Best Friends

Sadie and Ashlyn have become new best friends. When Kali is at school they have several hours to play and I think they really enjoy the time together. Sadie loves to push Ashlyn around in the laundry basket or on the Nemo bike. She even gets Ashlyn to push her around on the Nemo bike and Ashlyn thinks it's great.

Funny Face

I just had to include this photo because I thought it was pretty funny.

Ashlyn's Birthday

Where has the year gone? My little baby is already 1 year old. She doesn't seem that old yet, but maybe it's because she's so tiny and has no hair. 

We had family over for the celebration and she didn't really know what to do with all the attention. She pasted on her stoic expression for all the visitors and just kept heading for the stairs. Thankfully the presents kept her attention for a minute. Although, I think Kali and Sadie had more fun with that part than she did.

She had a ladybug cake at Dad's request and I must say that it turned out pretty decent.

The cake was probably her favorite part of the day. She's no stranger to cake and ate it right up--every last bite. She probably would have eaten more if I would have given her another piece. She liked the ice cream too.

Some of the things we love about Ashy:

• She is very quick to smile
• Her nose sniffing is adorable and she has recently learned how to blow her nose too
• She loves the stairs and spends the majority of the day on them (practically giving us heart failure because she insists on standing up on them half of the time)
• She gives everything "loves" aka "hugs" including stuffed animals, pillows, blankets, and the floor
• Every time we ask her a question she shakes her head "yes" with raised eyebrows or "no" like she knows exactly what we're asking
• She likes books as long as she can look one other than the one you're reading
• She is constantly pulling the night light out of the wall in the girls' room, putting my house shoes in the laundry basket, playing with the little cap that covers the bolt on the base of the toilet, playing peek-a-boo with the shower curtain, pulling all the rags and dishtowels out of the drawers in the kitchen, and turning off and on the computer in the girls' room
• She's very good at using separate signs for what she wants and needs and is starting to add a few words to her vocabulary including mom, dad, book, bye, ball, bear, poo poo, night night, and food
• She only walks when she wants to carry something in her hands like a pillow or blanket

Girls in Green

St. Patrick's Day was a fun holiday for me growing up. Not only did we have to wear green, but we often had a leprechaun that would stop by our house. We never saw him, but we knew he came because of the little green footprints on the walls. And the leprechaun would always leave a little goodie or toy. A couple of years we even set up traps, but leprechauns are pretty tricky and always manage to fool the trap or escape. Now that I'm older, I still wake up on St. Patrick's Day to green feet on the wall and green milk in the fridge. The girls love it.

Basketball Standard

Recently I won a drawing at Josh's work for participating in a wellness program and put the money towards a basketball hoop. We bought it a while back but have been waiting to set it up until it warmed up a little more. Finally the day arrived, but the set up ended up taking a little longer than planned. Thankfully it's up now and the girls and Josh were in heaven. It's still a little tall for Sadie, but as long as Josh is willing to lift her up every so often, she's just fine doing her own thing. It took Kali a little bit to make her first basket, but after a few minutes she caught the hang of it and made several more. I can't wait to brush up. I recently played church ball and had a blast.

Knee Pads

We went on a family walk a couple of days ago and Sadie had a little fall. She scraped up her knees and ripped a hole in her tights. After wiping away some tears, I thought nothing more of it, until today. We again decided to take a family walk, but this time Sadie insisted on wearing Kali's knee pads in case she fell. I'm sure it looked pretty silly to those driving by to see a little girl walking with knee pads and no bike or scooter in sight. But Sadie was all smiles.

Coloring

This girl loves coloring. She's very coordinated with it and takes advantage of every opportunity she gets to do it. I have a miniature Magnadoodle that I take to church with us and she gets frustrated if she can't get the little pen turned right so that she can color. This is something that I think we will really encourage with her. Who knows, maybe we have a budding artist in our midst.

Matching

I should know by now that I need to buy everything in threes. Kali was disappointed when she discovered that I bought matching dresses for Ashlyn and Sadie but didn't have one for her. The only problem is she no longer fits into the young girl sizes.

Popsicles

You always hear stories about the third child and I wonder if it's because the form of parenting changes so much by the time number three arrives. I'm sure Kali didn't eat a popsicle until she was at least two years old. But Ashlyn, well, she's already addicted to them. If she sees Kali with one, she hollers "uh, uh, uh" until I get her one. The same thing goes for cupcakes. She gets her sweet tooth from me. And you should see her after she eats that much sugar. She's practically doing somersaults.

Afternoon Walks

This warmer weather has given me spring fever, so I took the girls out for a walk around the block. It's something that we often do in the afternoon during the spring and fall, but I needed to get out of the house.  Kali always rides her bike and Sadie insists on riding her scooter. That decision usually changes after we get to our next door neighbor's house. They literally are next door, but it takes her almost five minutes just to make it that far. She doesn't have the same drive or energy that Kali does and she can't seem to stay focused on what we're doing. This time, however, I was surprised because she actually made it past our neighbor's house, and the next house, and the next house.... and I thought we might make it the whole way around the block. That is until we passed by these rocks. The pictures show it all.

Our walk around the block took 45 minutes when it should have only taken 20. And after she had collected all the rocks she wanted from this rock bed, she was done with the scooter

Kali in the meantime, rides around the cul-de-sacs or waits for us begging to go on. Unfortunately, my rule is that she has to stay where I can see her and she can see me. That often leaves her waiting for Sadie and I.

And Ashlyn was simply content in the stroller. Last year she didn't like the stroller so I always carried her. This year I think the newness of being outside is enough to keep her happy.