Catching Up... February through early April 2010

Hello! Happy Spring! It's been awhile since our last update so I am going to try to catch you up from February to early April. :o)

On 2.6.10 Ashley moved from her baby room and crib into her new big girl room and big girl bed. As you can see, her bedding is Mickey Mouse - her favorite!! She is such a big girl and transitioned to her new room and big girl bed without a complaint. She climbs in at night and without complaint goes to bed. When she wakes in the morning, she calls for us before getting out of bed.

On 2.7.10, we met up with the Johnson's and the Brooks' at the High School pool for a swim. The kids had a great time in the wading pool and received bags of popcorn on the way out.
(Pictured L to R: Ashley, Violet, Maddy, Allie and Henry)

My little sweetie pie bathing with Minnie.

Daddy and Ashley went on a winter adventure walk. Look how neat the trees look!

What do you do when you're feeling cooped up with the winter blues? You have an indoor pool party! Set up and take down took much longer than the actual time she played in the pool but it was still fun.

More swimming, this time at a hotel in North Branch. Ashley was brave enough to start jumping off the edge of the pool into our arms. Once we started that game... it went on and on...in and out of the pool.

Happy little girl smiling for mommy so that I could have a picture on my camera to take with me to Florida.

Girls weekend in Florida with my best friends! We've talked about doing this for years...2010 was the year we made it happen. As you can see from our clothes, it wasn't the warmest of weather but we enjoyed our time and did manage to come home with a little tan.

3.11.10

Ashley Jane - 3 years old!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Ashley received several gifts in the mail for her birthday. She still asks if there are presents in the mail when we stop at the mailbox. This package was from Auntie Angie, Uncle Erik and cousin Jessica and was filled with dress up clothes! A cheer leading outfit, pom poms and dress up shoes! She loves the shoes...because they are noisy on the tile floors.

Daddy and Mommy got Ashley her very own grill. Now she can cook on the grill just like Daddy.

On 3.13.10 we threw Ashley her 3rd birthday party.

The party was Minnie Mouse themed. Here's Ashley with her birthday cake.

The girls are getting so big!

L to R: Elsa, Violet, Lila, Ashley and Maddy

Ashley loved opening all her presents!

The surprise at the end of the party...Grandpa & Grandma J gave Ashley her very own Mustang! All of her friends took a ride before she did but we were finally able to convince her to ride in it by having both Minnies ride with! She's a pro at driving it now!

A few weekends ago, we drove to Sauk Rapids to see Ashley's cousin Jessica play in a volleyball tournament. Ashley adores her cousin Jessica.

On 4.3.10, the Dinnerbell hosted an egg hunt for kids. Ashley had a great time and found 10 eggs filled with parade style candy! She opened all of the eggs and then gave all of her candy away to daddy and his friends who were working outside on the new deck on the Dinnerbell.

Easter morning, Ashley woke up and immediately we heard the following over the monitor: "Mom...did the Easter Bunny stop at our house?" It was a very exciting morning! The Easter Bunny hid Ashley's Easter basket in the plant hanging from the ceiling and he also hid 12 plastic eggs filled with change for her money bank and candy. She had a blast looking for them. In this picture, Ashley is pointing to a hidden egg.

A funny story... On 3/23 we were in the car heading to Applebees to celebrate my birthday. I said to Matt, "can you believe Easter is next weekend?" Ashley from the back seat says "Mom, is there a guy for Easter?" I repeat it back to her with the did I hear you right voice. She said, "yes, is there a guy for Easter?". Racking my brain I try to figure out what she is talking about. Although I know they don't talk about God at school, nor do we talk about him at home, I say, do you mean Jesus? She said no. Is there a guy for Easter? So it dawns on me and I say, do you mean is there a guy for Easter like there is Santa for Christmas? She says, YES!! I said, oh yes honey...he's called the Easter Bunny and guess what...he loves candy and if you are a really good girl, maybe the Easter Bunny will stop at our house and leave you some candy! She then says, with a terrified voice.... DO I HAVE TO SIT ON HIS LAP? Haha! Isn't that so cute? (She is terrified of Santa and will not sit on Santa's lap.)

