Boys Night

Last night Tyson decided he wanted to hang with Kai and give me a couple hours to myself. They went out for a while and I went to the library for a while...it was a great evening for all. Here is a cute pic of my boys on their way out.

"K" is for Kiwi

My Ogie & Me

My Ogie

By Malakai Smith

My Ogie is my favorite friend.

He'll be there 'til the very end.

He came to me at Christmas time

and since then has never left my side.

He holds me up when I'm kicking back,

Helping mom pick up the slack.

I let Ogie ride for free,

since he is almost as big as me!
We wrestle way into the night

and he keeps me entertained when morning comes bright
I give my Ogie kisses and then

we drift off to sleep cuddled up in our crib.

Thanks Gramma G for my Ogie!!!

"J" is for Java

Precious

What is it about the nights that Tyson is gone? Tonight he is at the recording studio. When he is home I feel the need to go to bed at 9pm...feeling exhausted. When he is out late however, I can not get to sleep until he gets home. It is almost 11:30pm, way too late for me. But, I am wide awake thinking of how much I need to go to sleep but not being able to do to it. It is not really a matter of being nervous or scared because I have never been that way. But the house does feel very empty when he is gone. And I find that I am totally drawn to Kai's bedroom. Every night when Tyson is gone I feel this need to risk it all and go look at Kai sleep. I never do this when Tyson is here. But I creep in as quiet as possible knowing I will probably trip or hit something and wake him up...but I can't resist the urge. He is so precious sleeping there, and I just wanted to make sure he is there and okay, I cover him up (again very risky) and make sure his Ogie is near. I stare at him sleeping, half wanting him to wake up so that I can pick him up and rock him...but I know that he is not one to be rocked...to interested in what is happening to rest his head for very long. What a precious sight he is, so peaceful, so precious. How blessed I am to be his mother! I hear a car door...Tyson is home, I already feel myself relaxing...I think I can sleep now.

"I" is for Ice Water

Yay! I am excited I have caught up on my ABCs!

"H" is for Heels

"G" is for Guitar

"F" is for Frozen

"E" is for Explore

"D" is for Duck

Bye Bye???

So in the video below Kai waves "bye bye" to the camera...but I realized that he also said "bye bye". I thought it was a coincidence at first but then he has said "bu bu" every time we wave bye bye to him. This may very well be his first word. He has said mama & dada for a while but not descriminately. So, there you go, bye bye is his first word! Does that mean we are saying bye to him a lot? Probably, but we are also around a lot of people all the time so he is told to tell people goodbye a lot, not necessarily his parents:)

A Few "Don't"s From My Day

1. Don't let my newly walking/still learning baby wear slippery socks in the kitchen...he will fall...again.

2. Don't wear Crocs while running errands in the rain...my feet will get wet.

3. Don't let my errands run an hour longer than expected and let Kai get overly tired...he will get loopy!

I'm actually having a great day so don't think I am complaining...just funny things that I learned yet again today:)

As I was writing this I heard a bang and then crying from Kai's room...yes, all that craziness in the crib led to yet another fall...

"C" Is for Clothes!

The remainder of my afternoon will be spent sorting through this heap...storing things he has grown out of and washing things he has grown into...quite the Saturday:)

More!

Victory! I have been working with Kai on sign language since he was about 5 months old. Not every day mind you, but pretty often. I have only done "please" and "more". For a while there when I would ask him to say please he would throw a fit so I gave it a break for a while and then started up again. I have been working with "more" a lot lately and he has been getting close to doing it the last few days. He would take my hands and bring my fingers together and when I would take his hands he would put out his pointer fingers and I would put his hands together (I realize "more" is more like all fingers together but he seems to like to do the pointer finger so I am okay with that). Anyway, this morning I did it with him a few times and then he did it on his own...I was way excited and even got a picture! I know this is probably lame to some of you but you have to realize we have been working on this for 5 months now. There have been times I have just wanted to give up but I felt that I knew he could do it and that he would in fact be happier and less frustrated if we gave him a tool to communicate with us before he is able to speak. Also, this week my eyes have been open to how able he is to learn. I played the "eyes, nose, mouth, ears" game with him one night and then the next day I did it again with his Shrek doll. Then I asked him "where are Shrek's eyes"...thinking I would take his hand and point to them...but no, he pointed to his eyes...then I asked him to point to his nose and he did it. I was really amazed that he could do that...I'm sure that is probably normal about now but I, of course, think my son is a genius:) It did open my eyes to the fact that he is willing and able to learn stuff like that and so we have been doing more. It is just rewarding to work on things with him and see him learn and feel excited that he can do it. I know that this is the first of many things that I will watch him accomplish and I am praise God that I get to witness those little victories in his life.

