Happy 3rd Birthday Alayna & Preschool Begins!

Alayna getting ready for her birthday party!

She's officially 3!

She has the roundest little bottom and slides down on the leather couch!

Laughing with her foot up in the air.

Playing with her toys and refusing to make eye contact with the camera. Imagine that!

Alayna loves it when I wear a hat. It's very intriguing to her. She plays with it and here she got a grip and put it in her mouth. Gotta taste everything I guess!

I was trying to get her to participate a little in the unwrapping part of the birthday, but she still isn't too interested. She'd rather just play with the toys. Thank you to everyone for the lovely gifts. Let's just say that she'll be one of the best dressed at her new school!

Singing Happy Birthday to Alayna. And of course, she had to have a book to keep her entertained. By this time she was getting cranky and tired. Right after this, she went to bed....officially the first party-pooper of the night!

These are all of the cousins on my side of the family....Will, Chloe, Ava, Alexis, Audrey, Alayna, Jalen, Cameron, Drake and Douglas.

Since Alayna loves the Spongebob theme song, as a family we thought it was appropriate for a Spongebob cake! Yummy....it was sooooo good.

Alayna has officially graduated from Early Intervention :( This was her last session with her PT, Kim, at the Children's Therapy Center. We were a bit sad. It's been nearly 3 years that we've been working with these therapists and it is hard imagining not having them in your life. A new chapter is opening up. However, the great thing is that if we still want Alayna to have some services through the CTC, we can file it with our insurance. We'll just have to see what Alayna's schedule will allow in the summer. For now, preschool will take up every day of the week.

This is Alayna standing at the table. She's doing pretty good with it. We still have to use at least one knee immobilizer to help keep her up. She will bend the knees and fall otherwise. She'll get there!

Preschool Begins Tomorrow, February 1st!

For the past few months, we have been eagerly preparing for preschool. We had her IEP meeting, a tour of the preschool, met the principal, and met her classroom teacher and all of her therapists. We've been buying school supplies for her "locker", getting her book bag packed, and making sure we know every facet and gadget of her KidKart. I've been meeting with our district transportation director since I work at the high school and we finally have her bus driver and bus aide determined. I truly can't believe it is tomorrow!

Last Friday, Alayna's birthday, I took the day off of work so that we could finish our appointments and also do a "trial" bus run into preschool. I was so glad that I had the opportunity to do this. We basically did it just like we would on a school day. It couldn't work out any better than this. I take Alayna to my high school where I work, I load her in her KidKart, her driver swings over by where I park to load her up, and then goes over to the bus barn to wait for her bus aide. Her bus aide has a morning bus route, but it seems to work out just fine. Both the driver and her aide are EMT's, so I couldn't put her in better hands. It took approximately 25 minutes to get to the preschool. She will leave in the morning around 8 am and should arrive at school by 8:30 am (this is when they start). Her school day will be over around 2pm and then she'll be brought back to me at the high school.

One of the cool things right now is that she is the only student on the bus because she is the only child in our district attending the SKIP preschool. Nothing like getting individualized attention! And my plan is to leave her KidKart in my classroom instead of hauling it home every night. I honestly don't use it much because when we do go someplace I throw her in a stroller. This will save me alot of time in the morning from having to unload it, plus it will be warm and I can get her all situated in a warm classroom.

Tomorrow is officially the 1st day of preschool! Little Alayna will definitely have some adjustment to this new schedule. It'll be interesting how she does. I joked with the teachers if they had ever had a child get kicked out of school for behavior the first day! They laughed and reassured me that she'd be fine. I have a feeling she'll be receiving lots of attention from the staff. They told me that's the way it is when the get a new student and they are very excited! Pray for Alayna and I'll keep you posted.

Cry, cry, cry....so a trip to the Pediatrician

A week ago this past Friday, Dana took Alayna to Iowa City for a vision appointment. Well, let's just say it wasn't a fun trip. She cried nearly 3 hours straight and Dana could do nothing for her. So, I made an appointment with her pediatrician that evening. Everything physically checked out fine, but we have blood work being done to see if anything seems wrong. The ironic thing is that starting Saturday morning she turned back into this littlest, sweetest, angel. What gives?! It is so difficult when they can't communicate. Maybe she just wasn't feeling good that day. I mean, we all have those days where we are just off. I don't know! She keeps us on our toes that is for sure. After preschool tomorrow, she has her 3 year old physical, which I'm sure she'll love. Right now she weighs 24.8 pounds.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Three years ago, January 29, 2007, our lives changed in a way that we never expected. Alayna continues to make us better people, teaching us patience, appreciation, value of life, how to enjoy each minute and each milestone, and to stop and smell the roses more often than we used to. I think that her life has impacted many people who know her and that is one reason why she is God's gift to us. Through Alayna, God is working in mysterious ways. Her turning 3 marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. I pray that preschool is a wonderful thing for her and that we seen Alayna continue to progress. Alayna has had wonderful care-givers over the past 3 years and to them I say "thank you for your kindness, love, and nurturing and may God bless you." The great thing is that Alayna will still get to visit each of them during her two week breaks. So, Happy 3rd Birthday Alayna. We love you so much.