2nd Thanksgiving

I have not been great about posting because we continue to have camera problems. We finally found the box to our camera, so we are going to send it in to get repaired. I am crossing my fingers that it is under warranty and free. I did get some pictures of Ashlyn on Thanksgiving, however I took them with my Mom's camera and need her camera cord. As soon as I get the cord, I will update with pictures.

Ashlyn had a great 2nd Thanksgiving. It is amazing the difference between her first Thanksgiving and her second. We started the day bright and early. Ashlyn and I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. She was not too interested, but she really stopped and watched the Abby Cadabby balloon. After the parade, it was bath time and Ashlyn got dressed in a pretty dress. We headed to the Sunbird to have Thanksgiving brunch. We met my parents, Grandma, brother, sister, and brother-in-law. The food was wonderful! Ashlyn ate lots of watermelon and my brother kept giving her whipped cream. She liked that a lot!

After we ate, we headed up to Buena Vista to eat at Joey's Dad's house. Ashlyn and I had nice, full bellies, so we slept the entire car ride. Ashlyn was very excited to see her Grandparents. We watched football and played with Ashlyn's Butterscotch pony. The food was WONDERFUL as usual. Ashlyn really liked her Grandparents food. She ate lots. We had her practice eating with a spoon which she enjoyed. After we ate it was getting kind of late and it had started snowing in Buena Vista. Ashlyn stayed at her Grandparents house for the weekend. It was hard to leave her, but I am glad we did. The roads we AWFUL on the way back. I am glad Joey was driving. Icy, snow packed roads seem even worse when it is pitch black outside. The other scary thing is there is no cell phone service. Anyway, we survived and made it home safely. I am just glad that Ashlyn was not out on those roads with us.

Joey and I have been enjoying our child-free weekend. We both spent time with friends. We all went to a movie last night, which is something Joey and I never get to do together anymore. Ashlyn is having the time of her life at her Grandparents house. She got to go to a light parade Friday night. She also ate Mexican food for the first time, which I heard she loved! I am also glad that she is at her Grandparents, because I have a nasty viral respiratory infection. I hope since Ashlyn was not exposed too much, she will not get it. That it the update for now. I will try to get the camera cord tomorrow and post pictures then.

Fun Fit

My friend, Kari, gave Ashlyn a session of Fun Fit classes at her dance studio. Unfortunately, the classes are only held in the morning on weekdays. My Mom is able to take her. They went last Tuesday and my Mom said she did wonderful! I was a little worried because she is by far the youngest one in her class. Most of the kids are 2 or 3 years old. My Mom said she just jumped right in. They played with a parachute and Ashlyn was not a bit afraid. They also played a "freeze" game in which they were supposed to "freeze" when the music stopped. Ashlyn has never done anything like this before. My Mom said she was so cute and actually froze when the music stopped with all of the other kids. My Mom said the other Mom's commented on how impressed they were being that she is so young. She gets to go back every Tuesday. I just wish I could go with her! I am going to have my Mom take pictures in one of the next coming weeks and I will post them on here.

We also discovered this week that Ashlyn can drink from a cup on her own. We usually only give it to her when she is in her highchair because it can get messy. She loves it though and is really good at it. We also discovered that she can drink from a straw. That is cute to see.

Ashlyn has also turned into quite the daredevil. She is constantly crawling on her walking stroller. She tries to stand on it. She also has learned to get on the couch. This one scares me because I am afraid that she is going to fall off. She just loves doing it and unfortunately I don't think I can stop her.

Here are some pictures from this week. As usual, they are out of order and I don't know how to remove pictures once I upload them. I wanted to show a progression of shots of her climbing on the couce, but they are backwards.

Sitting on the couch.

Almost there. Notice her toothpaste in her hand. It is hands down one of the favorite toys to carry around.

Getting ready to start the climb.

In her Broncos cheerleader outfit.

Drinking from a cup. She is such a big girl!

First Birthday Party

Ashlyn's birthday party was today. It went really, really well. I chose a pink poodle theme. It turned out pretty cute. We were originally going to have the party at our house. Our main floor is very small. When I started counting guests and realized that more than 30 people were coming, I knew we would have to have it else where. My sister was nice enough to offer our house for the party. It was a nice day and I think everyone had a good time. As usual I made too much food, but I would hate for anyone to go hungry. Ashlyn even had a few kids at her birthday. She seemed to have a wonderful time. She loved interacting with all of the kids. She even helped open some of her presents. She got some really good gifts. She got toys, book, clothes, etc. She is a very loved little girl! She loved her cake. It was pink and she just went to town on it. She was covered with frosting. I finally took it away because I did not want her to get sick. We bought her a new dress for her party. I went to take it off before she ate her cake. The zipper was stuck and refused to move. I just left it on. After the party, everyone tried to get it unstuck. We still could not get it. We finally had to cut the dress. Poor Ashlyn was screaming because she just wanted the thing off of her. I am taking the dress back to store and exchanging it for a new one. So, besides the dress fiasco, her party was filled with good food, great friends, and a lot of fun!

