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.

Halloween

I apologize for not posting last week. This new job is a lot more demanding than I anticipated. It is taking up so much of my time. I am trying to enjoy every minute I get to see Ashlyn, so blogging was not a priority last week. I am going to try to do it every week still.

Ashlyn had a WONDERFUL first Halloween. This week we baked cupcakes and even carved a pumpkin. She was not into the pumpkin too much. I gave her some of the "guts" to play with, but she was not all that entertained about them. She did like the finished pumpkin.

On Friday, I left school right when the bell rang. I met my Mom and Ashlyn at my house. We grabbed her costume and headed for Walmart. We picked up Ashlyn's Auntie on the way. We started at Walmart at 4:00 pm. She really liked Trick or Treating at Walmart. They had different candy stations all throughout the store. She loved holding her treat basket. She wanted to eat the candy. After Walmart, we headed to Joey's work. We brought her inside so we could show her off to all of his coworkers. They just thought she was the cutest thing. We stopped at my sister's house and had a quick dinner. We then went Trick or Treating around Katy's neighborhood. She lives in a great neighborhood. Most of the houses were decorated and had went all out. Ashlyn got lots of goodies. Next, we went to an Assisted Living Community for their Halloween festivities. They had cupcakes and little bags of candy for the kids. There were lots of really nice people there. There were a few other babies there. There was one boy a little older than Ashlyn dressed like an ape. He walked over to her and gave her a hug. He then grabbed her nose. It was too cute. I wish we would've had the camera with us. By this point Ashlyn was beat! She then went home and went to bed. We thought her first Halloween was a success!!!



With Daddy at his work.

Too cute!!!

Waiting in the car for Dad to come out.

She loved holding her basket. She was not about to let it go!

She made the cutest kitty in the world!

Walking with Mom and Auntie.

Outside getting ready to start Trick or Treating.

Sitting with her pumpkin

Playing with the "guts".

She was not sure what to think. She wanted to eat it.