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?

Away in a Manger

Tonight at church the girls sang their first duet together. Not being musically inclined myself whatsoever, I have a new appreciation for all the work that goes into preparing to sing. The girls had two weeks to learn all three verses of "Away in a Manger". Not being able to read the lyrics themselves, meant that we listened to the song on repeat at least 20 times per day. As you can imagine, we were all getting a bit tired of hearing the song. However, tonight when they sang it was all worth it. The girls did a great job and it was a priceless performance. Kaylee had all three verses memorized and Kianna had the first verse down, as well as a few random words from the last two verses. We had been practicing with our karaoke machine at home with me holding the microphone. When the girls would get too close to the microphone I would move it away from their mouth, but at church I obviously didn't have that much control over the microphone. Kianna had her mouth right on the microphone and was singing VERY loud for the first verse. I couldn't help but laugh. Kaylee did a great job singing the last two verses with Kianna offering up the occasional word she could remember really loud. For example, "NIGH", "HEAVEN", etc. We got it all on tape and if I can figure out how to post the video I will definitely be doing that. It is priceless...

Oh, but the show didn't end there. The preschool class ended by singing "Jingle Bells". I can sum up this performance in one word "Drama". Our girls were standing next to each other after having just finished "Away in a Manger". After reviewing the video it appears that Kianna was being a bit lovey with Kaylee. By this I mean that Kianna was standing really close to Kaylee with her arm around her. Well Kaylee, didn't want anything to do with the closeness. She was focused on singing "Jingle Bells". In an attempt to get Kianna away from her Kaylee threw a little elbow Kianna's way. To which, Kianna responded by swinging at Kaylee. Kaylee responded by no longer singing "Jingle Bells", crossing her arms, and crying. I felt so helpless in the audience not knowing what to do as I watched my kids fight on stage. They were definitely entertaining to say the least and we even have the video footage to prove it.

Our little artist

Kianna drew this picture of Trevor the other day. I LOVE it and just had to share it. I can't look at it without at least smiling. She just learned how to make eyes with pupils. Also, notice how she even made the hair a little thinner on top. (Kaylee wrote "Dad", not Kianna-just wanted to clarify that).

Trace is 10 Months Old

Trace has learned a lot this month. He learned how to clap his hands and is working on giving a high five. He likes to give me a high five, but I haven't seen him clap anyone else's hand yet. The perks of being a Mommy, I guess. Trace is cruising along furniture pretty rapidly and enjoys walking with his little push walker around the house. We predict he will be walking by Christmas. Time will tell if we are right. Trace discovered the stairs and enjoys climbing up them. He made it all the way to the top one time, but it is still quite a workout for his little legs. We have been working on "How big is Trace?" and having him raise his little arms above his head while we say "So big!" It is pretty cute when he does it, as he gets a HUGE smile on his face. It is still a bit inconsistent, but it is precious when he does it. It is fun seeing him interact and comprehend more and more.

Trace is quite the talker. He now says "ma ma ma" (which I kind of like) in addition to "ga ga ga". He seems to like hearing his own voice. Trace is starting to avoid the "no no's" more and more, which I am happy about. He continues to work on picking up finger food and using a sippy cup, both of which are still very hard for him to do. I have been working on switching him to table food, instead of baby food, but he isn't too interested. I'm sure it is tough with only two teeth and will come with time.

Trace is such a great baby. I know I've said it a hundred times, but he really is. People comment quite frequently about what a happy baby he is and how he is always smiling. It's true, he is, but I have found a few things he doesn't enjoy and that quickly get rid of his little smile. One being his car seat. Trace has recently decided he does not like being restrained and arches his back and stands making it as difficult as possible for me to get him buckled. Sounds like fun doesn't it? I'm sure he spends more time in there than he would like, as we have to pick up his sisters from two separate schools, but what can a Mommy do? His car seat protest is followed by little tears and big screams. Poor little guy. He also is not a big fan of getting his diaper changed or getting dressed. I guess he wants to be a streaker...

