She's a party animal!!

We had a lot of fun going to Kari's bridal shower on Sat. We played a few games, ate a little food and she opened lots of presents. They had made me gluten free cupcakes, yummy! Ashlyn refused to nap for more than 15 minutes but didn't get too cranky. She got held a lot, which she loves! She wasn't about to miss a moment of the party. She passed out on the way home and stayed asleep for about an hour and a half, thank goodness. After the shower we went to a friend's anniversary party at his wine shop. Ashlyn loves to party because she refused to go to sleep until after 10pm! But she did sleep until 7am so that was a real treat for me and Jered. We woke up, looked at each other and both of us said "did you get up with her last night?" Neither one of us had. Ahhh, bliss!

Ashlyn is doing great sleeping through the night. We get at least 8 hours most nights. One night last week she woke up at 330am but other than that she usually makes it till 530 or even 6am. Awesome! She's been eating like a champion lately. She loves applesauce, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots. Squash, bananas and peas are just ok. Not her favorite but she'll eat them. We'll be trying green beans and peaches this week. I mix her oatmeal in with whatever she's having and water it down a little. She gobbles it up most days. She's rolling over finally and talking up a storm. She still loves to chew on her fingers and slobbers like theres no tomorrow. She has her two bottom middle teeth and they were a little sore coming in. She was a little more crabby than usual for a week or two and didn't want to eat her solids just her bottle. Once they popped through she went back to being her smiley self. She has also found her toes/feet in the last few days. She loves to chew on them and it so cute to watch her try to get them in her mouth.

We had sorta planned to go to Sauvies Island on Sunday but didn't get home till after midnight Sat night. We went to a friends house after the wine party and before we knew it it was midnight. Time flies when you're having fun with good friends. So instead of Sauvies Island, which we'll just have to do on another weekend, we went to lunch and for a drive. We like to check out people's yards for landscape ideas.

I signed up for an extra shift a while back so I had to work last night. 11pm-7am. It was not fun. I hated leaving even though everyone was going to bed. I got to work and the first patient was ordered at 130am and they kept coming. But not close enough together for me to get any rest. They space them out every hour to two hours. Ugh!! I ended up doing five patients between 130 and 630am. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep and came home to Ashlyn ready to play. She did let me take a little nap this morning with her. I had told my friend that I would come visit her today so after our morning nap we showered and headed to Vancouver. My friend Crystal broke her foot riding quads about a week ago and she's off for at least three weeks. She is BORED! Ashlyn and I hung out for the afternoon chit chatting and talking shop.

Jered had a softball game tonight and wanted me to tell everyone how he hit six homeruns and what a stud he is! :)

With Grandma and Aunt Kari at the bridal shower.

Having fun with Grammy....

She's crazy and she makes me laugh!

Aunt Kari with both my Great-grandmas

Cousin Leslie, she just graduated from nursing school and passed her boards, YAY!!!

Pictures Pictures and more Pictures!!

We had a great weekend! We stayed home all weekend, it was awesome. I worked a double Friday, so I didn't get home till after 11pm. Jered let me sleep in Sat and he got up with Ashlyn. He took her to his softball Friday night and said she was the perfect giggly, happy baby. He came home when she started getting crabby around her bedtime. Saturday we did stuff around the house and watched movies. It was great to just stay home. I remember when I was a teenager, the last thing I wanted was to stay home. These days I look forward to the weekends when we don't have plans and just GET to stay home. Sunday afternoon we decided to go on a picnic at a park near us. Jered packed us a picnic, including an amazing bottle of wine that we bought when I was pregnant. We had been saving it and the picnic was the perfect time to open it. We picked a spot in the grass near the lake under a tree. Ashlyn loves looking up at the trees, it keeps her entertained for a good 10-15 minutes, which is a real treat for her parents! Its a good thing we were under a tree because it started to sprinkle after we'd been there a while and the tree kept us all dry until we decided to leave and then we all got wet running to the car!

I went to visit Mama at work. She had to work till 11pm on Friday night so I went to a softball game with Daddy.

Mama made me wear this headband and Daddy called me "Cholo"

It is a pretty cute outfit though!

I was tired of the photo shoot! Even this face didn't make Mama stop taking pictures.

Tori and Sinder didn't like their photo shoot either.

We went for a picnic on Sunday. I was napping, can't you tell??

Mama and Daddy and their picnic food. It all looked pretty good but they didn't share with me.

I found my toes!

