The Faces of Adler

Adler is developing quite a cute personality. Check out his lates poses...

The "I'm trouble" look...........

This one gets the girls every time.....
Blue Steel......
The "I'm cute and I know it" look...

The "Mom, this is really annoying" look....
The "I warned you, now you will pay" look.....

Adler's first trip to Texas..

I know, if you have to read that cheesey Adler poem one more time you are going to permanently delete this blog from your book mark tool-bar and never to return again...




My apologies, we've been busy traveling in the past 3 weeks. We went to Texas for an unexpected weekend trip. It was Adler's first time on a plane and he did great! My parents hosted a really fun party at their house and invited lots of our family friends. Adler got to see his future wife (Emma Kate) - Katie and I talked flower arrangements...(jk) We had a great time with both our families!



Two weekends later we took another flight back to Houston. This time, we stayed for an entire week. It was fabulous! The main reason we decided to go when we did was because my mom was off work for spring break. There were some sad events that happened while we were there - Stephen's mom's best friend, Marianne, passed away of a rare heart disease. It was painful to see the heart-ache of our friends and family - we grieved the tragic loss with them. Marianne was so special to our family and will be deeply missed! I was so thankful we were there when we were and to see the joy that Adler seemed to bring to those who loved her.



On a happier note, some fun things we did were: lunch with Katie, Emma, Deanna and Adler in the Village (despite an intense down-pour while we were there), Easter out-fit shopping for Adler with my mom, birthday lunch (turned 27 on 3/9) at an Irish Pub on The Woodlands river-walk with PT and Stevo, grocery shopping spree for the Huntons, went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with Ben and Meghan in a limo (nothing less of course!) to see Dierks Bentley, chocolate martinis with Stephen on Market Street, free babysitting!, mexican food with the Huntons, taking Adler to the church nursery for the first time....watching so many people love on Adler!



It was so hard to leave! And such a fabulous vacation for me! Thanks to our parents for making it happen and for caring for Adler while we were there! It was a great time for our family!


The next couple weeks, the Huntons will be on a "Tour de South". We will be going to Vicksburg, MS to visit my Grandma D.O., then to Arkansas the following weekend to visit Stephen's grandparents. Adler is becoming quite the traveler!

He is getting so big...and cuter by the day, I must say. Enjoy the new pics!

for Adler

I dream big dreams for you.

I imagine your leadership - confident, sure footed. You know who you are because you know your Maker. You allow God to use you to make an impact on those around you. People speak your name often. They desire to be in your presence because Christ is present in you.

You are honest and speak truth into people's lives. You are known for your integrity, you saw this from your own Father and know it's value. For this, you are always at peace.

You are adventurous. You climb and conquer mountains. You are resourceful, wise and creative in the way you live. You are strong and don't mind getting a bit dirty in the process. You are curious about this world and want to see all God has created. You love discovering beauty in people of different countries. You know God is limitless!

You love music, you learned this from your daddy. You are an excellent guitar player and people love hearing you play and sing.

You are fun and laugh often. You have a good laugh - it's contagious. We may not know what you are laughing at, but we are laughing with you anyways..you are that much fun!

You have great love in your life. She is beautiful, you love her smile, she respects and honors you. And you love her endlessly. Your lives encourage and bless each other. My prayers are often for her.

You have a long and fruitful life. God grants you the honor of knowing your great grand-children; seeing your legacy continue.

I have big dreams for you, Adler. But I know God can dream bigger.

But right now, it's just you and me. I hold you close to my heart as I rock you to sleep. You are so beautiful to look at. The world has slowed down for this slipping moment. I know it's just a blink in time. Soon, you will be off fulfilling your dreams. I will be so proud. Let's just sing right now, tomorrow will come too soon.

Love,
Mommy

Cupid was at my house on Valentines Day

Take a look at who came to visit:

Victory is Mine!!....and so is sleep....

