Albuquerque

Well, we went to an LWML Conference (Lutheran Women's Missionary League). It was Jaden's first conference and there sure were a lot of ladies who wanted to oooh and aaaah over him! He sure was a trooper, putting up with long days in strange places! He did get tired of being cooped up, held, and in the car seat though so we laid out a blaket behind the Mission's display table so he could wiggle around, play with some toys and have a little freedom!

This last week Jaden found his feet so he has a lot of fun with these little booties now. I often play games with Jaden where I push his feet up by his face making funny noises. One night while we were relaxing Jaden was playing on the floor and grabbed his foot. He was happy and laughing and then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he was crying LOUD. I picked him up to try to figure out what was wrong and calm him down. After a while he was playing on the floor again and - same thing. All of a sudden MAJOR crying and screaming as he was grabbing his foot. We thought maybe something happened to his toes or was hurting him. I couldn't find anything upon investigation and after he settled down again I put him back on the blanket. When it happened a THIRD time, where out of the blue he would go from giggling and happy to major screaming I was at a loss. Since he was holding onto his foot while screaming I just pushed them up by his face making funny noises like we usually do in our little games and his screams turned to giggles. However, the second I let his foot go back down, SCREAMS again! Every time I put his feet up close to his face he laughed and every time I let them down he cried. Apparently he was really excited that he had found his foot and REALLY MAD that he couldn't get it up by his face the same way we play! Silly kiddo!

By the end of the weekend though, Jaden was VERY tired. He fell asleep during the worship service and was so limp mommy had to sit down almost laying in a chair to keep him from slumping too far over! The good thing was, he was so pooped he slept the WHOLE 5 hour drive home! (YES, as you can tell from the eyes, Mommy was tired too!)

Shortly after we arrived home we caught one of the most GORGEOUS sunsets of the year! Of course, there is no ocean in the desert like in Hawaii or the Bahamas but other than that it was pretty perfect with the mountains!

And of course, Jaden got to spend some good time catching up on cuddling with Daddy!

HOT

Well, you know that you live where it is too hot when at 10:00pm it is STILL 95 degrees! Today it got to 106! Of course, I really didn't even notice because I didn't leave the house until 8pm! And, even then, it didn't feel too bad. I guess I'm getting acclimated!

SO, the big news of the day is.......(sorry if the video is a bit jiggly - I was trying for a good angle!)

Jaden finally made it over his arm and ROLLED from his front to his back! He seemed to enjoy it! I kept flipping him over to get him to do it again. After awhile he kind of held onto the blanket as he went over and just lowered himself down. What a pro!

In other firsts....On Friday Jaden went swimming for the first time! He wasn't too sure about it at first. It was pretty cold and he got splashed a couple of times. But, with mommy or daddy holding him tight he didn't seem to mind too much! He even got into splashing a bit at the end!

He also met Luz.

And tried on some cool Sunglasses! He sure was cool with his "Super Cool Dad" on Father's Day!

Jaden goes International

This week Jaden got to go to Mexico! I finally made it to the county tax office to get his birth certificate and the next day we ended up going to Mexico. Sadly, it was for a funeral but, I'm glad I finally had everything in order and we got to go. We jumped out of the hot van (104 outside) and walked across the bridge to wait for the van in the air conditioning so we got to take a picture on the actual line of the US and Mexico.

Another one of Jaden's big adventures this week was his introduction to solid foods (aka rice cereal). He doesn't seem to be too big of a fan. Most of it ends up on his chin and his bib. But, he REALLY enjoys chewing on the spoon! We'll keep trying but since he gets everything he needs from nursing anyway I'm not too worried about it yet!

And here's a silly one just for laughs. Daddy decided to make Mommy wear the monkey towel while Jaden was getting a bath. Jaden seemed to think it was pretty funny!

After MN

Well, the day after we got back from MN daddy left for CA to go to class. We missed him a LOT but mommy and I tried to have some fun at home. Mommy sent pictures to daddy every day so he wouldn't miss out on all of the cool things that I do so here we'll share some of them with you too.

This is me in my cool space bear outfit

Since Mommy had to go to work sometimes I got to play with Camila in the office

And I got to swing

And play on my new playmat from Grandma K.

Toward the end of tummy time jaden got a little tired and buried his face in the mat but, look at him get that booty up in the air!!! He's getting closer to rolling over! Then he decided it was time for a yummy hand snack!

I also got a cool new bouncer. I get to have fun and mommy gets to get some work done!

I'm getting more and more interested in anything that mom or dad has in their hands while they are holding me. So, this week I got my first drink of water cause I just couldn't keep my hands off of the glass!

It was a little cold and I got mommy nice and wet too but I just kept wanting more and more!