Birthday Parties

CousinsBryker enjoying his cupcake
Does anyone else have trouble getting a decent family picture? Apparently, Trevor and I were the only ones who could figure out where the camera was...
Tea Party
Karaoke/Dance party
Kaylee celebrated her 5th birthday with two parties: a family party and a friend party. She chose a Barbie Rapunzel theme for this year, because every birthday party needs a theme. Our girls choose a birthday theme usually months in advance. It is a BIG deal to them!

Both parties were fun. For Kaylee's family party she had lots of fun playing with her cousins and had about 30 people there to support her. For her friend party she had had six friends come over. We tried not to plan as many activities this year, as last year was a bit stressful with 11 kids and lots of activities. This year went much better. I'm sure it didn't hurt that the kids are all a year older and that I wasn't 7 months pregnant! For activities, we read the book "Barbie Rapunzel" to the kids and had a tea party using my nice china upon which we served raspberry tea and cupcakes. We attempted to have a Barbie play center, which maybe lasted 2 minutes before the kids ran into the playroom. They ended up just playing for awhile and then we had them put on some dress up clothes before breaking out the karaoke machine. We let them use the microphone and choose a song to sing. They were able to pick from a number of princess songs, the "Mary Poppins" Soundtrack, the "Annie" soundtrack, or "Jingle Bells". We weren't quite sure what to expect, since most of them are still too young to read the lyrics. They seemed to have fun with it though and the rest of the girls danced to the music when it wasn't their turn. We ended the party with a coloring center and presents. Now that all the presents are out of the boxes, it is tough to say what Kaylee's favorite gift is, as it seems to keep changing. However, Kianna feels like she hit the jackpot with all of the Polly Pocket stuff, especially the Polly Pocket pool. They have kept her entertained for hours. Ah, the benefits of being the little sister...

Our little girl is 5!!!!

Trevor surprised Kaylee with her first flower bouquet. She was really excited!

The Barbie Rapunzel cake topper I made for Kaylee's cake.

Five years ago, I lay in a hospital bed excited to have just given birth to my first child, not knowing what to expect. It has been so fun watching Kaylee grow and mature since then. Kaylee is such a sweet little girl with a great personality. She loves to laugh and be silly. She loves being tickled by Daddy. She loves to play games with her favorites currently being: Sorry, Blokus, Candy Land, and the Wii Go Diego Go game. She also enjoys playing hide-n-seek, even if it means hiding right in front of you or hiding in the same places over and over. Kaylee also enjoys playing with Barbies, Polly Pockets, baby dolls, watching movies ("Annie", "Mary Poppins", "Sleeping Beauty", Veggie Tales, and "Barbie Rapunzel" are her current favorites), reading books, and playing on the computer.

Kaylee loves to do crafts and loves to write words with her favorites being: Mom, Dad, Kaylee Cook, Kianna, Trace, dog, cat, and God. She absolutely loves to draw and color pictures. She is becoming quite the artist these days. I love it when she draws pictures of our family. The people are getting more and more realistic. She told me the other day, "Mommy, I didn't know how to draw you holding Trace so I just put him in your belly." Upon a close examination of her picture of me, there I saw little Trace right inside my belly. I thought that was pretty clever.

Kaylee is a very social little girl. She loves playing with her friends, of which she has many. She makes friends very easily. It isn't unusual for Kaylee to make a new friend when we go someplace. For example when we go to the park, she usually is running around with a new friend within the first few minutes. Kaylee is a very sweet little girl with a big heart. She is wonderful to Kianna and Trace. She loves them both dearly and is an excellent big sister. Her and Kianna play so nicely together (most of the time). They seem to make up new games all the time. I catch them reenacting scenes from "Little House on the Prairie" and "Annie". They are both really creative! Kaylee enjoys helping me keep an eye on Trace and keeping him away from all the "no no's". She also loves to help me in the kitchen whether it be baking, making toast, or making a sandwich. She has several chores which include: making her bed everyday, clearing her plate from the table, taking care of the glass recycling, and picking up her toys. She loves to help! She does a great job with most of them, although the latter one continues to be the biggest struggle for both she and her sister.

