Swim Time

The big news this week is I signed Ashlyn up for swimming lessons at the YMCA. We bought her a little inflatable pool a while ago. This week has finally been nice enough to fill it up. She LOVES it! She never wants to get out. She just splashes and has the time of her life. I have been wanting to do swimming lessons for a long time. I finally looked into it this week and I am glad I did. They are just getting ready to start a new session this week. We will go 4 times and each lesson is 30 minutes long. I am excited because I get to do it with her. I think it will be a lot of fun for the both of us!

Ashlyn is really on the move now. She is crawling around the house like crazy! She is really fast too. She has turned very curious and loves to get into everything! We are now taking everything off the coffee table. She just wants to explore and explore. She always has a smile on her face while she does it. Our coffee table is really high. Today, I looked over and she had pulled her self up to the top. (I will try to get a picture of it.) Today, Joey lowered her crib to the lowest setting. Since she is starting to pull her self up a lot and I do not want her to be able to flip herself out of the crib. It is a bit harder to get her in and out of it, but it is for her safety.

Today, we went to the Renaissance Festival. We had a really good time. It was not too hot when we first got there, but it warmed up quite a bit. We had fun eating junk food and watching the entertaining shows. We took Ashlyn on this swing type thing that they push you on. They were extra gentle because she was on it. She really liked it. We took pictures, but they are on the camera still and I don't know where it is right now. I will post them next week.

I will update next week about the first swimming lesson.


Looking into her purse

Standing up and playing at her learning table

The odd headstand type thing she does when she is crawling

Practicing her standing skills

Fun in the pool

She loves it!
Time to get out and get warm

Exploring what is in her toy box

Another Busy Weekend

We had yet another busy week and weekend. Our good family friends, Jacob and Maya came to visit from Phoenix. They are expecting a baby girl in September and my Mom, sister and I decided to throw a shower for them. We worked on the shower a lot this week. On Friday, Ashlyn and I went to Uncle Steven's house for a bbq. Ashlyn got to meet lots of new people. There were lots of kids there so she had a wonderful time watching all of them.

On Saturday, we went to wedding. It was a beautiful, outdoor wedding. We had a great time. There were lots of good photo opportunities, so we took lots of good pictures. There were a lot of kids there too for Ashlyn to watch. Josey was there with her son Garrett. Ashlyn has met him before. He is 6 weeks younger than her. She had fun with him. It was great day. We did not leave until 7:00 and by that time Ashlyn was more than ready for bed!

Today was the shower. Ashlyn came to the shower. She did pretty good. She got a little antsy. Poor thing just wants to practice her crawling so bad! She has done a 180 with her crawling progress! Before she would just roll over, now she wants to be on her hands and knees at all times! Ashlyn met so many new people this weekend. She is such a sweet girl and always has the biggest smile for everyone! Everyone always comments on how happy she is and how darn cute she is. She is our little ham! She had been clapping her hands like crazy today. It is so funny how she hardly does something one day, and the next day she is doing it like crazy. I think she was also trying to wave today too.

This week should much more mellow. This weekend we actually have nothing planned. I know Joey and I are looking forward to a really low key weekend. I hope to go on a picnic Saturday or Sunday. I want Ashlyn to feed the ducks. Hope everyone has a great week!


The heat and the excitement wore Ashlyn out! She fell asleep in her Dad's arms.

Such a smiley girl!

Ashlyn and her Papa

A family picture

Wearing her pretty dress

Mommy and her favorite person in the whole world

She always has a blast playing with Dad

Father's Day Pics

I finally located my camera cord. I planned on posting Father's Day pics, but I realized we did not take very many. I don't even know if I got any pictures with Joey and Ashlyn. I just hope that Joey's Dad got some with his camera. Here are the few I have and a couple others mixed in.


Practicing her crawling (excuse the funny hair)

Riding on her new hippo. She looks so old in this picture!

Have you ever seen a more proud Grandpa?

Uncle Bryan, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Jane

A picture with her Mom, I wish it was with Joey instead

First Father's Day

I have pictures to post, but I can't find my camera cord. I am pretty sure it's at my parents house. Once I locate it, I will post some new pictures from this week.

Joey and Ashlyn had a very good Father's Day together. Ashlyn bought her Dad a smoker. He really wanted to use it on Sunday, but he did not get home in time. He is planning on making some brisket on Wednesday night. We had a cookout for Father's Day. Ashlyn had a great time. She got to spend time with all of her grandparents. Her Uncle Adam and Aunt Jane were even here! It was a good time with lots of good food. We all went to watch Joey's softball game. He did not hit any home runs, but his team did win. I think Joey had a good first Father's Day.

