tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82179114303560331822024-03-13T22:10:11.780-07:00{Race&Emma}Emma Franceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939432151416489920noreply@blogger.comBlogger300125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-73943319128319240902014-11-03T15:55:00.001-08:002014-11-03T15:55:05.043-08:00Race's Work ContestEmma's already blasted this on Instagram and Facebook, but on the off chance you haven't already done it, help Emma and I win $500 from my company!<br />
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<a href="http://niftymarketing.com/nifty-halloween-photo-contest/">http://niftymarketing.com/nifty-halloween-photo-contest/</a><br />
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My company, Nifty Marketing, is doing a Halloween costume competition, and the winner gets $500. All you have to do is click the link above, look for the picture of us, and 'Vote' it up. The competition ends this Wednesday afternoon, so just do it really quickly right now. The competition is fierce, so every vote counts. The picture you're voting up is this one:<br />
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Nifty Marketing is an internet marketing company, so I spend a huge chunk of my day on the internet. If you've never seen the picture on top, you might think this is less awesome, but Irelyn's cuteness makes up for that, and then some. Anyways, we're just making fun of how darned awful Internet Explorer is compared to real browsers, like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It's a funny joke, if you spend all day on the Internet. We had a ridiculously good time making our costumes, building our set, and putting 'glue' (frosting) all over Irelyn's face. Holland would have joined in, but she was taking a nap. Also I think she would have been a little too vigorous with the frosting. </div>
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When it came down to actual trick-or-treating though, we switched up our costumes. I went as the headless horseman (sans horse), and carried Irelyn as my 'head,' since she was dressed as an adorable pumpkin. We took an early Halloween-themed family walk, and there's this amazing field of trees and leaves a short walk from our apartment that we stumbled on here in Meridian. It's the most perfect 'Fall Weather' picture spot I've ever seen, and we had a great little family date playing in the leaves and having me pretend I had lost my pumpkin head. I'm not sure Irelyn got the joke, but it made for some memorable family pictures. Here's a little taste of that below. Happy Halloween! Don't forget to help us win the contest!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-34058411907941946852014-10-16T22:18:00.001-07:002014-10-16T22:18:18.422-07:00The Magic of Mornings<div style="text-align: center;">
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I feel like there is something so special about morning time. The light is gorgeous in our apartment {one of my favorite things about being on the second floor}, everyone is happy to be awake and to see each other {usually}, and I just re-fall in love with my family and the wonderful role of "mother" that I get to take on for another day. It's a great way to start the day!</div>
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On this morning in particular Irelyn slept in so I got to cuddle with Holland for a little while and then we ate breakfast together. When Irelyn woke up Holland was so excited to be the first one to hear her. She rushed into their room to attempt to get Irelyn out, rushed back to me to announce that baby sister was awake, and then raced me back to the room and by the time I got there both girls were giggling and just so happy to see each other. Also, Race was home for a few minutes when the girls first woke up and they were so happy to see him and hang out with him for a few minutes. I felt truly blessed.<br />
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And a random side note (lest you all think every morning is magical):<br />
The next morning was not wonderful and beautiful. Irelyn was up a lot during the night so I was exhausted and grumpy, Race was not able to be home helping out, Holland woke up really crabby and fought me about everything and threw a BUNCH of tantrums, all before 8 AM, and it might have even been cloudy outside just to top it all off. Haha. Often pictures, videos, blog posts, Instagram, etc. can make life look so perfect {and honestly this morning felt like a little piece of Heaven} but know that I have crazy mornings/days/moments too. I'm just not usually taking pictures when I'm feeling crabby {and the light is gloomy}! Haha. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-1662204625885091642014-10-10T12:10:00.001-07:002014-10-10T12:10:46.336-07:00Remember How Blessed You Are. Ever since Irelyn was a tiny baby she has done the sweetest thing. While nursing she periodically takes a break and just stares up at me. She patiently waits for me to stop whatever I am doing {usually messing around on my phone} and then just stares into my eyes for a while. Every time she does this I feel like she's saying to me, "Mommy, stop being distracted. Soak this moment in. I'm not going to be little for long. Touch my soft cheeks, memorize my tiny features, hold my chubby hands, remember how blessed you are." So that's exactly what I do. I am so blessed to have my two sweet girls in my life. They bring me so much joy and I can't imagine being happier than I am now. I am so grateful for this little reminder from Irelyn to pay attention and enjoy the little moments. And then she gouges my eyes out, grabs my glasses off my face and pinches my nose and I memorize these little moments too because someday I won't have a nursing baby scratching up my face and snuggling with me and I don't ever want to forget what a joy it is.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-90592738609193561362014-09-22T15:18:00.002-07:002014-09-22T15:18:34.120-07:00Dear Irelyn: Month Five <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Dear Irelyn, </div>
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You just turned five months old yesterday and I am already getting your five month post up! Shocking, I know! :] This is just such a fun age and I want to remember all of it! </div>
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This month you have started to learn lots of new things. You had a couple of grumpy weeks and Mimo {Grandma Olmstead} said that she remembers her babies would get grumpy just before they learned something new. That turned out to be just the case of you! You were grumpy just before you learned how to grab your toes and then you were grumpy just before you learned how to sit up! You are not totally sitting up on your own yet but you can go for quite a while before you fall over. I just make sure you are always surrounded by pillows so you don't bonk your head. You decided to try this whole sitting up thing yesterday {on your five month birthday!} and then today you pretty much have it down for up to about twenty minutes at a time. We are all super impressed with your skills! You have rolled over a few times from your stomach to your back and just once from your back to your stomach {and I didn't even see it happening!!} but you are not all that interested in rolling over and you really aren't a fan of tummy time. We're not too concerned about it though since your big sister didn't roll over regularly until after she learned how to crawl! It has been so fun watching you learn these new things and you are definitely a happier baby once you add these tricks to your book! </div>
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This month you went to the doctor for the first time. Haha. I didn't take Holland until she was three months old and then we barely got you in before your fifth month! Clearly, we're really good at going to the doctor. Hopefully from here on out we'll keep you on track though! You did great with the doctor and with getting shots. You fell asleep within about two minutes of nursing afterwards and even slept while I transferred you to your carseat for the drive home. It was shocking and such a relief! At the doctor we found out you weight 17 lbs. 3 oz. {85th percentile} and 24.5 inches {24th percentile}. I think you are going to be like Holland and just go down in the weight percentile from here on out though. We will see though! We sure are enjoying your chunkiness!!</div>
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Some other notables: </div>
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-You have started doing this cooing/screaming sound and it is the funniest, cutest thing ever. It cracks your dad and I up every single time! </div>
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-You still blow little spit bubbles all the time. </div>
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-You are super good at holding onto your toys so you can chew on them. </div>
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-You've decided you have no need for a binky anymore. Mostly I'm sure this is a nice thing {no weaning you from it later on} but I do miss it sometimes! </div>
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-I figured out that I had been wearing our Ergo carrier wrong {I needed to move the back strap up} and ever since then you {and I} are so much more comfortable and happy in the Ergo. I have started using it a lot more and we are big fans! I used it at church yesterday and you even fell asleep in it {only for a few minutes though because then sacrament meeting got out and it was loud--sad!}!</div>
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-I have started putting you down for naps without nursing and the first couple of times you weren't a fan but you've been doing great the past few days! I am attempting to get you on a little bit of a better schedule and since we started doing naps without nursing you have started sleeping longer in the night. I'm not sure if they're related but they happened around the same time. It works for me! </div>
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You are such a sweet, beautiful little girl and we love glimpsing more of your personality as you learn to do new things. We are so happy to have you in our family! </div>
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Love, </div>
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Mom, Dad, & Holland</div>
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Falling over</div>
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Sitting skills! </div>
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The cutest chunky profile. </div>
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Gorgeous blue eyes. </div>
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More sitting and some spitting of course!</div>
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Goodness I just love this little girl of mine! I am the luckiest!</div>
<br />Emma Franceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939432151416489920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-9982563817727401372014-09-20T12:05:00.000-07:002014-09-20T12:21:35.846-07:00On Memory Keeping: 750words.comI keep starting these blog posts about memory keeping and how important I think it is but I haven't figured out quite what I want to say on that yet. So I just decided I am going to start writing about some of the different ways I record memories for myself and my family. No fancy introduction needed!<br />
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Today I am going to write about an awesome site called <a href="http://750words.com/">750words.com</a> {which I have actually blogged about before--you can read that post <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2011/04/750wordscom.html">here</a> if you're interested}. I just got back into using this site over the past couple of months and it is a great way to keep a daily journal.<br />
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Here are some of the cool features of 750words.com:<br />
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-You get badges for little accomplishments {like writing so many days in a row, writing at certain times of the day, and stuff like that--see picture below} and you get points for writing each day. As silly as these little things may seem they really can be great motivators!<br />
-You can join a monthly challenge where you set a goal to write every day for the month. I just joined one for October {wish me luck!}. You set a reward and a punishment for yourself {if you want} and if you complete the challenge your name goes on the Wall of Amazingness and if you miss a day your name goes on the Wall of Shame until you do complete the challenge. If you know you are going to be away for a day or something you are able to schedule that into your challenge as well. Just make sure to do it before the day actually happens!<br />
