MJ:

He might have been a freak to the extreme but I still love his music. RIP MJ.

I'd also like to point out that this is the only way I will remember him... Still black, in a white suit, snuggling a baby tiger. It just seems better that way.

Also, for hilarious and completely inappropriate comments, I can always count on my dad. And I just had to document this one....

So after I heard the King of Pop had died, I called my dad, because he's a DJ, and we talk about stuff like that...

Me "Hey Dad, did you hear Michael Jackson died?"
Dad "Oh ya... super talented."
Me "I know, sad huh? Farrah Fawcett, too."
Dad "You know.... you never see them together, they might be the same person."

:o) Thanks Dad. Love ya!

Stats:

Almost forgot to document Ashelyn's 1 yr. stats... I know that most of you don't care but since this is my only attempt at journaling, so it matters. To me.

HEIGHT: 30 1/2 inches. The nurse told me that this was only in the 50th percentile... seriously? Have you seen my child? Does she look like a normal 1 yr old? I think not. I raise monster babies. So I checked online and it's actually the 90th percentile. That makes SO much more sense.

WEIGHT: 24 lbs. 10 oz. Now the nurse got this percentile correct (90th) and then proceeded to tell me Ashe "weighs a little too much for her height." At this point I was thinking that she looked pretty well balanced. Just giant all around, ya know? Thankfully she didn't try to tell me to put my baby on a diet. To be quite honest I really didn't think she weighed quite THAT much. No wonder my arms fall asleep if I have to carry her for any extended period of time.

Anyways, there you have it... love my monster baby!

Par-Tay:

Before the camera killing incident we did manage to get a few pictures from Ashelyn's party. We had big plans for a bbq at the park, but it rained ALL day so we just had everyone at our house. It was a blast! Thanks everyone for coming!

Ashe just wasn't feeling too good. She apparently has allergies because her eyes were all red and itchy and her nose was (and still is) running constantly. No fun for the birthday girl.But she still ate up all of her cake! :o) Gramma Kim made her all these adorable little hats to match the various dresses she's made. They rock.Costume change! After cake she was covered in frosting (and snot) so luckily I've got 12 million dresses for her to wear! Jake and I got her a princess ride-on which she now LOVES. But at the beginning she was WAY more interested in the box. Of course.Gramma Jenny& Grampa Ron got her a baby doll and Jenny made the cutest doll quilt to go with it... I wish I had a picture, it's so great! Sarah & her fam got her the stroller to go with baby! She is soooo in love with this stroller. Only problem is, she has to wrestle Gideon for it!

Thanks again everybody! We love you!

Fail:

My camera is dead. (No, it wasn't a Nikon... it was a piece of junk. But still.)
Dead. Dead. Deadsky.

Gideon broke it during one of his photo shoots... at least I got these lovelies out of his efforts:

FAIL.

1,Uno, Une, One:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE GIRL!!!!

Hey Ashe!
I can't believe it. You're 1 today. Your birthday is also synonymous with us moving into our house. The night before you were born Daddy & I went and bought furniture, brought it home, set up your crib, and accomplished as much "nesting" as was possible at the last minute, because that's how we roll. We were up until midnight (because I was determined to have the house as ready as possible.) and who would have even considered that it might have been a better idea to get a good night's sleep before being induced in to labor at 5 the next morning? Heaven must have shined on my efforts in getting ready for you, because you didn't make me wait long. We were in love from the moment we saw you and Gideon was so excited to meet you and hold you.

Gid may not be so quick to cuddle now. Now you're his best friend. You follow him everywhere. He tries to wrestle you and you're either incredibly patient and tough or you let him know to leave you alone. You like to play with cars together and you want to do EVERYTHING that Bubba does. The other day, Gideon was coloring and you were stretching up to the table top yelling your usual "momma, mamama, MAMMA!" So, I sat you up in your chair and gave you a crayon. Which you immediately tried to eat. Some things you're just not ready for but mostly, you're ahead of the game.

You've figured out that if you yell my name and point to what you want, you usually will get it. You now know that if you grin and wave at passerbys while grocery shopping they will swoon over you and you LOVE the attention. You've finally figured out how to go DOWN the stairs. You can climb up on chairs. You like to dance. You still love to cuddle.

I love you so much. Happy Birthday baby doll!

Mom

Harvard Religion Panel

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Whether LDS or not, I hope you'll take some time (about 20 minutes, but worth it!) to watch Rachel Esplin's discourse on the LDS faith. I wish I could explain my beliefs as eloquently as she did. Thanks Andrea for sharing this!

Thankful Thursday:

I am thankful for THIS post.

I am thankful for Glenn Beck.

I am thankful for this letter. And the woman who wrote it.

I am thankful that this petition has had so many hits that the servers crashed.

I am thankful that I can check over and over for it to come back up so that I can sign it.

I am thankful for my amazing family.

I am thankful for air conditioning.

I am thankful for washing machines.

I am thankful for all the awesome dresses my mom has made for Ashelyn.

I am thankful for the Hub. FOR EVERYTHING.

I am thankful and that is all.