Life with Emy and Ash

Zoo Fun

2012-01-20T14:29:00.003-06:00

One of the greatest things about Steve's job is that he gets most of the national holidays off just like banks. It is fabulous. Every time the kids are out of school, he is off too. So, earlier this week on MLK day we were able to take a family trip to the zoo. The weather was great. There were no crowds. It was perfect.

We got to use the new wagon that the kids got for Christmas. It was perfect for the zoo! And they loved riding in it together.

All the animals were out and they were frisky too. Every single one was up close for the kids to see.

Ashton was not a fan of feeding the birds. Steve and I thought this was hilarious. We are such good parents. Baby cries and daddy laughs and mommy keeps snapping pictures. And let me tell you that I am chuckling to myself thinking about Ashton's reaction again.

We took a lunch break and Ash got to practice his new favorite pastime...dipping his food. In anything. I will spare you some of his recent combinations.

Snacktime

2012-01-12T22:30:00.003-06:00

Emerson actually took a nap today. That means that Ashton and I had some time alone when he woke up from his nap. I gave him a snack in his room and we played and giggled and it was wonderful. He absolutely adores being around Emerson but he also lights up a little differently when he is alone with you. It was a precious part of my day.

Practice

2012-01-06T22:11:00.002-06:00

Ashton is currently obsessed with brushing his teeth. Of course, he loves it because he wants to be just like Emerson.

In the car

2012-01-06T15:13:00.003-06:00

This is how Emerson and Ashton have been riding in the car lately. Is it not precious? It makes my heart melt.

Please pardon the horrible pictures from my phone.

And this morning on the way in to school, they held hands the entire way. Both of them loved it. I know it won't be this way forever, but it sure is sweet now.

Sharing

2012-01-06T09:30:00.000-06:00

Breakfast Today

2012-01-05T14:38:00.001-06:00

Bed head

2012-01-03T15:33:00.001-06:00

One of my many 2012 resolutions is to be more proactive about taking random pictures of my kids day-to-day. I won't always post a story to go with them because sometimes they don't need a story. And remember, this is my digital scrapbook. To me, pictures are the most important part.

So, for today I leave you with this sweet little boy just up from his nap.

Stats

2011-12-30T16:09:00.000-06:00

I realize I am way behind on posting Ashton well check stats. I know no-one cares about this, but this is my scrapbook and it needs to be here!

I don't think I ever posted the 12month ones, but I can't find them now, so here are his 15 month ones (from a month ago).

23lbs 10oz (36%)
33in (93%)

Long and lean. Just like Emy.

Ashton's first haircut

2011-12-30T09:55:00.000-06:00

This post is really really late. His first haircut was over a month ago. Oops.

I really really delayed Ashton's first haircut because I loved the shaggy hair and curls. I knew that once he had a big boy haircut the curls would be gone forever. I was just not ready yet. But his bangs kept getting in his eyes. And I could not handle that. So, off we went to Cool Cuts.

The woman was so nice and completely understood. She took about an inch off all the way around but still left it shaggy and showed me how to style it to make the curls come back:)

Before:

After:

Christmas 2011 Recap- Part 2

2011-12-29T15:40:00.002-06:00

Christmas day! We went through our family tradition of letting the kids do stockings while we wait for the rest of the family to come over. The kids loved digging through everything.

Family came over about 8:30am and we dug into the presents shortly there after.

Santa brought Ashton a cozy coupe. I knew this would be a hit. I knew Emerson would want it too even though it is not age appropriate. I seriously considered ordering her a pink one to spare myself the arguing. I decided not to. Santa brought her a pink razor scooter instead. She liked it for 5 minutes and then got discouraged. Later that night in the bath I asked her what her favorite gift was. She told me it was the Leap Pad. (Duh!) I asked her what she thought about her scooter. "I don't like it", she said. Plain as day. Awesome. Oh well, hoping that she will grow into it when she has more practice.

Oh, and I have been breaking up lots of fights over the dang car. As expected.

In other big Christmas news, I was in charge of the meal this year. This is a big deal since I am not known for my cooking skills. I was really nervous, but I planned ahead and think it was a success. The food was eaten. Praises were given. And no one got sick!

Stockings!

Inspecting the cozy coupe. You should have seen Ashton run to this thing. It was a hit from the beginning.

First 5 minutes of scooter love.

One of my favorite pictures from Christmas!

A new police car. To go with his police car cozy coupe.

I did not take any pictures of the food. Bummer since I was so proud. At least I got a little table setup.

Gebhardt boys just hanging out. These three have the BEST relationship. I love watching them together.

The pictures abruptly stop after this. I was so worn out after the cooking extravaganza that I became "off duty" the rest of the evening:)

We had a fabulous Christmas and I hope that you did too!

Christmas 2011 Recap- Part 1

2011-12-29T15:20:00.004-06:00

I am seriously behind on blogging. I knew this fall would be insane with the business but insane is an major understatement. Good news is that I survived! Bad news is that I am behind on lots of little things...like blogging. I have several posts to catch up on but I figure I should do Christmas first and then work backward.

I really made an effort to photograph a little more of Christmas with my family. I LOVE photography. Obviously. But I am terrible about catching the everyday moments in my family. Terrible. I am always so worried about making the moments look good. Perfect lighting. Perfect set up. Etc. Well, we all know that real life is just not perfect. I cannot set up my home and children on one permanent photo shoot. Enter one of my 2012 resolutions: Shoot more of the everyday with my kids.

Anyways, I did not to a fabulous job by any means, but I did better. I think.

We had 10 at our house for Christmas. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, kids. It was a zoo. And full of love. And I would not have had it any other way.

All of the family was in town several days before Christmas and several days after. It gave us lots of time to enjoy family and just be together. It was exactly what we all needed this year.

A few days before Christmas, just hanging out outside.

The ONLY picture I am in from the holidays this year.

Seeing the beautiful Chesapeake lights

Emerson and Uncle Scott in front of the Chesapeake tree.

Christmas eve was spent hanging out and playing games.

Of course, Ashton wanted to be where the food was.

All dressed up before Christmas eve service. Clearly Ashton wanted to be in the picture.

Emerson and "Miss Melody". She is Scott's long time girlfriend and praticaly a member of our family. We just love her and Emerson is slightly obsessed.

After Christmas eve service and dinner. A little love from grandmom.

One of my most favorite Christmas traditions is that my grandmother reads the Night Before Christmas to the kids. I made capturing this an absolute priority.

After the kids are in bed. Gifts are assembled. The tree is organized (thanks Scott). Lights out.

Christmas day is in part 2!

Today

2011-11-09T19:50:00.001-06:00

Emerson's 4th birthday party

2011-10-30T13:54:00.004-05:00

Emerson started talking about her 4th birthday over the summer. Seriously. So it has been a long time coming. From the beginning she was very clear about the fact that she wanted a "jump jump" (bounce house) and to be a princess. We decided that it would be a costume party so that her friends could dress up however they wanted but that she would most definitely be a princess.

I was determined to do this party as much on the cheap as possible. Perfect example...I came up with the party colors of pink, purple and orange because I had plates and napkins in those colors already in my pantry as left overs from other events. Done.

The main event at the party was definitely the bounce house. I knew that we needed other activities because everyone would not jump at the same time. I set up pumpkin decorating and halloween color pages for the kids to do. We also had our playset and sandbox all cleaned up a ready to go.

When it came time to send out invites this year I asked Emerson who she wanted to invite. She did pretty good coming up with a list of her closest friends. The list consisted of all girls and two boys (not including baby brothers). This means that at the party we had 6 princesses, 4 fairies, a ballerina, a girl owl, a dinosaur, red iron man and a cute little giraffe. Can you imagine all the tulle and glitter?

The only two little boys at the party did not know each other. They are friends from different circles. The funniest thing happened. One of the boys was jumping and came out of the bounce house. He spots the other little boy sitting at a table and points to him and yells, "Hey, you. Boy. Orange boy. Come in here with me, boy." And the funniest part was that the other little boy totally ran in to play with him. Like they had to stick together amongst all the little girls. It was hilarious.

all dressed up and ready to go

happy to be a giraffe

the kids tables

food table minus the hot dog mummies that were in the oven.

pumpkins to decorate

ashton kept sneaking to the food table to reach up and grab whatever he could.

look at all the tulle!

time to eat.

one friend came in a full sleeping beauty wig. And totally wore it the entire time. It was awesome.

Even the little ones had cupcakes.

had to get a shot of the back of ashton's precious costume. He left the head piece on the entire time like it was no big deal:)

This shot is so funny because this daddy came with two snow whites. One of them stripped off her costume half way through the party so dad stuck it in his back pocket. No big deal.

the sandbox got lots of use.

the playset got lots of use.

Again, the tulle!

and I had to include this sweet picture of Ashton and grandmom.

I realize after going through the pictures that I never got a picture of our precious food creation- hot dog mummies. They were hot dogs wrapped up in breadstick strips with a little face peeking out. It was really cute and the kids ate them up. I also never got a picture of the entire party set up or a family picture of all 4 of us. Oh well. There is always next year.

