July 2010 - A Month in the Mitten

Life is Good at The Lake!!!

So my Mom has been extremely busy lately (I guess I might have something to do with that!!) so I thought I'd surprise her by updating the blog. This is my first attempt at writing, but I'm pretty advanced for my age so I'm sure I can handle this. Here goes nothin'...

I am starting to get the feeling that Mom and Dad really like to travel. At the beginning of July they drove us out to something called an airport. Wow, are there some interesting people there!! Next thing I know, we walk down a hallway and into this big metal tube with seats and away we went. This was my 2nd adventure on the flying tube in just 4 months so I know not to cry or fuss too much. My favorite trick when I ride on the tube is to pass gas!! You should see how red my mom and dad's faces get!! The people around us don't seem to enjoy it very much either. Before I knew it the metal tube had us back on the ground in this new state shaped like a mitten called Michigan. Pop Pop picked us up at the airport and took us home to see Grandmommy and meet dad's friend Ryan Traver.

We spent the night in Marshall before heading to Grand Rapids for Kortne and Todd's wedding weekend. Mom and Dad took me to the rehearsal dinner on the beach in Grand Haven. All of my parents friends were taking turns holding me and playing with me. It was a lot of fun. When it came time for the wedding on Friday, I stayed with Grandmommy and Pop Pop. My first real baby sitters (can I call grandparents that??). We had a great time playing and going to eat at the hotel. I think my mom and dad only checked in 20 times during the few hours they were gone!!

Dad and his Friends at the Rehearsal Dinner on the Beach

Hangin' in the hotel with Grandmommy

After the wedding, we went to Grandmommy and Pop Pop's house at the lake for our real vacation. You'll never believe how big this thing they call a lake was. They actually drive something called "boats" around in it and everything!! That place is great!! I did so many new things during the 3 weeks there, but most of all I enjoyed spending time with my family. Grandmommy and Pop Pop took a week of vacation and Aunt Lisa, Uncle David, my Cousin Lauryn, and her friend Drew came to visit us for a couple days too. Each day was something new, boat rides, learning to swim, sleeping on the boat, eating fruits & veggies, walking around the marina, sleeping in the hammock with Pop Pop. Oh, I almost forgot...I started to get up on my knees and elbows like I was going to crawl too!! As you can imagine, I was WORN SLAP OUT every day!! I actually slept through the fireworks all the neighbors were shooting off every night.

Walking the Marina with Mommy and Daddy


Daddy, Pop Pop and Me at the Hamlin Lake Sculpture

Cuddling with Aunt Lisa...I think She's More Tan than Me

Going for a Stroll with Mommy

I definitely like this hat!!

Napping in my Favorite Spot, The Boat!!
Mommy & Daddy put these towels next to me so I wouldn't roll over...apparently they didn't see the neon orange life jacket with pillow I was wearing!!

Before we left Mom and I went back to Marshall for a few days and met up with Dad who was back in town for work. While we were in Marshall, my new friends Mallory & Brady Bigelow came to to play and Mom and Dad got to see their good friends Brad & April.

Me and My New Friend Brady

It was great to spend the month in Michigan. Grandmomy and Pop Pop are so much fun! I laughed and smiled at them all the time. Boy have I changed. I arrived a Michigan a 4month old that could barely roll over and left a 5month old that was able to sleep on my stomach, eat solid foods, and roll all over the floor!! Check out my 5month pictures, I'm really becoming Mr. Personality! My parents have it easy, I am extremely happy unless I get too tired or hungry...then you better Watch Yo Self!!

Here are a few lessons my parents learned while on vacation...
1.) Pampers Swaddlers will absorb approximately 16lbs of water when wear worn in the lake
2.) When moving your child to fruits & veggies, go easy on the prunes!!

One of my first times eating solids...clothing optional!!

I'm starting to get the hang of it!!!

5 months old!!

Hey mom, can I eat this now that you got the pictures??

I hope y'all had as much fun reading this as I did writing about it. Maybe if my mom likes it enough she'll let me come back and help again soon!

Love,
Ashton

June 2010 (written on August 20, 2010)

I am just so far behind on my blog that it is hard to get motivated again! So June and July will be mainly a picture update. That is all anyone really wants anyway, right?!

