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.

First Steak Dinner

We went to the Precinct for Aunt Mitzi's birthday Friday. It is the best steak in the world. We were worried about taking Ashlyn into a really nice restaurant, but she did awesome. We left her in her car seat in the corner and didn't hear a peep out of her for the whole 2 hours. No one really got to see her cute dress, but we got a quick picture before leaving the house.

Matt and I got another few hours on the town last night. Went to a friends house to watch the Ohio State game. It was fun, but I was dead tired and ready to hit my bed by midnight. I think the 2 beers made me extra sleepy. On a very happy note, Ashlyn ate at 12:30, went to sleep an hour later and didn't wake up till 6:00, that made mommy very happy this morning.

Happy One Month

I am a couple days late posting this, but Ashlyn turned 1 month on Thursday, September 23. We had her one month Dr. visit. She weighs 9 lbs. 6 oz. Yep, our girl likes to eat!!!! Her head is flattening a little bit on one side, so we have to do everything to get her to lay her head the other way and balance it out. So far, not much success. Otherwise everything looked good. She got her 2nd Hep B shot and it made me cry. I hated seeing her scream bloody murder.

Can't beleive it's already been a whole month. This year is going to fly by:(

Our Chunky Monkey

After throwing up all over herself, it was bath time for Ashlyn last night. Here she is, content looking at Daddy, before the dip in the tub. Our furnace isn't working, so our house is a nice chilly 64 degrees. BURRR! No wonder bath time was no fun. Don't worry, mommy got to feel the cold wetness as she peed all over me when I wrapped her in the towel. Awesome! We have the 1 month appointment today, can't wait to hear how she's grown, she definitely likes to eat:) Look at that belly!

How Mommy gets stuff done

I put Ashlyn in the sling today to try and get some stuff accomplished around the house. I was worried at first because it didn't look very comfortable, but she feel asleep within like 2 minutes. It was nice to have two hands to do things, and I think she liked being close and cuddled up against me.

Also wanted to give a shout out to the most comfortable nursing bra ever. I went and got fitted at a bra boutique in Dayton. The bra is by Bravado. Had no idea I had gone from a 34B to a 34DD. No wonder that 36C felt so uncomfortable. I still love my nursing tanks ( glamourmom) the best, but this bra is also heaven sent. http://www.bravadodesigns.com

Tagged

My friend Katie tagged me so here I go- 7 things about me that are quirky, weird, something you didn't know, etc

1.I go by my middle name, my first name is Katherine

2. I think I have a good voice and like to sing loudly to Broadway musicals. Drives Matt crazy when i sing along to the CD's.....guess i'm not so good!

3.I kill plants, I don't mean too, just do not have a green thumb.

4. When i make cookies, I always eat the dough and almost never have the finished product.

5. I always sleep on my side, and hold my monkey and baby blanket (yes i'm 28)

6. I have an obsession with Halloween, and am secretly jealous of every girl who is going to dress up in fun, scandalous costumes this year.

7. I've never balanced my checkbook. I write everything down, but never go through and balance it.

Not sure who to tag, anyone feel free to jump on in and share!

Tracking

Ashlyn is starting to track a little bit more. Yesterday when I put her in the swing she actually watched the mobile. That is the first time she's really paid much attention to it. She is staring at our faces for a lot longer too, it's sweet.

Had a decent night, got 3 hours of sleep-up to feed-back in bed 50 minutes later- she went right back to sleep for another 2.5 hours- up for a half hour-then right back to sleep. I wish every night was that consistent. I'm sure it will just keep getting better.

Getting out and about

We aren't supposed to take Ashlyn out in public places for a few more weeks, but frankly it is torture trying to avoid any public places on a daily basis. We did meet up with Matt's mom and John on Friday afternoon for lunch at Chammps. The waitress commented on Ashlyn's cute cheeks, I swear that is the only thing anyone notices on her.

Matt and I got to have a date night on Friday. Kiki watched Ashlyn while we meet up with friends for a glass of wine and a movie. It was nice having a few hours to get out and socialize.

Rest of the weekend was quite uneventful. Some friends stopped over Saturday to watch the Ohio State game, Ashlyn slept through it, then we watched a movie. Sunday I hung out with my parents while Matt went to the Bengals game (pathetic). Overall, a beautiful, but somewhat lack luster weekend.

*Matt had his first throwup experience, Ashlyn got him really good!!! She won back his heart pretty quickly though, as you can tell by the second picture.

