Our Thank You Christmas Post

Christmas day at the Bower household was very relaxing and joyful. I never expected to enjoy a white Christmas in Portland, but this year was the year with a snow storm that shut down the entire valley for little over a week. It was not until Dec 27th that things were settling back to norm. And now that we are experiencing normal Portland weather - 40's and rain is kinda nice. I put together an album with comments to share our day with you. Please scroll through and enjoy!

Smiling #2

Ian's Smiling

(8 weeks old)

Grocery Shopping for Christmas

Our local Trader Joe's got some new kid size grocery carts and boy did Jadon have a ball! We did not have difficulty entertaining him while shopping. The trick is now how get him to leave the grocery cart once we are done without a protest?

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I really do not have much say in the matter, but hey! If we are going to get "unprecendented snow fall" (at least 8 inches!) and the "worst weather in more than a decade" I might as well and try to find the silver lining - At least Jadon is enjoying it and I do not have to attempt to conquer a 750 foot hill to get to work!

(Quotes taken from local news)

Peanut Butter Crackers

A White Christmas in Portland ?!?!

Merry Christmas Ian Style

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The artic blast has visited the Portland area and boy was it cold! Jadon didn't seem to mind though cause we had to drag him kicking back into the house.

The school's have been closed for the last three days, so I am enjoying some help with the boys - I am actually completing tasks! We have traveled around Portland with chains on the car because of all the hills, the roads being iced over, and the lack of snow removal equipment by the counties here. And because the artic blast visited us twice, Jadon and mom went out to build a snowman.

Purify me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean;
Wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalms 51:7

Jonah was a Prophet

Ian is almost 7 weeks old and mom, Jadon, and Ian are finally falling into a do-able schedule and enjoying time together. Ian has finally determined his schedule for feedings and Jadon has found something that holds his attention during that time. I went through special toys, books, cars, motorcycles.... the only thing that seems to consistently work is a Veggie Tales video of the story of Jonah. Will had purchased it on a wim, in exchange for some clothing that I had previously purchased at a second hand store. When I sit down to nurse, Jadon points at the TV and says "Jonah pleeze" and then sits down next to me & Ian.

Tonsils anyone?

Now, I thought I knew the story of Jonah. I mean he is the prophet that God told to go to Nineveh and when he decided to go the other way, he ended up in the belly of a big fish for 3 days and nights, right? Well, yeah, that is the general story. What I didn't realize until watching the Veggie Tales version over and over and over and over.... again, is that Jonah didn't get it. Our God is a God of compassion and mercy and loves bringing people to himself. He uses backwards and broken people like myself and Jonah to deliver that message of mercy to others. When the Ninevites believed and repented (partly because Jonah was in a big fish and lived!) Jonah was mad! He did not feel that the Ninevites deserved God's compassion and mercy, which is why he did not want to deliver God's word to the Ninevites. And I must confess, I have been there. I have been angry and resentful when certain individuals in my life found the Lord and received His grace - in my book, they definitely did not deserve it, and hey, I wasn't going to show it to them, so why should God!

Christmas Tree Shopping

Very humbling to be watching a "children's" video and learn God's truths. Jonah is a story of God showing compassion and mercy to people that were not chosen as his own. The lessons for me have been to:

1. Show compassion and mercy to everyone
2. Do not put God in a box and tell Him what I will and will not allow

It's interesting, because I wonder what is sinking into Jadon's heart and mind as he watches it. But, understanding and wisdom will come in due time. Will and I are fostering familiarity and knowledge of where to find truth, that way when he has questions, he knows where to find the answers.

Who do you know who you feel does not deserve God's compassion and mercy? Is that who God has been placing on your heart to deliver the message of the Christmas to? The angels announced Jesus birth to the shepherds by saying "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord..."Luke 2:10 - 11.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Arigato Narumi Yada

My Grandmother's great niece sent a present. It is this really cool truck with a tank that has a whale shark in it (you know it is cool when dad wants to open the box). It is from the Aquarium in Osaka that we had visited with them while we were in Japan in 1997. Jadon really likes his new truck. He can point to truck and whale at the same time! Narumi, if you see this blog, please leave a comment so that I can contact you.

Thank you

Happy Thanksgiving

From our celebration to yours

Day 27: What's in a name?

