A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer...

Waterbabies FINALLY

2012-01-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

So last September/October, Cayden and I participated in a Waterbabies at the pool in Corvallis. When the class ended in October, they took underwater pictures of our babies, and I promptly paid the $2 and ordered one. They were supposed to email the photo within 2 weeks.....really? It takes 2 weeks to email a digital photo? So I waited. And never got the photo. By the end of November, I called the aquatic center, but there is apparently only one guy who can send the photos, and he only works Mondays. So then I promptly forgot every time Monday comes around. So I finally went in to the pool this past Monday and talked to them, and they were surprisingly helpful for the first time! They found my order form and apologized and said they would email me the photo. This is the photo that came to my email...

For many obvious reasons, this is not me or my baby. FAIL. So I emailed them back, with a picture of Cayden and asked if they could send a picture of my baby. She promptly sent me 3 pictures of Cayden (YAY!), two of which are shown below!

Isn't she so cute underwater? Apparently she doesn't know how to close her mouth.

This is her going underwater....

She did not love being dunked, but she never cried either. She did like the water, probably because it was nice and warm!

She's smiling!

Anyway, three months late, but better late than never!

An Update

2012-01-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

Today would have been Beth's 39th birthday. We started our day with her parents, having lunch in Salem.

It was a great time of soup, salad, cheeseburger sliders and lots of messy crackers and cheese for Cayden (which ended up all over the Applebee's floor). Cayden had a great time playing with Vic's iPhone (she likes to see herself on the camera), and making scrunchy smiles at us. We spent about and hour and a half telling stories about Beth, and wishing she could be here with us. Vic and Carolyn are so special to us, and it was a good time together. After lunch, Carolyn was off to a hair appointment and I drove over to church to visit with my dad because we had a few extra minutes. Bryan's mom stopped by to see us too, and Cayden lit up and crawled right to her. Then we had to hurry home for Cayden's doctor's appointment....I thought she might have an ear infection, but it turned out to be nothing.

In other medical news, I went to the endocrinologist again yesterday, to find out if my blood work is normal yet. I had blood taken a couple of weeks ago, and the doctor gave me the results yesterday. Some of my hormones are back to normal, my liver is healthy and my blood count is good, but my TSH is still low, which means that I can't have surgery or take the radioactive iodine pill yet. They are going to switch my medication to help the TSH come back up, and I have to have blood taken again in early March. My endo told me I need to make a decision about what I want to do by the time I go back to see her in mid-March.

Since my last post about my Graves' Disease, I've learned a few things. I actually have three options.

Option #1: Take medication.

There are two types of medication to combat hyerthyroidism (Graves' Disease), Methimazole (what I'm currently taking) and Propylthiouracil, or PTU, (what I will soon be taking). Methimazole limited my tremor, got control of my metabolism, and helped me gain back 10 pounds, but it's not doing the trick to increase my TSH. PTU is a different drug that helps more with the TSH so I will be starting that. It's more pills per day (12 compared to 3), and has a black box warning, which means it can cause liver failure. My doctor said there is a 5-7% chance of liver failure. In six weeks, I will need to check my liver and kidney functions, to make sure everything is ok. The cool thing about PTU, is you can use it during pregnancy, unlike Methimazole. So I could just take PTU during my next pregnancy, and then deal with the surgery/RAI pill decision after the baby is weaned. You can also breastfeed on PTU. Both medications are basically band-aids for Graves'. The only definitive treatment is removal or destruction of my thyroid.

Option #2: Radioactive Iodine (RAI)

New things I have learned about this include:

Before taking the pill of radioactive iodine, the doctors have to figure out how much radioactivity I need to kill my thyroid. They figure this out by giving me a bunch of iodine and then scanning my neck to see how much iodine is retained by my thyroid. This isn't really a big deal, just something that adds another couple of weeks onto the 1 year+ that I have to wait to be pregnant again.

I cannot travel on a plane right after taking the pill. I have to wait at lease 1 month. This is significant because I might possibly be boarding a plane March 24 to fly to Peru on a mission trip, so I would have to wait until April (when we get back) to take the pill.

I would take the pill at Salem Hospital. (Not significant)

3-6 months after taking the RAI pill, I would get checked to see if it worked (if my thyroid is destroyed). If it didn't work (which can happen), I will have to take another pill (meaning another year to wait for pregnancy).

Right after I take the pill, I have to be completely isolated from everyone for 1-2 days. Then 7 days from babies under 2 and pregnant women.

Option #3: Surgery to remove my thyroid

New things I have learned about this include:

Recovery is 1-2 DAYS.

A couple of weeks after the surgery, my levels would be tested, and if they are fine, doctors will have no problem with me getting pregnant.

So those are my options. I've asked multiple doctors multiple times, whether or not this might just go away with a change of diet, or after being on meds for a while, but they were all very adamant that it is here to stay. I did the math.

RAI best case scenario:
IF my levels are fine by my March 20 appointment, I would have to schedule a scan and uptake maybe the first week of April, then another 2-3 weeks to get the pill taking scheduled, we are looking at the last week of April.
IF the pill works, then one year from that date (April 24, 2013), Cayden will have already turned 2. Add a year for conception and pregnancy (April 2014), and Cayden will be past 3 years old when baby #2 is born, and I will be 29.

RAI worst case scenario: (not really the WORST, but relatively the worst timing)
My levels are NOT fine in March, so we wait another 2 months, and check my blood work in May. IF my levels are fine then, I would take the pill 3 weeks later (June 10, 2012 - ironically our 6th wedding anniversary). If the pill doesn't completely work, I would find that out 6 months after (October 24, 2012) and then probably take another 2-3 weeks to schedule another pill taking at the hospital (December 7, 2012). One year after that (December 7, 2013), Cayden would be nearly 3 years old. Add a year for conception and pregnancy (December 2014) and Cayden will be nearly 4 when baby #2 is born, and I will be 30 in a few months.

This whole thing makes me feel old.

And indecisive.

A White Wake-up!

2012-01-15T22:59:00.000-08:00

We woke up to snow today!

Daddy was already at church :( but the kids and I all went out to play in it.

Check out Joe's choice of footwear.....he went and changed when we started rolling the snowman.

Cayden wasn't so sure about all this bright, wet stuff, but she did like eating it, and didn't seem to mind the cold fingers.

Here's our snowman. Pretty good, if you ask me! Unfortunately, it only lasted about an hour because someone came and kicked it over! Darn Adair Village kids!

It was a fun to see the kids enjoying the snow!

Our lucky day

2012-01-13T16:32:00.000-08:00

We have heat!

Just in time for the impending cold snap, our heater is up and running! It only took 2 visits from NW Natural, 2 new ignitors bought online (which ended up NOT being the problem), 3 visits from Pace Heating, 2 new circuit boards and 1 big credit card swipe and we are now warm in the whole house (not just downstairs next to the fireplace!

In an earlier post, I mentioned how God gives and takes away.....well He gave again today when the Pace Heating guy waived the initial $79 diagnostic fee! Such a blessing! God is good.

For the purpose of documentation, Cayden and I developed a new game today. She has gotten really attached to her rubber ducky, and so I put it up on the 4th stair, and she learned how to crawl all the way up the stairs to get it, and then we practiced coming back down on her bum.

She wanted to do it over and over again, and even showed the kids when they got home from school! She is very careful when going down, a little nervous even, but she is brave.

Lost and found

2012-01-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

Making messes is her specialty. Today she discovered how fun it is to empty my Tupperware drawer (twice).

I also discovered where all the binkies have gone! I lifted up the foot of Cayden's new 7-armed Octopus toy and found a binkie! I rattled it a little and yes, there was another one in there! Apparently Cayden doesn't understand you are supposed to put balls down the chute, not binkies!

Give and Take

2012-01-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

Today I felt productive.

When Cayden sleeps basically uninterrupted until 11:30 a.m., I find myself with LOTS of time, but usually I just waste that time playing Lexulous on Facebook, reading my friend of a friend of a friend's blog, or catching up on "Army Wives" on Netflix.

Instead, today I cleaned the house (the downstairs at least), including sweeping and vacuuming, cleaned up Cayden's room (I always pile her clean clothes on the floor after folding them because I am lazy. Today I tackled the pile.), hosted a quick lunch for some hungry high schoolers, got the furnace checked out by a professional (it only took a month of no heat), went grocery shopping, Asia Market shopping, bought new wipers for my car, and went to Home Depot for a new furnace filter (all with baby in tow). It was a good day of checking off things on my list.

I know this is super not interesting, but it's my blog, so I don't really care. I just wanted to record that I do have the capability of not being lazy, as a note to myself.

On another note, yesterday we were so excited to finally receive a $484.88 reimbursement check from the hospital because we overpaid one of Cayden's bills due to an insurance error. I discovered this error a couple of months ago after hours and hours of tedious digging through EOBs and bills and unending back and forth between the hospital and the insurance company. I had the check signed and in my wallet, ready for deposit today when the furnace guy leans against my door jam and tells me I need a new circuit board.

Price tag? $415.

As I'm handing over my Mastercard for the $79 diagnostic fee (not included in the $415), I'm doing the math. We came into today $484.88 richer, but we end it $9.12 in the hole.

Sometimes God gives and takes very quickly; sometimes so quickly we don't even take the time to thank Him for the GIVE and just jump to grieving the TAKE.

But today, I am thankful. We're getting the furnace fixed for nine dollars and twelve cents. Not bad.

10 month stats

2012-01-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

Weight: 18 pounds, 15 ounces (54th percentile)
Height: 28 1/8 inches (49th percentile)
Head: 18 1/4 inches (91st percentile)

Cayden is MOBILE! She loves to chew on paper and computer cords and all things dangly and zippery. She has 4 teeth (two on top and two on bottom) and has started to bite my shoulder sometimes. She understands tone of voice because when I unlatch her and say "no biting," she cries like she knows she was bad. She is very mischievous, when we say "Cayden, no, no," she usually books it faster toward the "no no." She loves to climb the stairs, but usually only gets up one, then we take her down and put up the gate. When we take something away, she cries big tears for about 10 seconds, then moves on.

When she sees someone she knows, she now gives an open mouth smile, usually sticking her tongue out at the same time. She's pretty good at smiling on cue but really bad at staying in one place for pictures! Her hair is crazy and growing out of control, so we resort to pig tails because barrettes are always falling out. Cayden had to stop breastfeeding this past month because of medication I needed to take, and she still doesn't love drinking formula all the time, but we are working on it.

Mostly she just loves eating, whether it's baby food, oatmeal, bananas, grapes, graham crackers, string cheese or bread. She does not like avocados or yellow cheese. She is wearing 12-month-old clothes, and some of those are even too small (as seen above). Her little belly likes to poke out when she's not wearing onesies underneath. This month people have told me she looks like my mother-in-law, like my little brother, like my sister-in-law, like my husband, and like me....so I'd say she is a good mix of all of our genes. She's definitely a Cayden and we love her so much.

She is sleeping about 12 hours a night, and taking 2-3 naps as well. She is a light sleeper, waking up with the kids in the morning when she hears the shower (so we relish the weekends especially when everyone sleeps til 9:30). She's obviously growing, but when she is awake, she's usually in a great mood.

SeakRest 2011

2012-01-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

The Bernards had our annual Post-Christmas vacation at SeakRest Lodge in Newport last week. Bryan's parents, brother and sister-in-law, sister, grandparents, 2 aunts, one uncle, and 2 cousins all spent 4 days over at the beach together playing games and watching the crazy rain beat against the huge windows overlooking the Pacific.

We did get one nice day, and we headed down to the beach to take advantage.

Cayden had a good time with all of her relatives to take care of her.

