Firsts

To say we've had our hands full might be a bit of an understatement...but although our free time may be a bit limited we are having fun trying to keep up...

From the moment we brought Kai home there have been a lot of firsts in our house...

Cadan's first steps...

Cadan just decided to take off walking... he was taking a few steps here and there and then just took 16 steps in a row... and from there he is all over the house!

Cadan's first time as a big brother... (checking on the baby)

Not to mention Cadan's first birthday!

and of course a lot of firsts with Kai as well.

Kai's first bath...

First time in the bouncer...

Kai's first sunset walk...

His first protest to wearing hats...

We have had some firsts as a family too...

Like our first hike...

The dogs even came with us...

Not to mention our first tornado season in Tennessee...

The sky was really ominous...

And just when I was about to head into our tornado shelter (the coat closet) with the dogs and kids... a rainbow appears... we could see the entire rainbow stretch over our house... what a great reminder of God's faithfulness in the midst of the storm.

I can't believe it has been a month already with Kai! He is getting so big and he is awake more and more during the day. Cadan has been really sweet... asking about Kai first thing every morning.. it is like having a new puppy for him! I hope the novelty doesn't wear off for a while!

Thankyou everyone for your words of encouragement as we are transitioning... it has been busy but well worth it!

Becca for all...

A Kairos Moment

What an amazing weekend...a new Hightower arrived on the scene! We went in early Fri. morning and by 5:18 a.m., we met our little boy, Kai. His name is Kai Ros, which means "in-between time”—a moment of undetermined period of time in which “something” special happens.

The ancient Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to chronological time, measured by the calendar, or your iPhone. It is rhythmic, and predictable. It is clock-time. Kairos time, in contrast, has a different meaning. The interesting thing is that it does not have an equivalent word in English. Kairos time describes a moment of undetermined length, in which the eternal (God) breaks into the temporal (the universe), impacting and shaping it, and prepares the here-and-now to receive the infinite. This is the time where the conditional is scrapped and becomes the instrument of the unconditional.

Some references to this word in the New Testament are:

• Matthew 26:18 - He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.' "

• John 7:6 - Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right."

• Romans 13:11 - And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Below are some pics of Kai in the hospital. Enjoy!

Bound4LIFE

The dreadful wait

The wait can be almost unbearable. I am due in 12 days... 12 long days... which at the moment seems like an eternity.

In the meantime, Cadan is into everything... maybe having a brother will keep him occupied and out of trouble.

He is climbing on everything!

Meanwhile we have been lost in project land...painting, sorting, reorganizing... you know.

Anyway, with all of this work we are getting in some rest.

Well, back to nesting... hopefully we will have a little baby bunting to share on our next post.

Snow Days

We had a great Christmas surprise when the heavens opened and the rain turned to big white fluffy flakes of snow (despite the weathermans predictions). The temperture was still in the 40's but the snow decided to stick anyway...and we had a white winterwonderland to wake up to in the morning. The temperture did drop through the night and I was hopeful Dave would be snowed in but I guess when you are an adult with a real job, the workplace doesn't just close down like the school systems do... so much for snow days in corporate America... (although not a bad idea)!

This is early this morning... so early in fact I caught the sunrise... I don't remember actually seeing a sunrise before my motherhood years... in fact even when I worked as a nurse it was usually still dark in the mornings when I got to work... and during the winter it was dark when I would go home... talk about sad... not seeing the sunlight for days on end... okay enough rambling and on to the real reason ya'll check the blog anyway... the PICTURES.

Not too much later I bundled Cadan and let him experience his first taste of snow.

He wasn't so sure what to think...

It didn't take but a minute before he warmed up to the idea.

A neighborhood girl came over to enjoy the snow with Cadan...

I sat him in the snow while I was catching up with the little girl's mom and next thing I know he had layed down and was eating snow off of his mittens.

This is Cadan's version of a snow angel... he's a natural. Who knew his mom grew up in the jungles of South America and his dad grew up at the beach? I guess there are some snow genes in their somewhere.

Even the dogs were frolicing in the snow.



What an eventful day! So from our short lived time in winterland to you...

Merry Christmas!!