April showers, brings May.....

So Aislynn's birthday party was on Saturday, 4/11.  We had a blast - great learning experience for a first-time-first-birthday-party-planning-mommy :)  I had fun decorating Papa's house with balloons, paper lanterns and duckies!  We made Aislynn's favorite foods (burgers, chicken, sweet potatoes, squash, fruit...).  I had fun decorating her cupcakes too (vanilla w/ buttercream icing, lots of colors, duckies and flowers) Of course we had a special birthday girl cupcake with extra frosting and an extra big flower!  Aislynn destroyed it - the whole time I'm thinking "omg, that's so much sugar" but baby loved it.  (And, she slept great that night!).  It was great seeing all of Aislynn's little friends and we had little "goody" bags for everyone in the end with playdough, mandarin oranges, pinwheels, duck-bill kazoos, duckie bubbles, and a little rubber ducky.

Here we gooo...

Even after all the partying, Aislynn managed to take one or two free steps after the party (transitioning between pieces of furniture). I wouldn't count it her first steps - but she's close.  I know she can do it, she's just not ready to let go (and I'm fine with waiting).  The following weekend was my birthday (I am seriously losing track of how old I am).  I share it with my nephew, Kyler.  So we had another BBQ at my dad's.  Just a nice relaxing Sunday. 

These last couple weeks in April have flown by!  Last Saturday, we stopped by the Babies R' Us safety check event.  They ensured our carseat was properly installed & talked about general safety (we learned some great things).  We went inside, we registered Aislynn's fingerprints and stocked up on some snacks.  We had lunch afterwards at Cracker Barrell and enjoyed the grilled haddock (so so yummy!)  After a busy morning, and full belly the next best thing to do is nap!  So Aislynn and mommy enjoyed an afternoon snooze (the best naps are when my little bean is curled up next to me).  Feeling refreshed, we did "pudding art" (a great gift from Auntie Cheryl - food coloring, white chocolate pudding, and little canvas boards.)  Aislynn didn't realize at first that the "paint" was edible.. so once she started licking her fingers, she picked up the canvas and started licking her masterpiece.  It was a miracle anything was left on her canvas :)  Sunday was the usual, I ended up washing & putting away the rest of Aislynn's bottles.  She stopped using them a couple months ago, but I finally just put them away to make room for more sippy cups! I enjoyed my weekend. (Ais in her big-girl carseat)

Now we are just 2 weeks away from VACATION!  It will be hard to focus on work this week and next.  So much still to do:  1.  Figure out what I'm going to do w/ my pasty-white skin?  2.  Clean-laundry-organize-laundry-clean   3. Make arrangements for Zeus   4. Pre-pack    5. Search for the best deal on a rental car... can't think of anything else right now.

As April comes to a close - I'm happy to report that as of Wed 4/28 - Aislynn has 3 new teeth popping through. One on the bottom (left of middle) and 2 on the top, I think bi-cuspids? Just little points popping through.  But she's been sooo cranky and wanting to bite everything - our faces, our hands, the play-pen, the coffee table... everything.  Poor little girl.  She battled some fevers and is drooling a lot, spitting and babbling a lot.  She has a lot more teeth to grow - so we need to stock up on the teething tablets and baby orajel.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S ALMOST MAY! I CAN'T!

(Aislynn @ her 1-year check up 4/9)