-It really only takes 10-15 minutes to write 750 words which just isn't that much of your day. And even if you don't write all 750 words it is still great to write a little something every day.<br />
-You can export all of your journal entries so that you can print them and put them into an actual, tangible journal.<br />
-It analyzes your writing for you which is really fun. See examples below:<br />
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{It also shows you which words you used the most in your writing but if I showed you that you would basically be reading my journal entry! Haha. Anyway, that's another fun feature it has!}<br />
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This is a great journaling site that will help you unload your thoughts after a long day and it is great to be able to look back at your entries when you are trying to scrapbook older photos and want to remember what happened on a certain day. You just have to make sure to write regularly!!<br />
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I will be continuing this mini series "On Memory Keeping" by talking about some of the other ways I record things for myself and my family so look forward to posts on some of these other fun ways to record your memories:<br />
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-<a href="http://beckyhiggins.com/">ProjectLife</a><br />
<a href="http://beckyhiggins.com/project-life-app-is-live/">-ProjectLife App</a><br />
-<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFsArr4Z1s">Smashbook</a><br />
-Gratitude Journal<br />
-Plain Old Notebook<br />
<a href="http://-ohlife.com/">-OhLife.com</a><br />
<a href="http://groovebook.com/">-Groovebook</a><br />
<a href="http://chatbooks.com/">-Chatbooks</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vtJidJsJSU&list=UUS7gVTXnAJ0_0m9kmbwyFdw">-Home Videos</a><br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/project-365/id321175920?mt=8">-Project 365 App</a><br />
-<a href="http://instagram.com/emmaashby">Instagram</a>/Facebook {social media}<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bdo8QrVvg4&list=UUS7gVTXnAJ0_0m9kmbwyFdw">-Vlogs</a><br />
-Printed Photo Books {Shutterfly, Blurb, Snapfish, etc.}<br />
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<br />Emma Franceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939432151416489920noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-50029784675806050562014-09-17T10:00:00.000-07:002014-09-17T10:00:01.314-07:00Dear Irelyn: Months Three and Four Dearest Irelyn,<br />
<br />
My blog has been a little bit Holland-centric lately so I wanted write you a little note about how grateful we are to have you as part of our family {And to catch up on your bi-monthly posts since I'm behind on those!}!<br />
<br />
Irelyn-girl, a lot of the nicknames we have for you are recycled nicknames. They are just ones that we'll probably use on all of our babies just because you can't help it. Names like chunk-a-monk just fit with lots of babies. But a couple of names we never used with Holland are: sweet pea, sweetheart, sweet girl, etc. Holland is definitely sweet {now--haha} but I guess during the first few months of her life that is just not the first word that came to our minds to describe her {see Holland's <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2012/09/one-month.html">one month</a> and <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2012/10/two-months.html">two month</a> posts to see some of her nicknames!}. Anyway, I'm not here to bag on your big sister because we love her so stinkin' much {and she was super fun in lots of other ways} but just to say that we love your sweet nature and are so grateful for the peace and love you bring to our home with your calm, mellow demeanor.<br />
<br />
Your third and fourth months have been so much fun. It is such a joy to watch you grow and learn new things!<br />
<br />
Here are some highlights from the past couple of months:<br />
<br />
-You have been spitting bubbles like crazy! I don't remember this stage with Holland {although I'm sure it happened--maybe??} but it is so cute and fun! Whenever you are bored you just entertain yourself by spitting. It's pretty hilarious to watch!<br />
-You have also started "talking"/cooing a lot more. So much in fact that the other day Holland thought you said "yellow" and then proceeded to say "Don't say yellow baby sister!" Apparently the word yellow is a little offensive. Haha.<br />
-You stick your tongue out all the time and let me just tell you, you have a dang cute tongue! I didn't even know tongues could be so cute!<br />
-You LOVE it when people talk to you/around you. Whenever I am having a conversation with someone you are convinced they are talking to you and you just grin like it is the best thing ever! A few Sundays ago you were convinced the Sunday School teacher was talking JUST to you and you smiled at him for a good fifteen minutes. I guess I need to sit in the front row more often! <br />
-You have started giggling at your big sister so much more! Witnessing the two of you interact is one of the best things ever! I am grateful you like your big sister even though she is constantly smothering you in hugs and kisses.<br />
-You chew on EVERYTHING! I do remember this stage with Holland. So. Much. Slobber! Good thing you can pull off the drool face super well!<br />
-You have started bathing with your big sister while in the Bumbo {instead of showering with me} and you seem to enjoy it a bit more. Like, I mentioned, Holland is your constant entertainment so being in close quarters with her is definitely fun for you!<br />
-You are definitely getting your own look as you get older. The first couple of months you looked quite a bit like your sister but you are looking less and less like her. I think the family consensus is that maybe you have the Olmstead eyes/eyebrows? I have the hardest time seeing these things but you are definitely looking different than your big sister!<br />
<br />
I should also probably write about some of the not-so-exciting stuff just so I can remember later on:<br />
-You don't sleep through the night yet but that's probably because I spoil you and just let you half-nurse, half-sleep the second half of the night. It's easier for me to sleep and I just love to snuggle with you. <br />
-You are, however, a GREAT napper. You usually take two to three naps a day unless I mess with your schedule by leaving the house. But even if I do that you make up for the lack of one nap with a ridiculously long afternoon/evening nap. It's pretty awesome.<br />
-You have always been a great at nursing for which I am so grateful! You and Holland both never had any problems nursing {knock on wood for my future children!} and while I have never had an oversupply of milk I definitely never have to worry about supply since you have both been so stinkin' chunky!<br />
-Oooh you do have more hair than Holland had! Which has me so excited even though you are still basically a little baldie! Haha. Anyway, I love your tiny wisps of hair that blow in the wind!<br />
<br />
Some Stats:<br />
3 months- 15.5 lbs.<br />
4 months- 16.7 lbs.<br />
<br />
We love you sweet girl! You are growing up much too fast--of course--and we are just trying to soak everything in before you are walking and talking like your big sister!<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
Mom {&Dad}<br />
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Three Months</div>
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Four Months</div>
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<br />Emma Franceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939432151416489920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-63855449507380475622014-09-16T21:20:00.000-07:002014-09-16T21:20:01.713-07:00Chatting with Holland {Part 2: Featuring Cousin Madison} We have Holland's cousin Madison visiting us for the week while her parents pack and move all week long. Every day is filled with a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of crazy. I have been enjoying listening to the girls chat during meals and stuff. Most of the stuff they say makes absolutely no sense! And half the time I'm not even sure if I'm hearing them right. Anyway, I've been trying to record some of their conversations throughout the day and I thought I would put some of them up on the blog for everyone to enjoy!<br />
<br />
<b>The following conversations were from this afternoon within a ten minute period: </b><br />
<br />
H: Got this for my paint nails. {Talking about a spatula}<br />
M: It's for my paint nails.<br />
H: This one got for my paint nails. L-M-O-P Okay I need color. {Holland likes to go off on random tangents spouting parts of the alphabet}<br />
M: Hey! You color my finger nails! <br />
<br />
M: This is my finger! This one is for my toes.<br />
H: It's for my toes. Okay...<br />
M: Don't hold this! Okay?<br />
H: K... my knee! My knee! It's my knee right here!<br />
M: Got it.<br />
<br />
M: You use it first. I use that one!<br />
H: I'm using that one!<br />
And...the fighting commences. Haha. <br />
<br />
H: You can't take these away!<br />
M: You have to share!<br />
H: There's lots of books!<br />
M: I don't want them. I don't like 'em.<br />
H: You don't like them? Also, you can get down.<br />
M: No, you can't get down.<br />
H: You like this one?<br />
M: No I don't like books<br />
H: You like birdie?<br />
M: No, I don't want them.<br />
H: I can read you book?<br />
M: No I don't want them.<br />
H: This one's about a birdie. Come by me.<br />
M: No I don't want to come by you.<br />
<br />
{Holland just happened to be the peacemaker this time around...kinda. She wouldn't share in the first place and then she decided she could share her books but only by "reading them" to Madison. Haha. Madison wasn't having any of that! The girls seem to take turns being the peacemakers. They are both really sweet just also really stubborn and a little bossy towards each other!}<br />
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<b>From breakfast on Sunday morning {and the rest of the conversations are all from Sunday}: </b></div>
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H: She don't have any pants! </div>
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M: Yeah </div>
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H: It's a very hard day </div>
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M: It's a happy day! </div>
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H: I don't have any ideas! </div>
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M: Clothes? </div>
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H: No...</div>
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H: Ow! </div>
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M: Did you poke yourself? </div>
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H: Ya </div>
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*Giggles from both girls* </div>
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<br /></div>
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M: I have to burp again...see? </div>
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H: Woah! It's getting to fall! </div>
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M: It's getting to fall! You catch it! </div>
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H: I did it! </div>
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M: Ew! That's disgusting! </div>
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M: Look at that spill! </div>
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H: What? </div>
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M: Oh! Don't touch it! Did you make a mess on your cereal? </div>
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H: No! </div>
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M: What? </div>
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H: I need to feed that birdie! {Talking about the birds outside} </div>
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M: No! That's the blinds! *giggles*{Pointing out the blinds on the window...I guess thinking Holland thought they were a bird??} </div>
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H: I eat cereal! </div>
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*Giggles from both the girls that scare Irelyn so she starts crying** {She was sitting in the bumbo on the table while the girls ate breakfast and chatted} </div>
