Christmas 2013

Ashton had a wonderful first Christmas. Santa brought her outlet covers and 3M Command strips to hang a quilt her aunt made her. From family, she got some cool books, toys, and her first ornament. We spent Christmas in Austin and had lots of fun there with family. It's weird not to have snow for Christmas but it's awesome to walk outside in jeans and a t-shirt!

She is mesmerized by the Christmas lights. I'm not sure if I want to take down our tree with how much she loves it.

Starring at something.

Super excited about outlet covers

One of her favorite tricks is sucking on her top lip.

Very amused during gift opening.

Playing with her first ornament.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

When we were in the hospital with Ashton, the nurses kept commenting that we were laid back parents. We were completely fine with Ashton sleeping in the bassinet and letting her stay there. She loved sleeping so we did not see the reason to wake her up constantly just to look at her. When we left the hospital, we had to wake Ashton up every three hours to eat, which was annoying but was necessary for her to grow. Once the doctor told me I could stop doing that, life was even better! Ashton slept anywhere, any time, and for several hours at a time. Here are some pictures of her early sleeping styles.

Flash forward two and a half months and Ashton sleeps pretty well at night still (maybe one feeding a night). However, her daytime naps and wake periods were getting difficult. Ashton would take 45 minutes naps and then struggle to stay awake longer than about 45 minutes. To get her down for a nap, I would walk, rock, shush, swaddle, stand on one foot and jump (not really but that's what it felt like) for an hour to get her to sleep. Normally, she'd be crying for most of it until she lost all hope and crashed. Then at nighttime, Joseph and I switched off every half hour or so trying to get Ashton down to sleep. Once she was asleep in our arms, we'd put her in the crib only for her to wake up ten minutes later. Literally from about 7pm to 10pm, one of us was in her room walking circles trying to get her to sleep. Needless to say, we barely saw each other at night. Joseph and I talked about how to best help her sleep better and everything we read said, "Do whatever it takes until 4-6 months when you can do some sleep training." We discussed waiting until after her four month shots because her two month shots were a shock to her sleep cycle.

Flash forward to yesterday. Ashton took four naps, each being at least an hour, two of them being 1.5-2 hours long. She went to bed at 7:30pm after I laid her in her crib with her eyes open and then woke up at 6am. She didn't cry at all before falling asleep ON HER OWN! How did we get here? We let her cry it out.

I know, research says don't do that until the baby is 4-6 months old. But, we prayed a lot about it and felt it was best for us. And we called our pediatrician and my mom who said go right ahead. Friday night was our first night and she and I both cried strongly for about 20 minutes. Then she fussed and went in and out of sleep for another hour. At 10pm, I fed her quickly and she fell asleep immediately. Saturday we started to see a difference in her naps already. While they were still on the shorter side, she was falling asleep after being swaddled and held for about five minutes! Saturday night, she cried strongly for ten minutes and fell asleep. Sunday, she took a two hour long nap and we had to wake her up for Church. She cried for a few minutes Sunday night but not too much. Monday, she took two long naps and fell asleep while grocery shopping. And last night, no tears at all! We also started a bedtime of 7-7:30, which is great because it gives Joe and I a chance to catch up in a quiet house.

I'm sure she will need to relearn the skill of putting herself to sleep again but I must say it was not as bad as I thought it would be. And we feel she is old enough to know that we still love her. Every morning when we come and get her, she smiles and coos at us so she still loves us.

Here are some pictures of her from the other day happy as can be with bubble making.

Three Months Old (A day early due to moving)

Weight: 14 lbs. exactly. Almost double my birthweight!

Height: 24.5 inches. Two inches in a month! Mommy is eating lots of vegetables to help me grow nice and tall.

Clothing Size: 0-3 months right now for the most part. The pants are still pretty big on me so I'll keep wearing those. Some onesies and dresses are getting tight. I will move up a size in a few weeks.

