Bittner Family Updates

Aleigha turns 4 tomorrow and wanted to sing a song....

2012-01-24T22:07:00.002-06:00

Aleigha singing in December 2011

2011-12-11T20:41:00.000-06:00

The Polar Express in the Monticello Railway Station

2011-12-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

Robotics Club 2011 - Grayson

2011-11-19T19:07:00.002-06:00

Grayson and Ben work together on a part of their team's entire robotic mission. Their team has 10 members in 4th and 5th grade. I took a video of Grayson's section. The entire mission takes 2 min and 30 seconds with each mini-team working together taking turns. They are given a lego robot that they must program on a computer to do certain tasks on the board to get points. This was a practice run with other teams. The actual competition which will be judged will be at Bradley University in Peoria on December 10th. The kids learned a lot from watching the other teams and how they completed the same missions.

Aleigha in the Cherub Choir at church

2011-10-22T10:36:00.005-05:00

Aleigha loves singing and her Cherub Choir meets once a week and then performs at church once in Oct, Nov and December.

Pictures

2011-10-22T10:14:00.006-05:00

Sibling love... :)

Grayson, Aleigha and Johnny at Lake Iroq....

At Curtis Apple Orchard in Champaign, IL..

Johnny and Aleigha having fun with marshmallow halloween suckers!

Me & Shana in her backyard...

Family pic...

WOW...it's been a long time...

2011-10-22T10:04:00.003-05:00

since I posted an update! I can't believe how time flies. I'm not going to recreate the last 4 months so i'll just start where we are at right now. Aleigha just got her 1st progress report from Montessori pre-school. She LOVES it there. Her teachers tell me that is quite a leader of the classroom which doesn't surprise me. Her best friend is Caitlyn and she informed me that she has a boyfriend, Gabin (aka Gavin), in another classroom. She has made her teachers well aware that he is her boyfriend too. She goes to Jump Spot gymnastics on Monday along with Caitlyn and a few other classmates. Jump Spot is right behind Montessori so they come get the kids at 3pm, walk over and then walk them back after class. That is great so we don't have any more activities at night!
Grayson is busy in 4th grade with homework, Chess club, Robotics club and Garden club. Basketball starts at the end of the month too and he really loves video games and Wizards 101 on the computer. He is already planning on his 10th birthday party at the end of the month and he has narrowed his guest list to 13!!! I think we will have to narrow that list down again after we find out where the party will be.
We have been going to several pumpkin farms in the past 2 weeks. So far we have visited 3 and we have one more to go tomorrow. Aleigha wants to be a princess and Grayson wants to be any kind of scary monster (as usual) for Halloween.
We had our pictures taken professionally at Lake Iroquois (where Shana lives) and they turned out great! I will post those in another update with a few other pics from the past month.

ISU Gamma Phi Circus Camp!

2011-07-03T15:13:00.002-05:00

Grayson attended circus camp last week for the 1st time. He seemed to enjoy it and it looked like the kids had a great time. There was a show for the parents on Friday afternoon so the kids could show off all of their hard work. It was 3 hrs long in a VERY hot gym on ISU's campus. :) Grayson only forgot to go out for one of his talents. He said he didn't hear them call him. Jeff tooks tons of pics and I took some video clips.

Baby Gaga

2011-06-17T19:43:00.002-05:00

We are babysitting the Price's dwarf hamster this week - her name is Baby Gaga and the kids LOVE her!

Aleigha's surgery....

2011-01-20T18:09:00.002-06:00

Aleigha had 9 cavities that had to be filled. The only option was to put her under to get it done. Poor baby. It was a long and tiring day for all of us. We arrived at the hospital at 6am and didn't get to leave until 2:30 pm. She is doin alright tonight but very tired and whiney.. as to be expected. Her surgery lasted 2 hrs. They did x-rays, cleaned her teeth, filled 6 cavities and put a crown/cap on 3 of them. So glad it is over!!

Aleigha is almost 3....

2011-01-18T18:08:00.003-06:00

Aleigha is having dental surgery on Thursday to fill 6 cavities! So we had to get her 3 yr old check up before the surgery to make sure she is healthy and ok to be sedated. She saw Dr. Knoll today and she weighs 29.5 lbs and is 36 inches tall. Her height is in the 25th percentile for her age and 45th percentile for weight.
She will be 3 yrs old on January 25th! We have invited family and a few friends to celebrate. I'll be posting pics !

Aleigha and Johnny

2011-01-09T17:06:00.001-06:00

Christmas morning 2010!

2011-01-03T16:56:00.002-06:00

This was after all the gifts had been opened!! :)

Aleigha with her new pink guitar....

Grayson got an i-Touch from Santa!! (Lucky kid)

ready to open presents...

email.....

2010-12-17T09:24:00.003-06:00

Received this email from Jeff this morning about Aleigha and I didn't want to forget it! :)

From: Jeffrey Bittner mailto:jeffrey.bittner.nfg3@statefarm.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 11:05 AMTo: Shelly Bittner; Shana Rodeen; Ma; Melissa Sandy
Subject: Aleigha story

I forgot to tell Shelly this story this morning.
AB got up early this morning and was sitting at the kitchen table with me, eating Lucky Charms at 5 am this morning. She was looking at the fireplace and the stockings for her and GB. She asked me…
“So when are we going to give Santa his socks back?”

Pretty cute for a 2-year old.

Imaginate Photography 2010

2010-12-07T17:52:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Bridget-our photographer - and neighbor! LOVE these pics. :)

Santa Visit 2010

2010-12-05T18:45:00.004-06:00

State Farm had their annual Santa visit on Saturday. Grayson is at Lake Geneva this weekend with his Aunt/Uncle and cousins so we just had Aleigha with us. Aleigha always acts brave before we actually see Santa saying that she'll sit on his lap and tell him what she wants... Then we get to see him in person and it's a whole different story!! She's been asking for bunk beds for her babies for a few weeks now so she wanted to tell him that to make sure she gets it. So after she saw Santa and they handed her a Colorforms game, she asked the man if her bunk beds were in there. It was sooo cute! She doesn't understand all the timelines with holidays quite yet. Since the Christmas tree has been up, she keeps thinking "HO HO" is coming to bring her presents every day. Poor little thing gets disappointed every day that the tree is up and there are no presents from HO-HO.

Grayson's 9th birthday-hotel party

2010-12-03T18:50:00.003-06:00

Ty, Ben and Grayson at the Marriott Hotel in Normal. We celebrated at the hotel the actual day/night of his 9th birthday.... The boys had a GREAT time.

