Daddy's Mission Trip

Every June Chris leaves (usually on Father's Day) to head up north to serve the New Nations Tribes of British Columbia. The youth group kids have come to look forward to this trip with great joy and anticipation - so even though Kaleb and I are pretty special, we're not enough to keep daddy home from this experience. Last year and this year we got to see him off on the morning of the expedition and luckly Grandma Sue managed to spend the week with Kaleb and I so we didn't get too lonely or hungry. Thanks grandma Sue!

Bad Hair Day...

Good Morning Everyone!

SUMMER TIME

Kaleb seems to be a summer boy - outside and loving it ALL DAY LONG. We went out on errands today, so youth group girls Abby and Kyndal watched Kaleb and he loved it. Abby is an exceptional photographer *obviously!* and they had fun with our camera while we were out. Nice job girls!

Welcome to Portland baby Theo!

SO Much going on these days!! Unbelievably, Kaleb turns 14months tomorrow. I'm determined to catch everybody up, so - soon to come on this blog - first haircut, first birthday, first (okay 100,000th) bad hairday....and so so so much fun!!!

Today was our first mommy-son day off in the sun together. It was a blast...as was the heat at 95 degrees. We got to experience the backyard pool, hang out 1/2 dressed (kaleb, not me!), share a Frappuccino and pick raspberries. And most of this happened before 8am! The rest of the day was much of the same - repeated over and over.

But these pictures are a few shots of Kaleb meeting his buddy Theo who came to visit Portland a few weeks ago. It's so fun to see Kaleb experiencing other babies - what strange thoughts must be going through his head while looking at these immobile, small creatures?? Theo is obviously adorable, very fun and we had such fun hanging out with the Thomas family. One memorable moment came when we were juggling an active toddler and fussy baby while trying to eat dinner at a local restaurant. It was musical chairs and quite a circus. It was a reality check that we are now 'those people' ... and a table nearby decided to move away from us....Ooops!

Goodbye Kicky Chair!

Life is BUSY!!!
We cannot believe how quick it goes, how crazy it feels, how little time it feels we have. And we only have one kiddo to keep track of!! We are MOVIN. I'm back to work - and clocking 32 hours a week so far...which according to most folks...is FULL TIME! Ouch. Topping off the two-job household is the classic 'car-breaking-down-while-taking-Kaleb-to-the-doctor" moment that Chris had the other day (with smoke coming out of the engine!). Good-bye faithful, free and fantastic Subaru.

But of course all the drama fades away when we take the second to reflect on what a blessed life we live and how we are so fortunate to have THIS little guy smiling back at us!! Exactly a year ago I was DUE to deliver this little bugger! 12 months already!

From the beginning, Kaleb loved his Kicky Chair! Most of you have seen him exert some serious energy making this chair rock. As with most things, we realized one day that dear Kaleb was too big for his favorite chair and it was time to let someone else have a turn.

So below, I'd like to introduce you to Baby Theodore Jack Thomas! He gets to snuggle up for as long as possible in the vibrating, singing, rocking happiness. And, unlike Kaleb who was 12 days late, Theo was 3 weeks early! So he's bound to have MANY more months in it than Kaleb.

Welcome Baby Theo!

Below is Kaleb's last time hanging out in the kicky.

On a side note - today Chris and I took Kaleb (now weighing 24lbs) on a 3 mile hike in his 7 lb backpack on the beautiful, sunny Oregon Coast with the youth group. The hike was labeled 'strenuous'. But we thought hey, I've been running...I can handle it, right?. Shortly...we started going uphill and we COULDN'T BREATH!!! We managed to complete the hike very slowly while passing the backpack back and forth over and over while panting. I remember Jennie Flete sharing a similar story with her toddler....Jennie we should've listened to you.

Off to Cal - ee - for - nye - A !!

Last month I thankfull started a new PA job! Hooray!! I am blessed to be back in a kind and fun-filled work environment, using the skills God has given me to serve people. (not to mention - pay all those bills too!) My supervising MD was taking a week off for spring break and graciously extended the time to me as well. So Kaleb and I took a much needed mom-son bonding trip to my homeland of CA. We had a WONDERFUL time seeing family and friends. I could tell Kaleb LOVED every minute of it. He got to meet some very special people and play in the home that I grew up in...crawling along the same floor that I did 34 years ago! He got to play in my aunt and uncle's beautiful home and garden (fit for a magazine) and most importantly - he met my grandfather Bill 'Popo' - his great grandfather. What a blessing it was to take this trip.
Here is my mother, grandfather (her father) and I standing in my parent's beautiful backyard where I grew up.

Kaleb with 'Popo' - they enjoyed each other a lot. Popo just turned 90!! He gave Kaleb a little black car which he loved.

Kaleb spent the afternoon in Pleasanton with Great Aunt Judy and Uncle Ned. Their backyard is recently re-planted and paved and every inch is absolutely gorgeous. Kaleb especially loved crawling along the brick and grass, playing in the fountain, eating the tulips and playing with Aunt Judy's skirt!

We had an awesome lunch in the sunshine where Kaleb ate his first (of many) decorated holiday sugar cookies which are a tradition in my family. He LOVED them and ate TWO while we weren't paying attention! oops!

Kaleb also got to meet our good friend Baby Billy - who has parents that I grew up with. He ate his first In-N-Out burger (sort of) and played at my parent's house till he was exhausted. We had great weather and enjoyed our time so much. Thanks everyone for helping to make our trip so much fun!

Little Puppy Dog

Lately we've been referring to Kaleb as our little puppy dog. Even though we've never owned a little pup ourselves, it seems like most of the stories we hear center around them chewing on all kinds of household items such as: shoes, shoe laces, cords, strings, belts.

And ... so does our son. And he's added hangers to his chewing item assortment.

When it's not annoying, it's quite funny and cute to watch. He'll see a desired item across the room and crawl with lightening speed over to grab the prize. He then quickly rolls from front to back to analyze, inspect, taste, chew and talk to his new toy.