Trick or Treat

Drew the chicken and Ashley the zebra had lots of fun trick or treating. Ashley had a special bag from Ms. Tiffany and Mr. Tony across the street. Her favorite part was waiting for trick or treaters at our house (we had a picnic on the front porch). Drew's favorite part was taking the chicken outfit off....poor sweaty little boy.

Happy Birthday Yago.

Ashley went to a costume party to celebrate her friend Yago's birthday. There was one issue when Santi (Yago's dad) tried to take the gift from her. She took me literally when I told her to deliver the gift to Yago.

Another outfit

Here is another of Ashley's outfits. The goggle sunglasses were an important addition. She is a big believer in accessories.

Ashley and her clothes...

Ashley loves to dress herself. It is quite difficult to get her to wear anything I want her to...yes, I realize she's two and I'm bigger but we try to not fight her too much on silly things.

This is an outfit she put together. I tried to tell her that it doesn't match. She pointed to the purple stripe on her shirt...and then pointed to a purple flower on her shorts...and said Matches. How do you even argue with that? I think she pulled off the ensemble. May she always have that confidence :).

The After Picture

Here's his photo after the haircut.

Drew's first haircut

Drew had his first haircut this weekend. I had not planned on cutting it for the first year but about 4 or 5 people commented she is so cute at the pumpkin patch in Huntsville. Yes...time for a cut.

Pumpkin Patches

OK...sorry guys. I will try not to go away for so long next time. Things are going fine. We are gearing up for the holiday season...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Ashley is starting to think that pumpkin patches are the place to be. This is Ashley and Drew in a corn bin.

Let me tell you about Ashley.

Ashley gets to go to her friend Sam's birthday party later today. I have been telling her to practice singing him Happy Birthday. Happy Day Happy Happy Day Sammy Sam Sam Sammy Sammy. It's going to be interesting at that point in the party when she tells everyone that they are singing it wrong. And I love that she takes the liberty of nicknaming him. Nice.

So, for those of you who know me really well, you are all aware that I can't dance. At all. Well, if I am extremely comfortable and relaxed, I will dance anyway. I do these silly exaggerated moves around the house. It keeps Mike laughing. Ashley does kind of giggle....but then she says No dance Momma. That confirms it completely. I can't dance.

Random signs

This past weekend, I met my friend Kristie Cross at Big South Fork to go hiking. On the way, I had to drive through many many small towns on back roads. Well...let me just say, I LOVE small towns. Really. I do. I'm from a small town and would move back there in 2 seconds. Why don't I live there, you ask? Mike said I will never live here the first time he visited my hometown. Yes, the first time. I thought it was a little presumptuous myself but I did marry him...so how presumptuous could it have been really? Anyway, Mike and I love driving through small towns. You find the best restaurants that way. We love Big Ed's Pizza. Have you ever been there? There is next to no lighting and the pizza is served on tiny paper plates. Seriously, their overhead has to be close to nothing. Well, once, when we were looking for Big Ed's, we took a wrong turn. While we were trying to find our way, we pass this church sign that said WWJD?..he wouldn't be making meth. Nice. The sign I saw this weekend does not even come close to that...but was amusing nonetheless. It Ain't Hardee's...but it ain't bad. I'm just imagining living somewhere that Hardee's is the best option. And if that is the best thing you can say about your restaurant, I think I'll keep driving. I did keep driving but I immediately called Mike to tell him about it.

He's a big boy...

We took Drew to the doctor for a 3 month follow-up visit. His head is the same size that Ashley's was at 6 months. His weight is going to catch up to Ashley's sooner rather than later.

Ashley's birthday

On the day of Ashley's actual birthday, we took her to the zoo and then to eat at Red Robin. She liked it but got a little scared when they sang to her.

Seriously...who is watching Ashley?

I don't have to tell some of you this...the addition of a second child has been a rude awakening for us. We are not used to not having a free second to relax. This was the source of quite a bit of friction in those first few weeks. Now, I think we are getting the swing of things. Well, the picture is from one night when Uncle Jim (Mike's brother-in-law) was visiting. I was feeding Drew and we were all just chatting. Ashley was in the same room with us and found an ink pen. Not one of us noticed until she came to show me her work.

Nothing too exciting...

Don't tell Ashley but Drew is maybe the best baby in the world. For the most part, he has been a very easy baby. We have been very lucky. He is sleeping through the night. The challenge at the moment is that he gets himself loose from his swaddle blanket and then wakes himself up. I would love for him to sleep on his stomach...but we are supposed to wait until he can roll over. We'll have to practice that.

