Happy Holidays!

We have been reminded by a few of our loyal readers that we did not update the blog last Sunday. I'm sure that many of you were concerned that Kai and daddy didn't make it until mom got home and have been anxiously awaiting the next blog update to make sure that everything is still okay. Well, we are happy to report that we are all just fine and we are ecstatic that the holidays are here!

We had a great Thanksgiving and we stayed away from the stores on Black Friday!

We left Thanksgiving morning for North West Ohio. Our first stop was Montpelier for the Briner Family Thanksgiving celebration. I'm not exactly sure what the final official count was, but I believe that it was around 45 people.

Kai loved eating some new foods with grandma and grandpa Lesnet!


Kai had a good time playing with his cousins! Here he is with his second cousins; Elaine, April, and Kelly.

Stephanie and I had our first overnight date since Kai has been born on Friday night. We went up to Detroit to catch a Red Wings game and try to catch up on some sleep. Grandma and grandpa Eridon watched Kai while we were away. I have been a Wings fan since I was 8 or so and I had not been to Joe Louis Arena before. I have such an amazing wife who likes to do things like this with me! Don't we look like super fans in our jerseys?

On Saturday evening, we met up with Stephanie's extended family and ate some "no more turkey". Kai had a good time playing with his cousins and especially enjoyed exploring Uncle Jack and Aunt Pat's house which is all decorated for Christmas!

Doesn't this look like it could be grandpa and grandma Eridon's Christmas card this year?

After hanging out with the extended family on Saturday evening, we drove home. We pulled in to our driveway at about 11:30.

Kai had a rough night and Stephanie was up with him quite a bit throughout the night. I tagged in from time to time but we are both pretty tired after a pretty restless night.

Today we put up the Christmas tree and have started doing some decorating for Christmas. Kai helped daddy put the lights on the tree!

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. - Psalm 42:4

Update at the Midway Point

Hi All. I know that you have probably been checking in a lot this week to not only see Kai's latest video over and over but also to see if there was any updates as to how the boys are getting along without mom around.

Well, we were doing great until this evening. This evening Kai doesn't feel very good. It has been exhausting. I think that I am going to go to sleep right after I get this posted.

Well, without further delay, here are some pictures from the bachelor pad:

Here are a couple of pictures from Monday night. Kai and daddy had a great time and we even tried out a cool new Mr. T hairstyle. I kept trying to get him to say "I pity the fool" and "Quit your jibber-jabber" but he just said "da da da". Sounds just right to me!

Here are some pictures of Kai from tonight. I tried to console him and make him feel better but nothing that I tried worked very well. After about an hour, I gave up and just started taking pictures of him. I know that this probably isn't the best way to parent, but I really needed some comic relief and this sure provided it!

Yeah, he just was not feeling well. It is "just" gas though so I gave him some of those gas drops so hopefully he'll sleep through the night and feel all better in the morning.

He did cheer up a little bit during his bath!

So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man." - Judges 16:17

10 Months Today!

Today is Kai's 10 month birthday and just like every other monthly birthday, we took his picture with his stuffed monkey. It is pretty much impossible to pose him at this point of his life so here is the best picture we could get of him with the monkey today.
This week Stephanie had Veteran's Day off from work. Veterans Day was on Tuesday and that is the reason that you didn't receive any mail, although I bet you did go to the mail box. Stephanie enjoyed her bank holiday as she ran some errands and got a facial. This is Stephanie's second bank holiday since she started at the bank at the end of September. I'll admit it, I'm a bit jealous!

This week Kai cut tooth # 5 and tooth #6. Tooth #7 is just about ready to pop through as well. These teeth have definitely made for some interesting nights of "sleep". I have heard that exhausted parents of teething babies may not keep a close enough eye on their incredibly mobile children and those children discover that they can fit in to the dog's kennel and that her chew toys are a lot of fun. Sure glad that hasn't happened to us!

Kai had a play date with "Master P" this week and I believe that he is to have one of Thursday this week.

