16 Week Check Up

I recently had my 16 week check up and everything checked out normal. The baby was sleeping this time so their heart rate was only 140, but still there! The doctor said I was measuring perfectly and my weight looked good - for now! I have been feeling much better lately, more like myself and not sick at all which I am so THANKFUL for. You forget what it's like to not feel nauseated! I am still not showing too much, but I am very itchy and feel very crampy so I am sure the stretching it starting! I am definitely having some weird cravings which I never experienced with Ashtyn. I LOVE Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Startbucks, which is weird because I have never ever had a Latte and I really don't like pumpkins, but for some reason this is a treat I have once a day! And I am also craving cinnamon rolls - so nutritious I know, but I just love them right now, and if Matt would let me I could possibly eat a whole pan of them. Next appointment is my 20 week ultrasound and we FINALLY will know the sex, which I am most excited for! They want me to get the H1N1 shot which I am a little hesitant about, so we will see if that happens, but for now I will enjoy the time of feeling normal and having energy!

Wrapping Presents...

Every year the Police Department raises a bunch of money and has numerous toy drives so they can give Christmas to the kids in the Louisville schools who not as fortunate as the others. Matt is one of the organizers, which keeps him very busy all of November and December preparing for this event. All the schools in Louisville nominate families in need and then Matt and the other team members have to call each family, see what they need, collect money and then go shopping for all the kids. This year they had 20 families to buy for and was able to provide each family with everything they needed with the money they collected and from the toy drive they had at a basketball game hosted at Louisville Middle School - the cops play the kids and teachers, it's very fun to watch. After they collect all the presents, we have to wrap all of them and get them organized to be delivered. So on Saturday morning, Ashtyn and I went with Matt and a bunch of other helpers to wrap the hundreds of presents for these kids. It is such a fun thing to be apart of, and really puts everything in perspective. I hope to always have Ashtyn help with this, so she can realize just how lucky she is and how necessary it is to help others. We were able to get all the presents wrapped that morning with the help of lots of people and then the cops who work Christmas Eve deliver the presents to the families that day. I hope they all enjoyed their gifts and were able to enjoy their Christmas this year.

Tis' the Season

So we finally completed the decorating of our house for Christmas...it has been quite a process given I started before Thanksgiving. We were able to get the basement decorations finally completed today - this year I decided to decorate two trees one upstairs and the other downstairs - who knew how much work that would be, but it all stemmed from me falling in love with these snowman heads at Kohls, which then lead to my "Snowman" theme tree and then I of course had to do the traditional tree with all the ornaments I have collected and received since I was a baby.

So finally all the hard work is done, the trees look beautiful, and now there is only really 2 weeks before Christmas to enjoy them - Oh well! Along side decorating the tree downstairs today, Grandma Trujillo gave Ashtyn a set of Chili Pepper lights for her room, but we thought it would look better on her playhouse downstairs. So Matt hung the chili pepper lights on Ashtyn's house - SO ADORABLE! She is just tickled with this and loves that she can turn them on and off all by herself. She keeps saying "Oooo..." when she sees her house all lit up. Thank you Grandma Trujillo for giving the gift of light to your precious granddaughter!

Christmas Cookies

Traditionally every year all the women on my mom's side get together to bake TONS of cookies to give away to friends and family for Christmas as well as to enjoy during the Holiday Season. This year was no different - we all met over at Pam's kitchen to make sugar cookies, thumb prints, pitzels, kiflings, peanut butter balls and many others I don't even know the names of... It makes for a very busy day, but afterwards the table of cookies is very impressive.

Ashtyn and I joined the morning baking session before nap time, and I think Ashtyn enjoyed herself. Mimi had her help roll the Thumb Print balls, but she just ate the dough instead, so then we thought she might do better with the sugar cookies.

While Nana made the sugar cookies Ashtyn got to sprinkle the tops of them with red, green, purple and yellow sprinkles - she did very well at this, a little heavy on the sprinkling, but you really can't go wrong decorating sugar cookies.

