Remember me?

Enjoying my birthday cake-even in her nose!

wearing her cousin Brooke's nighty

We had a family photo shoot

Hello! It has been forever since I last updated so lets get right to it!

Ciara is doing wonderful weighing in at 17 lbs 1oz. She has gained a little, but she is so busy that she burns off as much as she takes in! She is walking around everywhere and climbs everything in sight! She is such a little monkey. She currently has 4 teeth coming in so she has been cranky the past couple of days. It is so exciting that she is finally getting teeth. She has had just two up until now. She is doing well sleeping and generally sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day. Sometimes I get lucky and she takes two naps! She is learning new words everyday and loves to jabber on and on. We are still doing therapy once a week and we enjoy our time with Ms. Kathi. Ciara is doing very well and at her last evaluation she was only behind in self-help skills. She JUST qualified to stay in the program and since it does nothing but help her I decided to keep having Kathi come over and play with her. Ciara really enjoys her time with Kathi and gets sad when Kathi has to leave. She is a vibriant, healthy, very energetic little girl! We are so blessed to have her here with us.

Aaliyah is doing well and will be starting preschool on September 7th. She is so excited and I am so sick to my stomach about it! I just don't want to believe that my baby is old enough to go to preschool! Wasn't it just yesterday that I held her in my arms just seconds after pushing 1 1/2 hours to deliver her? Didn't I just bring her home? Where does the time go? She will be going to SSCD preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-11:30. Like I said she is so excited. She is also extremely excited about our trip to see Nana! On the last week of October we are flying down to Florida to spend the week with Nana and GG and grandpa Gunther. We are spending one day in Disney and we have reserved a spot to have lunch with Cinderella in the castle. She talks about it constantly and asks if it is time to go yet! Corey and I are so excited to be able to take her to Disney. I never had the opportunity to go as a child and I am more than thrilled that Aaliyah can have these memories. Corey and I decided it would be more enjoyable for Aaliyah and us if we left Ciara with Nana for the day and just focused on Aaliyah. I had a hard time with this decision. I don't want Ciara to look back at the pictures and wonder where she was and why she didn't get to go to Disney with us. I know she will get to go eventually. We plan to visit Nana every other year. So I gave in and am happy with my choice. Aaliyah really doesn't get to do much with just Corey and me. It will be nice to focus on her. Aaliyah is growing like a weed and is in size 5 clothes. She is so tall now measuring at 42 1/2"! She is still wearing pull-ups to bed and having a wet one in the morning. This is honestly my fault. If she asks for a glass of milk before bed I let her have one. She is doing well during her naps though and has been waking up dry. I wasn't making her take a nap before, but I find she sleeps better at night and is less whiny if she gets an afternoon brake. Now if I could just get the girls to nap at the same time I would really have it made! This past week we attended vacation bible school in the evenings and grandma Benson watched Ciara so I could help Teresa round up all the little ones. We had so much fun and had a little program on Sunday morning with all of the songs they learned. Well Aaliyah decided she wasn't going to do a single thing but stand up there. She wouldn't sing or clap or wave her hands so all of the pictures of her are pretty uneventfull. She is such a stinker sometimes!

Corey is doing well and working like crazy. For the last couple of months he has been working 70-80 hour weeks. He pretty much just comes home to sleep and then gets called back in. We look forward to his days off and the girls miss him so much. Aaliyah has been having a hard time with him being gone so much. The other day when he got called out she started crying after he left and kept saying she was going to miss him so much. When she gets up in the morning the first thing she asks me is "Where is my daddy?" I love the days when I can say he's home and she can be with him! Ciara's face lights up when her daddy comes home and she loves to play and cuddle with him. Those girls love their daddy! He has not been here much to help me around the house so I have been taking on projects that I would normally NEVER attempt to do. Why just last night I put a new flapper in the downstairs toliet and was extremely proud of myself! The toliet was constantly running and all I could think about was how much money we were wasting! I also have been quite the mouse catcher and have emptied out the mouse traps on my own. It's not something I would have ever done before, but I have learned to get things done that need to be. My dad helps me a lot with letting me know what parts I need to get and how to fix things. I don't know what I would do without him.

I am doing well and keeping myself busy with being a mommy. I am still a Pampered Chef consultant and absolutely love when I have a show. I really enjoy getting some time to myself. I don't really have any set up right now and need to get on the phone and start filling up my calender! I have been watching the two neighbor children in the afternoons for some extra money and that keeps me busier than I want to be!!! Four children is a hand-full! I just keep saying to myself "My poor parents." You know by the time you realize your mother was right, you have a daughter that thinks you are wrong! And let me tell you Aaliyah lets me know what she thinks too! I celebrated a birthday on the 11th and can't believe I'm 28! I remember when Corey and I started dating he was 27 and I thought that was so old! haha!

Praise the Lord our family is healthy and happy! He is so good.