Butterfly Flutterby

We, as in all of us Jason included, went to Grapevine on Saturday to check out the Butterfly Festival and Nash Farms, Fall Roundup.  

While the Roundup was kind of a bummer (other than we learned that Ash is really good at horseshoes) the Butterfly Festival was awesome! 

 It was at the botanical gardens and it was filled with butterflies!  The Monarchs travel through Texas on their way to Mexico as part of their migration.  I'm not quite sure how they do it, but they catch them and tag them with a little sticker on their wing and then release them and track them. 

 Ashton and I got to release one of them and then we spent the rest of the afternoon chasing butterflies around, doing crafts, walking through a pumpkin patch and finished it off with a picnic in the beautiful gardens.

 It was a perfect way to spend a Saturday. 

Bowling

This was a family first.  So I felt like it deserved documentation.

We went bowling for a friends birthday.  Ashton was so excited.  Julain loved it too, but mainly he just wanted to carry the balls all around.

Ashton may or may not have gotten a higher score than I did.

He absolutely loved it and he was also the best high five giver on the whole team.

Ba-Pop

Ba-Pop AKA Grandpa Snyder came to town!  We were lucky to have him for almost a week.  With in hours he became Julian's best friend.  Julian loved "Ba-Pop" so much that I could walk right past them sitting together on the couch and Julian wouldn't even flinch! Currently Julian is in this phase where if he even hears my voice in the other room he freaks out that I'm not holding him.  This friendship between the two of them meant a great mini-vacation for me as well.

Ashton of course loved all the extra attention that came a long with Grandpa being in town as well.  The boys wrestled, they played games, they snuggled, they both loved all the great one on one time they received from Grandpa.  

(One of my all time favorite pics! You can just feel the JOY on these boys faces.)

He took us all out to Chick-fil-a, we had the missionaries over for dinner, we went to The BRIT, Grandpa helped out our crazy, somewhat dysfunctional, primary at church, and did I mention they wrestled?  One of the highlights was our BYU party.  It was the first game of the season so we got out all of our recently acquired BYU swag and had tons of treats and snacks to go a long with it.  BYU won so that made for a great ending to our little party.  

After the game, my dad graciously took the boys the rest of the night so Jason and I could take some time alone.  We walked around Sundance Square downtown and enjoyed some Jamba Juice,  which was one of our go-to places while we were dating.  It was so nice to walk around and enjoy the night just the two of us.  

My Dad was here for a business trip in Houston, so Monday the boys and I headed down to Houston to tag-along with him.  We spent Monday night visiting with my Dad's old mission companion.  The boys loved it because they had tons and tons of toys and lots of food.  The boys also love hotels, and so do I really, we could probably never leave the hotel and still have a successful vacation.  Especially when they have a good swimming pool and free breakfast.  The boys and I went swimming in the morning while Ba-Pop was at his meetings and then we all headed out to the Houston Children's Museum.  The Museum was incredible!  It is safe to say that we all loved it.  

(I just love this little artist.)

The best friend relationship between Ba-Pop and Julian was nice, because I also got to spend some good time playing with just Ashton.  He never held still long enough to get any good pictures, too much to see and do.  He absolutely loves exploring and figuring out how things work.  I love watching his little mind put things together and seeing the excitement that comes a long with that. 

We finished the trip off with Ba-Pop spoiling the boys with Happy Meals on the drive back home.

We were so sad to say goodbye to him the next day.  

Julian walked around the house looking for him the rest of the week.  We sure are lucky to have such a great Grandpa that has to take business trips to Texas! 

Birthday Trip For Me

My Dad had a business trip planned for Texas before we even moved down here.  So I had been looking forward to figuring out a way to see him while he was in the same state as me.  Then for my birthday my Dad flew my Mom out so she could drive with me and we could all spend a few days together.  I had been looking forward to this trip, and was so excited for my boys to get to see their grandparents again.  Ashton was off the wall excited. 

I picked my mom up late Saturday night.  Sunday morning we had peach cobbler and blew out candles to celebrate both my moms birthday and mine.  Ash made Grandma play cars all morning with him.  After sacrament meeting we said goodbye to Jason and took off on our adventure. 

