Friday, June 6, 2014

Praying for your Marine through Basic Training: Week 2



 
 
With Joshua off at MCRD for Basic Training, many of my prayers are centering around his safety and well being. I want to share my prayers and verses I've studied with you and hopefully it can be of some help to another Marine family. I have shared these verses and prayers with Joshua in his letters, feel free to do the same!
 
 
Week 2: First Week of Training

For I know the Plan I have for you, Declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.
Jeramiah 29:11
    
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 
Phillipians 4:13
   
  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
Matthew 14:28-29
 
The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.
  Psalms 28:7
 
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
 
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  
Mathew 11:28
 
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.
Psalms 91:2    

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Coralie - 6 & 7 months old

Auntie Kim's Rehearsal Dinner
These last two months have been amazing and rather trying. It was a very, very busy month in April. Cora did great with everything going on. She has been drug in and out of so many stores in preparation for all the stuff we hosted. She's been left in her walker to entertain herself while I frantically rush around the kitchen cooking. I'm just so proud of how she's acted, she is such a social baby that loves being in public!

 Unfortunately, all of our activities and commitments have kept us out past her bedtime a few too many times and we have entirely messed up her schedule. That coupled with her teething (she has 4 teeth cutting, top 2 and bottom 2), it's just been miserable for her at times and she has shared that frustration with us. That has made for an interesting May (and  some of June...) and is a lot of the reason I'm just now getting around to posting this update (and doing 2 months at once!)

It's amazing looking at the last two months how much development has occurred! She is fully crawling now and can pull up. I honestly think we're about 2 months away from walking!

April Updates: 
 We have started putting her in an amber necklace/anklet for teething pains, but either I have a dud of a necklace or it's a bunch of fooey. I have friends that swear by it, but I don't really see a difference in her teething with it. 

In April Cora mastered saying "Da Da"! She does say "Ma Ma" but only when she is upset and she blubbers it between tears as she reaches out and flexes her hands open and closed for me. *Melts my Heart!* There's not much of a surprise that Da Da was her first word, she is quite the Daddys Girl! 

In April, she mastered sitting up with full stability. She scoots around on the floor pretty well but hasn't quite figured out the crawling thing. We can tell that she has all the components of crawling but hasn't put them all together. She learned to walk in her walker with the assistance of Auntie Kim at Kim's rehearsal dinner (one of the events she had to compete with for my attention). She stayed with her Daddy by themselves while I was gone for Kims Bachelorette party! She was sick for the first time with a nasty cold and ear infection.

 Her first trip to Austin to visit her Great Grandparents and her first Easter. 
She joined us in sending her Uncle Joshie off to the Marines.




May Updates:

In May, Cora fully figured out the concept of crawling. This picture to the left is of Cora right after she crawled to see her Uncle Robert (after he enticed her with the idea of sucking on a pretzel rod... bad idea!)

Just one week after she fully mastered crawling (though she still usually prefers her army crawl or scoot to truly crawling) she started pulling up (first time, picture on right)! She mostly does it on the play pen we have in our living room to keep her contained, but she will pull up on her Grandpa's legs and is trying to on other pieces of furniture! 

She is babbling and talking more than ever. The four teeth she is trying to cut are all right below the surface, just haven't quite pushed their way through yet. She seems to not be in pain this month, I'm wondering if her inability to sleep on a regular schedule now has more to do with the great leaps in development that she has had recently than with teething/schedule problems. My guess is that it is all happening at once in addition to our busy lives making the issue worse.

In her 7th month: First trip to Lubbock, including her first Texas Tech sporting event & visiting her Great, Great Aunt M & Uncle B

















My first Mothers Day with Miss Coralie and her first camping trip


Relay for Life with her Grandma Michele & Chipaw
(Michele is a two-time cancer survivor and a long time American Cancer Society volunteer)


and her first trip to Houston! We stayed with her Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Val and Cousin Matt while we were in town to attend John's childhood best friend, Mitchell, wedding to Becky.


Summer is here & I can't wait to share all the fun summer is with our little lady!