Happy 14 Month Birthday Sweet Girl

Where do I begin your 14 month post.......let's start with two words: MISS INDEPENDENT.  You have truly started developing your own little personality and independence.  You are a busy body and you rarely sit still.  All of this to be expected, but mama is tired!  You are still crazy in love with Mickey Mouse clubhouse.  You have started recognizing Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto by name and anytime you see one of the characters you scream and point.......no matter where we are! 

You are wearing size 4 diapers, 12-18 month clothes, and you are still taking one to two naps a day.  It depends on our schedule.  You eat pretty much anything and love your milk!  You have six teeth and your hair is so very thick.  I have had to start pulling it back sometimes to get it out of your eyes!  You love to swim and be in the water (bath or the pool), but you despise your float.  You think you can swim on your own, which makes me a nervous wreck, but I guess that is better than being scared.  You love to play in the splash park at the pool too!  I love watching you run around screaming with excitement! 

You have started noticing your baby doll a lot here lately.  You rock her and pat her and give her kisses like you give mommy and daddy.  It is the most precious thing.  You have also started playing more with your "learning" toys.  You now can point to your nose, ears, mouth, and eyes.  You still only do signs for "more", "food", and "drink".  I have noticed you understanding more things when I explain them to you; such as "behind you" and you will turn around and look, and you run to the stairs baby gate when I say it is time for a nap, bath, or nite nite.  You know when I say "let's go upstairs and change that stinky" and you will move your hand in front of your nose!  You have a little dance to cheer on the Mavs and you bounce up and down when we say "dance"!  You know when to clap if you see someone doing it or even hear it.  And you have really taken a liking to your Baby Einstein books!  You sit in your chair and babble something that only you can understand.  When you are hungry, you go to your highchair and pull it around!  Momma raised you right because you are obsessed with shoes; yours and everyone elses.  You also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE brushing your teeth!  This is a very good thing or daddy would be freaking out!  I am amazed at how you pick up on things; I have just named a few, but there are so many more!

You are a sweet little girl, but momma is struggling with the ramming the head into the door and pulling your own hair.  I know you are struggling with not being able to communicate your needs to us, but please let this time pass quickly.  I don't want you to get any bigger by all means, but I want you to "chill out" a bit!  Momma finds herself praying to the good Lord for lots and lots of patience and strength!  I love the moments when you crawl up in my lap and lean back and just sit with me.  You give the best kisses any momma could ask for and here lately anytime I pick you up you lay your head on my shoulders.  You are a sweet little blessing and we are having so much fun raising you!  But....... I could live with a few less temper tantrums.  Thank you- Love your Momma!

Watching Mickey

 Is Mommy watching?????  This was after she tried giving herself a paraffin hand wax with the Scentsy wax in the living room.  There is a first for everything.

 Sweet little baby

 Love the facials

 So excited!  About what, I have no idea!

Happy 14 Month Birthday!

A perfect mix!

She is a little of him.........

 ......And a little of me! 

Regardless, she is perfect in everyway!!!!



God is Good

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And he shall direct your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5

Sweet Summertime

 

We have already had a busy summer: I worked a week of summer school covering for a co-worker, we have been to the pool on average five days every week, down to the park a few times, and enjoyed a concert at Waters Creek this past weekend.  Daddy got a new truck and mommy in loving watching cartoons with Avery just about every morning.  I have thoroughly enjoyed working out in the morning as opposed to my regular evening workouts during the school year.  I get it down in the morning and out of the way.  Here are a few pictures.

Going up and down the playground stairs.  Mommy was super tired!

 Avery seems to enjoy going up the slide the wrong way and is thinking about why mommy will not let her do it again.

 Playing hard!

 Hot, sweaty, with a little dirt on the face!  That is my girl; you can look cute and still be dirty!

 I love this picture.  Avery worships her daddy and I love watching them together. 

 Watching the ducks!

 My two favorite people!!!!!

I love that Avery has such a good Godly man to watch and learn from.  In the far far away future, someone has some big shoes to fill.  Thank you God for making this my family!

Happy Father's Day 2011

Happy Father's Day to two wonderful men in my life.  My amazing husband and my wonderful father.  Thank you both for taking care of me and loving Avery and I unconditionally.  I want you both to know how much you mean to me and that I love you with all my heart.  

 The Father's Day plate Avery made for Daddy!  He loved it!

 Meredith Terrell captured these great photos of Jas and Avery and I love them.  Avery loves her Daddy so very much and she is a very lucky girl to have such an incredible man taking care of her.