We met up with my Dad by Austin at his cousins house.  We took Ashton to the park so he could get some energy out and then had dinner at The Cotton Patch.  We got to the hotel in San Antonio late that night.  This was Ashtons second time at a hotel but he was so excited and thought it was awesome having a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Monday we checked out downtown San Antonio and took the boys to the childrens museum.  Even I was super entertained there.  Ash has grown up so much in the way he plays and interacts with things.  I love watching his mind figure things out and discover new things. 

After Grandpa got done working we went swimming at the hotel.  The pool was freezing, but Ashton never wanted to get out.  He loved playing with Grandpa. That night we went and walked around the Alamo and the River Walk.

The next day we took Ashton on a miniature train ride, that had a tunnel and everything, then we drove to Austin which was where my dad was working that day.  We went to an outdoor mall for some window shopping and lunch and then played in the outdoor fountains.  We had to stop in Barnes and Noble so Ashton could play with more trains too (the boy really likes trains).  That night we went downtown to the Congress Avenue Bridge.  Underneath the bridge live over a million bats and at dusk they all fly out to go eat.  Its the thing to do in Austin apparently, there were tons of people everywhere all waiting for the bats to come out.  It was pretty crazy watching all of the bats flying all over the place.  We watched for about a half hour before packing up and they were still coming out when we left.  I will say though, there are hardly any bugs in Austin.

We drove back home Tuesday night, the trip went by far too quickly.  We had to take my mom back to the airport Wednesday morning.  We were all sad.  Julian and Ashton both loved all the time and attention they got from Grandma and Grandpa.  I love watching them love my boys.  While we were away I kept forgetting that I didn't still live in Utah, and that I wasn't just on a vacation with my parents.  It was so sad to remember that all this having fun and happiness with them wasn't going to last past a few days.  It's hard to explain, but it just felt good to have them around again.  Getting a nap and being able to sleep in while my mom had the boys sure helped with those good feelings too!

Grandma and Grandpa Beckstrand come to Texas

We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Beckstrand come out for Jason's White Coat Ceremony.  It was so nice to have them here with us in Texas and make things feel a little more like home.  It was a quick trip but we had so much fun with them.  

Friday after Jason picked them up from the airport with a very excited Ashton we got to go to a BBQ that the school was putting on for all of the first years and their families.  It was so much fun and just what I needed.  They had an amazing balloon artist and other fun games and activities set up outside and yummy food.  

Yes, that is most definitely an octopus backpack.

We also got to see where Jason will be spending most of his time for the next two years.  The lecture hall was really impressive, everything is very hi-tech and new.  We also got to see the rest of the building where they get to practice being doctors.  You really feel like you are in a hospital, it is all set up just like it would be with a bunch of exam rooms that they will get to practice in.  I was really impressed and it was really good for me to see and understand a little bit more what Jason is going to be doing.  It also felt good and a little bit more normal to be all together having fun as a family.

Saturday was the big day, the White Coat Ceremony, but I will save that for another post, because it really was that cool and special.  After the ceremony at the school Grandma and Grandpa took us out for lunch, then we came home and all relaxed together, Grandpa Beckstrand loaded us up with all of our favorite treats and we rented a movie and just enjoyed being together.

 Sunday was church, then naps, then we went downtown and explored the Water Gardens in Fort Worth.  I'm sure we will be back, it was a really beautiful area and the different fountains are pretty incredible.  Ashton especially loved running around and exploring with his Dad.  He has really missed not having him around as much.  

Sadly we had to say goodbye Sunday night, as they left really early Monday morning.  It was another really hard goodbye.  This was the end of our visitors, we are on our own now.  It made things feel like more of a reality and that just made it too hard to say goodbye.  It especially breaks my heart that Ashton and Julian are going to miss out on such amazing grandparents.  I know we will still see them, but I'm just not sure when, and that's a hard thought.  I am so grateful they got to come out though.  I know it meant a lot to Jason to have them here as well.  It was also a huge help to me to have them at the White Coat Ceremony,  I was actually able to enjoy it and pay attention to things more than I think I would have if I had the two boys by myself.  I feel so blessed to have such amazing parents and in-laws, and I feel extra blessed that my boys get to have so many amazing Grandparents in their lives as well. 

