Easter Season

For those who know me, you know that I am not a crafty Martha Stewart-like person AT ALL.  However, with Ashtyn getting a little older, I have decided that I wanted to try to be a little more like one of "those moms".  You know the type...every kids dream mom...the one who does really cool stuff with them that they remember when they are older.  So...over the last week I attempted to make some Easter theme cake balls/cake pops & some Easter "bird nests" treats.  They turned out okay for my 1st attempt I think.  I actually had some help from my mom on the birds nests which is pretty good considering how she never did that kind of thing for me when I was little.  It was fun!

Tis the Season to be Jolly!

Tis the Season to be Jolly, Fa-la-la-la-laaaaa, la, la, la, la!
Since Ashtyn turned one on 11/11, this will be her 2nd Christmas, therefore this is her 2nd time to visit Santa Claus.  This year went like I expected. The first few seconds of her being left on Santa's lap resulted in crying & her reaching for her dad.  However, a colorful puppet being animated by Santa's elf and her dad sitting on the floor near the camera turned her little frown upside down & the above picture shows the best attempt at our Santa & Ashtyn picture for this year.  Santa also did not have time to "fluff" her dress properly but that's okay.  This picture has captured a great memory for our family.  We are so ready to have a great Christmas season with our little Ashtyn!

Ashtyn turns ONE!

Our sweet baby girl turned ONE on 11/11/10.  We love her so much & she has definitely changed my life in so many ways, I feel for the better.  We had a big celebration for her on Sunday with family & friends.  Hopefully the other pictures from the party will be in soon for me to share on facebook.
She had her one year doctor's appointment yesterday and weighed 22 lbs, 11 oz  (between 50 & 75 % according to the calculator I could find) and measured 31cm long (between 90 & 95%).
We are excited to see what joy Ashtyn has in store for us this coming year.  We are anxiously awaiting her real first word & also some steps!  She has not yet let go of the furniture when walking.

It's beginning to look a lot like...Halloween!

Halloween is approaching!  I love seeing all the children in costume.  This year will be Ashtyn's 1st Halloween.  What an exciting time.  I can't wait to make the memories and capture them on film.  For some reason though...I just keep thinking about Christmas!  I can't wait for the Christmas lights and the carols.  Oh, how I love Christmas carols!
First things first though...Halloween, Ashtyn's birthday, Thanksgiving...

Changing Seasons

I've seen many blog posts recently about the change in weather.  Well, I had a "moment" a few days ago when I finally packed up Ashtyn's teeny tiny summer short-shorts to donate to the Infant Crisis Center.  It suddenly hit me that never again would Ashtyn fit into such small little shorts.  Even more difficult was realizing that more than likely, never again will I personally have the need to purchase such short-shorts for a "baby" of mine.  Peter & I are fairly certain that Ashtyn will be our only child.  We have debated this many times and we still have not hit our 100% certainty mark but most likely this is the case.  I cried as I packed them away.
I usually am in love with the change of the season to Fall.  The beautiful leaves, the "clean" smelling air, the ability take walks in the evenings and not need to shower afterwards from the humidity...
I love the months that end in "ber" in general.  September (my birthday, the beginning of yet another season...FOOTBALL season! BOOMER SOONER!), October (Halloween parties & fun!), November (Thanksgiving meals with family), & of course December with all the joy that Christmas brings with family, friends, Christmas lights, parades, parties, shopping & giving to others.
However, for some reason, I feel a little sad with this years "change".  It may be that we just have too many life changes right now.  We have sold our home & our living in the rental house which is not ideal, Peter has changed jobs, I have had a new surgeon come work with us at the VA, only to give his notice 7 months later just as we were getting used to him, a new P.A. works with us now also & that in itself is both a relief & stress in a way, & then of course we are in the process of building our new home and that is keeping us so busy & yes, some things have gone wrong in the building process just as people said it would.
A couple of friends of mine have had some serious life-changing events as well & I worry about them.  I worry also that I have so much going on that maybe I'm not being the best friend I could be...
Oh...but the change of the season...what else will it bring?