Definitely not in the one week time limit, but just a little bit before Thanksgiving. I guess I wasn't kidding after all. But we finally discerned our little one's name.

Ian Cooper Bower

Day 10: Baby Boy Bower

Wow! 4 days of just being Mommy! Just Jadon, Dad, Mom & Baby Boy Bower. Yes, we are still waiting on God to reveal a name to us, but we feel we are making progress, so I predict by Thanksgiving we should have something. (Just Kidding - Will's deadline was 1 week!)

Jadon is learning to be the big brother and how to appropriately love his baby brother at this delicate stage! His favorite thing is to make sure that his baby brother has his pacifier at all times. Of course, only after it has been taste tested by his big brother! We are learning how to teach and foster gentleness from Jadon towards his little brother. A steep learning curve, but we are getting there. Jadon is also learning to be more consistent in telling mommy & daddy when he needs a diaper change. Of course it tends to coincide with every diaper change that baby brother gets, but only once or twice has Jadon been dry and still wanted his diaper changed! We are praying that this will translate into good potty training soon!

Jadon is using a spoon relatively well now and gaining good control of his language, he actually repeated "I love you" to me today! When we are out and about he points and names all the exciting buses, planes, trucks, dogs, motorcycles... I'm sure I am forgetting some. Of course he has great control of his muscular ability - running, jumping, climbing, hanging, even somersaults! He is one constant jet stream of motion! He has a lot of books that he enjoys looking through, but the only one he calls by name is his Bible. His Bible has lots of pictures of animals in it that he really gets excited about. There is the naming of the animals in the Garden of Eden, Noahs Ark, the horse's in pharaohs army, Daniel in the Lions Den, Jesus on a donkey, and many more. Mom even created a song about the animals on Noah's Ark to the tune of "Ol McDonald had a Farm" and every time Jadon wants to hear it he sings "EE II OO".

Dad is back to work and I am enjoying and savoring every exhausting moment with my two little ones!

Day 6: Baby Boy Bower

The first few hours of this day were spent in the Pediatric ER at Emanuel Hospital. Mom and Dad were very concerned with a new paroxysmal crying pattern that appeared to be in response to pain as we were all trying to get some sleep. Baby Boy went home in the morning and we followed up with his pediatrician later this same morning. The blessing out of the lack of sleep and another night of needle pokes, is that Baby Boy's blood work is all within normal limits and he does not have to take any more antibiotics! He continues to feed well and hopefully his stool will be less runny without the antibiotics on board! Praise God that it is Day Light Savings tonight!

And some wonder why we have not had the mental energy to settle on a name......

Happy Harvest!

It's harvest time and Solid Rock Fellowship pulls out all the stops for an alternative celebration to All Hallowed Eve's. There are hay rides, a climbing wall and mechanical bull riding just to mention some of the high lites. A western theme and a skit that involves the kiddos goes on through out the festivities. For the toddlers they had a bouncy room - though Jadon is still a little leery of the contraption and did not want to go in it. What he really did enjoy though was the baby swimming pool filled up with balls. Unbeknown to us, they had candy at the bottom of it that all the other kids were feverishly searching for. Jadon was happy just to be in a tub of balls! Will then created a game of finding candy and Jadon let us re-hide the same piece of candy for 30 minutes! Can you guess what Jadon's costume is?

Day 4: Baby Boy Bower

Yeah! The blood cultures remained negative for 48hrs! Which means, they will most likely not grow anything, and whatever he reacted to - was not massive enough to catch. We spent our first night at home last night and what a nice change of pace that was. He still has a full two weeks of antibiotics to ingest, but what a nice change of pace. I was talking to one of my doctor colleagues and she told me that her first baby also had a fever in the first 24 hours and she, as well, wanted to take her baby home and give the antibiotics. She was a little more forceful than myself and said they sent her home and a very disapproving nurse came twice a day and administered the antibiotics. Doctors do not fit into the mold of "usual care", we tend to be challenging for our treating physicians! Just ask my midwife!




As a mom, I am thankful, because now we can start nurturing our family and building bonds between Jadon and the baby, build a flexible working schedule that maintains my patience, and savor every precious minute of this time. As a doctor, I continue to worry about setting up my little one for a drug resistant infection and allergy to penicillin in his short life. Consider it all joy as James says. The latter is not within my control - so I will concentrate my mental energy on being a mom!