Now that you're in the world

I never really mind being at the hospital, I had a view of the temple from my room, tons of treats, and I had visitors non-stop the first few days.  I was so thrilled that they were able to see and hold my baby this time.

Grandma and Grandpa Beckstrand were there first thing Tuesday morning.  My mom brought Ashton over early too.  I had been so excited for Ashton to come.  I was so excited for him to meet his new brother.  We had been preparing him for this for months.  I was sad that he wouldn't get to see him in person since he was in the NICU though.  When my mom first brought him to the hospital he was super happy.  My mom said they had been having a great morning together.  I was so concerned how he would react to waking up and not having us there.  But he had his Grandma and didn't really seem to mind.  In fact he completely ignored me when he got to the hospital, wouldn't even acknowledge me.  We took him down to the NICU where he could look in a window and see his new baby brother.  

He stood on the foot rests of my wheelchair and just watched. 

 I have no idea what was going on in his little head but he seemed to be excited.

Ashton warmed back up to me eventually and held my hand and laid with me in my bed.

That afternoon my Dad stopped by with my Grandma Liedtke and they got to look through the window too. Annalise, Alex, and Toni also came.  They captured some of the best moments with me as I was freshly dosed up on drugs.  I'm hoping the pictures they took never resurface...  I started having a reaction to the magnesium and my face felt as if I had the worst sunburn.  It was turning redish-purplish too.  The nurses said they had never seen it happen but that it can be a side effect, so much fun.  That combined with the crazy swelling I had I was looking like a whole different person.  They all got to be there when they brought our little baby (we still didn't have a name for him at this point) back into the room.  I was so out of it that I didn't trust myself holding him at all.  So they all got to snuggle him for me and Alex helped Jason syringe feed him.   Jason stayed with me that night and my Mom stayed with Ashton again.

Ashton was having a blast with all the excitement and attention he was getting.  Almost everyone who brought presents for the new baby also brought presents for him.  He looked so big to me, like he had grown up overnight.  My mom brought him back on Wednesday, this was the first time he got to meet his new baby brother face to face.  He wasn't too sure about him at first, but by the end he was very interested in every noise and movement he made, but he wasn't so sure about touching or holding him.

My mom went back home Wednesday night and Jason stayed with Ashton at home the rest of the nights I was in the hospital, but they came to visit lots.  Jason and him made quite the handsome pair.

Annalise, Alex and her husband Travis and Toni came back, as well as Aislinn and my good friend Stephanie Reynolds.  

My Dad also came back for a visit and Kayli came up and helped take some sweet pictures for me.

My last day in the hospital was Friday, they let me check out a night early.  Jason took Ashton for a father-sons day, while I got to fully relax at the hospital.  I had no visitors that day, just me and my babe.  We did skin to skin for hours.  Just snuggled together, something truly incredible.  While I learned a lot of strength from my experience with Ashton and even though my second birth wasn't perfect, I can understand now why women want to do it again.  

Those precious moment with brand new life is something amazing, something I can't describe.  

If only I could freeze time.  

Outings and Adventures

A goal we set for this year was one "big" family outing every month.  Our big outing mixed in with all the other outings I can find for us has led to a very fun and exciting year for Ashton and I so far.

  January, Jason treated us to a motorcycle/ATV ice race at the Maverick Center.  Ashton was nervous from the noise at first but thanks to his trusty snow hat that covers his ears he ended up loving it and still talking about it to this day.  

Ashton and Mom also had our own night out at the Fire and Ice Festival at the Riverwoods.

 February was full of love and adventures at the Ice Castles.  We also met up with friends down town and played at City Creek.

Ash loves being the only boy (not really, but it happens sometimes).

I've been trying to squeeze in as many outings and play dates as possible this month with Ashton. We are loving this warm weather and time is running short that it is just going to be me and him. 

We took advantage of Dad's days off and went to the Hill Aerospace Museum followed by Grandma's house one week.  Ash loved looking at all of the planes and helicopters.  

Like father like son. 

We also went to Tracy Aviary, and then played at Liberty Park.  

Working on our flamingo pose.

