Alaina's 1st Birthday Party

We had Alaina's 1st birthday party on Saturday, April 4th at Grace Community Church in the gym. It was so great to have a place for all the kids (and grown-ups) to run around and play. Alaina was totally oblivious that the party was for her, but we had a good time.
She had a cherry chip cake with cream cheese frosting. I always try to decorate a fun cake for the girls for their party.

She devoured the cake.
She didn't need any prompting, she just dug right in.
She was a mess!

We try our best not to let our girls have sugar before their 1st birthday. I think she discovered what she'd been missing.

Gotta love that smile!

Alaina and Nana with her baby.

She had fun playing on the riding toys.

Paige enjoyed the party, too. Here she is pulling Auntie (Kathy), Aubrey, and Cameron.

Isn't she big stuff!

Nana and Papa gave her this Little People Circle Zoo. She really likes it and has to fight Paige to play with it.

Nana gave her her first baby.

I think she liked the paper more than what was inside. I guess that's how it goes.

Unkie and Auntie gave her some sippy cup labels with her name on them. Mommy was SUPER EXCITED for these!!!

More paper, please!

All this fun is exhausting!

We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut, and had cake and ice cream.

Thanks everyone for making this a great party.

Auntie, Aunt Jenna, Uncle James, and Aunt Amber look like they are having a good time!

Evan Springer taking Alaina for a ride. (He's just a couple weeks older than she is.)

Paige played with the balloons for a long time.

We missed you Grandpa and Grandma Safly and Uncle Mat and Aunt Myra. Sorry you couldn't be here!

April Showers Bring May Flowers?!

Paige-ism's

I love some of the words and phrases Paige uses. Here a few of my favorites.

"I wanna play with pluto!" = I want to play with play dough!
"I wanna watch Banday"= I want to watch Bambi
"Baindeer"= Deer, really any, especially those people set out in their yard
"Pepperoni and Cheese"= Macaroni and Cheese
"I wanna frink" = I want a drink
"Awainey" = Alaina, Lainey, Alainey
"Yes my do" = Yes I do
"Jagwater" = Jaguar
"Mommydaddy" = Daddy (when she thinks she is talking to mommy, but realizes its Daddy)
"I hear hockeycopter!" = I hear a helicopter!
"Here my come! Here my come!" = Here I come. . .usually said when she wants to come "get you".

And here are some conversations we have had with Paige.

This is from the other night at the salon while I was getting my hair cut.
P: (whispering)"Shhh, the pig is sleeping!"
M: "Oh really, and where is he sleeping?"
P: "On the pig farm."
M: "And who lives on the pig farm?"
P" "Papa!" (by the way, Papa does NOT live on a pig farm, or any other farm)

This is from today after we got back from babysitting swap, during which I cleaned her room and Alaina's room.
P: "My room is beautiful."
M: "Thanks darlin', where did you hear the word beautiful?"
P: "Daddy!"
M: "Oh, does daddy tell you you are beautiful?"
P: "Yes!"

I love this girl!!!

Pepperoni and Cheese

Me: "Paigey, what would you like for lunch today?"
P: Pause. . ."Pepperoni and Cheese!"
Me: " You want Pizza?"
P: "No, pepperoni and cheese!"
Me: Finally getting it. . ."Oh, you want Macaroni and Cheese?"
P: "Yep!"

My baby's back!

Paigey came back to us today!!! The real Paigey. Not the fussy, sit on the couch and suck my thumb, I want to take a nap all day, Paigey. My baby's feeling MUCH better. The meds must have kicked in. I haven't seen her this "normal" for over a week. It really hurts my heart when when my kids don't feel good and this was a doozy. It lasted F O R E V E R! It is easy to be compassionate for the first few days when they are under the weather, but after 5 with no sign of relief, I was starting to wane(I'm not sure that's the right spelling).

I'm so happy to be able to leave the house this week. Paigey is on the verge of becoming a TV junkie. The girl likes her shows. She doesn't so much play with toys, never has. She prefers the company of friends or likes to be outside, which is fine, but. . . it's still cold outside. Maybe as Alaina gets older, she'll play more. I think we could pack up every toy we have in the house and it woudn't faze her. At Christmas time, we walked through Target and I wanted to get a feel for what she wanted for Christmas, so I told her to pick out any toy she wanted. We walked up and down every aisle and she didn't want a single thing. I would point out different things, "nope", she'd say. She just doesn't care about toys. I'm going to have to get creative with her. I'm so happy that you are feeling better Paigey!

Tonsillitis

Just to update, Paige was no better on Friday. I called her pediatrician who wanted me to keep doing what I was doing (rotating Tylenol and Motrin) and if she still had fever on Monday to bring her in. She said that I could bring her in, but the problem was that I was in FD. Fortunately, my mom had an appointment with an ENT Dr. that our family has gone to forever, so they worked Paige in. It took him like 2 seconds to know that Paige has tonsillitis. He put her on Augmentin and Tylenol with Codeine to help with her cough. He thought she would be a new kid in 2-3 days. Yeah!!! The codeine made me a little nervous as both my mom and I get upset stomachs when taking it. Paige did throw up this morning, so we are stopping the codeine and just giving her the Augmentin. I pray this helps and she will get her appetite back. It was a very hard week and it will be nice to have healthy Paige back. Thanks for your prayers, so far Alaina and Mark are just fine. I am feeling better, too, not 100%, but much better.

Hanging in there. . .barely!

I thought for sure today would be the day that Paige would wake up fever-free. She only got up twice in the night last night, which is about 80% less than the night before and the second time I didn't think she felt like she had fever. This morning she woke up her usualy whiny self and I thought, "You have got to be kidding me!" Her fever is better, a mere 99.6, which is the lowest it has been in 5 days. So maybe we are at the end of it. The thing is, she is still so whiny and fussy about everything that I'm going crazy. The first four days were hard, but she didn't feel good and I can understand that. Now, I just want her to buck up and be better! It probably doesn't help that I have a cold now and am not up to par. Please pray for patience, healing, and for continued protection for Alaina and Mark.