It's Party Time!

Today was Allie's first birthday party and it was a blast! We had some of our friends over, ate a big lunch, watched Allie eat a cake and opened presents. We were missing our family, but were so thankful that our new Canadian friends could help us celebrate Allie's first year

My first attempt at homemade birthday cakes

The birthday girl...

and daddy's girl

Playing with her buddies

Almost walking!

Allie might have a new boyfriend, Bryson

Sara and LilyAnn

Cake time!

She needed a little help with the candle

You can't really tell, but Allie was only eating the green polka dots. Maybe green is her favorite color?

Daddy decided to help

Birthday parties are so fun!

Opening presents

By this point Bella was too tired to even hold her head up by herself.

One of Allie's presents that Bella thought was for her.

Family photo.

It was a great celebration of our sweet girl!

12 Wonderful Months!

ONE. One year ago today you made your entrance into this world and life was forever changed. In an instant (or more like 17 hours!), your arrival redefined my life purpose. Your health, happiness, and comfort have been my new purpose for the last twelve months and I could not feel more blessed by that responsibility. I would have never guessed how happy I would be (most nights) to trade sleep for nursing sessions for my hungry baby. Or, that watching you sit up for the first time, or crawl for the first time, or start walking (with assistance) would feel like my greatest accomplishments as well as yours and, at the same time, render me speechless at how quickly you were growing up. Or, that hearing you say mama for the first time as I walked into a room would fill me with such complete joy. Or, how worth it it would be to trade in my fancy high heels for running shoes, long leisurely showers for the 3 minute rinse, make-up for face lotion, a fulfilling career for diaper changes, late night wine filled gabfests with girlfriends for early bedtimes, and unlimited date nights with daddy for unlimited nights staying in. What I know for sure is that everything we have given up in the last year pales in comparison to all that we have gained by being your parents. Words truly cannot express how much our lives have changed for the better in the last year or how much we love you.

At ONE You:

--Love to play catch

--Love to dance

--LOVE to talk...to us, to strangers, to Bella, really to anybody that will listen!

--Point to things you want, and scream if we aren't paying attention to you

--LOVE Bella. She's your best bud!

--Eat!

--Cuddle with mommy and daddy if you are tired or hurt

--Otherwise, you are on the GO. You are walking with your baby's stroller and along furniture and you crawl everywhere.

--You are so social. You love other babies and never seem to miss mommy much when she leaves you at the gym daycare or the childcare with her mommy groups.

--You have 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom)

--You never really used a bottle except for the one week mommy left you with daddy when you were 10.5 months old. Otherwise you MUCH preferred nursing and then a sippy cup.

--You are a good sleeper. You sleep anywhere from 12-14 hours at night and take two short naps during the day.

--Words you can say: dada, mama, hi, uh oh, book (sort of), ball

One year ago:

Later today is your birthday party and we can't wait to celebrate with you. I will post pictures soon!

The Best Time of Day...

is when dada comes home. It usually looks something like this:

One Year Appointment

Allie had her one year appointment yesterday and I think I'm still in shock! I can't believe we were discussing whole milk, peanuts, shellfish, all the stuff she'll start eating and drinking now that sounded SO far away for SO long. My baby isn't a baby anymore. Here are her stats according to my pediatrician friend Angela who charted them for me this morning:

Weight: 22.10 pounds, 50-75th percentile (She has weighed this for 3 months. She also eats like a maniac. But, she is in CONSTANT motion, so that is why she doesn't gain any weight. The dr. isn't concerned about her lack of weight gain since she is still a healthy girl!)

Height: 29 inches, 50th percentile

Head: 17.7 inches, 50-75th percentile

Allie isn't walking on her own, but is cruising around with her stroller. Most of the time as she's walking with the stroller she is laughing hysterically. Of course when I bring out the camera to capture her cuteness, she becomes as serious as a heart attack.

Her new favorite toy is mama's cell phone.

This is the look I got when I asked her who was calling. It must have been a courtesy call!

