Pictures from May and June

I will get pictures up from July onward ASAP!!


Checking out the water

6/22 Kader's First Pool Outting

6/21 Kader rolling over for the first time

6/16 15 weeks old

Chillin with my peeps!

6/9 Kader and Amelia

6/4 after bathtime

Catching some zzzzz's on the boat

The boys and the babies: Kirk and Kader, Travis and Amelia

6/6 Kader's first time on the boat at Sharon Harris-he did awesome!!

Travis and Stacy Herbert came along with their little girl Amelia

5/31 Kader and Kirk napping

5/25 Kader looooooves bathtime!

5/16 Thomas spending some quality time with Kader

5/16 Kader meets his Grandma Revels for the first time

5/2 Heaven!

T minus 3 days until 6 months!

Yet another FEW months has passed us by! Kader had his 4 month old well child check on 7/15. His stats from that visit: weight: 13lbs 13oz (20th %), length 25inches (50th%) and head circumference was 25th percentile. He's a long slender little guy!! (Since birth everyone says that he came out looking like a little man, much older and mature than his age!)

We continue to enjoy the summer, although not much of that has been doing outside things because it's been SO hot! A few weekends ago we went to Lake Gaston with 3 other couples and their children. We had a great time. There were four children: two 4 year olds, 1 almost 4 year old, a two and a half year old and a 10 month old and then Kader. It was so fun watching the older kids interact with each other. They all did great on the boat and Sawyer (one of the 4 year olds) wakeboarded with his daddy, Scott!! I look forward to watching Kader play with his friends like that, but definitely do not want to rush things!

Kader met his PaPa Giaccone for the first time when he and Mary Jo came down from 7/24-7/27, while he was home on leave from Korea. We all had a great trip and I was so glad for my Dad to finally meet his first grandchild! It was a visit well overdue.

On 7/17, Kader had his first try of rice cereal and LOVED it! I thought he would probably spit and sputter the mixture all over the place, but he did great! He talked the whole time and if you didn't give it to him fast enough he would protest (he continues to do this)! His bowel patterns have regulated since we started the cereal which I am grateful for (he's pooping 3-4 times a day compared to 2 or 3 times a week)! Never thought I would be happy about changing poopy diapers! Over the past few weeks we've introduced peas, carrots, zucchini and bananas. I'm proud to say that I made "homemade" baby food (peas, zucchini, squash) which Kader enjoys! I'm trying to stick with organic foods for the first year, and well see how things go after that.

Over the past few weeks Kirk and I have talked about possibly putting Kader into a more "scheduled" daycare situation so Kirk can work a little more consistently. We have been so fortunate to find Tori, a friend of a friend. She lives about 5 minutes from our house and is on my way to work at MinuteClinic. She has 2 girls, Aiden-10 and Sarah 3 1/2. She's nannied for over 12 years and comes highly recommended. She's kept Kader two days so far and she loves him (who wouldn't?!?). I am a lot more comfortable leaving him with her than I thought I would be. She's really great with him.

GiGi continues to keep Kader from time to time when Kirk needs to work and we've recently started using a teenager in the neighborhood to occasionally watch Kader in the afternoons while Kirk works in the yard or will be close by. I'm not comfortable enough yet to let her keep him when me or Kirk will not be around. That's what GiGi and Auntie Ray are for! Kirk recently took a concealed carry class while I was working. Our friend Ashlee watched Kader while Kirk and her husband, Jeff were at class. She was able to keep track of Kader and her little girl, Lily who is only a day older than Kader. She even had extra time to take pictures! What a super woman!

