A cute few

I realized that I never have the camera out when Joel is with us. So the other day I decided to get a few of him, he's growing into such an amazing young man...just see for yourself!


Here's a cute one of Gracie (post haircut)


The boys


Happy family!


She wouldn't put her night night down for anything!


Just Joel!

Friday Lunch

Last Friday I took the day off (due to working an unexpected 3rd shift a few days before) so Aliya and I headed to Washington Court House to have lunch with family. It was originally just going to be Martha and us, but after to talking to Greg and dad on the phone, we all decided to make a family lunch of it! We met at Dakota Grill and had some yummy food!! Of course, I didn't remember to take out my camera until the very end, so I only got a few shots of the afternoon together. Oh, I almost forgot. About half way into lunch Aliya looks over at me and with huge eyes said, "potty". I affirmed her using her words and repeated her and went on about my meal. Then about 3 minutes later she said it again, only this time with power behind her words and she grabbed her pants. I scooped her up and took her into the bathroom, of course she had already gone in her diaper, but as I was changing her she said, "potty" with a huge smile on her face!






(since then potty is talked about all the time in our house. She was in the bathroom at Jennifer's yesterday morning and kept putting the lid up on the toilet, so I stripped her down and sat her on it. She screamed...it didn't go well, but the interest is there! I need to dig her potty chair out of the shed and set it up for her just so she can start getting familiarized with it)

Such a big girl!

Sunday night we had some friends over for dinner. Their son, Gage, is six days younger than Aliya and they love to play together! Gage was being weaned off his bottle and passy that week (he's going to be a big brother in June and they wanted to have him completely off both before his little brother comes!)anyway... We introduced the sippy to Aliya months ago, but she has struggled drinking her milk from one. She will drink water with no problem, but was attached to the bottle with her milk. Anyway, Gage was getting his PJ's on and his dad offered him his bedtime milk in a sippy. Aliya paid close attention to him and asked for her "baba". I didn't want to give her a bottle with Gage just learning to drink from his sippy so I gave Aliya her milk in a sippy. She looked at me like "you have got to be kidding me", but finally drank it after watching Gage do it. That was the start of her "big girl baba" days!!! She has not used a bottle since Sunday afternoon! I went to Wal-Mart today to invest in a few more, two new ones for the sitter's and three new ones for home! She was so excited to watch me take them out of the bag and wash each one! Our little girl is growing up (sniff)!!!!

The passy was gone back in September, now the bottle. We just have her "night night" to go now. I don't want to take everything away all at once.

Oh, one more tooth started to break through this afternoon! I think it will be all the way through by morning! It's on the bottom left, but she has a matching bump on the other side of her gums too!!!! She was asking for Tylenol this evening. She points to it and says "memin peeee". I didn't give it to her, as she doesn't seem to be in any pain.

Our little girls is getting so big!

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"!!!

15 month check up

I only have a minute, Aliya is in bed, but I don't think for long. She is not a happy camper this evening. Today she had her 15 month well baby appointment. She did pretty well considering she got 3 shots and her gums are the size of hotdogs they're so swollen. She announced our arrival in her normal way of running around and saying "hi" to everyone. She even walked back to the scale on her own. She was measured and weighed on the adult scale this time. 22 lbs (33rd percentile) and 31" (62nd percentile). She wasn't standing up straight or still for it, so it could be a bit off. Just like at all appointments, she threw a fit while being examed. Both the nurse and the doctor commented on how strong (strenth and spirited) she is. She has surpassed all the 15 month milestones, except for stacking blocks. We haven't worked on that one yet, but will get on that right away! Once her exam was over we were told the nurse would be in in a few minutes to give her her three shots. We played in the little sink there in the room while we waited. She made a HUGE mess, but on a positive note, they won't have to mop their floors for awhile. Next came the shots then came the screams and tears and last the bottle. Aliya kept screaming, "done, done, done" over and over. She was making it quite clear she was ready to leave. It only took her about five minutes to recover, I guess giving her the Tylenol a bit earlier this time paid off. I got her dressed and shoes on and she walked around and explored all the rooms while I checked out.

