Sweetie Pie Rachel

I have had a couple people ask me for more pictures of Rachel... so here she is getting into the presents under the tree. If any one is wondering what to get her, I think a box or a bow would make a perfect gift!




Rachel is crawling all over, and pulling herself up on couches, chairs, cribs, etc. She is extremely curious about the world around her. Much more so than her older sister at her age. Rachel is 8 1/2 months, and still has no teeth (Ashlin had at least 4 at this same age), but that doesn't stop her from enjoying crackers, Kix, Cheerios, and Life.

Visit with Santa...

I was determined this year Ashlin would sit on Santa's lap, take a picture, tell him she was a good girl this year, and be happy! So we practiced ALL week, and she was so excited to see Santa. So excited that is, until her turn came to sit on his lap.


I also thought I would include last year's picture. We waited in line for about 2 hours (I will never do that again) and when we FINALLY got there, Ashlin flipped out. So Santa hid and they took a picture that way. I was really hoping this year would go better- I think I am going to try one more time at the mall.

Hoping a cute picture with Santa, Ashlin and/or Rachel to follow..

A Disco Christmas

We trimmed our tree last night, and had so much fun! Brett decided to try out the LED Christmas lights which use less energy and are brighter. And here are some pictures to prove they are in fact brighter. When we turn out all the lights, our tree turns into a disco tree. Now all we need to do is put it on a revolving table.

Little moments..

Brett found Ashlin and Rachel like this.. so sweet! Gotta love Baby Einstein for bringing family together.

Let it Snow!

We had our first big snow storm this past weekend. When Ashlin looked out the window at the blanket of white snow, she cried out, "Oh! a snowman!" So we had to make one. We bundled up and went out and played. Ashlin loved it, but was done after a half hour. Here is our wonderful snowman.

Sleep anyone?

Last week, Ashlin was sick and would cough through the night which would wake up Rachel. Then, when I thought Ashlin was all better, she threw up all over the car. About that time Rachel starts running a high fever and coughing. Thursday night I slept in the same room with Rachel because we were pretty sure she had croup. Brett and I were up with her every hour for about half an hour. I took her in early Friday and found out yes she does have a bad case of croup and an ear infection- the poor girl.

After she got her medicine she was able to sleep. I thought I would be able to get a nice nap too, but Rachel decided to wake up right when Ashlin went down for her nap. Last night was better, but still not the best. Needless to say, it is almost 9:00 pm and I am heading to bed.

Both girls are feeling better. It was so fun today to see Rachel back to her old self again. She has been pretty pitiful the last couple of days. Here is a video of her doing her Army Crawl. She can officially crawl on all fours, but is much quicker this way and usually gets around like this.

Quotes from Ashlin

Ashlin climbing up in our pantry
Me: "Ashlin, get down please."
Ashlin: "I want Nemos (goldfish)"
Me: "Well you need to ask then, I don't want you to get hurt."
Ashlin: "I am so careful mommy."

A: Mom, there is a Shoo Fly on my seat

Trick or Treating

Halloween Festivities

We went to a Halloween Party and had a blast. Ashlin was not too happy with me right before we left because I tried to curl her hair (you can see that I didn't really succeed so it wasn't even worth the battle). Ashlin was Cinderella and Rachel was Snow White. Brett and I were pretty boring and didn't dress up this year.







































There was a doughnut eating contest and of course Brett won! Ashlin was chanting "Go Daddy, Go!"
We were so proud of Him!

Painting

For those of you who might not know, Brett is very good at painting. He is also a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to painting. I am known to cut a few corners when it comes to projects like this (which is probably why so many of them end up in the trash). So it was quite funny the two of us painting together. I would leave to go take care of Ashlin or Rachel and would hear across the house, "Oh Jenae, You left ANOTHER line!"
Oops! I promise I really was trying to be careful. I think Brett was able to fix most of my mistakes.


We are still in the process of finishing so I will post finished pictures later for those of you who are curious how it turned out.

I want to help

Ashlin wanted to help me feed Rachel, but I told her not today. Then the phone rang so I set Rachel's bowl of oatmeal on the table. When I turned around Ashlin had taken the bowl and was repeating, "One for Rachel (and then would spoon oatmeal in the direction of Rachel's mouth), and one for Ashy." (Giving herself a heaping spoonful)















I thought this was very funny, and wanted to watch Ashlin when she didn't really notice I was paying attention. She did a good job at feeding, although most of the oatmeal ended up in Ashlin's mouth and on Rachel's bib.

It's been awhile, I know

I know it has been a long time since I have updated our blog, so here are some pictures that pretty much sum up our past month:





Rachel started solids, and is doing GREAT with them!










I just thought this was a funny picture. This is how I found her when I checked on her taking a nap. She has woven herself through the slats on her crib. The next picture is just of Ashlin Sunday morning. Apparently Brett and I breed thumb suckers.































Ashlin has discovered how to open the refrigerator (the fridge alarm goes off at least once a day), and how to get her own water. This has made my life much more complicated, yet it does give me hope one day soon she will be self sufficient. I just need to make sure healthy food is within her reach.



















Brett got Guitar Hero II, and I have actually been having a lot of fun playing it!! I am almost as good as Brett- Just kidding. You'd think that since all I do everyday is watch tv and eat bon bons I should have more time to practice video games, but for now, Brett is still Guitar Hero Champ in our house.




Rachel is in the beginning stages of crawling. She rocks best to the music on guitar hero, it's actually quite funny. Sorry about the crying at the end.. I should have edited out, but I really am too busy with my bon bons and tv watching.

I Finished!

