1st Birthday Party!

We had a great time celebrating Alexis's birthday with family and friends! Thank you to everyone who came and helped make the day so special. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives. We had a puppy-themed birthday party for Alexis and had fun decorating my parent's backyard with paw prints and balloons! There was a ball pit and a swimming area and we had 4 dog guests attending. :) My mom and dad outdid themselves with the food! As usual there was a TON of food, including bacon-wrapped hot dogs, nachos with chili and beans, more meat, sweet potatoes, spinach dip and plenty of kid-friendly snacks like goldfish and animal crackers! Thanks Mom & Dad for hosting the party at your beautiful home and for working so hard to make the party a success! Most of the kids enjoyed the ball pit, while I saw the adults playing with the play-doh, bubbles, and coloring book pages! All the dogs were groomed and looked very classy in their bandannas and outfits. They all got along and behaved pretty well too. Alexis loved playing with them and gave Dusty lots of hugs because he is the perfect size for her. We had a lot of guests and it was so nice seeing people we don't get to see often! We even got a chance to skype with Alexis's grandpa, Steve, who is working in Iraq. We miss him! Alexis was sooooo good at the party! I was scared she would be timid with all the strangers, but she did so well! My sweet neighbor bought Alexis a ball-filled pinata for her birthday and the kids all had fun hitting it and playing with the balls afterward. We had 3 birthday cakes, a Costco cake for the guests, the cake I made just for Alexis, and a peanut butter cake just for the dogs! I really wanted to make Alexis her own birthday cake instead of buying one. It took two tries and didn't look very pretty, but it was made with lots of love! Alexis had lots of fun destroying it and we got lots of great pictures! The dogs really enjoyed their peanut butter cake and got to keep the dog bowls as a favor! All the kids got mini-books and other small things as favors. Thank you to everyone who brought presents for Alexis. We are overwhelmed by your love and generosity. Alexis now has a great library of awesome books and several cute and fun toys and outfits! If you took any pictures/videos at the party, please email them to me at abcusc@gmail.com and I'll add them to my pictures. We missed those of you who were unable to attend and hope that everyone who did had a great time! We wish we could have spent more time with all of you at the party! Here are a few pictures and click on the link to see more. Thank you again everyone!

*The big cupcake I made for Alexis*

*Peanut butter dog cake with bowl favors*
*Good family pic*
*Me and the birthday girl*
*Digging in!*

*Making a giant mess!*

*Messy girl!*

*She loves Dusty!*

*Ball-filled pinata!*

*Loving the balls*

*Fun ball pit*

*So many fun presents!*

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

Alexis is ONE!

Today Alexis turned ONE! We can't believe how fast the first year has gone! Today was bittersweet for me. Happy for the milestone and seeing how amazing Alexis has become in just a year, but sad that my baby will never be a little baby anymore. I've definitely shed some tears this week. We thank God for our baby girl, and are absolutely blessed beyond what we deserve. Although, her first birthday party is on Saturday, we celebrated at home with just the three of us. Alexis and I went to Fresh and Easy and bought cupcakes and then to Dollar Tree to get her a balloon. She loves balloons and we found one a Happy Birthday balloon with a dog on it (She LOVES dogs). Then, when Daniel came home we went to Costco to pick up the photobook we made for her first year. At home, we sang happy birthday to her, took lots of pictures and video as she ate her cupcake, and then let her open a present (clothes from Dale and April, thanks guys!). It was lots of fun. Enjoy the pictures of our mini celebration!

Happy 1st Birthday Alexis!

Your first year has been the best year of our lives!

Mommy and Daddy love you!

*A doggy balloon for the birthday girl!*

*I'm ONE today!*

*Singing Happy Birthday*

*First Bite*

*Not too messy at first*

*Wondering why we are allowing her to be messy*

*Look at that pretty face!*

*Yum*

*Messy hands*

*Starting to mash it*

*She wasn't allowed to eat all of it, but she had fun playing with it and making a mess*

*Singing Happy Birthday!*

*Eating Cake*

*I'm ONE!*

San Diego and other pics!

This past week we hosted Daniel's sister Lindsey and her family who were visiting from Virginia! We had lots of fun and went to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park! Alexis had a blast playing with her two cousins (Payson, 16 months, and Beckett 5 months). Here is a link to our San Diego pictures:

SAN DIEGO PICTURES

While they were here, we went to Target and Alexis took her one year pictures a little early. Isn't she beautiful!

Alexis will turn ONE on October 6th! I cant believe how fast the first year has gone! Alexis is now walking like a pro, reading lots of words and learning something new every day! We are so blessed to have her! Thank God for our precious Alexis! Hope to see you all at her first birthday party on October 9th! Please RSVP to the evite so I know how many people and dogs are coming! Here are some other videos and a picture from my birthday.

*Proof she can read*

*Smarty Pants*

*Our Family on my 25th Birthday*

Reading and Cruising!

This weekend was very exciting for us. Saturday, we discovered that the Your Baby Can Read program actually works and that Alexis is starting to read! I was going through some of the words with her and asked her to find the word "dog." She immediately pointed to dog and slid the card to reveal the picture of the dog. I was stunned and thought it was a fluke. I did it with different words and asked Daniel to come watch. She picked the right word every time. We tested this several times during the day and changed the words, but she kept picking them! We are fully convinced that she can read several words and are so so so proud of her progress. She really enjoys learning. I am so happy we decided to invest in the program. Then on Sunday, while working in the church nursery, Alexis pulled herself onto a little cart and started cruising! She did it so well! Pretty soon, she'll be walking on her own. Every day I'm absolutely amazed at how smart she is. It's a little sad that she's growing up so fast! We're just trying to enjoy every minute, knowing it will soon be a distant memory. Enjoy the videos!

*Reading!*

*She's so smart!*

*Look at her go!*

My baby is 9 months old!!!

Alexis turned 9 months on Tuesday, 7/6/10, and I just cant believe how fast she's growing up! I took her to the doctor's office yesterday for her 9 month checkup. She weighs 18 lbs, 13 oz and is 29 inches tall. She is learning something new almost everyday. She crawls around extremely fast, can pull herself up to stand, and even lets go for a few seconds! She learned how to say the word "baby"over the weekend and loves to say it, along with "da-da." She hasn't said mama in a really long time. She's doing very well with her Your Baby Can Read videos. She recognizes the word "wave" and "clap" pretty well and loves to wave hello and goodbye to everyone. She also loves clapping and cheering, especially for herself. She's so smart and fun! Now we just need to get her to sleep in her own crib. :) We love her so much. Thank God for an amazing daughter and that I can stay home and raise her!

*Monkeying around*

*Saying "Baby!"*

*Being Silly*

Fun Weekend

We had a great time over the weekend hanging out with out of town friends! We hosted my best friend Carrie and her fiance Patrick from South Carolina and crammed a lot of activities in a short visit including: Belmont Shores, Griffiths Observatory, Universal Citywalk, and Venice Beach (AKA Freak show). Next time we see them, they'll be getting married!!! I hate being so far away from my best friend. We also got to have brunch in Newport Beach with Dale and April, who were visiting from San Francisco. Alexis had a great time playing with their two dogs, Teddy and Chief.

*At brunch in Newport Beach*

*Uncle Dale*

*With April, Chief, and Teddy*

*With Daddy at the Griffiths Observatory*

*Group Picture*

*Me and my girls*

*I love her hat*

*They're engaged!*

*We both love Twilight!*

*She loves them and they love her*

*Aunt Carrie!*

*We took them to see the freaks at Venice Beach, lol*