Wow!! The Differences...

I have really been enjoying seeing these two start to interact with each other. Kai adores Adon and Adon watches Kai like a hawk - taking in every movement and sound that his big brother makes.

I've been getting a lot of comments about how Kai and Adon look alike and I can't help but think otherwise. I finally decided to compare pictures of the boys at around the same age.

Here's a pic of Kai when he was about 6 months - starting his baby food eating adventure:

....and here's Adon, very different! I'm sure there's some resemblance but, for the most part, he's a completely different baby =)

Here's Kai-guy right before crawling....

...and, here's Adon =)

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I love my boys!! They are so much fun!

.:FOOOOOD!!!!:.

Yup! It's that time already!
My little Adon is LOVING food!! I could easily wean him this week if I wanted to but, I know it's better for his little body to go slowly and keep him breastfed.

Thanks to WIC (Women Infants & Children), I get about 100 jars of baby food & 4 boxes of infant oatmeal a month for FREE!! The best part is, I get to choose what kind I want so I go for the organic expensive stuff=)
I'm not really into cooking period so the thought of steaming and blending my own baby food was not very appealing to me. I love being able to just woop it out of the pantry, feed it and save the rest for later.
He's having lots of fun with it and I think he's going to be a better eater than Kai was. He already has been and that makes me excited for this new part of his life!

Will share more soon!

Since I last posted...

My biggest turned 2 years old in October!!!

My littlest turned 4 months old!!!

I died my hair...red...then brown/black...

Kai-guy has been walking in his Daddy's footsteps and dress up like him...

Ryan & I got to get away for a marriage retreat where not only did we relax and have a wonderful time re-connecting but, I got to try my first Lobster!!!

We're celebrating our first Christmas as a family of 4!!!

Oh ya, and we moved into our new home where we have been blessed with many opportunities to have people over and practice hospitality (something we desperately need to grow in!)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Friends, Family & Cookies, OH MY!!!

Here's what we've been up to: (I don't know how to get this "underline" function to dissapear)

Playing, playing, playing with family and friends while Daddy is away on business trips...

Finding ways to cool off and have fun in this nasty humid heat...

learning to share.... hee hee

taking frequent naps to re-charge the batteries for more fun =)

and eating lots of cookies!!!

A friend of mine posted this delicious recipe for all organic cookies that not only make a tasty treat but also helps to boost your milk production. However, if you're a man, a child or someone who ISN'T nursing - they're just really good for you and will NOT make you produce milk ;)
I hardly EVER bake - let alone from scratch - don't even mention doing anything organic so the fact that I even made these is a HUGE step for me. I had to go out & buy a lot of the organic ingredients (ie: brewer's yeast, flaxseed meal, organic oats, etc) so it cost me a pretty penny.
So, now I'm going to sit back, enjoy my treat and see if it helps me to produce more milk.

PS: I'm actually doing fine on the breast milk. Ryan and I are going to a marriage retreat in about a month and I would like to leave BOTH kids behind which means that I need to have a nice stock of breast milk for Adon and I'm thinking this might save me a lot of unnecessary pumping.

Love you & God Bless you!!

.:Brothers!:.

Brothers!!!

I am so excited that I get to embark on this adventure of being in a house full of boys! Though...I do pray that one day I'll get at least one girl ;) Kai is LOVING his new baby brother. This morning, I had Adon on the bed while I got dressed and Kai came in, saw him lying there and wanted to snuggle up close to him. He even made sure that Adon was well covered by the blanket. It was too cute to resist! I had to take a picture...


There are moments where Adon will be watching Kai and a big smile while appear on his face. This kid is so smiley! It took everything I had to get Kai to smile at this age but not with Adon - the minute he sees me he breaks out into a big, open-mouthed smile =) One of these days, I'll be ready with camera in hand to capture the moment.

These 2 are suckers for their binkies. I'm in the process of weaning Kai off of it but I'm not really serious yet. If he's playing happily I'll simply ask for it and put it in his crib and tell him that "happy boys don't need binkies". Anyway, I'm thinking I'll get real serious about it when I potty train him (which will probably be sometime after christmas). It might just be me but in my opinion, if you're old enough to do your dooty on your own on a big boy potty, you're too big to be sucking on a pacifier.

Life is going farely well, I have to say. I'm finding more times for devotions which is unexpected. I was thinking that I'd have time to read only 2 verses here and there but I've been blessed with a good half hour at least during the boys' nap time. (Yes! They take naps at the same time, praise God!) Adon is still a really easy going baby - eats, sleeps, poops and only cries when he needs to do one of those 3 things or just wants to be held. He's definitely looking like his own little person and I'm seeing some serious red in his hair and green-brown in his eyes =)

Last Friday I mailed out 23 resumes for apartment management positions here in Pasadena and as a result, we have an interview set up for next Friday for a beautiful complex in the downtown Pasadena area. I'm super excited and filled with peace that God's will is better and what ever place we end up in - it will be perfect for our family =)

Ryan's job is going EXTREMELY well. He had his first business trip to AZ last week (yes, I stayed home with the kids and survived thanks be to God, Lynn & Terri) and is out to dinner right now with his CEO & VP!!! God answer's prayer, I'll tell ya what! We're both very thankful to God for this job and for how He is pouring out favor on Ryan with his coworkers and employers.

