UWRF Second Generation

A couple weekends ago, I met up with two great friends and roommates from college. Christi, Darcy and I each have a daughter just weeks apart (here's a post from when we met up for dinner last year when we were all pregnant). Natalie (Christi's girl) was born in October, Peyton (Darcy's girl) was due on the same day as Ashlynn, but was born a couple weeks earlier and then there's Ashlynn.

Darcy and I drove up to Christi's home in Wisconsin for a day of catching up and play time for our little girls. It was such a wonderful day. I'm so blessed to have lifelong friends who have been through some significant stages together...college, getting "real" jobs, marriage, babies and everything in between. Looking forward to future play dates as these little girls grow up!

Natalie and Ashlynn

Lil Miss Peyton

Christi and Natalie

Darcy and Peyton

Love these little girls and their moms!

What a Run

Marking this date on the calendar...I sent my last bag of breast milk to daycare today. I made it a week shy of nursing/pumping for 9 months. Going in with the expectation that I would just do it as long as my body allowed, I'm pleasantly surprised I made it this far. And while I think I could try to stretch it out closer to the one-year mark by pumping more frequently (I've been getting a little lazy over time), my body's milk supply was slowly diminishing. And I think I'm just ready to be done. I didn't pump real early on maternity leave to stock pile a good supply, so I had been pumping/replenishing daily for the past couple months.

I'm thankful nursing worked for Ashlynn and me. While I'll miss the ease of quickly nursing (especially in the middle of the night), I won't miss the pumping sessions at work and cleaning the pump parts. Ahhh bittersweet.

Sayonara milk...it's been a good run!

Gotcha

My dad turned 60 on September 6, and my brothers and I couldn't pass up using this milestone as a reason to pull a fast one on him. Not too much slips past dad, but we managed to completely catch him off guard. He must have lost some of his ninja skills with his old age.

It started with a surprise weekend visit from my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Bobbi and their kids. He had no clue they were coming, and was floored when little Joshua casually walked passed him upstairs. And it ended with a surprise party on Sunday after the second church service. It was filled with all his kids, grandkids, some family and close friends. Lots of laughs, a mini-roast of Paul Cloeter, old pictures, good food, beautiful fall weather, yard games and lots of celebrating of a man who is so special to all of us.

And a quick side note and shout-out to my big brother's blog. Jeff posted about his visit home that weekend (sixthgen blog on my blog roll), and he nailed what "home" is to me, and probably many of us. Now onto some pictures...

Framed message from the grandkids, alongside my dad's fave - German chocolate cake

Getting ready for the birthday boy's arrival - successful secret errand running!

Checking out the pictures, which ranged from dad's hippie days to cheesing with me at my senior prom

Bella and Joshua practicing their "surprise"

Wait...what?!

Finally realized what was going on

Part of the "Stache" or "No Stache" game...dad has proudly sported both looks in the past, and the verdict was in..."No Stache"!

Jeff, the #2 tramp jumper. Aunt Anne was voted #1.

The whole fam

Belated 8 Months

I'm a little behind...Ashlynn hit the 8-month mark over a week ago. Time to stop and reflect on our little busy body.

- Eating milk, veggies, fruits, rice cereal, oatmeal, crackers and puffs. We may or may not let her have a taste of ice cream (come on, it was hot out) and a little cheese (Jer's fave).
- Crawling - both army crawl and regular. She's fast. Like "I leave the room for a few seconds and she's to the other side, by the TV cord, with a devilish grin" fast.
- She stands! As of last Tuesday, little miss Ashlynn now pulls herself up on furniture, our legs, anything that's stable, to a standing position. The first time I saw it I said, "yeeeaaaa, Ashlynn!" and then immediately in my head said "ohhhh noooo." Baby proofing round 2.
- Battled two back-to-back ear infections. Got the first one beginning of August. Thought it was done after the medicine was gone, took her in a week later and both ears were infected. Took her in for a follow up appt last week and we're all clear...finally. What a trooper.
- Has been getting up 2-3 times during the night for the last couple weeks. Not cool. Especially when we've gone a couple months of consistently sleeping through the night. I just nurse her a little and she goes right back down, but still. Hoping this phase ends soon.
- Lots of noises...babbling, blowing spit bubbles, making chomping noises/motions (weird).
- Started a new thing with her hands...almost like she motions with her fingers "come here." She does it a lot and it seems to be at the right times when she's staring at someone with a serious look on her face. I think it's coincidence, but it's pretty funny.
- No teeth yet.
- No hair yet.
- No, she's not an 80-year-old grandpa.

We're enjoying the final days of summer. Ashlynn's loved being outdoors and is easily occupied with the fresh air, grass, Kenna and stroller rides. Another month has gone by!

Gangly girl sprawled over the boppy pillow

Aaaand she's on the move...these monthly pictures are getting difficult

Why hello there

Busted crawling around her bouncy seat (no, we haven't retired that thing just yet)

Easily entertained with the standing mirror

Say hello to my little friend...

Finally purchased our new camera this past weekend! We went with the Canon Rebel T3. Loving the quality of the pictures already, and all I know how to do is turn it on and shoot. Hopefully I can self-teach and learn from others to use its full potential...

Gardening

I've completely slacked on documenting how my veggie garden season has been. Partially because I forget to take pictures, and what fun is a post without pictures. And then my lack of a camera for 2 weeks further delayed that. Also, I wasn't super impressed with my skills earlier in the season (aka weeds were taking over the entire thing until I spent a good 2-3 hours weeding one day like it was my j-o-b).

So here's an update...

- We moved the location of the garden this year. About 20 feet or so south, in case you were wondering. Not really sure why, other than it fits the yard layout better and there was a little more room to expand. I don't think the soil is quite as good there as the old spot, but Jeremy reminds me that it will get better each year. We've got good fertilizer from the piggies so we might have to prep better next year.
- Romaine lettuce and peas were a flop. Not sure why...wait, probably the lack of weeding early on.
- Onions, potatoes and green beans were so-so. Meaning we had some but it wasn't as robust as I thought. Onions never got very big, but they tasted good. Potatoes were just weird. And only a couple green bean plants produced.
- And onto the successes. Zucchini, cucumbers, squash, basil, radishes and tomatoes are all plentiful and doing great. Waiting for the tomatoes to turn...have a lot of greenies right now. And peppers. Fabulous. Mild, hot, super hot, banana, green...you name it, we got it. I'm debating freezing some so I've got a stash come chilli season.
- Tidbits: I LOVE sauteeing onion, zucchini and peppers in olive oil with a little seasoning. I could make it as a side every night for dinner. Oh wait, I do. Also, I try to find a way to "sneak" in zucchini into every meal. Jeremy hates it. I love it. Jeremy - "Honey, um, is this zucchini in our tacos?" Me - "What are you talking about?" as I walk into the other room to avoid the look of confusion/annoyance...

And finally a few photos from the camera on my phone. Nothing special but it does the job for now (post on new camera to come soon).

View of the garden...empty dirt space in the closest corner represents the failures. RIP peas and lettuce.

Close up of the hottest little devil peppers on earth. Or in our garden, whatev.

Kenna guarding the garden. If only I could teach her how to weed. And the mass of green you see is the crazy cucumber vines and zucchini.

Just one evening of picking...

I'm so thankful for the space and good Southern MN soil. If you want some veggies, let a sista know!