Wishes...

I wish I wrote things down more often so that I can remember them forever. I didn't do baby books for my kids - not really anyway. Since I am currently feeling this way, I figure now is a good time to jot down a few things I don't want to forget about my kids right now.

Jake - almost 4 years old

• told me the other day that he was too little for preschool because he didn't know how to saw. I asked him if the other kids at school knew how to saw and he said, "welllllll, no" I guess Daddy needs to teach him to saw :-)
• Jake loves to read a truck book (aka 4Wheel Magazines) when he poops
• Jake loves Legos and Hotwheels
• Jake says to me, while pooping, (imagine a grunting voice), "the strawberries I ate, everything I ate is too big....I can't get the poopies out!" 
• Most nights at dinner, he says, "Mom and Dad, you crack me up!"
• He says prayers before dinner, and regularly thanks God for our blessings and peace and our healthy bites. Some nights those prayers are really long and repetitive and other times they are super short. All of them make me happy.
• Jake loves people and frequently gives anyone around a kiss on the arm - yes the arm.
• Valentines day this year we went to Oggi's for dinner as a family. We were shown our table and as we went to sit down, Jake walks over to the couple (whom we had never met before) sitting across from us and hugs them both. So cute, kinda scary, and so thankful they appreciated the cuteness that is Jake.
• Jake loves to ask Daddy how his day was and what he did it at work - that conversation goes on for awhile because he is very persistent in his questioning.
• He is and has been for awhile in the stage of asking WHY to everything
• He is very good at saying No, thank you when he doesn't like something and he says excuse me when he wants to get by (doesn't always say it loud enough or wait for the other person to move, but hey he says it)
• He loves juice and chocolate milk
• He loves swings
• Hates getting his head wet
• Loves music, lip singing, dancing, and shows (favorite movies right now are Planes, Cars, Frozen, and Wall-E)
• He is a solid sleeper which is great when David wakes up crying in the middle of the night for some reason - Jake sleeps right through it all
• He LOVES books and reading
• His stuffed animals that he sleeps with each night are Fred (Dr. Seuss toy given to him when he was born) and Roo (Kangaroo).
• Jake can buckle himself into his car seat (minus tightening the straps)
• Started his second round of swim lessons this week at the YMCA with his best buddy Adan

David - just turned 1

• David loves to be where everyone else is - he is constantly holding onto my legs and using me as a tunnel while I cook dinner or do anything really
• When Daddy comes in the door from work, David pretty much runs, laughing and smiling, to hug his Daddy.
• He loves to play with his big brother - he is a bit of a "bully" in that he is regularly tackling his brother for apparently no good reason other than it looks like fun
• He loves to blow zerberts (raspberries) on all of us. Daddy's belly is his favorite but he also does it to Mommy's legs. They are very slobbery and often involve some teeth - ouch!
• He loves to eat and does not like to sign for what he wants - just point and grunt
• He is starting to really enjoy reading books with mom and dad
•  He is climbing up on everything
• He is currently wearing the clothes that Jake was wearing at the time that David was born - big boy!
• He loves slides
• Is comfortable in the water
• Loves to dance, not as entranced by the TV as his brother and not a fan of long car rides (1 hour constitutes a long car ride for him)
• he has struggled with separation anxiety where Jake never really did
• He slept through the night at about 6 weeks old and we moved him to his own room at 1 week old because his breathing was soooo loud - I could hear him from my room across the hall with the door closed
• David is not a pleasant teether - currently working on two molars
•  Started swim lessons for the first time this week at the YMCA (parent child class with buddy Olivia)

Anyway, love my kids. Love to talk about them, take pictures of them, and be with them.

Things don't go the way you plan...

So we told you all that we were going to have a little girl sometime around June 9th. Well apparently the tech at Kaiser was wrong about the gender of our baby because on May 23rd at 5:25pm we had a healthy baby boy! We were all ready for our sweet little girl; Dan had finished the baby's nursery and we had her name and we were just waiting for due day. Well I had pre-eclampsia again so I was induced on May 22nd. After 20 hours of labor, two contractions and 5 pushes later we had our baby. So much excitement and crying for joy. Then the midwife adjusts the baby on my chest just enough for me to see and suddenly stop crying and shout out, "Is that a boy?". Why yes, that is a boy and of course the second thing out of my mouth was, "Great, we are screwed, we don't have a name!" The story of my son's birth! :-) He is our sweet precious miracle and surprise. Surprise because we were not at all prepared for a baby boy and miracle because after he was born we discovered there was a knot in the umbilical cord that could have tightened and cut off his lifeline at any point. So grateful for our little boy! Well it took about 24 hours but we came up with a name, David Brian! He is a great baby and his big brother takes such great care of him. So sweet. Here are some pictures of our boys!