Kader continues to refine the skills that he's already got and hasn't added too many tricks up his sleeve. We recently got him an exersaucer and a johnny jumper. He LOVES both of these contraptions. We add a few extra toys to the playing surface of the exersaucer plays with them and throws them on the floor! He is so cute bouncing in his jumper. He has started to put associations together. He knows what his paci is for. If you hold it in your mouth, he leans to your mouth to put it in his mouth. On a few occasions he's been able to take his paci out of his mouth and put it back into his mouth. This morning I woke up to Kader sleeping on his belly. He must have flipped between 4am (when I got up to use the bathroom) and 630am when he woke up to eat. Over the last week he has also gotten mobile in his crib, so he'll be out of his "nest" and at the bottle of the crib. The first time I woke up and he wasn't on the monitor I was a little anxious!! This past weekend Kader's Auntie Allie and Ray as well as his GiGi came up to visit. He had a blast and enjoyed all the attention! He continues to take Prilosec for his reflux and anticipates the syringe for his medication. He also seems to know that after he takes the medication he will also be fed. It's so amazing how they continuously develop and change. Of note, Kader continues to have random low-grade temps, ranging from 99.2-100.4. His temp has been elevated more often than not. He has no other symptoms and acts fine. Just very odd that his temp is elevated for no reason! Kader's temp was 99.5 for his last well child check and the pediatrician said to keep an eye on his temps and if they continued to be elevated to bring him back in. I haven't brought him back yet, because he continues to act fine and they haven't been higher than 100.4 for more than a day or two.

In less than 2 weeks Kirk and I will be going on a 7 day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean with 3 other couples. I am looking forward to the cruise because I've never been on one before but I am very anxious about leaving Kader for SEVEN days!! His GiGi and Grammy Jo will be taking care of him while we are gone so I know he is in great hands. I'm hoping that we can Skype while we are gone and that will ease some of the anxiety. This will probably be one of the last vacations Kirk and I take for a long time, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to be able to vacation with friends when it was available. Kader has his 6 month well child check on 9/9, two days before we leave for the cruise. Maybe I will be able to post an update before we leave (don't count on it)! I'm hoping to get some pictures up before he turns 1!!

Love to all!
Kirk, Tiffany and Kader

18 Weeks Old

I am writing this blog post as we head down to Myrtle Beach to hang out with a few of our friends. This will be Kader's second beach trip! I am looking forward to seeing how Kader reacts to the sand and ocean. (update: Kader did good at the beach today. He didn't mind the water or sand as long as the water didn't splash on his back when it was coming up on shore). So far he's been on the lake a few times and has been to the pool once. He seems to like the water. I guess it's in his genes! He is the most laid back baby I've ever seen wearing a life jacket. Those jackets are the least kid friendly contraptions I've ever seen. Oh well, safety first!

In mid March Kader had his first illness related fever. He ran a low grade temp for about 10 days (99.8-100.1) but continued to be his happy self and eat well. He stayed constipated during that time and only pooped twice during the whole episode (TMI, I know!). His poops and toots during that time were foul! Anyway, after about 10 days of the low grade temps I finally called the pediatrician. They told me not to worry about it as long as he continued to eat well, act like himself and the temp didn’t get above 100.4. The next day his temp was up to 101.5. Kader was still acting fine but being the paranoid Momma that I am I brought him to the pediatrician to be checked (even though I knew his exam was normal-because I checked him out before we left the house!). They check his blood counts which showed a low white blood count which is consistent with a virus. I was relieved! Now that I am a mother, I have a new found compassion for all of my past/current patients that I thought were so neurotic over their children. I now can see how easy it is to get worked up when you think there is something wrong with your child. A day after his fever broke Kader broke out into an impressive rash. He stayed happy the whole time!
Kirk enjoyed his first Father's Day a few weeks ago. We celebrated Saturday night after I got off work because I had to work on Father's Day. Kader got his Daddy a black powder rifle and got the barrel engraved "Happy 1st Father's Day Love Kader." Kirk was very suprised! A few months ago his black powder rifle was stolen out of his truck, along with several other guns. He replaced the other guns, but was going to wait to replace the black powder rifle. We sent him on a wild goose chase through the house that ended up with him opening up the safe to find the rifle. I wanted Kirk's first Father's Day to be memorable and the gift to be timeless.