That's us in a nutshell for now. I'll be keeping you all posted and will try to stay current with pictures =)

Love you!

Introducing...

Adoniram Allen Baird (Adon for short)
August 19th, 2010 1:55pm
7 lbs 14 oz, 20 in. long

I had an AMAZING labor & delivery!!! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us - prayer works, let me tell ya!
Real labor began at around 9:00am on Thursday, the 19th and I had my Doula, Gracie Davis come over with her labor gear (birth ball, heating pad, etc) to help me labor at home as long as possible. Both she, Ryan and my mom helped me through the hard contractions with massage and acupressure. By around 12:00pm, I was starting to really think about drugs and with my contractions being 2 minutes long and 3 minutes apart, I was ready to go to the hospital...

...We got to the hospital at around 12:30pm and they started the admission process and hooked me up to the external fetal monitor to check on Adon. I was really starting to go through the "self-doubt" phase and told the nurses that I thought I might be in transition. Sure enough, after checking me, I was 6-7 centimeters dialated...

...As soon as they were done monitoring the baby, Gracie helped me get onto all fours for the rest of my labor (I was having a lot of back labor and this was how I was comfiest). As soon as I did this, things blasted off from there! I immediately dilated to 8 and my body was already pushing the baby out on it's own!!! This was the most bizarre yet AMAZING feeling EVER!!!
The baby was coming and there was NO amount of breathing it off to stop it!!!
I announced this to the world and they decided to check me again and sure enough, it was time to push =D I pushed for maybe 3-4 contractions and my little guy entered into the world.

This was by far the most painful experience I have ever gone through but for some strange reason, I'd do it again!!! I am filled with sooo much joy and excitement as I look back on the whole process. As painful as it was, it was awe inspiring and amazing to see my body do all of the work on it's own (with God as it's comander, of course) and feel the baby move through the canal and out into the world!

Not only was the delivery amazing but recovery has been 10 times faster and easier than it was with Kai. I didn't tear so to not have stitches down there really made recovery a lot easier =)
Now, I know there are other factors too like the fact that it's my 2nd baby and I was in much better shape to begin with ( I'm 7 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight already) but, I'm convinced that not having all of the drugs going through my body helped my body to get back on it's feet a lot faster.

Needless to say, I am soooo doing this again with my next baby!

Here's the proud and happy big brother! It was amazing how he went from being my little guy to my big boy in just one weekend =) Kai has been doing great with little brother. He loves to give Adon his pacifier and he always makes sure that the baby has his blanket too. Those are the 2 essentials in Kai's life =) hee hee

Will continue to keep you posted... still need to find the darn camera cord!

Love you all! =D

Comming Soon...

Hey everyone!

Sorry to have not posted in a while. I lost the cord that connects my camera to our computer so, I have several pics still on my camera that I would like to post (Ryan and I's 5th year anniversary pics & the most recent belly bump pics).
Hopefully we'll find it soon so that I can update y'all on the life =)

I'm 2 days away from my due date and I can't tell you enough how excited I am! My goal is to have this little one all natural - the Bradley way. I've been doing lots of studying and reading and training with my doula friend and feel as prepared as I'm ever going to be =)
With Kai, I had the epidural experience and, although it was pain free, I didn't like the experience as a whole. To begin with, the whole process of the epidural being administered was intense and just the thought of someone sticking a NEEDLE into my spinal column still gives me the creeps =P
I ended up still feeling a lot of "pressure pain" right before I started pushing for a good solid hour and then just the fact that I couldn't tell if I was even pushing when it was time because, you know, YOU'RE BASICALLY PARALYZED, I didn't like that either.
So, with that experience, I am REALLY motivated to try an unmedicated birth. Not only will both I and the baby benefit from this physically but, I'm also really excited to experience God in a whole new way =)
He has created my womanly body to perform this role and it is HIS hand alone that is making my body contract and deliver this little blessing! All of the details of the happenings of child birth are just so obviously an invisible God making things happen in a visible world and I can't wait to see Him in bigger way because of this experience.

I probably won't be blogging again until after Adon comes (unless I find my camera cord and post some belly pics), so please pray for Ryan and I as well as for this delivery.
Pray that God would unite Ryan and I in a deeper way as we work together to bring this little one into the world and as a result, love each other more deeply.
Pray also for God's protection over Adon as he's born, that there will not be any complications and that he would be a completely healthy little boy.

In the meantime, praise God from whom all blessings flow!