Mother's Day Gift

When Nate ordered my mother's day gift he said it would take 2-3 weeks to arrive. So, end of last week was 3 weeks. He left work about an hour early on Friday which he told me after the fact that their FedEx driver doesn't come until 4:30. So, I was disappointed that I didn't get my gift (which I knew was a ring, but didn't know which one) before the long weekend. This morning I kept bugging Nate to check on the status. He tracked the package and said it showed for delivery today! Yes! Finally! I was running errands after I left work and Ashley was getting hungry. I thought what better place to feed her than Nate's office and  then I can (conveniently) be there when the FedEx delivery guy comes. So, I was waiting feeding Ashley in Nate's office looking out the window and saw the FedEx driver at the building across the street. Then I lost track of him and he didn't show up. Finally I saw him leave the front desk, so we went and asked the receptionist if there was a box for Nate and she said no, nothing had come! I was quite disappointed!
But, imagine my surprise when I sat down at the table for dinner and noticed Ashley was holding something!

The card says "Thanks for staying up all night to feed me... Love Ashley and Dad"

He totally tricked me. Truth was the FedEx driver showed up first thing this morning!

He did a great job, not only with surprising me with the delivery of the ring, but also with which ring he picked.

The center stone is Topaz, Ashley's birthstone

I love it! Now it's time to use my mother's day gift card from my mom for my manicure!

Chicken Sale

Oh the things daddy takes us to! We went to Yoder, KS on Friday night for the monthly chicken sale. Really it's a livestock auction, but chicken sale is more fun to say. Daddy had a friend get some bunnies there a few months back and daddy thought he needed to try and get some smaller and different colored ones. So, here's what we saw...

lots of people

lots of chickens

the rabbits daddy bought

peacocks for sale...there was at least 7 in there!

the other big bunny daddy bought

little baby chicks

dogs

ducks and ducklings

and cows!

Dinner!

We had dinner with the Lee's. Keziah loved baby Ashley!

Malachi liked her too

Gardening

We bought some flowers for our garden out front and Ashley and I had a fun time being outside, planting them and making our yard look pretty!

6 months

You are 6 months old. Sometimes I think I can see you getting bigger every day. You certainly are doing new things constantly. You love to play with your toys. Everything goes straight to the mouth and this has been productive for you, because you now have 2 teeth. Neither one is all the way in, but they have both come completely through the gums. I love seeing those with every smile. You smile a lot and at anyone really. Recently you gave started sucking on your top lip, and make a smacking noise, it's pretty cute. Your hair is getting thicker and longer, and it's staying dark too. The bald spot on the back of your head is getting smaller. The little rat tail you had at birth is gone now. Daddy is glad about that, he kept wanting to cut it off, I wouldn't let him. You have rolled over a few times from tummy to back and back to tummy. But, it takes you awhile before you get there. You are getting better at sitting up on your own. You fall over quickly, but each time we try you do better and better. When you are sitting in someone's lap, you are reaching for anything in sight...food, papers, the keyboard...whatever you can get your hands on you'll take it! You weigh 15lbs 12.5oz and are 26 inches long. Your head circumference is 17.5. You've grown a lot in the last 2 months. You have started eating baby food, so far we've only tried sweet potatoes, and you seem to like them. You can hold your own bottle now and you like your milk to be very warm. You want nothing to do with it if it's cold. I think you get that preference from me. I am very picky about the temperature of my food. Your daddy on the other hand, could care less and eats chili straight out of the fridge!You've been sleeping a little better, there were a few nights recently that you went to bed at 7:30 and only woke up around midnight and then again at 6. Even after you eat at 6 you go back to sleep for awhile. The other nights you wake up about every 4 hours to eat. You are in size 3 diaper. Judy convinced me that you needed to be in a size 3. I had you in a size 2 because that was for 12-18lbs. But, every day you were leaking out of the size 2 diapers and getting your clothes very messy! So, Judy started putting you in Addie's size 5 diapers and didn't have any trouble. So, that convinced me we should move up a size and we haven't had near as many accidents! Your 3-6 month sleepers are all too short, and you have finally got to start wearing all of your 6 month summer clothes! You are too cute!

she loves paper

no, I don't let her eat it!

 

and then she gets mad

We miss Judy

Judy told me a couple months ago that she could no longer watch Ashley once summer started. I haven't talked or done much about it mainly because I was in denial.  :)  Judy has been a huge blessing and an answer to prayer, as you may remember. She started watching Ashley full time at the beginning of Feb. when I went back to work. It was hard to leave Ashley those first couple weeks, but we all grew to love Judy and I know she grew to love Ashley too. She did an awesome job with her. We were so sad to leave her and find someone new. Ashley's last day with Judy was Friday, May 20. It ended up being a half day because Judy had planned to pick up her daughter Taylor at CofO, so Nana Wilma watched Ashley for the remainder of the day. I think that turned out to be a good thing because that was the last time I would have picked her up over there and I would have had to load up all of her belongings. I know I would have just cried and cried and then drove off and cried more. After all, that's what I had been doing all week long! We wanted to bless Judy with a gift since we were blessed by her, she had mentioned a few times over the last 4 months how much she wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer and that's what she always asked her family to get her as a gift. So, we went shopping and surprised her with a new mixer...a red one...she's an OU fan. She loved it, couldn't have been more excited! Thank you Judy for all that you have done for us and thank you for loving our sweet Ashley!

