Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes, Five hundred twenty-five thousand Moments so dear. Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes How do you measure, measure a year? ~Season’s of Love, Rent

Can you pick the best day of your life?  Maybe you need to list the top three days.  Could you do it with five days?  Jeffery and I were discussing this topic last night.  My answer?  No.  I can’t.  Our wedding day was wonderful, surrounded by friends and family, but it was such a world wind I don’t know how much I remember of it.  What I do remember was sitting on the bed at the Thomas Walton Manor, with a picnic spread eating everything in sight because we were so hungry.

I remember the moment I gave my life to Christ and how completely safe and at peace I felt afterwards, but I couldn't tell you much else about the rest of the day.

I remember the birth of my child, but recovery from childbirth isn’t the most fun thing ever.  Was Camrie’s birthday one of the best days of my life?  I was surrounded by loved ones who came by, but I had no idea 24 hours after having Carmie how much she would mean. 

What Jeffery and I came to realize during our conversation was that it’s very hard to pin point a day.  So much happens in a day, both good and bad.  Moments, moments are what we should be counting.  I don’t want to be able to look back on my life and say, “Yep, December 8, 2007 was a great day because I got married” or “September 21, 2011, Carmie’s birthday.  That was a good day.”  They were life changing days, no doubt, but I want to remember all the incredible moments!

I remember getting lost in the car with Memaw and Meredith as we tried to find our way to the Asheboro Zoo.  

I remember my first kiss on a church trip and getting caught by our youth leader (thought I would die and she was going to kick me out of the church)!

I remember sitting on the beach with Jeffery one night after a thunderstorm.  We could see the storm and lightening miles off the coast.  It was one of the most beautiful memories I have.

I remember going in for a second kiss when Jeffery and I got married.

I remember the first moment I looked at Carmie’s ear (sounds crazy, I know).  How could something so tiny and so intricate be so perfect?

Now that Carmie is changing so fast it’s hard to remember all the small, funny things she does.  Moments go by so fast.  I guess that’s why people say “don’t blink.” 

Here are some of my favorite moment… enjoy!

Lots of baby bottles!

Hanging out with daddy.

Sofie the giraffe was always close by.

Blowing raspberries.

Tiny, perfect hands.

Bath time

Sweet baby giggles.

First trip to the beach.

First painting.

Seeing her right after nap time.

First birthday photo shoot.

Christmas lights.

"I'm gonna watch you shine, Gonna watch you grow. Gonna paint a sign, So you'll always know. As long as one and one is two, There could never be a father, Who loved his daughter more than I love you" - Father and Daughter, Paul Simon

As 2012 has come to an end and we enter into 2013, I have been reflecting on the past year of the Hunter household.  In thinking back on the year one thing remained constant, how awesome a dad my husband is.  As I finished dinner tonight Jeffery took over bath time.  Later he had to run an errand and as I put Carmie to  bed and turned off the bathroom light I noticed this.

It caught me off guard since it's not very often you find writing on your shower wall (not to worry, it's a bath crayon and will wash right off), but I thought to myself how lucky Carmie is to have Jeffery as a dad.  As I think back I want to share some of my favorite daddy-daughter moments.  Enjoy!

Carmie's 4 month trip to the doctors office.

Getting ready for bedtime.

Trying to get daddy up and moving!

Getting ready for Carmie's baptism.

This was our beach week in May.  We made sure Carmie was in the shade and had on lots of SPF!

At the NC Aquarium.

Jeffery typically handles the bedtime routine.

Helping Jeffery open Father's Day gifts.  Candy boxes make excellent rattles.

Hanging out around the house.

Carmie had bad re flux as a baby.  However, it never really bothered her.  Can't say the same for Jeffery.

Trying to coax Carmie into walking.

Carmie's first birthday.

The UNC TV tent at the State Fair.

Carmie trying to feed Jeffery something she'd already been eating at Jack's birthday party.

Settling down for bedtime.

Working off Thanksgiving dinner.

The tree lighting at North Hills.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail Hoppin' Down the Bunny Trail

We sure have had a good time this month.  The last weekend of March, Mom, Meredith and I decided to travel to Atkinson to visit Meemaw, Anne and Pug.  I love visiting the country and Aunt Pug always does an amazing job of making us feel welcome.  We had a delicious lunch that Pug prepared and spent the afternoon playing with Carmie.