Success

We waited till Ashlyn was at least 3 weeks old before introducing the bottle. I was a bit nervous if she would take it, but it couldn't have gone easier. Daddy popped it in and she sucked the whole thing down in about 2.2 seconds. I thought 2 ounces would be enough for the first bottle since she ate an hour before, but she wanted the boob the second the bottle was empty.......she is definitely a Bayer.....loves to eat. That means mommy can now leave for longer, or Ashlyn can stay with the grandparents and we can have a night out in the near future. Relief!!!!!

Now we just have to make the leap and transition her to the crib at some point. Eek!

A first time for Everything

Ashlyn took her first trip to the cone. The cone is an ice cream place in Cincinnati with the best soft serve. Sunday was the last day they were open till next summer. She was a bit fussy, probably because we were all eating delicious ice cream right in front of her. *Check out ducky's new Sarah Palin style frames, he's looking young and hip.

We also had our first bath in the tub. Ashlyn wasn't too sure about that, and her lip just quivered as she cried. It was hard not to laugh cause she looked so darn cute! Luckily Kiki was there to help us since we are first timers.

Lazy days of Oct.

If Ashlyn is really good at one thing, it is Sleeping all day long. Guess the lazy days of Summer have extended into Fall.

We spent yesterday afternoon in Dayton. Kiki watched Ashlyn while I went to get a flu shot and ran a ton of other errands with my dad. It feels so good to get out of my house every now and then. I love having adult interaction, it makes me feel more normal. Ducky also got some great baby holding time. My parents are spoiled having a grandbaby so close to home now.


*Please keep our family friends, the Vantrease family, in your thoughts and prayers. Mr. Vantrease feel through the roof of his barn and passed away yesterday. They believe he had a stroke which caused the fall. Both of my brothers are very close with this family and I know they are going through a VERY tough time.

**On a positive note, my mom's PET scan came back yesterday and nothing showed up on the scan. That means the chemo treatments are at least keeping anything new from popping up and spreading. Any positive news is always good news!

40 Week Bump

Crazy to think that I technically should still be pregnant today. Ashlyn's due date was October 9th. I couldn't resist showing my 40 week belly. I got on the scale today and I am just about 2 pounds heavier than my pre pregnancy weight. That made me feel really good. Now that i'm passed the two week mark, and having little soreness, I can start working out too. Hopefully i'll be able to tighten and tone my belly back up in no time.

I got a chance to catch up with Stephanie for awhile today. Her daughter Addie, born the day before Ashlyn, is doing great. It sounds like our daughters are on a very similar sleep/wake schedule- with a fussy period around 10-12 at night. I am SO glad I have someone to relate with on exactly how i've been feeling the past two weeks. Thank god for great friends!!!

Loving Fall

I absolutely LOVE fall. The crisp nights, leaves changing colors, pumpkins, haunted houses, and so much more. We got out to a fall festival that our church was hosting to say hello to the minister who married us. He was so excited to get to meet Ashlyn. We got a couple pumkins for the front door too. I hope Ashlyn loves Fall and Halloween as much as her mommy.

Ashlyn HATES to be swaddled. She grunts and groans until she can bust her arms free. I call her my little billy goat cause she makes the cutest grunting noises. She always sleeps with her arms straight out or over her head. Too cute!!!

Finding time

I'm sure every new mom can relate to the changes of finding time to get the things done you used to do easily. I've managed to find spurts of time to pick up, do some laundry, clean, make food, go for walks, try to call friends. But it is definitely a learning process and one that is taking me some time to adjust to. One of the biggest changes is that Matt is now working from home on Fridays/Mondays. That means I do not have the means to get online and check e-mail, upload picture, write on the blog, ect., like I'm used to doing daily. As we get our lives back in working order i'm sure it will get easier, but for now I definitely feel a bit discombobulated.

We had a good weekend. Took Ashlyn for some nice long walks, which was just as nice for mommy. We spent all day Sunday in Dayton visiting with family and having a big yummy dinner of homemade ribs and potatoes. I have to get out of the house as much as possible, I feel like i'm trapped on these long weekdays home alone all day.

Ashlyn's 2nd Dr. appointment went well. Her jaundice is in check, and she has up and passed her birth weight. 7 lbs 9 oz. Everything seems in check. We got back in 2 weeks for her 1 month check up. She is doing better at night, gets up every 2-3 hours but will eat and go right back to sleep. I'm tired, but not totally exhausted.

I hear a waaaa, guess that means i'm being paged!

Nursery

I never got around to posting the finished product before she arrived. I love the sweet treat theme. It turned out adorable, the polka dots and quote are my favorite! You can see all the pictures on our shutterfly share link.

http://lifewithashlyn.shutterfly.com/