I've been back to work about 5 weeks, Kirk continues to watch Kader while I work. This arrangement has worked well for us. We've needed to enlist the baby sitting services of Auntie Ray and GiGi on a few occasions when Kirk has had work come up that he can't put off. Kirk continues to work for KLB as well as doing "side jobs" such as clearing and grading for himself.

Kader continues to grow and change daily. I know we keep saying it, but I can't believe how much he is growing/has grown! The most recent tricks up his sleeve include: rolling over from tummy to back, sitting up with minimal support and passing objects from one hand to another. He loves playing with his feet and continues to verbalize and laugh more. Tomorrow Kader will be 18 weeks (4 ½ months). I’m thinking we will introduce him to rice cereal in a few weeks. I’m excited to try something new with him, but sad that these days are passing so quickly! Since Kader’s birth we’ve coined a few nicknames for him: KJ (of course), Kaderbug, Kman, Scooterbug (Kirk hates this), Lilman, Kdub, Bug, Boog-a-boo, Booger Bear, Bear and Booger are just a few. Kader has his official well child check next Thursday. I’m interested to see how much he has grown since his 2 month visit. He looks like such a big boy to me and Kirk!
My Dad will be home from Korea on leave at the end of July. Kader will meet his PaPa for the first time then! I can’t wait for them to get to know each other.
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I’ll post pictures ASAP.

Love,
Kirk, Tiffany and Kader

12 weeks old--VERY LATE posting!

Another month has passed us by! Kader is now 3 months old (13 calendar weeks)! I know I keep saying it but my goodness time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were driving in the cold pouring rain/snow to the hospital to be induced. My first day back to work was May 24th. I worked 2 half days and 1 full 12 hour day my first week back. I must say those two half days eased the anxiety I had about leaving him. My first 12 hour shift back I was spoiled because Kirk had to drive me to work because his truck has been in the shop, so I got a few extra minutes with my boys. Kirk has been able to bring Kader up to work at lunchtime so that I can feed him and we can visit. I am so thankful that Kirk is able to stay home with him!

Since the last posted Kader had a little “bump” in the road with his reflux. Three weeks ago Kader who always spits up after feeds was spitting up much more than usual and with increased force. I let this go on for about a week because he continued to pee and poop good. I was concerned though that with him spitting up so much that he might not be getting the nutrition that he needed. The pediatrician checked everything out and was somewhat concerned because Kader had only gained 1.5 oz and dropped off of his growth curve (wt=11lb 9oz) since his previous visit 2 weeks prior to that. She suggested we get an ultrasound of his belly to make sure everything was passing through okay. I was happy to oblige because I wanted to make sure of the same thing! The ultrasound was normal so she suggested feeding him with a bottle and adding rice cereal to my breast milk to thicken it. I didn't like that idea so I waited to see if his spitting up would improve and/or he would gain his weight. A week later his weight was 12lb 2oz. He still hasn't made it back to his growth curve but the doc said that he might just stay in the same curve he's on now.

Kader had his first overnight trip without Mommy and Daddy this past weekend! He stayed with GiGi and Auntie Rae in Fayetteville while Kirk and I went to a wedding in Pinehurst. I definitely had a little bit of separation anxiety but I must say it was nice to hang out with adults all night long and not have to wake up early in the am because Kader wanted his breakfast! Needless to say it was a nice break but was WONDERFUL getting back to my little boy! Kader hung out with his Grandma Revels and Aunt Christy and cousin Rachel the previous Saturday when they watched him while Kirk and I went out with some friends to celebrate a birthday. We stayed out late that night but I knew that I would be home when he woke up (which by the way came WAY too early that morning!).