The pix are from our most recent session for Fall last month in September.

Disney World 2010

Ashtyn had her 1st plane ride & vacation this past week.  Myself, Peter, Ashtyn, & my mom traveled to Orlando, Florida for a trip to Disney World.  This mini-vacation was actually for my 38th birthday, but we just couldn't go w/o Ashtyn.  Yes, we realize that Ashtyn will not remember this trip.  However, she had a FABULOUS time.  She did fairly well on the plane, excluding a few wiggles & squirms from being restless.  We did not have any long, loud crying periods which I was most fearful of.  She flirted with other passengers, slept a LITTLE bit, and for the most part was an excellent baby girl.  Several passengers even went as so far to comment on how "good" she was.  I think Peter and I were exhausted though from trying to entertain her and keep her happy and QUIET.
At Magic Kingdom, Ashtyn enjoyed several rides.  We rode Peter Pan, Snow White, Dumbo (Ashtyn actually slept on this ride--maybe from the cool breeze?  It was humid), Aladdin's magic carpet ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, & even the Haunted Mansion!  She laughed a lot & enjoyed people-watching, especially seeing other little children.  She would clap her hands throughout the day and giggle and that alone made us happy.  She also enjoyed seeing Epcot in the evening with all the lights.  We went to several different "countries" and collected the "charms" for her mask.  She visited "France", "Mexico", "Japan", "China",  "Canada", "Norway" (where we rode a Viking boat ride), & "Morocco" (my personal favorite).

My mom came along to help us out and she was wonderful about being that extra pair of hands for us.  She packed every possible item Ashtyn may need during her short trip.  Everything from tiny nail clippers to medications (pedialyte,etc....just in case). I think she had a great time & we captured a cute picture of them while they were waiting in line for Alladin's carpet ride.  Her presence also made it possible for Peter & I to have a private birthday dinner for me at O'Hana restaurant at Polynesian.
We were only there for 3 evenings so the trip seemed short but it was packed full of fun!  Sadly, we did not have time to enjoy our hotel pool and let Ashtyn wear her cute little swimsuits we had purchased especially for this trip, but that is okay.  We stayed at the Polynesian resort where I must say, really did resemble the hotel I had stayed at before in Maui, Hawaii.  The monorail runs directly outside the hotel so it makes the travel to the resort EASY for families.  The food was AMAZING.  I had the absolute BEST macadamia nut butter & bread at Kona Restaurant.  It was so good, that I may actually try to make an on-line recipe.  Peter even surprised me for my birthday by having a hot/cold stone massage booked for me at the Floridian hotel.  Ahhh.  Birthday relaxation at its finest!
Cheers to the memory of a great family vacation!

Labor Day 2010

We had a busy Labor Day weekend with both sets of grandparents visiting Ashtyn. Mimi (Grandma Barlow) even brought Ashtyn a Minnie Mouse doll to get her used to the whole "Disney" idea since we will be visiting Disney World at the end of the month in part, a celebration of my birthday. It will be our first time to travel by air with Ashtyn!

Today, is the actual holiday of Labor Day and we decided to spend it with one of my best girlfriends, Jennifer McEvoy, and her family. We went to the OKC Zoo and had a fabulous day. The weather was nice and although the zoo was fairly crowded many of the animals were out and about. Ashtyn and Brian (Jenn's son) had a great time on the swings. Sadly, those pictures were taken on her camera so I cannot share them yet. We noticed a big difference going to the zoo with Ashtyn this time. At 9 1/2 months old she can actually enjoy the animals b/c she can "see" them and definitely notices them now. She seemed to enjoy the sea lions and the tiny goats at the Children's zoo area. The carousel however frightened her more this time then at our last visit to the Tulsa zoo a couple of months ago. We opted for the "peacock bench" instead of a moving animal and that seemed to be okay with her.

I hope everyone had a relaxing, happy weekend as well!