Cruise - Day 2

Day 2:

We all met for breakfast at the Lido deck on Friday morning for the breakfast buffet. I discovered my favorite breakfast item that morning, a vegetable omelet with fresh fruit. It was amazing and I continued to order it every single morning. (I'm missing these now).

After breakfast all of the ladies headed to the top deck to lay out in the sun. The weather was prefect and with the nice breeze, it wasn't even that hot outside.

For lunch, we all enjoyed the buffet again and then either took naps, explored the ship or sunbathed again until dinner.

Friday night was the Captain's Ball so we all got dressed up and took a few pictures before dinner.

My wonderful mother!

Dwayne and Janice

The entire group... Dwayne, Janice, Mom, Tara, Trish and Chris

The sunset was AMAZING Friday night!

Pictures at Dinner...

After dinner we listened to a few bands and then headed back to the rooms for some much needed rest since we were going to be in Cozumel the next day!

Chris and I were greeted to this animal when we got back to our room.

Cruise - Day 1

Chris, Mom, Janice & Dwayne Jolly, Trish Hall and I departed from Mobile, AL on August 5th and cruised to Cozumel Mexico for our yearly family cruise. Dad wasn't able to make it this time because of his ankle (we missed him alot) so Trisha came with mom instead. We all had a great time and loved the nice short relaxing trip!

Day 1:

We departed Mobile AL around 4pm that afternoon and set sail to Cozumel. The weather was great and we didn't have dinner until 8:30 so we enjoyed the sunset on the top decks.

How amazing is this view!!

Along the way out of Mobile Bay we spotted this house that was in the middle of the water.

We headed to the dinning room for dinner that night around 8:30pm. Dinner was always wonderful especially the desserts!!! The warm chocolate melting cake was to die for!

Dwayne and Janice

After dinner, we headed to the celebration party and listened to a great comedian with the entire crew.

When midnight rolled around it was time for bed, especially for Janice and I. We are NOT night time people.

Speech Update on Colton

So many of you have asked about Cotlon and his speech, so I figured I would just update it on here. As of right now, Colton is still taking speech therapy and a class called Special Instructions with Early Intervention of Tuscaloosa. The classes are going great and Colton loves his teachers!! Ms. Jeanie and Ms Marilyn have been wonderful teachers who have a gift for working with toddlers with speech delay. Colton is still working on his communication with others and he is picking up new sounds every day.

He can now say the following words: "dada", "chip", "bye bye", "see you soon" (this sounds like see ou oon), "bug" (ugg)

We work on our ABC's every day in the car and he will repeat some of the sounds. He usually will say "B", "C", "I", "P"

Then he tends to say other sounds for the other letters. But this is HUGE considering he wouldn't even try to make a sound before.

Since Colton is not talking and he is over the age of 2, we have decided to get him tested for autism. Autism is a brain disorder that often makes it hard to communicate with and relate to others. No one knows what causes it and it is estimated that every 110 child will be born with the disorder.

At the end of September and the beginning of October, we will be going to the University of Alabama for an evaluation with Colton. They have a great program at the University!

His teachers have told us that his talking could take off at any minute and that he may not even have autism, but we feel that by doing this we will be able to find ways to help Colton communicate better.

We would really appreciate all the prayers over the next few weeks and months. We're praying that he will start talking soon and that we can rule out Autism; however we know that God has a special plan for Colton and he will praise him with either outcome.

It was very hard for me at the beginning to watch Colton struggle with talking and communicating for so long, but I have finally come to the point that I know God has a plan for him. It's far better than anything I could possibly imagine and I can't wait to see it unfold.

Thanks again for all the prayers. We are all so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our life.

Begging for a Snack

Millie loves Colton, especially when he is eating a snack.

She is really wanting Colton to share some of his goldfish with her.

Colton's 1st Haircut - August 3rd

Colton had his first haircut on August 3rd, 2010. His hair was starting to get out of hand so we felt that it was time to cut a few of those precious curls off. Melody at Melody's Salon cut his hair and did such a great job!! I was worried that he wouldn't sit still for her to cut his hair, but she pulled out the water bottle and Colton had a blast! He loved spraying Nana with the water bottle. Let's just say by the time the haircut was over, Nana was soaked! (I'm sure only a grandmother would let her grandson spray her from hand to toe with water in order to keep him occupied) We also all sang Old Mac Donald towards the end of the haircut to buy us a few more minutes when he got tired of the water bottle. It was hilarious!! We were all making different animal sounds and singing different words, but I don't think Colton minded one bit. By the end of the haircut, he looked like such a big boy!!

Love this picture of him! He is all smiles and is loving minute of spraying Nana!

A few of his curls...

The finished product!

5 Things I want to Accomplish by the end of the Year -- 30 Day Challenge (Day 7)

Okay, so I have a list of things I want to accomplish by the end of the year, but here are my top 5 at the current moment:

1. Teach a coupon class for single moms or young moms as a ministry opportunity.
2. Teach Colton animal sounds and the ABC's
3. Go on Chattanooga with the family
4. Line everything up to start school this January at the University of West Alabama
5. Spread my business beyond Tuscaloosa.

Eyes Closed

Funny Story... Tonight, Colton was playing in the kitchen and I noticed that he grabbed something out of the refrigerator and took off running. We've been working on him running away from us, so I finally caught him and told him not to run. Well, he wasn't looking at me in the eyes, so I held his face so that he could see me. Unfortunately, he is too smart for his on good and closed his eyes thinking that if he couldn't see me then he wouldn't have to mind me.. Looks like the TERRIBLE two's have arrived at the Whitaker Household!

The Puzzle Master

Colton amazes me at putting puzzles together!! He is so fast and can figure out pretty much any puzzle that you give him. He loves to lay out all the puzzles and work on all of them at the same time. He usually has about 8 puzzles spread out in his room and plays with them for the longest time.

Someone that inspires me (30 Day Challenge - Day 6)

My husband inspires me to be a better person each and every day. He loves the Lord with all of his heart and he let's God lead his path instead of making a path of his own. I'm so blessed that Colton has a daddy that is such a Godly man and who will teach Colton about Jesus Christ and about what he did for us many many years ago.

2nd Trip to Zoo

Chris and I took Colton to the Zoo a few Saturdays ago and he LOVED it! It was our second time to take him and I will say that this time it was much hotter but Colton had a blast. We had to make sure to give him plenty of drinks throughout the morning so that he wouldn't get too hot.

He loved looking at all of the animals with daddy. One of his favorites was the gorilla..

Taking a Break in the stroller and enjoying a slush.

We only stayed about 2 hours because we were getting hungry, Colton was getting tired and we were all HOT! Once in the car, Colton enjoyed some Cartoons and a snack before heading back to Tuscaloosa.