Today marks my first week of sleep! I feel like a new woman...like waking up from a blurry past couple of months. Remember in college when you had an exam and you would study for a couple days before...spend entire days/nights in the library? Then the feeling you would have after you took the test? (ok maybe that was just me - at least I know Stephen never did this) Anyways, that's how I feel now. Adler has slept through the night for a week now!

I had a hard decision to make. The doctor recommended not feeding him at his normal 5am wake up time when he was 2 months. I had a hard time doing that, so I waited...hoping one day he would just not wake up. Well, it never happened and we were approaching 4 months. And he really wasn't eating when I would feed him in the middle of the night..it was more like snacking. So, I decided to try my doctor's method. We had to endure 2 nights of crying and by the 3rd night, he was sleeping through and has been doing so for a week now! I know some people would disagree with this method, but let me ask you something: Have you ever gone for 5 months of interrupted sleep?? It's not really sleeping...it's more like a series of short naps. I say 5 months because about a month and a half before Adler was born, I was not sleeping because I was so uncomfortable. Anyways, it was really starting to wear on me...and it was well worth the 2 nights. I am just now really starting to feel like my old self! Hello me!!

Things are good at the Hunton house. I'm starting to get more into a routine...started cleaning the house again....it seems easier to run errands. We are enrolled in a play class where we work on strengthening muscles to help them achieve developmental milestones. It's really fun! www.play-2-grow.com

We are going to Texas this weekend! We are so excited to see our families and pass Adler around! He's looking forward to his first plane ride!

Hope everyone is doing well!
xoxo
Kristine

Why I (Stephen) would make a terrible Mom.

1) I can't produce breast milk...which happens to be one of Adler's favorite things.
2) I am not wired with the patience Kristine has...my heart rate goes straight up when Adler goes into "screaming baby red face" mode.
3) In addition to the lack of patience, I am not as skilled at calming Adler when "screaming baby red face" mode goes into "wailing infant purple explosion face" mode...breast milk would also help here, but Kristine has a bunch of other nifty tricks that work really well.

There are probably a ton of other reasons I would not be a good Mom. It's a tough job, and one that continues to gain more and more respect from me as I watch the challenges Kristine faces every day. So much more difficult than a job, as I deal with whiners, but I have this lovely grey cubicle to escape to. Instead, I hope to be a good Dad. There's still stressful challenges I'm facing, but they feel alright because of my competitive nature. For instance, being the only income gives me this caveman-like sense of "protect family, find dinosaur to feed child and wife" and drives me to work hard. Also, the idea of me getting up on a Saturday and putting on some ugly wind breaker/soccer coach outfit gives me happy thoughts. Really, being a Dad feels pretty cool, and it's fun to find all these new things out about being a Dad on a daily basis.

Adler Nicknames

Here are just a few of the names we are confusing Adler by, thus probably causing a delay in his name recognition:

Sugar Man
Mr. Droolicans
Mr. McSquirmicans
Spits-a-lot (his given Indian name)
A-man
Mr. Man
A-$
Baby Boo
Cranky Pants
Crankster
Poopy Pants
Alfredo Face

New Phrases Spilling Out of My Mouth...(make it stop!!)

For Pete's Burger!! (my grandma always said this one)
Ohhh poopy doop! (got this one from my mom)
Aee carumba! (thanks granny!)
OOoocheaka! (another from Grandma D.O.)

Double Duty Dinner

Kristine and I have always enjoyed eating out. There's just so much simplicity to it, and honestly, it's not that much more expensive when it's just two of you and you factor in the cost in time to buy the food, cook it, and then clean it up. Plus, with Adler, it seems like some time out of the house is great for Kristine, who spends all of her day alone on the isle of parenthood.

