7 Weeks

The two highlights of Jaden's 7th week of life were:

• Celebrating Father's Day with his Baba for the first time.


• 2nd Doctor's Visit

I'll let you guess which one he enjoyed more! :)

For Father's Day, we took Baba to town for his favorite meal, "nyama choma" (roasted meat) and ugali. We all enjoyed the day, even though I refused Baba to give Jaden some of his delicious meat! :) On the same day, I went grocery shopping for the first time with Jaden. He rested snuggly in the carrier as we went to our favorite supermarket, Tuskys (I say it is our version of Target, but Juli strongly disagrees with me)! :) All the Tuskys' employees, who know us very well, were excited to meet Jaden for the first time. They said the last time they saw me, I was about to deliver--which is very true as I was in Tuskys on a Wednesday and in the hospital on Thursday!

Jaden also went to visit Auntie Michelle at the clinic this week. He weighed in at a whopping 11 pounds 12 ounces, above average on the growth chart (way to go for Mama's yummy breastmilk)! Unfortunately, he also had to get a jab on his left thigh. Mama turned her head to avoid the sight, but quickly heard cries of pain. Jaden had a difficult day after that--I don't think I put him down for most of the day. However, it did not last into the night as he slept well and was back to his normal self the next day.

Relaxing on Mama's lap. That won't happen much longer as he is getting too big to fit on my lap.

Jaden actually enjoyed his bath tonight.

More visitors (this time, from America...that is Baba Kierra)!

We think Jaden must have lots of angels surrounding him because he loves looking up.

Auntie Juli is a professional diaper changer. As you can see, she can even change Jaden's diaper while he is on her lap...pretty impressive!

Happy Father's Day, Baba!

Looking at his angels again.

Come on, Mama, please let Baba give me some nyama choma.

Look at my cute lower lip.

Yes, look at me...I'm now 11 pounds 12 ounces. Mama's doctor said that I would be a rugby player.

Look at those cute chubby cheeks.

Our wide eyed boy is oh, so cute.

Solomon loves to hold his brother even though he is getting too big to fit easily on his lap, and to heavy for him to hold for longer than a few minutes.

6 Weeks

Week 6 of Jaden's life was full of "safaris" (journeys). After Jaden and I not being in a car for one month, we decided to go on a few journeys...and not just your short trips to the supermarket and back! Jaden did very well traveling (and so did Mama). We enjoyed getting out of the house and being with Baba as well as other family members and friends.

A few of Jaden's continued explorations with his facial expressions. We love his smiles!

Hanging out at Auntie Juli's house for lunch and a movie.

Our first long journey to visit Jaden's older sister, Mercy, at her boarding school which is a 2 1/2 hour drive one way. Mercy doesn't look so excited in this picture, but believe me, she was the happiest girl at her school when she saw us arrive with her brother. Mercy is in Form 2 (10th grade).

One of the spectacular views of the Rift Valley on our way home from Mercy's school. We also had the opportunity to visit our nephew, Walter, who attends a boarding school near Mercy's. Walter is in his last year of high school. He did not know that Jaden had been born so he was very excited to meet his new cousin. Jaden did so well on the long journey. Though we were all quite tired when we arrived home at 7pm that night, we had a wonderful day together as a family (Rhema and Solomon were also able to join us for the day's safari).

"Sawing the zzzzzzz's" after a long journey (not sure if that is the right expression, but I remember it going something like that)!

Mama, what are you trying to do to me? Jaden doing his exercises on his tummy again.

Jaden hasn't discovered the beauty of a soothing and relaxing bath yet. These days I can bathe him in 5 minutes. I look forward to the days that he will enjoy his bath and want to play. Of course, then he'll probably cry when I want to take him out and disrupt his fun!

Ready for the next journey of the week to our favorite place of all in Kenya, Rondo guesthouse in the Kakamega Rainforest. We went with the Tumaini na Afya team for one night. All the staff at Rondo, who know us well, were so excited to meet Jaden. Though our time was not as relaxing as usual (Jaden didn't sleep very well), we thoroughly enjoyed being in God's beautiful creation of the rainforest.

Relaxing on the veranda.

Baba trying to make Jaden stand up. He does have strong legs, but not to the point of standing up yet.

Going for a walk in the forest with Auntie Juli.

Hanging out in his big chair during Mama's favorite "tea time" in the afternoon.

Jaden's first game of Scrabble. Unfortunately, Pastor Peter and Baba beat Mama (my excuse is that I was distracted by taking care of Jaden and feeding him during the competitive game).

My Baba just loves me so much!

Time for the journey home...definitely too soon.

5 Weeks

Our Jaden is doing very well. We are all enjoying him so much. He is still welcoming visitors every now and then. Most bring him some type of gift--either sugar and tea leaves for the family or new clothes for him. David now wants to open a shop for selling baby clothes as we have so many! :) Jaden is starting to grow out of some of his onesies already (the cloth diapers help with that as they are bit bulkier than normal diapers). Enjoy the photos...they are a bit late as we had a lot happening in our community last week. We are still mourning and grieving the loss of Kevin, who was the youngest son of John and Veronica Busienei (Directors of Kipkaren Children's Home). Kevin suddenly passed away on June 6th at 1am from an unknown sickness. At 5 weeks old, Jaden attended his first burial service for this 9 year old boy whom we all loved very much. Kevin was a dear friend to the 96 children in our Children's Home as well as the 150 children at our elementary school, Brook of Faith Academy (including our sons, Rhema and Solomon). We continue to lift up the Busienei family in our prayers as they continue grieving their loss--and invite you to join us. I was sadly reminded last week that with the joy of life also comes the pain of death. Every time I looked at Jaden last week or snuggled him in my arms, I thought of my dear friends, John and Veronica. I could still hear the heart wrenching weeping of a mother and the agonizing cries of a father on the night they arrived in our home. It was 3:00am, only 2 hours after tragically watching their son take his last breath in their arms at the hospital. My heart aches with them; and with the many other mothers and fathers in our community who have experienced such tragedies. This is the reality of our lives...joy and pain...laughter and tears...and through it all, though we do not understand, we continue to love our God and share His amazing love with our neighbors.

I have just realized that with all these angelic pictures of Jaden sleeping so peacefully, one could easily get the wrong impression of our son. Yes, we think he is an angel, but he definitely has a strong pair of lungs! It's not so enjoyable taking pictures when he is crying but I will have to take at least one so you can see that he can make a lot of noise. After 5 weeks, Auntie Juli moved back to the peace and quiet of her own home. We are all so grateful for the time she spent with us and the incredible way she cared for us and offered her support during Jaden's first weeks of life. She is definitely one of the angels in our lives. David has now moved back to our room and is enjoying the nights of Jaden's noisy sleeping. According to David, even if Jaden is sleeping, he is still a "noise maker" with all of his grunting throughout the night.

Bedtime stories with Solomon and Jaden. Solomon loves his brother. He continues to ask me if the "Chebakwakwa" brought his brother into the world.

One month old!

Jaden reached his first milestone this past week by turning one month old. Here are some new snapshots of our precious son.

Tummy time! He likes being on his tummy for about 10 minutes, doing his exercises of lifting his head and legs.

Jaden discovered his fist.

Oh, so handsome!

Not another photo shoot, Mama!

Baba and Jaden saying, "Good morning, Mama!"

Hanging out with Mama and his Aunties during an afternoon of playing their favorite game, "Mexican trains."

Monkey toes like his Mama.

Growing so tall (and big). Most people can't believe he is only one month old.

Watching (or sleeping through) the evening news with Baba.

Special visitors, Jaden's grandparents.