Welcome Kalli!

Two beautiful girls, love at first sight.

Our little lady was born exactly two weeks ago today on December 8th, 2008. We were scheduled for a C-section that morning, having to be at the hospital at 5:30am with a 7:30am delivery. Of course we didn't sleep the entire night before because we were so excited. But wouldn't you know, Kalli agreed that she was supposed to come that day as well? That morning, when Kimi was getting ready at 4:30am, her water broke! Yes, that's what I said, it broke. It looks like the Dr made the right call by picking that day, huh?

The C-section went very smoothly, considering it was a very invasive surgery. If you've never been in on a C-section, it's a pretty graphic scene. However, comparing it to helping Kimi through natural delivery with Makenna, it was a walk in the park. That experience is not one I want to go through again anytime soon! Yuck! Kimi even says the recovery has been tremendously better this time comparatively. That is one of the reasons why we chose to go the C-section route. She's very glad it has worked out the way it has.

The hospital stay was incredible. Usually people hate the hospital because it is such a cold and dreadful place. This hospital though was designed with women in mind. Its so girly that even have a masseuse on staff. I'm not kidding. But they were very attentive and checked up on us all the time. We were very grateful they were around so much. At the time, we thought our stay at the hospital when Makenna was born was good but this was a much better experience. We were blessed by their hospitality (haha). We headed home just three short days later and so began what all new parents get to experience... the night feedings...

Makenna, even now, still has not slept through the night more times than I can count on one hand. The first couple years or so of her life we practically lived in zombie mode. When Makenna started only waking up two times a night, Kimi and I decided it was just too much sleep to be had. We started trying for another and soon got pregnant. I can hardly count the number of hours we have missed in just the two recent weeks worth of night feedings. But let me tell you, Kimi and I have become experts at functioning on just what is necessary to recharge and start a new day.

I'm not saying Kalli is even remotely hard to take care of. She is a really content and sweet baby... that is unless you don't feed her right away, haha. Right now she is sitting next to me sleeping comfortably with her arms behind her head. :) We just love her so much already, it's hard to explain. I really do believe that God gives you an instant love when you see your child for the first time. A love that connects the two of you so deeply, it's impenetrable. We felt it when we saw Makenna. We felt it again two weeks ago.

We were worried about how Makenna would react to not being the baby anymore, though she's hardly a baby. We have been trying to prepare her for months now that she is going to have a new sister. When Kalli finally came, it was the moment of truth. Makenna couldn't have been more amazing in how she has welcomed her new sister. She loves her so much and is eager to help at any chance that she gets. It hasn't been all roses in this transition for her though. The realization that she isn't the baby hits her some times, leaving her a bit emotional. She doesn't always want to share her parents but she's really doing a great job.




Something really funny my wife said when she saw Kalli after she was born was "She looks just like her ultrasound picture!" I laughed so hard when she said that because the only thoughts in my head were "You think?", haha. I wanted to wrap this up by saying that it has been an incredible experience and we are so blessed for it. We have added something wonderful to our lives and dreams and couldn't ever see how it could be the way it used to be. She's perfect and we love her so much... Uh oh, she's waking up now. I've only got about 30 seconds to go before the alarm sounds... I mean before she starts screaming for food! :) Enjoy the slideshow we made below. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful support and well wishes for us. It's been a blessing!

Jason

PS. SAM BRADFORD WON THE HEISMAN!!! WOOOO!!! :)


Watch Kalli Addisyn - HD on Vimeo.com in High Definition!

Catching you up! :)

March. Yes, that has been how long it has been since I've updated this blog. I meant to take a little time off from writing to just let life happen but I guess I went a little overboard! And it wasn't due to a lack of events, because when you find out how much has happened since March, you'd be amazed. I will write out a few notes on each event so bare with me if this is a little long.

