Merry Christmas from the Kaisers

Eli’s First Trip to the Republic of Texas

We returned from Texas the Monday before Thanksgiving, which as many may recall was the #snOMG “apocalypse.” That was the storm that shut down Seattle and left us stranded on the plane on the tarmac for over four excitement-filled hours. It was an interesting ending to an amazing trip through the heartland of Texas.

Boots and Hat at the Ready: Texas Bound

We saw family, had dinner with friends, went two-stepping (poorly) and enjoyed a lot of what makes the Lone Star State what it is. Once we landed in Texas we were off and running on what would become a 1,007 mile odyssey from Houston to Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Blanco, Seguine, Yoakum, Victoria and back to Houston. Eli was fortunate to meet cousins (some once removed, others twice, and a few that were even more than that), friends, aunts, uncles, great aunts and his great grandfather.

My parents had invited us to join them on this trip to see everyone under the auspices of making the “Night at Old Pearl City: dance at Turner Hall.” We were promised lots of Polka and Texas two-stepping, and we were not let down! Marissa and I had a great time and enjoyed every minute of the dance, though our feet are a bit worse for wear… (I simply can’t dance).

For a run down of the itinerary:

Tuesday, Nov 16th: Fly into Houston. We were looking forward to seeing Jap and Louise Lott and we ended up staying with their daughter Cindy and her husband Mark. It was 80-degrees in Houston and beautiful clear skies.

In good hands!

At some point I will share stories about Jap and Louise. A few years ago they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary and are simply an amazing and inspirational couple. He was a fighter pilot in WWII in the Pacific and generally quite the hell raiser. They are kin through my Grandpa who grew up in Yoakum, Texas (my parents are both from the same small town).

Wednesday: We are off to Kerrville to see my Aunt Sharon. She is my mother’s sister and was amazing with Eli. Simply put, it is the highlight of my trip to spend time with Aunt Sharon.

Eli meets Aunt Sharon

Thursday: Off to Fredericksburg, which was the “vacation” of this vacation. It is a beautiful town that was originally settled by Germans and retains a lot of the history and offers delicious German food. It is quite the tourist area now. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go into the Nimitz Museum. We will definitely take Eli in the near future.

Friday: Fredericksburg to Yoakum by way of Blanco and Seguin… The joke during the trip was that if we had 7 minutes of free time my mother was certain to call some distant relative and let them know we would be visit’n (correct spelling).

We stopped by to see my second-cousin-once-removed Carl in Blanco and his 46 cats. Carl was part of the initial wave of US soldiers to land on the beaches at Normandy. After the war, he was an executive with the Red Cross and worked all over the world. Side note, their daughter was born in Korea and they actually had Texas soil underneath the birthing table so that she could be born a Texan. Marissa and I did the same thing with Eli, but didn’t know that we were following in other’s footsteps.

I have met Carl before and thoroughly enjoyed seeing him again. While his health is failing, he was gracious, funny and whip smart and seemed to take quite a liking to Eli. Eli also took quite a liking to Carl and his cats.

Then it was off to dinner in Seguin at a huge colosseum built to the mastery and worship of the almighty catfish! (Sadly, catfish is the only thing I am allergic to so I didn’t have any.) The onion rings were great and the beer was cold and delicious. We were also able to introduce Eli to my cousin Benji, his wife Phoebe and their daughter Bentley who is a week and half older than Eli.

Cold and refreshing: Shiner Bock: D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s

Then we were off to Yoakum.

Saturday: Trip into Victoria to see my Mom’s side of the family:

Aunt Linda, cousins Meredith, Wendy, Jake and their respective kids and friends for amazing BBQ. Marissa and I went for the sampler plate which included ~4 lbs of meat and a pickle (as I recall).

Saturday Night: DANCE TIME

The whole family started to arrive, my sister and brother-in-law Ailey and Ritchie Hughes, Aunt Kay, Uncle Mike, cousins Rachel, Jen, Josh, Courtney, Tommy, Aunt Corliss and Uncle Owen. The list goes on and on and on. It is simply too much fun seeing everyone.

Eli knows his Aunt Ailey!

We drank, we danced, we caught up, we admired Eli. Eli actually got to go to the dance, though he ended up sleeping under the table… (is that in the parenting books?)

Cousins Jen and Josh: Pearl Beer: $0.50 / can: Just the right price.

Sunday: We had an early Thanksgiving at my Cousin Courtney’s place and Eli got to meet their six horses, five or so dogs, and ~20 cattle. Needless to say he was thrilled!

They prepared an amazing spread and it was fantastic getting to sit down and enjoy the time with everyone.

Monday: Back to Seattle (via Houston)

The flight was interesting to say the least.