She especially loves it when Auntie Carrie spins her around in circles.

A little more joy this Christmas

2011-12-26T21:27:00.000-08:00

We started out our Christmas festivities at my Grandma's house in Dallas on Christmas Eve. Cayden had fun attacking Grandma's tree and chewing on Grandpa's 70-year-old toys.

After the Christmas Eve service at Salem Heights, we went over to the Adamsons for dessert with the Hunter side of the fam. All of my cousins on my dad's side were there, which is pretty amazing because three of us our married with kids, and it's harder and harder to get us all together! Below is a picture of me and Cayden with my two cousins and their babies. The babies were all born within 6 months of each other!

Sleeping was not one of Cayden's fortes on Christmas Eve. We spent the night at Bryan's parents' house, and she woke up 3 times that night, which meant a slightly crabby Cayden the next day. She woke up to open presents, then had to go back to take a nap before she finished opening presents!

Cayden getting some help from Daddy in opening one of her many presents. This one was a really cute Beaver sweatshirt, a book and a Jamba card from the Bartruffs. It was impossible to sit there on Christmas morning and not be taken back to Christmas morning last year, when we received the call that our friend Beth had passed away unexpectantly. The Bartruffs (her parents) have now become a part of our family, and the sure love our little Cayden Elizabeth Ann.

After Christmas morning with the Bernards, we headed back to Corvallis for church, had some great fellowship celebrating The King, and ate some amazing Korean food before heading back to Bryan's grandparents' house in West Salem for Christmas dinner.

Below, Grandpa Bryce is letting Cayden try some brussell sprout.

Due to terrible sleeping patterns, Cayden refused to go to bed on Christmas Day (night). Thankfully, there were many hands to help take care of the sleepy grump ball, including Aunt Carrie reading "The Night Before Christmas," which Cayden got as a gift from Great Grandma Hunter.

Breathe, and thank God you got the chance

2011-12-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

This morning I am just thankful that she woke up to live another day.

Would the world keep turning without its cutest baby?

Because my world certainly would not.

To all those mothers who aren't holding their babies this Christmas, you are in my prayers. I couldn't sleep last night because I kept putting myself in your shoes, and it seemed wrong to close my eyes and not grieve with you. At 2:30 a.m., I prayed, "God I am afraid, and so are they. Take our fear, Lord. Take our fear."

Zoo Lights!

2011-12-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we went to see the Zoo Lights in Portland with Young-i, Lauren and Joe. We left Cayden with grandparents because it was SUPER COLD, and she wouldn't really appreciate it.

First, we had a lovely dinner at Olive Garden...where Youngs found her new boyfriend (just kidding!). She and Lauren just loved his hair and were brave enough to ask for a pic! Bryan was only a little mortified.

Then came Zoo Lights. It was impressive, but not really worth $9 a pop. Maybe if you had little kids with you. But we still had fun!

Especially when we found the sparse animals. This was Young-i in the petting zoo.

And here's the kids riding wooden horses! Don't mind the random kid in the background....and apparently Joe doesn't like to smile.

9 month stats

2011-12-08T15:42:00.001-08:00

Nine months old!
Head circumference: 45.7 cm (91st percentile -- yikes!)
Length: 28.75 in (87th percentile)
Weight: 18 pounds, 1.5 oz (49th percentile)

This month Cayden officially learned how to crawl, started eating finger foods regularly, and is sleeping through the night every night! Sometimes she wakes up right about the time that we go to bed (11pm) and wants a bottle, but then she's back to sleep until around 7am. Then she wakes up and I give her another bottle, and she will sometimes go back to sleep for a couple of hours.

She needs her two naps a day to be in a good mood, but can still function with just one if she's occupied (not at home).

My aunt gave us some fruit squeeze things, and Cayden loves them. Above you can see her delicate dexterity...she's always touching new, interesting things with her pointer fingers very carefully. She does this to zippers, Douglas' silky edges at bedtime, and any and all new textures she finds.

Here she is with big brother Joe.

And below, with Mallory's toddler, Eden!

Eden wants to be best friends, but all Cayden wants to do is touch Mal's iPhone...

there's the pointer finger again!

Cayden is not sure about this whole kissing thing...

Christmas tree hunting

2011-12-08T15:27:00.001-08:00

Smell that fresh air!

We went and got a Christmas tree yesterday for Cayden's 9-month-old birthday!

I think this is as close to a santa picture as we are going to get. Hooray for inflatable Santa!!

And there's the tree!

Being skinny's not all it's cracked up to be

2011-12-01T20:31:00.001-08:00

This is my new favorite outfit for Cayden. Complete with purple Corban shirt and baby Adidas.

I think Cayden will be getting plenty of practical use out of those shoes, as standing is he new favorite thing (supported of course). She still prefers to stand on her toes.

She has also mastered crawling in the past few days and is into everything! Below shows how our coffee table has become a favorite.

And we tried pigtails yesterday too!

And right after I took these pics, she tried to grab something under the table (while standing) and banged her head on it. There was a visible line on her head and plenty of tears, hence, the binks.

On a different note, there is other news in the household....I am going to have surgery to fix this.

If you can't figure out what needs fixing, you are blind, or just ignoring the skeletor shoulders/arms. When I saw this photo (taken in late October), I realized something was wrong.

Gaining only 19 pounds during my pregnancy was great. Losing that 19 pounds right away was also great. What was not so great is continuing to lose weight until I was down to 113. I usually weigh 135. All my muscle is gone, I am constantly eating, and my pre-pregnancy pants don't come close to fitting.

So I went to the doctor a month ago. She wasn't worried, but did bloodwork. They found out my blood levels showed my thyroid was working overtime. Your thyroid basically regulates your metabolism, and mine is not doing a good job.

I had to get more tests done and then I went to see an endocrinologist in Salem today and he gave me a couple of options.

Basically I can destroy my thyroid with radioactive iodine or remove it with surgery.

Option #1:
Radioactive iodine takes 3-6 months to work, I can't be near babies or pregnant women for 7 days, and I can't get pregnant for a year after the iodine. So I would have to take thke the radioactive (REALLY? this is safe?) iodine after Christmas because I don't really see a week going by in December without being in contact with my pregnant sister-in-law and countless pregnant women at church, especially during the holidays, not to mention not taking care of Cayden for a week!

So January, maybe.

Where would I go for a week?? And if I waited that long, then added a year (January 2013) to get pregnant again, and add 40 weeks, we are looking at a birthday of baby #2 around January 2014, making Cayden nearly 3 years older than baby #2.

This is not preferred.

Option #2:
Surgery. They go in and basically take out my whole thyroid. Two weeks after the surgery, hormone levels will be down and I will have to take a tiny pill every day forever to replace my hormones because my thyroid no longer can.

Risks? Yes. In <3% of these surgeries, the nerve along the trachea that goes to the voicebox gets nicked, resulting in a hoarse voice. Another risk is hypoparathyroidism, when the parathyroid glands in the neck do not produce enough parathyroid hormone (PTH), due to being damaged during surgery. PTH helps control calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D levels within the blood and bone. Hypoparathyroidism is also a risk factor of the radioactive iodine treatment (option #1).

And why? Why did this happen?

The doctor thinks it's Graves' Disease. I thought it might be Postpartum Hyperthyroidism, but the endocrinologist said that would have resolved many months ago, so this is not fixing itself, and he was very clear that it would not be safe to wait much longer. Graves' Disease, the most common cause of hyperthyroidism, is caused by an abnormal immune system response that causes the thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormones. The cause is unknown, but I'm blaming pregnancy.

So worth it.

A week to be thankful for

2011-11-27T22:41:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is always fun because we get to see friends we haven't seen in a while, like Texas Jane.

And we spend a lot of time with family.

And lots of time shopping.

This is Cayden with her 5th cousin, Ella, at Thanksgiving at my parents' farm.

Be brave like Beth

2011-11-21T09:44:00.001-08:00

Because I miss my friend Beth...

And because it's good to remember that even when we are sick,

we can still be happy.

And very cute.

Back together

2011-11-13T19:57:00.001-08:00

Daddy's back!

And he came bearing gifts! I love Cayden's new hat. She might hate wearing shoes but she loves hats!

This was where Bryan stayed in the city of Huanmantanga, Peru (13,000 feet in Andes Mountains). They had low pressure running water for 6 hours a day, and rock hard beds, but survived!

City streets

Eating dinner.

Pig head

The whole group.

Clearing a field so the school teacher can plant crops to feed the school children, who are very undernourished. The group bought her $500 of seed to plant and helped clear the land.

Little one watching the older girls play volleyball.

Bryan and a little friend.

The view from their room.

Matching hats from Peru!

A week without daddy...

2011-11-12T00:02:00.001-08:00

To tell the truth, this week flew by....like most other weeks in our house!

Sunday was super busy with church, Monday I can't remember - except I made an amazing dinner that Bryan would have hated and I tutored, Tuesday I worked and Bryan's parents brought dinner (thank you!), Wednesday Lauren had friends over to work on a project and I tutored.

We did get to visit with the Bartruffs on Thursday.

They love getting to see Cayden, and we love seeing them!

While we were up in their neck of the woods, we went to the outlets to get some basketball shoes for Joe. Cayden wanted to try on some shoes too...we found some purple ones, but they were Kobes!

Also on Thursday, Alicia came down after work to keep me company and Kyle and Kari brought dinner (Thank you!).
Then of course, there was youth group Friday night....

Where Cayden discovered ice. Very exciting, but very hard to hold onto!

She also worked on crawling...pretty frustrating, but she's trying! Once she actually had her butt all the way up in the air with her legs straight, I thought she was gonna just stand up! She ended up falling back into a sitting position, but I was so surprised!

Mostly, we just missed daddy this week.

We will see him today, though, Lord willing!

8 month stats

2011-11-07T23:25:00.000-08:00

Height: 28 inches (80th percentile)

Weight: 17 pounds, 1 ounce (40th percentile)

Oh fall, how I love your fleeting colors.

These next pics show Cayden wearing the sweater Great Grandma Hunter made her and the skirt Grandma Julie made her. She is also sporting some wicked poofy after-bath hair.

This is what happens to Cayden's hair if we don't put a barrette in it.

This month, Cayden worked on swim crawling, and even pulled herself up to a standing position next to the couch (once). She is eating like crazy, anywhere from 3-6 jars of baby food each day! The last three nights I have been letting her "cry it out" to see if I can get her sleeping through the night because 8 months of no continuous sleep is KILLING me! The first night she cried for an hour straight, the second night she cried on and off for an hour, last night she let out one big cry, and I cuddled her and she went back to sleep all night! So I'm hoping tonight is the night for the marathon sleep! Time will tell.... Let's see, what else? Cayden loves to clap, sometimes as "more" and sometimes just because. She sometimes squeals when she sees someone familiar (usually Lauren or me) and still has ZERO stranger anxiety. She doesn't like being at home all day and eats when she is bored. She likes to have lots of blankets in bed with her to keep her warm (like me!) and we take Douglas everywhere. She is loving to eat cheerios and freeze dried yogurt bites, but doesn't really love avocado yet. She loves all fruit baby food, and will tolerate the meat and veggies. She is a good baby.

Thumbs

up for

8 months!

The moment when you feel so small

2011-11-04T03:40:00.000-07:00

This is one of those moments.

The moment in your life when you feel helpless.

The moment when you realize this world does not revolve around you.

The moment when you have to cry out to God, pleading with him to do what he is already doing.