The most important thing is that Emerson had a blast. We opened presents as soon as everyone left and when she was finished I told her that we would play with them tomorrow but it was time to take a bath. She looked at me with sad eyes and said, "Mommy, I am so tired. Can I just go to bed now?" It was 6:45. And she totally crashed. And slept until almost 8am. I take that as a success.

Happy 4th Birthday Emerson!

2011-10-25T20:36:00.003-05:00

My baby girl turned 4 today. Hard to believe she is already four. Some moments I think it is hard to believe she is only four.

These days Emerson is more like fourteen than four. Except for the tantrums thrown in. Pretty sure teens don't have tantrums. It is amazing to me how mature Emy is most of the time and then how she can flip a switch so quickly and revert back to the terrible twos. When she is being mature and sweet it is so heartwarming and wonderful to see. And then things change. Tis the life of preschooler I guess.

Developmentally, Emy is really into words right now. She wants to spell and practice writing and read a lot. I am so happy that she is interested in those things right now but it is also scary to know that learning them is in my hands.

Emy loves to do anything like an adult. She likes helper jobs, likes to do things herself. Likes to go on "big girl" outings. We painted toe nails purple today for her birthday and she was pumped. When she helps in the kitchen she is thrilled. Loves putting on her clothes and brushing her teeth all by herself. She likes talking on the phone, opening the mail, helping me clean the house and working in the yard. Seriously, when she is helping, she is so content.

Emerson sings almost all day long.

We have been working on scripture memorization over the last couple months. Nothing big, but just spending a couple weeks at a time on different ones. She gets them and can recite them and knows what they mean. I pray that we continue this habit. I believe in the value of hiding God's word in your heart. I am so terrible with scripture memorization and I want it to be something that she is good at.

Emerson loves playing with Ashton. They are at such a good place right now. He is mobile and understands playing games with her and she is enjoying interacting with him. It is so sweet to see.

Emy is trying to give up her nap. She only naps about 2 days a week. The other days she stays in her room and plays quietly for about 2 hours and then goes to bed early on those nights. For the most part, she seems to do just fine on this routine.

Yesterday Emerson celebrated her birthday at school. In the past, birthday celebrations at school consisted of parents coming to eat lunch and special cookies. This year they added wearing a special birthday hat and the entire class singing happy birthday complete with a fake cake and pretend candles to blow out. It was really really cute:)

I "interviewed" Emerson yesterday afternoon. On her last afternoon of a three-year-old. Some of the questions and her answers were:

What is your favorite color? Pink, purple and rainbows
What is your favorite food? Candy and spaghetti
What is your favorite toy? Computers (funny since she does not have one and is not allowed to play on ours)
Who is your favorite friend? Jaylee
What are you most excited about turning four? Getting a computer (seriously, where does she get this!?!?!)

Perfect Day for the Zoo

2011-10-20T21:06:00.004-05:00

Thursday mornings are reserved for the women's bible study at church. I love this adult time and time in the word and I genuinely look forward to it every week. This morning was different. Everyone was out of sorts and I decided I needed some time with my kids. No friends, no teachers, no daddy, no grandparents, no one except mommy and kids. The weather was absolutely perfect so I decided a trip to the zoo was in order.

We have not been to the zoo since last March. I know that does not seem that crazy to most but when you live 10 minutes from the zoo and have a membership, that is a really long time not to go. We have been avoiding it though. Last time we were at the zoo was when the "real" dinosaurs were visiting. Emerson screamed the entire time and made us swear not to take her back until they were gone. Well, they were in town until July and it has just been too hot to visit since then.

Anyways, since we have not been to the zoo in 7 months, this is the first time that Ashton was really aware of what was happening. He absolutely loved it. He pointed and waved at all the animals and just stared. He loved the outdoors, the sounds, the people, the animals. He really took it all in.

Normally I hate to skip stuff. Especially something like bible study, but today it was the right decision. We had such a fantastic time and I really enjoyed my babies. And I wasn't dripping in sweat when we left. So that was a big bonus:) It was a great day.

Pumpkin Patch Birthday

2011-10-09T20:23:00.004-05:00

Hayden's 4th birthday party was at the pumpkin patch was so much fun! It was a little bit of a drive from home but that was okay because we drove out there with Emerson's best girl, Jaylee. These two are so funny together. They held hands the entire time. No lie.

Emerson showing off the pumpkin that she picked out.
Hayden, Emy and Jaylee showing off their pumpkins.

Emerson and Jaylee giggling over how much frosting they had on their faces.

2011 pumpkin patch picture. We have been to this same pumpkin patch before.
I swear that Emerson's favorite thing was taking pictures next to all of the characters. They had every character under the sun. I could not possibly bore you with all of them but trust me she was hilarious running from one character to the next and posing with them. She would not budge until I took her picture. Cute.

The girls ate their party favor candy on the way home and were completely wired. It was nutty.

Thanks for the fun party, Hayden!

Ashton's 1 year Photoshoot

2011-09-17T21:11:00.004-05:00

When you are a photographer, you have really high hopes for pictures of your own kids. Let me just tell you how hard it really is. Super hard.

Well, I had big plans for a birthday shoot for Ashton. I wanted it to be ridiculously cute. A cupcake, banner, amazing backdrop, etc etc. I kept putting it off for one reason or another. I finally did it this past Friday morning.

No cupcake. Too lazy to pick one up at 8am. No amazing backdrop. Again, too lazy at 8am. Other than that, I was still really hopeful. I had cute props, a cute baby and decent weather.
I got one decent shot and then it happened.
The neighbor's kitten came over to play and Ashton was obsessed. And distracted. And obsessed. And what made it worse was that the kitten was obsessed with him too. Totally kept playing and getting close and loving all over Ash. He is such an animal lover that he could not get enough.

It was actually pretty cute. Except I had a vision. And this was not it.

I finally gave up on the "theme" stuff and we did an outfit change and a scenery change. That helped a little.
Except now in the front yard we have the kitten (who was following us) and now the excitement of cars and trucks passing by.

At least I got one of Ashton's famous "OOoo" face:)

Emerson's First Dance class 2011

2011-09-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

One of the big discussions this summer was whether Emerson wanted to take dance class again this year. I did not want to be one of those parents who just assumed that she liked it and signed her up for something that she was not interested. With that in mind, I asked her several times, "Emerson, did you like taking dance class last year? Do you want to take it again this year?"

The strange thing was that every time I asked her, I got a different answer. Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Sometimes she was not sure. It was really strange. She seemed to love dance last year. She certainly loved the recital and she has talked about it positively since May...so what was the problem?

Finally, I explained myself..."Emerson, I need to know whether or not you want to take dance class. Whatever you decide it fine with me but I need to know whether or not to sign you up. You need to make a decision."

She responds with "I don't want to take dance". Hmmm...I pushed a little farther, "Emerson, I thought you like dance last year. I thought you liked your recital. How come you changed your mind? Why don't you want to take dance again?"

"Mommy, I don't like wearing pins in my hair."

Aha!

So, with promises of no bobby pins this year, Emerson is thrilled to be back in dance class at the same studio and with the same instructor.

Think she was excited?"Okay mom, I gotta go..."
And the special sticker that she got at the end of class....

Ashton's birthday in the park

2011-09-14T08:45:00.003-05:00

Ashton's actual birthday was on Labor Day. Since everyone had the day off we met at the park with friends to have lunch, cookie cake and play.

Dear Ashton

2011-09-11T21:42:00.003-05:00

(A little belated....)

Dear Ashton,

I cannot believe that you are a year old. You have absolutely been such a blessing to our family. When I found out we were having another baby I was so unsure how I would love another child but it has been simply been amazing to see myself fall madly in love with you. Maybe it is the mother-son bond, maybe it is your adorable hair or the way you giggle but whatever it is, I cannot get enough of you.

This year went by so incredibly fast. I tried my best to cherish the everyday moments with you. I snuggled you a lot and got down on the floor to play with you a lot and just enjoyed watching your personality grow. And what a sweet personality you have. Ashton, you have such a kind heart. You love to snuggle, give kisses and share your things. And it is precious to watch you do all of those things.

While you have a precious personality you also have a very fun side. You love to be tickled, play chase and copy cat games. And oh my goodness, you are such a boy. You love to play in dirt, eat bugs and you already have an obsession with the toilet. Seriously, every moment that I turn away from you the first place you go is to the bathroom!

Ashton, I love you so much and have loved every moment of this year. Happy Birthday sweet boy.

Under Quarantine

2011-09-04T20:24:00.003-05:00

Well, here we are on the eve of Ashton's first birthday and we are on day 6 of his quarantine. No lie. You see Ashton woke up with a fever and cold like symptoms on Tuesday morning. And Wednesday morning. And Thursday morning. At that point we went to see the pediatrician.

