ALL IN THE FAMILY

Our Baby is 3!

2011-09-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Ashton turned 3 on July 17th! Three years ago we were blessed with a 7 lb. 6 oz beautiful baby boy!

In Hawaii (pregnant with Ashton)

It all started, well, you know how it all started. But my pregnancy with Ashton was anything but uneventful. It started off very rough. We were told from the beginning that the pregnancy was most likely going (the doctor told us she was 90% sure) to end in a miscarriage. I had a dating ultrasound and HCG count and my pregnancy hormone levels were so incredibly high. We couldn't see a heartbeat on the ultrasound and from my hormone levels we should of definitely been able to find one AND a yolk sac. Neither were present at my first doctors visit. I remember hearing all of this being explained. And I knew what they were talking about, it was just too much to hear. Numbness, tears, sadness, a number of emotions were present. To make matters worse we were leaving to join my entire family on a vacation to Hawaii with the next week. My doctor told me to go prepared for the worse to happen. Before we left for vacation I had two more doctors visits. The next step was to confirm the miscarriage through more HCG counts. The two days were hard to get through. Having two children and a husband in the military doesn't leave you a lot of room to tend to yourself and emotions. Life goes on, it moves and when you are a mother and wife, you just do it. Two days later I went in to have my blood drawn so they could get my HCG levels and, you know, confirm that the baby had stopped growing. Well, it turned out that my HCG levels were still increasing, not by a lot but it was hope! My doctor still informed me that we need to take precautions while on vacation. So vacation we went!

I spent every day on the cruise ship throwing up. Throwing up! Despite having morning sickness we had an awesome memorable almost 2 week vacation in Hawaii! No miscarriage, no cramps, no bleeding, nothing, just morning sickness. I have never been so happy to have morning sickness, and trust me I have had severe morning sickness with my first born and plenty with my second born as well.

So we returned home and about two weeks later were scheduled for an appointment to see my OB. We got a babysitter so that Aron and I could be alone during this time if we were to find out that our baby did stop growing and my body just hadn't miscarried the baby yet. First thing we did was have an ultrasound. And it took about 2 seconds to find our baby, Our Ashton, wiggling, kicking, and moving around. This was also a dating ultrasound and we were 12 weeks along. Praise God! Our miracle baby!

Our crew! Aiden 3, Ava 2, and Ashton just born!

Ashton's 1st birthday

Ashton's 2nd birthday

Here we are celebrating the life of our third blessing from God, with family and friends. His theme was "WET n WILD."

He's 3!

Happy 3rd birthday Ashton James! We love you so much!

THE MAGIC HOUSE

2011-09-17T08:45:00.004-08:00

We took the kid's to The Magic House in St. Louis last month. It was extremely hot outside (100+) so we thought a fun indoor activity would be fun. And fun it was!

Here is Ashton inside a giant bubble.

Blowing huge bubbles with ~~the big kid~~ daddy.

Wow!

Doing a little indoor fishing.

Ashton watching his fish swim back to the pond (after he caught and released it).

At the Pizza House. Ava is serving us.

Ashton insisted that we pray before we eat our fake pizza:)

Amen. Time to eat up!

Dr. West

Ava giving her baby a bath, with....her diaper on?

Ice cream.....yes please!

Aiden working hard underneath the play car.

Ava shopping in the Grocery store.

Bread, meat, and ice cream. That's my girl!

Water area

Yeah well, that's Ava!

Shadow wall

~~The big kid~~, er, I mean Daddy playing again.

Ava loving the Alice in Wonderland area.

Breaking for lunch before we went back for more Magic House fun!

Sibling love:)

And some Coldstone to end an awesome day!

Man, they are getting so big!

The Last Several Months

2011-03-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

In the last several months we have been busy, hence the zero posting on the blog. Here's a breakdown of the last several months starting with the end of last summer (where we left off). We will keep it simple with lots of pictures, because really, who doesn't love pictures? Right?

