Aliya's 9th Birthday

Aliya's birthday is today...and she turned 9!!! Hard to believe that my cutie baby girl is entering the final year of the single digit club. Nine years ago today, a record-breaking cold snap and freezing storm cut off the electricity for a few hours at the hospital. None of those things even phased us, because we held an adorable baby girl in our arms--she warmed up our hearts and lit up the room! Even to this day, she still warms up our hearts and lights up rooms when she walks in!

The special day began with a shopping spree for a complete new birthday outfit, which she is modeling in the above picture!   We then went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner (Aliya's choice) where Aliya was surprised with many things.  She received some wonderful gifts from her brother and sisters, and she also unwrapped her very own REAL underwater camera...but the most surprising to her was when the wait-staff brought her birthday cake with a candle and sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  She truly was not expecting such a performance because we had not mentioned to our waiter that it was her birthday--or so she thought!!!

What to do with a brand new camera?!!!  Why, take pictures of your special cake, of course!!!  For the remainder of the meal, Aliya was snapping pictures of EVERYTHING from the ceiling to the light fixtures.

Even though we had dessert at the Cheesecake Factory, we still had to come home and enjoy her birthday cake that she had picked out yesterday.  The day was long and fun.  I'm so thankful to have been able to spend these past 9 years with my baby girl.  I pray for an eternity more!  Happy Birthday, Aliya!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

Kiahna Loses Her FIRST Tooth!

Less than an hour ago, Kiahna pulled out her very first loose tooth! She has been waiting FOREVER to achieve this right-of-passage into childhood. The adult tooth is already showing through...and she is smiling from ear-to-ear!

We Have Crabs!!!

Today we took our vehicle in to Sears for some check-ups. This particular Sears is located in a huge mall, so we walked the mall while we waited for the van to be done. This particular mall also had some hermit crabs for sell. We were instant suckers for the cute little things. Since dogs and cats are out of the question right now, and since our past beta fish guests expired at a rate that suggest murder, we thought we would try to host hermit crabs in our home--specifically in the vacant beta fish tanks.

Each of the kids walked away with their own hermit crab and each crab got to have 2 deluxe, designer shells. Only one of the crabs got its picture taken because the photographer, Niah Harris, demonstrated obvious favoritism for her crab.

We hope to be more successful with these critters than we were with the fish. Only time will tell...

***Current Update as of January 20, 2012***

Only one crab has survived. Isaiah's crab is the only one left of the bunch. I guess we weren't as successful as we had hoped to be. We do plan to buy some more crabs and give it one more try.