Day 3: Baby Boy Bower

So far it's all good news. The ear issue was a non-issue. The baby just squirmed too much the first test to get a good read. The blood cultures show no growth (no bacteria). And he continues to feed, sleep, pee and poop well. God willing we will take him home from the hospital tonight or tomorrow.




In the mean time Will and Jadon are roughing it without Mom at home. So Dad decided to carve a pumpkin with Jadon. He has been pointing out the neighbors and since (a little sarcasm coming) it will not critically wound him spiritually, we had a little fun.

Welcome Baby Boy Bower

Baby Boy Bower joined our family October 26th at 11:50pm weighing 7lbs 12oz and 21 inches long - weighing in one oz larger than his big brother. Big Brother Jadon, enjoyed meeting his baby brother and thinks we should name him "Bee". His name is still being withheld from us and it seems that we need to attend to other urgent things before we can concentrate on listening for his name. As a family, we were all set to leave the hospital, when they took one last temperature and it was elevated. The follow-up blood work was also concerning so baby boy Bower, got to stay the night. He ended up with an IV and is getting at least 48hrs worth of IV antibiotics. If the blood work remains negative for 48 hours, then we will go home on oral antibiotics as early as Wednesday pm (Oct 29th). Otherwise, he may require a longer course of IV antibiotics. I have asked if I could administer the antibiotics at home like we do in adult medicine - but I guess in baby medicine world, that is not done because of the fragility of his veins and they have more issues with infiltration, etc..... So an early road bump in this little guys life make's Mom & Dad Bower's life a little more interesting for a couple of days. Other than the IV and antibiotics, this little guy is feeding well and sleeping soundly despite all the interruptions.

James Chapter One talks about a lot of practical stuff as we have been learning lately as our church has been teaching on it the last couple of weeks. Counting trials as joy, asking for wisdom, being hearers of the word and not just doers. When I have considered my circumstances, responsibilities, or challenges, I have the attitude of jumping in and going with the flow, because I know that God already has it all taken care of and things will work out, at least that is what I tell myself. My sin in this is that I do not make Him an active participator of my trials or my activities, i.e. I am too prideful to go to Him, I inadvertently trust my own wisdom and my own abilities to work things out. James (1:23-25) says this is like the man who looks in the mirror and then forgets what he looks like - I am not being a doer. Will and I have been given another little "talent" by God, and already in his short life, he is sick. I instantly went to my medical wisdom and training to find the assurance and comfort I needed to know that he was going to be "OK". I failed to first stop and pray. I am really good at hearing and judging, but not humbling and doing. Forgive me for my pride and not choosing to stand on "the Rock" but to stand on my own sandy foundation. Pray for this little one of God, that he will continue to do well and overcome this infection and that we, as a family, can go home Wednesday pm. Also pray that his Mom will consciously place herself at Jesus's feet every morning so that she is best equipped to train him and his brother in the "way that they should go" Proverbs 22:6. Pray that you are not like myself, that you will not struggle with pride, that humility will be your virtue and the key to your relationship with Jesus.

As soon as Will or I are able we will have pictures of this little one for all to see!

And Jadon Grows

Jadon continues to amaze his parents as he continues to learn and grow. He is definitely a car/truck/tractor boy! He gets excited about anything with "wheels". Especially when he see's a motorcycle. Jadon has had Mega blocks to play with for a while and he is finally grasping the concept that the blocks stack! But the old fashion way of playing with them (just scattering them all over the floor) still remains to be a lot of fun!





This Leap Frog Pad that Great - Aunt Shirley got Jadon for Christmas last year is starting to become more interactive. He is putting together that he can touch the pictures and they make different sounds. He also knows that he has to touch "the green go button" so the Leap Pad knows what page he is on!





He is picking up words faster now too and is becoming quite the little helper around the house with good direction from his mom and dad! He really likes music and singing time, especially if we are creative and put hand motions with it. So much fun to see, watch and experience him grow! Thank you Jesus.

Happy Labor Day!

Who would of thought that driving those race car grocery carts would be this exhausting?

