Ashtyn Gives Kisses

This week Ashtyn has started giving kisses, she walks around smacking her little lips!

Similar Faces

There are times I look at Ashtyn and can see similarities between her and Callie. But, Ashtyn also has her own unique look. These are pics of them at about the same age...you can definetly tell they are sisters!



Ashtyn at 15 months



Callie at 15 months

Happy Easter

We celebrated our first Easter in Batesville this Sunday. We had a nice Sunrise Service, it would have been even better if the SUN had actually been shining! The girls enjoyed all the treats from their Easter baskets and we spent the rest of the day just resting. Trying to get a nice picture where both girls are cooperating is not so easy...so here is what we were able to get!

A Dream Come True!

So, the beginning of April we got to do what every child dream of...go to Disney World! I had not been since I was 7, so I was just as excited as Callie:) We are so very thankful to Trey's parents (George and Jana) for paying for our trip to Disney, and all the fun things we got to do there!

I have to admit that I was REALLY worried about how the girls would do for the LONG drive down to Florida. I had anticipated it to be a horrific experience! The first day we took several breaks, including a 2 hour one, and made it to Trey's sister, Jill's house (in Georgia) late at night. Surprisingly the girls did well! The next day the whole crew headed down to Florida. Even through stops and traffic, the girls did great with the drive!

We got to stay at a really nice house that had a private pool. It was called "Minnie's Mansion" and Callie actually believed that Minnie lived there:) The first day we went to Magic Kingdom. Callie was so excited the whole drive to the park and her reaction to seeing Cinderella's Castle for the first time was priceless!! She even brought tears to her daddy's eyes:)

The first thing we did was eat breakfast with the princesses. While we were waiting to go into the breakfast, Cinderella emerged from an elevator right in front of us, and Callie just ran up to her and hugged her! Then, we got to meet Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Ariel. It was by far the BEST experience and so worth it, for Callie's enjoyment!! We rode lots of rides, and Callie's favorite was "Winnie the Pooh."

The next day at Disney, we went to Disney Hollywood Studios. We went to a Disney Junior Live show and both the girls loved it. There was also a "Little Mermaid" show that we saw that was really neat, and made you feel like you were "under the sea." To end our day at that park we saw a live "Beauty and the Beast" show in an outside amphitheatre. The actors were really good and Callie had a lot of fun:)

Our last day we went back to Magic Kingdom. We got to see Mickey and Minnie and that was by far the best part for Ashtyn. She was in awe over her favorite characters and they gave her lots of hugs and kisses. We decided to ride all the rides we loved again and Callie was even a trooper and rode the Haunted Mansion with us!

We keep saying that this was the BEST vacation we have ever been on! Disney World is such a magical place, not just for kids. And honestly I feel like I had more fun watching Callie enjoy everything, then when I went as a kid 20 years ago!! We are already planning our next trip to Disney when Ashtyn is a little older and will be able to really enjoy everything.

To end our vacation we drove (ok, Trey drove, we rode) the whole way home. We left at 8:30am and got back to Indiana about 2:00am the next day.

Here are some pics of our wonderful trip, we can't wait to go back!!

Warming Up...

We are so glad that spring has arrived!! They told us when we moved to Batesville that it would be a COLD winter, full of snow...and they were right. My girls get so tired of being cooped inside, so the first sign of 60 degree weather, we went OUT! We had a few days of really nice weather in March, and the girls thouroughly enjoyed their time outdoors.

Callie picked out some fun outside toys, including sidewalk chalk. She has a lot of fun drawing on our driveway, and Ashtyn loves to watch. We also enjoy taking walks around our subdivision! Ashtyn wasn't such a fan of the stroller last year, but this year so far she LOVES it. She takes in all the scenery and is especially fond of dogs in our neighborhood:)

Goodbye

The day finally came...where we said "goodbye" to our first home. When we first walked through that house, we immediately fell in love! We barely had enough furniture to fill all the rooms. Of course it wasn't long before we were painting the nursery and adding to our family:).

There are a lot of memories in that home. I remember the first week we were there, my sister-in-law and brother sent us a weeping willow tree to plant in the backyard. There was a drought that fall and it shortly died. Then there was the Sunday morning that I groggily awoke and saw something "scurry" into our closet...our first mouse! There was the day we brought Callie home from the hopsital. And I remember days and nights of being awake and walking "laps" through the house with a colicky baby.

