Halloween 2010

Ashlyn and I had a battle over costumes this year. She won of course, but I settled for 2nd place by getting her to wear my favorite costume on Saturday just for pictures. She was sooooo cute!! Well, she's always cute, but she really made this costume work. Here they are:

On Halloween she won the battle and made BOTH of us dress up as Pink Princesses. She absolutely LOVED this costume. However, finding an adult Princess costume that wasn't too revealing or too expensive left me wearing something that appeared to be more of a glorified nightgown than a costume. Oh well, it worked, and she was happy that I dressed up with her this year. I'm hoping for something a little more fun next year...and warmer too!

We had a great time at her Papa and Nana's (my dad and step-mother) trick or treating. There were a ton of kids out and about and she made most of the journey without complaint. As the night went on and the wind continued to pick up, Papa did have to carry her for the last leg of our journey. However, she perked right back up when we got back to their house and she got 400 pieces of candy in her.

Papa, Nana, Princess Ashlyn and Gizmo

I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween!!

If you need candy...we have PLENTY!!

Updates and Halloween

We visited Children's Mercy Hospital on Monday and after a few tests we have been told that Ashlyn has an "innocent murmur". The doctor said it's so mild they wouldn't even track it. She doesn't have any restrictions or worries. She said it should not cause her any problems and it's possible she may even outgrow it. So THAT was terrific news!!!

Now on to the fun stuff....

We (my mom, Ashlyn and myself) visited a huge pumpkin patch on Saturday. We wandered around searching for 2 perfect pumpkins for carving. Ashlyn was more intrigued by the gourds with the weird bumpy things all over them. For $5.00 for 10 of them, I was okay with this as well, although I don't know what you do with 10 of them. She picked out 4 or 5. Then she picked out 2 small pumpkins for decorations and the search was back on for the perfect carving pumpkins.

We finally found the perfect pair and made our way back to pay for them when Ashlyn spotted a small hay bale tunnel she could crawl through. She started in but it was pretty dark in there and it was so short that there was no way I could walk through there without crawling on my hands and knees. I didn't really have the right clothes on for that little adventure. We paid for our pumpkins and headed back to the car when she gave the tunnel a 2nd thought. As we walked by another little boy walked by with his family and Ashlyn invited him to crawl through the tunnel with her. I should have taken a picture because he didn't hesitate and off they went. I could hear giggling in the tunnel but couldn't see a thing. Finally she popped out the other side and decided to go through the tunnel about 15 more times, even without the involvement of the little boy. She just needed some one to help her get brave. That's MY job! :)

So here are the pictures of our Jack-O-Lanterns. We had so much fun. She's such an awesome girl. How did I ever get so lucky???

HAVE HAPPY AND SAFE HALLOWEEN!!!

Growing...things....

When I got home from work yesterday my daughter, my mom and I were sitting on the front porch talking about work and the details of the day. My daughter, for some strange reason, has a fascination with breasts. She calls them "boobies"...I haven't a clue who taught her that because it sure wasn't me. *sigh* Anyway, she made several demands to have them right then and there. There was no talking her out of it, changing the subject, giving her something else to think about it. That's what she wanted and she wanted them RIGHT NOW!! Well, after we went inside and the begging continued she went to her closet to look for them. She was certain I was just hiding them from her. Unfortunately for her it just wasn't that simple. My mom says, "I don't know what you are going to do when she starts asking for an arm if she's this upset over boobies." I know that's right.

I let her cry it out a bit and then finally she let me change the subject with a movie and cookie. Good thinking mom! I had no idea what was in store later that evening though.

After bathtime, we discussed painting her nails. She then told me when she got older she would grow another hand and be able to paint both her hands. I told her, in my best happy but serious voice, that was not going to happen, but that she had a helper arm and she could use that. She continued to tell me that I had 2 hands, her grandma had 2 hands and therefore she knew she would also have 2 hands when she got older. (The older part comes from the previous body part desires above.)

Once again I explained that she wouldn't ever "grow" a hand, but that we could put her helper arm on and I thought the nails were already painted the same color she was requesting at the moment. To my GREAT surprise she wanted to wear it and requested to wear it. This is the first time EVER that she has made such a request. As with all things in her life, she'll do almost anything, it just has to be on her terms. So I fetched the arm, we talked about it and she was ready for action. She wore it for about 45 minutes and showed me all the things she could do with it. I was grinning like an idiot the whole time with tear filled eyes because I just saw her grow up AGAIN! God, I love that kid of mine!!

Good answer! (My smart little girl does it again!)

