I love being a mom!

I am extremely happy at the opportunity I get to be a mom. There are those days when I wonder what I ever got myself in to, but most days are like these.... when nothing in the world could ever explain how much I love and cherish Joe and Ashtyn. They make me so happy!

Fun at the Pittsburgh Zoo

Joe, Ashtyn, and I went to the Pittsburgh Zoo last thursday the 29th. It was so much fun and Ashtyn was mezmorized (?) the whole time. He pointed at everything and tried his best to make each animal sound. He wanted to climb in the pin with all of them too. Here are some of the many animals we were able to see.

The Sea Lions were the only thing that scared Ashtyn.

He didn't like how they would swim right at the glass

when he was so close.

This is my favorite picture of the day

Loving the 4th!

I was so glad to hear that Center Township was doing a fireworks show cuz I wanted Ashtyn to see fireworks, but I didn't want to have to pay an arm and a leg for something that would burn up in two seconds. So on Sunday night we went to the park and watched their fireworks show. Ashtyn was in complete amazement! I wish I could have got a good picture of him, but I couldn't.

Announcing... a little GIRL!!

We were able to go have an ultrasound today and found out that we are having a little girl and that she is as healthy as can be. No worries at all. She is right on track with size and a little stuborn from what the lady at the hospital said. She did not want to move to get pictures of her jaw and neck taken. Should I be scared already? :) Just kidding! We are very excited for the addition to our family that we will soon be able to meet. At first I was very set on the idea of having another boy and was kinda hoping that it would be a boy since I've already done it. But the more I thought about it, the more I have hoped and hoped that it was going to be a girl. I have never liked flowers and frillies for girls, but found myself being drawn to them while looking at baby stuff the last couple of months. I've also felt from the very begining that it was going to be a girl even though at first I did not particularly like the idea of having a girl. But I am very pleased now that we are, indeed, having a girl. Here she is!!

BBRRMM! BBRRMM! BBRRMM!

I can barely pry any car or truck out of Ashtyns hands now days. He loves to go outside and watch cars drive by. And when they do he points at them, stiffens his body, and yells bbbbrrrmmm, bbbrrrmmm, bbbrrrmmm (always three times too)! Any picture of a car he sees he does the same thing and oh boy it is a show when dad plays his Need for Speed game. He sits by dad so patiently and does not move his eyes from the TV. It is so fun to see him so interested and intrigued by something. I love it! Here he is with his dump truck.

The Latest and Greatest!

Wow!! I have been doing a lot of crazy things lately and my latest and greatest was cutting and coloring my own hair. I have a really hard time paying someone 75-150 dollars to cut and color my hair and most of the time I end up fixing it to the way I like it anyways. But anyways, my hair was a little longer than shoulder length and I was getting tired of it, so I studied online on how to cut your own hair and decided heck why not? I can always go get it fixed if I don't like it and it will grow again. I was very nervous, but pleasently surprised with the outcome. Below are the pictures of my new hair do.

I see a couple stragglers that I'm going to have to have Joe trim,

but for the most part I think it looks good.

The do from the front.

Here are some other fun pictures that I thought I would add. They are, of couse, Of my little stud... Ashtyn. I love him so much and am greatful he is in our family :)

Ashtyn LOVES his new Home Depot

apron. He's just like daddy now.

Ashtyn takes his books to the bottom steps and sits
there to look at them. He is so much fun!

Update!

Well it's been a while and things have finally calmed down a little, so I figured I'd catch up on a few things. PA is treating us very well. We have made a lot of new friends and love how green it is. On average it has rained every three days, and it is not your average Idaho sideways rain. This rain comes straight down and if you don't have an umbrella, your drenched. And the lightning storms are amazing!! But, enough about the weather.

We finally got moved into a townhouse on May 5th after living with some friends for almost a month. I'm sure they were glad to get rid of us :). Our town house is really close to everything we need too, so that is nice. Joe started school on the 17th of May and has been working close to 30 hours a week at the Home Depot in Chippewa Township. He works in the lawn and garden section and has really enjoyed it so far. He is doing very well in school and is about to finish two of his 6 week morning classes. YAY!! He has also started flying and LOVES it (imagine that)! He will continue for six more weeks with his math and reading classes, then he has a three week break and starts into the fall semester.

Ashtyn is growing like a weed. He loves playing outside and loves swimming too. He can't get enough of bath time and is starting to say things like ball, cat, dog, sketty (spaghetti), daddy, enny (Kenny, our friend that we stayed with), juice, nack(snack), hi, side (outside), and makes sounds for cats, dogs, horses, and cows. He loves chasing daddy around the house trying to tickle him and can't get enough of trying to sneak up on mom walking on his tip toes. He is very happy and tons of fun.

I'm doing great, just trying to keep up with Ashtyn. He has so much energy and I usually take a nap when he does just to make sure I have enough energy to finish out the day. I have been pretty sick with this pregnancy. More than with any other one. I finally started being able to stomach food about two weeks ago. I didn't throw up a lot, just nothing sounded good. I'm 17 weeks pregnant now and was able to feel the baby move for the first time two weeks ago. We have an appointment this thursday and we will be setting up our appt for our ultrasound to find out what we are having this time around. I'm very excited cuz we have never known before. Other than that, we are just loving life and just taking one day at a time.

Me! 17 Wks Pregnant

Our townhouse complex. Ours is the one with the door open.

And of course, my adorable little man :)

Loves to play in the water that stays on the slide after it rains.