The Plague

The stomach bug that Trevor had a bit ago finally got to Sara :(  She woke up to feed Ashley in the middle of the night on Sunday and by the grace of God Brian woke up as she was finishing and came and checked on them.  For those of you who know Brian, know that he can sleep through anything and he's not one to get up in the middle of the night (although he's been a great help with Trevor waking up at night lately).  Anyhoo, Sara promptly handed Ashley over to him and the fun began :(  She did her best to drink fluids but her milk supply suffered a bit.  Luckily we had some pumped milk ready for her in the freezer and Sara kept pumping to help things out.

Brian stayed home Monday to take care of Mommy-the-sickie.  He even kept Trevor home from 'school' because he wasn't sure how to best get him there and take care of Sara and Ashley at the same time.  He had his hands full but was a great nurse. (Jim, Annie, Sam and Elena headed to San Diego to see friends for a planned getaway.  Bet they were glad to leave the sick zone although Sam had a version of the stomach flu hit him once arriving in San Diego :(

Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve arrived around 6:30pm on Monday and pretty sure a sense of relief washed over Brian, Trevor and even Ashley.  Sara too was very excited to see her parents.  There is nothing like having your Mom take care of you when you are sick.  Ashley was so excited to assume her over the shoulder position with Nana.  Ahhhhhh......

Monday evening Brian helped out a lot by getting Ashley when she would wake up to feed and bring her in bed with Sara (usually Sara feeds in Ashley's room) and by Tuesday morning all was back to normal.  Whew!

Ashley's Birth Announcment

We think Ashley's birth announcement turned out just perfect.  Pink and lots of it and the damask pattern on the front and back of the announcement matches her room :) 2 days old, 5 days old, and 9 days old (left to right).  Want to get these out before our Christmas cards go out! 

Meeting Jim, Annie, Sam and Elena (finally!)

The day FINALLY arrived for Uncle Jim, Aunt Annie and cousins Sam and Elena to meet our daughter Ashley...and for us to FINALLY meet precious baby Elena.  Uncle Jim walked in the door and promptly stole Ashley out of her Mommy's arms...which was just fine.  She had been waiting and waiting for the moment to finally arrive!  Seeing each other on FaceTime is great but there is nothing like the real deal! 

 Sara, Jim and all the kiddos.  We snapped a quick picture to send to their parents who would be starting their drive back to AZ the following day.  This should give them some motivation to drive quickly (yet safely)!

 It was SO good to finally meet Elena and show her lots of Auntie love.  Amazing how they are only 6 weeks apart yet they are so different already.  They grow up too fast!!

The boys picked up like they hadn't skipped a beat in the 4 or so months since seeing each other last.  They are best buds!  Good thing we have 11 whole days together before having to say 'see you later!'

Santa and Build a Bear

We continue to be really thankful for the community in which we live.  Today at 'Bagels & Brew' they also had Santa Claus visit!! Ho! Ho! Ho!

 Trevor has never been afraid of Santa Claus.  Always super anxious to tell him what he wants for Christmas.  And boy this year there was a long list that we heard about every single day but he only told Santa he wanted one thing....'a truck with a thing on the front and a thing on the back.'

 After too many muffins, bagels, doughnuts, fruit and juice we had fun building a teddy bear (actually Trevor picked out a doggie) at the 'Build a Bear Workshop' 

 Daddy did most of the stuffing.  Trevor thought it was way more fun to throw the stuffing up into the air!

 What did Ashley do through all of this?  No surprise here!  Sleeping beauty did just that - sleep!  And yes little cutie.  Santa does love you....especially looking all adorable in that cute little tutu outfit!

Hillins Christmas

Before Grandma Pauline and Papa John left for their vacation to the Tahiti islands (jealous!!!) we celebrated Christmas with them!  Trevor was so excited to get big boy legos!  Now we'll just have to be super careful not to leave those laying around once Ashley is more mobile!