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H&M: I'm so sorry! Shh! Shh! Shh! </div>
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H: Baby sister is so crabby mommy! She's coughing! </div>
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M: You're drinking your milk! Why would you bite your spoon? </div>
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*Silly noises from both girls* </div>
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M: I burped! </div>
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H: I burp too! </div>
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M: Ewww! That's disgusting! </div>
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H: Ewww! That's isgusting! </div>
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M: That's isgusting! Is that your hair? </div>
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H: Yeah. </div>
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M: You got it on your head? </div>
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H: You can't go on my head! You can't go on my *BURP* </div>
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M: You burped! </div>
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<b>All finished with breakfast and just playing around the house: </b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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H: I need this pillow! </div>
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M: Ahh, nahh, I need another pillow! </div>
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*Giggles from both girls while sitting on the couch** </div>
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H: Jump! </div>
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M: No jumping on the couch! {Apparently some of the things we say stick...at least some of the time!}</div>
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H: I need to jump on the bed-y!</div>
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M: This is a couch! </div>
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H: This is not a couch! </div>
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H: I'm not the queen! I'm Elsa! </div>
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M: You Anna! {Of course they talk about Frozen all the time...what kind of two- and three-year-olds would they be if they didn't?!} </div>
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H: You puppy Madison? You puppy? </div>
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M: You have my puppy?! </div>
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<b>Post-nap snack conversation: </b></div>
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M: I burped! Excuse me! Ah Ah Ahchoo! Excuse me! {This whole sequence was repeated about twenty more times! Haha} </div>
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M: Is that yummy?! </div>
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H: Mmmmhmmm!</div>
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M: I don't like it! </div>
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H: Okay.</div>
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M: Did you say that?! </div>
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M: Is that chocolate milk? It smells like milk! </div>
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H: I have milk too! </div>
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M: Just like chocolate milk! </div>
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H: Chocolate milk like me! </div>
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M: I don't have any chocolate milk. </div>
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H: I don't have choc. milk. </div>
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M: Are you eating chocolate milk? Or drinking it? Chocolate milk? Let me see! </div>
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*Toots. Giggles* </div>
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M: I tooted! </div>
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{Neither one of the girls had chocolate milk. I guess it was just wishful thinking. Haha.} </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
M: Hi little baby! </div>
<div>
H: Hi little baby! </div>
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M: Peek-a-boo! </div>
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H: Peek-boo! </div>
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M: Listen to my baby ever! </div>
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H: She wanna say hi to me! </div>
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M: Peek-a-boo! </div>
<div>
H: She's saying hi to me! </div>
<div>
M: Peek-a-boo! </div>
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H: Peek-boo! </div>
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M: You're so cute!</div>
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{This was all a conversation with Irelyn} </div>
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It might be a lot of work having all three girls around but they sure are great entertainment when I take the time to just listen to them talk. It's like getting a little glimpse into what they think about/how they think. </div>
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And here are the cute faces of those silly conversations </div>
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{along with Irelyn since I just can't leave her adorable face out}! </div>
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Emma Franceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939432151416489920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-37664061940622046012014-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:002014-09-15T08:00:04.186-07:00Chatting with Holland {Prequel}So I just wrote <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2014/09/chatting-with-holland-part-one.html">this post</a> about Holland's talking nowadays but I wanted to do a little prequel to all of her talking posts to write a little bit about when she started talking and all of that fun stuff. Just for memories' sake! {The pictures are to show how much she has changed over the last year or so!}<br />
<br />
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June 2013 {just barely learning how to walk}</div>
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Holland's first words were "mama" and "dada". In no particular order...of course! And I actually can't find the dates of when she said both of these though so whoops on that one! But those were definitely her first two words. After those she learned "no" in the end of June 2013 followed by "dog" and "wow" {July 2013}. For a while those were her only few words other than signing a couple of things {"more" "all done" "eat"}. Then towards the end of October and into November she just started talking a bunch more. By the end of November {about 14 months old} she had 25-35 words that she said on a regular basis and she could also point to a bunch of her body parts {belly/belly button, toes, head, nose, tongue, ears, eyes, mouth, teeth, hair, fingers, knees, cheeks}, and she knew how to do some fun gestures {high fives, kisses, more, please, eat, bump it, blow kisses, wave}.<br />
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November 2013</div>
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Towards the end of January {2014} Race and I wrote down all of the words Holland could say one night and we ended up with over TWO HUNDRED words! It was crazy! A few of them we asked her to say but most of them were words she used on a regular basis.<br />
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February 2014</div>
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We have enjoyed Holland's talking so much over the past year. Every time she learns a new word or the correct way to phrase something it is so exciting but also a little bit sad! It is just a constant reminder that she is growing up so fast! I'm trying to write it all down so I never forget this fun phase!<br />
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September 2014</div>
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<br />Emma Franceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939432151416489920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-1828991768975594872014-09-14T21:36:00.001-07:002014-09-14T23:16:35.076-07:00Chatting with Holland {Part One}Holland has been talking for a LONG time and I have yet to document it on the blog! Recently she has gotten even more entertaining and I've been writing some of the adorable and funny things she says down and I just wanted to compile them somewhere so that they're all together instead of jotted on whiteboards, chalkboards, in my phone, in notebooks, and just all over the house. So here are some of the funny things my sweet two year old is saying these days!<br />
<br />
{E: Emma, H: Holland, M: Madison--Holland's cousin}<br />
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<u>Some examples of Holland being the absolute sweetest: </u><br />
<br />
H: I always love you so much! I can hug you!<br />
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H: Hey mommy? You wanna hold me super bad?<br />
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H: You being a princess mommy. Like soooo princess. {As she brushes my [super greasy] hair}<br />
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H: Hold me closer!<br />
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H: I wanna hold you closer.<br />
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H: I got you so closer! {As she is holding me or Irelyn or Race}<br />
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<u>Some "phone conversations" Holland has had. {With herself on her fake cell phone}</u><br />
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H: Hi Granddad! It's good to see you! I touched the water today for like....three hours! Hi! It's good to see you! {We had gone to the aquarium that day}<br />
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H: Hello daddy! It's good to see you daddy! I text my daddy! It's my daddy calling me?<br />
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H: Hi daddy! It's good to see you! I talkin' to my granddad!<br />
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<u>Loving on her baby sister: </u><br />
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H: She's done eating! Poke poke! *Kiss* {She actually said poke and didn't poke Irelyn but she did kiss her}<br />
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H: She wanna hold me so closer?<br />
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H: {While holding Irelyn's feet and making them "run"} Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Squeeeeeeze the poops out! Squeeeeeeze the poops out! {Irelyn used to poop EVERY time I changed her diaper so I used to say this to Irelyn while I held her legs against her tummy to make sure everything was out. Haha. Apparently Holland remembers that and decided to copy it recently! It cracks me up!}<br />
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H: {I don't know if this one exactly qualifies as loving on Irelyn...Irelyn was crying and this is how Holland responded} Shh shhh... It's okay baby sister! You're gonna be okay! {A little pause and then...} HUSH THE GUB BABY SISTER! HUSH THE GUB! {This is a phrase Race uses on the girls. Haha. It was so funny to see Holland respond just like me and then just like Race!}<br />
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<u>And some randoms: </u><br />
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H: I have my two heavy girls! {While carrying dolls around. I have said this about Holland and Irelyn a few times while carrying them down the stairs at our apartment complex. Haha. She picked up on it pretty fast and says it about her dolls all the time now!}<br />
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E: Are those fruit loops?<br />
H: FART loops??<br />
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H: I cried in blanket and then in bedroom. {Talking about nap time--it's hard stuff!}<br />
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H: I just spank my bum!<br />
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E: Do you know what color that is?<br />
H: ....<br />
E: It's purple.<br />
H: Oooh that's so silly!<br />
{A lot of things are "so silly" to Holland}<br />
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H: You gonna eat all the pananas {bananas} all gone? Awww that's so sad! {She randomly started calling them pananas after calling them bananas in the past. Random, but it's so dang cute!}<br />
