Sick Boy...

Ashton has been fighting an on again/ off again throat infection for awhile. Last night he woke up at 3:08 AM. Third night in a row that he has woken up with fever and sore throat. Well, last night he was particulary warm. His temp had been running around 101.5 and since it was 3 AM, I was just going to try to rock him back to sleep after giving him his tylenol, without taking his temp. I guess you could say that my "mommy instinct" kicked in and something told me to take his temperature. Well, I did, and it was 104.8! I FREAKED. After waking daddy up, and freaking him out as well with my finding, we called the on-call pediatrician. We were instructed to give him a luke warm bath and motrin. After doing that, and giving him a bottle full of water, we watched two episodes of Mickey Mouse (I know...) and he finally drifted back to sleep. This morning I was all set to take him into the Pediatrician's office, and what happens??? He woke up with NO fever and happy as a clam! God is good!

Ashton's First Trip to the Zoo!

We took Ashton to the Houston Zoo a few weeks before Emory Anne was born, in December of 2008. He was 16 months old. This post is just a little backlogged :) Mommy was HUGE and pregnant, and because Emory was sitting so low, was not suppose to be walking or lifting very much. But because I knew that Emory Anne would be coming soon, and our daily schedule would not be as flexible, we decided to do something fun for Ashton. I took on the roll of camera man since I wasn't allowed to lift Ashton a lot, and daddy made us take lots of breaks from walking :) Ashton LOVED the zoo! I think that he really liked seeing all of the animals "live" that we read about in his books all the time. The best was when he saw the lion. His eyes got huge and he pointed and made the ROOAARRR sound. He does an excellent lion roar :) It was such a fun day.

Missing My Camera...

Ashton and his boots!

My camera stopped working a few weeks ago, and I am DYING without it! A couple days ago, as I was getting Ashton dressed for the day, he noticed his "boots" sitting in the closet. His boots are these adorable little plaid boots that my mom got him this past winter. He wore them ALL winter and loves them. (The picture is him wearing the boots, during his first trip to the zoo right before Emory Anne was born). So, he saw the boots and insisted that I put them on him...no other shoes would do. He looked so cute walking around in his boots and shorts! Daddy was getting ready to leave for work, which is a terribly hard part of the day for all of us. Ashton HATES when daddy leaves for work, it breaks daddy's heart when Ashton cries for him and reaches his arms out in a desperate attempt to get daddy to pick him up, and mommy is the chopped liver that is left behind to console him after daddy leaves. Very sad. Anyway, as daddy was leaving, we did our normal "bye bye" routine, trying to get Ashton to be upbeat and positive about the situation. As soon as we waved bye bye and blew our final kisses and I shut the door, he immediately RAN to the front window to watch daddy and Jackson (who goes to work with daddy everyday) drive away in the pick-up truck. Talk about a missed camera moment! There is my baby, wearing his boots with his shorts, standing on his tiptoes, with his little hands on the ledge of the window, peering out to watch daddy drive away. It was so sweet. Just ONE example why I need my camera back, ASAP!!

What a difference a year makes...

April 2008




April 2009

I can remember thinking this time, last year, "Wow, Ashton is SUCH a big boy! He can sit up by himself, is about to crawl any minute, and has so much hair..." Hard to believe that he is about to start potty training, "big boy" school, and has had 4 haircuts. REALLY hard to imagine what April 2010 will reveal...

Emory Anne - 4 months old

Emory Anne is 4 months old today! Oh, I love her so much. She is such a little muffin. I've actually been referring to her as my little sassy pants lately :) Emory is such a happy baby. She loves sitting and rocking with her daddy, watching Ashton play, play, play, and cuddling and smooching with mommy. I love her sweet little toes, the way she kicks her legs furiously when she thinks something is funny, the way she seems to look right into my soul when she stares at me with those huge, beautiful bright blue eyes, the way a big bow looks on her little noggin, and the way she grasps my pinky finger when she eats. We had her 4 month appointment today with Dr. Bootin, the kid's pediatrician, and she measured 75% for her weight and 90% for her height! Dr. Bootin confirmed that she is definitely cutting her two bottom front teeth, and that they should push through very soon. I can't WAIT to see her with teeth!! Emory Anne is still attached to the new type of passy that we started a few days ago, and sucked on it pretty much the whole time we were at the Dr.'s office. It came in very handy at the end of the visit, when she got her shots :( My poor little punkin. She was very brave, though, and recovered as soon as I picked her up and cuddled her. She, of course, kept her bow on during the entire Dr.'s visit, and was the only naked baby to get weighed while wearing a bow and sucking on a matching passy... my little sassy pants :)

Easter

Ashton REALLY enjoyed Easter this year! He loved coloring and hunting for eggs, and exploring all the Easter treats that the Easter Bunny brought. Ashton called the eggs "balls" of course, as anything round is referred to as "ball". So cute. He hunted for eggs with our neighbor, Aidan, but Aidan was not really into it, so Ashton took Aidan's Easter basket (probably because it was a basketball Easter basket...much cooler than his plain jane basket) and proceeded to find ALL of the eggs. Well, all but one, which we found two days later :) Emory Anne was festive during the egg hunt, wearing her "Emory Cottontail" outfit that my cousin Meghan bought for her before she was born.