 Me and my dad years ago.  My dad has sacrificed a lot for his family with his job and I love him very much.  Thank you for always being youthful and making us laugh.  Love you.

Love you dad.

Happy Father's Day!!!!!!!! 

Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary

 So last year was somewhat crazy with a new baby, new job hunting, and house hunting.  So my post last year was not that great.  I wanted to post a few pictures of one of the most awesome days of my life, the day I married my absolute best friend.  Avery's birthday is right there with it!  When Jason and I married we had been together eight and a half year.  To date we have been together twelve and a half years.  Our marriage is still as fresh as it was June 9, 2007!  We have so much fun together as a family and we have been through a lot; both happy and sad, good and bad, and we love each other more and more each day.  I could go on and on about how much I love Jason, but anyone who knows me, knows what he means to me.  He is our rock and gives Avery and I such comfort and protection.  Jason thank you for loving me unconditionally and excepting me for who I am; crazy and all that comes with it!!!!!!  I look to you for advice and guidance and you are a true man of God.  You will always be my one and only and I look forward to many more years of tears and laughter with you!  Love you! 

The church after a "good luck" rain fall!  It was a beautiful evening. 

 It's official!!!!!  We are married!

 Even though I was sick with strep, it was a perfect day and I married a wonderful man!

 Realizing that my dream had finally come true and I was Mrs. Ashley Glover!  My tears of joy will never express the love I have for Jason.

 Pure happiness

 Getting ready to leave for Costa Rica!!!!!!!

So excited!

We spent the day with Avery laying pretty low.  We went and worked out, had pizza for lunch, stopped and got Wedding Cake snow cones (seemed the most appropriate flavor!), and hung by the pool the rest of the day.  We will celebrate in a few weeks with our first overnight stay away from Avery.  :(  Happy 4 Year Anniversary Jas!!!!!!!!!  I love you more!

Karley's Birthday Party

Avery goes to school with Karley who celebrated her 3rd Birthday recently!  Avery had a blast playing with all the kids she goes to school with, MJ and Karley, and many of Karley's friends from gymnastics.  Avery had a ball and was so excited to play with all the little ones!  Thanks Karley for inviting us!  

Avery can now reach Momma's bathroom drawer and her favorite "new toy" is my tooth brush.  Yay!



 Avery is wondering if we got everything in the beach bag for the party??????

 Forget the party, where are the dogs!!!!!!!  Avery thinks every animal is a dog right now and she gets so excited when she can pet them.  Maybe because her dog hides from her.......:(

 So me and MJ's momma, Jill, are already planning their first date!!!!!!!!  These two love to be around each other.  Literally you say MJ's name and Avery starts looking around for him.  It is the cutest thing!  They go to "school" together.

 Picking up the paper, not to put in the trash, but to play with.  Awww!  The simple things in life!

 Moving to the backyard for the pool, trampoline, and chalk!  Avery loves, loves, loves the water!

 MJ getting as much grass on him as possible!  These little ones move ninety to nothing!

 Sweet baby

 Avery giving the Birthday girl, Karley, advice on where to put the water!  Karley is in deep thought!

 Running on the trampoline with MJ and Delaney!  This did not last long.

Last but not least the chalk!  She would rather eat it rather than write on the concrete.  Oh well!  She had a ball!

Peek into the Past

June 3, 2011, Kristina's Studio of Dance celebrated their 35th Anniversary.  It celebration many (many, many) past dancers came back to help Kristi celebrate.  We practiced every weekend for about a month and hurt every week in between!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I got to see some dancers that I had not seen in years and it was so much fun.  I truly miss performing and working that hard.  I will post the video soon so stayed tuned!  Here are a few pictures in the meantime.

 Beginning

 Turning

Ripples!

Me, Kristi, and Lindsey

Sweet Baby Hope Martin

Baby Hope was born October 27, 2010 to proud parents Russell and Kim Martin and big brother Gage.  For her story please visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hopemartin.  I did want to share some information that Russell and Kim posted on their website: 

"Three weeks ago I went to my monthly checkup at my doctor to check on the progress of my pregnancy. They had scheduled an ultrasound because in the previous month's appointment they were unable to see all 4 chambers of our baby's heart. During the ultrasound there were concerns because they were still unable to get a good view of the baby's heart. They referred me to a specialist , Dr. Rowe, in Clear Lake, whom we saw the following week. We both went with the expectations that they would be able to get a better ultrasound of the heart and everything would be great. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Dr. Rowe informed us that it appeared that our baby girl has a heart defect call Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). Needless to say, we were taken back by the news. Dr. Rowe then informed us that he would be referring us to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. We scheduled an appointment for the following week to meet with the doctor at Texas Children's Hospital. Our appointment was last Friday, August 13th.  During our appointment at Texas Children's they did a thorough ultrasound to get a better reading of the heart. Then, we met with Dr. Altmann. Dr. Altmann did a wonderful job explaining what we were in for. Below is a brief article I found that does a good job of explaining what HLHS is:

