Reflecting and Rebuilding

I don't want to go through all the things that happened in 2009 for our family, but I do think I must reflect on what occurred in order to grow from it all . Overall I feel like was a year of "survival." Thank God we did survive and I believe we came out stronger and with a deep hunger and passion for more of God. His timing is like no other and I believe this past year proved that for us. As we look forward we want to stop and thank God for carrying us through it all. Kora was a divine blessing that brought us JOY in a time when we needed it most. Also, Steven changing jobs to become a teacher was another blessing because it brought him satisfaction and peace, along with more family time, which is the best gift of all. This verse sums up 2009 perfectly:

Isaiah 43:2-3 (NLT)
"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."








We walk in to 2010 breathing in the fresh air God has for us. We know his plans for us are good and we feel that he is calling us to a season of rebuilding. For each of us the word "rebuilding" means something different, but the end goal is to see God renew the places that are long devastated in our life. For me, I want to continue learning from God and set a good foundation for Kora and I don't think I can do that without leaving behind my past experiences and looking forward to God and ask him for guidance. I come to learn the few months I have been a mother that there are so many ways to raise your child but the best way is individually guided by God and looks different for every person, no matter how much someone claims to have the "FIX ALL" plan.

Spiritually, Steven and I are craving for more of God and what he has for us. We understand in order to see great things we have to become more of a vessel for God to use. We know that means change and change we are both ready to see happen. We desire God to do great things in each of us and look forward to what that looks like as time goes on. We aren't big "resolution" people but we have made a goal to seek and spend more time reaching this goal. I believe that this verse sums up what we would like to see happen this year.

Isaiah 61:4 (NLT)
" They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devasted; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devasted for years."

God we trust in you and your plans for our life, help guide us in reaching these goals that are desperate desires in our hearts.

My favorite time of the year

Kora received her 1st playground this Christmas and they came to set it up the day it snowed. Poor Daddy had to help. This picture is the fort part of the set.

The Bridges grand kids made a gingerbread house. SOOO CUTE!!

The creative process....

Kora wanted to help too!!

Kora was exhausted and fell asleep in Mema's arms.

Our family!!

Kora and her Santa headband...kinda big!

Christmas at Nana and Papa's house, she got a rocking chair just like I had when I was a little girl.

Papa and some of the grand babies.

Kora had to open Aunt Bel's gift the night before Christmas.

She wanted to open all the other presents under the tree too.

Kora at Mama and Papa Price's house. She took her first crawling steps there.

Kora and Cousin Berkley.

Kora opening her gift... A baby for the bath. Overall I think this was my favorite Christmas because we had Kora and I had Steven for the 1st time at every place. Thanks to everyone for a great time full of great memories.

Thanksgiving and Learning

Kora's 1st Thanksgiving was so fun. She even received her first present from Mema: an ornament for her 1st Christmas and those cute PJ's to match the family at Christmas. She loved opening the gift.

She took her 1st bath at Mema's over Christmas. It was so fun!!

We had Thanksgiving with Nana and Papa too. Kora couldn't keep her eyes off of Nana. So precious!

Papa and sweet Kora loving on each other.

Kora and her hat!!

Kora and her cousin Addy. I love the look they have. LOL

I'm sure they were thinking, "MAN you sure are cute!!"

Over Thanksgiving I learned all of Linda's wonderful recipes she uses, so I thought I would post pics of my favorites. It was so fun getting to help in the kitchen, I can't wait to do it for my family one day!

Kora CAN!!

KORA CAN SMILE SO BIG!!

EVERY SMILE IS SO SWEET!

EVEN HER CRY IS THE SWEETEST.....

BECAUSE SHE WILL SMILE AGAIN SOON!!

KORA CAN SIT UP, ROLL OVER AND JUMP SO HIGH IN HER JUMP-A-ROO!! VIDEO COMING SOON!!

5 months old and perfect!!

Kora Belle turned 5 months old Monday, Sept. 14th and is growing up so fast. As you can see she is even more infactuated with her feet. In this picture she is trying to eat her big toe. I LOVE how huge her eyes are. It cracks me up when she does this.