Swimming in the hotel pool...

At the hotel....

Harry Potter Lego Castle....

Hex Bugs Battle Bridge....

Grayson's birthday morning at home....

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-03T18:47:00.002-06:00

No pics this time... we forgot our camera at home. I promised myself that i would make a post for Thanksgiving this year so I would remember where we celebrated so we'll know where we're going next year! We had lunch at my mom's house this year and then we all went to my dad's house for supper. The kids all had a great time and we're looking forward to Christmas at our house now!
Next year, Thanksgiving will be at Gma Bittner's house....

Chuck E. Cheese Party

2010-11-20T20:18:00.003-06:00

We had Grayson's 9th birthday party last night at Chuck E. Cheese. Everyone had a great time! He had 11 of his closest friends to celebrate his big day with him. :)

Jeff made a Jaw's cake for him. Grayson and all the boys LOVED it!

Aleigha singing Twinkle Twinkle....

2010-11-17T18:24:00.001-06:00

Singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider...

2010-11-16T22:27:00.002-06:00

Halloween 2010

2010-11-14T14:54:00.005-06:00

I just realized that I didn't post any halloween pics yet! They had 2 outfits each this year. The 1st outfits were a Grim Reaper and Minnie Mouse....

The 2nd outfits were Billy the Exterminator and a Bumble Bee. Billy the Exterminator is Grayson's favorite show right now on the A&E channel.

They had a great Halloween this year!! :)

Festival of Trees...

2010-11-14T14:49:00.003-06:00

The Festival of Trees was REALLY packed this year. We went on Friday night which was a bad idea because many kids groups were singing and there was a dinner which took up most of the space. However the kids loves the facepainting and balloon creations.

Aleigha driving her tractor at the farm.

2010-10-17T19:25:00.003-05:00

Aleigha loves her cousin, Johnny.... BUT she had a great time driving and not taking turns!! :)

Bittner Family Auction

2010-10-07T22:11:00.004-05:00

Rosina had a farm auction in September to sell the farm equipment and clean out the sheds, etc. It was a great showing and I learned a lot about auctions ... especially since this is the 1st one I ever attended. It was beautiful weather and everything sold! The kids had a great time as well. Here are a few pics from the day and I added a video at the end to get a good picture of what was happening all day. It started at 10 am and I think it ended around 2pm or so....

Grayson's Open House- Prairieland

2010-10-07T22:00:00.004-05:00

Grayson was very excited for the Open House this year. I think we spent an hour looking at EVERYTHING in the school. He had a checklist he was supposed to use to make sure he didn't miss anything... and he didn't miss a thing. He called me "Mrs Pusher" because he said I rushed him too much. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Quinlan and Aunt Shana drove over to go to the Open House as well and Grayson loved every minute of it.

Below is a letter he wrote about his family. It says the following:

"Hi. I am going to tell you about my family. My dad keeps us in business. My mom keeps us together. My sister keeps us busy and mad. And the most important is me. You know there has to be a funny guy. I keep us active. "

My Cuties!!!

2010-10-01T19:09:00.004-05:00

These two can't get any cuter!!! :) This is Grayson's 3rd grade picture and Aleigha's 2 yr old school picture! I just want to hug and kiss them all day long!!! XOXOXOXOXO

Grayson with Fuzzy the Caterpillar

2010-09-22T20:08:00.002-05:00

Aleigha singing her ABC's at 2 1/2 yrs old

2010-09-20T18:56:00.003-05:00

I had to put both videos out here because I couldn't pick my favorite!! :)

Aleigha- 2.5 yr check up

2010-09-18T22:13:00.004-05:00

Aleigha had her 2 1/2 yr check up with her pediatrician last week. She was 35 inches tall and 29 lbs. That is in the 75 percentile for both! She had to get 2 shots and now she is caught up until Kindergarten. She spoke very clearly to the doctor and answered all of her questions. She also put on all of her clothes by herself and the doctor was amazed! :)
Potty training is still going great. She has about 1-2 accidents a week which I think is really good for her age and only been wearing underwear since Labor Day weekend.

School begins.....

2010-09-12T14:52:00.005-05:00

Grayson started 3rd grade a few weeks ago. He is growing up too quickly! He loves his teacher - Mrs. Whitcomb. They have been learning about Monarch Butterflies which completely fascinates Grayson. They even have caterpiller cocoons in their classroom and will get to watch them morph. I've learned more about butterflies than I ever thought possible. For After-school activities, he goes to speech twice a week at ISU -30 min each and still sees his tutor, Miss Brawner, once a week. Then he is going to be part of the Chess Club again this year and part of the Garden Club at school. He still loves the after-school program (and before-school program) because he gets to play with friends.

Aleigha started at a new babysitter's house when school started. So far, it is going well. There are 2 other 2 yr old boys and a 9 mo old baby. Aleigha started wearing underwear over Memorial Day weekend! It is quite an accomplishment. She still has a few accidents but, in general, she is doing very well! She loves wearing panties. She has Elmo, Dora, Princess and Minnie Mouse underwear. Elmo seems to be her favorite this week. I bribed her with M&M's or dum-dum suckers every time she went in the potty. Whatever works....... :)

Ft Lauderdale Beach

2010-08-23T14:18:00.006-05:00

We LOVED the Ft Lauderdale Beach. It was so clean and clear and beautiful.

Grayson in Flying Horse!

2010-08-22T22:20:00.001-05:00

share
The title of Grayson's article is "Worldly Learning"

Butterfly World, Florida

2010-08-20T07:42:00.007-05:00

All of the kids loved Butterfly World! Especially Grayson. It was a very cool place for kids or adults. It was amazing to walk through all of those butterflies and then see the bugs and birds and flowers. It took 2 hrs to get through which was the perfect time on a hot sunny Florida morning. :)

Ft Lauderdale - Sherry & Lily arrive!

2010-08-18T21:15:00.012-05:00

Sherry and Lily arrived yesterday while Jeff and Grayson went to Universal Studios in Orlando. Sherry and Lily got to the condo about 3:30pm and we went swimming and out to eat. Jeff and Grayson got home about 10:30pm from Universal. They had a great time seeing the Harry Potter exhibit and Grayson's favorite ride was Jaws! (see shirt below)
Today, we all went to "Butterfly World" in Coconut Creek, FL. It was really very neat and I will post pics and possibly a video later when we get home. The internet here is like a snail!!!
Then the girls took a nap and we all went swimming here and then to Rainforest Cafe for a late dinner.
I was lucky to get a few pics downloaded before my web connection timed out. It is soooo frustrating that it is sooooo slow. We are all having a great time and tomorrow is back to the beach!!! (Grayson has a plastic scorpion on his head in the picture below.) :)

Ft Lauderdale-water taxi

2010-08-17T17:14:00.001-05:00

Today we went to the coast and took rides on the water taxi to different locations up and down the coast. It is on an inland waterway and there are 11 stops. It was SUPER hot today so we could only make it to stop 7 or 8. We saw a different beach and lots of restaurants, yachts, Millionaire's Row of homes on the water, etc. We ate at Shooter's on the water. I had fresh Mahi-Mahi- YUM.