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is a condition in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. Usually, the left ventricle, the left atrium, the mitral valve and the aorta are affected. It is called a syndrome because it can encompass several different variations and varying degrees of development of these parts of the heart. 
  To understand HLHS, it is helpful to understand how a normal baby's heart works. The heart is comprised of four chambers: the upper chambers are called the left and right atria, and the lower chambers are called the left and right ventricles.  
  Very simply, in a healthy heart blood flows from the right atrium to the right ventricle where it is then pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs to be oxygenated. Blood then flows back to the heart via the left atrium to the left ventricle, which pumps this oxygenated blood through the aorta out to the body. This is how the body's organs and tissue receive oxygen, which is vital. When a baby has HLHS, the left side of the heart is underdeveloped so it cannot sufficiently pump the oxygenated blood out to the body. 
  Babies with HLHS do not have problems while in the womb - it is only after birth that the heart fails to work properly. This is because all babies receive oxygen from the placenta while in the womb, so blood does not need to go to the lungs. In addition, there is an opening between the pulmonary artery and the aorta, called the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) that is present in all babies. It allows the blood to go from the right ventricle out to the body, bypassing the left side of the heart.  
  The PDA usually closes a few days after birth, separating the left and right sides of the heart. It is at this time that babies with undetected HLHS will exhibit problems as they experience a lack of blood flow to the body. They may look blue, have trouble eating, and breathe rapidly. If left untreated, this heart defect is fatal - usually within the first few days or weeks of life."

I have wanted to post this for so long, but I did not want to over step their privacy.  The Martin's were our neighbors in Houston and we moved right before we found out they were expecting their sweet baby girl.  Hope is still in the hospital and has had a rough road thus far but is staying strong.  My wish for Hope is to receive prayers from each and everyone who reads this, that they may pass her precious name to Prayer Warriors, Pray Lists, and friends and family who will lift her and her family up.  I pray for her health and healing.  Thank you Kim for letting me share your story.  We miss you guys!

 Baby Hope looking oh so cute!

Mommy and Hope

Happy 21st Birthday Lindsey

Ashley and Lindsey

Lindsey Anne turns 21 years old today and we want to wish her a Happy Birthday!  Where has the time gone?  We are so proud of you Aunt Lulu!



Avery and Lindsey

 Happy 13th Month Birthday sweet girl!

Reading!!!!!  I think I know exactly what I am saying!

 Pondering her next move

 The look of mischief

 She is her mother's child...........

 ..........in more than one way!

Who says she's too young to learn to clean!  Momma needs a handy helper!

 

So Avery is a full fledged toddler.  That is hard to roll off the tongue...........Where is my baby?  I will not drag on for paragraphs at a time like your first twelve months because I am probably trying to catch up on laundry, clean the house, or just stare at you in the monitor and think about how lucky your mommy and daddy is to have you!  So here is a brief update:

What you have been up to:

-You are running everywhere

-I think you need a helmet as much as you hit your head.  I pray that everything is ok with your skull.

-You eat whatever we eat with four five ounce sippy cups of whole milk.

-Size 4 diapers

-12 month clothing

-You love the water

-You can sign "more" and we are working on "drink", "all done", and "food"

-You are talking up a storm, but the only thing we can make out is "dada", "momma", "dye", "doag", and "hi"

-You can show us where your mouth is and you still put one finger up when we say "how old are you?"

-You have an attitude that is for the birds; there are time outs, swats on the backside, and "be nice" talks throughout the day.  This is another thing I pray for daily......."God give me the strength to be a good example."

-You have found your voice, oh wait, your screaming voice.  You use it when you are happy, mad, hurt, sad, glad, etc........

But at the end of the day you give really good kisses and hugs and you make eye contact when we talk to you.  I know all of the other things are stages that you will only learn to grow out of with the guidance of your parents and I hope and pray daily that we are doing a good job with that.  We love you very much and thank you for our daily laughs, smiles, small tears in the eyes due to joy, and complete exhaustion when we lay down at night.  We love our busy little baby Avery and we are so proud to be your parents.