Went on vacation this (last) summer to Nashville, Wedowee, Alabama, and Memphis. The kids did great and we had a wonderful time. Aunt Rachel, Gma and Gpa West were able to go on this adventure with us. The kids were very excited about that (as were Mom and dad)!
Adventure Science Center in NashvilleTo the Memphis Zoo

At the lake

Celebrated Ashton turning two on July 17th

Sent off a package to our sponsored child, Lester John in the Philippines. He's doing well and attending school.

Enjoyed the end of the summer (which included a little bit of dancing/playing in the rain)

Aiden built a ton of forts. Love everything about this picture. Notice: 1. Aiden is wearing an army tee of Aron's (makes his legs look about 2 inches long, lol). 2. He is using old windshield wipers to hold up his gate/wall (genius!) 3. His camo jacket is nicely hung on a shovel he put in the ground. 4. He has plenty of weapons/ammo 5. He is wearing his bubble necklace (who doesn't need one of those?) I hope this lot stays empty for a long time. The kids enjoy playing over here, digging, planting their own gardens, building forts, etc.

Aiden shot at the range for the first time

Lots of schooling at home. Although I do admit, while most of the time fun...we do have our struggles. Mainly, this includes The Baby. He just wants to do everything we are doing and can be quite the distraction at times.

Fished a whole lot

Spent time with friends (here we are tailgating at a MU game)

Aron went on a canoe trip

While the kids and I went up to Burlington and stayed with Grandma West, we found lots of things to do! Snake alley, The Children's Museum, and walks.

Went to the circus that came to town with friends

Went to Fire House 1 for school

Aiden turned 6! Aunt Alicia, Brady, and cousins Malia and Trey were even able to come down and celebrate!

Took family pictures

Carved pumpkins and dressed up for Halloween

Still rocking it out with school!

Took a trip to The Peach Tree Farm/Pumpkin Patch

Attended our church's Harvest Fest and had a blast!

Enjoyed many family (movie) nights

Made a short list of things we are thankful for

The Baby got a haircut!

Mommy took a girl's weekend trip to The Mall of America

Aiden goes on his first deer hunting trip (no pics)

Traveled to Nevada for Thanksgiving and got to visit our little nephew Elden and niece Malia

Kid's had their Christmas program at church.

Christmas in Burlington

Ava turns 5!

Ava's actual birthday (Jan. 2) and we made ice cream sundaes

Aiden loses some teeth

Aron and I celebrate 8 years of marriage and take the whole family out to celebrate. But we do manage to find a babysitter and sneak out to dinner together, alone another night (no pics).

Sledding with friends.

Weekend alone with my best girl. We managed to paint her bedroom and create some artwork for her new room!

Blizzard 2011 and we take full advantage of the snow!

We celebrate Valentine's day by making homemade valentine's and creating a fancy dinner.

Pinewood Derby 2011. What fun!

Lots of Young Adult fun!
Our new niece/cousin was born in February so we made a trip to Iowa to meet her and see the other cousins/Aunts/Uncle/Gma Marlys. Ava is in baby heaven here:
Riding one of Gma Marlys' horses, Dazzle. Ava is so excited to do it again!
Horsey rides from Uncle Buck

Oh and through all of this we have made time to work on the basement here and there (we are so close!) and paint almost every room upstairs. We had a huge patio added and we stained the concrete, put up the trampoline and wooden play set for the kids, and did some landscaping. Did I mention Aron also works two jobs? We home school? Have three kids? Whew! *Stay tuned for other posts about our home improvements, before and after pics, and some future projects*

As the weather gets nicer we are itching to get out of the house and do stuff. Lots of spring/summer/fall plans; fishing, hiking, camping, park hopping, picnics, geo-caching, a trip to the Zoo, Ozarks, Children's Museum, etc. We are also planning some more landscaping and planting a garden.

And if you have made it this far, CONGRATS! You have officially made it through the longest blog post ever. I *think* we are pretty much caught up now.