Kaylee is a smart little girl. We have recently found that she is very goal oriented. At preschool her teacher set 5 individual goals for her (and everyone in her class). Kaylee's goals include: learning to count by 10's, learning her address, learning her phone number, learning how to write/spell her middle name, and learning how to write #'s 1-10 correctly (she gets them backwards sometimes). Without much help from us, she has quickly achieved the first 3 goals and is well on her way to achieving the 4th goal. She is highly motivated to learn, which we are hoping continues. She is doing an awesome job with her reading lessons too. She has completed 55 out of 100 lessons in her book, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". Yesterday, she actually asked me if we could do a reading lesson instead of me telling her she needed to do a lesson. That was HUGE, as in the past we have had some whining associated with doing her lessons! The stories she currently reads during her lessons consist of about 10 sentences. After she finishes reading the story, she is asked several questions to make sure she comprehends what she is reading. It is pretty exciting watching her learn to read and seeing her interest grow. We are very proud of our little girl and the young lady she is becoming. We love you Kaylee!!!!

ADDENDUM: Lest you be fooled into thinking she is perfect, here are a few of her current struggles. Kaylee is currently dealing with being a bit sassy and talking back with attitude. This is relatively new for her, as is her comment, in regards to being caught doing something naughty, "I do it all the time when you aren't looking Mom". I appreciate her honesty, but am striving to teach her that even if I'm not looking, God is and He wants her to honor and obey her parents regardless. It is proving to be a tough lesson to teach. She is also struggling with selfishness, wanting things just her way. I'm sure this will be around for awhile, as I still struggle with my own selfishness and I'm much older than 5!

I have heard that with girls there is drama. I think the drama is just beginning. Even between Kaylee and Kianna there are hurt feelings over so and so "said they don't want to be my friend" or "she said she isn't my best friend anymore" or "she said she doesn't want to play with me anymore". This is also beginning between their friends. Kaylee recently came home from school sad because one of her friends told her she wasn't invited to her birthday party because she didn't have a cat and only people with cats were invited. The next day the issue was resolved and all was well. Oh my goodness, she is only 5, is this the drama we have to look forward to???

Keri's 10 Year College Reunion

We had such a fun weekend spent with good friends whom we don't get to see often enough. We met up with Sally and her family; Heather and her new son, Brennan; Jodi, who just announced that she is 12 weeks pregnant with their first baby; and Ericka and her family. It was so good seeing all of them and meeting some of their kids for the first time. Friday night we went out to dinner with Sally's family and then let the kids swim in the hotel pool before bed. That night us girls met up for dessert and some girl talk. The highlight of my evening was a comment made by Heather. She ran into her volleyball coach and when asked how things were going excitedly said "Yeah, things are going good. I just had a #2." Can I tell you how hard I laughed!!! Heather is always good for laugh or two!!!! Trevor got left in a dark hotel room with 3 kids who were supposed to be sleeping by the time I left. Unfortunately the girls were still wide awake and not wanting to be quiet so their little brother could fall asleep. Needless-to-say, the evening was not quite as fun for Trevor, but his sacrifice was much appreciated!

Saturday morning was the actual reunion breakfast where I had fun catching up with some old friends and hearing their testimonies. I was asked to share what God has been doing in my life over the past 10 years. I had such a fun time reflecting that I thought it was worth posting:

“The Top 5 Things I’ve Learned Since Becoming a Mother”:

