Tummy to back!

Ashlyn rolled over from her tummy to her back tonite! She did it two times in a row, so I am counting it! We were laying on the bed playing and I put her on her tummy facing away from me. She rolled back to her back to see me :) I will work on getting a video. This is one of our first big milestones so I am very proud of her!

Watching the Tech game with a bunch of Longhorns!

We were invited over to Jessi's uncle and aunt's house for the Tech vs Texas game on Saturday. They have a beautiful house with an amazing backyard. They hung up a big screen out by their pool and we sat outside and watched the game. It was a lot of fun despite the fact that we were the only ones rooting for Tech. Jessi and all of her family are UT fans (except her dad who was at the game)! It was a rather late evening, but Ashlyn did great! Here are a couple of pictures from that night!

Getting the girls ready for the rivalry shot

Hook 'em Horns/Wreck 'em Tech

Ashlyn and Daddy watching the end of the game

Surviving my first week back

Well, I survived my first week back to work full-time. Monday was hard. I cried when I woke up, I cried after I fed her, I cried when I kissed her goodbye, I cried on my way to work...I was a ball bag on Monday! I didn't want to be at work. I couldn't focus on my patients. All I could think about was Ashlyn. Tuesday was a little easier. I only cried once before I left. But then I was thinking, "what is wrong with me? why am I not crying all day? am I a bad mother?" Each night when I got home from work I would sanitize myself and then snuggle with Ashlyn and take a power nap! I would feed her around 9 and try to be in bed by 10, but that rarely happened. By Friday I was so tired, I couldn't see or think straight! When I left work on Friday, I thought, "I made it! I did it!" But then I remembered that I have to do it again next week. And the week after that. Being a working mom isn't going to be my favorite thing. But I am going to give it a shot.

Ashlyn stayed at home with her Daddy this week. I only called to check on them every chance I had...and then some. Chance flooded me with photos. Here are the pictures I received this week while I was at work!

4 Months Old!

1/3 of a year old! I can't believe it. We had a great check-up at the doctor. Here are here 4 month measurements

height: 22 3/4 inches (10%)
weight: 11 pounds (10%)
head circumference: 39 cm (10%)

While she is still only in the 10th percentile, she has come a long way...she was less than 3% at her 2 month check-up. Everything is growing in proportion and that is really all that matters. Her doctor thinks her eyes are going to stay blue, although they can change up to 1-2 years old. She got her 4 month shots while we were there. She got pretty upset and we had a hard time settling her down. Her legs starting bothering her again that evening and we had to give her her first dose of Tylenol. She was pretty sleepy that day and didn't eat too well, but that evening she was back to her smiley self!

Ashlyn is still wearing size 1 diapers. She fits into most of her 0-3 month clothes now. It is a lot of fun dressing her. She has so many options and they are all so cute! She eats every 3 hours during the day starting at 6. Her last meal is around 9 and she goes to sleep at 10 and sleeps through the night!!!! She still naps throughout the day. The doctor said once her night time routine is established, her naps will become more consistent. While she is awake, she enjoys swinging, sitting in her bumbo chair (thanks Ryan) or her infant seat, doing tummy time and laughing! She smiles and laughs (no noise comes out yet) ALL the time! She is starting to become more interested in her toys and she can hold onto them if we put them in her hand. She loves to taste everything especially her "lovey bunny". She still takes her medicine for her hemangioma and reflux and probably will for another couple of months. She loves to read books and seems like she really listens. She also really enjoys bath time. She is getting much more chatty and likes to stick out her tongue. It has been so hot this summer, that we haven't been able to take too many walks. But every chance we get we load her up in the stroller and cruise around the neighborhood. She is a good traveler and usually falls sound asleep in her car seat. She is getting a bald spot from squirming around in her crib and bassinet. She loves her mobile and her sound machine. She usually puts herself to sleep with very little fussing. She is a very good baby!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from her 4th month!

4 months old!

Grabbing froggie by the bow!

Practicing in her bumbo chair

A bubble tiara

The start of her bald spot (it is much bigger now!)

Waiting to see the doctor at her 4 month check-up

4 month cupcake (for mommy)

I love this picture of her...so tiny!

Sitting up in her recliner sporting her tennis dress

Always smiling!

Go Cowboys!

Ashlyn and Dr. Yeager (her pediatrician)

Dearest Ashlyn

Dearest Ashlyn,

As I write you this letter, I fight back the tears, and a couple may slip through. I have been thinking about this day more and more as it approaches. Tomorrow is the day I go back to work full-time. This has always been the plan since before you were born, I just had no idea how hard it would be. It has been almost a year now since you and I have been a team! And what a team we have been! For 7 1/2 months you were literally a part of me. Then you made your entrance to this world a month and half early. I had to leave the hospital without you. That wasn't part of my "birth plan". Actually, I didn't even have a "birth plan" (or a change of underwear) when you were born. Leaving you at the hospital when you were 2 days old was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I knew you were in good hands and that was where you needed to be at that time. Knowing those things didn't make it any easier. I thought about you every minute I was away and couldn't wait until I could get back to you.

