Ashley at 4 months

Ok, so obviously my blogging two times a week in February has not happened. Oh well. When did life just get so darn busy? Was it with the addition of kid no. 3? Or is it just that I am so far behind on stuff on here that I don't want to get on and do current stuff because I have not put on old stuff...well, if that is the case (which I think it is) then I need to just get past it. I will update the old stuff when I get a chance but still put new blogs on. Might be confusing, but this is the only scrapbook my kids will ever have of their lives so I have to do SOMETHING!

Can you believe Ashley is 4 months old already? I seriously can't. I took her to her 4 month doctors visit and she weighs 13 pounds which put her in the 50th percentile. I forgot how long she was but she was in the 75th percentile for height. Again, tall like Mommy...I LOVE it! We did have one surprise at the doctor's visit...when I took her into her appointment I knew she had a cold but come to find out, she had a double ear infection! She was not quite her full on sweet self, but I never would have thought that she was in pain. She got her first dose of antibiatocs and did pretty well with them. We have a follow up appointment on Monday to check her ears and then if all is clear she gets her 4 month shots at that point. Poor girl is just being tortured!

Ash is getting quite a bit of new hair on her head and it is coming in very blonde. She did manage to roll over at some point in the last few weeks but has not done it again since. Makes sense considering how much she HATES being on her tummy. Why should she turn over again if she is going to be miserable? Smart girl!! :) Ash is such a happy little baby and loves more than about anything else watching her brothers. They give her SO much attention and she just eats it up.

One thing we were quite surprised to discover in these past few weeks is that Asher is a thumb sucker! I have never had one of those before! I knew she never really liked the binky but lately she has figured out how to soothe herself by sucking her thumb. It is too stinking adorable!! I know I might not think this when trying to get her to quit in 3 years or paying for her braces, but right now it is just the cutest thing.

I LOVE this picture. Big Ashley had this shirt made for her when I was pregnant. Don't know if you can see but the M & M has blonde hair. SO CUTE!!!

LOVE, LOVE, and MORE LOVE!!! These three kids are my heart!!

Little lady posing for her close up!

(disclaimer...spell check is not working on here, so now you know exactly how badly I spell. Sorry!)

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve over at Grandma and Grandpa's house this year. We went over around noon, had a wonderful dinner, and then went to church at San Antonio for 6:00 p.m. mass. We had contemplated doing 10:00 p.m. mass but thankfully came to our senses and went earlier. After mass we came back to the house to open gifts and have dessert. It was a wonderful day! The Hawley's before heading out to church.
Grandma and Sugarfoot with the grandkids.
We put the kids in their pj's before opening gifts so that they would be ready to put out cookies and get to bed once we got home.
Ashley's favorite toy of the night was her stuffed piggy!

Alec and Aaron's first slumber party

In the middle of December we were lucky enough to have Ian and Cormac come over and stay the night with us while Pauline and Neil went to Neil's work Christmas party. We had pizza for dinner, watched a movie and then went to bed...notice I say "went to bed" and not "went to sleep"? Yeah, that is because it was almost 11:00 p.m. before the final hold out, Aaron, went to sleep. Ian was the first to give in around 9:00 p.m., Alec being next at 9:30 p.m., Cormac was finally out around 10:15 p.m. and then Aaron. Those boys were EXHAUSTED the next day!

They all had such a good time and we look forward to having them over again! Ian and Cormac in their pajamas.
The big boys got to sleep in the aerobed on the floor...they thought it was just the coolest thing ever!
The little boys were up in the beds. Who would have thought that they would have the hardest time falling asleep? Too funny!

Catching up...

I wonder how many posts I would find over the few years that I have been keeping this blog that were titled "catching up" or something similar...quite a few I can imagine. Oh well, here is another one I guess!

I pose the question...When does life EVER slow down? I am guessing that the answer to this question is...NEVER. I of course had tons of stuff going on at the end of the year and into January, and that certainly took up a ton of my time. Since all the big events were over I thought that I would have more time to have the house clean, get laundry done, update this blog, etc. Well, the fact is, my house is NOT clean, my husband is constantly asking me when he is going to have any clean socks or underwear in his drawer, and it has been almost a month since I have updated this thing. I have come to the realization that it is just all about priorities. I make a serious declaration that from this point on (or to the best of my ability) I am going to update this blog at least three times a week. Wow, that is a bold statement, I had better follow thru. Actually, since I have all but given up on scrapbooking, this blog is all my children will have as far as organized memories in the future so I had better get my act together!!

Now that I have made my blogging promise, let's catch up on life. Following this blog entry will be several entries that I have wanted to do in the past month and a half. Have fun reading my few but faithful readers!!

Mom and Dad's retirement

After many years of hard work, I am proud to say that both my parents retired on December 21st!

My Dad worked for many years as a Technical Writer for Hughes which more recently turned into Raytheon. He worked hard and succeeded in his job so that he could provide for his family and made it so that my Mom could stay home when we were little. My Dad's work ethic and dedication to his job were/are inspiring. Thank you Papa for all you did for our family! I love you SO much!!

My Mom's professional career was a bit shorter because she made the decision to stay at home with us girls. She was not only our chauffeur to all of our activities, but she was also our room mom, PTA president, sewer of all halloween costumes and dresses. When I was in Jr. High she returned to work at the Fullerton School District as a school secretary and worked her way up from there. Her final position was at the district office where she was the I.T. Support for the entire district. Mom, I am so proud of all the work you did over the years, paid or unpaid. You are truly an inspiration to me! I love you more than you could imagine!
All of us at Mom's retirement party at the Fullerton School District office.
Grammie and Ashley

Some December Pics

This is the photo that we intended on using for our Christmas cards. I say "intended" because they were never actually made and sent out. Oh well, there is always next year!! At Home Depot with our Christmas tree! They had a wonderful selection this year and the trees were SO fresh! By the time I finally got around to taking down the tree the second week of January it was still not that bad. Last year's tree was so terrible that I was afraid to turn on the lights of the tree on Christmas morning. This year it was not an issue. Absolutely one of the best trees we have ever gotten....and only $35 bucks!!
Every year our neighborhood does a Christmas party. We have a potluck with tons of yummy food and drinks. We have a multicultural block which makes for some AMAZING home cooked food. We also have some neighbors who bring tons of their famous jello shots for the adults. Let's just say that it is a good thing that all we had to do was walk back across the street to get home!

