Merry Christmas 2009

Our morning began with Kaylee proclaiming that Santa Claus had come at 6:40 AM. Kaylee reported that Santa had written a letter, filled our stockings, and left presents including an unwrapped doll highchair. They crawled into bed with us for some cuddle time as we waited for Trace to wake up around 7:30 AM. Prior to Trace waking up we had monkey bread in the oven, hair combed, presents distributed, and read about Jesus' birth in their children's bible. It was fun watching the girls get so excited.

Top gifts this year are as follows:

• Kaylee: Ariel doll, Hally-Target's version of the American Girl Doll (much cheaper), Lego house set, purple robe, and dresses. The growth chart that Aunt Sam made was awesome too!
• Kianna: Polly Pocket rollercoaster, turquoise robe, Tinkerbell pajamas, Batman and Spiderman dolls, and the growth chart that Aunt Sam made was awesome too!
• Trace: He enjoyed sliding some boxes across the floor, otherwise was quite indifferent. Although, the growth chart that Aunt Sam made was awesome!
• Keri: City Looks gift cards-Day of Beauty here I come. I also love the engraved charms for my charm bracelet (names of all the kids plus Trevor and I). Very cool!
• Trevor: Framed Sports Illustrated magazine with the Hawkeyes on the cover.

We had a fun time celebrating with our families throughout the week. We spent the 17th at Stacie's house celebrating while my sister, Shelli was in town. The highlight from this evening was seeing how excited everyone was to see the photo calendar I had made. We went to Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne's house for a nice meal on the 22nd. We attended our church's Christmas Eve Eve service on the 23rd where Kaylee sang "Away in a Manger" with two of her friends. They did a nice job. The 24th was spent with Trevor's family and the 25th with my mom's side of the family. We are blessed to have our families in town, so that we can easily celebrate with them. We closed off the evening by watching "The Nativity". It was a great end to the day! I leave you with one question, "Could they make toys any more difficult to get out of the boxes?"

Trace is 11 Months Old!!!

Hard to believe that in one more month our little guy will be celebrating his 1st birthday. What a big boy! I better not get ahead of myself, that milestone will come soon enough.

Trace's favorite thing to do is walk behind his push toys. It doesn't really matter what push toy it is, if it moves he will walk behind it. Aunt Sam let him borrow a push toy that has a seat to ride on it too. This has been the BEST toy and actually a Godsend for a busy mommy. The girls have a blast playing with their brother with this toy. One of the girls sits on the seat, Trace stands behind it, and the other girl helps steer or pull it with the dog leash they attached to it. They literally make lap after lap around the house making their own choo choo train. I love it that Trace is getting big enough to actually "play" with his sisters and that the girls have so much fun playing with their little brother. It is the perfect activity to keep them busy while I am getting dinner ready! Thanks Aunt Sam you're the best!

Trace is starting to let go of objects and stand on his own. This is still in the very early stages with his record being ~3 seconds. I'm not sure that he will meet our earlier prediction of walking by Christmas. It isn't too far away though. I'm honestly not in a hurry for him to learn how to walk, as I know it means he will have greater speed and cover more distance, which makes me a bit nervous. Trace has done amazingly well avoiding the Christmas tree and other decorations. Surprisingly, he has showed very little interest in touching the tree. He seems to have an affinity for a basket of pine cones and a wooden star, but otherwise is leaving things untouched.

This past month I have begun weaning Trace to prepare for our upcoming ski trip. I am still nursing him when he wakes up and before he goes to bed at night. That means he is getting two bottles during the day. He enjoys holding his bottle, but is easily distracted. Trace is still working on using a sippy cup. He is starting to get the hang of it and has actually emptied the cup 2x. However, he doesn't tip the cup up in the air high enough, which means that we hold the cup for him, which kind of defeats the point. It remains a work in progress. Trace has figured out how to get his Cheerios into his mouth all by himself. He has been working on this skill for a couple of months, so this is a big accomplishment! Trace is transitioning from baby food to table food, which he thinks is pretty great now that he has his top two teeth to help him chew his food. Trace learned how to sign "all done" and is using it appropriately. If he doesn't like what he is being fed his little arms start waving in the air meaning "all done". It is pretty cute, except when the spoon is close to his arms and the food goes flying everywhere. Then it isn't so cute...

As for other accomplishments, Trace has learned how to wave "hi", which he does selectively. He also plays peek-a-boo with his hands covering his face. It is adorable. Our little guy is so precious and continues to be such a blessing to our family! We love you Trace!

Christmas Programs

Today was the day of both Kianna and Kaylee's preschool Christmas programs. We had a busy morning as Kianna's was from 9-10:00 AM and Kaylee's from 11:00-12:00 PM. I'm just thankful they didn't overlap! Kianna's program was really cute. Her class sang about 6 songs and then she presented us with a candy cane ornament that she had made. She was really proud of it and did a great job singing her songs.

Kaylee's preschool reenacted the nativity scene with a super cute skit. Kaylee played Mary and had three lines to say. She said, "I am the Lord's handmaiden. What will be will be." and "I'm going to have a baby." She did a great job remembering her lines and had a blast. You could tell she thought the play was hilarious as she was laughing during several parts of it. For example, she got to ride in a wagon with a donkey taped to the front of it. She thought that was hilarious as she was laughing into her hands while being pulled across the stage. It was really cute. Then when she told Joseph that she was going to have a baby, Joseph slapped his cheeks in surprise. She again cracked up laughing. It was really neat seeing her have so much fun!

Heather

This is the post I have been dreading to write. A week ago today I attended the funeral of my dear friend, Heather. She was killed instantly in a car accident on November 30th. Her two little boys miraculously survived unharmed. For that I praise God. Life has been tough since hearing of her accident. I grieve my own loss, yet know that it pales in comparison to the loss her husband, Dustin, and little boys, Charlie and Brennan feel. Their little boys are just 27 months old and 5 months old. Too little to remember their Mommy when they are older. I think that is what breaks my heart the most. I will never understand why this had to happen, but trust that God is in control. I do feel definite peace in knowing that Heather is in heaven right now. I have confidence in this, not because she was a "good" person but because she had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and lived each day to glorify him. Here are some verses from the bible that testify to the confidence I have.

• "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
• "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." 2 Corinthians 5:1
• "We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God" 2 Corinthians 5:20
• "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1 John 1:9-10
• "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 6:23
• "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

As funerals go, Heather's was one of the neatest ones I have been to. Although she was only 32 years old, she lived a full life without many regrets. It was neat hearing how she used her life to impact those in her community. I have so many great memories with Heather. I feel so blessed to have just seen her a few weeks ago at my 10 year reunion. As I continue to mourn the loss of my dear friend, please pray with me that Heather's death will not be for nothing and that others will come to know Christ personally through her death. Pray also for peace, strength, comfort, and the financial needs of Dustin, Charlie and Brennan as they attempt to get back into their daily lives without Heather and their Mommy.

Is This a Boy Thing?

Ever since having Trace 10.5 months ago I have been looking for differences between raising boys and girls. I think I may have found one, besides the obvious of course. The past couple of weeks, Trace has begun sliding objects across the floor. It doesn't matter if it is a book, a lid, a puzzle box, or a school bus. It is the cutest thing. He will get two books out and put one under each hand and just begin pushing them across the carpet while on his knees. I recently gave him the school bus and he thinks that is pretty fun. He enjoys pushing it all over the house. So I ask, is this a boy thing, because my girls never did this?