Ft Lauderdale - snorkeling

2010-08-16T20:04:00.002-05:00

We all went on a 3 hour snorkeling boat trip today in Pompano Beach! Grayson and I snorkeled with about 15 other people and Jeff & Aleigha stayed on the boat. She had a blast though making friends with the boat captain and driver. They loved her and entertained her while we were at the two snorkeling spots. We took tons of pics but Jeff has to go through all of them before I download them. Grayson loved it and saw a "Carpet Shark" at the bottom when we were out snorkeling and then the Captain fed the shark and he just came up to him and petted the shark. It was about 5 ft long and they are not dangerous and no sharp teeth.
Then they let Grayson and Aleigha help drive the boat so they both thought they were the bomb! Grayson was the only kid snorkeling but he did very good. Each stop was about 45 min and you could go and come back as much as you wanted while the boat anchored. I think everyone is exhausted tonight though!! It was definitely a great experience and I'm glad Grayson enjoyed it and is old enough to remember it. I'll post pics later....

Ft Lauderdale!

2010-08-15T07:14:00.002-05:00

We arrived at our hotel/condo last night about 10pm in Ft Lauderdale! The 2 flights weren't too bad... just really cramped and Aleigha didn't get her nap so she was cranky by the time we go to our rental car. She fell asleep immediately in her car seat and never woke back up until 7:15am this morning.
Our hotel room has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, laundry and living room. It's so nice to have the extra room with 2 kids! We also have a pool view from our balcony so that tempts the kids all the time. There are 4 pools and mini-golf on the property. I'm sure we'll check it all out today. Then maybe i'll post some pics tonight. :)

Robinson Crusoe!

2010-08-08T14:27:00.005-05:00

Grayson has blue hair in the front row....

After the Performance....

Grayson was cast as as "Hairy Frowny Face Tribe member" in Robinson Crusoe sponsored by the Missoula Children's Theater Company. It is a one week deal - Auditions on Monday and perform on Friday! They practice every day. This is Grayson's 2nd year in the Missoula Children's Theater. Last year was Rumpelstiltskin. Last year he just danced and sang... this year he had an actual line to say! He did great. :)

British Soccer Camp 2010

2010-07-31T13:52:00.004-05:00

Grayson and Sawyer attended a week long British Soccer Camp in Bloomington. It was 3 hours a day Mon-Fri. They both had a great time... it was all about having fun - not competitive. The coaches were all from Great Britain.

Sawyer and the head coach...

Grayson with the coach...

Getting autographs on the last day of camp....

Christmas in July!

2010-07-31T13:39:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Christmas in July "Summer Style" at Dad & Sheila's house! Everyone thought it was a great idea since they have a great pool in the backyard. They even stepped it up by renting a bounce house for the kids! All the grandkids got presents from Gma and Gpa Schofield and the kids also had to draw a name and bought that cousin a gift. Everyone had a great time and it was a SUPER hot day!! Now there is one less place to travel to in December... :)

Normal Cornbelters baseball game

2010-07-31T13:22:00.003-05:00

Jeff took the kids to see their 1st Cornbelters game. The team is new this year and the field is really close to our house. They all had a good time!

Aleigha's 1st haircut

2010-07-31T13:08:00.004-05:00

Aleigha had her hair cut for the 1st time ever last month at Cookie Cutters in Normal. She did very well and it is a really cute cut!! :)

bubbles

2010-06-27T21:07:00.005-05:00

THE KIDS LOVE BUBBLES!!

Sugar Grove Nature Center Camping!

2010-06-27T20:53:00.005-05:00

Jeff and Grayson went camping at Funk's Grove last night. It is about 30 min from our house- just south of Bloomington. I think it was the hottest day of the summer so far!! Just dripping sweat standing outside. It was a family camp night sponsored by the Children's Discovery Museum. Grayson had a great time and Jeff is really tired today. :) They had lots of activities... weinie roast, trail walks, star/planet gazing, a nature center and a marshmallow roast.

kiddie pool in our backyard

2010-06-20T18:21:00.007-05:00

We just bought this pool today and they have been in it for hours! Well worth the $30 we spent on it!

Aleigha

2010-06-13T15:18:00.002-05:00

Had to put a video of Aleigha on here too since I had Grayson on here last. Her thing right now is saying "I'm Happy!" all the time. We were at the video store yesterday and she would run up to people and yell 'I'm Happy!" and then keep walking.... people thought it was hilarous.

This is as long of a video I can get because she wants to see herself on the camera instantly so she runs around to see it after 5 seconds... :)

Grayson's dino speech

2010-06-09T18:17:00.003-05:00

Grayson did his 1st oral report in 2nd grade on the Spinosaurus. He already knew all the facts so he just had to get the facts in order to present them to his class. His teacher said he did great!

May 2010

2010-05-17T19:40:00.007-05:00

Shana, Aunt Addy and me.....

Johnny getting the bubbles...

Grayson and Iz....

The stone dedicated to the memory of my Grandma Schofield at her church....

Layna in Ohio...

Evan in Ohio....

Well it's been two months since i've updated this blog! We've just been so busy with "daily life" and I still only have my Netbook instead of a desktop with scanner and printer, so everything has been slower (technology wise).

I went to New Albany, OH last week for work with a couple of co-workers. It was fun seeing old friends and shopping and eating!! I was able to eat dinner with Melissa, Tom, Layna and Evan. It was my 1st time of meeting Evan and he was so alert and happy! He is only 4 mo old.

Then we had a cook out at my Dad's house to see my Aunt Addy and Uncle Mike visiting from Florida. They are here cleaning my Grandma's house to put it back on the market. Shana, Paul and Johnny have been living there until this past weekend while they were looking for a house to buy. They moved to Lake Iroquois this past weekend - finally!

There was also a church service at my Grandma's church to dedicate a very large stone in the front of the church that was purchased with money from my Grandma's Memorial Fund. It looks very beautiful.

