Current Events

We haven't been up to much lately. Spring is definitely here and it's getting hotter. Jeans are just too hot most days. Sad. I love wearing jeans.

While Ashton and I were in Wisconsin, Joseph added two garden beds and a bunch of fruit trees. He did a great job and I know it was hard because I was there when we put the first in a year ago. Now, we have three blackberry bushes, another lemon, fig, and peach tree, as well as lots of beets, tomatoes, and lettuce growing. Ashton loves helping water the garden every day and especially loves putting dirt in her hair.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with green tortillas. I don't like the green spinach ones at the store so we just made some with green food dye. Ashton liked them.

We've spent many mornings and afternoons at the park. Ashton likes to swing again. She went through a phase of hating it for a while.

We found this kitchen play set on the side of the road. We spent some time cleaning it up and Ashton loves it. We always love a free toy!

Ashton had her 18 month doctor check-up. Verdict: Ashton is TALL! When I took her to the doctor at the beginning of January, she was 32 inches. I thought she maybe grew an inch but when I took her in a few weeks ago, she was 34 inches! She continues to be in the 97th percentile for height. She weighs 25 pounds, which is getting hard to carry around. We also found out she either has two teeth fused together or one tooth that split under the gumline. I asked the doctor about it because I can't get a flosser between two specific teeth. He was shocked that Ashton lets me floss at all. She loves it! So I was worried about potential cavities. Well, we don't have to worry. She may need it pulled later if the tooth doesn't fall out on its own, but her adult tooth should come in normal. Ashton ended the appointment by hugging the doctor. So kind.

Along with the ripe old age of 18 months, Ashton also started nursery at church. We were pretty nervous that she wouldn't last two hours without her sippy cup and without a parent. But she did great. The teachers didn't come and get us once! When we picked her up, she didn't have red eyes, which means no crying! Hooray! It was odd to sit through relief society without corralling a busy toddler. Instead, I held a sleeping baby.

I got my dream job of teaching online. It was a long, difficult interview process but we got through it. Now, I am completing a certification/orientation course and the semester begins mid-April. I am teaching CHILD 210: Child Development. To say I'm excited is an understatement.

To end, here are some fun videos of Ashton. Enjoy!

18 Months Old

Our little girl is definitely growing up in every way. She's bigger in size and in personality. Ashton continues to be a very determined, playful, lively little girl who is full of emotions.

Ashton continues to be a talker. She loves to just chit-chat as she plays and narrates her playtime a lot. Joseph and I have fun trying to think about what she's saying. Her conversations also include pitch fluctuations and volume changes. It's pretty amusing. Ashton can say quite a bit and has started putting a few words together. Her favorite is, "I see you."

Ashton is still a mommy's girl. I'm hoping future children prefer Joseph. I try to remind myself to enjoy it now because one day, she will want nothing to do with me. Even then, I just wish I could go to the bathroom without her yelling, "Mom" around the house looking for me. At least she's securely attached to me.

She still isn't the best sleeper in the world. But I've finally surrendered to the fact that she will probably never be the kid who needs more than 10-11 hours (if we're lucky...) at night and takes longer than a 45 minute nap (if we're lucky, she'll nap for 1.5 hours and that's a LONG nap). Or the kid who consistently sleeps through the night. What surprises me is that no matter how much sleep she gets, she is typically always happy. She has always been on the lower side of the sleep recommendations for her age. Ugh. If only she knew how much sleep I need to function... I think Ashton got my personality but Joe's sleeping habits

Her favorites:

Favorite book: This changed within the past few days. It is now Clifford the Big Red Dog book. She wants it before bed every night.

Favorite toy: Her baby doll. She loves carrying her baby around and rocking it. Any time Ashton sees a baby, she gets very excited. Hopefully that will make her a good big sister whenever that day comes.

Favorite word: "That" Ashton is a pretty bossy kid. She will yell "That" persistently until someone acknowledges what she wants.

Favorite show: Daniel the Tiger. We got a DVD of some episodes to have in our car for Houston trips. We used it a few weekends ago when we went and that was the most peaceful car ride we've ever experienced. She loves Daniel.

Favorite Outing: Swimming. Joseph and I typically go swimming every Saturday and Ashton loves it. The big water slide is her favorite.

Favorite food: "Sup" meaning syrup. The definition of syrup to Ashton is anything she can dip her food in. This means honey, ketchup, peanut butter, sugar, ranch dressing, and syrup. Lately, she's gotten sick every time she eats syrup so we've been trying to use other things. Sometimes, you can just say that the food has syrup on it and she will eat it.

Favorite activity: Coloring. Our struggle right now is to convince her to color on the paper instead of herself. She can take the caps on and off by herself so I typically let her color unsupervised. This may be the cause of the self-coloring skills she is perfecting!

Here are some pictures from the last few months.

I used an old shirt that no longer fits to make an apron for her. She likes it okay.

Made edible playdough. She just ate it.

She kept saying, "Wet, wet" as she played in the water.

This is how she watches Daniel. In her chair with a snack.

Hiking on the Dow Trail

Never afraid to get dirty

Interpret this drawing please.

We found these balloons at the mall one day and Ashton loved playing with them

Wearing Dad's goggles as a necklace, of course.

Loves her daddy.