We're Back and On Spring Break!

Alayna loves hand-me-downs from Lexi! This is one of her old outfits. I'm thrilled that Annette and I kept a lot of Audrey's and Lexi's clothes. It helps tons.
Alayna's babysitter, Patti, takes her to therapy 2 times a week. The therapists have set some new goals and sitting up is one of the major ones! So, we will be practicing tons more. Here, Alayna is wedged in the corner of our coach and smiling.
OOPS, I'm falling to the one side! And I just don't have that instinct to put my hand down to catch myself. Patti, Alayna's therapists, and myself have really recognized lately how much Alayna puts trust in other people.
And now I'm falling to the other side. Alayna over compensates frequently and we are all working on strengthening her upper trunk muscles. She'll get there! At least she smiles through most of it....I can't say all of it. And I know Patti knows what I mean. Sometimes Alayna can get down right ticked off.

Alayna gives Douglas a little cuddle on his 4th birthday! She wasn't too sure what was going on and didn't care for having Douglas hold her.
If Alayna can get her pacifier and/or blankie wedged just right in her mouth, she likes to chew on them. She has 6 teeth on the top and 4 on the bottom. I think they are still bothering her a little, but for the most part, teething seems to be at a halt for now. Yeah!
What a cute face! She puts a smile on our faces on any day...rain or shine.
Okay, as you can see she is growing and getting close to being too big for the carrier. Her feet are hanging over a little and the straps are too short. She's squished! Plus, my back hurts and she is getting heavy to carry that way. They are awkward to carry no matter how big the child is. So, over break, I plan on getting the other car seats ready to go and we'll make the transition. I just plan on keeping the stroller in the van and maybe the carrier in case we go in somewhere. I may try to find a feeding seat at Toys R Us like some of the other 1p36 parents use. It's tough right now because she isn't able to sit up (yet!).

She has such a sweet little face and it reminds me of many of the 1p36 children we met in Florida last November. They all share a "similar" look.
She is back to loving the pacifier which is good because she still prefers to have her hands and fingers in her mouth non-stop. Her index finger on the one hand is slightly caloused.
Oh, that feels so good to have my helmet off! Alayna enjoys that part of the night and decided to rub her own head. And of course, she is holding the infamous green frog!
More grins and smiles.
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! She has this look on her face like she's trying to say "What in the heck are you doing mom?" Taking this picture did make us all laugh.

Glad to be back everyone! I missed blogging. We had some problems and had to bring the new computer upstairs and switch things around. It's much faster and just newer. It's too bad how fast computers are out of date so to speak. The other one wasn't that old either.

Anyway, we are officially on Spring Break!!! Oh, you don't know how ready I was. It's tough and wearing getting up everyday for work, getting all of the kids ready, making sure all homework is done and bags are packed, rushing around, and praying to not be late! Ya, right. Five days in a row is tops for me. I couldn't do it more than that. And let me just say that my students were needing a break from school too. And the exciting thing is we go back on March 31st and only have 1 more quarter to go. Unfortunately, it is a long, long quarter. But Spring is here and we are looking forward to it. And I'll just add that I'm ready for summer.

I do have to pray that this Easter break treats us a little nicer than last year's. I'll refresh your memory by telling you that Douglas had the rotovirus for over a week and spent an evening in the Trinity emergency room. And the following night, Alayna was admitted in Peoria. We spent 5 nights there, including Easter. That was right before we got her diagnosis. I look back though and she has come such a long way and is far from "failure to thrive" (the label they gave her last year at this time). This Easter is extra special and is really her "FIRST"!!

With spring, softball and baseball practices continue for Alexis and Drake and will likely move outside very soon. I hope Alayna and I get to go watch a few this year. Douglas is actually the handful if you can imagine that! And I'm sure heading to the kids games will be easier than last year. I'm also thankful to have such good "mom-friends" of Lexi's team members willing to help with Alayna. So, if any of you are reading this, oh you know I'll be asking for some relief...get ready. If you can believe it, Alexis has her first tournament in about 3 weeks in Burlington, Iowa. Fun City...here we come!

We don't have any huge plans over our week long break, but lots of little things to keep us busy. I plan to spring clean the house with Lexi. It is so nice how she is getting old enough to help me and it actually be help. When they are little they say they want to help, but it really never turned out that way. I'm sure all moms reading this can relate. I hope the weather cooperates a little for us and we may take a trip to Weed Park to play on the equipment. I hope to get the kids photos taken at JCPenney's for their birthday's. We have a birthday party planned for next weekend because Douglas turned 4, Alexis turns 10 and Drake will be 8! Wow, how time flies by so quickly. On Saturday, we plan to go to the Easter egg hunt in Andalusia and to Edgewood Baptist Church for Easter Sunday service. Then all 4 of our parents are going with us to brunch. It should be very nice. Hopefully, for the rest of the week the kids and I can just hang out together and have some fun knowing that we don't have to wake up with an alarm and we can wear our PJ's all day if we want to. Okay, maybe not the days Alayna has therapy, but all the other ones.

As usual, Alayna is progressing well. She continues to be the breath of fresh air that I so often need. Her carefree manner calms me and her smile melts my heart. We wish each of you a blessed Easter. I'll be sharing more pictures later. May God bless all of you as he has blessed us.