The Hunsberger Herald

Love for Lottie Garage Sale

2012-02-04T21:17:00.002-06:00

The t-shirts are in and (most) have been delivered!

We were blown away with your response to our t-shirt sale! You all have helped us sell almost 125 t-shirts so far. We still have a few left over if you are interested in purchasing one. See this post for information on how to order.

If you bought a t-shirt, we would love for you to send us a picture of you wearing your shirt. We plan to keep a scrapbook of our adoption journey to share with Lottie one day and want your picture to be included. We want her to see everybody that worked hard to help bring her home to us. Just email me your picture at glohunsberger@gmail.com .

Where are we in the process?

Well, we are diligently working on all of the paperwork and pre-adoption education credits right now. We have completed all four of our home study visits with our social worker and hope to wrap up the home study in the next couple of months. Wow, there is a lot to be done, but we have some awesome people at both Lifeline in Birmingham and New Beginnings here in Mississippi helping us out.

What is next in our fundraising efforts?

So glad you asked! We plan on having a garage sale to benefit our adoption on Saturday, March 24^th at our house. If you feel like doing a little cleaning out, we would be happy to take any ~~junk~~ treasures off your hands. We can arrange for pick up and storage for those of you here in the Jackson metro area. So, let us know if you have anything you would like to donate to the sale (glohunsberger@gmail.com) . One thing you can all be doing is praying that March 24^th is a beautiful day!

Thank you again for your support. We give God all the glory for the way He has provided for these first major steps in our adoption journey. We can’t wait to see what He will continue to do! We will keep you updated about the garage sale and any progress in our home study.

Let's Go To The Movies

2012-01-27T19:41:00.004-06:00

Last week, Abigail and I got to go on a fun date together. We went for pizza (her favorite) and to see the movies to see Beauty and the Beast. We have the movie and have watched it what seems like 1,000 times so she was super excited to see it on the big screen!

Here we are about to head out on our date.

She is beautiful, even with pizza all over her mouth.
She was excited to wear her Belle dress to the movie.
Abigail and I had a blast at the movie! There were only four other people in the entire theater so she was able to sing and dance in the aisle throughout the show. I think her favorite part was the entire bag of M&Ms I let her eat!
She was great and I can't wait to take her to the movies again!

Luke is 10 months old!

2012-01-19T20:44:00.004-06:00

LTH - 10 Months Old

That's right, I'm ten. Two hands, double digits. I love life as a ten month old these days. I can get wherever I want to go, play with all of my new toys from Christmas, go to school now two mornings a week, and am trying some new foods that I get to eat with my hands. What could be better? They even gave me juice in a cup a few weeks ago!

I still have nothing to report on the teeth front. That's right, not one tooth yet. I am holding out on Mom so that I can cut six at once next time Dad goes out of town. That's my plan anyway.

Dad took a video of one of my newest tricks. I have started using my push toy as a walker recently and feel pretty good about myself these days. Maybe by next month I will learn how to turn it around on my own.

See you next month,

Luke

(P.S. Mom says there is a new blog post below)

We Didn't Skip Christmas

2012-01-19T20:30:00.004-06:00

It's pretty sad that I haven't blogged about our Christmas yet. So sorry! We had a very merry one, as you will see from this picture recap. Enjoy!

Princess Olivia and Princess Abigail with their "Tangled" hair.

Luke tickling the ivories.
This is the face Abigail made over EVERY.SINGLE.PRESENT. I loved seeing Christmas through her eyes this year.
Her flashlight from Luke was a hit.

Her new Dora toothbrush was by far her favorite gift of the season!

Although her cool new bike was a close second.

What was Luke's favorite part you ask? The boxes and wrapping paper of course!

You want one?

2011-12-20T22:07:00.005-06:00

Wow, we have been incredibly blessed and humbled by the generous outpouring of support from our family, friends, and even strangers to us. Our t-shirt pre-orders have been so encouraging. There are still a few days left to get your pre-order in by the end of the year. Click here for more information on placing your order.

In adoption news, we completed our orientation interview with Lifeline and plan to begin the lengthy home study process at the beginning of the year. We covet your prayers as we begin the "paper chase" portion of bringing Lottie home.

God has blessed us tremendously in affirming our decision to begin the adoption process. His faithfulness to provide has strengthened us as we move to the next step of our journey.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas this week, we pray you will each praise God for the Savior that came as a tiny baby, to live as a servant, and die a death that we deserve. In doing so, Jesus payed the price for our adoption as God's children.

"Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, ris'n with healing in His wings. Mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. Hark! the herald angels sing, 'Glory to the newborn King.'" - Charles Wesley

Luke is 9 months old!

2011-12-20T21:46:00.003-06:00

Luke - 9 months old

Hello,

Merry Christmas everybody! I am enjoying every minute of my first Christmas season and can't believe we get to do this every year! I'm crawling full speed ahead now, and cannot be stopped. My favorite targets these days are the Christmas tree and the fireplace. I like to keep my folks hopping.

In other recent news, as soon as I learned to crawl I started pulling up on anything and everything. One of my favorite things to do is get into a standing position leaning against the most random possible things I can find. Making my Mom nervous cracks me up!

The picture below is Abigail's puppy dog picture. She insisted on one too after my monthly shot with the dog.

I got another A+ report from my doctor this month and weigh in at 19 pounds, 5 ounces. I measure 29 inches in length too. Not to shabby, right?

I leave you with a couple of pictures of our Christmas celebration with Coach and Nana this week.

Merry Christmas,

Luke

Love for Lottie Shirts

2011-12-05T21:44:00.013-06:00

Here it is, our first official fundraiser for Lottie! We are selling t-shirts to help offset some of our adoption costs and are so excited about the design. A dear friend, Nick Nitsch, was so kind to do the design for us. Here is the design and the details:

The t-shirts are brown with a light blue design (the picture looks pretty dark, but they are brown).
They come in adult sizes S, M, L, XL, & 2X as well as kids sizes S, M, L, & XL.
Adult t-shirts are $20 and kids sizes are $15.
If you are in the Jackson Metro Area, we can hand deliver them to you. All others, we will ship them to your door. Please add $3 for shipping costs when ordering.
We plan on making our first order by the end of the year. We will take pre-orders up until Friday, December 30th and will order extras for future sales past that date. Pre-ordering will ensure that we have your size!
There are a few ways to order:

Comment on this post or email me at glohunsberger@gmail.com to place a pre-order.
Click the "donate" button on the sidebar to purchase a shirt using your PayPal account, credit card, or bank account. After entering your payment information through the secure website you will be directed to a page where you can confirm your donation. On that page is a link to "Add special instructions to the seller." Click this link to provide us information about the sizes you want and a shipping address if necessary.
See one of us in person or flag us on Facebook to place your order.

We can't wait to wear our t-shirts in support of sweet Lottie! Let us know if you have any questions.

Launching our Adoption Fund

2011-12-04T21:53:00.005-06:00

As you read in an earlier post here, our family has recently begun the adoption process. We will be using our blog to keep you informed about every part of our journey including opportunities for you to help in bringing Lottie home. We are extremely grateful for any financial help you give toward our adoption and want to be completely transparent about how we use the money donated. So, consider this our "Adoption Fund Fine Print."

Here are just a few things we want you to know when donating to our adoption fund:

Money donated through our PayPal account (the "Donate" button on our blog) is subject to a PayPal fee of 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction if paid by credit card. This means that if you donate $10 to our adoption fund we see $9.41 of it. We feel the fees associated with PayPal are completely worth it for the ease and security that PayPal offers.
We have set up a separate bank account specifically for our adoption fund. All financial gifts given toward our adoption will be held in this particular account to ensure they are kept separate from our day-to-day money. Our PayPal account is linked directly to this bank account as well.
You are welcome to send a donation through the mail if you do not wish to use PayPal. Email me at glohunsberger@gmail.com for our mailing address.
Please feel free to ask about details associated with the cost of our adoption if you have any questions. In response to your generosity, we see it as our responsibility to keep track of every penny spent throughout this process.

Again, we are incredibly thankful for your support and look forward to telling Lottie about each of you that help to bring her home through prayer and support.

For Our Many Blessings

2011-11-28T21:42:00.007-06:00

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and enjoyed it with the Gladney extended family at Lake Bruin.

Abigail and Joshua were in heaven with so many fun things to do indoors and out. It was fun watching them play together more than just playing around each other. They are both growing so fast!

The zip line and rope swing were big hits. Their confidence grew each time they tried it and by the end of the week they were zip lining without help and swinging as high as we could push!

