Chuck E. Cheese Fun

      This year we decided to have Ashlyn's kid party at Chuck E. Cheese.  I was a little hesitant to have it at such a crowded and crazy place, however there are few options in this town.  If she had a summer birthday, there would be a lot more choices, but in November we are a bit limited.  I think that it did a good job of living up to its name.  It was VERY crowded, VERY crazy, and VERY loud, and Ashlyn absolutely LOVED it!  I think that all of her party guests had a great time too.  They all go to play games, eat cake, and be wild and crazy kids.  I don't know that we will have another birthday party there, but at least Ashlyn has some great memories.  I think we will stick to going there on weekdays when they first open and we are the only ones there.  

The cupcakes I made her. 

Here is a close-up.  I was so pleased with the way these turned out.  Everybody loved them and they were delicious!

The birthday girl.  I also made her shirt and hair bow.  I was also very pleased with the way those turned out as well.  (I just love it when things turn out as good or better than I vision them!)

Katy, Ella, Brooke, Emma, Dawson, and Me.  Katy and I have been friends with Brooke since kindergarten.  It's crazy that we are now going to each other's children' parties. 

Playing some air hockey.  She was actually pretty good. 

Ashlyn and her best friend Joshua.  They have so much fun together. 

Ashlyn and Caitlyn riding a ride.

They even had a ride for Ella.

Dawson absolutely loved this ride.  It was pretty cute. 

She had such a great time. 

Pizza time!

Emma and her kitty. 

Ashlyn getting to meet the big man.

I posted this picture because her expression is priceless. 

The cupcakes were a hit!



Present time.  She got some great ones!



Cheesing it up at Chuck E. Cheese. 

This was one of the best parts of the party.  As the birthday girl, Ashlyn got to go into the this ticket blaster.  She went into this booth and when they turned it on tickets were flying everywhere.  She had to grab as many as she could in 30 seconds. 

Here she was before she started. 

Here she is in action.

We were concerned that she wouldn't know what to do.  That wasn't a problem!  That second they turned it on, she was a pro.  She was grabbing tickets left and right and doing a great job of holding onto them.  They have large tickets in there that are worth a lot.  She won a total of 700 tickets!!!!  Way to go Ashlyn!!!

Here was Ashlyn on the way home.  Again, I think this means she had a great time!

Friday Funday

       On Friday, Joey took the day off so he could spend a day with just Ashlyn.  Ashlyn was so excited to get a day with just her Daddy.  She started the day by going to school.  Her new school allows for parents to bring in birthday treats.  I was very excited when I heard this.  I immediately started coming up with ideas of what to bring.  We ended up deciding on ladybug cupcakes.  Ashlyn has a thing for ladybugs, so we figured they were a good choice.  Her classmates just loved them and she was so excited that her whole class sang Happy Birthday to her. 

      Joey picked Ashlyn up from school and they headed to the movies.  They went and saw "Puss and Boots".  Ashlyn just loved it and Joey said she laughed through most of it.  She was so excited to tell me about the funny parts that night.  After the movie, they went to a park and played.  Ashlyn had a great time playing with her dad.  After the park they headed home.  Ashlyn literally took a few steps in the door and fell on the ground asleep.  I would say that meant she had one good day!!!

Here are the cupcakes that Katy and I made for Ashlyn's class.

What a big door!

This park has an Alice and Wonderland theme which I think is too cute!

She is such a monkey!

Jumping on the mushrooms.

She found a door more her size. 

She loves to swing.

She's such a happy child.

Love this one!

Ashlyn and her favorite guy in the whole world. 

Joey took a picture of the way she fell asleep.  She slept like that for an hour.  She sure was tired!

Halloween 2011

      We celebrated another great Halloween yesterday.  Ashlyn really, really got into the holiday this year.  From decorating, to pumpkin patches, to carving pumpkins, she loved every single moment of it.  (She was very sad today when I told her I would be taking down the decorations.) I definitely think Halloween may be one of her favorite holidays.  We tried to make the day as special as possible for the kids.  I want my children to grow up with fond holiday memories like I have. 
      We started the day with special Halloween pancakes.  Ashlyn loves pancakes and Joey made them in the shape of witches, pumpkins, and bats.  (I wish I would have gotten a picture).  The weather was absolutely beautiful yesterday.  We were able to go out back and play.  Ashyln and Dawson had a great time riding down the slide together for the first time.  Before long, it was time for our traditional Halloween dinner of a pumpkin pizza.  We don't eat pizza a lot around here, so Ashlyn always enjoys the treat.  She always gets a kick out of the pumpkin face too. 
       After dinner, it was time to get everyone in their costumes.  Being that it was the first year we had two kids, I knew that I wanted them to have coordinating costumes.  After a lot of debating, we finally decided on a dragon and a princess.  They both looked adorable in their costumes.  Ashlyn loved being a princess.  She was going for the Rapunzel look.  I even put some purple eyeshadow on her which she just went crazy for. 
         We went Trick or Treating in Katy's neighborhood like we always do.  Most of the houses pass out candy, and they give great candy.  Ashlyn got 5 full size candy bars!  The weather was nice and Dawson and Ella had a fun time riding in the wagon.  We did a lot of walking.  About an hour in, Dawson and I headed back to Katy's house.  Ashlyn went back out with Joey and Gram.  When they came back she was beat!  We got in the car and she promptly fell asleep.  Joey carried her inside and asked her if she was ready for bed.  She said she was.  We put her in her bed and she slept like a rock all night long!  Trick or Treating really wore our girl out!!!  When she woke up this morning,  we sorted through her candy.  She definitely got some great treats this year!

