The Linda Family

Ashleigh has always had a healthy imagination, however this week she has taken it a step further. She will now pretend to be a dog, and she will “bark” for people to pet her and scratch her ears. She has also tried to drink her water with no hands. Oh what a child! I usually pat her on the head and tell her what a good dog she is and go on my way. She loves it.

Today Wes asked her to play in her room for a while as we were both trying to get work done and she was trying to jump and climb all over me, which wasn’t going over well! She played for a long time up there. I was worried about what she could be getting into, but figured it couldn’t be that bad. All of a sudden we heard her crying for Mommy. Wes jumped up and went to her rescue. It wasn’t a “My leg is falling off and I’m about to die” kind of cry, more like a, “I don’t know how this happened but I want it to sto” type of cry. I wasn’t very worried about it, until I heard Wes laughing hysterically. I figured I needed to go check it out. I get upstairs to find Wes sitting on the floor of Ashleigh’s room next to her bed. Her room is covered in sheets and blankets. It seems she decided the cabinet side of her dresser looked better empty and the blankets and sheets looked better all over her room. I noticed that I didn’t see Ashleigh. I look to see Wes struggling with a laundry basket. Ashleigh is under her bed, with the top half of her body under the laundry basket. I picked up the bed and Wes got her free.

When we asked how she got stuck under her bed, her response was, “I was playing hide and seek with my kids!” of course….why else would a 3 year old be hiding under a laundry basket under her bed….it all makes sense now!

Ashleigh woke up this morning and requested a hot dog for breakfast. I’m not sure which one of us is truly pregnant! I tried to talk her into breakfast food, but it wasn’t happening, so off I went to make her a hot dog. After she ate her hot dog, she proceeded to finish my yogurt and ask for more. She had a bowl of yogurt and then decided that she wanted popcorn! After a bowl of popcorn she asked for a slice of the Amish Friendship bread I made last week! Geez. There are days I can barely get the child to eat a sandwich all day, and then days like today where she must be eating for the whole week! What a kid! I was finally able to get some of the videos I’ve taken of Ashleigh off my phone and onto the computer, you’ll find those below. Wes also got our scanner to work, so I do have the ultrasound photos posted as well. Keep in mind that while the machine the Perinatologist has is a higher tech machine than the OB who delivered Ashleigh had, my ultrasound with this little one was a full two weeks before the first ultrasound with Ashleigh, so the baby doesn’t look like a baby at all yet At that point the baby was about the size of a blueberry, as of Wednesday we will be onto the size of a fig. It’s amazing to me how such a tiny little being can cause so many changes in my body! I’m excited for the changes to be more fun changes, more movements, belly growing, and less feeling sick and tired. But, the time will come. Until then I’ll just be happy and thankful that I am carrying a healthy baby. That is the important part.

Enjoy the videos of Ashleigh and the ultrasound photos!

[Show as slideshow]

{vidavee id=”10664″ w=”320″ }

{vidavee id=”10665″ w=”320″ }

{vidavee id=”10666″ w=”320″ }

{vidavee id=”10667″ w=”320″ }

The weekend of June 6th – 8th Wes had a conference for work in Baltimore. As a part of the conference he had a hotel room at The Tremont Plaza Hotel. All the rooms are suites, and he was given a Chairman’s Suite! SWEET! Thursday night he stayed at the hotel alone, Ashleigh and I spent the night with friends who offered to keep Laci for the weekend. Friday we joined him. I dropped Ashleigh off at the hotel and then went home to repack and shower. Ashleigh called me to tell me about the wonderful hotel room. She had her OWN bedroom with her OWN TV and her own Phone! Oh, and it even had lamps! She was SO excited. The hotel was a 2 Bedroom 2 Bathroom with a living room, dining room, and kitchenette. I think the kitchenette was about the size of the kitchen in my first apartment, minus the stove and dishwasher. The hotel room was larger than any apartment I’ve ever lived in. In our pre-kid days, we could have happily lived in the hotel room! Friday night there was a dinner at the Walter’s Art Museum as a part of the conference. We went and had a great meal. They even packed up left overs for us, since Wes had been their point of contact to plan the event. We went home with a huge container of crab dip, about 2 pounds of cooked beef, and a container of the chicken on a skewer appetizers. It was great! Saturday Ashleigh and I slept in, Wes came to wake us up with breakfast in bed. He brought some pasteries and fruit that were left from the morning break that was a part of the conference. It was a wonderful way to start the weekend. I looked out the window and there was something going on at Mercy Medical Center across the street. The morning started with some bag pipers outside of the hospital, it appeared they were setting up for a carnival of some sort. While Ashleigh and I were enjoying our breakfast we heard a marching band. We stood in the window and watched. She was VERY excited. She kept telling me over and over how she had never seen a marching band before, which isn’t QUITE true, but I didn’t go into further detail with her. While she has never seen a Marching Band, she has been to at least two Drum Corps Competitions.