As the doctor was looking him over, nothing exciting happened...until he looked in Ashton's throat. A long and drawn out, "OOOOhhhh" was his remark. That is not a remark that you want to hear from your doctor. The pediatrician informed me that Ashton had several rather large sores in his throat and that he had the hand-foot-mouth virus. Fabulous.

He then continued to tell me all about it and specifically how long it would/could last. I was warned that Ashton could have a fever for 10 days! That he would be contagious up to 3 days AFTER the fever was gone! And that he would likely get sores on the outside of his mouth and on his hands and feet. Other than the sores in his throat and the discomfort of a long-term fever, Ash would be fine.

Perfect timing for the first week of school and the day before we are supposed to visit family in Houston. So, in an instant our entire weekend was flipped upside down.

This is Ashton on Friday morning. He woke up with his right eye swollen and red and a sore on his lip and a few on his chin. This picture does not do the pitiful-ness justice, poor guy looked like he had been beat up.
Despite this crazy virus, Ashton has been in rather good spirits all things considered. He was finally fever free today so I am hopeful that he will be at school for his first day on Wednesday. Fingers crossed.

And praise the Lord, everyone else in the family is healthy and in the clear.

Emerson's first day of school 2011

2011-08-31T20:20:00.003-05:00

Today should have been the first day of preschool for both Emerson and Ashton. Unfortunately, Ash has had a questionable fever for two days. So, he stayed home with me while Emy went to school.

This year Emerson is in a three's class. This marks a couple of big transitional steps. First, the classes now have 13 students and two teachers compared to 5-7 students and 1 teacher. Second, the parents no longer walk the kids into their class. Now I drop Emy off at the door and her cubby is in the hallway. These are both things that UCC does to prepare the kids for kindergarten(!) Inhale. Exhale. Breath.

Emerson has 3 friends in her class this year- Ethan, Ashley and Adelaide. I was really thankful for the familiar faces to help with the transition into a new classroom.

Speaking of friends, in the past couple weeks, Emerson has started on this "girls only" thing. As in, she won't play with boys. It is really quite obnoxious. She is even this way to her friends that are boys. Seriously, the "girls rule" thing is already starting? At 3.5? Where do they get this stuff from? And how can I nip it in the bud?

Despite Emerson not being into playing with boys right now, she still adores Ashton. As in, won't-stay-out-of-his-personal-space adores him. Oh well. Soon enough the roles will reverse and he will be annoying her. Tis the life of siblings:)

Hopefully Ashton will be well enough for school next week and I can snap "first day of school 2011" take 2.

Ashton's First Birthday Party

2011-08-30T14:37:00.004-05:00

Ashton won't be one for 6 more days but we had his party this past weekend. It was small- just family and a couple close friends- but it was hot so we got out the pools and set up ghetto waterpark in our backyard. The kids had a blast and stayed cool and when the adults couldn't take it anymore, we all came in to play a little longer.

For Ashton's party, I decided to plan it using his favorite snack as a theme- goldfish! It was really cute and easy to work with. I found adorable invites on etsy that were blue and orange and just ran with it.

Here is the super ghetto set up. We had 3 large pools, a baby pool and a splash pad thing. Oh, and did I mention that we only had 7 kids there? Ha!

Here is the goodie table. The adorable banner was made by my friend Beth at Love, September. She also made Emerson's.

The snacks were easy! Did you know they make a ton of different flavor goldfish? I only bought about half of the flavors.

Close up of the cake. Turned out so cute...especially since it was $3.99 from Kroger!

My little tradition for my kids is to have all the guests sign it and then I put a picture from the party on the sheet. I put it in a frame and hang in their room. Although, Emerson is getting quite a collection of these...thinking I need to rotate some out and put the others into a scrapbook.

Family picture before the party.

Despite the 106 degree heat, Ashton was more interested in playing out of the water than in it.

He just wanted to crawl around everywhere with the occasional few steps thrown in.

This is what he ended up looking like most of the time. Such a boy.

We found one way to keep him cool in the water. Feed him snacks.

Emerson had fun playing with her friends.

Cake time.

A little unsure.

Emerson keeping a close eye on things.

Ahhh. Now he has it figured out.

Nice and messy.

Ashton thoroughly enjoyed cake and his party. It was a success!

Ashton in the kitchen

2011-08-11T08:08:00.001-05:00

A few random pictures of Ashton the other day that were too cute not to post. Sorry for the terrible lighting...my kitchen is a dungeon.

Ashton really likes to watch the washing machine when it is running. It is so cute because if I start washing clothes while he is playing in the kitchen, he crawls over to it really fast to watch.

Playing with some of his books.

Hi "new face" that I just adore!

Ashton is 11 months old!

2011-08-10T14:55:00.004-05:00

I have started getting RSVP's for Ashton's party. Insert sobbing here. How has this happened? I have made a good conscious effort to enjoy the baby parts of Ashton because I knew that it would go by all too fast...But already? Insert more tears here.

Deep breath. Moving on...Ashton is 11 months old and so much fun! He is such a delight. Everyone that meets him just adores him. He is smiley, chatty, playful, silly and LOVES to eat!

He has started holding things up to his ear to "talk" on the phone. It is precious. Here he is using his monkey to "talk on the phone". I told you it was cute!

Ashton loves playing copy-cat games with anyone that is wiling. His favorite thing to do (other than eat) is to play chase. He doesn't mind whether you are chasing him or he is chasing you...He enjoys it just the same either way. It is so cute because the entire time you are being chased he is just cracking up.
Oh, and his laugh! It is the cutest sweetest sound in the entire world! I wish I could bottle it up and keep it forever.
Ashton is still not walking but in the past week or so has done a little bit of independent standing. He is such a stinker...if he is holding on to something in each hand and not paying attention he will stand alone for the longest time. Until he realizes that he is standing, then he quickly sits down.
For record keeping sake, Ashton still gets 4 bottles a day. Three of them are basically at meal times and then one little one at bedtime. We are in the process of getting rid of the bedtime bottle so that we can then move on to cutting out the bottle all together. I want to start that project early after what happened with Emerson!

Ashy is totally off baby food and will eat whatever the rest of us are eating for dinner.

He still only has his two bottom teeth.

He is wearing 9-12mo clothes and size 3 diapers.

I am absolutely head over heels in love with him and can't believe that he is almost one. I don't know if it is just the infamous mother/son bond thing, but if I am having this hard a time with his first birthday coming up...what am I going to do when he goes off to college? Or (gasp) gets married?
Speaking of growing up too fast...Seriously, how grown up does Emerson look in this picture? She is changing so fast too! That deserves a post of its own though:)

Ashton's new face

2011-07-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

Ashton is 10 months!

2011-07-13T20:34:00.004-05:00

Well, technically I am 8 days late. At least I still took the picture. I will tell you what it has been a miracle that I have gotten all these photos taken. It really isn't as easy as it seems. And I take pictures for a living. Anyways....

Ash is 10 months and I am beside myself. I ordered his birthday invitations today. We are having his party a week early so that means it is NEXT MONTH! My heart is breaking into a million little pieces. My baby. Sigh.

Ashton is just so much fun. And a complete mess all at once. He is all over the place. And I truly mean all. over. the. place. And he isn't walking yet. I have a feeling that will come very soon.

He loves to eat table food. Loves to play with Emerson. Loves to dance. Loves his bath. And LOVES when daddy comes home.

Beach Trip 2011

2011-07-11T21:19:00.006-05:00

We went to the beach again this summer. This fun trip with friends and family is officially an annual tradition. And we totally plan to keep it up year to year. Just like last year we traveled with two other families, their kids and each family had a set of grandparents. It makes for a big group and lots and lots of fun! We stayed at a new place this year that was on the beach but also had swimming pools. It was a nice change of scenery for the kids (and adults).

I took way too many pictures to edit or post so I will just post a few (in random order)...

Ashton floating in the ocean (don't worry- Steve was right next to him!).
Looking for sea shells
Ashton's hair reacted to the humidity just like mine does:)
Playing in the pool early in the morning.
Trying to get a beach picture of my kiddos together.
Swimming with grandmom

I know this picture is random, but it is just to show you that all the people and kids in this shot are with our group....And at least 8 people were not in the picture!
Emerson and Jaylee being silly.

Ashton liked the sand

All the big kids worked on a sandcastle
Each night of the trip, a different family cooked dinner for the entire group. This is the kids table one night. (I have no idea why Emerson is raising her hand).
Looking for more sea shells.
Emerson floating with daddy on the lazy river
Emerson and Jaylee up to something

Our family picture (please pardon my crazy beach hair!)This is Ashton's first reaction to the ocean...not happy at all.
This was Ashton just before getting in the ocean for the first time... All smiles.
I love this picture. This was the bridge from our condo to the beach. We walked it several times a day. Check out Emy's derby-worthy hat and frilly bathing suit. She thought she was pretty hot stuff that morning.

That is a very, VERY brief overview of the trip. I am hoping to post more later. Especially since several people are not even pictured...Hayden, Grandad, most of the adults, Parker, etc...