Santa came and visited the party and brought gifts for all the kids in attendance. Alec had no problem going up and sitting with Santa, but Aaron would only go up with the promise of a gift and while sitting on Daddy's lap. Ashley had no problem, but we will see what next year brings with her.

December went fast but was a wonderful month filled with lots of good food, friends and family, and as always, TONS of blessings in our life!

Happy New Year!

I just had to throw one post in before the new year. Obviously I have not done very well at updating lately, but with Amy's wedding, her hen party, and the baptism this last weekend things have been a bit crazy.

The baptism was WONDERFUL! We kept it really small this time...just close family, because of the wedding and all else that has been going on. Ashley was an ANGEL the entire time and did not even mind when Fr. Joe got water in her eyes. I will post pictures after the wedding is over this next weekend. It truly was a very blessed day.

A bit of fun news...just today Ashley giggled for the first time! I was changing her diaper and clothes and was ticking her and she let out the sweetest giggle I have ever heard! I have been able to make her do it a few times again today and I just can't get enough of it! I will try and capture it on video if I get a chance.

All is well with the family, and we had a wonderful Christmas. The boys are still enjoying sorting through all their toys!

I pray that you and your family have a very blessed New Year filled with lots of love and laughter!

My baking helper...

Ok, just about everyone who reads this blog is aware of my obsession and absolute LOVE of baking. Yes, I want to be Martha Stewart. There are PLENTY of other things in this world that I am not even close to proficient at, but if all else fails, I can bake. This being said, my favorite time of the year for baking is Christmas time. SO many recipes, SO LITTLE time to try and make the all!!

Before I had children I dreampt about the day that I would be doing my Christmas baking, being helped by little girls that were watching and helping me. I of course had to change this dream for a while when God blessed me with two boys first instead of the girls that were in my dreams. This year I was blessed with my daughter Ashley and from the moment I found out I was having a girl the dream returned. I figured I had about 2 or 3 years before my dream would finally come to fruition.

To my surprise, this year my dream came true earlier than I thought, and different than I thought. Instead of a little girl standing by my side and helping me out, it was a little boy...in a skeleton shirt no less!

This last weekend Alec was napping when I started rolling out my sugar cookies for the year. I make a HUGE batch so that I can bake them all off at once and then just freeze them and frost them when they are needed throughout the season. Alec woke up from his nap a little before I was done and immediately came into the kitchen and wanted to help. I got him his step stool and he watched patiently. When I only had one or two small batches of cookie dough left I told him that it was his turn. I went to go and get the camera to capture it on film and by the time I came back to help him he was doing this...

He figured it out ALL on his own from watching me!! Who would have thought that my sweet little boy would be so GREAT in the kitchen??? I am not sure if Aaron will be interested in cookie making (more like cookie eating is my guess) or even if Ashley will, but at least I know that I have Alec to help me out and to pass my recipes onto some day!!

Thank you my sweet boy Alec for fulfilling my dreams...in this, and many many other ways!!!

Similar?

What do you think? Do these pictures look like the same person? Believe it or not, the top one is Ashley and the bottom one is me! Both are taken at approximately 2 months old and in the same dress.

Shower power

YEAH!! The shower is done, and it was a success!

Amy's bridal shower was yesterday and everyone had a great time. On Friday night my Mom and Allison came over and helped set up as well as made the food. In addition to many side dishes, we served three breakfast casseroles. Those casseroles were made on Friday night so that on Saturday morning we just had to stick them in the oven to cook. It made for a much more relaxed morning on Saturday.

I received many compliments on the food at the shower and I promised I would post the recipes, so here they are!

Hash Brown Casserole

20 ounce bag of fresh hash brown potatoes (found in the refrigerated case of the store near the eggs)
1 can cream of chicken soup (I used cream of mushroom because my sis is a vegetarian and it came out GREAT)
6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 small onion, finely chopped

Mix all of the above and put into a 9x13 casserole dish. Cover with corn flake topping (see below) then bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until the center is hot and the topping is nicely brown.

Corn flake topping
2 cups of corn flakes
1 stick melted butter

Crush corn flakes in a plastic bag and mix together with melted butter.

Breakfast Casserole
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled (this is optional. I left it out to make it a vegetarian dish)
10 eggs beaten
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
3 cups milk
4 slices bread, cubed (french bread works very well)
1 1/2 cups grated cheese

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate overnight. Bake in 9x13 pan for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Baked French Toast Casserole

1 loaf french bread
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows

Slice french bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9x13 inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup if desired

Praline Topping:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well.

Excuses, excuses...

Can I list my excuses on why I have not posted in over a week? Ok, here are a few of them...

- I am hosting a bridal shower for my sister Amy here on Saturday and have been trying to get things done for that.
- The shower is a Christmas theme so I have been decorating the house like crazy for Christmas.
- Adam has been out of town so I have been a single mom again.
- We have had a nasty cold sweeping through our house that will not seem to go away.
- Thanksgiving holiday...speaks for itself.

Is that enough? :)

As you can tell, things have been pretty busy around here. Ashley had her 2 month birthday...I know, CRAZY that it has been two months already! We had her two month check up this last Tuesday and she is doing great. She weighs 11 lbs. 6 oz. which puts her in the 75th percentile. For height she is 23 3/4 inches long putting her in the 95th percentile!! I guess my little girl is going to be TALL like momma!! Besides her runny nose, Asher is doing wonderfully. She is even getting closer on the sleeping through the night thing...knock on wood. Last night she only woke up once. We will see how tonight goes! Keep your fingers crossed!

