What an EVENTFUL year we had

2009 was definitely an eventful year for us... Here are some of the major things that occurred in our lives this past year:

We welcomed a cocker spaniel puppy into our lives. His name is Cooper, and he is full of energy. This was a picture of him when we first got him back in March. He will be one-year-old in January! We love you, Cooper!

Shortly after we got Cooper, we found out we were pregnant!!! We named our little baby "Peanut."

Matt graduated from Law School in May.

Which is also the month in which we bought our first home! It is a beautiful 2-story home, and we look forward to living here for many, many years.

Cori said goodbye to her first group of students. They were the best group, and she misses them everyday!

Cori and Matt celebrated their 3-year wedding anniversary on June 10!

Matt took the Bar Exam in late July and passed with flying colors!! Once he got his results, he became an associate attorney at Cypert, Crouch, Clark & Harwell in Springdale.

Cori and Matt went to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, and had a GREAT time!! Definitely a much-needed vacation after Matt took the Bar Exam and Cori finished her first year of teaching.

Cori and Matt had many baby showers for baby Katie! There was one in Springdale, one in Hot Springs, one at Elmdale Baptist Church, one at Care Group, and one at Cori's school! Katie is very blessed :o)

For Halloween, Matt painted Cori's pregnant belly to look like a jack o' lantern. Cori was on bedrest during Halloween and missed going to the Razorback game.

Kathryn Elizabeth Fryar ("Katie") was born on November 3 at 6:26 p.m., weighing 6 lb 8 oz. She was 19 inches long with a head full of beautiful hair!!

We brought Katie home and introduced her to her big "brother" Cooper!

Cori celebrated her 25th birthday with a baby in arms :o)

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a 3-person family!

Baby Katie turned a month old on December 3, 2009!

We celebrated our first Christmas as a 3-person family!!

It was an amazing year, and I'm not sure if 2010 can get any better. We are, however, looking forward to seeing what the new year holds in store for our family!

Katie's First Christms

Katie had a wonderful first Christmas. We traveled down to Hot Springs on the 23rd and stayed through the 26th with Grandma and Grandpa (Matt's parents). Katie got to spend lots of time with her Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Shell, Uncle Nick, and three cousins (Abi, Brandon, and Camryn). She had a great time...

This first picture is of the three girls on the couch.


This is a picture of Katie sitting in her Daddy's old carseat on Christmas Eve. She loved sitting in there!!



Here is our sweet little family on Christmas Day at Auntie Sherial's house (Matt's aunt).



Mischelle and I decided to dress all the kids up in Santa costumes for pictures! They were definitely a hit!

Here is Miss Katie in her Daddy's lap on Christmas morning. He was reading her one of the books that Santa brought her :o)

Two of Katie's favorite presents were her Musical/Glowing Seahorse from "Santa" and her first Cabbage Patch doll from Grandma. She loves them both very much!

Even though little miss was only 7.5 weeks old on her first Christmas, it was still one of the best holidays yet. She slept through a lot of it, but I know she enjoyed every minute - especially all the loving and cuddling she received from various family members! She is one blessed little girl.

We sure enjoyed getting Katie's presents ready for Christmas morning and carrying her into the living room and letting her see what "Santa" brought her. It was such a special day! I am really looking forward to the coming years with Miss Priss... to see her crawling, walking, tearing open presents, making cookies for Santa, and all the other fun stuff that comes with Christmas time. Matt and I adore Katie so much and feel so blessed that God allowed US to be her parents.

Best Friends

So, Matt and I were sitting in the living room floor playing a game yesterday when we looked over and saw this...

PRICELESS...

A Mother's Thoughts...

As I was nursing Katie at 3:06 this morning, I was so tired and just wanted to go back to bed. However, I realized just how lucky I am to have a beautiful, healthy child in my arms. Yesterday at 3:18 in the morning a mother lost her beautiful child to leukemia, and I doubt she just wanted to go back to bed. There are so many things that we, as parents, take for granted (middle of the night nursing, screaming gassy babies,etc) that this mother will never get to have again.

This mother was a true example of a godly, faithful woman. She left her daughter's health and life in the hands of her true Father. She showed me how I need to be with Katie everyday. I need to leave things up to God because he has a plan.

During my 3:00 feeding this morning, I began to ponder what God's plan was for taking precious Hannah Grace, and I then realized that it was different in the eyes of everyone around them. For me, as a bystander, it was to see how faithful and obedient I should be as a Christian. As a new mother, I know I must give my baby girl over to the Lord and have faith that He will do with her life what He needs done. I am her mommy and Matt is her daddy, but he is her Father.

My heart goes out to the Crumby family for the loss of their beautiful little girl, but I know that God had a plan for this family. They sure helped me...

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Katie!!!!!

Kathryn "Katie" Elizabeth Fryar

11/3/09 6:26 p.m.

