Mum's Day!

We didn't just celebrate mother's day on Sunday... it was an entire weekend celebration! It all started on Friday when we got a text at 6 am from my friend Krista! They were in labor! She joined the mommy club just in time for Mother's Day! Elijah Joseph Donald was born that day 7.7 lbs, 19 inches! What a sweetie! He's so CUTE! Congrats friends!!! Friday evening Kaden and Lisa spent the evening together hanging out, learning to sing "Oh McDonald" and danced and played! It was a fun time!!!

Saturday we woke up and met up with the Miller's to get Waffles at the Waffle Window on Hawthorn! It was heaven to the stomach!!! Then we walked it all off at the Farmer's Market... a tradition for the last three years now! We stocked up on herbs and tomato plants and all sorts of other goodies! We headed home and gardened all afternoon and headed to the Lam's house to feast for Nappy's birthday! Prime Rib, Chili, Ahi Tuna salad and all the sides and chocolate cake!!! Oh man... I was stuffed! Nothing is better than friends and food! ;)

Sunday we got up to go to church... Lisa woke up to a mum's day present... a new camera flash, and a gift certificate to ger her hair done by the coolest hair dresser ever! So, good job daddy and baby! They even kept it a secret for a few days!!! They are pretty bad at giving gifts ASAP... we headed to church and Jonah got dedicated today! Afterwards we feasted! We ate at Pho Ngon. Then naptime... and more gardening... and then to A.T. and Chi Thu's house for clams, steak, grilled veggies and cake made by Annette!!! Great cake Annette!!! ;-) So... that makes very happy tummies... a baby that is worn out by lots of walking and eating and playing with his cousins... 

It's been an amazing experience to be a mom... God reveals his love in so many different ways once we become parents. To laugh when Kaden laughs, to cry when he cries... to hurt when he hurts and celebrate when he celebrates! Cheering him on when he tries to do something new! It's such a great experience to know that this journey is just barely starting... I am loving every minute of this thing called being a mom.  

Kaden's Birthday Party Part 2

Alright... so... we headed to Seattle two weeks after Kaden's birthday to celebrate with friends and family that couldn't make down to Portland! So, Kaden's birthday Part 2 was on Sunday, April 26th. We would have had it on Saturday but KT had a birthday party and Lisa's brother & Sis in law had a baby shower...so, we moved our party to Sunday after church. Which worked out great!

 It was a packed house with yummy food, sweet treats, lots of laughs, awesome presents (thanks!) and Kaden still doesn't like cake. (We had his smash cake, that i made, and my mom ordered a cake from the person who made our wedding cake...it tasted pretty good... it just wasn't very pleasing to the eyes... toying with the idea of submitting the cake to cakewrecks.blogspot.com but good thing she didn't mess up on our wedding cake 5 years ago. 

So, we partied hard on Sunday and slept all the way home. Thank you for all that came out to celebrate Kaden's life! It's been a fun adventure... now he's a walker... life seems like it's going to get more interesting. :-) He's adorable toddling around the house... definitely doesn't look like a little baby any more. Life finally is slowing down for us To's. Joel is done with school and walks this Friday... and Lisa is all done with all the major events for the year at her work. So, time to slow down and figure out what God has in store for this family of three. Please keep praying for us and knowing where God is leading us in this next season. Much Love!!! :-) 

Kaden's Birthday Party

What a fun filled birthday week for Kaden! Auntie Gracie from California was up in Portland for her spring break, she's a school counselor. Auntie Gracie made Kaden's first birthday Dr. Seuss themed cake. It was amazing! Auntie Annette helped with the supplies and the assembly of the masterpiece! Beautiful just beautiful! So the week was spent hanging out with Auntie Gracie and eating a lot of treats... lots of frozen yogurt... cookies...cake... other yummy food! Man... we think we all gained five pounds! 

Birthday party day: 

Over 50 people came through the To house...lots of fun and laughter was had by all. I am sure everyone was super stuffed and tired by the end of the party! The kids played in the bounce house (thanks Chu Nappy and Co Annette for loaning it to us).

The adults sat close to the food and munched all afternoon! :-) Kaden was so good... even without really napping all week! He loved being around all the people and knew he was very loved!

 

He loved the balloons, the tissue from the presents, the kids playing... the adults holding him... he loved it all... EXCEPT when it came time to eating his personal sized cake. He didn't the texture of the frosting... he freaked out!!! It was quite adorable.