Anyways, you get the point. It was lots of fun and very busy. We are glad to be home and get back into some sort of a routine.

Today

2011-06-24T19:59:00.003-05:00

(This is the reaction I got when I pulled a roly poly bug out of his mouth)

(This is the reaction I got when I told a knock-knock joke using the word "poopy" to get her to laugh)

The quality of this picture is terrible because the lighting was bad, but the moment was too sweet to pass up. Emy was playing patty-cake with Ashton after he ate. He was laughing and squealing with excitement. It was so sweet.

Pool Fun & 9mo stats

2011-06-23T09:44:00.004-05:00

Lots of pool fun so far this summer. Emy had splash playdate with friends from school. All the girls climbed in this tiny pool at the same time. It was adorable listening to their giggles.

Ashton loves this little splash mat thing we have. He hated it at first, but now he goes nuts when he sees daddy setting up. He goes to town in it. And loves watching Emerson play with him.

And because I forgot to post them earlier, his 9 month stats are as follows:

20lbs 2oz- 42%
29.5in- 85%

Splish Splash

2011-06-22T21:46:00.004-05:00

It was bound to happen someday. I was putting dishes away from lunch and head a splash. I knew what the sound was before Emerson even came running to tell me.

Ashton had tipped over Toby's water bowl and was playing in the mess.

By the sound of the splashing, I could tell Ash was having fun. So, being the super practical mom that I am, I grabbed the camera before the towels:)

And in other Ashton news, this is the cute face that he makes when he is concentrating. It is precious. Glad I finally caught it on camera.

Ashton is 9 months old!

2011-06-07T15:39:00.006-05:00

Ashton is 9 months. I have actually started thinking about his first birthday party. Crazy.

I put him in his crib this morning to take his monthly picture like every other month. Ashton wanted no part of sitting and smiling for the camera. You see, he is now a boy on the move. As of last week he is officially a crawler. And a puller-uper. And apparently fearless. This boy will be standing and holding on to something and he totally tries to show off by letting go. He is no where near walking yet but he still tries to be a tough guy. This ends in him falling on his face every single time, but he still tries none-the-less.

In other news, Ashton finally has TWO teeth! Whew, I thought they would never come. He really likes to show them off too. If you say, "Look at Ashy's big boy teeth" he just scrunches up his face and gives you a big open mouth grin. It's cute.

Lately he also likes to "dance" with Emerson. I am going to try to get it on video because it is hilarious. At least we think it is.

His 9 month well check is Friday morning, so I will have stats to post then.

Emerson's first purchase

2011-05-25T13:49:00.003-05:00

Emerson has been really into money lately. I have been waiting for the appropriate moment to make a teachable experience out of money. That moment finally came this past weekend. We had a huge garage sale. Emerson picked out some toys to sell (more like mommy picked them out). I told her that the money she made from her toys sales she could take and use to buy a new toy. She really liked that idea.

The garage sale came and went. And was a huge success. I decided that instead of giving her the actual profits from her toys it would be easier to just do a nice round number. So, I gave her $10. We took that money to Target. In her purse. Which she held tightly the entire time.

We cruised up and down the toy aisles. She pointed out many things that she wanted. Most of which were way too expensive. (What can I say, she has mommy's taste). Anyways, after about 20 minutes of looking and debating and looking and debating, Emerson selected a new baby doll. The exact same baby that she already knows and loves. Just a different color. I am not lying.

I tried telling her that it was the same baby she already had but she was adamant. Fine. No arguing from me. There are much worse things that she could want. So, we walked to the register and Emerson made her very first purchase. All by herself. We opened the new baby as soon as we got into the car and Emy named her baby Ally.

The cutest thing about the entire experience was that when we were walking back to the car with her purchase, Emerson kept telling me how excited baby Ally was to finally have a mommy and that she was so tired of sitting on that shelf all alone:)

Without further adieu, meet baby Ally.

Emerson Before and After

2011-05-22T09:36:00.003-05:00

For several months Emerson has been telling me that she wanted "short hair like mommy's" for summer. So, we have been planning to get a big haircut after her dance recital was over. In my mind, I have been super excited about the change but a little worried with how Emerson would react to not having her long blonde locks anymore. Afterall, she did constantly twirl and play with her hair in addition to looking in the mirror and saying that she loved her long hair like rapunzels.

Anyways, we went to the hair place on Thursday and when the girl was finished cutting her hair, Emy looked in the mirror and said, "I LOVE my short hair, mommy!". I was so thankful that it was a success and not traumatizing. Every day since her hair cut, she has told us several times that she loves her short hair. She also tells all her friends that they need to get haircuts like hers. It is pretty cute.

Before
After!

And her "official" dance picture from this year:)

Emerson's First Dance Recital

2011-05-15T21:27:00.003-05:00

It took me a long time to fall asleep Friday night. I laid in bed worrying about how Emerson would do at her first dance recital the next morning. I was not worried about her messing up the routine or anything like that, I was concerned with how she would react to being on stage in front of so many people. And how I would react to her reaction.

While I did want her to do well, I am not a crazy pageant mom. I did not drill her on the routine for months. I did not put her hair in rollers and mess with putting mascara on her tiny eye lashes. It was nothing like that. Basically, (as I told many of you earlier) I was going to consider anything other than standing on stage, crying a success.

We woke up Saturday morning as usual. Steve took Ashton to my in-laws house so that Emy and I could concentrate on getting ready. We did light make up. Put hair into a ballerina bun with only minor complaints about the bobby pins. Got to use hairspray (a favorite of emy's). Most importantly Emerson finally got to wear the coveted recital costume that had been hanging in mommy's closet for several months.

We got to the church and there was a lot of hustle and bustle with all the girls being dropped off. I took some pre-show pictures of Emy and with Emy (only to accidentally delete them later- still makes me sick to think about!). She was excited all morning. Then I had to sign her in and drop her at the door. And she hesitated. I almost broke down in tears right there. I knew it was going to be a long morning. Almost 3 hours in a room with 50+ other girls, no food and no mommy. Yikes.

Her class performed their ballet routine 4th and their tap routine somewhere towards the end- 18th I think. Anyways, after the 3rd group finished their routine, the lights went out and Emerson's class walked on stage. I had to swallow back the lump in my throat. Nothing had happened yet and I was almost in tears. The lights came up and she did AMAZING! Not only were there no tears but she smiled! And danced! And did so great! I could not have been more proud.

Emerson's sweet little friend Hayden, came and watched the entire show just so he could give her flowers and a hug when it was over. So cute:)
This is what kind of picture I got after the show. She was completely SPENT. Seriously, I haven't seen a breakdown from exhaustion like that in a long time.
Anyways, I can't explain all the thoughts and emotions that I experienced Saturday. Seeing your little girl be so brave and get on stage in front of hundreds of strangers and show off something that she learned is indescribable. The pride is overwhelming. Seeing the pride in her eyes is even more overwhelming.

We have since recovered from the lack of sleep (By the way, Ashton did amazing considering his schedule was completely messed up) and over-stimulation and are ready for the summer. I am not sure if Emerson will want to take dance again next year. I have a feeling she will but I will leave that decision up to her.

Serious cuteness

2011-05-15T21:23:00.002-05:00

In my humble opinion, Ashton could not get much cuter. Oh my word, I am just head over heels for this little guy.

We took some cars to TCU the other day and this is what I walked away with...capturing my little boy really discover cars for the first time. My heart melts.

Ashton is 8 months old

2011-05-11T14:56:00.000-05:00

Well, he actually turned 8 months a week ago. Oops.

Anyways, at 8 months he has added clapping to his list of accomplishments. If you start clapping and saying, "Yay Ashton" he will start smiling and clapping and look at you with wide eyes as if thinking, "I don't know what I did but this is fun!". It is so cute.

He really, really wants to crawl. He will get onto all fours and just rock. If he sees toys far off he will go from sitting to all fours and then the will reach out with one arm for it. I would not be surprised if we are only days away from mobility. I am not ready for that.

Still no teeth.

He loves to eat. As long as their is food in front of him, he will not stop. The other evening he had his bottle and his serving of baby food. Then we left him in the high chair while we ate dinner and cleaned up. In the same sitting he polished off a ton of "puffs", a quarter of an avacado and half a sippy of water. I seriously thought he would throw up. Emerson did too. She kept saying, "Ashy stop eating. You are gonna frow up."

We are pretty much in a daily routine now. He takes two naps. One around 9am and it is usually a little over an hour. Then there is another nap around 1pm and its length fluctuates. Good days it is 1.5 to 2 hours. Bad days it is 30 minutes. The short naps make for long evenings!

And just because this post is entirely about Ashton, here is his reaction to playing in the baby pool for the first time.
Think he liked it? As sad as his reaction was, it was also pretty funny. Don't worry, we didn't leave him in there. I ended up holding him while Emerson played in it with her babies.