The boys are doing great as well. We went the day before Thanksgiving to see Santa Clause, figuring that we would beat the holiday rush for pictures. There was virtually no line so we were so excited. I has bought new shirts for the boys and an ADORABLE dress for Ashley for the occasion. I could not wait to get a great picture of my three beautiful children with Santa! When it was our turn to see Santa, Alec walked up right away and sat down with him to talk. Murphy's law, Aaron absolutely REFUSED to get anywhere near him. Mean Mommy that I am, I wanted to put him in Santa's lap anyway, even if he was screaming, just to get a picture of all three of them with Santa. Nice Daddy that Adam is, he refused to make Aaron do that. What this boils down to is that I spent $15.00 for a beautiful picture of Alec and Ashley with Santa Clause, with Aaron no where in sight. Sigh. Oh well! Better luck next year I guess!

Well, I gotta go and do some more stuff around the house for the shower on Saturday. I have some great pictures in my camera that need to be downloaded. Once I actually get around to doing that then I will have some better posts!

Smartalec or smart Alec?

Smart-alec or smart Alec, you decide!

Here is an example of the bit of attitude that is coming out my darling 4 year old lately....

Yesterday morning I was sitting on my bed nursing Ashley before getting Alec to preschool. I called Alec into my room and asked him to go, pick out his clothes, and get dressed for school; he ran off. About five minutes later I called for him to come in and see me. He walked back into my bedroom, still in his pajamas, holding a Thomas train. The conversation went like this...

Me, with a slightly irritated tone of voice, "Alec, what are you doing?"
Alec, with a slight sauciness to his voice, "right now?"
Me, getting even more irritated, "Yes, right now."
Alec, with total attitude, "Looking at you." (OMG!!!)
Me, now seriously pissed off, "WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN YOUR ROOM?"
Alec, now humble, "playing with trains."

Seriously!?!? Attitude like this already? AND this is not an isolated incident!! I really did not think that this would happen for a few years. In talking to my other friends who have boys that are Alec's age, this is normal. I am SO not liking it! Any advice from anyone?

For my Ashley

I was sitting folding laundry this weekend and listening to the radio and In My Daughter's Eyes by Martina McBride came on. I don't know if the song is new, or if I just never listened to the words before having not had a daughter before now, but this weekend this song touched my heart tremendously. I sat on the floor of my family room, surrounded by laundry, crying my eyes out.

I am so proud that God choose me to be Mommy to my little Ashley. I promise to set a good example and guide her so that she can grow up and achieve all her dreams.

In My Daughter's Eyes

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero

I am strong and wise and I know no fear

But the truth is plain to see

She was sent to rescue me

I see who I wanna be

In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal

Darkness turns to light and the world is at peace

This miracle God gave to me gives me strength when I am weak

I find reason to believe

In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger

Oh it puts a smile in my heart

Everything becomes a little clearer

I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart has had enough

It's giving more when you feel like giving up

I've seen the light

It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future

A reflection of who I am and what will be

Though she'll grow and someday leave

Maybe raise a family

When I'm gone I hope you see how happy she made me

For I'll be there

In my daughter's eyes

- Martina McBride

Saturday Evening Post...

Ok, so yesterdays post did not happen. Oh well. We had a crazy end of the week with a day long power outage, 2 year olds with colds and ear infections, and late night bunco games. To top it all off, Adam came home (he was gone all week) so we wanted to have a nice family night. It's hard to not see your husband all week then have him come home and say, "hey hon, I know I have not seen you all week, but I gotta go blog for a 1/2 hour." I know, my priorities are SO screwed up!! :)

Besides the colds and ear infections everyone has been doing very well. Ashley is becoming more and more of a smiley girl and we are all relishing in it.

Something happened with Aaron this last week and suddenly his vocabulary has exploded!! He will all of the sudden walk up to me with something in his hands and just say the name of the object. We will also be driving down the street and he will just be naming everything that he sees. I only understand about half of the words he is saying, but he is SO proud of himself...and of course we are proud of him also.

Alec is doing very well and is getting into the Santa Clause thing this year. Yesterday in the car Alec was unusually quiet, which usually means that something profound is going to come out of his mouth. He finally decides to speak and he asks, "Mommy, if Santa is always watching, then where is he watching from? Is he invisible? Does he disappear?" I of course was not prepared for these questions and had to think very quickly. I told him that there are little elves all over the place that watch and then report back to Santa. He bought it for the moment, but I have a feeling that more questions are to come. I have to say, the threat of Santa knowing all and it effecting the gifts that he will get on Christmas morning has really worked well. If I mention Santa then his attitude and actions change immediately. So how many years does this work for?

By the way...KOST is already playing Christmas music full time as of yesterday. A tad early in my opinion!

I am ready...

Things I am ready for in my life...

for Ashley to be sleeping through the night.
for my carpets to be cleaned.
for Adam to be done with school (he is ready for this also)
for cool weather to be here (it was in the 90's today)
for all my thank you notes to be written
for my body to be back in shape
for a vacation
for Christmas baking season to be here
for our Christmas tree
for Aaron to be potty trained
for the curtains to be completed and hung in my house
for financial worries to be over
for a new kitchen (my current one is falling apart)
for a night where I can actually go bowling and not have something come up so I can't go
for a piece of pumpkin pie
for Ashley to sleep through the night...oops, I am so tired I said this one twice
for Adam to be home

How weird is that???

When we were over at my Aunt Jane's house the other night for Destiny's birthday party the boys were in playing with the toy trunk. AJ's toys at the house mostly consist of toys from when her kid-o's were younger, which was about 20 years ago. Among the collection were some old Star Wars toys. One such toy was brought to my attention and I HAD TO take a picture of it to share.

Introducing Jedi Princess Leia!!!

