(I promise we did not teach her this.)

Before I post the pictures I should have posted months ago and catch up on the last three months of Aly's life, I just want to reintroduce you to this silly little girl who has grown and learned so much. Here's the latest:

• Aly is a future American Idol contestant. It's true. She spends all day every day singing her favorite songs, which at this moment are "Sesame Street", "Sing a Song", "Jesus Loves Me", "ABC's", "Five Little Monkeys", and "Twinkle, Twinkle". She also loves dancing to American Idol and often tells us to "dance on the floor!"
  
• She has become very interested in learning more about Jesus. Every night before we go to sleep we have to "read 'bout Jesus", which means reading stories from her Little Girl's Bible Storybook for Mothers and Daughters, which I highly recommend. She can tell you the complete story of Adam and Eve and Noah's Ark and she names all of her babies Isaac after Abraham and Sarah's baby. I think she is finally starting to understand that Jesus wasn't always a baby.
  
• After we read our Bible, Aly folds her little hands, squeezes her eyes shut and thanks Jesus for everything she can think of. (From Mommy and Daddy to pufferfish and apple juice.) One night when she had a bad cold, she said, "Thank you, Jesus, for feel better."
• We are finally to the point where she can communicate just about anything to us, which is really nice. I think back to all of those times when I thought how much I wished she could just tell me what she wanted and now she can. We were in the car yesterday and she wanted to listen to her Curious George song again, for the 1,000th time. Donny and I were talking and weren't paying much attention to what she was saying until she pleaded, "Daddy, I say (said) please!"
• We walked into Mason's the other day, which is an obvious girly store if you've never been there. As soon as we walked in the door she said, "Mommy, there's no boys in here!" Excellent observation.
• She can not only recognize all of her letters of the alphabet and their sounds, but she can also spell and recognize her name! She can also recognize a circle, triangle, square, and rectangle and knows all of her colors! She loves to learn and has a great memory.
  
• About a week ago, she learned how to draw a smiley face! She draws a "circle, two eyes, nose, and smile"! Donny took a picture of her best one with his phone yesterday. She did this all by herself!! (Just the face, not the stick person.)

She continues to bring us more and more happiness every day as we watch her grow, learn, and turn into the little person she is going to be. There's truly nothing better than being her mommy.

Finally Time to Catch Up

I know I haven't updated Aly's blog since November, but the holidays are always so busy. Then we lost a very special person in our lives. I couldn't keep posting every day pictures without mentioning him, but I haven't been able to bring myself to put anything into words until now.

Thomas was more than just Caroline's daddy, Bonnie's husband or even our best-friend-in-law (if there's such a thing). He was our friend. Every memory I have from high school and so many since then includes him in some way. He was the most intelligent person I have ever known. I always joked that if you had a question about anything, no matter what it was, all you had to do was ask Thomas and he would either know the answer or make up one that was so good you believed him.

He was funny. Every day situations were just more fun with him around. We used to always make fun of him because he had such a baby-face that he really didn't have to shave and he would always reply with, "I can't help it! I'm Scandinavian!" which was such a typical Thomas come back.

He loved my best friend with all of his heart. On one of the trips to Florida that I took with Bonnie's family, she and Thomas spent a lot of their time combing the beach for seashells because Bonnie loved them. (Sorry, Bon, I know you don't like this story, but it's my favorite!!) He had such a great attitude about it and seemed to love it as much as she did. Then one night, I happened to pass through a room where Thomas had fallen asleep and heard him talking in his sleep about "collecting all those freakin' shells"! I laughed for days about it, but I also knew at that moment how much he loved her.

Aly spent the first year I went back to work with Bonnie's mom and Caroline at their house. I used to have to leave her with Thomas some mornings and he would keep her and Caroline until she got there. I remember day after day of leaving Aly in his arms, screaming her head off and him telling me to just go and she'd be fine as he frantically searched for Mickey Mouse on the DVR.

I have been overwhelmed (and I know she has too) by the number of people who don't even know Bonnie, but have told me they are praying for her and Caroline and her soon-to-be baby brother. Prayer and her limitless faith have gotten her through this time, so please remember to continue to pray for her as time goes by. I know she is faced with new challenges every day, but her strength comes from God and He is able.

You can follow her blog at www.sweetcarolinebaby.blogspot.com
You will be inspired.