Quick QUICK Update

2011-03-01T14:43:00.002-09:00

Wow, it's been months since my last post. Well, that is about to change! We have a lot going on (seems to never slow down around here) but I am going to make an effort to still blog. We have lots to blog about! Things are going well in the West household. Hopefully I will be able to update further (and much longer) next time. Stay tuned!

School At Home

2010-08-31T07:54:00.010-08:00

School for us is officially starting on Monday!! We have chosen to use My Father's World . Both kids are doing MFW-Kindergarten. I am so excited that they will be in the same grade. Ava is definitely ready and it will make it easier on me to have them doing the same work. After ordering our curriculum, organizing it, and looking through everything I am betting we will be ordering and starting the 1st grade after Christmas. The Kindergarten program seems like it will be a review for the kids as they have known their letters, numbers, how to write for a long time now. They are starting to read so we will be focusing on bible, reading, math, and perfecting our handwriting.

We are also adding a computer based learning program into our curriculum as well. Mainly to give the kids (Aiden) another option when he is getting bored, antsy, etc. It's called Time 4 Learning.

Some of the fun we will be having during Kindergarten this year:

1. We will create a butterfly garden
2. Ant Farm
3. Paper Mache Volcano (per Aiden's request)
4. We will learn about solids, liquids, and gas by experiments
5. Magnet fun and we will make a Magnetic crane
6. We will learn about the mail system and other way of communicating
7. Our bodies, 5 senses, healthy living, etc.
8. Home Economics, lots of cooking (measuring - learning simple fractions), cleaning, etc.
9. We will learn more about Creation, have daily bible readings, memorizing verses, and devotions.
10. We will make a creation chart, weather chart, and add to our number chart daily.
11. Some of the other topics we will learn about: Sun, Moon, animals, insects, animal homes.
12. We will also incorporate many songs and learning games.
13. Every lesson will include a library book(s) that correlates with the theme.

We will be using manipulative's as much as possible, for math, handwriting, etc.
Here are some ideas for Math:
1. Colored blocks
2. Dominoes
3. Cuisenaire Rods
4. Buttons/beads
5. Goldfish (who doesn't like edible math props?!)

Handwriting:
1. Making letters out of clay
2. Writing letters/words with pudding or rice
3. Glue and string (parent writes out letter or words with glue and child uses the string to create the letter/words)
4. Make letter/words with sugar cookies/pancakes, etc.
5. Letter out of Jello
6. We will be going outside to form letters/words with pebbles, twigs, leaves, etc.

Ideas are endless really! We have found Aiden does much better when he can get his hands on things. Sitting at the table with worksheets during the entire time we are doing school bores him to death. So we are incorporating a more hands on approach. My Father's World already has many great ideas in it's curriculum which is one main reason we chose it. We also chose it because of it's strong biblical focus. Everything has a biblical reference.

We will also be making weekly trips with our homeschool group. Whether it's our recess/picnic at the park dates, field trips (Fire station, police station, Pumpkin patch, etc), or just other fun group activities.

Here are some pictures of school at our house. We haven't started our official school year yet but we still do some things every day.

Here is The Baby getting  involved with school.

Making letters out of clay.

Handwriting

The kids bible

Each child has their own box filled with crayons, pencils,  glue sticks, etc.

We also purchased Southwestern's Explore and Learn 6 book Set . We are super excited about these books! Here is a pic of the kids with their body poster. They LOVE it! We just point to parts of the body and talk about everything. They love to be able to see how our body looks and functions.

Coloring and counting fun.

How I organized our school stuff.  Each folder is a Unit and as I find things to incorporate into the lessons I put them in it's folder.  The kids each have their own workbooks.  Ashton's is just full of pages to color, stickers, etc.

Our school cupboard, everything is labeled and easy to find!

Other craft items/toys are organized in another closet. The kids are allowed to use and get that stuff out during free time.

