THE ANTS GO MARCHING IN....

DID I MENTION THAT THEY ARE MARCHING IN MY HOUSE????? ugh..I have launched war against this stupid little insects. They are in my pantry, my bathroom, my kitchen, my downstairs bathroom, my garage.....get it...IT'S MY HOUSE AND THEY AREN'T WELCOMED! We have unpacked from our trip and this ant fisaco has sent me in a "Spring..I mean end of summer" cleaning..Yup..my house is amlmost spotless! Everything is finding is place, floors are being mopped, junk is being thrown out..you name it..it is getting done. I am down to one last day of cleaning a few tiny hotspots and then we are good to go. Oh and I did I mention..THE OFFICE IS CLEANED! Gosh I think I haven't seen the floor in there for over 2 years. Papers have been shredded, photos filed..simply things put away! I am excited as I am trying to make our household more efficient and tidy. Greg will be under a lot more stress financially as he has taken a pay cut (I know teacher make pennies and they cut it down to half pennies) so I want to take some household burdens off of him as well as be available in case I need to work. Hopefully I can keep it up!

I know I have been slacking with no Alison updates and vacation pictures so I am going to do it piece by piece (if I did it all at once NO one would read as it would be boring!!)

Alison first....
Our baby girl is quickly approaching her 1st birthday. Mommy is so sad to see her growning and changing daily while Dad is having a blast with each new milestone. If you have seen her lately you would notice that she is developing quite a sense of humor. Alison has this frown that is so unbelievably hysterical. Mommy always is giving her the look to try to keep in her in check and I am guessing that is where she picked it up from. So don't be offended if you get "the look"...because EVERYONE GETS IT! I am trying to catch it on camera although I have come close. She eats like a piggie...EVERYTHING IN SIGHT IS FAIR GAME. There literally doesn't seam to be anything that she doesn't like....Fruit, veggies (including tomatoes..dad!), sandwiches, chicken, hamburgers, steak (yup you read that right), potatoes, pasta, ice cream, cake, candy...ANYTHING. and with every bite comes a big UUUMMMMM!!!

She is a busy little bee. Her crawling is so fast and quick but she puts her butt in the air and uses her feet to get around. Again it is hysterical looking! She stands up on things and cruises but is not interested at all in standing or walking alone. Her new favorite animal has been Orca whales. I am not kidding!! She can spot them out anywhere, and when she does you get a big OOOOOOO. She is constantly saying mamu-mamu-mamu (Shamu). She loves books, her stuff animals (Shamu, her monkey from the zoo, and an Alaskan sled dog), balls, and being held by mommy or daddy.

She continues to sleep very well. Two two-hour naps and then bedtime at 8 is absolutely wonderful! She is very attached her blankie and paci. I'm still ok with her having those two comfort items. We may lose the paci soon, but Mommy will let her keep her blankie. Mommy still has hers..so I guess Mother like Daughter!

Mommy has slowing weaned her from nursing. I have enough milk in the freezer to give her some breast milk for a few more weeks. She is showing some signs of being done. I am having a little bit of a hard time on one hand but the other I know I did well giving her 100% of breastmilk for 10 1/2 months.

Alison is very quickly picking up sign language. I started it awhile ago but she is starting to use it on her own now. Jenn (my sister) is fluent in sign language so she is a great resource for me to use. Many people teach babies the basic, but it is my goal to have her fluent. I have always wanted to learn so I figure Jenn could guide both of us. I have Baby Einstein video that teaches us the basic. As of now she can sign thank you, drink, more, eat, milk, and all done. It is so cute to watch her use her signs. I am going to try to video so I could share it with you all.

The questions have started rolling in on when we are going to have another baby..Truth is..we would love more and more children, but is that going to happen...only God knows. Although we had her naturally our infertility issues still remain. Who knows what my future (or anyone's future for that matter) hold but I am going to put my trust and faith in Christ and see where he takes us. Until then I am soaking up every moment, every milestone, and every memory that we have with our sweet baby girl. We love her dearly!

Ok my next post will be of our vacation.....