So as I have to leave you again to go back to work I am full of emotions. I will still think of you every minute of the day! You will be in good hands tomorrow...with our other teammate...your daddy. I know he will take awesome care of you. He loves you very, very much. I am so thankful that he will get to spend so much time with you. I have truly enjoyed these 18 weeks we have spent together. I think that is what makes this so hard. You have changed so much over these 4 months and I have witnessed it all. I am so scared that you will do something new or have a "first" and I will miss out on it. I think that is my biggest fear. I don't want to miss a thing! I don't want you to grow up without me.

I am also sad that I will miss our mornings. My favorite part of the day is when you wake up. You greet me with a sleepy smile. I turn on the light and you squint your eyes. I unswaddle you and you stretch and you stretch and you stretch. I just lay there and I watch you. You make the cutest faces while you are stretching. I pick you up and cuddle you for a while until you start to squirm. You drowsily nurse for a while and then you fall asleep on my chest until it is time to get up. Sometimes I doze and sometimes I just lay there and watch you sleep. I smell you. I listen to you breath. I watch you smile in your sleep as you dream. I wonder what you dream of. I think those couple of hours are the ones I will miss the most. The ones I will look forward to the most!

Another fear I have is when I think back to before you were born, the evenings always seemed so rushed. I would rush home from work...or rush around doing errands. At home, we were rushing around to clean the house, cook dinner, take care of the dogs, do the laundry...we were always rushing! My promise to you is to do all of my "rushing" between 7 and 4 so that when I get home, I can settle down and enjoy you! I think we will quickly settle into a routine and this will get easier.

This transition also makes me happy. I am so happy that I have a job to go back to. One that I love as much as I do. I am happy that you are doing so well that I can leave you and not worry about you (well...I will always worry about you). I am happy that your dad is going to get to spend so much time with you. I think he will go through these feelings when he has to go back to work! Dropping you off at daycare will be another experience that will bring on many other emotions. But I am not going to think about that now. One step at a time.

Ashlyn Mae Wimberly, you are a beautiful, loving, smart, strong, funny girl! I will miss you more than you will ever know, but I will rush home everyday to you! The times that we are together will be that much sweeter! And I will look forward to the weekends...where I can sneak in a morning snuggle! You too, are my sunshine.

Love & Laughter,

Your mother

Mascara Alert

I first heard this song as I was leaving my doctor's appointment the day I found out I was pregnant with Ashlyn. It has always been special and I will forever tear up when I hear it. Chance and I put together a montage of pictures of our stay in the NICU set to this song. I hope you enjoy it.

A fun week with very few pictures :(

We had a fun and busy week and weekend! Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures of our fun outings. I am slacking in the photography department. Tuesday, Auntie Sarah stopped by and we grabbed lunch with Chance and then went and "window shopped" at the mall. It was too hot to do anything else. She is still looking for a job in marketing so if anyone has any leads...send them my way and I will pass them on!

On Wednesday we had brunch with Stephanie and Sarah, our NICU "roommates". They are both doing well. Sarah and Ashlyn are just about the same size and doing the same types of things. Ashlyn decided to have a major blowout over breakfast and then realized she was starving so our departure was rather abrupt. I forgot to take a picture as we were leaving. Next time, I guess.

Thursday evening we went over to our good friends, The Ivie's, house for dinner. The had a huge tree fall through their roof the night before during a thunderstorm. They were still the most gracious hosts and their house looked great! Chris spent all day cleaning up the huge tree. I stole a picture from their blog so you can see what an ordeal it was. He still managed to put together an awesome spread of homemade pizzas! I stole these pictures of Ryan and Ashlyn from their blog as well (I told you I was horrible with the camera this week!). They are going to have so much fun growing up together and little Ivie #2 will be right behind them. Jessi is looking great and is feeling much better, thank goodness! She is almost halfway there!

The tree fell on the roof right above Ryan's room!

"Hi, Ashlyn!"

"Mommy, can she play?"

BFF's

On Friday, Ashlyn and I met Cassie and Gwen for probably our last Friday morning coffee (unless I play hooky from work one day)! It is so much fun having so many friends who have babies almost the same age as Ashlyn! After coffee, we had lunch with Great Grandma Sally at her clubhouse.

