1st Cookie

Ashley enjoyed having her 1st biter biscuit today. She is so very close to crawling. She makes at least 3 moves with her knees and then goes back to her tummy army crawl. She paid her Ammie a visit at her work and was able to crawl on her carpet but no where else! We have rearranged furniture and are getting ready for when she takes off! We are in trouble because she get places she wants really fast on her tummy, there is no telling how fast she will be on her knees!

Nice and clean...this might be yummy!

Video Clip

YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY!

I'm a big mess for Mom to clean up!

Close-up of my messy face!

Video Clip

Look what I learned how to do now!

I helped Ashley stand up once and showed her how to put her hands where she could hold herself up. She fell down and below is what happened. Again I only showed her this ONE TIME, what a smart kid we have!!! Watch and Enjoy :)



I think we're in trouble :)

9th month Check-up results

Ashley got all flying colors! She is doing amazing well and you would never know that she was six weeks early. Here are here stats- Weight: 19lbs 11 oz (59%), Height: 28 1/2 in (74%), Head Circumference: 17 3/4 (74%). The percentages are according to where she is on the 9 month chart!

Yesterday was our friends' from the NICU, Hannah's and Carter's 1st birthday. We would have loved to be able to see Carter but he is in Boston recovering from a transplant. Please remember to put him in your prayers! Hannah had a little get together at her house last night. Ashley had fallen asleep in the car on our way so it took her a little time to wake up and want to play. You can tell in the pictures that she wasn't so happy to begin with. Hannah was exploring how Ashley's face felt and she didn't like it! It was like the mirror but different! Later they did play on the floor with some toys. We will be making more playdates with Hannah! :)

"I don't think I like this!"

We can be friends!!

Playing on the floor with blocks

I think I want that yellow block.

No I don't think so!

Having Fun in the Walker

Ashley is enjoying walking all over the kitchen! She has figured out how to make it move and quickly, too! We have to watch out for our feet. So far she can make it go on the kitchen floor but not the carpet. Maybe this will help her want to get places quicker on the floor and she will start crawling! :) Enjoy the video.

Sending all our love to our far away family members in New York!

4th of July weekend

Ashley totally enjoyed her weekend of many firsts! We went to see a big fireworks show Thursday night with Aunt Lori and her crew. Ashley loved looking at the lights in the sky and being outside. She also enjoyed cooling off by spilling a drink on herself and Suzanne (Lori's sister-in-law). I was able to catch the just before it happened picture. You can tell that she is just about to grab the cup.


Ashley and Suzanne

Ashley in the walker at Ammie's

Yummy this tastes good!

The 4th of July was spent with Ammie and Papa at there house and then going to see more fireworks in McKinney. We were very close to them but the loud sounds did not scare Ashley at all! She enjoyed playing on the blanket and rolling all around outside. Ammie said that we were going to be in trouble on Saturday night because Ashley liked the fireworks so much and saw them for 2 nights in a row that she would be totally confused why there were not shiny lights in the sky.


Cheese!!!!

Wheeeeeeee this is fun!

Saturday afternoon we spent going to a Sunday school get together at someone's house. It was Ashley's first get together with friends. She had a couple of other babies to watch. One was crawling all over the place. I made sure that Ashley watched him very closely! :) After we left there, we decided to take Ashley and the family to Aunt Lori's swimming pool. She LOVED it! I think she thought it was a big bathtub and was wondering why everyone was in there with her!

NICU Reunion and Happy 4th!

Ok so we're slow to post sometimes. But first off I'd like to say Happy 4th of July and HUGE THANK YOU to all our Troops, may God bless you and keep you safe! If you have served before, THANK YOU TOO!!!

Ok so last week we went back to the NICU Reunion, here are a few pics. It was great to see some of our old roomies and some of the staff! Enjoy the pics!

Happy 9 Months Old Today!

It is hard to believe that Ashley is already 9 months old. The time has really gone by fast. She is so much fun to be around. The house is filled with laughs and screams of joy from her. Yes, she has found her high pitch scream of excitement while in her favorite exersaucer! Ashley visited the walker this morning on the kitchen floor for the 1st time. Once she realized that her feet made it move, she was having a great time going after Bailey the dog. She rolls all over the place when placed on the floor. She discovered that she can get up on her knees in her crib but hasn't tried it on the floor yet...It is just a matter of time before she is unstoppable! :-)

More Ash Pics

Ashley is rolling around like crazy and she is soooo close to crawling, I can't wait :)

1-2 Months old pics

A little bit of NICU pics and Day 1

A recent pic of Ashley

Finally Starting a blog!

Ok so I'm a slacker, I should have been doing this all along but at least
I'm finally getting to it.

Ashley was born October 1st 2007, 6 weeks and 1 day ahead of what was supposed
to be the due date.

It all started at sometime around 4am, details are skethcy, but I awoke to my
wife in quite a bit of pain. I asked what was wrong but as I was speaking those
words I knew by the look on her face what was happening. I started timing the
contractions and soon called the doctor who stated the obvious, head to the
hospital and lets see whats going on.

Well a few hours later Ashley was here! Its kind of funny because the day before
all this happened, in fact just a few hours before the whole scene started to
unfold, we had the big family baby shower. I talked to Ashley through Mommy's belly
as I did almost every night and told Ash I couldn't wait to hold her and show her
all the really cool things she got. Well little did I know she couldn't wait to see
it all!

Ashley ended up spending 26 days in the NICU. Let me tell you something. I've seen
miracles and tragedy on the news but until you've spent some time inside a NICU and
its one of your own kids laying there, you have no idea what its like to deal with
something like that. I mean you can get an idea but you really can't grasp the
whole situation until you're in those shoes.

The doctors and nurses and the state of medicine and technology today is simply
AMAZING.

Ash has really grown alot and is so incredibly smart already. Shes at the stage of
being a super roller! She can roll all over the place, soon she should start to crawl
and thats when we're in trouble! :)

I will be posting pics of all types. I will show you pics from when she was in the NICU
just so you can get a small taste of what we dealt with. Let me say this though, we did
not go through one of the really hard paths that some parents have taken or still are
taking to this day.

We witnessed a couple getting the unfortunate news that there was nothing the doctors
could do to save their baby. The family came in the next day and had to say goodbye to their little baby.
It was very hard to even watch that not even knowing them. My heart just sunk and I felt
really bad for them.

There is a couple that we have stayed in touch with that their kiddo has already had
3 surgeries and a multivisceral transplant and the kiddo is just approaching his first
birthday in July. http://www.cartermcates.com for the AMAZING story. It's a must read!

Ok so pics are going to be uploaded asap and more added when I can. You'll get to see
Ashley from day 1 to current, which is 8 1/2 months old, well she'll be 9 months on
July 1st.

More to come soon!