Party Time

We celebrated Ashlyn's 1st bithday with a party over the weekend. The Hoglos were gracious to let us use their home, and their bounce house, for the party (much to Micah's delight). There were 5 babies and 11 children who came to help us celebrate (along with all their parents). It was a beautiful day outside so the kids had a wonderful time eating and bouncing. Ashlyn even got in on the action. Here's a few pictures from the day...

The birthday girl with her girlfriends, Hannah and Bella

Ashlyn and Auntie Vonna

Crawling around to check things out

Getting her first tast of pizza! She ate half a slice!


Cake time! Ashlyn loved having everyone sing to her. She kept looking around at all the people looking at her, and when everyone was finished she was so excited she started clapping!

It took her a while, but she finally tried her cake and ate a few pieces before deciding to throw the whole plate on the floor!

She loved the strings on the pinata

Micah loved all the candy that came out of it!

Zachary sleeping sweetly in his Mama's arms

Playing inside with some of the other kids

We finished the party with some water balloon games to cool off all the kids. Ashlyn enjoyed playing with her own water balloon.

After all the guests were gone and Joshua woke up from his nap, the two cousins had fun crawling around the bounce house.

Yeah! This was such a fun day!

Thanks to those who came to clebrate with us.

Celebrating Her First Birthday

Ashlyn began her day with her first taste of our family birthday tradition - Breakfast Birthday Cake

She preferred the fresh whipping cream over the "cake" though

Mmmmmm! That's good!

She tried out her new rocking chair from Papa and Nana

And loved her new tea set from Daddy!

I took Micah and Ashlyn to Color Me Mine to make their hand impressions

They both did a great job! I can't wait to see the finished product!

For dinner we met the Sedy family at California Pizza Kitchen. Ashlyn and Brianna's birthdays are one day apart so we had a little birthday dinner celebration with the two of them.

Enjoying her dinner

Daddy and Micah having fun

Wow! That whole dessert just for Ashlyn! It's a good thing she had a brother ready to help her eat it!

We had a great evening with the Sedys. After dinner the kids ran around outside the restaraunt. It seems that running stairs is great fun for toddlers! And it tires them out too!

Happy Birthday Little Princess!

Ashlyn is turning 1 year old today! It is hard to believe that it has already been 1 year since this precious little girl entered our lives. We have been so blessed by the joy she has brought to our family in this past year! We praise God for her life, and thank him for the privilege of entrusting her life to us. Our greatest prayer is that she will one day grow to be a woman who loves the Lord her God with all her heart and soul and might (Deut. 6:5).
Below are some pictures charting her growth during this past year, compared against her Sweetheart Bear that Micah gave her in the hospital the day she was born. They started out at roughly the same size, but now Sweetheart Bear is dwarfed by our little princess. It is amazing how much babies grow and change during their first year of life!
Happy Birthday Princess Ashlyn! We love you!

1 Week

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months!

Our Big One Year Old!

The Rock

Just when you think that your kids aren't listening to what you are teaching, they amaze you with some little comment that shows they really have heard...

Nathan was sitting on the couch last night reading, when Micah came up and dropped this rock in his hand. Then he said, "You can keep this if you want. It will remind you that Jesus is the rock." I think this is one rock that he'll probably keep for a long time.

February Highlights

Now that she is crawling, Ashlyn seems to be changing so much every day as she learns new things and discovers the world around her. We are having so much fun with our little princess. And it has been fun to see her and Micah really enjoy playing together now. He is such a great big brother! Here's what we were up to in the month of February...

Ashlyn moved up in the nursery at church. She is now in the crawlers room.

The kids found Daddy's old dog tags. It's amazing how that little tag and chain can provide so much entertainment!

Micah pretended to be an Army man, carrying the dog tags everywhere he went.

We enjoyed a night out at Phantom of the Opera, followed by a stop at Diddy Riese, our favorite Westwood ice cream shop.

For Valentines Day, Micah had fun making sugar cookies and decorating them. He likes LOTS of sprinkles on his cookies.

Daddy bought some fun craft supplies. Micah enjoyed the new Bronco glasses that Daddy made him.

Ashlyn continues to LOVE the bath! She comes crawling quickly anytime she hears someone in the bathroom. She doesn't want to miss a chance to get in that fun water. Whenever she gets in the bath she grabs this cup and won't let go of it til after she gets out.

Happy baby! Ashlyn loves the freedom of crawling all over the house!

She liked the "hair" on Micah's Bronco helmet

Micah always enjoys lovin' on his sister!

Ashlyn crawled under a chair one day and sat there eating her cheerios

We were sick for 2 weeks this month so we tried to get creative with our playtime. Using a Costco box and Trader Joe's bags, Micah made this rocketship all by himself.

Ashlyn also enjoys playing in the fridge. When the door opens she always manages to wriggle her way up to it before I can close the door.

She likes to hold her own bottle now.

11 Months Old!

Our little girl is getting big!

Having fun with the pom-pom.

Micah and Daddy took a hike up in the foothills around our house.

They had a great time together!

They could see the whole city from up there.

It was a steep climb, but Micah proved to be a great hiker!

Playing with one of her favorite toys ~ the phone

I walked in to get Ashlyn after her nap one day and found her like this, standing up in her crib. She was quite proud of her accomplishment! I quickly lowered the mattress though so she won't topple out of bed.