My Husband Rocks

Brian has been going non stop today. Dani has been offering to keep Kendall for the day anytime that we want and today we took her up on it. I took Kendall over at about 9:30ish and Brian was working by the time I came home. He cleaned the basement and then moved all of the books from the office down (two flights of stairs and about 6 million trips). I moved all of my office stuff into the guest bedroom (currently covering the bed) and then John came over to help Brian move the bookcases down. SO....we have a nursery! I even put the sheets on the crib tonight. I plan to wash them again before the baby uses them but they are there now. Before you all laugh at me for doing this so early remember that I did not get to do this with Kendall. We moved into our house and the following morning I was sent to the hospital to have a very early baby. Anyway back to the nursery, I brought out the so cute papasan that Jenn and Justin gave us for Kendall, I even pulled out all the little bitty clothes to look at. Ah, what fun. I still will need to get a couple of things: crib skirt, play mat & double stroller but we're doing well really on gear.

Kendall put on her new sunglasses from her Gram. She thinks she is such hot stuff in them. As soon as they are on she has to make sure everyone sees her! I love em! Notice that I have to keep pushing her away from me to take the picture, as soon as the camera comes out she wants to put it up to her head. Oh and we had successful night number two on the big girl bed switch-a-roo. Tomorrow will be the first time she has to have a nap in it so say some prayers for us!

Success!

I made Brian a little 'honey do' list of things that needed to get done before he goes out of town and one item on the list was to get Kendall's big girl bed and to move the crib into my old office. Well, today was the big day. We bought the frame and mattress and will order the headboard once we find one we like. We decided to put the mattress directly on the floor (shorter distance to fall). Kendall was really excited and climbed in and out using Gram's little stool. I've been worrying and praying all day about bedtime. We had a busy day so Kendall was worn out. She and I were out buying her sheets during nap time so she slept while we were in Target, she and her daddy went for a walk around the block while I cooked dinner and then we had Jennie, Nathan, and Anna for dinner so Kendall was just tuckered out. We had our normal bedtime routine (about 30/45 minutes later then usual) and then we put her in the bed and I sat on the floor outside her door prepared to sit awhile and prepared to have to keep putting her back in bed. She fussed for about 5 minutes then went right to sleep. I am so thankful. I realize that we may not be free and clear yet but I am just so proud of our Little Bug!

We're home! We had a great time visiting with everyone. Kendall turned into a bit of a grouch but I guess that is to be expected when she is thrown into a different house & routine. I have to remind myself that she is just a baby and that she isn't really being "bad" but just behaving like a baby. She was good about sharing her love with everyone but I think that she may have taken a special liking to Lin. She would sit across the table from her and point saying, "There she is". Lin and Gram gave Kendall the most magnificant ark (that Lin built!)!Complete with two of every animal (actually, there were four bunnies but you know how bunnies are). Kendall loves opening all the doors and sticking things in there. I'm already finding other toys hidden behind the doors. She also received lots of dress up clothes, books, a fantastic vacuum, beautiful bedding for her big girl bed...so much really. When Kendall went to bed after we got home I pulled out every toy in the house and packed up two big boxes to put in the basement so that we can rotate them out.

Since we have been home we've been trying to get organized. We are looking for a bed set for Kendall and slowing moving my office into the guest bedroom so that I can work on a room for Baby Kate. I cleaned the downstairs this morning since Jennie, Nathan, Anna, and Noodle are coming to dinner tomorrow night. Kendall is napping now and then we are going to go over to her Aunt Lorie's house to meet their new puppy, Ollie the Labradoodle. Opps I hear her waking...better go.

Baby's got her Mini Skirt On

It's been crazy around here. I've been trying to get caught up on everything before we head out for Christmas. We had a couple of Christmas parties to go to so Kendall stayed with her Aunt Lorie, she got to try on Aunt Lorie's clothes :) I love the skirt, I think that Lorie wears it as a tube top though!! Scandalous

By the way the title of this post is a tribute to one of my old favorite songs "Baby's Got her Blue Jeans On" Remember that one? I used to walk around the house singing it when I was in Kindergarten (or so I've been told).

If I don't post anymore I hope that everyone has a blessed holiday!

Oh Happy Day

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to Jessy,

Happy Birthday to you.

Love you!!

Little Imp

Doesn't this look like trouble in the making? Obviously someone has been getting into m

y things! I can tell what she is thinking, 'maybe if I smile really cute then she wont notice the beads on the floor and the stuff around my neck'. Actually this is just the face she makes when she sees the camera. She also runs as close to it as she can get so I'm always pushing her back or directing her to stand somewhere else so I can get her picture. Love this little monster! It's a good thing too because she is currently going from two down to one nap which means that by four o'clock she is such a grump!

