Alia Chloe Kortman

New Photos

2007-01-08T12:25:00.000-06:00

I posted some of Alia's latest photos...sorry it has been so long. Enjoy!

Alia at 2 months old

2006-06-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

Alia's second month has been full of wonderful things! She enjoys baths in her bathtub now without anxiety--which is nice for both baby and mom!

She smiles all the time and has even begun to laugh. She can pick up her chest when she is on her tummy. Here she is in her co-sleeper (baby bed next to mommy and daddy's bed) with her head up high to look around! Good morning, Sweetie!

Here is a pretty big "first"! I layed her down for her nap (on her tummy) and when I came back in to check on her she was on her back! I took a picture so her daddy could see when he got home!

Alia had fun seeing Auntie Gwen and cousins Owen and Ryan McDaniel yesterday. We can't belive how big the boys are getting and have trouble believing that our little Alia will soon be that big too!

Winner part 2

2006-06-07T06:04:00.000-05:00

She does this pose quite often, it's her "I'm a winner" pose. Daddy likes to give a running commentary, sometimes with the olympic theme in the background, imagining she is winning gold!

For some reason this picture didn't show up in the first post so I tried again.

A small update on Paul and Becky, we're living in Holland MI now, on the verge of being settled into our new farm home (rental) where we have a garden. Paul is working hard at work, there has eben a significant learning curve, and a midst moving and haveing Alia its been a lot to handle. Becky is trying to recover from pregnancy, moving and now there is a little one who demands all her time, as well as take care of a new house, a garden, stay in touch with friends and the slew of other things that come with living in a new state/house. All in all we're doing well, and the dust is startign to settle and we're starting to see what we have to deal with. Thank you for your prayers and love, please feel free to contact us in any way, if you want our house address or phone numbers please email either one of us, rebekah[at] paulkortman.com or Paul [at] paulkortman.com

Thank you to all our friends and family,for praying us through this time of major transition!

Sleeper and our littrle Lamb

2006-06-07T05:56:00.000-05:00

Since there are three pics of her sleeping in this post I've considered titleing this one "sleeper #1" but thats un-original! Alia likes to sleep in the snuggli with Daddy since he is warm, and if Alia gets warm she is asleep. (Mom and dad use the knowledge of this as their secret weapon)
This is Alia's little lamb outfit. I wonder where she gets all her cuteness from and then I see her Mom, and it all makes sense.
The new Kortman family, Daddy, Mommy, and Watermelon seed @ the Holland Farmers Market. We had a blast and will be frequenting the market!
Sleeper #3. She finds it quite amusing to be fussy in her bed (co-sleeper) until we pull her into bed with us, then she falls asleep and Mom and Dad have to get up to start their day. I think she thinks she is a princess and deserves a whole queen sized bed for herself.

Grandparents and smiles

2006-06-07T05:49:00.000-05:00

Grandma Kortman likes to come visit, Alia likes to talk to her, need I say more?
I'm not exactly sure if she is going to be a ham when it comes to Mom and Dad pulling out the cammera, but this pick sure shows signs of her lighting up for the camera!
Our first attempt at a baby announcement picture... with a black background, not what we were goign for but she has a cute "Grandma Pekel Half Grin"
Her first camping trip, Memorial Day weekend. We're trying to bring her up right, knowing that camping is fun, even if your not quite 2 months old and you don't sleep through the night, and you can't be out in the sun on a 90 degree 80% humidity day!
(By the way this is Alia with her GrandParents the Edighoffers)

Updated Shots of Alia Chloe

2006-06-07T05:42:00.000-05:00

We have fun taking pictures of our little girl! It has been said that she is full of expression. I tend to agree!

She does this pose quite often, it's her "I'm a winner" pose. Daddy likes to give a running commentary, sometimes with the olympic theme in the background, imagining she is winning gold!
This was her first dress, she has grown up so fast, she turns two months tomorrow and is just about to out grow all her 0-3 month clothes later this week or next.

2 Cousins on both sides.

2006-04-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

Watch her grow!

2006-04-21T09:49:00.000-05:00

We're moving!

2006-04-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

How things have changed in the last month!

First off, Alia Chloe is growing, and we’re having fun with her. We have to admit we think she is the cutest little person ever… especially her "o" face… you’ll have to see it some time (we haven’t caught it on camera yet.)

She is a delight and a joy but she also has colic which has proved to make tougher people out of Mommy and Daddy. Please pray that we can find out if this is just "normal colic" where there is not much we can do or if it’s a food allergy or some other strange environmental variable.
Remember how we contemplated the definition of insanity before, now with Alia’s colic thrown into the mix--we know we’re over the edge!

Our trip to Michigan over the Easter weekend went well, Becky and Alia both did great during the long car ride there. The last hour on the return trip to the Quad Cities was the hardest with Alia being inconsolable from the colic. :-(

On the home front—we’ve got a house! Thanks to our terrific family members and friends who put out feelers for us we now have great Christian landlords and just about everything we had hoped for in a property. Praise God for His provision!

So here is our new information,
Paul, Becky and Alia Kortman
(Removed due to privacy issues)
Please email us @ kortmans@----paulkortman.com for our address etc. (Hint, remove the dashes, those are added to prevent spam)

We are now in the process of packing up all our earthly belongings (that are in Illinois) and will be returning to West Michigan with our U-haul truck on Wednesday, April 26th.

If you want to help (we would appreciate it!), please meet us at our new address on that Wednesday evening at 6pm to unload the truck. Please understand that our inter-state drive with a colicky newborn will not allow us to accurately gage our arrival time and sadly will not be able to feed you supper, but our hearts pour out with love and appreciation for your willingness to assist us.

