New Cute Things From Kaden

I swear, Kaden just keeps getting cuter and cuter every day! He has done some really sweet things this past week. Saturday morning, I was reading Kaden his "Who Loves Kaden" book that has pictures of our family in it. He pointed right to the picture of my dad, said "Grandpa" clear as day, and then kissed his picture! Grandpa has been his favorite person lately.

Then, Saturday night, he melted my heart with another act of cuteness. It was a very tiring day because we put up approximately 600 ears of corn. Kaden was a big helper most of the day (see pictures on Drop Shots and one below), but when it came time to put him to bed, I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed myself. I kind of rushed through the motions - read stories, give him milk, sing lullabies, etc. I started to put him in his bed and he began to shake his head "No". I thought, "Oh great, here we go. It's going to be a bedtime battle." Then I looked down and realized that he had interlaced his fingers and was holding his hands in the prayer position. I was so tired I had forgotten to do his bedtime prayers before putting him in bed. He couldn't sleep without praying first. Leave it to a 14-month old to remind me of the importance of prayer. You can never to be too busy or tired to pray!


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Wheat Harvest is OVER!

Finally, after a full month, wheat harvest is over. It's been a very long month and both Mommy & Kaden are ready for Daddy to be home more. Before we know it, he'll be off cutting corn!

Kaden is growing like a weed these days. The romper I put him in this morning seems like it's fitting a big snug. I need to measure him and see how tall he is. As of May 14, he was 29 1/2 inches, but I think he's probably over 30 now.

Kaden has been learning and doing new things each day. He loves to copy us when we cough, yawn, or sneeze. He thinks that is hilarious. He is also adding new words to his vocabulary. One of his favorite books is a Veggie Tales book, so he picks it up and says, "Bob". His favorite DVD is a Sesame street video that features Elmo doing a top ten countdown. Just before Elmo starts the countdown, Kaden shouts out, "Ten!" Finally, every time Kaden gets near the fireplace I tell him, "Don't touch that. It's hot." It's not really hot, but I want him to stay away from it this winter! He looks at me, nods his head, and says, "Hot." We think he is working on other words as well, but we can't quite make them out yet.

Once Ryan is home some more, we need to get some video clips of Kaden talking and doing his other new "tricks". He can now interlace his fingers to pray and he loves to do the actions to "If You're Happy And You Know It", especially the part where he gets to stomp his feet. He continues to learn more body parts and will point to them when asked. His latest is his toes.

One of these days we'll get a chance to get more video and pictures taken. In the meantime, this video clip of Kaden taking a bath is pretty funny. Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone enjoys their Independence Day celebration tomorrow! I remember our 4th of July picnic two years ago. It was definitely a day of celebration because we filled out our application to adopt that day and then mailed it on the 5th. Hard to believe that was 2 years ago. Look at us now!


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Another Moving Video to Share

Okay, so the video of Paul Potts I shared with you a couple of posts ago made me cry. It required 1 kleenex. This video, on the other hand, required an entire box. Until watching it, I hadn't really realized that I'm not totally over my struggle with infertility. Don't get me wrong, Kaden is the light of my life and I love him so much, but there is still a part of me that wonders what it would be like to have a life inside of me. Anyway, this is a powerful video and I think it would a great one to show at crisis pregnancy centers. She sings words straight from my heart:



(P.S. Click on the small play button, not the big one in the center)

A Day at the Zoo!

We took Kaden to the zoo for the first time yesterday. We went with our friends Todd, Tisha, & Noah. Despite the heat and horrible humidity, we had a great time. I think the boys enjoyed seeing the animals. They both fell asleep while we were there, but they got to enjoy the petting zoo and the penguins. Those are always fun!

To prepare Kaden for the zoo, I had been telling him that he was going to get to see the "real" animals that are in his Noah's ark set. The ironic thing is that he fell asleep just before we got to the Africian exhibit. So, he didn't get to see the elephents, lions, or zebras! (The animals in his ark.) Oh well, we'll be sure to start with them next time. At least I got some good pictures for him.