Daily Schedule: Here's my schedule from the other day. Woke up at 9:15am. Ate and played with Mom. Took a walk and then went down for my nap around 10:30. I am starting to only take 45 minute naps so Mommy often helps me fall back asleep after this short nap. I slept until about 12:15pm. Then I ate and played again with Mom. She tries to have me play in the car seat for a few minutes to see if I will ride better in the car. I think it's a lost cause. Then Mommy put me down around 1:15 for my afternoon nap. This time, I slept in my swing until about 3:30. I woke up to eat and went on a walk in my stroller. Then I took another nap at 4:45 to 6pm. When I woke up, Daddy was home and I had to play with him. I got fussy around 6:45 so I took a bath and Mommy and Daddy started my bedtime routine. They put me to sleep in my crib around 7:30. I woke up around 8:15 and again at 10pm to eat a little bit more. Then I slept about 7 hours and woke up to eat at 4:45am. I go back to sleep again after that for a few more hours. 

Total diapers we change daily: Too many if you ask me. Mommy and Daddy are always checking the line on my diapers. I prefer it to be blue (wet). I like it that way.

Total outfits we go through daily: Mostly just one. Except I haven't learned how to handle the enormous amount of saliva in my mouth so I drool sometimes. This causes wardrobe changes

Sleep Status: At the beginning of this month, I went through a sleeping hiatus. I decided to boycott the crib and sleeping on  my back. For about a week, I had a terrible cold plus pain from shots so I slept in my swing or in my parents' arms. After this regression, I went back to sleeping 6-7 hours a night. Rarely, I surprise my parents by sleeping from 9pm to 9am! However, I continue to show my parents that I am like Houdini. I can break free of a double swaddle. After two nights of waking up Mom by doing this, she went to Target and got a Halo Sleep Sack.This failed as well so they're back to swaddling me extra tight. I like it this way. However, the last few nights, I have found a way of slipping my arm out of my nightgown sleeve and getting my arm out without breaking the swaddle.

Special Outings: The park to play soccer and going to lunch with my uncle and aunt

Firsts: First Thanksgiving, first long car ride, and first time standing and sitting with assistance

Any big changes:  I am talking a lot more lately. I love to talk when Mommy sings to me, especially when she sings "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree." Also, I have discovered that I can stand on my feet for about a minute. Sitting with help is pretty exciting too. I'd rather sit and stand than play on my back or tummy. I also boycotted the bottle this month.

Thoughts from the parents: Children are a blessing from above. Ashton makes us smile every day but she also keeps us on our toes. Just when we think we have this whole "parenting" thing down, she throws us another curve ball. Seeing her change and learn is such a privilege.

Biggest Lessons Learned: NEVER SAY NEVER! Before having Ashton, I claimed I would NEVER let my child sleep in a swing, I would never let my baby sleep on her tummy, I would never rush out to the store to buy something just because I thought it might work, I would never buy a different type of bottle to see if that would work, etc. I have learned to never say never. Ashton has slept in her swing a lot, she has slept on her tummy (with supervision), I ran out to Target two days in a row to try a special swaddle blanket that failed, and I bought a six dollar bottle, which may or may not work.

Monthly Pictures:

Sunday Church

We can't believe she's three months old already!

This is her favorite way to sit/interact. She loves talking when you do this.

Dad's version of playing together next to the toaster and knife set

Don't miss the drool line coming down. She is such a fancy little girl.

Monthly Video: 

What the next month should bring: First Christmas, moving into home (Friday and Saturday), and celebrating the New Year

I don't want to jinx it but...

Our baby loves sleeping. Here's an insight into her sleeping the last three nights.

Sunday night- Went to bed at 9pm. Woke up at 9:30am.

Monday night- Went to bed at 10:30pm. Woke up at 6:30am. Just in time to watch Good Morning America.

Tuesday Night- Went to bed at 10:30pm. Woke up at 5am because her foot escaped the swaddle blanket. Then went back to bed from 6am to 10am.

That's all I have to say. We're enjoying it because I'm sure a sleep regression is around the corner.

Turkey Day

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Austin with family. Ashton survived the long road trip. She hates her car seat so driving anywhere with her is tricky. It takes 3.5 hours to get to Austin and it took us about 4 hours both times. On the way back, we only had to stop once!

