San Antonio

We were in San Antonio from May 23rd to the 28th for a conference Brian had for PA's. It was a good excuse for a vacation since neither one of us had been there and a good excuse to get Ashley on a plane. Our flight left at 5:20 am on Friday which meant that the Timm household was up at 3am. It actually went very smoothly though. Brian and I were up at 3, got ourselves ready and packed up our last minute things. We woke Ashley up at 3:30, fed her and we were out the door at 4am. One trick was she slept in the clothes she was going to wear on the plane and that saved a lot of time. Our neighbor, bless his heart, took us to the airport at 4am and because we were one of the only crazy one's to be up at that hour we had no traffic and got checked it with out any problems. That was a huge relief and a good indication that this was going to be a smooth trip. The take off and landing didn't bother Ashley and she slept for about an hour on each flight. We had an hour lay over in Phoenix and poor thing feel asleep right before we boarded and of course with all the noise and new environment she woke up as we got to our seats. She was exhausted by this point though, so we was a little fussy, but after singing to her and rocking her she was out. We landed around noon just in time to get hit with that lovely Texas heat and humidity. Boy were we glad to get into our rental car and get the air conditioning going! My Dad used points and got us our hotel room for the week. This was a huge help and the hotel room was perfect. The hotel had just been built and we had a suite with a kitchen. They had a gorgeous pool with a waterfall, breakfast in the morning including waffles in the shape of Texas!, and a cocktail hour with food and free beer and wine. Brian had an orientation for the conference Friday night, so while he was there Ashley and I decided to hit the hay early and we were out for the rest of the night. The conference was from Saturday through Monday, so I would drop Brian off at about 8am and Ashley and I would have the rest of the day together until we picked Brian up around 5pm. On Saturday we went to the pool and went shopping. There was a shopping center walking distance from our hotel, so that was a bonus. Sunday morning we went to the zoo and that night met up with Mike, one of Brian's friends that lives in College Station. We had Margarita's on the Riverwalk and got Ashley to bed around 10pm. She was a trooper the whole time. Thank goodness we brought the stroller because she did a lot of sleeping in it while we walked around San Antonio. Monday morning I met up with my friend Hayley and her husband and daughter Paige for breakfast. I've been friends with Hayley since 5th grade and it had been a couple of years since I saw her last. They live in Corpus Christi and drove up for the night. It was weird to think back to when we were kids and now we have our own. It was great to catch up and meet her husband and daughter. Monday night we went to a memorial service put on by the conference that was really good. Tuesday we went to Chad's family ranch about 40 minutes outside of San Antonio. Chad is one of Brian's classmates. We got lost on the way, so we didn't get to spend much time there but it is a great piece of property on the river that has been in the family for many generations. Tuesday night we saw the Alamo and walked along the Riverwalk. It is gorgeous down there and very romantic in the evening. We loved seeing all the people and the cute restaurants. Wednesday morning our flight left at 6am, another early morning but again because we were so tired we slept most of the flight and it ended up feeling like a short trip. The only challenge we had was figuring out how to do a complete clothing and diaper change in a very small airplane bathroom after Ashley poo pooed all up her back on our last flight! It took two of us, but we got it done and no one got hurt! We got home safe and sound and once again our neighbor was at our rescue. Our flight got in at 10:30am and he had a flight that left at 1pm out of Seattle, so he drove our car to the airport and we met him at baggage claim and swapped keys and we were on our way. It worked out perfect.
This picture was taken at 5:20am, don't ask me why she's so happy.
She slept through one take off and one landing. I would say that flying doesn't bother this girl
This is in front of the Alamo. We didn't actually get to go into it because we got there right at closing, but it's beautiful at night all lit up
This is part of the Riverwalk. They have tour boats that run on the water and some you can have dinner on.
We met up with Brian's friend Mike ("Peeps") who lives in College Station. He drove up for a few nights to spend time with us before his flight to Portland. This is on the Riverwalk where we met him downtown for Margarita's on Sunday after a dinner we had for the PA's.
Brian and Ashley in front of one of the waterfalls at the Riverwalk. They had a ton of beautiful water fountains on the walkway too
Ashley and I on the Riverwalk. We went for a long walk Tuesday night before we left for home. It was my favorite thing about San Antonio.
Me, Ashley, Hayley and Paige in front of Mi Tierra, the restaurant we met at for breakfast
Ashley had a blast in the pool. We had to go early in the morning or early evening to miss the intense heat and my paranoia of her getting sunburned, but she loved being in the water and kicking her arms and legs. Her favorite was sitting on the steps and splashing the water with her hands, oh and watching Papa blow bubbles in the water. The thing she didn't like was getting dunked. She would come out of the water with complete look of panic... wonder why???

