Yea! Swimming Pool! ...and Bubbles!

Oh, how Ashlyn loves the outdoors, and now that it is warm enough for the pool I can't seem to be able to keep her indoors.
Well, I didn't intend to go so long without blogging, but these past 2 weeks have been BUSY. Let's see, what have we been doing? First off, I am so tired by the time that Ashlyn's nap comes around that I have regularly been taking a nap myself. Her naptime is traditionally the time I can make phone calls, checks e-mails, read blogs, so I have recently been way out of touch with everyone. Back to what we have been up to... we have had a lot of birthday parties to attend and this has been an opportunity for real personal growth for Ashlyn. She thinks all parties are her parties and that the presents/toys are her's; the sugar-high does nothing to help manage this embarrassing behavior. We have had many "talks" during and since these events.

We have been going on walks as a family in the evenings and Ashlyn has begun venturing from the stroller. If she becomes a marathon runner one day, I'll be able to say that I saw her potential forming back when she was 2. We might as well not bring the stroller, she wants to run the whole time and keeps up an impressive pace. She can jog as fast as I can walk and I am pretty sure that I tire out before she does. This energy expenditure makes for a great night's sleep on Ashlyn's end. Oh, and you should see her at gymnastics- she is turning into a little monkey! She has mastered the "bear crawl" where she walks on the parallel bars with her hands and feet. Her arm strength has improved so much that she can now push herself up onto the lower of the uneven bars and do "cast-offs" where she flings ber body away from the bar for a moment while her hands are still holding on. She is wanting to walk the beam "by myself, Mommy!" but it still makes Mommy nervous. On the floor station, she rolls backward over a cylinder-shaped mat and says "ta da!" after she plants her hands and kicks her feet over- it is fun to watch her do her back-walk-overs. She can't leave the gym w/o doing at least a dozen of those! Okay, enough about gymnastics.

As for my pregnancy, I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Don't get me wrong, I am still not packed for the hospital and I have hardly even given a thought to labor (how can there be such a big difference between baby #1 & baby #2?) Now I am having to visit the Dr so frequently now that I feel like I might as well set up camp in the parking garage. It is hard to believe that we will be a family of 4 before the next 6 weeks are up. It is funny to me all the things I have forgotten about being pregnant. For example- getting up at night either b/c I have to use the bathroom, or the baby is kicking so hard that sleep is impossible. I think this interruption of sleep is good preparation for when the baby is here and I will have to be up with him. I am just praying that Ashlyn keep her current routine and sleep through the night. My goal is to get to where everyone can be asleep at the same time sometime during the night and hopefully sometime during the day too so that I can continue with my afternoon snoozes. I'm sure I'll let you know how that works out!

I should have some good stuff to write about after next week- it's another busy one. I am SO EXCITED because my roommates from college just happen to be coming to stay with us next weekend. Stay posted!

Springtime!

This really is her "say cheese" smile. I am not sure where she learned to scrunch up her nose and squint her eyes for a picture, but you have no idea how many pictures I have with her making this exact face.

Something new that Ashlyn has been doing that I think she may have learned from me, is that she sings- constantly. I am amazed at how she knows most all the words to the songs we hear. Her recent favorite is Lifesong by Casting Crowns, she'll sing it ALL DAY long with or without the accompanying musical track. When we are in the car, she asks "Mommy can we hear my favorite?" over and over.

We are continuing to do the potty-thing at Ashlyn's pace. She takes such initiative with this... she will be doing something, and then all of the sudden she gets up and runs to the bathroom. She figured out all by herself how to climb up onto the toilet seat. I am just so surprised at her determination and independence. Most days she still wants to wear panties, but every now and then she requests a pull-up. We definitely still use a pull-up at naptime and bedtime though, regardless of her input.

Staying with the theme of independence, Ashlyn has also taken over the bedtime prayer-saying. It truly makes my heart swell to hear her, "Dear God, thank you for our family, thank you for Barkley, thank you for our family..."(she repeats that one a few dozen times- I love it!) Also recently at bedtime, Ashlyn has been insisting upon keeping a book with her in bed after we leave even though we turn out the lights and she only has a dim nightlight on. Last night when we came back to check on her, she had fallen asleep almost completely under the covers with this huge book opened and laying on top of her face. She was drenched in sweat. For some reason it was so funny to me.

An update on my pregnancy: I am now in my 8th month and my belly is ever expanding. I am feeling a little guilty about not posting more recent pictures from Ben's sonograms. We have been going to a maternal/fetal specialist due to a narrow second umbilical artery (although it appears that everything is going well), but we go every month and get a detailed ultrasound done to monitor everything. We get to record it onto a cd, but we don't get the pictures printed out any more. If he continued growing as he has been doing, the Dr estimates that he will weigh approx 7 1/2 lbs at birth. I'd be okay with that.

I hope that everyone is having a good Good Friday and a Happy Easter!