Other Random B-Day Pics

Daddy helping Kai eat some cake at his camp birthday gathering Thursday night. Everyone trialed my pig cake for me! Helping mom pick out pumpkins for the birthday party decor. A lady at Walmart saw me pushing him around with the pumpkins in the basket and told me "I needed to keep a camera in the car for moments like these." Well, it just happened I had it in there.......so I snapped one. After we got the pumpkins home, Kai wanted to touch them every time we walked past them on the porch steps. .

A family shot in the fall leaves. We hiked to the Palmer Lake Resevoirs with my parents while they visited for Kai's birthday. The hike was truly a uphill battle, but worth the views!

This is Grandma and Kai stopping for a water break. He refused his sippy cup of water, but guzzled Grandma's water from the bottle.

Kai also discovered balloons this week. This was just a cute preparation picture while blowing up balloons. Not sure what that face means????

Barn Bash

Kai had a Barn Theme 1st Birthday Party on Sunday. Being the center of attention really wore him out! He had an absolute blast! He's finally grasping the cake and gift idea that accompanies birthdays. Thanks to everyone for attending the Barn Bash and for all the generous gifts.

This was my "no-skill" PIG CAKE for Kai to smash his face in at the party! I really want to make it a tradition to make our kids' birthday cakes myself. I may check out a cake decorating class for the future (it would've come in handy). Although in the circumstances, I was pretty proud of this cake, big ears and all. Kai got to do a "trial smashing" on Thursday night at a camp birthday gathering and he really grasped the concept by Sunday!

Here's some of the after-math! What can I say, he loves cake!

Kai wearing mommy's cowboy hat! He was trying to get into the "theme." Thanks to those who tried!

We took a couple short Hayrides around camp to really feel like we were out on the farm. This was Kai's favorite part of the party. He rode on the hay wagon while Daddy drove the tractor. He jumped, screamed, and pointed at the tractor almost the whole way. He even said "tac-ta" at one point! Kai's driving the tractor in this pic!

There was one point in the afternoon while we were preparing that Derrick looked at me and said, "Do you think we went a little overboard for a first birthday?" I casually replied, "Nah, it will be fun and worth it!"

And it was.

First Birthday Reflections

Kai's celebration of his first year of life is just getting kicked off! We have upcoming family, cake, and a party to introduce him to the whole "birthday" idea. He still stands clueless, but stay tuned! In the last couple of days, I have been reflecting on one year ago yesterday...... the emotions, challenges, praises, and pure joys that have come about since then. I have such vivid memories of starting labor at home for hours, waking Derrick up knowing something wasn't right, calling my dad in the middle of the night, heading to the hospital to get things "checked out" and thinking we'd be back before breakfast. I remember exact times on the clock and specific thoughts and fears that ran through my head during those hours. It all happened so fast......finding out I was in labor (6 cm by the time we got to the hospital) and then everything they tried to STOP labor.

God's plan is much bigger than ours.

If I had had it my way, I would've kept him in there a while longer....... prepared a baby room, had a baby shower, felt fat a little longer, maybe schemed some more back rubs out of Derrick, maybe got a pedicure, and tried to grow that baby bigger and stronger! There's something about feeling prepared that was missing.

God's plan is much bigger than ours.

God's plan prevailed and Kai came at His time, not mine. That little "monkey" of ours has fought to be as big and strong as any other baby. A little harder at first .....to breathe normally and eat on his own.....then to stay healthy.....and to grow, grow, grow! It has taught me so much about being in God's timing.....His plan has brought us a healthy, happy 20 lb., 31 in. one year old. We are so thankful for His daily joy to our lives and the gift of Kai James. What blessed parents.

James 1: 17

To our surprise......

Kai took 2 steps yesterday! Derrick and I were both sitting right by him watching because he was standing on his own (which is a fairly new thing as well). Then he proceeded to move forward cautiously toward Daddy...one step....two steps! It was awesome we both got to witness it! This is the beginning..........

Zoo

Our oldest nephew, Drew (3 1/2 yrs old) visited for the weekend by himself, therefore giving a reason to hit the Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo! It was Kai's first trip to the zoo and Drew's first trip to a CO zoo (I think). Kai was definitely engaged in the animals....although for short periods. I think it will be even more fruitful next summer when he's able to walk through the exhibits and make the animal noises! The giraffe exhibit was a highlight.....feeding the purple tongues some crackers. They were ravenous for crackers! It scared Drew at first.....he would set the cracker lightly on the tongue and get the heck out of there! I think it was actually the slobber he didn't like. Kai just thought it was cool he could almost touch them! He recognizes the word "giraffe" from some room decor we have.

Kai especially liked to get out of his stroller and pound on the exhibit windows or grab the fences. Luckily, most of the "dangerous" animals had double fences! He was a "trooper" for the whole afternoon!

This was a 5 month old "joey" (baby kangaroo). Super cute. Drew didn't want to touch it, but he agreed to pose for the pic with his Aunt Mimi! Papa Don suggested we all ride the carosel! I had no idea what I was in for....that thing made me so dizzy (while trying to hold Kai on the horse)! You can see by Kai's drool pattern he REALLY enjoyed his giraffe straw......he chewed on it for over an hour! Perfect entertainment! Thanks for the zoo trip (and giraffe straw) Papa Don!

It was so fun to have Drew (thanks for letting him come Garrett and Becky)! He's at a really entertaining age.....very smart and witty. He played at our house (loving that now we have toys too) and took a nap. Afterwards, he stated "I had a really fun day!" Guess that made it complete.

Family

We finally got a pic with Papa Don, MooMoo, and Aunt Mimi! Because we see them so often, pictures get forgotten! We can't have that! We're so blessed to have family so close at the camp. Kai is really excited every mealtime when he can point and call out to "pa-pa" in the Dining Hall. He loves to play with MooMoo all day while Mommy works and take naps on her lap in the morning after spending the night. And of course, hangin' with Aunt Mimi (especially at the skatepark)! This particular night he was having a blast in Walmart (of all places) being spoiled by his grandparents! Go Broncos!

Now that I'm "almost" a BIG boy!

I wear doo-rags and help Daddy mow the lawn!

Slacking

I've been 'called-out' about my "slacky" blogging lately. Derrick was in CA for a week attending a skate ministry conference and took our camera to capture the moments.....therefore, leaving Kai and I pictureless. So I snapped a few just for this blog.....I know, not ideal. In the last few weeks, Kai is becoming more and more mobile! He is starting to stand by himself, transfer from furniture to furniture, and walk with his new walker toy! (An excellent second-hand buy in Rapid). Kai frequently bumps into other toys and furniture and keeps trying to plow through.....there's just not enough room in our living room.

Kai is also becoming a little "helper." And I do mean "little". He is RIGHT there while I'm trying to load the dryer or dishwasher making the task much more difficult!

I missed most of the smile in this pic, but I love that his two bottom teeth are big enough to poke through when he smiles or chews! He's also becoming very vocal. He is constantly babbling nonsense. We've only pinned a few "words" to date. He says: da-da for daddy, cot for Scout, pa-pa for Papa Don, and Bomp-pa for Grandpa. He really is starting to mimick though. I'll say "graham cracker" and he'll try to get all the syllables in with a similar sound. Very cute.

I'll try to catch some true "candid" moments in the next week and get up on my blogging. Sorry to all who are "regulars" here. See you then.