Alena's first Birthday!

An important day came for Alena Lynn McReynolds on July 6, 2010. A 1st birthday! You only get one, so Ashley and Jason made it a great one for her. They had just moved out of their house a week before the party, so Brandy and David offered their home as the "party pad". Alena was surrounded by friends and family and got a ton of gifts.

Aunt Brandy made the cake for the littlest McReynolds (for the time being). This was both Brandy and my first niece (now we have yet another McReynolds baby girl).How fun have a princess party for the littlest princess!

As you can see, Sarah came prepared, at least for the princess portion. Check out the Sleeping Beauty get up.

I love to see little ones at first birthday parties. You never know how they will react to all the people, presents, and cake!

Alena certainly enjoyed opening her gifts!

Time to cut the cake. Such a shame to cut something so beautiful :(

Happy birthday baby, I mean big girl!

Leah loving life!

What a sweet little girl! We just love our little Leah. She is quite shy in large groups of people (very different than Sarah) but boy, when it is just Mommy, Daddy, or Sarah around, the wildcat comes out! Here is the view I get everyday as she catches my view. It changes from happiness to loneliness in 2.5 seconds! We love her curls, her smile, her squeals and her cuddles.

This smile can light up a room!
We especially love to see the special bond that Leah has made with her big sis. What a joy it is to watch these girls laugh, play, hug, and kiss. Leah thinks that Sarah hung the moon. Sarah is such a little mommy to her.

Although I have stayed away since she was about six months old, I hear that Leah loves Bible class! She is in a wonderful class that has special animal toys for each child to chew, wave, squeeze, and love. Sarah and Leah both learn so much from these classes even at this early age. They learn about God making the world, children, animals, flowers and they also learn about Jesus. What a gift for them to be able to hear about God's love from such an early age. Thank you to all those Bible school teachers out there who take time out of your busy schedules to share this with our little ones.
Yes Jesus loves me...the Bible tells me so. :)

Changing Leah ( I had to fit these in)

As I am fitfully trying to update the blog and catch up with the many photos I have taken this summer, I realized that I missed out on sharing some very cute photos. As always, these photos mark important times in kids lives, and I would hate to skip over them.


Back in the spring, Chris took a few photos on the iphone while dining out. I am shocked when I look at how much leach has changed in these. Check out the photo below.


She looks so little! And the hair is a lot less wild. But she has always been oh so cute!


This one is from mid summer. Leah had a stretch where she loved playing in the exersaucer (this has definitely ended abruptly by the way). This is the face I get every time I walk in the room. She melts my heart!

It is so wonderful to see the joy on her face these days. We went through so many months where a smile was a rarity for this little one. Now she is healthy and happy and I thank God everyday for this!






During our last trip home, we stopped at my cousin Melody's house for a birthday celebration for Uncle James. Leah is obviously the center of attention at all family events (babies usually are :)



Aunt Nancy and Leah



Mom taste testing Melody's good food.


On another day, Jason brought cousin Alena over to play in the bouncy house. Isn't she cute in her swimsuit? Many people say she and Leah look similar. What do you think?




Sarah loves for Alena to come over. She is in the toddler phase now where everyday is a new adventure. Sarah loves playing with her!
I LOOOOOVE this photo. My two sweet and beautiful girls sharing a moment one morning. They love each other to death and I couldn't be happier.


I pray they remain this close forever!


Saving the best for last. This photo says so much about our little leah. She loves to be out and about with the family and she loves to eat! We are so happy to have her in our lives!