We are enjoying school at home.

Boone County Fair

2010-07-24T06:32:00.008-08:00

BOONE COUNTY FAIR!

Ava petting an alligator.

Ava with a 7 foot alligator

Ava was in heaven!  She was touching everything!

Holding onto the alligators tail.

Ashton had some fun also.  Aiden didn't touch a thing.

The kids went through this thing about a million times.

Ashton enjoying himself on the car ride.

On the boat ride.

Getting on the balloon ride.

Ava and Aiden on the dragon ride.

At the petting zoo (where Ashton was when he was photographed for the paper).

Ashton just wanted to pet the baby goats but this goat kept sticking his head out at him wanting Ashton's attention.  Each time Ashton would step back and hollar, "No!" at the poor lonely goat.  LOL!

Ava found a baby Zebra!

Riding together on the motorcycles.

Here is one of the rides Ava was excited to go on, that is until we found out she was just a tad too short.  She was bummed.

Here I am talking to her about it.  Telling her she will be able to go next year!:)

The kids always enjoy this silly show....The Pig Races!

Aiden rides his first roller coaster!  He was a tad scared when we whipped around one of the corners at a faster speed and then zoomed down the "hill."

We had so much fun!

Ashton made The Columbia Tribune!

2010-07-24T06:22:00.002-08:00

Ashton West, 2, of Columbia, checks out the goats in Hedrick's Educational Petting Zoo with the help of his father, Aron, July 23, 2010 at the Boone County Fair.

Ashton made the newspaper this year. If you remember, last year Ava made the paper during the fair!

Ashton's Birthday Day

2010-07-19T06:10:00.004-08:00

On Ashton's actual birthday we headed to a local kid's water park. One of Aron's co-workers Mother-in-law was in town and taking care of her grandchildren so we decided to go together. The kids loved having Stokely and Carlton join them. When we arrived at the park, Ava told both of the boys that she was going to take care of them. Stokely (3 1/2) told her that he was a big boy. LOL! So she moved on to Carlton (Ashton's age) and told him again that she was going to take care of him. Those boys are just too cute for words! We had a great time.

We didn't actually get any pictures while we were at the park. We were just too busy playing with the kids and having fun to stop for pictures. Here are a couple photos from their website.

Ashton was a little hesitant at first to go into the deeper water and walk (it was just below his waist). And he didn't want to go in any of the sprinklers or canons that would shoot out water. But, finally the last 5-10 min. that we were there he finally got into it and got himself soaked and really enjoyed it. Silly boy! The park was reasonably priced and we just really enjoyed ourselves. We will be going again soon!

Fish Fry Friday

2010-07-19T05:26:00.005-08:00

Friday evening we were invited to attend a fish fry. One of the patients from Aron's job invited everyone and their families out. Apparently they do this every year. Lots of people and lots of food! The kids had a great time playing with all the kids, fishing, climbing all over the playground equipment, rides on the golf cart, and just running free!

Here is Aiden showing Stokely and Ashton how to fish.  This was Stokely's first time fishing and I think he caught 2-3 fish.  I can't remember exactly, but he liked it!  Aron and Aiden caught probably half a dozen fish as well. 

Stokely getting his fish on!

Enjoying the pond.

Golf cart rides!

Everyone was telling us how beautiful she is and how much trouble me are in...

They couldn't believe how long she could hang on the bar.  You should see what she can do on the rings in our garage.  She swings one handed on the rings, swings upside down by her legs, etc.  She is FEARLESS!

Lots of conversations, food, and games.

And lots more fishing.

Amelia fishing for the first time.  I think Aiden either is helping her or telling her he wants his pole back, lol.  Apparently a serious fisherman does not lend out his pole, ha!

We had a great time and of course the kids ran themselves exhausted. It's a win-win!

Comments

2010-07-15T18:46:00.003-08:00

I am not sure what the deal is, but several people have said that they are unable to leave comments on our blog. Hmmm....I have checked out my settings and the comment setting is turned on. What's the deal? Suggestions?