Here are a few updates on our ladybug.

*wearing all 18 month clothes
*still in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 overnights (we will be moving up to size 4 daytime diapers as soon as this case is empty)
*still have not found a food she won't eat and wants to use mommy's fork to eat it! She will hand the fork to me and say "do it" (I stab the food) and her the fork and she puts it in her mouth
*"Do it" is her favorite phrase right now. Everything is "do it". Closing doors, throwing things away "do it" all the time
*uses a napkin to wipe her hands, mouth and table at the end of the meal then "do it" gets down and throws her napkin away
*still will not stay in the walker's room at church. I stay in with her, it's fun to watch her interact with the other kids
*is obsesed with her "night night" blanket. We took it on vacation with us and it has not left her side since. She recieved a second "night night" for the sitter's. It was a rough day when mommy forgot it one day. Thanks Grandma Kris!!!
*loves to give hugs and kisses to mommy, daddy and Joel
*"helps" brush her teeth in the morning and before bed
*loves to go bye bye. Screams at the top of her lungs when we ask her if she wants to go. She then proceeds to gather her night night and stands at her coat and says "co on" (coat on)
*has about a 20 word vocabulary and is repeating everything we say. Just yesterday she asked for her "baba" and I told her wait a minute. She repeated minute pretty clear then proceeded to say it all morning.
*will repeat "one, two, three" to daddy
*when in the van on the way to the sitter's in the morning she will list everyone she is going to say "Mamin (Madeline), "Jua (Julia), Jen, dudin (Dustin), Emmeeee (Emerson)" it really is cute
*has 8 teeth and more on the way. Here poor mouth is so swollen
*her feet are finally growing! She's in a size 4 shoe.
*loves to pull her shoes and socks off then try to put them back on
*has a sudden interest in bows and barrettes
*still loves her friend in the mirror. She flirts with herself every chance she gets!


I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton of things, but she's needing snuggled! (I can't find my camera cord...once I find it, I'll try to get some pictures up!)

Content

Okay, this blog has nothing to do with the kids, it's about me this morning. I had an "aah ha" moment last night and I wanted to share my heart with you. I haven't been feeling "right" for about a week and a half now. Not sick, just not 100%. I've been nauseous, stomach ache, funky RR experiences (I won't go into detail), tired all the time. I chucked it up to being a woman, the weather and the time change. I was talking to a few co workers yesterday and the question of pregnancy was brought up. "Are you pregnant?" one asked. My first gut reaction was to laugh, how could I be? But the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense. I made a doctor's appointment for this Friday, just to get checked out. After work Jon and I were talking about it and it was a weird conversation...we hadn't talked about being pregnant in almost two years now. Wow... Then around 9pm I got a call on my work phone from one of my co workers asking if I was at home, "Yes" she said to go check my mailbox and call her later. I went out and found a birthday card and a pregnancy test shoved way in the back of the box. I had to laugh. I decided to take the test right away. I really didn't think I was pregnant, but hey, a free test, so why not?! Jon asked if I was nervous and for the first time in four years, I was not. Obviously I would be over the moon if it was positive, but if not, for the first time I would be completely 100% okay with that. Of course it was negative, just like I thought...nothing...no disappointment, no tears, nothing. I shared with Jon that I am content just the way things are and I am not at all upset that it was negative. I truly feel that God's hand is over my heart, protecting it. Do I still grieve a little on the thought that I will probably never carry a baby? Of course, I believe it's only natural. But then I look at Aliya (and Joel) and know that my children didn't have to grow in my belly to be mine, they grew in my heart and God's hands and what more can a mother ask for?

Thought this was cute!

PARENT - Job Description

This is hysterical. If it had been presented this way,
I don't believe any of us would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.