I know what you are thinking...gosh, those legs are awfully big for a girl, and although the sleeves are belled at the end, the outfit seems quite manly, that can't possibly be Princess Leia.

Well, let's take a closer look...

Those buns on the side of the head are undeniable!! It's her!!!

This is just about the weirdest toy I have ever seen!

I LOVE IT!!!

Small story

I had a Pastoral Council meeting tonight and was working on my report for it all day today so this is going to be a short post. I have some cute pictures and videos to share, but those have to be downloaded first and that will happen tomorrow.

Just one small story to share. Since I had my council meeting tonight and Adam was not able to be home, my parents came over tonight to watch the kids for me. I was getting ready to leave and showing my mom all the stuff for Ashley and the boys. My mom and I were standing in the kitchen talking and all of the sudden Alec walks up to us with a bottle in his hand with made up formula in it. He proudly announced that he had made Ashley's bottle for the night! Mind you, I have never taught him how to do it, and I never even thought that he has watched me, but he made her bottle and did it perfectly!! I asked him exactly what he did and he repeated what he did, step by step, and it was right! WOW!! My little boy is getting way to big! What a helper he is!!

Happy Monday!

First of all, I have to start off by saying Happy Veterans Day! I have such a deep feeling of gratitude when I think about all the men and women who have put their lives in danger, some giving their lives for the sake of our country and our safety. I am proud to say that my Dad was one of those people who served to make the world a better and safer place. Thank you PopZ!

I woke up this morning, as I do just about every morning lately, to the sound of Ashley crying. By the time I got to her room Alec and Aaron were already up also and in there with her. They had dragged the chairs from the little table in her room over to her crib and were standing on them. They were taking all of her toys and dolls out of her toy bag on the front of her crib and laying them all around her while telling her, "It's ok baby Ashley, don't cry!" SO DARN CUTE!! What a way to start the morning!

Since today was a holiday my Mom, my sister Amy, myself and the kids were all available to hang out. We decided that since Amy's wedding is only a month and a half away that we would head up to LA to go shopping for some wedding stuff. We headed up at lunch time and after some trouble finding parking (it was crowded) we headed out to scour the garment district. Through all of our shopping we were able to get a beautiful head piece for Amy, the ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket, guest book, garter, and material to make the flower girl dresses. What a productive day!!

I have been doing so many photo sessions with the kid-o's lately and there are so many good pictures. As you can imagine the hardest one to get is of all three, sitting in one spot, looking at the camera, and smiling. Yeah, like that will EVER happen. Here is a picture that is about as close as it can get to all those things.

Look at those sweet faces, am I the luckiest Mommy in the world, or what???

Back on track...

Ok, so I thought that maybe I would go on here tonight and type up posts for the two days that I missed and then back date them so that I would technically be able to make my goal for the month. I then started thinking, what in the world I was doing that for? I would go on here and cheat by putting back dates just so that I could win at a game that I am playing with myself? That just shows how competitive I am! So here I am, doing one post for three days and it is seriously bugging me, but I have to keep telling myself that it is ok. I know, I need serious help. Anyway, back to business!!

This weekend was so wonderful! Friday was a gloomy and snugly day outside and I did a whole lotta nothing! We went and ran some errands in the morning, met Pauline, Ian and Cormac for lunch, and then came back for nap time. I was able to get all three kids down for naps at the same time and I had a huge headache so I curled up under a blanket and joined in the nap time also. We all woke up in time to make some dinner and have the house presentable for Daddy when he came home. After dinner we all sat down and played some Chutes and Ladders before bed time. SO nice!

On Saturday Adam had to go to school for a few hours to check in with his professor but was out by 10:30 a.m. We decided to go to Disneyland for the rest of the day and enjoy the nice weather and each other. We of course were not thinking when we made the plans that it was not only a Saturday, but also Veterans Day weekend. We got to the park and decided to go over to California Adventure first. It was not too crowded there and so we were able to go on Monsters, Inc., see the Playhouse Disney show, and spend lots of time on the rope bridges in Bear Country. After this we headed over to Disneyland where it was super crowded and then on top of it, they were filming their holiday commercial that day. Seriously, it's a Saturday on a holiday weekend. Why in the world would they take up half of main street to film something? Crazy. We ended up just going on Small World, which was already decorated for Christmas, and then seeing the princess show and leaving. We got home late but the boys had blast and slept REALLY well.

Today was pretty low key. In the morning we went to Mass then came home, ate some lunch, and got the kid-o's down for naps. After nap time we headed over to AJ's house for Destiny's birthday party. The boys had a BLAST playing in the bounce house and running around with all the other kids. I am sure they will get another good night's sleep tonight!

Not a very interesting post, but I promise that I will be better in the coming weeks. To try and redeem myself I have included a few pics to make this boring post more interesting!

Aaron is such a crack up sometimes! He absolutely LOVES these light up devil horns that Aunt Allie bought for Alec on a super clearance from Old Navy a few years ago. Aaron takes the horns and instead of putting them on his head, puts them around his waist and walks around. To add to his outfit, he has also taken a liking to Alec's green gardening gloves. Aaron puts on a glove (without the fingers in the right place) and plays with his toys with it on. I have even put him down for naps before with it on and he keeps it on the entire time. He seems to think it is so cool to have a glove on his hand and still be able to do stuff. So strange!!

Adam and the boys playing Chutes and Ladders. It is a running joke with Adam and I, but Adam absolutely STINKS at the kids games. We realize that there is no skill involved at all with these games, but it still bugs Adam to no end that he always loses. Adam get's so frustrated and I think it is absolutely HILARIOUS!!!

slacker

I know, I am a slacker...I missed the last two days...I promise to catch up tonight. :)

Alec the budding artist...