In the last few days Ashlyn has really been working on her crawling skills. I think she is going to prove her Mom wrong. It is the cutest thing because she will be playing on the floor, and she starts getting in the crawling position. She rocks back and forth a little, and then she collapses. I think she may just crawl yet! I will have to get some pictures because it is so cute! She has been sleeping really well this week. Joey and I have been loving it! After almost seven months,we are finally getting some consistently good sleep. She is also starting to give kisses. She gives open mouth ones, but they are kisses. She is such a sweet girl and just loves everyone.

Well, that's all for this week. I promise to post some pictures when I can.

7 Months

Ashlyn turned 7 months old when we were in New York. She got to celebrate by having a pancake as her "birthday cake". She really liked it!

At 7 months Ashlyn is able to do more than ever. She is still not too keen on crawling. We put her on her stomach and help her push up on her knees. She does it for a few seconds and then gives up. She always wants to roll back over to her back. I am not going to push it too much because from what her doctor has said and what I have read, it is not necessary for babies to crawl. She is doing great with standing. We practice all the time and she is able to stand unassisted for a few seconds. I am sure she will get better and better everyday. When she first started sitting up she could only do it for a few seconds, and now she is a pro! We are starting to baby proof the house and put up gates. She will be very mobile before we know it and we need to be prepared! She has also started to put everything in her mouth. I have discovered that I need to vacuum everyday because who knows what little piece of something she will find.

Ashlyn started to do some new things just this week. She is picking up clapping. She does not do it all the time, but if I clap sometimes she will copy me. It is adorable! I think she is also starting to pick up on waving too. We will keep practicing that one. She says DaDa all the time now. She seems to understand that Joey is DaDa. She often looks at him and says DaDa. I am still waiting to hear MaMa. I think she is getting pretty close. She babbles like crazy and should be talking up a storm soon.

Ashlyn continues to eat like a pro. She has tried almost all of the stage 1 and 2 jarred foods. She really likes carrots, bananas, and turkey. I think the only thing she has not been crazy about is blueberries. We have started to give her finger foods like Cheerios to practice feeding herself with. She is very good at that too. We are continuing to give her more and more of our food. She tried cornbread the other day and really liked that. As the days go on we plan to give her less jarred food and more real food.

Ashlyn continues to sleep better and better. It is still somewhat inconsistent. She still goes to bed around 7:00 pm. On Sunday night she slept until 6:45! It was great night of sleep for us all! Last night, she only made it to 4:15. We take what we can get! I will continue to update every week and let you know what she is doing. I think she will be starting to do lots of new things!!!


Trying pancakes for the first time.

You can tell by that smile that she liked them!

She is such a happy girl!

New York New York

I apologize for not updating in a while, but things have been very hectic with our trip. We got back from New York on Saturday. We had a wonderful time! Ashlyn got to meet so many people. She has lots of people that love her immensely. She is one lucky little girl!

Ashlyn did very good on the flights both ways. She got a little antsy towards the end, but Joey and I managed to keep her entertained. Ashlyn and Joey spent the majority of our trip visiting with family. Joey managed to give everyone their own day with the two of them. I think it was a great way for everyone to spend some quality time with her. She just loved everyone she met.

My parents and I took a few day trips to Canada. We went to Ottawa and Montreal. Both were very neat cities and somewhere I would love to visit again one day.

It was a great trip. It is nice to get back and get Ashlyn back into her routine. She picked up a little cold, but other then that she is doing well. I am posting a lot of pictures and I thought they are a great way to summarize the trip!


Ashlyn taking a nap with her Great Grandpa

Ashlyn visiting her Grandma's grave. (This one made me cry when I saw it!)

Cuddling with Mom the last night we were there. She was very worn out. Her hair is so curly from the humidity.

A family picture with Joey's Aunt Maryanne, cousins Zach and Caleb, and his grandparents.

Ashlyn and her Great Grandma. She had a great time with her!

Ashlyn and her Great Aunt Shayne

Ashlyn and her Great Grandma

Ashlyn meeting her Great Great Grandma

Hanging out with her Great Grandpa

Ashlyn and her cousin Jeremy

Playing in her walker. She just loved that thing!

Ashlyn and Pop

Daddy throwing her up in the air

Ashlyn and Daddy

Riding in her New York swing. She loved it too!

We took LOTS of pictures and I posted as many as I could. I apologize if I left anyone out.