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/