Emerson lately

2011-05-03T07:39:00.002-05:00

I haven't written anything about what Emerson is up to lately. Since I am playing catch-up, I thought this would be a good time.
As Emerson is getting closer to 4 she is getting so much more mature. It never ceases to amaze me.

Emy is going through another growth spurt. She is eating us out of house and home as well as being back to her traditional long afternoon naps.

Her first dance recital is coming up in a couple weeks. It will be the true test of if she really likes dance or not. So far, I have not been able to get a true reading. Her opinion changes daily. I am also interested to see how she does on stage in front of a huge audience. I am expecting tears. Anything better than that I will consider a success.

Emerson is more in love with Ashton every day. She is constantly asking to play with him. And the thing about it is that she plays appropriately. Meaning she plays at his level and not hers. She plays peek-a-boo and his musical toys. And he absolutely loves it.

Every night when Emy kisses Ash good night, she says the same thing, "Night night Ashy. I love you. I will be here when you wake up so we can play." Sigh. Melt my heart.

We have been talking to Emerson about the swim lessons that she is going to take this summer. You see, she hates having water in her face or eyes. I mean hates it. To the point of screaming in the bath. Anyways, lately when she cries in the bath we have been saying, "Emy what are you going to do when you take swim lessons this summer? You will have to put your face in the water then." Her response every single time? "No I won't. I will just wear a mask." She is in for a shock when she finds out this is not true.

I recorded the royal wedding on Friday and told Emerson that she could watch it after school. She could not get over the fact that it was a real prince and princess. Her eyes were glued to the tv and she kept saying, "The princess is soooo pretty, mommy".

She is really into kicking the soccer ball with daddy. I know Steve has a lot to do with this but she loves it so much. Soccer might be in her near future.

Emerson talks about what she wants for her birthday (that is 6 months away) almost everyday. The latest thing on her list of wants is money. To clarify, I asked her what she would do with the money. She told me that she would buy toys but that she wanted to ask for money so that she could buy the toys. Great, let the shopping addiction begin. At the age of 3.

We have recently discovered that in addition to her cantaloupe allergy, she cannot eat watermelon. Not sure if it is a full blown allergy or just an intolerance to it. Either way, it is out of the diet.

Well, that is all that comes to mind at the time being. Sorry for the randomness...just wanted to make sure that I get these bits and pieces down before I forget them:)

When daddy is in charge...

2011-05-02T08:35:00.002-05:00

This is what Emerson ends up wearing. Please notice all the details and take this in. Tshirt from China that is a size too small. Check. Plaid shorts that are a size too big. Check. Cowboy boots. Check. Clippies in hair that don't match either. Check.

Yes, my child looks like she could be homeless. This is what happens when daddy is in charge. Good thing she loves "Daddy days". I guess I can overlook the homeless clothing because having fun with daddy is all that matters.

Easter Recap

2011-05-01T20:12:00.006-05:00

I am obviously playing catch up on the blog since I have not posted anything in a couple weeks. That being said, I will start with our Easter recap. Let's just say that Easter did not go the way I had hoped.

Saturday, Emerson and Steve dyed Easter eggs. Emy was so excited.

She can't wait to see the finished product!
Ooooo, pretty!
Patiently waiting on the rest.
Look at my pretty egg.
Finished eggs. Emerson was very pleased with herself. After naptime we took the eggs one step farther and glittered them. She thoroughly enjoyed that part too.
Saturday night, I woke up to the sound of Steve in the bathroom. Throwing up. Awesome. He came back to bed and told me it was just something he ate and that he was fine. Wrong. Steve woke up Easter morning still feeling terrible and had a fever.

He sequestered himself to our bedroom for the day and we tried to go on with Easter without him. Thank goodness my grandmother was here to help with the kiddos. I made the executive decision not to take the kids to church. I hated not going but I just could not handle the thought of spreading germs to others or someone else getting sick while we were at church.

When I told Emerson that we could not go to church because daddy was sick her biggest concern was that she was not going to get to wear her Easter clothes. I told her not to worry, that she would still get to wear her pretty dress while we hunted eggs later that morning.

Here are the kiddos for their Easter 2011 picture.
After the "official" pictures were taken we went out back to see what the Easter bunny had left. Here is Ashton checking out his Easter basket. (wearing the same bunny ears that sister did on her first Easter).
Emy hunting eggs with her new basket that is almost as big as she is.
Watching sister hunt for eggs. Mainly because she was squealing with joy at every egg she found. Even when she found Ashton's eggs. She would scream, "Ashy, I found an egg for you...look!" It was really cute.
Emerson checking out the contents of her egg.
Ashton checking out his egg.
Tasting his egg.
One of the two times that Steve came out of the bedroom on Easter. He didn't want to miss the egg hunt. He stayed on the opposite side of the yard from us. It was really side.
We finished off the day with a traditional Easter dinner. It was definitely not the same without Steve. We missed him but he stayed in bed and slept and was much better on Monday. Thank goodness.

Ash's new face

2011-04-18T21:30:00.003-05:00

Here is Ashton's new face. Steve calls it his "bitter beer" face. I have been trying to catch it on camera for a few days and finally succeeded.

Just for comparison, Emy used to make the same face. Here she is at about 9 months.

It can be hard having a big sister

2011-04-16T20:46:00.004-05:00

I am so behind on posting pictures of Emy and Ash. I am hoping to get caught up this week. This particular picture, however, was too funny and could not wait.

Apparently, it can be hard having a big sister.

Ashton is 7 months old!

2011-04-06T19:05:00.004-05:00

Ashton is 7 months old. He is super, super fun right now. I know I have said it several times before, but he is such a happy baby.

He is finally sleeping through the night (although not currently because he has a cold).

He is really trying to get on all fours. He wants to crawl so bad.

Ashton loves to sit and be surround by his toys. He is content playing by himself for several minutes at a time. This has been so helpful when dealing with big sister.

When Emerson cries, he knows something is wrong and he will look around the room with this really pout-y lip. If someone does not respond right away he starts to cry too.

Ashton still does not have any teeth. I am starting to think that he will be a perpetual teether.

He loves to play

2011-03-30T21:45:00.006-05:00

Ash is really getting big and loves playing with his toys. Look at this happy face (and the chin full of drool).

This particular book seems to be a favorite right now- both for looking at and chewing on. It was also Emerson's favorite. Needless to say, it is about to fall apart.

This blue basket is filled with Ash toys. Emerson likes to make sure that they are all dumped out and surrounding him at all times. If we change rooms, she drags all the toys with us. If we go outside, the basket comes too. She is such a good big sister...just trying to keep Ash happy.Look at his precious hair. It is coming in so good. I just love it!
Baby push-ups are the cutest. Again, notice the precious hair:)
(Please pardon the onesie that is clearly too short for him)

Doesn't get much cuter, does it?

Sunday morning

2011-03-21T15:17:00.004-05:00

Sunday morning before church, Emy and Ash did some snuggling on the couch. Emerson was holding Ash on her tummy like a little mommy would. She couldn't get enough of him. It was adorable.

Today when we got home from school, Ash was sitting in his bouncy seat and Emy was entertaining him. She started counting in spanish and Ashton thought it was hilarious. He was belly laughing over and over. He can't get enough of her either.

The love it definitely mutual.

Ash in a rocking chair

2011-03-18T21:41:00.004-05:00

Ash wore his first Polo shirt today. Personally, I think this is a memorable milestone for little boys. I had to capture the cuteness.

This rocking chair sits in Ashton's room. He sat in it for the first time today. He was really proud of himself. He sat so tall and just kept looking around like, "Hey, look at me!".

Look at these precious feet. Are they not the cutest?

Trying to figure out how to get the handle into his mouth. Typical.

Happy St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T16:11:00.002-05:00

We are decked out in our green for St Patrick's Day. I normally skip this one, but holidays are a big deal to kids and it gave us something to focus on. We also took advantage and made green cookies. Emy really liked making them and licking the bowl. She is also not napping today. Could be related. Oh well, that just means early bedtime for all!

Could you not just eat him up????

Look at the way she is looking at him. She loves him so much and it shows!

Official 6 month pictures

2011-03-16T21:27:00.004-05:00

I took Ash outside today to try to get some cute 6 month pictures...I put him in his precious "work shirt" from his dedication. It was his first time to sit in grass and he was definitely more interested in feeling it and watching the cars drive by than he was in taking pictures. Despite his distraction, he still looked absolutely precious.

checking out the grass

watching cars

2011-03-09T20:27:00.002-06:00

Guess who is 6 months old?
I have no idea how that happened. Do you?
At 6 months, Ashton is absolutely precious. I mean it. I could just eat him up. Every single day. He is such a super happy baby and a pure joy to our family.

