Happy Father's Day!

We had a wonderful Father's Day this year. Jason is so wonderful with his little girl and I am so glad we could have such a nice day to celebrate him as a father.

I asked Jason what he wanted for Father's Day and he said, "Honestly, to sleep in." Something parents of children probably all need! This was an easy task. When he woke up we had waffles and sausage and gave Dad his card that Aspen made him and a little gift. We then headed to the pool for some swimming and came home and enjoyed lunch. When Aspen woke up we went to a couple of open houses and Aspen had a blast running through the homes and making friends with the realtors. We came home had some dinner and finished the night off in our backyard pool (our daughter is basically a fish lately!).

Of course Bella wanted to join in on the Father's

Day celebration. Although she apparently did

not like the bow I had put in Aspen's hair. I love

Aspen's expression in this picture!

I can't believe how much has changed in the past year. Jason continues to become a better father everday to Aspen. She loves him so much. Tonight she even "kicked" me out of the pool so she and daddy could just play together. It makes me so happy they have such a wonderful relationship with one another.

Jason and Aspen; August 5, 2009

Last year on Father's Day.

 

We hope you had a wonderful Father's Day Jason. We love you so much and hope you feel like we celebrate what a great dad you are everyday!

Jason and I also have to give a quick Happy Father's Day to our dads!

 

Dad--you have been a great father and I hope every father's year you feel the love!--Jules

 

Dad, Happy Father's Day! I hope you had a great day and know that you have been an amazing father. --Jason

Some Summer Fun!

We had a birthday party to go to on Friday morning, so we pulled out a cute summer dress and I brought my camera with me. It's so hard to take pictures anymore because Aspen is running from one place to the next. She had a blast at the party of course--and I love a morning b-day party because that means a great nap :)

Playing in the pool. One of Aspen's favorite activities!

 

They had a trampoline and Aspen was rocking it out. We didn't get pictures of when I got on after all the kids were off and did some fun jumping. Ah, to be a kid again!

Playing with her party favor from the party. Anything that sprays water is a win in our house!

Sometimes Aspen just wants to grab the camera from my hands. So instead I ask her if she wants to take a picture with me---usually that solves the problem. This one came out pretty cute :)

Updates from the past month

I often use this blog to mark different milestones in Aspen's life. I figure when/if we have another child it might be nice to be able to go back and reference the blog for different events. I know my memory will not serve me well as there are days I can't remember what I had for lunch!

On May 24th Aspen shocked me completely by climbing out of her crib. Jason and I had been going back and forth about when to move her out of her crib. He was very excited about doing it, but I wasn't as keen on the idea. I had talked to some friends and they all said that's when naps started to become harder--when they weren't confined to their crib. Well, Aspen ended that debate when she scared the living .... out of me and appeared in the kitchen one afternoon when I was fairly certain I had laid her down in her crib!

Jason took the front portion of her crib and converted into a "toddler bed". If I had known how much this kid was going to love having a bed , I would have done it months ago. I have never seen a child so excited about going to take a nap or going to bed at night. All you have to say is, "Aspen, you ready to go to bed?". She drops whatever she is doing and RUNS into her room, propels herself onto her bed and snuggles in. It's definitely been a nice and easy transition for us!

The other big milestone over the course of the past month is her develop in language. She of course has been saying words for months, but now we are getting into two, three, four word phrases. My personal favorite: "I love you Mommy!". When we are in the car she loves to list off all the people she knows and then say what she thinks they are doing. Example: Daddy work; Bella nap; Eliza (one of her friends) home; Poppy, Grandma, Papa, Nanny, and Matt (her Uncle) are always working. I love listening to her and seeing her become her own little person.

In two weeks we are driving to Minnesota for my brother's wedding. It will be the longest car trip that Aspen has taken. There will be many songs, games, snacks, and whatever other entertaining things we can come up with on that trip! Wish us luck :)

Next milestone--potty training! We have introduced the potty and she has gone a handful of times, but when we get back from our trip it's serious training mode. No more diapers, no more diapers, no more diapers!!

It's been a while...