During our visit Aunt Pug showed me the dress we will be using for Carmie's christening.  She made the entire thing by hand; there are many hours of love poured into that dress and you can tell.  It's so beautiful, but because it's so long and fluffy it took a small army (OK, just mom and dad) to get her in it.

I found a photographer who did beautiful studio pictures, but she charged $300 for only a few printed pictures.  I decided that with my new camera and a little ingenuity, I could take some that were almost as good.  I found a large white sheet and with a few binder clips fastened it to a flat surface (my parents 60" TV).  Mom had a white wicker chair that we used as a prop and "voila!" instant studio.

With a little help from Picnic.com (a photo editing website) I even had Wallgreen's thinking I was a professional photography.

The next weekend was Easter.  The bunny brought Carmie a Radio Flyer wagon to take to the beach this summer.  We tested it out and she seemed to really enjoy it, or at least the Easter grass I put in the wagon.

We headed out to the NC State Arboretum and took some more pictures of Carmie in her Easter outfit.  She had such a good time playing in the warm sunshine.  Mom came along too to help with with Carmie; Mom did a great job until she let her fall over in the dirt!

This afternoon I had a lot to do around the house.  Carmie was not interested in sleeping.  She played with her bear, rolled around, and talked to herself, but sleeping was not part of her agenda. 

 Ms. Carmie wanted to be in on the action, so we separated laundry.  She helped me with the whites.

Unfortunately, without getting her nap in she was tired and fussy, so she went to bed early, but we had a great day and a fun couple weeks.  Keep and eye out for more adventures from sweet Carmie!

And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight. You're a candle in the window, on a cold, dark winters night. ~ Can't Fight This Feeling, Reo Speedwagon

I like to use song lyrics for my blog titles and you might be thinking to yourself, "why a love song?"  Yes, this one of the best love songs, but it's also very special.  This month we celebrated Meredith's birthday and this was the number one song on the day she was born.

Several of us got together to celebrate Meredith birthday on the tenth of this month.  Meredith invited the family, of course, and we were excited to hear that cousins John and Dale were coming all the way up from Columbia, SC.  She also had some Eastern NC friends stop by as well.  Meredith's friend Meredith brought her baby, Blair.  Even though Blair and Carmie are only 4 days apart, Blair is about 3 lbs heavier than Ms. Carmie.  Around 18 pounds!

Jeffery and I had been pretty excited about the party and we offered to help in whatever ways we could.  I have been on a bit of a cooking kick, so I offered to make Meredith's birthday cake.  I got the idea to make a multi colored, layered cake off of a website called Pinterest.com.  Carmie even helped me frost!

Rainbow layers!

Carmie helping me add the Rainbow Chip icing.  Meredith's favorite!

Jeffery worked with Brad on steaming the oysters. I'm not sure he really helped that much, but he kept Brad company.  Mostly I think Jeffery just hung around to get the first of the hot, fresh oysters.

I did have to keep a close eye on Catie though.  She likes to try to feed Carmie food that she's not ready for, like sausage balls at Christmas.  This time around it was margaritas!

Babies don't drink margaritas Catie!!!!

Meredith got some really cute gifts and we all had a wonderful time visiting with each other.  I say we had a very successful Gurley get together!

In addition to Meredith's birthday I feel that I need to mention that Carmie turned six months old today.  We were at the doctors yesterday getting her shots.  I hate to see her hurt, but she does so well when we go.  She's always happy up until they have to stick her and then she only cries for about 30 seconds.  Dr. Melton said she is developing well and that she's really impressed with her motor development.  We've started giving her different kinds of purees that I'm making myself.  I'm sure they aren't delicious, but she's getting them down.  So far she's had oatmeal banana cereal (I didn't make that), green beans, bananas and green peas.

Her current weight is 15 lbs 6 oz and she is 25 3/4 inches long.  She's growing so fast!  I swear I can feel that she's heavier after each feeding.  The past six months have been an unimaginable blessing, and just like everyone says, they really do fly by!  I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store.

However, in the more immediate future Carmie, Jeffery and I will be cheering on our favorite team on Friday night at 10:14 pm!  We hope you'll be cheering as well.  Go PACK!