We got up for the day, met Wes for lunch, and headed out to see the city. I wanted to see parts of the city that we don’t go to. The hotel was in Mt. Vernon, which is not an area that I have ever spent any time in. I had forgotten to pack sunscreen, so we went to the new SuperFresh and paid too much money for a sunscreen with too many chemicals in it, but such is life. Ashleigh and I headed up Charles Street in search of something fun. She requested that we go somewhere that sells kid stuff. The only store in the area that I had seen that had nay children’s items was The Women’s Industrial Exchange. We walked up to the next block and entered the store. We were greeted by a very plesant woman who welcomed us and asked us what we were looking for. I told her how we were walking around the city and Ashleigh and asked to see a store with kid things, so here we were. She thought Ashleigh was very adorable, but again, who doesn’t? We spoke with the woman for a while, and she started telling Ashleigh about the sock monkeys she makes. She even showed us what she was doing to make them. She was so impressed with Ashleigh that she gave her a monkey. I couldn’t believe it. She told us about what the Exchange does and who they help. I bought Ashleigh a headband, which I LOVE and I hope to get back and get her some more. They sell a variety of handmade items, all appeared to be great quality. Check out their photos for more of their inventory.

Ashleigh and I tried to go to the carnival that we saw, but apparently it was just the morning. When we walked by around noon it was gone. We tried to find something else kid friendly in Mt. Vernon, but unfortunately there was nothing geared for kids. We went to the hotel and changed to go to the pool. The water was FREEZING! I went in first, and while I tried to get used to the ice cold water Ashleigh was not so patiently waiting for me. I finally sucked it up, got my whole body wet and let her jump in. I warned her that it was very cold, but apparently she thought I was lying. She jumped in and proceeded to climb as far up my body as she could to stay out of the water. She decided she was done, and we went back to the hotel room. We got cleaned up and relaxed in the room for a bit. I got some cute photos of Ashleigh enjoying her own bedroom at the hotel. We went to see Wes for snack time, with her packed bag, and then headed downstairs to meet Nana. Ashleigh then left with Nana for the night and Wes and I had the evening to ourselves. After we got all of his conference stuff packed up we headed to the Harbor. We walked around to find a restaurant to eat at. We decided on J.Paul’s where we had a wonderful dinner. We sat outside, and as we finished the wind started blowing and the sky got dark. We paid our check and headed across the stree to The Gallery for some shopping and shelter. I was hoping to find some cute clothes at Gap Maternity, unfortunately the Gap there doesn’t carry maternity. Neither does the Ann Taylor Loft. I had a store credit certificate for the Gap, so Wes got a new t-shirt, and then the mall closed. We headed back to the hotel, praying the rain would hold out. It turns out it never rained, just looked like it was going to! We snacked on some crab dip and chicken from Friday night’s dinner and watched some tv before falling asleep. Sunday we were able to sleep in, which was wonderful. We packed up the car and headed to BayView to drop off all of Wes’s work related items. We stopped and home and dropped off our suitcases, then headed to Columbia to check out the Gap Maternity before church. It was nice to have some real time for ourselves. We were able to do as we pleased with no real planning. After church we picked up Laci and then picked up Ashleigh. We were glad to have them home. While we enjoyed our carefree time, we sure did miss the two of them!

