Kaden's First Outing

Kaden looking sweet this morning.

Kaden ready for his outing.

The McDonald clan ready to go

At the top

Jared with his walking stick

Daddy and his brood

Mommy and the gang

The whole fam

So, Matt is on paternity leave this week. For those of you who know Matt at all, you know this means that family adventures are a must. That being said, Kaden had his first trip around the mountains today. We left the house around noon and drove up HWY 60 around several mountains to Suches, GA. Then took HWY 180 around to Vogel State Park, and took HWY19 back down into Dahlonega. After a brief stop at WalMart, we made it home about 5:15 this evening. Momma is really tired and Kaden a little fussy, but everyone had a good time. It is so beautiful up here!!

Kaleb and Kyla's Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had a birthday party for Kaleb and Kyla. I know that sounds crazy, considering Kaden was all of 2 days old, but...that is how the McDonald's do things. I had gone to the doctor on Tuesday and was told that nothing was going on and that we would talk about induction at my appointment the following week. So, we thought that we would go ahead and get the birthday party out of the way. We had Meme here to help out and that worse case scenario, we would cancel the party if I went into labor. Well, needless to say, I did go in to labor and we decided that we would cancel the party. However, we were then able to talk the hospital into letting me go home on Friday, so we decided to go ahead and have the party. We invited some people from Matt's work that have kids and then some from the church we have been going to as well. We had a good turn out and I was able to sit around and let Matt run the show. It turned out really well, thanks to Meme's help and Matt's game time. It was a good opportunity to get to know some of the people we will be spending the next 2-3 years with. It was also a good chance for our kiddos to make new friends. It is hard to believe that our baby boy is 9 years old and that our little girl is 4. WOW time flies. We are so thankful for the children the Lord has seen fit to allow us to raise for Him!

Welcome Baby Kaden James McDonald

Kaden made his grand entrance on Thursday, February 10th, at 12:44pm. He weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and was 20 1/4" long. He is a sweet and HEALTHY little boy. God has been so good to our family and we don't take that lightly. This was by far our best birth experience. You civilians really don't know how good you've got it. Ha! We thank God for an easy birth and a sweet baby boy. We pray that Kaden will be saved at an early age and will walk with HIM all the days of his life. Thanks for all of your love and support!!

Pics of the house - mostly set up

living room


living room looking into the dining area

looking into the living room from dining area

back porch off the dining area

view from kitchen toward front door

view from front door toward kitchen

view from front door up the stairs

bonus room - kaleb and jakob

kyla' room

used to be crawl space - owner made it into a play area

opening to the crawl space from play area

view inside Kyla's closet

view of the "book" room / hiding area behind the closet

book room / hiding area

Jared's room / office

view down the basement stairs

basement play room

man cave entrance (basement)

storage area in man cave

work out area in man cave

Okay here are some pictures of the house as it is now. We still have some work to do, but things are looking more and more normal around here every day. I should have taken these pictures last Friday after I cleaned the house, but that would require too much effort and a thought process that this expecting mother of 5 does not possess. Oh well. It was clean Friday, sorry you missed it!!