Week Twenty-Four

Happy Easter!

It's fun as a little family to start new traditions, and celebrate holidays together.  This year we decided to celebrate Easter by going to the sunrise service on top of Schweitzer mountain.  It was definitely early, and definitely cold, but most definitely beautiful.  What a way to celebrate Christ's resurrection.  Afterwards, we descended on the chairlift and warmed up with some yummy brunch in the village before Bryon had to go back to work. (Thank goodness tax season is almost over!)

It's also fun to see our little guy discover new "talents" every week.  Even the simplest things amaze him when he first discovers how to do them, and then he does them repeatedly over and over again.  Some of his favorites from this week were...shaking his head back and forth (especially fun when we're trying to feed him!), blowing bubbles and attempting to drink from a sippy cup.

Week Twenty-Three: Baby Food Etc.

Kai is quickly becoming a champion eater.  As previously posted, rice cereal wasn't the biggest hit the first time he tasted it at four months old, but now it and several other foods are quickly devoured by our little guy.  I've been making my own baby food, and although it's quite the process, it's fun to do and much tastier than the store bought kinds.  So far, Kai's diet consists of yams, squash, apples, avocadoes, rice cereal and oatmeal.  I think squash is his favorite so far.  Every time he takes a bite he makes an emphatic "umm umm" sound and then opens his mouth wide for more.  So cute!

Other than making baby food, this week has been spent unpacking, settling into our new home, running lots of errands and making a new crib skirt for Kai.  It's so fun now that he's able to stay awake longer and really notice and participate in everything that's going on around him.  He's so curious and loves to be anywhere where there are lots of people or other things to watch.

Ready to freeze and then package up.

Loving the squash!

We've been working on teaching Kai some table manners, such as not putting his hands in his mouth while he's eating.  So, this has become his eating pose - hands straight out to the sides, unless he gets really excited like above!

Getting ready to go explore our new neighbourhood.

Home Sweet Home

Welcome to my new house!

Crib skirt complete!

Week Twenty-Two: Moving Up

This week we moved into our first home!  It's been quite a journey getting to this point, but it has all worked out so well.  We are truly blessed and thankful to be finally settled. 

Originally the plan was to move in today, but on Thursday evening we received a phone call from our real estate agent asking if we'd like to move in early.  So, we scrambled to get things organized and on Friday evening we got the keys and the three of us took a car load of boxes over to our new home!  Then, on Saturday morning around 10 o'clock a bunch of our friends pitched in (for the third time this year!) to help us make the big move (big referring to our ever increasing amount of stuff, not the 8 blocks we had to travel!).  Have I mentioned how blessed we are?  By 11:30 we were completely moved and were eating pizza amidst the boxes.   

Kai did truly move up.  He now resides in the "penthouse suite".  It is by far my favorite room in the house...full of all kinds of angles, nooks and just plain coziness.  We can tell that he already loves our new house.  He can't stop looking at his new surroundings with his big curious eyes.

More pictures to come at a later date.  Unfortunately I was too busy on moving day to even think of taking pictures, but here are a few of the outside of the house and from the evening before moving day.

Front Yard

Back Yard

Packed in amongst the boxes.

Our first time at our home.

I think we need some furniture!

Trying out the bathtub.

Kai's room

The one picture I took on moving day.  Our little guy was all tuckered out after a long day.  He was such a trooper though and didn't fuss all day long, even amidst the craziness.

Week Twenty-One

What a full week.  Grandpa and Grandma Gamache were here for the week to visit Kai (Bryon and I have accepted the fact that we now come second!) and to help us out with packing and preparing for our big move next week.  They were a huge help, and Kai loved all of his time with them.  Grandpa had Kai in fits of laughter during their pretend boxing matches, and Grandma enjoyed lots of walks, stories and cuddles with her little guy.  It was also special to have them here for Kai's dedication at church on Sunday.  The house seems extra quiet now that they're gone and Bryon is working long hours for tax season.

Kai also had a doctor's appointment this week, and was given his four month immunizations.  He weighed a whopping 15 1/2 pounds, and measured 25 inches in length.  He's growing up so fast! 

Cuddling with Grandma after his immunizations.

Grandpa built us porch swings for our new house...one for Bryon and I and a mini one just for Kai.  Now we just need to paint them white to match our new front porch.

Just for fun we put Kai in Bryon's dedication outfit!

Baby Dedication - March 14th, 2010

Out for a walk at Round Lake State Park

Week Twenty

Week twenty has brought a couple of amusing accomplishments for Kai, such as grabbing his feet and sticking them in his mouth, and raising himself up on his elbows and knees, which is generally followed by a big faceplant.  As usual, we are continually amused by our little guy, and love to see his growing repertoire of antics and listen to his increasing "vocabulary" of babbling sounds.

This week we were given a bike trailer by very generous and kind friends of ours here in Sandpoint.  Bryon and Kai have already been out on a couple of bike rides this week and both boys have come home with huge smiles on their faces.  I can't wait for summer so that we can get out and about more often with our bikes.

Showing a little bit too much chest :)

Oops!  Faceplant.

Yummy feet.

    

Week Nineteen - Go Canada!!

The highlight of the past two weeks here at the Budensiek household was the Olympic Games.  But, being a dual-citizenship household there were several arguments over who Kai should cheer for.  Thankfully, I won out on the last day of competition and Bryon grudgingly allowed Kai to cheer for the Canadian hockey team.  Unfortunately, Kai slept through most of the game, but I'm sure his heart was still in it.  We're both very proud that our country won not only the men's hockey game, but also won the most gold medals!

Go Canada!!

A few more pictures from the week.

Getting all ready for bath time.

Kai loves to socialize, and will not sleep when we're out and about.  But, as soon as we're headed home he's usually fast asleep within a couple of minutes.

House Hunting Continued

As I posted a few weeks ago, the process of house-hunting has been a bit of an adventure for us.  And, the adventure continues.  After writing last time, we made another offer on the first home (the fixer-upper) and it was accepted this time around.  But, it didn't pass the bank appraisal and we were once again houseless.  So, we revisited a house we had toured earlier and decided to make an offer on it.  Our offer was accepted, but we were fearful of being excited after losing two other houses.  However, it has now passed both the inspection and the bank appraisal so we're becoming a bit more hopeful that this may actually be the house for us!  If so, we're planning on moving in on March 23rd.  It's small, but cute and perfect for our little family of three.  And, we even think we could squeeze in a few guests so feel free to come and visit!