It's Been Awhile...

It's been awhile since I've been able to get on here. We've been busy but not with anything very exciting (except our basement floors which I'll post about later this week).

So, here are just some pictures to update you on our lives.

Bennett with his new "hat"

Bennett got caught ON the counter AT 8:11 EATING a Swiss Cake Roll!

They were watching Sesame Street together - so cute

He got caught again - in Ashley's exasaucer - he was alittle too big but had to try it out I guess.

My little bubble blower

2 Months Old

I can't believe I'm writing that she's 2 months already!!! Ashley has changed so much in the past few weeks. She seems to be eating constantly - about 4-5 oz every three hours if not sooner. She is sleeping about two really long naps during the day and also sleeping the night from about 11:00-7:00! We couldn't get any more lucky with that. She's smiley and likes to talk and coo. She also though seems to be getting crabbier if she's awake and not being fed or held (while walking around). She loves her mobile so luckily I can put her in the crib and she'll watch it for half hour or more at a time. One of her absolute favorites is falling asleep in the car seat with her snowsuit on. She falls asleep daily on the way home from Grandma's house and I'll keep her in there and she'll sleep for about 2 hours all bundled up. She got to taste Cookie Crisp cereal the other day. One morning I got Bennett his breakfast and was warming up her morning bottle. She was screaming and Bennett was concerned and I said to him "she'll be ok, she's just hungry". Well by the time I got in the living room she had 2 of those small little cookies in her mouth. I couldn't get mad at him because he was only trying to help but believe me, he did get a stern talking to!

She had her 2 month checkup today and here are all of her stats:

Weight - 11 lb. 10 oz. = 76% Height - 23 inches = 73%

Clothes - 0-3 month (with some already seeming snug)

Diapers - size 1 (she'll be in these until this size is used up)

She also got 3 shots today which she did not like! She screamed for at least 5 minutes. It was weird though to see pink Barbie bandaids - I'm used to Spiderman!

And as an added bonus to this post, right during the middle of typing this I had to go change her and I ended up putting her on her tummy for a few minutes. She totally lifted her head up a few inches and luckily I had the camera in reach. Guess she wanted to show off alittle for you.

Daddy Got Me Dressed Today

Mike got Ashley dressed this morning and realized he did something wrong after he already had her pants on. He says it's fine and that she looks like a gymnast or ballerina. I think it looks like she's going to the gym to workout (in the 80's!)

Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines supper = heart shaped pizza, heart shaped jello blocks (that didn't turn out very well) and heart shaped cookies!

Valentines Day Bonus = Bennett went potty 4 times today!!! And Ashley has been smiling for a few weeks but today was the first day where she would look at you and just start smiling without us trying to make her smile.

Love You All from The Ford's!

Pretty In Pink

There isn't much going on with us so this post is mainly only for new pictures. The only new thing going on these days is my new job. I am working as our church secretary. It is very part-time - only about 8 hours a week - I work in the office Wed & Thurs mornings for a few hours to get the bulletins done and then just check the church's email from home the rest of the week. I had filled in for our secretary a couple months this last summer while she was recovering from knee surgery but now that she gave her notice that she was quitting, I got the job. Right now since Jon is laid-off from the golf course for the winter, he has been coming over those mornings to just sit here and watch them. When he goes back to work in a few months I'll probably just try to bring them with me and let Bennett play in the library or the gym. It is not a high paying job at all so I'm doing it more to just get out of the house for a few hours a week than for the money. Other than this, it's the same ol' stuff going on around here.

2 Year Stats

I had Bennett in to the doc for his two year checkup. Besides the talking, he is doing very good with everything else developmentally. He is getting better at the talking though little by little. Today for instance he was downstairs and started crying while I was upstairs feeding Ashley. When he came up I said what happened and he said "ouh" and when I asked him where it hurt he showed me his foot so apparently he stepped on something. It was so great though that I knew he was hurt instead of just whining! I can't wait until he can tell me everything that is wrong or what he wants!

His weight is 26.12 lb which is in the 31% and his height is 34 inches which is in the 52%. He was 22.5 lb at his one year checkup - chunky until he starting walking. Now we can't keep any weight on him since he's only gained 4 pounds in the last year (wish I could say the same thing about me!)

We're slowly working on potty training. When he sits on it for Mike or Kristen, he will almost always go. Not for me though. I can't get him to stay sitting even when I bribe him. I told Kristen she will have to move in with me this summer and get him trained since he seems to listen to her better than me. Almost every time he's over at my mom's house she'll make him go and he will for her.

I am having some issues with him though. He doesn't listen to me! I can say no and he wouldn't stop what he's doing. Mike or someone in my family can tell him no and he'll usually stop right away. He really knows how to play me and it's getting hard - I feel like all I'm doing is telling him no, stop that etc. He also knows to do this naughty stuff when I'm tending to Ashley. I'm afraid that the time-out chair isn't even going to phase him anymore soon since I feel like I have to put him in it so often. Any tips or advice are welcome.

(Betty White is distracting in the background haha)

Basement Pictures

Here are pictures of our wonderful basement! We are so excited and happy that this is done (for the most part). The only big thing we have left to do down there is for Mike to tile the bathroom/laundry room area floor. This will get done hopefully sometime this spring or whenever he has time. Otherwise we just need to get some blinds hung on the windows, pictures hung up on the walls etc. Right now the bedroom is Bennett's toy room instead of his bedroom but I have a feeling he'll be moving down there in the summer when he's a few months older. It is soooo nice to have the extra space and something new!

The furniture and TV are also new. The TV stand was our gift from mom for Christmas. The first door to the left is the bedroom, the door right next to that leads back to the laundry room and bathroom, the steps obviously lead upstairs and the door in the back is the office There is bad lighting in this picture but the bathroom is a minty green/sage color. This is the shower and an area for a changing table tucked behind the bathroom door. New kitchen table that we got using Christmas and birthday money. It seats 6 - 4 chairs and a bench. Can't wait for you all to come see it!