4th of July

I am so behind on my blog and honestly want to just forget about posting and writing about things that have already happened, but I will want these pictures when I print my blog...so time to suck it up.
Wow, July was CRAZY! I am no longer preggers and we have the most beautiful baby ever...(I will write more about him in my next post...this post is not about him.)
My Mom came into town again to help me and to be here for the birth. I don't know how people function without their moms around after having a baby.
Kai and Cic have truly figured out who their grandma is and LOVE her. It makes me sad when they are shy around my parents and have no clue who they are. We only see my folks once or twice a year so the kids aren't too familiar/comfortable with them. Luckily my Mom has been around enough this summer that it finally clicked.
I love this picture. Everyone is so happy. Grandma truly has a way with Kai and Cic.

July 3rd we put the kiddos to bed an then after it got dark we decided to set off fireworks...so we woke them up and brought them outside in their jammies to watch Ben light some fireworks in front of the house. They were a bit confused at first but quickly snapped to and enjoyed the night. My Mom bought the coolest fireworks ever and we all enjoyed the evening.
Thanks Mom!






July 4th. HOT DAY!
We woke up and went to the Highlands Ranch parade. Let me just say that even though the kids had a great time this will probably be the last time we attend this parade...it was LAME. Such a disappointment. Next year will find a better one to attend.



After the parade we went to a local carnival"ish" thing and it was terrible. I mean TERRIBLE. Next year will be different...we will find a better activity to do.
On our way back to the car we walked through civic green park and enjoyed the water.
This is the last family picture we have as a family of four.

I packed swimsuits and towels in the car, but it was TOO hot to walk and grab them so we just let the kids play in their clothes. They had a blast!
Ben was such a trooper and ran through the fountains with Kai and Cic. It was fun to watch him lead the kids face first into the water.


It wasn't long before Cic took her pants off...I have the hardest time keeping clothes on this girl.


We drove to Castle Rock for the Douglas County Firework Show.


Love these shots of the kids with my Mom.

It was an awesome show...The only hiccup we had was when we were all camped out in our lawn chairs waiting for the show to start and the sprinklers came on. It was absolutely hilarious. I am such a ditz.
I sat there and thought, "Oh no, it's starting to rain." (As I sat there looking up at the sky wondering where the rainclouds were.)
Then people started screaming and scrambling. (I still sat there looking for rainclouds.) It wasn't until I was shot in the face with a sprinkler that I realized it wasn't rain. ...and that realization ONLY came when the "rain" shot me in the face like a fire hose from the ground instead of falling from the sky.
I slowly picked up my 9 month pregnant body and looked around. I was the ONLY person still in the field. Everyone else was standing on the sidewalk (away from the sprinklers) watching me. I didn't even try to move quickly...I was soaked and attempting use my camping chair as a shield from the sprinkler that was aimed right at me. Then instead of "making a run for it" I stood there with my "shield," debating the driest route to safety. Ben was yelling at me, asking what I was doing but I was in deep thought mapping my out route and would not be rushed.
By the time I made it to "dry land", I was soaked and we were all laughing hysterically. I thought for sure that laughing that hard would put me into labor...my doctor told me that fireworks can sometimes help women go into labor...none of these things worked though. I was still pregnant at the end of the night. But...it was an AWESOME night. We had a blast.

JuNe WRaP-uP

Whoa! The last couple of weeks have been CRAZY! Time is absolutely flying by and life is getting busier and busier.
I had a few friends that insisted on throwing me a baby shower. I tried to bow out of it because I thought that I didn't need anything since this will be our second boy. I have some pretty persistent friends though and I caved. I AM SO GLAD THAT I DID TOO! I went through all of Kai's old totes full of clothes and washed them for this new baby and was devastated that they were almost ALL stained. I was so shocked (and pretty emotional). Kai was a total spit up baby (for the entire first year of his life) and though I was able to get all the (visible) stains out BEFORE I packed the clothes away, the stains somehow set in over time and now would NOT come out. I donated most of Kai's old baby clothes and was not left with much.
The shower was so perfect. We had such YUMMY food and it was so great to get together with the girls and just be girls! I left the shower, feeling totally refreshed and had some new baby gear and clothes WITHOUT spit-up stains. YAY!
Thanks for such a fun night everyone!
Margot was one of the "ring leaders" for the shower and always makes such delicious things to eat! Thanks for hosting the shower, Margot!
The best part of the shower was how many people showed up to celebrate this little man. I felt so loved, it was quite humbling.


Can't believe this little man will be wearing these clothes soon!


Thanks everyone. LOVE YOU!!!

