A lot going on

March has been a very busy month. We celebrated my 29th birthday, Jon's mom came for a week and a half visit to try to find a condo for when they move back to Ohio. She thinks she found "the one"!!! They plan to put an offer on it this week, now they just need their house in FL to sell!!! We are praying for that! Joel was "Star of the Week" last week at school and on Friday he asked me to come speak to his class about my career. I had 45 mins to explain to a room full of 10 years olds what I do for a living. It was a really neat experience and the kids asked a lot of really good questions. I was honored that he asked me to speak! Aliya's health has been on and off all month. She was sick the week before Jon's mom came, and again the week after. The second time is teeth (I hope!). Joel is doing well in school and enjoyed the few weeks off between basketball and baseball. He had his first practice this morning. According to Jon, Joel is one of the best players on the team and it looks like Joel maybe their main pitcher!! He's on the Tiger's this year!! Practices will soon start 3 nights a week and games on Saturdays. I'm not sure how much of the games I will get to watch this season with Aliya being SOO mobile. But one thing is for sure, we are all looking forward to the warm weather!!!

Here is a cute picture of Aliya trying to get into Gracie's cage.


Riding her zebra saying, "weeeeee" as she throws her head back.


My sister in law, Kristi, and her two girls, Aveline and Scarlett, came for a visit last weekend. We went to Jungle Jim's (I'd never been before) and stopped by their house in Middletown. The girls had so much fun together. I tried to get a shot of all three together. Aveline was very in tune with "baby Aliya"'s needs. It was a great day that my heart REALLY needed!!!! Thanks for coming down Kristi!


This is Gracie. She is the newest member of our family and was a gift for my birthday/surprise for the kids. We found Gracie on craigslist the night of my birthday and she came home last Thursday night. She's a Yorkie/Jack Russel mix. She's 6 months old weighing in at 9 lvs and very well behaved. She can jump the gates faster than any dog I've seen. Joel loves her and Aliya quickly warmed up to her.


This is just a cute shot of Alyia. She has 8 small braids in her hair. She sat really well for about 40 minutes for me to do them. They lasted a week before they got frizzy and I took them down.


Aliya got her first haircut at the beginning of the month. She just got a small trim, but it has really made a difference! She did well for her first cut. We prob won't have to get it cut again for another year now.


Here's a self photo of the two of us. She's yelling "cheeeese"!!!