Kaden's First Christmas

Kaden had a very eventful first Christmas! We had a white Christmas! The snow came pouring down on December 14th and was on and off until December 28th. So our Christmas break started earlier than we had planned. The snow kept us from going to work that first week. And almost kept us from going to Seattle for Christmas! We went up on Friday before the second storm came in... which was the best decision we made all year! :-) We got snowed in with Lisa's cousins and family... played cards, watched movies, ate a lot, and laughed liked crazy! Kaden got some fun stuff for Christmas... a lot of things that make music and help him learn and grow! He also got some mula! We need to get him some more clothes... he is growing so fast! A whole 20 lbs!  The best present of all is all the time we were able to spend with family and friends. We were in Seattle for 9 days and was definitely ready to be back to Portland. 

Kaden wasn't feeling well the day we left Seattle... and we took him to the doctor's on Monday morning. The doc said that he got a virus cough thing... in adults is appears as a common cold...for kids under two it is a form of bronchiolitis. It is so sad to see him sick for the first time... coughing, running nose, really tired...but restless. We have him on a nebulizer thingy. Please pray for him and that he gets better soon... 

We have a busy beginning of 2009... Joel is going back to George Fox Seminary to finish his last term to get his Masters in Christian Ministries... Lisa has many events she's overseeing in the first few months for work... and Kaden will be busy learning to walk and grow and become a little boy. Only 100 more days of Kaden being a baby... then he will be ONE YEAR OLD!!! 

We hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! 

Snow Suit

So... after the first arctic blast...Joel got cabin fever and so we had to venture to the mall. Good thing we did go because we found a steal of a deal!!! A snow suit for Kaden for only $15 at the children's place. Original price was like $45.  :-) YEAH!!! So, now Kaden will be all bundled up! We were going to venture up to Seattle for Christmas starting Saturday night due to a prior commitment we had until Saturday evening. But after hearing ALL the news reports of the next huge storm to come in Saturday we called in some favors and left Friday afternoon. Which was the BEST idea ever!!! We arrived in Seattle with no traffic and clear roads... but then it HIT! The snow fell and fell and fell!!! It didn't stop falling for almost 12 hours!!! And what do we have!?! A house full of family, food, and fun!!! We stayed up and watched the snow and played cards and other games until 2 am or so. (Kaden of course didn't stay up that late...) He went to bed at a ripe time of 7:30 PM. :-) Being snowed in with cousins and siblings and grandparents who change Kaden's dirty diapers... what else could one ask for??? :-) So... we are in Seattle... we will see how long we are here for! :-) Merry Christmas to all!!!  

Arctic Blast '08

Like most Portlanders we laugh at the local news and how crazy they get when the weather changes here. Everything is so extreme and it's always the end of the world as we know it.  So when the news reported that we would have an "Arctic Blast!" we just thought there would be a few snow flurries and then it would clear up.

Well we woke up to a good dusting of snow this morning and it continued to come down. We under estimated the road conditions and were hoping to get to church so we got ready and packed up Kaden (oh yeah his first snow!). By the time we hopped in the car the streets had gotten a lot worse then we thought.  We pulled out of the drive way drove about three houses down and turned around to come back.

Joel didn't feel safe driving in the little FIT. You know what they say, "Better safe then sorry!" 

Now we get to stay home today and watch the "blizzard like conditions..." Oh the joy of living in the N.W. 

Kaden loved the snow but we didn't keep him out in it long.

 

Kaden 8 Months Old!!!

Kaden is 8 months old!!! Time has sure gone by so fast!!! 

Kaden is now about 20lbs. Not sure how tall... moves too much to measure. He crawls, pulls himself up on things, lets go... but doesn't last very long...he loves for us to hold his hands and walk with us. He claps his hands... says momma and dadda... shakes his head when he doesn't want to keep eating. He knows how to "pound" it...or explosion! (fist to fist) he can high five. He still loves his froggy. He is constantly exploring and trying to figure out how things work. You can see it in his eyes that he's studying whatever it is. He would rather play with boxes and paper and bottles than real toys. He enjoys story time... and takes frequent trips to the library with daddy. He still only has two bottom teeth... he eats a lot of things... mostly homemade. He loves anything he can pick up and feed himself. He's such a big boy now... he's learning new things daily and it's fun to watch and teach him. He has the biggest personality and loves being around people!!! We couldn't ask for anything more! Thank you Jesus for our 8 month old, Kaden! 

Oh Christmas Tree...Oh Christmas Tree...

So, tradition for the past three years has been to go out to a tree farm with some of our closest friends and cut down a beauty and make a day out of it! We planned and planned this year and found a date that worked for most of us. Saturday was out...so, Sunday it was! Saturday was BEAUTIFUL! Sunday wasn't so much. I know this is hard to believe but Kaden was super grumpy due to a weekend of no naps and lots of activities going on. So, when the rain came and grumpy child... we felt SOOO BAD! But for our sanity we HAD to cancel. So, as we sat there and pouted... (okay... Lisa pouted... since she wanted to get decorations up last week) Joel decided to load us up into Joel's dad's truck and take us to one of those precut places to pick out a tree. We thought it would be way easier than hiking through a tree farm in the cold. We did NOT realize that the cost of a tree would be triple what we would pay for at a tree farm. YIKES! So... we drove onto the next lot of trees... it was at a tree farm with some precut trees. We were just going to grab one of those but nothing looked nice...so, right next to the precut ones...there was this beauty of a tree... so, poor Joel had to cut it down! Good thing it wasn't too thick of a trunk! We threw it in the truck and went home! It wasn't near as fun as going with friends... but it was fast... and no cold baby! No grumpy momma and dadda... and now our house is decorated for Christmas! Kaden woke up this morning to a decorated tree with lights and smiled and clapped! :-)