Happy Birthday, Alyson! :)

Today is my niece Alyson's 7th birthday.  And since I haven't been blogging since she was born, I get to share with you some of my fav pix of her over the years.  You agree, right???

Only a day old...

We call this her "pyrex dish" pic...she was actually in the hospital basinet...but doesn't it look like a big pyrex dish?  And look at all that hair...she never, ever lost it...promise!

How about this cutie?  Look at those big brown eyes! My heart melts...

And those curls...so sweet...

Truly the cutest ladybug!

And this summer...at the beach, we were partners...

It's hard to believe that this pic is only 6 months old!

The best lemonade sales girl ever...

And to top it off she's a GREAT big sister...

A daredevil MarioCart driver...

And definitely a snow angel :)

I love my Aly-gator.  Dylan was a 7 year old boy when she was born.  When I was much younger, I thought I'd like to have all boys as children.  Then I had one boy...and I thought, maybe one is enough.  When I found out my sister was having a girl, I was overjoyed.  And so were most of her inlaws!  Alyson was the first girl on her Dad's side since his Mom and an Aunt (his dad's sister).  So, needless to say...they were thrilled.

But Aly & I "click" in ways that I never remember clicking with my aunts.  Maybe it's because our family is so close...not sure.   When my hair was long, Aly spent hours "fixing it"...and I may or may not have been the person who introduced her to M&M's.  I also will admit that I *might* have taught her to say to her Mom - "You drive like a madwoman!"  And I love that when I haven't seen her in a while, she will make a beeline to hug me, sit on the couch beside me, force me to "droll" (draw) with her and laugh while I say silly things to her.  I also love our sleepovers...the ones where I invite her and the ones where she invites herself! :)

She is my Aly-gator...and I'm so thrilled to be her Aunt Jenn!

Happy Birthday, Alyson! :)

*sorry for the picture quality...a few of these were scanned copies of printed copies...and others were taken from Facebook...I don't have all my pics here at work with me! :)