Christmas with the Lewis'

After spending 4 days with Brian's parents we stopped in Portland for the night before we headed out to our beach house. We didn't want to make the full trip from Pendleton to Pacific City in one day not knowing how Ashley would do, plus Grammy was dying to see her granddaughter and wouldn't have been able to go another day without seeing her so it was a perfect stopover. The weather at the beach house was cold and rainy, but work needed to be done so Brian bundled up and got all the gutters and windows clean of sand, plus a few odds and ends that needed to be done. We joke that we must love this house because we never enjoy it. Every time we go it's always work. We hope to keep it for a long time so we'll get to enjoy it eventually. We were back in Portland after only a night at the beach house. We couldn't wait to get settle into a place for a while rather than packing and unpacking so much. My parents had an open house on the 23rd where all our neighbors and friends got to meet Ashley. There were a ton of people there and Ashley got passed around to everyone. I'm so proud of how well she did, she was quite the trooper the whole vacation. We were in Portland 10 days so we got to see a lot of friends and family. Christmas Eve was spent over at our friends house for their traditional Ciopino feast (a type of seafood soup). Christmas day was spent at my parents house where my aunt, uncle and cousins came over for Prime Rib. We ate too much, drank too much, and didn't get enough sleep. It was a great vacation. New Year's will be a lot quieter.
Here is the Lewis family after mass on Christmas morning. It snowed on our way home. It was a perfect white Christmas
This may have to be our Christmas card picture for next year.
Ashley slept whenever she could because she was constantly being woken as she was passed around to everyone that wanted to hold her. Here she is on grandpa's lap Christmas night. I love how she has her little hand up by her face. She has grown so much in only the two weeks that we've been gone.
Grandpa loves his granddaughter. He got to spend a lot of time with her, even when Grammy was right at his heels waiting until it was her turn. He made sure he got some quality time in with Ashley while we were down there

Brian and I with snow in the background on Christmas morning

2007 Christmas Card

We got this idea of from a picture we saw on the bulletin board at our baby class. We thought it would be a perfect announcement picture as well as a Christmas card. Well, we got busy and she got bigger and turns out she didn't fit as easily as we thought she would. Poor girl got stuffed into the stocking for a picture we wanted everyone to see. She didn't seem to mind too much though, but we got a good laugh trying to get her in. It was like shaking a pillow into a pillow case. It took the two of us, but we got the picture and thought it turned out adorable. We wanted to share it with all of you we don't have addresses for. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Santa I was a Good Girl This Year

We took Ashley to see Santa at Washington Square in Portland. She was having a fussy night, but as soon as she got into the car to head to the mall she was out until we got to Santa's lap. I thought it was so cute how her and Santa match all the way down to the direction of the ball on the hat.
Grammy couldn't miss her first Santa visit

Christmas with the Timms

Brian finished his finals Dec 7th so we had a whole week before we left for vacation to see the family for Christmas. That week was busy, spent running errands and planning what to pack because we were going to be gone for two weeks for the first time with a little one. It took a lot of planning and a little stress but we managed and turns out we didn't forget anything! The first part of the trip was spent with Brian's parents in Pendleton. They were so excited to see Ashley and couldn't believe how much she had changed in only a month since they saw her last. We went to church with them on Sunday where they proudly showed off Ashley. Saturday night we built our traditional gingerbread houses and ate more candy than we put on the house. Stephanie planned an open house Sunday afternoon so her friends were able to come over and meet Ashley. Monday we celebrated Christmas a little early since we wouldn't see them on the 25th and Tuesday morning we packed up to head to Portland. We had a wonderful time with them and wish it could have been longer. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great visit.
Brian's mom has a million Longaberger baskets around her house so Brian thought of the idea of putting Ashley in one and sending the picture to Longaberger to see if she could get into one of their catalogues. I thought the pictures turned out so cute. We have about 10 of them, but this was my favorite.
Brian and I with our gingerbread house. I was very proud of the fence around the house that I made of tootsie rolls and licorice.
Steve and Steph with their gingerbread house
Steve was done with his contribution to the gingerbread house a little early so he could spend some quality time with his granddaughter

Finals almost Final

Brian has his last final tomorrow and I am so looking forward to having my husband back! He's done such a great job balancing school and family, but this week has been tough. He's been studying all day and night taking 2 tests a day. Ashley and I miss him! He has three weeks off though, which will be really nice. We'll get some good Daddy/Husband time in. He deserves a long break, he's worked really hard and done very well with his classes. We're going to spend the first week here at home just the three of us. We'll do our Christmas shopping and take Ashley to see Santa. Then we leave for Pendleton to see Brian's parents for a few days, then to Portland to see my family and also spend some time at the beach house. We'll be in Portland for Christmas. Pacific City got hit with a huge storm this past weekend and had power out for at least three days. In fact our property manager had to call us from Lincoln City because they didn't have phone or cell service and she wanted to tell us that our house didn't have any damage. The only thing was that our hot tub cover blew off and our house was covered in sand. They had winds up to 125+ miles an hour. We thought last year was bad, but this was worse. There are ocean front houses that just got buried under sand. We'll spend some time there cleaning the gutters and sweeping the walkway and driveway because I'm sure there is a ton of sand still to clean up.

