Enjoying the mild temps!

Today was unusually warm for January, close to the fifties, so we decided to take Kane on a hike near our house.  He loved it!  Although, he wasn't a fan of stopping to take pictures.  For this big smile I had to run in front of Jon and snap it as soon as the stroller stopped.  He did love all the rocks,  it made for a bumpy ride. 

We got to see some gorgeous views.

Basher managed to get out of his harness.  Twice!

With Basher on the lam, we left Kane in charge of holding Lucy's leash while Jon re-attached Basher and I snapped pictures.  He mostly just wanted to suck on the handle.

Mommy and Kane on the rocks.

My boys!

Kane kickin' back.

I see a lot more "hikes" in our future.  Kane really seems to enjoy seeing nature.  Can't wait to go camping this summer!

Dan's wedding

Over the New Year we went up to Bozeman, MT to see our friend, Dan, get married. 

Jon has known Dan since 1998 and I met him in 2001, when we were all stationed together in Korea.  He is a great guy and we were so happy to be able to make it up to see him get married.

Kane was looking especially handsome in his little suit.

Kane loves it when Jon turns him upside down, this was so cute, it was like he was saying, "I'm gonna get you!"

Christmas 2011

On December 23rd we took Kane to see Santa.  As you can tell, he had a great time.  No crying at all, he enjoyed his visit with the big guy.

I gotta say, I was super excited about his new tricycle, Kane was less so.  There is a smile here but when we actually put him in it there was nothing but tears.  He was due for a nap, and we were inside, let's hope things go better when we take her out for a spin.

The Camelbak, on the other hand, was a hit.  He loved Jon's so we got him a Kane-sized one.

He squealed when he saw it and pretty much finished the bottle in one sitting.

The stacking cups from Jon's cousin Adam and his wife Stephanie were a hit.  The car rocker wasn't really...hopefully he will grow to love it.

Kane loved to watch Jon build the tower and then would knock it over.

Kane LOVES books, so this book was a hit, no surprise here.  He will sit in his room by himself and just flip through all the books on his bookshelf.  I truly hope his love of books continues.

The gift from Aunt Bobbie Jo, Rodger, Jack, and Erin was a hit as well.  Kane pretty much tried to figure out how to work the stacking cups into this toy so he could have them all together.  

Just before he went down for his nap, Kane decided he wanted to sit in the dishwasher.  Such a character.  

We hope all reading our blog had a wonderful Christmas!  Happy New Year!  We look forward to sharing our "Raising Kane" adventures!

On the move...

Kane will do laps around the house with his toy.  He takes a few steps on his own but the walker really allows him to gain some speed.

ZoO LiGhTs

This past weekend we  headed to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights.  They have over 250 animated light displays but what got Jon interested was the deep fried s'mores.  Kane is totally obsessed with lights right now.  Our good friends the Jimenez's are moving to California over the holiday season and we figured this would be a good way to celebrate the season.  It was sooo cold but tons of fun!

Kane was bundled up better than all of us, glad we brought his snowsuit!

We saw this cool light display...

The frogs were pretty cute too.

Kane got to stand with the big boys!

We had to stop at this cute train before we left.

At the end of the night we have tired Kane with some deep fried s'more on his mouth and daddy with the crazy eyes.  We had a fantastic night overall, I will be wearing my "boots with the fur" next year though!

Kane's "UNO" Birthday Party

 I can't believe our boy is ONE!  We decided to celebrate with an "UNO" themed party.  Luckily, we were having family pictures taken a little before, so I was able to bring the decorations to the shoot.  As you see above, we got some "smash" cake professional pictures thanks to Elaina Cowdell.

We celebrated Kane's birthday multiple days since it fell on Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving day we got Kane some balloons, he loves balloons!  

We also made him a #1 pancake...it's far from Kane because he is super grabby and LOVES pancakes!  I needed a picture before he dug in.  This was also one of the few pictures where he was looking forward because he was mesmerized by the balloons behind him....as was Alex apparently. 

The Jimenez's got Kane a birthday cake for Thanksgiving day...

He enjoyed it!

 The Saturday following Thanksgiving we had Kane's actual party.  He mostly wanted to eat the UNO cards.

Kane's party cake...his fourth first birthday celebration...he has cake eating down to a science.

I had each boy put their hands on the board so I could trace them, with Kane's in the middle, then we used it for pin the UNO cards on Kane's hands.  Daniel won.

 There was a pinata.  Kane loves to bang on things so pinatas are right up his alley.  Gabriel cheered Kane on.

  Daddy and Kane and...

 Daddy being silly showing off Kane's name on the back of his shirt.

The big smiles come from Jon running toward Jesse and Kane...

 and Brooke and Kane...

and Sheryl and Kane.

There was some singing and candle lighting,

more cake eating,

and a bunch of present opening.  Presents and well wishes came from all over, Kane is loved by so many!  We are truly blessed with our wonderful son as well as the rest of our family and friends!

Daddy's home!

 The day before we headed back to Utah we met up with our friend from Italy, Kristina and her boys.  It was great seeing her again.  As you can see, her oldest boy Christian,  really loved Kane.  Christian is about 8 months older than Kane.  He climbed up on the couch and patted his legs to tell me he wanted Kane on his lap, it was super cute!

 It's hard to believe how good Kane is getting around now, just a few months ago Kane could only pull himself up using the handles on the sides of the coffee table.  We returned home and he is walking all around it.  He barely uses objects when he is standing but he still holds them just in case.  He will stand on his own with no support for short periods.  We know he can do it, we think he just isn't quite sure.

 The day before Jon got home we went to Dinosaurland in Ogden.  It was FREEZING!  Kane and I walked outside for a short bit but went into the museum part pretty quickly.  He really enjoyed pointing out all the dinosaurs.  The Jimenez family came with us, we really had a great time!

 

Jon came home this month!  Kane waited patiently to see his daddy, he loved the airport...well, the vending machines at least!  

           

The Jimenez children held up Jon's sign as I impatiently waited for him to make it to the baggage area.  I pretty much talked to him via phone until I could see him in person.

 Yay!  It is truly wonderful to all be together again.  I actually became really sick the day he returned so Jon jumped back into fatherhood with both feet.  He handled it fantastically!

Next up:  Celebrating Kane's "UNO" Birthday!  We will be having his birthday party on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.  We did a photo shoot already with his birthday decorations and a smash cake.  I wanted to be sure to preserve his special day!