They also enjoyed climbing trees ...
riding in wheelbarrows ...
and doing crafts with Aunt B!
By the end of each night, they were exhausted.
Thanksgiving Day also happened to be Abigail's third birthday! Not to be outdone by the turkey holiday, we hosted a Cinderella birthday party that morning. Here is her homemade birthday cake that, thankfully, tasted better than it looked!
So much love for one little girl!

She was so cute opening presents and really focused on each one. She would gasp with excitement at the first glance of EVERY present!

This is one happy Cinderella! Happy 3rd Birthday Abigail!
Oh yeah, Luke was there too! Poor baby didn't get much camera time. He devoured his sweet potato Thanksgiving dinner and chased it with some Puffs!

We sure did miss spending the week with this crew below! Can't wait for 2013 to ...

sit around these tables and ...

enjoy this yummy spread!

We are so blessed! Thanks be to God!

Future American Idol

2011-11-21T22:06:00.003-06:00

I'll let the videos speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Another new post below!

Luke is 8 months old!

2011-11-21T21:50:00.002-06:00

Luke - 8 Months Old

Hi Everybody,

Well, I turned 8 months old on November 10th but am just now finding a few minutes to update all of you. I had the croup and an ear infection that sidelined me for just a few days but have bounced back with extra steam since then. I've been really busy playing with my sister these days. She is really pretty nice to me!

I've also been busy trying to learn to crawl. I think I'm getting pretty close, but not quite there yet. For some reason, I can go in reverse but haven't learned to put it in drive yet. Maybe I will just keep crawling backwards wherever I want to go.
Still no teeth to report. Not for my lack of trying for sure. I will put anything into my mouth that I can get my hands on. It's my favorite hobby.
I am also really looking forward to my first Thanksgiving and spending time with some family that rarely gets to see me. I foresee four full days of getting anything I want (I mean Aunt B will be there for goodness sakes). Since Tom Tom will be there, I am working on my baseball signs so we can speak our own language to each other!
I'll tell Mom to give you a full report of all of the fun soon.

Later,

Luke

Taking a Leap

2011-11-14T21:55:00.008-06:00

We have news to share!

James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. “

We are excited to share that God is leading our family to pursue international adoption. Surprise! Surprise is the appropriate word for how we feel as well. The idea of adoption for our family is not a new one for Chad and me. We have literally been talking about it since before we married. We both individually have felt for a long time that adoption may be included in our story and have, until recently, been on slightly different pages about the way God might choose to play that out in our family. To me, adoption was something we would pursue “one day” maybe when our kids were older or when we had the money. I did not give the “when” much thought or prayer, just assumed it was later for us. God has been stirring my heart now for weeks to seriously seek His will for our family and adoption. As I submitted in prayer, He was faithful to communicate to me His desire for our family in a number of ways. Knowing full well that I would need confirmation in many different forms, God used His Word, sermons, personal Bible study, books, music and wise counsel from godly individuals to reveal His will for our family and adoption at this time. We still have more questions than answers at this point, but God was gracious to provide clarity in some of the specifics for us. Again, He knew I would need some of the details to more easily acknowledge this as a reality rather than a “some day” dream.

Here is what we know God is telling us:

· God is calling us to begin the adoption process now. The Gospel in our hearts compels us to live it out in our lives through orphan care. Adoption is the way our family feels led to care for orphans at this time.

· We are adopting internationally from China through Lifeline Children’s Services in Birmingham.

· We are adopting a little girl (probably under two years old) with a mild medical or other special need. This has been one of the scariest things for me to accept. Upon further research and conversations with Lifeline staff we learned that many of the children’s medical needs are easily repaired in the U.S. and simply have not been addressed in the orphanage due to a lack of resources. If a child with such a need remained unadopted, they would spend their whole life in an institution likely without ever having their need addressed.

o Psalm 82:4 “Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

· We will be able to specify with the agency what type of “special need” our family is willing to commit to before they offer us a referral. Some of the more common needs include: cleft lip or palate, club foot, minor heart defects, malformed or missing limbs, and sometimes even a large birth mark can be considered a “special need.” With many of these needs, medical procedures, medication, or therapies can correct them.

· She will be named Charlotte, and we will call her Lottie. Charlotte means free or strong. We pray that Lottie will experience freedom from bondage as an orphan and grow strong and healthy as a result of being adopted in the same way that we have experienced those things through our adoption as God’s children.

o John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

In feeling the nudge to go ahead with the adoption process, I quickly questioned God’s timing. I thought we weren’t ready, that we didn’t have the money we needed, and that He couldn’t possibly want us to start the process while Chad was still in school. The very same week I was feeling these doubts, God spoke to me through my Explorer’s Bible study material. Here are some quotes directly from my book that I read just a day after feeling such doubt:

· “The key to hearing from God more frequently or certainly is to take action on what you think God is saying.”

· “What God calls you to do will meet with His provision in accordance with His timing.”

· “Expect the Holy Spirit to give you His peace when the leading, timing, and conditions are right for obedience.”

I was also reminded of the passage in Isaiah 55:9 that says God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. All of these things served to reassure me that God was not asking us to have the entire adoption process figured out, He was asking us to take that first step of obedience on a path He has clearly directed us to. I do not feel rushed to bring Lottie home, but I feel an urgency to be obedient in beginning the process in obedience to Him. I know God will sovereignly direct everything else.

This will not be easy. There may be many unexpected obstacles along the way, but we feel confident of God’s calling and know He will carry us through each obstacle. This will be a LONG process. China requires both adopting parents to be 30 years old before considering them for adoption. As a result, Lifeline will allow us to begin the “paper chase” at 29 ½ years old. So, we will not officially be able to begin requesting documents and completing the home study until late February of 2012. That is so all of the documents we collect will still be current when they are sent to China. Our hope is that by the time we turn 30 next year, our dossier will be complete or almost complete in order to be sent off to China and officially be put on a waiting list. It will most likely be another year after being put on the waiting list before we are able to bring Lottie home.

Adoption will be expensive too. I have heard someone say before that when God calls you to do something extraordinary it is usually costly and requires great sacrifice. That is the case with adoption too. We need close to $30,000 from start to finish over the next couple of years. That number alone is enough to make some of those considering adoption run for the hills. Here is the good news, we need only portions of that at a time (the largest coming at the end of the process when we travel to China to get Lottie) and we will get around 1/3 of that back in tax credits once the adoption is finalized. We have a lot of work to do, but are confident God will help us to do the necessary work in order to bring Lottie home. We are brainstorming some creative ways to raise money and are actually excited about getting our hands dirty for Lottie’s sake.

So what do we need from our family and friends? Prayers first and foremost. Pray for Lottie, her health and safety. Pray for her birth mother, especially if Lottie has not been born yet, for her health and safety as well. Only God knows the circumstances that will lead Lottie’s birth parents to abandon her and only His grace will be able to heal them of the hurt that will follow such a decision. Pray that God will comfort them with the assurance that their little girl will be well cared for and loved deeply. We also need your support in this decision and throughout the entire adoption journey. We need you to encourage us when we feel defeated, strengthen us when we become weary of the wait, and celebrate with us as each step along the journey brings us closer to bringing Lottie home.

· "Always remember that God is never separate from your wait. He is the Lord of waiting. He is the liberal giver of grace for the wait. Because your wait is not outside of his plan, but a vital and necessary part of it, he is with you in your wait. And remember God is not so much after the success of your ministry, he’s after you. So as you wait, tell yourself again and again: Waiting is not just about what I get at the end of the wait, but about who I become as I wait." -Paul Tripp

We are taking a huge leap of faith with the confidence that God has shown us where to jump and will not abandon us, just as he has remembered Lottie and will not abandon the fatherless.

·Isaiah 49:15b “Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

· Psalm 10:17-18 “You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.”

· Psalm 68:5 “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”

Joyfully waiting,

Gloria & Chad

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T21:25:00.005-05:00

Abigail LOVED Halloween this year and was thrilled when we decided to carve Dora into our pumpkin. Dora is her FAVORITE! She was Dad's helper throughout the pumpkin cut (please disregard her crazy hair, she insisted on doing it herself).

We also had a blast Trick-or-Treating with our friends the Howards. Luke was a "fierce" tiger and his big sister was Abigail Hamburger Hunsberger.

Our first stop was Coach and Nana's house. Abigail scored enough candy out of them to call it a night if necessary.