Speaking of pictures, here are just a few of my favorites. As always, you can see all of our photos by going to Drop Shots.





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Can you believe it's been a year?

I never got a chance to post on the 20th, but can you believe it's been a year since we first saw Kaden's sweet face? Click on the "It's A Boy!" link below to take a stroll down memory lane to June 20, 2006 and our announcement of our wonderful referral of the cutest boy alive!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Muppet Personality Test

I found a fun website with lots of different personality quizzes. I took the Muppet Personality Test. Here's my results:

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Well, we gave the kiddie pool another try today, and this time Kaden had a blast! The older kids at the pool took turns pushing him and around in his inner tube. He got plenty of attention and had so much fun for a full hour. I'll have to try to get some pictures or video clips next time.

Speaking of video clips, I ran across this one on another blog today. It really touched me and I thought I would share:



Have a great day!

Happy Father's Day!

This was a great first Father's Day! Here's a card I created:

As Promised....

Here are some of my recent scrapbook pages. You can see the rest (and the layout credits) at Drop Shots. The account is password protected, but is the name of my son so it should be easy to figure out! For 2007, I am putting each month's pages on the last day of the month. So, to see all of May's scrapbook pages, go to May 30. My next big goal is to get the birthday party pictures done!





In other news, our little guy has yet ANOTHER staph infection. Ugh! We thought we were over this. We've all 3 been using the nose ointment for 2 weeks now. We have 1 week left. Hopefully that does the trick. Meanwhile, we are treating this latest outbreak with a topical antibiotic. Hopefully the sore will go away soon.

Not much to report

It's been awhile since I blogged, but that's because there's not much to report! It's life as usual around here. Harvest should be starting soon, but other than that things are boring, boring, boring.

After a bit of a creative "block", I have finally started digi scrapping again. One of these days I'll get around to posting the new ones to Drop Shots and I'll post them here as well.

Have a great week!

New Family Photos

We went to Wichita on Saturday and had new photos taken at Portrait Innovations. Despite a cranky Kaden, there were several good ones to choose from. Here are the pictures we ultimately chose to print. You can see the other proofs at Drop Shots. If you need the password, send me an e-mail at starwarsfans98@gmail.com.

Kaden's Birthday Party

Sorry it's taken me so long to post. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Ever since the tornado, life in Haviland has become a lot more hectic. Add a 1st birthday party and dedication to that mix, and you've got a recipe for insanity!

Here's a couple of pictures from the big day. You can always view more by going to Drop Shots. This is Kaden's Korean tol table. It has his baby picture, hanbok picture, candy towers, fruit, and rice cakes.


Mom and Dad are hosting an exchange student from South Korea next school year. Her name is Ye-In and she is so sweet! When she heard that Kaden's tol was coming up, she offered to send Ryan and I each a hanbok for the celebration!


Here is Kaden with his toljabee picks. He chose the cell phone which signfies he will be good with technology and he chose the pocket watch which indicates leadership. These are the two items that Ryan and I added to the table.


Yummy birthday cake!


Kaden with his friends Chris & Lilly.

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We're Okay

By now, I'm sure that everyone has heard about the tornado in Greensburg, Kansas just 10 miles west of us. The devastation is beyond belief. We are all still in shock. In a small county like ours, everyone knows everyone. We have so many friends in Greensburg who have lost everything. The pictures make me bawl. So many of my childhood memories are from Greensburg. Now it's all gone.

Thanks to everyone who has called and asked how you can help. I believe the Red Cross has things under control and the best help you can give is by donating to the Red Cross. I spent this afternoon answering phones at the college to give out the phone numbers of the Red Cross shelters here in Haviland. Our town has more than doubled. We are working hard to find private homes for victims to stay in tonight. A lot of people have contacted family and have been taken to their homes, but there are still hundreds who have no one to turn to.

