10 months old!!

Ashlyn is 10 months old today, WOW!!! In those first few weeks after she was born we couldn't even imagine what 10 months down the road would be like. Its better than you think it will be. She's so much fun these days! She is getting more independent all the time, doesn't like to be cuddled all the time unless she's tired or just woke up. She is curious about everything! You can see her just absorbing everything around her. If she hears a noise or new voice she wants to know what it and where its coming from and she's likely to investigate. She still thinks her sisters are the coolest. She pulls herself up on anything and everything. She's starting to shuffle sideways a little bit when she's holding onto the coffee table or couch. She's learned how to go from standing to sitting without falling on her butt, most of the time. She gets mad when she doesn't get her way :) She knows how to work her parents, she's definently got us twisted around her little finger. She smiles at anyone and everyone. She's learned how to get people to talk to her and she loves to talk! We had parent-teach conference last week at Ashlyn's daycare. I thought it was sorta funny at first that they would do conference so young but it turned out to be pretty informative. Ashlyn already has a couple of favorite kids in her class that she plays with really well, Gemma and Sullivan. She still comes to lunch with me everyday. I really look forward to that hour in the middle of my day that we get to spend together. When I drop her off in the mornings she couldn't care less that I'm leaving, when I take her back after lunch she usually cries a little when I leave. Her teacher's assure me that it only lasts until the door shuts behind me! :o) She is happy and developmentally on track and her daycare is part of that so that makes us happy.

We had fun last weekend when we went out to Edgefield with friends. We were both pretty tired and only made it till 11pm but we had a lot of fun. Going out with adults without kids is a necessary part of life. Reminds us that we are important too and gives us something to talk about besides Ashlyn. Most of our day/night is so focused on Ashlyn....when she eats, when she sleeps, when she poops, it was nice to get away and leave all that to my mom for the night.

Last week was a long week. I worked two extra shifts and it was so nice to just be able to stay home this weekend and relax. We don't stay home very often. Yesterday we did yard work outside, got the backyard all cleaned up and ready for the winter. We didn't do a lot this summer and the yard reflects the lack of attention. So this weekend has been all about cleaning up and getting ready for winter. We did take a break yesterday afternoon to pick up our wine shipment at the winery that we are club members at. Since that also includes free tastings anytime of course we had to do a little tasting! :)

Today Ashlyn is going to stay home with her daddy while her Mama goes out to Indian food and to see New Moon with her girlfriends.

These are pictures of pictures so they may be a little grainy. Ashlyn had school pictures that we got suckered into buying. $45 for 4 sheets, not cheap. Also one in her Halloween outfit. I'm glad we got those done since we missed Halloween.

This one is my favorite and the reason I ended up buying!

She smiled in every single picture, made it really hard not to buy.

Sitting in a chair like a big girl

Isn't she the cutest bumblebee you've ever seen?

Tired.....

Here's a few pics since I haven't been posting regularly lately. Some evenings it feels like a I barely have time to do much of anything except get Ashlyn ready for bed. We've been busy this week, working. Feels like all we ever do lately. I'm covering extra shifts, Jered's been working a lot of late nights. Looks good on our paychecks, but it sure makes us tired.

Last night Ashlyn and I went to Rose City Ceramics after work to paint pottery with my mom and a bunch of my aunts. It was a lot of fun & hopefully my bowl turns out at least a littlte bit decent. I'll post a pic after i pick it up. Jered is hunting today with his friend from work. Ashlyn and I are just hanging out, cleaning house and doing laundry. This afternoon my mom is going to come stay with Ashlyn so Jered and I can go out with friends. Should be a fun night, I just hope that I can stay awake enough to be a little fun! :)

The shirt says it all :)

Visiting with my Grandpa

This is Mama's bff Rachel and her husband Lee. Rach is having a little girl too, Kenzee Rae

Rach with her pregnant bikini cake. We went to her baby shower, but I slept most of the time.

