It's the Great Pumpkin!

Since our last update on Wednesday, we have been pretty busy. Stephanie and I have still been working on getting our quarterly numbers out at work. Stephanie is currently in the middle of a 3 day weekend because she gets a "bank holiday" on Monday...it's Columbus Day.


This weekend we took Kai to get some formal 9 month pictures taken. We did some pictures in a collared shirt and cords, some diaper pics, and then some pictures in his Halloween costume. We will be taking his picture with his stuffed monkey later this week, a little closer to his actual 9 month birthday. Here are a few of the pictures from his photo shoot!


After our photo shoot on Saturday, we went to Stoney Creek Farms to their Fall Festival. We had a great time there. Kai rode a pony, we took a hayride to the pumpkin patch, checked out the farm animals (Kai really liked the calf and the bunnies), and watched the bigger kids play games and launch small pumpkins with a giant slingshot!

Kai also cut his 4th tooth this week. He has not enjoyed cutting teeth very much and this last one has really been messing with his naps. It is sure a blessing that he likes Tylenol so much!

This week for Sunday School, I got to teach the 5th and 6th graders about the Omnipresence of God. Not nearly as heavy as last week, where we talked about where God came from. The kids really don't seem to struggle with the truths about the enormousness of God...I suppose us adults just make it a lot harder than it should be by trying to understand it.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. - Psalm 139:7-12

Graphic Novel

This last week and a half have been pretty light from a news standpoint. We have been pretty busy with Stephanie starting her new job and I’ve been very busy at work these past couple of weeks trying to get our quarterly numbers together.

I started teaching Sunday School at church this past Sunday. I am teaching in the 5th and 6th grade class room. My first lesson on Sunday was “Where did God Come From?”. Seriously? The class went surprisingly well and I think the kids may have even learned a thing or two. On the bright side, I guess the lessons all get easier from here!

Kai has got a new red wagon, some new nursery décor, and sprouted a 3rd tooth. I guess that is a lot of new stuff for him…

Since we’re a bit short on news, this is going to be mostly a graphic novel of El Kaister and his shenanigans!

Here is Kai in his new wagon!

Here is Kai with his friend Max right before a walk on a brisk Autmn day!

Kai is both the strong and the sensitive type. I hope you bought your tickets to the GUN SHOW!

Here he is consoling daddy after a tough day at work

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. - Colossians 1:15-16

Over Already?

Today is Stephanie's last day of being between jobs. As you probably know, she has taken a couple of weeks off before starting up at the bank tomorrow. It has been a great 2 weeks but it has really flown by.

We wanted to get away for a few days during Stephanie's time off so we decided to go to North West Ohio and spend some extended time with family. We drove up to Bowling Green on Wednesday afternoon and we returned on Sunday afternoon.

On Thursday morning, we met Kim and her son Carson at the Toledo Zoo. Stephanie and Kim have been friends for a little over 30 years now. Carson and Kai have now been friends for about 3 days. I (Chad) used to go to the Toledo Zoo with my mom's family every year when I was growing up in Southern Michigan. Stephanie and I were amazed at how much the zoo had changed since the last time that we had been there...but this blog is about Kai and not his old parents who like to reminisce about the good old days...

Kai really enjoyed the zoo! He had a great time watching people and he even liked watching some of the animals. He really liked the aquarium and the penguins. He also liked all of the different primates, the elephants and the hippopotamuses. Here is a picture of Kai with his mom and Carson checking out the fish.

Here is Stephanie and Kai with Kim, Carson, and baby (Kim is just finishing up her first trimester so her baby is only the size of a kumquat and not easy to see in this picture, but he / she is there!)

After we went to the zoo, we headed West to Edon to see Grandpa and Grandma Lesnet. The last time we were at the farm, Kai didn't enjoy visting the sheep. This time, Kai really enjoyed the sheep.

We spent the rest of the weekend trying to relax and get ready for Stephanie's big day on Monday! We made a trip to the toy store to get Kai a truck, watched Grandpa Eridon referee a volleyball match, critiqued golfers teeing off behind Grandpa and Grandma Eridon's house, and Stephanie and I even went out on a date!

We are now back in Indiana finishing up the last of our weekend and trying to get things prepared for the upcoming work week.

So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days. - Ezra 8:32

Kai Boiler's Up!

Today has been a big day and it has been a fitting end to an exciting week around here. Today, Stephanie and I took Kai to his first Purdue football game! Kai did a very good job and he really enjoyed all of the sights and sounds at such a big event. We made it to our seats a few minutes before kickoff and we were able to stay until there was about 5 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Even though we missed the far too exciting ending of the game, the Boilers still pulled out the win over Central Michigan.

Kai has now added MaMa to his two word vocabulary! He still uses DaDa more, but Stephanie is sure glad to be called Dada a little less than she used to.

