Picture Perfect

Alina loves to get her picture taken! On Sunday, she looked so cute I wanted to take some pictures in her adorable outfit. You can see below how much she loves the camera:)

Zoo

Friday I had a half-day so when I came home we all three went to the zoo. It was fun to hang out as a family. The weather was really nice and it was such a relaxing day. Alina is really beginning to enjoy the zoo! She rides in the baby bjorn and looks around at everything. I think sometimes she likes looking at the kids around her more than the animals. This time we spent most of our time looking at the aquarium and the birdhouse. Justin loved looking at all the different snakes, and he would point them out to Alina, who would stare at the glass as the snakes crawled on it. I just kept insisting that we'd seen enough snakes and that I wanted to see real fish. So we moved on to the fish. Alina liked the leopard shark the best, he swam around for her. She was also amused at the lady cleaning the big fish tank. We hope to go again soon:)

Tummy

Alina has not always like to be on her tummy. She would fuss and fuss. Once she figured out she could roll over, you couldn't get her to stay on her tummy for anything! Lately, things have changed a bit. She's figuring out that she kind of like to play on her tummy from time to time. She even will turn and sleep on her tummy. Sometimes she wakes up mad about it, but the other morning as you can see, she was very happy. She is rolling all over the floor from tummy to back and back to tummy. She creeps around a bit, and who knows, maybe soon she'll even crawl!

Patrick's Baptism

Sunday, Alina's friend, Patrick, was baptized at our church. We were happy to see his parents commit to raising Patrick in a godly home and teaching him God's word and his need for a savior. We are excited to be a part of his life and also come along side his parents as they raise their son to be a man after God's own heart.
Alina came to big church to see the baptism. She did very well during the announcements, singing, prayer, etc. She really enjoyed chewing on my lip blam (cap on). However, just before the baptism she realized she was missing a nap and so I took her to the back of the sanctuary for the baptism and then took her back to the nursery.
After church we celebrated the baptism with the Michaud's and their family by having lunch at Matt and Jessica's. We are so thankful for great friends that God has put in our lives! Some pictures from Sunday are below, you can also see Jessica's blog by looking on the left at the blogs I follow and clicking on the Michaud Show.

8 Months!

On Monday Alina was eight months old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. To celebrate we had some friends over (and because it was Labor Day:). The Rogers came with their kids and Matt and Jessica came with Patrick. At one point Alina and Patrick were both on the floor playing with Riley and Jesse. They loved it! We had a great time.

We can't believe how much Alina is growing up. She is eating all sorts of food I've pureed for her. She loves fruits and carrots and sweet potatoes, but doesn't care for peas too much. She also snacks on crackers, cheerios and "puffs" (made by Gerber to melt in their mouth). We've given her pieces of bananas to snack on but they are very slippery in her hand! Alina doesn't care for crawling yet, she's never been much a fan of being on her belly. However, she loves to sit there and play with her toys. She likes to get all the toys out of her basket and put them next to her. Macy and Alina are very good friends. Alina smiles and laughs when Macy comes and licks her feet:) We thank God for our little blessing every day!

Daddy Fridays

On Friday, Alina stays home with Justin and they have lots of fun together. Today, they went to the park after they took the trash. Alina loves the swing! This time she even got to go on the slide (in the baby bjorn with Justin of course). I am really glad that they have this time together. Justin is such a great daddy and a wonderful husband. He's been doing a lot of the cleaning on Fridays so I have more time with Alina on the weekend. Thanks Justin for being so amazing!

Hey Daddy! What channel is Noggin?

Go GameCocks!

Wiped out from playing with Daddy! This week and last week:)

My friends went back to school...except Jo-Jo!

So here are some great pictures of Alina and the Rogers' children. I had to go back to school before the kids went back, so for several days Alina had lots of fun with all four of the Rogers' kids. Joel even posted on his blog about Alina (check his blog out by clicking on Joel's Brain Blog, he's pretty amazing for a fourth grader!). Now its just Alina and Josiah, but I know they have fun together. The other day Pauline told me that when Alina was getting fussy Jo-Jo (Josiah) just kept bringing her toys to soothe her. What a sweet guy!

Jesse, Alina and Joel

Riley, Alina and Joel

Alina with her buddy Joel - thanks Joel for being such a good friend to Alina!

Back to School

Well, this week I returned to school and teaching 7th graders. The kids came back on Wednesday. So far, we seem to have a nice bunch of kids, but it has only been three days. Its amazing how teachers have to really get back into teaching all day. By Thursday morning we were all talking about how our feet and back hurt and how we've lost our voice from going over the syllabus with each class! I think I must be getting old, my feet are usually sore, but this year my back has really been hurting too. I have a lot less kids than usual this year, only 16-22 per class which is really nice! Since I'm not coaching any more I think it will be a little easier year, even though I will miss the girls and my friends that I coached with. I'll just have to go to games and competitions:) Alina has been going to Pauline's again and she just loves it. It seems she really enjoyed the days when all the kids were there (cause I had to go back before kids did so her kids were home). I think Alina and Jo-Jo will be great friends this year!

Gone to Texas

We went to Texas this summer like we usually do, but this time instead of two dogs, we took two girls. Alina of course, and Alex. It was great to have Alex come along and help with Alina in the car. We stayed with Justin's parents the first five days and with my family the second half. It was great to see our family and friends and see them spend time with Alina. We also had a chance to go on several dates, since we had so many babysitters! We went to lunch, saw Harry Potter, took Mark and Alex to Fort Worth and spent a day at Six Flags. We also had fun hanging out and playing lots of Settlers and splashing in the pool at mom's house.

Here is Alina with her great-grandmother, Granny Bea

Alex had the opportunity of a life time when she got to get up on this longhorn in the Fort Worth Stockyards. It was fun for all of us!

Hanging out in the pool with Papa Ovi

I was also able to attend a shower, and help throw a shower for Irina. This was at Cindy's house where we had my shower almost exactly one year ago. We are very excited about Lily and can't wait to meet her!

Pawley's Island

Last weekend we went with Matt and Jessica, and Jessica's family to Pawley's Island. They were staying a whole week, but we just stayed Saturday and Sunday so we could leave for Texas on Monday. It was so nice of the Marshalls to have us!! The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. Alina really does love the water, and she just sits in my lap and lets the waves hit us. Its so much fun! We spent time on the beach, played games and had some good food. We wished we could have stayed longer, but Texas was waiting:)

Daddies and babies going for a walk. Patrick is growing so fast! Can't believe he's almost as big as Alina, but four months younger!

I love the beach!

Playing Bocce Ball on the beach, Jessica won!

Justin loves to ride his board on the waves