Parties galore!!!

We went to a party at Katie Siefried's house on Friday. Kristen Uchtman decided everyone needed something new and exciting to do over the Christmas break. Matt said it felt like high school again hanging out with the Alter crowd. I always have a great time meeting more of the Alter crew. I kinda feel like I'm becoming one of them. Shhh, don't tell my Centerville friends.



Saturday my parents had a holiday open house/celebration for Ashley and Nick's wedding last Spring. It was certainly a full house. Everyone got to meet Ashlyn, she decided a nice long nap was probably the best way to handle the noise and crowd. All of my mom's cousins and kids stayed later into the evening for a family party. I beleive Asshole and Caps were played well into the evening by the younger crowd. I on the other hand only indulged in 1 too many iced sugar cookies and lemon bars.



Our last party of the weekend involved getting Ashlyn baptized. We had to be at church first thing Sunday morning for the 9 am event. Amazingly everyone made it on time. My cousin's son Cole was baptized at the same time. Both of them did great. Neither one cried, and they let the ministers walk them down the aisle to show them off. Ashlyn proceeded to go right to sleep and snooze through the rest of the service. So innocent and sweet.

Ashlyn's 1st Christmas

We had a very busy Christmas. My parents house was filled with people, so we stayed at my in-laws house for the long weekend. Figured it was easier than going back and forth to Dayton every day. We went to dinner X-mas Eve with Matt's family at Bone Fish Grill, then proceeded on to the 9:00 service with my family. Ashlyn made it through about 40 minutes of the service before daddy had to walk out with her. I don't think he minded:) I absolutely love the candle light service, and watching the church fill with light as they sing O Holy Night. Ashlyn looked so cute that night in her Santa's Little Baby outfit.

We woke up first thing X-mas morning, put Ashlyn in her Chrismas hat and Pj's, then headed over to my mom's house to open gifts. It was England craziness as usual. We all had an excessive amount of gifts to open. I got a diamond necklace, nursing stuff, electronic brag book, Ashlyn's next size car seat, a fireproof safe and much much more. Matt gave me a GPS system for my car which I am super excited about. I seem to get lost a lot driving around Cincinnati.

Around 12:30 we headed back to Matt's parents house (*note, our parents live in the same neighborhood) to open more gifts. It was crazy also with the 2 nephews excited to open gifts. His parents were super generous as well and gave us lots of stuff for the house.

Finally we headed back to my parents house for a huge turkey and stuffing dinner with all of my family. We opened gifts with the cousins, had some champagne, and by around 10 finally called it a day! Whew. We are beyond blessed to have such generous parents, grandparents, and siblings who gave us tons of very very nice things. Thank you!!!

Caught a cute one of her smiling at daddy in her Christmas dress

3 Months

Ashlyn turned 3 months old on December 23rd. We celebrated by going up to Dayton to hang out with the cousins and my friend Anika. Unfortunately a nasty ice storm came in (just like the week before) and we almost got stranded there. Since my parents house was filled with family for the holidays, we had no place to sleep. We waited till midnight when the rain set in and melted the ice enough, then slowly headed home to daddy.

Finally got a decent smile picture. She's a happy happy girl, with 2 of the cutest and biggest dimples!

Meeting the Family

Ashlyn took her first road trip. We went up to Perrysburg to celebrate Christmas with Matt's family. Both of his parents are from that area. Ashlyn did great on the 2 1/2 hour car ride up and back....she slept the whole way. It was soooooo cold though, the temperature was -3 with a wind chill of around -20. BURRRRRR!!!!

First we went to the Holiday Inn to have brunch with his dad's side of the family. Ashlyn got to meet her Great Grandma and several of her great aunts and uncles. We usually only see this side of the family once a year, so it was great seeing everyone and introducing them to our beautiful little girl.

After brunch we headed to Sharon's brother's house for food and socializing with the Aubry family. This was a whole different ball game. Being 1 of 10 kids, she has tons of siblings, neices/nephews/ect. to fill a house full. They are such a fun and social family, and it's great catching up with all of Matt's cousins. Everyone wanted to hold Ashlyn. She was so good all day, she smiled and cooed for everyone. We couldn't be prouder to share our smiley baby with the family.

