HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

-These are the pumpkins we carved

-Have a spooky night

-Be Safe

Our little "pumpkin"

We took Ashlyn to the Pumpkin Patch today and she loved it, the pumpkins were just her size and she wanted to touch ALL of them! She picked one out with a little help from her daddy... tonight is our ward trunk or treat, but it's hard to put my baby in a long sleeved, mostly black lady bug costume when it's 93 degrees outside! I think we'll wait until Wednesday to dress her up! Happy Halloween...

IDEAS WANTED.....

I know it's still a month and a half away, but I'm trying to get some ideas for Ashlyn's first birthday party! It's in December but I don't really want it to have anything to do with Christmas - she needs her own party. I will for sure give her an individual cake to eat herself but I'm not sure what kind of theme or if I even want a theme! I really just want it to be fun and I know she won't remember it but she will see pictures one day and besides it took 2.5 years to get pregnant with her and we want to celebrate Her! So any ideas are welcome, I plan to do a combined family party with my family and Blake's family. Thanks for any input you may have...

Look what I did!

I was so excited to finally get pig tails in Ashlyn's hair - she has such soft/fine hair that they don't stay in that long but I enjoy it anyway...

Friends Are We My Sister and Me

I'm a little late on this as her 28th birthday was over a week ago but I just wanted to let my sister know how much I love her and wish she lived closer to our family! When Melanie and I were growing up we were great friends and played well together until the Junior High years and I became the annoying little sister that wanted to do everything she did! We had MANY battles over who was wearing whose clothes, make up, and shoes! I always looked up to her because even though she was a little stubborn she always set goals and reached every one. She has always been the "achiever" and is very smart! Melanie moved out of the house at 17 and went to UofA and worked hard for her nursing degree which has been a life saver for income and a blessing to me because I call her a few times a week with some sort of medical/baby question (especially when I was pregnant with Ashlyn). I am so grateful that we have become such great friends - It's nice knowing I can call her if I've had a bad day or to tell her something exciting! She has so many wonderful talents and is such a big support to me even from another state! I love to hear how her kids are doing and all the milestones they reach. It's so fun to watch her with her own family and she is such a wonderful mother to her 3 boys... she works SO hard and still has time to give to her family and even fits in time for me when I call! I really look forward to the 10 days she comes to Arizona every year and I can't wait to see her in about 5 weeks! Thanks for being such a wonderful example to me Mel, you are a wonderful sister and I'm so glad you're my best friend, love ya



Me and Melanie (right)

Mom, Me and Melanie

Melanie and I (I am wearing tall boots)

On Sunday we had our nephew Henry's baby blessing at church and a yummy lunch afterwards, later that evening we went to Blake's other brothers house for our nephew Kade's birthday where we had another tasty meal!




This was Ashlyn's first ride on a teeter totter (spelling?) and she was all smiles, she also enjoyed the swing and the trapeze bar!














I love when she puckers her lips with wide eyes...

















Saturday we attended our nephew Kade's "friend" party at a gymnastics place and we all enjoyed the equipment, from the rings to the foam pit, the trampolines and rope swings and lets not forget the bouncy floor that Ashlyn loved.



Another of Ashlyn's favorites was this tumbling trampoline and she HAD to start from the beginning and go ALL the way to the end or she would give me an ear full of grunting - her balance was pretty good!



I realized that this is what it would look like if Ashlyn were an identical twin - it's a neat picture but it kind of made me nervous thinking of twins!



I was able to get a tiny pony tail in Ashlyn's hair and she didn't even touch it once, the hard part is having her stay still to get it in her hair in the first place!


My baby girl is growing up quick and has found a love of purses just like her mommy! this is one of my old purses that I could NEVER fit all my stuff in anymore so I thought it was the perfect size for Ashlyn- her favorite is to have it around her neck, but sometimes does the across the chest thing too she is such a girl...

*Saturday night my parents watched Ashlyn while Blake and I went on a date to see Brian Regan(it was a work outing with Blakes company-thanks again!) he is a comedian and his act is clean and hilarious! just in case you were looking for a funny guy you should look into his stuff...

10 MONTHS - "Sooo Big"

-SO BIG- (that's what she's doing with her hands)
I gave Ashlyn a "biter biscuit" this week and since she has 7 teeth she just bit the thing like crazy but she did love it and ate it well (no choking) with not a huge mess - yeah!

She looks totally annoyed in this picture and it's hilarious - funny moments

Her new favorite thing is to ride on daddy's back and hold on to his shirt, she also carries couch pillows around the living room and grunts like it's SO heavy - she also does the Indian noise with her hand and her mouth while riding in her car seat! Ashlyn is a copy cat, if we cough she coughs, if we tilt our head to one side she'll do the same, if I open my mouth really wide or stick out my tongue she copies me! I love being able to stay home with her so I don't miss out on anything!! I have no idea what she should be for Halloween, I'm still deciding if its worth it or if I should wait another year! Crazy that she's 10 months tomorrow...maybe it's time for another one! (no I'm not pregnant-yet)

Many Faces

the days of my life

Our little 9.5 month old has begun to walk with speed and sometimes carries a toy, she gets excited and sometimes looks as though she's running!! It's hysterical to say the least but in the past few days Ashlyn has gotten her fair share of ouchies - she fell down her push toy and cut her nose on the front, she also fell into the coffee table and got a "goose egg" on her head along with crying so hard she didn't seem as though she was breathing but of course was! She will NOT crawl anymore and has to get from here to there walking which means she stands up in the middle of the room holding on to nothing, she kneels or squats - put her hands in front of her - sticks her bum in the air - straightens her legs - then pulls her body to a stand... when she's tired she'll just rest her head on the ground for awhile and it's too cute! She has also become totally obsessed with her tongue now that her front teeth have come in, and will have it hanging out all day!