End of the year dance recital!

At the end of April, Brynley had her final dance recital for the year. She has been so cute at home practicing while singing her song! She did a great job but never smiled the whole time! We will have to work on that for next year - I think she was just really concentrating!
Hayden was very patiently watching every dance!

Bryn's teacher (Miss Misty) also works on tumbling and had the girls do a little bit of tumbling. Unfortunately, Bryn's cartwheel is not so good - Though I'd say she has at least 15 - 20 pounds up on all the other girls in the class so I'm not surprised that her little arms can't hold her up!


After the recital - what a cutie! (I think I'm starting to see some resemblance between the two of us!)

7 Years ago today...

...our sweet baby Hayden joined our little family! He made quite the entrance and for those who don't know the story - I am going to give a quick recap of the day leading up to his birth:

It was Tuesday May 20th - the last day of school and my last day of teaching before having my baby. Hayden's due date was 3 weeks away and I was looking forward to a few weeks of relaxing on the couch before the big day! The kids were dismissed around noon that day at which point I went to work trying to finish packing up my classroom. I was really quite huge at this point but still getting around pretty well. Andy was planning to meet me at the school when he was done with classes around 5pm so we could finish packing up together. Once he got to the school I felt so sick to my stomach - I figured it was because I hadn't eaten all day and all I wanted was a steak! So instead of working, we left to go out to dinner, even leaving my car in the parking lot and heading to Black Angus.

When we got to the restaurant it was so crowded, why on a Tuesday night before 6 was it so stinkin crowded??? So I sat down to wait for our table, after a few minutes I really thought I would pass out because I was so hungry. Andy was feeling really bad and got me a loaf of bread from a hostess who took a little pity on me! The bread was wonderful, it helped me feel a bit better pretty quickly. After waiting in the lobby for about 20 minutes our name was finally called and I would finally get my steak and potatoes! We got about half way to our table when I heard a small pop, like a balloon popping and suddenly water was gushing down my legs. I sort of freaked out and told Andy I think my water broke! Meanwhile people are staring at us - I had a knee length skirt on so you could just see the water puddling on the floor as I tried to keep my legs together while waddling to chair I saw 5 feet away. I grabbed the chair and sat down. Turns out I grabbed the chair from a table where a very young couple were on a date - they looked at me pretty wide eyed!

The hostess didn't know what to do, neither did I or Andy - this had never happened to us before! Andy asked if they had any towels in the back and so she ran and got some. I started wiping down my legs and kind put a few between my legs as I stood up, another huge gush, and I sat right back down. How on earth would I ever be able to walk out of this restaurant??? Eventually Andy convinced me that I just had to suck it up and do it! And so a few minutes later we headed back out the way we came in - people were clapping and telling us congratulations, it was so unreal. As I walked out of the restaurant people were coming in saying, "Is it time???" We got to Andy's car and put a few of the towels (that the restaurant let us take) on the seat of the car before I sat down, then we headed home to get the hospital bag!

Andy called triage and they told us to come in right away even though I was having no contractions, but the water kept pouring out. I was measuring over 6-7 weeks ahead during the pregnancy and now we know why - I had huge amounts of extra amniotic fluid - it was amazing. The rest of the story is basically that I spent 17 hours in labor, in the hospital on pitocin before Hayden finally entered the world on Wednesday, May 21st! I was glad to have that surprise 3 weeks early - I totally didn't expect it! He weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces. Here are a few pictures from the days after Hayden was born:


We are so thrilled with the young man that Hayden is becoming - he continues to amaze us each and every day! He is already talking about turning 8 next year and getting baptized - time sure flies!
Hayden was so proud last month to get his picture taken at BYU - he is totally set on going there - we cross our fingers that he will someday!

A break from bedrest... for a little concert!