 

After all the friends and family went home... Kaden crashed for almost two hours! He napped so hard he didn't even budge from the position we laid him down from.

 

Happy First Birthday KADEN!!!

We know you have read this a million times in our blogs, but man... time flies! It's been a year since we started this blog. Thank you for reading it this year... joining in the adventures of being parents and watching Kaden grow along side of us. He's been such a joy this past year... we have experienced the love of God in a new way and are continuing to see Christ in a different light. It's Easter weekend and as we are remembering Christ's death and celebrating his resurrection we see the sacrifice that God the Father gave us when he sent his ONLY son to earth to live and die for US. To be separated from his son... wow... that's huge LOVE to see him being beaten and hung on a cross... we freak out when Kaden falls down and gets a scrape. We are daily thanking God for his son that he sent for our sins... and we thank God for blessing us with a son that brings such joy and love to this family! Happy Birthday Kaden... we love you so much! We love watching you take your first steps... we love seeing you explore things and dislike grass... we love that you care for others... especially other babies when they are crying. We love your hugs and kisses... we love how you sing and dance! We love watching you look out the window and wave hi and bye to people. You are a blessing to us and we hope and pray that we will be a blessing to you too! Hope you can look back to the pictures of this past year and the blogs and stories we have written down and know that you are very loved by many people. But most of all loved by your creator... Happy First Birthday Kaden! 

First Full Haircut

Kaden has gotten a trim from Lisa's hairdresser, Jo Anna... but for his first "official full" haircut we took him to one of those kid shops that have all the cool cars and stuff to sit in. They have movies, toys, bubbles... everything you can think of to entertain kids... it was a little over stimulating actually. Kaden did a great job and now looks like a little boy, not a little baby! How they grow so fast. One more week and he turns ONE!!!

Potty Trained?

WARNING: This blog contains contents about poop. :-)

Kaden hasn't pooped in a diaper for almost a month now... it's amazing! :-) The boy is pretty regular. He pretty much goes potty every morning when he wakes up, or shortly after he eats breakfast. So, we noticed he would get into his poop stance... 

and rush him to the bathroom and set him on the toilet. :) Then he goes and we get him ready for the day! I think he actually doesn't like to poop in his diaper anymore. It's so nice not to have to mess with that... so, first step to potty training! We will take it! :0) I love this pic of him on the toilet... his smile is enough! :-)

Kaden is growing up entirely too fast... he is becoming a little boy now... he took a few steps the other day, but really loves to crawl...or scoot across the floor. It's not really crawling. Anyways, his first birthday is only 16 days away... we can't believe he's almost ONE!!!! WOW!!! He is such a joy... we love the new things he is learning every day. We love that there are no more poopy diapers!!! YEAH!!!

11 Months!

Kaden is 11 months old! He's one month away from being a year old...that's so crazy to us! He is so much fun right now... picking up things SO fast!!! He spent one morning with Co Amanda and started sticking his tongue out at us that afternoon! We have to really watch what we do now... cause he's watching. We love making him laugh... when he starts giggling all of life's worries and stresses melt away! Kaden is very mobile now... he loves stairs! Going up and then down... then back up and then back down... he entertains himself for ever! Right now he's eating a lot... he loves to feed himself and then pat his head and get all the food into his hair! :-) We aren't sure of Kaden's stats... he's heavy, long, big. :-) Hhehe!! We need to weigh him and measure him. Maybe tomorrow... oh... and the other thing... he likes to crawl under tight spaces... LOL!

Joel is wrapping up school, only one more month left... please pray for him and that he finds time to study and finish papers, study for finals, etc. The balancing act is always difficult. 

Lisa is wrapping up the last of four conferences in April. Then hopefully her work world will slow down a little. She finds herself working a lot after she puts Kaden to bed at night. 

Please pray for Kaden to continue to be healthy... we are supposed to schedule another test for his kidneys to make sure he's progressing well. We have been procrastinating a little on this test because the ultra sound costs a little more than we have right now... and we think Kaden is doing great! But the doctors wanted to check him before he is one. 

Please keep us in your prayers as Joel is done with school, we are unsure of next steps. (Especially with the state of the economy) We would love for Joel to be able to find a full time paid ministry position in the Portland area... but are holding things loosely and making sure we are using our gifts and talents where God wants us to.  Sorry the blogs are rare these days... but we really are glad you are reading and praying for us!!!