I think she had a good time and it was fun to spend the day with Mimi, Nana and all the Aunts and Cousins. Now we get to start enjoying all the yummy cookies!

Ho Ho Ho!

On Wednesday, we went to the mall with Nana to get some Christmas shopping done before the crowds came. After shopping, Matt, Papa and Kevin joined us to see Ashtyn sit on Santa's lap and then go to dinner. I was very impressed with Ashtyn - she didn't cry or hesitate at all! Santa was on break when we were in line, but when Santa came in Ashtyn got so excited to see him, she clapped her hands, said "Ho ho" and just kept pointing at him. We did a lot of preparation before she sat on his lap - we told her all about his big fluffy jacket and his jingle bells! SO when she finally got to sit on his lap she patted his jacket, rubbed his pants and kept wanting him to shake his jingle bells. She did very well - no tears, no smile though either! She told Santa she wanted a play house for Christmas - so we will see what he delivers Christmas morning. I was very happy this whole experience didn't scare her - she has now been officially introduced to Santa - how fun! Merry Christmas!

20 Months Already...

So my little baby girl is now 20 months old - I just feel like the months go by so quickly and I can't even remember all the things she learns and says! Not much has changed, but we have had some new words and some interesting firsts...

Ashtyn can now say "Backpack", "pop", "Butch" (Grandpa Trujillo) This makes us laugh every time we hear her say this, "Find it", "What's This?" "Uh, Oh!" which she says all the time, especially when she makes a mess or someone else makes a mess... she is getting much better at animal sounds and loves to read Farm books, she now can, "moo", "oink", "chirp" and "bark" - VERY cute! She now yells "Mom" or "Dat" (dad) when she is looking for us and is always saying "Up" even when she wants down - so silly!

We bought a "Big Girl" potty recently so we could start introducing the idea and put it in the main bathroom, so now whenever someone goes to the bathroom she likes to go in with them and sit down and pretend she is going - and then of course has to wave "bye bye" to the toilet paper after flushing. I think she is starting to understand the concept, so we hoping to have her start using the potty before bath time and see where that leads us - hoping we have this down by the time the next baby arrives...6 months and counting! Always clapping...at everything! When she sees any type of sport on television she claps, when she accomplishes something, when she hears a song she likes or when she approves of something she claps! So we find ourselves clapping at everything...

The other morning I heard a loud thump on the baby monitor which worried me so I ran in her room and she was laying on her back looking at the ceiling - she basically flipped herself out of the crib - Yikes! She was ok, a little scared, but not hurt! We wondered how long it would take till she attempted to jump, and it looks like we have entered that stage. It's good timing though as we were planning on moving her to a big girl bed before the new baby - it just looks like it will be happening a bit sooner then expected!

Her favorite new toy is the old school Fisher Price play house with all the little people - LOVES IT and plays with it like crazy at Nana's and Mimi's - so hopefully Santa will find one for her and bring it for Christmas! She also still loves computers and is obsessed with playing on them, so her Grandma Trujillo has given her a fake keyboard which she pounds on all day - wonder is she will be a computer girl? She also has been playing with her babies a lot, giving them baths and taking them on walks - She is in great training right now...


She has been eating a lot of food lately and sleeping a lot - so I am sure she is going through a growth spurt - she is now in size 6 shoes and wearing all 2T clothing - so big! We also discovered two molars that have come in. She will be 2 before we know it...

SANTA Has Arrived!

On Friday night we attended the Parade of Lights in Louisville, despite the COLD, cold weather. Ashtyn had a great time seeing all the lights and kept clapping her hands when she heard the bands play Christmas music. The parade thankfully was short, but the best part were the fire trucks at the beginning and the last fire truck at the end which brought SANTA to town! Ashtyn's face lit up when she saw him and she said "YEAH!" I am thinking she's finally figuring out what this holiday is all about.

We saw some friends at the Parade who have a little boy, Adam the same age as Ashtyn - they looked so cute sitting all bundled up next to each other in their strollers - kind of like old people! The parade was fun and cold, but it was a great way to kick off the Christmas season!