My Ashlynn Girl

Ashlynn is my princess. We have our moments when we butt heads, but she is such a great girl that they are easily forgotten.

Last month we had this awesome rainbow in our back yard so we tried to copy the Skittles commercials. :) Not the best picture, but we had fun trying. This is a picture from the Jr. Drill Clinic at MMHS (aka: Dance Class). We love doing this every Fall and Spring because it doesn't cost too much and it is only a week long. Maybe one of these days we will do a real dance class.
Ashlynn turned five in September. She is getting so big. Her birthday was on a Sunday so she was lucky enough to get to see lots of cousins and aunts and uncles on her special day.

Ashlynn started preschool at the beginning of September. She just missed the cut off for Kindergarten, so we are glad that she has been able to go to preschool cause she definitely needs something to do besides hang out with mom and younger brothers all day!

Ashlynn HATES getting her hair done (washing, brushing, curling, braiding, ANYTHING)! So I usually have her brush through it first and then it is my turn. This time she thought it would be fun to twirl the comb. She found out it was fun twirling, but the untwirling isn't so much fun. Luckily, she has a super patient and handy dad, who took his wire cutters to the comb and got it out without harming her hair. My comb didn't fair as well. :(

Easton's Helmet

Easton has always favored looking to his right side since he was born and because such he developed a flat spot on the back of his head. We tried stretching and positioning, but he still liked that right side. So we decided to get a helmet to help even out the flat spot and have continued with the stretching and positioning to help strengthen his neck muscles for when the helmet gets to come off. He got it on the end of September and we were told it usually needs to be on for about three to four months. Easton's helmet experience has kind of been troublesome since the start (not fitting right, causing little sores, interfering with hearing aides), but we are doing the best we can and he has been a trooper. Hopefully, we will be done with it in a month or so.First they have to do a casting. He HATED this, but he looked really cute!

This is the first day. It looks to me like he is thinking, "What did they get me into this time!"The first week he could barely hold his head up because the helmet was so heavy. Now it is just an added bonus to his physical therapy cause the extra weight is making him so much stronger.He is such a happy baby. We love having him in our family and have been blessed to experience life with him!

The Things I Love

We have been doing lots of fun things this summer! Here are just a few pictures of the kids from the last couple of months.

Jace, Issac and Easton. The three cousins born within five and a half weeks of each other. They are going to be best buddies and great protectors for their girl cousin coming any day now! :) How can you not smile when you see this kid? He is still crazy and super busy, but within the last couple of weeks he has really found his voice. It took longer than I thought it should, but now that he is talking I can't get him to stop sometimes. I love it though! It is fun to hear his ideas and thoughts, even if they are only two or three words long.

Easton is still the best baby ever. I really need to do a whole LONG post on just him and what is going on and I will, but it really will be a super LONG post and I just haven't found the energy to do that yet. For right now, just know he is a great baby and we all love him TONS!!!

Ashlynn and I are lovin' us some curlers. Every Saturday night we either put them in or two French braids so that she can have beautiful hair for church. So far she doesn't complain too much which is amazing cause most days she won't even let me brush her hair.

I love these kids. They are trying to teach me patience and humility and kindness and all sorts of things, but they have already taught me LOVE!

Sooooooooo Busy (Just Like Everyone Else, I Know)

Our life has been crazy lately, just like everyone else. I know it is not a good excuse, but it is the only one I have. So here are a bunch of pictures of what we have been doing lately.Baby Easton is such a sweetheart. All of his pictures show him with his "aids" on, but in reality he doesn't wear them much yet. We are still doing some testing and ALOT of doctors visits to figure stuff out, but he is such a perfect baby and I am so grateful to have him in our family.
Carter: Need I say more? It was a mess. Let's just say that is is a good thing he is such a cutie pie!

Tade and Ash+Rain and Dirt= Another Mess! (Day after Carter's mess.)

They got sprayed off with the hose and it wasn't so much fun after that. :) Tade finished up First Grade. His cute teacher made each student (27 total) one of these little pillows. He is learning so much. Too bad I think we've lost a good portion of it already this summer. Oops! That's my fault for not making him do anything. I think I was more excited for school to be over than he was cause I just needed a break from HOMEWORK.

Just so cute! I say it all the time, but I really love the kid!

Carter loves his daddy.

Sometimes I have to "lock" him in his high chair so he can't get into anything. He was sitting really patiently this time just resting his chin on his little hands. It was so cute that I had to take a picture.

Tade turned seven! His cake request was that it have his face on it. This was the best I could do. If you know me you'd just be proud that I made an attempt and didn't just go buy something. He was happy with it so that's all that counts! He is getting so big. Next year we will have a baptism.

Fun presents. He got quite a few. Lucky kid.