Only a few more days of school left .... YAY for all of us! We made it another year. No homework for 3 months! WOO HOO! That is such a big stressor gone for a little bit. Grayson will be in tennis lessons twice a week this summer and will continue going to gymnastics once a week.

Aleigha has been doing great. She is talking in almost complete sentences now. She Loves playing with her baby dolls and tea sets. She's getting so big so fast! I put away her winter clothes this year and I can't believe how much she has grown just in the last few months. I think she weighs about 25 lbs and Grayson only weighs 49 lbs!

Hopefully, I won't wait another two months before the next post!

Until next time..... :)

Easter Bunny fun....

2010-03-26T20:59:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, we attended the State Farm Easter Bunny Breakfast at Jumer's. The kids had a great time. Grayson liked seeing the Easter Bunny even though he knew it wasn't the "real" Easter Bunny.
Aleigha thought she liked the Easter Bunny unless he was within 10 feet of her.... then he was BAD!! :)

Aleigha with her friends, Erin and Hannah on our version of the "Red Couch"....

CHESS

2010-03-17T15:45:00.004-05:00

chess buddies....

Grayson and Sawyer...

Grayson had his Prairieland Chess Awards Banquet last night. Everyone that participated received a trophy. They also had an inter-club chess tourny during their last two practices and Grayson won 3rd place in his skill level group! There were 20 kids in the "Pawn" group. He got a really big trophy last night because of his 3rd place title! He was REALLY excited and happy to get a BIG trophy!!

Florida Fun 2010

2010-03-10T17:50:00.008-06:00

We had a great vacation in Ft Myers, Florida with our friends Sherry and Lilly! Sherry & family were in our China Travel group and brought Lily home with us from China one year ago. We celebrated our 1st Gotcha Day together in Florida on Feb 16th! Everyone had a great time. It was a little chilly but we still made it to a few beaches and went looking for shells. Grayson brought a TON of shells home. Grayson was even able to go swimming in the swimming pool at the condo. It was heated. I think the temp outside was around 55-60 the whole time we were there. We all went to a Children's Museum as well. The kids loved the huge sandbox and looking at all of the animals. The girls and Grayson got a long really well and I don't think we had one fight the whole time!!

View from the condo patio...

Sanibel Island -shell hunting:

Ft Myers boardwalk:

We hope to see Sherry and family again (& all of the other families in our Travel Group) in May at our EAC Memorial Day Picnic in Ohio!

Birthday Party

2010-02-06T12:35:00.005-06:00

Aleigha's 2nd birthday party was at our house on Sunday, Jan 31st. We had soup and finger foods. Most of Jeff's brothers and their families were here, all of the grandparents, my sister and Johnny and Great-Aunt Jackie and Great-Uncle Paul. She had a great day and loved opening all of her presents. She still says "My Bir-Day?!" all the time and sticks up her two fingers. Here are some pics from that day... (She had multiple outfit changes!)
Jeff made the Elmo cake. It was awesome!

More bday pics....

2010-01-26T13:10:00.002-06:00

Here are some pics that CeAnn took at her house on Aleigha's birthday yesterday!

This is one of Aleigha's best friends - Hannah! (she says her name OFTEN at home)

this is the lady bug bean bag that CeAnn gave her for her bday!

I think she had a good day..... :)

Aleigha is TWO today!!

2010-01-25T19:38:00.004-06:00

I can't believe our little baby Aleigha is 2 yrs old today. We've been home 11 months and we couldn't imagine life without her. She is so happy and playful and social. We couldn't ask for a better daughter. She has made our life complete and brings us joy every day. She adores Grayson and always wants him with her.
This morning she couldn't stop saying "MY Bir-day?!?!" I would say Yes, it's Aleigha's birthday. Then I would hear MY Bir-day?! again and i would say Yes.
My Bir-day?!
Yes.
My Bir-day?!!!
YES.... and so on and so on for about 50 times.
here are just a few pictures from today... more to follow later....

Grayson has 8 fingers up and Aleigha has 2 fingers up!

Birthday dinner at McDonald's.... A classic birthday meal for her 1st birthday in the USA!

Aleigha's vocabulary

2010-01-20T17:50:00.003-06:00

i've written down all of the words that Aleigha has said in the past two days in addition to the words in the previous post....

all done
eat
leigha hat
mama hat
mike truck (sitter's husband)
dada work
GG school
on-shoe
off-shoe
cook (means play-doh)
milk
juice
Elmo
yes
no
movie
tv
butter (means peanut butter)
mine
I do it!
snack (means fruit snacks)
apple
done
shirt
socks
uppy (means pick me up now!)
Dora and Boots
baby
push
sit down!
back
button
zip
ice cream

Not everyone can understand her, of course, but I believe she is gifted. :)

fractured collarbone and other stuff....

2010-01-19T14:37:00.004-06:00

Two weeks ago, Aleigha decided it was a good idea to stand up in her high chair, turn around and fall down to the hardwood floor with the high chair!! Not a good night for us. After 30 min of crying and her telling me "hurt hurt hurt" while pointing to her right shoulder, I took her to the ER. After two hours and xrays and screaming, the doctor told me that she fractured her right collar bone. And there is no treatment for a fracture there. She just had to learn how to NOT use her right arm. It took her 3-4 days to figure it out and after that... no problems! So I guess if you're going to break a bone, then the collar bone is the one to break. :)

Other than that, everyone is doing good. Grayson had a good 1st week of school and Aleigha is using two word combinations. She is saying - mama, dada, GG (for Grayson), papa, truck, night-night, kitty, puppy, etc. She knows all of her body parts and really really likes Elmo, Dora, Play-doh and Little People. She's going to be 2 on the 25th of this month!
Grayson is still in gymnastics and Chess Club. He's been working very hard on math facts and reading. He still loves Godzilla, animals, fish and any other facts he can get his hands on. He also loves playing his Nintendo DS and Wii. One of his favorite games is Batman Lego and Indiana Jones Lego. Which reminds me that he loves Legos too!

That's it for now.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!

2010-01-01T15:06:00.004-06:00

I'm putting this pic of our Christmas tree on this post because I don't have any NYE's pics to post!

No big plans last night. We ate a bunch of appetizers for dinner ... chips/dip, popcorn chicken, potato skins. YUM. Then Jeff and Grayson went to see Avatar 3D. They both loved it. I put Aleigha to bed at 7:30 like usual. Then I fell asleep at 9:30pm while channel surfing because nothing was on TV last night. No big surprise. It was nice just to relax.