Happy 2nd Birthday Ashton!

2010-07-15T09:23:00.005-08:00

He most certainly does not look like a baby anymore. But he is in fact MY baby or The Baby and always will be! He was a joy on his "day." He is so easy going, cautious, and content. He does have a voice though, and he will use it if he feels it's needed! He loved his Elmo theme and just kept staring at everything and saying, "It's Elmo" over and over.

This smile makes all my cake decorating efforts worth it.  This is why I do it!  Although, I am sure he would smile if I bought a cake from Walmart.

Digging into one of the Elmo cake pops that I made and decorated myself.  That took the longest out of everything I did for his birthday.  And, they were extremely yummy!  Check them out over at Bakerella.

The pails were full of jelly beans, gold fish (representing Elmo's gold fish, Dorothy!), and a trail mix.  The cake pops on the star plates were the party favors.  They are chocolate covered cake pops...so yummy!

Getting ready to open gifts.  Love that smile.

Ava was most excited for cake of course!

Yay for presents!

I can't believe my little baby is 2!

I was pregnant the longest with him as he was only 2 1/2 weeks early compared to Aiden (3 weeks early) and Ava (5 weeks early). I was in hard labor for 10 hours and after being told to go home when I went to the hospital I refused and he was born less than 2 hours after that! He was 7 lb. 6 oz. and 18 3/4 inches. He has been such an easy baby! He has been one of our many blessings in life and he just completes our family.

An Evening of Fishing

2010-07-14T08:33:00.004-08:00

The kids wanted to go fishing again...already! So we packed everything up and left right after Aron got home from work. It was blazing hot with a slight breeze. However, we still lasted a couple hours and both Aiden and Ava caught 1 and 2 fish respectively.

Of course Ava digs right into the worms as soon as we get there.  She had to keep one to play with while fishing.  And, of course she named it and talked to it.  She kept asking me if I wanted to hold her pet worm.  Ummm...no thanks Ava!

Here is Aron getting all the poles ready to go while Ashton looks on.

Aiden catches a fish.  It's always "a huge one!"

Ava with one of the two she caught.  She did ask if she could touch and play with the fish.  Ummm...no Ava, no.  Oh and some advice when fishing with Ava.  Stand far, far away when she goes to cast her pole.  Well, unless you enjoy worms flying at your head.  Not that I am speaking from experience or anything.

Even Ashton tries to man the pole.  We start 'em young here.

I got nothing.

Ava posing with her pole.  Such a goof!

After a couple hours we packed up and headed on home. 

Update on the Kids

2010-07-13T07:59:00.005-08:00

I thought it would be fun to name some of the kids favorite things/things about them. I did this two years ago and thought it would be fun to compare them.

Aiden:

1. Fishing (I can't even count how many fish he has caught already this year!)
2. Outdoors/Hiking/Dirt ...you get the idea!
3. Iron Man (I am sick of hearing the noises that he makes when he is Iron Man)
4. Volcanoes, Lightening, Earthquakes, Tornadoes
5. Science and history in general
6. Reading
7. Crafting, especially drawing things mentioned in #4
8. Water guns. He is always wanting to have a water gun fight.
9. Watermelon and cheese. He can eat an ungodly amount of each in one sitting!
10. Favorite color is still Red and sometimes he does say Green is another favorite.
11. Going barefoot (would never wear socks if he didn't have to)
12. Trains
13. Bike riding
14. Building and constructing things, Lego's, blocks, dominoes, etc.
15. Other favorite things to eat : apples, applesauce, corn, carrots with ranch, water melon, cantaloupe, and pizza (I just asked him and these are his answers).
16. Helping daddy and Papa work in the basement. Just working with tools.
17. Being tickled
18. Watching AND playing Wipe Out at home.
19. He adores Niya, our cat but still annoys her to death at times.
20. Fireworks! He has been obsessed with them since he was 2.