Music and Jake

Jake loves to dance! We were listening to the radio and a song from the movie "Cars" came on and he was so excited! This is how he dances when a song he likes comes on.

Jake runs

Jake loves to be outside! His favorite places are the park and the zoo. Since it was too late to go to either of those places, I took Jake for a walk around the block - well really he took me. He pretty much ran like this the whole way. Lucky for me, he stopped several times to point out trees, dogs, bugs, etc so I could catch up. :-)

Jake's message to Daddy! A must see...

Jake loves the water...

 

The sweet things in life!

Dan has started a new nightly routine with Jake and I just discovered it last night. Jake's nighttime routine consists of Nakey Jakey Bear, chasing dad all around the house, then pj's, teeth brushing, then reading books, praying together and then bed. Just recently Dan has started to sing to Jake before he puts him down. I didn't know that until last night. Jake and I went through his whole routine, I turned out the light and prayed with Jake and then he turned to me and said, "Momma sing". He has never asked me to do that but I wasn't going to deny him. So I sang him some of my favorite songs. He then put his face against mine as I continued to sing and then he gave me a kiss and said, "Non" which means bed. It was amazing how much good that time did my heart. After talking with Dan, I discovered he had recently started this routine with Jake. I couldn't believe how sweet it was. I asked Dan what he sang to Jake and he sings a variation of the "Baby Bubbas" song that Dan made up shortly after Jake was born.

The sweetest moments to cherish with our little boy!

Life is changing...

It is amazing to me how often it seems like life changes dramatically! I started my new job at PLNU in October and it has been a great change for us. It is definitely weird not working with Dan and carpooling everyday. The commute is pretty long but the view out here in Point Loma is fabulous. I really enjoy all my co-workers and the environment here as well. 

The other change coming is our family going from 3 to 4. We are so excited for our little girl to join us but we have a lot of work and adjustments to make before we get there. We will be moving Jake to a big boy bed soon so that he can get used to that and won't feel like we are booting him out of his bed for his sissy. We will be converting the office into a nursery. There will be some purging going on which will be hard but probably good for us. 

Dan and I were talking about what we were excited about with having a girl, and Dan suddenly got a little teary eyed and said "I just realized I get to walk someone down the aisle!" Super sweet! Then a minute later, he says, "I just realized I have to pay for a wedding!" Hahaha. I love my husband. I have no doubt my daughter will have her daddy wrapped around her little finger, and I can't wait. 

Due date is June 9th, it still feels far away but I know it will be here before we know it. Here's to more changes! :-)

Baby is...

 

October 22, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
With the changes of Autumn come changes for the Quezada
family! I want to let you know that October 12th was my last
day with Amor Ministries. We have been blessed to be a part of
this ministry and serve together for the past 7 years. Dan will
continue to serve with Amor, but I am moving on to join the
team at Point Loma Nazarene University. There is a mixture of
sadness and excitement as I make this change. I’ve loved being a part of what God is doing, and I
get to continue that at PLNU. I will miss the people I’ve worked with
and miss the ministry I fell in love with. In my new position, I will be
doing many of the same things that I’ve done recently at Amor, as I
am the new Coordinator of Gift Processing at PLNU .
“Thank you” to each and every one of you for being a part of this
amazing journey with us! Thank you for your support, friendship,
prayers, and encouragement. Thank you for being a part of this
ministry with us! We could not have been here for 7 years without
you all. Dan could not continue without you. Thank you for being a
part our story — meeting at Amor, falling in love, getting married, and
starting our family. We look forward to sharing more Amor
experiences with you through Dan’s eyes! :-)
Blessings,
Katie, Dan, and Jake

Latest Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support! You get our letters because you have had and continue to have an impact in our lives.