I can't believe Christmas break is almost over. Grayson goes back to school on Tuesday. We've had me, jeff, my mom or dad watching the kids most of the break. I'm not looking forward to homework starting again. We had all these big plans to keep up some reading and math during break... and, of course, we haven't done any. It's just too nice not to have to worry about it. So it will be a big shock to our system Tuesday night. I don't remember ever having homework until at least junior high... back in the "good ole' days." :) Grayson has had a fun break this year. Stayed the night with Gma Quinlan for two nights. Went to a Zoo Safari at Miller Park Zoo for a whole day. He's going to invite a friend over to play this weekend too. And, of course, played with all of his cousins!

On another topic....Here a video of Aleigha and her cousin, Johnny when they were playing at my mom's house. They are both so cute and at a fun age right now.

We're just going to try and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Back to our regular schedule next week!

Christmas 2009!!!

2009-12-28T09:12:00.006-06:00

Well it's been over a month since i've updated the blog so i better get busy. :) We had a great Christmas. It was our first Christmas with two kids! Aleigha and Grayson both really enjoyed opening presents and playing with all of their cousins. Aleigha has a horrible cold but it doesn't slow her down!

Over Christmas weekend, it snowed about 6 inches here. It's just the soft light snow so it is very pretty. We stayed home Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We had the Bittner Christmas the weekend before Christmas in Paw Paw. Then Christmas at my mom's house the day after the Bittner Christmas. We celebrated at my Dad's house the weekend after Christmas.

Here are some pics from all of the fun!!

Aleigha and Johnny coloring....

Grayson, Iz, Logan and and Paige in my Dad's basement..

Aleigha getting ready to go out the door!

Aleigha and Johnny in front of Mom's Christmas tree

Grayson's Razor Wing Scooter that he loves!

Aleigha feeding her baby in it's new high chair.

Johnny opening his presents.

Grayson with his Bittner cousins- Calvin and Caitlin.

Johnny and Aleigha fighting over the same car!

Snow at Gma Bittners - McKaylah, Aleigha, Caitlin and Grayson

Grandma Bittner with ALL of her Grandkids

Aleigha with her new laptop

Christmas morning at home....

Grayson and Chewy

That's all for now!! :)

Grayson's 8th birthday party!

2009-11-20T21:14:00.004-06:00

This year we had Grayson's birthday party at our house with 7 of his friends. We had it tonight (friday night) from 5-8:30 pm. They just had a free-for-all all night! We had pizza, cake, video games and toys to entertain them. They were all well behaved but very loud!! We're exhausted but Grayson had a great time. Aleigha also had a good time following all the boys around and they were all very nice to her. :)

September....

2009-09-26T11:33:00.008-05:00

I haven't posted in a long time so I better catch up. We've been busy as usual. Grayson is doing great in 2nd grade. He's in gymnastics now every Monday and loves it. Aleigha is 20 months old now. Her vocabulary is growing every day. It's amazing. She certainly has a big personality and loves to show it to everyone! Here are some pics from this month......

Grandma Q with Aleigha and Johnny...
Grayson and Nicholas in our back yard playing in the water....

Aleigha chasing Johnny...

Aleigha in her moo-moo nightgown!

Aleigha working hard on my computer....

Aleigha in her new boots from Aunt Shana!

Since our home computer died, i've had to use my netbook for all of my updates and it is soooooo slow compared to a full size computer. I hope to update the blog once a month for now. It is much more time consuming now. :(

Peoria Zoo

2009-09-07T09:43:00.005-05:00

We went to the Peoria Zoo on Saturday. It was very nice... clean and small but bigger than Miller Park. You could get pretty close to the animals too so i would recommend it to anyone with smaller kids. It was a perfect 3 hrs. There is also huge playgrounds there too.

State Farm Pool!

2009-08-26T16:27:00.003-05:00

We LOVE the State Farm Pool!!!

Can you see Aleigha through the big splash!? She has no fear!

Grayson's turn on the slide!!

Just relaxing in the shallow end...

Ohio friends

2009-08-26T16:02:00.005-05:00

Our Ohio friends, Tom, Melissa, Layna (and soon-to-be baby brother!) all came to visit a few weeks ago. There were just so many cute pictures to choose from that I went a little overboard on this post. The kids had a great time at the Miller Park Zoo, State Farm Park playing mini-golf and swimming and playing at a park and in our back yard!

Quinlan Farm Fun!

2009-08-26T15:57:00.004-05:00

Grayson, Aleigha, me, Shana and Johnny were all visiting Gma and Gpa Quinlan last Saturday. The kids had a blast playing in the dirt (digging for dinosaur bones, per Grayson) and riding a tractor, a golf cart and a UTV (like an ATV). Here are a few pics....

B-n-G

2009-08-14T17:04:00.005-05:00

Last night we went to State Farm park for dinner and dancing! Well, not all of us danced but there was a local band that played after dinner called Biscuit's and Gravy (B-n-G). Several of the band members are State Farm Employees. They played mostly 80's songs and were very good.
The kids had a great time playing together too!

Tracy, Lisa and me before the band started playing.... (Tracy and Lisa are on my team at work.)

Tracy's kids (Abby & Zach) and Grayson....
Aleigha at the park.....

The band - you can't see them very well but you get the idea....

Lisa- were you trying to dance?? ;) Lisa is with her oldest daughter, Carly. (Her two other kids are watching Mom in the background - secretly laughing!) haha

The band throws out biscuits during their performance and whoever catches the biscuit gets a free t-shirt! All of our kids are in the front row waiting for the buscuits!! None of them were lucky enough to catch one though. :(

A Slip-n-Slide kind of day....

2009-08-09T15:33:00.003-05:00

It was HOT today. Heat index 96 degrees. Grayson and Aleigha loved the slip-n-slide. It was the 1st time we had it out this summer. I forgot we even had it!

Here's Aleigha trying to get the camera away from me - like every time I get it out!!

Museum of Science and Industry

2009-08-09T14:04:00.004-05:00

Jeff and Grayson went to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry yesterday to see the Harry Potter Exhibition. I know nothing about Harry Potter but they have both seen all the movies and really enjoy them. The exibit is there until Sept 27th. They were able to pull Madrakes, throw a Quaffle, see Gryffindor Common Room, Hagrid's Hut and The Great Hall and some of the magical creatures that were in the movies. (that all means nothing to people who are not harry potter fans but that is what I was told) :) They weren't able to take pics in the exhibit but he did take pics of other exhibits they saw....
This is one picture Jeff took in the exhibit before they yelled at him. Grayson is pulling a Mandrake -they scream when you pull them.

Rumpelstiltskin!