What else is new? Ashley continues to love school and her teachers and friends. She has gone to daycare with many of the same kids since she was 6 months old. On 2.18.10 Ashley told me "Zane is my best friend. I love him!". Ashley loves puzzles and can now complete a 25 piece puzzle without any help. A few nights ago she was working on a puzzle before bed. I told her, come on honey, it's time to go to bed...to which she replied..."just one more piece mom" and then had to finish the puzzle before going to bed. I had to laugh...I think everyone does that when putting puzzles together...just one more piece and then I will... For those readers who may not know, we have exciting news to share, Ashley is going to be a big sister! We found out we were expecting another baby on 11.21.09. I am now 24 weeks along and due at the end of July 2010. Ashley is very excited to be a big sister. She is sure I am having a girl. While on our way home from daycare yesterday, she asked me when she could drive. I told her she would have to wait till she was 16 years old. She then said "ok Mom, when I am 16, I am going to drive and pick up my sister from school".

December 2009 & January 2010

Hello! Happy February 1st! Below are some updates from events in December 09 & January 2010. Is it really 2010 already?

Here's a video clip of Ashley and Daddy going down our sledding hill and...over Ruby! This year, Ashley was brave enough to go sledding down the hill all by herself too!

Who says you can't swing in the winter? She loved it just as much as she does in the summer!

One evening, I had taken my eyes off of Ashley because she had gone into the kitchen where Matt was. Well, it turned out, Matt had gone into the garage for a minute. This is what I walked into the kitchen to find. Ashley had taken her booster chair from off of the kitchen chair, dragged it up to the counter and started helping herself to some chips and dip or should I say one chip and several scoops of dip! Naughty!

Ashley Jane on Christmas Eve. She absolutely loved wearing these beautiful hand me down dresses she was given. The best part about them was the way the dress moved when she spun around in circles.


Here's a video of Ashley with my cousins daughter, Izzy demonstrating how cool their dresses were! These girls had a blast together and stayed up till 11:30pm!!

Christmas morning as Ashley first takes in what Santa has left under the tree!

Ashley had asked Santa for a computer and flip flops and Santa brought her both items! I was very impressed that Santa's elves could still find flip flops in December! The computer was a total hit...and it was even Mickey Mouse!

Ashley Jane on Christmas day in yet another beautiful dress!

The toy that Ashley received for Christmas that she plays with the most is this stethoscope from Daddy. She puts on her white gloves (from her Halloween costume as Minnie Mouse) and then the stethoscope and then she starts assessing her stuffed animal friends. She pretends to be her doctor, Dr. Sara, and it is simply adorable. She listens to her friends hearts, gives them medicine, takes their temperature etc.

This weekend was the Celebration of the Lakes and we bundled up and head over to the festivities. We watched the kiddie parade, dog sleds, kiddie snowmobile races, hot air balloons etc. Ashley's favorite part of the day was riding in the sled with her buddy Maddy.

Ashley and Maddy having a great time together. It was so fun to watch these two interact. We were together for different activities on the lakes both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, the girls played in the truck for awhile to warm up during the ice-fishing contest. When I opened the door to check on them, Ashley told me they were playing house and they were sisters. She talked about Maddy both nights while going to bed and can't wait to play with her again soon!

Family picture out on the lake.