As always, this Spring was the peak season at Amor and saw 117 groups building 254 homes in Tecate, Tijuana, Puerto Peñasco, and on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona. Dan traveled out to Puerto Peñasco a few times to work with groups, to deliver and pick up tools, and other logistical stuff. 

Summer season was in full swing by June, with 111 groups building  about 200 homes in Rosarito, Tijuana, San Carlos. This July kicks off Amor’s first ever Women of  Strength trip to South Africa! We have several Amor staff members traveling to Africa to join over 80 women from the US and Europe to build a home for a single mother in Johannesburg.

Our family had two pretty big events in the last month, reminding us that the path of life takes us both through the valleys and over the peaks. Grammie, Katie’s Dad’s mom, passed away on Saturday June 9th. We will miss her but are thankful knowing she is with the Lord and no longer in pain. The very next day, the family gathered for the wedding of Katie’s youngest brother Daniel, and his fiancée Sammi. It was a happy event that gave the family an opportunity to gather      together, draw comfort from each other, and celebrate the joy in life.

We are looking forward to our family vacation in August. We were lucky to be blessed by the generosity of a coworker of Katie’s Mom, who has a vacation home at Big Bear Lake, east of Los Angeles, which she is letting us use for a week. We can’t wait for a week of relaxation, and Dan in particular is looking forward to some green, mountain forests – which he hasn’t seen since “becoming” a Southern Californian seven years ago!

Jake continues to grow, learn, eat huge amounts of food, and amaze every day. He greets us every morning in the dim light of his room by pulling our his pacifier, clearly saying “Hi”, and then quickly sticking his pacifier back in his mouth.  He has sixteen very sharp teeth and is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that they need to be brushed twice a day. He is genuinely a happy, good natured little boy, prone to spontaneous dancing , generously affectionate with hugs and kisses and we are lucky to be his parents.

Thank you for the way you bless us with your love and friendships. We wouldn’t be who we are today without each of you in our lives, so Thank You!  Love, Dan, Katie, and the JakeMonster

How You Can Help      

If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to do so, we’d  love for you to get involved and actively participate in the ministry we’re doing at Amor. You can do that by praying for us and supporting us financially as we work to serve the needy in Mexico and on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona.

You can support us by sending  funds to Amor with KQUE/DQUE on the memo line of your check: 

Amor Ministries

1664 Precision Park Lane

San Diego, CA 92173

or visit    www.amor.org/give/staff  (that’s Katie at the top of the page!) and designate the funds to KQUE/DQUE.

If you have any questions about donations please call 619.662.1200.

Being a mother

I love being a mommy! It is like my heart gets a little bit bigger every time I look at my sweet little boy. You can't help but smile when you watch him. Sure he is a toddler and can get frustrating, but my love for him never wavers, it just grows. It is amazing to watch him learn, explore, discover, and grow. It is hard too because it feels like time is moving so quickly with him.

Jake loves to laugh and dance and play with trucks! He is very good at saying "please" and "thanks". I think his favorite word is "shoes". He can tell you what sound a train makes and he has the sound of any animal that growls (bear, lion, tiger etc) down. He can point to his head, hair, eyes, nose, ears, chompers, tongue, shoulders, fingers, knees, and feet. Jake loves to read books. We always read a couple of books before he goes to bed, as soon as his teeth are brushed he runs to his room yelling "book, book, book". 

Jake loves to play with his Dada! He loves to run around the house laughing with dad, he loves to jump with dad, he loves to play with the hose and help work on things in the garage with dad. It is a wonderful blessing to have a husband who loves playing with our son. They laugh together and "give knuckles" together. It is a beautiful and amazing thing to witness. 

I always wanted to be a mom, but I never could have imagined how fabulous it would be! I love being a mommy!

Life is crazy

The last couple of months have been crazy. My grammie passed away on June 9th and then my little brother got hitched on June 10th. The wedding was so much fun. Jake is growing like crazy. He just recently got another haircut that definitely makes him look more like Dan than before. We are getting ready for a family vacation to Big Bear, which we are super excited about. Here are some pics of the fun.

What day is it?

