The holidays are quickly approaching and I have been debating for quite a while just how to get back into blogging. I have gone over many "in-my-head" blog posts to play catch up. My friend Raegan keeps checking on me to see if I have updated, and the guilt is getting to me :). I love that she is so dedicated!! I needed that gentle push, I guess.
I have decided to just start where we are at the moment and play catch up as I go.
I wish that I could say that since my last post we have been all of these exciting places and doing wonderful things. Well, not so much. Allen returned home in late September after almost six months of a deployment to the United Arab Emirates. Since that day we have been quietly getting settled into family life again. Allen started a new job that he seems to be happy with most days. We have finished the fall sports season with three kids participating in soccer and cheerleading. Ashlyn started middle school and all of the adventures associated with that! (I personally disliked middle school and all of the drama and insecurities that pre-teens have). That is another post...
Speaking of that particular girl.....she happens to be celebrating her 12th birthday today! This sweet baby was not due until mid-December, but decided that she needed to make her debut early. I think mommy was ready since I had been on bed rest for a week with pre-eclampsia. We brought her home the day before Thanksgiving and we were so unprepared! Suddenly we had grandparents arriving from all over Texas to see Ashlyn. We were dealing with the joys and dramas of new parenthood and a holiday. I also remember that my husband and my dad went to HEB to buy a Thanksgiving dinner package and Allen didn't have enough in the checking bank account to buy it! My dad happily obliged. What an embarrassing moment. We had been so busy with the new baby that we had not kept up with reality. It still feels that way somedays.
Ashlyn is such a vibrant and caring person. She is very mature and smart beyond words. She loves to be a girly-girl, but can also participate in sports activities.
Ashlyn with her teacher after a ballet performance at age 4; RAF Mildenhall, UK.
This was taken by Magic Moments photographers in the UK at age 3.
I know that Ashlyn will continue to make an impression upon others with her creativity and love for life. Several years ago she was featured in the local Beck Row paper for winning a contest for a suncream vendor. The winning funds were presented to her school and put to use for playground renovations!
Happy birthday sweet girl! I have loved you since you were that little baby placed in my arms. I love the person that you are becoming, and I am sooooo looking foward to the exciting years ahead.