I was trying to eat Daddy's hat, yuck!

Mama did another photo shoot with my 4th of July outfits.

Why does she always make me wear silly hats?

This was the dress I wore on 4th of July at Honeyman.

Camping and moving out.....

We drove about 5 hours Thursday evening to get down to Florence for the annual 4th of July camping trip. It was so nice to finally get there and just relax. We didn't do much of anything at all except visit with all the family. Ashlyn had a good time but by the second day she was really starting to get stuffed up and it just got worse from there. She didn't sleep well the last two nights we were there so neither did Jered or I. Even though she didn't sleep well we still had a great time! And we'll be going again and again and again :)

Ashlyn has moved out of our bedroom. She has spent the last two nights in her own room in her big crib. She's done pretty well too. Last night she slept through her midnight feeding and woke up at 345am. She slept from 830pm to 345 am. Not too bad! Then back to sleep after a bottle and slept till about 615am. Now if we can just get her to skip the 345 feeding and go until about 6am that would be awesome!!

We went down to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house a couple of weeks ago. Here I am with my grandma Patsy.

Four generations of McGrath's. Jered, Great-grandma Glady, Grandpa Steve and Me!!

Me and Grandpa Steve

I love it when Daddy throws me in the air. I'm a little daredevil already!!

My grandpa Steve bought me this onesie. Its pretty funny :)

We went to pick up mama and daddy's wine club at the winery. Mama liked the flowers.

Daddy was best man at Uncle Eli's wedding. That's Uncle Justin, Uncle Eli and Daddy. They look pretty good in their tuxes huh?

Uncle Eli and Auntie Sam the night before at the rehearsal dinner.

The first morning camping. I wore this goofy hat all weekend to keep my head warm.

My cousin's Macy and Bailey in their matching outfits Grammy bought them.

Playing in my chair and yes daddy left his beer can sitting next to me but I didn't drink any of it. mama wouldn't let me :)

Cousin Dylan and Macy having root beer floats.

My grandpa Terry came to visit me at the campground. He hung out for a while then was going to the casino. He didn't call after so I'm going to guess that mama and daddy are still having to save for my college education.

A bunch of my cousins: Morgan, Rebecca, Bailey, Macy, Dylan, Rainey, and Della.

Mama and Daddy drove up the coast from Florence to Lincoln City. We stopped a few times along the way. This was near the sea lion caves and it was really smelly. I didn't notice though because I slept the whole way.

Camping again!

We leave tomorrow afternoon for Florence to go camping again. Ashlyn is pretty excited I'm sure. I know Jered and I are. We're off for 4 days! A short but hopefully sweet vacation.

We've been working and working and that's about it. Grandma and Grandpa McGrath came over to babysit Ashlyn last Friday so we could go to Eli's wedding. Wedding was fun, drank a little too much wine :) Saturday we hung around the house, watched a bunch of movies and just relaxed. It was really really nice to not have to be anywhere. Sunday we took the dogs to the lake and Ashlyn loved watching the dogs jump in the water chasing the ball. She was captivated, it was so funny!! The dogs of course had a blast, it was hard to get them out of the water long enough to dry off.

I'll have lots of pictures after this weekend's camping trip :) Have a great 4th of July!

Camping was a success!

Camping was a success! It sprinkled on us a little but we didn't get any real rain. It was a little chilly but that's what the campfire is for. I forgot my camera, ugh!! I couldn't believe it, so I don't have any pictures. Uncle Jim took some though and we're hoping he'll forward them to us. She was so cute in her three layers of clothes and furry hat! She looked like a little clown :) It was so relaxing. We got down there about 730 and Jered got us all set up. We parked ourselves next to the fire and enjoyed a few beers and the company. Zach and Laurie were there with Nolan, Jim and Kim, Kevin and Cole drove over on Sat. My dad and stepmom drove over to hang out for the afternoon on Sat. Totally surprised me!

We'll be camping again in less than two weeks. This time over at the coast at Honeyman for the annual Ballard family camping reunion. Ashlyn is going to be a professional little camper by the end of summer. Especially if we can squeeze out one more camping weekend before the end of this summer.

Yesterday was Ashlyn's 5 month birthday. She is getting so big and more aware of her surroundings. She's not interested at all in trying to role over (something I think she should have already done by now). She loves to sit up and to stand. She squeals so loudly when Jered throws her in the air. Our little daredevil! She's still drooling constantly, the front of her shirt is always wet. I'm wondering when her first tooth will come in. She's still sucking on her fingers, sometimes one at a time, sometimes all of them at once. She had a whole night last night just her and her daddy, I worked a double. They had a pretty good time. They did a lot of floor time, we're trying to get her to want to role over.