6 lb. 8 oz. 19 inches

Things that happened during Katie's first month:

1 Week appt with Dr. Denton - 6 lb. 3 oz.

Traveled to Hot Springs to meet Daddy's family

2 Week appt with Dr. Livingston - 6 lb. 13 oz.

Went to Care Group with Mommy and Daddy 11/22/09

Went to babysitter (Mimi) for first time 11/23/09

Helped Mommy blow out candles at her birthday party 11/23/09

Went to babysitter (Mimi) so Mommy and Daddy could go see New Moon 11/25/09

My First Thanksgiving and Mommy's 25th Birthday

Went to Mimi's, so Mommy and Daddy could go shopping at 3:45 a.m. on B.F.

Watched my first Razorback Game and slept the entire time!

My Due Date 11/28/09

Went to Church 11/29/09

Slept for 6 hours :o) 11/30/09

Rolled over from back to tummy 11/30/09 (I haven't done it since)

Celebrated Papa's 46th Birthday 12/1/09

Katie,

Mommy and Daddy love you more than you will ever know. The day you were born, you forever changed our lives... for the better. You are our little princess!

We love you,

Mommy and Daddy

Got my first bottle - Daddy gave it to me 12/1/09

First Thanksgiving

We got to celebrate our first Thanksgiving as a "family" this year! Katie was here!!!! Here are a couple of our little girl's first Thanksgiving. We were with my family this year...

Mommy, Daddy and Katie

Aunt Julie holding her great niece

All the girl cousins on the Moore side
L to R - Courtney, Sarah, Katie, Me, Aubrey,
Emma, Madeline, Hannah
We had a great Thanksgiving!

'tis the season to be thankful...

After reading Carman's blog, I decided to create a list of the things I am most thankful for in life...

**Jesus Christ** I take my relationship with Him for granted, but I am so thankful that I do believe and am able to have a relationship with my Savior. He gets me through each day.

**Matthew** I have a wonderful husband who works so hard to provide for us. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he loves me so much and that that love continues to grow each day.

**Katie** Katie is only 3 weeks old, but she has become the center of our world. She is a healthy, beautiful, and perfect baby girl.

**Family** I have wonderful parents who raised me to be who I am today. My in-laws are also wonderful and would do anything for us. My little sister (even though Katie is here) is one of the most important little girls in my life. My sister-in-law is wonderful - she is full of knowledge!!! My neices and nephew are such sweet kiddos, and I just love watching them grow.

**Friends** I have been blessed with an amazing best friend - Jennifer Pharr. She is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most generous person I know. She is such an inspiration! Matt and I have never really been very social, but we joined a Care Group at our church and have become such good friends with the couples in our group. They are all wonderful, godly people.

**Cooper** We have a precious, 10-month-old Cocker Spaniel puppy. He is full of energy and love! Now that Katie has joined our family, Cooper has been put on the back burner. HOWEVER, I try every day to give him the attention he deserves.

**My Job** I absolutely love my job! I think I have one of the greatest careers, ever. I get to work with 5th graders every day. They constantly find new ways to make me smile (and sometime pull my hair out). Getting to teach young kids on a daily basis and impact their lives is something that I will always hold dear to my heart.

**Our Home** Matt and I were fortunate enough to get to buy our first home this past May. It is a beautiful home, and it provides us with a roof over our heads. We are creating memories in our home that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Oh, how I love...

the look of her face in the dark living room.

the sound of her snores.

her cute little farts (way too big for a newborn).

her long, skinny tongue.

her crooked toe.

her adorable belly button.

her mohawk and mullet.

the way she looks on her Daddy's chest.

the feel of her on my skin.

the sound she makes when she is nursing.

the feeling I get when I pick her up out of her pack n' play.

the look on everyone's face when they see her.

her alertness.

the way she looks at the Christmas lights on our tree.

her sweet double chin.

when she sleeps for 4.5 hour stretches.

her coos.

this little girl with all my heart.

Nighttime

Just wanted everyone to know that my princess slept so good last night! She had two 4.5 hour stretches during the night.. One of those stretches let Mommy and Daddy sleep until 9:00! YEA KATIE!!!!

Is it possible...

to love this baby

girl any more??????

Look at her!

She is precious :o)

Pictures of Little Miss

Cooper loves his new little sister... Wherever she is, he is also!

Katie's first visit to the pediatrician! She looked precious and was very good :o) She gained 1.5 oz back from her discharge weight. Dr. Denton said she looked VERY healthy!

Yes, Katie is sucking her big toe! Tory, a good friend, was holding Katie very snuggly. Katie kept curling up into a ball and eventually managed to get her big toe (same big toe as Mommy) into her mouth! PRECIOUS!

Daddy and Katie's hand... Priceless :o)

One of my absolute favorite pictures of little miss. She is so alert and beautiful!

This was Daddy's first day back to work, and we wanted little miss to be all dressed and pretty for Daddy when he got home. I think she succeeded :o) Daddy's smile was priceless when he saw her!

Yes, that is bedhead! She gets it rather often!!

Katie's favorite place to be - Daddy's chest. The instant he puts her there, she falls asleep! I love it :o)

Katie is such a good baby... She is also the most beautiful thingI have ever laid eyes on. Sometimes I just catch myself staring at her wondering how we created such a wonderful little being. Amazing...

Katie

Maternity Pictures... a little late :o)