Here are our Trick-or-Treating buddies: a cop, a hamburger, and Cleopatra (quite a combo).
Abigail was so excited about every piece of candy and she seemed shocked that all of these people were just handing her candy left and right. She got the hang of it towards the end and began to dig through peoples buckets looking for chocolate and suckers instead of settling for what they offered her. We have scheduled a trick-or-treat etiquette lesson before next Halloween.

I think we have enough candy to feed all of Rankin County!

Fall Fun

2011-11-01T14:45:00.007-05:00

Fall has been super busy and super fun (as you will see in the pictures).

Earlier in October, Nana and I took the kiddos to the fair. We saw smelly animals, rode a couple of rides, ate some fried food, and had a ball. Here are the pics:

Enjoying fried oreos!
We can't get enough college football! (Abigail made pipe cleaner necklaces for she and Luke in the picture below)
Luke is now getting in on the dress up action with Abigail. Aunt Sis gave him the outfit below and we almost waited too late to try it on him. It is a 6-12 month outfit, but it would barely snap around the Luke man!

Abigail and I went on a field trip with her class to the pumpkin patch. It was such a fun day and she loved playing with her friends from school.
She is smitten with her classmate Noah and they were inseparable all morning.

Here is the whole crew.

This is April the Zedonk (Zebra/Donkey cross). I personally think it should be called a Zonkey.

The snack at the end of the hayride was her favorite part.

Trip to The Ham

2011-10-17T21:33:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago we went to visit the Birmingham Hunsbergers for the weekend. We had a great time just catching up and watching the cousins play together. Chad even took a Sunday off so we didn't have to rush home Saturday afternoon!

On the way there I turned around to see Abigail and Luke holding hands. So cute!

The girl cousins quickly went into "play" mode and pulled out all of Aunt Sis's toys.

These two, Olivia and Abigail, were inseparable the entire weekend. They are so cute with each other and follow each other everywhere.
They insisted on holding hands at the zoo.

This is a classic picture we can use to embarrass them when they get older!
We had such a fun time and look forward to the next time we are all together.

(new blog posts below)

Two in the Tub

2011-10-17T21:18:00.003-05:00

Now that Luke can sit so well on his own and isn't falling over anymore, we let the kiddos share the bath tub for the first time. It was the first of many because bath time goes so much quicker when you throw them both in at the same time.

This first picture sets it up so well, Abigail was beyond excited and Luke was pretty unsure about the whole thing.

Once Abigail settled down some, Luke relaxed too and seemed to really enjoy it.
Look at these clean cuties!

(New blog post below)

Luke is 7 months old!

2011-10-17T20:56:00.003-05:00

Luke - 7 Months Old

Hi Everybody,

I'm checking in to give my 7 month report. I am doing pretty good these days and can't really complain about anything. I'm getting good sleep, am well fed (obviously) and have free entertainment in Abigail every day. That girl is crazy and makes me laugh harder than anyone else!

I am growing pretty fast and probably weigh about 18 pounds. I carry it all in my cheeks and thighs, but hopefully it will all balance out one of these days. I'm wearing 12 month clothes, and even a few 12-18 month things. I love having Joshua's hand-me-down clothes but will catch up with him if I keep this pace in growth! I still don't have any teeth, but they sure are giving me fits trying to come in. Hopefully that will be news to share in next month's post.

Mom's got a few posts up her sleeve that include some of the fun things I did this past month, so I will let her fill you in on the rest.

See you next month,

Luke

Fun at the Zoo

2011-10-03T20:51:00.004-05:00

While Daddy was in Haiti a couple weeks ago, I took the kiddos to the zoo. It was a beautiful day with temps in the 70s, so we were able to enjoy the zoo without sweating to death. So excited cooler temps are rolling in! Abigail seemed to really enjoy it this time but was a little bit confused as to why the animals were not talking back to her. I told her animals can't talk and she said, "They do on Dora and Diego." Good point. Once she got past that initial disappointment, she went on talking to all of the animals but not waiting around for their response.

A baby giraffe was recently born and was so cute.

The bears were awake this time and stood right next to the fence for a long time.

Abigail's best attempt at standing like a flamingo.
Here she is trying her best to wake up the big rhino. (She was also convinced this was a dinosaur, not a rhino)

This pig was not amused with all of the onlookers.

Luke is 6 Months Old!

2011-09-14T21:15:00.016-05:00

Luke - 6 Months Old

Hi everyone,

Can't believe I've already been around half a year! This month as been a pretty good one. Mom is letting me try some new foods and so far I like anything and everything she puts in my mouth. I've also mastered sitting up on my own which is pretty cool. I can sit and play with my toys while I watch my sister bounce around the house.

I saw my doc today and got another good report. I weigh 17 pounds, 4 ounces and am 26 1/2 inches long. He also confirmed I still have a big head (61st percentile).
I am pumped about my first football season! My sister insists on ringing her cowbell right in my face, but I don't mind too much. I think it is just preparing me for the student section at state in the year 2029.

Abigail is my greatest source of entertainment these days. I laugh at pretty much everything she does. For example, see the video below (sorry, it might be a little bit hard to hear for some reason).

Catch ya next month,

Luke

Game Day!

2011-09-09T21:24:00.002-05:00

We are ready to cheer on the Mississippi State Bulldogs this weekend. GO STATE!

Visiting Pop Pop & Grandma

2011-08-28T21:30:00.005-05:00

While Chad was away at school a few weeks ago, Nana and I took Abigail and Luke to Summerville, South Carolina to visit Pop Pop and Grandma Giet. It was a LONG drive, but so nice to see them even if just for a short time. We also got to catch up with my Uncle Charles and Aunt Ava who kindly let us stay at their house. They have nine grandchildren so there were scads of toys for Abigail to enjoy at their house. She thought it was AWESOME! Here are some pictures from our big adventure.

Our first visit with Pop Pop was GREAT! It started out perfect in Abigail's eyes because Pop Pop quickly offered her some chocolate.

The picture below cracks me up. It is one of Pop's safe in his room where he keeps all of his important things locked up securely. The funny part is that his chocolate and candy stash is included amongst those important things he locks up!
Luke got in on the Pop Pop love and was really good the whole visit.

Another highlight for Abigail was when Pop took her on a ride in his chair. She was so excited and he seemed to be too!

Checking out the fish in the lobby area.
The next day we went to visit Grandma Giet. Unfortunately, Grandma was in the hospital during our visit so we were not able to spend a lot of time with her. Abigail picked out a pretty balloon to take to Grandma in an effort to cheer her up.

There is not much for a toddler to do in a hospital room so we resorted to playing with the gloves for entertainment.

We made one more stop at Pop Pop's and had to wake him up that morning. He wasn't feeling well that day but did his best to put on a good face for Abigail. (We found out later that day he had shingles - no wonder he felt bad!)
Abigail helped him put on his shoes - so sweet!
Once again, he won her over with sweets and produced a sunshine cookie pop that made her day.
Here she and Luke are getting some love before we left to start our journey home.

Thanks Nana for taking us and enduring cranky kiddos and long hours in the car. It was a week full of memories!

Such.A.Big.Girl!

2011-08-19T21:30:00.005-05:00

Abigail is such a busy (and sassy) almost three year old. She loves life and there is never a dull moment with her around. She has had a GREAT summer and seemed to develop so much in a short few weeks. Below is a picture update from her summer:

Silly girl always wearing Mommy's shoes.

The old boots were a hit for a few weeks. Here she is doing her runway walk and glare.
BIG NEWS! Abigail started dance classes over the summer and LOVED it. She gets to do ballet and tap each week while wearing her super cute leotard and tights (her favorite part I think). Here she is on her first day of dance class. Can we say, EXCITED!
In another first, Abigail participated in her first VBS (or PBS as she called it) this summer. Look how cute she is in her oversized t-shirt. (Notice a theme in these pictures - I grab a lot of last minute pictures on our way out the door at the house, hence the back door/trash can scenery.)
Yet another first (this summer was full of them), Chad took Abigail to see her first movie at the movie theater. They saw Winnie the Pooh and she actually made it through the whole movie. Abigail was so excited about her "date" with Daddy and insisted on putting on a dress for the outing. Look how happy she is to be going to the movies with her Daddy! (He gave her unlimited popcorn and Sprite at the movie = SPOILED ROTTEN)
We are gearing up for college football season just around the corner and are beyond excited! Abigail has been practicing MSU cheers in preparation for kickoff. She loves wearing her cheerleading uniform and insists on having her "Go State bell" and pom pom while wearing it. Poor Luke just has to endure these LOUD practice sessions.