We're planning to go down to Woodburn tonight to see Ashlyn's grandparents again. Its been a while since we've seen them and we need to pick up our flowers. Grandpa Floyd has the greenest thumb I've ever seen. He always gives me a tomato plant too and I eat them all summer. Yummy! Plus we're out of pickles, gotta have grandma's pickles!

Having fun before bed!

Cute little toes

She loves her fingers!

After her bath.

Ok I know its been a while since I've blogged or posted any pictures. Not much has been happening. Jered and I went to Edgefield last Saturday with some friends and had tons of fun. Edgefield is always a good time. My mom came up to babysit and got up with Ashlyn when she woke up at 3am, which was a REAL treat! I slept from midnight till 7am without waking up. Ahhhh, so nice! Thanks Mom!!

Ashlyn is still sick but I think finally getting over it. She still has a cough and wakes up a little stuffy but is doing way better than before. She's in the jumper right now and yelling at me to hurry up! She is getting way more vocal when she needs our attention. :)

One of the best parts of my day is picking her up from Wee Care. She gets a big smile on her face and flails her arms and legs because she's just as excited to see me as I am her!

We're going camping this weekend. It'll be Ashlyn's first camping trip! I'm really excited and a little worried. Wouldn't be a mom if I weren't right? I really hope it doesn't rain, that's my biggest worry. I checked the weather and the biggest chance for rain is Sat so I guess we'll see. Our second camping trip will be for the annual Ballard 4th of July trip to Honeyman.

She was only a couple of weeks old in this pick but I love it! She outgrew this outfit months ago.

New Milestones.....

Ashlyn has had a big week!

We started giving her rice cereal yesterday! Most of it dribbled down her chin onto her bib but I'm thinking at least a little bit made it down. So far, she doesn't really like it. She just wants the bottle! We're giving her the cereal that has fruit in it too. I figured maybe that would make it a little sweeter cause it REALLY doesn't smell very good.

Tuesday is my day off this month and this week Ashlyn and I took Jered out for lunch. We went to a super great mexican restaurant. Sandoval's, yum-my. They make everything fresh, homemade. We both had the fish tacos and the fresh made tortillas made them de-lish! We're going back there again for sure. Ashlyn had soy milk in a bottle but I'm pretty sure she was jealous of our tacos!

Ashlyn was in the Junior Rose Parade in Hollywood on Wednesday. Wee Care took the two youngest classes, there were about 14 kids. They decorated the strollers with streamers and tassels. They slathered them all up with sunscreen because it was one of those 85 degree days. Robin (Ashlyn's teacher) said she did really good until about the last two blocks and then she was done. DONE! She doesn't cry much but when she reaches the end of her limits she lets you know.

We went to Leslie's graduation bbq yesterday and Ashlyn got to play with her cousin Nolan. I think they might be second cousins. Jered and Zach are first cousins so that makes Ashlyn and Nolan third cousins right? Laurie and I were sitting on the swing with the babies on our laps and they were having a conversation. It was so cute to see them babbling back and forth to each other. I wonder if they understood each other? Hmmm

Ashlyn seems to be growing and learning new things every day. She is really starting to be aware of her surroundings. She knows exactly where Jered and/or I am at all times. And if she doesn't she's looking for us or uses her 'voice' to let us know she wants to be able to see us. She likes to sit up but still can't do it by herself quite yet. She topples over to the side if we're not there to hold her up. She grabs at her toys and puts them right into her mouth. She's discovering that when she pushes with her legs the johnny jump up will move. She loves the johnny jump up and when she really 'gets' it she's going to love it even more. Today I caught her watching the dogs. I think this might be the first time she's realized they are even there. She was really watching them. She can put her soothie in her mouth by herself, but sometimes she gets it in backwards. She loves to suck on her thumb, fingers, whole fist. We weren't very excited when she started sucking her thumb but have realized its a losing battle and pretty much given up. She wins!!


Having fun in the johnny jump up!

Getting it!!!

Splashing in her new bathtub from her great grandma. She makes the biggest mess but I can't get mad. She loves it too much!

Having her first cereal. She didn't love it but it was fun to watch her. This is her activity chair. It has this foam thing that helps her to sit up.

It wasn't any better this morning either! :)