So far, dinners out have been great because Adler is almost always asleep after a car ride to the restaraunt, so it's a great chance for Kristine and I to say something to each other, and also avoid saying "Ooooohieeee, Adler, you are so cute, you are so cute...la la la la la la whoo whoo, you are so cute, love you, luv u, love yoooooouu." and other baby phrases or facial gestures that send Adler into pure joy. That was until last night:

Kristine and I decided to go to Scallinni's, a local italian restaraunt that specializes in AWESOME garlic/butter rolls, and some nice affordable food in a mafia style (dimly lit) environment. The rolls are amazing by the way, if you couldn't already tell. So, we get to the restaraunt and sit down, Adler next to me in his car seat, and I notice that his eyes are as big as Texas. He's wide awake and just fussy. So, I eat rolls and salad with one hand while rocking and holding his pacifier steady with the other. I was probably a terrible date because of the concentration my little mind requires to keep a baby happy while also feeding myself. By the time the food arrived, Adler was definately frustrated and wanted to be played with. So, we implemented double duty dinner, and I fed Adler a bottle while Kristine ate, and then we switched so that I could eat. It was honestly pretty tough, and we didn't walk out of the restaraunt very caught up on "grown up talk", but I did have a good laugh inside about how in it (parenthood) we really are. He's the real deal, and there will be more of those tough times...but I Praise God for my family and how awesome and fortunate and wonderful it was to be in that situation with someone like Kristine and a son like Adler. It makes anything "tough" seem like a piece of cake afterward, and in retrospect, it's never as stressful looking back as it felt in the moment. Ultimately, he's a joy and it's a priviledge to be his Dad and her husband. Really, it was perfect because the food had cooled off to the perfect temperature by the time it was my turn to eat, so Win Win right?

Well, Stephen is showing me up by posting, so looks like it's my turn. So as you can see, Adler is growing up already...he is such a cutie. His smiles are more frequent and are heart melting! He is 13 weeks today. I realized today how blessed I am that I am not going back to work...I would be taking him to daycare around this time and it would just be heart wrenching. I don't know if I'm ready for the 1 hour at the gym nursery... can't imagine 5 days a week!

Being a mom has been great, but challenging. Lots of times I don't feel like I know what the heck I'm doing. Through trial and error (ie silence and crying) I have sort of figured out some things. Like he loves to have his face lightly rubbed when he's trying to fall asleep, I can calm him down by showing him the pictures on the refrigerator, he is not a fan of Atlanta traffic, he likes to nap in his swing but in his crib at night, etc.

There have been moments when I really miss being in Texas - close to family and the people I grew up with. Most of our friends in Atlanta have family nearby, so their time seems more limited - stretching it from one family to the next...especially with babies in the picture. They also have the problem of their family members fighting over who gets to keep the baby when mommy and daddy want to have date night. We just take Adler to these places with us...I'm waiting for the "You have a baby...in a bar..." (no I really don't take him to bars, but you get the picture).

It's been interesting, though, seeing the creative ways God has provided friendships with this new stage of life. A couple weeks ago, I was feeding Adler in the Piedmont Park parking lot when a familiar SUV pulled up next to me. A girl got out of the car and I realized it was Mandy, one of our old neighbors from our rental house. I watched her pull a stroller out of her trunk and realized she had a baby too! We spent the day walking in the park together and catching up - I hadn't seen her for 2 years. It was nice having a conversation with someone and sharing similar challenges.

Well, that's about all the time I have today....Adler calls....

27 + 26 + 3months = The Hunton Fun Times Family Photo Extravaganza

I recently got a tri-pod (no...not an iPod) for my camera. It's been fun because it allows us to take family pictures, as well as set up some silly shots (for furture posts). I can only describe the above picture with a smile, because that's what I do when I see our fat little Adler and my beautiful Kristine. At 3 months Adler is a whopping 16 lbs, which plops him into the 95 percentile as far as weight goes! He's so cute...and, not really fat...I just tease. It's such an exciting time, and so much fun to watch him grow (SO QUICKLY). Everyday seems to bring something new. He just found out that he can suck on his hands, and he LOVES to stick his tounge out at me, in hopes that I'll return the gesture and thus begins another game of "Mimick me Daddy!". He laughs and laughs when we play, and my heart is so full in those moments.

I know we've been lame-O's on the posting, but who'd have thought that parenting would be time consuming??? Anyway, I hope the pics get you up to date, and if you want some more pics...just go to www.flickr.com/photos/stevohunton.

