Norah recently.

One of the greatest blessings of my earthly life is to be in the front seat watching my girls grow up! What an honor and joy to be entrusted to be parents. Norah, we are so thankful for your life and thankful that He loves you even more than we do.

Norah is doing so well in second grade this year. Last year was a great year for her too, but it was a big transition year as she adjusted to school and was getting a better grasp on reading. She has grown so much in managing big feelings, feeling less anxious about school, and her reading has soared! It's so fun to see her enjoy reading and an answer to prayer. We recently had conferences and her teacher gave great reports about her, academically and socially- so grateful for that and proud! Norah talks about what they do in science often. We have had ten snow days this year and looking forward to spring!

Norah is continuing piano lessons this year and is doing pretty well overall. Practicing is a struggle some days, but she mostly does okay and it's amazing to see how she started to where she is now in only a year and a couple months. She had a Christmas recital and played Pat-A-Pan and We Three Kings. She was nervous but did very well. It was special because it was at the retirement community where Great Grandpa and Grandma Schut had recently moved into! They had a Christmas program at church in December also and Norah sang and her Sunday School grade recited a poem. Christmas was a little quieter than normal this year because we didn't get to go to Des Moines over break, but that's okay because we got to add a new cousin to the family! Grandma and Grandpa went to help when he was born, so that's why we didn't make it to Des Moines, but we had some fun days with the De Jongs and doing some family things too. Brooks Allen Schornack was born on December 29, 2022 at 11:13am and 7 lbs 15 oz. We were originally going to meet him in January, but then couldn't because of sickness, so we got to meet him in February when everyone came to celebrate Lucy and Ellory's 6^th birthday. So special to hold him! Norah now has seven cousins. At the end of January, we took the girls on a weekend trip to MOA as their big Christmas present and we had tons of fun swimming at the hotel, riding rides, Crayola Experience, Amazing Mirror Maze, and Sea World. So glad we could go!

Norah did winter rec basketball this year. She was nervous about it and the beginning was a little rough, but we talked a lot about trying your best, experiencing new things, and being well rounded in activities, and it helped a lot and in the end she was trying her best and even had some fun too! She's a pretty good little player! She recently started gymnastics in March. She had been talking about doing it for a long time, and many of her friends at school do some sort of dance, so it was on her mind a lot. Thankfully they had a spot for her mid-semester and so far she's been loving it. She will also start spring rec soccer soon too.

Norah had a time in the fall where she had the stomach flu and them lingering symptoms for days after that, but that has basically been it and overall she's been healthy! She is wearing a size 2 shoe and L/10 clothes. She still takes a bit to wind down at night, but usually goes to bed fairly well and has been doing great at sleeping through the night. (Norah was up in the night often for years and years, which wasn't too bad, but sleeping through the night is pretty great.) She still occasionally has night terrors.

Some of Norah's favorite things to do are Kids Art (a kids youtube channel that teaches you how to draw things), perler beads, rainbow looms, drawing/crafts, writing stories, reading, listening/singing along to her music playlist, playmobil sets, Barbies, chalk, roller blading, and riding bike. Norah has a great memory, is funny, insightful, and caring. She is great with her younger cousins and loves it when it's our turn to help in the nursery at church. She talks about babysitting when she gets older. Norah met with our pastor about desiring to take communion and will take her first one soon- yay! Norah, we pray your heart for Jesus continues to grow and grow. We love you so much and Jesus loves you the most!