'Tis the season...

Of Graduations! Last week we had 3 graduations.  On Thursday we celebrated with Uncle Jake, he finished 8th grade at CCA. Next year, he will be a freshman at Trinity. This is crazy to believe. When I met the Mathews family, Jake was just under 2 years old!

On Saturday, we went to McPherson and celebrated Aunt CJ graduating from Central Christian College with her Bachelor in Elementary Education. Next year, she will do her student teaching for the fall semester at a middle school in Andover.

The fam- minus Hudson and Jamie

CJ and Lynsie

Ashley is thinking, I really want to chew on that hair. And CJ is thinking, do you know how long it took me to do my hair like this?!?!

After the ceremony we had a big BBQ celebration at the park. We had lots of fun, food & friends. The weather was great. Nate brought his bird along and many were intrigued by it.









On Sunday, we celebrated Aunt Lizzi's graduation from Trinity. We are excited for to see where God leads her on her next adventures. She will be attending Oklahoma City University in the fall, and will join the Rowing team. She hopes to become a nurse and serve in missions in Central America.

Way to go Jake, CJ and Lizzi!

Traveling Family

 We are well traveled now! We left last Friday afternoon and drove to St. Louis, MO. Ashley enjoyed the trip, she slept and played, and ate and slept. She was asleep by the time we arrived at our friend's house. But, when we went into their house they had 3 dogs and they were barking, which woke Ashley up. So, she got to sit out in the living room and talk with everyone for a bit. Our purpose in going to St. Louis was to pick up this little one....

Rambo's daughter- 14 days old

The 3 dogs were very friendly, 2 were Jack Russels and the other was a vizsla. One of the little Jack Russel's was pretty interested in Ashley, but she was not so fond of him. She was actually quite scared and cried when the dog came too close. The next morning though she thought the dog was pretty interesting and allowed him to get pretty close to her.
We Saturday morning to drive to Kansas City and do some shopping (That was the deal, Nate gets his bird, and I get to do some shopping). But, we had to do 2 very important things before we shopped...

Chick-fil-A, yes I like a variety of dipping sauces!

Ashley is already ready to dig in, she know the good stuff!

She was also pretty thirsty

Proof, of that little tooth making it's way in!

 The second important stop before shopping?

Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake for daddy

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cake Cheesecake for mommy

Ashley and her new friend

After our 2 stops we went to the Vera Bradley store and I bought a big bag for Ashley. I don't have a bag that's a good size for these short weekend trips for all the stuff I bring for her, so we bought a new one and it's one she can use for 'pendin' the night at grandparents houses. We also went to Legends mall and found some good deals. Then we headed for Manhattan to stay with Pete and Caitlin. We spent the night at their apartment and then in the morning the rest of the family drove up so we could all go to church for Claira's baptism. Before church, Uncle Pete and Aunt Caitlin made an annoucement that they are having another baby...due November 30, 2011!

Awma made Claira's dress. It's very similar to Ashley's

After church we had lunch at Pete and Caitlin's and celebrated Awma's birthday. We were having car trouble, so the boys went out to jump my car battery and ended up frying a fuse on the computer and so we had to have my car towed back to Wichita from Manhattan! Nate and Jacob rode in the tow truck and Ashley and I rode back with Papa Rog, Awma, and Lizzi. That was a crazy end to our crazy weekend, but it was a fun time for all 3 of us to be together!

A new toy

Ashley has a fun new toy that she's been enjoying the last couple of weeks. She's figured out how to turn herself around and gets excited when she sees it. She can play in there for quite a while before getting bored. Her favorite toy on it is the sun, it has rays coming off it, they are the perfect size for her mouth! :) She also likes the mirror and is excited when she sees herself.

First Mother's Day

My first official Mother's Day was great. We went to church in the morning and I received a carnation from Ashley. When she came back to our seats with it, she had it in her mouth. :)  She was ready to eat it, but we decided that wouldn't settle well on her tummy. After church we went to lunch with Awma, Lizzi, Jake, and our friends, the Martin's. After lunch we had a family afternoon nap, it was wonderful! Ashley was really tired, she slept for 2 and half hours. After naps we went to Aunt Cassie's for dinner with, well....everyone. My family was there as well as Awma, Lizzi, and Jake. We opened gifts...mom gave me a devotion book for moms, and Awma gave me a Starbucks gift card, Ashley and daddy gave me a ring. The ring is not actually here yet, it's on order, but it has Ashley's birth stone in it. I'm excited to see it when it arrives. It was a fun Mother's Day and I am so blessed to be mom to this sweet baby girl!

Lessie and Hudson

Cassie and Tate   Photographed by: Hudson James

Hudson and Ashley

Me, Ashley, Annie, Callista, Cassie, Dianna, Lizzi, Wilma, Tate, Gammy, Gigi, Carver, Garret, Hudson (givin' kisses),  Traci

Mimi, Tate, Ashley, and Carver

CJ, Me, Gigi, and Ashley

Happy Mother's Day 2011