High Five,
Stevo

Being a Dad is:

crazy
awesome
exciting
fulfilling
fun
scary
stressful
hard
emotional
inspiring
difficult
weird
radical
important
the best
driven
hopeful
rockin
hilarious
a gift
worth it.



I could go on and on about the different words that describe what it feels like, to me, to be a Dad. It really changes minute by minute. Once second Adler is sleeping soundly, looking innocent and beautiful, which melts away any concern I have in life and let's me know that I'm so blessed to have him. The next second, he's puking on my t-shirt or crying so hard that his lip quivers, which stresses me out beyond belief because I don't always know what to do. The great thing about it though is that, whether in the first second, or the next, I feel this unbelievable love for him. I don't get stressed about not wanting to be a Dad or feeling like I could give up, but more that I want to make him feel better because he's my child and I love him. It's funny the parallel to God there, in that God so often has looked at me and wanted to make me feel better but it takes me calming down and turning my eyes back towards Him. In Adler's case..he usually just needs to squeeze out a little poop and then he feels better, but you get the picture. I have a Father's love for Adler Ryan and it's so cool because it's painted a picture to me that God loves me this much and that's pretty awesome.

An Announcement to Make

Looking over my latest blogs I realized I failed to mention the latest good news at the Hunton house. I have decided to stay home with our Adler! Giving credit where credit is due, this comes as a complete answered prayer. God really showed Himself by providing in our financial world exactly what we had asked and needed. I don't know why I am amazed when God answers prayer as obviously as He did in this situation - He is my Father - He cares and hears me and wants good things for me and my family. God, I am so grateful for this opportunity and want to be a good steward with what you have provided for us!

In other Adler news:
He did the cutest thing yesterday! (get ready for lots of stories like these) I noticed he was intently staring at my face, so I stuck my tongue out at him to see if there would be a reaction. His face changed to serious...studying my tongue closely.....then he got the biggest smile on his face and even giggled a little bit....like it took him a minute to realize it was funny. He eventually started mimicking me (I just read they can start doing that at this age)....sticking his tongue back out at me too. It was great mommy and Adler time!

Today is our 2 month doctor's appointment - Adler will get 4 shots today (immunizations) - this will be really hard for me to watch. Sometimes babies have reactions such as fever or fussiness - so I am hoping not to experience either. However, It's interesting to me that some parents DON'T have their kids vaccinated for fear of rumored side effects (none which have been proven) - things like they cause polio, brain damage, autism, etc. All which are scary things, but would you rather your kid die of some rare disease you could have prevented?

For those who may be interested:
1)DTaP (kinda like a 3 in one) - diphtheria-a severe respiratory illness rare in the US but common in 3rd world countries, tetanus - a disease that causes paralysis when a dirty wound is allowed to fester, pertussis - whooping cough

2) Hib - hemophilus influenza B - which causes meningitis

3) Polio - a virus that can cause paralysis

4) Prevnar - a bacteria that causes meningitis, pneumonia and blood infections

Anyways, that's what we're up to today. Will keep you posted on how it goes...

Happy 2007!

How did you celebrate the new year? Ours was quite different than our past New Year's together. I will say, though, that New Years is pretty over-rated. There is always such high pressure to have a great time. I think Stephen and I have had a fight of some sort every New Year's with the exception of this year's.

We spent the morning trying to calm Mr. Crankypants. I'm pretty convinced he is going through a growth spurt. He has been eating every 2 hours and I'm lucky if he sleeps a 3 hour stretch at night. (he was sleeping 4 and 5 hour stretches) I'm praying for that first night of 8 hours of straight sleep. I cannot imagine what that would be like!

Later, we went to the mall for some shopping. Adler always seems to do so much better outside of the house. I don't know if he gets bored or what, but he sleeps so much better when we are out and about. We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. You seriously can't go wrong at that place. I've never been out to dinner for New Years, but I have to say, it was a really fun experience. We packed a bottle and fed Adler after we placed our order. This turned out to be a great decision because he ate and passed out by the time our dinner came.