It's been over a month since the last time I have blogged. I feel like I have a million things going on at once lately and the last thing on my "to do list" is a blog post. Aspen has been doing great over the last month. She is talking so much more, which has been fantastic. It makes life a lot easier when I know what she wants or needs in the moment. She continues to be a great eater and has finally started "sleeping in". She use to get up sometimes as early as 5:45am for the day and now we are on a regular 7:15am - 7:30am wake-up. Most days Daddy wakes her up getting ready for work. It makes the world of a difference in my energy and mood!

Since it has been so long I thought I would just post some pictures from the past couple of weeks and I promise to all the family far away that doesn't get to spoil her...more frequent posts will be in the future!

Aspen having a blast at her buddy Elizabeth's 2nd birthday party.

Taking a walk at the duck pond in Midland with her Papa and Nanny.

Daddy, Nanny, Papa, and the squirmy toddler :)

Papa and Aspen riding a dinosaur at the park.

What a big girl!

Just relaxing her Papa.

I love this little face. What a sweet pea!

Aspen loving on Amy.

Time for some stretches!

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Some Easter pictures for you to enjoy of Aspen and Bella...

A Girl on the Move...

Looking adorable with her own "Easter Bunny"

Last year at Easter...

Boy has she changed--same serious face though!

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning we went for Aspen's very first Easter egg hunt. Last year she wasn't quite old enough and didn't get to join in only many Easter activities.

My friend, Shelli and her husband John and their two girls, Eliza (who's birthday is about a week after Aspen's) and Baby Sarah invited us to an egg hunt in their neighborhood. We were so glad we went, it seemed liked the two girls had a great time grabbing for the eggs. There was more than enough for all the kids!

Aspen was really into filling her bucket up with the eggs. We weren't to excited about her having the goodies on the inside, so once we got home we hid them :)

And yes, I know Aspen isn't sporting the best smile the picture below...I had to have a full dress shot! I got this dress really discounted about 4 months ago and have been waiting for her to wear on Easter. I decided that she could wear to the egg hunt and tomorrow :)

Happy Easter!

Our Nephew's 3rd Birthday!

This past weekend we drove up to Fort Worth to celebrate my nephew's 3rd birthday. His birthday is actually the same days as my mom's birthday, March 28th. With some illness going around, they had to push it back a little bit. I don't think it bothered Cameron to much, since he insisted that, "This was the best birthday party he had ever had!". I thought this was hilarious--out of all three this one ranked the highest :)

We wanted to give Cameron his present before the party so we could see him enjoy it. I picked this thing up at Costco and it was a huge hit with all the kids. It's an inflatable ball that the kids can get in and roll around.

Aspen and Cameron pushing the ball around--don't worry no one was inside!

 

 

Having a good time!

We spent most of the night letting the kids run around and play outside, which wore them out a ton! Aspen really enjoyed the slide they have in the backyard. Note: Yes she is barefoot. I can't get this kid to keep her shoes on! I wouldn't mind except living in Texas you have to beware of fire ants. Let's hope she doesn't wonder into an ant pile!

We got all the cousins to climb up on the slide and try and take a picture together. They were slightly annoyed with us interrupting their playtime for a picture, except Cameron--he was smiling :).

The next morning was Cameron's party. They had it at a park that was really nice. There was a huge playground, lots of trees (this is important for the pale folks!), and a nice pond with ducks. They brought a soccer goal and ball for the kids to play with. Aspen was more interested in throwing the ball in the net. Although this kid has quite the throw and kick. Maybe a ballerina isn't in her future and she will be a sports star?

They also had a pinata for the older kids. It was a fun activity and thankfully no one got whacked in the face!

It was really nice for Aspen to see her cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents. All the kids change so much between visits. Last time we got together there were only two walking and this time all four were running around. I can't wait til they are all talking!

Aspen and Trevor

Jessica and Aspen playing with bubbles.

I can't believe Cameron is already 3 years old. It makes me feel old! I feel like it was just yesterday we went up to visit his mom in the hospital when he was born. Man time flies...

Visiting Cameron in the hospital- 3/28/08

Cameron blowing out his candle!