*More pictures from the trip on the Life with Ashlyn site

Have you seen me?

I am so sad. Matt and I somehow lost our camera charger at my parents house over Thanksgiving. If anyone knows my parents house, you know that if something goes missing it is unlikely to ever be seen again. Of course this is a busy and fun time of year for our camera to be dead. Think we're going to have to bite the bullet, assume it's gone forever, and go get a new one. So sad:(

A nice ice storm hit Dayton on Tuesday. (I am beyond jealous when my girlfriend told me it was in the 70's in SC right now). I was up getting my hair done and doing some Christmas shopping with my mom, and got stuck there. Mt car wouldn't even make it up the street, so we had to park down the street and walk in the grass to the house. It was a sheet of ice everywhere. Wish we could have made it home so Ashlyn could hang out with daddy, but it wasn't in the cards. Instead we roughed it out at Kiki and Ducky's! Ashlyn loves being held by Kiki, so I think she was happy!
On a very happy note, another girl is going to be added to the Bayer family. We found out that matt's brother Jeff and his wife Lisa are expecting a little girl. After having 3 boys, it will be a welcomed change in their house I am sure. Ashlyn is so lucky to get to have a girl cousin only 7 months younger. We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet her in May.

Busy time of year

We meet our friends Dave and Natalie for dinner last Thursday. It was really nice to get out and socialize and introduce Ashlyn to more of our friends. I passed on some of my maternity clothes and jeans to Natalie who is due in 6 weeks. Figured she could get more use out of them than my closet. We can't wait to meet their daughter Payton when she arrives. Of course I forgot to take out my camera and get a cute picture:(

Friday we had our first play date. Ashlyn and I went over to my friend Angie's house to play with Lily. Another 2 month old was supposed to come, but they had to back out at the last minute. It was a lot of fun and we chatted about everything baby. Always nice to hear how other people handled situations or what the timing was with their child. Even though Lily is almost 1 year, we still have a great time talking and catching up.

Saturday we went to a birthday party for my brother in law and our nephew who just turned 1. Always fun watching the little ones shove the cake in their face. We then headed up to Dayton to show off Ashlyn at the Allread's annual Holiday party. A ton of my parents friends attend, I think they appreciated us coming to show off the baby. And Ashlyn looked so cute in her Christmas party dress. That night we got a couple hours out with our friends, which was entertaining as always.

Today we went and watched the Bengals win, finally!

**Ashlyn slept 7 hours again last night. SLEEP IS GOOD:)

Long December Week

Been a crazy last week. Our cable went out on Wednesday afternoon and they weren't able to come fix it till Sunday. May sound horrible, but not being able to turn on the TV or get online for 5 days is painful. I felt disconnected.

Friday we had our first fire and popped in a movie.
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Saturday we woke up to snow covered streets. It snowed pretty much all day. This was the view out our front window. We ended up going up to Dayton so Matt could watch the football games that evening.

Yesterday I woke up for Ashlyn's first feeding at 7:30 and didn't feel right. I proceeded to throw up on and off all day and had a fever of 101.5. It was miserable, but luckily Matt was able to work from home and help with Ashlyn. It only lasted 24 hours so i'm up and at it again today. Ashlyn seems fussy and isn't eating well today though, I pray she didn't get it! Having a sick baby is not something i look forward too and makes me sad!

The peaceful times of the holidays

Oh the joys of the Holidays!! Decorated the house for Christmas. We are on a mission to find a new lighted tree for the family room, and we need a stocking for Ashlyn, otherwise i'm done. I turned on the Christmas music to create the mood and also made some cookie dough balls to pop in the freezer when I need fresh cookies. Ashlyn just sat in her bouncy seat and watched me while a light dusting of snow fell out the window. It was a truely relaxing and wintery day.

I can't wait for us to celebrate our first Christmas together with our little princess!

Dr.'s Visit

Wish I could say I was the one visiting the Dr., I have a yucky head cold. In this case it was Ashlyn who had the lucky visit. We had her 2 month appointment yesterday. I made Matt go with me so he could meet the pediatrician and be there to assist with the dreaded shots. Surprisingly, Ashlyn did really well, she didn't scream as much as her 1 month shot. I think she didn't like being held down more than anything. She cried for about 3 minutes, but daddy hugged her and gave her lots of kisses to calm her down. Yesterday was a sleepy day for her. It made me sad knowing she was so out of it, but she at least perked up a little bit to hang out with us in the evening.

