A little more of January

Staying cozy on a rainy evening

Today was day 5 of rainy weather. This morning we tried to make the most of it and built a "fort" with the cushions from our couches, Ashlynn's Pottery Barn Kids chair, and a blanket. It took me back to my childhood and making couch forts with David on rainy days. Ashlynn seemed to have fun hiding out.

Ashlynn peeking out of her couch fort.

Ashlynn is tickled to be looking out the window with Cali.

Our Ashlynn is sure becoming a big girl! Knowing that a baby is on the way has inspired us to encourage this "realization", and she is really taking to it. In fact, if someone is holding a baby or refers to Ashlynn as a baby she will usually say, "I am not a baby. I am a big girl!" Her latest big girl thing is starting to use the potty. She's only done it a few times, but she's getting it. She is very excited about wearing the underpants that we got her and is more than willing to try to tinkle in the potty to get to wear them. I'm sure that we'll have a bunch of accidents along the way, but we're on the road. (Plus it will be nice to not have two in diapers at the same time.)

Here's Ashlynn feeling proud of another accomplishment, helping mommy sort her laundry. She made three piles: clothes, socks and bibs. Look at the pride on her face!

The baby that is on the way is doing well. I had my 18 week appointment this past week and had another ultrasound. My doctor was pleased with the development, and the three parts they measure from the ultrasound (femur, torso, and head) all reflected that he or she is right on track! We don't yet know if the baby is a boy or a girl, but hope to find out in the next appointment in February. I can't wait to find out!

Please continue to keep Eric's mom (and family) in your prayers. She doesn't seem to be making positive progress with her cancer treatment and everyone is feeling pretty discouraged. The focus now seems to be shifting to a more "make her comfortable" approach. This is hard for everyone.

January Happenings

January is zipping by! It has not been a super fun month for us so far, but it's not been dull. Here are some of the highlights (I'll spare you the low ones)...

On January 6th, Three Kings Day, or in my school district, Armenian Christmas, we finally made our Happy Birthday Jesus cupcakes. In the previous two years we made them on Christmas Eve, but since this Christmas was "not quite right", they came 13 days later. Ashlynn really liked helping out. She especially liked stirring, helping me use the electric hand mixer, and helping Eric put sprinkles on the frosted cupcakes. She had a tough time not being allowed to help with things like cracking the eggs and spooning the batter into the cupcake holders. After all the anticipation and our annual photo of Ashlynn with the decorated cupcakes, I have to say, she wasn't impressed. Like many other foods, she got all excited only to taste it and reject it. Oh well!

This past Saturday night Ashlynn had her first In-n-Out burger. We decided to just let her have one for herself, since she's so into wanting to have and do things herself. She was really excited that "everybody has a burger!" Unlike with the cupcakes, she did a pretty good job of eating and finished about half of the meat (with a little bribery from us with our milkshakes).
We are now really beginning the process of adding onto our house. We have the "big plans", as I like to call them, from our architect and met with the first contractor this past Monday to get bids. This Wednesday we go before the city planning committee to have some variances approved for our plan. This is all a bit overwhelming, especially with everything else that is going on in our lives right now, but we're going to keep going with it all, until we find a really good reason to stop.

I'll leave you with a photo of Ashlynn from a few weeks back. I put her hair in a ponytail and she was looking pretty cute. When she saw herself in a mirror she declared, "I am gorgeous!" and wanted me to take her picture. Check out the pose!

We survived Christmas!

Well, Christmas is over. It seems that Eric is a little sad that we're past it. Quite honestly, I am kind of glad. I love Christmas but it gives me major stress. I think it is a combination of too high expectations and exhaustion from running around. Every year I struggle with finding a balance between celebrating the real reason for Christmas and everything else it is. I probably just need to learn to go with the flow.

Despite our stress (Eric and I), Ashlynn seemed to have a fun Christmas. She has really become a pro at opening gifts. As she was removing the wrapping paper she seemed so focused on her job that she often didn't pay much attention to what was in the package. I can see how some people have their kids open one gift a day until they run out because Ashlynn seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by all the "stuff" she got. Some things have already been forgotten because they aren't as "interesting" (like a new ball and puzzle). She has really enjoyed her Little People airplane and has taken many passengers on it, including many of the Nativity people. She got a Bitty Baby doll from her 4 grandparents. Ashlynn is quite fascinated by the doll's eyes that close when it is laying down. I'm glad she has this chance to be a "mommy" before our real baby comes. She really isn't very gentle but seems to be getting better. I'm just glad that she had a neat Christmas experience since this is really the first Christmas that she seems to enjoy more than just the lights and tree.

2 days until Christmas

I am ready for Christmas. I feel like all we're doing now is killing time for the big day to get here. It seems like every party we were invited to was done by Friday night because no one wanted to presume that they might take those sacred days right before Christmas. Now we don't know what to do with ourselves. I know what Ashlynn is getting, at least from us, and I want her to rip into the gifts now! She really doesn't know what is ahead for her, so this will be a fun Christmas.

I am now 14 weeks pregnant, so I am in my second trimester. I am glad to have the first trimester behind me, not that it was so bad, but now I can look forward to "the golden trimester" when I should be feeling great. The hardest thing right now is that my regular clothes are beginning to not fit very comfortably. I am nowhere near the point of needing real maternity clothes, but size 4s just aren't doing the trick. Oh well, it's not like I'm going to go buy stuff now that won't fit in another month. Bummer. I guess I'll just have to deal with it!

Ready or not... Christmas is coming!

At the moment, I'm not quite sure if we're going to get a Chirstmas card out in time. Eric's mom is presently in ICU with a variety of infections that are complicating her cancer treatment. So, things like cards are on the back burner. Here is a photo we took this past Wednesday, just hours before Linda went into the hospital. It might be our picture for the card... if I get to it!

Luckily Ashlynn is on the road to recovery with her cold. She was pretty pathetic. The first few days she just wanted to be held. Then she moved to a rather draining phase of whining. Now, she's starting to act more like herself. Thank goodness because I am so behind with my Christmas shopping!


For laughs, here's a picture from about two weeks ago when Ashlynn discovered she likes sour cream. We were eating steak and baked potatoes for dinner. She saw me add sour cream to my baked potato (which I have just learned to like myself) and asked for "cweam". I put a dab on her plate and she tried it. She LOVED it and went on to dip everything in it, from steak to carrots. She kept asking for more. Gosh, if that is what it takes to get her to eat, I'll be willing to put sour cream on just about any food!

Our First Entry

Welcome to our blog. I decided that the time had come for creating a family blog when my brother David moved up to Lake Tahoe. Our family joked that the person he'll miss most from here is Ashlynn. And he should! Every once in a while, especially when she sees a photo of her Uncle Davy, she'll say, "I wove Uncle Dave!" I figure this will be a way for David, and others who are interested, to be kept up to date with us!

The photo above is Ashlynn at the LA Zoo a few weeks back. She loves animals but doesn't totally "get" the zoo. I think she would much rather an animal be in her face than having to look for it in a mini-habitat.