Halloween=Flu

We were so excited for Halloween this year. Ashlyn had her costume all ready, she was going to be a BumbleBee and she looked so darn adorable in it. Lucky for us we had taken her the week before to get her pictures done in her costume at Penny's because both Jered and I got sick that weekend. On Friday at I got some deli roast beef and a couple slices of cheddar from the sandwhich bar at work and about 15 minutes after eating it I started to get SO nauseous and clammy. This went on for a couple of hours before I finally threw up (at work, ugh!). I figured I had food poisoning because I felt so much after I threw up. I still went home early (good excuse) and on the drive I started feeling crappy again. By the time I got home I threw up again and went straight to bed and slept for 16 hours. I was up a few more time to be sick and felt really terrible all night and the next day. But by Sunday morning I was feeling a ton better. Too bad for Jered he woke up Sat feeling pretty crummy and pukey. Both of us were sick all weekend, luckily Ashlyn was fine. She was her happy self all weekend, even if she did miss her first Halloween. Bummer! We had one set of trick or treaters, they rang the bell and knocked multiple times so we finally opened the door. All we had was some mints and dove chocolates. Pretty lame! Jered made a sign to put in the driveway that said were sick and not taking trick or treaters. It was a pretty tiring week after being sick all weekend. Plus I'm working an extra shift a week right now to help out until we get our new hires on board. 16 hours is a really long day!

Last weekend we went down to Monroe. I went to a baby shower for my best friend Rachel on Sat. She's having a little girl and she's due Jan 24. Ashlyn's bday is Jan 22, so maybe they'll have the same bday :) It was a lot of fun and she is just too darn cute! I'll post a pic later. That evening we went to a 50th bday party for my cousin Sheryl at El Presidente in Corvallis. Yum-my! They have such good food and even better margs. I indulged in both :) After that we hung out for a few hours with my other cousins at Traci's house. We had fun, drank a few beers and had some good laughs! Sat was super busy, obviously! After breakfast at Mom's and a visit from some other cousins and my aunt and uncle we drove home. Whew!! Thank goodness Ashlyn is such a trooper. That kid can sleep anywhere! She slept through most of the shower and the bday dinner!

This week is another busy one. I'm working a 16 tonight and I have meetings on Thurs and Fri which means I have to be here at 7am both those days. I guess that's good practice for me though because they are trying to move our start time to 7am so then I'd work 7am-530pm. Getting home a half hour earlier doesn't seem like much but it will be awesome for us! Sometimes I don't get home till 645p or even 7pm. By the time we feed Ashlyn and she gets her bath its time for her to go to bed. Our nights just go by way too fast and it'll be awesome to get that extra half hour with Ashlyn in the evenings.

Ashlyn has changed so much in the last few weeks! She is super crawler baby these days. Turn your back for a second and she is across the room. She is loving her johnny jumper and her walker. She can really get going in the jumper but her legs still aren't quite long enough to get the walker moving. She can make it go backwards though. She pulls herself up to stand every chance she gets. She falls on her butt a lot but she's learning. She eats pretty much anything we give her, but new foods take her a while. She's got to see it and check it out a few times before she'll eat it herself. If we spoon feed it to her she'll eat. She loves yogurt! She loves her rice crackers and crunchies. She likes chicken and turkey dinners but still isn't too in love with beef dinners. We're still giving her a lot of jarred foods but she does get veggies and fruits that she feeds herself. I think the carrots and mandarin oranges are her favorite. She's not a huge fan of anything peach, but neither am I. She loves mashed potatoes and gravy but can't figure out how to hold onto her banana, it just slips right out of her hand. She's getting very good at feeding the dogs and letting them lick her hands or her food. They know when she's in the high chair they'll probably get a treat. She thinks the dogs are the greatest thing ever. Sinder lets her crawl all over her and poke and pull at her. Tori usually moves out of the way when she sees her coming :o) She loves it when Jered holds her on his lap and plays fetch with the dogs. She belly laughs when she sees them running after that ball, its so cute! I'll have pics to post soon, I'm at work waiting for a patient to get here.