Mother's Day !

I had an absolutely beautiful Mother's Day and I hope that you all did as well !  

I woke up to this amazing painted flower pot that Ashlynn made me with Daddy's help. 

We went to Forest Park in St. Louis and had a picnic. It was so beautiful. 

After our lunch we went to a little lake/waterfall thing in the park. 

Ashlynn fell in love with these ducks. She even started saying "Duck" ! 

I was trying to get pictures of her but she just wanted to go play with the ducks :) 

I adore being a mommy. I love Ashlynn more than anything or anyone else on this earth and it has been such a gift to have her in this world with me each and every day. She is my little bug and I could not imagine the world without her. She makes me laugh and makes me cry. 
Being a mom has been amazing and it keeps getting better!

My Husband’s name is Josh.

My husband and I met in High School. Supposedly.

He claims we had a government type class together freshman year. We were doing a mock trial in the class and the people with the highest scores on the test got to pick their positions. I got the highest score in the class and chose to be the judge. He got the second highest score in the class and was apparently upset with me for picking the judge and held a grudge for the next five years. 

Fast forward five years and we met again in the spring of 2008. We were nineteen years old. My best friend had a class on Wednesday nights and I would pick him up after and we would go to Denny’s. One week he invited a girl from his class. This girl is now my sister in law and her name is Amanda.

((Amanda and I)) New Years Eve 2008-9

One night she brought Josh with her to Denny’s and we started talking about books. We both love to read and we promised to lend each other some of our favorites. After a couple weeks his sister went out of town to work at a church camp for the summer.

We didn’t see each other for a little while and then one night we randomly started IM-ing. I invited him over to my house, or rather my parents, and then we watched movies. I believe the first one was Juno.

From that night on we were inseparable.  That was June of 2008.

When I met Josh, I was bitter towards marriage because of my parents and I thought I would never get married, or if I did it would be when I was an old lady.

Three months later I knew we were going to get married. And I wasn’t going to be an old lady.  We had a pretty whirlwind romance.

He proposed that December while we were celebrating Christmas with his family. He got down on one knee in front of his extended family and asked me to marry him. I agreed immediately. He gave me my mother’s ring, which is what I wanted.

In January, my mom and I began to plan a wedding for June of 2010, not knowing that this was not to be.

On March 3^rd 2009 I took a pregnancy test. It was positive.

I had wanted kiddos young. I imagined that we would have a honeymoon baby actually, but apparently the powers that be had other ideas. 

After some debating this way and that, Josh and I decided to get married before the baby was born instead of on the day we had planned. This meant that my mom and I were now planning a wedding 11 months earlier than expected and also that I was going to be six months pregnant on our wedding day. 

Hoo Are You ? #40

1. Are you a mom and if so how many kids do you have?

Yes I am a Mom. I have one beautiful, funny, strong -willed little girl who will be 18 months old on 5.7.11.

2. List 3 qualities that you love about your mom!

She is an amazing Nana. 

She has the patience of an angel with my little brother. 

She doesn't care how many times I call her to ask her about ingredients for her recipes while I'm standing in the middle of the grocery store with a list that I know is wrong. 

3. What is your favorite thing your mother cooks?

Her spaghetti sauce (which I'm actually making tomorrow and I had to call her while standing in the grocery store tonight about this recipe) and her marinated roast. 

4. What do you love about being a mom?

I love that no matter what Ashlynn loves to spend time with me more than anyone else in the world. The feeling is mutual. 

5. What are your plans for Mother's day?We are pretty sure we are going to the St. Louis Zoo. Other than that the details are up to the hubby. 
I'm Linking this Hoo Are You up at Night Owl Crafting .... Come join the party ! 

Playing in the Sandbox!

After severe frustration that a giant turtle was camping out in my living room because he was scared of the storms, I finally kicked Mr. Turtle out of the apartment yesterday and moved him out to his permanent home in the backyard. 

I even filled his belly up with sand and tiny baby turtles. 

And today hubby and I took little miss Buggy out to play! 

She went straight for her turtle. She had not been as excited as I was after his sudden disappearance during her nap yesterday. 

She had a blast :) 

In other news ... I took some photos of our eggs and threw them away :) 

They are so pretty. And we had a blast dying them with Lynney Bug. 

Big Girl Bed !

I bought Ashlynn a Toddler Bed a few days ago at Once Upon a Child. 
It is a resale shop around the St. Louis area for baby, toddler, child, and maternity stuff. They have clothes, toys, and even beds :) 
So, When I was there Friday I sent my hubby this picture of this wooden toddler bed that they were selling for $35. 

He told me to go ahead and buy it. We hadn't been planning on getting her a toddler bed for awhile, but it was a pretty good deal that we couldn't pass on.  So, we scooped it up. My brother went with my Sunday to pick it up and bring it home. 
It has a few scuffs but my Father In Law is going to show us how to sand and stain it ... which I have never done before, so that will be an experience ! 
It had been my intention to break it down and put it away in the closet for six months until Ashlynn turns two, but she was trying to climb onto the frame and figure out what it was, so I pulled her mattress out from her crib and set it up in her toddler bed and she climbed up and down and all around it until daddy came from work. 
Because she seemed so excited about it, last night we decided to see how it would go if we put her in it for bed. She has always been a baby that does not like to be in her crib or sleeping at all, so we read her a book and kissed her goodnight and tucked her. After we left the room she got out of bed and came over to the door to yell at us for a minute, realized we weren't coming to get her, and then headed back to bed. 
So last night she wasn't too horrible. 
Her nap today was a little rougher. I think because the room was brighter so she could see all of the fun things that she could play with if she climbed out of bed. I had to put her back to bed three times and the third time i laid down next to her until she fell asleep ... 
So ... 
We will see ! 
My hubby is at work now and we talked about the naptime experience but haven't made the decision yet. Her crib is still set up right next to her new bed, so I'll let you know what we end up doing with the new bed. It may still be heading into the closet for a few months. 
 Either way it is adorable when she is sleeping in her big girl bed :)