Panic Mode

So last night I officially entered panic mode. Only THREE more months!! I have SO much to do that I haven't even begun that I need to get done before our newest little girly joins the family. I have to move out of my office (I'm already missing this space) and we have to get the crib moved, the walls painted the packed up clothes out. Kendall needs a bed, we need a double stroller (don't we?). I have to mentally prepare myself and do what I can to get caught up on things so that when she gets here I'm not starting out behind. breath, breath... Did I mention that Brian is going to be out of town for three consecutive weeks next month? I can do this. I'm going to be enlisting some help early in January (my girl Dani will be off of school for a little while and can take Kendall once or twice) I hope to get some painting done in the girls' rooms then. I can use nights after Kendall is in bed to work some.

Seriously this is such a bad picture but I wanted to show my belly. I think that finally people can tell I'm pregnant now and not just putting on weight (although I'm doing that too but that is a whole other ranting).

Bobbed

The Little Bug got a haircut today and she did SO well! Not a single fuss the whole time. She has a little bob cut just below her ears and is looking super stylish and grown up. It's very hard to get a shot of her since she won't stop moving but here are my best attempts.

Oh What A Day

So yesterday wasn't such a fantastic day. I know that I must have blown things slightly out of proportion and that my pregnancy hormones may have caused some of it but I had a couple of tearful moments yesterday. We had an appointment scheduled from 8:30-11:30 to have to cable outlets installed. This was a rescheduled appointment because they just failed to show up for our appointment last week. Well, I completely forgot about it until exactly 8:30 when I jumped up and ran to make myself somewhat presentable. I was afraid to take a shower because you know that they would have come as soon as I got all wet! Well, at 11:45 we hadn't seen or heard from them so Brian called. They were about 10 minutes from our house and on their way. Two hours later...still no service man so I called and waited on hold for about 15 minutes while they located him (time now 2:45) I was finally told that they would be at my house by 4pm. At 4:10, crying, I took Kendall and went on one of the errands that I had to do. My gym class starts at 4:30 and I couldn't make it in time so I planned on just going to work out on the elliptical. I get to the gym around 5 and the parking lot is so packed I would have had to hike a mile in 30 degree weather with Kendall to get inside so I just came home. While making dinner at about 6:45 my doorbell rings and low and behold it is the cable guy. He never even missed me when I left the house. Luckily for me (and him) Brian was home by then and I was busy with dinner so I didn't burst into tears at the door. Really just so disrespectful, they made it repeatedly clear that may time was of little value to them.

Today we are getting out of the house because I know that the next two days we will be here at home since Kendall will be recovering from her tube surgery. She is going to get a haircut today and we are going to pick up one last (?) Christmas gift.

Do You Remember When? and a plea

Remember this sweet little neck? So cute, I'm sure it's still sweet I just can't see it buried under all her hair. This week we're going to get a little "trim". Brian thinks that her hair is getting a little too mullet-ish. I don't think it resembles a mullet at all but I do agree that the back is getting a tad long. Pictures to come. This photo also reminds me of a time that I could sit her down on a blanket and she would stay there! Crazy, but actually she can entertain herself so much longer now that she is mobile!

Sunday is Brian's work Christmas party and the women are to wear "holiday festive" attire which has sent me into a mad rush about town to find a maternity outfit that I like. I found a little black dress that I'm going to holiday up with accessories. Trying to find a little red clutch that I like and some snazzy shoes...gonna raid some closets.

Now to the plea portion of my post. As you may remember my computer died a few months back and as I just told my friend Jenn in an email it had my address book firmly gripped in its claws when it took its last breath so now that it is time to address our Christmas cards I'm really 'up a creek without a paddle' as my folks would say. So any family and friend that reads this PLEASE PLEASE send me your address. I'm not really sure who all read this so it will be interesting to see the responses that I get. Even if I have never sent you a card before (I probably didn't have contact information for you and I didn't have a blog to send out my public service announcement to get it) please still send it to me, I want to send you a card, oh faithful blog reader. :)

HO HO HO

Kendall is starting to use her utensils, she has been using them as long as I load the fork/spoon but now she is stabbing things on her own. Got a little bit of the Christmas decorating done. I want to do a little more on the tree maybe (garland, topper) and I would like to work on the front porch and in the dining room. Just a few more gifts to but I've done the hard part and decided what I need to get now it's just running out to pick up the stuff and the fun part of wrapping!
I'm afraid that the ear infection is back. Kendall's nose started running today and she has been all over me today. She has this new phrase that is the equivalent of "pick me up" but sounds like "eeeet ooooou" I think she is saying 'get you' because I usually say something like "just a second and I'll get you." She holds her arms in the air and says "eeeeet oooou". Charming.