Dress up has been the favorite activity of the summer at our house. Abigail cannot get enough of princess dresses, shoes, crowns, etc. We have such a girly girl on our hands. The picture below shows how you might catch her 95% of the time if you were to stop by.
The smile below is one of a potty trained little girl excited about her accomplishments in the restroom. She has been working hard the past few weeks and seems to have finally gotten the hang of it (hopefully we aren't speaking too soon on this subject). The pink scooter was her motivation in the LONG process and she was over the moon at finally getting to ride it.
And finally in the long list of "firsts" in this post, here is the big girl on her first day of "school." Mom's morning out started back this week much to Abigail and Mommy's delight. She loves her new teachers and could not wait to get the year started.
Oh how happy she makes us!

P.S. New post below too!

Luke is 5 Months Old!

2011-08-19T18:41:00.004-05:00

Luke - 5 Months Old

Hello Blog World,

Time again for my monthly post. I turned 5 months old on August 10th! I had a busy month and hopefully Mom will fill you in on some other details of the month in a later post.

I continue to grow at a rapid pace. In the picture above (handsome if I do say so) I am sporting nine month pajamas. A few of my six month outfits are a little (ahem) tight around the legs and belly, so Mom broke out a few bigger sizes. I can breath a lot better in those!

Since my last post, the biggest change for me is that Mom started shoving some kind of cereal mixture in my mouth once a day. She felt it necessary to document that first experience, as bad as it was.

Can you tell how I really felt about it that first time?
After giving it another try, and Mom sweetening it up a bit, I now clean my bowl each time. I would lick it clean if she would let me! Hey, maybe that explains why my clothes are so tight?!

Abigail and I continue to get to know each other better. She can make me laugh more than anyone else! I'm still not sure why she has to be so loud, but I'm getting used to it.

Peace out,

Luke

Lake Trip 2011

2011-07-22T23:11:00.012-05:00

We had a great time on our annual Hunsberger lake trip over the fourth of July. The following pictures are just a glimpse of our time at Lake Oconee.

Fun on the Lake

The girls were so excited to tube together!

Tubing makes you thirsty.

Yes, they are probably too old to be doing this together.

Luke's thought bubble, "You've got to be kidding me!"
Somehow he managed to catch a nap like that.

Fun at the Pool

Fun on the Fourth

Does your family have a fourth of July parade? The Hunsbergers do. Complete with decorated glasses, visors, and straws.

Uncle Christopher posing as the Statue of Liberty.
Enjoy this little sample of the parade!

Fun with Family

Luke is 3 ... I mean 4 months old!

2011-07-13T21:58:00.004-05:00

Hello Blog World!

Have you missed me? I apologize for leaving you hanging on my 3 month post. I was grounded from all computer use because of the stunt I pulled in my 2 month post. Like I thought, Mom did not appreciate one of the pictures I posted (go back and look at that post if you've forgotten). Anyway, below is my 3 month growth picture for those of you keeping up.

Luke - 3 Months Old

And here I am at 4 months old!

Luke - 4 Months Old

As you can tell from the pictures, I've grown a lot! I saw my doc this week and got another glowing report (no surprise there). I weigh 15 pounds, 5 ounces and measure 24 and 3/4 inches. I weigh more now than my sister did at 6 months old! I'm glad I'm so healthy but Mom won't lay off my cheeks. I guess her constant kissing is just part of the deal.

These days I enjoy sitting up in my Bumbo seat, playing with the toys on my play mat, chewing on my hands, hanging out in my exersaucer, laughing at my sister, and sleeping of course. I even give my folks eleven or twelve hours most nights.

Swatting at toys sure can wear you out!

I think this shirt says it all, don't you?

We've been busy this summer and Mom has a few other posts up her sleeve. Check back soon for more updates.

Thanks for stopping by,

Luke

Cousin Week

2011-06-08T14:39:00.005-05:00

We named the last week in May "Cousin Week" here at our house. It was super fun as Abigail and Luke got to spend quality time with all of their cousins throughout the week. Aunt Jenn, Madison and Olivia came over on Tuesday and stayed for a couple of days. There was a lot of dressing up and dancing together. The girls had a ball!

Luke liked the extra attention as well. Madison took really good care of him.
Jenn and the girls left Thursday after lunch just as Aunt Mil and Joshua were rolling into town for the long holiday weekend. Luke slept through Joshua holding him but I am sure he really enjoyed it.
Abigail's sharing abilities were put to the test all week with all of the cousins, but I think she did really well overall (we did have our moments). Below are a couple pictures of her sharing her newest prized possession with Joshua. How cute are they?

It is HOT in Mississippi, so Joshua and Abigail enjoyed cooling off in the sprinkler in our yard Saturday morning. The sprinkler ended up not being near as fun as "painting" the play set proved to be.

Monday we made our first trip of the summer to Brandon's Splash Park. Joshua and Abigail are at a great age for the splash park this year and ran all over the place. Nana and Coach treated us to a pass for the season that we plan on enjoying A LOT and that Joshua can enjoy any time he comes over. We are so excited about it!

Staycation 2011

2011-06-07T20:52:00.004-05:00

With high gas prices, hospital bills, and such a young baby we decided taking a "staycation" would be better than traveling somewhere for a vacation. Chad took off work one week in May and we spent the majority of it here at home. I was really excited about it and Chad was a little hesitant about it. I think he ended up enjoying the week more than he thought he would and was able to mark a few things off of his "Honey Do" list at home as well. We made the most of our time together and did a lot of fun things around Jackson.

Monday we went to play at the LeFleur's Bluff State Park playground. We had never been there and were so impressed with what a fun playground it was. Abigail LOVED it and we have already been back. (Yes, she is wearing a jacket in this picture. We had a random cold snap in the middle of May and it was 58 degrees that day.)

Tuesday morning we went back to the Children's Museum. It was a great time to go as there were not that many people there at all. We spent a couple of hours there playing and took our cue to leave when a school group of 200 kids came in around 11:00am.

Abigail enjoyed playing dress up in the music/dance room.
Here she is sitting in the real car you can play in. She LOVED this because she was able to "drive" and push all of the buttons she is not allowed to touch in Mommy or Daddy's car.
Wednesday we went to see the Mississippi Braves play. We didn't make it through the whole game, but she did really well overall. She was excited to wear her baseball hat like Daddy.
We veered away from the "stay" part of our "staycation" on Friday and drove to Memphis to see Chad's Papaw Ken. He had never met either of the kids and we were excited to introduce them to him. Abigail and Luke both behaved very well and we enjoyed our visit with him.

Abigail has now met all of her living Great Grandparents and Luke will hopefully accomplish that by the end of the summer after a trip to South Carolina to meet my PopPop and Grandma Giet.
It was a super quick trip with a lot of time in the car, but both Abigail and Luke were troopers. Here are my two cute road warriors.

P.S. This trip also marked Abigail's first stay in a hotel that she can remember (she and I stayed in a hotel when she was 7 weeks old when Joshua was born). She thought it was the coolest thing ever and touched everything in sight. Jumping on the bed, playing with the phone, swimming at the indoor pool, eating breakfast in bed, watching Disney Channel ... what more could a two year old want?

Recent Abigail News

2011-06-03T14:33:00.002-05:00

Abigail is transforming into a little girl before our eyes! I blink and she has learned something new. At 2 1/2, she is seeking even more independence and talking and acting as though she is going on 14 already. The drama she brings is probably just a foreshadowing of her 14 year old self to come as well (begin praying for us now please!). She talks NON STOP from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed at night. I take that back. She talks for a good hour to hour and a half even after we put her to bed too. I'm not exactly sure who she is talking to until 9:30pm each night, but they have some funny conversations. You can not get anything past this girl either. She is always listening, comprehending, and repeating what you say. Her memory astounds me as she will recall places, things, conversations, etc. from months ago regularly. She has adjusted beautifully to becoming a big sister and has BIG LOVE for "Luke Man" or "Lukey Luke" as she calls him.

Here she is below on her first day in "Big Girl Panties." She was so proud of herself, but not proud enough to keep them dry. We continue on the potty training journey and are getting better and better each day. Stopping to go to the potty is more of an annoyance to her than walking around with wet pants.

