Birthday Recap

Allison's first birthday has come and gone. It was a great day and the weather was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better day. In total we had 35 guests at the party - Nana and Papa, Aunt Jodi and Uncle Rich, Aunt Keri and Eric, Aunt Lori, Jo Ann, many cousins, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Dale, Aunt Lynn, Uncle Mark and family, "Cousin Amy", Jai and Mahrya (and Paityn), and Dave and Linda.

Everyone was happy to see Allison and enjoyed spending time with her. She was in a good mood all day and let people hold her. She enjoyed opening her presents and had lots of fun eating her cake.

Allison in her special birthday outfit.

The kids made cards for Allison for the future. Each year she will receive a card from one of her cousins from age 2 - 13. I had the adults make a card for when she turns 16.

Allison inspecting her birthday card.

The only family photo that we took that day.

Allison's own birthday cake baked by mom and decorated by dad.

Trying to figure it all out....

Dad showing her that she can eat the cake....

Getting the hang of it....

Having fun smashing her hands in it...

Too busy watching her cousins to eat any more cake. She is probably trying to figure out why they keep yelling "DUNK YOUR HEAD IN IT"

After all the cousins left to play in the backyard, I gave her some more cake to play with. This is when she really started to have fun with it.

All the cousins

A very tired little girl at the end of the night. Needless to say she slept very well that night. She slept in until 8 am.

Happy 1st Birthday

Allison,

It's 9:01 pm and you are officially one, however you are out cold in your crib right now, so you don't even realize it.

When they raised you above the curtain and I saw you for the first time, the first thing I thought of was "look at the cheeks." You were so cute.

It was a long and hard labor and delivery, but you were so worth it. I remember feeding you the next morning and I looked down at you and all of sudden I felt an overwhelming sense of love for you. It hit me at that moment -- I was a mom and I loved it.

You had a wonderful party today. You were in such a great mood. We will have to post pictures tomorrow so our blog readers can see them. You were such a doll eating your cake, although I have to say you were a lot daintier than I thought you would be. I think you were too curious about what your cousins were doing to eat the cake.

Now it is time to rest and recover. I think all three of us will sleep well tonight.

Love,

Mom

Twas the Night Before Allison's Birthday

Allison,

It is the day before your first birthday. Dad and I are beat. We have been working all day to get ready for your party.

A year ago today, Dad and I took Ozzie for a walk in the park so I could get out of the house for a bit. At work that day, I was telling my co-workers that it would be at least a week before I had you. I was feeling or showing no signs that you would soon be on your way.

What a surprise it was when I woke up at 12:30 am when my water broke. We left for the hospital around 2 am (after a quick walk around the block to try to get labor going) and as we pulled out of the driveway, dad commented "Tonight we leave as a couple, and soon we will come home as a family."

Thank you for making us a family. I think we make a pretty darn good one!

Love,
Mom

So Busted!

One of my favorite daily tasks is to check on Allison before I go to bed. I love seeing what position she fell asleep in, especially when her little butt is up in the air. I think that is so cute. I always report back to Brian what position she was in.

However, living in an older home with creaky wood floors makes sneaking in and out a little difficult. On Saturday night, I was turning her fan down, when I heard her stir. I tried getting out of the room quickly, but the floors were squeaking too much. So I froze in place and heard her stir some more. So I dropped to the ground, curled up into a ball and hid behind the rocker. After a few seconds, I peaked up and saw Allison standing in her crib - her nose crinkled and eyes squinting - all in apparent confusion on why mama was laying on her floor in the "middle of the night." I would love to have known what was running through her mind at that moment.

I learned my lesson a few weeks ago and did not take her out of her crib. I just gave her a hug and a kiss, told her good night, and walked out of the room. I think she feel back to sleep within a few minutes. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was probably "my mom is just strange."

End of the Era

Tonight marked the end of an era for me. It was my last night volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House after 10 years of service. I started the summer after I graduated from college.

I worked in the office answering phones, checking in guests, and keeping the house picked up and tidy. I met some great families over the years. I saw and heard some amazing stories and sadly there were times I took keys from families leaving because their child did not make it. I always said volunteering at the House was my way of saying thank you for healthy nieces and nephews and then it became my way of paying back for having a healthy baby myself.

I came to realize that with two little ones, it would just be too hard to make that bi-weekly commitment. Brian has been great about staying with Allison while I volunteer, even during those first few months where she would cry and scream for a long period of time before falling asleep (if she ever did). He realizes that I need my time to get out of the house by myself for a while and will make sure I still get the opportunity to do so.

The House was also making some changes to their volunteer program, so I felt it was great timing to end my regular volunteer commitment. I still would like to be involved in some way, maybe helping out at special events. I think it is a wonderful organization that helps families during a stressful time. Many of these families would be sleeping in the waiting rooms or their children's hospital room if it wasn't for the House or worse yet, their child wouldn't have the comfort of having mom and dad by their side on a daily basis. So if you are ever looking for a charity to support, please do consider them.

A Thousand Days - A Thousand Thank Yous!

As of Friday, July 18, Brian and I have been married a 1,000 days and each day I say thank you that he was brought into my life. Ok, so maybe there are some days that I say something more along the lines of "he drives me crazy", but those days have been an exception.


It has been a busy 1,000 days to say the least. We took our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas. Looking at our pictures from our trip makes me want to go on vacation somewhere like that again. (Mom, want to watch the kids for a week, maybe in winter 2010?)

We went to San Francisco for my 30th birthday. Here is a picture from Hop Kiln, our favorite winery that we visited.

We took two camping trips that first summer. We celebrated our 1 year anniversary by staying at Saugutuck overnight, then going wine tasting the next day. One month after our anniversary, we found out we were pregnant with Allison.

Before Allison was born, we took a trip to the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg, which was very nice and relaxing. I think that trip ranked up as one of my favorite trips.

Allison came along in July and has only made our lives better. In February, we found out that our family is expanding once again and we can't wait to add a little peanut to the group.

While I did mention the bigger trips we took, those are only some of the things that I appreciate and value. I love that I found someone to play board games, do jigsaw puzzles, walk to the ice cream shop, and so much more. I love that even though his back is so sore and he can barely move, he is on his knees right now painting the wainscoting in our new rec room, so we can have it finished in time for Allison's party.

So honey, here is to another happy 1,000 days and many more. Love ya!

Who Needs Baby Einstein

Only recently Allison has shown interest in her Baby Einstein videos and with them she really is only interested in the puppets. However, turn on the Price is Right and she is hooked. She doesn't usually get to watch it because she is napping during this time or we are out of the house, but when she does watch it, she loves it.

If anyone wants to give her a cheap birthday present, they could tape episodes of Price is Right for a week. She would really be your friend if you also added bonus footage that only includes the "wheel spin" all in a row, since that is her favorite part of the show. She will stop whatever she is doing and get all excited as the wheel goes around.

I've told Allison that when she is on the show one day and the host (maybe still Drew Carey) asks her who she wants to say hi to, she better say "I want to say hi to my mom, who got me hooked on this show when I was just a baby."