2009-08-09T13:57:00.002-05:00

Grayson was a "busy bee" in Rumpelstiltskin this weekend at the Bloomington Performing Arts Center. The Missoula Children's Traveling Theater comes to Bloomington once a year and they audition kids from ages 7-13 on Monday, practice every day starting after auditions and then perform that Friday night. All with two adults in five days!! Grayson really enjoyed himself and wants to do it again next year. The play was very cute. Grayson has his hands up by his face because that was thier "bee hands" during the performance. They came out twice and sang a song each time. All of the bees were 7 yrs old. They did a great job!

The entire cast of 60 kids...

Shakin' his stinger...

We had front row seats so we were able to take some good pics....

Grayson is the 3rd bee from the right....

Girls weekend

2009-08-03T21:29:00.004-05:00

Stacey, Amy and I took the Amtrack from Normal to Chicago last Friday. We visited my sister and friends and shopped and ate and talked and stayed the night and shopped, ate and talked some more. It was a really relaxing trip. Taking the train was a great idea because it was so much less stress than dealing with Chicago traffic. Our hotel was great! Shana was a great tour guide as well for all the cool places to go that we would never know about! Here are some of the pics from our trip....

me and my sissy....

This was a fluke accident that they both wore the same outfit out Friday night!
At a Tapas restaurant - great food and fun atmosphere!

bath towels

2009-07-30T15:39:00.004-05:00

these were so cute, I just had to share.... :)

Aleigha is 18 months old!!!!

2009-07-24T22:07:00.004-05:00

Can she get any cuter?!? I'm not biased or anything..... :) We took her to Sears today to get her 18 month pictures done. She was not happy most of the time so I can't believe we got so many good ones! We didn't buy all of these.. we bought the CD with copyrights so we can print them anywhere at any time.

July 11, 2009

2009-07-11T18:50:00.004-05:00

We've had a busy 2 days. Grayson had his friend, Michael, over for a sleep over last night. He's been to other friends' houses and done great but this was the 1st one at our house. They stayed up until 1am! (with Jeff because I couldn't make it past 11:30!) They got along great but I think Grayson is tired today. Jeff rented Mario Galaxy for the Wii and he and Grayson have been playing it all day. Aleigha and I have been coloring and playing with toys. Here is a video of Aleigha on her rocking horse. She loves it but every time she sees my camera, she wants to grab it!

We went to a neighborhood cook out tonight and here are pics from before we left:

Little miss thing...

Princess

2009-07-03T18:33:00.003-05:00

Princess Aleigha on her Throne.....

backyard corner

2009-06-29T19:41:00.002-05:00

Jeff completed a corner of our backyard today for the plastic slide and sand/water table. I think it looks great and both kids LOVE it because they can be as messy as they want!!

eating....

2009-06-27T20:37:00.006-05:00

Aleigha loves to feed herself and she's getting pretty good. Although, you can't tell from these ravioli pics. I'm also including a short video that shows that she really does get some food in her mouth!!

Grayson has been enjoying tennis this summer. Here are a few pics from practice.... He's in the red t-shirt in the front getting ready to hit.

He's in the hat on this one with his red shirt...

June 2009

2009-06-24T08:01:00.007-05:00

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since June 7th! Where do I start? Everyone has been healthy and busy in our house. Grayson is in tennis and swimming this summer. He is also really into Godzilla the past few weeks. He has watched the movie 3 times and has a Nintendo DS Godzilla game so it's all the time! Aleigha is still doing great. She is feeding herself now. Still messy but not enough to stop her from doing it. She's also running all over the place. If she falls, she gets right back up and keeps going. She is also into showing off. It is very funny. She mimics everything I do now. If I'm cleaning windows, she has a towel right next to me. If I dust, then she dusts next to me. If I fold clothes, she "folds clothes" with me. :) It so cute!

We also spent a weekend at Starved Rock with my Mom, Jim, Aunt Jackie, Paul, Shana and baby Johnny. It was really fun. We stayed at the Grand Bear Lodge and I would recommend that lodge to anyone!

Here are some pictures from Starved Rock:

Playing with cousin Elizabeth:

We had Johnny's baptism last Saturday night. Kate and I were the Godmothers. Then on Sunday, Hallee Johnson was baptized and I was the Godmother for her. Twice in one weekend!

That's all I can think of for now.... Until next time! :)

my sweet baby boy...

2009-06-07T19:38:00.006-05:00

I found these two videos from 2004 when Grayson was 3. (I can't figure out how to turn them up and down but you can still get the point. ) :) TOO CUTE!! We were home in OH in the 1st video and we were visiting Shana and Paul in NY in the 2nd video. He was just thrilled with the little pull thing for the blinds.

May updates....

2009-06-01T17:35:00.005-05:00

EAC Reunion on Memorial Day Weekend:

Here is Aleigha with 3 of her China "sisters" from our travel group.

Grayson, Melissa, Layna - swimming in the hotel pool

Grayson had a 1st grade poetry reading last week. He did a great job! They all memorized a poem individually and then together they recited about 5 more. It was very cute. :) I can't believe that 1st grade is over!!!

Here are 3 of Grayson's best friends in his class.

Aleigha at Tipton Park last weekend:

Jeff is digging up a corner of our yard for the little plastic slide and water table for the kids. He found this really long root while digging and Grayson has been using it as a whip to play Indiana Jones!

Light Saber dual

2009-05-18T19:56:00.002-05:00

This was our Sunday afternoon....

Grayson Updates

2009-05-12T17:56:00.002-05:00

Grayson received a gold medal for participating in State Farm's Pee Wee II Bowling League. He was so excited because it was just like an Olympic medal. He wore it around last night and took it to school today to show his friends.

Every day after school, Grayson wants to ride his scooter. He's getting really good at it!

Aleigha Update: She had her 15 month check up today along with 4 shots! At 18 months, she'll get 3 more and then at 24 months, she'll get 2 more and then she will finally be caught up with her vaccinations.

She has definitely grown and is now in the 50th percentile for ht and wt on the US growth chart. She is 30 inches long and 22.8 lbs. She gained about 2.5 lbs and grew 1.5 inches since last visit.

The past two nights she has fallen asleep in the car after I pick her up from CeAnn's house so I've been laying her down in the living room (see below) so she doesn't sleep too long and not want to go back to bed!

Too cute...

2009-05-09T09:47:00.007-05:00

Aleigha just got over her 1st head cold. Thank goodness for warm air vicks vaporizors! It really helped her sleep. She's back to normal now and walking all over the place. She loves being outside and she still LOVES to eat and is still a great sleeper.