The last time I had this moment, it was probably close to this time of night - 3:30 am....but I was laying in a hospital bed next to the most precious gift I've ever been given, straining my eyes in the dark to watch her tiny chest rise and fall. Sometimes I would wake in a panic, placing my hand on her swaddling to feel her tiny movements. I couldn't bear the thought of her leaving me after she had just begun. Amidst that sleepless night, I finally gave up.

I gave up my power, I gave up my control, I gave up my daughter to Him.

I realized I cannot keep her breathing without Him. I cannot make her live a day longer than He ordains.

I cannot.

He decides.

So I prayed.

Watch over my baby.

Please don't take her away.

Keep her safe for me, because I love her more than life.

So here I am in that moment again, asking God to watch over my family.

As I type, Bryan is driving up to Portland, where he will fly out of to Atlanta, then to Lima, Peru.

He will then be traveling into the Andes Mountains to a very remote village to teach children there about Christ. There is pretty much 0% chance I will hear from him while he is in Peru.....so the plan is to wait a week until he is back in the states.

A week.

I don't think I've gone a week without talking to Bryan since he was on Camp Team with Corban in 2005. That's 6 and 1/2 years ago.

So here we go again, God.

I have no power, no control, and no husband for the next 8 days.

Please watch over him and protect him and bring him back to us, because I love him more than life and his baby girl needs her daddy.

What's new with Cayden?

2011-11-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Over the course of 24 hours after Halloween,

Cayden has developed two strange quirks.

When she eats, she now makes this monkey face.

And Nov. 1 also was the day she started constantly sticking out her tongue. Pretty cute for 5 minutes but pretty weird for the past 3 days. When she was born, the doctor said she was mildly tongue tied (short frenulum), which is why she has a little butt tongue.

She also now likes to attack her bib in the middle of eating.

Pumpkins, kitty and tasty leaves

2011-10-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

Our little KitKat had a great time showing off her costume to both grandparents, Great-Grandma & Grandpa Hunter and Alicia and Ben. She was definitely tired after all that, but it was fun in the moment!

Last Tuesday we had our annual pumpkin carving party with our Salem friends

(the ones that could make it anyway!). We didn't actually carve any pumpkins because

knives + Lute children = DANGER! Haha...but we still had fun dressing the kids up and eating tacos.

On Saturday we finally carved our pumpkins with Youngi's help. She carved Cayden's name into Cayden's little pumpkin and apparently the babe approved because here she is clapping away!

Joe carved his first pumpkin too...and not too shabby!

And here's the finished products....Joe's, Cayden's, my goblin and Lauren's spooky house.

And, yes, I let my child eat leaves if it means she stays still while I take fall pictures of her.

This weather is AWESOME.

Last Monday, we went to the pumpkin patch to buy said pumpkins.
Aren't my two favorite people the cutest?

Another beautiful day!

First family picture!

That's a big pumpkin!

Hope your day was full of cute kids like mine was!

The secret to easy fall pics!

2011-10-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

We finally have grass for Cayden's little toes to wiggle in! This fall we tore up our whole yard with my grandpa's tractor and reseeded the entire quarter-acre yard (which is no small feat!). I was very mad when clover started growing en mass before my grass even had a chance, but the grass is coming up now too and hopefully the weed killer in the spring will take care of the clover.

In other news, Cayden is still not crawling, for the million people that ask me this every day!! Below is as close as she gets. She will rock back and forth like this, and then just flop on to her stomach.

I also discovered a trick to holiday pics (at least fall pics). Go to your local nursery....I went to Garland's on Hwy 20....they are all decked out in fall props just waiting for a cute baby to sit in them!

I love her two teeth!

It was semi-scary to take this picture because I put her inside the huge planters, but she held herself up just fine and the planters have such cool colors!

Saurkraut and kitties

2011-10-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is a very busy time in our house! With me tutoring twice a week, church events 4 times a week, two hungry teenageers and a 7-month-old who STILL won't sleep through the night, life is flying by!

Occasionally, I get a chance to snuggle my baby like this...

She usually will not sit like this....she's really a wiggler, not a snuggler, but this night last week she had woken up from sleeping and had a little food and just wanted to be snuggled. Usually this happens in the dead of night when she wakes up and I feed her in her room, but this time I was downstairs and asked Bryan to take a pic.

We also got to visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Ullman this week, twice!

And look, Grandpa didn't break her! As you can see, Cayden now loves to clap!

Joe and Lauren also got to meet my Grandma's kitties...see more pictures below...

We also got a visit from the Mendenhalls this weekend, and Carroll got to meet Cayden for the first time, sporting the Oakland Raiders jacket he picked out for her last fall!

On Sunday we went back out to the cabin and had the annual Saurkraut making with the Ullman family. We got to meet brand new 3rd cousin Breyer (my cousin's new baby).

Cayden tried to give him a high five, but it didn't work out too great.

Here is Joe pounding the Saurkraut....it's a lot of work!

And here are the kitties! Want one? Seriously...

This is Lauren attempting to feed a kitty.

And here's my grandma expertly feeding the kitty.

7 months

2011-10-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

Somebody is 7 months old...yesterday.

What's the big deal guys?

Today was a busy day. Bryan is off on the college beach retreat and Lauren went to work concessions at the OSU game and Joe decided to stay home and do homework slash watch T.V. and I went to Salem. After dropping Cayden off at Bryce and Julie's, I met up with Melissa and Alicia for brunch and then went to visit Mal and Eden for a bit.

After that, Alicia and I went back to Bryce and Julie's where Cayden was sleeping like a dead person....she slept for 2 hours....sprawled out on her back, binkie on her chest ....just OUT. After Cayden woke up, Alicia went home and I took Cayden out to my parents' farm, where she tried out her scooter (first pic on this post), which used to be Shane's!

My mom's friend, Ann came out to pick pears with my mom. She and Cayden fed the neighbor's horse...named Angie!

And btw, Cayden doesn't like it when you take her binkie away.

But she sure does love pears!

And she loves secrets from Macie.

Stats as of 9/28/11:

Weight: 15 pounds, 9.5 oz (25th percentile)

Height: 26 and 1/8 inches (41st percentile)

Head circumference: 17 and 1/4 inches (72nd percentile)

The only thing she's outgrowing are the head holes in the onesies!

This month Cayden dove headfirst into baby food, eating 2-3 cans a day plus either barley or oatmeal cereal every day. She is rolling around a lot and attempting to crawl using her toes. It doesn't really work, but she's getting the idea that she needs to use her legs to get where she wants to go. We started water babies class at Osbourne....which is quite embarrassing. We sing really dumb songs that the kids are completely clueless about and I don't really sing, I just bob Cayden around in the water. She likes the class most of the time, except when she is ready for a nap instead of a swim. Another thing I dislike very much about swimming pools are all the wrinkly women walking around naked in the changing rooms. So not ok. But other than those drawbacks, Cayden is learning how to deal with being dipped, enjoys drinking the water, and sometimes floats on her back (while I hold her head up).

likes to "sing" at church during worship, or whenever she is somewhere loud. She now goes into the nursery with Joice every Sunday. She has "mastered" cheerios, but still has a hard time getting ahold of banana pieces. She is not a fan of ground chicken, and I can't really blame her. It smells like wet dog food. She loves to be anywhere but home (bad sign?) and has started sleeping through the night, inconsistently, but still, I will take it! She pretty much will sleep from 1:00 am to 7:00 am, which is great! She takes two naps a day, sometimes three. She usually wakes up happy in the morning, eats and then is ready for her first nap by 9 am, unless we are out doing something.

She usually falls asleep in the car once we hit 55 mph, and she loves to chew paper. Oh, and fruit stems. I wonder when she will figure out that is not the tastiest part of the fruit. She has 2 teeth all the way through, and has only bitten me twice, and it wasn't intentional. She doesn't know any words, but babbles "dadadada" and "nananana" so I'm hoping someday those will turn into Daddy and Mama.

She doesn't really mimic us, except when splashing or eating. She always watches us eat and usually gets jealous if she can't eat too. She is fascinated by mouths....always has been now that I think about it. When she looks at people, she usually won't smile unless they do something funny with their mouth. She likes to play the binkie game where I steal it from her mouth with my mouth and she takes it back, then gives it back to me. She thinks it's funny and it's our only game, so I have to record it, no matter how silly it is! Cayden went to her first non-family babysitter this month....Lois and her sister Seihwa watched her for a few hours while I was tutoring and Bryan was at a meeting. She did great of course, and even fell asleep before we picked her up.

I can't think of anything else, so that's it for now!

PS. This is my 200th blog! Can you believe it?

Funny thing happened last night...

2011-10-06T23:46:00.000-07:00

Last night was Crrrraazzzzzzzy.

It was pretty much a normal day until nightfall.

I tutor on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7-9pm and Bryan stays home with Cayden and the kids.

Bryan has a college retreat this weekend and wanted to go food shopping after I got home. On my way to tutoring, I noticed that the gas gauge was on E, which is NOT a good thing, especially in the white car. It takes two hands to count how many times I have run out of gas in that car. Once in college, my roommates and I had to push it down Lancaster to get to the gas station. So, mental note: get gas on the way home because I don't have time right now because I'm always late.

Two hours later, when I finished tutoring, I called Bryan to see if he would rather me just go shopping since I was already in town. He said he'd rather just go shopping with me. The baby was sleeping, it was 9:30 pm and she should be sleeping for the night, so I told Bryan to come and meet me at Winco and leave the SLEEPING baby with Joe and Lauren.

So Bryan told Lauren she was in charge, to which she responded, "WHAT?" She's not really a baby person. Bryan assured her that everything would be fine and that the baby was sleeping away.

So we shopped and shopped for all the food for the college students and then when we were ALMOST done, perusing the chip aisle for walkin' taco chips when my phone rings and I KNOW it's Lauren. I answer the phone and all I hear is my baby screaming. And Lauren. Freaking out. I almost laughed. So I coached Lauren to find the milk in the fridge and feed her, and I left Bryan with a cart full of unhealthy college food and took off for home (we had two cars, remember?).

When I reached the corner store, my car started to sputter and I KNEW. I almost made it home. ALMOST. On a very dark 99W just south of the blueberry fields, my car rolled to a stop in on the shoulder, about a mile from home. Cherry on top: it was raining.

I call Bryan, he's at checkout. I call Lauren, Joe answers.

Our conversation:

Joe: Hello?

Me: Hi, how's she doing?

Joe: This is Joe.

Me: Hi, how's Cayden?

Joe: Lauren is feeding.

Me: Ok well I ran out of gas, so Bryan is going to pick me up and we will be there soon.

Joe: Ok. What time?

Me: About 15 minutes? (This is a lie...not intentional, just wishful thinking)

Joe: Ok, byeee.

After watching headlights after headlights ZOOM past me, I finally see one with a blinker and Bryan is there to save me! We rush home, leaving the white car and its hazards flickering in our rear view mirror.

When we get home, Lauren is in her bedroom window giving us a stare down....I don't think she will be volunteering for babysitting anytime soon. By that time, Cayden is fine, just tired and a little gassy. We still have to go get the white car, so we pack Cayden up in her car seat with her apple juice and take off. Of course now it is 11:00pm and all the close and convenient gas stations are closed, so we have to drive all the way into town to get 2 gallons of gas. When we get back to my car, the hazards are no longer blinking. Bad sign, FYI. The battery is dead.....could this get worse? No, actually, it doesn't get worse. A random tow truck pulls up behind us and helped us with some super long jumper cables and after a few minutes of pouring on the juice, our car was running again and the baby was fast asleep in her car seat. Moral of the story....always bring the baby.

Crack kills!

2011-10-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Say no to crack....

or as Isla prefers: "Crack kills!"

This week, Cayden has made great advances in cheerio dexterity.

