Hair Bows

Ok, so I am an official fan of the homemade hair bows!! A very sweet friend made Ashley a couple of hair bows, and to be honest I did not think they would get much use!!! Haha!!! I love them!!!!!!!!! They bring out the princess in little miss petite princess Ashley herself! Thanks a bunch Janice!!! You have converted me!!! I seriously need to pay you to make her a few more. These are going to wear out quickly! She wears them almost every day!!!!

I have a lot more pictures, just gotta find them on computer!!

Time for an Update!!!!

The month of October has been very busy for our family!!!! First off Little miss Ashley Lorraine was born on Saturday October 4th 2008. She was born at 6:57 pm via emergency c section! Being this was our 4th time around we thought for sure we were safe from this!!! Not so much!!!! Being as I had Austin so very quickly they decided to up my epidural intake.... Well, too much epidural for me. This made my blood pressure drop very low and Ashleys heart rate drop very low! Chris said they quickly pushed a red button, and it was quick calm moving from there. I have never seen Chris so nervous ever!! He tried to hide it, and thanks to the overdose of epidural I did not panic!!! Chris had givin me to very interesting blessings. About a month before Ashley was born while he was giving me a blessing he said " When it is time for her to come, she will do so quickly"!! That never left my mind, but I thought more along the lines of get ready to catch her Chris!!!! Then right before they gave me the epidural I asked for another blessing, in this he said both Ashley and myself would be fine! What a blessing to know that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder!!!! I must admit when she was delivered and I did not hear a peep for what seemed like an eternity ( the drs said it was about 2 minutes) I was nervous, but not panicing, again thank you drugs!!!!!! Lets not forget to thank Heavenly Fathers helping hand in this! Being as I had an emergency c esection I new there was no way they were going to let me go home in less than 24 hrs...grrrrr!!!!!!!!! I hate hospitals!!! I was able to go home on Tuesday, which made my stay 3 days... Holy aunts in my pants!!!!!!!! As we were leaving the nurses were telling me to take it easy, then they looked to Chris and said, " good luck keeping this one down!" Oh well, 3 weeks later, I and Ashley are doing great, as are the rest of the family. I'm not going to lie we do have a few jelousy issues going on but its nothing we cant fix with a little extra love. Now if we can get pretty Ashl;ey to figure out her nights and days, oh what a blessing that will be. She is the only one of 4 that has been confused, so I can't really complain!!!! Then we had Halloween activities going on , my birthday, Austin turned 3, and we have dear friends birthdays as well! Not to mention school and such not busy busy, but definately not boring!! By the way thank the Good Lord I can move again!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Welcome Home Sissy Feather!!!!!

I am sure that everyone knows this, but just in case, we will lay it all out there! We were so very happy for Heather to have such a wounderful experience in Switzerland with the Cook's! They are a FABULOUS family!!!!!! My kids and I were definatley sad to see her gone for the whole summer. To say we have a slight attachment to her is an understatement! Other than no blood relation, she is so very much part of our family!!!!!!!! It was the hardest on Lexi!!!!! She loves to share, but this was a tough one for her!!!! She had many sad moments this summer where she would just express how much she wanted to be with "sissy"! Of course I never told Heather that while she was gone, just expressed our love for her! Lexi is going through a very HUGE growth time in her life, and wanted her so much!! Ever since she was due home (oh my Gosh the delay was torcher on Lexi)< Lexi has slowly but surely made sure she has re- attached herself to "HER SISSY" ! That is what she calls her, for several years now! I had to keep reminding her that sissy was with the Cook's who are fantastic for her. She new that, but didn't quite understand!
The kids have all grown so much over the summer, and changed as well! I certainly hope that Heather knows ( I am sure that she does) how much we all love her! She has grown into a Beautiful young lady! I love listening to the tone in her voice when she talks about her friends and the Cook's in Switzerland! Especially Yan!!! Oh My! Chris has taken to picking on her, but it is all in love! He feels it is his duty! She needed that trip so much and we hope she can come to feel as much love here! Long winded as this is, we just want to say that we are happy you are back! We wish we could have you here with us, and have all your special friends, and the cook's here too!

The kids in their true forms!!!

Here are the kids in their true forms! Lexi being as girlie as a girl with 2 brothers can be! Andrew, always being silly, looking for a reaction! Austin, Loving to be with his sissy... I am sure soon he will change to wanting to be with his brother! Also being a goofy, mischevious toddler!!

A Little Breather for the girls!! :-)

The boys decided to give the girls a little break! Even though the girls are tough, they still are more gentle than the boys!!!

The Boys and Lexi showing their Love for Sissy Feather!!

They adore Sissy Feather!!!! Sorry they are so rough! That is the way boys, ( and Lexi) are!!!

Lexis favorite self defense move on Sissy Feather

A huge difference from the gentle play of little girls! They Love her so much and are glad to have her home!!!

Summer past time for Andrew

Andrew got to play his first year of coach's pitch! His attention span is getting better, yet needs a lot of help still! He had so much fun playing with so many of his church buddies!!!! He also had fun in the rain and watching rainbows in the sky!

My little Hoodlems

As he often does, Andrew decided he wanted to get a reaction out of daddy! He got Lexi and Austin involved. They cracked us up!

History in the making

Anyone who know Lexi know she is not a doll playing with girl! Until.... today! I found a precious moments black belt doll that I though was adorable at the Merry go Round. Lexi fell instantly in love with it and the puppet show play land! Both very unusual for her. She had a blast!!!!

Summertime fun!

Well, I have been taking a lot of summertime pictures! Now I have decided to take the time and post them. The kids have been having a lot of fun swimming, and playing with their friends! It amazes me how fast the summer is going by! I say that yet, I am getting more and more anxious for the arrival of Baby Ashley! The wait seems forever!!!!!!!!!!! Getting around is getting more and more difficult. I am feeling rather "Large, and not so in charge!" I know the wait will be well worth it, but the anxiousness is getting to me! Chris is busy as ever at work! He is funny, one week he will say things are kinda slow then the next he says his head is spinning! I know he is anxious to have is wife back to normal as well! Although he would never say that to me! Hope all is well!

fun Misc. pictures

Keeping Busy

This summer has been anything but boring! We took the kids to the O'Fallon 4th of July parade and fair. They had a lot of fun! Will post parade pictures soon! I had the opportunity to teach Andrew what it feels like to have his hand squeezed during a contraction! Or several! I have had some problems, but they have been lessoned by following the rules and drinking more water! Ashley is developing great! I have gained 11 pounds in 6 weeks....EEEEK!!!!!! Chris is working very hard and enjoying our growing family as well! He has a new hobbie of playing with electronic gadgets. (not really new interest, just intensified) Austin has been confirmed to have allergies to dogs, cats and mold. Yes tons of fun! The kids have spent a lot of time in pools! I know this is all over the place. Just a quick update! Much Love

Ashley Still cooking

So much fun! The third picture shows she has 2 legs and a cheeseburger, not a hotdog!

boy's room

The boys room. What fun they have rooming together

Lexi's room