Time for a few pictures :)

Here is Makayla a few months ago, when she only has 3 teeth. Cracks me up that she had only one upper tooth.

She fit great into this ottoman storage space.

Always teasing the dog. Offering food, then taking it back.

We celebrated her birthday "belated" when her sisters were here. She is actually 14 months old, but she enjoyed the party just as well.

We went swimming with the cousins for the party. Here she is with her sister Ashlyn.

Presents were fun for everyone. Makayla had lots of help opening the presents.

Here's the cousins, chillin' after swimming. (Kaitlyn, Madeline, Ashlyn, Cale, and Bosco)

Somebody discovered how fun it is to eat watermelon off the rind.

This may not look like much of an accomplishment to you, but we are very pleased and impressed that she is pulling herself up on her knees now. :) What a good job for Pappy.

Here's Makayla with her wonderful Aunt Martha.

We went on a Caribbean cruise with nearly all of my immediate family. We had a great time. I'm third from the left, and Mark is hiding behind me.

This is us at dinner

Our ship is the one on the left. We had fun checking out the one on the right.

This is us with my sister Kammi (she's the young blond on the left). We went on an adventure together on St. Thomas (kayaking, snorkeling,"hiking", hermit crabs). It was fun.

summer activities

Time to update the blog. Summer is here. Hannah and Ashlyn are with us for the summer. They love being around Makayla and to help with the baby. They laugh at the funny things that the baby does. Makayla is really starting to shake her head no, and doing it appropriately. I offer something to eat or drink, she shakes her head "no". I say it's time to go nuh-night, and she shakes her head "no." The one that kills me is when I'm leaving for work and say buh-bye, and she shakes her head "no.". That one deserves another hug and kiss. She is still such a happy little thing. I was pleased the other night when we were reading a book that has a squeak toy integrated. She wasn't able to make it squeak by herself, but she was smart enough to grab my hand and push it on the squeaker. That made me very proud.

We took her to see a neurologist, Dr Jarrar, last week. Dr Jarrar is not worried about her, given that she is making some progress with the physical therapy. She did order hip xrays and some blood work to check her hips (obviously) and her muscles. Those tests came back normal. Our pediatrician has been thinking, and wanted to add a few more tests as well. We will get those drawn soon. I'm a little nervous because I think of what would happen if some of those did come back abnormal. I just keep hoping that one day, she will just catch up developmentally.

I know, I know, each kid develops at their own pace, but the professional in me sees an underweight 14 month old baby who refuses to bear weight and has skinny little arms and legs.

I think it's very cute, though how she says "dada." She will see him in the distance or hear him singing in the other room, and smiles to say dada. We were at Wendy's the other day. I was sitting at the table with the kids, and Mark was in line to buy the food. When Makayla spotted him, she called out "dada" and got very excited when he responded to her. It was fun to see them interacting across the restaurant.

Mark's mother was very kind to come and watch the kids for us earlier this month while we went on vacation. Apparently, Makayla didn't say dada much while we were gone, but started up again once we got back.

We had a great trip on a Caribbean cruise with nearly all of the adults in my family. The weather was lovely, and the sea life was fun. Mark's trip was complete when we saw a small shark.