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H: Look at your pants! They're mine! I match like you! I have pants! It matches just like mine...or yours! {Holland noticing for the first time all day that her and Madison are wearing matching pants...this was after nap time...so it had been a while!}<br />
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I love this girl of mine so much! She brings so much joy to our home every single day and she is a dang smarty pants! There will probably be more of these posts to come as I'm sure the things she says will just get more and more amusing over the next few years!Emma Franceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939432151416489920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-1602585361155904142014-09-10T13:05:00.002-07:002014-09-10T13:05:59.545-07:00We Moved. We moved for the seventh time in our four years of marriage last month {August 10th}. You would think that we would be pros at the whole moving thing by now but we're not. It's stressful and crazy every. single. time. This was our smoothest move to date though! We had family, friends, and soooo many people from both our old ward and our new ward come to help us load and unload all of our stuff. We felt so blessed to have so much help!<br />
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Over the last month I've gotten everything unpacked and have kind of started decorating things. It's a work in progress of course but this is the fastest I've ever unpacked before so I'm feeling pretty good! It usually takes me a good six months to get the final few boxes unpacked and then another six months to a year to get the house decorated. This time I was unpacked in under a month and we're about halfway done with decorating. Woot! Woot! I guess it has helped that I'm not pregnant/have a brand new baby {We moved two times while I was pregnant with Holland and then again less than a month after her birth--ridiculous!}. I just wanted to post a few pictures of our new place. It's nothing fancy but we are really loving our new apartment and making it feel like home!<br />
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I have a couple more decorating projects I want to get done but I am trying to make a trip down to IKEA first so it might be a while before things are finished. I'll post more pictures whenever that actually happens though!<br />
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In the girls' room. {Pallet bookshelves made by Patrick and Tyne}</div>
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Living room. {Cubbies made by Race, banner from Nikki}</div>
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Kitchen {ASHBY est. 2010 sign made by Amy Gregson of <a href="http://www.my3monsters.com/">My 3 Monsters</a>, whiteboard from IKEA years ago, chalkboard from a friend's wedding, tin buckets from Target}.</div>
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Aprons made by my mom, aunt, and grandma. {We LOVE these aprons for art projects and eating and just wearing around the house!}</div>
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I spent a good hour+ decorating our fridge with contact paper one of the first nights after we moved in. Race got a good laugh out of the fact that I got so distracted by this pretty, but definitely not top priority, project. He was super nice about it and helped me finish it up and I love it! I'm thinking of switching it out for some chalkboard contact paper but we shall see. I'm enjoying the bright green! {Crate from Michael's, white basket from Target $1 section, contact paper from WalMart}</div>
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We only have two drawers in our whole kitchen {ridiculous!} so these </div>
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little containers are our new "junk drawers"! </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-47429011248182095842014-09-09T20:59:00.000-07:002014-09-09T20:59:14.695-07:00Sunday Family Photos 08.17.2014These are from the first Sunday in our new <a href="http://www.mormon.org/faq/topic/church/question/ward-stake-branch">ward</a> {We moved about a month ago--I don't think I've written about that yet}.<br />
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We are loving our new apartment and the ward we moved into. Holland hasn't cried once going to nursery {!!/Knock on wood} and we are already making some new friends! We haven't always been super great at being involved in some of our previous wards and are trying to make a better effort this time around. We haven't missed a Sunday yet so that's a good start!<br />
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I really like trying to match everyone on Sundays and today I felt like it worked out particularly well so of course we had to take pictures! Holland was not in the mood at first but as soon as she knew she could show off her new cupcake toys {thanks Aunt Tyne!} she was fine.<br />
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I sure do love this family of mine!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-13660508796618840982014-07-17T11:46:00.000-07:002014-07-17T11:46:09.234-07:00Iris' Birth StoryToday I am so excited to be sharing my niece's birth story on the blog. Iris was born just three days after Irelyn and my sister Helena and I are just loving having babies so close together. To read more about that you can go <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2014/06/cuddling-cousins.html">here</a> but for now enjoy this beautiful birth story!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To my sweet sweet Iris,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have always loved hearing the story of my birth, over and over again (even though I caused my mother lots and lots of pain!) so I want to write down your birth story for you to read someday, and also as a way for me to remember everything that made it such a hard but miraculous experience. </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your due date was April 19th, the Saturday before Easter. The week before I'd had a few nights of Braxton Hicks for a few hours, and my lower back would ache, but your due date came and went with no sign of your coming. Dad and I spent the day at Ma and Pa's with his family to celebrate Easter. I had expected all along for you to be late, so I wasn't too disappointed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right around midnight the Wednesday after your due date I started feeling very mild contractions, usually about 5 minutes apart. This was more regular than anything before, so I suspected it was the real thing, but still didn't believe it yet or want to get my hopes up. I woke up my mom to let her know something was happening, and an hour or so later contacted your Gramma Cluff to let her know they were good to head down from Springerville- it looked like you were coming! By 2 am contractions were closer together, but a little shorter. When I wasn't in the bathtub (listening to Benjamin Francis Leftwich) I mostly rocked in my rocking chair, breathing through contractions. By 3 am contractions were strong enough I could talk through them but didn't want to, and the back labor had gotten much worse. Between my legs would ache and shake (the same way I remember them shaking when I went to the dentist when I was younger. So I guess just a nerves thing.) By 5 am my contractions had been consistently 2 minutes apart for a while, although still shorter than in the beginning. We gathered up last-minute things for our hospital bag and headed to the hospital. The whole drive there we listened to “All at Once” by Jack Johnson on repeat, a song that I have always thought is very soothing and relaxing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At 5:45 in triage they checked me and I was at 4 cm. They suggested I walk the halls for an hour to get me dilated further. It took the whole hour pretty much for my mom and I to walk down the hall and back. I would only get past two doors between contractions, and then I'd have to stop, lean my head against the wall, and sway and breathe through the contraction. Mom would also put pressure on my lower back throughout each contraction to help with the intense back pain. At 7:50 they checked me again- I was at 4.5 cm, you were beginning to move down, and my water was bulging right at the edge of my cervix but had yet to break. They suggested I walk for another hour, and at that point if things hadn't progressed further they would have to send me home. At this point your dad came back in to triage (they'd said at first that only one person could be in there with me), and I spent the next hour sitting on a birthing ball and leaning over the side of the bed, with Mimo and Dad constantly putting pressure on my back, and rubbing my legs to help with the aching and shaking. I didn't feel like my legs could have taken much more walking. At about 9:30 they checked me again, and I (thankfully!) was between 5 and 6 cm dilated. They started me on a round of antibiotics for Group B Strep and I was officially admitted! I remember feeling so relieved that things had progressed enough for them to not send me home. I did NOT want to get back in the car.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At some point they moved me to a delivery room, and I think I spent the next few hours mostly lying on my side on the bed. (My ability to measure the passing of time accurately during labor was a bit skewed, thankfully.) I think I was urged multiple times to labor in more vertical positions, to help you move down, so two or three times I labored in the shower with Dad for a bit, but didn't ever last very long because my legs were exhausted. Over the next few hours I just focused on breathing through increasingly strong contractions, and trying to rest in the two minutes between. At some point your Gramma Cluff arrived (with your aunts Karra, Evie, and Jessie) and joined Dad and Mimo in rubbing my legs and back and giving me verbal encouragement. I don't know what time, but eventually they checked me and I had reached 8 cm. That meant we were getting closer! But also meant time for the most painful contractions as you were making your final descent down the birth canal. After 2 or 3 hours of very intense contractions along with very painful back labor, a part of me wanted to give up. My eyes would water and I wanted to look up at my mom and tell her I couldn't do it anymore. I continued enduring contraction after contraction though, and finally decided to try a technique your aunt Emma had used three days before during her labor with Irelyn, after learning you were posterior (which they had known all along but never told me? Probably a good thing because I think that would have made me worry and made it harder to stay focused). The technique (abdominal lift and tucks) would help get you facing the right direction, which would move things along and relieve most of the back pain.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dad stood behind me and did the lift and tucks for me (I admittedly was too scared to, knowing it would make contractions even more uncomfortable), while I applied pressure to my back. After a few lift and tucks I began feeling an intense (super super intense) need to go to the bathroom with each contraction. In hindsight I realized this was feeling the urge to push, but at the time I remember just saying, "I HAVE to go to the bathroom. Get me to the bathroom" and thinking they were the most awful contractions yet. As soon as I sat down on the toilet my water broke, and probably 2 or 3 minutes later I was on the bed pushing! It was one of the best feelings I'd yet experienced, knowing very very soon I would be meeting you, my sweet baby girl. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You were born less than 15 minutes after I started pushing. Those 15 minutes were a blur. I don't remember much, but I almost right away I was told your heart rate had dropped. We needed to get you out as quickly as possible. I think after a few rounds of pushing you were crowning but weren't coming out any further. My midwife gave me an episiotomy, and you were out within seconds. Mimo says you were born with your fist by your cheek, and it looked like the cord was pinched under your arm, explaining your heart rate. I didn't get to hold you right away because you were not yet breathing, but within a minute you were breathing on your own and doing just fine. In retrospect, I realize that I could have/should have been a lot more scared and worried those last few minutes of delivery, but all I remember is feeling calm and knowing everything would be okay. I am very thankful I was able to feel that peace, because I know it wouldn't have helped any for me to freak out. I also remember feeling extremely relieved that you were here and healthy, immensely grateful for your dad and grandmas for helping me through labor, and especially thankful for our Heavenly Father. Being able to give birth to you naturally was an answer to months of prayers, and I felt the Spirit so strongly at your birth. I had never felt so close to heaven. