Happy Birthday Asa!

In celebration of Asa's 1st birthday check out this highlight video from the day he was born!

Asa's First Day

Thank you to everyone who made his first year so amazing!!!

Here are two pictures from his first morning as a one year old!

Playing Outside

It has been so incredibly nice out lately - and we have had fun playing outside with Asa! I made a "leash" for him out of brightly colored cloths tied together so that when we are outside and I am planting flowers he can't just run to the lawn mower - oh, did I mention that Asa runs? Asa walks and runs and goes EVERYWHERE!!! He is hard to keep up with!! Anyway - we took 11 month old pictures and we went to California in March, so I have many pictures to post - just no time to post! So here are some favorites from playing outside and I will try to get some more posts coming consistently soon! Love you all!

-Kara Joy

A Birthday Post from Asa

Today was my Mommy's Birthday -

She had to work, so while she was at work Daddy and I played and then we picked her up and took her out for lunch. This is me in my Mommy's favorite shirt when I woke up from a nap.

I like birthdays because we all get to be together and Mommy and Daddy took me to the park!

It was so nice out - and I had fun walking all around - even without holding someone's hand - and there were so many ducks and geese and birds to look at - one goose even hissed at me! Daddy and Mommy were scared but I thought it was funny!

We tried to feed the catfish too but they weren't out today - I liked all the water though and stuck my hand through all the bars.

Then we got Mommy a birthday cake - a chicken cake! And she blew all the candles out in one breath!

Claxton and I were trying to help her - but she didn't need our help.

I really, really wanted to lick the cake - but I'm too little still. :(

Happy Birthday Mommy!

We made Mommy wear the birthday hat - and Mommy and Daddy both blew party noise makers - but they scared me so much... I screamed...

and screamed...
and screamed!! Mommy thought it was funny. But I didn't!

I think it was a good birthday - and I can't wait for my birthday next month - then I get to eat the cake for sure! Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Zoo Trip!

Today we took our TEN MONTH OLD!!! to the zoo for the first time!

It was a blast! Here are some hot shots from the day...

Asa was fascinated by the takins - there were two and they were hitting a barrel back and forth - Asa stared and stared at the big takins!

The rhinos were fighting when we came by... it was funny...

and the zebras ran away from them!

The lion was SO COOL and very scary and close to us!!

Probably the best exhibit of the day!

Check out these two videos:

Asa face to face with a Lion

A Lion Roaring at Asa

The camels were not out - but we still got a picture with one!

Funny - Asa's probably favorite part of the day was this stuffed animal puppet display!

And here's Asa and the Mere Cats...

Sorry it's sideways, Asa loved this exhibit!

We had a great Monday and hope you did too!

9 Months 1-18-12!!

Our baby is 9 months old! Can you believe it? We can't either.

Have a great day!

-Ryan, Kara & Asa :)

Merry Christmas!

Chazak!

Be strong in the Lord. - This is the Hebrew meaning of our Christmas tree's name - Chazak. We call him Chaz for short. We had a blast picking him out this year - Aaron the intern and Asa the baby helped us! :) Thank you, Chaz for bringing us Christmas cheer and reminding us to wait for the Lord and to be strong in the Lord.

Finally A Post!

Wow! One month since a post?!? I apologize for not updating our blog more frequently! I'm guessing November was a busy month for us! :)

Since October 28 Asa has...

-4 teeth: 2 on the bottom and 2 on the top (the 2 on the top are his fang teeth!)

-Been trying to walk: He pulls himself up on everything and today he stood with only one hand... I am terrified he will take off at any moment!

-Fallen in love with Zucchini... but wow does it make him smelly!!

-Started babbling more: He says "Ma-ma-ma" on a regular basis but also says "Ba-ba-ba" ...still no "Da-da-da" yet. :( Soon, insha'allah!! :)

-Begun chasing me around the kitchen in his walker: He can back up and go forward and turn and get himself all over the place. Tonight he explored the laundry room after I finally picked up all the clothes off of the floor... he's pretty funny!

-Greeted us on a regular basis from his crib in the morning - STANDING up! He seems like he's trying to jump out sometimes! We have lowered it and are nervous we may need the screen door method Ryan's parents used on him!! :)

-Started giving Kisses... he's so sweet! He gives his "friend" the mirror lots of kisses but he also kisses Mommy & Daddy!

-Gotten so big!!! Here are a few pictures from November to share with you... Ryan has more on his phone that I will try to put up soon:

Ah, Vacation!!

We haven't blogged in a while... we have been on vacation. :)

Ah, vacation.

Originally we planned to trek across the US, visit Ryan's parents, and play in the ocean... but our plans changed and we ended up spending most of the week together at home. And it was fun! We did venture to the Chicago area on Sunday and went to Willowcreek and Ikea and spent the night with Kara's brother and sister-in-law. It was a lot of fun. And the best part of our vacation - we repainted our kitchen and laundry room!! :) Bring on the DIY decorative projects! We didn't take very many pictures while on vacation, but we do have a few to share... Asa doesn't make it that long without a picture!

This is an every day face of Asa right now - he's cutting teeth. One day we realized he had one popping through the bottom... and now we have counted four. That's right - FOUR!!! Poor little guy. You can tell they hurt him. One is cut through on the bottom... if you zoom in you can see it in the above picture... and there are 2 white bumps on either side of the first tooth, and there's a little white bump on the top gums too. Wow - they popped out fast! What a big guy. Oh, and! He's trying really hard to sit up on his own - he almost has it - and! He is also trying to stand up on his own. That's right - if there's something in front of him he can push off of he uses it to bring himself to his feet. And as you can guess - he is into EVERYTHING!!!!

Pastor's and Spouse's Retreat took place just a few days before our vacation and the three of us enjoyed 2 nights at a hotel in Springfield, Illinois. Here's some of our favorites of Asa and Daddy playing in the hotel.

Asa got to hang out with his Uncle Caleb when we spent the night at Jonathan and Kate's house after going to Willowcreek and Ikea. We took Caleb to the park with us and got some really cute pictures... thanks, Uncle Caleb for coming and for taking the pictures!

You know, we never really managed to get a good one of just Asa in the leaves... because he was too busy eating them!! :)

Vacation was wonderful!!

We love you!

-Ryan, Kara & Asa :)