Ashlynn's first Words

Here's my little cherubic girl showing off her new favorite word. This was a few weeks ago and she says it all the time now, especially when she wants to get our attention. She's already taken her first steps, too! She'll be 11 months in about a week. Life has sure been busier with our Ashlynn joining our family, and added lots more giggling and silliness (if that was possible). We sure love this little gal!

Answers

Everyone has on-going unanswered questions or concerns about stuff, right?

I've had a little list piling up in my brain for several months. Sometimes, when my brain is on overdrive and I can't shut it off to go to sleep at night (for no apparent reason...other than that bowl of ice cream that I ate that could be giving me a sugar high) I think about STUFF. Like:

How am I going to get Mikayla to try new foods and learn how to EAT and get out of the 1st %tile for her weight?

Will I EVER find a reputable, fair-priced, licenced, polite, quality contractor to finish our basement that has now been in the works for a year and a half? ( I must've gone through 7 contractors now, researching them, getting quotes, negotiating, etc.)

Who should teach ______ primary class? How long till _______ is going to be called as a teacher? etc. etc. (I am in charge of the teachers for Primary and lately it has been very high-maintenance)

What should I do with this mop on my head known as hair?

How in the world am I going to stay on top of all the housework? (I swear, it gets messier faster when your living space is only 1000 square feet) And HOW did all those crumbs appear on the floor? Didn't I just sweep?
Note: My kitchen floor is much messier now that my 8 month old will enthusiastically try to stuff any table food in her mouth - a sharp contrast from her older sis, who as a baby refused anything that wasn't smooth - so I usually happily sweep up the mess. Usually.

I admit, these concerns are pretty lightweight compared to lots of peoples' lives. It just wears on me when I don't find solutions, month after month. And after lots of prayers and brainstorming.

Well, recently I've been excited and relieved because I am finally getting some ANSWERS! I am learning I just gotta be patient. Have faith. Keep working at it. And s-l-o-w-l-y, ever so slowly, solutions are coming.

And I have to keep a good perspective. I've accepted the reality that the house probably won't be as neat or as clean as I like it as long as I have kids in the house. I know that my job with finding primary subs is going to be continuous (until they release me or I move out of the ward).
And, maybe I'll just be the lady who wears a ponytail all the time because she can't style her hair worth beans. Maybe I'll be 75 with a ponytail. (Hmmm....actually don't ladies that age go to the hair salon once a week and get it 'done' and then just wear a shower cap and never have to do it? That sounds good to me....)

On a more serious note, I know that Heavenly Father is listening to me. I should probably pray more than I do. But when I do have a heartfelt talk with him, He listens. And I think sometimes He must chuckle at my concerns, but I know that He cares, because it matters to ME.

We went to California a few weeks ago. We go every year for the Cramer family beach party. And whadayaknow, the day before we were supposed to leave, Mikayla starts acting grumpy and whines about how she's gonna throw up. I knew by the way she was acting that she had come down with something, but she is rather dramatic when it comes to illness so I thought it might just be a quick little bug that's been going around our neighborhood.

So we decided to go anyway. I was kind of anxious about it (I could just picture us driving along in the barf-covered car with two screaming kids). WEll, the drive there went okay, other than the fact that Mikayla refused to eat anything and only accepted drinks. But on Friday night, the night before beach day, she had - we ALL had - an awful night. She was thrashing about in her sleep, waking up, crawling along the floor crying, refusing to be put back in her little bed or our bed, etc. Note:Somewhere in there I figured out that what she meant by 'I need to throw up' was 'I have a sore throat' - she just didn't know the right phrase.

Anyway, Kraig and I spent a lot of time awake that night. And, we later admitted to each other, a lot of time praying. We just wanted to have a nice time at the beach with all the family. We'd come far for just a short trip. We don't see the Cramer side much, and they're so welcoming and fun. We wanted Mikayla to feel better and have a good time with her cousins.

In the morning we let her sleep in. She slept till about 10:30. I was still expecting her to be a grouch since she didn't even get her full amount of sleep and then not feeling well to boot. But, miraculously, she woke up, happy, pleasant, bright. She ate food! She started running around the house with her cousins! And we ended up having a fabulous time at the beach. Mikayla was completely content the entire day, even late into the night. In our mind, that was a miracle and an answer to our prayers. And the stormy weather cleared up and the sun came out. That was a pleasant surprise too.

I guess what I'm saying is, sometimes answers to our prayers come the next day. And sometimes they come after months, or even YEARS.
But they come. :)

Lightning Party

I almost didn't do a friend party for Mikayla because she's been timid in big groups lately, but I'm so glad we did! We had a great time, and Mikayla was in heaven! She finally got her Lightning McQueen Party.
We started off by riding on the 'racetrack' we made. We live at the end of our street and we just okayed it with our neighbors accross the way and blocked off the road. They loved it!

All the racers

Playing 'Pass the Parcel'. You pass the present and when the music stops, you can unwrap one layer to get a prize (a classic British party game).

