Life at Home

I've been wanting to write a post on some of the things Ashley's been up to because she has been so darn cute lately, but also because I've gotten to spend so much more time with her now that I'm not working and wanting to capture every minute of it. At first it was a real adjustment going from full time employee to full time mom (I didn't say job because I think being a mom is a huge job, a lot of times harder than going to work full time), but I wouldn't trade this time with her for the world. I've really come to realize that I will never get this time back and I need to enjoy every minute of it. We've successfully potty trained over the last three weeks, with the exception of sleeping and she's in a diaper for those times. She caught on quickly and has had only had three accidents, all of which were caught in the middle and finished on the potty. She's gotten very excited about her big girl panties and picks out which ones she wears each day. Not having to work has given me a lot more time to give to her to do things on her own. We're not rushed to get to school or to get back home for dinner and bed time. We can take an hour to get dressed in the morning and not have to worry about where we need to be next. That's been a huge adjustment for me. Now brushing teeth, reading books, going to the park, and teaching her little things about life are things that are on my to do list for the day and I love it! If I have something I need to do that day, I'll take the morning and give her the afternoon or vice versa. We've also been preparing for brothers arrival and reading lots of books about being a big sister and what having a little baby around the house is going to be like. She's getting really excited about that! She puts her baby in the swing and feeds her and pats her back before night, night. She's always been very caring and concerned about taking care of others (they called her "Mama Ashley" at daycare), so we think she's going to really take to the big sister thing. She's been extremely affectionate lately too, which I am just eating up! She randomly stops what she's doing and says "me give you tiss (kiss)" or "me give you hug". She loves to color and play with play dough and has been really into imaginary play, pretending she's driving using a place mat as the car or pretending to put on her shoes and tie them. She'll also make us coffee in her kitchen and tell us it's hot and we need to blow on it. She's opening up around other kids and not so shy unless it's a huge group in an unfamiliar place. She's still very observant and will sometimes just stand to the side and watch, but once she's comfortable she plays really well with other kids.

Here's a list of some of her favorite phrases, it could go on forever

"I don't need to go nigh, night, I wake up today!"
"I try later" after she dances around telling me she has to go potty. There are still many false alarms. The other day we had 4 at Ikea and she finally went on the last one. I almost didn't have the patience for that day. I've heard a new baby can increase these urges to all the sudden have to go potty just because they want the attention, we'll have to figure that one out!
"piece of candy!" after she has successfully gone potty
" Oh, my gosh"
"Silly Goose"
"Holly, Molly" - not not sure where she caught onto this one, but she cracks herself up when she says it!
"sweetie, pie"
"this mines, that's oars" As she says it, she's very animated with her facial expression making sure that you know who's is who's
"sit down mama" she wants me to come eat with her instead of washing dishes or fussing in the kitchen
"we can eat now!" after saying prayers at dinner. It's pretty cute to see her do the sign of the cross and she makes sure to look at how both Brian and I are doing it
"I do it" what two year old doesn't say this!
"I wanna see" I wanna see again"
"you feed me" this girl is a very slow eater and sometimes it is easier to just feed her if we need to go somewhere. Of course she wants us to do it other times too and we'll give in occasionally. I wonder if this will come more often when baby brother arrives?
"poon" for spoon, s doesn't come easily for her right now
Please and thank you are coming more often now that I'm constantly on her. She's always been good with other people, but with us she forgets her manners. I've gotten tired of reminding her, so when she demands something I just stop, look at her and wait for that sweet little voice to say the words and that's usually all it takes. Sure saves me a lot of breath throughout the day!
She can sing her ABC's perfectly, but you ask her to count and she says 1-2-5-6 and she'll insist that's correct!


Always wants her picture taken with Brody and she's showing off her new big girl panties.

This is how cooking goes when Papa is around since she wants to see everything





Love those curls!