Ashton's Birthday and Party

I love planning parties and activities. So planning a birthday party is fun for me! Ashton is at the age where I figured she would get excited about a party. She's such a social person that I knew she would want to invite people and could take a very involved part in planning her party. She did! Ashton helped put invitations together, made the pinata, helped set up, make cupcakes, etc. I was impressed by her willingness to help with many aspects of the party.

We did a Splish Splash theme. Beach balls was a main component of decorations and planning.

Pull string beach ball pinata that my nephews and Ashton helped make.

The main decorations in the garage. The party was in the front yard and food in the garage. This meant I didn't need to clean the house for the party too.

Beach ball fruit tray

Mouthful of cupcake

For her birthday, she went to preschool in the morning. At night, we had her favorite dinner; pancakes at IHop. Then I had a few cupcakes leftover from the party. She blew out her candles. Until this point, we didn't tell Ashton there would be gifts for her birthday. We opted out of gifts for her party, which I'm grateful we did. She had no clue you receive gifts for your birthday. It was nice to not have her asking all day to open presents. We opened them after dinner and she loved the things she got from family. All day, she kept asking when her exact birthday was. She thought there was a precise moment to have her birthday. It was a fun day.

Showing off her dance moves with her new "Cinderella shoes"

Wearing one of her new dress-up hats

The cool science experiment set she received. Future engineer in our family!

Birthday Interview with Ashton

Here's Ashton's responses to our birthday interview with her this year. I wasn't too surprised by her responses.

How old are you? Three

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your favorite animal? A cat

What is your favorite book? Daniel Plays At School

 What is your favorite show? Baby Einsteins (Her name for Little Einsteins. I like this show, especially since Ashton will now say words like "moderato" or "fortissimo.")

 What do you like to eat? Vegetables, Fruit (Honestly, this is what she said!)

What is your favorite game? Ho-Pi Cheerios (Her name for Hi-Ho Cherry-os)

What is your favorite thing to do? Read a book

Who is your best friend? Collin

What do you like to do with Daddy? Swing (which is where she swings in Daddy's arms)

What do you like to do with Mommy? Play outside

What is your favorite restaurant? Chick-Fil-A

Where do you want to go for vacation? To see Nana and Papa (my parents. She talks about this daily)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Play Ho-Pi Cheerios

What do you want to do tomorrow? Sing songs

What is your favorite song? Wheels on the Bus (We sing this before nap and bedtime every day...)

What is the best time of day? Playing pretend (This is new over the past couple months. She loves to make up stories and act them out. Her most common pretend story is flying on an airplane to see Nana and Papa.)

What makes you happy? Playing with my balloon (we have a few punching balls that I blew up recently. She loves bouncing them around)

I'm excited she's old enough to do birthday interviews now. It will be fun to see how her responses change over the years.

Labor Day Fun

Joseph's brother and his family came to visit for Labor Day. Ashton had a blast with cousins. Here's a quick rundown of what we did.

Visited the Crocodile Encounter place in Angleton.

Went to the beach. We bought body boards and tried those out. It was a great afternoon at the beach.

Aunt Anah and Uncle Terry spoiled her by buying ice cream from the ice cream truck at the beach.

Best attempt at a cousins picture...

Konked out from no nap that day.

Built mini-catapults.

Went to the duck pond/park.

Swimming at the rec center.

Another cousins picture before Church.

First Day of Preschool

We decided to start Ashton in preschool this fall. It's two days a week for three hours each day. I figured Tanner would be taking morning naps most of the school year, which would allow me to get work done at home with Ashton away. Plus, Ashton is a very social girl and we thought she would love more opportunities to meet friends and play.

Tuesday was her first day. On Thursday, she cried when I came to get her because she didn't want to leave preschool. She loves it! They do a science project each day, which she tells Joseph about. Then there's music and some other things. It's perfect for her right now.

Tanner has cooperated by taking long morning naps both times now. It feels great to get so much work done!

More Wisconsin Pictures

My dad took some pictures while we were visiting the cheese state. Here are a few more pictures from our visit.

7 Months Old

Loves playing with balls and the ball pit

Weight: 22ish pounds

Height: 29ish inches

Clothing Size: Mostly 12 month clothing now.


Daily Schedule: His schedule shifted after Wisconsin. He now wakes up around 8 or 9am. Then takes 2-3 naps throughout the day, varying in length from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Then goes to bed about 8pm. This is nice because we get both kids ready for bed at the same time. Tanner is a very chill baby. As long as he can crawl around and move, he's content. He goes to sleep quickly with minimal help. He still wakes up 2-3 times a night! Ick! I feel that he just gets lonely. When I wake up to him, he is just sitting up in the pack-n-play and talking to himself. After about 30 minutes, he'll start to get fussy. After 3-5 minutes of eating, he is done. Sometimes he is still awake at this point but once I put him down, he falls asleep on his own. Not sure what to do to help him sleep longer... Aside from that, he is such a happy boy. Very calm, easy-going kid. Always has a smile to share with people.


Special Outings: The adventures in Wisconsin

Firsts: Transition from crawling to sitting, pulling up and standing on EVERYTHING! Climbing things

Sibling love: It's getting better. Tanner adores Ashton and loves to be around her. Ashton likes it when Tanner plays chase with her around the house. Ashton is starting to find a book or a ball for Tanner if she doesn't want him getting into her stuff. She's learning the art of distraction.

Still falls asleep anywhere and stays asleep in odd positions. One sleepy little boy.

Markers were left out

His favorite place to climb- by the TV and internet cords under our TV.

Climbing into Target shelves.

Loves riding in the wagon to the park.

Another favorite spot of his to hide. Under his bouncer thing.

Smirk

Both kids have their smirk face down perfectly.

I recall Joseph dressed her this day.