The pizza we have every year. 

My princess and dragon. He wasn't crazy about the hood at first. 

Mommy and the cutest dragon in the world!!!

Dawson got a total kick out of seeing Ella dressed up.  It was cute.

All of the kids

Ashlyn kissing the dragon

Such a pretty princess Ashlyn was!

She was ready to go!  Notice her long Rapunzel hair.

He loved riding in the wagon.

How they got to ride.

Trick or Treat

This was Ashlyn when she got done.  She looks exhausted!

This was Ashlyn about 3 minutes into the car ride home.

All of her loot!

Dawson at 9 Months

     The 9 month birthday is always a hard one for me.  It signifies that your baby has now been living in the outside world for as long as they lived inside your tummy.  I can't believe Dawson is already 9 months.  He is growing at the speed of light it seems.  He is now into EVERYTHING!  I know I have previously said that, but he really is into everything now.  I have to constantly keep an eagle eye on him because he can get to things rather quickly!
      He has mastered crawling and moving by holding onto furniture.  He loves how his mobility has allowed him to explore his world even more.  He loves to inspect anything he finds very carefully.  He is such a good crawler that he had absolutely no desire to walk at this point.  He can move with a real quickness by holding onto furniture, he just has no desire to let go.  I'm definitely okay with him not walking for a bit :)
      I just discovered this morning that he is getting 4 teeth on the top at once!!!  My poor baby!  Dawson has been doing a great job of sleeping a solid 11-12 hours a night.  I was absolutely loving getting some sleep finally.  But, this week he has been waking up again in the middle of the night.  I attributed it to his cold he has, but I think I now know why.  I hope his teeth come in quickly so we can get back to our normal sleep routine again.
      Dawson continues to love his food.  I can honestly say that there has not been one single food that we have put in front of him that he didn't completely devour.  He just loves to eat.  He really likes yogurt and apples the best.  However, he will eat anything.  He is mainly on table food and we are really enjoying seeing his reaction to trying all kinds of new foods. 
       Dawson continues to be a VERY happy and sweet boy.  He is my little cuddler and loves to be held still.  He also loves to play with Ashlyn and Ella.  As I type this, Ella and Dawson are having a blast playing with each other and their toys.  They are so lucky to have each other as playmates.  Ashlyn continues to be a great big sister.  She loves to do silly things to make him laugh.  He is so happy, it doesn't take much to get a smile or a laugh out of him.  I am just having a great time watching him develop and grow.  I cherish each and every second. 
       Here are some pictures I took of him on his 9 month birthday.  Since it was a few days before Halloween, you will notice a theme with his clothing.  He goes to the doctor next week for his 9 month appointment, and I will post stats after. 

I love his face in this picture!!!  He looks too darn cute!

Trying to figure out what his sister is doing.

They love each other so much!

He puts anything he can get his hands on in his mouth. 

So cute!

Still loves to eat those fingers. 

Closely inspecting the leaf he found.

Pumpkin Carving

She was so excited to carve pumpkins. 

 
     Since Ashlyn had collected so many pumpkins this year, this weekend we decided it was time to do some carving.  Joey was in Texas visiting his brother.  I asked Katy to come over and help.  We made sure to wait until Dawson was in bed to get started.  We picked some easy designs this year as well.  Katy and I were pretty impressed that we managed to get 4 pumpkins completely carved in under and hour!  Ashlyn couldn't really do a whole lot with the pumpkin carving, so she decided to paint a pumpkin.  I got out the paint and she just went to town.  It was very colorful.  The best part was lighting all the pumpkins and getting to see the finished product.  I couldn't get a good picture of the finished pumpkins with my camera, so I didn't post a picture of that. 

She liked looking at the "guts".

Sticking her hand it to see what she found.

Eew!  Gross and slimy!

Showing off the pumpkin seed she found.

Our little artist

She wanted her pumpkin to be colorful.

Look at all those colors. 

What a colorful pumpkin!!!