Saturday, I went to work and Chance stayed home with Ashlyn. He also tackled one of the biggest solo outings yet. He took Ashlyn and both dogs to a mobile vet clinic for the dogs to get their annual shots! Just taking our 2 hyenas out solo is impressive, but with a baby in tow...that takes the cake! Saturday evening, we met Cassie and her husband Shawn and Gwen and Beth (an OT at Zale) and her husband Jeff and their 2 boys Braiden and Jace out for dinner at a really cute pub in downtown Plano. It was a lot of fun, and we went early to beat the crowd. When we showed up with 3 babies and a toddler, the hostess said, "Oh...we only have 3 highchairs!" The guys watched college football and us gals chit chatted with the babies. It was fun!

Sunday we had brunch with Mimi and Great Grandma Sally. Ashlyn loves being pushed around in her stroller by Grandma Sally. We had a nice time and then snuck in an afternoon nap (well, Ashlyn did) before Gpa, Gma and Sarah came over to watch the Texas Tech football game. Gpa brought Ashlyn her 1st bouquet of flowers and she also got a really cute new outfit...her first pair of blue jeans and pea coat! Too cute! We had some appetizers and watched the Red Raiders (barely) beat SMU. It was Ashlyn's first Tech football game to watch so she had to wear her TT onesie...again...no pictures :(

Labor Day was uneventful...I actually went to work and Chance and Ashlyn hung out at home. We grilled out and had a relaxing evening.

And today, Ashlyn and I met Emily and her two boys, Gabriel and Andres and Abby and her son, Walker out for lunch. We met at Chick-fil-a so the boys could play and we could catch up! It was POURING rain when I got there, so managing Ashlyn in her car seat, a diaper bag and an huge golf umbrella was quite a challenge. Thank goodness for the gentleman that held the door for me. It is probably best I didn't have my camera for this gathering...I was drenched!

While I didn't have my camera for our fun outings, we did snap some very cute pictures just hanging out around the house. Here are a couple of my favorites!

Loving on her bunny

One of my favorites!

Gwen taught Ashlyn how to suck her thumb and she has been working on it!

She is all smiles and laughs these days!

All that laughing really takes it out of you!

We don't have many plans for the rest of this week or weekend. We are just going to lay low and I am going to soak up every last minute I have with my little miss Mae before I have to go back to work full time next week :(

Coming soon...4 month update and pictures and a video montage of pictures I have been putting together!

Love and laughter to all!

Birthday Bash in Emory

We went to Emory this weekend for the annual birthday bash. Ashlyn got to spend some time with Mimi, PaJ, Aunt Bottoms (Teresa) and Uncle Big Bert (Robert) and her cousins Brennan and Dillan. Ashlyn did very well considering all the stimulation. She stayed on her schedule very well and was never lonely! Chance spent some time fishing and shooting guns while we were out there. The girls stayed inside where it was cool. Ashlyn got some very special gifts, a soft blanket that Mimi made for her and her first duck call from PaJ! It was a wonderful weekend.

Yes, her duck call is pink and engraved!

This is the card that came with her quilt. Very cute!

Brennan, Dillan & Ashlyn

Ashlyn is basically the size Brennan was when he was born!

Spending time with Brennan.

Sleeping through the night!

Well, I waited for over a week before I posted because I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke...but Ashlyn has been sleeping through the night for over a week now! She has her last feeding around 9 and sleeps until 6 or 7. She usually goes back to sleep after that until 9! It is wonderful! Hopefully I didn't curse it...we'll see after tonite!

60th Birthday Party at Lake Bridgeport

My dad and some of his best friends turn 60 this year. The Estes kids rented a house on Lake Bridgeport for the weekend. We drove over on Saturday to celebrate the birthdays! We had a great time. There were probably over 50 people there including all of the kids. There were boats, jet ski's, a nice pier for swimming, lots of good food and good cold beer! It was pretty hot that day...like 107...so we stayed in the house most of the day with the other babies. It was fun to hang out with everyone and celebrate the 60th birthdays!

The "sexagenarians"

(I had to look that one up)

Dave, Pat, Andy, Linda & Ed

View of the Lake from one of the balconies

Staying cool inside with Auntie Sarah and Gma

She has the most kissable feet in the world!

Brandon and Brady taking a break!

Ashlyn (15 weeks) & Brady (4weeks)

Katie and Brady

We finished off the weekend with a good brunch with Grandma Sally and dinner with The Garrett's. It was a wonderful weekend!

Ashlyn & Kristi with Great Grandma Sally

I have been working a little more and Chance has been working from home and staying with Ashlyn. I get frequent pictures throughout the day. Here are a couple of my favorites!

She smiles and laughs all the time!

She loves this pacifier with the bunny attached

She naps on her tummy during the day

Just hanging out!