Adler's sleep gave Stephen and I a great opportunity to look at each other and have a conversation! It was good catch up talk - ever have those with your spouse? - and good reflection talk. The end of the year always brings up questions like a) what was the best/worst part of your year, b) what are your New Year resolutions, etc. We both agreed that Adler's birth was the best part of the year. As far as resolutions go, we both had "work out" and "work on our relationship with Christ" - both things I feel I say every year.

Anyways, have a fun and safe New Year. Welcome 2007!

Mama Claws..

No, not Mama Claus (although I may resemble her right now - 13 more lbs to go!), Mama Claws.

That's what you grow after you become a mom. So, I have discovered anyways. It happens when you feel your new baby is threatened in any sort of way.

Case in point:
Stephen and I were at PF Chang's with some good friends of ours (Meg and Ben). Adler was chillin' in his car seat on the chair next to me. All the sudden, out of no where, a chop stick came flying through the air and landed on my plate - right next to Adler, making a loud crash in the restaurant as it landed on plates, glassware. I had no idea who threw the thing - but I knew it came from the table next to us. I turned and gave them the worst look I could possibly muster - it was probably a look that said "die and burn in h-e-double-hockey-sticks". Anyways, I soon realized it was a 3 year old at the table next to us who had thrown the chopstick - I think the parents were concerned for their child's life after my "death stare". I tried to recreate the look in a mirror at home later - trust me, it was pretty bad.

Case in point #2:
I was at the grocery store with Adler. I had his car seat on top of the grocery cart. I was in the freezer section and briefly stepped away from the cart to get something out of the freezer. A lady passing by accidentally bumped her cart into mine. Hearing the "collision" I whipped out my death stare at this poor woman and just said a sarcastic "WOW" and took off. (but what my "wow" really said was "wow, you must be the dumbest person on this earth..." or mabye something worse)

Case in point #3:
There are innocent victims to speak of as well. My poor sweet sister, Rylie, wanted me to teach her how to change Adler's diaper. She asked if she needed to cover his "wing-wang" to keep him from peeing (which, by the way, the answer is "yes"). I was quick to reply in a very irritated tone "Uh...can we PLEASE NOT call my son's penis a "wing-wang"? That is a name for dirty old men!" She was gracious enough not to be offended and just said "okay". Poor thing - thanks, Rylie, for your patience with your crazy big sis.

As you can see, I have problems. Pray for me. O, and if this happens to you, you can't say I didn't warn you...

A Mom-umentary

Well, obviously, it's been a while since I've blogged. I guess you could say I've been a bit busy. When Adler isn't needing my 100% attention, I usually try to eat something, take a shower, catch up on email/phone calls, write thank you notes, and try and maintain the house/dogs.

I can remember wondering about my new-mom-friends "what the heck do they do all day?" and "what is taking them so long to call me back?". I would love to share with you just what my day is actually like, so I thought I would journal my morning today. (just to give you a glimpse)

First, though, I want to share that Adler is doing great! He is so awesome and such a joy! I can't wait for Stephen to come home from work today - Adler started really smiling today when I was talking to him! I can't wait to show Stephen! Adler is now 6 weeks old and he was 9lbs 9oz at our last doctor's appointment - and is in the 50th percentile!

Ok, so on with my "mom-umentary" of December 12, 2006
1am - 4:45am -
sleep

4:45am -
I wake up hearing Adler crying in the baby monitor. Stephen and the dogs have gotten used to this routine by now, and they have learned to sleep through the entire experience. I stumble across the house, dodging piled up laundry and empty Christmas decor boxes. I peer into Adler's crib - his face is red and wrinkled as he is wailing big time(I'm pretty sure the neighbors can hear him). I can't help to notice how cute he is all bundled up in his blue swaddler. By this time, though, he has managed to wiggle his right arm out of the top of the swaddler and he is waving it wildly above his head. I quickly pick him up and almost immediately he stops crying. He knows his mommy! And more importantly, he knows he's about to eat! I take off my shirt (he is a messy eater and this is just easier) and assume the eating position. Hopefully when he's a teenager - it won't be this easy for him to get a girl undressed. When he's done eating, we do a quick diaper change, wrap him back into his swaddler and it's back to bed for both baby and mom.