One Month

We've decided to take pictures every month of Ashley in her carseat to compare how much she grows in just four weeks. It's amazing how little she looked in her carseat when we first brought her home from the hospital. Now it looks like she actually fits in there.
Just another picture I wanted to share. I know the grandma's can never get enough of these!

Fun with Black and White

I love cuddling with her in this position but we can never get her there until she's asleep. My mom made the little booties that she's wearing. I love them because they're the only thing that will stay on her feet. Her socks always fall off, so I had my mom make a bunch of them and they all turned out really cute.
I thought this was precious. She looks so peaceful.

Snow In Seattle

Last Saturday (Dec. 1st) it snowed in Seattle and of course with my luck and Seattle weather, I got caught in it again. I decided to walk up to the Safeway to get some groceries because I was having the girls over for brunch the next day wanted to get some exercise. They had been talking about snow all week and so far we hadn't seen any. Plus it really didn't feel that cold. I got Ashley all bundled up and we headed out the door. I got done with my shopping and was standing in line to get my coffee and glanced out the window to notice that it was snowing, not just a light snow but huge snowflakes. I laughed to myself and thought here we go again. The walk back wasn't that bad, I had enough warm clothes and I knew Ashley was warm enough, it was just that I was soaked when I got home because it was really wet snow. It ended up sticking to the ground later and ended up being really pretty. I enjoyed it a lot more sitting by my fire inside! This is our backyard about an hour after I got home. It ended up raining that night so it all melted, but did snow for an hour on Sunday before it warmed up. Weird weather.

Pooh Head

This is a hat that Grandma Timm got her and it fits her perfectly. We put it on her a few weeks ago and it kept sliding down over her eyes. She's actually outgrown more than a few of her outfits already that she used to swim in.
This is one of those outfits that was so big on her two weeks ago and just fits now. Another week and it will be too small. I'm amazed at how much she's grown in such a short period of time.

Changes

A few things to report on. Ashley has been more alert these days. She up for at least 1/2 hour- 45 minutes at a time just observing her surroundings. She doesn't need to be held all the time, although when she's fussy this always calms her down. She's happy in her swing or in her cradle. I've noticed she's really focusing on things and keeping her attention on them so I moved the mobile from her crib to the cradle. It's neat to see her making these small changes and really noticing the world she now lives in. I just wonder what she's thinking about. She's also holding her head up a lot more, a move she's been perfecting since the first week. I love talking to her and seeing her respond to my voice by turning her head. She loves story time too.

Ashley and Papa

Last night I captured Brian studying with Ashley. Everyday he looks forward to coming home from class to see his daughter. He had to write a paper and didn't want to put her down, so this is what he figured out. I thought it was so cute! I guess it wore them both out because I came downstairs from doing laundry later on and found them both sleeping on the couch.

Ashley's Got Mail

Ashley got her first piece of mail yesterday, her social security card. It was really weird to get mail with my daughters name on it at three weeks of age. I thought they would address it to the parents of Ashley Renee Timm instead of just to her like she's going to open it or something. Pretty soon she'll be getting applications for credit cards and loans for college. My baby is growing up so fast!

Husky in Training

Ashley went to her first UW volleyball game on Friday night. We're ranked 6th and we played Oregon who is ranked 13th. It was a good game, we won but Oregon gave them a run for their money. It was fun to watch. We were amazed how well Ashley did. She slept most of the time, but was wide awake and looking around for the last 1/2 hour or so. They had over 3,000 people there and with the band playing and the crowd cheering we couldn't believe that she could sleep through all that.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year; wonderful friends and family, our health, the safe delivery of Ashley, and an amazing marriage between Brian and I. We hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving. Ours was filled with a ton of food, great conversation, and family. Brian's sister Becki and her husband Dallas drove up from Coos Bay, Oregon. My parents and brother came up from Portland, Brian's mom was here from Pendleton, uncle Ed and our neighbor Trent were all here for Thanksgiving dinner. Steph brought pumpkin, pecan, and apple pie and two smoked turkey's from Pendleton. I don't think we'll have another Thanksgiving dinner without them, they were soooo good. My mom spend Wednesday night preparing all the sides. She got recipes from Paula Dean and oh my they were delicious. Ed brought the traditional making for snowballs, vodka, 7-up and whipping cream. We provided the ham and wine and ended up with all the leftovers to last us all week, my favorite part about hosting a holiday.
This is an outfit that one of Brian's classmates gave Ashley to wear for her first Thanksgiving. Her son passed away expectantly when he was a baby and he wore this for his first Thanksgiving. It means a lot that she was able to wear it and we took a picture to give to her, it fit perfectly.
Ashley and Uncle Dan
Ashley and Aunt Becki.