After all of the events that happened earlier in the year with Kimi's dad, we decided to make a few changes in our lives. In May, we had the big trifecta of events that sometimes doesn't happen even once in most people's lives. In the middle of the "housing market crisis", we decided that we were ready to move out of our home and find one that we could grow into as a family. We started looking at homes nearby and put a lot of serious thought into buying Kimi's grandmas house, which was right at our price range. It needed some work but it was a great house and carried a lot of precious memories of her time with her Grandpa. After much deliberation and right when we were all set to buy it, we had a couple of other big news items that caused us to look on the other side of town instead.

First off, let me tell you we found one of the best realtors I've ever seen. She not only sold my house but sold Kimi's grandmas house in less than 10 days after putting them on the market. She also sold the house up the street in 5 hours! So if you are looking for a realtor in the OKC Metro area, leave a comment and I'll share her name. Anyway, with having our home sold so quickly, we had to move in with my mom and Scotty (usually a dreaded thing but it was a lot of fun!) for a couple of weeks until we were able to close on our new home. Thank you!

One of the reasons why we started looking elsewhere was because I received a promotion at work! I've been with the credit union for 7 years on Oct 1st and I thought it was time to move up to the next step. A position came open at a brand new branch that was being built and after a great interview, I was chosen to be the supervisor there! I'm still not sure I know what I'm doing but I'm having a lot of fun doing it! :) With the new home, I am now 6 minutes away from work instead of 30 for the first time in my life... at any job! Unfortunately, Kimi is now 45 minutes away from her work but that will all change after she gets back from maternity leave next year.

I know what you are thinking... "Wait a minute, did he just say maternity leave?!" Yes, that's right, the third part of our trifecta is that we are PREGNANT! We found out in May that we were going to be blessed with another little girl in December! Can you believe it? I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd have two little girls. But I can tell you I wouldn't trade either one of them in for the biggest riches in the world. I can't wait to see what she looks like in just a few short weeks when we go in for our 4-D ultrasound.

Kimi said that I have the responsibility of naming the baby this time. And I'm thinking, "yeah right, she's gonna let me name her", haha. Every few days she brings up another name for me to "consider" but I have decided on the first name already. Kimi and I saw a different spelling of this name a few years ago when watching CSI Miami and we just loved how it sounded. We changed the spelling some but we've, I mean "I've", decided on Kalli. It's pronounced with the "ah" sound like how a doctor asks you to do when he looks down your throat, not the long "ae" sound like Caedmon's Call (sorry, I had to reference my favorite band for you to get the point).

Now we, I mean "I", can't decide on the middle name. I'd like to hear what your thoughts are. We did this last time when we were trying to decide on Makenna's name. The two middle names we are wrestling with are "Kalli Addison" or "Kalli Brooke". Kimi loves the Addison name but wants to change the spelling to Addyson or Addisyn, or Addycen. I think the "y" in the name looks funny but she want's to go with the trend we started with Makenna's middle name, Grayce. Anyway, let us know if you like Addison or Brooke better and we'll take it into consideration! :)

What else, lets see... in June, Miss Makenna turned two years old! We had an awesome little "Elmo" themed party with all of her closest friends! We had a pool party and a bubble blowing machine and lots and lots of presents! It's hard to believe that she is already two years old! She is growing up so incredibly fast, it's almost not fair. Her vocabulary has exploded with funny expressions and creative thought! She is extremely observant and is hooked on "Monkey George". That's Curious George for those not in the know but she can't say curious yet, so Monkey George it is. Daddy converted the dvd to work on his iPhone and that's her new favorite toy now. Big mistake...

Listen to how smart she is. She knows to push the button, slide her finger across the screen to unlock it, click on the iPod button at the bottom, scroll down the screen to the Monkey George movie (with just words mind you, not an icon or anything), and push play. All by herself... I'm just amazed. If she wants to change the movie to Cars or Finding Nemo, she just pushes the button to go back and selects the other movie. I thought the iPhone was a sophisticated and complicated piece of technology but that just goes to show you how intuitive it really is. She is just 27 months old and already she can do something that her momma can't do! Haha! Kimi's use of technology hasn't expanded much since the days of pagers and text messaging is just too much for her, which I crack up at. But Miss Makenna is just a natural, I guess.