Her rate of success is about 1 of 10. Macie's rate of success = 9 of 10

Can you see the teeth?

don't worry, she's not always sad...

At Grandma Hunter's house, Cayden fell asleep like this...

If this were to happen at home, she would be freaking out, but not at Grandma's! She woke up happy and loves looking out the window from her crib.

She is also loving bananas....but I have to watch her closely because she literally bites off more than she can chew, therby choking herself.

At youth group, Cayden made some new friends....Violet and Joy.

Teeth and tears

2011-09-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

This month, Cayden decided she wanted to go to the nursery during church. Actually, we decided for her, but either way, she loves it! She gets to hang out with her favorite Korean ajuma, Joice, and gets to jump around in her Rainforest Jumparoo.

She only cries when I come back to get her...which is pretty pathetic.

Don't worry, my baby doesn't hate me, she just loves new things (like the nursery and other kids) and when she sees me, she remembers, "oh, yeah, I'm teething, I'm supposed to be grumpy when I'm with Mommy!"

This is more like the norm.

Not really, this was an extreme moment when mean ol mommy was taking pictures of crying Cayden because she is so darn cute when she cries.

So we give her apples and teethers and cheerios and the occasional (ok... daily) dose of tylenol. Those teeth just keep coming (2 for sure so far) and she is doing well considering. We are down to 2 naps a day and she is still waking up 2-3 times at night, not always hungry, but most of the time she eats. It is a time of sleep deprivation and pearly whites, but it is a beautiful time in the life of us.

The apple.

2011-09-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I think we might have a future writer on our hands....

Blogosphere beware!!

Randomness and a first tooth!

2011-09-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

On Sept. 9 Cayden's first tooth made itself known. My mom was feeling around on her gums (this is a normal thing for her), and she found the sharp little bugger! There is no denying we are teething because this kid is an emotional basketcase right now! She will be playing one second, randomly start crying and then be fine in 2 seconds. Oh boy, can't wait for the teenage years!

Cayden and Carrie

I was riding in the car and I looked back to notice this beady little eye staring at me. Cayden just realized she can see me if she really tries. She was quite enthralled. Don't worry, I wasn't driving when I took this photo. I did pull over in a wheat field to take it though.

Grandparents got sent this photo on Sunday....I bet everyone reading this is feeling bad because they forgot to say happy grandparents day to their gparents....don't feel too bad, I might have forgotten about my grandparents too...but Cayden didn't!

Jilynne learned how to change a diaper...finally!

Joe has a very nice family with 2 older children (26 and 23) and baby Joe (14). Joe will be living with us for at least the next 2 years (minus the summers) and we are happy to have him. We are trying to teach Cayden how to say Joe-Oppa (older brother in Korean). She loves Joe, and he loves her too. He comes down to play with her for a few minutes every day and always helps carry her carseat in from the car.

This is Joe's family (and Cayden).

Joe's mom with Cayden.

6 month stats

2011-09-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Cayden is growing! Length: 26.25 inches (70th percentile)

Weight: 15 pounds, 0.5 ounces (32nd percentile)

Head circumference: 43.7 cm (83rd percentile)

She's still a bit shrimpy on the weight, but everything else (especially her big melon) is above average. We went to the doctor today for her 6 month checkup and she had to have 4 shots!She got pretty red in the face and cried hard for only a little bit. She did pretty well, considering. Yesterday we started her on peas, and this morning she had oatmeal for the first time! When she first took a bite, she frowned, but after that she kept wanting more!

When we got home from the doctors office, I put her in bed and later I went up to check on her and she had peeled off one or her bandaids and was playing with it! Pretty funny until she decided to eat it! Cayden is sitting up all by herself now, and can reach and play with things without falling over. She loves her binkie and picks it up and puts it in her mouth a alot. She also discovered my cell phone and loves to play with it. She rolls and scoots backwards and in circles, says "dadadada" a lot (no matter if Bryan is around or not) and has started rolling over when I lay her down to change her diaper (not awesome).
Her new thing is to get her legs stuck in her crib when she is supposed to be napping. This happens like every day. She wiggles into the weirdest situations....on her belly, both legs sticking out of the corner of her crib...stuck and not happy. It's quite disturbing and I think I need to buy a bumper or something because it's getting a bit ridiculous.

Our crazy life.

2011-09-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we host Korean students at our home. Our host daughter Lauren has lived with us over the past 2 years (during school) and we've had Sun and Minsu live with us as well within that time. Sun moved out a few months ago, so we have an open room for the time being.

That is what we thought anyway.

Last Wednesday, we took a trip over to Central Oregon to visit Bryan's aunt and uncle (Lauren is good friends with their daughter Taylor). I will have plenty of pictures documenting this trip later, but I'm trying to ficus on this current story. We had to come back to Corvallis Friday morning because we were having an end of summer BBQ for the youth group kids at our house later that day. On the way home, Bryan got a call from a weird number. He doesn't answer his phone when he doesn't know the caller, so he got a voicemail from a Korean dad looking for a host family for his son. Bryan figured he would call back later, after we had gotten home, so we didn't really think much of it.

Time: 12:45 pm.

We got home and Bryan had to go help one of our youth group kids move out of his house, so I set to cleaning the house up for the BBQ. My mom showed up to drop off our dog, Macie, (she had watched her while we were gone), and she stuck around to help watch Cayden while I cleaned.

Halfway through cleaning, Bryan called and needed me to come into town to pick up a lawn mower that wouldn't fit in his small car. Making sure my mom was ok staying with Cayden (and Lauren upstairs), I took off to pick up the lawn mower.

Time: 3:00 pm.

I picked up the lawn mower, and headed back home. I pull up to my house, but can't pull in the driveway because there is a black Kia parallel parked in front of our driveway. Strange, I thought, managing to maneuver around the car and into the driveway. Even stranger, I opened the door to my house to find a Korean family of three in my house!

Apparently this family that had called us (only 3 hours ago!) could not wait for a call back and HAD to see our house! They showed up and my mom was so confused! She called Lauren down to talk with them (even though they speak really good English) and that's when I showed up.
So I have my house half cleaned for a BBQ that is supposed to commence in T-minus 1.5 hours and a family wanting to interview me for the job of taking care of their 8th grade son, Joe, for the next year and a half.

Oh the crazy life we live.

I gave them a tour (kind of pathetic because nothing was really ready for anyone to see!), and talked with them about their plans. Thankfully, Lauren talked with them in Korean for quite a while too, which allowed me to get a few things done around the house, but I really wanted to vacuum, but figured that might be pushing it. I told them about the BBQ and how a bunch of kids would be coming over, and invited them to come and meet the kids. They were happy to do so, but needed to go buy a calculator for Joe.

Time: 4:00 pm

The parents decided to take off for Freddy's, leaving Joe with us! Can you believe that? They just left their kid with strangers they just met less than an hour before! While they were gone, Cayden got hungry. I was so busy, and my mom (LIFESAVER) was cleaning and slicing veggies for the hamburgers, and so guess who got a crash course on feeding a baby? Yep, Joe. He sat there on the couch like a trooper feeding Cayden as I vacuumed! He even lifted up his feet for me to vacuum underneath! He's a keeper!

Eventually, the kids showed up and he fit right in, playing Wii Sports, Kubb and ultimate croquet. His parents showed back up halfway through the BBQ, bearing two Watermelons and a graphing calculator. They stuck around and we talked a lot, and they mainly enjoyed watching their shy son become one of the group.

And just like that, we no longer have an open room. Joe moves in on Tuesday, starts school on Thursday and his parents leave for Korea on Saturday. Quite the change for us, but even more changes of that 8th grade boy. We are excited for our new family member to join us!

Garage sales and the girls

2011-08-27T21:05:00.001-07:00

Last night, my friends from high school and I got together for an inpromptu reunion. Samantha couldn't make it, but I was impressed with the turnout! We had dinner up in Lake Oswego at Claim Jumper and then had frozen yogurt at Yogurtland in Bridgeport. We pretty much just sat around and caught up, but it was really fun to see them, and to get away for a little bit.
Today was the annual Adair Village city-wide garage sale. We walked through our little city (Cayden decided to sleep the whole time in her stoller),spent $17 and got 13 books, two 3-T sleepers, two pairs of 3-T pants, a pair of shorts, a hoodie, and a Halloween onesie, a pair of boots and a 3-T monkey Halloween costume.

Not a bad haul for the little one!

I also bought a new camera lens today after selling a few of mine (very quickly!) on Craigslist. Hooray for autofocus on my 50 mm now! Cayden was just moving around too much for me to manually focus anymore.

She is already enjoying her new books!

We are also trying out new barrettes to tackle the long whispys.

And lovin bathtime!

Sporting the dress from Alicia!

Chillin' with dad.

Melissa came over to hang out on Monday and spent the night so she got lots of Cayden time. She just got back from a mission trip to Zimbabwe, where they carry their babies around like this.

Cayden's bottle holding skills have regressed.

More bath time.

Take me out to the ballgame...

2011-08-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, Cayden got to go to her first Mariner game! We were sad that daddy had to stay home and work (it was on a Sunday), but my dad wanted to take us kids and my grandparents up to see the Mariners play the Red Sox (my dad and grandpa are Red Sox fans).

Of course, Cayden is not a Red Sox fan and so we scored some awesome Griffey gear on discount!

Here's the whole crew...my grandparents, brothers, Cayden and I and my dad. The Mariners won by the way!

We stayed the night in Seattle, in The Camlin Worldmark right downtown. It was only 2 miles from Safeco and had quite a view!

On the way home, we stopped by to visit my cousin who just moved with her baby and husband to Lacey, WA. Cayden had to try out her 3rd cousin's sunglasses.

It was a stripe day apparently.

On the way home, she did pretty good, sleeping with Douglas her giraffe.

When we got to Portland, she started to melt down. My dad HAD to stop in Brooks to give her a break (I would have just let her cry - mean mommy). Above she is chowing on my grandma's necklace at the truck stop.

Saying goodbye

2011-08-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Crying is not something I do well. It's a red eyes, wipe the nose, head down in shame mess. It's something I do when I watch the Oprah about a mom's three children dying in a car crash and when Mufasa dies. And it was something I did today.

It's not completely unusual for one of the kids at church to come to us crying, but today was different. Usually, the tears mean "I'm sorry," or "I wish my parents would just understand," or "why does this always happen to me?" But today they were tears of goodbye. Tears that silently said "I'm scared to leave," "What if I eat lunch alone every day in the cafeteria?" and "What if my roommate is crazy?" Angela left for college today. Angela, who back when she was an 8th grader, made us promise that we wouldn't leave Corvallis Korean Church until she graduated. She and Daniel did just that last June, and now both of them are off to their new lives. Daniel left last Friday for University of Arizona. He was sad to leave everyone, but excited to go. Angela, on the other hand was not excited to go, which makes it all the harder to put on a brave face telling her that everything will be fine in Atlanta, GA where she will be studying at Emory University. This is the unfortunate part of our job. Bryan and I have to say goodbye to students way too often. These kids are like our own. We've watched them grow up, watched them fall and rise and become more Christlike. We are so proud of them, and it's hard to let them go. It also makes me think about how someday Cayden will be 18 years old and wanting to leave for college. I already hate the idea. I hate it more every day. So for now I will treasure the memories and the photos where the children never get older.

Wild Waves!