Well the month of June held lots of travel. We started June with a trip to Perdido Key, FL with my family. We had a great time swimming, laying on the beach, napping, eating, and just hanging out with the fam. We had a few tar balls that washed up one day but other than that it was beautiful. John Ashton enjoyed his first trip to the beach. We would take him down to the beach every morning for an hour or so and he would take his morning nap underneath the umbrella. He takes after his momma and loves to lounge by the ocean! He was a great little traveler.

John Ashton enjoying the beach

Campbell and John Ashton
(1st day on the beach!)

Brooke and Avery Caroline

MiMi, PawPaw, and the Grandkids!

me, my mom, and my sisters.

Campbell and John Ashton
(these two are going to have so much fun together one day!)

We even got to celebrate Houston's 3rd Birthday! He is quite the cutie!

And we celebrated my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We love ya and hope you enjoy your trip this fall!

We were home a few days before heading to my parents to play with all the cousins again. My Aunt Shelley, my cousin Leanne, and her daughter Eden came to Mississippi to meet John Ashton and Campbell and to play with all the other cousins, of course. We had a great visit with them and John Ashton really enjoyed getting to know Eden. She is precious and was so sweet loving on the babies. I wish we all lived closer so that we could see them more often! Thanks for meeting us in MS Aunt Shelley and Leanne. We will have to do it again sometime.

The Cousins

MiMi and John Ashton

We then came home to spend a few days, we fit in a 4 month well check up with our wonderful pediatrician, and even got to enjoy our small group at church a few times before we packed up and headed to Michigan for the month of July! It is a good thing our sweet little John Ashton is such a good traveler!

4 months

I still need to blog about all the events of June, but for my memory I have to post about my 4 month old first. On June 25, 2010 John Ashton turned 4 months old. He is a GREAT baby! Don't get me wrong we still have our moments, but for the most part he is a Happy Happy baby. We are really enjoying him and we continue to thank God for choosing us to raise this little boy!

4 MONTH STATS:

LENGTH
26 inches 90th percentile
WEIGHT
14lbs. 11 oz. 5oth percentile
HEAD
16 3/4 inches 5oth percentile

Is it even a surprise that he is going to be a tall one?!?! Just for my memory...things we are doing at 4 months....

• smiling like crazy, a smile that melts my heart (yes I know I am in trouble if that smile already gets to me)
• laughing! He loves to laugh when we laugh, when we tickle him, or bounce him.
• loves to stand up and bounce
• says GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
• loves to eat
• sleeps thru the night, occasionally wakes up and needs his paci.
• naps 2-3 times a day
  
• rolls over; loves to roll onto his tummy and then gets mad!
  
• loves to watch people, especially all his big cousins that run circles around him.
  
• likes to be read too.
• likes to watch TV. (I know this makes me a bad mom)
  
• loves Praise Babies and his vibrating, bouncy seat (thanks MiMi)
• starting to grab things and trying to put them in his mouth!
• loves to be talked to and loves to talk back
• loves to be swaddled (we will work on breaking that habit soon)
  

I am sure there is much more but that is good for now! We love our John Ashton and all the fun things he does. It is something new every day and we love it!!

May 2010 (written in June, almost July 2010)!!

Wait, it's already going to be July this week??? Where in the world does the time go?? Reagan has asked me once or twice (ok, more like 20 times) to do the May update...she didn't say when it had to be done!! May was like a revolving door at our house. Great friends visiting us in B-ham, Ashton's first plane ride, and a road trip to Atlanta quickly filled the calendar.

Natalie Smeltzer made the trip to meet Ashton (and hang out with Reagan too). Fresh off her time in Africa doing mission work, Natalie jumped in the car (less than 3 days after getting back to the U.S.) and drove to B-ham. The girls and Ashton had plenty of fun shopping, playing, and actually going to the Pro-Am for the Senior PGA Tourney here in the neighborhood. They took Ashton to see Nick Saban who was playing that day...I am still not happy about that one!! It was great to catch up with Nat. Ashton absolutely loves her!! He would just sit and smile at her. I'm pretty sure he likes the girls already. Thanks for making the trip Nat, it was great to see you again!! Oh yeah, one milestone from the week...They must have worn Ashton out because he finally decided to sleep through the night that week!!! WOOOHOOO!!

Natalie, Ashton & Reagan

I'm pretty sure Ashton cried out during Coach Saban's swing!!!

