Introducing Trace Curtis Cook

We welcomed our son into the world at 8:04 AM on Monday, January 19th. He weighed 8 lb 11 oz and was 20.5 inches long. He is such a blessing and I feel like our family is complete now that we have our little man. Since coming home we have had some "new" experiences. For example, we never experienced pee squirting up in the air in all directions with our girls. This morning, I experienced another phenomenon at 4:30 AM while changing Trace's diaper. I had just removed his diaper when he decided to poop. Not good, as you can imagine we are still in the very liquidy stool phase and it came out with some speed in my direction. Craziness!!!! Trace is a very content baby and a real joy! We love him so much already. Life is such a miracle and we feel so blessed to have him as a part of our family!

We had our first outing yesterday to the mall and it was kind of crazy. We are definitely outnumbered now and just getting all the kids in and out of the car is a task with my 10 lb weight restriction. That means I can't lift the girls (thankfully Kianna is old enough to climb into her car seat), lift Trace in his car seat, or lift the double stroller out of the car myself. Thankfully, I have help for 2.5 weeks while healing and adjusting to life with 3 kids.

Overall the girls are adjusting well to having a new baby brother despite some jealousy on Kaylee's behalf. Both girls enjoy holding him, kissing him, and lying next to him when he is playing on the floor. There have been a lot of changes this past month especially for Kaylee. For example: she now shares a room with Kianna, takes her naps in the basement vs her bedroom, had to move her car seat to the 3rd row of the minivan, & has a new baby brother. She seems to be coming around though as this morning she decided to give Trace her boy baby doll and name him Trace Curtis Cook. I thought that was really sweet of her. Kianna seems unaffected by Trace's birth. We just got her potty trained in the past month and I was praying she wouldn't regress after he was born. Actually the opposite has occurred, she has had fewer accidents since his birth. We are hoping this trend will continue! 

Lots of Changes with More to Come...

New Room

Life has been a little crazy for us lately, as we are trying to prepare for the arrival of our little guy. The changes began about 11 days ago when we began potty training Kianna. We use a method where she wears only a long dress with no diapers or panties for the first few days to get her used to the feeling of having it run down her legs. Then once she gets used to staying dry without panties, then panties are introduced. Being the clean freak that I am, I admit I never thought I would attempt this method but it worked amazingly with Kaylee years ago, so why not try it again, right?? Unfortunately, it was a bit easier with Kaylee who was completely potty trained in about 6 days. We are now on day 11 with Kianna and she seems to have gotten the hang of it, as she has had no accidents yesterday or yet today. Yea!!! 

The other major change was moving the girls into the same room to free up the nursery for Baby Cook #3. Bed time has gone extremely well, although I am now awakened promptly at 7:00 AM (when Kaylee knows she is allowed out of bed). Kianna who used to sleep until 8:00 or 8:30 AM is now right by Kaylee's side and flips on my bedroom light upon entering my room. Talk about waking up fast!!!! No more sleeping in for Mommy! On the other hand, nap time hasn't gone so well!! Miss Kianna has a bit of a stubborn streak in her and despite repeating the rules of no getting out of bed, no talking, and no climbing into Kaylee's bed; she cannot seem to stay in her own bed, nor leave her sister alone. Kaylee has been quite the trooper even dealing with Kianna peeing all over her pillow and bed earlier this week! Have I mentioned life has been a little crazy around here lately!?!? Today we finally decided the girls needed to be separated during nap time and so that was implemented and has gone splendidly thus far! Yea!!!

More changes to come...includes the expected arrival of our little guy on Jan 19th via c-section. We are all excited to meet him and to see what he looks like after all these months of anticipating his arrival. We can only imagine how much crazier life will get with 3 kids, 4 and under! Yikes!! Pray for us as we adjust to having a newborn around again and that Kianna will not regress in her potty training, as I've been warned that can happen as well.

Christmas Memories

Kianna digging into her stocking.

Kaylee at her preschool Christmas program showing off the ornament she made for us.
Girls working on their gingerbread house.
Mommy and her girls.
Kianna and Kaylee.