1. Screaming at my kids to “Quit screaming” probably is not the most effective way to get my point across.
2. Never underestimate the power of a good hug and a band-aid in solving a crisis.
3. God loves our kids more than we ever could. God taught me this after the birth of our oldest daughter, Kaylee. I was becoming a bit OCD; obsessively checking on her while she was asleep in her crib. I would leave my daughter’s room and sometimes immediately go back in to make sure she was still breathing. I did this just in case the previous times, I hadn’t paid close enough attention. This process was getting me really stressed out. Then God gently reminded me that he loves my daughter more than I EVER could. So I needed to trust HIM to protect her little life. I did and the peace he filled me with was just what I needed.
4. My kids move the slowest when I need them to move the fastest. For example, I tell my kids “go get your shoes and coats on”. Sounds simple enough? Several minutes later, I enter the room and find them hiding in a closet without their shoes OR coats on. Need I tell you how irritated that makes me? I am constantly reminding myself that 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says, and I’m paraphrasing, “Love is patient, love is kind…It is not easily angered”. With 3 young kids, I frequently find myself impatient, unkind, and easily angered. I am thankful that God continues to challenge me to love more perfectly. I am definitely a work in progress.
5. The moments I cherish the most out of each day are the ones spent interacting with my husband and kids. I tend to keep myself busy whether it be: doing the laundry, picking up toys, cooking dinner, volunteering, or sitting at the computer. However, God is teaching me that I need to be more like Mary in Luke 10. She was praised for taking the time to sit at Jesus’ feet, INSTEAD of helping her sister, Martha, with all the preparations. I need to pay LESS attention to all the things that keep me busy and MORE attention to the things that really matter, like my kids. I need to take more moments out of each day to read a book with them, color a picture with them, do a puzzle with them, or just be silly with them. Those are the memories I want them to have, NOT of a mommy who was too busy to play.

After the reunion, we got the kids some fast food and let them have a picnic at the park. The weather was amazing and actually reached 70 degrees I believe. The park was filled with leaves and our kids had a blast burying themselves in them. It was great having our kids all play together and get to know each other better.

We planned on spending Saturday night in the hotel. However, since Friday night didn't go so well, after a quick dip in the pool to cool off, we decided to head back to Sally's house to spend the night. She made a nice dinner for us. After the kids were in bed, the adults had fun playing a game of Acquire together. Trevor was thankful not to have spent another night tucked away in a dark hotel room with noisy kids and I was thankful to have more time to spend with my dear friends.

Halloween 2009

We had such a fun Halloween this year! On Thursday evening, we carved pumpkins. The girls were really into it and even helped clean out some of the "gunk" from inside the pumpkin. Kianna loved saying the word "gunk" and was repeating it over and over. It was really cute. Kianna of course wanted a mean face on her pumpkin and Kaylee wanted a heart and some stars. The difference in their personalities continues to amuse me! Daddy ended up making Kianna a mean dragon face, while I worked on Kaylee's pumpkin. While Trevor and I were busy carving, the girls had fun putting sticker faces on their little pumpkins. Trace was oblivious to all the pumpkin fun, as he took a much needed nap.

On Saturday evening, with costumes donned the kids had fun trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with their cousins, Bryker and Aliyah. The girls ran from house to house in excitement trying to get as much candy as possible. Trace was content getting pulled around the neighborhood in the wagon. The kids had quite the fan club come to see them all dressed up. Their fan club included Grandpa John and Aunt Bree, Uncle Patrick, Aunt Sam and Uncle Mike, Grandma Becki and Grandpa Bob, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne, and Great Grandma Carie (Grandma GG). Grandma GG had fun holding down our fort and handing out candy to the neighborhood kids while we took the kids trick-or-treating. The evening ended with pumpkin cake, hot apple cider, and a sugar high for the girls. What a great night with family!

Weekend with Friends

Talent Show

Our good friends, The Hayes' spent the weekend with us. We had such a great time visiting with them. Our kids are friends too and by the sounds of it they had a blast playing together. The girls even put on a little talent show for us Saturday morning. It was cute watching them perform. We had a great time Saturday evening when our friends, The Issa's, joined us for the Iowa vs. Michigan State game. What a great game. I'll admit I'm not as big of a Hawkeye fan as Trevor, but that game got me pretty excited! Iowa pulled off a 15-13 win with a touchdown pass with 2 seconds left on the clock. What an awesome way to finish the game. The Hawks are now 8-0 and ranked 4th. Go Hawks!!!

Sunday evening our church had a Family Fall Festival, which was lots of fun. The Hayes went with us and we also invited my sister, Bree, and niece, Aliyah; as well as, Trevor's sister's family, Sam, Mike and Bryker. Our church went all out with activities. There were lots of indoors games, family pictures, food, inflatables, pony rides, goats to pet, hayride, and trunk-or-treat all for free. In fact, there were so many activities that we actually ran out of time. The kids had a lot of fun and came home with two pumpkins full of candy. What a great weekend!!