His 6 months stats are:
Weight 17lbs 1oz - 42% (percentile is still falling...he is gonna end up long and lean like sister)
Height 28"- 92%
Ashton's favorite things at 6 months are:
-Eating. Especially puffs and mum mums. I think he got mommy's sweet tooth.
-Chewing on anything and everything
-Watching our cat. He goes absolutely nuts when he sees our cat come near him
-Standing up
-Sitting up on his own
-Playing in the exersaucer
-Listening to someone sing or read to him
-"talking". He is seriously so loud. It is like yelling all the time. Emy is constantly telling him to talk quieter or turn his volume down. :)

Other stuff to note for record keeping sake...Ash has only slept through the night once. He has come really close a handful of other times. I think we are almost there. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Ashton still does not have any teeth.

He can only roll toward his left when on his tummy or back. He has never rolled to his right.

Ashton's hair is coming in really good. It looks like it will be a light brown instead of the super blonde that Emerson has.

Ashton's Dedication

2011-03-07T15:58:00.005-06:00

This past Saturday was Ashton's dedication at our church AND his 6 month birthday. (Remember Emerson's dedication here). Steve's parents came into town to celebrate with us. Poor Ash kinda got the shaft compared to Emerson...a lot of people could not make it and we did not have a party or cake like we did for Emy. Oops. Luckily he did not know the difference and I am certain he enjoyed it all the same.

Let me just say that Ashton looked so stinkin' cute! I did not get a good full body shot to show off his outfit so you will just have to trust me on this. He had on little khaki's and a yellow and blue striped "work shirt" as Emy called it. Over that was a white Polo sweater vest (thanks Amy). Seriously, I could have eaten him up. Cutest ever.

Still teething

Emy and "Gamin"

I love how Emerson is leaning in to Ashton. She did it totally unscripted. Doesn't it look just like she is taking a sorority pic? Cute!

And because I laugh every time I see it, here is Emerson as a pirate:) She was making a ton of hilarious faces being a total goof and I caught this one perfectly!

We had a great weekend celebrating the very special event. Next up, Ashton's 6 month statistics:)

Possibly the cutest thing you have ever seen

2011-03-03T15:03:00.003-06:00

Ash is doing so good sitting all by himself. He can do it for a long time before he starts to really lean and then inevitably tip over. He was pretty proud of himself sitting in this chair all by himself (don't panic, my arm was outstretched toward him and just out of view the entire time).

It is also noteworthy that he finally slept through the night last night! Praise the Lord! I am sure that I have just jinxed myself and that he won't again for a while, but I don't care. I am shouting from the rooftops that I finally got an entire night's sleep. It was awesome.

We went to the zoo yesterday and this was Ash. He was so cute. Just watching the big kids have so much fun (and listening to his sister cry and scream the entire time) tuckered him out:)
I can't believe that he is going to be 6 months old in just a few days. Seriously, is that really possible?

In the backyard

2011-02-26T20:59:00.002-06:00

Now that spring is here and the weather is better all I want to do is get the kiddos outside. I feel like we have been cooped up forever!

Here is Ash in the backyard this afternoon. He was watching Daddy toss the ball with the dog.

Look who is trying to sit up all by himself?

Sick Day

2011-02-24T20:31:00.002-06:00

Today is fever day number 3. That means we stayed home and in our pajamas. We played with toys.
Had a princess party.
Played games.
And painted.
We also watched Toy Story 3 and did lots of snuggling.

While her demeanor was better than yesterday she gave more specific complaints today..."my throat hurts mommy". "My chest hurts when I cough". "I'm hot"...etc. My prediction is that she will be worse tomorrow. Either way, we will have another sick day at home since she is still not fever free and can't go to school.

New business and my little model

2011-02-22T22:21:00.004-06:00

Emy helped me scout a new location for my new business venture. You can check it out here. (The site is just barely up and has not been filled with information yet- I have a lot of photos to download so stay tuned)

She had a blast (if you can't tell!)

This location was super fun because within a 50 foot radius it had railroad tracks, a pond, benches, trees and graffiti. I can't wait to get out there again when everything is in bloom.

Emy at the table

2011-02-21T22:20:00.003-06:00

The entertainment never stops. Not even long enough to eat a meal:)

Playing outside

2011-02-18T21:01:00.004-06:00

The weather has been so warm this week and we finally had time to play outside today. It was nice to get a break from being cooped up inside. Emy loved picking all the "flowers" aka weeds. Ash loved listening to all the outdoor sounds.

Mommy liked getting to shoot outside too. Too bad that within the next hour both kids were screaming at nap time. Sigh...Tis the life of a mommy.

Oh and just because I have no other place to put these little nuggets, here are the latest Emy-isms...

1. While coloring one day Emerson was drawing a bunch of circles ("curcles"). I asked her what all the circles were and she replied with, "I don't know. Maybe raccoons. Or maybe spaceships."

2. The other day Emerson had a fabulous lunch to her standards- chicken nuggets, applesauce and potato chips. While eating she mentioned how much she loves applesauce. I agreed with her and asked her if she knew what applesauce was made from. Her response, A long pause. I said again, "What do you think APPLEsauce is made from?" Emy says..."Maybe corn?". Ha!

More assignments

2011-02-08T07:11:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of cute photos from my photography class last week...

Assignment: What they wear- A froggy towel after the bath!

Assignment: Who they love- Daddy, especially when being tickled!

Ashton is 5 months old!

2011-02-07T16:00:00.001-06:00

Where is the time going? Seriously, 5 months already?

Ashton at 5 months is such a delight. He truly is such a happy baby. He loves to kick and play and talk. He is getting 5 bottles a day and 1 at night. He eats food twice a day. He has tried avocado, green beans, peas, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes and apples. He will eat them all, although he enjoys some more than others.

His night sleep is getting better but his days are getting worse. I know that day sleep develops last, so I am holding on to that fact knowing that it will get better. During the day we do what we can to make sure he does not get over tired. He is napping in the swing right now.

He is just the sweetest boy. He smiles at anyone who will smile at him. He is really starting to play with toys and rattles. This week he has particularly enjoyed watching himself in his play mirror.

This last picture displays how Ashton has looked for the better part of this month- hands in his mouth. We are still waiting for his first tooth to appear!

Joy of Love

2011-02-02T15:02:00.005-06:00

I am doing this free online photography class this month. It is called the Joy of Love. You focus on loved ones in everyday situations. Sounds fun, huh?

Each day you are emailed an assignment and tips/lessons. Then once you get your shot you can upload it to a flikr group or the facebook page. It has only been 2 days but it is super fun and it is stretching me to get certain shots. It is not too late if you want to join in the fun...

Here are my first 2 days "homework".

Assignment: What they do

Assignment: How they look

In an attempt not to post a bunch of single picture posts, I will try to get the good shots on here every few days.

Wanna join in? Go here.

No title

2011-01-26T19:58:00.005-06:00

Creative title huh? I have some random pictures that I wanted to post so they are all getting lumped together because I am super tired and being lazy.

First of all, Ashton has graduated to eating avacados, green beans and today he tried squash. The avacado took a couple feedings for him to come around but he eventually warmed up to it. Green beans he took from the beginning but made a face the entire time while eating. His face clearly communicated, "I will eat these but I am not happy about it". Squash seems to be a hit though. Ashton was much happier about getting the orange goodness shoveled into his mouth than the green stuff.

First time with green beans

Distracted by something happening outside

Emerson was being such a goofball Sunday after church. All four of us were sitting in her room just being silly and she was putting on an Emy show as usual. I grabbed the camera to try and catch some of her natural silliness because sometimes I feel like all I am photographing are the posed moments and not the real ones. Here she is in all her glory.

Getting kisses from Toby

Emerson dramatically falling to the floor to laugh at something that was hilarious to her

Okay, back to the posed pictures:) I have been gathering up supplies to use for some newborn pictures I get to take this weekend (yay!). In an effort to practice with my non-newborn...Here is Ashton being a good sport and very posed (and cute).

I love how these turned out in black and white
A couple of minutes into the "shoot" Ashton starts eyeing the handle of the basket. Notice the huge line of drool running down his chin and onto his chest.

And, here is where he ended up. Yes, chewing on the handle. Shocking (see this post).

Teething much?

2011-01-22T21:31:00.006-06:00

In my effort to practice photography everyday, I dressed Ashton in a plain white onesie and laid him on a fuzzy ivory piece of fabric. I was going for something sweet and simple. Not a lot of color so that Ashton would be the focus of the picture.

I tried posing him and this is what I got.

I tried re-posing him and this is what I got.

I tried taking his hands out of this mouth and tried to shoot again. This is what I got.

Again. See a pattern?

You think it is obvious that Ashton is working on cutting some teeth?

I kept trying and eventually got a couple of cute ones without his precious fingers in his mouth!

Emerson got her first tooth pretty early (before 6 months), so we keep expecting Ashton's first one to come in any day now. Stay tuned...

MckMama!!!

2011-01-21T15:20:00.006-06:00

In late December, MckMama came to Fort Worth! Yes, as in the city that I live in. I contacted her immediately to see if she happened to have any room in her schedule for us. It turned out that she had 1 thirty minute mini session left and it just so happened to work perfectly with our schedule. Oh, and her pricing is ah-mazing. She is more affordable than any other photographer that I have worked with and she is mckmama, seriously. I was sold.

