Big girl

Ashley spends a lot of time looking over at her brother when in her infant carrier in the car.  She probably wonders what it is like to sit in a big girl seat....

...so she got her chance one day when we were waiting for Dada at the hotel he was staying at in Scottsdale for a three day work event.  She looks rather comfy!

 Trevor at first thought it was cool that she was in his seat but quickly wanted her out!

 So back to her infant carrier it was :)  

 We sure had fun at Dada's hotel though.  We ordered room service for dinner and hung out watching cartoons before heading home.  Love her pink outfit?  We're pretty sure this is an outfit we picked out as a gift for our niece Brooke when she was born.  Fun to have it on our daughter now!! 

Ashley still isn't feeling the best.  Very congested yet has a runny nose.  Mommy had been good at limiting dairy (she seems to be a bit intolerant to it) but has been a little looser as of lately.  Time to get back on the bandwagon.  She's worth it but it isn't the easiest to stick to!

 When Ashley isn't feeling so hot she loves to just cuddle on Mommy.  Mommy doesn't mind one bit!  Even if it means this blog isn't getting updated and is way far behind ;)

 But after a good rest, she's back to her smiley self.  Stuffy nose and all!

 Thanks to our old neighbors for her pink flower blanket!  She loves to hang out on it because of the texture!

 Pretty neat that it's two sided with different colors! Hello world!

 She continues to grow like a weed.  Although her 0-3 month clothing fits width-wise they are much too short for our tall girl.  Can't wait to see how much she's grown at her next appt (4 months).

Precious

Ashley is getting up still just once a night to feed and although she has speed up her feeding time to just 25 or so minutes, Mommy can't help but cuddle her beautiful baby girl a while at night.  She is so precious.  Soaking up every second because she's changing and growing too fast.  Mommy snapped a quick picture last night because she always wants to remember this special time....along with her long eye lashes.  Just precious!

Random Happenings

As mentioned earlier we are taking a 'Love and Logic' parenting class at Trevor's preschool.  His teacher teaches it so she has a lot of examples that we can relate to since Trevor may or may not be one of her examples.  Ha!  We decided to take this class so that we could have a common language in our house.  Sara's Mom used 'Love and Logic' with her Kindergarten class and with Trevor and cousin Sam since they were toddlers so we understood the fundamentals a little bit but wanted more understanding.  We have friends that recommended it too.  So glad we are taking it because not only has it helped shape Trevor but it has improved our relationship because we aren't getting so frustrated with each other when dealing with Trevor.  Love this class.  There is a book too that we are going to read (well, Sara is at least!)  

The second night we learned about the 'uh oh' song and got to put it to use after getting home when Trevor was having a hard time listening and following the bedtime routine.  Well you do your little saying and then put them in their room.  You let them choose door open or shut and if they choose open they can have it that way as long as they stay in their room.  Trevor was inching out so Brian told him he had to shut the door and Trevor did not like that at all.  He was crying and trying to open the door, then he was trying to claw his way out because you could see his fingers under the door.  He was pleading quietly 'someone help me' (this was so sad) and then was screaming it like someone was hurting him (even sadder) finally he screams 'I HAVE TO GO POTTY!' so he got out and did his business and went back to his room for a few minutes of quiet time before Daddy gave him a hug and said how much he loved him.  Where was Mommy through all of this?  Feeding Ashley of course.

Roll around to night two or three and this kid knows the routine.  If he gets the 'uh oh song' and goes to his room, he cries and then settles himself down.  Then he proudly announces 'Mommy/Daddy I'm done crying' so we wait a few minutes and go get him.  These days you pretty much just have to say 'uh oh' and whatever behavior stops.  Life is good!

Ashley just continues to be a smiley, happy baby.  Mommy always thought she'd always be accesorizing her daughter but as it turns out she rarely does it.  Matter of fact this is only time she has worn a headband for just a normal day.

 Other 'Trevorisms' while we're thinking about them:

-  He's become a paper hoarder at school.  At soccer shots they hand out coloring sheets after they are done and apparently Trevor has taken more than his fair share because we find quite a few sheets in his backpack at the end of the day.  What is that about?

- Trevor is very attentive to everything going on around him.  If Mommy or Daddy has a conversation with someone he wants to know what was talked about.  If he asks us a question and we say we don't know we'll have to ask so and so (and we do in front of him) he says 'what did the man say Mommy/Daddy.'  He's so inquisitive!

On one of our fun Friday outings we headed down to Sara's parents house they are renting this winter with her Uncle Don.  Uncle Don's girlfriend was in town too and boy did Trevor have fun playing with her!  She even got a new nickname - Clancy.  Apparently Nancy is too hard to say.  :)

 Here is an example of Trevor taking care of his little sister.  He said she looks cold Mommy and promptly hopped up on the table and covered her up with his blanket.  The biggest shocker?  He gladly shares Skip It with her!!