A Glimpse of Heaven

I feel like I got a glimpse of what heaven will be like. A body of believers in Jesus Christ standing around with their arms raised high, singing with all their might to The Creator of The Universe. What an amazing evening it was! I started a Beth Moore bible study a few weeks ago titled "Loving Well". One of the questions asked was "How do you experience God's love?". I have been meditating on that question recently and was a little stumped by it. I know that God loves me in my head. I know that he sent his son to die on the cross to save me from my sins so that I will no longer be separated from him and instead that I am able to spend eternity in heaven with him. I know these things to be true in my own life, but how do I experience God's love? Then I began thinking about all the things God has blessed me with: a wonderful Godly husband, three amazing kids, and plenty of material possessions. But then I began thinking, what if all that was washed away and taken from me, would I still experience God's love? I began thinking that there has to be more ways that I experience God's love than simply through all the THINGS he has blessed me with! What about those who aren't blessed in the same ways I am, surely they must still experience God's love? At my bible study, the ladies went around and told ways that they experience God's love and none of them were based on what God had given them, like my answer was. They spoke of how they experience God speaking to them through the lyrics of a song, the words or even the characters of a book, through a walk in nature, or even through a person portraying God's love to them just when they needed it the most. After hearing their answers, I thought to myself "Of course, I have experienced God's love for me in the very same ways they are speaking of." Then at the Aaron Shust concert last weekend I experienced God's love again in a very real way. I used to think that heaven might get a little boring if all we do is stand around and sing praise and worship songs to God for all eternity. However, after an evening spent experiencing God's love for me I no longer feel that way. I believe that we were created to worship God and to experience a personal relationship with our savior Jesus Christ. When we are doing what we were created to do, there is no greater peace and joy that can be felt then when we are in God's presence. I stand in awe of the creator of the universe and I leave you with this question, how are YOU experiencing God's love???

Trace is 9 Months Old

Our little guy is fast! He continues to crawl and man can he move. I'm so thankful I have the girls to help me keep an eye on him, because he has definitely gained speed. Trace's favorite thing to do is stand. He is constantly pulling himself up onto objects. His balance is really improving, as earlier this week I saw him pull himself up using the strings dangling from one of my blankets which was hanging over the edge of the couch. He was swaying back and forth and working really hard. Another time, I saw him start to lose his balance. He began falling backwards and was able to regain his balance by flailing his little arms and flinging his body forward. It was a pretty impressive feat! This week, Trace began pushing his little walker around a few feet at a time. He is also beginning to cruise along furniture. Seeing him standing there, he looks too short to do much, but he is definitely proving that concept wrong.

Along with the movement has come a little defiance. Trace and I had our first battle this week. He is adamant that he does not want to wear his bib while eating and I on the other hand am adamant that he wear it. It goes like this. He takes it off. I put it on. He takes it off. I put it on. You get the point. I think I am winning so far, but am not quite sure at this point. However, I can tell that he is starting to grasp what "no" means. He recently discovered the hearth and likes to cruise along it. He especially likes Daddy's Russian guitar on top of the hearth. He has been redirected from it quite a few times and a couple days ago I saw him crawling towards it. Once he reached it, he looked over both shoulders trying to see if I saw what he was doing. That was the moment I realized that he is beginning to grasp what I have been trying to teach him. I am continually amazed at what an early age this develops.

At his 9 month check-up, Trace weighed 21 lb 15 oz and was 28 inches long, which puts him in the 60th and 50th percentiles respectively. He is getting to be such a big boy! He is still working on using a sippy cup and being able to pick up his finger foods. Both are still a work in progress.Trace continues to be such a happy little guy. He loves to smile and laugh. He adores his sisters and they him. He also really likes to pull their hair. It doesn't seem to bother them too much, but the fists full of hair are a bit much. We'll keep working on it. Trace has begun talking more and more. His favorite sound is "ga ga ga ga". Daddy likes to think that he is saying "Dada", however, the "g" sound is pretty clear. At least to me. Trace gets really excited when Daddy comes home from work and reaches for him as soon as Daddy is close enough. It is fun seeing my boys bonding. Daddy is hoping that Trace will be as much of a sports nut as he is. Right now Trace seems pretty content just sitting on Daddy's lap watching the Hawkeyes play football, which is a good sign...