Ava:

1. Babies
2. Bugs, worms, snakes, etc.
3. Taking baths
4. Book, books, and more books.
5. Loves doing school work.
6. Crafts, playdoh, coloring.
7. Loves going to Sunday school
8. Yogurt (she would eat this all day long if I let her)
9. Cuddling
10. Loves all things boy.
11. Outdoors, hiking, and is starting to like fishing more and more now that she has caught about a dozen fish!
12. Loves to help in the kitchen.
13. Loves to water all my flowers for me.
14. Swimming. She is a water bug!
15. She loves to do anything daring.
16. Roly poly collector. She once had about 30 of them collected.
17. Likes to dress up with her little brother:)
18. Makes up silly songs all the time.
19. Has two different singing voices. One really high and one in her normal "low" voice.
20. She prays everyday without prompting and I have to say she has the best prayers!;)

Ashton:

1. Cars and Trucks. Car is "Har!" and Truck is "Tuck!"
2. If you ask him to do something he is more than happy to do it. He loves to help!
3. He is a destroyer!
4. Loves and is obsessed with chap stick!
5. Anything like blocks, Lego's, etc.
6. Loves tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, oranges, homemade tortillas, and strawberries.
7. Dancing...oh my, he can dance!
8. Babies
9. Playing outside...especially with dirt, dump trucks, and riding his bikes.
10. Elmo and his Moose Moose!
11. His blanket!
12. Snuggling
13. Brushing his teeth
14. He has the cutest little skip to his step when he is really happy and content.
15. He has recently discovered "ams" which are M&Ms.
16. Loves taking his vitamins. Actually all the kids do "The Vitamin Dance" in order to get their daily vitamins. It's pretty funny!
17. Shoes. You can find him wearing some one's shoes at all times.
18. Hats, another favorite.
19. He loves hugging and snuggling with Niya, our kitty cat.
20. Loves to help clean, especially using the vacuum.

HELLO!

2010-07-13T06:37:00.004-08:00

I'm here. We're here. Time for an update, ay?

I have decided to start blogging again. So much has happened over the last 14 months. Well, of course a lot has happened, 14 months is a long time! There are just so many fun things we have been doing, not to mention all the funny things the kids do and say everyday, that we would like to share.

We still have lots of family and friends scattered around the world and I can't think of a better way to share our lives and keep each other updated and in touch.

I will do a full update post soon. It is going to be long and I will need some time to get it done. Time, what's that? Not much of it these days!

Lots of changes in the West household. We are excited for our future and we are putting it all in God's hands...ALL!

LONG TIME

2009-05-05T07:43:00.002-08:00

Ok, ok....it's been a month...or TWO since I have posted. It's been busy and still is so don't count on reading another post from us in awhile. Just wanted to quickly update. We are still in Iowa with family and will be for about another month or so. Aron landed a GREAT job in Columbia, MO so we are heading there soon. He is actually working a couple days a week until the place is up and running full time. He will probably start full time in 1-2 weeks. We are just waiting for our belongings to get shipped from Alaska. Who knows how long that will take. Hopefully I will get the chance to update like I used to after we move into our home in Columbia in about a month or so.

Hope you all are doing well.

THE WEST FAMILY
Aron, Amy, Aiden, Aviana, and Ashton

First Dentist Visit

2009-03-06T09:07:00.003-09:00

Here are the kids at the dentist. They did really well. Both of the kids even let the dental assistant take x-rays of their teeth. When Ava was done with her x-rays she sat up on her knees on the chair, raised her hands up in the air and yelled, "I did it! Woohoo!" It was loud enough for everyone to hear and we all got a good laugh:)

Best news of all..........NO CAVITIES! Their teeth look great.

Here is a picture of the kids with the dental assistant. She was explaining what she was going to do.

Ava getting ready to get soem x-rays taken.

Aiden getting x-rays.

