Second Birthday

On Ashlyn's actual birthday, both Joey and I took the day off. We were excited to get to spend the day with her. We all woke up bright and early. Ashlyn started her day with a special smile face pancake. She LOVED it! We hung around the house for a bit, and then I took Ashlyn to get her hair cut. She did a good job of sitting still. After her haircut, I went over to my sister's to work on her birthday cake. Joey decided to take Ashlyn to a movie. They went and saw "A Christmas Carol". Joey said she really enjoyed it. After the movie, we headed out to dinner. We went to one of our favorite pizza places. I have been going there my entire life. My parents, brother, sister, brother-in-law, and 2 friends joined us for dinner. Ashlyn had a good time eating pizza and hanging out with family. After dinner, we headed back to our house for cake and presents. Ashlyn got some really nice gifts. She had a blast opening everything. She wanted us to take everything out of the box right away. Her aunt and uncle got her a really neat tricycle. It is a little big for her, but she really liked it. It is even Little Mermaid of course! Ashlyn got really excited when she saw her cake. She loved it when we sang Happy Birthday. She even blew out the candle like a pro! We let Ashlyn play with her gifts for a bit, but if was an bedtime because she had a big day the next day. Ashlyn had a great day and we have a lot of funny spending her very special 2nd birthday with her.

The morning of her birthday. Lounging with Alli.

Her special pancake that her dad made her.

The movie that they went and saw.

This picture was posted by accident. Oops!

Playing with Grandma's wallet at dinner.

A family picture

The cake my sister and I made her. We didn't notice until right before we cut it, but we forget to add her nose.

Her little "party" set-up

She loved opening presents

What is it?

Another picture posted by accident.

She decide that the bow would look best on the top of her head.

She had such a great time!

The cake coming out

She was very excited.

Riding her new tricycle. She just loved it!

Two years old

Somehow, 2 years have passed and Ashlyn is two! I don't know where the time has gone. Ashlyn is growing so fast. She is growing into such an amazing and wonderful little girl. I honestly could not have been blessed with a better child. She is so sweet and loving. She is very well behaved for a 2 year old. She adds so much joy and love to our lives each and every day!

Ashlyn's two year appointment is next week. Apparently, at her pediatrician's office, they ask you to fill out a huge packet before the appointment. There were all sorts of tests that we had to do with Ashlyn to see if she is developmentally on track. I was amazed at all of the things she could do. Here are some of the things she can now do:
-She can point to pictures in a book. If we say where is the ball, she points to it.
-She can imitate a 2 word sentence.
-She can carry out tasks without us giving her clues or pointing. Example- Put the toy on the table.
-She says 3 words sentences that represent different ideas together.
-She can walk downstairs by herself
-She can kick a ball
-She can string beads on a shoelace.

She is a very talented little girl. She loves books just like her mom. She would have me read to her all day if she could. She is such smart girl. Sometimes she is too smart! At least once a day, she will say some word that we are just amazed that she knows. Its too cute!

We continue to feel so blessed to have been given such an amazing daughter. I am excited to watch her grow and learn. She is truly a gift from God!

Halloween

I had hoped to put up Halloween pictures earlier, but my camera was not cooperating. So, I will be blogging lots tonight! Ashlyn had a great 2nd Halloween. We were a little unsure if she would completely understand trick or treating this year or not. We lucked out and got amazing weather! I have many memories of trick or treating bundled up. I was happy that she didn't have to bundle up and people could actually see her costume. She had such a great time! She loved going to houses and getting candy. She actually said "Trick or treat" at each house too! She usually said it very quietly. She also said "Thank you" at each house as well. She made the cutest Ariel ever. We trick or treated for almost 2 hours! She didn't want to stop, but she got lots of candy and it was getting cold. It was a great night and we all had a lot of fun watching her have so much fun!


We started the night with a pumpkin pizza. It was very good!

The first house she went to was her Uncle Steven's house.

What a cute mermaid!

The red wig really added to her costume.

Walking from house to house

What fun!

She did such a good job.

Getting candy is the best!

It started to get dark and cold!