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After about 10 or 15 minutes (I think?) they brought you over to me to hold, and you cried and cried and cried. I have no idea how long I held you for, but at some point you went back to Dad and other family, while I stayed on my back waiting for my placenta to come out. We waited for about a half hour with nothing happening, so they started me on Pitocin. A half hour later the placenta still hadn't detached. Because of the risk of hemorrhaging , we couldn't wait much longer for it to detach on its own. They gave me Stadol so I wouldn't feel anything and had the doctor manually detach my placenta. The pain killers made me very loopy, and although it didn't hurt I could still feel pressure and movement, which was really uncomfortable. I remember thinking it was worse than labor, although it definitely was not.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a dozen other things I could write about, but most of all I hope you know your birth was a special day for so many people, and you are surrounded by family that loves you very very much :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Love, </span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your Momma</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dad helping me do the lift and tucks. This was </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">probably less than 20 minutes before you were born.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Getting cleaned up and measured.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Weight: 6 lb. 6 oz. Height: 19.5 in.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our first family picture.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vNg3V5jsy00/U8gZFa9XnjI/AAAAAAAABUA/y6HaOtQJolg/s1600/10155431_583438205087599_4838762354133259121_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vNg3V5jsy00/U8gZFa9XnjI/AAAAAAAABUA/y6HaOtQJolg/s1600/10155431_583438205087599_4838762354133259121_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">You and Gramma Cluff. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TiEUe4b9MsM/U8gZFZkh-bI/AAAAAAAABTU/u3P9iqriVcQ/s1600/10175945_583438185087601_4622444110600755445_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TiEUe4b9MsM/U8gZFZkh-bI/AAAAAAAABTU/u3P9iqriVcQ/s1600/10175945_583438185087601_4622444110600755445_n.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You with your Aunt Evie. I think she may </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">have been the first person to hold you.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_k8kT9941N0/U8gZGEq_VII/AAAAAAAABTk/3__RSMYld_c/s1600/10259891_583438111754275_2061918401297903748_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_k8kT9941N0/U8gZGEq_VII/AAAAAAAABTk/3__RSMYld_c/s1600/10259891_583438111754275_2061918401297903748_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You and your Mimo.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0LKgtiz7-A/U8gZGYgdvuI/AAAAAAAABTs/o1BoW6iPtdI/s1600/10264688_583438155087604_8856913063230814006_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0LKgtiz7-A/U8gZGYgdvuI/AAAAAAAABTs/o1BoW6iPtdI/s1600/10264688_583438155087604_8856913063230814006_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">One more from the hospital.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And my most recent picture of you- almost 3 months old!</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-34587488411954882762014-07-15T01:40:00.000-07:002014-07-15T01:43:46.424-07:00Ten Tips and Tricks for Potty TrainingI want to start this off by saying that I am by no means a potty training expert. I have not even read any books on potty training so this really is just what worked for us. And honestly, Race and I mostly just attribute Holland being potty trained to her little genius-ness. Haha. We are her parents though so of course we think that!<br>
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Anyway, here's a quick rundown of some of the things that I think really helped us:<br>
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1. Get your child comfortable around the toilet.<br>
For us this meant introducing Holland to the potty months ago. I have never been weirded out by having Holland in the bathroom with me so she has seen me going to the bathroom for a long time. Around 16 months she started expressing some interest in sitting on the toilet. At the time we didn't have a potty seat so I would just help her sit on the toilet for a couple of minutes at a time. She didn't ever actually go but since she was expressing interest in the potty I decided to run with it and spend the money on a potty seat for her. I ended up getting the two below from Amazon. One for on the toilet and one for everywhere else. They are so cheap that it was affordable to buy both--thank goodness! Once we had these little potties I would have Holland sit on the toilet multiple times a week {sometimes multiple times a day if she wanted to} just to get her used to it. I made sure to always make it a fun thing and not pressure her to go or anything. Usually we would just hang out and read books for a few minutes. She only actually went to the bathroom a couple of times over the next few months but she was never scared of the potty so I called it a success and left it at that!<br>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p18LMwiaH7Q/U8TUX2EWL_I/AAAAAAAABSo/hBbNdRQTyC0/s1600/PottyTraining1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p18LMwiaH7Q/U8TUX2EWL_I/AAAAAAAABSo/hBbNdRQTyC0/s1600/PottyTraining1.jpg" height="326" width="640"></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00674S1Y0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p75_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0N9VV2D5BHE786D7CZ4V&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846">Arm & Hammer Secure Comfort Potty Seat</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0ID90A/ref=s9_simh_gw_p75_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0N9VV2D5BHE786D7CZ4V&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846">Summer Infant Lil' Loo Potty</a></div>
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2. Decide on a good time for your child/your family<br>
We had thought about potty training Holland ever since she first started showing interest in it in December but ultimately ended up deciding not to before we had Irelyn though because I had heard so much about children regressing when a new baby comes home. I knew I would not want to deal with that so I just kept things at the "getting comfortable with the potty" stage for quite a while. Once we started getting comfortable as a family of four I started to think about potty training again but then we ended up traveling/having family in town for about a month so I put it off again. I think that finding a good time where you're not going to be adding potty training to other possible life stresses is important as you really don't want potty training to be a stressful thing for you or for your child. This timing can be totally different for every family though.<br>
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3. Make sure your child can communicate well.<br>
As far as communication goes I just think that it's important that your child can communicate with you when they need to go. What I mean by this is not necessarily that they are already communicating it but more that they talk enough {or sign enough} that they are able to communicate it {use words like pee pee, poo poo, potty, etc.} and are able to answer you when you ask them if they need to use the potty. Holland was not communicating when she was going to the bathroom before we started potty training. However, she is really great at talking {another post for another time--I really want to brag about her talking skills sometime. Is that ridiculous??} and my mom had mentioned that it might help her potty train quickly whenever we decided to try. I really think that it did help because as soon as we got started and she began to recognize when she needed to go she was easily able to communicate that with us.<br>
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4. Leggings/Underwear<br>
We had a friend tell us to put Holland in underwear and leggings as we started potty training her. That way she would be able to recognize when she wet herself but it would soak up in the leggings before pooling all over the floor/furniture. I would only recommend this if you have LOTS of leggings and underwear. Luckily we did so this worked out great for us {be prepared to do a lot of laundry those first few days}! The first couple of days of potty training we went through tons of underwear and leggings but by about day three she was figuring it out and having almost no accidents.<br>
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5. Set a time period to work on potty training.<br>
So I don't know if this is super good advice or anything but I set a time period for how long I was willing to give potty training a go. I said I would give it one week. Setting a time limit helped me to not stress about whether or not it actually worked. I knew that I would be doing a lot of laundry for the next week but there was an end point if it wasn't going well. I knew that if I got stressed then Holland would get stressed as well and I really didn't want going to the bathroom to be a stressful thing for her. Luckily, Holland was potty trained within the week so that was super exciting!<br>
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6. Ask your child if they need to go to the bathroom...A LOT.<br>
So this one is pretty straight forward. Ask them if they need to go again and again and again. I try not to force Holland to go but I still ask her a lot just so that she's thinking about it. Toddlers are easily distracted so doing anything {eating meals, playing, watching a show, etc.} can cause them to forget about going to the bathroom. The bulk of Holland's accidents happen while she's eating or drawing at the table. So I just ask her if she needs to go all the time and eventually she says yes if she hasn't already told me she needs to go.<br>
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7. Rewards/Celebrations<br>
As far as rewarding Holland we just did little potty treats. When we started potty training all we had in the house was the end of a bag of marshmallows. So now marshmallows are her potty treat. In the beginning every time she went to the bathroom she would get a marshmallow and we would clap/give hugs and kisses/cheer/do a little celebration dance just to remind her how proud we were of her and to keep this whole potty training thing exciting. Now she gets a treat when she remembers and asks for it and we still cheer for her because we think she's pretty awesome! I don't think Holland is quite to the age where we are able to explain to her that once she's potty trained she'll get a new toy so we didn't even bother with anything larger than marshmallows. Which works for our budget so yay!!<br>
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8. Stay at Home!<br>
We stayed at home for the first few days of potty training just so we weren't adding the stress of having an accident out of the house. We also did this so we could solely focus on potty training. We started over a weekend which was nice because it meant I had Race's help changing all the peed clothes and doing the laundry. By the time the weekend was over Holland was starting to get the hang of things so the following week wasn't too bad! Also, try to make the time at home fun. Not getting out of the house as much can make everyone feel a little antsy so make sure you have lots of fun activities to do. And of course go on a walk around the neighborhood or whatever. I mostly just mean don't try and do any big family outings.<br>
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9. Bring a Potty with you EVERYWHERE!<br>
Once you do start leaving the house bring your portable potty with you everywhere. Public restrooms are sometimes hard to locate when you need them, they are kind of scary for little kids, and they are definitely gross. So just bring your potty in your car and have your child go before you go into the store {and/or before you leave the house} and then before you load them back into the car. We also have Holland wear pull-ups when we leave the house just as an extra precaution. She usually doesn't pee in them though and we have her change back into underwear as soon as we get home and then just re-use the pull-up for our next outing.<br>
