Exploring Fabric

  The other day I was trying to think of some new toys and play to do with Charlotte. I thought about what she loves to grab and mouth which right now is her bib and blanket, so I came up with exploring fabric in different ways.

I set up her Bumbo seat with the tray, found an old (but clean!) shirt and went to work. I made the fabric into different "styles" and presented them one at a time to her, she loved them! They kept her attention for 20 minutes which is like 50 years in baby time :)

First was a simple strip of fabric....

Next was a braided strip...

and next an "octopus"strip....

and finally a sleeve stuffed with the rest of the shirt to make a big ball with a tail on the end....

 

And she took some breaks to stare at the electrical outlet on the wall...

While we explored the fabrics I had some classical music on and we talked about how it looked and felt and lots of "YAYAYAYA great grabbing! What good talking, tell me more about it!" :)

I definitely count it as a success and will be pulling it out to play with again in the future.

xoxo
Ashlea

Photo Dump

We take lots of walks :)

She is getting so good at grabbing toys!

so pretty <3

smiles!

more walks

first airplane ride!

she did great! she spent most of the time like this in the seat beside me playing

she found her awesome hair and pulls on it all the time now

:)

I decorated for Fall and a certain someone got into my wheat and unknowingly had evidence hanging off her lips

she has started to grab my face when I play with her, its so precious!

This is what flying by yourself with an infant looks like :)

It was chilly up at Grandma Moose's, thank goodness for Grandpa's flannel :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

xoxo
Ashlea

First airplane trip!

  Tomorrow Charlotte and I will set off on her first airplane ride, I will be doing this solo - eeekk! Tony doesnt have enough vacation to come this trip so its just me and the little one. I am trying to plan ahead and be as organized as possible but with all things relating to a little baby, you can only control so much :)

Wish us luck on our adventure and we cant wait to see the family!

xoxo
Ashlea

One year later.....

     In September 2012 I was beginning the process of IVF with the hopes of getting pregnant. Now one year later I have a beautiful and healthy little girl that I am watching sleep on the baby monitor. Doing IVF was one of the hardest things both physically and emotionally that I have ever done but man it was so worth it. I documented a lot of IVF, my pregnancy and the first few month of Charlotte's life, I put it all together in a video and I have cried all through making it and watching the final result because goodness gracious do I love this little baby of mine :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5JeJUAP9VI&feature=youtu.be

xoxo
Ashlea

My favorite view

I walk every morning with C unless its raining. It gets me out of the house and we both get fresh air while she takes her morning nap, its a great way to start the day. Lately while riding in the stroller she has been doing "prayer hands" while she looks around and takes it all in. I love it. Its my favorite view - this little girl taking in the world, seeing, hearing , smelling everything around her and her little hands seem to be showing how wonderful she thinks it all is :)

xoxo
Ashlea

Photo Dump

tummy time and loving to eat her hands

hanging with the doggie

happy baby :)

night time baby

snuggle baby

Daddys who read their daughters bedtime stories are the best

getting the hang of the jumperoo exasaucer

While I was making muffins for the week my "helpers" were not so helpful. Here is helper #1 pooping........

and helper #2 taking a snooze

more hanging in the bumbo and our attempts to make her hold a toy

 

 

 

a terrifying sight I spotted in Costco the other day. Why are dolls and kid toys so creepy these days?

Have a great labor day weekend!!!

xoxo
Ashlea

Babies dont keep....

Yesterday was a tough day. Charlotte's reflux was so bad, I spent all day holding her upright, wearing her, soothing her, cleaning up throw up, and giving her gripe water. Because of that nothing got done around the house. So this morning I knew what was waiting for me.....

Laundry....

Dust bunnies.....

 Dirty dishes....

and a bunch of other household duties. I was up before C and thought about getting started on some of this stuff but then I looked at her and the poem "song for a 5th child" came into my head and so instead I laid in bed and just watched her sleep and pulled her into bed with me and snuggled.

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

It was the perfect way to start my day :)

xoxo
Ashlea