The summer is coming to an end at the Bower household and Jadon has visited his new day care a couple times already and doesn't even notice when Mom comes and picks him up! (Mom takes that as a good sign). Dad is at a new position at Beaverton School District and Mom is still doing the same old thing. Jadon has grown tremendously these last 3 months, he towers over most of the two year olds in his sunday school class and we keep telling people who ask that he is only 17 months old! If he grows into his paws (just like a puppy), Will and I are looking at a big boy (He's wearing size 5/6 shoes!). I see babies at work all the time and keep thinking to myself "Jadon was never that small!". God will continue to provide all our needs - Even energy/stamina to match all of Jadon's currently unbridled energy. Praying that God continues to work in our lives as we steward this talent that we have been entrusted with.

Orangutan

It started with Jadon's preferred two books of pictures of animals. Will and I would go through them and as Jadon pointed we would name the animals and make the corresponding animal sounds. Jadon picked up some of the sounds and some of the hand motions that we made to go with the animals. He really enjoys the elephant sound that Will makes and the orangutan motions that I showed him. He picks up the books multiple times a day and points and makes corresponding animal noises. Because of his interest in animals, we decided to take Jadon to the Oregon Zoo during Papa's visit. We saw and touched a lot of animals, but got the most excitement out of Jadon in response to the orangutan's and giraffe's.



Jadon now lets us know when he wants to see an orangutan.



We would like to share his favorite orangutan video with you.



If you would like to view more pictures from our trip to the zoo, the link is on the right.

Another Day at the Park

A day after returning from Mt. St. Helens the temperatures were still relatively high, so for fun we decided to go cool off at Jamison Square Park. The park is a gathering point for many families and kids from West Portland on hot days. The park is home to a water feature that is made up of cascading steps that fill a shallow wadding pool that continually fills and drains. We put a photo album together of the day. There should be a link to it on the upper right of the blog or try clicking HERE.

A Camping we will go......

Well we finally did it! And we had a lot of fun. I wanted to take a day trip and check out Mt. St. Helens and Will suggested we turn it into a camping trip!

Jadon got to try his first real helping of dirt!

He supervised the assembly of the tent.

And then romped around to make sure it met his approval.

We found a swing set for some good wholesome fun.

No camping trip is complete unless there are smores!

All in a days work! And guess who didn't want to get in his car seat to come home?

My What an Active Life!

Jadon has been enjoying learning to climb and slide down playground equipment. In fact it is hard to get him to stop: climb, slide and repeat! Thank God Jadon still takes a nap!

Eating Watermelon!

Bye Bye

If you listen closely, you'll hear Jadon say "Bye-Bye"

Happy Father's Day

Swinging in the Park

Biking the Springwater Corridor at 85 degrees

Last weekend, when word came out that there would be a heatwave (80-90 degrees) Deanna and I decided that we would take a bike ride today. So last night Deanna started packing a few things and this morning I loaded up the car. Deanna had looked online and decided to head for the Springwater Corridor, a path that runs east-west through SE Portland. Along the path are many parks and we thought we could take the 6.3 mile bike to Powell Butte Park, find a place to eat and then pedal back to where we parked.

We found our starting point well enough and loaded up Jadon and our supplies in the Chariot Cougar 2 trailer and away we went. It was warm but things went fairly smooth on the way East, with the exception of the pages from Deanna's work and phone stops. There were quite a few roads that the trail crosses so we had many natural stops while we waited for the lights to permit us to cross. By the time we reached the trail to the park I was looking forward to relaxing and playing with Jadon.

When we pulled off the Springwater Corridor there was a park billboard but no map for us to see the fastest way to the bathrooms and picnic benches. Deanna knew they had the facilities so we continued another 200m meters up the beautiful forested narrow trail with the trailer and Deanna's nice road bike. We saw another entrance so Deanna went to see if there was a map, no luck, so we continued up the gorgeous forested trail.

After another 300 meters I stopped a couple mountain bike riders zooming down the trail. They had to stop since the trail was narrow and I was pushing the trailer and my bike up. They said the facilities were about 3/4 of a mile up the hill, if we stayed to the right. I was starting to get a little frustrated especially when the stinging nettle plants brushed my bare calves. Our little bike ride and picnic was turning into a bit of a multisport adventure race. The trail was quite steep as we continued up the butte and I was no longer glad I had packed a couple extra supplies in the trailer.