Ashlyn is now 12 lbs exactly, and 22 3/4 inches long. That puts her in the 60th percentile for both height and weight. Basically he said she is ideal and perfect. YIPEE!!! We still have to work on getting her to turn her head both ways since it is flatter on one side. Otherwise, everything was great! Hopefully we won't have any sick visits and our next time at the Dr. will be her 4 month appointment.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Packed up half our house and spent 4 nights at my parents. Wasn't sure how Ashlyn would sleep, but she did the normal 5-6 hours every night. We did brunch at Matt's house and then a huge Turkey dinner at my parents. Was stuffed and happy all weekend, as was Ashlyn.My 10 year HS reunion was on Friday night. It actually was a great turnout, and a lot of fun. We got about 150 people. Everyone drank and stayed till the very end. A big pat on the back to myself and Jaqi Wells for throwing together a good party!

Giving Thanks

I hope everyone has a safe, filling, and family filled Thanksgiving! I am excited about our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3.... and getting to spend the holiday at both our families homes eating delicious food.

This year I am thankful for:

• My Mother, who is beyond amazing, and an inspiration for the mom I want to be
  
• My Daughter, who teaches me to be patient and what unconditional love feels like
  
• My husband, who has put up with my hormonal behavior the last 10 months and tells me everyday that I am beautiful!
  
• My family, who calls just to chat and say hello, I love that!
• My dog, who is so cute when she tilts her head and whines
• For an amazing house, that is warm and comforting on cold winter nights
• And for a life blessed with amazing friends, for whom I be lost without!

2 Months

Ashlyn turned 2 months old on Sunday. It seems like forever ago that she was born, but at the same time I can't believe she's already 2 months old. She was wide awake, and a happy baby for her 2 month birthday. She also finally pooped. Been holding it in for a good 4 days, so i'm sure it came as a huge sense of relief to her (and mommy, who was getting worried).

Getting cuter and sweeter everyday, if that is possible!!!!

Go Bucks!

We had friends over to watch the big Ohio State vs. Michigan game Saturday. As expected, Ohio State beat up on Michigan. Ashlyn slept through most of it, which I'm sure was much appreciated by our male guests. Daddy and Ashlyn took a nice long nap after the game....football sure is tiring. She stayed awake for a little while to watch some of the Texas Tech and UC game with mommy.

Finally kind of got a smiling picture, although she looks pretty funny. I need to capture it on video and share.

Daggers

Something that I don't like to do........Trim Ashlyn's finger nails. I am terrified of using the baby clippers, I think i'm going to cut her tiny precious fingers. So instead I always use the little nail file. She pretty much has to be in a total sleep coma, such as in the picture, to get the task done.

Sleeping Patterns

We still haven't gotten on any sort of napping schedule during the day. She pretty much is hit or miss as to when she sleeps. She does tend to have at least one period when she sleeps at least a 2 hour stretch. Makes it nice for me to get stuff done. She still puts her arms over her head, it is really cute!!!

As for night time, she's good at going down. We don't go to bed till midnight, that's usually around her last feeding then she drifts right to sleep. It was great cause she went several days in a row of going down at midnight and not waking up till around 6. I got spoiled by it, cause getting up between 3:00 and 4:30 the past two nights felt like torture. I want the 6 hour sleep span back! I'm sure it will come and go before eventually becoming the norm, but cross your fingers for more of those 6 hour stretches!!!

8 weeks and good friends!

My good friend from college, Anika, was in Dayton for a day last week and got the chance to come down and visit Ashlyn and I. It was SO great to see her, and watch her interact with Ashlyn. She was making fishy faces and had Ashlyn smiling more than I've ever seen. I've since tried and my fishy face just isn't the same. I loved getting a few hours to chat and catch up!

On a side note, Ashlyn is 8 weeks and getting bigger and more interactive everyday. Our little Honey Bunny gets cuter by the minute. Ok, I'm sure i'm biased!!!!! But she truely is a sweet baby.

