A snapshot...

of the past few weeks at the Dean's house

Kaiden's Aunty Lisa came to visit and will be spending the next couple months with us. She has been such a help and so much fun to have around!

Kaiden has discovered the new-found joy of smiling...

and talking. :)

Great Grandpa and Ruthie got to meet Kaiden

Our friend Mel came to visit and Lisa and I got to see some gorgeous sights when we took her up and dropped her off at Rocky Mt. National Park to hike.

I got my haircut

There has been lots of sleeping on dad as he has found some unique but effective ways of getting a grumpy little boy to catch some zzz's.

My little fish

Kaiden had his first swim yesterday. We took him to the North Boulder Rec. Center and he really seemed to like it! There was, of course, a little whining when he first hit the water, but then he just laid back and observed everything going on around him--the brightest thing he can find still being the most interesting. We went with our neighbors, so after I dried Kaid off Bran and I got to have some fun swimming together as Someone else watched him for me.

One Month Old

fuzzi bunz

My friend Natalie has loaned me all of the cloth diapers she used for her babies. You can't get much cheaper than that when even if you buy the cloth diapers and use them consistently you can save around $1000 per kid! Right now Kaid is just wearing them at home since they are still so big he looks like he has a blimp-bum and many of his clothes can't fit over them. I love them. They hold better than disposables (we haven't had a blow-out in one yet!), they are so soft and comfortable for him, and he is so stinkin cute! The one unfortunate thing (for him) is that they have earned him a new nick-name, "my little fuzzi bunz" (that's the name-brand of the diapers).

Funky little man

"A Babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men“ - Martin Fraquhar Tupper

Sleeping Beauty...

in a very masculine sort of way, of course.

Man a photo shoot is draining!

Tiny expressions

Kaiden had his two week dr. visit today. He's gained over a pound and has already changed so much. I kick myself for being so stereotypical, but I already look back at pictures from birth and feel sad that my baby is growing so quickly. At the same time I am loving watching the little man grow and can't wait to see who he becomes (ok, I admit, I also can't wait for him to fit into some of the cute summer clothes he has before Autumn is here:) ) We love you Kaiden, and all the adorable things you do with your tiny little face!

First Bath

Tennis Time

This morning Kaiden had his first stroller ride. We walked down to the parks' tennis courts and watched Brandon playing/ giving lessons to our neighbor kids. And I admit, I couldn't stand just watching, so I played a couple games too. It feels so good to be able to move like a normal human being again, as opposed to waddling around.

Note the gorgeous mountain backdrop.

Kaiden did a good job of totally distracting Phoenix from the lesson.

The fun was short lived for Kaiden. He fell asleep as soon as the stroller started moving.

Dad

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

One week old

Kaid is one week old today! He is such an incredible baby...so placid. Bran and I have discovered we no longer desire to watch movies, we'd much rather sit and stare at him for 2 hours. :) I didn't know it was possible for one person so small to have so many different facial expressions.

He's Here!

Kaiden Brandon Dean
Sunday, July 1
10:58 am
7 lbs . 3 oz
21 in.

...and growing, and growing, and...

Poor Kaiden doesn't have much room to move around these days. He has stretched my belly beyond what I thought possible and I must say that I'm not finding his presence very comfortable either. Nine more days little one, nine more days (please!)! I finally have my hospital bag packed, my birth preferences all typed up and ready to give to the doctor/ midwife, and...well, your nursery isn't all put together yet, but I don't even mind if you come before it's completely ready. Hopefully my next post here will have pictures of a baby boy. :)

Baby Shower

Last night Natalie threw me a wonderful baby shower. We were outside a little tea shop off of Pearl Street (downtown Boulder) and the weather was gorgeous. In addition to the Emmaus girls, my friend Donna (the lady I work for) and Becky (a girl I roomed with in college and who just moved right outside of Boulder) were both able to be there. I had a great time and received lots of wonderful gifts! Thanks Natalie and everyone who helped celebrate!

All of us girls (minus Tara--taking the picture, and Michelle--hiding behind Sidney's head)

Natalie, Josey and I with a rattle and beautiful blanket they gave me.

Donna and I with a gift from her dog Tazzy (Donna has already given me so much I told her she couldn't bring a gift, so Tazzy gave me something instead :))

All the wonderful presents from the shower!

Hail Storm

Last week we had a hail storm here. It was a bit scary since we had just laid sod (which isn't cheap) and since we have no garage for our car! Even though the ground was covered in white ice by the end of the storm, it did no damage to anything (Praise God!) and really was quite beautiful. It seems that everything is beautiful here with the foothills for a backdrop. Standing by the front door and watching the hail drop reminded me of these verses from one of my favorite chapters in the bible--Job 37.

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways….He says to the snow, ‘fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor. The breath of God produces ice….He brings the clouds …to water his earth and show his love. “

Jobs and Such

Brandon is officially a Comcast man. He started training last month, which he will be doing for another couple months still, and really likes it! In the picture you'll see his company vehicle, which is GREAT for us. Now when he's at work I still have a car--such a blessing. Brandon's also pretty excited about the cable package we get complimentary...ok, so I don't mind the 200+ channels and being able to "pause and rewind live TV" either. :)

Here's also a picture of us outside just this evening. We've been having beautiful hot weather, and contrary to what most people tell me, I'd much rather be pregnant in the heat than the cold. Also, praise God that Kaiden is still inside! As much as I feel I can't get any bigger, he's hung in there one more week and everything is looking good, so hopefully he still has a few more to go.

In a Hurry to Arrive

The countdown till little Kaiden Dean makes his arrival is indeed getting closer and closer, but as excited as I am to see him, please join us in praying he decides to stay inside a bit longer.

Last Friday I awoke Brandon in the middle of the night with what seemed to be Braxton hicks that were abnormally strong and close together. We ended up going into the hospital and sure enough I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. Seven weeks before my due date this was much too early so I spent the next 32 hours in the hospital as they tried to get the preterm labor to stop. The first medication didn’t work and so the doctor ended up giving me a couple doses of steroids in order to speed up Kaiden’s lung development…just incase. But the second med seemed to work and I am now back home and “taking it easy”. Still, 50-70% of the time women who go into preterm labor end up having the baby early. The reassuring thing is that Kaiden should be perfectly healthy if he is born now, but there would still be complications, such as a yet-to-be-developed ability to eat on his own, that would keep him in the hospital for at least a couple weeks, probably with an IV in his little arm.

Please pray that Kaiden will be safe and grow strong, and that he won’t arrive prematurely. Pray that I will be able to take it easy as I am supposed to. I am currently still working as my employer has no one else to fill in for me, so pray she can find and hire someone else fast so that I’m not overexerting.

Spring is here!

"Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land." Song of Solomon 2:12


This evening our adorable little neighbor girl, Phoenix, brought us these wild flowers she had just picked "from her garden". I love spring!! Everything is either blooming or is on the very brink of blooming, and I can't think of a better place to be experiencing that than at the foot of the mountains, still capped with snow.

It's a boy!

Yesterday I had a long-awaited ultrasound and we found out our baby is a boy! As any of you mothers and fathers would know, it was so incredible to see him and his little features swimming around inside. We saw some amazing angles of his face and limbs and beating heart. As usual, he was jumping around a lot during the ultrasound and the coolest thing for me was seeing him reach up with his fist and punch me in the stomach and, of course, feeling it at the same time. Toward the end of the ultrasound he was turning around to lay face down and that's when he gave us a good flash of his masculinity:). Of course when he was face down that's when he decided it was time to take a nap...right before it was picture time. So unfortunately the ultrasound photos aren't very exciting. But here they are none-the-less.