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!!!

Unoffically Walking!

Ashley got an early birthday present today from us! She loves it so very much!! It didn't take her long to figure out how to make it move. Just watch how fast she can go!!!! She stands by herself for a little while but has not taken any steps alone yet...only with adult hands or toys!

It is Offically her 1st Cold!

Poor Baby with runny nose and eyes

Well we made it 11 months and 2 weeks until we had to go to the doctor for being sick! Ashley has been fighting a running nose for the last week or so but over the weekend it got a lot more! I wanted to get her checked out just to make sure nothing else was wrong. No fever, no ear infection...just a cold! Thank goodness for that! Ashley now weighs in at 20.10 lbs and is working on getting one of her 1st molars...this explains all the extra drooling!!!!!!



She has discovered a new trick of holding onto the spoon with her teeth...she is quite proud of herself!

MRI Results Finally!

Well yesterday we finally got to see Dr. Sklar for the results of the MRI that we had a month ago. It was an adventure to say the least! It is amazing how doctor's offices think you can just drop everything at the drop of a hat. Our appointment was at 2pm and at 10 am they called wanting us to come right then. All good except Kathy was still teaching and wasn't scheduled to leave until 11:30! God was with me on this becasue I was able to get my kids to specials 5 minutes early and my sub could come a little early. Billy picked me up from school and off we went! We actually made it there within the hour! Our visit with the doctor was all of 10 minutes but that is a typical visit with this specialist. After viewing the latest MRI for Ashley he said "It looks a little bit better." Also the typical answer we get from him!! And the next thing he said was "Well lets come back in 6-8 months."

We are so blessed with good doctor visits! God has opened our eyes to so many more children that are less fortunate than we are. Our NICU friends Chelle, Sean, and baby Carter are in need of some extra prayers. Carter was actually released from the hospital and got to spend 18 days in the real world. He returned to the hospital yesterday with breathing troubles. His parents are trying to find housing for the rest of their stay in Boston which was suppose to be until the end of October.

Ashley is finally starting to use her sippy cup! Here are some recent pictures of her!

Juice dripping from her chin!

Day 1 of School has officially arrived!!!

Ok so it's not "school" more like daycare but hey its a big day for our little girl! Dad took some time to interview Ashley this morning and here's what she had to say...




And here are some post interview photo's from our little star!




Ashley sends her love to all!!!