The Hills: Finally... an update...

Hello Everyone~

Well, I turned on my computer 3 hours ago to update our blog and am just now getting around to doing it! I decided that even though everyone else is in bed I HAVE GOT TO GET THIS DONE!!! I really need to do a better job with my time management. :)

Anyway, as I'm sure you have figured out or assumed by now, Lorali has been growing and developing like crazy! At the time of my last post she had just started rolling over in both directions. Well, when she was about 5 months old she started to sit up on her own. Now she will sit on the floor and play with her toys for a long time. It's really nice that she doesn't have to be held or strapped into something all the time now. It's really convenient at the grocery store and restaurants because we can use the seat on the shopping cart and high-chairs now! She has also started to try the whole crawling thing but hasn't quite figured out how to move forward yet. She tends to scoot backward more than anything and that makes her frustrated because she gets farther and farther away from where she is trying to crawl to! She has also tried to pull herself up a couple times on her crib rails and the coffee table. It's going to be a totally different world once she is mobile!

Now that she is six months old we have started giving her baby food. We started her off with sweet potatoes last week. The first couple bites kind of threw her for a loop, but she really seemed to like them after a few bites. We have moved onto carrots this week. She has done really well with those also. Next we plan on trying squash and then moving on to green beans. We tried a sippy cup a couple weeks ago, but she didn't really want anything to do with that yet.

Last week was my spring break so Will took some vacation and we went down to Florida to visit with his cousin Sambo and his family. It was great to get out of Claiborne County for a while, but what really made the trip awesome was getting to take Lorali to Disney World. Now, believe me, I know it is kind of silly to take a six-month old to the Magic Kingdom and expect her to get excited about the princesses and everything, but the tickets were free, so it was worth it! Will's mom met us in Florida and was able to go to the parks with us and help with Lorali so that was great. It was hard at times because if the lines were long for the attractions we couldn't really wait because Lorali would have needed a diaper change or to be fed or to take a nap, and those things are really hard to do when you're standing in an 80-minute line. Nonetheless, we had a great time! And even though it sounds a little crazy, I really think Lorali had fun! For one thing, she was basically held either in the Baby Bjorn or someone's arms for a week straight. We definitely put a lot of miles on the Baby Bjorn! She loves to ride in it and face outward so she can see everything. She would just kick her little legs and throw her arms around and squeal! Also, she made her first airplane trip and did wonderfully! I was a little nervous because she is not a good car traveler at all! But, as long as she's not constrained by anything she seems to do just fine. On the way down she just sat there and made cute faces at the man next to us and took about a 30 minute nap on Will's chest. On the way back she sprawled out across our laps and slept the whole way!

What else do I need to fill everyone in on... well, Lorali is about to get her first tooth! We noticed a couple days ago that you can see the top of one of her bottom teeth that is about to poke through her gums! Nursing should get really fun here soon, lol. Also, for those of you that don't know, Will turned 30 last Friday. He is handling it really well. I think he's too busy with work and Lorali to really even notice! We had a surprise party for him last night (well at least he says he was surprised, but I think he knew something was up). Lorali also made her first trip to Ohio about a month ago. My friend Rebecca and her little girl, Molly (who is two months older than Lorali), went with us. It was a really fun girls' weekend. We hit the outlet malls and hung out with my family.

My mom and grandparents are coming in town this weekend. It is the first time we have had visitors in over a month! It has been strange having the house to ourselves, but we always welcome anyone who wants to come stay and visit (and help babysit, lol).

Well, I think that is about it. I take Lorali to the doctor for her 6-month checkup here in a couple weeks so I will update you guys after that. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks...

Love,

Will, Ahleasha, and Lorali

Here is a picture of Lorali and me and Rebecca and Molly. We always sit in the same section at the basketball games (along with Brandie and Melanie) so our athletic director named the section "the crib" and put a sign up for us!