Blue Hair, Projects, and girl cousins

I have had a few comments about my blue hair, so I decided to do a comparison photo. I had this idea a while back to dye my hair blue and I did it (after some major convincing to my friend Melanie who had never dyed anyone's hair blue before) and I liked it even though the blue caught on to my blond highlights and I had a lot more blue than I bargained for, so this time I did a lot less blue, that's what I meant by a little blue. Here is a picture of when I did it 2? summers ago compared to this time. BIG Difference. :) But I really did like it, no matter what face I got from Stephen. He was actually quite used to my hair changing by then and still hasn't noticed this time that I dyed it, even after I said, "you didn't even say anything about my hair!" He still thinks that, "maybe you cut it shorter?" haha!

Also here is a picture of my mom making another pair of booties. Beck is in Othello today with Stephen, so all we have are all the girls. Hanna says, "the girl cousins!" So here is my sweet Paisley being mauled by her girl cousins. Aren't they all so sweet? They really are so good with her. Hanna gets to carry her around and rescue her from her sisters. Piper always says, "my turn, my turn," to hold her.

Proud Brother, Big Helper

I am not really sure what I was doing, but Paisley was crying and I was trying to hurry and then she stopped crying, I rushed out of the bathroom and this is what I found. My baby boy was being a big helper and found a way to make "baby" happy. Not only were his fingers probably disgusting and covered with germs, but now he thinks that "baby" always needs to suck on his finger and is constantly trying to shove it in her mouth. He also likes to give Paisley her binky, after he's sucked on it himself of course!

Also, my mom is here and her and I each made a pair of booties yesterday. I kept saying, " I don't know how to make smaller ones, I need to make the pattern smaller." and my mom says, "just sew them smaller." Guess that's what a Bachelor's degree gets ya compared to my Associates... Common Sense. Haha! I also got my hair colored yesterday. I haven't colored my hair since Christmas of 2006! Crazy huh? It's been a long time, ecspecially for someone who is obsessed with coloring their hair. I went pretty easy and just put some lighter highlights in it with a little bit of blue.

I will survive!

I know that I shouldn't, but I do love my Mountain Dew and sometimes it's the only thing that gets me through the day. :)

Can you believe that I am on day#2 of not going anywhere? Too bad tomorrow is such a busy day! Today was play group at my house. We had like 15 kids here. I really like play group. We get to sit and gab and take turns following kids around. The friends I've made make life so fun! I decided to have some fun with Paisley today in her cute Harley outfit and matchimg bow, then Beck decided that he wanted in on the fun. In a little over an hour Paisley will be 3 weeks old! Remember a bit ago when I was like going crazy, "get this baby out of me!!!" And now here she is, still so sweet, knock on wood. ;) And yep, I made some more bows today....

J Olson Photography

This is a shout out to the best photographer in the world. Jenn Olson. We got these pictures taken last Saturday

and I was so excited and couldn't wait for my "preview." I love how every single one of them turned out. She is so great, not to mention that she has way cute subjects, ecspecially my dear Paisley, but she is totally awesome. She captured every moment, every special thing that I want to remember. Can you see my cute family? And my baby Beck, who is now a big brother? Look at those tiny feet! And the angel we got when Paisley entered our lives. I know that I keep saying it, but Jenn is AMAZING and I love that she is my friend and so talented that I have these great pictures to remember this special time! She'll kill me for advertising for her, but check out more of her work at her web site, her link is under my web sites column. There are pictures of Beck on there when he was 4 months old, he has grown so much! Feel free to leave tons of comments on how gorgeous my baby girl is.....

Paisley's bows

Like I mentioned before, I wanted to try and make some of these "nylon" bows or figure out who can get me some more. I decided to try it out myself and this is what I came up with. I couldn't find any white nylons believe it or not, but I did find black and off white. The orange and black one is my favorite, I made it to match her Harley outfit that was once Beck's. The blue one is not my favorite, but matches an outfit I got from my friend Katie. The red one I stole the actual bow off of a different hair bow that was stained, sorry, Kortni, I ripped it right off..... And the peachy/yellow one I think might be too big of a flower/bow, but also I made to match a dress, that she will hopefully get to wear soon. Can anyone teach me how to make an actual bow out of ribbon? I don't do so hot on that part.....

Happy Earth Day!

Not a whole lotta....

