Ashlyn.... 4 months old!

I really can't believe that Ashlyn is 4 months old. She is growing up so fast. She is such a fun little girl, but at times you miss how tiny they were when they were first born. Right now she is 15 1/2 lbs, and she has the cutest chunky chunk thighs. I will have to take a picture for you all the next time. WE LOVE THE CHUNKY CHUNK:) I truly love being a mom. Ashlyn is going through a lot of firsts right now such as giggling, learning to put things in her mouth, learning to use her hands to pick things up. She is also talking up a storm. Man this girl can talk. She is experimenting with different sounds that she can make, some of them are a little special, but funny. It is so fun to watch her learning and growing and can't wait to experience more of her firsts.

We finally decided that it was time to start getting her on a schedule, now that she is four months we think she should be ready. Boy is that fun! For the first 3 and a half months we were putting her to bed around 10-10:30, now we are trying to get her to bed by 8-8:30 and ease her into going to bed at 7-7:30. She doesn’t seem to like it that much. We put her down around 8 and she usually wakes up 30 min later, and then will go to bed about 30 min after that and then maybe we do that cycle about 2-3 more times, and then she sleeps till about 7. I guess I can’t complain too much, she has always been a really good sleeper. Its just the nightly routine that we need to get down. I'm sure it will come in time, if we stick with it:)

Anyway, here are some pictures of Ashlyn at 4 months old!!!

It is so fun to see her trying to hold and play with toys now!

This sweet little girl cannot get enough of her hands. I rarely see her without her hands in her mouth. We are working with her on it, but it seems to be a lost cause to the parents:)

Baby Wins Round 1!!!

Don't be fooled, Gabe is holding her up from behind. I love her face because it a classic. She has these eyes that are like "I didn't do it" eyes or "I'm innocent, I promise". I tell you if we aren't careful she will get away with a lot more than she should:) I just can't get enough of our beautiful little girl!

Last but not least, Ashlyn loves the tv. Here she is watching Bear Grylls 'Man Vs Wild' with her daddy! Its funny because it is virtually impossible to get her attention when she is watching the tv. Its pretty cute. And just so you know, we didn't even stage her hand, she just happened to be resting her hand on the controller:)

Well until next time!

Emily's Wedding and Reception!

On January 2nd we were able to attend Emily and Kurt's sealing in the temple. It was a beautiful ceremony and amazing to be there to witness the start of their lives together in such a perfect way and in such a perfect place. That was also the first sealing that Gabe and I have been to since we were married. It was nice to hear the promises and blessings again because lets be honest, how much do you remember about anything that was said to you and your spouse the day you were married?

Anyway, there were a lot of photographers there that day, but the main one was Uncle Kent. Dad took a really funny picture of Uncle Kent setting up his tripod to take the group shots. It was pretty comical...

THE WEDDING

Dad got this cute picture of Lindsay's little girl. Pretty funny... I'm not sure if she eventually got it or not but she sure gave it a great effort!

Here I am... walking along... minding my own business...

Posing for the camera... very innocent...

YUP... he actually did it... Yup I did my hair that morning... Nope, he showed no remorse... Yup people just laughed!

THE RECEPTION

It was a beautiful wedding and all the decorations turned out really cute. It was also fun to be able to see friends and family that I haven't seen in a long time. What a great way to end a great vacation!

Thanksgiving in Nebraska

This Thanksgiving we were able to fly over to Nebraska to spend the holidays with Gabe's parents. It was Ashlyn's first time flying. I was a little worried but she did really good. She pretty much slept the whole time. We were the first to get there, but over the next two days all of Gabe's siblings flew in. It was fun to be there with his whole family. And their apartment was so beautifully decorated for the holidays. Gabe's mom is very talented in putting together her home and all her holiday decor. So here is her beautiful Christmas tree, with cute little present for us all underneath!!!

There, under the tree, is cute little Noah. He is a very active, funny little boy!

Ashlyn with her cousin Jaycee! LOL... little Ashlyn looks a little scared. She has quite a few funny little faces. One of these days I am going to put together a blog.... "The many faces of Ashlyn"!

When everyone arrived we all went to downtown Omaha and walked around. You know we used to make fun of his parents for choosing to move to Nebraska, but it wasn't as po' dunk as I was thinking. Although, Mark (Gabe's dad) did pick us up at the airport in his carhartt jacket and hat, which is very "po' dunk"! Nebraska is very flat, but I thought there was a lot of Charm to that city.

Cute Jaycee with Grandma Ray!

Later that night we went to dinner at Old Chicago Pizza.

This was Ashlyn's first time meeting her Aunt Carly!

"Daddy, what are you doing, he's going to eat me"!!! What a cute little girl I love her so much!

We had a lot of fun this vacation. While we were there we did a little shopping. Mostly we went to the pawn shops. I swear that is among Gabe's favorite stores. We also went to the movie Blind Side, with Sandra Bullock. What a great movie. It was one of my favorite movies with her in it. Then after the movie we walked around the little shopping town. It was filled with people as they were having the big tree lighting ceremony, the day after thanksgiving. It was really great. Pretty much the rest of our vacation we hung out at the house watching movies and eating 24/7! I gained at least 5 whole pounds this trip, YIKES! At least I had fun doing it. Can't wait for Christmas:)