< It's NOT Over>

First thing this morning while making breakfast Ashlyn coughed and then spit/threw up clear mucus... I wondered if it was really puke (because she was just fine yesterday). She kept asking for OTMIL (oatmeal) and so that's what she had for breakfast! She played normal and would want to be by me a little more than normal but nothing way out of the ordinary. She drank 2 of the 4 ounces of her bottle before nap (which usually lasts 2 hours) and she woke up an hour later screaming - I went in and got her and just held her while I was looking at clothes online - then she coughed again and puke went ALL over ME, shirt, pants, feet.... Of course it was milk and oatmeal. I put her on the wood floor thinking she was done and she puked 3 more times. By that time I was gagging, I called Blake at work because I was overwhelmed and feeling sick myself. I put her in the bath and tried to clean up our clothes and the floor and the office chair - Blake gave Ashlyn a bath and I showered when everything else was taken care of. She acted like nothing happened afterwards and you would never know she had puked. I don't get it! I don't really know what to feed her, I gave her toast for lunch with some apple juice and she seemed to like it. I didn't give her a bottle before her 2nd nap and so far it's been an hour and a half. When do I classify her as having the flu - She puked Monday, NOT Tuesday and now Wednesday - what does that mean. She doesn't have a fever.... Any ideas??
Tonight I'm going out for dessert with some girlfriends from my Prescott days (they all live here now) so I'm looking forward to a small break and yummy ice cream.

weekend news

Friday night we went on a date with our friends Mark and Clarissa to the temple, and then to dinner at BJ's! Saturday was a normal day, just slow moving and then Blake wanted to go look at trucks (we need a new one that is crew cab so another car seat will fit comfortably in it without Ashlyn kicking our seats)! We went out to Phoenix to look at one and it was pretty much what Blake was looking for so we bought it. 2005 White Nissan Titan Crew Cab 4X4! We love it and will now get Blake's Chevy ready to sell (needs minor repairs, like a windshield and a tire). Of course after everything was said and done we didn't get home until about 3pm! That night we went to dinner with my parents to none other than BJ's (we like that place, and there is never a long wait)... Sunday we ate dinner at my parents and celebrated my niece Kensington's First Birthday!!! Last night my brother came over for a haircut and I totally forgot so he helped me make dinner first and after we ate I did his hair! I had to cut Blake's hair too so Adam stayed to help with Ashlyn! All of a sudden he yelled to me that Ashlyn just Threw Up! Ewww - I felt so bad for her, she had been pretty mellow all day and I thought she didn't feel well. So I put her in the bath and Adam cleaned up the living room (thanks!) and Blake was sitting in the chair with hair all over him and couldn't move! After everything was cleaned up Ashlyn just wanted to snuggle her daddy on the couch and have a drink. She's acting much better today and slept great last night! This is the first time she has actually puked from not feeling well - she has gagged herself twice before. I hope today is a better day, we will probably lay low and stay in the house! April just flew by and we're excited for May, my brother Greg comes home for the month and it's another month closer to having this baby!

A Little of This and a Little of That

I made this dress for Ashlyn a few weeks ago and kept forgetting to share the end result - For my first dress I think it's alright but of course it needs improvements. The Ribbon Ties on top are supposed to be in bows but Ashlyn just unties them so I put them in knots. It's very simple and light weight so it will be nice for a hot summer

We had gone to Peter Piper for my nephews birthday earlier this month and Ashlyn was obsessed with the ski ball game, Blake let her play it and this is how she wanted to put the balls in the slots. She was excited to get "1" ticket!!

Last night we took Ashlyn to feed the ducks for the first time. She liked it but of course couldn't throw the bread far enough and the ducks weren't coming close enough to get her bread. Two mama's had a bunch of babies and they were SO cute and tiny! We let Ashlyn play on a few toys at the park on the way to the car, and went to get frozen yogurt!

Water Baby

We planted 4 new trees in our backyard this weekend, thanks to my husband who dug all 4 HUGE holes himself (I wasn't much help) also, Blake's brother Trent who helped carry the trees from the truck to the backyard, and Blake's dad who helped lift the trees into the holes and plant! Our yard is starting to look full and it's nice looking at trees rather than brick wall! Anyway, I decided to get a sprinkler for the grass so Ashlyn could play in it on hot days! While the guys were planting I tried it out and she didn't seem to like it at all, she mostly ran away except when she wanted to get the balls that were right next to it.

She had to help by wearing the gloves and picking up EVERY tool she saw (including a pick, hammer, shovels, pliers, saw, and the measuring tape)

I decided to get Ashlyn out of her wet clothes since she was SO unexcited about the sprinkler and she QUICKLY found a new toy - the hose that had a leak at the connection! She got SO wet and not only tried drinking the water, but would put her whole face in it. Why wasn't that cool an hour before when she was in her swim suit!
After cleaning up the backyard from the planting mess I was calling Ashlyn to come inside with me and all I hear is her start to cry, she had walked right next to one of the new trees and fell in the mud (from watering them) She was totally stuck and on her knees - she realized she hates mud, and being cleaned off even more! She is full of surprises!

"Vegas Vacation"

Blake and I went to Las Vegas with Melissa and Gregg Rupp for 3 days without Ashlyn and it was the first time we'd spent a night away from her. Getting ready for the trip was harder than actually being on the trip. Of course I missed her but we were seriously busy from 9AM to midnight just about all 3 days!! We called our parents to see how she'd slept and eaten her meals and just to hear her talk on the phone. I swear she learned about 10 new words while we were away... Blake's parents watched her for 1.5 days and my parents did the same. We were so grateful to them for taking such good care of her and allowing us to enjoy a nice vacation.