I remember decorating the house for Christmas, and how everything had its place. When Trey would put Christmas lights on the outside of the house, and complain about it, EVERY year:). There was the Super Bowl Sunday night in 2008 where Callie first walked across our living room floor. I remember every birthday party we had there. All the rooms that I had Trey paint...haha. The many walks that we took as a family down our street and to downtown Princeton. The days and evenings that we sat on the front porch swing. Carving pumpkins in the dining room.

And most recently, I remember the day we brought Ashtyn home from the hospital. Her sleeping in her cradle in our bedroom. Then when she finally moved into the pistachio green "Winnie the Pooh" nursery, I would rock her to sleep in the glider next to her crib.

These are all things I love and miss about that home. But, there were plenty of things I won't miss about that house as well. The mice, the creepy attic, no closet space, the neighbor's dog poop all over our yard, tiny bathrooms, and a lot of floors to mop.

It seems that once you don't have something anymore you only remember the good things about it. That's not necessarily the case. It is just the realization that, that chapter of our life is offically done now. The house wasn't perfect by any means...but it was ours. Our first home.

A lesson I learned from my 4 year old

We seemed to make it past the "terrible twos" without too many tantrums or attitudes. When we hit the "trying threes" our days were often filled with fits and spankings, time outs, or whatever would work! And now we are in what I like to call the "frustrating fours."

Callie is very opinionated. She knows exactly what she wants and she wants it RIGHT NOW. We recently had to get onto her for telling mommy and daddy, "I want it NOW." We explained to her that we can't always have things immediately. Of course, that's very difficult for a child that was pretty much the CENTER OF ATTENTION for her first 3 years of life, to understand. We have talked to her about being patient, and that sometimes we have to wait for things.

In this process of learning to be patient, Callie has started to show signs of anger. Yesterday evening I heard her tell her dad "I'm so mad at you." I couldn't believe my ears! We quickly told her that was not polite and not something that we said to our parents. She said, "I'm mad because you won't let me do things." We started listing ALL the things she had done that day, treats she had received, and special attention she'd had. Callie then replied, "Yes, but I'm mad because you wouldn't let me pick out my shirt, and you said I couldn't have a snack when I wanted one." WOW! We used this is a time to tell her that we can't always have exactly what we want.

I figured we probably wouldn't have to deal with this scenerio again anytime soon. But, I was wrong! Trey and Callie spent almost an hour playing together while Ashtyn took a nap this morning and I chatted with my mom on the phone. We love when we can give Callie some special one-on-one attention! Well, after they had played for a while and Ash woke up from her nap, we got busy doing other things. Callie asked for something and was told "no." She responded, "Ugh, I'm so mad because you won't let me have what I want or do what I want to do."

While she was in a time-out for this, Trey and I discussed how ungrateful she is. She had an entire morning full of treats, playtime, favorite cartoons and undivided attention. But the second she didn't get something she wanted, she was upset. She couldn't understand why she can't just have everything she wants, whenever she wants it. We told her that mommy and daddy know what is best for her. And, sometimes we just don't get what we want.

As I was thinking about all this, I couldn't help but think that we are so much like a little child when we relate to our Heavenly Father. We accept all the blessings that God gives us, and love when He answers our prayers in the way we wanted. But, when God tells us "wait" or "no," we pout and get angry. No matter how many things the Lord has provided us with, we are ungrateful. We can't see all the good things, because we are so focused on the negative, the unanswered prayers.

I believe God uses our children to teach us valuable truths. I didn't need my 4 year old to act in this way for me to realize that I am ungrateful. But, just as we used this as a teachable moment to talk to Callie about patience and acceptance, God used it as an opportunity to teach me about the same things.

Fun Times

Ashtyn has started to really get into playing. Her favorite thing is to go in Callie's room and play with all the "big girl" toys. For the longest time the first items she would grab would be the toy phone from the play kitchen and the toy timer. Not sure why, but sure enough every time she came out of Callie's room that's what she was carrying.

Now Ash loves playing with Callie's McDonalds's Drive-Thru that she got for Christmas. And just the other day she found a "light saber" that really lights up. Of course, she does enjoy just playing with an empty diaper box or tearing up a magazine. All I can say is this girl has fun, no matter what she does!