Aiden's 4th Birthday

Aiden turned four on November 14th and we held his birthday party at Hopscotch's Playplace here in Bowling Green. I recommend it to anyone with toddler age children. The kids seemed to have a blast, it's very safe and in my opinion is much less stressful than Chuck E. Cheese. As I told another parent last night, both places have their benefits and detriments, but in for my money I prefer Hopscotch's.

Now to some pictures.

Isabel's First Birthday

Isabel and her birthday present of bath toys. She seemed to like them.

Isabel showed none of the aprehension of

birthday cake that Aiden did on his first birthday.

Isabel enjoying cake and completely ignoring the pretty balloon.


The messy aftermath of two inhaled pieces of cake.

Happy Halloween from the Renfrows!

Isabel (as Ladybug), Aiden (as Hotwheels guy), Daddy (as Dr. McDreamy...ok, just as a doctor) and Mommy (playing herself.)

Every party has a pooper and it's Liiiiiiiiiiiz!

Pre-Trick or Treating photo. (Fifth family member, Phoebe Cat in background)

Ah the bounty of a hard night of asking for free candy.

After this, the sugar rush began. And is ongoing!

Pumpkin Festival at Jackson's Orchard

Isabel's first trip to Jackson's Orchard.

3/4 of the Renfrow family in the pumpkin patch.

Aiden & Isabel in the pumpkin patch. The chances of both of them looking at the same camera and both smiling are absolutely astronomical.

Isabel's first hayride!

Aiden before the tractor started the hayride.

Aiden, Isabel and Daddy in our respective Spongebob Squarepants PJs.

Memorial Day, BG Hot Rods, Adorable Babies

If I'm posting Memorial Day pictures, it's safe to say I've been a busy fella'. And that is the truth. But looking at the Basham's blog, I got inspired to share pictures of the kiddos.

Aiden & Isabel are as close as any 3 year old and 8 1/2 month old you've ever seen. Izzy lights up when Aiden comes in the room. She follows him with her eyes and now that she's an accomplished crawler, she's just plain following him.

Below are a picture taken with Cousin Trevor at Nana and Papaw Bob's house on Memorial Day, pictures taken at Aiden's first Bowling Green Hot Rods game, a picture taken with Cousin Jonah, and an adorable sleeping picture of Isabel.

Here are some recent pictures.

Aiden & Momma at Bowling Green Ball Park. The game was fun, but the baseball was horrific. The Hot Rods nearly as many fielding errors (5) as hits (6).

Aiden & Dad before Aiden got his popcorn. That's why his smile looks fake. When he gets his popcorn his smile is magically genuine.

From left to right, Aiden, Isabel and Cousin Trevor enjoying some swing time at Nana & Papaw Bob's house.

From left to right, Isabel, Aiden & Cousin Jonah at our place.

And finally, the most adorable baby in the world.

Random Pictures, Nothing More

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Since Liz posts a lot of stuff on her facebook account, I haven't put as much on here. The uproar from regular readers (both of you) was tremendous. So in response to that we offer a stirring new feature film starring up and coming Isabel in a role she was born to play.

Ebert and Roper give it two thumbs up.

The Sacramento Bee claims "if you only see one online video of a 6 month
old rolling over in Plano, Ky. this year, make sure it's this video."

Jesus Loves Aiden

Christmas 2008, Part II

Aiden & his cousin Trevor in front of a very decorated tree at Nana's house.

The grandkids posed for this picture. Sort of.

This one's a bit blurry, but it was one of Aiden's crown jewels of Christmas 2008. A Backyardigans Circus. Let's face it, it could have been a Backyardigans home embalming kit and he would have loved it. But he did seriously like this gift very much.

Love in the Face of a Loss

Our church family lost a member yesterday when a young man was killed in a single-car accident. While there's a lot to lament in losing someone who was such a good hearted person and who was inspirational with his recommitting to the Lord, there's more to it than that. As a Christian I am able to look at the situation and feel a measure of comfort about where his eternal destiny lies.

But as a parent I ache. We prayed as a family for his loved ones left behind then I snuck into Aiden's room while he was asleep and prayed over him while I cried. God bless anyone who has lost a child. I cannot fathom the depth of that sorrow, nor do I ever want to.

So today I want to say two things. One, I want to publicly (as public as this blog is) say that I am exponentially grateful to God for my family. I don't know how I could be more blessed than when I look at my daughter or my son or my wife. Praise, honor and glory to a loving God for blessing me beyond reason. Two, I want to urge anyone and everyone to love your family a little more today and hopefully from now on.

God rest the soul of Nathan Vincent and comfort his family.

2008 Christmas, Part 1

'Twas the morning of Christmas, and all through Plano
The ground was all wet from rain storms, not snow
But the Christmas tree lit with multicolor lights
We all awoke to breakfast after quite restful nights

Aiden had Cheerios, bananas and milk
We had enough pork product to stuff a large elk
With biscuits, gravy, and beverages besides
It's Christmas miracle we didn't all double in size

Then came the part that made Aiden eager
He'd open his presents with the zeal of a beaver (you try rhyming eager)
With so many presents, could he go the distance?
Opening so much would require persistence

And me with my camera and mom as his aide
Aiden set about the task for which Christmas was made
Opening each present with awe and with glee
He made a very good Christmas for Liz and me

And now for the pictures, I know you're all pleading
Hope you had a merry Christmas, and thank you for reading...

Isabel with her stuffed doggy from Papaw.

Bigger than her and really soft. Perfect.

Checklist:

Santa hat? CHECK

New toy? CHECK

Pants? CHE....oops

All bundled up and nowhere to go.