If anyone knows how to turn my videos 90 degrees, please send me an email. I'm downloading them from my Canon SD camera and I don't even take the videos up and down. They just started doing this????? I can turn them on the microsoft movie maker but they don't save like that unless you are in the movie maker. :(

summer clothes

2009-05-07T18:10:00.009-05:00

Aleigha has so many cute summer outfits that it's hard for me to decide what she is going to wear each morning! Such a dilemma. :) She is also walking all the time now and very fast!

Here is Grayson protecting Aleigha from the enemies! HA!

Here is a sideways video that I can't figure out how to make it turn 90 degrees. I've been working on it for an hour now so I give up. You'll just have to tilt your head to watch it. :)

She's walking!

2009-04-29T22:19:00.006-05:00

Aleigha has been taking a few steps every night this week and getting stronger and stronger!

Baptism and Mom's bday dinner

2009-04-26T19:31:00.008-05:00

Aleigha was baptized today and she was such a good baby. She laughed and smiled the whole service (except the part where the pastor drenched her head by accident!) :) She was over it in a minute though. My Aunt Jackie and Uncle Paul are her Godparents and stood up with us during the baptism. I wish someone would have taped it because I couldn't see Aleigha's face since I was holding her but saw everyone smiling and laughing at her. Her Baptism outfit was made for her in China by a woman in Nanchang that we met through our tour guide.

Look how much fun Grayson is having in this picture!! ;)

Did you notice Grayson in the back entertaining himself???? Pastor Elyse was holding Aleigha.

After church, we had a cookout at our house. I think we had around 15 people and the food was really good. Jeff made Aleigha's baptism cake! It was BEAUTIFUL!! He was up until 1am making it the night before.

Aleigha in her baptism outfit before we changed her for the afternoon...

Johnny and Aleigha "playing" with the same toy..... Isn't Johnny's outfit so cute?!

Here's Aleigha after she opened her gifts...

Then Johnny and Aleigha played in the water and sand table and got soaked!
After her outfit got soaked, we thought this would be easier... :)
What a cool baby - hangin' out in her swing..

Last night, we ate at the Ribeye in Champaign to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We all LOVE the Ribeye. It was very good food!

For some reason, Grayson wanted Mom to read him an "after-dinner" book at the table. It was a book she gave him when he was a baby and we just found it because she gave Aleigha the same book. :)

We had a very busy weekend and we are all very tired! Now we have to get ready for Monday...

Aleigha at 15 months!

2009-04-18T20:11:00.005-05:00

WHAT?! TWO blog updates in ONE DAY??!!! I must be crazy this weekend! haha We took Aleigha to Ewing Manor in Bloomington today so Jeff could take a few snapshots in her Easter dress that we bought her in China. She wasn't very cooperative but you couldn't tell by looking at these pictures!

This is what she looked like in the other 50 photos that Jeff took!

a lot of stuff.....

2009-04-18T14:42:00.007-05:00

i can't believe it's been two weeks since I've updated this! I'm just so exhausted by the end of the day that I haven't been able to download any pics and everyone knows that you can't blog without pics!! :) So this will be a monster blog post with pics!
I actually have to go back in time to our China trip first. I was finally able to download some pictures from Jeff's camera (since I was banned while in China after the camera meltdown!)

Here is downtown Guangzhou. it reminded us of Times Square in New York!

Here are a few pics of the Chinese Acrobatic Show. It was amazing! If only I wasn't so tired by the time we got there but Jeff took enough pictures to remember every act! :)

Here are some pics from the Olympic Village in Beijing.... this is the "Watercube" where the swimming events took place. (This was Jeff's favorite part of the trip -except getting Aleigha!)
This is the "Bird's Nest" where the Opening Ceremonies took place...

Here we are inside the Bird's Nest...

Here are some pictures we took on the infamous "Red Couch" at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. Every family who adopts from China knows about this couch and takes pictures of their babies on it. (even if they don't want to!! ) This first picture is with our guide, Zhou...

Aleigha DESPISED the red couch and let everyone know about it! Here she is with Lily - who didn't mind sitting there at all. Lily is also wearing the same dress that Aleigha wore for Easter.

Here's Aleigha two minutes after we took her off of that couch!

Now back to more recent pictures. Here is Grayson decorating Easter Eggs...

This picture is of Grayson and Aleigha with their cousins, Calvin and Kaitlin, after their Easter Egg hunt at Grandma Bittner's house...

I tried getting a good picture of Aleigha with her Easter dress but she wouldn't sit still long enough! She did love her bunny ears though. :)

Grayson had a good time pulling Aleigha around Gma Bittner's house...

Then he wanted her to pull him!! :)

Here's Aleigha with a new bath towel. It's a pink flower! Toooo cute!!

That's all I have for now.... Aleigha is waking up from her nap now! gotta go....

the weekend before Easter

2009-04-05T14:48:00.006-05:00

We had a very busy weekend! On Saturday, we had State Farm's breakfast with the Easter Bunny at ISU, then an Easter Egg Hunt at church, then Grayson had a soccer game.

Here are some pictures from yesterday. Aleigha did NOT like the Easter Bunny!!!!!!

This is State Farm's Easter bunny...

Here are our friends, Hannah and Erin, who had breakfast with us before seeing the Easter Bunny.

This is our church's Easter Bunny. This was as close as Aleigha got to the bunny!

Grayson is getting a bunny painted on his face at church....

Thanks to Kathy Rodeen for giving Aleigha such a beautiful dress and cardigan. She received many compliments on her cute outfit!

Thursday....

2009-04-02T19:21:00.002-05:00

Today Stacey and I drove to Amy's house in Paxton to visit. We brought Beckett, Eden and Aleigha. Amy had all three girls home- Maisy, Trixie and Hallee. Amy is still on maternity leave with Hallee. All of the kids were so good and got along all day. We had Monicals for lunch - YUM.

Week off..

2009-04-01T14:09:00.004-05:00

I'm enjoying my week off with Aleigha. We're definitely keeping busy with visitors and errands. She's being a good girl - as usual. :) Still can't walk on her own but she wants to walk soooo bad! She is also fascinated by going up the stairs and she fell off the 1st step onto our hardwood floor and got a bump/bruise on her forehead. It definitely didn't slow her down though.

I took a video today of her walking with her walking toy. I put two videos on here because I couldn't decide which one I liked best.

Here is a picture I took of Prince and Chewy today - they are just too weird for me. Prince was sleeping and Chewy just pushed himself next to him and he sat there for a while. Prince never moved. He must have been in a deep sleep!