Ah, Productivity *Updated*

This picture would probably make my husband cringe but honestly I smile everytime I look at my desk. My work surface is a disastor but I have had a lot of creative energy lately and I'm feeling good about what I have accomplished. I have only one layout left to do in my clients most current album and I've made the cutest little gift card holders for Christmas gifts. You may wonder what the amazing hive girl was doing during all this creativity? Well, messing up my previously organized buttons of course. Looking forward to the day when I can set her down with a table of play-doh, of course by then baby number two will be fascinated by my stuff. Do you realize that next year at Christmas I'll have a 2.5 year old and an 8 month old!?!? Crazy, crazy, crazy. Pictures of my oh so cute little bags to come. **Updated to show bags** Oh, also wanted to include this picture to show that my little helper also likes to clean up. Give the girl a sponge and she wipes everything!

Thanksgiving and Hives

Here are a few pics from our Thanksgiving. Brian's co-op Krisztina and her husband Tamash came to experience a little of our American holiday. It was so interesting talking to them about the difference of our cultures (they are from Budapest).

A couple days ago Kendall had something that caused her to break out in a couple of hive marks (I seriously mean a couple at the most four). She had some of my bread from a peanut butter sandwich that may have been the problem or it could have been the raisins she had from my trail mix since they probably had nut and seed 'stuff' on them. Well, in the past she has gotten these same marks from Benedryl (for cold symptoms). I went to the store and bought a different type of Benedryl thinking that it may have been the 'allergy' component of ours (cause really, who is allergic to Benedryl?). Well, yesterday the hives had spread to her torso and arms so I called the doctor and even though I expressed my concern they suggested the Benedryl. This morning it was all over her face too. We made a special trip to the pediatrician and they have prescribed her something different and want to do allergy testing on her when this is all cleared. Poor little Bug. She isn't behaving differently (maybe a little clingy) just looks pretty awful. This morning when she woke up she saw the Christmas tree with the lights for the first time. My plan was that she and I would add the ornaments, she liked the ornaments all right but she really just wanted to pull them all out of the box. Her favorite new accessory was the basket of old cards from friends and family, especially the photo cards, "BABY, DOG...."

We did finish the tree but the act of decorating has kind of made a mess so I'm going to go try to clean up a bit before Kendall wakes up!

Favorite Word

Kendall has a new favorite word. Her saying this really prooves to me that she is absorbing everything that we say. If I get anything out of the pantry or fridge Kendall says "share, share". This comes from me saying, "Come sit down and mommy will share". Now Brian and I are trying to incorporate this word into other situations, "share the blanket, share the toy..."

Jenn and Justin are on their way over, yippee. Excited to visit with them. I'll try to remember to take some pictures!

We've just been hanging out around the house lately. I did brave Wal-Mart today for groceries and it was oddly empty. Very close parking spot, no waiting at the checkout...the cashier said it has been so slow. Got some laundry and cleaning in my office completed, contemplating getting out the Christmas stuff. That's it for my update!

The best a gal can get

Some of you may know that my computer died a comple of months ago. Brian and I have been sharing his computer since then. When I cam home I found a new computer with a big red bow set up in my office. He is the BEST! I started crying when I saw it. He had even uploaded all my old files and photos that I had backed up and set up my email account too!

He also vacuumed the house and cleaned my car. I need to go out of town more often! This is one of my favorite pictures of him..so handsome. This was taken the week after our wedding (four years ago this month) in NYC.

I was looking through some of my old pictures and found this one. How sweet is she??

Greetings from Kansas

Lessons learned in Kansas:

Ashley:

1. Don't fix your hair in Kansas if you plan on going outside, the 50 mph windgusts leave you looking like Albert Einstein within 12 seconds of leaving the house.
2. Open the car door very cautiously, same winds try to rip the door either into the car next to you or just completely off the car alltogether.