We want to give public appreciation to our family members who have already taken time to clean our new place and prepare it for our arrival in our absence. What a blessing to have such loving, giving and selfless family members. Thank You So Much!!!!

PS check out the photos in the next two emails!

Baby Kortman Arrives!

2006-04-09T07:20:00.000-05:00

"Praise the LORD!"

We are overjoyed to share our news and so very grateful to our Father in Heaven for blessing us with the safe arrival of our daughter, Alia Chloe Kortman. She was welcomed into our arms at 4:33 a.m . on Saturday, April 8th weighing 8lb. 13oz. and measuring 20 1/2''.

*The name Alia (pronounced ah-LEE-ah) means "noble". Her Great-Grandpa Edighoffer once had a dream that our baby would be girl named Chloe (which means "blossom") and were were pleased to honor him in this way. Chloe is also the name of a house church leader in 1 Corinthians 1:11. We hope that some day she too will be a strong leader for Jesus and desire to share her home and faith with others.

She was born at home with our midwife, Nancy, her assistant, Chamein and Auntie Christy assisting Paul and I in this special moment. Our dark haired little bundle took her time in coming. Lia began her entrance into this world 10 hours before she made an appearance, and we are thankful the process was smooth and without major trouble for both Lia and mommy.

The Kortman FamilyPaul, Becky & Lia

And Bigger...

2006-04-04T07:20:00.000-05:00

I know a lot of you had expected this email to say it's a boy or it's a girl. Not yet, Becky and Biscuit are still growing! Have you ever tried to fill a water balloon and get it as full as you can without breaking it, you keep putting water in it, it gets bigger and bigger, ya never know when it'll pop!

Becky's sister, Christy, threw a surprise baby shower for us inviting all our Quad City friends! We had so much fun! It is always a good time when friends from all the different areas of your life come together. We are blessed!

We do have big news in another arena; I (Paul) have accepted a job in Holland MI. We will be moving there at the end of this month. The job is great, the company I will be working for is great; the only problem is we do not currently have a place to move to!

So, if you have any contacts in or near Ottawa County who may know of a place for us, please let us know. We're looking for a house to rent (2+ Bedrooms) for less than $700, where we can have a dog, a large vegetable garden and possibly some chickens. We hope to land somewhere within a 30 minute drive to Holland, and probably not within any city limits. This is our best case scenario and obviously we know we can't be too picky at this point (with only 3 weeks to relocate).

Many of you may think we're crazy to plan a move when our baby hasn't even been born, we'll your not alone! Over dinner last night we discussed the definition of insanity and how it applies to our situation. However, we have been earnestly seeking God through this process as it has been developing and we believe He will provide. He has a place for us. Please join us by praying and searching to discover that place and have as smooth of a transition as possible!

Stay tuned for more information including the birth of our first born!

Us together

2006-03-24T06:07:00.000-06:00

It's a little fuzzy but it's still us in a great 9 month pose!

Distracting background, but a clearer picture!

Pregnancy, now 9 months along!

2006-03-23T06:07:00.000-06:00

Yup, She's pregnant!

Daddy kisses

Bethany had a hey day with this pose... just kept cracking up!

8 Months, almost there

2006-03-12T10:12:00.000-06:00

This is the posting station, Becky is the master at keeping the pictures up to date and the budget too!

Honestly, I had no Idea she could continue to get more beautiful! 8 months and counting!

Auntie Christy checking to see where the baby is.

You've heard of Senior Moments, but have you heard of Pregnant Moments? this one (as well as the Mac and cheese earlier) deserved to be memorialized in a photo. One night after Becky and I cleaned up from supper I stepped back into the kitchen to get a drink, something caught my eye... one of these items does not belong.... can you tell which?

(Hint: it's yellow and belongs in the fridge)

Birth Pool

2006-03-12T09:11:00.000-06:00

This is the tub/pool we purchased to aid and assist in the labor process.

Co-Sleeper part 3

2006-03-04T20:55:00.000-06:00

The side view.

Side view part two

Close up of the shelf

...

Co-Sleeper Part 2

2006-03-04T20:50:00.000-06:00

The shelf removes.

The co-sleeper away form the bed.

The Co-sleeper next to the bed

More of the bed and the co sleeper together

Co-Sleeper

2006-03-04T20:45:00.000-06:00

Becky and the new co-sleeper

The Bed in the room.

Charlie The droopy bear in the bed with the My Blankee from Gwen

The Builder and the new bed.

@ 7 Months

2006-02-19T10:07:00.000-06:00

She is so beautiful! We are getting really excited for "Biscuit" to arrive!

Building the Co-sleeper

2006-02-18T09:04:00.000-06:00

The Jusinos so kindly let me take over their garage for a few weeks to build the baby's bed, Its a Co-sleeper that will sit next to our bed. Thanks for your interest! We've made a new site to show off this cosleeper a bit more, you can find it here: cosleeperplans.comlt;div class="blogger-post-footer">

New Year - 6 Months

2006-01-27T09:59:00.000-06:00

Taken when Mom and three of her sisters came to Eagle watch with us, unfortunatly this year the eagles stayed away form the QCA, but we had a good time.

5 Months

2005-12-11T09:49:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

@ the Farm - 4 Months

2005-11-06T09:46:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe this is Novemeber!

Palisades - 3 Months

2005-10-22T09:19:00.000-05:00

Becky and I had a blast checking out this state park, the fall colors were wonderful!

This is my personal favortie of us currently.

The three month shot!

Wedding

2005-08-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

These three pics were taken the day we found out we were pregnant!

We were in Michigan for the wedding of Mike and Amanda, they ahd a great day and a beautiful wedding.

Aren't we cute? She supprised me that day by getting her hair cut... which is really cute!
And we had fun meeting Mike's friends/Dad... they were great!