2 hour mechanical delay in Houston

4 hour flight – no problems

1.5 hour delay as the jetway was broken and they couldn’t move it to the plane

1.5 hour delay as the tow comes to get us, which then gets stuck in the snow

45 minute delay as no one made it to work and there wasn’t anyone to operate the working jetway

45 minute delay waiting for luggage

A patient and easy going kid… PRICELESS

The happiest people on the plane!

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It was an amazing trip and we had a great time. However, it wouldn’t have been possible without my folks. They were great, watched Eli, put together the trip, and just made sure it happened. It was awesome. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Ten Gallon Hat for a One Gallon Baby

Great onesie and an even better hat!

Giving thanks

This Thanksgiving, we’re all extremely thankful for family. And food. And lately, we’ve had a lot of both!

Our little pumpkin

We’ve just returned from a 1,007 mile trek around Texas–Houston, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Victoria, Yoakum, and back to Houston. It was a tour of filled with family, delicious food, various hotel rooms, gorgeous countryside, and more family.

The weekend before that, we hosted my sister, her hubby, and her in-laws in Seattle for a post-wedding celebration (2-months post wedding). My sis got to don on her wedding dress, and we were surrounded by friends and family as we were served a LOT of Chinese food.

Of course, friends and family were excited to see us, but they were truly there to see and meet baby Eli. We’re fine with that

OMG – Soooo Cute

Eli’s Aunt Beth and Uncle Dan were in town for their Seattle reception and Po-Po (Eli’s Grandmother) suggested we all get some pictures taken. Pretty good idea!

Sitting with the Adults

Can’t Stop This Kid From Laughing!

Eli’s busy day

Eli and Sydney: Husky fans

Eli had a busy day today. He spent most of the day with his friend Sydney. (Eli is going over to Sydney’s house three days out of the week, now that the Kaisers and the Lambs are nanny-sharing.)

Eli in the snuggly; Eli in the jogger

Eli after his bath. (Galt joins to check things out.)

Eli in his chair

Then, when Mommy (aka me) got home, we got Eli all bundled up and took Galt for a run.

Finally, Eli got a bath. Afterward, Eli spent some time rocking in the big person glider.

Usually he sits in someone’s lap while he’s in the glider. Galt noticed the difference and stood guard, making sure Eli was OK.

Little Man

I looked down at Eli the other night and thought, “My gosh, he’s such a little man!” His mannerisms seem much more intentional these days.

Sly Grin

Not only does he have entire conversations (with us, with his mobile, with himself), he sucks on his hand (and sometimes his thumb), he’s a big smiler, and he’s an even bigger flirt. He’s 10 weeks old now–that’s 2 1/2 months for those of you who don’t want to do the math–and he’s had quite a few experiences in the past couple of weeks: his first bike ride, his first airplane ride, his first swim, he saw Aunt Bethany and Uncle Dan get married (more on this later), he met the extended Ng family and a few more of the extended Marks, and he’s staying at home with a nanny now that Nate and I have gone back to work full time.

Cranky Face

Before I forget, here’s some of his stats from his 2 month check up:

• Weight: 11 lbs. 10.5 oz. (50th percentile)
• Head circumference: 39.5 cm (50th percentile)
• Height: 24.5 inches (90th percentile!)

I just spent a few moments checking out Hazel’s blog to see how Eli compares with his cousin when she was his age. If Hazel was a Banana Baby at 10 lbs. and 23 inches, then Eli’s been taking note and following in his cousin’s footsteps. What I want to know is, how on earth did two parents of average height create a baby that’s in the 90th percentile?!? Over 11 lbs. and 24.5 inches—where did this come from???

Eli's first bike ride

In case you couldn't see Eli's reaction to his first bike ride, here's a close up

A whole new way to travel

My last post ended with this: I have all sorts of stories about our first venture out (4 days after Eli was born), our first road trip (to the cabin to hang with Cousin Hazel), and milestones, but they will have to wait until I find a chunk of time or until I see you in person.

I didn’t really find a chunk of time, but here’s a written account of our first venture out and our first road trip, starting with the road trip. (I know, sounds official, huh?)

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Damn. It’s TOUGH traveling with an infant. Actually, it’s tough to get ready to travel with an infant. Or at least it was tough for me the first time around. I won’t lie; there were tears.

Circa July 30. Eli age: 3 weeks old. We were headed east to introduce Eli to the cabin. His cousin Hazel was nice enough to invite us along to the tail-end of the Barker Family Vacation aka BFVGPS10. I was responsible for getting myself, the kid, and the dog into the truck. Nate had packed up most of the gear already. I just needed to load the final bags and the young ones, then pick up Nate in Pioneer Square before heading out. No big deal, right?

Eli in his snap-in carseat... the easy one.

Eli's not sure what to make of the cabin.

I tried to remain cool as Eli screamed his head off while I ran around loading the last-minute stuff and the dog. I had everything ready to go, and I was only 10-15 minutes behind schedule. Lastly, I grabbed the crying baby and set him into the carseat… where the straps were too tight to go around his little arms. Dammit. As it turned out, the carseat was my doom. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to loosen the straps.