Kendall:

1. Beware the golden retrievers tail, it may look friendly but it packs a punch
2. Beware the golden retrievers mouth, it may look friendly but it is smiling because it is trying to distract you long enough to steal your snack

Actually, everything is going along swimmingly. I love spending time with Jessy and Mitch they are such cool kids. Since being here Jessy has taught Kendall how to "pound it" which is some kind of gangsta hand shake. Kendall has also being doing a few new dance moves that no one really taught her. To the tune of "Head, Sholders, Knees and Toes" Kendall will still point to various body parts but then break off to 'drop it like it's hot'. :)

My poor husband is now at home, alone, trying to pass a kidney boulder (not a stone, a boulder). Poor guy. Happy Anniversary honey, I love you!!

Found this cool site. I love this kind of stuff, great for little glimpses of inspiration. Artist share what is currently on their desks: http://www.on-my-desk.blogspot.com/

I have become an obsessed woman.

So I have finally started to plan decorating the house. Nothing has really changed physically but the planning has begun. It will all start after Christmas (I will remain in the planning stage until then which is good because I have a tendency to change my mind). First two projects: Turn the guest closet into my 'office' and finish Kendall's room. She will have this bedding and wall color. I am going to make some cute felt collage pictures to frame that I saw in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and I have the ledges to create this photo grouping. Tomorrow we find out the sex of the baby so I can start to plan his/her room. I have some ideas for the wall color in our living room and I also found a framed photo grouping I want to recreate over our couch.

I start my sixth month of pregnancy on Thursday so my "free time" is running out. If I've waited 1.5 years to do this much think how much harder it will be with two kids demanding my time!!! Better get what I can done now. It's hard to believe that I'm five months preggy. At this point in my pregnancy with Kendall Brian and I flew here from Boston for our annual Brown County Valentines Cabin weekend with our friends. Lorie took my pregnancy photos and my belly was huge!!! I was just a couple weeks further along! I am not sure if strangers can tell if I'm pregnant or not now.

Oh well, my good little monkey has been playing so well, I think that I'm going to go play with her for a little while. We're working on a new sticker book that she really likes :O)

MY PHOTOS STILL WONT LOAD!??!!

Long time no bloggy. I have actually been pretty productive lately cleaning & activity planning for Kendall...which has left little time for blogging. The threat of bodily harm from Lorie has spured me back into action though, ha. Tuesday is the big sonogram day, we will hopefully find out the sex of the baby, whoppee!!! I can't wait. I think that Kendall may be going through a growth spurt, for the first time in her life (well, since solids were introduced) she is eating a ton. She'll finish one thing and then tell me what she wants, "nan na" "cheese", neither of these things will be in her sight but she will know what she wants, too cute. She has learned a lot of songs lately that she likes to 'act out' such as "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (she is always a few body parts behind the words though) "Three Little Monkeys" (she touches her head and shakes her finger like the dr would, 'no more monkeys jumping...') "Ring Around the Rosies" thankfully she does this on her own and she doesn't require me to hold her hands. I don't think I could do it so many times in a row as she does. For a few days she started to refuse kisses, she has always been our huggy, kissy girl so this was shocking but now that she has learned the names of facial features it is fun again, "Kiss mommy's cheek". She participates more at story time at the library and she is finally facing forward in the car seat!!! I love it and she really loves it. For the first time ever she noticed that we have cows near our neighborhood. She points them out, "Tahows" then she says "bye bye tahows" and waves. The other day we drove by a deer that had been hit by a car on the interstate and Kendall said, "uh-oh". Yeah, honey that is a big uh-oh!

Kendall and I are looking forward to spending nine days with Jessy and Mitch this month (and a couple days with Jeff and Sara too). I think that her Aunt Sara is looking forward to squeezing a Little Bug :) Well, I'll leave you with a few Halloween shots. She did really well, wasn't scared of anything but the time change really threw her for a loop and she got tired really early.

PS my pictures wont upload, I'll try again later.

Snuggly

Haven't been blogging much lately. I don't know exactly what I've been doing but I feel like I've been busy! I'm excited about Friday night because my girl Karin and I are going to scrapbook late into the night. I had gotten out of a scrapbooking phase but then the new store opened here and I'm back in it again. I've had a couple people mention that they wanted me to start up another Paper Chick class...maybe do a family album. Let me know if you are interested or if you have ideas for another class you would like. If I get enough interest in multiple classes I would consider preparing two different ones. Just a thought. Here is a cute picture that I took of Kendall yesterday. She got a ton of fall clothes recently and I'm loving them all!

Just a picture from when Memaw came to visit. Kendall recognizes Memaw's pictures now but she says "Maw-maw" instead.

Just a Pic

Last night Brian and I went to see Rent. I liked it because it was such an "artsy" stage design, the characters were fun and real seeming and because it is just neat to see such a different lifestyle from my own. I didn't like it because there were a lot of 'young people' there and the show really glamorized drugs, sex, aids... Regardless, it was a fun evening getting out with B.