In the past couple of weeks Kader has discovered that he has hands/fingers. He is constantly opening and closing his hands, holding his hands together and putting his hands in his mouth. He's recently started reaching for the frog in his carrier. Also, a few weeks ago he discovered his tongue. He makes the cutest smacking noises! He continues to be more interactive and you are almost guaranteed a smile if you talk to him. He's still sleeping great. He usually goes down to bed between 830 and 930 and wakes up between 6 and 7. Since I've started working I have to wake him up around 7 am to feed him before I leave in the morning (selfish right?!), after that I swaddle him and he sleeps another 2 or 3 hours for Kirk! Have I mentioned he is a good baby!

We are so blessed to have a baby with such a good disposition. We continue to be amazed everyday by the little things he does. It's so refreshing to watch Kader as he takes the world in around him. We thank God everyday for making us parents to such a sweet, healthy baby.

Thank you all for your encouragement and support as I've gone back to work. We are so thankful to be surrounded by people that love our family so much.

Love to all,
Kirk, Tiffany and Kader

10 weeks old

This past Wednesday Kader was 10 weeks old. Before he was born, I was told that time flies once the baby gets here--that's no lie! He's growing and changing daily! On 5/6 Kader went in for his 2 month check-up. He was 11lbs 7.5oz (50th) and 23 3/4 inches (60th) long. While we were there he also got 4 vaccinations-not fun for me or him! He did great though. He wailed when he got poked, but consoled easily when I picked him up. He was asleep before we got to the car! After we were done at the pediatrician's office we headed to Raleigh to visit Sarah and Braylon. We hung out with them and did errands in Raleigh all day. He did great! Towards the end of the day he started feeling a little warm, turns out he had a low grade temp (99.9) despite me giving him Tylenol every 4 hours starting right before his shots. After that we added Motrin into the mix and that helped to lower the temp. He never acted fussy which was great. He kept his low grade temp for about 48 hours.

Sin0ce the last post Kader has continued to vocalize more. He's smiling socially now and making all sorts of cute noises. He is such a laid back baby with such a good disposition. I think he probably gets that from his Daddy! He has great neck control and is even standing/bearing weight on his legs for extended periods. He loves to look around and take in the scenery.


Kader hanging out in his bumbo chair for the first time
So handsome!

Mother's Day

I celebrated my first Mother's Day in Williamston with Kirk's family. We went down on Saturday evening and stayed until Monday morning. We had a great time. While we were in town we stopped by and visited with one of my suitemates from college and her family as well as some other friends that we haven't seen in a while. I have absolutely LOVED every second of being a Mommy so far. I was telling Kirk the other day if I was guaranteed to have a baby like Kader everytime we might end up like the Duggers (they are a family on TLC with 19 kids)! Kiddos are pretty expensive though, so I think we'll probably just give Kader a brother or sister and call it quits! Kirk suprised me with a beautiful ring with Kader's birth stone on my pillow the night before Mother's Day. On Mother's Day morning Kirk got up with Kader to get him ready for me to feed him, after he was done, he put him back in his pack n' play for me to get him. To my suprise Kader had a gift box laying beside him which contained a necklace with the matching pendant to the ring Daddy got me the night before! I feel so blessed to have such a sweet and thoughtful husband and a beautiful, healthy, happy baby boy!! What more could a girl ask for?

Mother's Day

Daddy doing what he does best. . .Kader snuggling :) He's recently taken to his Paci which I think is great.

Kader's 2nd cousin Rachel holding Kader

Grandma Sylvia and Kader

Kader and his 2nd cousins Rachel, Emme and Seth

Kader spending a little time with his Great Grandmomma Lilley on Mother's Day

Kader and his best bud Braylon after his 2 month checkup. Braylon was born 12/16/09 to one of my best friends Sarah Bang Roberts. They are easy to contain now....this time next year will be a different story!!