Mikayla showing me her bracelet she won in the 'Pass the Parcel' game

All the kids showing off their bracelets

Playing 'Don't let Frank catch you' tag game that Kraig came up with

Lined up just before they take off racing to the other side of the yard

I was so pleased that the cake turned out seeing as I'm not a great baker, but I do enjoy getting creative with kids' cakes. The fence is made out of cinnamon sticks and pretzels tied together with string. The grass is coconut died green. And I searched all over to find just the right kind of tractors. For 3 months, Mikayla has requested a 'Lightning McQueen Cake' so I wanted to make sure she loved it. When I showed it to her, the reaction was "OH MY GOODNESS!" which made it so worth the effort.

Present time! Mikayla loved all of the gifts, but after opening them she just wanted to keep playing with all her friends. They went and rode bikes again while they waited for their parents to come. I think that's what made the party so happy for her - to have her favorite little people over to celebrate.

We waited till all of the kids had gone home to give her our present, a long awaited for kitchen! We knew that once we showed her this she wouldn't be interested in much else.

I think her new obsession is going to be princess stuff. She only recenlty saw Cinderella and has been asking for a ball gown ever since. Well, we just gave her her Halloween costume a few months early. Though thankfully she doesn't HAVE to wear it every day, she has asked to wear it to bed and to church.

Sisters

I have been unable to blog for months due to computer issues on our desktop and I finally found an app I like to blog with on my iPad. Yay!

I just wanted to post this video of my two little gals and their blossoming friendship. One which, I hope will last a lifetime! I hope they can be the sisters to each other that I never had. We are thoroughly enjoying Ashlynn and her happy, curious, and bright nature. The girls have already started wrestling and Ashlynn gets tossed around quite a bit but she just grabs onto Kayla's hair and doesn't let go. Needless to say they are good for each other!

Kayla Quotes

Every day is entertaining and pretty much delightful when you have a little person around who's learning the intricacies of language. Below are some statements made by my blossoming little girl during the past week or so.

"You're my little sweetheart" (talking to her dad)

"Thanks. You saved my life." (to kraig, after he helped her)

Me: 'Ashlynn has a dirty diaper.'
Mikayla: 'Yeah, babies do that.'

Every time we're about to step out the door: 'LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!'

"My question is...where's my quesadilla?"

Me to Kraig: 'She has such a cute personality.'
Mikayla: 'I not a personality - I a GIRL!'

Competition

Is life a competition? Most people would say no to that question, but many people act like it's necessary to compare children, spouses, looks, homes, parenting styles, salaries, etc. It's natural to compare ourselves with others that seem to be in the same boat. But if we get in the habit of continually comparing and competing, it seems like usually one of two things will happen: We'll become prideful or become envious.

Neither one are too pleasant.

And it's a waste of time. Because every family, every individual, and every situation is unique. You can't compare apples to oranges.

I just had to get that off my chest.

Ashlynn Eve Cramer

I fell off the face of blogging world for a while....I guess the more you put something off, the more daunting it becomes because it just piles up. Here's an attempt to give an update of our lives since #2 joined our family. (If you just want pictures scroll down)

THE DELIVERY STORY
Went into labor at 4am after a week of false labor (had the doc sweep my membranes on Monday to get things going). Got to the hospital about 8am, dialated to a 3 1/2. Got an epidural around 11am ...it stopped working on my left side of my body around 1pm. They kept upping the dosage (since I asked for a light one) but nothing worked. Around 4pm I was at 7cm and in a lot of pain on my left side. I had been at a 7 for 3 hours and wasn't progressing, so they were talking about a C-section. They were trying to get the epidural to work on my left side so they could operate! Finally they figured out that the needle had probably got dislodged so they fixed the placement and then I had relief on my left side for about an hour. About 5pm I started feeling an intense burning on my previous C-section scar, and the nurse could actually feel a little limb (probably an arm) that was pushing against it! A little concerning....but poor baby, her heart rate was declining every time I contracted, and she was probably stressed out and pushing against me to try to fight back!

Soon we decided that she was coming down the wrong way (turned out it was sideways)and under distress, so prepped for a C-section. I went into the OR this time much calmer, with more energy, and more optimistic than last time. Everything was fine until they pulled her out. They barely showed me half of her body and then whisked her away. I was listening for the cry. It didn't come. All I heard was rhythmic counting... what sounded to me like CPR. No one told me what was happening. I knew something was wrong. And that's when all I could do was pray. Kraig was frozen, watching the events unfold. After 90 seconds we heard a cry. I just remember relief and gratitude and exhaustion filling me as I asked to see her fully for the first time. Truly God has been watching out for our little Ashlynn. She was a 0 on the Apgar scale 1 minute after birth. At 5 minutes she was an 8. They said that is pretty unusual. Since she bounced back so quickly they said that she wasn't without oxygen for too long, and we shouldn't worry. So far her development is excellent - right on track.

These last 8 weeks have been overall, very happy ones. Ashlynn means 'dream'. I call her my dream baby. The delivery wasn't too 'dreamy', but now that she's here she is a little angel - a GREAT sleeper and very content! She's been sleeping 5 or more hours since about 3 weeks, and lately it's about 8. It's great!

Mikayla has LOVED having a baby in the house. She has a natural maternal instinct. I keep waiting for her to start acting jealous or throw tantrums or stop sleeping well, but so far so good! I'm sure at times she won't appreciate having a little sister when she's older, but for now she just gets a kick out of every aspect. She tries to have little conversations with her, tickle her toes, gives her eskimo kisses....it is a sweet picture for a parent to witness.