The last bit of "big news" that I have to share is that with all of the changes, I decided that now was just as good of time as any to go back to school. I lost count of how many times I've been hounded to just finish my degree. I genuinely hate school. Not so much the knowledge you learn but the deadlines and papers and junk you have to deal with. And at the point I am at in my degree, I would not be able to work a full time job due to when the classes were being offered at. Plus I'd have to drive 40 minutes one direction to school each night. Not good. A good friend of mine, Kent, told me about an online program offered through the University of Oklahoma that was designed for working adults. I checked it out and decided to transfer in and finish my degree through OU. Oh My Goodness, it's a heck of a lot harder than what I remember school being like! But it's all online and I just have to write a lot of papers, and I mean a LOT of papers. It does allow me to work full time and spend my evenings and weekends working on research and writing about things like Confucius' effect on the Western World, Ancient Egyptian rulers and their Cult of the Dead rituals, Paradigm Shifts in the scientific community and the effect on science, and Medieval Christian and Islamic architecture and their effects on society. Yuck. Kill me now...

See, I told you that we had a few things happen since we last updated in March. We sold a home, bought a home, I got a promotion at work, went back to school, Makenna turned two and developed an addicting personality, and we began the process of welcoming our newest member into our family, baby Kalli. We have been blessed beyond anything we deserve. Thanks to each of you that have stuck with us during our sabbatical. I can't promise that I will update all the time but I will try to as events happen. Thank you for sharing in our story. Sorry again for the length. I'm just preparing to write those huge papers for school! :)

God bless,
Jason

Saying "See You Later"

Hello again everyone! I can't believe it's already March, exactly two weeks away from the first day of Spring, and it's supposed to snow today! A few days ago we were facing tornados (or the weatherman's new favorite phrase "gustnados"). Ah, you gotta love good ol' Oklahoma. Where else do you get this kind of excitement in the weather? Anyway, let me fill you in on the last month's worth of events.

Little Miss Makeroo has decided she wants to start using the big girl potty. First off, Kimi and I have no idea how to potty train a kid. So Kimi, being as smart as she is, went out and bought a potty training book to educate us on what Makenna is going to be going through. Her Aunt Jan bought the book "Everyone Poops", which in my opinion is graphically obscene and just disgusting, but I'm told it covers some basic unanswered questions that children have concerning the normalcy of going to the bathroom. If you haven't read or seen this book, wow, you have to at least check out some incepts online. Anyway, she has adapted fairly well to going on her little potty but we've got a ways to go still. She will tell us about half the time she has to go "POTTY POTTY POTTY!" The other day she waddled into the living room with her pants around her ankles while holding up her diaper, which was full of "stinky", to tell me that she went potty. So funny but totally gross. Haha! Kimi's going to hit the potty training hard during spring break. We'll see how that goes.

"And the Best Husband Award goes to..." Valentine's Day was extra special for us this year. Kimi and I needed a quick trip away for some "us" time so I took her to a bed and breakfast! We stayed at this very cozy little cottage in the woods which was just perfect. It was a two story cottage decorated in a country theme with the bed and shower area up some stairs in the loft. They have a Jacuzzi tub, a big flat screen tv, a sauna room, a full kitchen, and much more. This picture is only a glimpse of the beauty of this place and I would highly suggest any couple to go stay at a B&B sometime. If you want to know where we stayed, I'll gladly share it with you. Just shoot me an email or reply back to this post.

