Ashlyn @ 1 Month

1 month old

My how one month flies by! It seems like Little Miss Ashlyn has been with us all along! She is a sweet little girl who loves to cuddle and be held. She prefers to fall asleep while in your arms or lying on your chest. We are trying to break her of that before it is too late!!

She nurses 6-7 times a day. If she stays awake for the entire feeding (and that's a big "if"), she can finish in 20 minutes.

She has slept through the night one time (10:30 pm-5 am) but that was technically 3 days after she turned a month old so we will save that for next month's update. :o) She normally will go to bed around 8:30 pm. I will wake her for one last feeding around 10:30 pm. She will wake up for a feeding around 3:00 am and then sleep until 8 or 9 am. She sleeps pretty much throughout the day with only a few hours of awake time. Of course she is wide awake and fussy around 5:30 pm when I need to start dinner! Daddy is usually getting home around that time so that's when he gets the hand-off!

She has had some tummy issues lately where she will just kick and scream until we lay her on her tummy or rub it. Hopefully it isn't something that I'm eating that is giving her problems.

Ashlyn has rolled over from her tummy to her back 5 or so times. She likes to lay on her tummy with one of her arms under her chin so once she gets her legs kicking it doesn't take much for her to roll.

She has very strong legs and already likes to "stand". She has scooted around on the blanket some, too, pushing with her little legs.

She started smiling on the day she turned 4 weeks old.

She still looks a lot like her big brother!

1 week old

4 weeks old

Best Buds

Doctor Appointments

One nice thing about having the kids' birthdays so close together is that we will be able to combine their yearly doctor appointments. Ashlyn had to see the doctor the Monday after being released from the hospital (6 days old) to make sure she was nursing well and gaining weight. She left the hospital weighing 8 lbs (down 10 oz from birth) but was back up to 8 lbs 7 oz (82%). They were happy with this but wanted her biliruben retested because she still looked yellow (they had already tested her 3 times in the hospital and she passed each time). I had to go back to my doctor that afternoon to get my incision checked out (I overdid it over the weekend and had woke up covered in blood - oops!) so we took Ashlyn at the same time to get her test done. We both turned out just fine.

Both kids had to go back to the doctor on the 26th for Ashlyn's 2 week appointment and Carter's 3 year appointment. We were going to be there just in time for Ashlyn's feeding so I took a bottle with us. Good thing because she started fussing right before the doctor came in! Brad fed her her first bottle while Carter got checked out. She did a great job taking it. Carter did a great job getting his hearing and vision checked and didn't even flinch when he had to get a make-up shot!! They were pleased with Ashlyn's weight gain, although I was concerned since she sleeps ALL the time and doesn't always finish her feedings.

Carter's measurements at 3 years are: 39.75" (89%) and 34 lbs (74%).

Ashlyn's measurements for 2 weeks are: 22" (95%), 8 lbs 13 oz (65%), and head circ. of 37.5 cm (82%)

How did I get such big kids?!?

waiting for the doctor

One thing that we got for Carter's birthday was a swing. We don't have a swing set but have a high deck that is great for hanging a swing. I ordered one from Wal-Mart and it came in on his birthday. While Carter was at preschool, Brad and I went to pick it up plus the extra hardware needed to hang it. We surprised him with it when he got home. He loves it!

Carter's Birthday Bash

Carter turned 3 (!!) on Tuesday, July 20th. Since we had family here to meet Miss Ashlyn, we decided to have an early birthday celebration for Carter on Saturday, July 17th (yes, the day after we came home from the hospital)!

Partiers included: our new family of 4, Grandma Harriett, Great Grandma Harp, Uncle Roger, Aunt Chrissy, Aiden, Olivia, Aunt Tami, Unlce Larry, Zach, Torrey, Millie, and Aunt Michelle.

The kids enjoyed swimming in the morning and the big guys had fun throwing water balloons at them (from the 2nd story window)!

Brad and I had planned ahead and bought brats, hot dogs, and hamburgers, as well as some side dishes so not much else had to be done that day. We left the grilling up to Roger while the ladies fixed up the rest (I took it easy....kind of).

After dinner we enjoyed some Lightening McQueen cake (thanks Uncle Roger & Aunt Chrissy!!) and then opened presents. Some of the party goers hadn't ever seen "Cars" so we turned that on to catch them up.

Carter had a great birthday and enjoyed playing with his cousins. It was nice to give him some of the attention since it could have easily been all about his little sister.