One of Alec's very favorite things to do is to take pictures. Grammie and Papa bought him a Fisher-Price kids camera last year for Christmas and he loves taking pictures with it. The problem is, since Mommy has not figured out how to download the pictures yet (yes, I know it has been almost a year already), Alec has taken to using our camera (when given permission) because he knows that the pictures will actually go somewhere. It also helps that the screen is about 10 times bigger and the picture clarity does not compare to the Fisher-Price. Who knew 4 year olds would be so picky? Anyway, here are some examples of Alec's photography from the past few months...

Daddy lounging in his chair being "cool".

Alec's favorite subject, his puppy dog named Crustin. There are many photo shoots involving Crustin. I suppose it is because he never has to tell him to smile and he always holds still. Just my guess...

Mommy and Asher Basher. I am constantly amazed at Alec's ability to center the subject so well. He is always very thoughtful when he takes pictures and takes his time getting what he wants to shoot.

Self portrait. Every good artist needs a self portrait, right?

Ashley, Crustin, Puppy (Aaron's doggie) and a pumpkin all layed out on Crustin's Blanket. Yes, that is right, Crustin has his own blanket (if Alec gets a blanket then Crustin should have one also, right? 4 year old logic...). Ashley was already asleep on the blanket when Alec wanted to take some pictures. When I gave him the go ahead he went and lined up the doggies and the pumpkin next to Ashley. If you look through my pictures you will see that there are about 10 pictures of this same subject from all angles and distances. He is very thorough!

Drama and Smiles

Today started out pretty crazy as I had to not only take Alec to school, but also take Aaron to my mother-in-law's house, because I had my 6 week OB check up this morning. I dropped the kids off and headed to the check up where everything went well. When I was leaving the OB office I had planned on heading to my parents house, feeding Ash, and then head out to do some errands, sans the boys, before picking up Alec from preschool. I had just gotten to my parents house when my cell phone rang...it was Alec's preschools phone number. Never a good sign. I answered the phone and it was Phyllis, the director, telling me that Alec had thrown up and I had to come and pick him up from school. Not to sound insensitive to my kid-o being sick, but I absolutely can not handle throw-up and I was SO bummed that my morning of easy errands was being cancelled. ARGH!

When I got to the school Alec was sitting in the office with a barf bowl in front of him, his hand holding a paper towel on his knee, and the saddest look on his face. I got the low down from the director about what happened. Apparently Alec was on the playground running around, fell down, and skinned his knee. Once he saw the blood on the knee he freaked out and proceeded to throw-up. After refusing a band-aid they took him up to the office and called me.

I thought it was strange that Alec was acting so normal this morning, which he would not have if he was getting sick. We got home and it was not even 5 minutes of sitting on the couch under a blanket before he was up and playing on the slide and with all his other toys. This was not a sick kid...just a dramatic one. Sigh...

Alec eating popcorn and showing off the "big scrape" that made him toss his cookies.

The one good thing about the drama that happened in the morning was that I was able to have a nice day with just Alec and Ashley. I decided after lunch to do a little photo session with Ashley and I was able to catch a few pics of her smiling. It is a rare event to see a smile, and much harder to catch on camera, so I was VERY happy to get it!!

What a sweet smile!! I can't wait until it happens all the time!

I had to throw this picture in also. It is a perfect example of just how much Ashley adores watching her brothers. Any time either of them are around she constantly is watching them.

By the way, anyone who guessed Aaron, Alec, and then Ashley from the pictues the other day were right! Good job!!

My Air-Bear

It seems that I always do a kids post and include all the kids in together, but I never seem to do individual posts, especially for my poor neglected middle child Aaron. I thought that I would dedicate one entire post to him today because we had a wonderful day together.

Being a middle child myself I understand how hard it is sometimes to just exist. You are not the oldest with all the responsibility, yet you are not the baby of the family either. My mom always did a wonderful job making sure that I had my own special place and because of her diligence I think I managed to avoid many of the typical middle child characteristics that you so often hear of. My mom always used to tell me that I was the cream in her cookie. I love that. :)

Aaron is such a cool little kid and is growing up right before my very eyes. He does not talk as much as Alec did at his age, but he does not need to since Alec NEVER stops talking. Lately his words have become much more clear and he is starting to put longer sentences together. Some of my favorites are, "Hiking boots please mama" pronounced "hike boos pees mama" and "I love you baby Ashley", pronounced "I yaya beebee A-lee." So stinking cute!!

Aaron is still filling the position in the family as the shrimp, but he is catching up a little bit. The hiking boots that he loves to wear so much are boots that Alec wore with his Halloween costume when he was 1 year old, and now at 2 years old Aaron is just now fitting into them. At his 2 year check up he finally made it up to the 50th percentile for height but was still stuck at the 5th percentile for weight. I asked Dr. Marino what we could to do help him gain weight and he replied, "feed him a hamburger!!" Wow, I need that medicine prescribed to me!! Actually, I would love to do just that for him, but he won't eat it. Aaron is incredibly picky (I have no idea where he gets that from) and he has a small selection of foods that he will consume. Adam and I constantly have the choice of whether we should make him responsible and if he does not eat what the family is eating then let him go to bed hungry, or to make something separate for him just so that he will get something in his stomach. I swore I would never be one of those parents who made a million different meals for their kids, but I can see how it happens. I think we have found a good balance and try to incorporate at least one of his favorite foods on his plate each night.

As I mentioned before, Aaron is such a little sweetheart. He is SO good with his little sister and absolutely loves petting her head and giving her kisses. With Alec in school three mornings a week I have been able to give some more individual attention to Aaron. We are in Miss Heidi's class this fall and Aaron has grown in leaps and bounds even since this summer. Unlike his older brother in the same class, Aaron LOVES sitting in my lap and listening to the stories and singing songs. He is actually one of the only kids in the class that sings out loud to the songs and it is so cute. His favorite song in class to sing is Three Little Monkeys and his favorite activity is the parachute.

