Happy Birthday Trevor!!!

Happy Birthday Trevor! We love you very much! You are a wonderful daddy and husband. We are all blessed to have you in our life. You are so fun to be around and are great at making us laugh! We are proud of you for the person you are and for following God's call on your life! We're excited to see all this year has in store for our family...

Trevor celebrated his birthday by going to work. Whoo Hoo!!! His coworkers brought in some goodies to help him celebrate his special day. After work, we had a nice dinner and enjoyed some of the carrot cake the girls helped me make. Kaylee helped me read the recipe and even cracked 3 out of the 4 eggs. It took everything I had in me to let her crack those eggs, but she kept telling me that at school she cracked an egg and was so proud of herself. I decided to let her try again. I began by giving her a lesson in the proper way to crack an egg and then let her try it. She cracked the first egg with no shells in the bowl, so I let her do it again two more times with the same result. I was shocked that she cracked three eggs with no shells. I still get shells in the bowl sometimes, but not Kaylee. She uses a different technique than I do, so I'm thinking maybe I should switch to her technique...

After dinner, we headed to Jackson, MI to watch the LCS Lady Cougers varsity basketball team in their quarter finals game. They ended the game with another victory and play in the semi-finals at Michigan State University on Thursday evening. This is the farthest the women's team has ever made it in the playoffs. It was especially fun to watch the girls play because their head coach asked me to help them prepare for their big game last Saturday morning. I'm not sure that I was of much help, but I had a blast practicing with them and getting to know the girls. Although, my body has been reminding me everyday since that I'm not 18 anymore...

We got home from the game late and as Kaylee was walking up the stairs to get ready for bed she said to me somewhat irritated "Mommy, I'm really tired. Why did you let me stay up so late on a school night?" I was scolded again this morning when I came in her room to wake her up for school. She told me "Mommy I still want to sleep. Why did you let me stay up so late?" This kid cracks me up. Is she really only 5? Trevor says she's 5 going on 35.

Trace's 1st Haircut

I always pictured myself being able to cut Trace's hair myself. I thought "He's a boy, how hard can it be?" Earlier this week I attempted to do so. While Trace was strapped down in his high chair I got out the scissors and took about 1.5" off the back of his hair. I took a closer look and thought it looked pretty good. I proceeded to cut the other side of his hair, which is when I first said "oops". The second attempt was much shorter than the first attempt. I had to fix my work by using Trevor's electric razor. I tried to even things out a bit and got it looking decent, but was too scared to try to cut any hair off the top of his head, which needed it as well. So a couple days later, after much debate on whether I should attempt using the scissors on the rest of his hair, I finally decided to take him for his first haircut.

The girls' first haircuts were "fun" experiences. Granted they were both 2 years old NOT 13 months old when they got their first haircuts. Plus, I was able to take them to a fun, kid-friendly hair salon where they watched a movie while sitting on a stationery park ride and left with a sucker. In contrast, now that we live in a smaller town with a depressed economy those fun, kid-friendly salons are non-existent here. So my experience with Trace was MUCH different. I sat down in the chair and was draped with a cover. Next, Trace was placed on my lap and then draped with his own cover. I then proceeded to "hold him down" while she attempted to cut his hair and he attempted to get off my lap. Doesn't that sound fun? I left the place hoping not to have to go through that again anytime soon. So I wonder, "How often do little boys get their hair cut anyway?"

A Night at the Park

Kianna and Trevor's really large head...

Trace and Mommy
Kaylee with Petey.

Last night we drove over to LCS to play at the park. We had some fun times. Trace enjoyed swinging for about 1 minute and then his laughter turned to "get me out of here". He liked going down the big slide with me, but did not like going down the little slide by himself. There is something about slides that freaks him out currently. Mostly he enjoyed wandering along the path. There isn't much that beats "walking" right now. The girls had fun too. I think we are all ready for Spring!!!

Kaylee got to bring a stuffed dog named Petey home from school to spend a couple of days with our family. Petey came with a few books, a dog bed, an outfit, and a notebook which we were supposed to send back complete with pictures and a description of all the fun things we did with Petey. We showed Petey a good time. She enjoyed reading with us, playing hide-n-go-seek, napping, eating, going on walks, going to the park, and even watching Kaylee play her Wii "Go Diego Go" game.

Our Fashion Diva!!!

Is She Really Only Five Years Old?

Just before dinner Kaylee said, "Mom I had some chocolate for a snack at school today, so I don't want to have a treat after dinner. Remind me because I'm trying to watch my sugar." Kaylee Rebecca Cook

Pictured above is Carpenter Kaylee. Remember the woodworking center she was excited about? These are the two airplanes and remote control she built complete with saw, hammer and nails. Pretty cool!!

Life in Michigan

We have officially been living in Adrian, Michigan for 1 week and two days. So far so good. Trevor is one week into his new job at Lenawee Christian Ministries and is really enjoying it. The pace is much slower than he is used to and much more laid back. Both welcomed changes! He is also enjoying more time to exercise again.