Ashley turns two on Monday. Cserno put together a Schwinn tricycle for her last night. Yes, that's right...a Schwinn. We didn't go overboard or anything. Cserno wanted actual wheels rather than plastic ones so this is the one that won out after his reviews. You should have seen the warnings on the box...don't ride near the street, near a sloped driveway, near cars. It pretty much covered everything. Hopefully, Ashley will be excited even though it is not pink or purple. I can hear her now..."Ashley's!" which is what she says about our house, about Drew, and everything else...she's possessive.

Drew starts "school" on June 23rd and I am going back to work. I am working for Aspect as a contractor for the next 7 months. My boss is amazing and I love working for her. I will miss keeping Drew at home and surfing the internet during his naps. I've had plenty of days where I'm like...that was it. That is the end of the internet. There is nothing left to look up. Then, we discover Facebook (if you have never looked at that, please get on there...) and I look up all my old friends. Some of my friends on there went to Elementary School with me...Go Bulldogs!

Easter

We made the trip to Covington for Easter to introduce Drew to Mema and Granddaddy Turner. Ashley had a ton of fun hunting Easter eggs. We practiced all week and were surprised on Easter that the eggs had chocolate in them. She had to open each one right then.

She is a really sweet big sister and showers Drew with kisses. She prefers for him to be fed by anyone besides Mommy if there is someone else around. Drew's hair, while dark at birth, seems to be coming in red now. It is more auburn than carrot top. Mike has started calling him "Big Red" to my dismay.

Drew

Sorry for the delay in letting you know...

Andrew Michael was born on March 1st at 1:35 AM weighing in at 8 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches.

We are all doing fine...just trying to get the hang of things.

I highly recommend my birth plan if you can time it right. Both times, I was able to eat a light supper before going to the hospital a few hours later. They were feeding me breakfast the next morning after having the babies in the early early morning. After hearing stories about friends having to go without eating for over 24 hours, this worked out great for me. Everything went a little too quickly with Drew but it all worked out fine.

No news yet.

Today is the day that Cserno and I thought the baby was due but nothing so far. The doctor says March 9th so let's just hope he comes by then.

Let me share some things that have been said to me this pregnancy (and last).

Are you pregnant? Seriously? If you have to ask, then you probably just shouldn't mention it. This was at 6 months so I'm sure it was obvious...but can you imagine if the answer is no?

How many are you having? In fairness, I think that this was asked because at Ashley's school, the last 3 pregnancies have been twins. It could have been asked because I am huge...but seriously, I am 5 foot tall. Where am I going to hide these extra pounds?

You look like you are about to pop. This one, in and of itself, is not that bad. And I agree that that is how I look. However, I have looked that way for 2 months. What do you say? I hope not cause the baby isn't due for a few months...

Wow. This was actually said by Cserno when he returned from a business trip to Florida. He was pretty impressed with my growth while he was gone. I like to pretend it is a compliment :).

I'll keep you updated.

I'm sure that there will be more to add :).

It snowed!

It snowed Thursday night so Ashley and Mike went out to play in it. She loved stomping around in her boots.

This weekend, Ashley went to Covington with Nana. We miss her terribly but are trying to get plenty of things done around the house and other errands done. I am pretty big at this point. I visit the doctor this week so I wil be interested to see if she thinks that the baby will arrive early. I do but I'm sure it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Christmas...

Before Christmas, Ashley received a letter from Santa in the mail. She loves receiving any mail so she was excited. Mike was even more excited and wore a "there really is a Santa Claus" expression for days. Aunt Helen (Mike's brother-in-law's mother) is friends with Santa and made sure he had her address.

We spent Christmas in Covington at my grandparents' house. Ashley received cowboy boots from Aunt B and insisted on wearing them right then. She actually put on the entire cowgirl outfit...very cute. She was spoiled by everyone but especially by Nana. When we returned to Nashville, she found that Santa had left her a kitchen. I have never seen her so excited. Uncle Clay had come down from New York. She was a little timid but I have no doubt that they will be friends again when he returns this summer.

Thanksgiving...

Yes, I am very late on this one...Sorry. We spent Thanksgiving in Georgia with my Dad and his family. Anne cooked a delicious meal and Aunt Natalie entertained Ashley.

On Friday, we went to my Mom's in Cleveland, TN. Ashley had a ball playing in the leaves.