Family Time

Here are a few pictures of my family hanging out with Cate and Ashton

Cate loves coloring on her doodle pad with her Uncle Q


Cate was wandering around the house singing her ABCs and I caught the end of her singing with the camera.

Bath

Time seems to be flying by, I can't believe that Ashton is almost 2 weeks old. He is such a wonderful laid back baby. He is sleeping great and loves to eat. I feel so blessed to have such a happy healthy baby. Cate continues do well with her baby brother. She loves to "tuck him in" with his blanket and always makes sure his pacifier is near him. She also loves to pet his head and touch his hands. It is so cute to watch the two of them together. Cate says that Ashton will be able to do things like play with her toys when he is "bigger, bigger". I am looking forward to seeing them grow up together.

Yesterday I gave Ashton his first bath. He wasn't too happy about it.

Grammy put pigtails in Cate's hair. She loved them.

Aunt Pat knit Ashton a stocking and I figured we should get a picture of him in it before he was too big.

Merry Christmas

My parents came in to celebrate Christmas with us and to meet Ashton. We ended up celebrating Christmas on the 27th. We had such a great time opening presents and of course Cate thought is was great fun to open all of the gifts. It was so nice having my family here to celebrate Christmas with us.

Cate checking out what is in her stocking

New princess hair tie and necklace

Proud Grammy with her two grandkids

Cate saying: "I so excited!!"

My parents and I gave Eric a brand new lawn mower for Christmas. He was so surprised and excited to get one. The one that he has been using is very bad and hard to use. His new one is self propelled and will be a huge improvement from the other one. I love his face in this picture.

Aunt Pat and Uncle Don gave Cate a trike for Christmas. She loved it right away.

One big happy family

Grammy and Ashton

Uncle Q and Ashton

Coloring with Grammy

Riding the trike outside with Grandpa

Grandpa and Ashton

Playing in the snow

Eric took Cate outside to make a snowman today. She had a lot of fun with him.


A picture of the boys relaxing

Settling In

We are continuing to settle in at home. Ashton is a very laid back baby. It is great having him home with us. Cate continues to be a great big sister. She is very sweet with Ashton.

Our little burrito

Steph and I took Ashton out for a walk today. You can barely see him because he is so bundled up.

More pictures

Proud Daddy

Aunt Steph has been such a great help. Things would be a lot more stressful without her.

Welcome Ashton Richard

On Friday at noon my sister Steph arrived to help out with Cate when I went into labor. Right on cue I started having contractions that night. The baby was just waiting to have his Aunt Steph here. At 1:30 am I woke Eric up and told him that we needed to go to the hospital. When we got to the hospital they told us that it was a very busy night and to wait in the lobby. An hour later they called us in to see a doctor. At that point I was already 7cm dilated. So luckily that got us a bed upstairs on the labor floor. After we got upstairs everything went very smoothly and at 7:47 am on December 19th Ashton Richard came in to the world. He weighed in at 8lb 5oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. He is a very sweet baby. We were able to bring him home today and we are all very happy to be home.




Cate was very excited to meet her new baby brother. For the last few weeks she had been asking me for a baby brother, so she really lucked out. When we brought him in the house she said, "Hi baby Ashton, I eat lunch now" She asked to hold him after she had her lunch and when I put him in her arms she said "he is heavy" , then she gave him a big kiss. She seems to like him so far : )

Fun with Daddy

Here are some videos of the things that Cate likes to do with Daddy when he gets home from work.


Here is a picture of Cate licking the spoon after we made gingerbread cookies. I think the glasses really complete the look.

38 Weeks

I am now 38 weeks pregnant and very ready to have this baby. I went to the doctor on Thursday and I am already 3cm dilated. This is a picture that Eric took of me at the gym. I am laughing in the picture because I couldn't believe that Eric brought the camera to the gym. This may be the last belly picture posted because the baby will be here soon.

Eric is such a great Dad. As soon as he gets home from work Cate asks him to give her rides. I tell her during that day that I can't give her rides but Daddy can when he gets home. So as soon as he walks in the door Cate grabs him and asks for rides. Right now she really loves riding around in a laundry basket because she can bring her wand and her ponies with her for the ride.

First Snow

We woke up to our first official snow this morning. Cate went right to the window to check it out. I included a picture of her from last year doing the exact same thing. She has grown quite a bit since last year.


Last year...

Santa

Eric's work had a Breakfast with Santa today at his office. We took Cate and had a wonderful time. We started out with a great pancake breakfast and then Cate got her picture with Santa. As you can imagine she wasn't too sure about sitting with a big man in a read suit that she didn't know. So I sat with her for the picture. You can really see the excitement on her face : )

They decorated the cafeteria with a bunch of blowups. Cate had so much fun roaming around and checking them all out. They also had a table where you could make an ornament.

Here is a picture of Cate sitting and eating her breakfast.

Gingerbread House Party

This afternoon Cate and I went to my friend's house for a gingerbread house party. At the party my friend Michelle had all of the fixings to make and decorate gingerbread houses. We had such a fun time. I think that the kids thought it was a candy eating party. They all kept walking around the table trying to find candy to eat. It was very messy but a lot of fun.

This is a picture of the girls playing while all of the stuff was being set up.

Here is Cate sitting by our house that we decorated

Here is everyone sitting at the table decorating

This is a picture of our gingerbread house once we got it home. I was hoping that it would survive the drive home and it did. This was an especially special day for me because I used to make gingerbread houses with my Mom. We always had such a great time and I have so many wonderful memories with her. So it was great to continue the tradition and make a gingerbread house with my daughter.

Nice Day

It was finally a nice day so Cate, Boo, and I went outside to play. This is a picture of Cate on our front steps.

36 week ultrasound

Yesterday I had my 36 week ultrasound to check the baby's size and position. The baby is head down like it is supposed to be. As far as the size goes, they are guessing that the baby is about 6lbs 6oz. I see my doctor on Friday and will hopefully get an idea of when the baby is going to come. On friday I will be 37 weeks pregnant, which is considered full term. This last week I have been feeling really good. I feel like I have a new surge of energy and my appetite has returned. Eric and I are getting so excited to meet baby Schmidt and to see if it is a boy or a girl.