My Sweetie Girl

Ashlyn is my snuggle bug, my pretty girl.........she makes my heart smile. She is curious and fiesty in all of her twenty months in this world.

She loves to be outside....exploring, climbing, swinging and sliding. She is talking a ton too..........she will repeat any word you ask her to. She often will name the people in the room...........for example.....Mommy, Daddy, Connor, Nana, Shayna. And if it is just her and I, she will say everyones names as if she is asking where they all are.

Daddy says she is a mommy's girl...........and she is a girly girl with playing with her babies and insisting on sitting on my bathroom counter when I am getting ready........digging in my makeup bag and using my brushes.  But she also loves her daddy! She likes to jump on his chest when he lays on the floor each night before bed and she gives him snuggles and hugs.

She loves her brother and her cousins..............and yes.....she likes the camera too!

 Love this face!

 She loves her brother.........and swimming in the bath.

And she is liking soccer too............just like her brother.  Ashlyn loves to be read to, especially before bed....she rarely lets me get by with less than three books. She still LOVES her lovey and drags it around if it makes it out of her room.........and she still LOVES her binky.....only at nap time (it is a strict rule). Before nap she takes it out of a little heart shaped box on her dresser and she puts it back as soon as she wakes up.........it is kinda cute.........this little ritual of hers. We just love our sweetie girl!

My Loves

Connor and Ashlyn are so full of life............in other words....they are busy........and as exhausting as life can be, I would not change a thing!

Connor will be four years old in just two short months. He has turned into such a smart little guy. His vocabulary is filled with big words and interesting phrases like, " Are you kidding me?" and "If you say so" (and he says it with some attitude too). He is not able to pronounce the "th" sounds...so I can't help but giggle when I hear him say, "mommy, I'm firsty" or "See you on Fursday" which is what he says when he says goodbye to someone. He asks tons of questions and calls my name "mommy" about every 2 minutes....which drives me a little crazy, I must admit. He is like a sponge though....you can see his wheels turning as he tries to figure things out and he just wants to know everything. He is definitely like his daddy that way. At the moment Connor is totally into puzzles, legos monster trucks and soccer! And his favorite shows are Diego, Scooby Doop (yes, this is what he calls it) and many more of course!

Connor is (almost) always happy, he wakes up with such excitement and the biggest smile as he comes down stairs and peeks around the corner to see who will greet him first. And then he runs and jumps into your lap to get "cozy" with you on the couch. Connor and Ashlyn are lucky their Nana gets to watch them twice a week and boy do they love her. He gives the best hugs and all types of kisses - regular, butterfly and eskimo kisses............and I cannot get enough of them! He is definitely a lover and he gets that from both Sean and I and our families. When we take Connor to school he runs with excitement and opens the door to his classroom and says smiling loudly, "Hi Mrs. Robin"!! A very special boy with such energy!

I love my boy, my bubba, my handsome! Ashyln......to be continued :-)

Thirty Eight

It's hard to say out loud or even write that I am 38 years old. Seriously, where did the time go? I feel like I just turned 28.........just got engaged to Sean and were planning our wedding. In the last 10 years I have become a wife, a nurse and a mother. I have grown so much and had many wonderful experiences and memories. Like Sean's proposal in Balboa Park over Chinese food and a bottle of wine in front of that huge fountain.  We were sitting on a cement bench (that I kept banging my new ring on as I jumped up and down after he popped the question).  I soo wish I had a picture from that night!

Like the day I graduated from nursing school and had my Pinning Ceremony......in my white nursing dress and all......what a feeling of achievement after years of taking classes and studying my butt off.

Like the day we found out we were pregnant with Connor..........that feeling of nervous excitement that our lives would never be the same again, but that we couldn't wait! This was the announcement picture we sent to the grandparents.

And like the day Ashlyn was born........rushing to the hospital....screaming in agony...........yelling at Sean because he missed the freeway exit and sure I wasn't going to get my epidural.............and by the way I got the epidural, but it didn't get loaded with any of that good medicine..............and we didn't even have the camera until a little after the delivery.

Ahhhh memories.........my heart is full as I look at all of these old pictures.
Valentine's Day
This birthday was a fun one.............the celebrations lasted for a week or more which is always fun. We started the week in Lake Arrowhead (see previous post). For Valentine's Day my honey brought me flowers and cards and See's candy of course. The kids and I went to Stroller Strides and played at the park with friends and then worked on decorating Valentine's, making cupcakes and then I made dinner...........we had a family night.

Ashlyn is loving climbing up and down stairs and going down the slides......she is a little fearless!

Flora and Megan

 

She wasn't too sure she wanted her feet in the sand......

My boy!! He was having fun!

Friends at the park!

They of course wanted to help with everything......Connor helped with the topping and they both ate more sprinkles then were put on the cupcakes.

The flash kept making her blink..............sooo funny!

Old Town Temecula

Friday night we invited some friends to celebrate with us at Palumbo's for dinner. We had a great night........lots of tasty wine, yummy food and the best Chocolate chocolate chip cake I have ever had from Nothing Bundt Cakes. We laughed and talked and I felt like I was 28 again!



Kassandra and Darren




Mike and Flora



Zak and Jessica



After dinner we decided to go out in Old Town Temecula to a place called The Public House..........it was raining like crazy and we had a memorable time dodging the rain and then sitting on the patio listening to live music. They had plastic sheeting hanging from ceiling to floor to keep some of the rain out........and the fire places were lit.....not sure if they kept us warm or they were just very cool to look at. We drank a little more and had soo much FUN! I think we all finally had to leave so that we could relieve our babysitters after midnight.



Dude and me

  

Big cheesy grins!



My girlie's............Jessica, Flora, me and Kass

  

Kass was having fun.....see the plastic sheeting behind her?

    

Zak was entertaining Darren and Sean

Nana's

The day after............I wasn't feeling too shabby, but I did require alot of water and some motrin. I was looking forward to seeing my sis-in-law Stacie.......went to get massages.......and my hot stone massage was heaven! Stacie and I finally had time to catch up and it was much needed!

After the massages we went to see the family at my mom's where she made a lovely dinner and we got to all spend time together! I don't get to see my brother Kirk and Stacie and my beautiful nieces Jilli and Madi as much as I would like...........so I had to get a good dose of loving from my girls. Jilli was glued to my side! And we all saw the resemblance of Madi and my mom's toddler picture......WOW.....do they look alike.

Cousins lounging and watching a show

Sean and Kirk doing the dishes

   

My Jilli girl! How did I not get one picture of Madi...........I am soo bummed!

Okay..........I know that was a really long post.........but how could I leave anything out.  I wonder what the next 10 years will bring?  Connor will be 13 and Ashlyn will be 11.......oh that just made my stomach feel sick.........I can't imagine what our life will be like then.  Hopefully good health, fun times with family and friends............making memories and lots and lots of love.