Some dear friends and neighbors of ours handed down this purple princess Pontiac Solstice to Abigail and she is now all over the roads in our neighborhood. It took her a week or so to get the hang of steering (one of Daddy's sprinkler heads was sacrificed to her reckless driving) but she has mastered it now and asks to drive her car all the time.
The beginning of summer meant the end of Mom's Morning Out at church. Abigail LOVED going to "school" twice a week and adored Mrs. Darlene and Mrs. Angela. She learned a ton too! She talks often about her school friends and will really miss them this summer. Mommy already misses Abigail's school days too. We are already counting down the days to August when she starts back in a new class. Thank you PPBC for the awesome ministry of Mom's Morning Out. Below is one picture from her end of the year party at MMO (she couldn't put the sweets down long enough for a picture).

Luke is 2 Months Old!

2011-05-13T14:24:00.009-05:00

Luke - 2 Months Old

Well, it's time again for my monthly post. I just turned two months old and a lot has happened since the last time I checked in. Mom said she already covered the Easter post, so I'll just fill you in on the rest of the month.

To start off, I am growing super fast! I graduated clothes and diaper sizes over the last month and seem to be carrying around a good bit more weight these days. I saw my doc last week and he gave me an A+ (naturally). His comment, "I only wish my retirement account looked as good as his growth chart." I weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 22 3/4 inches. Mom got mad cause Dad called me husky. She says it is perfectly fine that I pork up a little bit. I am more than a pound and a half heavier than Abigail was at my age, so I think she just enjoys a baby with some meat on their bones.

I realized I didn't give you a tour of my room last time around. So, here it is...I kinda like it.

Mom and Dad went with a sports theme and I am already looking forward to the day I can play with some of the equipment that surrounds me in my room.
Abigail (turns out the "No" at the end of her name is not permanent) continues to be a source of confusion for me. She is always in my face jabbering about something. If she crams the pacifier in my mouth one more time there is no telling what I'll do. I've been entertained a little bit over the last month just watching her jump around and act crazy. I've even given up a few smiles for her too. I sense she is one I need to keep on my side in the years to come so I have softened up a little bit with her.

Here we are together playing on the floor. My face shows my shock that Mom let her get this close to me without being held back by an adult.
Then she worked on tummy time with me.
Sometimes I just have to bury my head and pray she doesn't smash me!
All jokes aside, I like the "little brother" gig and can't wait to get big enough to play with Abigail.
We went to Birmingham one weekend and I got to meet my Hunsberger cousins and Aunt Jenn for the first time!
Madison and Olivia are cool and took good care of me. I was surprised to learn that Abigail gets even louder when they are all together!

All the cousins got a picture together. I was smiling and enjoying the first one ...
... then I realized I don't stand a chance with these girls.
I am going to have to endure princess cups and dance parties the rest of my life!

Another big event was my recent dedication at church. This was only my second time at church (I got to go on Easter Sunday too) and everyone was so welcoming and happy to see me. I think I was looking pretty handsome for my big day.
Check out my double chin ladies!

I was getting pretty tired but my Mom insisted on taking pictures of me and Abigail.
Look closely, and you can see how I chose to express my annoyance with picture time. Pretty sure I'm going to be grounded as soon as Mom sees this.
As icing on the cake (pun intended), Aunt B made me pose with the cake Mom ordered for my dedication family lunch. Plain cruel if you ask me ... I didn't even get a piece.
All was forgiven by the next day and I cooperated long enough for Mom to catch my winning smile.

Easter 2011

2011-05-11T10:31:00.004-05:00

I know Easter was weeks ago, but I am playing catch up. We had a great Easter weekend and Luke and I were able to go to church for the first time since he was born. God blessed us with a small miracle in that I was able to get Abigail, Luke and I ready for church Sunday morning by myself and made it to Sunday school and worship on time! It was such a blessing to be back in worship to celebrate the resurrection! The weekend also included an egg hunt at church, GG's birthday, and a wonderful lunch on Sunday with a lot of our extended Mississippi family. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

The egg hunt at church included learning the Easter story through opening a series of eggs with various teaching tools inside. Here is Abigail opening the last egg of the story when they look in the tomb to find...

...it is empty! Jesus has risen!
At the egg hunt, Abigail picked up two eggs and promptly said, "I'm done." We encouraged her to pick up just a few more and not quit just yet. I think she was ready to get to the candy inside the eggs.

Here is diva Abigail ready to head to church Sunday morning with her shades, purse, and keys in hand.
Our first Easter as a family of four! (Don't be fooled, Abigail was being bribed with Easter candy corn to take this picture.)

Mississippi Children's Museum

2011-04-27T07:50:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago when Chad's parents were here they took us all to the new children's museum in town. It is so fun and has so much to do. We were there for a couple of hours and seemed to just scratch the surface of all you can do there. A lot of the exhibits are geared around the state of Mississippi and involve one of the major industries here. You really can learn a lot about our state while you play. Abigail had a ball and can't wait to go back!

She learned to milk a cow!

Weighing the catfish she caught.

Busy in the kitchen.

Jumping around on the giant scrabble board.
She loved playing the instruments.

LTH-The First Month

2011-04-10T10:36:00.004-05:00

Luke - 1 Month Old

Hello World,

This is Luke signing in for my first post as a Hunsberger. Can you believe I am a month old today? I kinda like these people I am living with and think it is going to work out okay.

Not much activity to report on my part. I pretty much eat, sleep, and cry every now and then just to remind my parents that I am still here.

I am seriously growing and packing on the pounds. I weighed in at 8 pounds, 14 ounces at my four week appointment! I was only 5 pounds, 12 ounces when I came home with Mom and Dad. Do the math and you'll see that I've put on 3+ pounds in my four weeks here. This can also be translated, "I ain't missing a meal!"

I'm doing a little exercise here and there trying to lay on my tummy to work on holding my head up. I would probably exercise a little more often if Mom wasn't scared to put me on the floor because of this thing running around (see picture below).
Yep, she's crazy! They call her my Big Sister and WOW, is she loud! She is always up in my face wanting to hold me, touch my eyes, tickle my belly, rub my head and all sorts of other pokes and prods. Can you believe my parents let her hold me? I think her name is Abigail No, but I'll have to confirm that before my next post.
That's all I have to report for now. I'll check back in with you next month if I survive Abigail No until then.

Catch you later,

Luke

Big Sister Love

2011-03-30T17:46:00.004-05:00

To say that Abigail loves her little brother would be an understatement. She cannot get enough of him! She always wants to know where he is and what he is doing. Holding him is one of her favorite things (as you can see in the video) and we have to watch her very carefully because she desperately wants to pick him up like we do. She asks us everyday, if not several times a day, "Is Luke bigger yet?" She can't wait for him to be big enough to do things with her. We are praying this trend continues and that she doesn't end up wanting to send him back in a few weeks.

March Madness!

2011-03-27T16:14:00.003-05:00

Tournament time is in full swing and the field will be narrowed down to the final four in just a couple of hours. The Gladneys, Nolens, and Hunsbergers compete in our own bracket challenge each year and even the little ones participate. Below are pictures and a short video of Abigail making her picks for the tournament. We allowed her to make all of her own choices and she ended up with some very interesting picks (ex. she picked Utah State to win the whole thing). Enjoy!

P.S. In the video you will hear her deciding her picks by choosing between the first letters of the team names.

Luke Timothy Hunsberger

2011-03-17T10:23:00.003-05:00

He is here! Luke made is entrance a little earlier than we all expected, but he is healthy, at home, and doing great. We are so blessed! Here are a few pictures of his first few days and his stats.

Luke Timothy Hunsberger

March 10, 2011

12:09pm

6 lbs, 1 oz

19 inches

BIG changes!

2011-02-13T20:58:00.003-06:00

2011 brings with it some BIG changes in our home!

One of these BIG changes, as you can see below, is Mommy's growing belly. In four short weeks we will welcome Luke Timothy to our family. It is crunch time around our house as we are trying to get everything in order for the little man's arrival.

While Abigail does not fully grasp what is about to happen in our family, she is embracing some necessary changes in preparation for her little brother. For Christmas, Chad and I surprised Abigail with her "big girl" room. She LOVES it and has done remarkably well in adjusting to her new bed and room. Believe it or not, she has just in the last couple of weeks realized that she can actually get out of her bed. We made it over a month before she escaped her bed and room for the first time, and still, she has only done it a few times since then. That being said, I've declared this adjustment a success and can only hope she will do as well with other changes when the baby gets here. Here are a few pictures of her very girly new room:

Another BIG change beginning in 2011 is that Daddy is returning to school to pursue another degree. Chad has started a doctoral program through Southern Seminary and will be busy studying, reading and writing for the next THREE years.
He just returned from a week in Louisville, Kentucky after completing his first seminar. Abigail and I are so proud of his hard work and are both adjusting to sharing Daddy with his school work.