Matchy Matchy!

I accidentally matched Kai and I yesterday and used that as excuse to take a picture of us...I realized we don't have many of those...I prefer to be behind the camera. Oh, and although it looks like he thinks it is lame, he really does like me, he had fallen a few minutes before this so he was still recovering:)

"B" is for Butternut Squash

Check Out Those Eyelashes!

Kai fell today into the shower and hit his eye pretty hard. I thought it was going to bruise worse than it did but it doesn't look too bad. I was trying to get a picture of it...you know, you've got to remember those first marks on the face. Anyway, the bruise barely showed up on the picture but his eyelashes sure did! It ended up being great pictures of his big beautiful eyes!

Cold Sunshine

I am happy to report the sun was out in Oregon today. Well, I guess the sun has been out for the last week but it has been really cold and today I could feel the warmth of the sun just a bit. It was a welcome invite to get outside for a while. We only walked for a little bit but both Kai and I were so happy to spend a little time outdoors. We were more than happy to get a dose of some cold sunshine! I thought Kai looked cute all bundled up so I took my camera so I could get a few pictures. He ended up being in a cooperative mood with the camera and I got a few cute pictures.

"A" is for Alphabet Blocks

My friend, Shannon, is doing a letter of the alphabet every day with pictures and I thought I would join the fun. I definitely won't be able to do it every day but I will try to do it as often as possible. I used to love photography but have given it up in the last couple years. I am hoping this will reawaken my creative side. Thanks for the fun idea Shan...and Happy Birthday!

Daddy's Little Helper

We finally had to baby proof a few cupboards in the kitchen last night. Kai was so interested in what Tyson was doing and dead set on helping him. He kept putting his hand on the drill like he was helping out. It was super cute. I wonder if he knew he was helping us keep him out of things!

Where do all those socks go???

So I just posted that picture below and after I looked at it I noticed he has two socks on. You may wonder why that is interesting to me. Let me tell you. Yesterday I took that picture, it woke him up, I set down my camera and picked him up, wrapped his blanket around him and sat down in the rocking chair that is two feet away and rocked him while he woke up all the way. A few minutes later I realized he was missing a sock. I looked for that sock everywhere, under the crib, around the room, I lifted the bumpers in case it was stuck under one. It was nowhere to be found. I thought maybe he lost it before I put him down for a nap...but apparently not, the picture clearly shows it was on his foot two seconds before I picked him up. How does that happen, how do socks constantly go missing. Am I the only one this happens to? And it is not just Kai's socks, every time I do laundry I end up with at least three of Tyson's mismatched socks at the end! Well, I guess I will just keep looking, I am set on finding that sock now...it has got to be there somewhere...

Bottom's Up!

I have been trying to get a picture of Kai's prefered sleeping position for a few months now...but taking a picture while he is sleeping means risking waking him up. Yesterday I decided it was worth the risk...and yes, I woke him up...and it was worth it:)

Climbing Stairs

Come Out Sun!

Kai has been going to the window and looking out a lot lately...we are all ready for the sun to come out so we can go out! Just 4 more months!

Ice Skating...and Ice Watching

Last night we went ice skating with the college group. I decided to pass...having had some bad experiences on the ice in the past and realizing one of us would have to be with Kai anyway. But, I did not miss out on any fun because I had a great time watching Tyson out on the ice...racing around and being funny...I was thoroughly entertained as was Kai. Here are some pics from our night.

Wedding Bells

We went down to Chico this weekend for my sister's wedding. It was a great weekend celebrating the love and marriage of Vicky and Marc. We flew down late Thursday night, spent Friday helping with decorations and other preparations, had a beautiful wedding Saturday and flew back out Sunday. It was a quick, busy trip but a wonderful time. We were able to see lots of family and friends I hadn't seen in a long time. I realized I barely took any pictures which goes to show you how busy we were. I will have to post some pictures of the beautiful bride when I get them...I can't believe I didn't get any. Here is what I do have:)

Here are the ladies getting their hair done.

