Ally's first birthday party

Last Sunday (Mother's Day), we had a small birthday party for Ally. She shared it with two of her fellow 1-year old friends, Elaina and Miriam, as well as her godparents (Jim, Victoria, and Matt), Miriam's parents Andy and Michelle, and my parents. Since Ally's birthday is the day before Cinqo de Mayo, we served tacos and fajitas with all the fixings, and I made a dulce de leche birthday cake for Ally. A good time was had by all. Here are some pics from the weekend.

The birthday cake

Ally and Grandpa

Ally getting ready to blow out her birthday candle


Ally eating birthday cake.


Ally opens her present from Andy, Michelle, and Miriam-Veggie Tales!

Ally and Elaina


A present from Matt, Victoria, and Elaina-beach/pool toys!


Taking a bath after the big day


Me and Ally


Ally and Grandma

Ally sits at a table and chair set that belonged to me when I was little

Ally is 1 year old!

Today is Ally's first birthday. In some ways, I can't believe the year has already gone by, but in other ways I can't believe that it's ONLY been a year! To do a little "then and now" comparison, here are a few pics from May 4th-ish 2009, and May 4th-ish 2010.

Me, 40 weeks pregnant, and 1 week before Ally was actually born (remember that I was induced at 41 weeks)


Me, this past Easter, 11 months post-partum. I returned to my pre-pregnancy weight fairly quickly (thank you genetics, running, and nursing!), and all my pre-pregnancy clothes fit like they used to

Ally, right after coming home from the hospital

Ally as a 1-year old

Here are some more pics of her opening her first round of birthday cards and presents from her aunts and uncles.

You know it's going to be a hard final exam when

The first page of your in-class, closed-book cancer pathobiology final asks you to describe the functions for each gene in a list of cancer-related genes. Have you seen how genes are named? It's like alphabet soup! Okay, a couple make sense, like how BRCA 1&2 are associated with breast cancer, but when a gene looks something like p18MSH2q&*#$!, it is not inherently obvious what cancer that gene is associated with or what it does.

The second essay question on your in-class, closed-book cancer pathobiology final asks, "Who gets cancer and why? (worth 20 points). Oh, where to begin. . .

There are no "choices" for essay questions on your in-class, closed book cancer pathobiology final. If remembering the difference between oncogene addition and non-oncogene addiction and which types of cancer treatments go with each one is not something that you spent a whole lot of time studying, oh well.

The point values of all the questions add up to ~150 points (i.e., it's a long test).

A tongue twister

From my cancer pathobiology class:

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer

Say that one five times fast! But if you can't even say it once all the way through, you can just call it HNPCC.

Sold the condo

On Thursday, we had the closing for our former residence, our little 1170-ish square-foot condo. We sold it to a very nice young couple who has a baby about Ally's age. We are happy that we can pass it on to a first-time homeowner, as it was our first home purchase too, over 6 years ago. Before the closing, Ben and I went over there one last time to make sure everything was as it should be (electricity on, fridge running, etc) We were a little nostalgic, as we remembered all the home improvement project we did: painting bathrooms and our bedroom, installing two tile floors, and the concrete countertop that Ben built for the half-bath. So goodbye, little condo, you were a great place and you served us well!

Easter pics

Walking baby!

Today, Ally took her first set of unassisted steps! I guess she is now officially leaving babyhood behind and is entering toddlerhood. Hard to believe. Here is a short video to capture her newest skill.