Halloween

Here are the three kids dressed up for Halloween.  Megan was the pink power ranger.  Kora was a giraffe, and Jason was a wasteland warrior. They had a fun time getting dressed up. 

1 Year Anniversary

Today is Kora's one year anniversary of her Gotcha Day.  It's hard to believe a year has gone by already since we were in China.  But yet it feels like Kora has always been apart of the family.  Here is a picture from a year ago in Guangzhou.

   

We all have come a long way in the past year.  When we first got Kora, Jesse and I felt like we were babysitting somebody else's child without any information on what to do with her.  But now when we look at Kora, all we see is our daughter who we love the same as our other children.  Megan and Jason have learned what it's like to have a younger sibling to play with and also to fight with at times. 

Kora has gone from a baby who could only sit and crawl on her belly a short distance to a girl who runs and climbs up and down on furniture.  She also went from making a few sounds to saying probably a hundred words.   Kora started out hating anything to do with water, and now she loves every kind of water.  She would never get out of the water if it was her choice.  She went from being scared of everyone but us, not wanting anyone else to touch her to shaking other people's hands at church and saying hello to everyone in the grocery store.    I can't wait to see what happens in the next year. 

Corn Maze/Pumpkin Patch

We went to a corn maze/pumpkin patch this afternoon.  They had fun going through the corn maze as well as digging for coins in the corn, climbing the hay bales, going on a hay ride, swinging on the barrel swings, and riding in the barrel cars.

 

2 Years Old Today!

It's hard to believe that Kora is 2 years old already.  She's come along way in the last year, but she still seems so little.  She really has blossomed these last couple of months with talking more and  understanding so much more.  I can have little conversations with her now. 

Kora is still stubborn at times, but you can ask her to do things and a lot of the time she will do it.  She has gotten much better with keeping her glasses on, wearing them for several hours at a time.  We still have to watch her closely when wearing them, because she has used them as a chew toy and throws them when she gets mad. 

Kora loves to throw things into the garbage.  Any little piece of paper or crumb she finds on the floor has to go into the garbage.  I have to be careful she doesn't throw anything away that we want to save.  Kora still enjoys going to bed at night.  She loves to wave and say bye to everybody in the room before she picks up her blanket and goes to her bed.

Kora is more comfortable around other people now.  She's still pretty reserved when in new places and around a lot of people.  But she's turned into a little show off when she's at home and we have company over.  She can be very silly at times dancing around.  Kora also has started singing parts of songs, such as Jesus loves me, Wheels on the bus, and Head, shoulders, knees, and toes.  She also will jump right in with Megan and Jason when they are wrestling with Dad with no fear of getting hurt.  Kora continues to enjoy being outside.