2011-08-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

So this is a little overdue, but here we go! We took our third annual trip with the youth group to Wild Waves this past Wednesdsay. This was quite the endeavor this year, since we have a little baby.....so we took Cayden up to grandma's (both of them!) on Tuesday, and she stayed the night in Salem with Bryan's parents and then stayed there on Wednesday while we were up in Washington. It was kind of a bummer because we did not get to capitalize on any extra sleep on our first night without the baby because we had to get up at 5:00 a.m. in order to get to the park at a decent time. After 4 long hours of driving, we made it to Wild Waves under suspiciously cloudy skies and we rode roller coasters, ate lunch, then rode all the waterslides! The kids had a great time, and so did we...even if the weather was a little cold for my liking (I spent a lot of time in the hot tub telling myself not to think about all the grubby kids in there with me). This is our newest addition to the youth group - Han Mei. In the above photo, he is attempting to do a flip off of the cliff (which is not allowed). It was pretty funny because he was breaking all the rules in the pool (the poor kid didn't understand) and all the lifeguards kept tweeting at him and saying "Hey buddy, get out of the way!" and stuff, but he had no idea what they were saying because he has yet to learn English. Pretty funny.

I challenged the kids to make funny pictures for me while jumping off the cliff. Andy won.

This slide was pretty crazy. It shoots you out super fast. Here is Youngi and the sisters, Loren and Sophia Na. They were in the water the whole time!

And here's Lisa, Lois, Joe and our newest whitie, Austin.

And Bryan going down the super fast slide!

5 month stats

2011-08-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here are Cayden's most recent weights/measurements:

Weight: 14 pounds (32nd percentile)
Length: 25 inches (45th percentile)
Head circumference: 16 3/4 inches (62nd percentile)
Weight for length: 31st percentile

5 months old!

2011-08-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

A face a camera would love.

My grandma Hunter made this sweater for Cayden. It fits perfectly!

We said goodbye to Stephanie this week....back to korea for her!

We also went out to lunch with Carolyn Bartruff for her birthday! Great old Top-o-Hill restaurant just outside of Aurora.

Cayden has recently started eating rice cereal once a day. At first she would get pretty constipated, but she's been doing better recently and growing like a weed!

Jane finally got to meet Cayden! She's been away at college and on a mission trip to Thailand, but she is still Cayden's no. 1 fan! She came to spend a whole day with us last week.

Cayden also went to her first family reunion. Don't you love her "Hello, my name is Cayden" nametag?

Here's the family.

Ridin' on Great-Grandpa's tractor. It looks like she's saying "Look at me, mom!"

Love this pic. Ya think my dad adores this little one?

Bernard Vacation 2011

2011-08-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome week in Sisters, relaxing and such! We went with Bryan's parents, his brother and sister-in-law and Bryan's sister.
Cayden got to try out her swimsuit for the first time! We played voleyball one night...3 on 3 with one person holding Cayden. She liked watching us, and wanted to eat the ball. This was her face the whole time we were playing. Pretty hilarious.The next day we went to the fish hatchery. Cayden liked licking the carrier.And we fed the fish.This was the rMetolius River next to the hatchery...amazing blue water!And the flowers were beautiful.We took a second to take some family pics...here are all the Bernard girls. Great job looking at the camera Cayden!Family pic.We took Cayden's toys from Grandma Julie's house so she would be entertained. She loved chewing on the green leaf. We were talking about how we need to get one of these exersaucers for our house, and then today Jane and Stephen Kim showed up with a brand new one just like the one at grandma Julie's! So Cayden now gets to chew on her green leaf at home now too!We went to Mt. Bachelor and rode the lift up the mountain....which Cayden HATED.As soon as we sat down on the lift, she started screaming. Once we got to the top, she was fine, but on the way down, she was screaming again!The view from the restaraunt up there...See? She was fine once she got off the lift. Julie and I stayed with her while the rest of the fam went and played a few holes of the frisbee gofl course up there. There was also a pool basically in our front yard. Cayden had her first pool experience. She couldn't go in all the way, but she got to splash with her feet. We also got her a new sun hat.We also got to see my aunt and uncle and cousins who live in Bend. We had dinner and spent the evening with them one night and they absolutely loved Cayden! I've never seen kids play with her for so long, but they did the whole time she was awake! It was really great to see them. Below are my cousins Aiden, Irelan, Saige and Evan. Saige was the flower girl in our wedding and Cayden's name is unintentionally pretty much a combo of Aiden's full name (Aiden Cade).

180 Camping trip

2011-07-24T13:48:00.001-07:00

Bryan took the youth group (180) on their fourth annual camping trip to Honeyman State Park in Florence last week. Cayden and I went for one night, driving my older brother's 1978 camper van over there. That was quite the adventure in itself, but I will talk more about that later. Cayden loved camping, as long as we weren't in the sun too long. She took a nap on the dunes when I found a shady spot, and later that night she was so tired she fell right asleep on Youngi.

Sisters Lauren and Sophia...they love Cayden.So here's our sweet camper van. The back seat lays down into a bed and it even has curtains. So this van is pretty crazy. First off, it no longer starts by turning the ignition. You have to get the car rolling (either by parking on a hill or getting pushed) and then you pop the clutch and slam on the gas and it jerks to life. My first experience with this popping the clutch thing was at the gas station in Corvallis. I asked the guy if he would fill the tank while the car was still running (so I wouldn't have to start it again), and he said no, so I told him he had to push the car for me then afterwards to get it started. He agreed and it only took me three tries (poor guy) to get it started (rolling around in the Shell station parking lot). Once I got to the campground the guys just pushed me, but on the way back I had to stop and feed a screaming Cayden at a rest stop. It was a pretty small rest area, so once I was done feeding her, I had to wait about 10 minutes for someone to come into the rest area so they could push me. The two guys ended up being a little scary looking with their foot long beards and cigarettes, but they were super nice and gave me the push I needed to get on my way. Also, this van idles super loud and only goes about 50 mph, so I was getting a lot of glares as people zoomed by me. All in all, it was quite the adventure and we were glad to have a place to sleep (not on the ground).

At the dunes, there is a lake, so Cayden got to experience cold water on her feet for the first time. And we rented a paddle boat and canoe, which the kids enjoyed. I went on the paddle boat once, but it made my legs super tired, so that had to stop.

My little brother shane also went on the trip, so that was fun to get to spend time with him. We had a great time and only had one injury (that I know of).....one of the eighth grade boys was playing cards at night with a propane lantern sitting next to him. For some reason, he thought it would be a good idea to touch the glass of the lantern, which is super hot! I even told them earlier to be careful, but he ended up with a huge blister that popped and just an open sore burn....oh boys, what will we do with you?

Cousins cousins everywhere!

2011-07-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks, Cayden has met some of her second and third cousins! Below is her and Brooklyn (my cousin Becky's daughter) with their matching blankets from my aunt Diana. And here is her and my cousin Sarah's son, Jamin reading books together...thanks for the cute hat Sarah!

Here is great aunt Tami (Bryan's aunt) meeting Cayden for the first time!

And here is Taylor (Bryan's cousin)...she loved Cayden!

Cayden just wanted to say she loves all of her family (in sign language)!

New tricks

2011-07-15T17:06:00.001-07:00

Look what I can do!But I can't stay up for long! I like to smile.And turn around to look at you with my chubby cheeks.And I love Kimmee.

Haley's wedding

2011-07-15T12:38:00.001-07:00

Haley is officially a Waunch! Last weekend Bryan, Cayden and I drove up to Ilwaco, Washington to attend Haley and Matt's wedding. It was at a lodge up there overlooking the Columbia and we had a great time seeing old friends and celebrating the Waunchs.

Cayden enjoyed the beverages.

Roomies! We lived together for two years while at Corban

The newlywedsHaley married Megan Waunch's brother, Matt. Megan played soccer with us at Corban for 3 years....her last name isn't Waunch anymore because she's married, but I still call her Waunch. It was great to see her and Kim's family. Kim also came home with us and stayed for a few days, which was awesome! Congrats Matt and Haley!

4 month stats

2011-07-11T12:30:00.001-07:00

Cayden had her 4-month appointment today complete with three shots and lots of screaming.
Head circumference: 42.1 cm (80th percentile)
Length: 24.5 inches (61st percentile)
Weight: 12 pounds, 6.5 oz (24th percentile)

So she has a huge head and a skinny, long body!

This and that

2011-07-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we threw a surprise birthday party for Taehan...a college freshman at OSU that has been in our youth group since we've been at CKC. Here is Lois hiding, waiting for Taehan to come.

Cayden was very entertained with Sophia's strange clapping trick.

And the girls can't get enough.

Angela and Cayden at Bryan's softball game.

4 months and the 4th of July

2011-07-07T14:28:00.001-07:00

Since Cayden's 4 month appointment is next Monday, we don't have her stats yet, but we can still celebrate the milestones! This month has been a fun one, with Cayden learning how to hold her own bottle, rolling over from her back to her tummy, grabing and playing with toys and eating 5 ounces or more every 3-4 hours.

She also got to meet my college roommates...Kim and Haley! And celebrated her first Fourth of July!We spent the 4th over at the Lutes at a BBQ with the Selanders, Crains and Melissa. We enjoyed some good char burgers (check out that flame!), played badminton, Koob and the kids enjoyed the sprinklers!Cayden took a nice nap on Isla's bed....it was pretty hot, so we didn't wrap her up and she got very comfortable.And of course there had to be fireworks! Isla did not appreciate the loud noises...But Cayden slept through the whole thing!

The crew! We decided to make this a yearly tradition, since we get togther for New Years, now we will be together at least twice a year!

A week with Grandma Hunter

2011-07-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

While Bryan was gone, we went to visit my mom, so she got to spend lots of time with her granddaughter. Here are some cute pics I took of Cayden before we left our house. Her eyes look so blue in these pictures!

There was so many new sounds and things to see at Grandma's...including the chickens, and the rooster that crowed every morning at 5 am!Cayden got to work on her crawling....still not doing it yet, but the tummy time is good practice.And she practiced her standing too! We both look like we are half asleep in this picture, but if you will notice the wet spot on my pants, no I didn't pee my pants, but Cayden did! After changing her diaper, I was letting her air out and had her on my lap and all of a sudden, I was very warm!

We also got to visit with the Lutes on Thursday.....we love them! Here is Kari and the girls (Isla and Kylie).Then we went to watch the boys play softball....they won one and lost one, and it was beautiful weather....a little breezy, but not bad. Here's Cayden (looking very Jabba-ish) with Lauren, Carrie and Erin Stokes.Grandma kisses.My aunt Diana (from California) got to meet Cayden for the first time too this week! She's the one who made Cayden's favorite sleeping blanket that you see in all the pictures! Cayden got to spend some time with Aunt Lauren, Uncle Jason and Aunt Carrie this week too. They watched her when we (my mom, two grandmas, two aunts, two cousins and one cousin-in-law) went to see Mary Poppins at Keller Auditorium in Portland. The show was amazing and it was a great time....thanks, Corban for the $26, great tickets!

This picture below was taken when Cayden was getting babysat by Lauren on Tuesday when I worked....I think it's funny because she looks just like....A cute E.T.! I couldn't find any full body shots of E.T. but I think her little stubby legs tucked up in her jacket bear a remarkable resemblance.
While I was searching for the E.T. picture, I ran across this one....and had to laugh. I had to put it up on here for all of my Korean blog readers!Cayden also got to experience grass for the first time! My mom said she is well-adjusted because she didn't even think it was that weird.And because I love taking pictures of my baby....And of my mommy and my baby....Here is Cayden's new chair at Grandma's house....it just straps her in there....and we were tempting her with a strawberry milkshake. She really wanted it....but the cow milk would not have been good for her. Poor baby. I drank it instead.

So that was our last 11 days! We are so glad to have daddy back now (they got back this afternoon). Thank you Lord for a safe trip!