I was so excited back in February when Andy surprised me with tickets to see one of my favorite people in concert - Chris Daughtry! I have been in love with him since he first appeared on American Idol 5 years ago. He is such a great singer and he is quite the eye candy as well. I was equally as excited to hear that Lifehouse would be opening for Daughtry - the lead singer of Lifehouse is also quite a looker and the drummer is from here in Gilbert! Thank you to my doctor for giving me special permission to attend the concert even though I was on bed rest - he said I could go as long as I did not do any crowd surfing or mosh pitting....

Before the concert - eating dinner right by the arena

Lifehouse - they were fantastic!

Here I am with Chris Daughtry in the background!

Some pictures of Daughtry

I've posted a few video clips bellow in case you have no idea who these bands are - you will probably recognize the songs at least!




Thanks Andy for a great night!

3D Baby Pictures!

A bonus to having complications to this pregnancy are the awesome ultrasounds and pictures that come with it! Today I had my first of weekly level 2 ultrasounds - technology is amazing! The perinatoligist said the baby could not look better. She is measuring a few weeks ahead and is already 3 1/2 pounds... Which they say with this type of ultrasound is quite accurate at this point. My doctor has been really concerned about my amniotic fluid levels but today it measured just a bit above the high end of normal so that is another very good sign! Still no answers as to why I am bleeding but as long as I have been on bed rest, the bleeding has pretty much stopped.

The baby's legs and feet

A profile shot of the baby with one arm by her face, you can see the other hand in the left corner

Another picture almost the same as above but she is almost smiling!

This picture might be a little much for some but I finally feel confident calling this baby a girl. If you can't tell, her bum is at the bottom of the picture, hand is between her leg with one finger sort of pointing to her girly parts!

The ultrasound tech apologized that she couldn't get better pictures, this baby would not stop moving, it was hilarious! What should have been a 45 minute ultrasound turned into almost an hour and a half in order to get all of the measurements needed.

Zac is 2!!!

Zac had his second birthday on Tax day - April 15th! We let him open two presents that morning... err... he found two of his presents in a Target bag and really wanted them so I let him. He has been obsessed with Toy Story 2 lately and so it was fitting for him to get a Woody and Jessie action figure - he loved them and played with them ALL day!

I was trying to get a picture of him playing but he kept turning so I couldn't get the picture

Brynley loved playing with them as well!

Hayden asked his teacher to make a crown for Zac like she does for all the kids in the class when it's their birthday. He was super excited to bring it home for him - it was so sweet even if his name is spelled wrong!

As is tradition in our family, we took Zac to Red Robin for his birthday. Unfortunately - we got to Red Robin with only one of Zac's red Crocs - but not to fear, we happened to have one of his brown sandals in the car as well. He didn't seem to mind that he spent the rest of the evening in two different shoes - I, on the other hand, was mortified! And of course I forgot my camera. Zac was thrilled when they brought him his own sundae and sang happy birthday just to him - he loved it!


We left Red Robin to go to our other Birthday destination - Krispy Kreme - yum! For those who don't know - you go on your birthday and get a free dozen glazed donuts. Thank you Zac for having a birthday so we could all benefit!

Saturday was the day for Zac's party. Meredith's sister in law Jeannie was in town from Georgia so we decided to combine Zac and Kate's birthdays and just do a small, relaxing family party. We also decided to break in the pool for the season --- unfortunatey, the heat pump broke the day before the party, thus the pool was still pretty cold. Needless to say (most) of the adults didn't swim - except Andy who was needed to supervise Zac in the pool. He is one brave man - that pool was COLD! The kids had a blast - especially Zac who WOULD NOT get out of the pool. That kid is crazy --- though I am super excited that he will enjoy the pool this summer as he hated it last summer!


Please excuse the pink pacifier you will see in most of the pictures! He had just woken up from a nap and wasn't too happy at first!

I was cracking up when I looked down and saw him looking like this!

The kids spent all night outside eating and playing - it was a perfect night and my house hardly got messed up because of it!

We had a great barbecue - burgers, hotdogs, beans, potato salad, watermelon, chips, guacamole - YUM!, and plenty of soda to go around. I made the kids a Strawberry Shortcake Cake (Found on The Pioneer Woman Blog) it was delish. Although I should say the cake was less a kid friendly cake and more a cake for the adults - you can do that when they're 2 and don't know any better! I think most of the kids ended up with Popsicles!