Weekend Fun....depending on the day!

On Fridays Mommy has both kids home during the day and we sure know how to have fun. Poor Trevor though started this Friday out with a rash.  He's itching like crazy and it's all over his body although it looks the worst on his face.  The rest of his body has raised bumps that feel like sandpaper.  

 Turns out 8 days into his Augmentin for his latest ear infection that he's allergic.  We thought this once before when he was younger but because he was on two different antibiotics we didn't know which one was causing the rash.  Guess he's allergic to penicillin like his Mommy. 

So like most Fridays when we don't really have to go anywhere we have pajama day!  Trevor always says 'thank you Mommy' when he gets to stay in his jammies or we also love when he says 'thank you Mommy for making lunch.' He really is such a polite boy!

Ashley was in a really smiley mood so we took some pictures of her in her crib.

Of course Trevor wanted in on the action too.  Not sure why this picture won't turn the right way.  Grrr....but you get the idea.

 He LOVES his baby sister.  He loves to hold her, sing to her, poke her face (let's be real, he is a boy), get diapers, throw away dirty diapers, cover her with her (and sometimes his) blanket when she's in her swing, go in and say hi to her in the morning and so much more.  We think she likes it too because she lights up anytime he is around!

 We got out the blocks that Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve gave to him and built fire station after fire station.  shy boy apparently didn't want any more pictures taken!

 We played soccer down the hallway and he taught Mommy all about 'trap and release.'  Guess those soccer lessons are actually paying off!

 

 After Daddy got home we decided to try out bowling again and this time Trevor had a lot of fun with Daddy helping him!  We enjoyed bowling next to a family with two little girls who were quite the dancers.  We think Trevor was showing off his mad bowling skills to them :)

 What did Ashley think of bowling? Zzzzzzzzzz.......

 On Saturday it was a wet gloomy day so Trevor decided he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for lunch.  Not Peter Piper Pizza this time.  Not even sure where he heard of Chuck E Cheese but away we went.  He liked the horse racing.

 He also really liked the big monster truck that went up on two wheels! 

 On Sunday though, it was back to work.  Our backyard has a bit of a draining problem when it rains a lot in a short amount of time (which is just how it rains in AZ).  So Daddy had a not so fun Sunday installing drain tile to alleviate the problem.  His first dig he hit the sprinkler system so it's turning out to be an even bigger project than he anticipated. Yuck :(

Trevor's Mini-me

 Our financial advisor and his wife were in town again so they came over for dinner last night.  They couldn't believe how much Ashley and Trevor looked alike. We see it too - even when they were born they had similar characteristics as you can see below.  Ashley just has dimples.  The small picture in Trevor's picture was Brian when he was born.  So we guess they really both just look like their Daddy.....for now anyway :)

Family!

 The kids (and us of course) sure are lucky to have Brian's parents so close all the time.  They love to come over and catch up.  We'd love to go over there but Ashley (aka Diva) is not a big fan of her car seat or Daddy's driving.  Not sure which.  So they come over to see us :)

Grandma Pauline and Ashley!  Grandma fell a few months ago and really hurt her shoulder/rotator cuff so holding Ashley isn't the easiest but she isn't going to let that stop her!

 Ashley is sporting her 'I love my family' outfit because it's true - she does!  We do too!

 Ashley is growing like a weed!  A lot of her 3 month outfits are too short for her now (nothing a cute pair of socks can't mask) but we are calling BS on her 44th percentile for height!

 One night Sara braved the drive with Ashley (although it should be noted that Ashley doesn't cry much in her car seat when Mommy drives) and took the kids over to the Hillins for dinner since Brian had to work late.  While there we even got to see their friends Raven and Bob Fox who gave Ashley the adorable sock shoes!

Papa has no problem getting down on the ground to spend time with his youngest grandchild.  Ashley likes when he makes his special popping sounds!

Brian surprised us by having a work event cancelled so we all got to eat together and spend time together.  Yay for family!

Annie and Elena Visit

Nicci's siblings came to support their sister and brother-in-law and family after the loss of baby Kendall.  Great for us that Annie and Elena got to stay at our house and we got some time together but we certainly wish it was under different circumstances.  Sara's Mom came over so that Annie could go to Nicci's without Elena and the cousins picked up like no time had passed since Christmas.  Instead of swings though they played on their activity mats!

Ashley is really liking talking to the baby in the mirror :)

Trevor really enjoyed playing with the girls.  He got them both giggling!  Elena loved Trevor.  She probably was wondering where her brother was!

 Hi buddy!

On Friday morning Sara, Trevor and Ashley dropped Nana Jeanne off back at her house.  They took a quick hike at a nearby 'mountain' before heading home.  

