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!

Look Alikes

I was looking through Kaylee's baby book the other day and found a picture of her at 7 months old. The resemblance between her and Trace blew us away! We both agreed that Kaylee is the girl version of Trace and visa versa. We thought their resemblance was worth sharing. I added a picture of Kianna at the same age. All three kids resemble each other, but Trace and Kaylee the most as babies.

Kaylee (7 months)Trace (6 months)

Kianna (8 months)