12 Things About Ashley

Ashely is nearing her first birthday and like I did with the other two kids, it's time to write 12 things about her.  She will technically be a toddler in a couple weeks, and this is a way for me to stop and think about how Ashely is now, as a baby.

1. Ashely loves books.  I mean loves, loves books.  I've never seen anything like it.  She will grab a book and drag it to you for you to read.  She says, "this, this, this" or squawks until you take and from her and start reading.  She is so delighted while you're reading.  She giggles, claps her hands and kisses the pages. 
2. Ashley has a unique crawl.  It's more of a one legged scoot.  We assume she doesn't like her knees on the hardwood floor.  I must remember to get video of it before she starts walking!
3. She is a water baby.  Carter and Ryan love water too, but Ashely takes the cake! As a little baby she would happily float in the pool for long periods of time.  She also loves bath time.  She is always crawling to the bathroom just to get a glimpse if the tub.  When it's time to get in she splashes and splashes.
4. She thinks Carter and Ryan are the coolest people ever.  She wants to hug and kiss them all the time.  I think she would get a better response from them if she wouldn't pull their hair every time she is near them.  Carter is very loving to Ashely and just recently they have started to play games together.  We are still crossing our fingers that Ryan warms up to her someday.
5. Her favorite toys are balls.  She like to roll them, throw them, bang them together and try to eat them.
6. Ashley was only on baby food for a couple of weeks and then decided she only wanted table food.  Kind of difficult since she didn't cut teeth until 10 months and now only has 2 at almost 12 months.  She loves cheerios and strawberries the most.
7. She loves to drink from a regular cup.  Her smile just beams when you give her the opportunity to try.
8. She is a bit of a momma's girl
9. She is terrified of being in shopping carts, swings and the little red wagon.
10. Ashely has always been extremely ticklish.
11. As a newborn she had awful diaper rash.  So bad we would use toilet paper and water instead of wipes and dried her with the hair drier.  At 11 months, she is still battling diaper rash.
12. She has always been extremely "talkative", much more then the other kids.  When she was real little she would squeal and hum.  Now she jabbers nonstop. She also does this weird thing with her mouth where she blows air out one corner of her mouth and then the other.  I have tried many times to do it and I can't.  Another thing I must get video one of these days.

Ashley is a sweetheart who has the most sincere smile.  Her chubby cheeks and bright eyes can light up a room.  She is loving and affectionate.  There is no wonder why her name is Dolly.  She is a real baby doll!

 

Halloween Fun!

These cute kids

 look like this all dressed up for Halloween!

 Another costume party at Gymboree with Nonna

 Dr. Ryan, Ashely the Bee and Carter the Pirate had a great time. The photo ops from the shindig are endless!!  Here are just a few.

 

We hit up the local pumpkin patch.  Where we rode a train, feed animals and rode ponies.

 Carter climbed a rock wall, mom got sick on a spinning ride and Cousin Allie watched the pumpkin eating dino.  We all took the hay ride out to pick our pumpkins.

 It was a sunny day, but a bit chilly.

 The gentle bumps and sway of hay ride put some people to sleep.

We carved our pumpkins.  Carter like pulling out the pumpkin guts which he called gummy bears and Ryan cheered Dad on while he carved her Mickey Mouse pumpkin.

 

Poor Ryan had the stomach bug on Halloween so she rested on the couch while Carter and Ashely went trick or treating around the neighborhood with buddy, Dillon Powell. Carter wore his fireman costume from last year and Ashely traded in her bee costume for a much warmer lion costume for the cold night.

 

Cousin Allie got into the Halloween spirit giving out candy as Ariel form Little Mermaid (Ryan's favorite movie)

Yep, we love October in our house.  Halloween is lots of fun!

Class Hallowen Party

Last night Carter (and the rest of the Meek family) hosted a costume party for his pre-k class.  I love the pre-K class at Orchard Park.  All of the kids are so sweet and the parents are too!  We couldn't be happier with this school! The kids had fun playing together outside of school hours.  They played in the basement, had snacks and did a little craft.  Here are just a couple of pictures from the evening.

The group wearing the spider hats they all made

 Yes even the parents wore them too!

Thank you to cousin Allie (aka our basement roommate) for helping make 48 owl cupcakes the night before.