Ashlyn recently visited Science City with her daddy and her Grandma. They were overcome by a busload of older kids, but she handled herself well. As a group of kids went storming by one little boy stopped, looked at her for a minute and said, "Where's your arm?". She stood her ground and simply replied, "It's in the car." Hahahahahaha...I love that girl. Now she was saying this very matter of factly because her helper arm WAS in the car, but he didn't know that. He just accepted the answer and went out as did she.

This Saturday was spent at her cousin Jordyn's 8th birthday party. They haven't spent much time together for one reason or another, but you sure wouldn't have known that at the party. Ashlyn absolutely adores Jordyn, and the feeling is mutual. They ran and played all day together. Ashlyn was a bit bossy, but Jordyn (and her friends that were also around 8) just accepted it and did what Ashlyn wanted to do 99% of the time. So cute. I guess I really need to work on that "bossy" gene. :)

3 Year Check Up - A little scary

Ashlyn is small for her age, I've always known that. It's in her blood. But when the nurse handed me a piece of paper with her assessment I was still kind of shocked. She is only in the 9th percentile for her height and 13th for her weight. Yep, she's going to be a petite girl. We don't have many petite people in my family. Actually, I'm the shortest in a long line of tall people. This includes grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins and I am bar far the shortest and I'm 5'8.

Her appointment went well until I advised the Nurse Practioner (who we opted to see instead of a doctor to shorten our wait time) that the doctor we saw last week, due to an illness, had mentioned a heart murmur yet again. I've had other nurses and doctors mention this, but only when she was sick, not during any well visits and I just wanted it checked out while she was well to make sure there was nothing there again.

Unfortunately, she advised us that there IS a heart murmur and referred us to Children's Mercy. She stated that it is very faint and isn't an emergency by any means, but better safe than sorry. Now I know that many people have had these all of their lives. I know some children outgrow them as they get older. I know that I shouldn't be worried, but if you knew the kind of luck my family has then you'd know I will always worry. She is scheduled for an ECHO in mid-October. I'm working on getting a new appointment though as it was scheduled at the wrong facility at the wrong time. *sigh*

I won't jump to the worst case scenario here, but still, I'm her mom. I worry. Forever. So keep us in your thoughts while we wait and hopefully all will be fine in the next month or so. Thanks!!

Wow! 3 Already????

Yep, that's right. My little baby girl is now 3. This, of course, requires me to stop calling her a baby girl. She reminds me constantly that she is now a big girl. Which she is, truly. We celebrated her 3rd birthday with family and friends at a local park shelter. She was a busy little girl, between playing, visting and opening presents, she was exhausted by the end of the day. We had beautiful weather for it too. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. So many family members and friends. It was just awesome!! As you can see, it was Tinkerbell from beginning to end that day. *smiles*

I still can't believe it's already been 3 years and at the same time I can't believe it's ONLY been 3 years. Did I have a life before her? I suppose, but not much of one.

Happy Birthday to my BIG girl!!

(P.S. You'll ALWAYS be my baby girl!!)

Growing up...

My little girl is getting to be a big girl so fast that I fear blinking and missing something. She is a girl that knows what she wants and conquers whatever goal I set for her to get what she wants.

Not long after turning 2 I geared up for the big potty training adventures. I bought her new pretty underwear and let her know as soon as she started going on the big potty consistently she would be able to wear the pretty underwear and get rid of diapers forever. It took approximately 1 week for her to make the decision final and that was that. Now almost a year later and she has had 4 "accidents" and 2 of those were within the first month.

Now she is quickly coming up on 3 years old. She still had her "binky" (pacifier) and I was sure this was going to be an incredibly hard thing for her to give up. About a month ago I started telling her, "Your birthday is coming up and when you turn 3 you'll be a big girl and there won't be anymore binky...BUT we can get your ears pierced!" I would repeat this every time she made the request (a.k.a. demand) for her binky. One week ago Saturday she came home from her dad's house and looked in need of a nap. We were laying on my bed talking when she said, "I don't need this anymore", pulled her binky out, went to her room and threw it away. I was stunned but praised her for finally getting rid of it and reminded her that one week without it would result in her ears being pierced just like me.

She gave in to temptation a couple of times over the next couple of days, but spit each one in the trash for something else she wanted. Then, it was just done. Gone. Forgotten. The following Saturday she got her ears pierced and was the happiest girl alive. Since then, not even the mention of the binky.

In less than one short year she has gone from my tiny baby girl to my little girl. I still steal hugs and kisses every chance I get though.