We spent a lot of fat moola this week on our cars. We got the windows tinted on the Corolla and got some new tires for the Accord (they're French tires...oh la la). The Accord is also going in for some window tinting this weekend. We have watched Kai unnecessarily struggle with the sun in his eyes too many times which is why we're doing the tinting.

Stephanie has enjoyed the first week of her unemployment. She has got a lot of errands done and had a couple of good bye meals with her old co-workers. On Thursday evening, I even got to tag along for a dinner at Kinkaids. It was very yummy!

We celebrated Kai's 8 month birthday this week. For his birthday we grilled up some steaks and Kai got to have some. He really liked it but with only 2 teeth he had a little trouble gumming it up enough to swallow it. Also, on his 8 month birthday, Kai brushed his teeth for the first time. He really liked brushing his teeth because he got to put something in his mouth...his #1 most favorite thing!

In other news, the Indiana Hoosiers got whooped 42-20 by Ball State tonight! I guess those warm up games against Div 1-AA cream puffs like Murray State didn't help them prepare for a MAC team.

The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. "Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. - Exodus 15:5-7

Look Mom! No Hands!

If you follow college sports, you may have noticed that there are rankings for young athletes starting as early as 5th grade. I'm wondering why they start so late? I'm sure that Kai would be the #1 prospect in the country at his age because he can do so much stuff before his 8 month birthday!

This week he has started letting go after he pulls himself in to a standing position. We have timed him and he is keeping his balance for more than 10 seconds at a time. He has also started "cruising", which (for those of you who may not know the parenting definition of cruising) means that he is able to walk around items while he holds on to them. Kai is also feeding himself finger foods and he cut another tooth! He is still considered a baby right? He seems like such a big boy now with all of the things he can do!

Friday was Stephanie's last ever day at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is now enjoying her 2 weeks of unemployment until she starts her new job on the 29th. She still has a couple of functions for work as she has a goodbye dinner and a goodbye lunch this next week.

Stephanie and I had a date night last night as our friends Eugene and Kim finally tied the knot. Eugene and Kim taught Stephanie and I some dance moves to use at our wedding which was nearly 7 years ago. Since they have been together for so long, there was a lot of comments about how this wedding was long overdue. We had a great time seeing lots of friends and we even made it on the dance floor. We were out super late as we didn't get home until 11 o'clock!! We were exhausted!

Due to the long overdue nuptuals of Eugene and Kim, I was forced to sell my Purdue tickets to a friend. Purdue played Oregon and lost in double overtime because Purdue missed a couple of field goals. There were a lot of fellow Purdue alumni at the wedding and reception checking the scores on their cell phones, we have very understanding wives! Here is a picture of Kai after Purdue missed the first field goal at the end of the 4th quarter.

Kai got some cool new toys this week! Grandpa and Grandma had bought Kai a Fisher Price Sesame Street walker and he loves it. Dad and Mom decided to buy him a LeapFrog Learn and Groove toy to celebrate Mom's last day of work. This toy was recommended by a friend and has been a great addition to the Lesnet house. Kai is now learning to count and say the alphabet in English and Spanish. Best of all he can do this all by standing up - which is his new favorite thing to do.

My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense." - 2 Chronicles 29:11

Watch Out - Teeth Coming Through!

It has only been a week since our last blog update but if feels like it has been a lot longer than that! Maybe the main reason for that is that time doesn't necessarily fly when your boy is up all night because those pesky teeth are finally punching through. We had some really long nights until we found some of dad's old teething medicine and now Kai is doing just fine!! Kai has has done a few new things this week. First off, he is now saying "dada" and "dadee". This is a very cool development but he doesn't seem to understand why I make such a big deal about his new sounds. Kai has also been able to feed himself some Cheerios this week. It is pretty funny to watch as his hands are so wet with drool and he hold the Cheerios in the palm of his hand. His technique is not at all efficient but it is effective (and funny).
After a wonderful summer, football season is here! Once again, the Indiana Lesnets have purchased season tickets to Purdue Football. They played Northern Colorado this Saturday and although they won 42-10, they still have a lot of work to do before the tougher opponents start (like next week against Oregon).

This upcoming week is Stephanie's final week at PricewaterhouseCoopers. It is crazy to think that Friday will be her last day. She will have a busy week as she has a lot of things to close out. It is always a little rough when Stephanie and I both have action packed weeks at work as I had another employee quit on me last week. I have a 3 person department and I've had 2 leave in the past month. She only gave me 3 days notice which is not very cool but the work goes on!

Here is a video of Kai crawling around and attacking the camera man. I think he is destined for stardom and he already seems to know how to deliver the beat down to the pesky paparazzi!

Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. - 2 Timothy 2:5

Another Weekend - Another Visitor!