What else is new? We took Ashley for her first time swimming in a pool. She absolutely loved it and we have been back for more swimming since. It's a very fun family activity on a Sunday afternoon. Matt went on an spear fishing trip with friends in January and Ashley and I had a girls weekend. She was very excited and kept saying we having a fun girls weekend momma? Our girls weekend included painting our toenails and adding some fancy sticker decals that I had found. I was so excited about these decals and when I put them on our toes they were just fabulous. A couple of hours later, Ashley and I are in the kitchen and she says " Mom, are you excited?" I figured she was talking about us going swimming later in the day so I asked about what? She said " about our toenails!" She cracks me up! We also went shopping on our girls weekend and on the way to Kohl's, Ashley was in the backseat and must have said mom, mommy, momma about 20 times...even though I had said what without receiving any response. She just continued with mom, mommy, momma etc. Finally I said, Ashley - WHAT? She said "I'm singing a song about you." Good grief- I was starting to wish she'd lose her voice. On 1/12 AJ was sent home from school with pinkeye. Best part about it was that Grandpa Butch picked her up from school and brought her to the store to buy some lunch and treats and then she got to spend the rest of the day at G & G's house. Since then, she has asked her teacher if Grandpa was going to come pick her up and saying she doesn't feel good...my grandpa come pick me up? She even said, Tiffany, does my eye look pink? Grandpa come pick me up?

Ashley loves to color with markers and has started to learn the concept of coloring in the lines. She draws shapes for her self and then colors them in. She also loves for us to write her name. Now she wants us to hold her hand and write her name so she can practice. She will point to different letters on things around the house and tell us whose name starts with that letter. For example, if she sees an H, she will say, Hayden's name starts with that! Ashley loves hand sanitizer and calls it "ties zanner".

Lastly, another funny told to me by Ashley's teacher Tiffany. Tiffany told me: Ashley invited me to your house tonight. She said you would make me dinner and then we could get our jammies on and play her new memory game that she got from Santa. Then she said, "You can have more noodles even if you don't try your other food...because we aren't at school" The best part about this is that I can't get her to eat a noodle if it was the only thing on her plate...yet Tiffany said, Ashley loves to eat noodles at school. Unfortunately, I think my little baby is taking advantage of her mommy and being a picky eater at home when she will eat nearly everything they give her at school! What a turkey!

Back in November

Back in November...

Daddy took Ashley on her first adventure walk. She even got to use and carry the GPS. They walked the lake shore all the way from our house to the bridge on Hwy 8. They both had a great time. I stayed back and sat outside and read My Sisters Keeper. It was a beautiful sunny November day.

We took Ashley to the Osceola water tower. It's a great place for adventure walking and it was covered with leaves. Ashley enjoyed running and burying us in the leaves.

We found a hole and buried ourselves and then set the timer on the camera to take our picture.

Ashley on Thanksgiving.

After a few weeks of looking through ads and searching Craigslist, we found Ashley a new bedroom set. We still need to buy the mattress for her twin size bed but we have just about everything else to move her into her new room. Her new room will be Mickey Mouse themed.

What else happened in November? The H1N1 hit our house and Ashley was down for the count for about a week with a high fever, terrible cough and an ear infection. On 11/6 Ashley insisted on going to bed without wearing a diaper. I told her if she had to go potty to just call for momma and I'd come get her. Well, since then she has been diaper free and hasn't had any accidents! She did so great with potty training! Ashley has also started to chew gum and asks for a piece just about every time we get in the car. My favorite quotes this month: On the way home from daycare, Ashley is in her car seat and says " Ohhhh Mom, I gotta take off these work shoes" and then I felt two thumps as her shoes were kicked off against the back of my seat. In late November as people started to turn on their Christmas lights Ashley says "Oh beautiful" to the Christmas lights. Then I said, oh yes, oh beautiful and she said, NO Mom, you can't say that! Here are favorite quotes told to me by Tiffany (Ashley's teacher): On 11/17 Ashley informed Tiffany that she just can't say "ewww" she had to move her jaw back and forth when she said it! And Ashley wanted to know why she should eat her fruit at lunch and Tiffany told her because it was delicious. That answer wasn't good enough so Tiffany said because it was good for her. THAT answer wasn't good enough to Tiffany broke our the old "because I said so" and Ashley started to crack up laughing and said "my mom says that too!".