I know...I know... I'm way overdue for a post on here; but better late than never right? Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of our Forever Together Day in Guatemala! Isabella has blessed our lives more than we ever dreamed possible and this first year together has been the best year of our lives! Thank you God for all you've given us.

Our move is in full swing right now and most days I don't know if I'm coming or going. We got a contract on our house around May 18 and we have to be OUT of the house by June 8 !! That falls one month before John can leave Charleston so we're going to a hotel for a whole month. Uggh! I smell flashbacks of my 3 month stay in a hotel during my airline training in Washington DC. NOT FUN It was nice to have someone make your bed everyday though :-)

John is going straight into deployment when he check in at Virginia for a 6 month trip. We're hoping he will be back around Christmas or the New Year if things stay on schedule. (Which never happens in the military...this ship was suppose to be going into the shipyard for maintenance instead of on deployment.) Oh well, we have been very lucky to have a 3 year break with no deployments so I'll just suck it up and count my blessings. There are many many military families in this country who are facing 1-2 year deployments for the 2nd time, so six months would be a dream come true to them. I don't know if that prepares me to stand on the piers and say goodbye to my husband again, but can you ever be prepared for that?

On a brighter note, John and I decided it would be best for me to rent an apartment in Kentucky near my family instead of trying to move into a new house and neighborhood in VA by myself again. So I've got a cute little apartment within walking distance of my brother Jason's house, and Isabella will be spoiled to no end while daddy is away. I will get the joy of spoiling my nieces and 3 brand new baby nephews so all is fair :-)

Isabella is 18 months now and is doing wonderfully. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger and when he's home she's glued to his lap. She is such a little comedian and she is HAPPY all the time. She has 8 teeth now and is getting her molars which really hurt! She has a great vocabulary and knows all her farm animals and the sounds they make, as well as a few jungle creatures too :-) She's nuts about her two Dalmatian siblings Perdy and Bandit, and her favorite pastime is dancing and singing to the Wiggles! John and I swear that we heard her count too 3 when she was stepping down the 3 stairs at our apartment the other day. We've yet to hear her do it again but it was VERY clear when she did it the first time. Are we nuts? She has NO time to stop for the camera these days so getting still shots is near impossible since she refuses to look at the camera even when we hold her down. LOL

Well that's the skinny on us for now. We've got a big Adoptive Families Vacation coming up in St. Petersburg, FL in July. I planned the whole thing and we have over 85 people attending. It should be a wonderful time and I hope next years trip is even bigger. I PROMISE to post photos from it when we get back. In the meantime, I'm posting one of Isabella from her slumber party with cousin Jaylen last week. They had matching PJ's (the result of having the same grandma) and John and I got our 2nd date night since last year thanks to my sister in law Jodie! We luv U!

We hope everyone is great! Blessings, Janine S