The Indiana Lesnets spent a lot of time in the kitchen this week. We cooked 24 pounds of turkey breast (3 different 8 pounders) and 15 pounds of ground beef. With all of the meat we made 4 pans of lasagna, 120 stuffed shells, 4 french toast casseroles, 3 corn casseroles, 4 cheesy potatoes, 4 ham and potatoes, 4 turkey spaghetti casseroles, 6 turkey pot pies, 4 Mexican casseroles, 24 pizza burgers, 4 bags of Mexican meat filling for tacos, 3 Cherokee turkey dishes, and 5 meals worth of spaghetti sauce. Our little chest freezer is filled to capacity but we don't think that we should need to cook again for 3 or 4 months. Stephanie and I are pretty tired from all of this cooking (and lack of sleep from teething baby) but we are sure glad to have it done!

This week Stephanie is in Washington DC for a conference for work and then some continuing education for her CPA designation. That means that the boys are home alone for a whole week! Please pray that everything goes very well for the Lesnet men while mom's away and that mom doesn't miss her awesome boys too much while she's gone.

In some depressing news, we may be in the market for a new washing machine. Ours started smoking a bit this weekend. I pulled it out and learned that Whirlpool doesn't want Joe Q. Public messing with the innards or their washing machines. There is something like 20 screws and a solid back plate covering everything up. We did another load of clothes yesterday and it worked pretty well. Maybe I'll take the back off and check it out while Stephanie's in DC.

Here is a video of Kai walking around upstairs here on his 10 month birthday. He is just all over the place and its pretty remarkable for a kid his age. He wasn't being as cooperative last week during our filming but I was able to score some good footage tonight!

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God - Colossians 1:9-10

Pray for the Persecuted Church

Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. - Hebrews 13:3

Today is The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church so we Indiana Lesnets would like to take a moment to encourage each one of you to pray for the persecuted church. Could you please do it right now? Just take a quick moment and pray for our brothers and sisters whom live lives of faith and courage while they face the immense challenge of living in such dangerous conditions. Please pray now, the blog will still be here for you to read when your done. If you would like further information about the persecuted church, please check out The Voice of the Martyr.

On Tuesday, the Indiana Lesnets practiced our civic duty and voted. I have to admit that I feel bad voting for the local government positions as I do absolutely no research about the local candidates or the issues that effect us here in the suburbs. Stephanie and I however did do a lot of research on the presidential and gubernatorial elections. Regardless of your politics, our country witnessed an historic election of our first African-American President, Barack Obama. Watching the coverage around the world and in schools and colleges across America, it was an extremely emotional event for our nation. While we disagree with President-elect Obama on a number of social policy and economic matters, we do share the sense of excitement he has brought to the country. Now that the election is over, it is time to put the bitterness and division of politics behind us and to unite in our support of our new Commander-in-Chief. I ask that you join with us and pray for our new President and for his wisdom and integrity to lead our nation in to a brighter future.

Wow, this blog posting is pretty heavy! Okay, back to the stories about Kai!

Kai has been taking steps for a couple of weeks but he has really started walking now. He can walk from one end of the house to the other, but he chooses to only do that when the camera is in its case. We were able to catch some footage of him walking around this weekend. Enjoy!

Saturday was a big day around here as I helped some of our friends move out of their house and in to a couple of PODS. They are building a new house a couple of miles south of the one that they live in now but that house isn't done yet and they are closing on the house they live in now on Monday. I guess that means that I will have to help them move again, just in time for my hands to stop hurting from moving all of the heavy furniture in to the PODS.

Also on Saturday, we took a family trip down to the outlet mall in Edinburgh which is about 50 miles south of our house. There are a lot of baby stores down there including a Stride Right, The Children's Place, Gymboree, and Carter's. We didn't buy him much as we really weren't impressed with the items that they had for the prices they were charging.

Kai has scored some pretty cool new stuff this week as he got a set of blocks and some maracas. He really likes these toys! Kai also got his first pair of shoes. They are pretty sweet shoes but they are like kryptonite as he cannot walk too good in them.

This week Kai took his first bath in the big tubby. He really likes the big tub and the bath toys that his Lesnet grandparents bought for him. He is also infatuated with the drain. Here is a picture of him in the big tubby playing with his toys.

Yep, still 4 teeth! Here is good picture of all 4 of them!