Kaylee started preschool on Monday at Lenawee Christian School (LCS) and LOVED it. Her new teacher said she fits in great and it was as if she had always been there. The kids welcomed her by each making her a card, which was nice. I guess the class has been studying some of Jesus' miracles. A couple weeks ago, they read about Jesus calming the storm. Kaylee's teacher asked a question based on this story and no one in the class seemed to remember the answer, so Kaylee raised her hand and answered the question. Her teacher was pretty impressed since she wasn't even there when they read the story! The preschoolers attend chapel every Monday morning. Trevor had the chance to attend the elementary chapel and sat right behind Kaylee's class. He said the chapel was super impressive. The kindergarten class was in charge and they reenacted the story of "The Three Trees". Trevor said it was top notch and thought it was better than most Christmas programs he has seen. Pretty impressive since this apparently happens every week. The thing that Kaylee likes the best is that she goes to school all day now, three days a week. She was very ready for this change. I think this will be the perfect transition prior to her starting kindergarten this fall. Her least favorite part is quiet time, which she says is "boring". She was also really excited about the woodworking center at school, where she is able to use a handsaw, a hammer, and nails. Sounds a little scary to me, but they are well supervised...

LCS only has a 4 and 5 year old preschool class, so Kianna is staying home with me until she is old enough to start this fall. I thought she would be sad not to go to preschool here, but it gives her and I some one-on-one time while Trace naps in the mornings and she LOVES it. We have had fun together. Earlier in the week Trace and I were able to go on a walk while Kianna rode her bike next to us. She thought that was the best and kept saying how much fun she was having over and over. Kaylee only had a half-day of school on Wednesday and Kianna was upset because that cut into her time with me. She must have really been Mommy depraved. I think our time together will be a blessing to both of us!

As for me, I seem to be the most emotional about the move. Earlier in the week, I was pretty down and lonely. It is tough leaving all that is familiar back in Iowa: friends, family, church, house, deep freezer :-), etc. On Weds, my mood started to improve. I'm anxious to meet people here and so have been taking steps towards that. I started working out at The Center and attended a deep water aquatics class this week, which was fun. We have attended a couple different churches, but are still working on finding the right church for us. It takes time. I had a productive week filled with laundry, cleaning the house, and unpacking. The more progress I make on the house, the homier it feels. Although, most of our furniture is still back in Iowa, as the realtor emphasized that houses sell better if they are staged with furniture. We're anxious for our house to sell for a number of reasons, one of them being so we can move forward on making the house ours by making some modifications and improvements.

Not surprisingly, Trace is completely unphased by the move. I have been so impressed with how the kids have handled the move. I know that as time passes we will all miss not being able to attend all the family events (b-day parties, holidays, etc.,) we are used to being a part of, but as for now they are still excited to have their own rooms and have access to the pool at The Center. I took the girls swimming this morning for the first time and they had a blast!

The first family event we are missing is happening tonight, Bryker's 2nd Birthday party. Happy 2nd Birthday Bryker. Wish we could be there! We are thinking of you on your big day!!! One thing I keep telling myself is that as long as we are together: Trevor, Kaylee, Kianna, Trace and I we will be okay. I'm so thankful for my family!

Trace is 13 1/2 months old

Trace is really becoming a big boy and is transitioning into a toddler instead of a baby. Here are his latest accomplishments:

• Walking: He walks everywhere and then walks some more. No more crawling for this little guy.
• Sign Language: What's that? Trace has apparently gone on strike with signing. We can get an occasional "all done" out of him, but otherwise it isn't his thing...
• Table food: He LOVES it. No more baby food for this little man (except for using up the extra jars in the cupboard). Trace especially likes taking bites of things vs. having them cut into little pieces and then eating them. For example, he would much prefer a PB & J sandwich handed to him, rather than giving him lots of pieces of it. He thinks he is a big boy and we agree!!! He really is a great eater and eats pretty much everything except fruit. He doesn't seem to like the tartness of fruit. He will eat bananas but otherwise forget it! Ironically, he has a bit of a sweet tooth ever since eating his first cupcake at his b-day party. I'm not sure where he gets that?
• Sippy Cup: He has fully transitioned to using sippy cups. We ended up buying a few of the cups that he preferred and he has been using them ever since.
• Feeding himself: mastered by hand. Silverware to come in the not so near future. I still catch Kianna using her fingers so no rush...
• Teeth: Trace got another tooth on the bottom making his grand total 7.
• Personality: Trace has a great personality and loves to laugh. Yesterday, I introduced him to our little bowling pins and ball. He thought it was hilarious when the pins were knocked over. He sat down and tried to roll the ball into the pins, which I was pretty impressed with. Otherwise, he just knocked them over by hand and then cracked up laughing. It was really cute.
• Talking: He makes the sound "bah" a lot. I decided he was trying to say "ball", however, he seems to say it even when there are no balls around?
• Toys: Trace still enjoys playing with the kitchen. He especially likes to stir things. Give him a spoon and a bowl and he will walk around stirring them. It is pretty cute. He really likes balls. He likes it when we throw a ball, he gets it, brings it to us, and we do it all again, essentially he likes to play "fetch". He has also enjoys putting his shapes through the correct hole. This is still a work in progress, but he gets pretty excited when they go through the right hole.
• Attitude: Trace has a bit of a defiant streak which happens at mealtime. As previously mentioned he eats with his fingers, which means that I do not want him touching his hair during meals. However, Trace likes to touch his hair during meals. See the problem? He knows that I do not like it when he touches his hair, but he continues to do it. Yesterday, he ended up in timeout 2x during lunch and had the gaul to touch his hair a 3rd time. Ugh! The funny thing is, that he isn't 100% sure when he CAN touch his hair. So when he is trying to be naughty, he will look right at me and touch his hair even when he isn't in his highchair. Silly boy, Mommy will win this battle...