Wedding Bells

2011-07-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

So.....I've been off the radar for the past two weeks, due to the fact that I was staying with my mom in Salem while my dad and Bryan were on the mission trips in AZ, and my parents have dial up internet.....so no blogging. But I'm so glad to be back! First order of business is a wedding! My friends Samantha and Guy tied the knot and here are a few photos from the wedding. Melissa finally got to meet Cayden!The beautiful bride and her dadGiving the bride away.Melissa really appreciated the cream filled cupcakes.Friends since middle school...(left to right) Cindra (Maid of honor), Mallory, me, Sam, Melissa and Jamie. Samantha, Jamie and I were in the same 5th grade class and Melissa, Sam and I used to call ourselves "The Three Stooges" in middle school......and now we are all grown up! Melissa and Sam Poor Melissa....I don't dance and so she had to dance with my crazy brother and his friends....oh boy....It was a beautiful, wonderful time and I'm so happy for the Cappiccies!

A first Father's Day

2011-06-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

Bryan experienced his first Father's Day yesterday! He is such an awesome daddy! Since we are celebrating all fathers, here's one of my dad's favorite pastimes, snoozing with Cayden.

We spent the day before Father's Day celebrating with Bryan's family...here's three generations of fathers.

And great-grandpa Bernard smiling with Cayden.Daddy and daughter both enthralled with the iPad 2.Another goofy face. The flash on the camera is very eye-opening.Grandpa Bryce very happy with his new Cayden tie (look closely...it's her picture!)

And grandpa bernard getting some Cayden time. HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL OF OUR AWESOME FATHERS!

Graduations and such...

2011-06-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, we have been to 3 graduations, 8 softball games and 1 trip to grandma's house! Here's Cayden at the games last night....she is attempting to clash with every piece of her attire! Last weekend, Bryan's softball team won their first tournament down in Albany!Yesterday, grandma bought Cayden a Johnny Jump up. She doesn't really jump yet, but she likes to spin herself in circles! Funny face.Sun and Angela at Daniel and Angela's graduation party on Wednesday.At Coldstone....nice stripes!This picture is Cayen to a "T." Most of the time you will see her with her hands tucked behind her head, especially when she starts to get mad. We call it "distress mode."Here's Youngi's eighth-grade graduation on Wednesday with her family (she's in the middle). Us with Youngs.And now to CV's graduation on Monday...Us with Daniel and Angela. These kids were 8th graders when we started working at CKC!!!And then there was my little bro's graduation last Friday! My cousin Jilynne also graduated from Sprague. This is my grandparents with their two graduate grandkids.Shane with his band buddiesCayden was quite the trooper through all these graduations...this is her in the stands at Shane's graduation with great-grandma Hunter. Grandma is showing her a hand warmer from Aunt Kelley.So that's what we've been up to!!!

Goodbye to one daughter, three months for the other...

2011-06-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Our host daughter Lauren is now back in Korea for the summer! She and Chris (on the right) both flew out at 6 am yesterday morning and will be back August 22. Daniel (middle) came over to say goodbye, since he willbe off to college in Arizona before they return.
Also happening today...Cayden turns 3 months old! She was quite pleased with the Snickers we gave her in celebration.

Photo time with her giraffe...And she still loves her baths...

Three month stats:

Weight: 11 pounds (as far as I can tell)

Height: 2 feet! (24 inches)

Accomplishments: Doing crunches all the time (trying to sit up), smiling at different people, eating fists and sucking fingers, lots of drool, eating 3 oz every 2-3 hours, sleeping through the night 8-10 hours (most of the time), batting at her "Angry Bird" toy in car seat and her baby gym toys, and giving kisses (turns mouth toward kiss on cheek).

Hates: Getting her diaper changed when she's hungry, getting burped mid-bottle, sunshine in her eyes.

Bryan's getting older...

2011-06-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Bryan!!Say whaat? It's daddy's birthday? After a busy day at church, we had a little family BBQ at our house for Bryan's 26th birthday. Auntie Lauren an Uncle Jason had some fun with Cayden...Go Beavers!

Uncle Jason and Cayden chillin'Can you tell that Cayden ate WAAY too much cake? Auntie Carolyn loves to smile with Cayden! Happy birthday to my wonderful husband. You are the best husband to me and the best father to our daughter. I love you so much and can't wait for the next 26 years of our lives!

Beach babes

2011-06-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

Sandy toes anyone?Today was our good friends Kyle and Kari's anniversary, and they invited us to go to the beach with their little family on this gorgeous day to celebrate! Here's the cute couple going to check out the waves.

Their yougest, Kylie, got a little grubby eating sand every chance she got!And after their oldest got over the feeling of sand between her toes, Isla had a great time following the boys around and digging holes with Bryan.Cayden was a trooper, as long as she stayed in the shade! Here's mamma Kari with her girls...nice smile Kylie! Beach bums. Lauren pretty much slept the whole time, thanks to the Drammamine she took before we left in the morning.

Do you like Cayden's new outfit? It was a little big, but the only outfit we had with a sun hat.

Scavenging

2011-06-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

Today was beautifully sunny for the last night of youth group.....our annual scavenger hunt!!! I'll get to that in a minute, but because I'm chronologically inclined, I have to start from the beginning of the day. Lauren, her friend Hannah, Cayden and I took a trip up to Woodburn for the girls to go shopping and for me and Cayden to visit some friends. We stopped by the Bartruff's house in Aurora, then went to North Marion to visit my school district office buddies, then to the Woodburn Independent to visit too. Vic and Carolyn (Bartruff) were headed out to the Beaver Baseball game, but took a few minutes to love on their daughter's namesake. And tonight was the scavenger hunt...here's my group in the the telephone boothWalking backwards across a cross walk.Doing rock band in front of Gracewinds....I like Angela's acting job....how super not enthusiastic.And here's our beloved seniors, Angela and Daniel, with a little sophomore Stephen thrown in.

Meeting the friends...

2011-06-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the week-long hiatus! I left my camera at our friends' house over the weekend, so I had no camera for 3 days!!! And that also meant I didn't have my SD card with pictures on it to blog with! So here's what happened in the last week....Esther finally came to meet Cayden. We went to keep Grandma Julie company since Grandpa Bryce is away in Indonesia.

And we had a few photo shoots, which Cayden was not super excited for...

But she's a trooper.

And loves to smile!

We went over to Mei and Jeff's house for dinner on Sunday to have a potluck with some of the young adults from our church. Cayden got to meet Sarah...And Sarah's daughter Jessi, along with her new biggest fan, Kyoungi. And Jane and Super also love her!

My finicky sleeper

2011-05-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Cayden has been sleeping really well the last week...6-7 hours at night...yay! Until last night when she once again woke up every three hours. She's been eating a ton lately, so she's probably in a growth spurt. After her morning feeding, I usually let her fall asleep with us in bed. It's pretty cute because she cuddles up next to me. Today, I got out of bed, took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast...all while she continued to snooze away in our bed! I couldn't believe she didn't wake up! I finally woke her up because otherwise she probably won't sleep tonight. It was nice to get breakfast at a semi-decent hour though!These are from the other night when Bryan was making her crack up.

Grads, brides and baby

2011-05-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

So much happened this weekend!
I started out with a bridal shower for my friend Samantha! It was so good to see these girls! It has been way too long! Below is Jamie, Cindra, Sam, me and Mal. I've been friends with these girls for 17 years!! Holy crap we are old. Samuel the bride....

So, I got Sam and Guy Scattergories for their wedding present, but I also snuck in a ovulation kit for her...cause I want them to have babies asap (after the wedding of course). Below is her reaction to my gift...hilarious. She didn't want to show anyone the gift.

Opening presentsNext was Saturday and Bryan's graduation from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary! He is officially a master. He got his Masters of Divinity...M.Div. for short. Here's the proud family... Cayden was awake the whole ceremony, and she just talked up a storm and farted once. Afterwards, we had a family BBQ to celebrate. All of our Oregon grandparents came, and Bryan got an iPad2 from all of us! Here is Cayden's fan club... On a random note, here is the extent of our landscaping so far...I bought some rhodies, alyssum and petunias and carved out a flower bed. Much more to come!!We've also been playing a lot of train game recently....and teaching Cayden the tricks of the trade. Doesn't she look old in this picture? This was this morning....definitely a bad hair day, but pretty funny.

Enjoying the sunshine!

2011-05-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

This last week has been rough, sleepwise....Cayden was waking up at night every 2-3 hours and I was pretty exhausted. Yesterday, though, after lots of sunshine, friends and softball, she slept for basically 9 hours...3 of which were at the softball game and car ride, but 6 of which were while we were sleeping! Praise the Lord! Like I mentioned, we watched Bryan's softball games last night....here Cayden is all bundled up. She didn't stay in there for long....too many aunties and grandparents to hold her! Before the game, we had BBQ dinner with the Lutes. Here is Cayden in their backyard with Lauren...

And Kylie. These girls were rockin the plaid.

And Isla....look at the three of them....Cayden is growing because she doesn't look soooo shrimpy compared to the last time we took this photo when she was a week old.

And here's Cayden smiling at Isla.

And yes, I'm still setting her up for photo shoots....poor baby! Bryan wants her to play volleyball. I just don't see that happening.

Cayden's first picnic

2011-05-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of the sunny weather and empty refrigerator today by grabbing lunch at Subway and taking it to the park for a picnic. It was awesome! Cayden slept while we ate, and when she woke up, Bryan took her on the swings and she was pretty happy.

The magnetism of baby smell

2011-05-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

Not much going on around here....just watching a baby grow! We did go to my little brother Shane's concert on Saturday....funny story about that...while we were waiting in the foyer to go into the concert, we met a very interesting man. This man had no sense of personal boundaries, and had moseyed into the foyer in search of food. Before going over to get a free doughnut, he saw our baby...and was very excited. The only word he spoke to us was "baby," as he stroked her head and proceeded to put his nose right into her hair to take a big sniff of baby smell....twice. Bryan and I, along with Marlo Mitchell (who was talking to us), exchanged raised eyebrows while we silently wondered how long it would be before this guy gave my baby a big sloppy kiss. So awkward. Luckily, that did not happen. He saw another baby and got distracted. Thank you Lord!

Very superstitious...

2011-05-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th had it in for Macie this year. It was a beautiful day, so we strapped Cayden to Bryan's chest and set out for Macie's secret running grounds (about 1.5 miles from our house). On our way, there weren't a lot of dogs out to bark at Macie, but she did spy a black cat....we should have known we'd run into bad luck then!
We got there, and, as usual, threw sticks for Macie so she would get a good workout. We were about to leave, trying to get Macie good and tired, when she ran after one stick and when she reached it, she stopped and looked up at us with a mouthful of blood. While racing after the stick face first, she had jabbed the stick into the back of her mouth and was bleeding like crazy. Blood just pouring out...it was scary. Bryan went to look at her, and we were worried she'd torn a hole in her throat or something. We couldn't tell exactly where she was bleeding from, but it was in her mouth, and she was losing a ton of blood. I was holding the baby when Bryan handed me the dog's leash and took off running for home. I was quite a sight standing there in a deserted field, holding a fussy baby and a dog leaving bloody puddles wherever she idled, including on my shoes and pant legs. Then, the baby got hungry. Luckily, I had brought a bottle, so I stood on Macie's leash and fed the baby while Bryan ran down the road. Because he's so smart, Bryan called Sun after running for a couple of minutes. She was already driving into town, but she turned around to come and get us. To make a long story short, we took Macie to the animal hospital where the vet found a small puncture in her soft palette. She is now on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. She stopped bleeding (finally), but continued to have bloody drool. Seriously, this picture is nothing compared to the gushing blood that was going on when I didn't have the camera.
So Macie will live to see another day. She was back to her chipper self this morning, dutifully barking at the neighbors.