I have had to swallow my pride lately because the kids have been BEGGING me to go to the pool. Squeezing into a swimsuit at 9 months pregnant is not my idea of fun, but the kids are in HEAVEN at the pool so I have been doing it. Maybe I avoid making eye contact with any of the lifeguards or other parents, but I am there and we have a good time.
Every time we go, I leave happy that we spent that time together. The kids aren't going to remember how big I looked in a swimsuit, hopefully they will remember the fun summer we had at the pool.
Ben used a half day at work recently and took us all to the pool. It was great! The kids loved having him there and I loved having help around.
We went to the dollar store earlier that day and the kids both picked out some goggles to wear.
This picture of Cicilee is probably one of my favorites of all time.

Kai thought they were the coolest thing ever and wouldn't take them off even when they were so foggy that he couldn't see out of them.


It has been so fascinating to watch the dynamic change between Kai and Cic lately. Cic worships Kai. He is her best friend and she wants to do WHATEVER he is doing and be with him NONSTOP. She has turned into his shadow and they are so cute together. I used to worry that they would never be friends but now they are best friends...best friends who fight from time to time, but best friends nonetheless.

Every time I'm pregnant I compare myself to other pregnant women. Whenever we are out, I find myself asking Ben questions like, "Whoa! Do I waddle like that pregnant woman over there?" or, "Am I as big as her?"

I know that sounds bad, but it's true.

Ben usually replies with something non comforting like, "Ash, you're pregnant." or "You're pregnant."

...As if that answers my question. All I want him to say is, "No, you look great." Leave it to a man though...

We took the picture below yesterday (Sunday) at 38 weeks. I know that I am pregnant and I'm close to the end, but seeing a picture of myself really puts it into perspective. This is me at 38 weeks. This will be the last picture I post though... I am done seeing my growth. DONE.

As far as everything else goes...I am doing great! The baby is head down now and hopefully everything goes smooth. At my last appointment the nurse measured me and then told me she didn't think I had much room left in there. Truth is I don't. This little guy is totally up in my ribs all the time. I think my body has reached its limit. They are thinking about inducing me on the 6th. HOLY COW that's so soon! It's crazy to think that I might be holding this little man in my arms next week. Even crazier to think that Ben will have to say yes to a name soon.

Cicilee Jane

I can't believe our baby girl is now TWO.
These last two years have flown by with her. She has added so much life and happiness to our family. She has so much personality and is so fun to be around.
Kai is her best friend and they get along (for the most part) great. Cic and Kai now share a room (I will post pictures soon.) They love sleeping in the same room and waking up together. It is a constant party when you get to be with your best friend 24/7. They make quite the pair/team. I am lucky to have them both. Kai is lucky to have such a good friend in Cic. She is nurturing with him and always so concerned if he gets hurt. I must say though...she is tougher than Kai.
One thing is for sure...she LOVES being the baby. (Kinda makes me nervous for when she is no longer our "baby" of the family. She loves/DEMANDS attention. She knows just how to get it and how long she has to whine for before I will give in. She loves to cuddle. Loves to be held.
Cic is the eater of our family. She will eat just about anything and everything...at ALL times. We seriously finish breakfast and 15 minutes later she is asking for more food. She likes to snack all day long (like I do.) Monkey see, monkey do.
Her favorite foods are cheese, anything snack foods, and all things candy.
Cic has recently become obsessed with the color pink. She only wants to wear pink, wants her food to be pink and only wants to color with pink. Not sure where this came from b/c I am not much of a pink person myself...maybe it's because we don't have a lot of pink around the house. The only pink things we do have are hers.
Cic is still a hard core thumb sucker. I have tried everything I can think of to break this habit and NOTHING works with her. She is stubborn and won't give it up.
Cic loves to play outside. LOVES to go to the playground. She is a runner...running everywhere she goes. She thinks she is faster than me and is always running away when it's time to get in the car. She is our daredevil. Kai has always been more conservative but Cic just jumps right in allowing Kai to follow her lead.

Here are her stats for her two year checkup~
Height~35 inches (80%)
Weight~25 lbs 14.5 oz (40%)
Looks like we might have a little post player on our hands. Ha. Not sure I would know what to do with a post player.

We took Cic out recently to get some shots of our big two year old. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted the pictures to look like. Ben was in no mood to drive around and look for a location though, so this is what we got. It was not what I had in mind...AT ALL. Kinda disappointed actually, but it is what it is. Best I could do considering the situation.



Love this one.





I have so many pictures of Kai and Cic together that day. When I first went through the pictures, I was frustrated because I wanted JUST Cicilee. However, they are best friends and practically connected at the hip so it makes perfect sense. The pictures of them together perfectly illustrate Cicilee at age two.
Love.

With not a lot of luck at Ben's location, we then drove home. I was a bit deflated. Luckily the lighting was AMAZING in our backyard and I snapped some shots of the kids playing around.
One of my favs.
My little stud.

I can't even describe how much I love these pictures below.