The Giaccone Girls and Kaderbug

GiGi and Kader

Aunt Rae and Kader

Auntie Allie and Kader

8 weeks old

GiGi and her little Kader. We went to Myrtle Beach for 2 days for my Mom's birthday. It was Kader's first overnight trip away from home and he did GREAT. If you had seen the trailblazer loaded up before we left to go, you would have thought that we were gonna be going across the country for the next month! We had to stop one time on the way to feed him and on the way back he slept all the way home (he woke up as we were taking the exit for McGee's Crossroads).

Uncle Matt changing his first diaper...he's lucky it wasn't a poopy one! Kader didn't even cry. He's got a magical touch I guess.

Kader's first beach outing

At the Japanese Steakhouse for Mom's birthday celebration. Kader slept through the whole thing until the very end.

My sweet boy's profile

Such tiny hands

Dad and Kader spend a lot of time on the couch!

YES, I know that this sling has been recalled! :) I'm very careful to keep an eye on Kader while he's in it. We've only used it a few times, usually when I'm making dinner. My favorite is the baby bjourn sling.

Bailey has been a little jealous recently because he's not getting the attention he's accustomed to!

This time next week I should be back at work . . . .

When I left for maternity leave I thought that 12 weeks was a long time and would be adequate for getting to know my new bundle. I was SO WRONG! The thought of going back to work makes me so sad! I am going to miss Kader so much. He's changing so much recently and I don't want to miss a single smile, laugh, or him crawling....anything! I feel very lucky though, that Kader will have his Daddy taking great care of him while I'm away at work. I work close enough to the house that I think my two boys will come to see me at lunchtime on the days that I'm working. The plan for now is for Kirk to watch Kader while I'm working and I'll take care of him while Kirk is working. I'm praying that it works out. I'm sure we'll need a babysitter here and there, but hopefully those doeting grandma's will help us if we get into a pinch!

Keep us in your prayers over the coming weeks as we try to adjust to a new routine.

Love to all,

Kirk, Tiffany and Kader

The Past 7 Weeks

Over the past two weeks Kader has started "talking." He makes the cutest little noises! He makes quite a few different vocalizations, some in response to us and others just because he is happy (which is the majority of the time). He's definitely quick to let you know if he needs to burp, poop, sleep or eat though! He is most vocal first thing in the morning and after eating. He is tracking us/objects and responds to our voices. These most recent milestones have really added a lot of fun to our days.

4/15 Kader looking all grown up in the rose garden in our yard

4/15 Daddy and Kader

My sweet baby Kader

4/12: Me and Amanda had our first "playdate" at the mexican place in Smithfield.

Pate and Kader sportin their rides! Aren't the stylish! Kader was in the middle of a meltdown. I wanted to take pictures and he wanted to eat!

Amelia, 2 wks old and Kader 5wks old (to the day!) She's such a little peanut compared to him!

4/13 Lily stopped by to say "Hello" to Kader while her parents, Ashlee and Jeff were in the area.

Lily and Kader's first date. . .they were both thrilled beyond belief as you can see! Poor Lily slept the whole time! Lily is 1 day older than Kader. These little ones are destined to be together. Kader's namesake, Kirk's great-grandad was Kader Lilley (don't pay attention to the spelling!) and Kirk grew up on Kader Lilley Rd. Kader and Lily both went beyond their due dates and we scheduled to be born on the same day . . . Lily wanted to be "the older woman" so came a day early on her own! Lots of coincidences so far, we'll have to see how time and life plays out this love story that we've already got planned out!

Kader 2 1/2wks old and Josiah 1 1/2wks old

4/15: Dr. Henderson and Kader at my 6 week checkup.