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10. Don't Stress/Make it Exciting!<br>
I've mentioned this a few times above but this is a big one to me. I didn't want Holland to feel at all like we were forcing this on her or disappointed in her when she had an accident so I worked really hard on not getting stressed throughout this process. Show excitement every time they make it to the potty/tell you they need to go and when they do have an accident you can have them help you clean it up and talk to them about trying to make it to the potty next time but try not to show anger or disappointment. They are still young and they will get it eventually! I think potty training can be such a fun and exciting time for our little ones but not if we make it stressful. So good luck potty training and don't stress too much!<br>
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I hope this information helps someone out there! Who knows if it lines up with any books/legit parenting information out there but it's what worked for us. Holland has yet to be night time potty trained though so if anyone has any tips and tricks on that let me know! I'm all ears!<br>
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And just for fun here are some links to some super cute little girls' underwear. I want to buy ALL the underwear now!<br>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ffMxn46-9Ck/U8TliZIYaSI/AAAAAAAABS4/abwdhH_KsVU/s1600/PottyTrainingUnderpants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ffMxn46-9Ck/U8TliZIYaSI/AAAAAAAABS4/abwdhH_KsVU/s1600/PottyTrainingUnderpants.jpg" height="434" width="640"></a></div>
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The top three are ones Holland has. Find them <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carters-Girls-3-pack-Panties-4-5T/dp/B00EF57658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405411787&sr=8-1&keywords=carter%27s+girls+underwear">here</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Urparcel-Shorts-Cartoon-Trousers-Underpant/dp/B00JR22HLM/ref=sr_1_1?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1405411363&sr=1-1">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carters-Girls-3-pack-Panties-4-5T/dp/B00EF57658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405411787&sr=8-1&keywords=carter%27s+girls+underwear">here</a>. </div>
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{They are all super soft and comfy fabrics! The boy shorts are nice for under dresses just to give a little bit more coverage}</div>
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The bottom three are on my underwear wish list for Holland. </div>
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{She wants tons of underwear for her second birthday, right?? Haha.}</div>
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Find them <a href="http://www.hm.com/us/product/00156?article=00156-M">here</a>, <a href="http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=6940950022300&cid=6465">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.hm.com/us/product/00156?article=00156-M#article=00156-N">here</a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-622940312566979112014-07-13T08:30:00.000-07:002014-07-14T09:00:22.839-07:00Potty Training UpdateSo I haven't posted about potty training yet {other than on <a href="http://instagram.com/p/p-QfpMsaAv/?modal=true">Instagram</a>--kind of} so this isn't exactly an "update" but that's okay! <br />
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This video is pretty much an idea of how awesome potty training has been going!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/U7GLN1tbvPQ" width="560"></iframe>
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We are just in shock and awe at how fast Holland has picked up potty training. Sure, it meant quite a few messes to clean up and she still has an accident once every couple of days {sorry she peed on your floor Claire!} but we are just so proud of Holland and her skills at going to the bathroom like a big girl! It is so nice to be back down to just one baby in diapers!<br />
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I've had this post ready to go for a few days now but other things have come up first and it keeps getting pushed back. So of course, the day before it's supposed to go up Holland has a terrible potty training day! Haha. She had three accidents which really isn't huge in the whole scheme of things but it was her worst day since the first two days of potty training. Oh life. Anyway, we'll see how tomorrow/the rest of the week goes. And I'll have to do another update and post some of the things that have worked for us in getting her potty trained! Super exciting stuff, eh?! Anyway, happy Sunday everyone!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-52584266266138631432014-07-12T08:00:00.000-07:002014-07-12T08:00:02.253-07:00Lakeside Lavender Farm <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://clavinharper.blogspot.com/">Claire</a> and I took our girls to a <a href="http://www.lakesidelavender.com/lakesidelavenderhome.html">lavender farm</a> yesterday. It smelled absolutely amazing and was such a gorgeous place to get some pictures of our girls!</div>
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There is just so much beauty in this world Heavenly Father created. It was wonderful to be able to capture some pictures of this small part of it. </div>
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I was originally going to end this post right at the sentence above but for the sake of journaling I wanted to write a little bit more about the details of this day/week. </div>
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I love how these pictures turned out and how peaceful they look. This week has been anything but peaceful. Race has had some bad <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2014/07/anything-can-happen-man-can-have-baby.html">back problems</a> and because of that I feel like I have been running around like a crazy lady. Race has been to doctors, physical therapists, a spine specialist, and a chiropractor trying to figure out what is going on with his back and he has been on some pretty strong pain killers so the girls and I have been driving him around to all of these appointments all week. The girls have been such troopers through all of this. Irelyn sleeps tons and is pretty good in the car and Holland has been so sweet to Race. She keeps talking about how his back hurts and he has to go to the doctor. I'm sure Holland also hasn't minded eating out three times this week. Ketchup with a side of chicken nuggets might just be her favorite meal ever! </div>
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Anyway, when Claire told me about these lavender farms earlier in the week I knew I wanted to go but wasn't sure how to fit it in with everything else. I am so glad we found the time to go though. I might have been way exhausted and a little stressed while we were there but there were a few little blessings about our afternoon at the lavender farm that I want to remember:</div>
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<li>Irelyn slept in her stroller while I got some photos of Holland and then she was so sweet when I woke her up take some pictures of her {I know, I'm crazy for getting her up to take pictures!}. </li>
<li>Holland was in a good mood and let me take lots and lots of photos of her {with some marshmallow bribes}. </li>
<li>Holland didn't have any accidents while we were out and about {We bring her <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F667QNC/ref=twister_B00A1Y4DWQ">toilet</a> with us everywhere so she just goes on that in the car}!</li>
<li>And finally, I was able to enjoy some of Heavenly Father's beautiful creations. </li>
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I know that I will cherish these photos for years to come because someday my girls won't be little and things won't be this same kind of stressful and I'm sure that I will really miss this time in our lives. </div>
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Anyway that's my spiel! Now here's to a relaxing weekend {hopefully}! Happy Saturday everyone! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-68629060021505741202014-07-11T19:27:00.000-07:002014-07-11T19:39:55.676-07:00LASIK, anyone?<div style="text-align: center;">
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Please, please hold your laughter. I know this is a despicable picture. Hear me out. So, when I was in high school my parents absolutely hated the phrase "hanging out." They acted as though they thought it denoted wanton teenage sexual behavior, and probably caffeinated beverages! I was pretty clever though, and figured out that by substituting the phrase "hanging out" with the much creepier phrase "playing with my friends," I could get away with anything. I congratulated myself for being so witty, and never had a curfew all through high school when I asked "Hey, can I go play with my friends?" Then I got ahold of this picture years later, and I realized that my sharp wit had nothing to with the free reign I commanded. This picture explained my entire youth. I mean seriously- what trouble could this kid get into? Teenage pregnancy was never going to be possible for this guy, and my parents must have known it. Now, I can't blame the glasses exclusively, but I've always wanted to be rid of glasses all the same.</div>
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So, this year Emma and I talked about my options. I work at a computer, and contacts dry my eyes out particularly fast staring at a computer screen. I don't know how Emma functions for days at a time in the same contacts. She can put them in without even needing a mirror. Contacts have never been convenient or comfortable for me, and glasses are worse. So the option of LASIK came up, and with lengthy financing it became a real possibility, and I had the procedure done about 3 months ago. There are definitely pros and cons, and I think I should just say what happened, in case anyone was wondering what LASIK is like.</div>
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So I was told in advance that the procedure would take about 30 minutes, and I'd feel a little uncomfortable afterwards, and the easiest thing to do would be to take a little nap, and I'd wake up with perfect vision. So I went to get lasik done, and they laid me down on the table in this dark room and gave me a couple numbing eye drops so I wouldn't feel anything. I was laying on my back, staring up at bright lights and trying to discern the figures hovering over me, wearing medical masks and positioning the massive ominous laser machine over my face. Someone nearby started chanting "look at the blinking light, look at the blinking light..." Without warning someone started pulling on my eye, and my vision went blurry. "Look at the blinking light, look at the blinking light." I spotted the red dot flashing above me, and thought "I can handle this." Then a shot of liquid came from the side, presumably to frighten me, but it could just have been to lubricate my eye. I could feel pressure as something plastic was forced onto my eye uncomfortably, and more liquid was squirted in for good measure. "Look at the blinking light, look at the blinking light." I tightened my grip on the table, clenching my fists. I started to sweat as a strange clicking and whirring came to life right above me. Through the liquid and plastic I could make out the laser machine focused on my eye. "Look at the blinking light, look at the blinking light." I could smell something burning, and my butt cheeks clenched as smoke started to fill the air above me. Suddenly the clicking stopped, and just as the smoke cleared my vision disappeared completely- just a little squishing sound, and it was totally gone. Then the burning and clicking started up again, and more squishing. "Look at the blinking light, look at the blinking light." Right- I forgot about the blinking light. Where did it go? My vision comes back hazy, and I spot it clear off to the left... no wait, the right. Then there's like 6 blinking lights dancing every which way. More liquid sprayed onto my eye, and the plastic bits were removed with a squelching sound. One down, one to go. My knuckles were white- every muscle in my body completely tensed. I was hyperventilating as the process started all over again. "Look at the blinking light, look at the blinking light." 'click click click, buzzzzzzz.' More smoke, more burnt smells, my other eye went dark, then came back, accompanied by splashing and squishing. Did the blinking light just change colors? I was about to throw up when someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me upright. "All done, let's get you out of here." I blinked, and I could make out shapes of people around me through an impossibly thick white fog. I was ushered out the door by Emma, and into the car. Complimentary sunglasses protected my eyes as I looked around trying to decide how well the procedure had worked.</div>