 Ryan as Bat Girl enjoying a mid-party snack

 Daddy (vampire) and Dolly (bumble bee) are both looking a wee-bit tired from all the festivities.

The kids (and us parents) are wiped out after the party.  Carter and Ryan slept in this morning and went to school late.  I was laughing at how many of the kids in Carter's class were rolling in a half-hour late too!  Glad to see we weren't the only ones!!

Is there a Dr. in the house?

So how cute does Ryan look in her doctor costume? Seriously adorable.  Speaking of doctors, Mommy had a visit to the ER this week.  I was having extreme pain above my belly button which was caused by an umbilical hernia.  I had a quick surgery Tuesday night and was back home the next day.  The kids have been pretty cute and understanding about the whole thing.  Ryan is always asking me, "You not feeling so good, Mommy?" and Carter wants to pat my belly very carefully.  The most difficult part of the recovery is being hands off with Ashely.  I can't lift anything over 15 lbs. for 4 weeks.  That includes Dolly.  4 days in and I'm already guilty of taking her out of her highchair and pulling her up onto the couch.  Hopefully I'm a fast healer and I'll be back to normal quickly.

Busy Life

Life is pretty busy these days.  I'm finding it difficult to stop, take pictures, download pictures and update the blog.  I know, shame on me! I really do have lots to share!

 

Little Ashley finally got some teeth at 10 months. She has 2 on the bottom.  Hers came in much later then the other two kids.  She is also busy crawling all over the place (which she does some weird side scoot to avoid putting her knees on the hard wood floor).  She is also cruising the furniture and pulling up on everything.  Thankfully she isn't interested in getting "into" everything and had only recently discovered she can crawl up the stairs.  Ashley loves to play with the air vents.  She sticks her head over it and likes it when her hair blows up.  We recently discovered she's scared to swing and is terrified of store shopping carts.  Ashely is really enjoying fall.  She loves to crawl around in the backyard and to go for stroller rides around the neighborhood.  She says momma, Da-da (but not often) and bye-bye. 

 Carter is a kid who loves activity.  He is always asking to have friends over or wants to go to school, classes and sports.  Recently Carter started Tae Kwan Do.  He loves all things Ninja so we thought it might be fun for him to try a class.  He really likes it.  He has been working hard on the moves and learned to count to 10 in Korean.  He is learning to work hard for a goal and to be proud of himself.  Here are pictures of him after he received his new yellow-stripe belt.  It took nearly 2 months to be promoted and he was beaming ear to ear when the instructors rewarded him with it.

Back to School

Carter and Ryan are officially back to school.  It's been a great (but very busy) summer.  I think we are all looking forward to getting back into a routine.

This is Carter's 4th year at the Orchard Park Learning Center.  He is in Pre-K class that meets 3 days a week.  Carter is very excited to go back since alot of his friends from last year are in this class.  He was quickly playing with Josh, Charlie, Conlin, Lila and Kendel as if last year never stopped!  He was also pretty excited because this year his class plays on the big playground.  Oh the joys of being the "big kids"!

 These are pictures of Carter's first day.  He is carrying his new Star Wars backpack and lunch box.

Ryan is still in the Mothers Day Out Program.  What a big difference a year makes!  Last year we had to drag Ryan in her class while she cried all morning.  This year she marched in carrying her over sized poka-dot backpack and batman lunch box (that she picked out herself).  She quickly put her things down and got right to work (playing with toys!).

Both kids were happy and very tired at the end of the day.  Ryan showed me the craft she made and told me about how she pee-peed on the potty. Carter told me about who he sat with at lunch, how he wiped out on the playground while spinning Charlie and about the new friend he met who had the same shoes as him.  I think they're going to have a good year!

Here are some pics from the ride too school.  Do you think they're excited?

Love them

I just love my water babies.

Ashely is big enough to enjoy bath time with her big brother and sister.  She gets sandwiched between them, but she doesn't mind!





 Ryan has been a little fish this summer.  She motors around the pool with her swimmies on.  Lately she's been daring enough to try to swim without them....just to the steps and back.  Her recent accomplishment was jumping off the diving board.  She loved it!

 Ashely doesn't care if she's in an ocean, pool, bath or baby pool.  Whenever there's water, she's one happy baby!