Hasn't been a whole lot going on. Dr appt yesterday went a whole lot better. I have to take both of them because I had set appt for both of them. But I appreciate all the offers to watch Beck for me! I have great friends and family! He only ran away from me twice. Once it was down at the lab while Paisley had blood dripping from her heel, so I am not really sure how I handled that one. But he got a Car sticker and a Curious George sticker from Dr Lindberg, so he was a happy kid. My baby girl now weighs 8 lbs 1 oz. She already looks so different than the day that she was born. I am doing her birth announcements and she looks nothing like what she did the day I took those pics (the day we brought her home)

I just realized that I need to start getting ready for Mexico! Yikes! It's in 2 weeks, and my mom is coming this weekend, so I will be busy then. I am just worried that I will run out of diapers and have to buy them at the resort and pay 20 bucks for 2 diapers or something! haha! I have play group at my house this Thursday and I am excited because that means that I HAVE to clean my house before then. Maybe I can convince Stephen to vacuum again, even though he left way early this morning and will be home late again tonight. Paisley and I went to Wenatchee yesterday looking for me some "fat pants" you know those pants you wear after you have a baby? Stephen can't understand why I can't wear my before pregnancy pants or why don't I just keep wearing my maternity pants. I'll tell ya why, I've been wearing them for 9 months, I'm sick of them. I found a pair of shorts and a bunch of other stuff that I don't need at Target, but no pants. Bummer deal, but I borrowed some of Kortni's old pants, so hopefully I can find a pair that fits!
Isn't Paisley's dress so cute!?! My mother-in-law brought it home from Puerto Rico, I put the pants with it because it's still pretty chilly and there's that bow again from my friend, Amanda. (Love that bow, gotta figure out how to get more)

Jacksen

Happy Birthday today Jacksen. I know that you are not here, sometimes I still don't believe it, but today you would be 17 years old and we miss you like crazy!

The Devil's Child

Have you ever had to reschedule a Dr's appt because your child was so naughty? I'm not talking about crying because they are scared of the shots or being upset over having their temp taken. I'm talking about biting the nurse, hitting her, screaming so loud the receptionist can't hear who she's talking to on the phone. Throwing toys AT the nurse, pinching me, attempting to pull Paisley's car seat off the chair, pulling at cords plugged into the wall. Yes, I am talking about my sweet Baby Beck. A little spoiled, I admit it freely, but up until 2 weeks ago he WAS the baby at our house. I can see where his frustration comes from, this new creature taking up all my time, not being able to express his emotions, I mean, being 2 cannot be the easiest thing. But this monster that has swallowed up my Beck and left a screaming, tantrum, throwing, biting/hitting/pinching machine can go live in a trash can like Oscar the Grouch for all I care! I wasn't even embarrassed for myself at the Dr office, all I felt was pity. Yes, pity for me. It really was quite awful. The nurse kept trying to ask me all these questions and I couldn't hear her and she couldn't hear me, the whole while Paisley just sitting there staring at her brother. The nurse was telling me that Paisley needed some tests taken down in the lab and I was thinking, "there is no way I'm taking this hooligan down to a different office!" So finally with my eyes beginning to water I asked if we could reschedule. We hurried and weighed Paisley because I wanted to make sure that she was gaining okay (7 lbs 13 oz) while Dr Lindberg tried to give Beck a pinwheel which he threw at her. After which I stated maybe carrying him out in a garbage bag and then retracting my statement and asking them not to turn me in to CPS and I promised that I wasn't mean to him at home. They just laughed at me and told me, "it's okay, we have toddlers" and I only thought, "yeah, but do they bite complete strangers?" The nurse and everyone was so nice. The receptionist brought me a card with my new appt on it, so I didn't have to wait at the front desk, a different nurse offered to carry my diaper bag. I am just really wondering where I went wrong? The first picture is of Beck and the pinwheel he got from Dr Lindberg and the second is my happy smiling boy after we got home and he got to watch a movie.... On a happier note today Paisley is 2 weeks old. She already looks so different from the day that she was born. I am so excited to have a little girl and I have lots of fun deciding what she gets to wear. As for my little "Master of Disaster" (yes, that is the shirt he was wearing today) he has decided that he gets to pick out what he wants to wear. Isn't he too young for this? I thought that I got to dress him up all cute until he was like 7 or something. But nope, he definitly lets it be known if he doesn't want to wear what I pick out! :)

I LOVE MY, um, OUR ROOM!

I got to thinking about it the other day about how we really do LIVE in our bedroom. Our room is pretty big, thank heavens we got the vaulted ceilings, and it's a good thing it's big because we live in it. Even though the kids have their own bathroom they bathe in mine, so that while Beck is in the bathtub I can do my make up or my hair, eventually it will be nice to reclaim my bathtub, but for now it works for us.

I also have my scrap/sew/computer desk in my room. I have mentioned before that Stephen has thought about moving it to another room, but he fears that he will never see me again and he also likes that we have TV and he can watch it on the computer from bed. I always swore that I'd never have a TV in my room and Stephen kind of snuck that one in there because I didn't realize that you could watch TV from a computer. But we're turning the TV off here in a bit anyways, or so he says.