Since we are telling all, there is of course the hot headed side of our little Aaron Michael. Aaron has quite the temper and will show it in a flash if he does not get what he wants. This of course rears it's ugly head the most around Alec. If Aaron has a problem with the way that Alec is playing or if Alec won't share with him then Aaron will just start screaming and hitting Alec with all of his might. It is one thing when it happens at home with his brother, but it is quite embarrassing when it happens in Miss Heidi's class or at the park with other children. The one good thing is that he is very good at taking his consequence and sitting his time in the penalty box. He is such a smart kid but he just needs to learn how to control that temper of his!

When I think of my little Air-bear my heart just swells with love. He holds such a special place in my heart and I can't wait to see what life has in store for him (my money is on him becoming a cop.) I LOVE that he is the cream in MY cookie!

What a smile!!

Aaron in action!

Mommy and her Air-bear.

How well do you know my children?

We have been getting so many comments lately on how much the kids look like eachother. Some have even asked if Alec and Aaron are twins (forget the fact that Aaron is almost a foot shorter than Alec.) I thought it would be fun to post pictures of all three kids at birth and see if people can guess who each baby is. I have to say, looking at them all lined up like this, it is hard to tell, but a Mother always knows, right? Please post your guesses and I will reveal the answers in a few days! Have fun!

Making Choices...

When I quit working about 4 1/2 years ago to be a stay at home mom to Alec I wondered on a few occasions what I would do all day and how I would fulfill my need to be intellectually stimulated. Since that time I have found my fulfillment in many different areas. I have taught Confirmation at church since the year 2000, I am the treasurer of our Mom's Club at church, I am on our Pastoral Council in charge of coordinating family events, I am in a Bunco group, and I am involved with the Family Assistance group at Adam's work. All of these are positions that I love and enjoy doing. Up until recently I think that I handled juggling all of these commitments quite well. I am sure you can guess the event that pushed me over the edge? That's right, a third child.

I made a decision this last week that something needed to give. I have been spending more time working on my volunteer commitments than I have on my house and my family. Obviously this had to change. As hard as it was, I made the decision to give up teaching Confirmation. Just today I attended my last class with my kids and said goodbye to them. Being sophomores in high school, I don't think that they were all that broken up about me leaving (too consumed in their own lives) but I will miss them. Looking back at the last 7 years of teaching it makes me proud to know that I have helped form the spiritual lives of so many kids. I still get to see many of my old students and am so happy to see them still attending Mass and living their lives in a Christ centered way.

Just wanted to say, thank you San Antonio Youth Ministry for giving me the opportunity to teach and be a part of so many kids lives. I know that as much as the kids may have learned from me (I hope), I feel that I have learned just as much, if not more, back from them.

Sing Sing

I think I mentioned in a previous post that Alec refuses to perform at school when standing up in front of people? Well, I was able to capture this video this last week of him singing in the car. Now if we could just get him to feel comfortable in front of others!

Ashley update

It is so hard for me to believe that it has been a month already since Ashley was born, yet it seems like she has been in our life forever! Ashley has been doing very well and is growing so much. I weighed her at my Mom's house tonight and she is 10 pounds already. Her awake periods are becoming more frequent and the night time sleep is getting a little better. Every few days she will have a great night where she does a couple 4 or 5 hour stretches. I love those nights!

Ashley is a very mellow baby and really only cries when she is hungry or fighting falling asleep. She is very content watching her brothers run around and seems to enjoy all the chaos. The boys are equally enthralled with her as well. They are constantly coming over, patting her head, and giving her kisses. The other day she was crying in her swing and Aaron took all of his favorite toys and piled them in the swing with her to try and comfort her. How sweet is that?

Ash still has the dark hair from when she is born, but in the sunlight you can see a faint halo of blonde hair coming in underneath. Her eyebrows are blonde as well as her eyelashes. It is so ironic that both the boys have long beautiful eyelashes and my sweet girl Ashley was born with hardly any. Looks like Mommy will be teaching her how to apply mascara someday!

I am enjoying having a girl SO much and am relishing every moment I have with her!!

Asher Basher in her ballerina costume for Halloween.

Happy Halloween!!

Since I am starting my blogging month I thought I would begin with October 31st and include pics of Halloween! This is one of my favorite holidays and it is SO much fun now that the kids are getting old enough to understand what is going on. It actually gives me a good excuse to go trick-or-treating again! :)

The day started with Alec going to preschool where it was grandparents day. Grammie, Papa, and Grandma all joined Alec in his classroom for some art projects and singing. The report I heard was that Alec decided not to sing, but to stand up with the class and make funny faces instead. Little goofball! Everyone had a great time and Alec was proud to show off his school! After that we had a nice lunch at Mimi's Cafe before heading home for naps.

Once Daddy was home we ate some dinner and then got the kids suited up in their costumes. The boys were Jedi's for Halloween. When I was making the costumes Alec was very specific that he wanted to be a GOOD Jedi, not a bad one. He ended up as Anakin and Aaron was Obi-won. The boys wanted me to make Ashley dress as Princess Leah but considering this was my first Halloween getting to dress up a girl, I just could not do it. She ended up as a ballerina instead and looked SO beautiful!

We all went out trick-or-treating and the boys totally scored on their candy. We let them have one piece each, which quickly became about 3 or 4 pieces each and then we all went to bed very exhausted. It was a wonderful day and I look forward to doing it all over again next year!!

Pretty girl Ashley in her Halloween shirt, snoozing at lunch.

Anakin and Obi-won getting ready to trick-or-treat

Two little jedi's waiting patiently for the door to open. Once they received their candy Alec would say to the people, "Thank you VERY much, have a VERY happy Halloween!!" So darn cute!

The boys got quite a stash! Now I just have to make sure and not eat it all myself!!

Challenge!!!

Alright faithful but few readers...I have been challenged by my fellow blogger friends to make a blog entry every day in the month of November. I have decided to accept this challenge, so starting tomorrow, things should be pretty active around here!

I have been so infrequent that it should not be hard to come up with fun stories or pictures to share with you! Whoever is still out there, keep reading, hopefully things are about to get interesting!

