the last few months of having a one child family

Our now 21 month old. Yikes!

Almost got all her hair up. Mainly cuz it fell out after an hour or so.

Spring is here! - i asked her to smile and this is what she did.

Easter Morning

All dressed up.

Beautiful!

our little peanut.

Our little 5lb 12oz (or really 5lb 7oz when she came home) baby has grown to be such a little goober of a little girl. She will be 18 months (a year and a half) in a few days and I can't help but think back to that first moment we met. Being the first to know it was a girl was such a special moment for me. Even the midwife hadn't checked, but just handed her to me with such grace so I could enjoy that special moment first hand. So as we await the arrival of Baby #2 I can't help but think of what sort of moment will come with the meeting of him/her. Not knowing the sex, leaves so much room for another unique moment in my life, our lives really. Some people have such a hard time with us not finding out if sorta cracks me up. That doesn't mean we'll never be surprised at the end. I'm all for it eventually. Getting back to our little princess though I have with great pleasure enjoyed this last year and a half and look forward to the rest of our lives together with such joy. I know there will be tears, and many of them, and times when I just want to pull my hair out. But those joyous times just far outweigh the bad/hard times that I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I love you Ashlyn Joy Grayum!

Almost a year and a half!! Seriously?

Well, as Ashlyn approaches a year and a half (18 months) I can't help but want to post a blog about the last few months. But where to start? Here's a handful of photos to explain it all. The easiest way to make sure I don't forget a milestone or memory.

Hew new favorite thing: Dress up!

My favorite photo!! Kissing her new baby brother/sister.

Christmas Day

Our little Christmas Angel.

(That phone never left her)

Having fun in her new tent. She could seriously live in it! (Christmas AM)

She learned to walk around Christmas too.

I say thanks for waiting girl!! Some may wish it was sooner. She's quite the runner now, didn't take long...

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

We had fun this Christmas, lots of fun memories.

Yay, for a super happy girl!

Her first Snow Experience.

Just a few days after Christmas we got our first snow of the year, and Ashlyn got to play in it. Well, what you can't see is the wind blowing so hard and the frigid air. It lasted a whole 5 minutes. But it was fun. She may beg to differ...

So as we're approaching the 1.5 year mark I can't help but feel so blessed. Next week we are going to be seeing the newest addition to the family at our ultrasound. I can't help but think how fast time goes. Wasn't I just doing that for Ashlyn. I remember the day soo vividly! I pray I learn to cherish the days cuz man they go by way too fast for this girl!

Hopefully I'll get another blog in before the baby is born or more then just one. I just have a hard time with commitment so if I give myself some space I won't give up. Which I'm known to do.

May you be blessed by the photos.

-Melissa

15 months going on 5

Ashlyn is now 15 months. What an amazing journey to get here. She is so full of new things, I am starting to think she's a little girl not a baby anymore. Of course she'll always be my baby. She knows how to walk, well as in she can take 5 steps and then falls cuz she's so excited she did it. What a goof. She'll get there. And I know she'll be running before truly walking, so I'm being patient. She says so many words: Baby. Trees, Leaves, Teeth, Book, Ball, Dada, Mama, What?, No. She says "NO" for everything I ask her. Would you like to go outside, no, would you like to eat, no, would you like me to read you a book, no. So silly! She also started eating on her own. She like to hold the fork now and feed herself. She won't let me feed her her dinner anymore. And she's eating a little better. She ate 2 whole green beans yesterday! Like that NEVER happens. She won't eat veggies, no peas, green beans, carrots, etc. Only squash, sweet potato, and potato cuz they are soft. She does inhale avocado and an entire banana in minutes though. She's just too funny! I was really happy about how her costume for Halloween came out. I made her a lady bug costume. She was seriously the cutest thing in it. I shouldn't be surprised! It was perfect for our little creepy crawler. She was cute as each person came to the door. Her mind must have been wondering why they came and then left and why they were all dressed in silly clothes. So funny watching her watch the people walk away from the house. =)

Happy First Birthday Ashlyn!!

3 days away from the big day.

With only a FEW days till her first birthday I had to blog about all the wonderful milestones that have come only within the last few weeks. She sat up for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa Grayums, when I went to get her in the morning, that July 17th. Also she now crawls on all fours. She started on July 19th. And then by July 23rd, she was on all fours and moving. She surprised me on the 23rd also when I went to get her from her nap she wasn't only sitting, she was on her knees bitting on her crib. Oh dear. And just yesterday, she was standing in her crib! Ah, it's not lowered yet. Guess that means we better do that. Ha. She hasn't yet figured out how to stand outside of her crib, but my guess is it's not that far away. She can stand on her own also, for a short time, but it's so awesome! Ohh...and one of the biggest things this week is her first tooth came, July 25th. (bottom, right) Yayayay! And she has another 3 on the bottom and 2 on the top that are sooo close to coming. It's funny because some people think they are already here, cuz they are literally just on the other side of the gums. It's wierd. She had a low grade fever yesterday, poor thing, which I think is from her teething. Other than that, she's been a good little girl through it all.

Stay tuned to lots of birthday pics. Lots of pastel pink.

11 months.

her fourth of july toes.
daddy and her at our parade. (july 4)
big girl.
her fav spot.
at the worcester fireworks. (july 2)

Ashlyn started this new thing which makes us all laugh so much. She started jumping into our arms or at us if we are near her. It's quite funny! Also since she's so flexible, which if you saw her you would know just what I mean by "so flexible". It's not normal. I mean I haven't seen many babies do what she does. (Maybe I just think that cuz I want her to be the only one, haha) But really she has no need to crawl since everything she needs she can get by stretching her body very far and scooting. I wonder if she'll ever crawl before she walks. She also just found her hair. The only downside is she pulls her hair bows out of her hair. So I guess I'll have to go to elastics. Which I hate since she cries when I put them in. What else? She is very good at drinking out of her sippy cup. And is starting to get away from the whole picky eating phase. Hopefully that is just a short phase and never comes back. Ha, ya right! She's gained a good amount of weight since the last check up so that's a huge plus. Will be over 14 pounds, maybe 15, at her 1 year checkup. Yay! She'll play roll the ball too. Meaning she'll roll the ball to us and we roll it back. So fun! And she also is so close to going from sitting to standing. So close!!

So her invites for her first birthday are out. Ah...am I really ready to have a "One Year Old"? I dunno...guess it's gonna come no matter what.

-Melissa