16 Months Old Today!!

Ashley and her Big Sis having fun at the park!

It is so hard to believe that Ashley is already 16 months old...where does the time go!! Ashley got to go to the park and play this weekend for the 1st time. I know we should have done it a long time ago but she has been sick and you never know what kind of weather we will have in Texas. It was 70 and nice so we took advantage of it. It was a little windy and of course the camera caught that so sorry if it is hard to hear.

Having fun on the swing for the 1st time!

Ashley on the slide...wheeee!

This is FUN!!!!!!!

Video Clip of 1st swing

Video Clip of playing on the slide

Video Clip

More Teeth on the way!

Well Ashley avoided having the rash that was predicted! We have discovered that her fever was probably caused by the new teeth that are trying to make an appearance. She is working on getting her bottom pointy teeth...now we really need to be careful of her teeth! Her mouth is filling up with teeth...new total of 14 teeth at almost 16 months old!

Ashley and Mommy are enjoying a relaxing day today since school was canceled due to ice on the roads! Mommy will have to make up the day in June during the last week of school but I don't mind today!!!! :)

Sickness and more sickness!

Look at all my teeth!

Ashley has had weeks of not feeling so well. She started out having her 1st stomach bug! It was not a fun time at our house!!! It is hard to comfort a little one when they don't understand what is happening to their body. Well she managed to spread her germs to Granny, Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy! It was not a fun week at all! Mommy doesn't think she has ever been that sick.

I love playing in the laundry basket.

We were all well for about a week. Ashley is exploring using her own spoon to feed herself. She really likes it!! Her new favorite snack would be Crunchies ... Daddy gave her the whole can and she thought it was the BEST! She also discovered it sounds cool when you make sounds into the can. Too Cute !

Eating with her spoon


Playing with Crunchie can

This past week she ventured to have a fever for 5 days with no other symptoms! She went to the doctor twice and not at all to school! The doctor finally came up with Ashley having roseola...fever and then a rash...we are still waiting on the rash!

Look how much my hair has grown!

Ashley strikes again!

This will be a short update as Daddy is about to take Ashley and Kaitlin to their schools. I came around the corner and caught Ashley on... well you can see below. We are all doing great at this time although lately Ashley has been learning the really loud high pitched whiny noises lately, a little more than normal. We're hoping it's just more teething pains :) God Bless!!!

And here's a cute pic of what Kaitlin did to Ashley with her blankie :)

Have a Great day all!!!

Christmas 2008

Kaitlin and Ashley

Our Christmas holiday was packed full of family time! We spent Christmas Eve at church with Billy's parents and then went to Kathy's parent's house for a traditional Polish dinner! Ashley looked so cute in her Christmas dress!! She got some really cute things like a bear rug that is so soft, lots of books, and a musical piano. We also were able to catch a picture with all of the cousins and their funny hats!

Ashley and Mommy

Ashley and her new piano

All the cousins!
Ally, Ryan, Scott, Ashley, and Kaitlin

Christmas morning was spent at home with just Mommy, Daddy, Kaitlin, and Ashley. Ashley was so cute walking down the hallway to see what Santa brought her. Billy caught it all on video! I will post them later since there are two 3 minute long videos!

We went to the country for Christmas lunch with Billy's parents. We also enjoyed opening more gifts as well! We spent a relaxing afternoon at their house and Ashley even took a 2 hour nap! We then packed up the van and headed to McKinney for a Prime Rib dinner at Kathy's parents. It was very yummy!!! :) By the time we got home that night we were exhausted!

Merry Christmas to All!!!

We were at a birthday party the other night and Ashley had to get on this toy train and didn't want to get off. So I thought, photo op time! The pictures are a little blurry because all I had at the moment was my cell phone.

Christmas pics will come soon, until then we would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sleeping, Friends, and Mischief

"Well I thought I was ready to get up...NOT!"

Kicking back and relaxing!

"Here let me show you how to drink from my cup."

Ashley and Hannah playing together

Ashley discovering how far she can take the toilet paper!

Thanksgiving Memories

(Ryan's Turkey)

Well I think we can officially say Ashley is walking! She can stay up on her feet walking from the living room to the kitchen. So now our lives change once again as she gains speed!!! We had to go to the doctor for a really yucky cough and nose...more medicine :) She nows weighs in at 22 lbs 11.5 oz

We spent the afternoon at Kathy's parents house. This is the first time Ashley has been there since she has been so mobile. Without a second thought she was able to master climbing the stairs in record speed! It was amazing how she climbed them like she had always been around them. She even managed to be very sneeky and get almost all the way up before anyone noticed.

Ashley has acquired a liking for mashed potatoes. She had a great time putting her fingers all over the tray and all over her face. It was cute and funny until she decided to wipe her eyes! Then we had lots of tears and a huge mess to clean up!

We were able to catch Ashley playing a new peek-a-boo game behind the curtains. It is so cute! Please enjoy! :)

Exploring and Growing!

Ashley has been entertaining herself with going through the cabinets! She loves to empty it out onto the floor. She had a real good time trying to clean up with the trash bags! :)

Video Clip

Ashley has found a new way of getting from one place to another if she is carrying something in her hands...Knee Walking! It is the cutest and funniest thing to watch. We were able to catch a little of it on video.