Aiden's modeling career seems to be over before it began. Here he's trying to show you his new pajamas his Auntie Ester got him. You see them right?

Aiden and his presents. As you can see, he was very tired. Clothes, board games, a Smart Cycle, a digital camera, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree (not pictured.)

Having the first granddaughter makes you like a hero to your parents. So we accepted all the lavish praise and adoration we got from Aiden and Isabel's Grandma Soledad.

Catching up

The above picture is why you become a parent. Look at how sweet that is. Doesn't it just give you a toothache? What? You don't get that? You know, because they're sweet. It makes your tooth ach....Forget it.

We were delighted when a young, caucasian version of Stevie Wonder stopped by the house recently. Although he wasn't quite the musical talent we expected, he was a delightful house guest.

Christmas is just three days away, so this will probably be the last post until after the holidays. If you're reading this, have a wonderful holiday season, be very safe, and give thanks to God for the gifts he gives you all year long.

If you're not reading this blog, then Bah-humbug to you.

Thanksgiving Pics (and others)

The Renfrow's enjoy WKU's close loss to Duke in women's basketball at E.A. Diddle Arena. (photo by Liz, in case you thought we left her in the car)

It's a terrible shame that the kids can't get along. Just look at the anger they have for each other.

Aiden likes extreme close-ups.


Here's the children swimming in a vat of buttercream when we went to Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory. (ok, it's really a blanket at Nana's house)

More buttercream.

Thanksgiving Recap

No pictures yet, but I'll add them in later.

Thanksgiving was good this year. After some flip flopping, we finally settled on having it at my mother's. We initially wanted to have it at our house with Liz's brother and sister coming in along with some others. When her siblings bailed on us for various reasons, we regrouped and went to Mom's.

The food was good and abundant, as it always is. The dressing was the best she has ever made (and I should know because I am an expert in MomsDressingology.) Aiden really enjoyed the time with his distant cousin (it's my cousin's granddaughter, and I'm not sure how that plays out in terminology, so I'm calling it his distant cousin.)

Aiden, being still untrained in country culinary consumption, ate chicken nuggets and fries. Poor boy.

I also wanted to clear up a little something about the last blog entry. I had flippantly said that presents lure relatives to Christmas. I think some certain people took that personal and I really, truly regret that. I had no one in mind when I wrote that comment, but I am responsible for not thinking it out. I think making the comment that showed very little forethought on my part.

So if that caused any offense, please understand it was not at all directed at anyone. Words matter, and I know that. So please accept my apology for my poor choice of words.

Here's hoping that everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving with so much food that you slipped into a tryphtophan induced coma temporarily. God bless you all.

One Happy Family

Thanksgiving is two days away. It's my favorite holiday for two reasons. One, you get all the glorious food that you get at Christmas without the worry and expense of buying lots of presents. I think presents ruin Christmas, but they are a necessary evil. Presents are the bait that lure relatives to Christmas get togethers.

Two, I have so much to be thankful for. That's the purpose of this entry today.

The two pictures we have here are what mean everything to me. My wife who is beautiful and the most caring person I've ever known. She was my inspiration to grow spiritually and in character. And she still is.

My son is the joy of every day. He's absolutely hilarious with his boundless imagination and tenderheartedness. I don't even know if tenderheartedness is a word, but it ought to be just for kids like him. God brought him into our lives to teach us what it feels like to love with everything you have. And knowing that, helps me know how much God sacraficed for me. Lord help me to never forget it.

My daughter is a reminder of how beautiful innocence is. She is so serene (most of the time) and there is simply nothing that beats holding your own baby and feeling her warmth. I know that my job will be to protect her innocence by teaching her who her real Father is. As important as I want to be, I have to be second.

We have a home, cars, cable TV, internet, etc. But those things are trivial things. We have healthy, safety, love, hope and faith. Be thankful for those, because you have them too.

Big Brother Bathes Baby

Everyone enjoys entertaining entries. Especially entertaining entries with alliteration. Don't we?

That goofy introduction out of the way, Aiden was helpful in giving baby Isabel her first bath the other night. We captured a few of the shots on the digcam (my new shortened version of digital camera, which seems too long and too formal.)

Also in the interest of time (since I'm supposed to be working here at work) I'll just skip the captions for the photos. Enjoy!

How's Aiden Doing with the Baby?

The most frequent question we've heard since Isabel was born is, "How's is Aiden doing with her?" It's a very legitimate question and one that we were worried about ourselves. Aiden is a great child and has been as easy as a two year old can be to raise. But you worry after almost three years as the only child how he would react to a baby sister being in the house.

So here is an illustrated story to answer that question.

At first, Aiden wasn't sure he liked this whole baby situation. He took a long time to warm up to the idea. After Daddy brought Isabel out from the delivery, Aiden didn't say a word about her. He looked at her only briefly and seemed disappointed that his playtime with Papaw Bob was being interrupted.

Even after Momma got out of recovery and into the postpartum room, Aiden seemed content to play by himself. While everyone else was clamoring over Isabel, Aiden read a book. When he got around her, he would look at her then walk away.

But before we left the hospital, Aiden had grown fond of his little sister. He adapted to sharing the attention. We are very proud of him and how mature he's been in accepting and loving his sister.

As Aiden became more enamored with Isabel, one thing he's done is pepper her with kisses. Lots of kisses. WHOLE GREAT BIG BUNCHES of kisses. Which doesn't surprise me or his mother. He's a very affectionate child.

And now they're just like, well, they're just like brother and sister. Exactly as it should be.