Announcements

We sent the announcements out last week. Everyone has given us great feedback on them. I was really happy with how they turned out. They were printed by photoaffections.com. Happy to show off our beautiful baby girl!!

Photo op

I have been trying really hard to get a cute picture of Ashlyn smiling. They all turn out really weird and she looks funny. It is my mission to keep taking, and deleting, pics until I find a cute smile picture to post.

Been busy! Am putting together our 10 year reunion, taking place the Friday after Thanksgiving. I also made it back to my first Junior League meeting for this year last night. I'm a bit overwhelmed with all i'm supposed to be doing prior to January, but hopefully it will all pan out.

Rich and Creamy

I am referring to my hair. With the colder weather, and paler skin upon us......I richened up my hair for winter. Went a bit darker overall, and did more of a carmel highlight. Matt didn't want me to lose the light streaks, and I wanted dark, so feel it was a good compromise. I also cut a couple inches off to get a healthy start to the dry air, and give Ashlyn less to rip out of my head.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

The world around us

As we notice the world around us, mommy pulls out more and more fun stuff for Ashlyn to enjoy. She will be content under the play mat for a good 15 minutes or so. I think she is looking more at the ceiling than the animals, but she seems to like it.

Ashlyn also LOVES tummy time. She is a girl that likes to be on her belly. Unfortunately it also makes her want to go to sleep. Life is rough!

Hand me downs

We were very lucky to gets lots of girls clothes from my neice Madison, and her cousin. Not only did it save us lots of money, but Madison was a very trendy little girl:) We love all the outfits we get to show off. The seasons don't completely match up, so we are taking advantage of the summery outfits and abnormally warm November temperatures. Here is Ashlyn looking oh so fashionable in her lemon outfit!

Victory!!

Matt, Ashlyn and I sat and watched history last night. Barack Obama was announced president. The first African American (or half) to run the country. I am so excited to see what he brings to the united states. It truly is time for a change and I think he is the person to slowly start that process. I got the chills watching him walk out with his family, it was an exciting thing to witness.

Halloween

Ashlyn looked adorable in her "My 1st Halloween" onesie....even though she doesn't look happy. We did end up putting her into a butterfly bunting costume. It was absolutely huge on her. We basically snapped the picture and took her out, I felt guilty. Maybe in a few months we'll put it back on and take some cute pictures.

Mommy and daddy had a lot of fun out on the town in Cincinnati. We got to meet up with all of our friends for our annual Halloween Boo Bash. The costumes turned out awesome, even though we did get some boos from all the ohio state fans. Oh well, it was fun! Lots more pics posted on the share site, lifewithashlyn.shutterfly.com

USC Pom Squad

So we decided last minute that we are going to go out with all of our friends for Halloween this weekend. Me....being obsessed with Halloween, and usually plan my outfits months in advance....is in freak out mode. The guys decided to be USC cheerleaders this year. Being 2 days before Halloween and nothing to wear, I am jumping on their bandwagon. Mission USC outfit is in full swing. Be on the lookout after this weekend for pics.

I wasn't going to put Ashlyn in anything, but found a super great deal on a baby costume at Hancock Fabrics this afternoon. Pics to come on Friday:) Don't you love the suspense!

Daily Pic

We miss daddy terribly when he is at work. So every day we take a picture and send it to him so he doesn't miss us too much. This was today's adorable shot!

All Bundled

Winter is definitely around the corner. It was 37 degrees when we got in the car this morning, burr!

We had the pleasure of staying at my parents house Saturday and Sunday night this weekend. Our heat has only been working some of the time at our house, so it was a nice cool 64 degrees. Poor Ashlyn's hands were ice cubes the one night. Luckily they came this morning and fixed the problem. Guess we had a bad pressure switch. The house is now nice and toasty.

We spent Suinday afternoon at Matt's parents house for Sharon's birthday. Had yummy lasagna from Olive Garden for dinner, and found out the exciting news that Lisa is expecting her 4th. She is due May 5th, which means Ashlyn will have a cousin only 7 months younger. We are so excited for them. Fingers crossed the 4th time brings them a girl, otherwise they definitely have the making of a football team.