Holiday Happenings

Christmas was a wonderful time for us this year - Ella made it so special. Although she is too little to personally partake in all the festivities, it just felt so great to have her there - our little family felt so complete. We spent time with all of the families this year - immediate and extended. Here are some pics of those parties and special moments.

Making Christmas cookies with Mom and Dad Koning, Jake, Betsy and Kylee before Christmas

Ella being entertained by Macie

Rotman Christmas party - Carley, Kennedy, Ella, Kooper, Reed, and Kolter

Reed and Kennedy with "Santa Brad""Santa Dad" and EllaJill, Ella, and Brad

Me and Ella in our PJ's on Christmas morning:)

Our little family at the end of the day in front of our Christmas tree 

Our Koning Christmas - Kylee, Macie, and Ella

Brad and JillOur favorite Christmas present this year:)

Ella with Grandpa and Grandma Rotman

Jill with cousins Angie (prego) and Sara at our extended Rotman party

New Years Eve party with our friends...Layla, Jonathan, and Ella
Jill and Ella as the ball drops and turns midnight (yes, she was still awake:)
Us as we welcome in the new year!

Prayer Request

Our dear friend Meredith Geurink's mom passed away last Monday. We would love to ask for prayers for her and Joe, her Dad and sister, and the rest of their family and friends during this time. Her mother was a wonderful lady who touched many lives and will be truly missed. May God's peace and comfort continually be felt by them in the months to come. (See Mere's blog for more details).

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Well - maybe just the shake and rattle (not rolling quite yet:) Last night Ella learned to pick something up and play with it on her own! As a parent, this was very exciting for us. In the past we have put things in Ella's hands and she has held onto them, but last night I had put a rattle on her lap and when I looked down she was holding onto it and playing with it - it was the cutest thing! She seriously held onto it all night - mesmerized by it. And again this morning when I put it on her lap, she held it for a long time until she fell asleep. I know this is not a major milestone to others, but to us it is- we are just so proud of our growing little girl:)

Tell Your Friends

Starting tomorrow (Wed, Dec. 17) through Friday (Dec. 19) Brad Koning's cd Beyond the Noise is available for only $5.00 at Jude3 Bookstore in Holland (next to Wal-Mart)...and even better yet it's FREE (yes, I said FREE) with any in-store purchase of $20.00 or more.  This promotion culminates in a dazzling solo show at the bookstore Friday @ 7pm!

"Christmas with the Konings"

This past Sunday we had a group of our friends from college over. It was so much fun with a little bit of chaos added in with 5 couples and 5 babies. We don't have the hugest house and when you try and pack in 10 adults, 5 babies, extra pack n plays, toys, bumbos, boppy's, plates of food, etc, the house seems to be even more crowded. But what would a good Christmas celebration be without the hustle and bustle? We had a great Turkey dinner, Christmas music, gift exchanges, baby talk, Wii, and Christmas cookies... food, friends, and fellowship - what more could you want for a lovely winter afternoon?
Joe, Mere and Layla
Darrell, Lindsey and Jonathan
Curt and Jamie (Alden was napping)

Brad, Jill and Ella
Johnny, Kishon and Ava

Mr. Mom

Brad is the best - This past week he has taken his Daddy status to a new level. Tuesday was my first day back to work (which went well by the way - thanks for your prayers) and Ella was still not acting like herself - fussy and crying a lot. We decided it would be best to take her in to the Dr. to see what was going on. Not only did Brad get up early with me to help me get Ella ready for the day, he brought her to Betsy's so that I could get to work early and not have to drive on the roads more than I needed to - he also took time off of work to bring her to the Dr since I couldn't miss work on my first day back. Well, Dr. Worpel said that she no longer had an ear infection, which was great news, but that she did have reflux - Ella doesn't have a terrible case of it, but enough that it bothers her - she'll be on meds now to make sure it isn't burning too much. (She was 12 lbs 10oz and 25 inches!!!) Brad suggested that since they were there anyways and we didn't get her shots last time because she was sick, that they give Ella her shots then so I didn't have to go through seeing/hearing her cry at a later date. I was so glad that he did that because when we had been there before when she had her ear infection, she cried so hard that I was bawling and the Dr. was almost tearing up. I appreciated him so much for helping with that. (Apparently Ella did great though - she just cried a bit while she was getting them and then 30 seconds later she fell asleep:) Also, yesterday when I was at work I got really sick and had to come home. Brad was like super mom all night, bringing food to me, catering to me when I felt sick, cleaning the house, and taking care of Ella. He was such a big help to me - he even slept on the couch and gave her the early morning feeding so I could sleep and then brought her bright and early to Betsy's today so that I could rest a while in the morning to be sure I was okay. Thank you Brad for being so loving and being Mr. Mom to Ella when I wasn't able to - I am blessed.