Keep praying for us. Another storm is in the works. The search and rescue in Greensburg will be severely impacted if we get more severe weather. Plus, if a tornado were to hit Haviland, it would be a nightmare since those displaced by the Greensburg tornado are here.

We're DONE!

I want to thank all of you for your prayers and encouragement over the past 10 days. Yesterday morning was Kaden's last infusion! It was so nice to wake up this morning and know that we wouldn't be making two trips to the hospital. Kaden is really enjoying his old routine again.

The doctor said that everything looks good. We will keep watching to make sure he doesn't get anymore suspicious sores, but for now we are hopeful that the infection is gone for good.

YEAH!

Update on Kaden

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! We are almost done with Kaden's infusions. Monday morning will be our last trip to the hospital. It's been the longest week of my life!

Kaden thinks his IV pole is a great toy. He likes to push it up and down the hallway. As long as we keep his IV line from getting kinked, it's a great way to keep him occupied and happy during the 45 to 90 minute infusion.

Here's a video clip. You can see more videos and pictures at DropShots. The video ends a bit abruptly because Kaden started to pull on his IV!


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In other news, I have entered a contest to be on a Creative Team. For you non-digital scrapbookers, being on a Creative Team, better known as a CT, is a great accomplishment. It means that digital scrapbook designers think your layouts are so good they will help promote their products. I figure that even if my layouts don't sell products, Kaden's cute face should! So, I have entered a contest to be on the Weeds & Wildflowers CT. Their products are my all-time favorites and it would be so much fun to work for them. Here's the layout I'm entering in the contest. I made it with their "Going West" kit. I also used stitching by Dani Mogsted and a corner template by Karah Fredricks. Wish me luck!


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Update & Hanbok Pictures

We are almost halfway there! This morning was Kaden's 8th infusion. I'll be happy when we get to #10 so I know we're heading toward the finish line.

This morning was really rough. Kaden's IV site would no longer flush, so they had to find a new vein and insert a new IV port. It took 5 different people and at least 8 or 9 tries before they finally found a vein and got the port in. Poor Kaden had to endure being poked and prodded for almost 2 hours. It was heartbreaking! Please pray that this one will last for the remaining 12 infusions.

On a happier note, here are the pictures from Kaden's photo session on Saturday. He looks so cute in his hanbok! We will be going back to the studio in May to have more pictures taken including a family portrait. Mom and Dad are hosting an exchange student from South Korea next school year. She and her mom are so sweet. They bought Ryan & I our very own hanboks! I can't wait to try mine on. It will be so neat to have a family picture of all of us in our traditional Korean clothing.


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Life Just Got Complicated

I don't remember if I posted about this earlier or not, but Kaden has had an infection since mid-March. They thought it was just a staph infection at first and gave him a round of antibiotics. The big sore he had on his chest was looking a lot better, so we figured it was gone. But, about a week ago, another big sore popped up on his back. I took him to the doctor Monday and he was prescribed another round of antibiotic and the doctor did a culture.

The results of the culture came back today and it was not good. His infection is more than just a simple staph infection; it is psuedomana. This type is resistent to oral antibiotics. So, we are now taking him to the hospital two times a day for the next ten days for an intravaneous infusion on medication. We leave the house at 6:30 a.m. The process takes about an hour and a half each time and we have to keep Kaden's arm straight. Do you know how difficult it is to keep our active 11-month-old son still for 90 minutes!!!!????? Please pray for us as this is going to be a rough 10 days.

Not feeling well today

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted. Hopefully I will have some pictures or video clips to post later this week. The only chance I get to be on the computer is during Kaden's naps, and lately I've been napping with him. We're both running temperatures today and are both a bit cranky! We'd appreciate your prayers for restored health soon.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great day of celebration yesterday! Kaden had lots of fun with his Easter basket full of plastic eggs and he looked so handsome in his suit. Here's a picture of him with his basket just before he tipped it over!


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