Birthday Post #2

January 28, 2011
The Day you were born!!!

Tristan, you are SUCH a blessing to our lives. We love you SO much!

Yesterday, on Tristan's real birthday, I got some good news! I had a 2 hour delay for school so I got to spend a few minutes with Tristan on his birthday before I went to work. He is usually not awake when I leave for work so this was a real treat for me. I went in to get him out of bed at.... my goodness... 8:25 am and he said, "Happy Birthday, Mommy!!! Eat pancakes!!!" Needless to say, even though I only had 15-20 minutes before I HAD to be in my car or I would be late, I HAD to make my son pancakes! So we worked in the kitchen together and whipped up some chocolate pancakes. YUMMMMY. The were SO good!

When I got home, the three of us enjoyed some good family time. When T woke up from his nap, he opened presents first because we wanted some day light hours outside with the big present. More on the later....

After Tristan opened his presents, we told him he had one more big present that was waiting outside for him. We got all dressed and out we went!!

Now you can imagine what we did the rest of the evening!!! Although he was a little uncertain, he did really well! We had so much fun watching him in his new Jeep :)

After the outside and present fun, we went in for dinner and cake. Tristan loves tortellini so we had that for his meal. He devoured it!!

Our precious boy getting ready to dig into his cupcake! I think he was even more excited that I let him eat the candy that was on top :)

Tristan, Mommy and Daddy love you SOOOO much. Happy 2nd Birthday, Buddy!!

Tristan is TWO!!! Post #1

I can't believe my tiny baby is growing up and is now a big TWO year old!!! Wow! It seems so cliche but boy does time fly!

I will start first with his doctors appointment last week for his two year check up. First I was nervous because Ryan was not going with us. No big deal but he had one more shot to get left (more on that later) and a full of life toddler can be a lot in the doctors office. I mean, who wants their doctor to think they are bad parents? So I always seem to be more particular about things there... anywho....

SO Tristan stood on the big person scale. No more tiny baby scale to sit on. He weighed in at 29 lbs but that was fully clothed and diapered. He is 33 1/2 inches tall. They measured his head too but I have no idea what that was! :) Percentage wise, I had to look it up when I got home. I am thinking if I read the scale thingie right, that weight is about 60% and height is about 20%

My boy is growing! I asked how he was doing developmentally and Tristan then preceded to tell the doctor that she needed a papertowel because she has washed her hands. She look at me and said that based on the fact that he says full 5 and 6 word sentences there is no need to worry about anything! Praise God.

Back to his last shot... I had told Tristan a head of time that he was going to be getting a shot in his leg. He has to get the last of his Hep-A shots. I tried to prep him for what would happen and how it would feel etc, but I was sure to tell him it will be all better very quickly. He just kinda said OK. So when the nurse walked in with all of the stuff, he literally layed down on the table, stuck out his leg, and then asked, "All done, now??" HAHA That's my boy!!!

Happy Birthday Tristan. You are the best answered prayer ever. Your daddy and I love you so much. You make us proud in new ways everyday!

Cookie Time!

 I LOVE this one! (above)

Tristan and I LOVE to make cookies. I mean, lets face, who doesn't like to? Well, maybe some people. I will confess that we do it the extra easy way. When we make them together, we usually make just the slice and bake or the ones you literally take from the package and put them on the pan. I like them because they have the seasonal shape in the middle and he likes that. So when I say that we make cookies, usually that means that Tristan put sprinkles all over them. This past time, I was home on a snow day and we got a package out to make some. It was so funny to me how precise Tristan was with how he was putting the sprinkles on. Usually he just shakes them EVERYWHERE and sprinkle balls roll across the kitchen floor. Not this time. This time he was so careful! He was also very particular as to which cookie got sprinkles and which didn't.

Tristan, you crack me up. There is never a dull moment. I love that you know exactly what you want. I hope that you always go after what you in life and never back down! I love you!

A bit out of order....

I know now that I am not exactly going in order but I wanted to post on this anyway!

This year I have really REALLY enjoyed being out on snow/ice days. Don't get me wrong, I love being out of work regardless, but Tristan is at such a fun age! We have been able to play, bake, sing etc. So much fun!!!! I wanted to post some pictures of the times we get to spend together on these days. I love it!!!

AHHHH!!

Is this REALLY happening??? We have been talking and talking about it, but now, the sign makes things seem a little bit more official! I hope it sells quickly. Do you know how hard it is to keep a house clean with an almost 2 year old????????? I will keep you updated on the progress of the house. The first day on the market we got a call and had a showing. We shall see!

Going Away

It is official. Our time at WBC (Worsham Baptist Church) has now come to an end. The 8 and a half years that I have been there have been trying, but awesome all at the same time. The church family that we have had there has been amazing and supportive all the way through our ministry to that church. Since Ryan grew up in that church, literally from the time he was born, that really was a second family to him! The awesome part is, even though we no longer go to WBC, we know that they are many many families that still support and love us, and would do anything to help us. That is a gift from God.

The church threw us a very nice farewell party. They are so thoughtful. It was nice to hear from people that we have made a difference in the years spent there. Enjoy the pictures!

Blessings!
Ashley

Catch UP Time- as usual!!!

Merry Christmas (about a month late) and Happy 2011!!!

 Getting everything ready to decorate the tree.

 In PA visiting Ryan's family. We went up to help Bob, Ryan's Dad, take care of the chickens. Tristan thought they were really cool! He asked all week about going to see the chickens again.

 Tristan and his cousin, Brendan. He loved to snuggle with him and watch his "truck movie". Brendan was AWESOME about spending time with Tristan. He is such a great kid!

 Christmas morning :)

Tristan and Daddy were working on getting the batteries in "Spencer," from Thomas and Friends, ready to go!

Christmas is always such a wonderful time of year. This year was especially fun with Tristan. Last year he really did not know how to handle presents and all of the other hooplah that went with Christmas. This year, he owned it ;) He survived the day of food, presents, lots of family and more like a champ! This year was also a little strange for me because it was our last Christmas in our house. Next year, we will be in Richmond, in a new home. Although I am really excited about this change, I am also a very sentimental person! However, we can celebrate Jesus' birthday anywhere. Since that is what the season is about anyway!

Going Away...

Tonight is our official "going away party" from Worsham Baptist Church. What a ride these past 9 years have been since I first started attending that church while dating Ryan while I was at Longwood. Who ever would have thought these past years would be so fulfilling. God has been soooo good to us and we not that is not going to change. He is going to see us through this next chapter!

I am hoping to get lots of pictures uploaded soon, I just can't seem to find the cord to my camera :( I am hoping it is at work so I will look for it tomorrow when I got back for my first day of work in 2011.

Blessings!