Last Saturday I ran in the Hobblecreek Half Marathon. This was my "get back in shape" bootcamp, and to help loose some of my mommy belly. I was a little bit slow finishing in 2 hours 20 min. and some seconds. Next year I will do better! Who wants to run with me?














Here I am with less than a mile to go till the finish line!

Ashlin's Sleeping Habits

That's right, my 2 year old not my 4 month old is having issues with sleeping. Let's recap shall we...

Saturday night (actually Sunday morning):
I hear Ashlin in our bedroom and look around. I don't see her anywhere so I figure I must have been hearing things or dreaming it. About 30 seconds later I hear her again and wake Brett up. Brett calls out Ashlin's name and she emerges from underneath our bed.

Monday Morning:
6:00 a.m.
Ashlin has brought in her Snow White book and sits on our bed between me and Brett and reads (tells everything she sees in the pictures) in a whisper for about an hour. When she gets to the end of the book she tells us both, who are only a quarter of the way awake, to "Shhh, Snow White is sleeping"

Tuesday Morning:
3:30 a.m.
I wake up to something rustling by my bed. I look down and see Ashlin asleep on the floor. I pick her up and put her next to me and we both sleep. Brett went golfing sometime while Ashlin and I were still sleeping, and Ashlin gets out of bed and sneaks out (so as to not disturb me) and closes the door behind her. Next thing I know she is whispering "Daddy, Daddy...you coming?" with her fingers under the door. 10 minutes later she starts knocking on the door.

Wednesday Morning:
4:40 a.m.
I hear Ashlin come into our bedroom. She comes in and stands right next to me sucking her thumb. I just lay there peeking so she won't know I am awake. After 5 minutes I start to think maybe she is sleeping walking because she hasn't made any movements or noises. So I say, "Ashlin, are you awake?" She gets the biggest smile on her face and starts to climb into bed with us. We took Ashlin back to her bed after convincing her Rachel needed her back in their room, and it was still night time.

What will come tomorrow? Who knows

Meanwhile...Rachel continues to sleep like a baby (knock on wood).

Vacation - Martin Style

My brother, Jerry, came home from his mission in Las Vegas so we decided to plan a reunion around it. Let me just paint a little picture: 1 house, 14 adults, 8 grandkids, 1 cousin, 1 pregnant lady, 8 Harry Potter book 7s, Rook Cards, and Presidents. Needless to say it was a mad house for a week, but tons of fun.


I finally got to meet my sister Alyssa's little girl Marin. This is Marin (purple bow) and Rachel (pink bow). Everyone said how similar they look. This picture below is of the 3 youngest. Benjamin, Marin, and Rachel



These are the next 3 youngest. Bailey, Kate, and Ashlin. Kate and Ashlin are definitely in their terrible two's. Baiey is the happiest little girl-She would just wander around the house with a smile on her face.



Having fun playing the the sprinklers. Ryan and Brooklyn are the oldest of the grandkids. They are the first two on the left.










Ashlin got brave enough to touch the center of the sprinkler.

A Total Loss

We were on our way to Texas, but took a little detour in Denver. At around midnight on the 20th a tire (and wheel) fell off a truck in front of us, and because it was so dark, we didn't see it until it was too late. We hit it going around 75 mph and hit another truck to the left of us. Luckily, nobody was hurt- except the Jeep. The Jeep stayed in Denver and we kept going to Texas in a rental. We found out a couple of days later that the Jeep was a "total loss" and we would be leaving it in Denver for it's final resting place. The person who caused the accident never stopped, and so it was considered a hit and run. We had a great time in Texas (more pictures to follow soon)...a little shaken up, but still a healthy and happy family.



You can see some of the fluid from the engine leaked on the concrete.

Happy Birthday Ashlin!!

Ashlin turned two years old on Friday. I can't belive I have a two year old already. I wish I could say she had a happy birthday, but I'm not so sure she did. All day she was just kindof pitiful. She must not have been feeling well. We met her dad for lunch at Mcdonalds- she barely ate anything and played for about 10 minutes and then came and set her head on my lap and sucked her thumb. Then she slept until 5. Then we went to watch her cousin play tee ball. She livened up a little bit and when we got home, she was wired. She ended up staying up until 11 watching "Doggies" (Lady and the Tramp).
We had a party for her on Saturday. I made this Dora Cake for her party. Needless to say, it was a Dora party. I am very proud of my cake- it took a lot more effort than I originally thought it would, but I had a lot of fun working on it. I have a lot more respect for my own mother who made homemade cakes like this a the time. I never knew how much work she must have put into them, and now I know why... she worked on them while all her children were asleep. I love being a mother more than anything, and being one it helps me to realize how much time and effort my own mother put into being a mom. At each stage Ashlin takes me though I have a deeper love and respect for my own mother. Don't you mothers out there feel the same way?
I am going to skip the part of the party where Ashlin was a cranky-pants (90% of the time), and move straight to the singing happy birthday. Right after we were done and she blew out the candles, she leaned over and took a bite out of the cake! That was by far my favorite part. We had a lot of fun at the party even though the birthday girl spent half the time either in time out or asleep. Thanks to all who came, it was fun to see friends and family!!



Ashlin got a rocking horse, and these are just some pictures of my big 2 year old rockin on it.

Ashlin and Rachel

We took the girls to get thier picture taken, and Ashlin was less than cooperative. Kelly was very patient and caught a few cute poses of the girls. I love having pictures like these when they look so sweet and innocent. When I look at them, I just can't believe the same sweet girl in the picture just threw the biggest tantrum.
Again, thanks to Kelly Boren Photography for the pictures!!