White House Blessings: December Happenings + Pictures

December was yet another busy month. But I liked what my brother said in passing the other day. "Busyness is a state of mind." I have dwelled on that and am trying to keep my mind focused on Him instead of fretting and scrambling and always thinking I am so busy. Life will always seem busy if we allow it to. We'll see how I progress in that arena.

In December, Kaylee and I had the joy of having Brandon home a little bit more, since things kind of slow down at work around the holidays. Although Kaylee and I both struggled with various illnesses during the month of December, it was good to have our little family together. We also were able to spend good time at both of our families homes, which was a blessing. As the time here draws closer and closer to an end, we are trying to treasure our moments.

An additional blessing was how God answered prayer during our trip to North Carolina. The first trip, when Kaylee was 6 weeks old... and just beginning to have acid reflux issues.... and not on medicine... and my body had still not quite adjusted to having a newborn... was one of the rougher periods of her life. Months before our December trip, knowing she had become a much easier and enjoyable baby since then, I began praying that God would redeem what was a difficult memory in my heart and mind. He did indeed, and for that I am grateful! I knew He didn't have to, but I am so thankful for how He is a Redeemer and I'm thankful for the great trip we had. It was good to see friends and family and share our little Joy-bug with them all. Kaylee flew well on all four legs of our trip, which is a wonderful blessing (hopefully she keeps this up so we can visit the contiguous US while in Alaska). I even had the gift of her sleeping in my arms on the plane too, which never happens at home.

Kaylee is rolling and sitting and babbling well also. It is fun to see her change and grow. She has started trying a little bit of different textures with various foods too. We are hoping to wait till we are done with all our traveling before really diving into the solid foods thing, but we will see. One of her new things is trying to copy some of the sounds we make. She can't really do consonants, except the "ba" and "ha" sound, but can go on and on with "aaaaaa" :-). The other morning, she was on the floor playing and Smokey did a short kind of moan or soft growl, and Kaylee did it right back. He did it again, and she joyfully repeated it again. She smiled, and looked at me, like "Mom, he plays this game too." More and more, it seems like they will probably be pretty good buds.

I sure hope so... considering they will get a lot of close quality time in the RV together. :-) Speaking of the RV, that has been one of our bigger tasks, besides packing and putting our house on the rental market. Thanks to a lot of work from Brandon, Mom, and Dad, we now have a new floor in the kitchen and dinette, new curtains, valences, and sofa cushions. It is beginning to seem like a nice, cozy little home.

All the little and big things that people have done for us this month have resonated love. However, aside from those things and people, Christ has really affirmed His love for me in a whole new way as well. He is faithful to answer my prayers for approval and teach me new lessons about what He did on the cross, so that God sees Christ when He looks at me. We were given many wonderful gifts this season, but I have been blown away with the gift of love and acceptance, regardless of my works. December was a good month and it has been a good start to January, and for that, I am grateful.

Pictures with Kaylee's sweet Great-grandparents