Alyssa Joelle Turns 6

This is my old college roomie, Mel and I, six years ago. Our due dates were just days apart. Can you guess which belly is mine... The big one on the right. And it even was bigger with Cole. They seem to get a pound bigger every time. Yikes! It will be scary if I ever have another baby.


Our sweet baby, Alyssa Joelle, was born September 17, 2003. She weighed 8lbs. These pictures are when she was a couple of weeks old.

First Birthday

Terrific Two-Year-Old

Three-Years-Old
I sewed those roses in her hair. I don't know what I was thinking. We were late for the photo session. She was such a stinker when we got there. She wouldn't smile, unless I gave her quarters. She made me give her one for every smile. You can't tell in the picture, but she has them in her hand.

Four-Years-Old

Five-Years-Old

Six-Years-Old
I took this picture the other day, in our back yard. She was so funny. She definitely likes to do things her way. Most of the pictures we took, she is doing funny poses. This time I had to bribe her with ice cream, if she would smile and cooperate. I try not to do bribes, but for pictures, we do what ever it takes.

Here is a little bit about Alyssa:
Alyssa is really pretty sweet most of the time. When she gets to pick a prize at school for bringing in her boxtops, she has been picking a boy toy to bring home to her brother, Cole Makai.
Her favorite color is pink.
Her favorite foods are banana waffles, and broiled shrimp.
She enjoys helping in the kitchen.
She loves her long hair and won't let me cut it.
She loves to watch Hanna Montana and the Barbie Movies.
She doesn't like to go to school, when she knows her Dad has the day off.
She loves to take trips to town with just her and her Dad in the Honda.
She loves her cat she named lovable.
She likes to play games, like candy land and butterfly bingo.
She loves to do craps (crafts)-(Actually, she says it correctly now).
She doesn't really like side pony tails, or when Mom picks out her clothes.
She really likes her new Hello Kitty alarm clock, "except the part when it rings and I have to get up."

We had a family luau for her birthday party. It was so windy, so we had to do it inside. She wanted a coconut bra and a grass skirt. I made her a flip flop cake. She liked it, but was disappointed that she didn't make it, so she made the cake on the right. We had yummy skewers and Mark made the tastiest pina coladas for everyone. After we ate, we let all the kids break a pineapple pinata. We had a lot of guests, including a swarm of flies. It was rather disgusting. I still feel embarrassed when I think back about how bad they were. We have been battling them since a manure farm started up across the street. With so many people coming in and out of the house, all the flies came in. There have been lots of complaints, so hopefully they will move the manure and not do it again next year. (knock on wood, fingers crossed) If they don't move it, we will probably be moving. Which is sad because we really like how our place is turning out. Everyone please pray that they move the manure. Okay, back to the party...

hum...not sure what happened to Cole's pants.

After the party (Cole was asleep).

She was so happy she got a pink "ipod" It was a pretty fun party. Mark wants to have another luau next summer so he can roast a whole pig in the ground.


One of the main things Alyssa wanted was a party with only girls. You can't really do that with a family party. So we let her have some friends over to play on our play set after school. Mark had the day off and even let the girls take turns riding Alyssa's four wheeler around the yard. They had a good time.

I still can't believe my baby is six-years-old! Oh, how time flies!