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At some point on the drive home, I realized my eyes hurt. A lot. Back at the house, I popped a few ibuprofen and laid down for my recommended nap. No dice- my eyes were on fire. I couldn't tell if lasik worked because my eyes were so sensitive to light that I could barely open them, and what I could see was completely washed away by my eyes watering up. I was wiping away tears, snot and drool, moaning in pain for the better part of an hour before I finally fell asleep from exhaustion.</div>
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The next couple of weeks I was terrified of anything touching my eyes. I kept Holland at arms length, and freaked out anytime a light breeze rolled across my face, for fear it would jostle some unhealed part of my eye and cause permanent blindness. Months later, let's review. Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I can see just like I'm wearing contacts, except I'm not. Every morning when I open my eyes I can skip the obligatory fumbling around for my glasses, and I've finally done away with the nerdy glasses push-up during sports and exercise. I love lasik, and it's totally worth it. Every time I see the trees or mountains of Idaho off in the distance, with beautiful clarity, I'm grateful for my new eyes. In many ways I compare lasik to Jesus' capacity to heal blindness. It's magical, and I can't believe anyone figured out this was possible. I'm looking forward to a couple of decades without glasses or contacts- hopefully they'll be the most active years of my life, and that's exactly why I chose not to wait until it was more affordable.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-83236724736945445772014-07-11T08:00:00.000-07:002014-07-11T08:26:49.402-07:00Fourth of JulyOur Fourth of July was absolutely wonderful! We spent it with our good friends <a href="http://clavinharper.blogspot.com/">Claire and Devin</a> and their family. We are so grateful they invited us to spend the weekend with them since we didn't have any plans! We had so much fun going to the small town parade {Holland and Irelyn's first parades!}, eating yummy food, going out on their boat, watching fireworks. and just hanging out with great company!<br>
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Holland and Ava at the parade! {Thanks for the picture Claire!!}</div>
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Race, Holland, and Ava playing in the grass {Thanks Claire!!}</div>
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Playing at the river. It was so fun watching Holland spin and dance in this gorgeous lighting!</div>
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I could stare at Irelyn's beautiful eyes all day long. Also, I love the fist sucking stage!</div>
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I accidentally stumbled upon the camera settings that create these awesome silhouette photos and I'm in love. I wish I had had Race take some of Holland and I!</div>
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Headed out on the boat to watch the fireworks! {Thanks again Claire!!}<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6a8NEbr2ge0/U7rB0yGvuKI/AAAAAAAABNk/7iBqJJYglzI/s1600/DSC_0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6a8NEbr2ge0/U7rB0yGvuKI/AAAAAAAABNk/7iBqJJYglzI/s1600/DSC_0161.JPG" height="428" width="640"></a></div>
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I attempted some firework photos but they didn't work out very well since I didn't have a tripod AND I was on a boat. I am excited to try again next year though! </div>
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I am so grateful for this wonderful country we live in and for the freedoms that we enjoy! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-28316340093537837902014-07-10T09:00:00.000-07:002014-07-10T09:00:04.379-07:00My Girls<div style="text-align: center;">
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These girls make me so happy. And I love making them giggle. Irelyn isn't quite to the giggling stage but Holland is teaching her so I'm sure she'll be giggling soon enough! I love that these girls are starting to have a relationship! </div>
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Here's a little video of the three of us hanging out! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-63842789202956847602014-07-08T23:38:00.002-07:002014-07-08T23:38:39.729-07:00Anything can happen- a man can have a baby!OK, so maybe that's stretching the truth a little bit. Actually, that's a quote from Emma's little cousin. The kid asked his mom a question, and when the answer was 'yes,' he got pretty excited and said "Anything can happen! A man can have a baby!" I wasn't even there, but the quote is pretty great. Also, just so you're not confused, it's Race speaking :) I post far too infrequently on here, but I love Emma's blog and everything she puts into it, and the pictures that she posts and the insights she has. We talk about most of her posts, so even though you don't often hear from me, I'm Emma's biggest fan. So, what's with the 'man can have a baby' quote?<br />
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Well, for the last couple of weeks, I'm pretty sure I've come as close as a man can come to experiencing childbirth. It started about a month ago, when I went white water rafting with my brother-in-law Patrick, and some friends from work. We had a fantastic time, and the river was running higher than I've ever seen. We were just coming down the last couple miles of the south fork of the Payette river in central Idaho when the biggest rapid I've ever seen sucked us under. The next couple minutes are a little fuzzy- I remember gulping in air as soon as I finally broke the surface of the river, and being scared to exhale, because I wasn't sure when I'd get another breath. We survived, and the only casualties were two of the rafting paddles. We were euphoric afterwards- like we cheated death, and I was laughing and joking and relishing the memory of a great rafting trip.<br />
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This is the exact spot that we got sucked into the river. Apparently somebody named Brent died here? </div>
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South Fork of the Payette River, Idaho</div>
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The river was running an impressive 6000 cubic ft/sec of water.</div>
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The next day, I was feeling pretty stiff, but that was to be expected. Everything happened so fast, I very well could have hyperextended my spine, or hit some large rocks, or gotten twisted around funny... I wasn't sure, and I'm a 26 year old kid, so I figured I'd just take a couple Ibuprofen and be healed in a day or two. Well, after a week with a mildly stiff back, I realized there was an added twinge of pain in there. Right in the center of my spine, I felt a little bite of pain when I twisted to check my blind spot driving in the car. The worst was checking my blind spot while hunched over on my motorcycle on my daily 20 minute commute to and from work.<br />
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At some point, I realized that every day my back hurt a little worse, and a little worse, and a little worse. Then one day, I woke up and realized I had crossed the line. I was in genuine, debilitating pain. The next day, it was even worse. I went to my doctor, who ordered a few x-rays of my spine. He couldn't find anything structurally wrong with it, so he concluded it was a muscle problem, and referred me to a physical therapist. I started physical therapy, but the next day my back hurt so badly I couldn't wait until my next session, and went to see a chiropractor. The chiropractor tried to give me an adjustment after a look at my x-rays, but the next day presented a new kind of pain- spasms. By this point the back pain was at like a 5 or 6 out of 10 on the pain scale, but the spasms were an instant 10 out of 10. Fortunately they only lasted for 2 or 3 seconds at a time. I persevered with the physical therapy and chiropractic visits, and every day was more painful. Spasms became more frequent. Today, I was supposed to be watching Holland while Emma got a haircut. Emma said she'd take the baby, and Holland would nap, so I could just lay there and relax my back. Right about the time that Holland woke up from her nap a series of muscle spasms struck so hard I couldn't stand. I collapsed onto the floor and started screaming and crying and gagging. I couldn't breathe, and I was scaring Holland. That beautiful little girl gave me a sweet little kiss, told me it was going to be ok, took off her own pull-up panties, and pooped on her little training toilet like the little adult she is. When Emma walked in the door I was still screaming. Emma is a true champion among wives- she managed to clean up Holland, load the car, and drag me into the passenger's seat and drive me to the nearest emergency room. Now, I have bottles of painkillers, muscle relaxers, and other drugs I can't pronounce. I was given a shot of morphine straight to the muscle, and I'm at my absolute limit. I'm floating between a narcotic-induced haze and 9 out of 10 on the pain scale, without even a diagnosis in sight.<br />
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The comparison to having a baby is a little bit of a joke, but I have noticed some similarities. When I can't breath, it sounds just like labor breathing- rapid and shallow. When the muscle spasm hits, I sound just like I'm having a contraction, and I'm willing to bet the pain is on par with a particularly violent contraction. I'm constantly asking Emma to do little things for me that I can't get up to do for myself, and it feels like the tables have really turned from a few months ago, when Emma was at her most pregnant.<br />
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This experience is ongoing, and I have no idea when or how this will get fixed. It's significant for a lot of reasons, which I think are important enough to list, because these are genuine life lessons I don't know how I would have experienced otherwise.<br />
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<li>I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've cried, for any reason, since getting married to Emma. None of them were because of physical pain. In the last couple of days, I've felt like I was back in elementary school, crying because I have no way to cope with it how I'm feeling.</li>
<li>I can definitely count on one hand the number of times I've had a <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/priesthood-blessing?lang=eng">priesthood blessing</a> since getting married to Emma. None of them were because of physical pain. I'm so grateful for the blessing I was given by some members of my church a couple days ago. From the start of this pain, I wanted so badly to turn to God for help, but sometimes crying out to God in a moment of crisis almost demands an instant reply, and I think God rarely delivers instant replies. This blessing helped validate my need for God to respond to my pleas in my moment of crisis, which is a rare and valuable spiritual experience.</li>
<li>Ever since this pain started preventing me from doing everyday chores around the house, I've been noticing just how much Emma was already doing for our family, and how much more she's taking on now that she has 3 babies to care for, instead of the usual 2. She is truly an inspiration, and I can't imagine going through any of this without her. I've been so vulnerable in front of her throughout this process, physically pathetic and crying all the time. It speaks volumes that I can trust her enough to be this weak in front of her, and that she doesn't betray that trust by making me feel like less of a husband or father just because I'm prevented from fulfilling those duties right now. I've never loved her more than right now, when I'm about sniffing back tears and biting my tongue through the 50th muscle spasm since I started typing this post.</li>