Kader had his official 1 month checkup the 6th of this month. He was a whopping 10lbs 1/2oz (50%) and 22 1/2 inches (75%) long. The past couple of weeks have flown by. . . if this is a prelude of what is to come, he'll be going to college in no time!! Prior to his checkup we consulted with a cardiologist because Kader was having episodes where he became blue around his mouth but no where else and also had a faint murmur which scared me. The cardiologist checked him over and said that there was a small murmur and the bluish hue around his mouth at times was related to superficial vasculature, both findings were normal variations. Thank goodness!! I was able to breathe a sigh of relief after that. It's amazing how becoming a Mom changes everything, including all of my medical training! The only other medical "obstacle" has been Kader's acid reflux. He started spitting up and acting very fussy after his feeds a few weeks after we got home. After trying conventional things we started him on Zantac to see if that would help. After about a week and maxing out the dosing we switched him to Priolosec, which has almost alleviated all of the fussiness related to the reflux. He still spits up like a champ though despite everything! Over the past 2 1/2 weeks Kader has been "sleeping through the night." He usually goes down around 9:30 give or take an hour and sleeps until 4:30. The first night that it happened I thought the clock was wrong! I feel so blessed to have such an easy going, low maintenance kiddo.

So for any of those of you that are interested in how Kader finally made his entrance you can read below, this will be the cliff notes version (kinda) of my 3 page documentary that was lost!

Kader was scheduled for eviction from Hotel Uterus via scheduled induction. We were called to come to the hospital at 6ish on 3/2/10 so that they could start the process. We arrived and the nurse started the ball rolling for everything. At 9:30pm Dr. Beatty examined me (no changes) and placed a foley catheter through my cervix to help manually dilate it. She also told me to sleep because I was gonna have a long day ahead of me (it turns out she was right big time). I didn't sleep a wink despite Ambien because I just watched the fetal monitor and my contractions all night. Kirk on the other hand was able to get a few hours of sleep. At 6am Dr. Beatty took out the catheter and checked me again. I was dilated to 4cm, 80% effaced and was even having some irregular contractions on my own (which was really neat because I had never felt a real contraction). She was happy with my progress and started the pitocin (an IV medicine to help increase contractions). I was reassured that everything was on the right track. The nurse increased the pitocin every 15 to 30 minutes to get me into a good labor pattern. After about 7 hours of good strong contractions and no progess I opted for an epidural (If I had made progress and had dilated to 6 or 7 I probably would have opted out of the epidural). At that point my pain level was a 8 out of 10 and I wasn't too interested in finding out what the 10 felt like! The epidural was great except that my left side didn't get blocked so after we did a few maneuvers and I was still having pain on my left side they gave me additional medication through the epidural which worked . . almost too good! Prior to having the additional medication I could feel and move both my legs, afterwards I had no control over them and they felt like pins and needles. After getting my pain under control they inserted an intrauterine probe more accurately monitor my contractions. The "magic" number that indicates a good labor pattern which should dilate the cervix and move the baby down the birth canal is 200, at one point I was all the way up to 320! Despite these good numbers my body wasn't cooperating. After being on pitocin for 12 hours without significant progress we started talking about a c-section. I knew that the talk was coming, but I still wasn't prepared to give up my dream of a vaginal delivery. Kader was tolerating the labor and the doc was okay with giving me a few more hours of laboring to see if things would change. At that point we decided that it was best to give into reason and get Kader out while he was still happy. It was best to have a c-section that is planned in a controlled environment rather than chancing that he could go into distress and require an emergency c-section. Dr. Henderson was the new doctor and was one of my favorite out of the practice, so I was reassured that he would be delivering Kader. The c-section was originally planned for about 7pm, but was pushed back to almost 9pm because of an emergency c-section before me. Unfortunately during that time my epidural wore off and I was having 10 out of 10 contractions every 2-3 minutes for about an hour before delivery! I was in agony and Kirk was beside himself. He kept his cool the whole time, but almost lost it when nothing was helping my pain. He did such a good job supporting me and reassuring me that everything was going to be okay. Finally it was time for the c-section. They prepped me for my spinal and once it was placed I instantaneously had pain relief! I also had a freak out session (that I had totally no control over even though I wanted to calm myself down!) related to low heart rate and blood pressure, a common side effect of spinal anesthesia. During this time they had started the surgery and went to get Kirk. When Kirk got to the OR he had time to kiss me on my forehead and say "I love you" and Dr. Henderson was telling Kirk to stand up to see his son! Kirk stood up and got his first peek at our son, sat down and told me that he looked just like him! It happened so quickly (from the first incision to Kader's birth was 3 minutes)! Kader didn't cry immediately but I didn't panic (surprisingly). They cleaned him up and brought him by me so that I could see him (he cried then for the first time and continued to cry in the adjoining room)-Kirk was right, he did look just like him and that's the only thing I've heard since his birth from everyone! That fleeting second was gone and the nurse took Kirk and Kader into a stabilization room. After what seemed like forever they came back and I got to touch my son for the first time. It was such an amazing feeling to be skin on skin, face to face with this precious person that Kirk and I created. I was overwhelmed with emotion and already had more love in my heart for this child that I can ever begin to describe. After only a few minutes, the nurse took Kirk and Kader to the recovery room while they finished up with me. When I got into the recovery area Kader was getting his first bath. They didn't let me hold him because I had to lay flat because of the spinal. I was really disappointed because I wanted to try to breastfeed while Kader was still alert. We got into our postpartum room around 1130ish. After getting settled I breastfed him for the first time and he did pretty good considering how sleepy he was and has continued to feed like a champ! Afterwards we had LOTS of family who had been waiting ALL day for Kader's arrival. We kicked everyone out around 1am so that we could try to sleep. Kirk was out like a light. I couldn't sleep (despite not sleeping since Tuesday at 8am) because my brain was in high gear thinking about the events of the past 2 days.