5:30am - 6:45am -
sleep

6:45am -
It's only been 2 hours since his last feeding (and one hour of sleep for me). I can hear Adler half crying half making a grunting sound. I know this means he is uncomfortable of some sort. I decide to go into his room to investigate. The first thing I notice is that he has definitely taken a big dump. I reach down to pick him up and he lets out a big fart. I know now that the poor kid just has gas! We do a well needed diaper change - I can tell he's not feeling too great. I guess Adler doesn't like PF Chang's (where I had dinner). When he has gas, I know it helps him to lay on his tummy. So, I lay down on the couch and lay him on top of my chest. He complains at first, but finally relaxes and lets out a couple more toots. I'm drifting off to sleep and I hear Stephen's alarm clock go off. Everyone is awake now! By this time, it's been 2 1/2 hours since Adler's last feeding and he has started crying again. I decide to go ahead and feed him - he silently approves of this decision - all I hear now are big gulps! After his feeding, another needed diaper change, I finally get him to sleep. Stephen kisses me and Adler goodbye as he leaves for work. I've gotten 4 hours and 45 minutes of sleep (total), so I decide to go back to sleep.

9am - 9:45am -
sleep

9:45am -
I wake up, this time not hearing Adler, but Tristan (the dog) gagging. I know he's about to puke. I dive to the floor in hopes to save the carpet. I grab the first thing within reach (Stephen's pajama pants) to put under Tristan's mouth. Too late. Dark redish/brown mushed up dog food is now on my carpet. At the same time, I hear Adler waking up. I hope that he's just crying in his sleep, but he soon let's me know that he's for real. I get the baby settled back to sleep and the carpet cleaned up. By this time, I've gotten 5 hours and 30 mintues (total) of sleep. Still exhausted, I decide to try to go back to sleep.

10am - 11am -
sleep

11am -
Time to feed Adler! Feeding, diaper change, and clothing change all takes about an hour. Then, it's 30 minutes of "awake" time. We cuddled for a while, I talked to him and played with his hands...he started to get a bit cranky - this means he's ready to go down for his nap. I swaddle him up, pop in the pacifier - this is a winning sleep combination and he's back to sleep.

12:30 - 2:00 -
My time! I feel somewhat rested (6 hours and 30 mintues total), so it's not worth going back to sleep. I decide to spend some time blogging (at Stephen's request). However, the day is half over and I haven't 1) eaten 2) showered 3) brushed my teeth!

It's 1:30 now, I have 30 more minutes left, so as you can see the day flies by! But it is all so much fun and so worth it!

Kristine's on her way to Hollywood

Here is a skit my friend, Ellen, and I did for our Young Life Club to promote our annual weekend trip to Sharp Top Cove.

adler is not a "treat"

As many of you know, adler is our first son, but he actually has an older brother and sister. Tristan and Sadie, our two dogs. It's been interesting to watch Tristan and Sadie as they've tried to figure out who Adler is and what he might taste like. In all honesty, we were a bit anxious about their introduction to baby. Both for different reasons, but we were mostly stressed about how Sadie's hyper attitude would be around a 6 lb 15oz baby.

Here's Sadie, head on lap just relaxing.


Really, she's been the best of the two. We have been totally surprised at how calm she is around Adler. It's almost as if she knows that patience now will lead to the reward of playing with a kid later. The frisbees that Adler will throw her, the tennis balls he'll toss for her to catch. You can sense her excitement for the future.