It was a Barney (Kate's favorite) and Elmo (Zac's favorite) party! (these cake picks were the only reference to the theme other than the red and purple balloons!)

Opening presents

Kate with her new shades!

Zac loved the hat Grandpa got him!

They had a great time opening their presents by the end of the night we had a great time celebrating the two little munchkins!

Singing to the kids - this is right before Zac decided to blow out the candle without even giving Kate a chance!

He just noticed Elmo!

Zac's 2 year old Stats (Are you ready for these stats???)
Height - 36 Inches - 90th percentile
Weight - 35 Pounds - 110th percentile!!!

Zac barely weighed 18 pounds when he went in for surgery at 14 months - and was sitting right at the zero percentile. My how this kid has grown! The doctor was shocked when he walked into the room and saw him, he said it was the most incredible change he has ever seen!!! I am pretty sure Zac skipped 2T clothes all together because he is now perfectly fitting into 3T!

The Bird Whisperer

We have a wreath on our front door - aka the door that is now off limits - due to the discovery inside of the wreath.

Look really close, do you see anything?

How about now? Do you see the nest?

Here is a closer look at our bird's nest, filled with 5 eggs... That's right 5! It must be a record or something.

The mama bird - who sits patiently on this branch any time someone comes to the front door and she has to flea the scene. Andy is quite the softy - I might have just moved the nest so as to not have to deal with the whole thing, but not Andy! Now, when these little birds are born - he gets to clean the bird poop off my front door!

We discovered the nest 2 or 3 weeks ago - now fast forward to last Saturday...

Andy was out taking care of the pool when he noticed this by the ladder of the slide:
Incase, you can't tell, it's a broken egg. Then he looks up at the ladder and sees a dove sitting on a rung, with an egg resting under her. Andy must have spooked her because she quickly flew away, knocking the egg off the ladder. But the Bird Whisperer came to the rescue and caught the egg mid-fall! He looked around to see that there was no sign of any kind of nest. So what do you think he did???

You guessed it... He came inside asking me for something to build a nest out of for a bird!

Can you see the mama bird in her new home?

A close-up shot of the bird in her "nest"

Notice the masking tape holding the nest to the ladder...

And the egg sits nice and cozy in it's nest!

Andy was afraid the bird might abandon the egg since he had touched it but nope - that bird seems to enjoy her man-made nest!

20 feet away, it looks like the papa bird met an untimely demise and crashed into the door! I guess Andy can't save 'em all!

Ashton Family Pictures

While in Utah a few weeks ago, Andy's Dad decided he would really like some family pictures taken. So, he and Sharon drove up from St. George since the whole family would be together. We didn't have a photographer or anything, so we decided to use the old tripod/timer trick. We were planning the pictures to be outside but that particular day it was snowing so inside it was at Mike and Kathy's house!

The best group shot we got of the whole family - of course Hayden had to be sticking his tongue out. It turned out that when we went back and looked at them all, he was sticking his tongue out in almost every one! That's what we get for not having a photographer to keep everyone behaved! Even with the tongue issue, I think the picture turned out fantastic!

Apparently everyone got the memo that this was the goofy shot except Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grand kids. From left to right Hayden - 6 1/2, Noah - 4, Koleson - 16, Clara - 15, Zac - 23 months, Henry - 12, and Brynley - 4.

Uncle Chris with the two munchkins! Chris is the brother right above Andy - he is 8 years older than Andy - he doesn't have any kids and is recently divorced and my kids have taken quite a liking to him!

Trying to get a family picture of us with Sharon and Henry - Zac was about done!

Hayden, Henry and Clara goofing around for the camera

Andy's oldest brother David and his wife Ashley with their son Noah

Andy's second oldest brother Mike and his wife Kathy and their kids

I thought this was the funniest picture, I don't think anyone knew Hayden was behind the couch popping up in some of the pictures!