Happy Birthday Raelyn!!!

We had one busy birthday day!! First of all...Raelyn slept through the night and didn't wake up until 8am! She hasn't slept through the night for months so that was exciting!! She received her gift from mommy and daddy, which was a bright red upholstered rocking chair. SHE LOVED IT!!

She loved it so much that we couldn't get a good picture of Raelyn with her Special Delivery from Grammy and Papa. Grammy and Papa had a cookie bouquet delivered for Raelyn's birthday!! It was three HUGE sugar cookies decorated with brightly colored icing. She ate a little bit of the cookie for lunch (and so did mommy!)

Then, we went to the Stockholm Inn for Swedish pancakes!! We've wanted to eat there for a long time, but after living here for 5.5 years we finally made it!

For the next several hours we were at the Discovery Center Museum and Burpee Museum of Natural History. The Discovery Center is an interactive learning center for kids and Burpee is a museum that houses one of the few dinosaurs that have been excavated in the US. Raelyn had a great great great time! Here is Raelyn and daddy flying the UPS plane (there is a big UPS plant here in Rockford).

Then Raelyn played in the kitchen area!

Next - on to the blocks!

Raelyn was sharing her blocks with daddy...I thought this was a cute picture!

This was a giant pincushion where you could push your hand, face, or whole body against one side and see the impression you made from the other side. Here is mommy's, Raelyn's, and daddy's hands!

Then Raelyn made a quick stop in space!

Then she and daddy flew back to earth and landed nice and safe.

The landing was followed by a trip down the big piano on the floor. Raelyn wasn't heavy enough to play the notes, so mommy and daddy helped her out. Mommy was trying to she Raelyn how the notes played when you jumped on them...and when she turned around, daddy had taken Raelyn to another room!!! How embarassing! Mommy was jumping up and down on the keys and talking to herself :) Daddy had no clue!

Electrifying!!

Mommy and Raelyn were newscasters for the day!

These bleachers were set up in the pretend news room. We played on these for quite awhile!

Here is one of the dinosaurs at Burpee. Mommy and daddy's arms were getting sore from carrying Raelyn all morning, so mommy used her sling to carry Raelyn around. This thing is awesome! I've had it awhile, but not used it very much. Shortly after this picture, Raelyn fell asleep and slept curled up in the sling for about 45 minutes!!!!!

Jane is the name of the dinosaur that is displayed at Burpee. She was found in Montana.

Busy day!! After leaving the museums we went back home for lunch, then headed up to Janesville, WI for a party at our friends house. Raelyn played hard all day!!

Raelyn is such a sweetheart. There are no words to describe how much I love her and how much I treasure all the memories from the past year. I am so so so blessed to have an amazing husband and an amazing daughter. Being a mommy is more joyous that I could have ever EVER imagined. I can't believe that a year has passed already. We love watching Raelyn grow and change each day and look forward to her next accomplishment, but at the same time, wish time would slow down and she could stay little longer.