She loves her daycare and is learning so much, such as feeling different textures like paint, water and sand. They have taken a ton of pictures of her and her little friends. This week they taught her to sign food, more and please. Too bad I don't know how to do it. The teacher in me wants to ask them on Monday so we can practice at home...LOL

Her she is again with those cute little toes. She plays and plays with them. Who knows, we may have a cheerleader or gymnist on our hands. LOL

She is sitting up wonderfully, but still no rolling over over. I probably play to much with her instead of laying her down. Who knows? She looks cute anyways and who said she had roll before she can crawl.

"Hello," says Kora!! I can't get enough of those gorgeous eyes and these stylin' shades!!

Her feet are up on the stroller. LOL she has to see those...she must be like her daddy in that sense, he LOVES feet. Not me!!

One more cereal pic...Daddy gets her so messy when he does it!!! But I must say I am so glad that Steven helps so much with Kora, especially after a hard day. He is so thoughtful and great with her. Thanks for everything you do Steven, I love you more than frozen margarita's and that's A LOT because I can't have them right now!!! LOL

One week down!!!

The first week of school is official over and so is Kora's first week of daycare. She did fabulous according to her daily report from her teachers and I must say I am going to enjoy this year at my new school as well. It was so hard leaving her, but keeping busy at school was enough to keep me from crying all day. Our whole family had lots of adjustments this week, but we are now in the swing of it all.
Kora started eating cereal this week and LOVES it!! I started mixing it with my milk, but switched to Gerber juices instead. I am trying to save my milk for her bottles because I am not having an overflow of that coming. LOL She really loves it at lunch time and gets so excited when I don't keep it coming quickly.

Our dog, Kali thinks she needs to be fed too!! As you can see Kora isn't able to sit in her highchair just yet, so we feed her in her bouncer....her favorite thing!!! I just wanted to tell everyone thank you for your prayers this week, Kora, Steven and I appreciate it so much!!

First Meet the Teacher!!!

Kora met her new teachers last night for the first time. She was asleep for most of the time, but they loved her anyways!! Ms. Dee has been teaching at the Daycare for 13 years and everyone says she is wonderful. However, I still managed to get emotional seeing her room for the first time. I've been so busy getting my room ready, when I finally got to the Daycare, it all became real to me. I had to look down and fight back the tears in front of everyone. I know when Monday comes along I will need to reapply my make-up once I arrive at school.

This is Kora's crib. It was a see through panel so that the teachers can see her from anywhere in the room. They took a family picture of us and put it at the end of the bed to see when she wakes up! We met her neighbor in the crib next to her and he seems very sweet!! Kora already knows two friends in her class, she will be a social butterfly!! :)

This is her name tag that hangs over her crib!!! It was so sweet to see her name written up there. Maybe only a "teacher" would think that is cute, but I guess I am cheesy like that!!!

On the birthday wall they had her name up for April twenty-seventh, but she came two weeks early. They changed it for us to her real day on the fourteenth!! I totally had forgotten that was my due date.

Here is a cute sign in the room that reminds everyone "Kora" is a gift from God. All the other kids are too, but she is the QUEEN BEE to me!!!

Here is a schedule that they try to follow by. The Sensory Exploration is when they sit in highchairs and get to feel different textures such as paint and make baby crafts!! Dee said that at the end of the year they make a album with all their crafts and monthly pictures that they take! SO GREAT FOR ME...but I am sending a disposable camera with her too, so they can capture as many moments that I might miss as well. :)

Here we are saying our goodbyes!!! Kora also attended the doctor today, it was her 4 month check-up. She weighed 15 lbs. 4 oz, which was 75 percentile, 25 1/2 in. long, which was 90 percentile. Pretty perfect to me!!! She gets to start rice cereal now and I can't wait to get our dirty hands into it!! LOL

I would love any prayers you can send my way for the next couple of weeks. I know this is what God has planned for us, but letting go and putting my trust in HIM isn't easy when it comes to her. I am going to miss her sweet laugh that makes my day so bright and her sweet smile that makes all my worries go away. I love her more than I EVER could have imagined and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.

Psalms 33:18-25

But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love. He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine. We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.