I'm sure I'll more updates this week as I reflect upon the first year of Allie's life.

Wimpy

Before I moved to Canada, I thought that cold was cold. Once you got to a certain point below 0 degrees fahrenheit it didn't matter, you were cold. I also thought Minnesotans were tough. I was wrong on both accounts. I am experiencing a whole new level of cold, and I don't think I like it. Don't get me wrong, I love living here and Saskatoon is great, it's just cold. Really, really cold.

I have learned that either I am extremely wimpy, or Canadians are really tough. Here are a few different situations from Saturday.

Driving in downtown Saskatoon

Minnesotan: bundled up in a tuque (that is Canadian for hat), gloves, neck warmer, her michelin man coat, and heated seat on high.

Canadian in car next to Minnesotan at stoplight: no tuque, no gloves, no neck warmer, no coat, no sleeves (that is right, he was wearing a sleeveless shirt), and his window was open a crack! (I think he may have been smoking, hence the cracked window, but seriously, no coat...no sleeves!?!?)

Out to Dinner at a Hibachi Steakhouse:

Minnesotan: Nice and warm and comfy in thick leggings, tall boots, tank top, long sleeve shirt and long sweater.

Canadian woman sitting next to Minnesotan: Very short, strapless satin dress (with no tights) and high heels. Granted she was out for her boyfriend's birthday and probably wanted to look nice, but brrrrrr.

Saskatoon Blades Hockey Game

Minnesotan: Again, bundled up in thick leggings, warm knee high boots, a hat, gloves, neck warmer and her michelin man coat.

Canadian child a few rows ahead of freezing Minnesotan: short sleeve shirt, no coat, eating an ice cream cone.

Again, I love living in Saskatoon and honestly couldn't be happier. I wouldn't change a thing about our experience here except for the weather. To all my American readers, Canadians have bragging rights on being tough and living through hard winters. Trust me, they have earned these rights!

It is a good thing we have less than a month until we leave for sunny, warm Florida. It is also a good thing that our little Canadian is so stinking cute all bundled up. She makes getting ready to go out in the cold weather bearable. Well, almost bearable I guess! :)

(You can see the remains of the rash Allie had all last week with hand, foot and mouth disease.)

Oops, this is what happens once she discovers she's wearing a hat!

TGIT!!!

Thank goodness it's Thursday. This has been the longest week of Allie's life as she's battled hand, foot and mouth disease. Let's just say it isn't pretty! Her fever is gone, she's no longer vomiting, and her personality is getting back to normal. She doesn't look like her cute self yet (due to a rash), but she's getting there. Hopefully, for mom and for Allie, she'll start sleeping well tonight!

And, although it's been a rough week, we're doing okay. A blogger that I follow (Emily) posted yesterday about how we need to reflect more on what we GET to do vs. what we HAVE to do. Often times our mindset determines how we view our circumstances. So, in the midst of the craziness of this illness, I am so thankful that I am the one that gets to take care of Allie and that when she's in pain, I can offer her some comfort. Being a mom really is a blessing.

I'm also thankful she's sick this week and not next week because we have BIG plans for Saturday!

Arranged Marriages

While we were home in Minnesota Allie got to meet Bryce, the son of Dan's two oldest friends, Ken and Lisa. Ken was the best man in our wedding and we've had lots of fun memories visiting Ken and Lisa in Madison and Chicago. We laugh that now that we've moved to Canada, they've decided to move back to Minnesota. We can't wait until we end up in the same state, especially since Dan has mentioned that he thinks it would be a good idea for Allie and Bryce to get married someday. :)

Their first meeting went really well. Bryce is an older man, by about 3.5 months, but he still took the time to play with Allie and show her some new toys.

He also showed her how to use her new phone. Maybe for the future when he plans to call her???

We think that Allie likes Bryce too, judging by the fact that she was doing her typical open mouth smile she only shares with us when she is really happy!

It was great to see Ken, Lisa and Bryce again and have Allie and Bryce meet for the first time. And, never say never, some say arranged marriages aren't so bad! :)