Halloween Party

I had a rather busy work week this week with parent/teacher conferences. The plus was that I only had to work a half day today. It worked out perfectly, because Ashlyn's daycare had a Halloween party this afternoon. I was excited to see Ashlyn in her costume for the first time. Of course, Ashlyn had to be Ariel. I bought her costume in Disney World. I saw it and knew it would be perfect!

When my mom and I got to her school, they had already started the parade. Ashlyn is still in the young toddler room. She will be moving next week. There are not very many kids in her room. The only other kid that was there today, is a 12-month old boy. So, Ashlyn was walking with her teacher and the other boy. Once she saw me, she ran right towards me. She insisted that I hold her for the rest of the parade. It was kind of a bummer, because no one could really see her costume.

After the parade, we went back to her room. She got to eat a yummy cupcake which she loved. They had made this beanbag game that she really enjoyed. It was nice because we got to see her in her classroom and had an idea of how she interacts at school. Ashlyn sang us a song about a square with her teacher. She did such a good job of singing along and it was just too cute! Ashlyn even got a treat bag with lots of goodies including bubbles.

As many of you know, my baby is turning 2 next Friday. How she is already 2, is beyond me. Anyway, she will be moving up to the next room next week. We got to stop by her new room and met her teacher. Her teacher seems very nice and full of energy. Her new room will be much better for her because there are a lot more kids that are her age.

After seeing her new classroom, we went and got her face painted. Once the face painter saw Ashylyn was Ariel, she immediately decided she needed bubbles on her face. Ashlyn surprised me and sat very still. It turned out so cute! We headed home so Ashlyn could show her Dad all the fun she had. It really was a lot of fun and a great warm-up for the big night tomorrow night. I can't wait to take Ashlyn out Trick or Treating this year. Last year, she was just too young to understand. This year she has more of an idea. She has even been practicing saying "Trick or Treat". I will post lots of pictures from tomorrow night.


My angel is such a sweet, sweet girl. You can see her friend in the background. He was a very cute frog.

Ashlyn got very nervous when some of the older kids came in to show their costumes. She wouldn't let go of my leg. This is her new thing.

Before she attacked her cupcake.

Playing with the beanbags.

She thought it was a lot of fun.

? Isn't she an adorable Ariel ?

She was having lots of fun playing with the water. Her teacher said she liked to wet paper towels and "clean". Wonder who she gets that from???

Having fun in her classroom.

Her bubbles on her face.

She was so proud of them!

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we decided to head to a pumkin patch. My mom really wanted to go to one with a corn maze. The closest one we could find was about an hour away. My mom, sister, Ashlyn, and I headed out early Saturday morning. We had a great drive up and enjoyed some really beautiful fall scenery. When we got there, we decided to try the corn maze first. It was a very large corn maze. We were a little worried about how long it would take us to get out. We had a great time talking and laughing as we navigated through the maze. Ashlyn even led the way most of the time. It was so much fun! It took us about 20 minutes to find our way out, but we did it!

With admission, we got to pick out 3 free pumpkins. We put Ashlyn in the wagon and went on our pumpkin search. There were a lot of good ones, but we finally narrowed it down to 3. After we found out pumpkins, we headed back to the corn maze and went in another entrance. We were getting better, because this time we did it even faster.

We decided to call it a day after the maze. We really, really enjoyed this pumpkin farm. It wasn't crowded, was geared towards small children, and a great time. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We decided that we would make it a fall tradition to do it every year. I can't wait unti next year!

That night we carved our pumpkins. Ashlyn wasn't too interested, but we sure had fun carving them. The pumpkins had lots of delicious seeds to bake and we literally ate them until our stomachs hurt. (Ashlyn did not have any seeds, maybe next year.)

Ashlyn checking out all of the pumpkins.

Walking in the corn maze.

She was a great leader.

They had a really neat "corn box" that Ashlyn really liked.

Corn can be a lot of fun to play with.

I really like this picture of the two of us.

She loved the wagon.

Taking a ride with our pumpkins. Aren't they big?

It's hard work picking the perfect pumpkin!

She had so much fun!

The best picture I could get of our pumpkins. We were pleased with the way they turned out.