Happy Birthday, Ashley!

It seems like yesterday I was heading down to Oregon for the birth of my girlfriends daughter.  If I remember correctly (which isn't very often and then it is sketchy at best), I got the call on a monday for a scheduled c-section on tuesday.  I grabbed my then 17 year old sister (childbirth is an excused absence!?!),  my Alanis Morissette CD (don't judge), rolled the windows down (manually) and headed for Aumsville, OR.  Shai and I had the best road trip...laughing and singing at the top of our lungs the whole way.

It was surreal, my girlfriend and her husband were having a baby.  She didn't seem old enough. She was, but she was the first of my friends to start a family so for me it was a little crazy.  I had watched her belly grow, boy did it grow, for the last nine months .  And the moment was finally here...  

Ashley Darlene Balck

April 30, 1996

9 pounds, 11 ounces   21 1/2 inches long
(Did I mention her mom is only 5' 2"!?!)  

She was perfect in every way.  Fresh from the heavens.  

A bit of dark hair, ten little fingers, ten tiny little toes and she looked just like her daddy.  I was one of the first people to hold her.  Even before her mom - she was still in recovery.  I cried the second they laid her in my arms.  One of my best friends became a mom and I couldn't have been happier.

Welcome to the World, Little One.

4 years old - coloring at my parents house

She was a flower girl in our wedding.  Age 7

Holding Allie for the first time.  She was 11.  

Happy "Sweet 16" Ashley!

We love you!


Congratulations Toni & Greg, you are the parents to a 16 year old!
XOXO

Out of the mouth of a four year old...

All within the last week.

Me:  Allie, what kind of milk do you want with dinner?  Almond or Rice?
Allie:  Ummm....Almond.  You know, just like we say at the end of our prayers in Chapel - Amen Almond!


Allie:  Here mom, smell this...This is super stinky.  It must be from Daddy.
Me:  What does it smell like?
Allie:  I don't know, but it must be from Daddy's socks.


Allie - I don't ever want a baby!!!
Me:  Why not?
Allie - 'Cause I would have to wipe poop!  Yuck!  And besides, they are too much work!


Me:  I thought you said you cleaned your room!?!
Allie:  I did.  Kids clean it different.  They clean it the way they want to.  Not the way that Mommy's do.
Me:  Well, if you want to play a (an Allie shuffled i.e. ice cream cone card will be on top and shockingly it will be her turn to go first) game of Candyland later, I think it would be a good idea to clean it the way that Mommy does.
Allie:  Oh yeah...okay!


Erik made the made the mistake this morning, while trying to be funny, of asking Allie who was cuter -  him or Justin Beiber.  Her answer without hesitation was Justin Bieber.  Jump to an hour later, while they are busy pulling up our old baseboards, this conversation happens.
Allie:  Daddy, I love helping you with projects.
Erik:  I love you.
Allie:  Well, I love you.  But, Justin Bieber is the cutest!

Love you, Miss!

It went a little something like this...

Allie:  See these wrinkles that I drew on Tinker Bell mom?  (As we sit coloring at the counter together)
Me:  Yep
A:  They are just like the ones you have on your back.
Me:  What?  Huh?  I have wrinkles on my back?  Where?
A:  Here let me show you as she lifts up my shirt.  See right here...look at all those wrinkles.
Me:  Huge sigh of relief - Oh you mean freckles,  those are FRECKLES, not wrinkles.
A:  Oh, okay, well then that is what Tinker Bell has too.  Freckles.

Later that night:

Me:  Hey Erik, I have to tell you a funny story that happened with me and Allie.
E:  Okay, sure.
So I proceed to tell him the story.  And when I get to the point about wrinkles on my back.  He says:
E:  Ha-ha, did she mean to say fat rolls!?!
Me:  Uh - NO, but thanks for that, she meant freckles, but obviously I know how you feel.  (All while flipping him off!)

Awwwweeee...the innocence of a 4 year old.  And the idiot-ness of my husband!

Best Craft Ever.

Well, that is what she said anyway.  Here was my inspiration.  http://www.crafts-for-all-seasons.com/embroidery-floss-easter-eggs.html. And here is what she did.

p.s.  yes, she made a wardrobe change in the middle of the "craft".  

Again, belated. Someday I will catch up...

Guess who received new lipstick from a "secret friend" on Valentine's Day?

Thank you, Erin!  

I know, I know...this is 5 months late. Better late than never, I say.

 

Allie

A conversation I had with you, Allie Maryn on Monday, September 12, 2011. It should have been your first day of preschool, had you not gotten sick.  You ended up missing the first week and started on Monday, September 19, 2011.

What is your favorite food:  Cupcakes

What is your favorite sport:  Watching Bailey play softball

What is your favorite TV show:  Olivia

Who is the coolest person you know:  Emmett

What do you think your favorite thing about school will be?  Show-n-tell

What is the one thing that you do the best:  Play with baby Emmett

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?  To get donuts

What is your favorite Color:  PINK!

When you grow up, what do you want to be?  I want to cut & color hair with my mommy

Who is your favorite musical group?  Justin Beiber   What song?  “Baba” – Baby

What is your favorite book?  Olivia

When you were little, what did you do?  I used to play.

What is your favorite season?  Summer

What is the best thing about swim lessons?  Jumping in and doing 7 head bobs

What is your favorite snack?  Chocolate chip granola bars

What is the food you dislike the most?  Meatballs

Who is your best friend?  Emmett

What is one wish?  To stay here (at home) every day with my mom and dad

What is your best memory?  Ebony

You then ask…”What else?  Anything else?”  So I added a few more questions.

What is your favorite thing to do?  Play with my cousin Emmett

If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?  Arizonas (with an s - of course)

Anything you want to tell me about?  I love to snuggle with my mom

Anything else?  Yes, I love you!

I love you too, Miss!!!  XOXO!

Love, Mommy

                       

Perfect ending to a great week.

Snuggled with Daddy and asleep by 6:20 tonight.  

Call me crazy, but I loved this past week.  Some called it "Snowmageddon", and some called it "Snowpocalypse", but I called the 12+ inches of snow we got throughout the week...perfect.  School and work (for me) were cancelled.  We spent our days sledding, eating snow-cones (a lot), playing in the snow, building a snowman, going for walks, playing games, legos, crafting, and more. I am sad to see it come to an end.  Even more sad that I have to catch up on my cleaning and laundry...considering I didn't do any of it, at all, while we were snowed in.  Ugh.

Making air-popped popcorn for the first time - a little excited!