Proud of this pic...

Every once in a while, I will take a picture that is not the usual, run of the mill pic. Usually it's on accident...

Emory's World This Week

Emory Anne will be 4 months old tomorrow. Wow- hard to believe. She is such a little kissable cuddle bug.

• Rolled over for the first time from her back to her tummy 2 weeks ago, while playing on the floor with mommy. The SAME night, around 4 am, I heard her crying in her crib. A weird cry... like she was mad, not hungry. When I went to check on her, she had rolled over from her tummy to her back! However, she has only rolled over two more times since... :)

• She is a smiling fool! You bearly have to look at her and she just lights up from ear to ear!

• Emory has HUGE dimples. I adore them.

• Yesterday, she started taking a new pacifier. Where as I (or Ashton) would have to keep putting the soothie back in her mouth, she has latched on to her new passy and is not letting go!!

• Emory is teething like it is going out of style!!!!! She (and I) are, at most times, COVERED in drool. Mommy is very ready for her to cut the tooth, or teeth, that she is working on.

• If she is sleepy, she wants to be in her crib, on her tummy, with her lambie that makes the heartbeat sound, covered up with her "Emory Anne" bamboo (SUPER soft) blanket that Aunt Emmie got her. Doesn't matter if it is naptime or bedtime, that is where and how she wants to be, EXACTLY, when she is sleepy.

• She loves her sling. But only sitting upright, where she can see the "going-ons" around her. Same with being held in general. No cradling like a baby for my little sassy pants!

• Emory started sitting in her Bumbo a few days ago. John and I are wondering why we didn't break it out sooner... She loves, loves, loves sitting in it! Mainly because she can be a part of the group and see what we are doing at all times.

• She coos, and it is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. So dainty and sweet.

• Her eyelashes are already longer than mine...

• Emory got her first runny nose this week. I am pretty sure it is from the teething. It is so sad to see her frustrated because she can't breathe easily through her nose. Trying to keep her little nostrils suctioned as much as possible to make her more comfy.

• She has her daddy's looks. All of them. Well, except my skin tone. Sorry bout that, Emory! No tanning for you!

• When she sneezes, I can't help but giggle, cause they sound like little mini "John sneezes".

Ashton's World This Week

This week in Ashton's World:

He is 20 months old and everyday brings many things new and exciting...

• Recent words: color, blue, poo poo, pee pee, shoes (said with gusto when he wants to go outside), boat, yummy, yumm-O, back (said with his hand out in front of him when talking to Jackson, just like daddy), "night night" (referring to his bottle), whoa, uh-oh.

• John and I have decided that Ashton would LIVE outside, if we let him. Every morning, after breakfast, he runs to his room and gets his shoes, runs to me and says SHOES! This means, TAKE ME OUTSIDE!!

• If he is eating something that tastes really good, he makes his eyes really big and says MMMMMM!

• Ashton loves to help with Emory in any way possible. His favorite way to help is to try to put her passy in her mouth. He is a wonderful big brother.

• He will not stop eating dog food. It drives me crazy!!! He gets in trouble every time he does, and is totally un-detoured. Gross.

• If I want him to eat something, I give him a "dip". Doesn't matter what it is... ketchup, honey mustard, ranch, syrup... If there is a dip on his tray, he will eat.

• One word can sum up Ashton's favorite thing to play with... ball. Doesn't matter if it's a football, soccer ball, tennis ball or golf ball. If it's a ball, it's alright with him :)

• Ashton got his first ant bite recently. Aunt Emmie was here and rushed over and scooped him up and we hosed off the ants. Ashton has not seemed to be bothered by his little bites at all, but Aunt Emmie was traumatized :)

• Got a "Diego" vibrating toothbrush and LOVES getting his teeth brushed now. And it's a "win-win" because not only does he love brushing his teeth now, but the vibrating toothbrush cleans them better! :)

• Our finicky little eater has developed a new found love for Bananas. So weird, as he has never liked bananas. Ever. Even as baby food. But, for now, he can't get enough of them! He is averaging one a day!!

• Two nights ago, I was giving Ashton his bath and all of a sudden he stood up and wrapped his little arms around me and laid his wet head on my shoulder. We sat there in silence like that for three whole minutes.

• We went and paid Ashton's tuition for summer school this week. He starts in June at St. Luke's Dayschool. He was only suppose to be going 2 days a week, but the 2 day session filled up and I got a call asking if I would be willing to switch to the 3 day. So now he will be going 3 days a week, from 9 am - 2:30 pm. I am going to miss him SO much. I honestly got a lump in my throat just going to pay the tuition. The first day is going to be a very hard day for mommy.

• This morning, daddy was leaving for work while Ashton was in his highchair eating breakfast. This is normally a very traumatic occurence for Ashton, as he HATES when daddy leaves. But this morning, John came over and kissed him on the forhead, as usual, and instead of meltdown city, Ashton just looked up at him, waved, and said "Bye"! Such a big boy!!!