On a different note, here's a funny picture of Cayden after her shots earlier this week. One night we looked over at her and she's snoozing away, holding tightly to one of her bandaids she had ripped off. She's been talking a lot more, and very smiley in the mornings.I took her outside for pictures for the first time on Thursday. Pretty sure the neighbors thought I was a weirdo. I really need a back yard with a fence so I can paparazzi my baby in secret. Cayden didn't really like the brightness that is sunny weather.She kept rolling over into the grass.

Taking shots at two months

2011-05-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

Cayden had her two-month checkup today...complete with three shots!! Ouch! Why would you want to give shots to a baby with a face like this??Two month stats:
Weight: 10 pounds, 4 ounces (36th percentile)
Height: 23 inches (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 39 centimeters (78th percentile)

On Saturday, we went to Salem and visited the Lutes.
Cayden tried out their jumper play thing...it was a little big for her, as you can see, she is hanging midair. She just stared at the colors.

Here is Cayden's BFF Kylie. Their names even go together...Cayden and Kylie!

Alicia got to hold her too...but Cayden was only interested in watching the TV.

We also celebrated mother's day on Sunday....Cayden was really excited.

My mom got some love.I also made her model for me...poor baby. She looks tired. This is today....she's a little drunk from the Tylenol we gave her before and after her shots.Happy drunk baby.

Just because it's been awhile

2011-05-04T21:50:00.001-07:00

In case you don't have a happy baby in your life... Of course, this is more often what Cayden looks like...

That is her "in the middle of feeding, I don't want to be burped" face. And below is the defeated pout face....both from my mom and my baby.Hey...she's not hating time on her belly! Yay!

And daddy loves to make her smile!A closer look...And my favorite Bryan face yet...can you say chubsters?

Workin' with daddy

2011-04-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

Cayden went to her first "Take your daughter to work" day with daddy today. She wasn't there the whole day, just for about 3 hours, but they had a great time and I'm sure Bryan got nothing done!
Yesterday, the Mendenhalls stopped by on their way back home to California! Here is mama Marcie with baby Cayden. They had a hard time leaving 'cause they loved her so much!
Kaity Sue had her turn too...
Trevor was only a little awkward holding her....but he loved it! And Bradley couldn't get enough! I think he was asking to hold her every 5 minutes!Hopefully we will see you guys again soon, along with Kimmee and Michael! Thanks for stopping by!

Our baby is Korean!

2011-04-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

Not only has Cayden rolled over this week, but she also said her first word -- "Ohma!" You might be thinking..."that's not a word..." but oh you would be wrong! Ohma means "mama" in Korean! So not only is my baby a chatterbox, but she is a bilingual one! Or I guess she will be bilingual...right now she only speaks Korean. Haha. Listen for it at the 1 minute mark.

Ok so maybe it doesn't qualify as a first word, but Lauren and I heard it, as you can tell on the video! She is also apparently ready to crawl if her upper body would just cooperate! She's our little scooter!

A weekend for the recordbooks

2011-04-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was one to remember for many reasons....This little one rolled over for the first time yesterday (from her tummy to back)!

The weather was at its warmest all year...and we took advantage! Cayden and I, along with friends Kari, Isla and Kylie Lute, Alicia and Brittany, went up to Woodburn to visit the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival on Friday. Besides a little wind, it was beautiful!

Crazy story about God's provision....as I was pulling away from my house, I remembered that my camera battery was pretty low last time I used it. With not enough time to charge it now, I thought maybe I could charge it at the Lutes when I got there to pick up the girls. So I ran inside and grabbed my charger.

Well, I forgot to charge it at the Lutes, and sure enough, the battery died on the third picture I took. I ran back to some of the tents that were set up at the entrance, and asked a guy with a promo van whether I could use one of the outlets on his extension cord. He was nice enough to let me charge the battery there. So I ran back to the car to get the charger. Meanwhile, the rest of my group was still wandering the tulip fields, so as soon as I plugged in the charger, I left to go meet up with them again. I had to jog out there to catch up, which prompted an unfortunate slow bladder release....I haven't run like that in a long time...and pregnancy is not kind to those muscles! So I slowed down to a quick walk. Anyway, I got back to them, and we took some pics on Kari's camera. When we had walked the whole field, we headed over to the kids area, and I fast walked back to the entrance, where my camera battery was charging. When I walked up, the guy was talking to someone else about how he was only going to be there for another half hour....good thing I had come back when I did! Thank you Lord!

I grabbed my charger and battery, thanked him, and started walking the half mile back. I shoved the battery and charger into my coat pocket while walking, not realizing that I had actually dropped the battery in the grass! Thank you Lord again for letting a lady notice, and say "Hey! You dropped something!" Wow...that would have been super frustrating to walk all the way back for the second time and STILL not have my battery! God definitely was watching out for me and my hobby....just goes to show that He cares about the silly things we care about! Thanks to Him, I got all these pictures in the post, and some great memories were captured!

Here is Isla...she is so grown up now! She will be 3 in September!

Me and my baby.Kylie loved attacking these tulips!The three girls! BFFs!

Brittany holding Cayden...she was a great babysitter while I was galavanting around trying to get my battery charged!Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of Alicia and Kari! Sorry guys! But we had a great time!

On a similar note, Saturday was also beautiful weather....so we drove up to Salem, dropped Cayden off with Gma Bernard and then headed to Portland for Game 4 of the playoff between the Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks! The game was amazing...and that's an understatement. You know how I said this weekend was one for the recordbooks? Well we witnessed the greatest comback in Blazer playoff history, and the second greatest comback in NBA history. The Blazers were down by 23 at one point in the 3rd quarter, down by 18 going into the 4th! Brandon Roy took over, scoring 18 points in the 4th quarter, and leading the Blazers to a 84-82 victory. The first 3 quarters were PAINFUL to watch, with the Blazers shooting in the neighborhood of 25 percent....but it was worth it to stick around. We took Chris Lee and Lauren with us, and saw many friends there!

And then there was Easter!

Easter = celebration of Christ's resurrection + opportunity to do a thematic photo shoot with Cayden!

Yes, I put her in the basket...but she was sleeping and had no idea this should be annoying to her!

The life

2011-04-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

She is getting better at smiling every day!Today she was smiling about this massive blowout that ruined her onsie! She kind of looks like a contemplative elf in this picture below.And here's my lunch today....blueberry pancakes topped with strawberries and powdered sugar. I know this is random, but it was so good and pretty too, and I don't get out much.

This past weekend was packed with fun things. Friday's spitup onslaught brought on the need for a bath. Sun was home, and decided to be the official photographer of Cayden's bath. Shane came down for youth group on Friday night and decided to spend the night on our couch. In the morning, he had some snuggle time with his favorite niece. Unfortunately, Bryan came home sick from college Bible study on Saturday morning, but Cayden and I had much to do. We went to the store to get him some Pepto and Sierra Mist, and then we were off to Salem for a family baby shower at my aunt's house. We were once again blessed with tons of diapers, clothes, hand-made blankets and sweaters and more. My mom brought a sheepskin from her neighbor for Cayden. I know it sounds weird, but it's super cozy and Cayden has slept on it the past two nights. After the shower was over, I walked into the kitchen to find my mother and aunts undressing the baby for a photo shoot on the sheepskin. So of course, I joined in the fun! We had to scurry home to check up on daddy and eat something before I headed out again with Lauren to watch Daniel in the Mr. and Miss CV event at the high school. My parents and Shane came down to babysit for us (while Bryan chilled upstairs), and since Bryan wasn't about to go out, Shane took his ticket and came along to Mr. CV. Here's the group afterwards. Daniel (in the glasses) did some great dancing and singing, and even had some sweet things to say to his parents. It was a good time. My parents also had a good time...my dad partied a little too hard, apparently.

Photo shoot with Kaitlynn

2011-04-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Kaitlynn came down last month to take our newborn pictures with Cayden. Cayden was 8 days old in these pics. So tiny in daddy's arms.

Big yawn.

Our rings on her wrinkly feet.Me and my baby girl.Our little family. Thank you Kaitlynn for your awesome pictures!

Rockin' with Chris Tomlin

2011-04-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

I figure everyone could use a change of scenery in the blog world, so I am taking a break from baby pictures and telling you all (maybe just the 5 people that read this...) about our adventures last night at the Chris Tomlin concert.

The CV kids didn't have school yesterday and Bryan's softball game got cancelled, due to this wonderful spring rain, so on Sunday, we randomly decided to go to the concert (in Portland). The catch was...Lauren still had school....so she went to her all-important pre-calculus class 1st period and then we checked her out of school for the rest of the day. Then we all (Sun, Angela, Bryan, Cayden, Lauren and I) piled into the van and headed north. We dropped off Cayden and Bryan's parents' house for the day and then went to Washington Square for some serious shopping. After 5 hours of H & M, Forever 21 and some pick-me-up Jamba Juice, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner with Sun's friend Lonny, who was also going to the concert that night. Then we headed over to Rolling Hills Church in Tualatin for the concert! Who knew these girls would FREAK out so much at a worship concert!! The group...besides Bryan and me. Lonny actually sat with his friend in a different seat, but he came to say hi.

During the encore, Chris Tomlin yelled out for all the young people to come down to the front to basically create a mosh pit...an orderly Christian one of course...jk. I told the girls they should go down there, and they jumped all over it, getting right up against the stage, and getting multiple hand shakes from CT. They were GIDDY when they came back after the last 2 songs.

"Chris Tomlin touched my hand!"

"No he grabbed our hands!"

"He was literally this far away!"

"He grabbed our hands three times!"

---rewind-----

---repeat-----

---rewind----

---repeat----

It was a great night.

And because I can't resist a couple...Here's Cayden giving her daddy a hug.And in her swing...she is becoming more and more observant.

Stats

2011-04-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

So this is a post for record-keeping's sake...sorry if this is boring. We went to get more WIC vouchers today, and they took Cayden's (and my) stats for their records, so I thought I'd share her percentiles!

At birth:
8 pounds, 4 ounces (75th percentile)
21 inches (93rd percentile)
head circumference 13 1/4 inches (25th percentile)

At five weeks:
9 pounds 3 ounces (49th percentile)
22 inches (83rd percentile)
head circumference 14 3/4 (34th percentile)

She is in the 5th percentile when you combine her weight and height. Apparently, she is super tall and skinny. She needs to fatten up, but fattening up isn't really in this girl's gene pool, so we will see.

So far her future as the ultimate soccer/softballer/trackster/baller is looking promising. And she won't have a big head about it...literally.

She has also recently discovered the need to be held. Which is kind of endearing, really. She also has started cooing...sort of. It's pretty cute.

The end.

The book worm

2011-04-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

She's already loving to hit the books! Actually, she hated this...I'm a mean mom.

She does love her bath time....here she is sporting her new bathrobe from Bryan's cousins the McCurrys. You WILL be happy, baby!

Loves to hold up her head!

I'm trying to recreate this picture: Which I took when Cayden was 1 week old.

I'm trying to redo it here:

To show Cayden at 1 month old...so you can see her growth...she looks so different (partially thanks to her baby acne!).

One month already!

2011-04-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

Our baby is one month old! She now weighs 9 pounds (according to my crappy scale), is 22 inches long, and is fitting into her clothes quite nicely. In these pics, she is cuddling with her animal blankie from Great-aunt Kelley.

It is perfect size for our little peanut.

She has many fans. Here she is at Man Club (high school Bible study), and Daniel is helping her bench press.

Sitting up against the couch...this was mid-sneeze.

Look at that belly!

Happy baby.

I love the yawns!

