Week Ten

It's hard to believe that Kai is already two months old!  In some ways the time has flown by, and in other ways it feels like he's been a part of our lives for much longer than just two months.  Already he's changed so much, and his little personality is really starting to develop. 

This week we had our first plane ride as a family of three.  I was slightly dreading taking Kai on the plane, but he did so well!  Several of the passengers and the flight attendants commented on how nice it was to travel with such a content and cute baby.  He also had fun meeting many of his Budensiek and Long relatives.  He was royally spoiled with lots and lots of attention and many presents.  I'm not sure how he'll survive going back to not being held every moment, but for the time being he's loving it!
It was wonderful to spend Christmas with so many of our family members.  We spent the week at Bryon's parents' condo in Estes Park, Colorado.  Lisa, Dale, Jenni and Andrew all flew in from China to join us, Elmer came from Texas and Keith, Sherryn, Tiffany, Daniel and Grandma Ruby joined us from Nebraska.  Elmer's son Michael was even able to come to Estes Park for a day.  That meant that the whole Long side of the family was together!  It was a busy week, with lots of fun activities, good food and even some relaxation.

View from Papa and Gramma Budensiek's condo in Estes Park, Colorado.

Papa and Gramma with their two grandkids - Andrew and Kai.

Andrew and Kai loved hanging out together.

Papa and his boys.

All of the cousins with Grandma Ruby.

Great Grandma Ruby and Kai.

The boys love their Aunty "Lala"

Uncle Dale

Mark Leavitt

"Uncle KZ"

First sledding trip.

Week Nine

This week we celebrated our first Christmas as a family of three.  We already celebrated an early Christmas with my family and next week we'll be with Bryon's family, but we thought it would be fun to have a little celebration of our own here in Sandpoint.  We made a special dinner, opened stockings and gifts, read the Christmas story from Kai's baby Bible, watched a Christmas movie and had a family sleepover under the Christmas tree.

New Christmas PJs

"Kaibo" (our nickname for Kai) gave Bryon some special coupons for Christmas, and he helped me write this message on the envelope!

Our gift to Kai was a little stuffy named "Gus" which we hope becomes his favorite!

Sleeping under the Christmas tree.

Week Eight

It finally snowed here in Sandpoint this week!  I was given a pair of cross-country skis, so we took Kai on his first cross-country ski adventure up by the Pack River.  It's so nice to have a baby who loves to go on adventures with us. 

Week Seven

The temperatures in Sandpoint dropped to way below freezing this week, so we stayed indoors and played in front of the fireplace most days.  But, on the weekend we ventured out to get our Christmas tree.  We weren't too picky though.  Last year it took us a good half our to find the "perfect tree", but this year it only took about five minutes!

Kai and Bryon make a good Scrabble team.

Our Family

While we were in Canada, my friend Zoe came over from Victoria to see us.  We hadn't seen her since our wedding, so it was really great to get to see her again.  While she was with us in Tsawwassen, she took a few photos of our new little family.  Thanks Zoe!

Six Weeks

This week was a full one for Kai with his first road trip to Canada and his first time meeting many of his Gamache relatives.  As well, he started rolling over this week!  At first I thought it was just a fluke, but he's been consistently rolling over from his belly to his back several times a day since last Wednesday!  I had to video tape it for Bryon though since Kai would never roll over while Bryon was home.  Here's a look at our video for Bryon.

Trip to Canada

On Wednesday we drove to Canada for the long weekend to celebrate American Thanksgiving and an early Christmas with my family.  Both family and friends loved meeting Kai and he was royally spoiled with hugs, cuddles, and gifts all weekend long.  Bryon and I were also spoiled by having so many babysitters.  I was able to sleep in for the first time in a long while, and Bryon got to go skiing at Whistler on Friday.  What more could we ask for?!

 

Great Grandma Gamache holding Kai for the first time.  It won't be too long until they're the same size!

Cousin Abby

Cousins Kaden and Abby

Cousin Emma feeding Kai his Thanksgiving dinner.

Uncle Jeff

"Aunty" Breanne

"Aunty" Zoe

The cousins.

We took this photo of all four cousins to give to my parents and grandma as a Christmas gift.  They loved it!

Opening one of his many Christmas gifts.

So many helpers!

Four generations.

Aunty Jenn, Abby, Kai and Emma

A very proud Grandma with all of her lovely grandkids.