We Welcome the New Year!!

Christmas day photo 2010! Yes, they were all looking at the same time!

The 1st cousins! This is our 4 kids along with my twin sister's two kids.

Dad and Alayna hanging out. Again, hand in mouth! UGH! We do our best to prevent this as much as possible, but it is just a natural thing for her to do right now.

"Hi Alayna!" Playing with her toys before going to the Christmas celebrations.

Still playing.....but of course with an "old" toy. New toys have to be introduced slowly to Alayna. She usually pushes them off and wants nothing to do with them at first. But if we show them to her often, she eventually ends up liking most of them. It just takes time.

Taking a nap before heading out! She is in her turtle neck and tights...no dress yet....she looks kind of silly :)

Douglas wanted his picture taken with Alayna.

Douglas and his loot!

Lexi and her presents...she'll probably be upset that I posted this photo...almost a teenager and has attitude (at times) to go along with it!

Drake willing to smile and take a picture!

Annual visit to see Santa...Alayna wants NOTHING to do with him, so we did this while she was at school. Maybe we will try next year.
See, this is how much she wants to do with Santa! Santa visited her grandparents house and while all the other kids were talking to him and taking pictures, Alayna was content laying on the floor by herself...she wanted LEFT ALONE!
Cousins posing for a picture....minus two of the little ones....Chloe and Alayna. Maybe next year!
"Mom, really? Do I have to sit on his lap AGAIN? Please take me back."
Here is proof that Alayna doesn't like crowds or to pose for pictures! She is furious in the front row with her hands over her face and she was crying. This I believe upset Ava who is next to her and Chloe, who is behind Ava. We are making memories!!

This past year provided us with many blessings and memories. We started off the year with a challenge when Drake developed MRSA in his knee joint and had 2 emergency surgeries on February 26th and 27th. We continue to go to physical therapy at least twice weekly to recover from this terrible incident. It's been a challenge for him, but he is one of the toughest little guys I know. I pray that 2011 is a better year for him and that he gets to play all of the sports he wants to play and that we can hopefully make it to a beach somewhere! Last year our trip to Florida had to be cancelled due to him being in a cast in July. He is making great progress, even though it is slow, and he will get there!

The summer months were FULL of softball and baseball. This keeps the DeKeyrel's extremely busy nearly everyday of the week, including weekends because that is when Lexi plays her ASA tournaments. I enjoy watching my kids play and they love it. That is what is most important. I'm sure 2011 will bring us another exciting season of ball! They prepare for it year round, so it better be good! Ha ha.

August brought us back to school. Alexis started junior high and Douglas started 1st grade. So, Lexi had to adjust to a new kind of schedule, as well as Douglas....no naps and snacks...WHAT?! Drake had to be the big brother that looked out for Douglas and made sure they were on the bus together. It made him "step up" because Lexi usually took care of both of them!

This past fall was packed full of volleyball games, cheerleading, basketball games, Halloween, and tons of other activities. And this holiday season has been a usual busy one like everyone else can relate to.

Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve! We look forward to spending the evening home with one other family and ringing in the new year! I am especially excited in what 2011 may bring our way. Alayna will be 4 at the end of January and I have continual prayers and wishes for her. God knows what they are and I hope the answers will be forthcoming very soon. :) Patience and preserverence.

So, HaPpY NeW YeAR 2011 to each of you and your families! Blessings to all of you.

Holiday Time!

Alayna sitting in front of the tree. I still don't think she'll get into unwrapping presents yet.

Hum...finger in mouth still. She very much needs that oral input whether it be from her finger, a blanket, a rubber toy, etc.

She fell backwards! Still not able to sit for a long period of time without assistance, but it is getting much better.

Getting ready to go to a family gathering at Grandma & Grandpa's house with lots of cousins!

All smiles! She just doesn't like to make eye contact with the camera.

She fell backwards again and sometimes I wonder if she does it on purpose. She giggles and thinks it is funny! Maybe it provides some kind of fast sensory input of something!?

This is Alayna in her kidkart at her preschool Holiday program. Every student in her class is in a kidkart of some kind and they are non-verbal. Each one had their own aid helping them with the program.

This is Alayna and her classroom teacher, Ms. Renee. We love her! She is so patient and kind.

Santa was there to visit with the children! However, as you can see Miss Alayna wanted NOTHING to do with him or at least while on his knee.

So, we tried it in a different way! She was more content with Santa while she sat in her kidkart. I'm glad I at least got 1 photo of her and Santa without her screaming!

They decorated each of the children's karts. The song they paraded to was called "Hippopotumus for Christmas." So, that is what the purple thing is peeking out of the gift box on her cart! It was so cute. I wondered how they did a program for kids that were non-verbal. They pushed each child up and down the aisles in the gym while the song played. The kids loved it! Most of them are very musical and enjoy those kinds of things. The movement in the karts helped keep most of them content too.

Here is Alayna and a few of her classmates. As you can see, they provided her with her blanket for comfort and her favorite toy book.

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I've updated her blog. I think part of the reason is being extremely busy with activities of all kinds, in addition to Facebook. It seems as though that has opened doors for communcation with friends, family, and our 1p36 family.

First, happy holidays to you and your family. We have been blessed this year in many ways. Alayna is healthy and never once had any major illness of any kind. Minus a few runny noses she has had a clean bill of health for the year. We hope that 2011 brings us these continued blessings. Alayna has met her goals set at her school one year ago. We have set new ones for her to achieve, focusing on sitting, transitioning into sitting, chewing munchable foods, and manipulating switches and buttons. She has been adjusting to school well, but to be honest it is a very long day for her. She gets on the bus at 7:45am and gets dropped off at 2:30pm. Hopefully over time, Alayna will do better with managing her "tiredness" and not getting cranky as much as she still does. Alayna exhibits many "baby" behaviors as I like to call them. And naptime is stil a necessity and sometimes it is still 3 times a day!

Sorry for such a short post, but not too much has changed! We just keep chugging along and go about our usual days one at a time! Season's greetings to all of you and may God bless you all in 2011.