Pantry or Playground?

Anytime I need 20/30 minutes or so to make dinner, do some laundry, or any other miscellaneous chore around the house, all I have to do is open the pantry door!  Not that Ashlyn doesn't have a million toys around the house, but when I get desperate, the pantry has become my saving grace!  Ashlyn is amazed and amused by the pantry and all its contents.  She stacks the applesauce cups, bangs on the chip bags, shakes the cracker boxes, and most recently she has started this ritual of taking all the cans and transporting them to the end table in the family room.  She loves it and I get so much done! 

Here is my little "can transporter" in action...

Shoes

Ashlyn's new obsession (the phone is still her #1) is shoes!  She likes to try and put Aaron and I's shoes on, brings them to us, or brings her shoes from her closet to us.  She is so funny!  She just makes me laugh every day.  A couple of weeks ago she got my shoes on and actually tried to walk in them. It was hilarious!  I finally had a camera next to me when she decided to put on Aaron's shoes so I was able to capture the silly girl in action.  She got them on all by herself!

Party Time!

Our friends Cody and Trisha invited us to their daughter, Addison's, First Birthday party on Saturday.  We had such a good time!  There were quite a few kids around Ashlyn's age so she had a lot of fun playing and running around.  It was a Mickey Mouse party complete with Micky Mouse Ears for all the kids.  Ashlyn just got over a yucky cold so it was one of the first days she had been feeling good for awhile.  What a blast!

Ash took a nice long nap before the party so she would be all rested and ready to go!  I actually took this picture because I have yet to capture the odd way she sleeps.  Maybe it's normal, I don't know, but she sleeps with her hands tucked in her belly, knees to her belly, feet crossed, and butt stuck in the air!  She's done this since she was about 6 months old...so funny!

Okay, I've got my Mickey Ears on, now "let's get this party started!"

Rockin' the Mickey ears and a sweater dress.  Aaron didn't care for the outfit, but I thought it was "too cool for school!"  The only thing it was missing was some "boots with tha furrr!"  ...She will probably be getting some this week ;)

Finally - Cake Time!

The Birthday Girl!

Did I mention Ash LOVES cake?!  I don't know where she gets her sweet tooth from (lol!)?

It cracks me up when people ask me if Ashlyn is a good eater (since she is so small), because she eats like crazy!  She dazzled everyone with her "appetite" by consuming a piece of cake even I would have a hard time consuming (that says a lot!).  Hopefully she has this kind of metabolism for a long time!  

Time for a dip in the sink for the birthday girl!

Addison had opened her presents before we did the whole cake thing, but I noticed she got a new chair and foot rest combo.  As soon as I saw it I cringed a little - not because of the furniture, but because I knew it would be my daughter's jungle gym (remember, my earlier post about her being a climb-aholic).  Sure enough, after cake someone opened the box and pulled out the chair and Ash made a beeline for it!  At first I let her get on it (I took her shoes off!), but then she started getting really comfortable and jumping like it was a trampoline.  That's when I decided it was time to go home.  She was not a happy camper, but five minutes down the road, she was pooped!