I am really not very good at blogging on a regular basis! :-( At least I don't completely forget to get on the computer and add some stuff.
Jake is almost 18 months old! He loves to climb, run, shout, and laugh. He is very proud of himself when he is a good helper - we are really proud of him too! He throws his hands in the air and yells YAY! He is again working on more teeth. He is getting a little better at the teeth brushing thing, he still really hates it when it is mommy or daddy's turn to brush his teeth but we are working on it. He loves his stuffed animals. He curls up with one every night now.
Easter was great fun this year. Dan's home church, Central Christian Church from San Jose, came to visit since they were headed into Mexico with Amor that afternoon. It was great fun to see those two worlds come together a bit. That afternoon we spent some time with our neighbors and the kids had their first easter egg hunt. Jake loved it until he found a toy truck then he was done. :-) Then we had a wonderful family dinner. It is fun to see Noah and Jake as they get older start to be able to do a little bit together. I am looking forward to the day they are running around playing together. Here are a few pics of the weekend:

So behind on update...

Hello again friends! It has been a long time since I have put out an update. Here is our little man. The little boy with Jake is his cousin, Noah. Jake is walking, running, climbing, going down the slide, and can show you his belly and his head. He talks all the time but still not really any discernible words. I have him working on please, it sounds like "tease" or "these" but hey it works. He has friends at daycare and is very sweet to the baby girls there too. He loves to eat. He also loves watching Monkey George, a.k.a. "Curious George". He dances during the credits almost every time and then as soon as the credits are over he points to the remote control begging us to let him watch more. :-)






We asked him to smile so we could take his picture! LOVE this picture!!!!

Amor Trip

Last weekend, a group from our church took a day trip to Mexico to work on a house for a family in need of one. It was awesome! The slab was done and the house was framed. We knew it was going to rain so we got straight to work. We plummed the house and got the roof done just as it started to pour. We put the bailing wire around the house, the paper, and the chicken wire. We got the door and windows in. We all got soaked to the bone, but it was such a blessing to be a part of something like this. Knowing that we were leaving Travita and her three kids with a dry place to sleep that night. Her house should be stuccoed soon and then it will be done. So excited for this beautiful family.

More to come....

Jake enjoying cake at his 1st birthday party.

Jake

This little boy is going to be ONE in 2 weeks! He is walking, climbing, laughing, and growing so fast.

Summer

Time flies when you are having fun...or busy or forget you even have a blog. It is already the middle of August. Jake is 9.5 months old and getting cuter daily. He is working on more teeth, right now I can feel 6!

We just got back a couple of weeks ago from a 2 week vacation. It was fabulous! The first week was traveling to Paso Robles, San Jose, and El Dorado Hills to visit family and friends. It was so great to see so many people and show off the little guy. Thank you to all you who hosted us and fed us and took time to see us. We are sorry for all the people we missed but are so grateful to have been able to make the trip. The second week was spent at a time share in Palm Springs. (Thanks you mom and pop Quezada) It was so wonderful. We had just the right amount of activity, rest, and family things. We took a trip up the Aerial Tramway which was beautiful and about 30 degrees cooler than at the base of the mountain. Dan had a golf day and I had a little spa treatment. We slept and swam and played. It was perfect.

Here are some more pictures:

Growing So Fast....

Jake is growing up so fast. He is 8 months old and crawling. He is pulling himself up on anything he can find and he is trying so hard to walk. He walks holding onto the couch and anyone who will walk with him. He has 4 teeth now. Two on the top and two on the bottom. We had a great time visiting some of my family in Colorado at the end of May. We got that plane ride in just in the nick of time too. I can't imagine what it would be like with him now being so mobile. We are getting ready for a long road trip and much needed and anticipated vacation. We will spend a week driving to Northern California to visit family and friends and then thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Quezada we have a week in Palm Springs. First real vacation since our honeymoon. So excited. It will be crazy hot but we all like the water so that should be just fine.

Time is speeding by. Jake has his nine month check up next week (I know it is a couple weeks early but we wanted to see his doctor). I go back to work full time in August. That will help with the financial part of things but I am going to miss my special day with my boy. Some day maybe I can work part time. Jake is trying to hit some of the big milestones for me before I go back full time. :-) It has been crazy hot and humid in San Diego lately. Jake is loving time in the pool and being just in his diaper. He would love to be naked but we just don't want that kind of mess!