Things I want to remember...

Here is a list of things that Ashlyn does right now that I want to always cherish in my heart (as long as I can remember them- thank you God for blogs):

• How she says "love you too Mommy!"

• That when she wakes up she stays in her big girl bed and waits for me to come get her (please don't anyone tell her that she is capable of getting down on her own!) not only that, but that she prays while she waits. She says "thank youn God for ....(everyone we have ever known, or met, or heard of...)".

• On the rare occasion that she wants to sit in my lap or wants me to hold her she says "I wanna hold you!"

• The accent she suddenly has when she asks "Where's my M-iiii-lk?"

• How she says"cheers!" when I'm holding my cup and she has hers. She also applies "cheers!" to when we both are holding our toothbrushes, eating the same food item, even if we are both wearing shoes... she says "cheers Mommy, cheers Mommy" and we have to knock the like items together.

• When she plays with my hair (how girlie, huh?) or when she has colored something for me she says "so pitty!"

• This isn't really recurring, not even sure where she learned this- I dropped something heavy on my toe yesterday and she came running over saying "are you okay Mommy? are you okay?" over and over again until I answered that I was fine, it just hurt a lot. Then for the rest of the day she kept asking me, "how's your ouchie? hurt?"

I am sure there are many more, but these stuck out to me most today... I do love my sweet little girl. Here are some of the funny faces she makes: happy, scared, mad/sad, silly.

Tuesday's adventures

So I didn't expect to have anything worth writing about for a little while, but we had a very eventful Tuesday- and I am trying to make this short! First we went to Ladies Bible Class which was great and I got to visit with several friends who I haven't been able to chat with in some time. I have been meaning to go to the Strausburg outlet in San Marcos for sometime now to get Ashlyn an outfit for a her 2 year portrait, and since we got out of class a little early I thought we'd make a quick trip and have lunch when we got there and Ashlyn could get some rest in her car seat. A great package deal... Well in New Braunfels, we got a FLAT TIRE! There was a huge nail that had made a huge gash in the tire wall. I managed to pull off I-35 into the Olive Garden parking lot and was praying- just thanking God that we didn't have a blow out and/or a major accident due to the tire! It looked rough when I finally got a chance to look at it. Not really knowing what I was going to do, but of course ever aware that I am hungry- I took a sleeping Ashlyn out of her seat and into the Olive Garden for a late lunch. Paul was unavailable to come rescue me- the one day this happens is the same day that Paul's boss is in town and he is having to drive him and another coworker all over town. I was really hoping that Paul might be in New Braunfels or San Marcos, which he sometimes is, and that he could come and take over and get me back on the road. Initially I couldn't think clearly and so I reverted back to my teenage years... called my dad who is sometimes in the area, called my mom who was at work in Austin, my mother-in-law (who sweetly offered to come get us with all her other grandchildren in tow) before I realized that I could handle this myself. Being obviously pregnant and therefore unable to put on the spare tire, I had to call and pay someone to come put on my spare for me so that I could get to a tire place. Over the phone, a kind man at Firestone gave me the number for just such a person, who charged less than what I expected. The timing was perfect- we finished up our lunch (Ashlyn actually ate a lot which is uncharacteristic for her) and walked back over to the car as this man, Tony, pulled up. He was so kind and Ashlyn really took well to him, so it put my mind at ease a little. After he put on the spare, he had me follow him to Discount Tires where they put on a new tire and got me back in my car in an astounding 20 minutes! I really thought this would wreck my whole day, but it only took up about an hour and a half of my time- including a wonderful leisurely lunch! Oh, I forgot that there was this nice older gentleman at Discount Tires who had his little dog with him. Ashlyn asked if she could pet him and his face just lit up! It was sweet- he said the dog's name was Maggie and that she was 15 years old... Ashlyn just talked to him like she had known him forever! When they called him to his car, we watched him slowly make his way out to his lovely red Corvette! That made me smile. When we were back in our car, we were praying, thanking God for how smoothly everything had gone and Ashlyn kept chiming in "thank youn (that's how she says it) for Tony!" "thank youn for Maggie!" it made me a little misty-eyed. Since we were only miles away from the outlets, we went on ahead and finished what our initial errand had been. All in all it was an enjoyable day with my daughter and by far the most pleasant flat tire experience ever!

From January at 5 mos gestation

It has taken me awhile to get around to scanning the ultrasound pictures from our last Dr's visit, but here is the best one. Paul thought it looked like he was kissing his bicep. As difficult as it can be to make out what you are seeing when looking at one of these pictures, I think he very much resembles Ashlyn, at least his profile does. This little boy is quite mobile- he wiggles and twists constantly and is very good at making whoever is performing his ultrasound frustrated. I think each sono has taken about 3 times as long as it should do to the uncooperative nature of our son. Hopefully not a sign of things to come...

As for this past weekend, we went to Abilene for Sing Song. We had a great time and Ashlyn LOVED the show. I was nervous that she wouldn't make it through the whole production, but she did really well! Her favorite part of the weekend (besides seeing so much family in one place) was swimming in the hotel pool. That is all she wanted to do the whole time!

having a blast at the pool

& here with Aunt Noe'l

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well kind of...You'd never guess when looking at this picture taken this morning,

but Ashlyn isn't feeling well today.

She was grouchy all morning but had no fever. I checked her temperature at 10:00 and she was 98.7, however she continued to be cranky and more still than usual. As she was laying on me I think I actually felt her fever going up- at 10:40 I rechecked her temp and it was 102.7. Needless to say we are going to the Dr today and I am going to baby my little patient until she feels better. I just hope that she feels better before the weekend... we are supposed to be going to Abilene for Sing Song -to see little bro Ryan and lil sis (in-law) Noel.

What I find odd is that every time we have a "well visit" scheduled with the pediatrician, Ashlyn always seems to get sick just a few days before her appointment. This is at least the third occasion that this has happened. I am not sure what to make of that. Well, again Happy Valentine's Day! At least I know that I will get plenty of cuddling from Ashlyn today.

Ashlyn's birthday

I know it is totally cliche, but time has passed so fast! I can't believe that my little baby girl is 2! Her birthday was several days ago, but I am finally getting around to blogging it.

We had a fun day celebrating her birthday. First we went to the store to buy new bedding for the "BIG GIRL BED" and while we were at the store Ashlyn would stop anyone within 2o yards to tell them that it was her birthday. I am not kidding when I say that she must have told at least a dozen people. Later in the day, for dinner, we went to "Elmo Cafe" aka Alamo Cafe with family and afterwards had everyone over for cupcakes and presents. So far since then, she has been sleeping in her big girl bed, and we are so very proud of her!

One of my 2007 New Year's resolutions was to begin "blogging," so even though it is February, I am going ahead and trying to make good on my resolution. I have started several entries only to save them as drafts -I do not know how to publish them... oh well they weren't that great anyway.

I love this picture of Ashlyn and her cousin Payton that was taken for their joint birthday party invitation. It was a western themed party and we decorated in reds, blues, whites, and khakis. The actual day of the party it was WAY too cold and rainy to be outside, but that was too bad b/c we had pony rides and a small petting zoo set up in the backyard. Thanks to Paul and our dads, we managed to get a few tarps up to keep people dry. Most all of the kids braved the cold and had a good time, but in particular Ashlyn and Payton's older brother Ethan just LOVED the pony and feeding the animals. We may have to do something like this again someday in the future.

And you know me... I have so many pictures to include,

but I am severely limiting myself.