Spring Break

We had another awesome spring break! We went to Arizona and had such a great time! We decided to drive again this year. Ashlyn did great in the car. She watched videos and behaved perfectly. It was hard to remember that we even had a toddler with us! After many long hours in the car, we arrived. We stayed at a hotel this year. Imagine our surprise when we realized that there was a baby pool for Ashlyn! Ashlyn had been talking non-stop about her desire to go swimming in Arizona. She was very excited!

We spent our week relaxing in the great sunshine and having fun! On Monday, we went with my friend Jen and her two kids to the science museum. We had never been there before. The kids had a great time exploring the hands-on exhibits. Afterwards, we stopped at a McDonald's. Because it was in Scottsdale, it was a beautiful McDonald's. They had a HUGE play area that was so nice and clean. We went at an off time and there was no one there. The kids played for a couple hours while Jen and I visited. It was great! Jen's daughter and Ashlyn were referring to each other as friends by the time we left.

One day we went to the mall. We saw the Easter bunny there and there was no line. That never happens at our mall. Ashlyn said she wanted to go. As soon as we got up there, she waved to him. The second I sat her on his lap, she started becoming unsure. She started crying for me. We managed to get a picture of her, but she looked so sad. She has definitely improved from the Santa incidents in the past.

We also got to visit with Jacob, Maya, and Nadia. Ashlyn also had a great time with Nadia. Nadia is about 10 months younger and I think Ashlyn likes being the older one. They even got to go swimming together. They gave each other lots of hugs and kisses. It was too sweet!

We also had a wonderful dinner with my Grandma. There was a lot of company in town that week, so things were a little hectic. I wish we had gotten to spend more time with my Grandma.

Overall, it was a great trip. As usual, it went by way too fast and we didn't get to see everyone as much as we would have liked. Ashlyn loves it down there as much as the rest of the family. She kept us entertained all week. She is talking so much! She says some pretty funny stuff. Her new thing is saying, "Did you hear that?" Ashlyn got to go swimming everyday. That girl is a fish and loves the water. I am thinking of getting a membership to a pool this summer. It would give the two of us something to do.

Spring break was a great preview of the great weather to come. Ashlyn and I are very excited for summer break coming up. A little more than 7 weeks and we get to spend all day together! I can't wait! Getting through these last 2 months will be hectic, but summer break will be here before we know it. I will try to post again after Easter. I am very excited for Ashlyn to get her Easter gifts from the Easter bunny. I hear he is bringing her some great things. I think she will really enjoy the egg hunt too!


In the car with her new sunglasses on.

Trying out the kiddie pool. Isn't it the perfect size?

Her little fish floatie

Getting in the water

She was so excited to be swimming that she wouldn't stay still at all. We really struggled to get any pictures of her face. This is s rare one1

I love this one!!! Really sums up vacation doesn't it?

Sitting at a restaurant

In a playhouse at the museum

She loved playing in this house.

They even had a huge lego table.

Ashlyn in a chair that you used a rope to raise.

Kylan and Ashlyn exploring.

All the kids playing

Ashlyn and I in front of a really pretty Easter decoration.

Having a good time being silly.

Playing at a neat playhouse at the mall.

Getting ready for another swim.

Getting in the water.

Hugging Nadia. So sweet!

We had to make our trip to the train park. In the past we have gone on the train and carousel. This year, we went kind of late and Ashlyn just wanted to play at the park. It was a great night for it!

These slides were really fast!

Climbing on the wall.

Getting ready to go down the slide.

Funny Girl

I don't have any pictures to post right now. I just wanted to update with a few funny things that Ashlyn has said or done lately.

First, her favorite new book is "Goodnight Moon". She asks me to read it every night. She likes to point out the different objects. Her favorite are the "tars". It's too cute!

Next, my daughter is too sweet for words. I tell her at least 100 times a day that I love her. She has started to say, "I love you too Mommy!" Then I say, "I love you more". She responds with, "I love you more Mommy." I say it again, and she finally shouts it as loud as she can. I LOVE it!!! It's very sweet. Today on the way home from daycare, she was holding her beloved Ariel doll. She says to her, "My Ariel is so pretty. My dolly is pretty. I love her. I love her!" It melted my heart! She is just talking soooo well. She amazes me once a day with something she says. Today we heard the garage open. I asked her who it was. She said, "It's Daddy. Let's go check though Mom." It cracked me up!

Since Ashlyn was born, I have thought that she was a lot like my sister. She is very sensitive and kindhearted like my sister. One story that we never let my sister live down, is when she saw the movie "Bambi" as a child. My sister was so upset that Bambi's mom died that she cried for days, literally days! Nothing my parents could would get her to stop crying. Well, Ashlyn had a similar experience the other day. One day before school, Joey decided to play the movie "Lassie" for Ashlyn. She loves animals and he thought she would like it. She really enjoyed the movie and liked it at first. Well, as usually Lassie found herself in some pretty scary predicaments. Of course Lassie was always okay, but poor Ashlyn didn't know that. She started to get very upset. At the end, Lassie gets lost in a river. Ashlyn became hysterical at this point. Lassie reappears a little later, but Ashlyn was inconsolable. Joey was late for work because she was so upset. The funny thing is that she wanted to watch it again that night. It is her new favorite movie. Once she knew Lassie was okay in the end, she is totally fine with it.

