely entering the "threes" as her need to show her independence is really coming out. I'm learning how to let go a bit and she is teaching me patience (a daily struggle of course)!
I hope to pick back up the blogging as I've really missed it. I look back at some of my early posts when I first started blogging and can't believe how much Merrin has grown. I really want to keep this up as a "scrapbook" if nothing else. Hopefully I'll hold myself accountable and will post again soon!

Meet #2

So now that I've gotten somewhat caught up (see previous post) I guess I should set a really unrealistic goal which I won't achieve but will try anyway...lets see...how about I try to blog every day during the entire month of December (oh lucky you mom...I think you are the only one who reads my blog). If only I had started on Dec. 1st...oh well, we'll call it the 23 days of Christmas Blog!

For starters...I will tell you a short story of how our family came to know and love #2! #2 (despite what you are thinking) happens to be the name of our beloved elf that is living with our family until Christmas eve. Many of you are already familiar with "elf on a shelf" but for those of you that are not I will explain. You see, this elf is special because he has magic! #2 quietly rests in one particular spot in our home all day long, watching and taking notes to see if my Merrin & Elliott are being naughty or nice. Then, after our angels are tucked away in their beds, #2 uses his magic and flies away to report back to Santa. In the morning #2 reappears in a new location in our home where he can continue to watch and observe. Talking is encouraged to #2 however touching is not (yeah, good luck with that)!!! You might be asking yourself why we call our beloved elf #2. Well...its because we let Merrin name our elf and for some reason she chose #2. Maybe that is because she is fascinated with going "poop on the potty" but I'd like to think its because she is super intelligent and can clearly see that our special elf is #2 in command next to Santa. I digress...on the first day #2 appeared in our home, he sat quietly on our living room mantle. On the second day he got cozy on a shelf in Merrin's bathroom. Today, however, #2 had a rude awakening. Around 4:00AM Merrin woke up crying in her bed. Naturally Keith got up to see what was the matter as this is not her normal wake-up time and when he went into Merrin's room, Merrin explained that she did NOT want #2 sitting on her dresser. So...#2 had to relocate to Mommy and Daddy's bedroom for the rest of today. I wonder where he will appear tomorrow, that crazy elf!

Did you say blog?

I had protested joining facebook for over a year until about two months ago when I caved late one night out of boredom...and that answers the question of what on earth happened to my blog! When I first started our family blog about a year and a half ago, I did it mainly as a "cyber-scrapbook" if you will. I have boxes collected around the house FULL of things that I hope to one day put in a scrapbook but with little Merrin's and Elliott's around, who has the time? (Blair and Angie, don't answer that, you guys are an anomaly!!) So...since I don't have the time to sit down and spend hours pasting tiny objects into over sized books, I set out to sit down and spend 30 minutes jotting down our day to day activities. I have to say it was all going rather well until said social network entered my life. So...in a nutshell, I am pretty disappointed in myself that I have missed blogging about the past two months because they have been pretty super and packed full with things that I would have loved to look back on a year from now but I guess I'll have to settle for a quick recap...here goes!
During the month of October we went to my hometown fair, took a train ride to the Imaginon (a glorified public library), visited a local pumpkin patch where we enjoyed a hayride to pet some farm animals, went to our neighborhood Octoberfest and last but not least had a very rainy, wet and wonderful Halloween spent with our church and family. November was kind of a blur but basically we just "survived" until Thanksgiving when we traveled to the mountains and had a nice relaxing, WHITE Thanksgiving. Oh and I guess I did host my first ever "Holiday Snack-n-Shop" with my Mary Kay business which did not put any "cashola" into my pocket but it was fun none the less. Here are a whole slew of pictures...

My family at the fair
Merrin at Imaginon
A very cold Octoberfest spent with Ellie & Maggie
Merrin lost in a hay maze
Feeding goats at the pumpkin patch
Merrin looking at cows
Merrin with the horses
On a hayride with our neighbors
Merrin on a tractor at the pumpkin patch
My little pumpkin in a pumpkin patch
Our church Trunk-or-Treat
The cutest bumble bee ever!
Mamaw & Papaw with their bugs
Grammy with her bugs
Mary Kay table at Holiday Snack-n-Shop
Our WHITE Thanksgiving in the mountains

NINE MONTHS

I can't believe its been an entire month since my last blog...guess you can tell that I've recently joined facebook? With that being said, HAPPY NINE MONTHS little buddy! Our Elliott turned nine months old today (which also happens to be his very cool Aunt Angela's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT ANGELA). We go tomorrow for Elliott's nine month well check so stats to follow but I will leave you with some AWESOME pictures of our little guy that we had especially made to remember this completely wonderful age (this is secretly my favorite age, or wait, did I say that about 6 months too??). I love you Elliott, it is a complete joy to be your mama!





I couldn't leave my Merrin out so here is a picture of my sweet girl, I love my Princess Whinny Pants (nickname given by her Uncle Eric)!!

EIGHT MONTHS

Little buddy is 8 months old today!!!

This little guy is eight months old and into EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! I think I have forgotten what it is like to have a mobile baby or maybe its that Elliott gets into WAY more stuff than Merrin ever did but look out world, Elliott is full steam ahead! If he is not wedging himself under the coffee table he is scooting behind the couch or crawling under the computer desk looking for a good cord to chew on. He is a MESS! He also has become quite the messy eater! He has started "zerberting" his food out when he gets excited and it goes everywhere...all over me and all over the table. This is something Merrin certainly never did, she is the world's cleanest eater as far as toddlers are concerned. All in all, I am LOVING this little boy. He will melt your heart in an instance and his laugh is contagious. He LOVES our dog, Mayzi, and laughs whenever she is near and he also likes it when you pretend to nibble on his ears and cheeks. He is highly ticklish and I love trying to count his little ribs because it makes him cackle. Can he stay eight months old forever...oh I wish!!!

Confessions of a Stay-At-Home-Mom

So here are my top 5 confessions...

5.) You might think twice about eating at my house once you learn that on several occasions, I have let Elliott and Merrin play with (includes slobbering and chewing on) kitchen utensils (spoons, spatulas, Tupperware, etc.) and seldom to I wash them afterwards!

4.) I have been known to take pictures of feces, especially when your two year old finally goes #2 after being scared of it for months...but take heart, I only share those photos with privileged family members!

3.) Sometimes, I let Merrin do household chores, vacuuming is her preferred task (please don't call DSS)

2.) I have been known to lock myself in my bathroom to escape a screaming two year old (particularly in the event of an urgent phone call when my attention greedy toddler won't let me take it)

1.) My kids (including the almost 8 month old) watch entirely too much TV!!!