At the MGM Grand they had a Lion Exhibit and they usually had 2 lions in at a time. Mostly females but we did see one male one of the days!

This was at the Bellagio Hotel looking back at the "Eiffel Tower"

Also at the Bellagio they had such an Amazing Garden area full of the neatest flowers and sculptures made out of flowers! This snail was one of my favorites with the roses!

This was our room, we stayed at the Excalibur for cost reasons and we hadn't planned on spending much time in our room so we didn't care if it was in an older hotel! They upgraded us for free!

This was part of the Fountain Show at the Bellagio - every 30 minutes or so was a different show

At the Venetian they had the Wax Museum and we actually went to the Brookstone store inside to use there massage chairs - we wish we would have done that everyday. I of course wore sandals and Blake told me NOT to and to bring tennis shoes, he was SO right - my feet were killing me the first day after walking 10 hours. I bought some flip flops which helped but didn't cure my problem! Inside the Venetian they had the cutest kids clothing store but when I walked in and the first t-shirt I saw Ashlyn's size was $140 I walked right back out. Crazy

The Wynn had an awesome waterfall and we walked inside for a minute but I felt like I was on Rodeo Dr. in California or something, I hadn't heard of half of the stores!

We had a tram pass to save our feet from walking back and forth on the strip and the last day we went to the Stratosphere and went right to the top (I of course wasn't excited about the idea because not only do I hate elevators but also being up SO stinking high). I once went to New York City and to the Empire State Building and they cram SO many people in elevators and it took forever to get to the top and I think it ruined me. All in all it was fun and Blake and Gregg rode on the 3 rides they had at the top - One shot you up the needle, another seemed like it was dropping you off the edge of the top and another swung you out off the side of the top. The picture shows it best. They are crazy dare devils and I would NEVER do that!

We experienced the Dolphin Habitat and the Secret Garden (Sigfried and Roy's Tigers) at the Mirage and the dolphins did some flips and jumps and just swam under water. It was neat!

Melissa and I were pretty much done at this point and our feet hurt so bad! We of course still had 4 hours until we had to go to the airport!

We had such a great trip and were happy to spend time with great friends! We will be going back one day to see more shows and actually relax at the pool since we were so busy going and seeing EVERYTHING we could!

NAARTJIE

I was introduced to this children's store this week and was excited that not only could I view the website but they have a store by Dillard's at the Gilbert San Tan Mall. They are priced similar to Old Navy and have cute stuff for there Spring Sale right now! I had never heard of this store so I thought I'd pass on the info in case you hadn't heard of them either! The name of the store is a fruit in Africa and is pronounced "Narshee"

http://naartjie.homestead.com/index.html

20 week tummy

Ok so I'm in my 21st week and this is my 20 week tummy... I am still fitting in some of my regular clothes (ex: this photo) but of course they are a little tight! I have a hard time purchasing too many maternity clothes because I really only wear them for 5-6 months anyway. Lately Ashlyn has been fascinated by my tummy and has to lift up my shirt (I always layer with a tank top so no bare tummy) and she likes to kiss the baby. I'm sure she doesn't REALLY understand but it's cute anyway. She also likes to push on it with her hands and pat it not very softly! She's not that great at being "soft" yet! She is also sprouting her 13 & 14 teeth, lucky us! This past week I've been doing some more planning for Vegas, we watched a great conference and I've been making lists in my mind of everything that needs to get done this summer before the baby! (It's a LONG list) I know I'm not nesting yet, maybe Spring Cleaning is more like it! And one more thing, I am having the most bizarre dreams this pregnancy it's so weird, maybe it's because I haven't slept well this whole time either.

I'm hoping to get a tan in Vegas!

New Tricks, First Hair Cut and Independence

We've been having fun since we returned home from our vacation and Ashlyn has become quite the dare devil! After she mastered climbing on chairs and the window sill, she had to get on the coffee table and the couch... She jumps and dances on the coffee table and of course has fallen off a few times - but now she insists on climbing up the couch and then to the arm of the couch and jumping off, she lost balance on Sunday and fell between the couch and our recliner which ended with a scraped forehead and a goose egg! No worries she got back on the couch minutes later. Today while going to get diapers out of her room I came back to the living room and found that she climbed the book shelf and was laying across the 2nd shelf smiling and saying "Cheese"!!! Saturday I decided it was time for Ashlyn's hair to have a "trim" because it wasn't even and the top isn't really growing at the rate as the back and sides (can you say mullet) she sat in my hair chair so good on Blake's lap while eating a sucker and smiling the whole time. Ashlyn has become a "depends on the moment" eater - sometimes she will eat anything we stick in front of her and other times she gives me this look like, "Eww are you serious Mom". We used to have to feed her off our plates because it must have tasted so much better from our plate but that doesn't work anymore! She's really into feeding herself - not just picking it up with her fingers but she wants to use the fork alone... She also tries so hard to put her own socks on and if she can't get it she gets really annoyed, sometimes she'll try to put socks on me! I'm almost dreading the day when she has to Pick Out her own clothes by herself without my help! As it gets closer to our weekend getaway in a few weeks and I have to leave Ashlyn for 2 nights with our parents I get so nervous thinking that I will just miss her like crazy and worry the whole time and hope she's being good and having fun! Why is being a mom so weird - we want breaks and when we get them we just miss our kids and can't wait to see them! I guess leaving her for a few days will just make me appreciate her even more.