I will try to get some pictures up at some point. Like usual, it will be a busy weekend with an even busier week ahead so we will see :)

Valentine's Day Fun

Ashlyn had a wonderful Valentine's day this year. It started on Thursday with her class party. She had worked on signing her princess valentines earlier in the week. Ashlyn got a bag full of valentines from her friends. She loved looking at them. She also got to eat a cupcake! Yum! It was a very simple party, yet she had a lot of fun and I think it was just the right amount for this age.

On Saturday night, we worked on decorating cupcakes. Ashlyn loves helping me cook. The night before, we made a pizza together. She loves sprinkling and stirring things. She also likes to watch the food in the oven. I am sure she will one day be a wonderful cook, since she is a DeLorme! We had a blast making cupcakes and she had even more fun eating one!

On Valentine's Day, I wanted to make it special for Ashlyn. Joey and I HATE Valentine's Day and usually do nothing for it. We decided that we would do something for Ashlyn. Joey had mentioned maybe going out to dinner. Immediately, I thought of lots of crowds and people. I got out my cookbooks and planned a special dinner for us to cook at home. I will admit that it was a little more stressful to cook and clean, but the food was AMAZING and well worth it! We avoided all the crowds. We had wedge salads with homemade ranch dressing, steak, roasted asparagus, and rosemary cream potatoes! We agreed it was just as good if not better than anything in town. For dessert, we had chocolate fondue. Ashlyn loved that!!! She couldn't get enough. She was quite the messy girl when she was done.

All in all, we had a good Valentine's weekend. Joey and I enjoyed getting an extra day to spend with Ashlyn today. It will be hard to go back to work tomorrow :(



The Valentine bag that Ashlyn decorated.

Looking to see what is inside.

Lots of good cards.

She had so much fun looking at all of them.

Ashlyn has lots of friends.

They even got a chance to color pictures for parents.

Yum!!!! Cupcakes are great!

She was loving it.

Joey took a picture of the self-portrait that Ashlyn drew.

Mom and Ashlyn

Family picture

Ashlyn watching the cupcakes cook

Almost done

She did such a good job spreading frosting

She loved helping.

Look at all of those yummy cupcakes.

She had a BLAST sprinkling sprinkles on the cupcakes.

As you can see, she really enjoyed the sprinkles

She was so excited to try one.

Yummy!!!

A picture of the decorations we put up for our special dinner.

We tried to make it festive.

I bought Ashlyn this balloon and she LOVED it! She carried it around all day.

Ashlyn dressed up in her Valentine's day dress

Mommy is making a very funny face.

One last pretty girl picture for Valentine's day.

Ashlyn showing how messy she got from the chocolate fondue.

Back By Popular Demand

I decided that it might be time to blog, since I haven't blogged in a month!!! That is the longest I have ever gone. It saddens me that I am so busy and have so little free time. I use this blog as a "baby book" of sorts and it is going to have some major gaps. I just feel like time is flying by. I'm afraid the next month might be worse with our big state tests coming up at my school.

January was a whirlwind month. It consisted of recovering from the holidays, starting school and work again, a birthday party, a trip to Texas, and much, much more. Even with all of that activity, I just realized we managed to take about 7 pictures of Ashlyn. I have to start taking pictures like crazy again. 7 in one month is horrible!!!!

Ashlyn is growing like crazy again. She is so incredibly verbal. I LOVE it because she can now communicate. She can say "I am hungry. I want to eat cereal". She has been saying "Just a minute" lately, which totally cracks Joey and I up. I don't think there is much she doesn't say at this point! She loves to sing! She sings all day long. Her favorites are ABC's, Old McDonald, and Happy Birthday. She is so aware of others and their feelings. The other day I stubbed my toe, and she immediately ran over and said "You okay Mama? Ashlyn will kiss it and make it better". She was so concerned and it just melted my heart.

Ashlyn continues to love her basement toy room. Her favorite is still her house and her new kitchen. She loves "cooking" for us. She still loves to color and draw. She loves anything involving art. She seems to be pretty creative.

Ashlyn still loves to go to "school". She has a new friend, named Ryan that she is quite close to. She seems to be pretty popular. When I picked her up yesterday, as we walked out the door, several boys said "Bye Ashlyn". I think we are in trouble already!!!!!

That is just a small update of what Ashlyn has been up to lately. I VOW to blog at least every other week. I will also take more pictures. We spent last weekend in Texas, and managed to take 3 pictures of Ashlyn. Below are some random pictures from the last month.


Forgot to turn it, but this is a picture of Ashlyn and I before she went into her party.

Ashlyn having a blast in the bounce house.

She would have spent all day in that thing if we would have let her.

One of Ashlyn's new favorite things to do is feed Alli. She loves to watch her eat too.

How exciting!

Ashlyn enjoying her snacks on the airplane.

Eating at a BBQ place in Texas.