Getting ready to get her teeth cleaned. She was excited to wear the lady bug sunglasses. She wanted to take them home.

They didn't have any problems letting the dentist look at their teeth.

Aiden's turn!

They even got a "vitamin" treatment on their teeth.

It went 100 million times better than we ever imagined!

UPDATE!

2009-03-04T10:39:00.005-09:00

Here you go, an update. This will be easier to just do a bullet type post.

If preparing to move over 3800 miles with three kids isn't enough, Ashton came down with an ear infection. Giving him medication has fit nicely into the 2 min. twice a day slot that I have alloted myself time to use the bathroom during these last crazy days filled with appointments, packing, child-rearing, cooking, cleaning, sorting, etc, lol.
No matter how many lists I make I am still making trips to Walmart almost everyday because I keep forgetting something or adding to my list. Walmart employees must think I am crazy. Pretty sure I know every employee now!
The kids are doing well through out this process. They have "helped" pack up a few things. Mainly, they have picked out toys, coloring books, books, etc that they want to take with them.
We have never had so many good-bye dinners/gatherings in our lives. So sad!
The other day, while going through clothing, Aiden spotted his old Superman pjs.

Aiden: "My Superman pajamas! You found them mommy. Thank you!"
Me: "Aiden, those pjs do not fit you anymore. We are going to put them away for Ashton to wear when he gets bigger."
Aiden: "Oh, ok. When Ashton gets bigger he can wear my clothes!"
Me: "Yes Aiden. That is right!"
Aiden: "Yeah, and when I get bigger like you, I can wear your clothes."
Me: *laughing* which in turn caused Aiden to giggle. Silly silly boy:)

I have been playing Volleyball again this year. It has been fun, however, we just had games on Monday and Wednesday so I will be missing the majority of the season:( Aron and the kids have gotten to go to the gym and play around during practices. It has been nice to be able to play with them like that. Now that they are old enough to listen *most* of the time it definitely makes it fun and boy does it wear them out!
Aron has been playing indoor soccer. He has enjoyed it except for the 9:45 pm game times. That is bedtime for him, ha. Aron is also on the men's Volleyball team. He will be in Alaska almost a month longer so he will be able to participate for the majority of the season.
Aiden is excited to go to Iowa. He likes to help me out packing and loves to talk about some of the things that we will do while in Iowa. It's hard to believe that he will have to wait another year before entering Kindergarten because he birthday falls just after Sept. 1st. He has grown up a lot this past year and we are excited for him to start preschool and other activities as well. Right now he spends his days bossing Ava around, loving on Ashton, and loves to play with playdoh, crafts, dominoes, blocks, and lots of wrestling. His favorite color right now is red.
Ava is also excited to go to Iowa. She not a lot of help with packing. Still not a fan of picking up and negotiating with her is much harder than with Aiden. We hear a lot of, "I can't." However, she is mommy's biggest helper in the kitchen. Always is asking if she can pull up a chair and help. She also loves to get Ashton's toys for him and always gets his boppy pillow to help protect him in case he falls while sitting. Although I have explained to her that he doesn't need it anymore she still insists that he does:) What a little mama! She loves her babies. She can be found singing, feeding, and putting her babies to bed. She also loves to play with playdoh, crafts, blocks, etc. with Aiden. Sometimes she can even be found playing with her princesses, care bears, or dress up. However, most of the time it's either her babies or something all boy.
Ashton is such a good baby. He doesn't cry unless he is hungry and even then it's just a whine and we know what he wants. He sleeps 12 hours straight through at night and takes two 2 hour naps during the day. He has been on a great schedule from early on. He eats two solid meals a day and will soon probably go to three. He loves to eat and has recently tried a cracker. Wasn't a big fan of that though so we will try again soon.

Seems like there is a lot more to share but I am at a loss. That's probably my cue to get off the computer and get some more things done. We took the kids to the dentist this week so I will try to post about that adventure and also include pictures.