I've also been exploring my high voice more. I just keep talking. Of course, when mommy gets out the camera I get a little camera shy but here's a small sample.

End of MN Trip

Well, after we got back from the wedding we just had a few more days and Grandma & Grandpa's house. Enough time for some playing and cuddling!

Slide Show from previous entry

Continued...

So, I'm still needing to write about the rest of our trip to MN. Whew...it seems like that was a long time ago already yet I still have tons of pictures to put up. Of course, there is plenty that has happened since then so I'll just have to keep writing to get you all up to speed!

While we were in MN we also had to fly to Chicago for a weekend event at a church in Mount Prospect. There are great friends of ours and YLM's there and we talked to them about Servant Events. So, Jaden got his 3rd and 4th flights adding more miles to his travel log, he got to visit IL, he spent his first night sleeping in a big crib at Ed & Carol's house and Mom and Dad got to play "Dance Dance Revolution" (IF we EVER get a videogame system it HAS to include that!)

Here is a picture of Jaden and Daddy in the airport on the way to Chicago!

After getting back from Chicago we spent a few more days in MN before driving to SD thus adding MORE miles to Jaden's travel log. We went for Jaden's Godmother Kayla's wedding. Mommy and Daddy sang and played trumpet and violin and we had LOTS of fun with family. Check out the slideshow (I had too many pics I knew family would want to see to just select a few.)

Firsts for Jaden - First time in SD, First wedding, First dance, First time meeting Great Grandma & Grandpa B, First time meeting LOTS of cousins, aunts & uncles. WHAT FUN! We THOUGHT Jaden would get his first time in a pool swimming at the hotel but we ran out of time! Oh well, I guess you can't do TOO MANY firsts all at once! See the next entry for the slides

First BIG Trip

Well, Jaden's first big trip was to visit Grandma and Grandpa K in MN. We had two flights to get there and he did GREAT! We had to walk down the steps to board the plane so we actually got a picture of Jaden WITH his first plane. We didn't get a picture of the pilot (Jaden was sleeping when we arrived!) When we arrived in Denver it was raining so it was also Jaden's first time seeing RAIN!

When we arrived Jaden got to meet a lot of family right away. Our first adventure was lunch at Steak and Ale with G&G K, Aunt Karen, Aunt Nancy & Uncle Joel, Godmother Kayla, and Jaden's 1st two non-Mexican foreigners - Maya and Martin from Germany!

And of course, some cuddling with Grandpa was quick to come!

Back at G&G's house Grandma quickly got Jaden playing ball. Is soccer in his future? - we'll see. (Mom would have to learn the rules first!) Actually, Jaden got SO MANY new toys from Grandma's bargain shopping sprees we'll probably end up with LOTS of pictures of new toy adventures over the next several weeks. We brought a HUGE 48lb. suitcase of toys and books home so lots of hours of fun are sure to come!

This time in MN the weather was actually as gorgeous as Grandma says it is AFTER we leave. It was warm, sunny, with blue skies and BEAUTIFUL green grass. There is no grass like that in the desert. It was a little wet for Jaden to go playing in - NEXT TIME - but it sure was pretty. Of course, we had to go for some walks in such beautiful weather and Jaden rode in the carrier with DADDY for the first time! We also stopped at a park and Jaden had his first time on the swings.
It was a little chilly (at least more so than in El Paso) so Jaden had to go back to wearing long sleeves and pants for a few weeks. But, it worked out okay. Otherwise he would have had NO USE WHATSOEVER for the bunches of warm 3-6 month clothes he got from his cousin! They came in VERY handy!

Daddy even got some studying done. Since he had to leave for CA to go to class the day after we got back from MN his main purposes on vacation was to hang out with us and get some reading done. He got a little creative so he could enjoy the sunshine!

Is he READING? Well, not quite - but he sure loves looking at the fun colors on these cloth books and now he can turn the pages (or at least grab them). Here he actually was LOOKING at the book instead of just trying to EAT it like usual!

Of course, Jaden got to spend time playing with Mommy too - and this time there was actually someone else around to take a picture of our fun airplane game that gets him giggling! We still have to find a way to get a video of that someday.

On Friday Jaden got to meet a lot more family. Uncle Mark, Cousins Kristie, Melanie, Jeff and kiddo cousins Keely and Mali. It was a lot of fun to have a picnic in G&G's backyard park AND try out the exersaucer!

Jaden LOVES this one!!! We had to leave it in MN and Grandma kinda wants to keep it for the next time we visit so, we're shopping for one at home!

Well, the story of our adventures will have to be continued.....Since it's 10:30 Mommy needs to get to bed. She has decided that 10:30 is the latest she can stay up if Jaden might decide to wake up once or twice during the night and she wants to be a kind and caring mommy instead of zombie mommy!

Check back for more!!!