I decided that the pictures would just be of me and Emerson. Ashton had just had his newborn shoot and we had famliy pictures taken at the same time. I thought this would be a fun mommy-daughter thing to do and I was right. Emerson loved having this special time with just the two of us.

So, when we booked the sesison, Jennifer (MckMama) told me that it would take about a month to get the pictures back but that she would send the CD with at least 30 good images on them. I waited on pins and needles. The day finally arrived when the CD showed up in my mailbox. I put it into the computer and there are 140 incredible and unique images. Yes, 140! Needless to say I am an even bigger fan now. If you ever have the chance to work with her, DO IT! No questions asked. Just do it. (Houston folks- I think she is going to be there in Feb- check her site).

And because I can't post all 140 on the blog (well I could but that would be really annoying), here are just a few of my absolute favorites.

Without a doubt, I will absolutely cherish these images forever.

Emy

2011-01-18T15:20:00.004-06:00

I think these shots perfectly capture Emerson's personality right now. She is all about silly and playful. She is also going through this phase (hopefully) where she is experimenting with different facial expressions- she has started doing several that are not very pretty but hilarious all the same. Several of these new faces include sticking out her tounge. Thankfully she decided to leave her tounge in her mouth for these pictures.

Cheese!

I'm bored with this already.

Silly goose.

Giggling while singing a silly song.

Laughing at herself and her silly song.

Perfectly precious!

While Emerson was napping today

2011-01-12T18:00:00.003-06:00

Ashton and I did a photoshoot of sorts.

Why? Because it is cold outside...

And I am trying to take pictures everyday...

And he is just so stinkin' cute.

In case you like the black and whites.
These turned out pretty great.

Snow Day

2011-01-09T16:31:00.003-06:00

It snowed today. It was nothing like the major snow we got last year but it was still the first (and probably only) snow of this winter. Steve asked Emerson is she wanted to go outside and take pictures in the snow. Her response was, "Okay. I need gloves, a hat, a jacket, shoes..." and she listed all her "requirements". Too cute!

Even though it was quite heavy for awhile, nothing stuck to the ground. Typical Texas snowfall. Good thing that Emy loved it all the same.

Ashton's first meal

2011-01-08T21:24:00.004-06:00

Remember when I said that we were in no hurry to try baby food with Ashton? Well, I guess I was kidding because we decided to give it a whirl today! After thinking about it we realized that he really was showing all the readiness signs...sitting up more, putting things in his mouth, etc...so why deprive him of something he is developmentally ready for?

Sitting in the highchair for the first time, checking things out from a new point of view.
Very first bite. Not sure.

More is coming out than is going down.

Getting excited about this stuff. If you could see his feet you would see that he is kicking and flailing in excitement.

More please. Learning to open his mouth in anticipation.

What a mess!

Big sister gets in on the feeding. Look at how adoringly Ashton looks at Emy...isn't it sweet?

She took feeding him very seriously.

After Ash got the hang of it he really liked it. He ate the entire bowl. Such a big boy!

Ashton is 4 months old

2011-01-05T16:18:00.006-06:00

Can you believe it? I can't. Where has the time gone? Ashton is getting so big... Not just physically but developmentally too. He is chatty, social, loves his hands and LOVES to sit and stand. He has the sweetest personality and I can't get enough of him.

For record keeping, at his appointment this morning he is 27.25 inches tall (98%) and 15lbs 5oz (61%). He did so well with the doctor. Of course he chatted him up (he is already so much more social than Emerson was). He got an oral and had two shots and only cried for one of them. So brave!

The only things I discussed with the doctor were his sleeping and solid foods. In regards to solid foods, I am really in no hurry to drag all that stuff out (isn't that so lazy?!) so I think we are going to put off rice cereal for another month or so. While Ashton is sleeping 7 hours for his longest stretch, he still gets up to eat at 3am and then again at 6-6:30 and goes back to sleep for a couple hours. Even though Emerson was ready for sleep training at 4 months, I don't think Ashton is. He has NEVER gone all night without a feeding. Our doctor said to wait another month or so and see if he gives it up on his own. If he doesn't at that point he is most likely waking out of habit and we can go ahead and sleep train him.

This is Ash all the time lately... Two fingers in his mouth:)

Look at those eyes!

I had to post this precious profile. Look at those chubby cheeks:)

Playtime

2011-01-04T21:16:00.004-06:00

Ashton is really beginning to enjoy playing on his playmat. He enjoys watching the lights and listening to the music that plays. Of course he can only stand the stimulation for about 15 minutes at a time but he does enjoy the change of view. He is always "talking" to all the animals that hang overhead. I just adore hearing his precious little voice chatter. It is a sound that is forever printed on my heart.

And look at these precious feet!

Can you resist this face? I can't:)

The Rose Bowl

2011-01-02T21:37:00.005-06:00

Since we did not make it to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, we decided to have a watch party to cheer on the Frogs. We had over all our friends who were not at the game and enjoyed lots of food. The kids skipped naps and ran around like crazy people. The adults bounced back and forth between conversation, snacking and watching the game. It was a lot of fun.

Steve smoked pork for 7 hours to make pulled pork sandwiches. It was amazing! Since he was up cooking all morning, we made the celebration an all day affair.
It started with Ashton playing in an exersaucer at Granmom's for the first time. He loved it!

Emerson spent some time outside practicing her bike riding.

She then decided to yell at me. And I got a picture of it. Awesome.

Here is the de-lish pulled pork that my hubby made. So good. We had leftovers for lunch today. I could eat it again right now. Seriously, it was amazing.

Emerson's bud Hayden.

Emy being a goof.

Sweet Ashley.

Some of Emerson's other friends were there too but at that point the camera was put away because we were watching the game. We had a blast and are still on cloud nine over our TCU Horned Frogs, Rose Bowl Champions!

An Ash post

2011-01-01T08:10:00.005-06:00

Ashton is such a good baby. He is so happy most of the time and only really fusses when he is tired or hungry. On a good day if you can get him fed and asleep before he realizes he is tired or hungry you might not hear him fuss at all. I took some pics of him the other day because he was looking extra cute in his new Gap onesie that he got for Christmas. Here are a few of the better ones.

big blue eyes

look at these precious hands

This is currently Ashton's favorite toy. He seriously loves to grab at it and chew.

Trying to put the entire thing in his mouth.

When he can't get the entire toy in his mouth, his fist will do just fine.

Again, seriously blue eyes.

Again with the fist.

Talking to mommy.

Sweet smile!

Are they related?

2010-12-30T16:04:00.003-06:00

Emerson 8 months

Ashton 4 months

This face

2010-12-29T16:09:00.003-06:00

Isn't this face precious?

So spunky and yet so sweet.
So expressive and yet so shy.

I love this face to pieces.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T15:03:00.006-06:00

First of all, I did a terrible job of capturing Christmas this year. I mean really terrible. I barely took any photos and the ones I did took did not come out so great. I had the best of intentions, but I feel like it was a whirlwind and since I had a baby in one hand I could not really take the camera with me as much as I would have liked...I am sticking to my lame excuse, (especially since there were 8 adults here and I am pretty sure that they all held Ashton a fair amount).

Thursday my grandmother, Steve's parents, sister, brother and brother's girlfriend all arrived. It was nice having everyone here for a few days. Christmas eve was spent getting everything prepared. Emy and I made a birthday cake for baby Jesus that morning. Emerson specifically requested that the cake be pink, so that is what we did. After we finished decorating it we went on a mommy-daughter date to see Tangled. Loved it!

We hosted Christmas eve dinner at our house. We have a tradition of having mexican food on Christmas eve. Sticking with the tradition, Steve made fajitas. They were delicious. After dinner, Mimi (my grandmother) read Emerson The night before Christmas...this is another tradition of ours.

After Emerson was in bed, our living room was transformed into Santa's workshop. Seriously, isn't this picture hilarious? There were 4 different assemblies happening at the same time.

The tree lit up before everyone was asleep. So pretty!

Christmas morning Emerson woke up excited (duh) and we started with stockings. We did this while we waited for the rest of the family to arrive. No, I don't have any good pictures. Another thing I did not get good pictures of is Emerson getting her presents from Santa. She specifically requested a bed for her babies and Santa delivered. She loves it!

Ashton got plenty of snuggle time during the present opening.

After we did presents at our house, we went to Steve's parents. Santa does not visit their house, but there were still tons of gifts to open.

After all the gifts were open, Emerson put on her apron to help Steve's mom and Melody in the kitchen. Emy loves to help cook.

This was my little "big" gift this year. I am so pumped about it but I really need to learn how to use it more. It is a prime lens that does not zoom but will eventually take gorgeous photos when I get some practice in.

Ash had just gotten up from a nap, hence the reason his face is half covered with a blanket.

Here I was playing with the new lens. Ashton did not want to cooperate. See how pretty the lights in the background look? Oooo, I love it!

Look at these cuties:)

Why did someone not tell me to put on some lipstick?