He has discovered my golf clubs as I have finally brought them in from the trunk of my car. Golf season has most definitely passed but Kai's season has just begun!

We bought a squash this week to make for Kai. We don't know a lot about squashes but we thought that the "spaghetti squash" looked pretty cool since it was just big and round and didn't have the gourd-type shape that the other squashes that we had in the past. It has a very interesting texture as it breaks apart in to little spaghetti looking pieces (hence the name) and they are impossible to puree for the boy. It looks like mom and dad are going to be eating some squash this week while Kai eats the pears and sweet potatoes that we made for him.

Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. - Hebrews 11:36-38

Sleepless in Indianapolis

Happy November! If you are in Central Indiana like the Indiana Lesnet's you are enjoying some unseasonably incredible weather. The last couple of days have been sunny skies with highs in the lower 70's. Normally, the average temperature here is in the lower 50's so we are definitely basking in the sun!

Friday was October 31st and therefore Halloween. Trick-or-Treating hours were from 5 to 8 here in the 'burbs. Stephanie and I were both home before 5 but it sure makes for a less-than-restful evening when you have to get home, get the boy fed, get the boy in his costume, try to get mom and dad fed, and put on your smile in time for the early bird trick or treaters.

Kai was a lion for Halloween and he is a natural trick-or-treater. He brought in quite the stash of candy and he even grabbed his own candy out of everyone's bowls. Grandpa Lesnet came down on Friday evening and handed out candy while mom and I took Kai around the neighborhood. Kai wasn't able to figure out what was going on but he sure liked all of the neighbors telling him how cute he was and then giving him something wrapped in paper to chew on. He wasn't sure what to make of all of the costumes, but everything was okay because mom and dad were there to protect him!

Here is a picture of Kai with his friend "Master P", the land shark.
Here is Kai with his Halloween plunder. We had to keep a close eye on him as he was able to chew through the wrappers! We're not quite ready to give Kai candy...we're sure that he will enjoy Halloween much more next year when he gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor!

Kai the lion with Grandpa Lesnet.

On Saturday, 6 of us went up to Purdue to see the Boilers beat the Michigan Wolverines. It was a beautiful day, it was hard to believe that it was shorts and t-shirt weather on November 1st! We had a fantastic tailgate with a pancake breakfast, complete with sausage, bacon, and fresh 100% pure maple syrup (thanks dad!). We also had some fresh burgers from the farm along with hot dogs, brats, sauteed vegetables, home made salsa, some stogies, cornhole, and of course a brew or 2. This was by far our best tailgate ever! And, in case you missed it, Purdue won the game on a hook and lateral play at the end of regulation. Awesome!Today (11/2), Kai enjoyed some orange juice straight out of a glass. He really really liked the OJ! He is cutting another tooth and also has a cold, so it has been a rough weekend. Even with his stuffy nose and cough, as you can see by the picture below, Kai loves his dog!

Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent you? - 2 Corinithians 12:16-17

Road Trip!!

Like most weeks, this past week flew by faster than expected!

Stephanie got a little baptism by fire at work at the beginning of the week as she nearly worked until midnight on Monday night and then she was back in to the office by 5:30 in the morning on Tuesday. They had a deadline that the needed to make and from my understanding, they got their reports in with 0 seconds to spare!

The Indiana Lesnet's had a big and very awesome day on Thursday. First off, I got to play 18 wonderful holes at Brickyard Crossing. The Brickyard is an amazing Pete Dye course that has 4 holes inside of the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! I have played there a few times in the past, a couple of times in scrambles. Last year I was way over 100 playing my own ball, on Thursday I shot a 95. I would like to thank Ron at the AOG Group for springing for a great round of golf on a beautiful fall day!