Joseph got off work early on Wednesday, which was a nice surprise. We drove over and had a yummy meal with some missionaries and Joe's family in Austin. Thursday morning, we went to a park and played soccer. I was exhausted after that. Then, we ate some delicious food. We tried having Ashton sleep in our room for the first time since the hospital. It failed miserably. None of us, Ashton included, got much sleep. Now we know never to do that again. Ashton was able to play with her cousins more. One cousin is 11 months old and the two of them enjoyed playing on the floor together. Well, Ashton was oblivious to what was going on but Oliver enjoyed it!

Wearing hoodies together at the park.

Thanksgiving Day Outfit.

Friday, we went to see my brother and his fiance. Earlier in the week, I mentioned to my sister-in-law where my brother was spending Thanksgiving in Texas and she said, "That's only an hour away!" So we were able to meet up for lunch on Friday and Ashton met her aunt and uncle. It was a wonderful visit!

Aunt Suki and Ashton

Wonderful first meeting!

She was being silly.

We started doing "Airplane" with her. She already knows to put her arms out.
She doesn't smile when we do it but she doesn't cry either.

Count Your Blessings

We sing a beautiful song called, Count Your Blessings, at church. I love the chorus in how it reminds us to be happy for our blessings that God has given us. Here's the line from the chorus:

Count your blessings;/Name them one by one./Count your blessings;/See what God hath done.

As we look to celebrate Thanksgiving, we want to share what we are most thankful for. These are definitely no specific order.

1. An eternal family. Every time we look at our baby girl, we are thankful that she is our daughter forever. Even if she or we become ill and pass away before we get old, we know we will see each other again. As I teach the primary children at church, families can be together forever and we're grateful that we are a forever family.
2. A healthy daughter. Ashton, despite having the occasional congested nose and a little cough, is pretty healthy. She is growing at a good rate and loves to play and interact. We're thankful to have a healthy baby and be healthy ourselves.
3. A stable job. We don't make lots of money but we make enough to live and for that, we're grateful. We talk about how Joseph almost didn't get an internship two summers ago. Dow Chemical offered him one and we almost turned it down as Joseph was working on other plans. Thankfully, we took a step into the unknown and went to work for them. That internship led to a wonderful job that Joseph enjoys and that supports our family.
4. A home. We are moving soon and we're thankful that we can afford a house and also afford to keep it warm (or cool in the summers). We're thankful for our warm beds.
5. A loving husband. He puts up with loves me and his baby girl that require a lot of his time. And he is always willing to sacrifice his free time to help me and Ashton. Often when Joseph comes home from work, I am exhausted from the day. Joseph is great at playing with Ashton so I can have a small break. He loves his little family so much and he truly is the better half in our marriage.
6. Education. Joseph and I both received a wonderful education at BYU, which we're happy about. I'm thankful that I can continue my education to receive my Master's degree. This is a dream come true for me. Receiving an education is a huge blessing as I know many individuals are unable to afford and/or attend a great university.
7. The Gospel. This relates to the first one on an eternal family. We are happy and grateful to have the gospel in our lives. We are fortunate to know that Jesus Christ lives and has atoned for our sins. It's a blessing to wake up each morning and know that we can grow closer to our Savior and to Heavenly Father.
8. Sports. Joseph loves sports! Life would be a little more boring if we didn't have sports. We're sad BYU isn't doing splendid this year (they're 7-4, I would like to see 11-0) but there's always next year!
9. Extended family. We love having some family just a few hours away. Hopefully, Ashton will grow up with her cousins like I did. And we love that we have the ability to visit Wisconsin and Utah periodically to see more extended family.
10. Yummy Thanksgiving food. We're going to eat in a few hours and we're thankful for all the delicious food we're about to consume. Pies are the best part!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Adventures

This weekend, we had a lot of fun times. A perk of living on the Gulf Coast is the work schedule. Joseph works 9/80's, which means he works 80 hours in 9 days. He works Monday to Friday one week and then Monday to Thursday the next. That means he gets every other Friday off automatically! We take full advantage of these days and sometimes go to Houston for the day. That's what we did on Friday!

First, we went to the Houston temple. We haven't gone there since before Ashton was born so it was great to get back. I meant to take a picture there but it was cold and rainy. We kept Ashton inside. We then went out to lunch and to Ikea to look at furniture ideas. After that we went to a cool grocery store and bought some new vegetables and fruit that we want to try. When we move into our house next month, we want to start a garden. But before we start growing vegetables and fruit trees, we want to see what we actually like. So we bought:

Fresh Beets!