Our little "Tooter" is 2 months!

Finally - a blog entry! As many of you have discovered, I am terrible at keeping up with my blog, but I am bound and determined to make up for lost time. My new year's resolution (or pre new years resolution) is to be more faithful in blogging because not only is it nice to keep our loved ones informed but it is great to capture the special moments that we have in our lives. This may be a long one to catch you up but I promise to throw in some cute pics to make it more interesting:)

Ella has been such a huge joy in our lives. Everyone would always say to us before she was born "just wait, after she is here, you won't be able to imagine your life without her or what life was like before her." We have found that to be so true. I know for Brad and I, we are now experiencing a new and extremely fulfilling love through and for our daughter; we cannot imagine life without her. She is so fun to have around - cooing when we talk in our high pitch and obnoxious voices and smiling when we make stupid faces at her. Newborns are truly precious and I miss that stage, but I know we are just loving her at this age because of her ever-increasing interaction with us. She is currently just over 2 months (9 1/2weeks) - time flies! We were at the Dr. last week for her 2 month appt and she weighed 12 lbs 2oz (80th percentile) and measured 24 inches (95th percentile)!!! It is amazing how much she has grown up already. This past weekend I had to put away all her newborn and 0-3 month clothes - she is officially wearing 3 months+! She is holding her little head up so good - not quite all the time, but really making progress. She is eating like 4-5 oz every 3 hours - she loves to eat:) She sleeps awesome at night - only getting up around 4:00ish. She has such a sweet personality already and is quite the cuddle bug. Besides crying to let us know she needs something, she is quite content - her gas issues seem to be decreasing recently, thank goodness.

This past week she got an ear infection in her right ear, poor girl. Brad and I have been spending a lot of time walking laps in our house with her because she only wants to be moving and be held over our shoulders. We also spend a lot of time bouncing on our exercise ball because it keeps her from crying...hey - at least we get some exercise out of it:) Hopefully sometime soon she will be back to feeling herself - it is so hard seeing/hearing her cry all the time. Basically the new things for her right now is that she seems to enjoy being naked more:) - bath time and diaper changes are much more happy....and she has found her hands and likes to suck on them (thanks to Aunt Betsy:).

It has been amazing spending these weeks home with her...but all good things must come to an end - I am starting back to work this week... Tuesdays and Thursdays - Betsy, Brad's sister, and his Mom are taking care of her. We are so blessed to have Ella being taken care of by them. Hopefully not too many tears will be shed. Say a little prayer for me:)

Here are some highlights from the weeks past that I should have blogged about:)....

She got her newborn pictures taken by Tracy VanDerMeulen. Ella was not happy at all, but of course I thought they turned out adorable.

Halloween Honeys - her little buddies - Layla Geurink, Jonathan Heuker, and Alden Lucas.
Poor Ella didn't have a real costume, but we thought the lamby coat from Grandma Rotman was just as cute...too bad she appears to be drowning in it:)


Our friends from church threw us a shower for Ella and for our friends Tim and Jen DeHaan's baby Liam, who was born October 13. He was born 10 weeks early and we were truly blessed to have shared the night with them and have him be the guest of honor, healthy and happy.

We did the unthinkable and took her to Chicago for the annual Koning family "Black Friday" shopping trip. It actually went really well! She slept a lot and didn't complain too much about being changed in so many public restrooms:) All in all it was a ton of fun and I think she enjoyed all the lights and walks.

On November 30, Ella was baptized at our church. It was such a special day. She wore the outfit and ring that my mother and I both wore when we were baptized - she looked so beautiful. We told Ella that morning that there were 2 things that she could not do:)...she couldn't cry when she was up there and she couldn't poop in her pretty dress because of her track record with blow-outs. Well, she cried as we went up there and throughout the baptism and then as soon as we sat down, she pooped like crazy - thankfully not on her dress. Of course we didn't care at all that those things happened but it was kinda cute she is already not listening to her parents:) We are so blessed that she is one of God's precious children and that we have the privilege of raising her to know God's love.

Random pics of cuteness...

1 month old

2 months old