I have a cat that thinks he's a dog and a dog that thinks he's a cat. ?????? These pictures make me laugh every time I look at them because Prince could care less and Chewy is like "Look at me, aren't we cute?!" LOL

This week has been flying by! I'm trying to enjoy every second of it. Next week my mother-in-law and mom are taking turns watching Aleigha then she'll go to CeAnn's the following Mon-Wed and my mom will watch her Thursday and Friday. We're just going to ease her into the schedule change. I think she'll really like being able to play with other girls though.

Nap time is about over so I better get going...

Let's Eat!

2009-03-29T18:41:00.003-05:00

I let Aleigha try to use a spoon today for the 1st time.... Too cute! (notice the piggy in the corner) haha

Grayson has been into jump-roping for a few weeks now. I took this photo today.

Then he came inside to talk to Aunt Shana....
:)

swinging....

2009-03-25T20:05:00.004-05:00

I was a pretty nice weekend so we spent some time in the back yard. Aleigha loves to swing and so does Grayson!

China - group picture

2009-03-18T18:08:00.002-05:00

I forgot to post our China travel group picture while we were in China. This is all of the families with their babies. It was taken in the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China.

Just a few updates....

2009-03-17T19:29:00.002-05:00

Here is Aleigha's St. Patrick's Day outfit.

My mom had an open house for Aleigha on Sunday. Many of my friends and family showed up to meet Aleigha! She was a really good baby and let everyone hold her. She also loved the balloons!

What a CUTE cake! (no, Jeff didn't make it this time!) :)

My Aunt Jackie came over to visit last week so I took the opportunity for a photo opp. My Aunt Jackie and Uncle Paul are Aleigha's Godparents.

I start work tomorrow so I'm sure my posts will be less than it has been since Feb 11th when our "adventure" began with Aleigha!

kids

2009-03-13T15:56:00.004-05:00

Today Stacey and I met Amy, Brian, Trixie, Maisy and the newest Johnson - Miss Hallee May - in Normal. Hallee is two weeks old. We met at Medici's in downtown normal. Hallee is so cute and slept through the entire meal!

Stacey held Hallee through the entire meal and loved every minute of it! :)

The next two pictures are from yesterday at home.

What a cute smile.... :)

Aleigha with her new stand up toy..... She's starting to crawl and really wants to walk but she's still very shaky right now so we're just practicing.

my b-day

2009-03-11T21:39:00.004-05:00

I had a good day... nothing major. It never is after 30, is it?!?! Anyway, I had a spa pedicure in the morning and took Aleigha and Chewy on a walk in the afternoon. It was super chilly though! Jeff and Grayson made me a really yummy sprinkle birthday cake that I've been munching on ALL day. Jeff even dressed Aleigha this morning in a super cute outfit for my special day. :) (Chewy has to be in every picture - notice in the background)

Last night Grayson and Aleigha were playing peek-a-book and she was getting such a kick out of Grayson. It was really cute.

Then they both had on their Monkey pajamas so I thought it was a good photo op!

Portrait Innovations!

2009-03-08T18:47:00.007-05:00

We finally broke down and went to Portrait Innovations today for some professional pics of our beautiful children!!! We lasted about a week since we've been home before the appointment. :) Since we already have Grayson's school picture, we mainly went for Aleigha and to get one of both of them together. She wasn't very cooperative so it was hard to get a smile but these turned out good anyway!

Flu...

2009-03-05T16:03:00.002-06:00

I had terrible stomach flu this week and quarantined myself in my bedroom/bathroom for 36 hrs in hopes that no one in my family catches it from me! Grayson had a small bout yesterday but it wasn't nearly as bad as mine so I'm thankful about that.

Jeff and I are still exhausted from our trip and taking care of a 13 month old baby and 7 yr old. Hopefully, we'll get back in our groove soon. Aleigha is back on her normal sleep schedule... she sleeps pretty much all night. I am soooooo thankful for that. Her pediatrician appt went well this week. She has to have blood drawn though for some routine tests and that didn't go well. I have to take her back tomorrow after she's more hydrated. It was traumatizing - as expected.

I haven't taken any pictures this week since we've been in "survival mode" this week with my flu and Jeff having to take care of Everything else! Hats off to all of the single moms out there because it is the hardest job in the world!!!!

Weekend

2009-03-02T16:00:00.004-06:00

Grayson is reading his Spiderman magazine to Aleigha...

We had a big weekend with lots of visitors. Aleigha did really well and let everyone hold her. She is quite the ham now. However, she was very jealous of her cousin, Johnny. If anyone was holding him, she wanted to go to that person because she wanted the attention!

Grayson with Johnny and Aleigha... She still doesn't like to sit next to other babies!

Aunt Shana with Johnny and Aleigha....
Grandma Quinlan with Aleigha...

Shana took a lot more pictures during the weekend so I'll probably have more to post once she sends them to me.

We had Aleigha's pediatrician appt today and everything looks good. No problems. We have to get her blood drawn this week though to confirm that her previous vaccinations were actually done. That will not be fun but we don't want to re-vaccinate if we don't need to.

Here is a picture of Grayson's toothless grin. He lost 3 teeth during the two weeks we were gone!

We're HOME!

2009-02-27T10:31:00.005-06:00

Finally.... we had a good trip home! I was just too tired to get on the computer yesterday. I slept most of the day! Our flights went very well. Aleigha slept most of the 13 hr flight! We were lucky enough to switch seats with someone so we could have a 3rd seat for Aleigha to lay down. That helped a ton!

We got home at 8:30 pm on Wed night. We had traveled over 32 hrs by then!! Grayson was just smiling when he saw Aleigha and just stared at her. He was really showing off for us and trying to make Aleigha smile. He finally figured out what made her laugh and was doing that all night and yesterday. He just had to put a stuffed animal on his head and let it fall off. It made her laugh every time. :) Then he wanted to teach her how to count to 15... that was cute!

Here is a picture of our travel group friends during our last meal in China. We had a great travel group and we're lucky to have made such good friends during this 2 week journey. We'll miss seeing Sherry, Dave and Eva every day! (and Emma and Lily) Their company made our trip so much more enjoyable.

Aleigha is doing very well adjusting to the time change. We were up from 2-4:30am last night and then she slept until 10:30am. Hopefully, it will only take a few more days before we're all adjusted!

We're going to have a lot of visitors this weekend and every day Aleigha is adjusting a little better to other people. Until now, she will only let me or Jeff hold her.... but she is very close to letting my mom hold her! She's pulling out all the stops to let her hold her. :)