Me and my little bro, Cecil

I was honored Vicky trusted me to do her flowers. I was also a little scared as I have no experience (except from my own wedding and I really didn't like mine). We were pretty happy how they turned out. Here is the bride's bouquetand one of the bridesmaids

The morning after the wedding we were able to enjoy the pool for a little while...Kai looked so cute in his board shorts

We flew in and out of Sacramento and we had a few hours to play around before we flew out on Sunday. We went to the Old Downtown and the Train Museum.

This train was HUGE and Tyson loved it!

Kai is trying to out crawl the train...hurry!

OMSI Anniversary

Sunday was our 2nd anniversary. It is hard to believe two years have gone by...or flown by! We had intentions to have a romantic evening out but instead we decided to take advantage of our day together and go to Portland for a family outing. We went to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and had such a fun time. There was so much to do for kids...and since we had Kai participated in lots of it. Going up there I thought we would enjoy it and Kai would be happy to be out but not really appreciate the museum. I was wrong. He loved it! He loved the hands on stuff...and especially loved the other kids. Of course, he couldn't do all that much but what he could do he was totally in to. It was also a reminder of how social he is. He loved the other kids, followed them around, climbed on top of them (he apparently has no personal space) and watched them intently. I'm excited to take him up there in another year when he can do more and learn more...it was a great museum! Here are some pictures.

Building a bridge

And the best part....tearing it down of course!
Our little chipmunk
After the museum we went out to our anniversary dinner...as Kai slept in his car seat on the floor next to us. I took a few pictures of us at dinner but I have decided not to post them since Tyson made goofy faces in every single one...on purpose...funny guy! It was a great day and another reminder of how much God has blessed me with these boys in my life!

Kai is Nine Months Old!

I thought I would write a little about what Kai is up to at his 9 month mark. As you can see from the video below he is working on walking. He has taken steps and can stand pretty well by himself if he would let himself...the problem is, that would mean being in one place for some amount of time and he is not into that. What he is into is everything else:) He moves very quick crawling and pulls himself up on everything, your leg, the fridge, the toilet (gross), pretty much anything higher than him he will grab onto and hope for the best. Due to his unwillingness to stay still I am no longer able to get those cute photo shoots I used to do...instead I have to get action shots!
Kai is talking up a storm lately...not that we know what he is saying but he seems very adamant that we listen. He has been saying a lot of Dada's lately and something that sounds very much like "Hey baby" but I'm pretty sure he's not trying to pick someone up...just figuring out his noises. He has become quite the Daddy's boy this last month. I don't know if it is just that new phase where Mommy isn't the center of his world or if it is all the additional time Tyson has been able to spend with him but it is a definite change. Not at all to say that Tyson didn't spend time with him before...he has Kai all day on Monday and they have always had a great bond...but the college group hasn't been meeting which usually takes him away at least two nights a week...plus we have had many full days together as a family over holidays. Anyway, he now will often reach for Tyson when I am holding him, (a little *tear* but not really) it is fun to see their new bond.

Kai is also just more into other people in general. Over Christmas he started this short little shout he would do to get some one's attention across the room. Then at the mall this weekend he did the same thing to a random lady in the store. Of course when they look at him he gives this cute little shy smile...it is funny. He also does a fake cough when Tyson and I are talking to get our attention...it is definitely different than is real cough that he has had for the past month (praying that is over now). We are getting to see his little personality and he is quite a social little boy:)

Decisions! Kai gets to decide where he wants to go, what he wants to play with and what he wants to do (with boundaries, of course). It is so fun to see what he likes now that he can pick and watch him process decisions. A month or so ago when he was first crawling we witnessed one of these decisions. Tyson was sitting on the couch and I was on the floor and Kai was in between us. He would start to crawl to Tyson and then stop in the middle look at both of us, then crawl towards me, then sit up, crawl towards Tyson. He seemed so confused. It was the first time I realized that he was having to make a decision...and it went on for a good five minutes. It was so funny but also reminded me that he gets to make decision and we get to help guide him to make good ones...what a privilege...and a challenge.

We have dealt with sickness for this past month off and on. When he came down with a cough again at Christmas I took him to the doctor and we found out he had an ear infection. We also found out that he was 18lbs 14.5oz...he gained a pound and a half in less than a month so he did pretty well despite the illness:)

This was much longer than I expected but the last few weeks I have been thinking about all that he is doing and knew I wanted to get it down so he can read it later...and this is where I do that. I look forward to the New Year ahead and all that it will bring!