 Don't think Sara will ever forget what happened after they got home.  Ashley was hungry and tired.  Trevor was way over tired and both kids were laying on Trevor's bed crying and crying.  Ugh!  Sara took a video and titled it 'shoot me in the head' - that my friends is why we need to be home by 1:00 for naps.  Eventually Trevor did go to sleep and Ashley got fed and took a nap and then all was well in the world! Silly girl sticking out her tongue in her pretty outfit from Jeff, Dawn and the girls!

And it's a good thing that they did nap because that evening we ventured out to Buffalo Chip - a restaurant up in Cave Creek that has bull riding on Friday evenings.  After enjoying their BBQ buffet where you get a pound of food from many different choices we headed over to the little rodeo area and checked out the amateur bull riders.  Trevor even got a kick out of it!

Ashley stayed all bundled up and seemed to enjoy all the excitement even though she couldn't see anything!

 On Sunday Annie and Elena headed back home :( It sure was nice having them here.  We look forward to seeing them again in MN sometime this spring hopefully.  We took a few pictures of our ham ball Ashley dressed in one of the outfits that Annie's Mom gave Ashley since Elena and Ashley had the same outfit.  Too bad that we didn't get a pic of Elena and Ashley wearing them at the same time!

 She giggles and giggles!

 Oh! (This is the face when she sees Mommy do the 'milk' sign.  Then she gets all excited and assumes the position!)

 And for the finale!  Not sure if this means she's mad Annie and Elena left or if it's for Mommy taking too many pictures.  :)

Kendall earned her angel wings :(

We are so sad to say that Kendall earned her angel wings on Monday.  A little of her story....We knew baby Kendall had 4 heart defects when she was in utero. She was born late September and set to have heart surgery in December but had been in the hospital since November because of the flu and then three weeks ago she suffered a major heart attack.  They had to hook her up to the heart and lung machine in order for her to survive but that caused internal bleeding which they discovered because her left side went paralyzed.  The doctors had to take her off the machine and they weren't sure if her heart would work on its own but it did (!) and her paralysis went away.  Unfortunately they discovered the bleeding caused her to suffer a major stroke and she continued to have seizures.  They discovered that she didn't have as much brain function as she should after the stroke (she operated like a 30week fetus) so her parents had to make a difficult decision.  Life is SO unfair.  No 3 month old should have to go through everything she went through.  We are so blessed to have known such a sweetheart and fighter.  It's sad that it takes events like this to remind us of how grateful we are for what we have and how we need to stay focused on what is truly important.  We love and miss you baby Kendall!

Well Visit and Sick Visits

After battling a sore throat for a few days, Sara could no longer take the 'swallowing needle' feeling and decided that on Monday morning she would go to the doctor.  Little did she know that Trevor would wake up crying and saying his ear hurt.  So the two of them headed off to Minute Clinic.  Sara was diagnosed with Strep throat in less than a minute after taking the throat culture and Trevor's ears were checked and yep, he had an ear infection.  We decided not to have him treat it there though since we were going to the pediatrician for Ashley's 2 month appt later that day anyway, we'd just bring Trevor and let them prescribe the right medicine given his history of ear infections.  

However, Trevor was in so much ear pain that Daddy made a separate (and earlier) appointment for Trevor.  They couldn't believe that his ear went right to the red bulging stage so fast :(  Poor guy was just crying and crying and that's even after we used the numbing medicine and a dose of Ibuprofen.  Once we got some antibiotics in him he was a little better and he was a lot better after a layered dose of Tylenol and a long nap.  

Mommy took Ashley to her two month well visit later in the afternoon and learned that we have a growing baby on our hands.  No wonder she has been out of her newborn clothes for a few weeks! 
She really is such a happy, happy baby!

 She loves showing off and flirting for the nurses and doctor.  Dr. Engle said that Ashley is doing things that most babies don't do until 3-4 months old! 

 She said that in reference to Ashley grabbing onto the doctor's stethoscope and her jacket.  She also said that most two month old kids won't track the doctor's hand when held to the side of their face and if they do they'll track from one side but stop mid-line.  Not our overachiever!  She followed from one side to the other then back again!  Good job baby Ashley! 

Two month stats:

Height - 22 1/4 inches (44th percentile)

Weight - 11lbs 9 oz (66th percentile)

Head Circumference - 40.5cm (84th percentile)

These smiles were obviously pre-shots but our little princess did just fine again.  A bright red face, some screams then some whimpers and that was that.  Just like Trevor at this age!  Mommy nursed her though right after for some comfort and it was time to eat!

That evening was spent lounging for Mommy and her sick Trevor and her sleepy Ashley!

Which was just fine!  Who wouldn't love cuddling with this cutie?  Check out the good nursing cheeks!  He he!