Hello and Happy Labor Day Weekend! This weekend has been a lot like our last few weekends in that it has been action packed and we had visitors!
For the most part this past week has been fairly uneventful (except the birth of a friend's baby girl). Stephanie has been doing more than her fair share of taking care of Kai this week so that I can get caught up at the old 9-5. I was very productive this past week and nearly got everything crossed off the ever growing to-do list! I would like to give a special thanks to Stephanie for not only being a fantastic mommy but a great wife as well!

Yesterday (Saturday 8/30) was a very productive day. We battled some clutter that had accumulated on our planning desk in our kitchen, did a few loads of laundry, had an amazing lunch that we cooked out on the grill (NY Strip Steak w/ corn on the cob), made a trip to the pool, and even ate dinner at Chic-Fil-A.
Today (Sunday 8/31) was a very early morning as Kai decided to get up at around 5am. I'm not really sure if it was a conscious decision to start his day so early but he did choose to pull himself up to a standing position and didn't really want to let go of the crib's railing. With such an early start, we were able to go and get breakfast at Panera Bread on our way down to church and still get there on time for the 9am. After church, we took over a meal to our friends who just had a baby girl on Monday. Its funny, but you definitely forget how small newborn babies are. Baby girl is just a little bigger than Kai was when he was born but it just seems impossible that Kai was ever that small!

This afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa Lesnet came to visit for a few hours!! Kai had a blast playing with his grandparents. Kai crawled all over the place, told his grandparents all about his day (ba! ba! ba!), was fed some green beans and sweet potatoes by grandma, and was his normal all-around charmer.

Kai is now in bed and mom and I are ready to turn in as well. We both have tomorrow off (it's Labor Day!) and we have some plans to hang with our neighbors, the Stewart's but other than that it should be a pretty relaxed day!
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions! - Psalm 58:4-6

Summer's Over Already?

Life has been pretty busy here at the Holiday Inn…er, I mean the Lesnet house! We have had overnight guests each of the past 3 weekends and we have loved every minute of it!

3 weeks ago, the Patterson’s were in town from Arizona. Last weekend Grandpa and Grandma Eridon were in town for a wedding that was up in Anderson. This past weekend the Martin’s (also from Arizona) were here for a night. We really enjoy hosting our friends and family so if you would like to come and hang out with the Indiana Lesnet’s and get a shout out on our blog, please come and visit!

This is Stephanie and Kai with Sara and Sadie Patterson:

Here are some pictures of Kai and his friend Cole Martin:

Although we have enjoyed all of our visitors very much, family always gets a little extra mention here on the old blog. Grandpa Eridon has a twin brother who’s name is Uncle Kris (seriously – first name is Uncle…their folks must have been on to something). Uncle Kris and Aunt Bev were also in town for the wedding and they came over for dinner on Friday evening. We grilled up some chicken and sweet corn and had a very nice family dinner. The rest of the weekend with the grandparents was awesome too! Grandpa and I went and played 9 holes of golf on Saturday morning (he kicked my booty). Grandpa and I also went to a late night showing of The Dark Knight at the IMAX, it is a great flick but it’s a bit dark for the kiddies. On Sunday, we celebrated Grandma Eridon’s 39th birthday at Red Robin, yum! As always, Kai really enjoyed his time with the grandparents and Stephanie and I enjoy catching up on our rest since Kai is so well taken care of.
Since our last posting, we had a sick bug wreak havoc on our innocent little family. On one night Kai didn’t sleep at all so mom and I had to take turns holding him all night long. On the bright side, the Olympics are live on TV in the middle of the night so we were able to watch a lot of the action live! This bug has some pretty good staying power but we are all feeling much better than we did.

Stephanie is leaving PricewaterhouseCoopers! She has worked there for 10 years and she is now moving on to be the Director of Financial Reporting at Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis. Stephanie and her new boss used to work together at PwC and he called her out of the blue to see if she was interested in back-filling for his old job since he was recently promoted. Her last day at PwC will be September 12th and her first day at the bank will be September 29th. She is very excited about starting something new but she will miss working with her team at PwC.

Stephanie took her last ever business trip with PwC last week up to Chicago. She left on Sunday evening and came back on Wednesday evening. That left the boys home alone! Stephanie enjoyed her time up in Chicago and even went to Harry Caray’s and Morton’s Steak House while she was up there. Kai and I didn’t eat nearly as well as mom did but we had a lot of fun hanging out! Although everyone had a great time, we were all very happy when mom came home and the Indiana Lesnet’s were all together again!!

Stephanie and I have started celebrating the upcoming nuptials of our friends Eugene and Kim. They are getting married on September 13th so there is a lot of parties leading up to the big one next month. Stephanie went to a bridal shower last weekend and I played golf this past weekend down at Heartland Crossing (a darn fine course that I highly recommend). We will probably have a couple more events coming up!

