Kaden's First Year and My Last Day

This weekend was emotional for me. Friday was my last day at the office. I am now a stay-at-home mom, home maker, housewife, etc...I'll be drinking mint juleps by the pool...at least that's what they tell me. However, the pool is closed down for the winter and I don't see anyone offering me a drink yet. :)

(Pictured Right: Kaden showing Fezzi the proper way to enter his doggie crate)

I'm excited to start this new chapter of life, but it was also emotional to say goodbye, pack up my desk and hand in my laptop. No more crashed servers or crm development for me. Now it's all about nap schedules and poopy diapers...and maybe I'll be able to make my husband a home cooked meal here or there. :-)

I'm very thankful I can even do this, very thankful God has provided a great job for Mike and thankful that we've been able to watch the budget through this adoption, make some cutbacks and not be in a deep, dark hole of debt now that we have our sweet boy home.

Kaden's First Year
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my son seemed to have no knowledge of my emotional state or the big change in my life. Shockingly, he was all about the cupcake!! Or the cupcake wrapper, rather...We had a great birthday party on Saturday, which was also emotional for me. Its been great having him home, but Saturday just really hit me...remembering so many ups and downs of this year, so many times we were helpless to do anything to bring him home...so many times we wondered if we would see him before he turned 1. And there he was...sitting in his high chair, gnawing on the cupcake paper and smiling at me like this was all meant to be. :-D Too bad Thanksgiving is over....I keep seeing reasons I need to fall on my knees and thank my God. (well, I guess I could do that anyway...don't need to wait until next November. ;-))

So Kaden is 1 and I'm at home. Oh, and if that wasn't enough excitement, he's whiney today!!! I mean, uh...he's cutting tooth number 9!! You can see it coming through! He's trying to be a trooper. He really is easy on this first-time-mommy. I'm hoping his pain will subside enough to take a picture with Santa tomorrow....we'll let you know how that goes. :)

And last but not least, Kaden started sporting a new hair do yesterday!! I would call it his "Doris Day" or "The Flying Nun" look, but I fear his father wouldn't approve.

Happy post-Thanksgiving-pre-Christmas to all.
Kaden's Mom :)

Thanksgiving and bath bubbles!!

I haven't had time to download video yet, but I thought these pictures were just TOO cute not to post. Believe it or not, it's a bit complicated to download, then splice our video....but I'll try to get some online when I have time....hahahahaha.
Last week we had a great time with family over Thanksgiving. My brother had so much fun playing with Kaden, he didn't mind when I volunteered him for dinner duty! And not only was Jim helpful, but Snicker too....as seen below, trying to "help" Uncle Jim feed his nephew! :)
Secondly, for those concerned about my son's hygiene, I wanted to show proof that I DO bathe him regularly, and well, the dog likes to help too...(starting to notice a theme around here?? :) )













Boy what a change! Kaden is all smiles when it comes to bath time now. That is SOOOO different from our first week together. I guess he realized he does truly love being clean. Oh, and he doesn't seem to mind when mommy gives him a funky hairdo either (shhhhh! don't tell daddy)

When a lava lamp just won't do...

I know you're probably wanting to see more pictures of our punkin' but I wanted to share more from my dad and my trek up to the Pacaya Volcano. :) In the first photo, you can see the peak of Pacaya in the background. More directly behind me you can see a smaller peak. This peak continued to spew out lava and rocks while we watched. OH and no, that's not some new hairdo I was trying out. My hair was in a tight pony tail, but the wind was so strong it still blew every which way. :)


This photo shows what we had to walk on once we neared the peak. This is dry, hardened lava. It's hard to walk on because it often crunches, it's not smooth at all, and sometimes it crunches and breaks through to lava below. Also, the wind gusts were so strong I was sure I would fall over and break a leg at any moment. Thanks to God, I was not limping due to injury the next day when I received our son! :)

I'll try to post some video of the flowing lava river next, along with some sweet sounds from our son. Now onto the Kaden update...

Kaden is such a happy boy. He continues to be easy on me and daddy. We were very sad to see Mike's mom leave on Friday but I'm sure she was happy to finally be back in her own bed....and not having to cook and clean for us!! Dad McKinley promised he would pamper her for a couple days when she returned home. I'm still waiting to hear if that happened or not! ;-)
Here are a couple more pictures from our trip, but I'll post recent ones soon too! He has a gorgeous grin and an extra dimple on his right cheek, (I'll let you guess which cheek!! ;) )
The last photo is of us cruising at the Guatemala airport gate. He was a real trooper and did very well on the flight home. :) Now he loves to fly in daddy's arms...although mommy prefers that daddy not do that RIGHT after Kaden has had lots of dinner. :)
We had a great Thanksgiving with family at my brother's house. Everyone was very welcoming to our sweet boy. Fezzi seems to be getting used to him now too...and used to sharing the limelight. Although he's also become an annoying beggar at the dinner table. I guess it doesn't help that Kaden likes to eat some food, then put his hand out so Fezzi can lick it off for him, then repeat the process. :)

El Nino!!

Yes! We're still alive and doing well! :-) I would apologize for not updating you all sooner....but it's not my fault! Our little nino seems to think I should constantly be focused on him! Sheesh! :D...well okay, he's mega-super cute, so I guess I'll allow it....for now.

Kaden is doing very well...seems to be bonding to me, especially during his whiney time. :) Here are a few pics...As you can see, my dad was an expert baby-feeder. Dad was a huge help last week. I really missed Mike but I definitely could not have done this trip by myself! I expected dad to sleep in for 3 days once we arrived back in Atlanta. However, he called the first morning....wondering where his grandson was. He already missed the sweet morning "coos". :)

Even though we were a week past Halloween, I still wanted Kaden to be my little "punkin" so here is his in his pumpkin sweat suit. He's a very good eater and enjoyed sharing the Marriott buffet with us each morning.I think most of you saw the pictures I sent of Pacaya, but in case you missed them, here's one. (I know, I know, get back to the baby already!) Behind Dad you can see the large Pacaya peak, then more directly behind him is a smaller hill/hump. We saw multiple rocks and lava flows come off of this one (you can see it's smoking in the picture). Also, about 50 feet behind dad is an actual lava river flowing.

We had a lot of fun treking up to this volcano, but I must admit it is a distant memory ever seen James Kaden McKinley was placed in my lap.

Now for a few pics since we've come home...

Thanks to Jessica Gunkel for the GREAT suggestion of a swingy thingy. Kaden loves it and it gives him great exercise! :) He's got 8 teeth and loves to eat any table food we give him. He wasn't too crazy about the green mushy baby food I tried to give him the other day...but mommy forgot to warm it up...don't think I'd want to eat cold green mush either!!

Here's a good one with Mom McKinley. She has been a HUGE help during the first week of having Kaden home. Obviously, he loves to play with his Grandma. And she seems very happy and proud to have a 7th grandson, 9th grandchild. :)

I've said it a million times before but THANK YOU so much to everyone for your prayers. Our precious child is home and he is a delight. We are so thankful to God for him and to you for all your encouragement and support. We're going to try to get into a good routine over the next few weeks, but visitors are WELCOME so please come by to play with Kaden any time. :-)

Love,
Kaden's Mom