One final, less significant change we've seen in 2011 is our constantly changing (and crazy I might add) Mississippi weather. One week it is snowing/sleeting/icing and the next week it is 60 to 70 degrees. This has been the pattern all year and we can't wait for Spring around here. Before we know it I am sure we'll be hoping for a relief from the HOT temperatures that May through September bring, but for now, those warm days, and their consistency, can't come soon enough. In the meantime, as Abigail demonstrates, yard maintenance is much more enjoyable if you wear a tutu while helping out. That is just a little piece of free advice from Abigail's first-hand experience.

Mississippi Girl

2011-02-09T21:30:00.005-06:00

Well, it only took one year in Mississippi for Abigail to learn how to handle a rifle.

She seemed to really enjoy it too! Gumby (Great Uncle Mike) is so proud.

Christmas in Pictures

2011-02-09T21:14:00.005-06:00

From these pictures, you can probably tell we had a WONDERFUL Christmas! It was so fun seeing the season through Abigail's little eyes. She truly enjoyed every part this year.

Time with family!

Crafts and cookies!

Loot from Santa!

Checking to be sure Santa ate the cookies she made.
Presents! (two words.....spoiled rotten)

She loved playing with Joshua the week after Christmas too. What a treat!

Catching Up - Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-23T21:27:00.004-06:00

I decided I need to squeeze in our Thanksgiving post before Christmas Day so that I can finally catch up. We spent Thanksgiving in Lilburn, GA with Chad's family and enjoyed a good bit of football, food and family (you know, the typical Thanksgiving stuff).

Wednesday we spent some time at the Yellow River Game Ranch. This was our first trip and the best way I can explain it is as a petting zoo/trail with random other caged animals. Some animals roamed freely and would approach you for snacks, while others begged loudly from their respective cages. The saltine crackers Abigail had to offer them seemed pretty popular and she enjoyed feeding the animals while snacking on the crackers herself.

Abigail LOVES riding on Chad's shoulders but insists on "hanging on" by grabbing both of his ears. I'm not sure how that started, but she finds them to be excellent handles for her ride.

Hunter, Christopher's dog, got to spend Thanksgiving with us too and Abigail was THRILLED!!! He was such a good sport and let Abigail do anything she wanted to, usually without budging at all. I am sure he is used to it with Madison and Olivia, but Abigail didn't give him much of a break while he was there. These next pictures capture a glimpse of her admiration for Hunter.

Abigail enjoyed getting in on the cooking action as well. Grammy let her "help" with the green beans for the big Thanksgiving meal,

and Me Mommy needed her "help" with the biscuits one morning too. Everything turned out edible, so she didn't do too much damage in the kitchen.

Needless to say, after being away from home for a week and with multiple stops to see friends in Birmingham on the way there and on the way back, we had one tired little girl on our hands. This is what I saw when I looked back after being on the road for literally three minutes.

Tutu Excited - Birthday Post

2010-12-14T09:29:00.006-06:00

Abigail turned two on November 24th! The weekend before her birthday we celebrated with family and friends at her Tutu Birthday Party. She was SO excited about her party and is still talking about it weeks later.

Here is the birthday girl waiting to greet her guests at the end of the driveway.

The party was filled with Abigail's favorite foods, so lunch included pizza, grapes and juice boxes!

Her face in this pictures looks as if she is saying, "Mom, lay off the pictures please...you're embarrassing me in front of my friends."

Thankfully it was a beautiful day - mid 70s in late November - so the kids were able to enjoy playing in the backyard. We are very grateful for a sandbox and play set as there was not much for them to do if we were forced indoors.

Abigail's Birmingham cousins drove over for the party and were decked out in their tutu attire!

The most important party of the party, if you were to ask Abigail, was the cake. This little girls LOVES cake (really any sweets) and wanted to just stare at her cake in the hours leading up to the party. A cute bakery here in Brandon did a great job with her cake and it tasted yummy too.
Here are some more pictures of the outside fun had by all. Sorry these are a bit out of order!

This is Abigail's sweet friend Mary Holland - or Princess Fairy Mary Holland in this picture. I love this picture my sister captured of MH during the blessing. She is precious!
Cousin Joshua got to come over from Starkville too and chowed down on pizza, cake and ice cream. He sat at the food tables longer than anyone else and savored every bite.

Cooper to the rescue! Abigail needed a little help blowing out her candles and Cooper was a pro.
Can you tell this little girl had a blast at her party? She left the ice cream on her face to prove it!
Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you!

Oink, Oink, Oink

2010-11-02T10:57:00.005-05:00

Happy Halloween! We had a great time this year and let Abigail participate in her first pumpkin carving (believe it or not...it was Chad's first time too)! She was very fascinated with the gross stuff coming out of the pumpkin and "helped" to scoop it all out.

Saturday we dressed our little pig and headed down the street for some neighborhood fun. Abigail loved wearing her costume and surprisingly left the hat on the whole time except when she was eating.

Playing with all of the neighborhood kids.
Then we went to trick-or-treat Coach and Nana's house.

She needed to immediately eat the treat Coach gave her!
Showing GG her loot.
Candy is Abigail's new favorite word and she asks for it all the time! Pretty sure she got her sweet tooth from me.

Fall Field Trips

2010-10-21T21:18:00.004-05:00

Before we get to the field trip updates I feel compelled to show proof that our Abigail is not a baby anymore. She is very quickly becoming a big girl and pushing more for her independence everyday. "Abigail do it," is the most commonly used phrase in her vocabulary these days and applies to everything from getting dressed and putting her shoes on to buckling her car seat and using the potty (more on the potty subject in another post to come). Needless to say, it takes us a LONG time to accomplish some simple tasks in our house because of her insistence on doing things herself. Look how big she looks in one of the super cute outfits that Nana made her!

Fall is finally here....well, sort of. It is still in the mid-eighties here each day, but getting better and better. Despite the unseasonably warm temps, we have been participating in various Fall activities to welcome the season.

Two weeks ago we took our first ever trip to the Mississippi State Fair! The fair comes to town each October for a couple of weeks and is a BIG deal here in Mississippi. We went one afternoon while you could get in free to check out the Kid's Barnyard and petting zoo.

Abigail liked most of the animals and enjoyed feeding them, ... all except this interesting looking creature below. She was not impressed!
Overall, the fair did not disappoint and we look forward to going back (Mommy and Daddy especially look forward to the jumbo corn dogs and deep fried oreos!)

Our next field trip was last week to the local pumpkin patch. Our visit included a hayride, visiting the animals, picking a pumpkin and playing around outside.
We even got to see our first ever Zonkey (zebra + donkey)!

Abigail waved to every animal she saw.

Mommy will do her best to post again before another month slips by. Happy Fall Y'all!

Evolution of a Playset

2010-09-21T21:49:00.008-05:00

Last weekend Chad and his Uncle Don put together a playset for the backyard. Uncle Don brought us the set all the way from Memphis and spent his weekend with us working on it in the HEAT of Mississippi. They pretty much worked all day on Friday and most of the day on Saturday. They were able to save most of the frame but needed to replace a lot of the wood on the floors and railings that had rotted. Needless to say, they worked very hard to make it just right for Miss Abigail.

Getting started on Friday.

Starting to take shape.

By the end of the day Friday Abigail was worn out just from watching it all.
She was back out there Saturday morning to supervise their hard work.

Almost finished!

Final product!
Chad and Uncle Don posing with their finished project.
First time on the swing! Abigail could not stop laughing with excitement.
Testing out the big girl swing too.

Daddy had to climb up and show her the ropes.

Abigail already loved being outside, but with this backyard addition she wants to play out there all day! Come soon Fall so Mommy doesn't melt while Abigail spends every waking hour on the playset.

Thank you Uncle Don for this wonderful gift and for sacrificing your weekend to put it all together. We loved spending time with you and Abigail can't wait for you to come back!

Summer Snapshot Catch Up

2010-09-05T21:14:00.008-05:00

Summer is quickly coming to an end and it's time to play catch up on my picture posting. While we won't be sad to see the HOT temperatures depart (although here in MS we probably have another month of those at least) we will miss the fun water play we get to have on those super HOT days.

Here is Abigail putting a coat of "paint" on the back of the house. So helpful!

Abigail got to have a lot of quality cousin time this summer too! Joshua was here last weekend for the Labor Day holiday and they had a ball together, as usual.