My mom decorated the table with little pumpkins wrapped in ribbon. I thought it turned out so cute.

Date Night

This picture was taken last Wednesday night when Brian and I were able to get out of the house for a date night. He got out of class for the holiday at noon and since I hadn't seen much of him all week because of school and work he decided to take me out for a date and allow grammy to babysit. He took me out to Nishino's in Madison Park, something he's wanted to do since I had Ashley. We sat at the sushi bar which was really fun because we could watch the chef prepare the sushi right in front of us. I'm not sure if it's because we haven't had sushi in so long or if this place was really good, but it was some of the best sushi we've ever had. We were gone for about three hours, just in time to come back for Ashley's next feeding. Well, I think she got hungry a little early because she was not happy for about 20 minutes before we got home. My mom said she calmed down right before we walked in the door. She just wanted something grammy couldn't give her. We do appreciate all her help this past week, it was really fun to have her here. I'm just sad that she doesn't live closer so we can have more time to spend together. We'll see them again in a couple of weeks when we go down to Portland for a week around Christmas. Ashley got a few more things to add to her wardrobe too as grammy was a knitting machine while she was here. She made some adorable sweaters and booties and is now she's working on hats to match. This girl can never have enough clothes.

Ashley Burrito

Here's a picture of our little burrito. Brian and I have perfected our burrito wrap and she has a pretty tough time getting out of it. We used to be able to use a receiving blanket, but she's too big for it now so we've been using a this blanket that my friend Allison's mom gave her and it works great. She sleeps this way in the cradle and it buys me 2 1/2 hours of sleep in between feedings. If she's not wrapped up tight she wakes herself up and it doesn't make for a very good night's sleep for mom. She's been getting a little more vocal when she's upset, but she's still a very easy baby and doesn't fuss hardly at all.

More Pictures

I thought I would just post pictures as I take them. For one it keeps everyone updated, but it's also a lot easier to upload a few pictures at a time rather than a whole bunch. Today Grammy, Ashley and I took a walk around Greenlake. We walked to Starbucks to get our lattes and then around the lake we went. It was absolutely gorgeous today, so we took advantage. The fresh air felt great.

2 Weeks!!

Ashley turned 2 weeks today. We had another Dr's visit and she's up to 8lbs 2 oz! Our doctor said most babies are just getting back up to their birth weight at this time which would be 6lb 10oz for Ashley. There's obviously no problems with feeding this child. Brian guessed that she was already up to 8lbs and I thought 7lb 6oz, he won by a long shot. Little Ashley has been quite the trooper lately going on all sorts of outings with Mom and Dad and now Grammy (my mom). It's getting a little easier to get out of the house and plan things around her feedings and I'm getting more brave with changing her and feeding her places other than our home. It's been great because I haven't felt cooped up in the house, but there are those days where we've done too much and we know when it's time to go home and relax. Ashley makes sure we know when she's had enough and that's about the only time she gets fussy. My mom flew into Seattle Friday night and will be staying with us until Thursday where my Dad will join up with her and they'll move to a hotel with my brother. She's helped out a ton and it's been fun just to relax and share these new days of parenting with her. I am so grateful she's here to help out with Thanksgiving too. We're having a party of 9 at our house for dinner; my parents and brother, Brian's parents and sister and brother in law, and uncle Ed. It will be great to have everyone here to celebrate Thanksgiving together. So, here's a few pictures I've taken over the last week.
Saturday I took Ashley to a card camp where we made Christmas cards. We were out almost all day and Ashley did fantastic. It was nice because we were at a lady's house, so I was able to feed here and change her easily and she just slept the whole time while we made our cards. Of course she was held a ton and the lady who put on the card camp just ate her up. She has all nephews and was so excited to have a little girl in her arms. My mom had never been to one of these card making deals so she had a ton of fun too. It was a great girls day.
Mom and Ashley with one of the cards we made. I had to get her started early, after all her initials are A.R.T
Another cute picture of Brody and Ashley. He does so well with her, we're really pleased at how he's handled the transition from being the only baby in the house
Ashley's cord fell off on Thursday so here she is in her bath. She doesn't mind it too much, but has had to get a second soak when she pees in her towel as I'm trying to get her dry. I don't think there is a way to prevent this, but next time I will have two towels close by if I attempt this on my own. Luckily both Brian and my mom were there to fetch a new towel and help get her diaper on. Since her cord has fallen off we've also switched to cloth diapers and absolutely love them. I can't believe how many diapers she goes through and I hated throwing them away. We have a service that picks up the diapers every Monday and the diaper wraps they have to go over the cloth makes it so easy to use. They look like actual diapers and fasten the same way. Marvelous invention, my mom has shared stories of how she used to have to use pins and we would get poked all the time because we squirmed so much. So glad they came up with something easier. Plus the cost of cloth diapers is the same as the store bought ones and they're supposed to potty train a lot faster. She already has made a lot more fuss when she has a dirty diaper. I could never tell when she was wet because the disposables were so absorbent.

