Happy Chaos: Gelsey's 12th Birthday Party

Being 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!

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!

Mimo with two of her eleven grandchildren {these girls were fighting over her the whole time I was visiting!} and some other happy chaos. 

The birthday girl {she had a lot of help blowing out candles and opening presents}!

 Some random cute faces of some of my very favorite people!

Our wide staircase being used as extra seating.

Holland's Sixth Month in Instagrams

Holland's Sixth Month consisted:

Chewing on binkies as toys but still refusing to actually use one or take a bottle.

Showing me her toys.

 Watching Dad play the piano. Much more interesting than watching herself in the mirror apparently!

Cuddling with Dad. 

Making funny faces at me!

Chewing on an apple--her favorite food and pretty much the only food she eats!

A ride in the laundry basket with cousin Madison!

The cutest naked babe!

She loves to play cousin Madison's piano and makes the funniest faces while doing it!

 Looking so grown up!

 Move in day! I found Holland's mobile from my sister-in-law and Holland LOVES it!

Playing on the floor while I try to organize her new room!

Holland started taking baths again instead of showers with me.

Wearing hats while playing is the best!

A toy set from Mimo for Holland's half birthday!

Matching!

My birthday!

You can never have too many bows! ;]

Valentine's Day 

Race's Birthday!

I love birthdays! Race's was this last Sunday {St. Patrick's Day} and we had a fun little celebration with friends and family. I also got to surprise Race with the gift that he had been telling me he wanted for the past oh, four months! He brought it up about a billion times the week before his birthday and I had him convinced that I had decided it wasn't worth the money so I just got him other stuff for his birthday! I had actually ordered the present {a fancy leather jacket} online but I didn't think it would make it here in time for his birthday. So I wrapped a shirt from Target in a box with a picture of the leather jacket underneath the shirt and a note that I had ordered it BEFORE he started bringing it up this week to say he wanted it. After I had wrapped the shirt the jacket actually got here in time for his birthday so I got to wrap it as well! I made sure to have him open the shirt from Target first. His first surprise was that I had already ordered the jacket! He was talking about how cool the jacket was and telling everyone why it was such an exciting gift and then I had him open the jacket and he was super surprised! Aaand I got a video of it. Maybe it's not cool to anyone other than me but here it is anyway!



Happy Happy Birthday to my favorite person in the world! I'm glad I could make your dreams come true! You are the best husband and father and I am so grateful for all that you do! I love you Race Husbandface!

Meet Our Baby Girl {Previously Known as 'Le Bump'}!

Holland Sailor Ashby

08.15.2012

12:16 PM

8 lbs. 8 oz.

20.5 inches long

She made us wait a whole two extra weeks to meet her 

but it was so worth it. We are in love! :)

Hopefully soon I will find the time {and energy} to write all about our crazy, exciting birth experience. It was not at all what we had planned or expected but we have our baby girl and that's what's most important! We love being parents! {And Race is seriously the best. dad. ever. I love watching him with his baby girl!}

Birthday Post!

Race turned 24 on St. Patrick's Day and I'm just getting around to writing about it! I thought it was a fun, relaxed birthday! Here's how it all went down!

Friday night we started off the celebrations by going to dinner at NiMarco's Pizza in Flagstaff. My brother Knowlton, sister-in-law Jasmine, and Race's sister Teal treated Race and I to dinner. It was delicious! And we got to hang out with our fun families. After dinner we headed home to watch a movie and just hang out for the evening.

Saturday morning I woke up an hour before Race, changed his alarm time so he wouldn't wake up before I was ready for him to, and headed out to the store to pick up some stuff. When I got back my sister-in-law and I put streamers all over the door so he would have to run through them when he came out. I also bought a bunch of balloons in his favorite color {and the color of St. Patrick's Day}!

Race took his dear sweet time coming out of our room so I sat on the floor outside our door for about twenty minutes waiting to take pictures of him when he came out. He showered, talked to his sister on the phone, and got completely ready for the day before coming out to see his birthday surprise. Silly boy!! Once he finally made it out Race, Knowlton, Jasmine, their baby Edmond, and I all headed to IHOP for Race's FREE birthday breakfast. Free stuff is the best!

After breakfast Jasmine and I dropped the boys off to watch a movie while we took the baby to have some girl time and do some shopping. I got Race some more birthday presents and then we headed back to our apartment. The boys were just finishing up the movie and then it was time for video games for the boys and naps for the girls/Edmond. I woke up a few minutes before our dinner plans to get Race's cake ready. Race doesn't really do cake for his birthday though so I made him the dirt pudding he asks for every year. It was delicious and pretty easy! In fact, I'll have to post the recipe one of these days!

Once dessert was ready we headed to Panda Express {probably Race's all time favorite restaurant} and picked up dinner. Then we had everyone over to our apartment to eat, open presents, sing to Race, and enjoy some dirt pudding. We ended the night with another movie and it was a perfect end to a relaxing birthday.