Helping in the kitchen

Christmas was wonderful. Great family and friends, great food, generous gifts and a lovely time. I hope yours was as blessed as ours.

(Somewhat Controlled) Chaos

2010-12-23T07:03:00.002-06:00

Aka- Decorating gingerbread houses with 6 kids and 2 babies!

First of all, when Amy invited us over for a playdate to decorate gingerbread houses this week, we were pumped because it gave us something to do since the kids are out of school. I was envisioning them all decorating one house, maybe two. Wrong! Amy baked each kid their own house using her own templates. Uh huh. Stephanie brought the supplies to make homemade frosting. Uh huh. I was in charge of bringing decorations. Guess what I brought? Bags of $.99 candy from CVS. Can you tell who the slacker in this group is?

Anyways, the kids had a blast but I truly think the mommies had more fun. It was complete chaos from the moment we got there but it was lots of fun. All the kids ate candy by the fist-full. Literally. They were running around like maniacs when it was all said and done. I don't know about the other kids but there was no nap at our house this afternoon. Let me tell you, coming down off a sugar high like that with no nap is really ugly.

Maribel picking through the table of decorations (candy)

Carefully sprinkling her rooftop

Seriously concentrating

Mari only interested in getting handfuls of candy

Ethan, also only interested in the eating of candy

Izzy and her house

Annie eating sprinkles from the jar

One of the only moments that Ethan showed an interest in his house

Beautiful houses

Chaos

More houses

Creating a perfect roof-line

Hard at work

It was a busy day but I am glad that Emerson is in bed (early!). Merry Christmas.

Getting bigger...

2010-12-22T16:22:00.004-06:00

Ashton at 3.5 months. This is an almost wordless post...lets face it though, the pictures are the best part anyway so I doubt you will mind.

Look at this face! This is Ashton's warning face, "I don't want to fuss mommy, but I will". Heart breaking.

From our family to yours...

2010-12-21T09:29:00.001-06:00

Dance Party

2010-12-08T07:45:00.003-06:00

One of Emerson's friends had her birthday party last Friday. It was done up in a dance party theme and was super cute (and hilarious). The kids got to dress up like rock stars. They walked into the party on a red carpet and once inside went into the "dressing room" to get ready. In the dressing room, they got to put on make up, jewelry, boas, tiaras and temporary tattoos. It was so fun and Emerson absolutely LOVED it!

In the main party area, the kids got to have a ball and dance to the Kid Bop CD's (If you have not heard of them- they are toddler versions of popular music. Think Katy Perry and Pink with kid friendly lyrics). They were all seriously jamming out. It was so fun to watch. Emerson had a blast and really got into the dancing. I swear she danced more than anyone else, including the birthday girl. (Note to self- we might consider a dance party for Emy's next birthday).

The back patio was transformed into a dance club with bright pom poms and lights hanging over head. It totally set the scene.

Look at this cake!

Emerson showing off her braided hair and star tattoo

Jamming

Look how cute Bo was with his spiked hair!

The girls had to take a break to play princesses for a little while:)

Emerson and Reese were totally rocking out in this picture. When I was watching them I envisioned them as teens at a junior high dance just giggling away:)

Cheers!

Annie being shy when it was time for cake!

I *think* this was the last birthday party that we have until January. Whew, this fall has been jam packed with parties and I am kind of excited to have a little break.

Nice Bubble!

2010-12-07T07:44:00.000-06:00

Ashton is 3 months old!

2010-12-06T14:55:00.003-06:00

Seriously, where does the time go? I CANNOT believe that Ashton is 3 months old already. It feels like just yesterday that I was desperate not to be pregnant anymore and here is my baby growing up so fast!

Ashton is getting to be more and more active everyday. He loves flirting with you and holding conversations. Oh, and he loves his hands...seriously, LOVES them (He is currently slurping away on them right next to me). I am predicting that he will be a thumb sucker once he figures it out.

At 3 months Ashton is still waking up twice a night to eat. I really cannot complain though because he is doing way better than Emerson was at this age. He sleeps at night and takes his naps in his bed and on days when we don't follow a schedule for Emy (T, TR, Sat, Sun), he generally gets a 3 hour nap in the afternoon.

I have reached my goal of nursing for the first 3 months and am now starting to wean him. Right now he is still getting nursed 3 times a day and the other feedings are from the bottle. He does not seem to mind the flip flopping, so we are going to keep this up for a little while.

Emerson still adores her brother. She is constantly hugging and kissing him and telling us how much she loves him. She likes to lay with him on the play mat and to sit next to him in the bouncy and talk to him. Emy is also super patient with me when Ashton is crying or needing something. She is such a big girl and we appreciate all her help.

for comparison

A big first for Emerson

2010-12-03T07:49:00.003-06:00

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my mother-in-law treated all the girls to pedicures...including Emerson! To say that she was excited about having her toes painted would be a serious understatement. My little girly-girl was ecstatic!

The salon we went too had a special princess chair for Emy to sit in. The lights in the foot bath even changed colors! It was really kid friendly. Emy loved watching the water change colors. She gave us a running commentary on the color changes for the first 5 minutes.

so excited
watching the water change colors
can barely sit still
here is the color she picked...literally the brightest pink they had

pink toes!
thinking it is pretty special that she has pink toes
Emerson was the only one to get a manicure too:) Pretty pink fingers.
We told her to spread out her fingers and hold really still for a little while so the paint would dry nice and pretty. This is how she stayed for about 10 minutes! It was hilarious.

We had a fun time and Emerson has been showing everyone she sees her pink fingers and toes. She absolutely loved it.

The many faces of Ashton

2010-12-02T15:19:00.004-06:00

Ashton is at that age where his entire body is in constant motion. You know, he is always kicking and flailing about. I love this stage. It is so fun to watch him discover the world around him and show excitement towards things he likes.

Since he is in constant motion, his facial expressions are constantly changing. Take these pictures for example; they were all taken within 30 seconds of one another.

We have also gotten the bumbo seat out. Ashton does pretty well in it and seems to like the independence. He can only sit for a couple minutes in it before he starts to really fall over, but it won't be long until he can handle it just fine.

Just because...

2010-11-18T07:55:00.001-06:00

...he is so cute! Here is Ashton at 10 weeks.

What Emerson wants for Christmas

2010-11-17T13:25:00.004-06:00

On the way home from school today:

Me: "Emerson, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?"

Emy: "A baby."

Me: "You have plenty of babies, is there something else you would like Santa to bring you?"

Emy: "Food."

Me: "What kind of food?"

Emy: "Corn and peppers."

Me: "Really?"

Emy: "That's what I said."

Oookkkaaayyyy....

For the record, Emy does not need any more babies:)

Go Frogs

2010-11-14T20:36:00.003-06:00

Ashton thoroughly enjoyed his first TCU game. He was so good. Even though it was really loud, he was so relaxed and only fussed a little. It was pretty chilly, so we kept him bundled up and he was even able to sleep for about 45 minutes!

Randomness from last week

2010-11-10T07:30:00.001-06:00

On Sunday morning, Emerson and Ashton were laying on our bed and we were all just hanging out. They were both looking at me and I had one of those moments where I could totally see the major resemblence between the two. It was uncanny.

I also realized that the lighting was perfect, so I grabbed my camera and snapped some shots:)

Look at these eyes!
Sweet boy

Emy was totally hamming it up for the camera. She kept saying, take more take more!

He was so smiley.

Look at them from the eyebrows down...it is amazing the similarities...

"I'm three!"

Speaking of, her stats from her 3 year well check are:

31.75lbs- 61% and 36.75in- 42%

Emerson looked so stinkin cute in this outfit that I had to get some pictures. Can you tell that she was really into it? I still wanted to docutment the cuteness of her outfit- leggings, tunic and boots. Certainly is cuter than anything in my own wardrobe.

Ashton is 2 months old

2010-11-09T07:25:00.008-06:00

Okay, so Ashton was two months old several days ago, but I am just getting around to it...sorry.

His stats are as follows: 12lbs 2oz- 64% and 24.24" long- 91%

Overall he is doing great. He is still eating well about 2.5-3 hours during the day. On average he gets up twice a night to eat.

There was a LOT of crying in the beginning. Luckily, he has been so much happier in the past couple weeks. In the beginning I think we were dealing with sleep deprivation and then I was having supply issues for reasons I won't bore you with. Now that everything is right on track, he is a much happier baby.

He has started social smiles and cooing and they are just precious and absolutely melt my heart.

Emerson walked in when I was taking these pictures and wanted in on the action too. She thought it was hillarious that she got to get back into her old crib.

So many pictures! Time for a nap:)

Family Photos

2010-11-08T07:53:00.000-06:00

When Ashton was 9 days old we had a great photographer come to the house to take photos of Ash and our family. Dana from Tin Star Photography did a fantastic job. She worked with our furniture and lighting to come up with great backdrops within our own home. Dana was also amazing with Emerson and totally patient with a fussy baby. Here are a few of the amazing shots she got.