Our X-Mas Hike

This last Sunday, the whole Baird family got together with the Boomsma family for their annual Pastors & Family Christmas day.  We then congregated at Mom & Pop Bairds home for some refreshments after church and then drove to a hiking trail by JPL for a beautiful hike.  We then came back to the Bairds and had a delicious dinner.

Here are some pictures of Ryan, Kai and I on our hike.  Please know that these gorgeous pictures were taken by Courtney Boomsma.  Thanks again, Courtney!

Ya, if I had known we were going to be taking such awesome pictures, I would NOT have worn such a loud jacket =P

Our little goober did so good - he loved being in the sling and being able to look at the nature around him.  He soon drifted off into dream land and was out like a light.  It was really cold however, so we bundled him up in the only blanket I had on hand - a burp cloth.

Other than that, life is still a mystery.  Ryan and I find ourselves asking God "Lord, what are you doing????"  Stuff still keeps coming back with the whole condo thing - I don't want to get into the details but I will say that that door just keeps opening and won't shut.  If you want more info, feel free to call =)

Ryan is doing good.  He is such a hard worker and is working diligently to find a full time position.  Right now, he is still doing his Notary business and working as a piano instructor at a private christian school and then does odd handyman jobs on top of that.  He is so good about making sure he is working hard and faithfully at whatever it is he's doing.  

I am learning everyday how to be a better GOD centered mom instead of child centered or parent centered - it's really tough though, I won't lie about that.  I am finding that my life dominating sin is anger and God is helping me to pull out those roots of anger by teaching me love, patience, compassion, HUMILITY, and kindness through the trials that motherhood and being a wife bring.

GOD IS GOOD though and I know that He still loves me even though I'm not having my quiet times like I should be and even though I consistently sin against him and my loved ones throughout each and every day.  It makes His grace so much sweeter when you look at the reality of your own sinfulness in light of His holiness.

First Cold

My poor little guy - he has his first cold.  He woke up yesterday all snuffy and making these really cute snorty noises.  This morning he was a little more congested and is now coughing.  But, in spite of it all, he still looked up at me after nursing with a stuffy nose and smiled.  He was all smiles this morning which was really weird because when I'm sick, the last thing I want to do is smile.  Shows how much of trooper he is =)  Anyway, he's been sleeping a lot which I was told is really good and to let him sleep so, SLEEP ON little one!

If any of you moms have any helpful tips on how to ease the congestion in his nose or help him feel better, please tell me - I'm new at this and don't know what the heck I'm doing.

These are from our Care Group xmas party.  Kai (on the left) and his buddy for life, Ty Brereton (on the right) hanging out, showing each other how to blow spit bubbles.  Kai had six going at one time - I  think he won...hee hee hee.

They're good sports - having to sit through the picture taking.  What kid LIKES to have their picture taken anyway???

New Update =(

Well, we're most likely not going to move =(  Ryan and I went in to sign the escrow docs yesterday and when we went in, the mortgage amount, monthly payment and down deposit had all been increased!  

Apparently, they had neglected to tell us that the program for one of the silent loans (loan for which you don't owe anything or pay back) had folded so they decided to take the amount that was originally taken care of by that loan and added it to our 1st loan - increasing it by $30,000!!! 

This in turn bumped up our monthly mortgage to $1900 in lieu of the originally proposed $1750 and increased our deposit from $9000 to $11,000!!!!  I love how they didn't bother to call us and let us know this before we drove all the way out to downtown LA!!!

Anyway, we've been spending a lot of time in prayer and have been seeking counsel from our pastor, care group leader and friends.  We are just really wanting the wisdom to discern if we should continue with this or not since Ryan is still trying to find a stable, full time job and I'm about to quit mine.  The counsel we received from Ryan's brother was really good - tell the housing association that we need to take some time to think and pray about it and we'll get back to them - in the meantime, wait until we hear back from Ryan's job interview to see if he got the job.  If he did, then proceed with signing the papers, if not, then tell the association that we will not be going forward with this.

The housing association advised us that they need to know our decision no later than next Monday and that we have to sign the papers by then if we're going to go through with this or there's no deal.  

Please pray for us and ask God to make His will clearly known to us!  Pray that Ryan does get this job or any job for that matter and that God's will be done in this situation.

We both feel really at peace about this and know that if this house doesn't work out, God has something better for us in mind =)

Will keep you posted!

Updates =)

Sooooo, "what's been happening the last couple of weeks" you say?

My Mom, Dann and the kids up and moved to Spokane WA; Kai started smiling and cooing; I've been battling Thrush (Ouch!!) and WE'RE MOVING!!!!

That's right, our 2 and a half year journey is coming to a close and we finally get to move into our new town house this Saturday =)  The housing association  called Ryan last week to tell him that they are going to try and get us moved in this week!  I then spoke directly to them this morning and the woman who's been helping us get in said she "hopes" we can close this week =( I will remain hopeful however and keep praying that we get to sign those gosh darn papers and get the keys on Friday!!!

Please keep us in your prayers =)

I DID IT!!!!

I FINALLY DID IT!!!  It's taken me all this time to bring myself to actually cutting Kai's nails.  All this time I have been filing them and all though there's less chance for cutting him, it's actually pretty tedious.  This was fast and efficient and whenever there were still sharp edges, then I would use the nail file to soften them down.

I was sooo nervous but I was able to finally do it.  And let me tell ya, scissors are the way to go.  I couldn't use the toddler nail clippers because they were to bulky and I couldn't see what I was doing.

Also, I waited until he was asleep so that I wouldn't have to fight with him in keeping his hand still.  Don't they look beautiful? =)