Also, I just realized that Race and I don't have very many pictures together. We're gonna work on that! It was so fun to spend the day focusing on Race and making his day just what he wanted. We didn't do anything crazy exciting but it still turned out to be a lot of fun. I can't believe that next year on Race's birthday he will have a cute little girl to help him celebrate! We will make sure to dress her in lots of green and I'm sure they will both enjoy cuddles and hugs and kisses on his special day! I'm grateful for my handsome man and all that he does for me and for our little one. He is going to be the best dad!!

And finally, come back tomorrow to introduce yourselves! I have gotten some new followers recently and I don't know if I've made it out to all of your blogs to say hi but I want to. So come back, leave me your link, answer some questions about yourself, and all that good stuff! Have a Happy Monday everyone!

Oh, and you didn't think I'd leave without showing off my bump, did you?!
Recently I feel like 'le bump' has really exploded! What do you think?
Also, I am brushing my teeth in this picture. {This was the morning after seeing the midnight showing of Hunger Games so I was in a bit of a rush but had to take pictures of le bump still!}

You've Waited Long Enough!

Here's  the announcement you've all been waiting for! The one we waited 20 weeks to find out! But first some quick bump pics from the day of the ultrasound!

It doesn't really look like there's a bump in this pic but that's just cause the floral hides it really well from this angle. Haha. It's there, I promise! 

And now, here's the announcement of.....

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We are incredibly excited to be having a girl! We were actually told at our first ultrasound that there was an 85% chance we were having a girl so I was super nervous since that's what I've been thinking our baby was for the past couple of months. And my mum has already bought TONS of baby girl things. The whole ultrasound I thought I was seeing little boy parts but I was never even looking at the right part of the body. Haha. We would have been thrilled either way though. Of course! We are just happy to know what we are having and start really planning and trying to think of names! Wish us luck! :]

The rest of this weekend has been filled with birthday celebrations for Race's 24th birthday. We had family in town to stay at our new apartment and we relaxed and ate lots of yummy food! I'll update more about all that later this week! 

The next couple of days we will be enjoying an extended spring break and the foot plus of snow we have been watching fall out our window all day. It is gorgeous!

I hope you all are having a FABULOUS Sunday! 

Home for the Weekend!

Race and I are heading down to the valley to spend the weekend with my family. I am going to relax and enjoy my birthday doing who knows what! I don't really care what we do I'm just glad to be getting away from school and work and getting to spend some time with a bunch of my favorite people {and a bunch of adorable babies}! Race sent me this picture of what I'm guessing are some birthday presents for me...I don't even know when he has had the time to go shopping! He has been working his butt off and studying like crazy all week. I hope this weekend will be relaxing for him as well.

Anyway, I am grateful for my sweet, thoughtful husband and for a weekend to relax.

I hope you all have fun this weekend and I'll see you back here next week! 

Happy Birthday Dad Ashby!

This weekend will be spent celebrating my Father-in-Law's 60th Birthday!! EVERYONE is coming up to Flagstaff and today we are heading to Out of Africa. It's going to be a lot of fun! I wanted to share a little bit of a gift that Race and I got to be a part of. My sister-in-law Tyne found an awesome idea on Pinterest where you gather 60 memories for the past 60 years. I wrote a memory and Race wrote in a TON of memories. I thought that I would share some of them on here because they are just that special.


Here is mine:


Dear Dad, 

I don't remember exactly when this was but it was probably pretty soon after Race and I were engaged. We had spent the weekend in Show Low with family and as we were about to leave you gave me a big hug, kissed me on the forehead, and said "I love you." I remember feeling an overwhelming love for you and being so excited to be a part of the wonderful Ashby family. I look forward to that hug and kiss on the forehead every time I see you Dad! Thanks for making me feel so included in your family! I love you! Happy Birthday!! 

Love, Emma Frances Ashby 

Here are some of my favorites that Race wrote: 

How on earth can EVERYTHING under the sun be related to a math problem?! “Dad, can I drive the BMW? I don’t know Race… this sounds like a math problem to me…” “Dad, how do you spell ‘biology’? Well Race, where’s your calculator?” “Dad, do these cookies taste o.k.? Tell you what Race, get me a piece of paper and a pencil…” “Dad, should I add a few more boxes of cereal to this cart? Add… subtract… whatever it takes.”

Dad is kind of an artist. Like when I was really little, and Mom wanted me to be the Phantom of the Opera for Halloween. I don't know how long it took Dad to make my Phantom mask, but he sculpted it like he had made a career out of paper mache mask masking. Every detail, right down to the left nostril hole added at the last minute with a sharp pencil, remind me that Dad took his job seriously- no just as chief costume designer, but also as my Dad.

I've been called the "cookie doctor" in our family, and the title is well deserved. I've wasted more sugar and flour than anyone I've ever met in an effort to perfect every cookie recipe under the sun. I'd be working on something I'd found in Grandma's old recipes- some cookie-delicacy I was sure would impress the whole family, and Dad would wander into the kitchen and ask something goofy like "why aren't those chocolate chip cookies?" I know I inherited my love of cookies from Dad, but in his eyes, there is only one kind of cookie; chocolate chip. Anything else is practically a vegetable.