Ashley Marie Hawley's Birth Story

Wow, what an incredible week it has been! Ashley turned 1 week old today and it already feels like ages ago that I was pregnant and miserable. Life with this little girl is definitely interesting, especially when you add two little boys in the mix!

On Monday night Adam and I, following tradition, dropped off the kido's at my parents house to spend the night and then we went off for our last date night as parents of two children. We went to downtown Brea and went to Carnitas for some yummy mexican food for dinner. After that we headed over to the movies and saw The Borne Ultimatum. We had a wonderful night together and then headed home for a good night's sleep...course I was a bit nervous so sleep did not go so well for me, but I had to get used to that anyway, right?

The next morning we got up and got ready for the hospital. We stopped on the way in for some bagels and arrived at St. Jude around 8:00 a.m. Nurse Carol and Nurse Jean (she was being trained) were waiting for me and got me right into a room. Apparently it was not too busy that day so we got lots of nice attention from the staff. By the time they started my IV, got a baseline on the baby's heartbeat (strong) and contractions (none) then finally started the group B strep meds and pitosin it was around 9:30. They checked me to see where I was starting and I was at 2 cm and about 80% effaced. Not much change from the Friday before.

Contractions started up pretty much right away with the pitosin but were not really that strong. They kept uping my dosage about every 1/2 hour and asking if I wanted my epidural yet. When I had Aaron I was encouraged to get the epidural early and never really felt any contractions. This seemed to make the epidural much more painful. This time I wanted to wait until I was really feeling the pain before they got the epidural in. Around 1:00 p.m. Dr. Henderson came in to check on me. At that point I was about 4 cm so he decided to break my water. Soon after that the contractions got rolling even more so I decided it was time to throw in the flag and get the epidural. The anesteseologist, Dr. Wu, came in almost right away and we started. Adam was brave and stayed in the room, but we made him sit in a chair in the corner this time. My plan worked, and because of the stronger contractions the epidural did not seem as bad and it was a nice relief to have the pain go away. The nurses placed me on my side and left me alone for a while.

All afternoon my contractions were all over the place and they kept playing with the amount of pitosin they were giving me trying to make the contractions last longer without having them too close together. Around 5:00 Nurse Carol came in and checked me for dilation again...only 5 cm...ARGH!! I really had hoped to be up close to 6 or 7 at that point. The epidural had worked great on my left leg but did not really take much on my right side. I let Carol know of my discomfort (I was having to breathe through contractions) and she said she would send Dr. Wu back in. Soon after Dr. Wu came in and gave me a bolster shot on my epidural and that made me COMPLETELY numb in both legs. What a relief!!

By this time we had gathered quite a crowd down in the waiting room. Since it was dinner time I told Adam to go downstairs to the cafeteria with the family and get some dinner. I promised him I would call him if anything happened. When he left I snoozed for a little bit and read a little. It was so nice to have a quiet room after having visitors in and out all day. Around 6:30, about a 1/2 hour after Adam went down for dinner I started noticing some pressure in my bum. I was so numb from the bolster shot of epidural that I was not sure exactly what I was feeling. Adam came back shortly after and I told him what I was feeling and about the same time Carol came in. I told her I was feeling pressure and she said she would check me. Sure enough, I was at 10 cm and the head was right there.

At 7:00 p.m. Carol had me do a practice push to see how close I was. She quickly told me to stop pushing and called to the nurses station to send Dr. Henderson over. Things moved so quickly from there. They got the room set up and got me ready to have the baby. I was so numb still that they had to tell me when I was having a contraction so that I could push. It only took a few pushes and by 7:16 Ashley Marie made her entrance into the world!

Once the cord was cut (Adam actually did cut it!) they placed her immediately on my chest and that is where she stayed for about the next hour. She nursed and we took some pictures with her and bonded together. Finally around 8:30 Adam headed downstairs to get Alec and Aaron. They were both enthralled with their little sister and were very pleased with the gifts that she brought for them (Alec got a Thomas watch, and Aaron a new train.) The rest of the family came up after that and all got the chance to meet the sweet girl.

It's funny, by the third child you would think that some things would be "old hat" by now and not mean as much. This birth was just as amazing as when I gave birth to both of my boys, and I will cherish the memory always. Even though Ashley was a surprise pregnancy for me, I could not imagine having anything different in my life. I truly believe that God knew in my heart that I wanted a little girl to share my life with, and gave this gift to me. I could not be more honored that I have been given this opportunity to raise Ashley and give her the start to what I hope is an amazing, God centered life. I pray that our relationship always stays strong and that I have the same amount of friendship, love, and respect with her that I have with my own Mom.

It really is a girl!! Not that 4 ultrasounds could be wrong, but I did want to see her in person first just to be sure! Ashley was completely covered in in that white sticky vernix and the baby nurse guessed that based on the vernix as well as the lines on the bottom of her feet (?) she was closer to around 37 weeks rather than 39 weeks. At 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long I am glad I did not carry her another 3 weeks, she would have been HUGE!!

Proud Mommy and Daddy.

Alec and Aaron meeting their sister for the first time. Alec was a little apprehensive about her and did not want to touch her. Aaron was VERY interested in her and kept looking at her, pointing, and saying, "Baby Ashley!!" over and over again. SO cute!

It is actually going to happen!!!

Well, I had a doctor's appointment this morning and I am 1-2 cm dilated and 80% efaced so the doctor felt comfortable scheduling me for a induction on Tuesday, the 25th! If I don't go on my own this weekend then we are all set for Tuesday! The next time I post it will be with some cute little girl pictures!!

Updates

Gosh I have been bad at updating this lately! There have been so many times that the kids have done or said something cute where I thought, I should sit down and put that in my blog. Did I? No! I have to get better at this when Ashley is here considering she most likely won't have a scrapbook so I need to journal somewhere.