On February 29^th, the day my mom turned a whopping 12 years old, we got the family together and headed down to the Fort Smith National Cemetery in Lawton, OK to bury Jerry's ashes. It was a very windy day but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a cool 65 degrees out but it was just perfect. His ceremony was short and sweet. He has a fantastic view of Mt Scott from where his resting place is at, as you can see from the picture. Right after the ceremony, we all drove to a little hole in the wall place in Meers, OK which, I'm told, is famous for serving Texas Longhorn burgers! The building is over a hundred years old and was in serious need of some remodeling but it really had a down-home country feel to it. The Longhorn burger was as big as the plate it was served on! Kimi and I split it and you know, it tasted just like a regular hamburger... but it was my first BEVO burger and I'd say it was worth the extra money.

Right after we all ate, we headed up to Mt Scott to make a toast to Jerry. Afterwards, most of the family went home but some of us stayed around to go make a hike over to the 40-foot-hole to spread the remaining ashes. We took to the hiking trail and made our way up to the special place where Jerry always loved to go. Sherry asked Ben to do the honors of spreading Jerry and his two favorite dogs' ashes out over the gorge. It was a bit surreal but the moment wasn't lost on us.
We all just sat down for a few minutes basking in the sun, dwelling in our thoughts of Jerry. It was what he wanted and we were able to do that for him.

You can see more pictures from the day here at our Flickr site. I'll write again soon. We're taking a trip out of town soon and we should have some great stories to tell afterwards. I hope you all stay warm and safe in this crazy weather!

Jason

Sara and Danny's Wedding

A couple of months ago, Kimi's cousin Danny and his fiance Sara, brought up the subject of photography with me. Knowing that I have been getting much more serious into photography, they wanted to see a few pictures that I'd done for other people. After a bit of discussion and a slew of emails back and forth, they asked me to be the photographer at their wedding! That request alone is such an honor because this is the most important day in their lives, aside from their salvation and the birth of (future) children! And to ask me, a relatively new hobbyist photographer to capture the day for them, well, I was blown away! I knew enough about weddings to know I needed to ask for help and do a lot of research before the big day! So I asked my photographically skilled step mom, Brenda "aka Nonnie", to please, oh please help me! She took pity on me and accepted! :)

We spent about 5 hours shooting the events at the wedding, which happened to be on New Years Eve. Weddings are usually hectic, stress-filled events but because of Sara and Danny's planning, it went off without a hitch! We had to overcome multiple challenges in lighting and locations but all in all, I believe we had a successful first wedding! I'm using this as a learning experience for me. I've been deep in thought lately on what we did right and what didn't go as planned. I know it was our first time but I know we can keep getting better. I'm including below several of my favorite pictures from the wedding. Let me know what you think!

To see more pictures from the wedding, you can go to our Flickr pictures here. If any of you, or someone that you know, are interested in doing a picture session with me (weddings, engagements, senior pics, family, etc), let me know! I'd love to start building up my portfolio as a possible launch into turning this into a business someday. Also, if any of you know a little something something about the ins and outs of the technical side of photography, I'd appreciate some constructive criticism or tips.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Thank you again Sara and Danny for giving me the honor to capture your wedding days memories! Thank you also Brenda for all of your hard work and creativity! We should do this again sometime! :)

We miss you Jerry

How do I sit down and write out the words that would describe what has happened over the past few months? I know I haven't blogged about anything. None. Nada. There has been SO much that I’ve wanted to write about but I just haven’t found the strength of will to put down my thoughts into words. Mainly because of what had been going on with my father-in-law, Jerry. On the morning of January 6th, Jerry went home. His health had declined rapidly since Christmas and it was a painful and emotionally draining experience for everyone that was there. Leading up to the morning he passed away, he was with his friends and family and everyone was there comforting him and telling him how much he was loved. After we went to bed that night, I think he was at peace in his heart and was ready to go home. He had been in so much pain for so long, I truly believe he received the answer to his prayers that morning.