 We also went to Macaroni Grill nearby for dinner the night before they left and got Papa John to hold Ashley.  He isn't so fond of doing so when they are tiny but she isn't so little any more so they had some bonding time!

Love the Black and White

Ashley is really into anything black and white.  Especially her pal 'Ziggy the Zebra' as we call him. 

 She also loves to read her black and white 'Animals' book.  Even Trevor likes reading it to her.  But today was a combined tummy time and reading moment!

 She focuses so well on things these days and is just all smiles and coos. The girl is a good sleeper too.  Mommy is only getting up once or twice a night still and she is a good napper during the day.  So cute!

 

Touchdown!

One Month Onesie Pic

 Ashley wasn't so sure what to think for her one month photos.  She's probably thinking 'crazy Mommy has that big black contraption out again!'

She thought it was a little better laying in her crib.  She has a bit of the '4 week uglies' as Sara's Aunt Double affectionately called it with Trevor although we think Ashley got it worse.  Maybe it means she won't have much of it in her teenage years :)

It certainly doesn't bother her (or us).  She's as peaceful as can be! 

First Bottle

The day had finally arrived for Daddy to give Miss Ashley a bottle.  Since she was gaining weight and doing well with nursing now was the time!  Although Dada said he didn't feel like he was missing out by not partaking in her feeding but we're sure it still was fun to do!  We thought Trevor would be super excited to share in the special time too given his excitement in getting a bottle out and saying he was ready to help feed her the night we got home from the hospital, but no.....he said 'you just do it Daddy' and went back to playing :)

Teaching by modeling

As parents we are told to teach our children but more importantly to model the behavior that we want our children to exhibit.  With that in mind we signed up for a Love and Logic class that happens Tuesday nights at Trevor's school.  We are looking forward to the knowledge that this class will teach us but more importantly the fact that, as parents, we will have a unified front.  Parenting is not easy and it is good to capture some insights and behaviors that others have found to work in helping to raise kids who will ultimately make good choices, understand consequences, and will learn from affordable mistake that they make early on in life. 

Speaking of modeling good behavior, I (Brian) was saddened by a recent comment made by an anonymous source on the last blog posting.  The comment "wow you need a lot of help for two kids" is a perfect example of what I hope my kids will not learn.  My wife is a selfless person who devotes herself to our family.  Apparently whoever made this comment has never had a recent c-section, been nursing a newborn and had a contagious and nauseous 3 year old that they are trying to manage on their own.  And even if anyone has been in her shoes and known that experience, who cares how you may handle it vs how we did.

Sara puts a lot of effort into this blog and it is more or less a family diary.  We love to look back on it within our immediate family, we love that it helps us share what is going on with our extended family, and it also lets friends from near and far share in our life experiences.  We thought visitors to our blog would love these very same things and would not utilize the tool to make snarky comments/judgements on what we do. 

I am trying to tell myself that the comment was made by a random person who happened to have stumbled by an unsearchable blog and does not know us.  We hope that similar events do not force us down the path of making everyone sign in each time, take away commenting, or turn this into a unshared diary as we feel this would make it more difficult for our loved ones to be part of our lives. 

I am sorry that this feels somewhat like a rant but when I came home to my wife crushed by someone else's judgement, I felt I had to say something on her behalf.  Trevor, Ashley and I are fortunate to have such a loving mom, wife and CEO for our family.  We love you babe! 

Ashley 1 Month Appt

Ashley had her one month well visit and we have some good news!  Our little chunk is up to 9lbs 4.5oz!!!  Now she's gaining well over an ounce a day!  We are so glad that it all came together!  We even got the okay to start a bottle and nuk!  YAY!!!

The bad news?  Ashley needed a vaccine!  Mommy was not ready for that at all.  She thought her next round of shots would be at 2 months.  Nope - she needed one today.  Ashley took it like a champ though.  Her face turned bright red and she cried for a few seconds and that was that.  Mommy was quick to feed her afterward though to help comfort.  With Trevor we used to bring a bottle with so next time we'll have to do that :)