I am currently just under two weeks away from my due date and I am SO ready to have this baby! The nursery is all done, the car seat is in the car (yes it fit, thank GOODNESS!) and my bag is packed. At my 37 week appointment last week I had not dialated at all which was a big disappointment. We were hoping to talk Dr. Henderson into a induction for next week but we will have to wait till our appointment on Friday to see if I have made any progress. Hopefully something will have changed and I will be able to get things moving.

Alec started school on September 11th (also Aunt Amy's birthday!) and he is LOVING it! I walked him to the classroom on the first day expecting him to be a little clingy to me. I signed him in outside his door and then turned to look for him but he was gone. He was already inside his classroom playing with his friends and getting on with his day. I had to pull him out just to get a picture of him outside the door. He announced on the way home that day, "Mommy, I like room 3 better than room 1." (Room 1 was where he was last year.) I asked him why, and he replied, "Because they have a better kitchen." That's my boy!! Once again, I really need to reconsider the amount of food network I watch around the boys! haha!

Alec was moved up one classroom due to a shuffle in age ranges this year so he is not in a classroom with all of his other friends from last year. I was wondering if this was going to be an issue for him but he seems to have adjusted. You might recall earlier posts about his girlfriend from last year, Carly. Well, that seems to have fizzled since she is in the next classroom up and has a different playground time than Alec. Being the savy 4 year old that he is, Alec of course had to move onto another girl. I found this out in the following conversation that was had on the way home from school last week...

Me - "So sweetie, who did you play with at recess today?"
Alec - "No one, I like to play alone."
Me - "Ok, did you play on the bikes?"
Alec - "Yep."
Silence for about 30 seconds
Alec - "But I did kiss Jacklyn in the sandbox today."
Me - "WHAT?? Why did you do that?"
Alec - "Because she is beautiful!"
Me - "WHERE did you kiss her?"
Alec - "On the shoulder."
Me - "What did she do?"
Alec - "She gave me a big smile."

Oh my gosh. I just about died when he said this! Needless to say, Alec is doing VERY well at school and hopefully the entire year will be just as enjoyable as the first two weeks have been.

Aaron has been quite the character himself lately. He is starting to talk and communicate much more clearly lately. He still has his own interesting way of pronouncing things, but I am a very good Mommy at translating. I keep trying to have him pronounce things the correct way when he says them wrong, but he has no time for that. Example...every time he sees a truck he has to point to it and yell out, "UCK!" No matter how many times I have him make a "T" sound (which he does) and then try to have him put it together with the "uck" sound, he will not say the word properly. I know I should not compare, but when Alec was his age he was so eager to learn how to say things the correct way. He is such a smart cookie, but he decides what exactly he is going to be smart about!

It is always interesting to see what kind of traits you are going to pass along to your children, good or bad. It has become quite clear lately just how much of me has been passed along to Aaron. Apparently when I was a little girl I was not only a picky eater (yes, even pickier than I am now) but I used to go into the backyard and suck on dirt clods all day long. Well, it is all coming back to me full circle with Aaron. He is such a little peanut, 50th percentile for height while only 5th percentile for weight at his 2 year appointment, but the kid won't eat food! There are certain foods that he will eat but anything outside of those certain food items will not be touched. He would rather starve and wait for the next meal to see if it is something that he likes better. I can't tell you how many times I have put him down to bed with him having only had milk and applesauce for dinner just for him to wake up the next morning and plow through 2 waffles for breakfast. I have actually taken to giving him pediasure drinks everyday just to make sure he is getting enough vitamins and calories in his diet. SO frustrating.

As I said before, I was a picky child so I certainly should understand. What goes beyond this is Aaron's oral fascination the rest of the day. EVERY time I turn around Aaron has something that he picked up off the ground in his mouth. It could be a dried up piece of food that I did not clean up from lunch (9 mos preggo here, I am not bending over after every meal to wash the floor) or it could be a rock from outside, or Aaron's personal favorite, Obi food. He won't eat the food on his plate, but heck, leave it on the floor for a day to dry out and he will give it a go! DISGUSTING!!!

The final straw came on Sunday when the entire family was going down for a nap. Alec was down in the office, I was on the couch, Adam in his chair, and Aaron in his bedroom. I asked Adam before I drifted off to sleep if he would go up and check on Aaron (he has had a hard time falling asleep for his naps lately.) Next thing I know I am woken up to Aaron screaming his head off while being brought down stairs and put in the penalty box by a very upset Daddy. I asked what happened and Adam just replied, "Go look at the window above Aaron's bed." Oh no. I ran upstairs and found that Aaron, instead of napping, had stood up on the headboard of his bed and eaten away huge chunks of drywall on the corner of the windowsill. Sigh. Needless to say there was a LONG penalty box served!

I seem to be focusing on the bad Aaron traits this post. I should also throw in some things about how freaking adorable he is also. One smile from that guy or having him come over and stroke my hair while saying, "I ya you mama" (I love you, Mama) and my heart just melts. He is such a sweetie bear and I honestly love that he is such a peanut because it makes it so much fun to snuggle with him (when he lets me.) Aaron is totally obsessed with airplanes and helicopters right now. You never realized just how many airplanes there are in the sky or on tv until you are spending time with Aaron. He is the first to point them out, but if you don't acknowledge what he is saying then he will just keep saying it until you say to him, "Yes baby, I see the airplane!"

I have so much fun staying home with my boys and thank God and my hard working husband every day that this opportunity has been given to me. I love watching them grow and discover new things and I look forward to watching them grow into young gentlemen. I am so looking forward to seeing what kind of an impact Ashley has on our family and how the boys react to her. I know that Alec will be ok (he is SO excited) but I do worry about Aaron a little. I just need to make sure that he knows he is still mommy's little boy and that nothing could ever replace him.

I guess I have spouted off long enough for one post. Hopefully the next time I post it will either be with a induction date or with a little baby in my arms and a very pleasant birth story!