Concentrating hard on climbing Coach's tree.
The bubbles were a hit all weekend.

Being silly...
... then serious.
August brought Abigail's first trip to the beach. Thanks Uncle Christopher and Aunt Jennifer for inviting us to tag along for part of your family vacation. She LOVED the beach and playing with Madison and Olivia.

As mentioned, water fun was pretty much our only escape from the unbearable heat this summer. Brandon has a really fun splash park that Abigail loves and was able to take Joshua to as well. Amelia posted some great pictures from those trips a few weeks ago too.

I'll end this post with a glimpse at our first attempt at pig tails with Abigail. Shockingly, she sat very still as I worked on her hair and just wanted to gaze at herself in the mirror once we finished.

Brazil

2010-08-11T21:54:00.005-05:00

Chad and I had the privilege of traveling with a mission team from our church to Brazil this summer. We had a great time leading basketball camps and getting the word out about a church plant in the area. We worked with AMAZING missionaries and are thankful God allowed us to be a part of such a special week. Here are some pictures of our adventure!

The local church leaders signed the note on the house below the last day we were there and plan to fix it up for the pastor in the area as well as use it as a ministry site. They were so excited about having a space to use for their new church/leader.
Ron and Alana Greenwich are the awesome missionaries in Brazil that led our trip. They have been there 26 years and plan to stay four more until their retirement. They live out the Great Commission each and every day. (It is rumored that Alana is called Lottie Moon by other missionaries in Brazil - and yes, she is that cool!)

Our hotel for the week.

Back home in Jackson, Abigail attended Camp Gladney for the week and was spoiled rotten by Coach and Nana. She did great without us and never missed a beat. This Mommy probably had a much harder time with the separation than she did. Thanks Coach and Nana for taking care of Little Bit!

Lake Trip 2010

2010-07-27T20:34:00.004-05:00

We took our annual lake trip with the Hunsberger family the week of July 4th at Lake Oconee in Georgia. What a difference a year makes! Below is a picture of Abigail in her life jacket last year at the lake...

And here she is this year at the lake in that same life jacket!

We had a great time and were blessed with really good weather too. Abigail enjoyed the playground,

swimming in the pool,

spending time with her older cousins,
coloring,
driving the boat,
and all the time she got to spend with family.

We look forward to this trip every year and are so thankful to the Cuenin family for allowing us to use their lake house. What a blessing they are to our family!

Summer Fun!

2010-07-05T07:40:00.011-05:00

Summer is racing by and we are having a great time. Abigail has enjoyed time with all of her cousins. Here are pictures from the past few weeks to sum it all up.

Visiting the McWane Center for the first time.

Abigail thoroughly enjoys her afternoon snack of chocolate cookies.

Joshua is a good sport letting Abigail hug all over him.

We beat the heat at the indoor playground in Chick-fil-A

Playing in the water also keeps us cool.

My first watermelon!

Playing ball with Coach.

Recap

2010-06-10T21:23:00.004-05:00

Here is a quick recap of our crazy lives the past few weeks in bullet points and pictures!

Abigail is growing like a weed! She is 18 months old, going on fourteen.

Chad graduated with his Master of Divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Go Daddy! He opted out of walking at graduation and instead had a celebration with family to mark the occasion. Sadly, this is one of the only pictures I took the entire weekend family was here in Jackson. It's of Abigail and Joshua looking over Coach and Nana's fence at their neighbor's dog. I'd like to issue a public apology to Coach and Nana's neighbors on behalf of Joshua and Abigail. They are sorry for tormenting your dog that weekend. They are slightly obsessed with "woof woofs."

We've moved.....again. All glory to God for selling our house in Birmingham and blessing us with the perfect home for our family in Brandon. Coach and Nana deserve an award (not to mention some peace and quiet) for letting us live with them for the last six months. Wow, they made our transition to Mississippi so smooth. We closed on both houses and moved our belongings the last week of May (major reason for the lack of blog posts recently).

Our new house has a great back yard that came with a sandbox! This is good news and bad. The good news is that the new house came with a sandbox! The bad news is that we can no longer go in the backyard without covering ourselves from head to toe with sand and tracking it in the house. We are learning to be selective about backyard play time.

Abigail was a little unsure of the sand to begin with.

She and Joshua (who was here for Memorial Day weekend) both initially preferred to play outside of the box.

Joshua brought the sand to him,
while Abigail was happy scooping sand without getting messy.
Hesitation with the sand quickly turned into adoration and both jumped right in. Abigail even likes to lay down in it from time to time (makes for a great bath time).
She no longer minds getting messy and is even okay with having sand all over her face,
and in other areas that aren't as comfortable.

In other news, Abigail is IN LOVE with her accessories. She is rarely seen these days without a combination of her purse, bracelets (all 15 of them), and sunglasses. We are in BIG TROUBLE!

That's our lives recently in a nutshell. Thanks for stopping by....hugs from Abigail!

Our girl and her curls

2010-05-12T21:12:00.002-05:00

Abigail's hair has a mind of its' own. It is pretty hard to tame at times between her curls and the length. Wetting the brush can only do so much people!!!

Guess who came to town?!?!

2010-05-06T20:39:00.006-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, Aunt B, Joshua, Aunt Mil and Uncle Dave all came for a visit. Abigail loved having a full house! She and Joshua have started playing together so much better (A.K.A. - Abigail is snatching fewer toys and Joshua has learned to hang on tight to whatever he is playing with when she comes around).

AEH loving on Aunt B as soon as she got out of the car.

Cousins reunited.

The babies LOVED the playground and even tried out the big kid swings.

From the playground, we headed home to take a dip in the pool. Abigail couldn't get enough of the pool.....Joshua, not a big fan.

However, Joshua was a BIG fan of the popsicle treat that served as an appetizer to lunch. (Popsicles as appetizers is proof that anything goes at Coach and Nana's house!)

What do you do on a rainy Saturday? Well, we take the babies to the local furniture store for the morning. They enjoyed the carousel, balloons, and basketball court while Coach and Nana mattress shopped.
Abigail is developing her love for basketball at an early age. She was all over the court!
Joshua, taking a shot.
Here is Abigail giving a pump fake before her mean crossover dribble to the basket.

What a fun weekend!!!

Abigail and Abigail

2010-04-26T14:55:00.006-05:00

Last week Abigail had a play date with her good friend also named Abigail. They go to church together and are two peas in a pod. We are sad the Corleys are moving soon to Alabama and will really miss them. My Abigail has learned to respond to her first and last name as a result of having Abigail Corley in her classes. Her teachers may still call her Hunsberger just for fun. Here are a few pictures of the two Abigails enjoying each other's company.

Snacking and chatting in the empty pool.

They then move to the beach towels for more serious discussions.

My Abigail was THRILLED to have a play mate at the house.

Back to the pool for some goofing around.

We love you Abigail Corley!

P.S. Be sure to see another new post below.

It's Pool Time

2010-04-24T12:54:00.005-05:00

Since it has been warming up here in Mississippi, we pulled the backyard baby pool out and Abigail has been enjoying it on warm afternoons. She actually likes the pool just as much without water in it too (more on that in a later post). The first two pictures are what she does in the pool if I fill it up with water from the outdoor hose. She will not sit down because it is so cold! Just stands there and plays without getting too wet.

If I fill the pool with just somewhat cool water from the sink (which involves hauling multiple buckets of water outside in many trips from the kitchen) she will actually sit and relax some.

"Ah, this is the life!"

Here is a taste of Abigail enjoying the water fun!

Let's Race

2010-04-20T13:54:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Abigail rode with Daddy in her first 5K race. It was a beautiful day and she enjoyed the ride. I am sure this will not be her last race with Daddy.

Here are the racers about to take off. (Pardon Abigail's pitiful look. She had just gotten over a stomach bug

Coming to the finish line!

Gumby got in on the race action too (after riding only 30 miles on his bike!).
Running makes you thirsty!

Visitors and the Zoo

2010-04-15T21:01:00.004-05:00

Last week Me-Mommy and D-Daddy came to visit during their spring break. Abigail loved having them visit and enjoyed playing outside in the pretty weather.

While they were here, we took Abigail's first trip to the zoo. She has recently become very interested in the animals in her books or on T.V. so she was at a good age to try out the zoo. We picked a great day to go because there was NO ONE there. I seriously think we saw less than five other people visiting the zoo. So, Abigail was able to run around as much as she wanted to without getting in anyone's way.

Here she is blowing kisses to the big Orangutans.

The Jackson zoo has a new tiger exhibit with three triplet brother tigers.

