Modelicious!!!

Today has been a very busy day! Alegria and I went around the house dusting and then while Alegria napped from 9-10, I cleaned the bathrooms and then showered. Once Alegria was awake, she helped me pick out an outfit to wear and I finished getting ready.

Nefilinda and Fernando arrived at about 11:30. They had taken a wrong turn because of the rain, which had impeded their vision, and they were a little later arriving than they'd anticipated. That was okay, though. :) When they arrived, we spent a little time getting Alegria acquainted with both of them and then I left Alegria with Nefilinda so that I could finish washing the morning's dishes. Once Alegria was warmed up to Nefilinda and Fernando, Fernando took out his camera and began taking pictures of Alegria. He had asked if he could take pictures of Alegria to promote his photography business, so that is why they had driven the two hours to come. I, of course, being the photo maniac that I am, acquiesced and was happy that Alegria did so well during most of the photo taking!

After taking a few pictures, we all hopped in my car and went to the Copperas Cove Public Library, where Abilehi was working today from 8:30-5. We came bearing Dairy Queen blizzards and spent a fun little while there. We got to see the break room where Abilehi eats her meals when she stays at work for lunch or dinner, and then Abilehi took us on a small tour of the Children's Library (where she is the Children's Specialist). :) I got a few cute pictures of Alegria there!

After the library, we stopped by Burger King on our way home and got some lunch. As soon as we got home, though, I put Alegria down for a nap. She was exhausted! That was fine, though. Fernando got to take a nap on the couch and I got to sweep and mop the floors. Nefilinda read a little bit and then she and I chit-chatted. After two hours, Alegria woke up from her nap. I got her dressed and we were ready to go again!

We were on our way to the City Park, when I realized that the Rabbit Fest was going on there. So we turned back around and it so happened that we passed by an Elementary School on the way and there was a park behind the school. We had originally wanted to take a few pictures at the Rabbit Fest, but it had been raining a lot earlier so we skipped out on that option. But Fernando still wanted to get some outside shots, so we did what we could there at the park. Most of the play area was wet, so we had limited resources, but we did what we could and Alegria was surprisingly cooperative...for the most part. During one take, Fernando wanted her to crawl towards him, but she was too intrigued by the pebbles on the ground and kept wanting to eat them! So we finally nixed that and went on to try something else. Finally, we left.

As we were leaving, Fernando saw a patch of wildflowers on the side of the road and decided to take a few pictures of Alegria there. She didn't like that. So after a few attempts, we left.

Once home, I undressed Alegria (she had gotten mud on her sandals and her short bottoms were a little wet. Then I had Abilehi feed her some fruit while I began making dinner.

Oh, dinner! Abilehi requested Chicken Parmesan. I'd never made that dish before, so I had looked up a recipe online. It ended up being pretty easy. Next time, though, I need to put sauce on the pasta as well. The sauce on the chicken wasn't enough to soak the noodles. Oh well. It was fine. Abilehi's and Nefilinda's friend Sadie was with us and she kept commenting that they were good...so I believed her. :)

Finally, it was time for dessert. I was most anxious for dessert. I had made a Caramel Cream Brownie Truffle. It sure was yummy!!! :) Here are a couple of pictures!

After dessert I excused myself and said goodbye to Abilehi and Sadie, who were going to go meet up with a group of friends from Institute to hang out and watch a movie. Then I went to nurse Alegria. Not long after, Nefilinda came and knocked at the door to let me know that she and Fernando were going to be leaving, so I came out to say goodbye to them.

Once everyone was gone, it was so quiet in the house. It was almost freaky how quiet it was! The weird thing is, that it's like that every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday night when Abilehi is at FHE, Institute, or work. I guess the fact that there had been so many people around today just made the silence that much more audible.

Anyway. I nursed Alegria until she didn't want to anymore and then I took her a bath. Yesterday was her bath night, but because we'd been at the park and it was all wet, Alegria had gotten mud on her legs, hands, and arms, and even though we'd washed her hands, if it had been me to get dirty like that, I know I would have enjoyed a bath. So that's what we did.

After her bath, we watched a video of Cameron talking to Alegria and wishing her a goodnight. We then read a book (Guess How Much I Love You), said prayer, and then I played Cameron's songs for Alegria.

Now, when I lay Alegria down in her crib, she has recently been getting right back up on her knees and sitting up, then "talking" until she falls asleep. Today she was so exhausted that she stayed down on her tummy and went to bed pretty fast! So much activity today! That did it!

Well, once Alegria was asleep, it was then time for me to do the usual clean up. I brought her toys in from the trunk of the car (we'd taken them with us to take pictures with them possibly). I loaded the dishwasher. I cleaned the counters, the table, the stove, and the floors, and I put away everything that was out of place. I also took out the trash. Phew!

Cameron and I talked a bit, too. We've been trying for the last couple of weeks to plan travel for him here, for all three of us to Montana, and for all three of us back to Kentucky. Well, today we got a little discouraged because the prices are so high (especially to go to Montana with only a week's notice...courtesy of the Army and the big unknown of dates)! So now the latest is that we'll forego the Montana trip for now and Cameron will still come this Tuesday and stay for two weeks. That means he'll finally be able to know what it feels like to live in his own home for longer than a weekend! YAY!!! Alegria and I are so excited!!!

So...as I was sitting here writing, I received an email from Fernando...and he sent me three pictures of Alegria...and they are AWESOME!!! Take a look!!!

His pictures put my pictures to shame. Oh well. He's a professional. :) I can't wait to see what the rest of the pictures look like! Woo-hoo!!!

Well, I guess that's about it for today. I've already written a novel.

Have a great night!!!