I'm addicted....

2009-02-24T11:12:00.002-09:00

To homemade guacamole!

What's worse is that I can't get anyone in the house to help me eat it. So I am consuming it all!:)

Time is Flying By

2009-02-24T08:43:00.007-09:00

It has already been 9 days since my last post? Geeezz! I can't seem to keep up with everything these days. Here's the reason:

We are down to 13 days people!

Here are the kids enjoying their V-day cookies:

Ashton didn't get to partake in the V-day cookies but he did get to try a cracker for the first time!Here's Aiden STILL playing with his dominoes!Ever since a Disney Store package came in the mail, Ava has been wearing this everyday for the last 4 days. Well, minus one day when she found her swimsuit (as I was going through clothes) and she wore that for one whole day:)

Let me tell you...they are a huge help throughout this moving process....ahhahahahaha!

Valentine's Day Continued

2009-02-15T09:20:00.000-09:00

A tradition my mother started that I am continuing. Every Valentine's day she would make homemade sugar cookies (the best!) , frost them all differently, and hand write our names on them. She would always make them into big hearts and of course we would each get our own. Even when we all went away to college she still made them for us. In fact the last year before I moved to Texas (after I got married) she made me my last Valentine sugar cookie with my name on it. She also made one for Aron. Since then Aron was more than happy to agree that we should continue that tradition:)

Here's how our cookies turned out:

When Mommy is away...

2009-02-15T09:15:00.001-09:00

Let me start by saying that Aron is a great dad. Really...I GREAT dad! Before Ashton was born he was really worried about having three children. Well, mainly taking care of three on his own when I was gone.

Which brings us to yesterday morning as I took a trip to the gym and grocery store. Every Saturday morning is my time. Always starts at the gym for a workout and then I am off to shop alone for a couple hours. Now it's not exactly the kind of shopping I like but at least I get to do it alone. Grocery shopping starts at the Commissary then off to Walmart and sometimes Fred's. Then I return home. I *almost* don't have any guilt for doing this because I know the kids are having fun and are completely taken care of.

Here are a few pictures of the kids playing with Daddy while I was gone on Saturday. They were playing with their dominoes that Joanie and Stuart gave them. They were put away because when we received them, the kids were much to young for them. However, Daddy being the wonderful father that he is remembered that we had them! They played with them for the entire time I was gone. In fact, the kids haven't stopped playing with them since.

Here before church, Ava is STILL playing with the blocks:o)And to think, Aron was worried about taking care of three;)

V-Day

2009-02-14T10:16:00.001-09:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

WOW

2009-02-13T09:34:00.000-09:00

24 days until the kids and I leave for Iowa!

Busy & Stressed

2009-02-11T13:52:00.005-09:00

Finally...it has sunk in.

We are moving.

We are moving...with THREE children.

We are leaving Alaska.

We will be civilians very soon.

Oh my gosh we have so much to do. We had to make a LIST of all our lists!

In order to get more done at home, I am trying to find new ways to entertain the kids. Ways that they can occupy themselves and for a long period of time. If you have any ideas PLEASE share! Here is something I have recently discovered that they love and will play with all. day. long. Although it does make a mess it's so worth the hours of time I have to get things done...alone.

RICE!

And this is why Ava is only allowed to use markers sans clothing.

And I don't know who gave this little munchkin the idea or the "go-ahead" to start figuring how to crawl, move, or how to become moblie because I DO KNOW it wasn't his Mama! He most certainly isn't old enough for this just yet right? *tears*

To many emotions right now!:)

This One Is For The Grandparents

2009-02-06T12:41:00.007-09:00

Who are missing their babies. A HUGE picture post!

Notice Ava and Ashton holding hands...so sweet.Ashton is actually sick here. You can kind of tell by his eyes. But overall he is still a happy boy!Aiden showing off his long hair. Every once in awhile he will say, "My hair is tickling me. I need to cut it!" Ha!