Our life NOW

Look who's back from her blogging hiatus. Hopefully I'll stick around for awhile! So, what is new for the Ashment's? Last I left you we hadn't quite moved into our new home. Ha, ha, as you can tell from the date (just scroll down a couple of posts), we've been living here for over two years now. And the best part is. . . we're still here!! It's SO nice to have a place to call home and not have to pick up every year or two and move to a new place. Homeownership is bliss! Not that it doesn't have its challenges as well. I still have MANY things to do to make this place my own, BUT since we're not going anywhere anytime soon, I figure I still have time.

(Since no blog post is complete without some pictures, indulge me as I share some recent pictures of us from our recent trip to the beach.)

In other news...Owen is no longer a baby. Boo! It seriously breaks my heart. My little man just turned 3 on Saturday. We had a blast celebrating with him. I fixed him his favorite, "Cancakes", or in this case waffles. Then we went to our local zoo. There we got to see the many animals and we all rode on the carousel and the train ride. All of that animal watching got us hungry for some nice birthday lunch/dinner. What better place to satisfy hunger than The Cheesecake Factory. Mmmm!! I loved that it saved my the hassle of trying to whip up something special and allowed me to spend more of my time celebrating with my little man. When we got home he opened his presents and was super happy with his selection of superheroes that he received from us. We finished the night with cake and ice cream and watched old episodes of Spiderman on Youtube. It was a great day, and I enjoyed spending it with my favorite people.

 






 









 





Dylan is no longer an adorable curly haired toddler, he is now an adorable kindergartener. It still blows me away that he is in school. This is the beginning of the end. . ha, ha! I can't believe that for the next 15 years at least I will have my children in school. Then there will be church missions, and college after that. I seriously better not blink these boys are growing up SO fast! Anyhow, from what I can tell, Dylan is really enjoying school so far. For the next couple of weeks they will be doing a color unit from Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? For each day they will talk about a different color and will dress to school and have a snack in that color. Sounds like fun!













 



As for me and Isaac, not too much has changed. Still so in love! I'm so glad that I have him to grow old with!

 

Anyhow, that's all for now. Stay tuned for more of our adventures...

The big chicken

On Friday I was in Marietta shopping around for appliances and also stopped by A Classy Flea (which I highly recommend if you are in the area), and we drove past the Big Chicken, which is actually a landmark here in Georgia. (Excuse my run on sentence :)) If you have followed my blog, you will remember that Dylan is afraid of chickens thanks to my sister, Kara's rubber chicken photography prop. To my surprise Dylan seemed like he thought that the Big Chicken was pretty cool. So I promised him that if he was a good boy while we ran our errands, I would take him to go eat there. He wasn't entirely good while I was shopping (he spilled a sippy cup full of water down his shirt), but I guess I have no backbone because we went anyways.

When I took Dylan out of the car and he saw the Big Chicken out of the safety of our vehicle with the chicken's beak going up and down, and its eyeball going around in circles, he decided that this huge chicken was bad news. He wouldn't let me put him down, and even threw in some, "Oh no! Chicken!" statements. When we made it inside, and we ordered our lunch I asked the lady if she knew of many kids that were scared of the chicken. She told me that she had never heard of any. So, I've decided that Dylan is a big chicken! How ironic!

Don't get me wrong, I adore Dylan more than anything. I just think it's funny how the littlest things can scare him.

Here are some pictures I took off my phone, so excuse the blurriness.

Once we were leaving, he didn't seem as afraid. But I think that's because the chicken was behind him!

Surprise, surprise

Wow! I am the worst blogger ever! So, it has been a long time since I last posted and things have been pretty busy. They are about to get even more busy because...

Hmmm... What could it be? Scroll down.

We are going to be moving! I am SO EXCITED! After living in apartments for the last 8 years since I graduated High School we are finally achieving the American dream. Look how cute it is!



It is even more beautiful inside. Plus the backyard is BIG and really nice too! I LOVE it!!!

At least someone thinks that I am funny!

Owen's first giggles on 11/10.

* I am finally caught up on my blog posts! Scroll down if interested! :)

Friends forever!