Looking back I am still sad that I wasn't able to have Kader the way that I wanted to, but am thankful that God's plan worked out and we have a healthy and happy baby boy!

So far we are adjusting to parenthood great. The first week was a challenge just because we were still getting to know our newborn but we were very lucky to be able to get into the groove quickly and the rest is history. We look forward to each day with anticipation of the new things that are to come but sadly look back at how quickly time has flown! Our little one is getting big so quickly.

Love to all,

Kirk, Tiffany and Kader

Kader's First Easter

HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE!
We had a wonderful 1st Easter with Kader. My stepmom, Mary Jo came into town to meet Kader for the first time on Good Friday and stayed through the weekend getting to know Kader. It was great having her around to help with household chores and to spoil Kader (and Momma!) We ventured to my Mom's house on Sunday for a big Easter celebration with our extended family. We haven't seen some of those folks in 10+ years. It was great catching up with everyone. Kader did great, especially considering he's never been around so many people at once.

Our Family :) We do have pictures without Kirk in sunglasses but he's not smiling in those, so I figured I would post a picture in which he looked happy . . . we all know how much Kirk LOVES taking pictures!

Kader's Easter Outfit.
The story behind the outfit is very special. The outfit is from a mother of a infant (Noah) that I took care of in the PICU when I worked at Duke. Her son had an incurable illness and died after being at Duke for 6+ months. The mother, Debbie found me on facebook and asked if it would be okay for her to send some of Noah's clothes that he never got to wear. She hated to send them off to Goodwill if she knew of someone who could use them. I feel honored that she thought of me and Kader.
Doesn't he look precious?

Kader sporting his Easter bib from his Gi Gi (my Mom).

Gi Gi insisted that we get a picture in front of the Easter Bunny :)

I am so sorry that I never posted the update. . . the 3 page word document that I had saved, somehow or another got erased! I am lacking the motivation currently to re-cap the lengthy, novel-like posting that I created over 2 weeks ago!

Kader has his official 1 month checkup tomorrow. I will do my best to post a real update after that and maybe by that time I will have a little more motivation to delve into what I lost in the previous document! Hope everyone is well and can't wait to let you know how much our little weed is growing.

Love to all.

Kirk, Tiffany and Kader