Although it does not seem like she has much hair...it really is growing! I made it stand up when she was in the bath. Daddy calls her "little shark girl"!

Carter is home, Sean is home too!

Just read on Carter's guest book, that Chelle's Aunt said Carter went home on Monday and is ok. Sean also made it home from the long road trip from Boston.

Thank you Lord for bringing both home safe!

Our Little Pumpkin

We took some pictures of Ashley and the pumkins in the backyard. She thought it was cool to be outside and touching the pumpkins.

There is actually a pretty good picture of Mommy and Ashley! It is rare to see a picture of the two of us!! Thanks Daddy for taking it! :)

Carter back in Children's Dallas - Prayers!

http://www.cartermcates.com/web/do/site/journal?ID=343508

Just read that Carter was admitted yesterday to Children's in Dallas. Click the link above for the latest info.

Prayers for Carter!!!

A couple of Halloween pics!

Happy Halloween! Ok that was yesterday so we hope you had a good one!!!

Here are a few pics of Ashley from last night and Kathy's great pumpkin carving skills!!!


First up, Kathy's awesome Pumpkins!

Smile!!!

Do you recognize this one eyed monster?

Ashley getting ready to head out!

Ashley's first trick or treat stop!

Daddy and I about to go get candy!!!

Ashley says Hi to all!!!

Pics of Carter Coming Home!!!

I was able to leave work for a few and head out to help Welcome Carter home. It was great being there because we all have prayed so much for this day!

Enjoy the pics and again, Welcome Home Carter!!!

Carter is officially back in town!!!

I just got back from the airport, pics to come later tonight when I get home.

Carter and Chelle are back in town! Welcome Home Carter!!!

Every news channel was out there so be sure to tune in tonight! Ch 11 did a big interview with Carters Grandma and they even walked over interviewed me for a bit (Billy). Not sure if they'll show my small part or not and how much of a dork I'll look like :)

But Thank you Lord for bringing Carter and Chelle back home!!! Please remember to pray for Sean as he is driving all the way back!

Party time soon hopefully!!!

What a BUSY 3 weeks it has been!

Too Cute...Our little Nun!

Ashley has been offically home for 1 year today! And what a Great year it has been!!!

Sorry for the delay in posting on our blog. Our house has been passing colds around for the last month! I think everyone is better except Mommy! Ashley had a reaction to her vaccines with a rash and fever! We made 5 trips to the doctor in a month for Ashley! I knew that with her going to school this year that she would be sick...but 5 TRIPS! I asked about the frequent flyer club and if after the 10th visit, it is free! Sounds good to me! :) Ashley got to be on her 1st round of antibiotics...she actually likes to take medicine so it was pretty easy.

Ashley has discovered that she can stand on toys to get a better view of what is on the other side of the fence! :) We are in trouble!!!!!!!! She has also found that she dislikes certain textures of food. When this happens it quickly rolls out her mouth and down her chest...quite a sight to see! She also doesn't like chocolate chip cookies...Daddy found out the hard way! She has accquired a taste for wood as seen on the evidence of her crib!

Hey Look At Me!

Doesn't that look tasty!

Our little Beaver!

Tonight Ashley actually took 2 to 3 steps on her own from Mommy to Daddy and back again. With lots of cheering going on, Ashley was very proud of herself!

Tasting Whole Milk for the 1st time

She went for her 1 year check up on Thursday. She got a clean bill of health. Her stats are as follows: Weight = 20lbs 12.5 oz (43%) Height = 30 in. (79%) Head = 46.5 cm (87%). The doctor was very happy with how well she is doing. The only thing to work on is the talking because she is still not saying Mama or Dada. We get alot of gagagaga gagagaga!

Ashley got to taste her first glass of milk today. She seemed to like it. She also enjoyed hitting the sippy cup on the high chair! She really likes to hit things together to make loud noises!

Mouth Full of Milk

Hey I think I like this :)

You want some????

Happy Bday Ashley Part 2!

Ashley had a wonderful time tonight and got a few new toys, clothes and got to eat some cake!!! Here are some pictures as well as some video's, some of which might take a few to load. The only downside to tonight was towards the end Ashley was obviously getting tired and not able to stand as long. Well she fell down and gave herself a nice little bruise under one of her eyes!!! No pictures of that yet as we tended to her, saw family out and put her to bed. Hopefully it will be very little or gone by morning! Anyways, enjoy the pics and videos!

The first video is this morning when I went to wake up Ashley for the day!




Daddy it's too early!!!














Ok I guess I'll wake up!















It's Cake Time!!!



This was me this morning in my birthday outfit that Mommy and Daddy bought me!















Ok more cake action! MMM!!!















Messy and Loving it!!!















So here's a new toy of mine, after being cleaned up from my Cake time!















So there you have it, some small samples of Ashley's 1st Birthday! I'm sure we'll post more later but it's been a long day!

God bless everyone!

Happy Birthday Ashley!!!!!!!!!

This will be a very short post and lots of pictures from tonights celebration will be posted later. But for now, feel free to leave comments for Ashley.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 year ago today, the journey began!

Mama, Dada and Big Sis Love You!!!