26

That's how old I am today. I had a pretty good day today. John woke up the girls and had them (Cadence) sing "Happy Birthday" to me when I got up. He had a small store bought cake for me, along with a new purse and wallet. He actually did a good job of picking it out. This weekend, we will celebrate with dinner and I get to go SHOPPING! By shopping, I mean that I get to go to one store and buy one outfit, but that's cool.

I wasn't really looking foward to my birthday because birthdays means you're getting older. As the day went on, and sooooo many people assured me that I was still young, I loosened up. Twenty-six is just really close to 30 and I'm afraid of 30. I'm starting to realize that it may not be so bad now. I have a great life. I have a husband, 2 kids, a good job, a house, a college education, and I'm happy. I look at some of my classmates and realize that my life is to die for in comparison to some of theirs.

So, I'm going to enjoy being 26....until next year.

Aaryn is Walking!!!!!

She's been working at it for a while now. I'm so proud of her. I'm proud that she didn't give up. She would fall and get right back up again for another try. All of her hard work has paid off. As proud as I am, I'm also sad. My baby is growing up way too fast and there's NOTHING I can do about it. Its all downhill from here. Now she's going to prefer walking over being carried and before I know it, she'll be wiping away my kisses and be embarrassed to be seen with me. Well, maybe its not going that fast, but it sure seems like it.

Back on Schedule...Finally!

My husband, the girls, and I visited Oregon last week during my husband's spring break from school. My husband's paternal family lives there in the Medford area. We had a great time. I took my camera, intending to get some pictures of everyone with the girls, but issues with my camera prevented me from getting the shots that I wanted. I'm pretty sure, though, that John got some on his phone. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload those here later. The quality will suck, but its better than nothing, right?

The plane ride over was long...12 hours with 2 changeovers. We arrived in Medford around 12am PST(3am our time). Surprisingly, the girls did great. Aaryn slept most of the way. Cadence did some schoolwork, colored, and watched movies. She did take a little nap on the longest flight.

By the time we landed in Medford, I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was go to bed. The girls had different plans though. They did not want to go to sleep. Cadence was running back and forth through the airport. We finally got them to sleep around 2:30am (west coast time). They woke up at 7:15am....not fun.

For anyone who has ever traveled with children, you know that it is hard to keep kids on a schedule, with visiting, going out, staying up late, etc. So for a week, the girls stayed up late and only got to take short naps, if any at all.

Well, the vacation ended and we had to come home. We had another long flight back. We made it home around 9pm (EST). Appareantly the girl's didn't get the memo on what time it was. They were both wide awake until nearly 12am. They were still on Oregon time...3 hours earlier. I suffered with their schedules all weekend. Cadence adjusted after Monday. Aaryn struggled to go to sleep up until Wednesday. I tried putting her to bed earlier and earlier each night until we got to a decent bedtime. Both girls are sleeping as I type this.

Thank God for that!

Easter Portraits

Hello. My name is Shalonda and I'm a picture junkie. Well, actually these Easter pictures were made possible by my BFF. Thanks Kristyn! Once again, the girls did great and the pictures turned out perfect. I blame my picture addiction on the fact that I have the most beautiful girls in the whole world.....bwahahahah! Enjoy.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

So proud of her!

Aaryn is 10 Months!

Time flies! Happy 10 months Aaryn!

RIP Layla Grace

I came across Layla Grace's story through a friend of mine's blog and have been following her journey ever since. Layla Grace was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare cancer normally found in small children and infants. After many months of pain and suffering, sweet Layla Grace's suffering ended and she went to play with the angels early this morning. Layla was 2 years old. I can't imagine what her family is going through right now. Please pray for her parents and her 2 sisters while they grieve their loss. I can't imagine what they are going through. I can't imagine.