Trevor and I agree that Christmas this year was one of the best we've had. The girls are both at such fun ages, that we were able to create some fun family memories and traditions. Some of those include:

• The girls creating their 1st gingerbread house. Kianna loved eating the candy, while Kaylee loved decorating the house and sneaking some frosting along the way! 
• Kaylee participating in her 1st Christmas Programs at church and preschool. She loved preparing for them and learning lots of fun new songs along the way, her favorite being "Away In A Manger".
  
• Setting out cookies and milk for Santa; and carrots and celery for the reindeer. Kaylee's excited statement on Christmas morning, "Mom, Santa really was here because the cookies are gone!" Santa left the girls a thank you note and Kaylee was even more excited to learn that Rudolph came to her house!!!
• Kaylee making the statement "Christmas isn't all about gifts, it's about Jesus". How precious is that!
• Singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus prior to digging into our monkey bread.
• Watching the excitement on Kianna's face as she opened up her stocking. When asked what she got for Christmas she will gladly tell you that she got "lipstick". FYI: Our little one, has a little addiction to chapstick these days, which makes her always chapped lips quite the mystery!
• Kaylee's favorite gift being her Sleeping Beauty "long-sleeve" nightgown, which she has worn every night since receiving it.
• Hearing Kianna sing "Away in a manger, no crying for a bed. The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay." It is so precious hearing her sing this song!

These are a few of the memories we will cherish.

Witch

I had to hold back laughter today as we were standing in line at Sam's Club behind a lady wearing a long black fur coat and a matching fur hat. Kianna looked at her and said "witch". I immediately knew that Kianna was referring to Cruella De Vil from the movie "101 Dalamations" who also wore a long fur coat. She refers to all the evil people in cartoons as "witch". I just stood there laughing to myself and told her "no honey, she's not a witch". Kids say the funniest things...

Sisters

I knew that my girls were close, but didn't exactly realize how close until this week. The girls were both supposed to spend the night with their grandparents on Tuesday night while Trevor and I went on a date. However, Kianna had been sick all week with bronchitis and a fever and so we decided to stay home with her instead. Kaylee still wanted to go to her grandparents house to bake cookies with her cousin, so we let her. However, Kaylee did not really want to spend the night without her sister, although due to the ice storm we convinced her otherwise. Well Kianna was still napping when Kaylee left for the evening and when she woke up the first thing she asked was "Kiki" (that's what she calls Kaylee) meaning "Where's Kaylee?" I told her she went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and then quickly changed the subject. Too late, I looked at her and she had tears running down her cheeks and said "Me want Kiki". I felt bad for her, so told her we could call Kaylee and talk to her. That made her a little happier. Then the next morning after waking up, again Kianna asked where her sister was and was visibly sad when I told her she was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was so precious when we went to get Kaylee that morning b/c before Kianna had her boots or coat off, she immediately ran over to Kaylee and gave her a big hug! I love that they are such good friends and pray this closeness will last throughout their lives!

Our Magic Christmas Tree

The girls had a blast decorating our Christmas tree Monday evening. Kianna seemed to have an affinity for putting the ornaments in the same place on the tree, so of course being my anal self I had to spread them out when she hopefully wasn't looking. The best part was after the tree was up, Trevor hooked the lights to a remote control system. We let the girls take turns turning the lights on and off by simply waving their hand in the direction of the tree (much like waving a magic wand). Each time they wave their hand the tree either turns on or off. They love it!! Of course, we don't let them see us pick up the remote control so they think it is magic. Today, Kaylee's preschool teacher asked her if she had her Christmas tree up and Kaylee told her that she has a "magic tree". Her teacher thought that was adorable. Also, at breakfast this morning I caught Kianna waving her arm in the direction of the tree and getting frustrated that the lights weren't coming on. She now knows it only works if Mommy or Daddy are next to her. These are just a few of the precious moments I will cherish forever.

Delicious

I had a cookie exchange yesterday morning and so after lunch I let the girls choose what cookie they wanted for their treat. I had made oreo balls and Kianna wanted to try one of those. For those of you who don't know, she has inherited her mommy's sweet tooth and enjoys chocolate as much as I do. She was taking bite after bite of her treat and then began saying "delicious". I said "what did you say?" and she repeated "delicious". I began laughing, as I was amazed that being 2 years old that she even knew the word "delicious" let alone was using it so appropriately!  It was so adorable. I took a picture for you all to see just how much she enjoyed the oreo ball.