This last week, after Jason got home from work we headed out to the store at 8:30pm too pick out two kinds of ice cream and two kinds of easter candy to share.  (No this was not the first time this type of sugar run has happened this pregnancy).  As I looked at him sitting on the couch with his little legs up and a bowl of candy in front of him as content as could be at 10:00pm on a Tuesday night. I thought to myself that he just has no idea how good he's got it.  

Heading out for the days adventures... He likes to pick out his own accessories if you can't tell.

Thursday we met up with a friend and went to the new aquarium.  He loved the otters, and the leftover candy that I brought as snacks because that was all we had.  After the aquarium we went and visited Dad at work.  Jase is currently at the Spring store in the South Towne Mall, Ashton loves visiting Dad because he likes to watch the train that drives around the mall, ride the escalators, and play on the indoor playground.  So we rode the escalators, played on the toys, hung out with Dad who got us candy from his stash at work and a balloon.  On the way back to the car someone gave Ashton an extra token they had for the merry go round.  The kid was in heaven.  You would have thought we were at a carnival, candy in one hand, balloon in the other, riding a cat (of course he would find the one cat on the entire ride).  I put him in his car seat and thought once again, "you have no idea how good you've go it right now".  All these activities and treats and it wasn't even 2:30pm yet.  

I wish he could have memories of these activities when he is an angry teenager suffering with the poor oldest child that never gets to do anything attitude (I can say that because I'm an oldest child and still have that attitude).  :) I hope somehow he will know that I am obsessed with him and love him so much and even though his world is about to be flipped upside down it will all work out and be even better in the long run.  

He truly is my best friend and little buddy.  We are kinda joined at the hip, not always by choice mind you, but where I go he is always right behind me.  Even if I'm cleaning the bathroom or doing laundry he is right there helping me.  Getting ready in the morning he loves sitting on the sink "helping me" or playing with his cars down by my feet.  We snuggle lots lately, more than Jason would think is healthy.  I haven't been allowed to pick him up for a couple months now (doctor's orders) instead we hold hands.    I can't tell you how many times I hear the words "mamma, hand" all day long and how much I love it. 

Sunny Snow

My parents have started a new tradition of third sunday night dinners.  We've only done it a few times so far but it is a nice way to make sure we are able to see one another at least once a month.  Jason was out with the flu this month so Ashton and I decided to make an over nighter of it.  Which felt like a mini vacation to me.  It was so nice having so many people around to entertain and play with him, and there is always such yummy food and treats at my parents lately.  

My Dad had Monday off for MLK so he took Ashton and I up to Snowbasin to watch the snowboarders and play in the snow.  It was so much fun and so beautiful.  We rode the gondola up to the top and walked around and then rode the gondola up and down a few more times.  Ash thought it was awesome.  I thought it was incredibly relaxing.  Snowboarding did look really fun and I did get a little jealous of the non-pregnant people getting to do all the fun stuff.  Being with just my Dad and Ashton though was the best part of the day.  I just love watching Ashton's face light up over things.  I especially loved seeing him love on his Grandpa and getting to spend some quality one on one time with him.  

The incredible beauty of Utah mountains is something I am definitely going to miss these next few years. 

Ashton's Christmas

I say Ashton's Christmas, because this year was ALL about Ashton.  I thought I'd feel bad for him having a birthday so close to Christmas and that he would get looked over.  Boy was I wrong (at least for now) his birthday and Christmas all just sort of blended together this year.  He kept getting more and more presents leading up to Christmas day, which came with even more presents.  He sure is a spoiled and loved little boy.  

Our trip to Florida was supposed to be part of our family Christmas present so we tried to keep things more simple.  I decided to do a count down to Christmas, everyday Ashton and Jason had to find a piece to the paper chain which either told us what activity we were doing or had a treat attached to it.  We were able to do so many fun things: Festival of Trees, decorate cookies, setting up our Christmas tree, visiting santa from a far away safe distance, Dickens Christmas Festival, arts and crafts,  Christmas lights, watch Christmas movies, read books, drink hot chocolate, donate presents, date night for Mom and Dad, etc.  Ashton got his own nativity set to play with on one of the days, I loved his version of how it all happened.  Wiseman in palm trees and donkeys on roofs.  