A persimmon

Yellow Squash. I had this as a kid and didn't like it. But we'll try it again.

We had a busy Friday. We came home and Ashton slept wonderfully all night! Saturday was busy too. We went to the BYU vs. Notre Dame game at a friend's house. We made mint chocolate chip cookies, which were very delicious. I was sad we didn't bring any leftovers home but it's probably better that way.

 And some new pictures of Ashton. She is growing up so much!

 

Two Months Old

Weight: 12 lbs. 8 oz. I am great at eating.

Height: 22.5 inches

Clothing Size: 0-3 months

Daily Schedule: Mommy tells people that we don't have a schedule. We have a routine. The routine includes eating, playing, trying to roll over, smiling, and making lots of fun sounds.

Total diapers we change daily: About seven

Total outfits we go through daily: Sometimes, just one outfit a day! Hooray! But then I make up for it other days and goes through three or four. And Mommy sometimes go through three or four outfits too.

Sleep Status: I slept through the night last weekend (from 10:15pm to 5:45 am). Other than that night, I wake up about once a night between 3am and 5am to eat and then go back to sleep normally. On the weekends, Daddy gets up to feed me at night, which means Mommy gets 7-8 straight hours of sleep! She always seems to be a better mood when this happens.

Special Outings: Came with Mom and Dad to play bocce ball at a park, went to see my new home, went to the beach a few times, and dressed up for my baby blessing

Firsts: Met both sets of grandparents, had my first round of shots (I threw up on the nurse. I told her what's up), Halloween, first run with Mommy, and met my first dog, Molly

Any big changes:  I scoot now. Also, I am starting to smile more and even laugh a little bit. I also have started to coo at Mom and Dad. I can push up with my hands while laying on my tummy. Mommy and Daddy are sad that I still do not like pacifiers. I prefer to lick and bite them instead of sucking them. However, I do take the bottle from Daddy very well.

Thoughts from the parents: Ashton continues to make us smile so much. We see her personality coming out a little more every day. She's a little drama queen, that's for sure.

Biggest Lessons Learned:1) A double swaddle is a necessary skill to know as parents. 2) Car seats are a tricky thing. It's necessary for safety but I dislike sitting in it. This makes trips to the store very hard on Mommy. She keeps telling me to get over it. 3) I have a sixth sense. I can tell when Mommy puts me in her favorite outfit. When this happens, I allow Mommy to take pictures of the pretty outfit and then I proceed to spit up all over it (See picture below).

Monthly Pictures:

Tummy time with the mirror

This is how we found Ashton after a long nap in her crib.

First time at the beach. She looked around for a little bit and then fell asleep.

Baby Blessing Sunday.

Halloween costume

At the park with Mommy

Sometimes, this is what tummy time turns into. She loves sleeping on her tummy.

I bought this hoodie several months ago and couldn't wait for Ashton to finally fit into it. It started to fit last week so I put her in it. After taking some pictures and telling Joseph how adorable she was, she proceeded to spit up her entire breakfast on the hoodie. The pants and onesie were just fine but the hoodie went straight to the laundry.

Monthly Video: I included two videos this month because I couldn't pick just one.

This is her scooting. Sorry for the crying. She wasn't pleased with scooting on this day.

This is her working on her noises. Her head control isn't the best in this clip either, as you can see at the very end.

What the next month should bring: First Thanksgiving, first long car ride (4 hours to Austin), moving to the new house

The White House

We sent a birth announcement to the White House. This is what we received in the mail yesterday.

We sent one to Disneyland and we're still waiting to see if we get anything back from Mickey Mouse.

On a side note, I think we have officially become true Texans. Yesterday morning, both Joseph and I complained about how cold it was. The temperature was 50 degrees. The high was 68 and I still complained that I was freezing.

Running Again

Five years ago, I ran my first (and probably only) marathon. I did better than I thought when I ran the Top of Utah marathon. It's an easy course as the first half is downhill. While this does wonders on your knees, it makes the course pretty fast-paced. I loved the thrill and feeling of accomplishment after finishing my marathon. However, recovering after my marathon was a different story. The day I ran my marathon, I went straight from the finish line to lunch and then had to work at the USU's football game for about eight hours. This entailed walking up and down stairs. After the football game, we had a birthday party for one of my roommates. So it was a busy and active day. For weeks after my marathon, I despised stairs as it was extremely painful on my knees. Since my marathon, I have had little interest in running.

