Hilton Head

We are back from the beach... back to reality. We had a great time. I don't really know where to start. I guess with the drive there... it was better than expected. Mikayla slept most of the way there. The trip home she slept all but an hour. She was a little hesitant of the sand and ocean at first but by the last day she loved going in the ocean with Daddy. She squealed with excitment at the waves. We went to the pool at least once a day but spent most of our time at the beach. With the breeze it was much cooler at the beach and much more bearable. We went out to dinner every night. We had everything from seafood, wings, pizza, and ribs. Mike and I had a date night one night that was very nice(thanks to grandma and grandpa). We went for bike rides, walks, shopping, and alligator hunting. Mike played golf with the guys one day(he vows to never play again). We had just a great week. The weather was wonderful. It was cloudy the day we got there and stormed (bad) the night after but all the days were beautiful. I could not have asked for a better week. It is nice to be home in my own bed with my own shower - sleeping without a baby in the room. I put a few pictures on here. I took around 125 but only put 45 on here, hope you enjoy. One more really cute thing... Mikayla started saying Sassy!! It is so cute. Just had to share that.

Love you all.
Mike, Leshia, and Mikayla

Mikayla and Daddy

I came home from the gym the other night to this scene. Mike cut the sleeves out of some of his t-shirts(for the gym) so he and Mikayla put the excess material on their heads. I just cracked up laughing when I walked in the door. Two peas in a pod!!

We had a busy weekend. Friday - Mikayla and I went on our weekly grocery shopping trip. You just would not believe all the "grandpas" that stop to talk to Mikayla. She loves singing at the top of her lungs in the store now - I think she likes the way her voice echos. It is really quite funny the way everyone looks.
Then, Friday night we went to Burger Night at church. The kids ministry is raising money for our building fund so they sold burgers. The burgers were very good and the fellowship time was great. Saturday, Mike went on a canoe trip down the Red River in Adams, TN with the men's ministry at church. He actually has a kayak(spelling?) so he took that and the trip was 9 miles!! He was a little sore the next day. The guys had a blast!!
While he went on his trip, Mikayla and I planned on going to visit my dad for Father's Day but little Miss Mikayla was in a horrible mood (cutting two teeth at once and has an ear infection) so my dad being the nice guy that he is said he would come to us. I think he just REALLY wanted to see Mikayla. It was a good day. Mikayla wanted to take Grandpa to Cracker Barrel so we did that and Grandpa enjoyed it. We got back and they played in the floor - Mikayla loves showing off all her toys. While they played I had to pack Mikayla's stuff for Grandma & Grandpa Scheetz house. Mike wanted to go to the drag races for Father's Day so I agreed to go and the grandparents agreed to keep Mikayla (with no arm twisting).
I have to say that I had a blast at the drag races. We met some friends there and did not leave until almost midnight (we are in bed by 10 on Saturdays). Needless to say we were exhausted for early church service on Sunday. I felt bad that it was Fathers Day and Mikayla was at her grandparents house. Mike did not mind because he enjoyed the race. We were so tired after church that we took a 2 hour nap. Later on we went to Mike's parents to visit and pickup our baby girl. Mike had a good Fathers Day - he did not lift a finger which is exactly what he wanted to do(not real sure what the difference in any other Sunday- hahaha) He is such a great father to Mikayla. She adores her Daddy. All day long she talks about dada!!! When he walks in the door everyday she screams and says dada with a huge smile. So sweet!!

oh yeah- I forgot about Mikayla's haircut adventure Saturday morning. She has had her hair cut several times by our friend Angie and has done wonderful everytime. Well... this time was an exception. As soon as Angie put the cape on Mikayla she started screaming and crying and continued until we were finished. I was thinking of getting a brow wax while we were there but that was out of the question. Not sure if she thought she was at the doctors office or what?? Which by the way has become a screamfest too. We went last Wednesday and as soon as her Dr. came in the door her little lip started quivering and here come the waterworks. It breaks my heart. Dr. Murray said she will probably continue that for about the next year then things will improve. Joy... so excited!!! We have to go back in about 2weeks for her ears, looking forward to that!!!