Paisley sleeps right up next to our bed beacuse I am too lazy to take 2 steps over to the window where her cradle used to be, now I just roll over and pick her up. The great dark brown rocker is one of my favorite items in our house. It's Stephen's parents that we got after they sold the 1st cabin. It is the one piece of furniture that Stephen's dad has kept around. It is older than Stephen! I love it and it is so comfortable and the best place to nurse and fall asleep in, even if I wake up with a creak in my neck.

My other favorite thing besides my computer, sewing machine, and scrappin stuff that is in my room is my mini fridge. Stephen got it for me for Christmas and I am so in love with it. I put my Mtn Dew in there and a big water bottle because I always have to have my water cold. I also put Beck's sippys or "ju" in there, so I don't have to go downstairs in the middle of the night. (I know, I'm wrapped around his finger) Anyways, as you can tell, we LIVE in this room. We are lazy, but comfy, and I love it and like I mentioned before; It works for us. :)

Our job that Stephen gives us in the morning is to water the flowers in the back yard. He does the front before he leaves for work and Beck and I do the back. I have a love/hate relationship with this job. If I don't do it Stephen is disappointed and I feel crappy. I do love to go outside and be in the garden, but at this stage Paisley is kind of too little to stay out very long because with Moses Lake weather I never know what to expect. And then once we are all done Beck will never come back inside! It's like torture dragging him in and he's screaming and the whole neighborhood thinks that he is being beaten or something. I am so excited for when we finish the other gate, then he can be outside and I don't have to follow him around as much.

Paisley woke up from her newborn slumber last night. She was up off and on most of the night and I was like, "well, this is it...." so this morning I was pretty grumpy, but I've been hanging in there. It's been nice to not have to go anywhere really pressing, but I have been out a lot. It's just easier with Beck. Although yesterday we were out in Othello all day and my relatives were probably hoping that I hadn't come to visit. Let's just say that Beck can be something of a brute. He not only bites now, but hits and pinches. It's great fun and I get a kick out of it. (sarcasm) It's actually quite frustrating to always be apologizing and trying to get him to understand. I've tried most tactics, he just seems to not care and he gets so wound up that it's fun for him to chase and be a bully. I always try and take him out of the situation or put him in a timeout. He goes out and says he's sorry, "dorry," but then it just starts all over again. So like I said before it's great fun and we love it here at the Ashton household. But we do love our little Beck the biter/pincher/hitter. :)

I have a lot of stuff, it's like in my blood. It's everywhere. I buy decorations, I make them, I love pictures on the walls, I buy birthday presents to have on hand and I accumulate yard sale stuff in a corner of the spare room which is slowly taking it over. The art in my home is pictures of family and kids. I am having a tough time deciding which pictures of Beck to switch out for Paisley's pics because there really is no more wall space to add more frames. I also have a lot of plants. They usually sit in the kitchen window, but it really looks like a jungle over there, so this morning I have been walking around trying to put these plants in different parts around the house and still be where they can get appropriate amounts of sunlight. I guess if they all die, I'll know that I chose the wrong place. But as I was walking around trying to find places for these plants I always get bugged by all the stuff that I have, so I start switching it around and taking stuff up to the yard sale pile, then as I am doing this I see the dust that has accumulated since the last time my sister helped me dust. Then I move onto the bathrooms and the floors that have not been mopped. And then as this cleaning depression takes over me because I never do it, I pull out the paints to paint with Beck. :) I'm hoping that everyone has this problem...

I just would much rather play and paint and make messes, but I want my house to magically clean itself. I keep the wash done, there aren't really dishes in the sink a whole lot and I keep it picked up rather well and I make Beck help, which sometimes he replies, "no, Mama" that means, are you crazy? you do it! :) Anyways, my house is never really all that "messy" it's just never really all that "clean." I need to start my rotation again, Monday: bathrooms, Tuesdays: floors, etc. Yeah, wish me luck on that. And when you come over to visit, don't look too closely at the floors, okay?

Rexburg weekend

We decided to head down to Rexburg with Stephen's parents for our nephew Keaton's blessing. Keaton is Stephen's brother Joel's little boy. We left Friday about 4 in the afternoon and got in at about 1:30 in the morning. Beck did really well until he kept waking up from sleeping at the end because his poor little body was probably so done with that car seat. Paisley slept pretty much the whole way. So she did great considering it being her first road trip and at 10 hours that's pretty good. It was also her 1st time at church, which she slept through as well. We stayed until Sunday afternoon and had a great time. We went swimming at the hotel that Bob and Ann stayed at, Uncle Joel took Beck for a tractor ride, he cried when it was time to get off, and we visited the beautiful Rexburg Temple. Beck is quite the bully, but he had a great time with his cousins, Sadie, Tess, Piper, and Keaton.