The beverage and cake table. I love this sign that I ordered. I just realized that I did not get a close-up of her cake.

Ashlyn playing with Garrett. They seemed to enjoy each other.

The food table.

Just had to post a picture of Garrett because he is such a cutie!

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday". It was too cute. When everyone was singing she just looked around and smiled.

Everyone watching the birthday girl.

Taking her first bites.

YUM!

Loving the cake.

She couldn't get enough!

Wow! Look at that messy face.

Cleanup was not easy.

The damage when she was done. Keep in mind this was an 8 inch cake.

Present time!

Checking out her new puppy toy.

She loved the tissue paper in the bags.

Looking at the card. The cards were also a huge hit!

Looking at her new princess book.

So curious to see what is in the bag!

Again, enjoying the card.

Garrett and Ashlyn checking out her new toys.

Dancing with Grandpa.

After the VERY traumatic dress experience.

First Hair Cut

Ashlyn's hair has always been a difficult area for me. I always say that the poor girl with a ton of hair just had to be born to such a hair challenged Mom. We have tried to cut her hair a few times, but we always mess it up because she moves too much. I finally decided to take her to get a real haircut since she was getting pictures and her party was coming up. We took her to my friend John. We had to bribe her with a sucker, but she did pretty well. He did not even take any length off, he just evened it up which it desperatley needed!!!


It wasn't so bad since she got a sucker.

As you can tell, it took a lot of people.

She was not sure what to think.

One Year Check-up

I took off Friday from work to take Ashlyn to her one year appointment. Joey also came along. She weighs 18.11 oz. She is still in 25 percentile for weight. She is 28 3/4 inches tall. She is in the 50th percentile for height. He says she looks perfect. She has had a weird rash near her mouth. He said it is just eczema and to put some ointment on it. We have been putting it on a lot and it looks a lot better. He commented again that she is very intelligent. He handed her the tongue to depressor to play with and he was very impressed with the way she manipulated it. He also commented on how alert she is. Everyone has been saying that since she was a newborn. She is a very alert little girl. She ended the appointment with 4 shots. She did not like those at all. But, she was fine after about 15 seconds. She is such a brave girl!

One Year Old

Ashlyn turned 1 year old on Thursday. Words can't describe how bittersweet it is. She is no longer a baby. I love seeing her grow and do new things, but I also miss my newborn that I could hug and cuddle for hours. It does just seem like yesterday that we were heading to the hospital because my water had broke. The joy she has brought into our lives is unmeasurable. She truly is a gift from God and a joy to be around. Her laugh is hands down the cutest thing I have ever heard. Her smile is contagious. She is the sweetest girl in the whole world! She is my baby and will always be my baby. I love her more than anything in the whole wide world and thank God everyday for blessing us with such an amazing little girl! There will never be the right words to sum up what she means to me. I wanted to right a beautfiul piece about her, but I just can't seem to find the words.

At a year old there is so much that Ashlyn can do now. She is a walking pro. She never crawls anymore. She just loves to walk. She continues to be very curious and loves to explore things. Her best friend is still Alli and they love playing together. Riding on her Dad's shoulders is one of her favorite things. She has 6 1/2 teeth. She loves giving kisses. I can say "Come give Mama a kiss" and she will stop what she is doing and come and kiss me. I LOVE it! She continues to talk like crazy. It seems like everyday we are able to make out more words and sounds. She is much more interested in toys now. She still loves odd objects to play with. Right now she is playing with her toothbrush and a puzzle.

On Thursday, Ashlyn spent the entire day with her Gram and Auntie. They had a great day together. Joey worked the day shift so he could be part of the birthday celebration. I raced to my parent's house right after work. We started to decorate and set up for her party. We really kept it low key. My parents, brother, sister, and brother-in-law were all there. We had a nice family dinner together and then Ashlyn got cake. Since I knew she would be eating a lot of cake on Sunday, we just gave her a cupcake. She LOVED it of course. She gobbled it down very quickly. She got showered with gifts. My parents bought her an adorable doll. My sister got her a Little People airplane set that she just loves. My brother got her a pink ATV. It is not motorized or anything,but boy does she love to be pushed on it! After presents, we headed home and put the birthday girl to bed. She fell fast asleep. I am sure she dreamed all night about what a perfect day it was!

Her new doll

Talking to her Grandpa.

Opening more gifts.

Practicing eating with a spoon.

Enjoying her cupcake

She was so excited to eat it!

Posing in front of her gifts.

Wearing her pretty party dress.

My Grandma sent Ashlyn a really neat picnic basket. She really liked it.