We've all probably changed our "favorite movie" a hundred times. Not Dad. He has one favorite movie; Matilda. Teal and I can weave movie lines in and out of any conversation, but we learned all that from Dad, who can't talk about cameras without asking if you know how to "adjust the eyepiece," or spell the word "difficulty" without shouting "why are all these women married?!"

I remember playing soccer as a kid- I was never the best on the team, or the most coordinated. I did get a lot of playing time though. I could say that was because Dad was my coach, and it would be true, but not for the reasons you might think. Having Dad as my coach made me want to work hard. I wanted to show him I could play soccer well, because he liked soccer. I wanted to show him I could run fast, because he liked to run. Dad watching me has always made me push myself to do better- without saying anything he made me want to try harder in high school sports, academically, and as a worker. Dad’s not watching me all the time anymore, but just thinking about him still has that effect of making me want to do the best I can. And while I’m pretty sure Dad was never impressed with my bicycle kick in little league soccer, I’m glad he coached my team then.


I remember singing the primary song “I’m so glad when daddy comes home.” Dad was in Korea, and he would be coming home soon, so I really worked on getting the words and hand motions right; including the whole “pat his cheeks and give him what? A great big kiss!” part. I remember exactly where I was and how I felt when I saw him. No matter how long it had been, or how young I was, I remember when Dad came home. And I made sure I got that hug and kiss just like the song said.


{How cute are Race's stories? And isn't he an absolutely wonderful writer? I think so!}

{This is both sides of the family at our wedding. I don't have super good pictures of Dad Ashby and Race and I anywhere. I'll have to get some of those this weekend!}


So many wonderful memories of such a wonderful father. :] I loved this gift idea and I loved learning more about my father-in-law. He really is a wonderful person! Happy Birthday Dad Ashby!! 


{Today I am grateful for my in-laws! They are all such wonderful people. I gained an absolutely wonderful family when I got married!}

Happy Birthday!

I am at the hospital right now. Baby Edmond (my brother Knowlton and sister-in-law/best friend Jasmine's baby) was born at 1:41 am. He weighs 7 lbs. 14 oz. and is 20 inches long. He is adorable! I'm trying to let my brother and sister-in-law sleep while I cuddle with the cute new baby! :) I am in love!






















Is that not the most adorable, bright red angry face you've ever seen?!








Edmond is probably already noticing that Aunt Emma is weird. Haha. Photoshoot!!

Missing Them

I have mentioned quitting my job a couple of times in the past few posts and I wanted to talk about that a little bit. I quit without giving two weeks notice and I have my reasons behind that {If anyone wants to hear the whole story just email me at emsmiles {at} hotmail {dot} com...it's a long story}. Because of this I was not able to say goodbye to the sweet children that I spent the last eleven months taking care of. I miss them like crazy and that is my one regret about not giving two weeks notice. I was going through pictures on my phone and I just wanted to do a post about these wonderful kids who I loved and drove me crazy all at the same time. For those of you who don't know I was nannying for a family of nine children with the youngest being one-year-old triplets. It was a very hard job but also very rewarding as I was able to watch these kids grow and learn every day. There were obviously things that eventually made the job too stressful and hard that I really felt like I needed to get away and find something new to do but that does not mean that I do not love those children and miss them like crazy! So here is a post to help me say goodbye to the sweet Wesche children! {I don't think I have pictures of everyone but I sure do have lots of pictures of the triplets since I spent the most time with them}

Be prepared for a photo overload! {This is maybe a quarter of all the photos I have of these cute kids on my phone} Also, the captions will be below the photos.

Maggie and Grace doing a photo scavenger hunt in the woods.

Maggie and Grace doing stunts with me :) They were also pro swing dancers and gymnasts!

One of the first of hundreds of walks with the triplets.

Playing at the mall.

Cute Nick with the girls.

Finding ways to amuse the girls and keep them out of trouble for a little bit. Cue the blue cups as noise makers!

Cute faces!

Cuddles!

After one of Nick's baseball games. Playing in the field.

Playing at the park and in the backyard.

School plays :)

Birthdays and graduations.

The babies' first time at the zoo!

Going to Build-A-Bear :)

Cute jammies and attitude!

Cute hairdos

Shopping with Tommy for his confirmation clothes :)

Maggie with her broken arm.

Ice cream for turning two!

Happy Second Birthday!!

I know they are mostly of the triplets but I love and miss all of the Wesche kids! They were such a big part of the last year of my life. I spent hours with them, doing the girls' hair, bathing the babies, going to the park, going to the mall, cuddling, reading thousands of books to these kids, helping with homework, and so so much more! I was there when Maggie broke her arm and I rushed her to the hospital while holding her hand the whole way there, I was there for birthdays and graduations, bad days and good days, I held kids while they cried and found ways to make them laugh and I giggled with them at all kinds of silly things. It was a lot of work and I am sad to be done but it has been a good thing for me and for my marriage. These kids will always be close to my heart and I hope that they always remember the love I have for them. Goodbye Wesche's! I love you kids!!