ALAYNA'S PRINCESS PARTY!

"We had a big celebration with my mom's side of the family! And I was the princess!"
Alayna got her first piece of cake! She put her hands in the frosting and with a little help, she finally found her mouth and licked it off. She just had a little bit though. This was actually her first taste of anything else besides baby food and formula.

Lora holding Princess Alayna. What a cute photo!
Alayna with her siblings and cousins Audrey and Will.
Alayna and Ava! Best cousins! They were so cute together. And what are the odds of actually getting a photo with both of them sticking their tongues out!
They are both looking at the same time....take the picture! It's a good one too!!!

"Yum mom! This frosting is good stuff!"
Her very yummy cake from Olde Town Bakery in Moline.
A fist full of frosting!
I'm getting tired! This was just prior to her rubbing her eyes with frosting and the sides of her head. Her hair was nice and sticky! Oh well, it was fun!

On Tuesday, January 29th, Alayna will be 1 year old. It has been an amazing year, full of learning experiences, frustrations, hospitalizations, and milestones. She has been a blessing to our lives and has taught us so much. Last night, my side of the family came together to celebrate Alayna's first year and it was a great party. Alayna has taught me the importance of family and sticking together. I realize sometimes families go through difficult times that may cause tension and stress between each other. And that is completely normal. But the simple fact that will never change is that we are a family and we stand behind one another. Sometimes it just takes events like this one to remind us of that. Alayna and all of the DeKeyrel's want to say "thank you" to each of our guests for coming and sharing this special time. I have lots of pictures to post, so I've decided to put another post below this one with the remainder of the photos. So don't stop looking after this post!

Alayna received some great gifts last night. She got some toys that are "skinny" enough on the sides to hold on to herself. She is really enjoying them. Many of them light up and make noises and she even got a VTech ball that rolls, lights up, and plays music all by itself. Hopefully it will help get her moving! Of course, she got plenty of adorable outfits. Thank you Ava for helping her open them up. Alayna fell asleep while unwrapping presents and cousin Ava stepped up to help. We enjoyed watching you last night. And I especially loved how you embraced each and every article of clothing coming out of a box. Too cute! And Alayna got some money too which we put into her savings account for something she may want or need in the future. Thanks again everyone.

Be looking for her birthday post on her actual birthday and we've got another party coming up next week for the DeKeyrel side. Lots of action this week!