In retrospect I wish I would have stopped and enjoyed it a little more. The forest was beautiful and the weather was great. I should have taken some pictures: Deanna and her road bike in the middle of a forest, Jadon and I riding uphill on single track as the sun pierced the cool forest. The trip up was about 1.3 miles to the closed bathrooms and sun scorched picnic tables. We decided to set up camp in the shade of the closed bathrooms, which would have otherwise been gladly used.

From the park facilities we were able to enjoy some time together and study our Portland Bike map to choose a better trip back. After Jadon cooled off a bit he was his normal playful self. He enjoyed watching all the dogs and running around. We all ate and Jadon was happy to wear some chocolate on his clothes.

The trip back was fairly focused. We were tired, warm, had an errand still to make and then once home there would be the clean up. We only stopped so Deanna could to answer a couple pages and give Jadon a chance to drink some water. On the way home we stopped by a diaper store and then Trader Joe's before heading home.

After emptying the car of groceries and bike supplies I began to wash the car while Deanna and Jadon put things away up stairs. About half way through Jadon and Deanna came down to join me. Jadon had fun cooling off in the spray of the faucet and occasionally he would run through the spray of the nozzle. It was all in all a great and tiring day.

New Furniture needed by the end of October

Jadon has lots of great stuff in his room but it seems we will have to thin some of it out and add some new furniture. Now that he is getting older we will be looking into a bunk bed or maybe side-by-side small twin beds. Since the room is so small it will likely have to take advantage of the ceiling height. Though, I am not sure what the color of the new set up will be. Deanna will surely vote for red but I would like the kiddo to have a say about any new colors. And we have been so blessed with hand-me-down clothes from Heidi and others, we have those boxes of outgrown clothes ready again. Jadon's book collection might benefit from an addition as well, you know, something about big brothers....

O.K., I'll stop beating around the bush. Jadon is getting a roommate; and it's not a puppy! As usual, Deanna looks fantastic and no one would likely be the wiser until the final months. This time around Deanna had a basic sonogram early and so far so good. It seems the child is due about October 31st (I am praying for Nov. 1st). However, Deanna reminds me Jadon was a week early. When it comes to the gender of the child, since the sonogram was so early, only God knows.
(By the way, no one should try to send us a bunk bed since it was just a way to announce the pregnancy.)

For right now, my prayer requests are for our sleep schedule and Deanna's work. Jadon has been really enjoying the new wobbler's class at day care but he is not yet used to their nap schedule so he has been waking up at night. Deanna has been working hard to help her colleagues since one had shoulder surgery and has been out for about a month. Deanna has been her usual super responsible and efficient self and taken more responsibilities while her colleague recovers. However, the extra work has been stressful and tiring.

I am looking forward to the future, but like before Jadon came, I don't know how God will make it all happen. It's actually pretty cool, not knowing all the future details helps me to stretch my faith and see how God is faithful.

In His Grip,
Will

Jadon is starting to walk

Jadon has started to take his first few steps over the last week or two. Here is a little update to highlight his walking skills.

A ride on Sauvie Island

Jadon took his first bike ride today! Actually, we took our first family bike ride today! We had a blast! Thanks to Eric, Jadon's bike helmet came via UPS on Tuesday and the weekend weather cooperated! Jadon already loves being in his trailer because of all the walks that we take together, so this was extra fun. He isn't too keen on his bike helmet though, but he looks pretty cool with his sunglasses on! All the other cyclers said he was cute. We took a 12 mile jaunt around Sauvie Island and saw cows, llamas, sheep, osprey, and a really big ship on the Willamette River. All within view of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams & Mt. Hood. We would of loved to captured the adventure in pictures, but, we were so excited, that neither of us grabbed the camera. That means you have to wait till our next cycling adventure!

Playing Drums

Happy One Year Old Jadon!

The Lord has blessed us with a year of Jadon. And it has been a good year! He has been healthy - except for one ear infection - he has been growing and walking and talking, doing all the things that little babies do at his age! He - so far - has taken only one big tumble, and that was off the edge of our bed. I am sure there are many more to come and we will take them one at a time please.


We had a party for him (see the link on the right) amidst the rain/snow/hail mix of this really weird Portland weather. But I guess it goes with all the bumper stickers that we see that ask us to "Keep Portland Weird". But there was plenty of warm cheer and celebration amongst friends. It was the first time Jadon had a chance to entertain a lot of friends on his home turf and it took him a while to warm up to the company, but he ended up being a good sport and the life of the party.