Also on Thursday, a bunch of us went in and bought a very sweet triplet stroller, which is pictured below (or at least a stock photo of the same stroller). You can see that it has some pretty sweet features like stadium seating, a hand brake, seating for 3, adjustable handle bars for different height parents. It also comes with a bracket that you can attach to a hitch on your car so that you can transport it without taking up all of the room in your van or SUV (because if you have 3 babies at once, you gotta have a van or SUV). All of these sweet features and the stroller only weighs about 30 or 40 pounds! Our friends were so happy to receive this and our group of friends were so happy that we could get this for them! Needless to say, our Thursday rocked!
On Friday, we had dinner with an anonymous family in the neighborhood. They have a little boy who is a couple of weeks older than Kai, whom we will affectionately refer to on this blog as "Master P". Stephanie made an incredible Mexican bake that was delicious (and very easy to make) for all of us, then we played in their basement in their super pimped out playroom. The boys had a blast! Hopefully Kai will have many more play dates with Master P! On Saturday (10/25), we all went down to Cincinnati to see Stephanie's Uncle Jim who is in town from Washington state to visit his family. It is always fun to introduce Kai to a new family member! Kai really liked great uncle Jim and uncle Jim loved playing with his newest nephew!
After we spent some time with Uncle Jim and his parents, we went up to see Stephanie's forever friend Erica and her family. We had a great time catching up with the Konya's and Kai had an even better time playing with their 2 older kids. The Konya's have a baby girl that is a little bigger than Kai but she is only 6 months old and is not mobile like Kai is so he lost interest in her pretty quickly! As an added bonus, we were able to see Erica's parents as well! Here are some pictures of our time with them.

This was my last week for teaching Sunday School at church for a while and I must say that I'm glad that I have a week off. Today's lesson was about "what can't God do?". The simple answer is that God cannot sin...whew!

In closing I just want to let you all know how excited that I am about next weekend. Friday is Haloween, which will be great! Also on Friday, my best man John is flying in to go to the Michigan versus Purdue game on Saturday! Also attending will be my old roommates Trevor and Matt, along with my boy James and best of all MY DAD! Hopefully I will remember to take my camera along for lots of good pictures of the tailgate with my very best friends.

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it. Numbers 23:19-20

Insert Clever Title Here

This year is going by so quickly! As of this very moment there is 73 days, 4 hours, 39 minutes and a few seconds until 2009. That doesn't hardly seem possible. Where has 2008 gone?

Kai has had a pretty big week as he took his first steps! He is up to about 4 or 5 and then he falls down and crawls at warp speed to whatever he was going to try to walk to. He is such a quick crawler that I'm not sure if he will pick up any speed at all when he starts to walk. Maybe that will keep him on all 4's for a while longer (we can only hope anyway, he is growing so quickly).

Kai also started climbing all the way up the stairs this week. Last week he could go up a few but then he would get tired or try to turn around and go back down. He has tunnel vision on the stairs now and gets up there lickedy-split.

Here is a picture of Kai with a jacket from his Auntie Jessica in Japan. It is very soft and it has teddy bear ears on the hood. How cool is that? You have to wonder why they don't put teddy bear ears on adult jackets. I'm pretty sure that I would buy one...maybe I'll just sew some ears on Stephanie and my hoodies.
Although we had a great week, it wasn't all roses and candy. Here is Kai and I when mommy left to go to a baby shower. Please don't go mommy!!
While mom was away, Kai gets away with making much bigger messes. Here is Kai playing with his food and cracking up. He sure likes his blueberries!
Kai turned 9 months this week. Like each prior month, we took his picture with his stuffed monkey growth chart. I included 2 pictures this month because I think that these are both good pictures to show his growth and development. In the first picture, Kai is stiff-arming his monkey like he has seen watching football with daddy.
In this picture, he is palming his monkey's head like a basketball. This kid is already an All-Star!!
Also this week, Grandpa Lesnet celebrated his 60th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!

On Friday, I took a day trip down to Houston to play golf in the Continental Airlines Scholarship Golf Outing. My original team was stacked and we were going down there to win...instead, we had a lot of new developments at work and I played with the replacements. I was escalated from D-player to A/B player. Needless to say, we didn't win!

I am certainly glad that my month of teaching Sunday School is drawing near an end. This week's topic was "Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?". Ugh! So, I have now had to teach the kids about the origin of God, where God is, and how a loving God lets bad things happen! Next week is "Is there Anything that God Can't Do?". Sounds easier...let's hope it is!

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Psalm 37:23-25

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