Road Trip

Well, not really but this was the first time I had Ashley out on my own and I was driving. I was so nervous, but I got over it and managed to do just fine. Brian had to go to the nursing home today for class so I dropped him off at 10am. Since he was going to be a few hours I decided to run a few errands. We went to the post office and the grocery store and she did wonderful, slept the whole time. I get nervous about changing and feeding her in public, so luckily I didn't have to do any of that until we got home. She kept her pants clean and she was satisfied from the last feeding... perfect little outing. I'll get a little more adventurous as time goes on, but it's a learning curve and I'm just starting out! Here she is all bundled up in a fleece cover up that aunt Becki gave her. She still has room to grow, but she was all cuddly warm today! Thanks Aunt Becki!


This was the first outfit we bought for Ashley while we were in Europe. I was about 13 weeks along and didn't know if we were having a boy or girl. Brian picked this out and it fits her perfectly.

First Week

This was a hat that my girlfriend Joana made for her. I had her in pink all week and decided to have a purple day.

This is Ashley and her pediatrician Dr. Filipo. She barely made a fuss as he poked around at her, she's a pretty content little baby
Brian is such a sweetheart and proud pappa. This is the morning after we brought her home. I didn't sleep at all that night, so the next morning Brian took Ashley downstairs so I could sleep for a couple of hours. I came downstairs to find him in the kitchen baking cookies. Not only had he done that, he took the trash out, started laundry, figured out the sling and carried her in it and did the dishes. What a man! I couldn't do it with out you!
Brody loves his new little sister!
This is a hat one of Brian's classmates gave her. We call it her Thing 1 picture
The proud grandparents
This was taken at the Ballard Locks. It was a cold day so mom was a little worried, but we got her all bundled up and she did great.
Ashley's first week has been a busy one. We got home from the hospital Tuesday night around 6pm. We didn't sleep very well at the hospital and were just ready to leave. We got cleared from the pediatrician that she was doing great and was ready to go any time we were. Tuesday night we had friends and neighbors over to meet her. It was so cute. Brian knocked on all our neighbors doors to tell them we were home, he was so excited to show her off. Wednesday Brian's parents came in from Pendleton and stayed until Monday. It was great to have them here and Ashley got lots of holding time, I don't think she was put down the entire week, they couldn't get enough of her. We her first doctors visit on Thursday and she had already gained 6oz. The nurse thought the scale was broken because it not typical for them to gain weight, they usually lose 10%of their birth weight. I was extremely happy to hear that because when we got home from the hospital she wouldn't feed. We had to supplement twice to be on the safe side to make sure she wasn't dehydrated. Well, turns out she was doing just fine. She just had to adjust to being home. Friday night my parents came into town and stayed with us until Sunday. We took her lots of places that weekend. Saturday we went to the Ballard locks and out to lunch at a fish a chips place. That was my first time trying to feed in public and we all got quite the laugh. One of my friends bought me a "hooter hider" which is an apron to cover up while feeding. Well, I was in a booth and things kept falling on the ground, we finally got the hang of it only to find out that she was fussy because of a poopy diaper. We still have much to learn! That night my parents took us to Olive Garden for dinner and she slept the whole time. We want to get her out as much as we can while she young to get her used to it because we plan on taking her wherever we go. Tuesday was my first day on my own with her. Brian has been able to take some time off class, he had to go a few half days last week to make up some test that he missed, but it's been so nice having him home. Although I was a little curious at how the day was going to go, I was happy to find out that we did just fine. I had an appt to get ready for at 9:30 and I got her and myself all ready to go in time and the rest of the day was just for her and I. She loves her swing and her binky, which is fantastic because I can get things done around the house. She has been nothing but an angel and I've enjoyed her so much. She's already changing, her eye brows are darker, her cries a lot stronger! and she has all her eye lashes. Can you tell I'm a proud mamma!