While pregnant, I walked two to three miles almost every day. It was my way of "exercising." Now that I am not pregnant, I don't really have an excuse to not exercise, especially since the doctor gave me the all clear earlier this week. Life is busy but when is life ever not busy!

So today, I went running. It hurt but I did it. Ashton enjoyed the breeze in her hair as she slept in her stroller. Here are the after run pictures.

Here's a random picture from the other day. I liked her outfit.

People say it takes nine months to grow a baby so it will take nine months to get your body back in shape. With that, I made some goals for the end of May, the nine month mark. They say goals are better accomplished if you write them down. So, here they are:
1. Run a 5k race. I just want a new t-shirt. Most of mine have spit up stains now.
2. Get back to pre-pregnancy weight. I have about five more pounds.
3. Run 35 miles in one week (broken up between 6 days of running).
4. Eat healthy. I know this is subjective. But I need to cut down on the sugar intake.

Good think I have over six months to reach these goals. I'll need it all!

One Month Birthday

Weight: Dipped down to 7 lbs 1 oz at five days old, 8 lbs 2 oz at 2.5 weeks, and 9 lbs 4 oz at one month

Height: 20.5 in. at five days, 20 in. at 2.5 weeks (the nurse said Ashton's cone head went down so that accounts for the loss of 1/2 inch), 21 at one month. We feel she grew more but I think it is just that she is stretching out more. She still likes the fetal position but lately, she pushes her legs out more and more.

Clothing Size: Newborn, which we weren't prepared for. I thought she'd wear newborn for about a week, maybe two. Definitely not for a month! She fits into a few of the 0-3 onesies but definitely not the pants. I'm ready for her to move to 0-3 months since we have lots of cuter clothes in that size.

Daily Schedule: Cry, eat, poop, eat, play, cry, eat, sleep, repeat.

Total diapers we change daily: Between 7 and 9

Total outfits we go through daily: If we're lucky, two. If not, four outfits, a blanket, and a crib sheet

Sleep Status: At first, slept 4-5 hours at a time during the night. Now she sleeps 3-4 hours. Falls asleep on her own in the crib without crying. Ashton slept in her crib from night one in her own room, which we are very happy about. She is definitely learning the difference between night and day.

Special Outings: Church, BYU games, Meet and Greet Baby Shower with women from church, lunch at Daddy's work, a whole day in Houston (went to a mall, Sam's Club, an oil change, and ice cream)

Firsts: Sponge bath, outing with Mommy alone (went to Target), walks around the neighborhood, start of tummy time, which she loves, meeting her cousins, and a real bath

Any big changes: Moved to newborn size diapers finally. Preemie diapers were expensive! Newborn aren't much better though. We tried size one two days ago and it was huge on her. So we're sticking with newborn for a little bit longer. Also, her umbilical cord took FOREVER to fall off. It finally fell off on Friday, at 28 days. We're happy it's gone as it was getting pretty gross.

Thoughts from the parents: Raising a daughter is the greatest blessing God has given us. Even when I am up three times a night with a crying, hungry baby, I still thank God for the opportunity to raise a child in our family.

Biggest Lessons Learned: (1) Cover your baby during diaper changes even if you have a girl. (2) Don't plan too many errands in one day. (3) Make sure the ruffles of the diapers are out or else you'll be changing a diaper and an outfit, and cleaning the carseat. (4) Living in a second story apartment is not fun if you want to take your daughter on a walk in the stroller. It's quite the production.

Monthly Pictures:

First bath! Using the ducky water temperature thing that Aunt Trescha gave her.

One Month Old today!

We were all matching in blue.

She loves having her head rubbed. That's the one thing that she will fall asleep to almost any time.

Monthly Video: This is Ashton lifting her head. She was about three weeks old.

What the next month should bring: Visits from grandparents (arriving in just a few hours) and cousins, baby blessing, first Halloween, and first babysitter (the grandparents)