Day 87 - Lil Crunchies

We just recently started giving Ashlynn some lil crunchies (like cheetos for babies) for a snack and she loves them. Yesterday while she was eating some she would hold it between her teeth like this for a minute and just smile before she would eat it. I love my silly girl. ♥

Day 86 - Her Old Hat

Tonight we were up in the kids' rooms cleaning out their closets. Not that they were messy or anything but when they outgrow clothes I usually fold them and put them at the top of their closets. Eventually they're sorted through and either donated or boxed up and put in the garage. We decided we wanted to take care of it now before we move that way we didn't have to unpack them when we got to Utah just to pack them back up and put them in the garage.

While we were going through Ashlynn's clothes we found a hat that she wore a lot in the NICU. My tiny 4lb 14oz baby girl (she was 5lb 6oz when she was born but dropped a lot of weight because she wouldn't/couldn't eat), seeing the hat brought back a lot of memories. I still get very emotional when I think about it because she had a few very rough days in there. She is now happy, healthy, and over 21lbs!! Dave decided to put the hat on her again to see if it would fit...


Here is how it used to fit:


hahahaha We used to have to roll the hat up to make if fit better on her tiny little head. *sigh* My sweet little baby is getting so big.

Day 79 - My Loves

It was almost bedtime and dada and Ashlynn were sitting on the couch together... I guess Dawson was feeling a little left out so he went and sat on top of both of them (he was on Ashlynn's legs a little bit but she didn't seem to mind). I thought it was super cute. I was on the phone with my mom so I didn't get the best picture but I love it. They are all looking at me like what are you doing?! haha

Day 71 - Halloween Costumes

Happy Halloween!

Day 70 - Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Today we finally made it to the pumpkin patch! I tried to get a picture of the kids together with the pumpkins but Dawson wasn't interested in getting his picture taken. Ashlynn was being cute as can be, she's smiling in just about every picture I took (the sun is in her eyes) and Dave is trying to get Dawson to sit down and look at me in just about every picture. *lol* I did get some really cute pictures of them individually but I wanted to share a picture with both of them in it.

Dawson had SO much fun at the pumpkin patch. They had a lot of little rides set up and he wanted to ride them all. He ended up going down a big inflatable slide a couple of times and he also went down the small one they had too. He went on a boat ride, a small ferris wheel, and a swing ride. He had to go on all the rides by himself because they were too small for adults to ride and he did so well!

I also took a picture of a picture that we got today...


We went to a Halloween party tonight. That was a lot of fun too. Dave loves Dawson's sweet face in this picture (so do I) and Ashlynn looks too cute in her costume. She also looks huge because of the way Dave is holding her. *lol*

Day 66 - Fall Festival

We went to a Fall Festival tonight and I only took two pictures! Dave had the camera most of the night. Here is one of the pictures I did take.


It's Ashlynn in her Halloween costume! She didn't have the hood on yet but she still looks darn cute in it. :D

Here is another picture. Dave took this one. I thought it was funny that she was pulling on her ear to try and get the hood off. She wore it almost all night and didn't have a problem with it until right before we were about to leave.

Day 62 - Disney Store Halloween Party

Yesterday (day 62) we went to a Halloween Dress Rehearsal Party at the Disney Store. It was fun. The kids played a few games, got a couple little prizes, and then Dawson's favorite part; they had a costume parade. He loved walking around and waving to everybody.

After that we went to a Disney clearance store that just opened up down the street from where we live. I can't remember what it is called but I remember going to one a couple of years ago when me and Dawson were living in Salt Lake. The store is only around for a couple of weeks (maybe months?) and then it moves on to the next city. They had a lot of cool stuff there but our favorites were this giant Mickey and Minnie!

Day 61 - Ashlynn's First Restaurant Visit

Tonight we went to Landon's birthday party. He's 5 days older than Dawson. I actually met his mom in an online group we belonged to. A due in October '08 group! We were already stationed in San Diego when I "met" her (I hadn't actually met her yet, we just talked online) and then they got stationed here about a year or so later. We love their family and were happy to celebrate Landon's birthday with them.

Tonight's picture was going to be of the birthday boy and Dawson together but my phone was acting up. I tried to take the picture twice and it just wasn't having it. I was able to take a picture of Ashlynn like two seconds later so I guess the boys just weren't meant to be today's picture! I'm actually glad that this picture is today's picture because this is Ashlynn's first time ever in a restaurant! That's crazy to think about. She's 9 1/2 months old already and we've never gone out to eat as a family of 4. Craziness! When she was first born we didn't want to take her anywhere because we didn't want to risk getting her sick. And then we started eating healthier and don't eat out anymore so we haven't had a reason to go out until now.


This next picture is just a random picture for my friend Christina. As soon as we pulled up to Pizza Hut (where Landon's party was) Dawson yelled out "it's Mickey Mouse!" Me and Dave looked around and asked him where and he he told us it was on the building. After a minute or so we realized he was talking about this picture of pizza and sides that they had on the window. haha I got a kick out of it and think Christina will, too. :D

Day 58 - Not a Happy Camper

Today Ashlynn started getting up on her hands and knees really good by herself. I wanted her to do it so I could get a picture but she wouldn't. I asked Dave to put her on her hands and knees hoping that she would do it on her own after that and that didn't work either. When Dave put her on her hands and knees it made her angry!


