It was bound to happen...

It was bound to happen folks.. that's right.. I got my hair did. Every few years, it has to come off.. and I figured it was all falling out anyway, plus it was quickly becoming one of my daughters favorite things to pull on.. so Heidi did the chopping.. (and did a FABOO job, I must say) and I did the sitting.

Do not look DIRECTLY at it!! AVERT YOUR EYES!!!

So we all know that I (Holly) likes a to sleep- Yes? Yes. Unfortunately, the only one who doesn't know (or doesn't CARE) is my precious daughter, Miss Ashlyn. When she gets up in the morning (let's say around 5:30am) I go to her room.. fully expecting to put her pacifier back and her mouth and roll her over for a few more hours of shut eye...See exhibit 'A'

Exhibit 'A'

But then I find THIS:
Seriously.. how can you put THIS back to bed????So.. I am a wimp.. I can't put that back to sleep!!!!! Too much cuteness!!!

So my motto for morning wakings is to simply avert my eyes.. do not look directly at her.. DO NOT ENGAGE!! REPEAT- DO NOT ENGAGE!!!!! I feel like I am on a military mission..like I should be waiting in the wings with camo pants and face paint, armed with pacifiers, diapers and baby orajel.. THIS IS WAR!!!

In other "wakeful" news on the girl.. we have some new toys. I figured we were getting bored with the same old ones.. so with the shipment of baby-proofing paraphernalia, I threw in some stuff she might enjoy: (OH!! and by the way!! We are sitting up now!!!! :)

We also purchased a new bathtub.. the infant tub was getting a little snug, and by the time she was done with bath-time, there was little to no water left in it anyway (it's usually all over me.. or on the floor.. depending on which way she is kicking.. :) So we purchased a handy dandy inflatable tub... nice and cushy at home.. perfect for travel:

"See mom.. I don't need no stinkin bath.. toesies are already clean..seeeeeeee?:"

Tune in next time for "Lunchtime Trials".. this week we will be trying sweet peas, apples, pears and carrots.. yuuuuummmmmm.......

Rage against the Machine....

That's right folks.. I am in protest- I am a little behind on this one, but nevertheless, I am going to stick it to the man.. eerrrrr, Woman, I guess.

When Ashlyn was born, I thought I found this awesome photographer to take her newborn photos.. the shoot was great the photographer was awesome. We went back a week later to see proofs.. she did a wonderful job.. until Chris asks the usual "how much is this going to cost?"... The next few minutes were a blur as she explained something about dollars to credits, etc. I think I was in shock at this point, but at least I didn't fall out of my chair.

After shelling out and INSANE amount of money (if I told you how much, you would die.. or laugh), we have only 11 pictures to show for it.. (you read right, ELEVEN.) We are now done with her- She refused to give us rights to print additional photos.. So I scanned them in for your viewing pleasure-feel free to print at your leisure. And don't worry-you don't have to tell me- I know I am a rebel... VIVA LA SMEDSTAD!!!!!!

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!!!