Dylan Update- 2 1/2 years old

It seemed like Dylan was just having his second birthday, and we're already half way to his next. Dylan remains a VERY active boy who loves his cars (especially his Cars movie cars). Dylan is very good at memorizing things and can recite many songs and books and parts of movies.

I have had some concerns for quite some time about some developmental issues and finally decided to have him evaluated. It was determined that he has some verbal communication and social skills issues. I in no means think that this makes him unintelligent, it just means that he has a difficult time understanding the method in which things are presented to him. I grew up with a learning disability that I feel is similar to what he may have, and somewhere down the road, something clicked and I had an easier time learning.

He has a huge vocabulary (and labels SO many things) but has a difficult time combining his words to be able to effectively communicate. He doesn't answer questions, and sometimes has a hard time asking for things that he wants. For example, he'll struggle to get out of his high chair and won't say, "get out".

Socially, he likes to do his own thing. I have noticed that he has gotten a little better in this area, but still keeps to himself a lot. He also doesn't listen to inhibitory commands like, "STOP!"

They told me that at his age, I should be able to ask him a question like, "Where did Daddy go?", and he should be able to tell me he went to work. I was working on this with him the other day, and asked, "Where did Daddy go? He went to...", and Dylan responded, "three". Isaac and I thought that was so cute!

So, now once a week, someone from a Georgia program called Babies Can't Wait comes to work with him. Our first time doing this was this past week. It went well and she gave me some things to work on with him until her next visit. I am so glad that they have early intervention programs out there to help correct these issues at such an early age.




The many faces of Dylan.


He still likes to play in the dryer, and most recently figured out how to shut the door with him inside.


The workings of Dylan. Lotion everywhere!!! Poor Owen! This is what happens when you turn your back on him for one minute.

Our Fall/ Halloween festivities

October seemed like it came and went so quickly! Last year I went to a popular pumpkin patch in North Georgia called Burt's Farm with my sis-in-law, Annie, and this year I was determined to find a time that Isaac could come up with me and the kids. The only day we could make it up there was the Saturday before Halloween and it was pretty cold and very busy! But they still had tons or pumpkins! Dylan was so excited and kept on saying, "pumpkin patch".





I insisted that we take the hay ride that they have there as well. It was fun minus our guy chewing tobacco and speeding through our ride.


That same day, we went right up the road and visited Amicolola Falls. The last time I was there, I was pregnant with Dylan, and hiked the first half up the falls. This time I hiked (or climbed stairs) from the top to the mid point. I was so excited to be able to say that I have done the whole thing now carrying a child each time. It was so beautiful to witness the changing of the seasons from up there in the mountains.






I was so nervous despite the fence about Dylan getting loose and falling down the waterfall that I didn't dare let him go!


The week of Halloween, Dylan, Owen, and I went to our ward's playgroup; which was so much fun despite Dylan's erratic behavior!


Here he is with his cupcake he decorated!

The night before Halloween was our ward's trunk-or-treat. It was so much fun especially because my sister, Kara, and neice, Madeleine, were there with us.



Here is the activity my Beehives were in charge of. The kids got to go fishing and attached to a candy corn looking fish was their prize, a bat ring.

The funniest part of the evening for me was when we had finished making our rounds trunk-or-treating, Dylan sat next to Isaac, who was busy still passing out candy, and would say, "trick-or-treat", then grab some candy from the bowl and put it in his pail.


Getting ready for bed that night, Owen wanted to wave hello.

Finally, Halloween rolled around. Kara and Madeleine spent the night, and the next morning we had YUMMY pumpkin pancakes. That night, we went to my in-laws house and went to Publix for their Halloween activities. Then, we hit up some houses for some trick-or-treating. Dylan's pail got so heavy he had a hard time carrying it! For the most part, I had him on my shoulders so that we could keep up with his cousins. It was such a fun day!


My cowboy and Indian. Thanks to Annie for helping me fill in a few pieces of Dylan's costume that I left at home that evening! By the way, I was so proud of their costumes! I made both of them this year without patterns.


My boys with their cousins.