Allye Turns 1

 I cannot believe my sweet Allye is 1!

I cannot believe it was just one year ago (October 8, 2011) that I woke up for a fun day of Upward football and cheerleading to have my day so abruptly changed, even in the face of my denial.  That is right.  I was pressing onward against the constant stream of water running...well you know.  That is until I stopped and considered the consequences and then I sent Man with our two sweet girls to football, packed my bag, called my mom, and drove myself to the hospital.  Those girls were not missing cheerleading!  Our sweet Allye arrived safely that afternoon with barely a cry and heartbeat so slow and calm the nurses went into a frenzy.  

  

The sweetest thing about this delivery was being able to call my mom and finally tell her the name of our sweet girl.  Yes, Allye.  That was her name, right after my mom, Sallye.  She had sort of put her foot down about the name thing so I altered it slightly and prayed she would be ok with this.  She was.   

This precious girl was mine.  She would eat, sleep and breathe with me.  Literally.  Daddy was working nights so we had to get along.  Luckily she was a good sleeper from the beginning, just like her namesake.

Allye - 1 month

Allye - 2 months

Allye - 3 months

 It became clear to me very quickly that Allye was filling a place in my heart that I never knew existed.  It amazes me still that you can never imagine loving another child like you love the first, the second and so on...but you do.  I wish I knew how that worked.  Little did I know my heart would soon break as she was rushed by ambulance to the hospital from a doctor's visit with RSV.  We were once again back to eating, sleeping, and breathing together.  There were nurses there this time too.  Lots of them.  

We got back on track pretty quickly but now I turned back into the first-time paranoid mom who didn't want anyone to even so much as look at my baby, except from ten feet away.  I forgot one thing...I have two eating, breathing, germ producing kids in my house 24/7.  We survived.

 

Allye - 4 months

 Yep.  She knows exactly how to communicate...and does.  This is what she thought of food at first.  Then it became her best friend.  Funny how that works.

Allye - 5 months

 As her personality grew so did our bond.  We got to spend lots of time together while the big girls were at school.  Allye did not so much appreciate the time we spent in the car bonding, and communicated that too.  This was where she liked to cry.  A lot.  Funny how the tears stopped immediately upon removal from the car.  But those moments were bearable with all the sweetness she exuded.

Allye - 6 months

Allye - 7 months

 

Allye - 8 months

Then the fun began.  Walking!  She walked earlier then either of the other girls...and they walked early.  Whew!  Here is the thing with any child after the first one.  This is not a good thing.  This is when you don't want them to walk until they can date.  Not really.  You know what I mean.  I could not stop this.  She was determined to keep up.  And keep up she did.

Allye - 9 months

We moved at her nine month mark to Florida, without a hiccup.  She adapted to her surroundings just fine.  Cutest baby on the beach.  I am not biased.

Allye - 10 months

Enjoying our new home and all of the new surroundings has brought joy for all of us.  It is going to be so fun to see each of the girls grow up in this home.  But that got me to thinking that Allye will probably spend at least the first three years of her life here, Olivia spent her first three in South Carolina, and Addison spent hers in Texas.  WOW!  The same time frame in each of their lives has been spent in three different places.  I never incorporated much of our Texas home into my photos so I am trying to change that here in Florida.  So, I was so excited to get Allye on our front porch!  I love this porch, but I love Allye more!

Allye - 11 months

So the big day finally arrived!  Allye turned 1!  We had Meme and Popi here taking care of the birthday girl a few days before so we could take Addison and Olivia to Disney World for their birthdays.  Great timing!  See, there are benefits to them all being born within 30 days of each other...a few, but they exist.  Anyway, back on track.   

Allye started her day in her daytime birthday outfit.

 It was a great day preparing and having my mom here to help out.  I have done the other two birthdays alone and help is the.way.to.go!  This allowed me to get everything just the way I wanted it...without 6 hands wrapped around my legs.  Can I get an Amen?

 I started with the idea of a tea party and then did some altering so it would adapt to include Allye.  As Addison pointed out, "Mom she can't eat our tea party food!"  

I knew I wanted something for the older girls to do at the party so I looked on Etsy!  And I found it!  Paper dolls!  Good, old fashioned fun!  No t.v., remote, player, i-anything required!

 These were the characters and they came with tons of different outfits and themes.  And I mean tons.  Just ask my mom who so lovingly cut every bit of it out...times 4....

If you like old fashioned fun check out her Etsy shop Sarah Jane Studios.  You won't believe her talent!

We even had time to take some pictures.  Like the time you need to get a happy smiling baby.  This made my day.

 She was having so much fun I thought some pictures in the grass would be pretty.  And they were...

for a few minutes...

that is...

until she sat down.

Did I forget to mention that girlfriend does not like grass?

We fixed that right away.

Ah...happy girl again!  We stretched our luck and went for some family shots.

 Can you believe this was the first one?

 Here is Allye's smash cake and then each guest had their own strawberry cupcake with cream cheese icing! 

 

Oh how I loved this!  But, I loved Allye's reaction to her own cake way more!

You see, Allye apparently does not like fire.

 So she wanted nothing to do with the cake.  Can't say I blame her.

 Daddy tried really hard.

She was not touching that cake and it was not touching her.

Until Daddy remembered we were at a tea party and ladies don't eat with their hands.  He got a spoon.  She was very unsure and insisted on having her hand on the spoon.

After she realized her mouth liked it then she could not stand it being on her hands.

But that did not last long!

Happy Birthday Allye!

My Sweet Allye,

It truly only seems like yesterday that they put you in my arms and we met face to face.  I was so unsure of how we would bond with your big sisters needing my time too, but we did.  I feel like we were warriors.  We have been through so much together and have come through smiling on the other side every time.  Actually, you smile a lot.  And I need that.  I need your smile everyday and am so thankful for you. 

You have such a sweet disposition yet you have a mind of your own.  You know exactly what you want and you don't stop until you get it.  I hope you are like that always.  I hope that you will always know how much I love you and that I always want the very best for you and will always be your biggest cheerleader.  I want you to be happy.  I want you to dream.  I want you to follow those dreams.  I want you to be you.  Always.

Allye, I am so thankful God chose us for you.

I love you now and forever,

Mommy