Daddy and Abigail getting an up close and personal look at one of the exhibits.

Thanks for coming Me-Mommy and D-Daddy. You can book your next spring break 2011 anytime.

P.S. Sorry for sending you home with my stomach bug!

Easter Fun

2010-04-05T20:42:00.004-05:00

Our family enjoyed a beautiful Easter Sunday yesterday. We celebrated Christ's resurrection with our church family at morning services, enjoyed some family time in the afternoon, and went back to church for the observance of the Lord's Supper Sunday night.

Abigail has really enjoyed this Easter season. We practiced hunting eggs in the backyard for the whole week leading up to Easter and she could not get enough of it. Only now she thinks we can't go outside without her basket in hand. Here are a few pictures of our practice runs.

Some friends from church invited us to their neighborhood egg hunt on Saturday and it was perfect weather for a fun day outside. There were kids everywhere and Abigail loved all of the action. She was the youngest one there so she had many "helpers" who took good care of her the whole time.

When it came time for the actual egg hunt, look what we found resting in Abigail's basket! Poor thing was just looking for a spot away from all of the kids.

The backyard practice sessions paid off as Abigail was ready when it was game time and quickly picked up several eggs.

As already mentioned, Sunday was a great day and we snapped a couple of pictures post church before changing into play clothes.

Once again, Abigail hit the jackpot with her Easter basket and oohed and aahhed over everything she pulled out.

I love my hat!

2010-03-29T21:21:00.003-05:00

Abigail got her first baseball hat last week and saying she loves it would be an understatement. She wants to wear it all the time! Now if I could just get her to love her bows as much.

Window Washing

2010-03-29T21:04:00.004-05:00

Abigail decided to take a stab at washing Coach & Nana's windows the other day. Such a good helper!

Lots of Visitors = Lots of Fun

2010-03-20T15:49:00.003-05:00

Having family and friends visit is so much fun and we were able to catch up with a lot of different people last weekend here in Jackson. Abigail loved all of the excitement and especially loved having her cousin Joshua here for a few days. Over the course of the weekend we spent time visiting with: Amelia, Dave & Joshua (stopped for a few days on their way home from Natchez, MS), Great Aunt Gay (from Fayetteville, Arkansas to visit), Aunt Sis (here on Spring Break from Birmingham), GG, Gumby and Great Aunt Joy (they live here, but it is still so fun to see them), Julie and Lauren Woodard (here from Birmingham to sing at Park Place Baptist on Sunday)! I'm sad I didn't get pictures of Abigail with all of our visitors, but here is a glimpse of our fun weekend in pictures.

P.S. Abigail is developing quite a little attitude. She makes this face at times looking at us like we are crazy trying to tell her what to do. BIG. TROUBLE.

Quick Trip to Starkvegas!

2010-03-20T15:19:00.004-05:00

Tuesday Chad and I traveled to Starkville to see the Bulldogs play in the Men's NIT Basketball Tournament. While my beloved Dogs didn't make it to the Big Dance (still so, so sad about that) they were given the number one seed in the NIT giving them home court advantage for the first few games. I've been dying to go see a game at The Hump this year and jumped on the chance to head to Starkville.

We needed to make the most of our few hours in my old college town and decided to do some of my favorite things Starkville has to offer. Here they are:

Dinner at Harvey's - so, so good!

Watching State get a win at The Hump!

Eating Mississippi State Muscadine Ripple Ice Cream - worth making the trip alone!

Breakfast at City Bagel Cafe - oh I miss that place!

And of course, hugging on this cute fellow for a few minutes and visiting with his parents before heading back to Jackson!
I can't wait for my next trip to The Hump (although it will have to be next basketball season since the Bulldogs lost a close one to UNC today) and hopefully I can take this cute thing below with us for her first Hump experience.

Overdue Update

2010-03-01T20:28:00.004-06:00

I know, I know, I know...it has been a really long time since I last posted. Among my excuses: we've been busy, nothing really exciting to report, Abigail is too darn fast to catch with a camera. She goes and goes and goes and goes. She seriously is not still for more than two seconds at a time. Abigail is such a happy little girl and such a joy to be around. It is so fun being her Mommy and watching her change and grow everyday. I'll try to catch you up on Miss Priss while throwing a few pictures in along the way.

Abigail LOVES bath time! I am convinced there are days that she intentionally sabotages my plans to postpone bathing her for a day by rubbing food all through her hair to ensure a quick trip to the tub.

We are so thankful that Abigail typically takes a good nap everyday (sometimes twice a day still). Girlfriend loves her naps and I have no clue how she routinely messes up her hair so severely. What does she do in that bed that creates monstrous hair crises like this?
I'm not lying when I say this was probably a milder case of nap hair for Abigail. It can be really bad!

Abigail always want to play outside. We cannot wait for it to warm up for good so that we can spend more days like we did a week ago...playing at the park with Daddy!

Abigail turned 15 months old last week so it was time for a trip to the doctor for a check up. This little girl is so healthy and we are so thankful for what a blessing her health is. She weighed in at 22.5 lbs (42nd percentile) and measured 33 inches (98th percentile). That's right, our daughter (who has two short parents) is tall for her age. Who would have guessed? In fact, she's so tall that the majority of her pants are looking more like flood pants. One more reason that warm weather can't get here fast enough. Abigail's winter clothes won't last much longer!

It is amazing to see how much Abigail is learning each day. She constantly cracks me up, and is the funniest person she knows too. She is "talking" all of the time....like constantly....like is NEVER quiet! The next few pictures are how 9 out of 10 pictures turn out. I can hardly get a picture in where she is not talking. She definitely has a lot to say!

While she certainly has a lot to say, there are only a few actual words she has mastered among the many words of her personal language. She confidently says Daddy, Mommy, Nana, baby, uh-oh, and tickle, tickle, tickle. Abigail can also sign and we work everyday on her communication through sign language. Her sign language vocabulary is a little more expansive and she uses signs for eat, please, more, bath, ball, milk, Mommy, Daddy, and play. In fact, she can even combine a few signs (eat more please) when it comes to chocolate pudding!

Abigail is beginning to follow instructions well (when she wants to) and learning to identify different body parts and make various animal sounds. She can identify her nose, ears, eyes, hair, mouth, tongue, teeth (that now include a couple of molars), toes and belly button. She also makes the noises or faces for a cow, duck, fish, and dog. She is becoming such a big girl!

Among her favorite things is her cousin Joshua. I've previously mentioned on the blog that Abigail loves looking at Joshua's picture and "talks" to the pictures almost everyday. Well, much to her delight, Aunt Mil gave Abigail her very own wallet size picture of Joshua in a protective cover. Saying she loves it would be a gross understatement. She carries it around, kisses it, talks to it, and laughs at it as though Joshua told her something funny. It is so cute, and I finally caught a little bit of it with the camera.

Sorry for the wait on the Abigail update. I'll do my best to blog again before Abigail gets her drivers license!

Party, Park, & Playtime

2010-01-28T20:46:00.005-06:00

We recently celebrated Joshua Nolen's first birthday in Starkville. I can't believe that little guy is already one! We had a great time at his E-I-E-I-O party and loved watching him eat a HUGE piece of cake. Speaking of cake...check out the oh-so-cute cake one of Amelia's friends made for the party.

Here's the birthday boy himself!

Abigail ~~patiently~~ waited for Joshua to open his presents before it was time for cake. She tried crawling into her seat before it was even in a chair and just looked at all of us like, "bring on the cake!"

Abigail and Joshua were stuffed full after lunch and cake. They had to rest on the floor for just a second before jumping back up to play. This is what I feel like doing after stuffing myself at a meal too.

Abigail LOVES "honking" everybody's nose. Joshua was not a willing participant in this picture, but she is still a little bit bigger than he is (for now) and forced him into it.

Back in Jackson, Abigail has been enjoying the beautiful weather we've had the past week or so. It has felt a lot like spring and we are soaking it up before it turns cold again this week. There is a great playground right up the street from Coach and Nana's house where Abigail fell in love with the slide. She was so proud of herself every time she went down and made sure she, Nana and I all clapped about it each time.

Nothing beats a big brown box for hours of fun and entertainment. Thank you Mr. UPS.

Abigail loves going outside and asks to go out on the back patio almost every day at least for a few minutes. She has made it her mission to pick up every single leaf, piece of pine straw or rock she sees and bring it to the closest adult ... only once she has tasted it all. Do not turn away for even one second or you will be fishing various things out of her mouth for sure!