Costume Parties

Our morning was spent at our playgroup's annual costume party. My friend, Allison, hosted and the kids all looked adorable. This year Kaylee is Barbie Rapunzel, Kianna is a dragon, and Trace is a dragon. The theme worked out cute because in the Barbie Rapunzel movie, Rapunzel's best friend is a dragon. Kianna decided she is the Mommy dragon and Trace is the baby dragon. Their costume choices show a very definitive difference in the girls' personalities. The girls both like watching the princess movies. However, Kaylee likes the princesses and Kianna likes the witches and dragons and all the "mean people". I'm not exactly sure why she likes the mean people? We talk frequently about how Jesus doesn't want us to be mean, so why do you like the mean people? Kianna responds "Because they're mean!" She is funny though because in reality when she is watching a movie she gets scared when the mean people come on and doesn't want to watch the movie anymore. I guess even a 3 year old can be complicated!

Playgroup Costume Party

Rapunzel and her best friend, Dragon.
Baby Dragon
Trevor and I spent our evening at a friend's surprise 30th birthday costume party. Prizes were given for best female and male costumes. Knowing how competitive we both are we went all in. I found my old prom dress and we decided to recreate "Prom 1992", which would have been Trevor's senior prom. He sported some big glasses similar to what he used to wear in high school and I managed to squeeze into my old prom dress. I even had my mom take pictures in front of the fireplace before we left the house! We had a great time even though we didn't win any prizes. My cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so hard. I figure that is always a good sign that a great time was had!

Prom 1992 Recreated

Hawkeye Fans

The Cooks- The kids like to get dressed up on game days too.

Trevor and I
Keri, Stacie, and Holly
Sisters

Patrick and Stacie

We had a fun time watching the Hawks beat Michigan on Saturday and tailgating with friends and family. It was an evening game so we made a full day of it. We went down to tailgate at noon and didn't get home until 12:15 AM. It was really cold outside, but Trevor and I were all bundled up in our ski attire so we stayed warm.

Visiting Great Grandma Josephine

Grandpa Wayne, Trace, Kaylee, Grandma Josephine, Kianna and Keri

Grandma Josephine and Trace
Grandma Sue, Kaylee, Kianna, Grandma Josephine, Trace, and Keri. Somehow we all ended up coordinated and I promise it wasn't on purpose!!!
We had a fun morning spent visiting my Grandma Gaskill today. My grandma is 98 years old and always enjoys visiting with the kids. She likes to teach them her old rhymes and songs from her childhood days and they love hearing them. Grandma especially enjoys babies. She wanted to see Trace and due to her macular degeneration is unable to see very well unless things are really close. The closer Trace got the harder he was trying to pull her hair. I told her what he was doing and she said "Oh, that is okay let him." I think she regretted saying that after the fact because man can that kid pull hair...

Bloomsbury Pumpkin Farm

Hayride

It is that time of year where we make our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. This year the kids and I went with our playgroup and man was it chilly! We were a little underdressed. I brought jackets and should have brought winter coats, hats and mittens instead. The kids were troopers though and we had a fun time despite the cold weather.

The girls had a great time feeding the goats and llamas. Kaylee jumped right in and was very brave, whereas Kianna was more timid. After showing Kianna how to feed the goats and realizing they weren't going to hurt her she too was brave and had a blast feeding them.

Kaylee

Kianna
Kaylee and Kianna
Angela and the babies all bundled up
Trace playing in the corn box
Zach, Trace, and Chase

The kids also had fun going down the big black slide, taking a hayrack ride, and playing in the corn box (always a favorite). Trace was able to play in the corn box with his little buddies. It was so cute seeing them all together. They are our 2nd and 3rd generation of playgroup members. Our playgroup started way back when Kaylee was their age. Time sure flies! I was proud of him because he didn't even try to eat the kernels. What a big boy! This farm is doing so well that each year they are able to add a new activity. This year's new activity is the tractor pull train and it was a hit with all the kids. What a fun day with friends!