Lorie babysat Kendall for us and she took a few pictures. This is the only one that I have seen so far. Love it

Extreme Weekends

So we've been pretty busy lately. Last weekend we drove up to Cincy to visit with Jenn and Justin. On Tuesday my mom flew up and Thursday Kristy and her family drove up so we've been having a lot of family time lately. Yesterday we were all in Indiana for my aunt and uncles 50th anniversary. My aunt Bev told me that Extreme Makeover was filming close by so we had to make a trip to see what was going on! Unfortuantly my camera battery was almost dead but we did manage to take a few pictures and even saw Eduardo the landscape guy doing some filming. There is even a chance that we will be in the background (if they aren't zoomed in on him too closely). The show will air in December. It looks like the designers may not do much at all except the film part because Eduardo came in got a shovel from someone and started working just for the film part and then he handed it back and went inside, ha.

Photo Hijacking

I have pictures on the camera (thanks to Jenn) that I need to download but until then I'm hijacking this picture from the Weires family just so I can update my blog.

Kendall has another ear infection, poor little Buggy. But, it does explain some clinginess and her Sunday fever.

Kendall obviously hasn't gotten the memo that UGGS are now out of style. She thinks they feel oh so toasty on her little piggy toes and that they just look smashing with her denim skirt. Gotta love this kid.

P.S. Remember this? I hardly do. What a difference a year makes!

Honey Buns

Kendall has been sporting honey bun hair lately, so very stylish and cute.

Yesterday we spent the morning with Anna and Jennie and this wee
kend we're planning on visiting Jenn and Justin in Cincy. Lots of fun times!!

Don't You Hate When This Happens??

Yep, that's toliet paper. At least her skirt is not tucked into her panty hose...I mean diaper.

Bawk Bawk

I got Kendall's Halloween costume this weekend. At first I wasn't positive that I would use this one since I've had these grand illusions of making her costumes but I put it on her when we got home and she LOVED it. Even after I took it off of her she wanted (tried) to carry it around. Since she wore it she has been saying "bawk, bawk, bawk" all the time.

We had a nice relaxing weekend. Brian mowed the grass (much to the relief of our neighbors). We just hung out and watched football on Sunday afternoon. Sunday after church we met Jennie, Nathan, and Anna for Panera it's always nice to get together with them.

Today is another nice day. It is just barely raining which I love since I already planned on staying home all day. I have one of the kitchen windows open so I can hear it hit the deck and I have the spicy candle burning so the house smells like fall and rain...mmm so nice.

From Bathing Suits to Tights

We're home! We had such a nice week visiting with Ron and Susan in Florida. Kendall did really well with the doggies and she picked up a new habit while we were there...sleeping in! I'm loving it, she is sleeping about an hour to an hour and a half later then she was before we left, I'm hoping she keeps it up! Kendall spent a couple of days with her Gram and Pop while Brian and I took a little vacation of our own to Longboat Key. We spent a lot of time out at the beach and pool, spent a couple hours at the bookstore and took our time eating our meals, reading the paper...ahhhhh. On Monday the boys played golf so at the last minute Susan and I decided to take Kendall to Disney World. She really enjoyed and was only afraid of a few of the characters; she wanted to 'honk' all of their noses though.

Something wonderful happened while we were gone though...it turned cool! I LOVE the change of seasons! There is the perfect crispness in the air this morning. This kind of weather makes me want to do a lot of things like: clean, burn spicy scented candles, bake, eat squash, go the soccer and football games, decorate in maroon and orange colors, drink red wine (although I wont), buy school supplies and clothes like tights and fleece vests. I'm looking forward to cooking winter dinners like stew and bundling up next to the fire with a cozy blanket. Another thing that I learned this morning that I really love is stepping out of the car into cool air and then going around the car to get Kendall's cozy warm and snuggly little body out of the car seat. Just makes you want to hold her close!

Well, I'm off to do some fall like things.

It's A.....Peanut??

For those of you who haven' heard, we're pregnant! I had my first sonogram this morning and everything looks great. Actually everything looks like a peanut but that is how it is supposed to look at this stage. The baby is right on schedule
as far as growth, it measures just as it should at 9weeks and 5days. the picture on the left is a 3D ultrasound (very cool) the head is at top and the little arm (bud) is also visible...so is the little tail, ha. The photo on the right is a regular 2D shot & the head is on the right hand side. We're so excited!