San Antonio Zoo

On Sunday Ashley and I decided to spend the morning at the zoo. We dropped Brian off at the conference downtown and the nice thing about San Antonio is everything is about a 10 minute drive or less from where our hotel was, so it was easy to get around. Sunday was a VERY hot day so I'm happy we were there early. By noon Ashley and I were both hot, sweaty and crabby so it was time to leave. We did see a lot of cool animals and my favorite, since Ashley seemed more interested in her teething toy and was sleeping for the last half, were the giraffe and the kangaroos. This was Ashley's first time at the zoo and I haven't been to the zoo in over 10 years.

These kangaroos were so fun to watch. There were three joey's. I had never seen one up so close, they are adorable and just hang out in mom's pouch
I think some of the animals caught her attention, but mainly she was content chewing on her toy and watching the kids go by

Weekend with Grandma Timm

Brian's mom came up this last weekend to spend some time with us. We had such a great time, but as always it went too fast and she was even here a few extra days and left on Tuesday. She got in Friday night and Saturday we were off for a very busy weekend. We took Steph to a crab bake one of Brian's classmates put on. It was absolutely delicious, but extremely messy. You can see from the next picture that we had to wear bibs just so our clothes wouldn't get ruined. The bake was in Renton where it hit 98 degrees, so we only stayed a couple of hours because it got extremely uncomfortable outside in the heat. That night we went to a going away BBQ at our friend's Laura and Elliot's. They're selling their house and planning on traveling the US this summer and then going overseas to do mission work. Sunday we went to church and Steph took Brian to Home Depot to get him a new fancy tool for his birthday. He loves it and made me drive home so he could open it in the car and show Ashley all the parts and what they're used for. That night Grandma watched Ashley while Brian and I went to Danielle and Hani's for a dinner party. Monday I had orientation and Steph watched Ashley all day. It was the first time she's been in someone else's care for over 4 hours. Of course we weren't concerned because she was with family, but I was curious how it would go and guess what, she did great. Grandma had so much fun spending time with her. They went for a walk, played in the Bumbo and Grandma gave Ashley a lesson in sewing. So, for those of you who don't know I decided to go back to work part time for the summer. I actually have two jobs, one part time, and the other just fill in. I'm working at UW Tues-Thursday until September and at Northwest Hospital fill in for vacations. Northwest Hospital has on site day care, so I'm hoping to move into a permanent part time position there when it comes available. So, it was great that Steph was able to be here to watch Ashley while I went to orientation. It's hard going back, but it made for a lot easier transition knowing family was watching her. Tuesday Steph took Ashley and I to breakfast and then left to go back to Pendleton after that.

Happy Mother's Day!

I had the best weekend. Brian had to study this weekend for midterms, but he set aside more than enough time to spend with the family which we are very appreciative of. My parents came up for the weekend to watch Ashley while we went to Cirque du Soleil, a birthday gift from them. Before the show I took them down to Pike's Place Market where we had lunch and walked around. They bought some fresh snapper from the main market for dinner that was absolutely delicious. Ashley took a late nap for about three hours (she was exhausted) and got up around 7:30. Grammy and Grandpa had so much fun with her, she didn't go to bed until 10pm! I think that's about the latest she's ever stayed up, but they said she did great. It was so nice for Brian and I because we could really enjoy ourselves knowing that she was in good hands, but also that my parents got to really bond with her one on one. The show was amazing. We had such a great time, thank you so much mom and dad! We went to church on Sunday and then had lunch at the Greenlake Bar and Grill where mom's ate free on Mother's Day. We couldn't pass up a free meal! They left around 2pm and Brian had to get back to studying. I took Ashley to the park and then she was out for the night around 6pm. I felt a little emotional because it was my first Mother's Day. (This is how I know Brian is my soul mate) He could sense that I was a little down, so he quite studying early, went to the store to get dessert and came home to spend the rest of the evening with me. It was really sweet, he is so thoughtful and always knows what to do to make me feel better. I am a lucky girl to have such a wonderful family.