The Millward Christmas party was also one of our activities.  Ashton won a goldfish at the White Elephant, and by won I mean he cried until he got it.  He has since named it (tongue click) ya know like the sound your tongue makes when you click it against the roof of your mouth... no idea where he came up with that.

But he really loves his little fish.  

Santa also joined the party.

Unfortunately Jason had to work lots of nights and weekends, we have kind of switched places in that aspect.  Jason had to work on Christmas so Christmas Eve we headed to the Beckstrand's to drop off presents since we wouldn't be there for the gift exchange the next day.  Ashton got to open his presents early while we were there, which led to all of us opening our presents, and then when we got home we ended up opening all of our presents there as well.  Jason spoiled me and I really got every single thing I had hinted/asked for. 

Originally I was pretty sad that Jason had to work Christmas, however, Christmas turned out beyond perfect.  We got to spend some one on one time with the Beckstrands the night before and then Christmas morning Ashton excitedly woke up to see what Santa had brought him.  He had asked for trains or "hoo-hoooos" as he calls them.  He knew Santa would bring them and was beyond excited for this.  

Instead of needing to rush off to families houses we just enjoyed the time and played while Jason went to work.  That afternoon we headed up to Morgan to spend the rest of the day with the Snyders.  We got to Skype with Stephanie, eat yummy food and Ashton got all the attention being the only grandchild.   Grandma's house has a great marble set that he loves to play with, since we will be moving Grandma got him one of his very own.  He was super excited over all of the candy that came in the stockings too.  

I never got my "formal" Christmas picture with us all dressed up. But we did get our usual Christmas jammies shot. :)

The Big TWO

Birthday time again.  I can't believe another year has flown by.  I'm so proud of all of your achievements this past year buddy! From walking, to jumping on the trampoline, to flying down the street on your bike.  You've got an amazingly good arm and love anything to do with balls, cars, trains, airplanes, trucks, helicopters, motorcycles, firetrucks, and you are an avid stuffed animal lover.  You take such great care of all of your stuffed animals and love every single one of them and like to make sure that we love them all too.  You are getting more and more words by the day and I know you are working hard on this whole talking thing.  You are so much fun to be around and I feel so blessed and lucky to be your Mom.

This is right after your two year check up, buying some party supplies.  Sucker in one hand and a cookie in the other

I didn't have the ambition/energy to do a real party for you this year (sorry dude, but lets be honest you won't remember it anyways).  You still had quite the good birthday though I think.  

The day before your birthday your Grandma and Grandpa Snyder drove up and brought you a new big boy bed! Twin size!  Grandma took you to the store and let you pick out any toy you wanted, you found an awesome motorcycle that you love. We also celebrated with Panda Express and Root Beer Floats at our house. 

On the 27th Dad had to work so it was just the two of us.  We met up with your buddies Kayson and Landon Reynolds and had lunch at McDonalds and played at the play place.  Then we went home and watched Planes together like three times.  

The next day, Thanksgiving, was your day! We took down your crib, said goodbye to your binky and got your new room all set up! Grandma Beckstrand wanted to do a little birthday for you while we were there for Thanksgiving Dinner.  I should have known a "little birthday" = a BIG Ashton celebration when it comes to Beckstrand parties.  There were balloons and decorations and tractors and special Ashton things everywhere!  You got spoiled with so many presents and there was even a pinata in the shape of a space shuttle, which you thought was absolutely awesome until everyone started hitting it.  You took a few good swings at it but got pretty emotional when the bigger kids started breaking it.  Sorry bud, you will soon learn that pinata's are awesome and they are even more awesome when they get broken!

I made pumpkin dessert for your birthday cake (it was Thanksgiving after all) and you did a stellar job at blowing out the candles.  

We practiced a lot.  I'm not sure you fully understood what all this meant but you knew you would be 2 once you blew those candles out.  I was very proud of you for being so brave and doing it all by your self.

Mom and Dad love you so much Ashton.  Two years has gone by so quickly.  Wish I could slow it down while you still love to snuggle with me and need me to kiss any owie you might receive and hold your ears when things are to loud and you're scared.  Everything about you is everything I've ever wanted.