By the end of that weekend, Reagan, Ashton & I had packed the truck up and were heading to Atlanta for Senior Sunday at North Atlanta. I've been a trail guide for an amazing group of 5 young men over the last 2 years. I met these guys during their Junior year and the more time we spent together I really loved it! Now they are off to college, work, etc. and it has been amazing to see how God was preparing them for their next stages of life. This has been an amazing learning experience for me, I hope they enjoyed it as much as I have!! One other surprise on our trip to Atlanta was getting to meet Ashton's new friend Luke Vyverberg!! He came a little early so we were lucky enough to catch him just a couple of days after he was born. He is pretty stinkin' cute!! Congrats Matt & Steph!!

Senior Night with Andrew & Adrian.

Later that week Reagan and Ashton took another big adventure together. Ashton was off on his first plane ride, bound to see his cousins in Ohio. Reagan's mom went too and was a huge help making sure the trip went smooth. The kid never seizes to amaze us...no crying, mostly sleeping and smiling the whole way!! The only slight hiccup was the blown out diaper about 25min into flight. Reagan handled that like a champ, and honestly I couldn't have been any help even if I was there....have you ever seen the size of an airplane bathroom??? I can hardly make it in there by myself, picture me trying to change a dirty diaper in there...that would have been a disaster!!! The rest of the trip and visit was great! They got to see Avery Caroline's dance recital, softball game, and spend lots of time playing together. It's always interesting to see Ashton after he's been around his cousins for a few days. Campbell (who is 5 weeks older than Ashton) always teaches him some new tricks!! They really enjoyed the trip, but I was glad to see them come home. It's way too quiet here without them!

Ashton's first plane ride. I think it was a little early for him still.

Ashton & Campbell spending some Quality Time together

Avery Caroline, the little ballerina!

Before we knew it, Memorial Day Weekend was upon us. Our great friends Jeff & Katie and their beautiful twin girls came down for the weekend. We hadn't seen each other since before the girls were born last November...wow how our lives have changed since then!! Their girls are absolutely precious. They are great parents, and I give them a lot of respect for being able to do double duty!!! We didn't venture out too much (it's a big ordeal to get 3 kids under 7 months old out of the house), but enjoyed the time playing with the kids, going for walks around the neighborhood, catching up with each other, and just relaxing.

Amelia, Ashton, & Ainsley

May was fun, but it was also a blur. The rest of the summer is going to be pretty busy, but we are loving every second of it. We just need to remember to take time each day to enjoy it and thank God for the amazing blessings he has given us.

Now back to the summer fun. Hopefully we can get the June post up before Thanksgiving!!

Having fun after my bath!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, my dad, and my father in law! I hope that you all have a wonderful day filled with lots of love and appreciation! I could not have asked for better men in my life.

And to my husband... thank you for being such a great daddy to John Ashton. He loves you so much and I love to see him light up when you talk to him! It is the sweetest thing ever! We love you and we hope you have a wonderful 1st Father's Day!

And yes I know that I am way behind on blogging so I will TRY to catch up this week!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Mother's Day

It's amazing how a year can change your life. This time last year I wasn't even pregnant...now I am celebrating my first mother's day!! What an amazing gift it is to be a mother. John and I both have been blessed to have such great mother's and grandmother's!

My day was really special because I got to spend it with my boys. They made me coffee, we went to church, and spent some time enjoying the beautiful weather. We also found this place some of you BHamer's may be familiar with...Yogurt Mountain!!! Not only is it amazing, but Mom's got their first 10oz. free!! We did work it off though by walking a couple of miles on the trails around the neighborhood.

All in all, it was a perfect day. I love spending time with my boys, and I'm extremely thankful God has blessed me with the responsibility of being a mom!

Me & My Boys after Church on Mother's Day

Our Sweet Baby

Thought we would share a video of Ashton shocking us with his ability to roll from his stomach to his back and talking to us about it. He was pretty proud of himself.

I'm also going to do a little free advertising for my father-in-law who sent us an amazing cradle that he made for Ashton. He worked really hard on this and we are sooo proud to have such a special gift. Pop Pop, thanks for all of the hard work and love you put into this!!

Just hanging out!

We went to Atlanta last weekend to hang out with the Bagwells and to introduce John Ashton to our friends at North Atlanta. It was great to see everyone and we really miss yall!! He did great traveling and charmed everyone with his smile.

This week we have just been hanging out at home, catching up on our laundry, and getting some much needed rest! I need to clean our house and get organized again but who has time for that when John Ashton just wants to play! I definitely love my new job as a stay at home mom! I will leave you with a few pictures from this week.

Holding his head up high!

Just hangin out in his favorite rocker!

Hope everyone is having great week!