Enjoy the photos of Ashleigh–

[Show as slideshow]

12►

Yesterday Wes and I met with a financial person at Wachovia. We decided that since our car loan and both business accounts are with them, we should move my 401K and Wes’s RothIRA over as well as our personal accounts. We figured that having everything with Wachovia would make them like us more when we go to get a home loan in a few months

As we sat there waiting for our turn (despite the fact that we had an appointment) Ashleigh announced that she wanted a piggy bank. She mentioned wanting a piggy bank around her birthday, but around her birthday anything she saw she asked for, for her birthday of course. It’s been months, and she hasn’t said another word, so I forgot about the conversation completely. Wes told her that if she behaved while we were at the bank we would go look for one after we were done. She did remarkably well considering we had a 4:30 appointment, were taken back to the office around 5, and left the bank at 6:30. We were all hungry, so we grabbed some dinner and then went to Target.

When we pulled into Target we had the best laugh of the day. We parked next to a Kia sedan. Nothing major, not falling apart from the looks of it, just an average joe type car. Well….Two women, presumably mother and daughter, walk up with an elementary school aged child and a toddler. Grandma gets in the car and grabs the gallon of iced tea from the floor and starts chugging it. Then mom comes around to the driver’s side and climbs through the window. Yup, the woman entered the car through the window. Never in my life have I seen such a sight. We laughed about it for half the shopping trip.

We went to where I assumed the piggy banks would be and Wes found 2 options for Ashleigh on an endcap. One was a pink ladybug, and one was a monkey. She just looked at them both, not satisfied at all. I then found some real pig shaped ones. There was a red one and a purple one with flowers. She still looked at us blankly, and she say, “But pigs are really pink.” Ok, so we got the point. I look to my left and what do I see? Yup, a pink piggy bank, but not just any old pink piggy bank, this one is a princess pink pig piggy bank. It has a tiara and a tutu on. Ashleigh has been asking for pennies for her piggy bank since we got in the car last night. She’s quite upset that the bank is not full already. I guess she doesn’t quite grasp the concept, but we figure encouraging her to save her pennies now is a good thing. She was thrilled when I found a quarter in her room today and called her in to put it in the bank. She wanted to bring the pig downstairs with her this morning. At least she’s excited.

I guess I never did tell you the Ashleigh story behind the baby. When we decided it was time for a new baby I started discussing the thought of a new baby with Ashleigh. She was less than thrilled. That honestly surprised me because she loves her friend’s younger siblings so much. We talked about how Owen has a little brother, Blake, and Mia has a little sister Simone, and they both love their siblings. She then realized that she loved their siblings too. It was then that she decided that she wanted a brother and a sister.

While we never hid the pregnancy from her, we waited a few weeks before we outright told her. Her reaction was very cute. We sat her down and told her that she is going to be a big sister, and that there is a baby growing in Mommy’s belly. Her eyes got very big and she had a huge smile on her face. She then turned and gave me the biggest hug. She really was excited. It was so precious.

Since then she will tell you that she wants a brother and a sister. If you ask her which she wants, her response is always “BOTH!”. It never varies. This made me slightly nervous, since kids seem to have a second sense about such things, and my blood levels were higher than the average for twins for my first two blood draws. I didn’t check where #3 fell, because by the time I had gotten those results we had already been to the doctor and they had searched all over for a second baby. There really is only one.

About 5 – 10 times a day, depending on the day, Ashleigh comes over to me to ask if she can say hi to the baby. She lifts up my shirt and talks to my belly. She usually says something along the lines of, ‘Hi baby! I love you! Oh Mommy! Baby says she loves me too!’ and then she kisses my stomach and goes back to playing. It is the cutest thing.

Ashleigh is also very much into her imaginary friends right now. She has 4 “kids” who are all 4 (this week, this does change). She and her kids have purchased many rattles for the baby, and she tells us all the time how she is going to help take good care of the baby. She is apparently excited for diaper duty. Only time will tell what will actually happen, but I think that she is on the right page. We keep telling her how excited we all are, and she tells me how much she loves being a big sister. There’s no doubt in my mind that she will be a great big sister. Hopefully she’ll find the patience to wait until January! Tonight she told us she wanted the baby to come out now! Yikes….