I cuddled with her for a few minutes after I snapped this picture and made sure she was happy and then I put her back on the floor hoping that she would get up on her hands and knees herself, but instead she scooted over to the TV stand and tried to open it up.


This girl gets into everything! It's so fun to watch her get around though. She does a whole bunch of rolling and a little bit of scooting and she can get to anything that she wants to. :)

Day 55 - Kisses for Ashlynn

Kisses!! After Ashlynn's bath tonight I put her up on the counter in front of the mirror and she started giving herself kisses. It was really sweet. If you look closely you can see her slobber all over the mirror. *lol*

Day 53 - Ashlynn

I have to pull Ashlynn out from underneath here multiple times a day. Sometimes the top half of her body is under there, sometimes it's her bottom half... For some reason she loves it under her pack n play (that we use as a diaper changing station).

Day 37 - Kisses

Another cell phone picture. Eek! This is the only picture that I took today (actually I took two pictures so I'll post them both) and it's not very good. The moment I was trying to capture was sweet, though! Ashlynn was being super lovey dovey and kept giving Dawson kisses. She would grab onto his face and pull him towards herself with her mouth wide open. Baby kisses are the sweetest. Ashlynn was up a little before 6, and Dawson wasn't far behind her. This picture was taken early in the morning so the lighting really sucks, and I was using my cell phone... AND because I was too lazy to grab our camera I wasn't even able to capture any kisses because my cell phone camera is SLOW. By the time it would snap the picture Ashlynn was distracted by the annoying flash and would stop giving kisses. *sigh* I know better now. Expensive camera good. Phone camera bad.



Oh, and no Ashlynn wasn't attacked by a cat. Her fingernails grow SO fast and she scratched her little face in her sleep. :(

Day 26 - Best Friends

My first cell phone picture of the challenge. I knew it was going to happen eventually but I was hoping it wouldn't happen so soon. I love this picture, though. Dawson and Ashlynn always have so much fun playing together. One of their favorite things to do together is build blocks. Well, Dawson builds them and Ashlynn knocks them down! Dawson thinks it's hilarious when she knocks them over, he'll laugh and immediately start rebuilding.

Day 25 - Baby Feet

Baby feet. ♥

Day 23 - Biker Princess

There's never a dull moment at our house! Dave put Ashlynn's hat on her and I thought she looked like a little snow princess. ♥ I hope it still fits her when we move back to Utah this winter. He put her on Dawson's bike, too, she loved it, especially when he was pushing her around. I guess this picture makes her a snow biker princess. haha

Day 22 - Go Broncos!

To celebrate the first game of the season for the Broncos we all wore our Broncos jerseys today! Well, Ashlynn's is a onesie, not a jersey, but it's Broncos and that is all that matters. Go Broncos! I tried to get a picture of both the kids looking at me and smiling but Ashlynn wanted to look at Dada (at least she was smiling!) and Dawson was not interested in getting his picture taken at all.

Day 18 - Impromptu Picnic

This post is up a little bit late but this picture was taken on day 18. The power was out all over San Diego yesterday. It was a HUGE outage that even extended into Arizona and Mexico. It went out around 3:30pm and came back on around 1:30am. It was quite an adventure! We decided to go to the park and have a picnic dinner. :) We had peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly because we didn't want to open the fridge and let any cool air out), some crackers and water. Here's a picture of the kids at dinnertime. After I took the picture I brought Ashlynn to the table with us so she didn't have to sit by herself.


I made sure to bring a flashlight with us because I knew it would be dark when we were on our way home and all of the street lights were out. Dawson had fun holding the flashlight on the way home. Once we got home we went through our normal bedtime routine (brushing teeth, going potty, reading a story, etc) using the flashlight as our only light. It kind of felt like we were camping in our own house. It was an unexpected but fun night. It was nice to "unplug" completely (even our cell phones weren't working because we get crappy service where we live and rely on wifi to make calls and stuff) and just enjoy our little family.

Day 17 - New Car Seat

Ashlynn's new car seat came today! She doesn't *need* a new seat yet, she still fits in her infant seat just fine, but the seat we wanted to get went on sale so we decided to get it right away. We need to move the buckle forward a little bit before we install it in the car... We'll probably install it this weekend. I was too excited to wait to get a picture of Ashlynn in it so here she is. :D


Doesn't she look like such a big girl?! I can't wait to get it in the car and take her for a ride to see how she likes it.

Day 11 - Hanging Out in the Crib

When Dawson comes with me to get Ashlynn out of bed he'll usually ask to cuddle with her for a few minutes. It's crazy to think that he used to sleep in this crib... he looks so big! Please excuse the blue sheet, Ashlynn only has one sheet and it was being washed. Dawson has 5 extra sheets so we just use his when her sheet needs to be washed.


He asked if he could read to her...


And she kept trying to steal his book so I gave her one of her own. :) (The blue sheet isn't dirty, Ashlynn just drools a lot and she had just woken up.)

Day 4 - Outside with Ashlynn

We went on a short walk tonight and stopped by the park so the kids could play a little bit. Ashlynn had fun sitting on the grass with one of her toys and looking around at everything. For the past two nights our little princess has decided that she doesn't want to sleep in her crib. Not. Fun. At. All. I'm not sure if she's starting to get separation anxiety or what?? Hopefully it's just a short phase that passes soon. I'll have to get a picture of her sleeping in her crib as soon as she starts sleeping in there again! ;)