6 month Dr. visit

Ashley had her 6 month Dr. appt yesterday and fortunately did really well with her shots. There was a mix up with our appointment and last minute they changed the time. I couldn't get a hold of Brian to tell him, so I had to take her by myself. She cried during her shots, but was fine after. We didn't even have to give her Tylenol and no fever today! She is 15lb 1 oz(50%), 25 3/4" tall(50%), and her head measures 43cm (70%). As you can see from the pictures she loved seeing her reflection in the mirror. She kept touching her hand up to the mirror, I think we'll have to get one for her room.

Rice Cereal is Much Better!

This morning we tried rice cereal and it went over much better than the avocado. She still was making faces and wondering what to do with the foreign substance she had in her mouth, but she got the hang of it half way through and was leaning in for more. I made it really watery, so she was more sipping it off the spoon than eating it, but I think she really liked it.

6 Months!

Ashley turned 6 months today! Time has gone by so fast, I can't believe she's already 1/2 a year old and to see the difference from when we first brought her home! She is so much fun... and busy! She is grabbing at everything. It's so interesting to watch her because a couple months ago it would take major brain power to reach her hands out towards something and now it's instant. It's fun to see what catches her attention, but that also means that we have to be careful about what is within arms reach of her, including my coffee cup and anything else I have in my hands while I'm holding her. She loves playing with our face and grabbing at our nose and cheeks and of course my hair, something about the texture, I don't know. She's copying sounds that we make and loves grabbing her toes, she's giggling more and loves to be tossed around and rough housed with (mostly by her dad). She's sitting up all on her own and plays in her pack and play while mom is getting things done around the house. Her sleep routine is still great and she'll nap for about 1 1/2 hours every two hours, but is somewhat flexible when we've made plans. Although, I think that is going away. She used to sleep in her car seat when we were out with friends to dinner, but now she wants to be out and grabbing at everything on the table. I think we'll try putting her in the high chair next time and see how she does. She sleeps at night from 7pm to 4am, I feed her and she's right back to sleep until about 7am when she wakes up with Dad for their morning routine. We're practicing standing up and having her grab onto our hands and pull herself up. She loves going on walks around Greenlake facing out and talking to everyone that passes by. She loves her brother Brody and has found out how to grab his ear as he walks by. This happens less and less as Brody has figured out Ashley = ear getting pulled. We started doing baby signs with her about a month ago. It will take a few months until she'll understand how to do them, but I've been told to start early to get ourselves in the routine because it feels a little weird at first. The signs we use now are milk, night-night, more, change (diaper), mama, papa, and eat. I think now that we're introducing solids we'll add a few more. I feel like she's recognizing some, especially milk. She gets all excited when I sign that one to her, smart girl!

Mmmmm... Avocado

Ashley had her first taste of solids on Saturday morning. We started with avocado, not the cleanest first food, but we've heard that it's easily digestible and if we like it, she'll like it right? Not so! Brian had a meeting Saturday morning, so he went to the store after to pick out the perfect avocado for Ashley to try. We mashed it up with some water to make it easier for her to swallow and well, lets just say we got a pretty good laugh at her that morning. She did not like it all, since then she's done better, but that first bite was total confusion about what was in her mouth. She didn't know what to do with it, and once she figured it out she was all about getting it out! She made faces, gagged, and we're not really sure if she even swallowed any of it because most of it was all over her! She was very interested in the spoon and the bowl, but that thing that was in it, nope do not want anything to do with that! We'll try this for three days to make sure she doesn't have an allergic reaction and then try rice cereal and maybe some banana after that. Feeding Ashley solids will now be a part of Brian and Ashley's morning routine and I think it's so cute that he's so excited about it.