How quickly they grow!

Jackson seems to add new words to his vocabulary every day and is actually speaking in small sentences now. He is such an entertainer. Our favorite thing to hear him say are "I yuv you Bubba" (or Mommy or Daddy) He loves to make silly faces and kiss his brother. He recently pee-peed in the potty, but I'm thinking it will be a while before he's interested in being consistant with that. Partly because he is a constant wirl-wind and doesn't like to sit still for very long. I look forward to when Hudson can keep up with him and they can play together.


He's only 3 1/2 months old and Hudson is growing at an even faster rate than Jackson did. He's already 20 lbs and wearing 12 month old cloths! If I have any more chunky kiddos my back is going to be shot by the time I'm 30. Oh, well, they are worth it.

Our newest Klein

Our precious baby, Hudson Joseph! What a joy he is to our family! He is growing too quickly and trying to surpass the off-the-charts rate of growth record that his brother set in his first year. At least he came out smaller, mommy is forever grateful for that!

One year later...

I am obviously a horrible blogger because it has been over a year since my last blog! In the past year, we've enjoyed being back home in New Mexico but God has been growing the desire in our hearts to go back overseas to serve Him. Through lots of prayer and studying His Word, we know without a doubt that He is calling us to serve Him in this way and we are so excited! It is wonderful to finally know what our purpose is and what His plans for us are (at least in terms of a career). Considering this has been much different than last time, particularly because we have two small boys to consider. And while taking them away from family is extremely difficult, we know that God will be faithful to us and bless our obedience. Obedience doesn't come without sacrifice; Jesus is the perfect picture of that. He calls us to pick up our cross daily and follow Him. We're grateful that while sad, most of our family is supportive and understanding of our convictions. Without their support, it would make this much harder.

So now, we're just praying He shows us exactly "where" to go and to what people group. Please pray for us, that we'll hear His voice and that our desires will be what He has for us and not what "sounds" best to us.

I need to blog more often not only to update on what we're doing, but as some "mom-therapy" for me. A way to share and record my joys of being a stay-at-home mom. So that is my mid-year resolution. Even if no one reads it, it is good for me to examine and "download" (or upload) my thoughts. It is also beneficial to write so I can keep my adult language skills up to par. Playing with a 2 year year old all day and communicating on his level is rapidly depreciating my vocabulary. So here's to mid-year resolutions and halting degenerative brain-loss!

Summer Fun

I haven't blogged in a couple months and am feeling very behind, so here is a "summer fun" update on us. In June, Kit's mom and sister moved in with us temporarily. We have enjoyed having them around more and spending quality time with them before they both move off. We had the biggest garage sale in the history of Carlsbad (at least I think it must have been) and got rid of tons of stuff. What we didn't sell, we donated, so it felt very freeing to get rid of everything.
In July, we had a great time going to Denver and Mexico for Cindy and Jess's wedding. Jess and Cindy have an awesome condo in downtown Denver, so we look forward to going back to visiting them often. Denver is such a great city! We stayed at an amazing resort in Playa del Carmen and soaked up the sun and pool for a few days. Jackson loved the water, the sand, and the guacamole! The only downside to the trip was having to leave!

My brother and cousin Julie came to visit for a quick weekend. It was really fun hanging out with Julie and to see Chris meet Charise for the first time. Jackson and I also went with Nikki and Charise to visit our sister Trudi in Wisconsin. We had a great time at the zoo, shopping, eating cheese curds and brats, and relishing the cooler weather. We got to just hang out in the house with the windows open and no AC! That was priceless! We had a good time but were really to get back to daddy. While we were gone, Jackson cut his first tooth and we now have to trick him into eating baby food. He wants whatever mom and dad have instead. He is also crawling like crazy, pulling up with ease, and "cruising" around the house. I think it won't be long before he's walking and he's already getting into everything, so we are learning the in's and out's of "baby proofing" and what that really entails.

The day we got back from that trip, some good friends of ours came to visit from Oklahoma. We went to the caverns, ate some good mexican food, and played a lot of Wii frisbee golf. It was great to just hang out with good friends and be lazy all weekend. We have a couple weeks of calm before we go to Texas for a wedding and to visit family and then help see Kirstie off to college in Las Cruses. I am having fun with the trips, but it is much harder to travel with a baby and I look forward to some quiet days soon.

I have also been practising and improving on my photography skills. I took Cindy and Jess's wedding photos, did a friend's pictures of their kids, and soon will do some newborn pictures and another wedding in October. I have a lot to learn, but am enjoying the practice and seeing myself slowly improve. Here are some fun shots from our summer fun. I hope you enjoy! (most are just "snapshots" so don't judge the quality too hard. They aren't examples of my best work!)