Kiley's First Birthday

Our little girl is one year old!

It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since we first heard her sweet little cries and felt the desperate grip of her tiny little fingers. I held her on my chest and she calmed immediately as we stared into each other's eyes and tears of joy streamed quietly down my face. 

The past year has seen many more tears for both of us, but our family has also grown exponentially with love since Kiley joined it a year ago.

Happy First Birthday, Kiley Patricia!

We threw her (and ourselves) a little party to celebrate with family and some of our closest friends.

Big Brother Ryder was super excited to help Kiley celebrate her birthday. All week long he helped me pull together craft projects, shop for food, and decorate the house for his favorite little sis.

We were very much looking forward to a traditional first birthday Cake Smash. Unfortunately, Kiley wasn't particularly thrilled by the situation (although the balloons were a hit).

Happy birthday, dear Kiley, happy birthday to you!

With a little coaxing from Daddy and Ryder, we were finally able to convince her to try some cake.

Kiley also received mountains of wonderful, generous gifts!

She was thrilled with the colorful wrapping paper just as much as with the presents.

Due in large part to my Maternity Mommy Group, Kiley actually has a decent group of friends who are around her own age. It was difficult to get them all organized into a photo together, but we tried!

Having kids is an adventure that you should never embark upon alone. 

Besides having an extremely supportive and understanding spouse, I highly recommend surrounding yourself with good friends who are also in the same stage of life. We've been extremely fortunate in this regard, and I really don't know how we would have gotten through this past year without the support of our many friends.

And of course we have been entirely spoiled by our family members, who are in love with our kids and are always more than willing to lend an ear, or a helping hand. They are basically the reason our marriage is still standing after the last crazy, sleep-deprived 365 days.

Nana with her fourth of five grandchildren!

Kiley's Uncle AJ, Aunt Morgan, and Cousin Kinley. The girls are only six months apart, and I hope destined to be the best of friends.

Patty and Grandpa Russ, who is especially thrilled by having another Alway girl around.

It was so fun to spend the day doting on our little princess.

It's hard to explain how I feel about my second child turning one. She's still and will always be my baby, but she's also turning into a big girl before our eyes.

The party was a huge success, filled with grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends. Sweet Kiley is definitely very loved. 

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who has been a part of our lives this past year — we couldn't have done it without you!

White Pass | 2018

We took our two little snow bunnies up to the mountain this past weekend.

Ryder went to White Pass for the first time when he was about nine months old, and we really wanted Kiley's first ski trip to be just as fun. 

It was a success!

We arrived super late on Friday night and checked into our room at White Pass Village Inn. It took a while to unpack the car and convince the kids, who had slept most of the way, that it was still nighttime, but eventually we got them back to bed. 

The next morning, Ryder was thrilled to wake up and realize that we were at the mountain! 

We could see the ski area and the lifts opening right from our front window.

Ryder was super excited to try snowboarding on his own for the first time this year.

We all bundled up and headed out on the hill just as the sun started to shine through the clouds.

Kiley chose to nap through that first morning snowboard lesson...

Ryder was all geared up and ready to go...

He did such a good job as Stew took him up and down the bunny hill for his first few times!

Eventually, he even tried out the magic carpet.

Even though Ryder was a total trooper, learning to snowboard is tiring stuff, and eventually he just wanted to play in the snow like a little kid.

 

As usual, we were on the trip with the Christiansen family. Baby Jane even learned to ski!

Later that day my mom and sister arrived, and since the weather ended up being so beautiful, a group of us decided to go snowshoeing around the frozen lake in the afternoon.

When we weren't playing outside, we found lots of ways to entertain ourselves in our condo...

Ski Hat Hair.

Ryder was thrilled to learn that he could stand on the porch and feed birds right out of his hand!

In the evenings, we all took turns spending time in the hot pool. Swimming in the mountains in an outdoor, hot spa temperature pool is literally the best after spending a day in the cold.

Our good friends were celebrating their TENTH wedding anniversary, hence the themed pool attire.

The weather the next day didn't turn out nearly as nice, but even though the fog never burned off, we still got Ryder out on the slopes a second time. 

He also did some sledding with Daddy.

Kiley managed to stay awake this time.

Even though taking a ski trip with little kids involves a lot of planning, effort, and a literal ton of gear, I think that being out in the snowy mountains with my family makes it all completely worth it. 

And one of the best aspects of the trip was that we were cooped up in a tiny condo together, which meant we literally had nothing better to do than to get down on the floor and play with our kids. At home these weekend moments are consumed by various chores and errands, but tucked away in the mountains we could really take time to appreciate and reflect on the memories we were making as a family. 

We were absolutely thrilled that Ryder came away from his first snowboarding experience with a positive attitude, and we can't wait to go back again next year... maybe by then it will be Kiley's turn!