We are so excited we leave EARLYYYYY Saturday morning for Hilton Head!! Not sure if I will post before then but if not I am sure I will have a bunch of pictures. Please be praying for us about the drive there with Mikayla... a little uneasy about that. Will be interesting!!!

Weekend

We had a full weekend. I just combined all the pictures on one post. Mike has been working almost every Saturday for the past 4 months BUT he was off this past one so we were soooo excited. Saturday we had a swim party/ cookout with our Hometeam(small group) at church. The kids had a great time and I think the adults did too. Mikayla got to use her new turtle float with Daddy. It is really neat because it has a shade that we can put over her when she has had too much sun. We are counting down the days until vacation... 11 days until we leave!!!! We are leaving Duke at a kennel for that week but the good thing is that he an Mike's parent dog, Bud, will be his kennelmate for the week. They are best buddies so we know they will do great. Speaking of Bud... we had a scare last week. Bud had eaten some(quite a bit) plastic and it made him really sick so Mike's mom took him to the vet and ended up having to do surgery on him. The found the plastic and some was in his colon... the vet said if they would not have done surgery he would not have made it through the night. This was Friday afternoon and he is doing much better now. They are keeping him at the vet for a few days to monitor him. So glad everything is going to be good now. He has been a member of their family for 11 years.
Mike and Mikayla in the pool- Mikayla loves her Daddy- look how happy they both are in this picture.
Riley - one of the girls in our group.
Some more of the kids in our group.
Goodness this bucket is as big as Mikayla.

Ok - we found this turtle Sunday in our yard. I have never seen a snapping turtle this big. I thought they were little, like the size of your hand. This one was the size of my head. Mike thinks that it came from the storm drain at the very back corner of our yard... no telling what all is living in that thing... kinda scares me a little. I just can not get over how big this turtle is.

Sunday Mikayla went for a swim in her pool. I love the fact that it is pink... so cute. She did the greatest thing ... she scooted herself all around the pool sitting on her tooshie by pushing herslf on the bottom of the pool. It really sounds like not a big deal at all but, up until this point she has been immobile. I can only imagine how cool it was for her to move herself around... all by herself. She was smiling so big and having the best time. Mike and I were very excited!!!! Once she realizes what she has to do to get around hopefully that will open a whole new world for Mikayla and be the begining of something huge. Here are some pics from the pool.

With the event of the pool during the afternoon, we decided to try her out in the big bathtub. Until now- I still bathed her in the little tub because of her balance issues(because of the curve of her back) but I thought if she can balance herself in the pool well enough to move around the entire pool she will probably do just fine. I was right she loved being in the big tub. She splashed around just like the pool. So cute.

The park

We went to the park with some friends on Sunday afternoon. The ground was so muddy - some of the other kids went "swimming" in some of the puddles, tried to drink to water that looked like chocolate milk, and stripped down in the middle of the park... it was really a good time - we also got to hang out with some people we don't normally get to hang out with. It was a good day.
Here's Mikayla after stuffing half a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth!!!! Seriously - half the cookie!! Daddy and Mikayla played on all the slides and stuff.

Just hanging around the house

After lunch today Mikayla watched Elmopalooza while she played. She was making some really cute faces so I wanted to capture the moment. She has started "singing" along with music and it is really cute. She likes to sing in a very LOUD voice - it really is just too cute for words.
I just love this little face to pieces!!!








The pictures above and below were her singing face.

What a sweetheart- this picture just makes me smile!!

Music

Now it is more exciting to look at Mikayla's blog... I have added music. I added my two favorite songs that remind me of Mikayla. One is from her dedication and the other was on a CD that I listened to while I was feeding her in the middle of the night when she was itty bitty. Both songs mean a lot to me - Voice of Truth reminds me that it did not and still does not matter what the doctors said about Mikayla and her future, all that matters to us is that God's "truth" is not according to the doctors it is what His word says. He has an amazing plan for Mikayla's life and whether she walks or not(we still believe she will) she is going to impact this world and lives in ways we can only imagine. I cannot wait to see the person she is going to be. I am so blessed to be a part of her. Anyway... the music is on here hope you will enjoy it.

We love you all.