Tristan was initially our first string starting mut. We were sure he'd be cool with Adler as he's shown character around other small kids before...boy we were surprised when Tristans first reaction to Adler was to lick his lips..."errr, no Tristan, Adler isn't a treat." Surely, he's just got some dog food on his mouth and he's trying to lick it up..well, he didn't stop. Mostly I think Tristan was just really confused for the first couple of days, but then we let them meet up close (with us very weary of his actions) and Tristan took a minute to sniff his head, then he kissed Adler's cheek and I think the lightbulb went off..."oh my, this tastes like my master...he is not a treat, I don't want to eat that...but I will remain curious of his sounds...maybe I should watch over him to make sure that he's okay"

So, now Tristan walks around the house curious of what Adler's up to. Sort of like an older brother, with a watchful eye over him, Tristan now finds new purpose as the oldest sibling in the house.

Adler's Birthday Story

Every birthday I can remember, my mom tells me my birthday story. I know it by heart, but I still like to hear it - even at age 26. She tells how she decided to go to the hospital, all the details of that day and my arrival. She does the same thing for my sisters too. We all love to hear our birthday stories.

Here is the story I will tell Adler...

Early Sunday morning, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. At 38 weeks pregnant - and a list of "to-dos", something just didn't feel right. I had talked to the doctor earlier in the week because I was concerned I was leaking amniotic fluid. She assured me that if my water had broken, I would know it. Still, I just didn't feel like things were right.

Stephen was still asleep, so I turned on the TV. The only thing that was on was Birth Day Stories on the Discovery Channel. So, I watched the stories of two different families. One family had some complications in the birth which resulted to trauma to the baby. Sitting on my couch, I just felt like I needed to call the doctor again. I would hate if something went wrong with my pregnancy and all because I didn't call or didn't ask the question.

I decided to call the on-call doctor. I explained to her some of my symptoms and she recommend that we go to the hospital. By this time, Stephen was up. I apologized to him because I just knew they were going to charge $100 to be admitted to the emergency room, just for them to tell me everything was fine. He assured me that it was worth it. We wondered if we should pack a bag...we decided to throw in a couple things...just in case. As a joke, I packed Adler's "take home" outfit.

We arrived at the hospital, they had me sign a bunch of papers, answer a zillion health questions, put on a hospital gown, and put me in a delivery room. As the nurse was asking me all the questions, I said, "You people know that I'm not here to deliver a baby, but for you all to tell me that I'm OK, right?". She kinda smiled and said, "Honey, if your water has broken, you are delivering a baby today!". I said, "Well, it hasn't..". I was kinda rude.

The doctor finally arrived and after an exam confirmed my water had indeed broken and announced "We're going to have us a baby today!".

Shock, fear, anxiety, "my to do list has not be completely marked off!"

Stephen made all the phone calls. Everyone was just as excited and surprised! We had a couple pre-Adler visitors - The Fountains and the Claytons stopped by. Rylie made it back in town from Florida just in time, Raynelle and Tom were able to hop on flights from Houston to arrive before Adler.

So, from 9:30am - 4:30pm little to no progress was made. It really was about the doctors figuring out what levels of medicine to give me. By 4:30, they decided to pony up and get things going - so that's when I got the epidural. At 8:20pm, it was pushing time!

It didn't seem to take long at all, but Adler arrived at 9:23pm - healthy and screaming his little lungs out. I'll spare you the graphics, but it really was the most amazing experience ever. I will never forget what he looked like - they put him immediately right on my tummy - he was gorgeous!

So this is the story I will tell Adler - I'm sure some birthday's he'll say "mom, tell me my story again" and other's he'll say "geez, mom, not again..". But October 29th was one of the greatest days of my life and one I will always cherish and celebrate!

I love my Adler!

You are more beautiful

adler ryan hunton is here, and in full effect. He is the most awesome child. so sweet and fun to hang out with. Kristine and I thank everyone for your prayers, encouragement, advice and love. You are all loved by us and we are so glad we have friends and family like you. Here's Adler's first slideshow (of many, I am sure), but you can also find more pics at flickr.com/photos/stevohunton.

Also, if you click the button to the right of the play button, it will shrink the video and make the pics more clear.