Snotty noses for all.....

Hiya. We at the Smedstad house are sick. That's right, SNOTTY NOSES FOR ALLLLLL!!!!!! All I can say is boooooooo. No fun.. not even a little bit. Ashlyn got it first, then me, and now Chris is feeling the beginnings... ah- good times.

Other than keeping Kleenex in business, dosing amoxicillan to all, and in Chris's case, enough airborne to give to a small village, things are good here.

We had a great time in Minnesota. Chris's sister (Carrie) and his Mom (Ali) threw us a little open house so all of the Minnesota relatives could meet Ashlyn. It was a really wonderful turn-out and I think everyone had a mucho fun. There was lots of good food, and lots of great company- Plus.. Minnesota has wonderful weather in the summer.. it's definitely a nice break from Oklahoma heat! Check out a couple of family pics!

Ashlyn is a little over 5 months old if you can believe that! When I took her in for her 4 month shots, the pedi informed me that my little girl is in the 97th percentile for height (26.5 inches tall!!!), and 50th percentile (almost 14 lbs.) for weight. Now, Chris and I are not huge people.. (we don't vacation in muchkin land either).. but how did I get such a big girl???? I am glad she is so healthy (sans snotty nose).. but DANG- lugging the infant carrier with her in it is enough to give me a hunchback that could rival that of a REALLY old lady.

Ashlyn is learning all kinds of new tricks this week.. she can finally reach the floor from her jumperoo- she loves that thing! AND, we have learned to SHRIEK. oh yes.. She is getting really really active as far as moving around.. I put her in her crib at night one way, and by the time she wakes up, she is at the other end- with her head in the corner and an arm hanging out... she gets soooooo mad when she gets stuck!! :)

Learning by osmosis

We went to Santa Fe/ Taos this weekend, it was beautiful country, and not too far from home, so the flight was nice and short at an hour and 10 min. I will have to post some pictures tomorrow morning, but right now, I am off to do some sleeping.. I have a sneaking suspicion someone in this house is headed for teething.. it's not me.. and it's not Chris (unless he's a little older than he is letting on...) anyway.. this makes for a pitiful amount of sleep received by yours truly..

See ya in the manana.

As promised, after a super night of sleep, here are pics of Santa Fe- Taos!!! Enjoy!!

Ok.. couldn't resist: "A DINGO TOOK MY BABY!!!"

Aww.. c'mon, that was funny!!!

Daddy LOVES To carry Ashlyn this way

I have never seen a double rainbow before- but it was AWESOME!!!

Baby Girl got into a fight with this popcorn bag- she tried to open it ALLLL day long.

I think my brain needs an enema.

Wow!... What a CRAZAZY couple of weeks- we made it back from Minnesota- it was a wonderful visit, and I think the little girl had fun meeting new relatives- I was terrified on the way up that I was going to be the lady with the screaming kid on the airplane.. but alas, no.. this was our baby girl on take off and landing (I forgot to mention we were sitting right next to the crapper, and she managed to sleep through wall of stink that surrounded us).....



But more on Minnesota later....


We have been busy over the past couple of weeks.. we moved Ashlyn from the bassinett in our room at night to her crib (in her own room).. it has taken some getting used to.. but we are managing. She started rolling over (both ways), so now she is like a little weeble-wobble rolling all over the floor- she also tends to do this in her crib. We received our 4 month vaccinations- lots of fun there!!! We also started solid foods.. check it out:

At first, a little surprised: "This is definately NOT a boob"....

Theeenn, a little disappointment: "Tastes like glue"

I then figured out I would't wanna eat that crap either, so I began making her homemade baby food, and on Monday, we began sweet potatoes...

"Me Likee"

Ahhh.. hum.. what else did we do?? Ah yes, we tried out several new professions-never too early to get them going in the right direction..

The Librarian:

Unfortunately, this didn't work out.. something about her being too loud..

The Model:

We thought this one was going to be a "go".. but the photographer was tired of being spit up on.

Maybe we will try the Army next week:

Anywho, gotta go- need sleep!!! Updates on MN coming soon!!!

Over the river and through the woods....

Ok.. so we are off to Minnesota until the 19th... First trip with the baby girl!!! We will let you know how it all works out!! Enjoy the WEEK!!!

"Thank you sir, may I have another?"

Ok.. so here it is 2:45 in the afternoon.. just finished feeding the girl and am now watching her wiggle around on the floor like the little ankle biter she is. You know, it's days like this I think, "I can't wait to have another baby!!"... then I remember what last night was like, and I think, "why am I not on birth control???", but I digress.

Last night Ashlyn wanted to make sure I knew she was there by waking up every hour or two.. lots of fun- I felt like she was a newborn again. So it got me thinking, "Is she teething early??? Should I start her on rice cereal??? What kind of high chair should I get??? Did I take a shower today?? Did I take one yesterday?? Yikes! I stink!! I need a shower!! Wait! That's not me- what is that smell?? Crap!! Lunch is on fire!!" etc., etc., etc. Good times.

So Karen, I was reading your post the other day about all the fears we crazy women have during pregnancy- I read one of the replies which indicated that it was hormones- I thought that was amusing, because now that I am NOT preggo any longer (I don't think I am anyway), I have more fears than ever. When Chris goes out of town, I find myself thinking, "What if someone breaks in?? How will I protect my daughter??" I start thinking, "I could throw the pacifier!! pillow, monitor, nah.. what else do I have?"- It might be amusing to throw something from my nightstand- buuuut, I will probably skip that. So then I start thinking.. "I need a GUN"... but then you have all of the safety things buzzing around in your noggin.. but then I think.. "Chris has a shotgun upstairs (he uses is when he fishes ;P), but where are the bullets??" Humm.. gotta figure that out- then I think "OK.. got the shotgun, got the bullets.. do I aim for the head, or the crotch?? Head?? Crotch?? Head?-Crotch? Dunno- tough call." I always have fears; my biggest fear when I brought Ashlyn home was that I was going to drop her and end up on the Peoples Court for bad parenting.

But seriously, I cannot explain the unwaivering love you will feel for your baby- it's incredible and more powerful than anything you could possibly imagine. I stare at her every day and I am in constant amazement of this precious gift God bestowed upon Chris and I. She truly is a miracle.

Anytime I find myself thinking, "I LOVE her, but I WISH she would stop crying and go to SLEEP!!", I think about a song I heard from Trace Adkins, turn off the negativity, and soak up every last moment.

Trace Adkins, "You're Gonna Miss This"

She was staring out the window of their SUV Complaning,
saying "I can't wait to turn 18"
She said "I'll make my own money, and I'll make my own rules"
Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school
Then she kissed her head and said "I was just like you"

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride
In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by
He tells her "It's a nice place"
She says "It'll do for now"
Starts talking about babies and buying a house
Daddy shakes his head and says "Baby, just slow down"

Cause you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'
And she keeps apologizin'
He says "They don't bother me. I've got 2 babies of my own. One's 36, one's 23.
Huh, it's hard to believe, but...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this"

Wow. Has it been that long?

Ok.. so as of right now, Karen- you are my only reader. This is because you have witnessed every dorky part about me, so I know during this time of experimentation, you will at least hold the laughter to a minimum... so thanks in advance.

Things are crazy as usual around the house- for some odd reason, I am up.. blogging (say what?)... some would say, "Holly, you are a new mommy- get some sleep for the love".. I say this to myself- but I figure if I invite you to read, there should at LEAST be something here to read. So here you go... Happy Christmas and Melly new year.

I will work on getting some pics up of Ashlyn, and try to post some good stuff for ya to check out.