His service was just incredible to me. Yes there were some tears but it was one of the most joyous events I've been to in a very long time. His best friend and his sister spoke about the amazing adventures he had experienced in his life. Its funny how much you learn about someone after they are gone. And in this case, Jerry was an amazing man. He was quiet and soft spoken in his recent years but when he spoke his mind, it was full of wisdom. I only hope that at my memorial service (hopefully a long time from now) they can find half of the fantastic stories and comments that were made for Jerry. He was the man who gave me permission to marry the one person that made my heart whole. His face always lit up whenever he was around his grandchildren and you could clearly see the love he had for his wife. I know he was beyond grateful for everything that Sherry did for him for so long. The kind of patience and strength that she was able to muster for him was saintly. But that was just a token of the depth of their love. They were married for 32 years. THIRTY TWO! How many marriages don't last 10 years... or even 5? They were pillars for their children and inspiring examples for anyone that knew them.

Christmas was tough this year, with all the traveling we had to do. But we were able to spend several days down in Texas, treasuring the time we had left. One special memory from Christmas was the fact that Jerry hand picked out all the gifts that he got for everyone. You should have seen the look on Kimi's face when she opened up the gift he got for her, a cross necklace with a pearl in it. It was the perfect gift for her, hands down. Now she will treasure it for the rest of her life.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your prayers and kindness during this tumultuous time in our lives. We are making it day by day but we still ask for your prayers of strength and rest. We KNOW Jerry is waiting for us up in Heaven and its not our time yet to go see him again. But just knowing he is pain free and watching over us makes it a little easier on the grieving process. We love you terribly Jerry.



This House Believes

Mr & Mrs Willis, I presume.

On December 15th, Kimi and I had the blessed opportunity to be a part of the wedding between two of our dearest friends, Brad and Denise. Kimi was a bridesmaid in a stunning red dress and I was a groomsman in my classy tuxedo. And guess what, little Miss Makenna was a flower girl! She was so cute in her little dress. It was unfortunate that she did not take a nap the entire day so when we got to show time, she basically sleep-walked down the aisle! Luckily there was another flower girl to put down some petals for Denise to walk down the aisle on. The wedding was beautiful and we are so happy for you two! Here are some pics from that day...

A couple of days before the wedding, I was in charge of putting on a bachelor party. Somehow, my own bachelor party consisted of me running up the score in Madden on BJ but that was about it. I was determined to make Brad's a little more involved. While the girls had their cutesy little girly party with their doilies and tea, we men had a crazy evening of Buffalo Wild Wings and a three-console-system-linked HALO 3 party! The Man's evening was devoid of women but was replete with the thrills of victory and the agonies of many harrowing defeats. If I didn't have to work in the morning, we'd have continued the party to the wee hours of the morning. I hope Brad had a great bachelor party! It was a blast talking trash with him and all of his friends from Bokchito!

Speaking of Bokchito, right after Christmas Kimi and I made a stop by Brad and Denise's new place on the way home... well, 'on the way' is a relative term considering it was 1 hour and 20 minutes east of I-35 near Durant and the Oklahoma/Texas border! Quite a little drive. When we heard the faint sound of some dueling banjo's as we neared the town, we knew we were in for something interesting. Brad and Denise were trying their best to woo us into moving down there, lining up a convenient tour of the town (took 4 minutes flat, haha) and just happening to drive by several homes for sale, complete with prices and square footage at hand. Too funny! My wife really does want to move to the country, but she wasn't really thinking dirt roads in the picture in her mind. I can name multiple great things about Bokchito, namely whole lots more family time, lots of space (think 40+ acre lots), and away from the madness of city life to name a few. But it has its disadvantages as well, of which would include moving away from family members that have become a vital part of Makenna's life and ours. Just another thing to add to our pile. Anyway, Brad and Denise, we wish you guys the best on your new home! We can't wait to see the finished product! Oh and Denise, we hope you get used to the fresh cow manure scent wafting down the street (not plural, but singular). :)