We've been to Lehi Trafalga and also Seven Peaks to use our Pass of All Passes (along with the rest of Utah County).

Carter was locked out of Tade and Ashlynn's room and he way using his "key" to try and open the door. What a clever kid. Too bad it didn't work.

Waiting for the Opthamologist. His eyes checked out and the doctor didn't find any problems! Yay!!!

Easton and his dad have special bond. I LOVE watching Eric interact with him. Eric has spent more time with Easton as a baby than any of the other kids and it is such a sweet relationship that they have already formed.

Prepping for the MRI. Best buddies. At least Carter thinks so. Easton's not so sure.

This is the gift that Tade gave me for Mother's Day. I especially love the words "Sits" and "Jumps". So funny!

This and That

We (Mom, Tade and Ash) hiked the Y with Grandpa C and the Andersons on Monday. It was harder than I remember, but not so bad that the kids weren't just running up it. Carter had his 2nd birthday last week and it was a super FUN, SPECIAL day. He is such a ball of energy. You'd think I would be 20 pounds lighter just from trying to keep up with him! His smile is so sweet, mischievous, and contagious. I love this kid!
Mother's Day was a very nice day. I got these beautiful roses thanks to Ashlynn. Apparently, she saw them at the store and just had to get them for me. Thanks Ash! They made my day. :) We have had lots of things going on the last month or so. We met with the ENT and have had more tests. Easton's hearing loss is definitely sensorineural (permanent), which means while it will never be "fixable" hearing aids should help to amplify sound so with the use of hearing aids he should be able to hear close to "normal." We still have to do some other testing and see a few different doctors, but he did get his hearing aids today so we are excited for that. He cried for ten or more minutes after they were put in because he just wasn't used to the noise. It was really sad and almost made me want to say never mind take them back, but I know in the long run it will be worth it. I am also looking into doing some signing with him. I did a little bit with the other kids, but I will try to do a little more with E, just to add any communication tools we can. He is such a blessing in our family and we love him to pieces.

An Update With Pictures

I love this picture. Carter's "smiley" face and Easton looking totally confused as to why I would leave him solely in the arms of his brother (even if it was for a picture).Tade's balloon face.
He is getting so big. First grade is winding up. He has learned so much and is lucky enough to make friends really easily. He is a good kid!
Ashlynn and her Daddy. I think they look so much alike.
Ash is my big helper. She has a September birthday so we still have one more year before Kindergarten. If anyone knows of a good, CHEAPER, preschool, let me know. I need to find something to keep her busy next year.
Carter is Carter. That is all I can say about this kid. He is fun, busy, adorable, mischievous, relentless, happy, helpful, NOT helpful :), and everything else an almost two year old boy is. LOVE HIM!!!
Baby E is is getting so big. He is two months old next week. I can't imagine our family without him. He is such a sweet boy and lately has been really good at letting mommy get at least four hours of sleep at a time at night if not six! What a good boy!

*JUST AN FYI SIDE NOTE*

Since Easton has been born we have had to get his hearing checked because he didn't pass the newborn screening done in the hospital. After several more checks and additional testing he has been diagnosed with moderate (low tones) to severe (high tones) hearing loss. There are still lots of questions that we have that will hopefully be answered over the next couple weeks as we meet with and ENT and get more testing, but basically he will have to have hearing aids to help him develop his hearing and speech. We are still unsure whether it is a permanent (inner ear) or temporary (middle ear: might be correctable with surgery or a tiny chance that it is just fluid and will fix its self) problem, thus the more testing. The first couple days after finding out, I took the news pretty hard. I was mostly upset at how this challenge was going to effect Easton's life. My biggest question was, Why did this poor baby boy have to have this struggle? I have since then realized that he MUST be pretty SPECIAL for Heavenly Father to know that he can handle something like this. I have done alot of research, talked to a few more people and have really come to realize that Easton's life should be pretty normal, except for the two little aids he will wear in his ears. We have our ENT appointment next week and then we will probably get fitted for the hearing aids after that. Apparently, you have to have a doctors order to get them. I am learning alot of stuff. I need to send out a huge thanks to the family and friends who fasted and prayed for Easton last Fast Sunday. It was amazing the feeling of love and peace we had on that day and since.

Not Much To Report

Thanks to my sister, Ashley, here are a couple more pictures of the kids with baby Easton at the hospital.

Easton is doing so well. He is such a sweet baby and has been a welcome addition to our family. We are still in our little apartment, but with any luck this week should be it. They are fixing a few things that we noticed on our final walk through and finishing a few things that hadn't been completed and we should (fingers crossed) be closing next Monday or Tuesday. Only time will tell though. I am learning some patience through this process, which is something that I am sorely lacking. Life is great and I can't complain about anything. I am way too blessed to be doing that!