Kai is continuing to grow up so quickly! He celebrated his 7 month birthday since our last blog post. In addition to crawling all over the place, he is now able to pull himself up in to a standing position! It is always funny to walk in to his room when he wakes up and see him standing there staring at the door waiting for you to come and get him. It seems like just yesterday we had to keep his head supported all the time and now he can stand up. Wow! I definitely see why parents always talk about how quickly time flies and how fast kids grow up.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " - Luke 19:7

Is Crawling an Olympic Sport?

Kai crawled today. He crawled on all 4's and went about 6 feet before performing a face plant that dad scored a perfect 10! He really enjoyed that he could go so fast! Crawling on all 4's is much faster than the army crawl. I think mom and I just entered a whole new world of parenthood now that the boy can get around so quickly!

This past week has been very busy but we didn't have a lot of real notable highlights until last night. Last night we ordered pizza and went over to visit the Feeney's. They have 2 adorable little girls, one turns 3 this month and the other just turned 1. Kai had a great time playing with the girls, especially Mackenzie, their 1 year old. Here is a picture of Kai with Alexandria who will turn 3 this month. Mackenzie was getting ready for bed so we didn't get any pictures of them playing together which is a shame because it was really cool (the ladies would say "cute" and I would agree, but I have a manly reputation to live up to).

Today has been a lot of fun. We are making all of Kai's baby food right here in our very own kitchen. We made a lot of it today, we made mangoes (he ate mangoes this week and really liked them), sweet potatoes and peaches. We also made some foods that he hasn't had yet like pears, peas and squash. I am still losing my "let's make some steak for Kai" battle...I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I get the okay to puree some good old red meat for the boy!

Okay, this next part is rated PG and the pictures below may be PG-13 so if you have a weak stomach or anything, it may be in your best interest to move on to a different website. A couple of suggestions for some good reading would be here, here, or here.

For those of you who are still reading, here is the story. Kai took the most hugest poop ever today! This thing was ridiculous! It completely filled the diaper and went out both leg holes and exploded up the back. He had poo all the way up to his neck! It got even more hilarious when we took off his outfit and it got all up in his hair. The bad thing about poo is that it's poo and is therefore pretty gross. The good thing is that it cleans up pretty easily with soap and water and you usually feel a lot better after you go. Anyway, here are some pictures of the carnage!

They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. - Ezekiel 44:23

August Already?!?!

It's hard to believe but August is already here! August is going to be a huge month as we will have a lot of visitors coming to beautiful Central Indiana! We are looking forward to the company but first I need to get you all caught up on our last couple of weeks.

The biggest news for us is that our new nanny, Melissa started on Friday (7/25)! We survived 2 weeks without a nanny, it was fun, but we are sure glad that Melissa is here now! Thanks again to everyone who prayed for us and helped us get through the transition.

The Indiana Lesnet house is now officially baby proofed. I'm sure Kai will still find a way to pick up some bumps and bruises here at the house, but hopefully these few measures will help prevent a trip to the old E.R.. We have some pretty awesome gate configurations and our kitchen drawers and cabinets are a little tricky now. We would like to invite everyone over to test our home's new safety features.

Kai has quite the well rounded diet of fruits and vegetables now. In addition to the cereal, avocados and bananas that he had on our last post, he now eats sweet potatoes, peaches, green beans, carrots and applesauce. He loves the peaches just like daddy! I keep putting steak on Kai's "to do" list of foods to try but it keeps getting crossed off...

Last weekend, there were some classes offered at our church. They had things like "Chasing After God", "Intro to Common Ground", and even a class on budgeting. I took a class on Raising a Modern Day Knight, which is based on a book by the same name that is authored by Robert Lewis. The book is fantastic and I would highly recommend it to all men and especially to those men whom God has trusted with a son.

Kai has made a few developmental milestones since my last update. First off, he can now get in to the seated position by himself. He is also getting pretty close to crawling. He has been "army crawling" for the past couple of weeks but he is now getting up on all 4's and rocking back and forth. He can crawl backwards a little bit but he hasn't quite figured out going forward yet. When he tries to go forward, he ends up doing a shoulder roll on to his back. It's pretty funny but I haven't been able to catch it on video yet. Since he is getting so mobile, we have lowered his crib to the lowest possible setting. It looks a lot more like a big boy bed now but it is kind of rough to reach down and pick him up in the AM when your back is still pretty tight after a night of sleep.

We had an enormous day today! We got up and went to church in the morning where we heard a great sermon. Common Ground, posts all of the sermons on their website, so I would highly recommend that you check it out! After church, we ran a couple of errands and then went downtown to Victory Field to see the Indianapolis Indians take on the Toledo Mudhens! We only were able to make it through the 3rd inning but we had a blast! Kai loved the atmosphere and he even got a little coin bank of Rowdy, the Indians mascot. Here are some pictures of us at the game!


This one is awesome!!

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. - Jonah 2:1