An hour, several phone calls, several curse words, several more curse words, tears, cries (from Eli), and a $30 taxi ride later, Nate came to save the day. He fixed the problem in about 30 seconds, which brought on even more tears of frustration (from me and Eli). Eventually, we got to the cabin just fine.

And we had an awesome time.

Jet ski on the Columbia! Whoo hoo!

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And while that was the worst to date, there have been some comical other firsts in regards to “traveling” with Eli. The first outing we took as a new Kaiser clan (aside from heading home from the hospital) was on July 11, just four days after Eli was born. It was Nate’s birthday, Eli’s actual due date, and we headed to Redmond to join Keith and Susie at church.

Nate aka “Clipboard Kaiser” had a schedule that he wanted to keep and an ideal time to leave the house. Being that Eli was four days old and we had just come home from the hospital two days prior, everything from getting ourselves showered and dressed to getting the diaper bag packed was a challenge. But we were up to the task!

The task included a load of laundry prior to our departure, washing Eli’s intended outfit for the day. We were both certain that everything would dry by the time we had to leave… We were wrong.

• 40 minutes prior to our intended departure, I started feeding Eli, all the while shouting out things like “Don’t forget the _[fill in with random baby item]__” to Nate who was running around getting himself and the diaper bag packed up.
• 20 minutes prior to our intended departure, I decided Eli had had enough to eat and needed to get dressed. Nate took the laundry out of the dryer, only slightly damp.
• 15 minutes prior to our intended departure we changed Eli’s diaper and put him in his outfit for the day.
• 10 minutes prior to our intended departure we assessed that the outfit was still pretty damp and we should attempt to dry it further before heading out into the chilly elements (and sadly, it was fairly chilly and overcast for a mid-summer morning). We turned on the hairdryer and pointed it at our son. Yes. When our son was only four days old, we dried his clothes with a hair dryer while he was wearing them. I’m not proud of it, but he didn’t seem to mind, and the hair dryer did the trick.

You’d think at this point that we’d realize the need for additional layers, but you’d be wrong.

We managed to get out the door 10 minutes behind schedule, which wasn’t bad given our antics prior to intended departure. We snapped in the carseat, started the car, backed out of the garage, and we were off! … So we thought.

As we were backing out of the garage, I noticed that the blanket wasn’t in the carseat. “Nate, did you grab the blanket?”

“No Mars, I thought you did!”

Next, I noticed that we’d forgotten to put socks on Eli. By this time, we were at the streetlight, but with a damp clothed son, no blanket and no socks, we determined the need to turn back around. Needless to say, we were late to church.

Amusingly enough, the sun came out just as we crossed the bridge, and we ended up stripping the kid of all his clothes once we got to Grandpa and Grandma’s house. Go figure.

Eli sans clothing and loving it

In Grandpa's lap, sporting his fly dry outfit

The shirt says "I'm a sloppy kisser." It should say, "I drool in my sleep."

How Quickly He Grows!

I realize that we’ve been absolutely terrible about updating the blog. Eli is growing up quickly! He’s 7 weeks old now, and in the past week he’s begun “talking” and cooing at his mobile, sucking on his hands when he’s hungry, and rubbing his eyes when he’s tired. He’s also a pretty big flirt.

Eli still turns over from his tummy to his back… something he’s done since he was 2 weeks old (aye, yai, yai!), and I’m hoping that any day now he’ll sleep through the night (fingers crossed!!!). He’s a pretty good sleeper when he’s in someone’s arms.

I have all sorts of stories about our first venture out (4 days after Eli was born), our first road trip (to the cabin to hang with Cousin Hazel), and milestones, but they will have to wait until I find a chunk of time or until I see you in person.

Sweet Baby Eli

It’s been two weeks since we’ve last posted! Where have we been? What have we been doing?

We’ve been figuring out our new lives, learning a new sleep schedule (waking up in three-hour intervals), and watching our new addition grow every day! We adore him, and it keeps getting better…

Here’s some pics of Eli’s first few days, all taken at the hospital.

Eli's first day; Asleep at the hospital

My! What big eyes you have!

Of course, we fell in love

Eli Chandler Kaiser

Born July 7, 2010

Eli’s arrival – from Hazel’s perspective

Eli’s cousin Hazel has some perspective on Eli’s arrival. She was around the day before Aunt Marissa went into labor and showed her aunts and uncles how to play in the playground, she splashed in the water with Aunt Marissa at Greenlake the day that Marissa went into labor, and she decorated Aunt Marissa and Uncle Nate’s new walkway with sidewalk chalk.

When Eli finally arrived, Hazel wasn’t too sure about this competition for the Kaiser family’s attention. Check out her perspective on Eli’s birth here. By the way, CUTE ALERT!!!

Hazel eyes Uncle Nate and Eli