Jen visits!

Our favorite Montessori Teacher, Mom, Friend, and Companion, Jen, came to town for Kt's wedding from Seattle. We had so much fun with Jen as she met Kai and gave us valuable advice to guide him through this first year of fun!

Mother's Day 2007

My first Mother's Day! Kai has just begun to roll and to stick all of his fingers (and anything else he can find) into his mouth. On Mother's Day, he was under the weather and initiated Joe and I into parenthood by puking all over us numerous times. But, he is feeling better now!

Joey and Summer remembered me on Mother's Day by giving me my first "Mu-Mu"!! Don't you love house dresses?

My Nonny-- isn't she beautiful?

The wedding

Here are the three Mollies-- Molly Cooney, Me, Kt, and Molly Sweetman (Kt's sister)













Here I am walking down the aisle with Paul's
brother



















Joe, my Mom, Me, My Dad, and Kai (he looked so cute in his little jacket!)











The gorgeous bride!

Kt's wedding

At Kt's bachelorette party!















Kai with my mom at the rehearsal



















Kt and Molly getting ready for the big day!

Wedding Preparation

Kt and Paul were married on May 5th!! We had such a fun weekend with them. Here are a couple of photos of Kai and Kt hanging out (someone has to hold the sleeping baby!)while I was writing out the placecards for the big day.

Uncle Joey and Tia Summer

My brother, Uncle Joey, and his girlfriend, Tia Summer spend a lot of time with Kai-- here he is showing off his cute hats!

More Picnic Photos

Picnic

We had a wonderful picnic with the Healy family at our favorite picnic place, right by our house near the Mississippi River. As you can see, Kai is growing up! And, these photos are from a few weeks ago. You should see him now-- he is rolling, giggling, talking (very loudly in baby talk), and grabbing toys (and cats) with both hands!

We're finally getting around to posting a link to our friend's blog. Click their names to catch up with Toby and Amy Holmes. Their cute kids steal the show!

Our little peanut..

We forgot to add our favorite photo of Kai-- although, he is much bigger now! He just turned 3 months old! He weighed around 12 lbs. at our last doctor's appointment on Friday--and he was 25 inches long. He is in the 90th percentile for height, just under the 50th percentile for weight, and between 25-50% for head size. The doctor said she thinks he'll be a tall and skinny guy!

Nonny

I love taking photos of my grandmother, Nonny, with Kai. It's so amazing to watch her interact with Kai. He is so calm when he is with her. I think he understands the depth of wisdom she has. Here are a few more photos of the two of them (plus, my mom and Summer too)!

Baba Christa

Aren't we lucky? Christa came to town! Christa flew in from Chicago to pamper us and to meet Kai. We had such a wonderful visit. We were so spoiled by someone who we should have been spoiling-- seeing that she is 7 1/2 months pregnant!

Christa cooked, cleaned, babysat, and spent loads of time holding Kai! Plus, of course, the two of us just sat on the couch talking and talking and talking...

Kai loved her! Joe said after the first night- "Wow, Christa has a way with Kai." And, I couldn't agree more!

Christa and I also went out for a night on the town. It was the first time I wasn't with Kai during bedtime. Joe reported that Kai did just great-- he is so bonded with Joe that I don't think he noticed I was out. Christa and I went to the Ordway Theater to see "Love, Janis." It was an incredible show about the life and music of Janis Joplin.

Friends

I have been lucky to meet some wonderful moms through my ECFE class (Early Childhood and Family Education) through the Minneapolis Public Schools. We meet each Thursday and basically it's a time for parents to get together, learn about their little ones, and practice some infant massage.

Here are two moms who I have been hanging out with-- Andrea and Soren and Juliette and Quinn. All three boys are becoming fast friends. Soren is just 3 days older than Kai and Quinn is the leader of the pack at 5 months old.

The first photo was from a walk we took along the river and the second photo is of Kai and Soren during class. We are lucky since Soren lives only 3 blocks away! I have a feeling Kai has found his new best neighborhood friend.

P.S. You should see Soren's blog!

April

I've been asked often how I like being a mom. I can't tell you enough how much I love being a mom. I have a hard time remembering life before Kai. My brain doesn't seem to remember what life was like without this amazing little guy in our lives. I know life was good, but it just wasn't this good.

Joe and I often stop and say to each other-- "Can you believe he is ours? How did we create something so cute?" Kai has melted our hearts and we are so happy to be partners in parenting.

Kai has come out of his "colic" phase and is now smiling, cooing, "talking" to us, and just on the verge of giggling. He copies us when we stick our tongue out and is constantly watching us around the room. Kai is enjoying time with his "Papi" and loves spending as much time as possible with Joe. Just about when Joe is about to come home each day, Kai becomes fussy. It's like he is waiting for Joe. Then, when Joe comes home-- you should see the smile!

Here is my favorite photo so far of Kai. We went to Minnehaha Falls Park and walked around last weekend-- it was beautiful out and the falls were full and flowing.

I was laughing so hard because Kai need to fall asleep at one point, so he was a bit fussy. He would cry when we were walking him in the stroller, but when Joe would run around with the stroller, he would stop crying. So, you should have seen Joe running like crazy around this park filled with a lot of people. I saw numerous people turn around and watch him and wonder what he was doing...ahh, what we will do for this babe.

P.S. We spend loads more time with Kai in the sling on our bodies so we don't need to run around like this....but, it's good for an occasional laugh!

More photos

Kai has had a cold for about a week, so we have had plenty of time for snuggling and hanging out. Here are some new photos...

Joe vs. Motorcycle

So, for those of you who haven't heard, Joe got in a motorcycle accident. He was in San Francisco for a work meeting and then stayed for the weekend to hang out with his brother and family, plus his friend Stein. He was riding Andrew's motorcyle on a curvy mountain road. (I will try hard to not write any of my own views on his decision to do this...)

The good news is that he is Ok. The bad news is that our life just got a bit more interesting (in that "not-so-good" kind of a way).

Joe had surgery last week on his hand, so he will be in a cast for 6-8 weeks. He is in quite a bit of pain and you should see his bruises and road rash. Ouch!

This makes holding Kai a bit hard, changing diapers and clothes impossible, and let's not forget writing and typing at his new job. So, yes, I think Joe is re-thinking getting on a motorcycle anytime soon!