PEACE.

This is a regular sight in our household.

And...more sleeping.

This month, Cayden has almost rolled over, eats 2.5 oz of milk every two hours, sleeps in 4-5 hour shifts at night (if we don't let her take long naps during the day), always thinks she is hungry (thank goodness for binkies), hates being burped mid-meal (gets very angry), likes her baths as long as the water isn't too hot, and likes riding in the car (but gets mad when the car stops). We love her more every day!

Three weeks old

2011-03-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Cayden had more company this week...Lois got to hold her for the first time, and Angela wanted to get in on that action too.The Steiners brought us dinner on Friday, and little Cambria had to hold the baby! Swing = great Craigslist purchase! You can't really tell, but the pic below is of Cayden in her swing.

Morning light is wonderful.

This week, Cayden got to go on two walks, went to Winco for the first time, and still has not made it back up to her birthweight....but we are slowly making progress. Drs appointment tomorrow, to weigh her, so hopefully she will be over 8 pounds 4 ounces by then!

Two weeks old!

2011-03-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics of this past week in our little home... Friends have been bringing us meals....such a blessing! Here's Amanda and AJ...

Youngi had to come over too and hold baby Cayden. She loves Cayden so much!

Baby cleavage!

Cayden loves to nap with daddy. And mommy loves to take pictures!

Smiles for all! She's such a goob.

So photogenic!

Then I just had some fun...

Cayden's first nose ring.

Big hands run in my family....sorry little girl!

Celebrating full bellies

2011-03-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

After 2 doctor visits without weight gain, we have now figured out how to fill up the baby! Luckily, Cayden loves milk in any form, whether it's mine or formula, so now she is much happier and actually slept in her bed last night! This is what she wears to bed to keep her warm (our room never gets warm!). It's a little big for her, but it still does the trick and it's pretty cute.
In other news, Cayden does not enjoy belly time....but Macie makes sure she is safe! This was before she got mad.

Macie kisses.

And a wink for all of you!

Love the crazy after-bath hair!

Sunday

2011-03-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

Bathtime was quite the poopfest today. She peed once and pooped twice, once on the changing pad and once on her really cute bear towel. So gross!
Cayden slept through her first church service today....here's us all dressed up for her church debut.

Toes.

On Saturday, the Lutes brought us dinner and stuck around to play. These three are going to be great friends!

Cayden's first week

2011-03-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

There has been no shortage of visitors this week...mostly family and a few great friends bearing meals. Grandma Julie came down every chance she got. Apparently our child is a grandma magnet. Because Grandma Jill couldn't stay away either.And great-grandma Bernard came down to meet her too.

A sleeping baby was never more exciting....and then there's a screaming baby....

Cayden made her debut at youth group on Friday night. She drew quite the crowd, let me tell you. The kids were great....they really wanted to hold her, but it was all look and no touch for now. Sun gave Cayden a bath on Thursday night. how is this baby so fat already? Oh yeah, she eats every hour... She is very used to the paparazzi by now.And she loves her daddy.

Cayden Elizabeth Ann Bernard

2011-03-10T23:21:00.000-08:00

After 17 hours of contractions, 14 hours at the hospital and 1 blessed epidural 9 hours in, little Cayden Elizabeth Ann Bernard entered the world at 8:03 p.m. on March 7, 2011. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21 inches long.Daddy's hands. First bath.

Grandma and grandpa Bernard had been waiting at the hospital for about 12 hours!Along with my parents, and eventually 7 other family members! They sure filled that waiting room!Sun came to see us the next day, along with about 20 other friends and family members!

Lauren was away at DECA state when Cayden was born, but when we got home on Wednesday, she got to see her host sister for the first time.

We are so blessed! More to come of course, as time permits! She sure likes to eat!!

Watch my belly grow...

2011-03-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

I am really bored. I thought I would have a baby by now, so I have nothing planned, and now I am filling my time with making slideshows.

This one is of my progression through the last 20 weeks. Enjoy. Sorry the quality is so bad....I'm still figuring this out.

Maternity photos

2011-03-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

Here's a slideshow of my favorite pics from our maternity shoot with Betsey Jaskilka.

We are all adults here.

2011-02-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

Our little girl is 18 today! Lauren had her 18th birthday party yesterday. We had upwards of 16 people milling about, playing games (thanks to Bryan!), eating food and celebrating with Lauren. Lauren and Soo Min made kimpap for the party... Lauren has this strange problem blowing out candles. Last year, it took seriously 10 tries. This year I tried to make it easier (notice only two candles!) but she still took 3 tries. I think she hyperventilates from laughing and then has no air....it's quite the phenomenon.

Andy doesn't like to smile at the camera...but our girls (Lauren and Sun) sure are photogenic, huh? As is Bryan....wow.Soo Min and Lauren...Lauren's haul from the bday party.

My parents and Shane came over on her real birthday (TODAY!) to have pie and ice cream...and of course play some train game! Shane decided to try on Lauren's glasses....I'm not sure what happened to his eyes... Happy birthday Lauren! We love you!

There'll be no school tomorrow...no school tomorrow...no school tomorrow if it snows!

2011-02-24T10:57:00.001-08:00

All the prayers of the Santiam Christian students came to fruition last night...God dumped 3-4 inches of snow on Adair Village!Making this year's first yellow snow...This snow man came to visit our front yard too! Bryan had to wake Lauren up (by throwing snowballs at her window) so she could come out and play in the snow with him. She made her first snowman! We thought the baby should get in on the action...

Macie was in 7th heaven. My blueberries were a little weighted down.

Boring

2011-02-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

So I think I have the most boring pregnancy ever.
I guess that's a good thing...no surprises since the whole calcification drama in October/November and not much discomfort besides sleeping. Moms around the Willamette Valley reading this probably want to smack me because I'm complaining that I have nothing to complain about....maybe they are right.
Went to the weekly drs appointment today, all is well...my tummy is measuring at 37 cm...normal is 39, but no one is concerned. I'm dialated a whole 1.5 cm and 50% effaced. Dr. Lee said the "baby is low" which is a good thing I'm guessing. I gained a little over a pound this week...I'm now at 148.9 lbs. My dad informed me yesterday that he only weighs 18 pounds more than me. What a guy. A way-too-skinny-to-be-a-grandpa guy.
Big snow storm is coming, so I hope I don't get stuck somewhere when this baby comes!
Doctor predicts the baby's arrival at our due date, what a shocker....but she says I shouldn't be late, and I shouldn't need inducing, but we will see. I doubt she ever puts money down on anything like this, because it's all just guessing from where I sit.
Gotta go meet the pediatrician now!

Eleven Days

2011-02-20T22:20:00.000-08:00

11 days.
In roughly that amount of time, my life will change forever. It is hard to fathom, really, hard to prepare. There are only so many books you can read, so much advice you can absorb, but I don't think anything is really preparing me to all of a sudden be responsible for a little person.
Yet, I'm getting impatient.
I should be savoring these last days of independence, but the hours are being consumed with thoughts about WHEN WILL SHE COME? Last night, Bryan swore she was coming...while we were sleeping in bunk beds up in the mountains near Fall City. Tonight, he said the same thing. It feels like it could happen any second, even though I have no idea what it feels like before you go into labor...
Bryan and I spent this past weekend up at Camp Tapawingo, where Bryan was speaking for the MidHigh Cause winter retreat. I had a good time, watching Shane, Jason and Lauren working with the kids, and of course listening to Bryan speak 4 times. I basically sat around and ate good old camp food and marveled at how big the kids at church have gotten.
This is a really rambling post. My bad.
Buh bye.

The last babyless V-Day

2011-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

After eight Valentine's Days together, we have discovered the secret to an inexpensive Valentine's Day...celebrate a day early, before the restaurants can jack up the prices! Bryan and I did just that last night, when we hit up McMennemins in Lincoln City. We stayed at the WorldMark in Gleneden last night, and then enjoyed a rainy day at the coast, including breakfast at the Sea Hag (Depoe Bay) ...a first for us both.

Bryan hates it when I take his picture. Especially in restaurants. Too bad, baby.

This is my mountain of french toast complete with strawberries and way too much whipped cream.

Also this weekend (on Saturday), we got the chance to get maternity photos taken....just hours before this monster storm rolled in (as evident in the photos, where my hair is going crazy from the wind). Photos can be seen here....on Betsey Jaskilka's blog...
http://framedliving.blogspot.com/p/maternity.html
Also, Lauren went to Sadie Hawkins at her school. Before everyone got there, I got a quick pic of her all dressed up with her host dad. Friends Heather & Clemens and Tyler & Lauren (he brought her flowers!). By the way, the theme was Beauty and the Geek...if you couldn't tell. They had a great time, eating dinner and playing games at school and then a photo scavenger hunt and Shari's afterwards, then a friend's house for games and a movie. That girl has a busy weekend!

Showered

2011-02-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

My sisters-in-law (with help from Alicia) threw me a baby shower this past weekend, which was awesome! They did amazing decorating....And all I had to do was show up, hang out with some cool people, eat some food and open tons of presents!So here's some of the cool people: me, mom and grandma Ullman... Pam Williams holding Mal's baby Eden... The Moore girls... Cambria Steiner... Elle and Jennifer Bertz.... There were tons of people there who I love very much, and we are so grateful for their generosity!
Here are a few things we got from the shower...

Lots of little shoes and socks....And our baby will be finely dressed... And diapered....

Oh ad here's one of the finished walls in the baby room...

Thank you to everyone who has blessed us so richly!

Daisy clock and baby class

2011-01-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

So I might have stolen the idea for the pelmet board from another blogger, but this next idea was completely original! Using a painting canvas (like my other wall art), fabric, some iron on daisies from Michael's, white spray paint and the innards of a clock... I made a baby room clock! Hooray for finished projects!
On a completely different note...well maybe not completely, but.... I hit 35 weeks! Only 5 weeks left to go and I've only peed my pants twice....both in the last 24 hours....We also finished up our birthing class at Good Samaritan Hospital (Corvallis). They made us take group shots....first of the moms in order of due date (I'm in the middle). And then of the daddies (they had to stick out their stomachs like they were pregnant too - Bryan loved this - NOT). Birthing class was quite the experience....lots of weirdos. And a couple of cool people. The only other couple we talked to were the ones on the far right. I think it's funny that both him and Bryan are both in argyle and Hannah and I are the giants in the group. The lady behind me might have technically been a midget.

Polka time

2011-01-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

Can everyone just pause and breathe a sigh of relief that my camera has returned to me? Ahh....I forgot how much better pics from an SLR look.

Today was a good day.

Two of my latest endeavors came to fruition...I finally finished the pelmet board for the baby's room and the UPS guy brought my camera back to me after its vacation at Nikon repair in El Segundo, CA.

Both of these projects started on the same day (Jan. 8 - when I ordered the material for the pelmet board and mailed off my camera) and took way too long to finish! The polka dot material was the worst...the order was processed and sent by Fabrics.com on Jan. 13, but all the storms in Georgia delayed all the shipping. It finally arrived yesterday, a ridiculous 17 days after I ordered it!! My camera actually took less time to fix than I anticipated, so I was delighted to find my fixed camera at my doorstep this afternoon! Ahhh, having my camera back is seriously awesome! I got to use my new 50 mm lens for a few of these shots, so the timing couldn't have been better! I utilized my trusty staple gun (compliments of Mr. Bryce Bernard) for the completion of my project. Other materials used to construct the pelmet board were much more flimsy, but effective: Foam board, duct tape, super glue and even some scotch tape.

Here is the finished project mounted and everything. And, the semi completed baby room! Close up of the baby's new quilt (compliments of Grandma Julie Bernard).