<li>My little girls mean the world to me. Every glance of Holland's smile has been fiercely precious to me over the last few days. Every little grunt Irelyn snorts out reminds me that I would give up anything to be healthy enough to hold them close to me. To help Holland potty train, and cradle Irelyn as she smiles up at me. Being unable to even stand today brought about a dozen missed opportunities to be there for my girls, and when I'm healthy again, I don't want to waste a second of life ignoring them or letting them down.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-80004377884870434522014-07-08T08:30:00.000-07:002014-07-08T08:30:14.981-07:00Irelyn's Blessing: The Small Details Irelyn's blessing day was so beautiful. You can read about that <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2014/07/irelyns-blessing-day.html">here</a>. Some of the things that made it so special were the little details about her dress and outfit so I wanted to give those things their own post.<br />
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Irelyn's dress was made by my mom out of the shirt Race wore on our wedding day. </div>
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Front</div>
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Back {with original buttons from Race's shirt}</div>
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The original tag from Race's shirt sewn into the bottom of the dress. </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Her itty bitty ring is from my sister-in-law Amber and I bought the bracelet to match it {I now wear the ring on a necklace with the girls' initials that my sister-in-law Nikki gave me}. </span></div>
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Her shoes are ones that my mom bought when she was a teenager, saved for her daughters to wear, and then passed on to me. I love them! </div>
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I love the tradition of baby blessings and I love having so many little details that carry family history with them.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-6790978100809725532014-07-07T09:00:00.000-07:002014-07-07T09:00:05.280-07:00Irelyn's Blessing DayWe were able to bless our sweet Irelyn Sage Ashby while we were in Oregon for a family reunion {June 22, 2014} and it was such a wonderful day! It was so special having both of my grandpas in the circle as well as my dad, one of my uncles, and a few of my brothers. Race gave Irelyn such a beautiful priesthood blessing to start off her life here on this earth. I am so grateful for the <a href="http://www.mormon.org/faq/topic/priesthood">priesthood</a> and for my amazing family. Here are some pictures from the day! <br />
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Irelyn on her special day. </div>
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{A post with details on her outfit will be coming soon!}</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V2dByI_uTBU/U7oZHWTKb-I/AAAAAAAABME/veRDakfVXR8/s1600/IrelynBlessingDay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V2dByI_uTBU/U7oZHWTKb-I/AAAAAAAABME/veRDakfVXR8/s1600/IrelynBlessingDay.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a>Ashby family of four!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAA1zMpxEgc/U7oZF0K8XII/AAAAAAAABL8/Fq1GyZ5aTLw/s1600/AshbyBlessing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAA1zMpxEgc/U7oZF0K8XII/AAAAAAAABL8/Fq1GyZ5aTLw/s1600/AshbyBlessing.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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Race and his girls. </div>
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Me and Irelyn </div>
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My cousin, my mom bribing the kids with candy, my brother and sister-in-law and niece. </div>
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My sisters with Irelyn, my aunt with my nephew, and my sister with her sweet baby girl. </div>
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With my Olmstead grandparents! So glad my grandpa was able to be a part of Irelyn's blessing day and so grateful to my grandma for arranging a brunch for everyone afterwards!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-76880869574299596222014-07-06T09:17:00.000-07:002014-07-06T09:17:54.789-07:00Jumping on the Bed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-69053358396159474432014-06-28T17:34:00.000-07:002014-09-16T22:10:29.831-07:00Dear Irelyn: One and Two MonthsDear Irelyn,<br />
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I had a one month post for you in my drafts that just never got finished. So now you are two months old and I'm just going to combine the two!<br />
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Your first month you were just about the gruntiest baby ever. Because of that you gained the nicknames Grunt-a-babe and Little Baby Grunting {among others}. You have since grown out of that and I have to say that I miss it quite a bit!<br />
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It's also important to note that you have taken a binky since the very start and have even taken a bottle {twice}! Your big sister never did either of these things so we're feeling pretty lucky!<br />
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During your first month you pooped almost every time I got your diaper open. It was crazy! It didn't matter if you had just pooped or I was just changing a pee diaper or anything! You were bound and determined to poop every time your diaper was off! Cleaning up baby poop isn't the best job but you always just looked like it felt soooo good to get it all out so I just couldn't help but laugh every time this happened! We sure did A LOT of laundry that first month! It was extra funny because Holland NEVER pooped or peed on us while we were changing her and then you came along and decided you needed to make up for her perfect record in the first couple of weeks! You are now past that stage and have only pooped two days in the last two weeks! Which is a whole new adventure. I'm always trying to figure out how many extra outfits I'll need to pack since your "poop day" means there will be A LOT of poop when it does finally come. Haha. You chose the day we drove back to Idaho to poop {and amazingly didn't get any poop on your carseat} and then your blessing day. But, being the little angel that you are you pooped after your blessing and even after you were out of your dress! Haha. So neither of those ended up being too disastrous--thank goodness! I'm sure we have many more poop adventures to come though. And I'm sure you'll be thrilled that I've recorded them all for you! ;)<br />
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This last month you traveled to Arizona and Oregon. On those drives you passed through Nevada and Utah as well. So you have been in five states now! You did wonderful in the car and sleeping in weird places and having your schedule messed up every couple of days. You really are such a mellow baby which has been a wonderful blessing!<br />
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You have been smiling for a while now but you smile at us more and more every day. I love to get you smiling and cooing at me. Your cooing {or talking} is just about the sweetest thing I have ever heard! You are almost starting to laugh. Sometimes we can get one little tiny giggle out of you and it's adorable! I think you'll be laughing pretty soon! You absolutely love to be talked to and are even starting to enjoy having Holland get up in your face...sometimes. Haha. She can still be a little overwhelming! I can't wait to see you girls develop your relationship over the next few months and then years though.<br />
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You are just such a joy to have around. Being a <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2014/05/mother-of-two.html">mom to two</a> definitely has its hard days and we just got home from being with family for the past month so I'm sure we have lots of adjustments to make but we really are so happy to have you as a part of our family!<br />
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Some Stats:<br />
One Month: 11 lbs.<br />
Two Months: 13 lbs.<br />
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And of course some pictures!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-1036410018412262392014-06-24T18:10:00.002-07:002014-06-24T18:14:00.442-07:00Happy Chaos: Gelsey's 12th Birthday PartyBeing home in Arizona with my family is always a little bit crazy. There are eleven grandchildren (and one on the way) under the age of four and all of those grandkids other than Holland and Irelyn live within about fifteen minutes of my parents' house. Whenever we come down it is a nonstop party!<br />
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I always want to capture the chaos that ensues when we are all hanging out but I never feel like photos capture it just right (my sister pointed out that pictures don't include noise and that could be why--haha). Nonetheless I wanted to post some pictures from my youngest sister's 12th birthday a couple of weeks ago. We all had a blast eating pizza, swimming in the pool, and just hanging out! I only got pictures of the hanging out part but it's my favorite part anyway!<br />
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Mimo with two of her eleven grandchildren {these girls were fighting over her the whole time I was visiting!} and some other happy chaos. </div>
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The birthday girl {she had a lot of help blowing out candles and opening presents}!</div>
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Some random cute faces of some of my very favorite people!</div>
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Our wide staircase being used as extra seating.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796079724676804720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217911430356033182.post-23793212079101764262014-06-19T06:27:00.002-07:002014-06-19T06:27:31.971-07:00Cuddling CousinsMy sister Helena and I found out we were pregnant within a couple of weeks of each other. Helena found out first but I was actually due first. Our babies' due dates April 13th and April 19th. At first it was so exciting to be pregnant at the same time and due so close together. But then we realized a couple of not so great things about it: 1. We couldn't swap maternity clothes and 2. My mom wouldn't be able to come to Irelyn's birth. Despite the less-than-ideal timing we really enjoyed being pregnant at the same time, we were thrilled to find out we were both going to have girls{!!!}, and I came to terms with the fact that my mom wouldn't be able to be with me during Irelyn's birth {And luckily, I was blessed with an absolutely wonderful birth experience! Read about it <a href="http://randeashby.blogspot.com/2014/04/irelyns-birth-story.html">here</a>}.<br />
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Then we both had our sweet babies just three days apart!<br />
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Irelyn 4.21.2014</div>
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Iris 4.24.2014 </div>
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Turns out having our babies this close together is pretty awesome!<br />
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I was able to go down to Arizona {Thank you Angus, Jes, Race, and Mom for working this out!} for a couple of weeks to visit family and get these sweet babies together and then Helena has been up in Idaho for the past week! It has been so fun to have this time together with our new baby girls so that they can develop the best cousin bond from the very beginning! Haha. Mostly though, I have absolutely loved seeing my sister become a mom. I love seeing her cuddle and rock and whisper sweet things to Iris to calm her down. I love being able to see the many sacrifices Helena is willing to make for her sweet girl and I absolutely love seeing how much she loves being a mom even though it is so hard at times. I'm not the best with words {in writing or talking} so I don't feel like I'm getting all of this out quite the way I want to but I always want to remember what a wonderful experience it has been for me to witness this transition in my sister's life. I am so grateful that through the births of our baby girls our bond as sisters has grown even stronger and I can't wait to watch these girls grow up together {Hopefully eventually we'll all live a bit closer}!<br />
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So here's to sweet cuddling cousins! I love both of these girls so so much!<br />
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