So Far behind!

I haven't blogged ANYTHING since Ali's birthday party and her birthday... and I'm so stinking busy because I leave tomorrow to TEXAS to visit my best friend of all times, Rose! She's having a baby in October, so I'm going to squeeze the belly and celebrate at her baby shower! I'm so excited- and sad to leave my baby girl and her daddy behind... but when I get home on Sunday, I will for sure catch things up on here, as well as post Ali's O-sO-cUte 1st year pics!

Hope all is well in this world!

Alert! Alert!

What did Ali decide to do on her 1st Birthday???

That's right- she's WALKING ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!!!!

1 YEAR OLD!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET ALI BANANAS!

Oh how I love you, my baby girl. This year has easily been the BEST year of my life! You bring joy to me, and well- everybody- who you come in contact with. You are a sweet slice of heaven- and you were so worth the wait and have reminded me of that every single day!

You are almost walking, big girl- any minute now your brain is going to connect with those legs and you are going to take off!!! You've also started singing the e-i-e-i-o part of "old mcdonald".. and it's my favorite thing ever!

You will never ever know the depth of my love. You'll never know how thankful I am for you. You're the best thing ever, and even though it might annoy you, I'm never going to spot squeezin and kissin you all over!

I love you, my sweet girl. Happy, Happy Birthday. You hold my heart.

Your Momma luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvsssssssssssssss you!

Now let's go play at the park and have some ice cream!

A New Bathroom for Ali!

Ali's bathroom before:

And Ali's bathroom after!

Now how much fun is that!? :)

Cabin Weekend!

KK, Ali and I all headed up to the family cabin for the weekend. We took a short trip and left Friday, came back Monday. To tell you the truth, that is actually the perfect amount of time to spend up there when you have an almost 1 year old. There isn't much for the poor gal to do yet- as soon as she starts walking (seriously, ANY MINUTE NOW) it will be a lot more fun for her, and for her momma and daddy! :)

But on Saturday we took a day trip into Montana and stopped at Kootenai Falls. They are absolutely amazing (as you can see in my pictures below)! We had so much fun hiking down, and we went across this really neat, but kinda scary, long bridge that stretches across the Kootenai River. The bridge is a swinging bridge, and only 5 people can be on there at once. It's waaaay high up, and creeped me out if I really thought about it. I felt bad for KK, he had Ali in the backpack and said the weight distribution made it kind of eery walking across that thing! Ali, however, did not seem to be scared at all! She loved it and was so good on the hike- she's such a fun little traveler- we're really lucky if I think about it.

And here's some pictures of our trip:

KK and Ali getting ready to go across the bridge

The gorgeous Kootenai River, from the bridge

Daddy and Ali crossing the swinging bridge

Ali playing in the rocks- and maybe trying to eat some!

Me and Ali hanging out on the beach by the river

And even though packing up a whole lotta crap for every scenario you think a 1 year old is going to need or experience while at a cabin 36 miles from the nearest town is sometimes a pain in the butt. And trying to keep said toddler occupied somewhere where there are a basketful of toys to play with and not much for a crawling baby outside is not always the most relaxing time... what being at the cabin with my husband and my daughter gives me is a chance to breathe it all in and be so thankful and really reflect. The past year of our lives has been amazing, totally different than anything I could have ever hoped for, and just perfect. Ali is going to turn one in a week and a half and looking back, I have squeezed joy from every moment I could. I have lived in the moment with her and taken advantage of all our time together. The time does fly, like people say, but I don't want it back, I don't need it back. I'm thankful for it, and thankful that I've got a million more memories to make with her and that she is here to fill our lives with so much joy. I wake up looking forward to the next moment or milestone with Ali. I look forward to playing with her, teaching her new things, and experiencing life with her. I am totally blessed and am the first person to realize that. My life and each day is a gift. I am spending that time living it- not wishing for it back... and that's an awesome place to be!

Summer Fun- in pictures!

Ali has been enjoying her birthday month!

She got a hand-me-down kitchen from her friends Dani and Jesse!

She got some more hand-me-down toys from Brodie!

She's been helping Momma vacuum!

She really enjoys going for rides in the golf cart with Daddy, Dani, Jesse, and Uncle Darren!

And with summer time teething, comes summer time popsicles (sugar free, of course)... and the best part is taking a quick rinse in the sink!

Get out your recipe cards!

Alright people (like the 4 of you who read my blog)- Ali' 1st Birthday Party is 2 weekends away (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S BEEN A YEAR ALREADY! I'M FLABBERGASTED AT HOW FAST THE TIME IS GOING *tear*)... and here's my plan: the party is at 11:00 on Sunday, and we did that to avoid having to spend a bunch of money on serving up a meal. So I'm planning to have appetizers and cake, and I'm not sure what to offer as appetizers? Stuff that's not too fancy, or expensive!
I also am wondering if all the little kids that will be over (ages 2-5) are going to be bored at our house? I'm hoping it's not too hot so we can hang outside mostly, but should I get a crazy kids' sprinkler or something to give them stuff to do? Or will they just figure it out?
Leave it to me to stress about stupid crap, but hey- it's what I do, alright!

Moment in Motherhood

Miss Ali has been having a helkova time lately! I mean she's doing alright during the day: being her normal cheerful self (except for this evening, but I'll get to that later). But the nights are killing us! She has woken up between 12am-2am for the past TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT. The routine goes like this: she wakes up crying, I go put her binkie back in, give her the ball she sleeps with, and rub her back. That never works- so I pick her up and bring her to bed with us, where she sleeps great until around 5am, then proceeds to rassle around in her sleep until around 6:15. I'm reeeeeeaaaaaallllly hoping it's her teeth, and that I haven't nurtured a horrible habit of hers.
And here's another thing that baffled me about my girl. This afternoon, KK and I went to a movie, and my neighbor/friend watched Ali. She has a little boy that is 2 weeks older than Ali so we hang out quite a bit- we do a babysitting exchange so it works out great. Anyway, when we got home, T told us that Ali was great and no meltdowns, yadda yadda. Well after T and her son walk out the door, literally, Ali has a ginormous meltdown. This meltdown lasts through a graham cracker, through her bath, and right up until KK put her down for bed. It was crazy! And made me so frustrated that she was so unhappy with her parents being back home... or I'm hoping that she was just winding down from playing hard with her buddy for 2.5 hours straight.. it was so not Ali and so hard on me.
All I know is, this motherhood thing totally throws me for a loop sometimes... and I just hope I'm doing it all right and my daughter turns out normal and happy! As for now, I've got a cold brew staring me down...