Sia-nara tootie!

This first picture is to illustrate the mutilation of the tootie (if you can see it). Karly had bit some slits into her tootie, but they didn't seem to bother her. But, my sister and friend, Nina, both told me about the cutting technique...where you cut a slit and gradually make it bigger. This makes it lose it's great "suck" value and the kid loses interest....supposedly. So I made some slits--and then made them bigger, but quickly became frustrated because this didn't seem to discourage our Karly Bug at all. Then one night I took the scissors to it in an especially vicious way, and almost cut the whole bulb off. However, Kelly pointed out how horrible it would be if it were to detach completely and choke her during the night. So then, freaking out at my stupidity, we laid on the "big girls don't need tooties, tootie is sad and hurt and needs to go in the garbage...that would make it happy" speech extra thick. Karly's answer to all this was "I'll do it tomorrow." Which, if you know Karly, actually means "I'm going to say I'll do it at a later time in order to get you people off my back."

So, I was more than a little amazed the next morning when Karly got down from the table at breakfast and said, "Mom, I want to throw my tootie in the garbage." I then decided to make a very big deal of it and pulled out the camera to document the occasion. Karly obviously enjoyed the spectacle and began to put on a show for the camera...which required no coaching. :)

Going....

....going....

...gone!!

We are so proud of you, Karly! (It's about time!)

Hee-Haws...

...or Yee-Haws as Karly calls it! Saturday was such a pretty day, we decided to have a special Karly day at Hee-Haws. Sissy and Alex took the boys for us so we could have some quality Dad, Mom, Karly time. We had a great day! They have an animal train ride, a 30 foot hay slide, a petting zoo, and hayrides that take you out to a pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkin. Karly's favorite was the animal train ride through the corn. She also thought it was cool to pick and carry her own little pumpkin.

Thanks again to Sis and Al for taking the boys and giving us such a fun day!

Karly Jo!

I thought I should do a post or two about Karly Jo. She is being such a trooper through such a big adjustment. We are ALL getting a lot less sleep and are therefore, ALL a little crabby...but Karly still brings so much joy and laughter into our home! I can't imagine life without her!

Some of our favorite recent Karly-isms:

"Are you kidding me?"

"I need ya, Boo"

"What's the big dea?"--it works for 'what's the big deal' and also 'what's the big idea'

"Hi handsome boys!"

"Mom! I need a new bum-ache!" (band-aid)

"Want to come in my kitchen?"

While riding in the car,

Karly: Mom, I got boogies!

Mom: uh-oh!

Karly: Mom, you need to pick 'em.

After it snowed last Sunday: Mom! Snow! Snow, Mommy! It's so cute! Our backyard is so cute! Ho-ho's coming?!? (meaning Santa)

Karly in her new "big girl" bed!

Karly is such a great big sister. She never tires of her brothers and is so patient in waiting for mom and dad's attention. She spends her days copying everything I do with her own babies--she is a cute, little mother.

We love you Karly Bug!

Blessing Day

October 12, 2008

Brody (left) and Deegan (right)...for those that can't tell yet. :)

Deegan

Brody

Kelly blessed our boys last week--it was such an awesome day! We are so lucky to have three such cute kids, and I'm so grateful to have an amazing husband that is able to bless our family with the Priesthood. Thank you to all our family that came and we missed you Darin and Shelly, Russ and Maria, and Brian!

2 months!

I have such sweet boys! I can't believe they are already 2 months old--time is flying by!

Deegan

weight: 11 lbs. 4 oz.

length: 22 in.

Deegan is my mover and shaker. He was the busy one in my belly and is still a little more "high strung" than Brody. He gives the best, big smiles and has big, bright eyes that are always looking around, taking in the world. I like to call him my piglet because he squeals when he cries.

Brody

weight: 13 lbs. 1 oz.

length: 23 1/2 in.

Brody is my "somewhat" mellow baby. He has the most expressive eyes--he's a little harder to get a smile out of, but his eyes light up and do a lot of the smiling for him. He has a distinctive cry that is preceeded with the biggest lip pout ever...sometimes I'm mean and will let him cry a second longer than necessary just to see the cute face he makes. :)

We love our boys!

More pictures of the boys

Brody and Deegan (in mom's favorite nighties)

The whole gang!

Cute piggies

Still such a ham

Brody at 4 weeks

Deegan at 4 weeks

"You, you're brothers...do you share everything?"--The Parent Trap

Tubby time...this picture shows off the "bishop hair-do" quite nicely (see below).

Announcing...

The boys are here!! Our sweet boys arrived bright and early on Tuesday, August 12th. I woke up about 4:30 am with some good contractions so I woke up Kelly. We called my sister to come be with Karly and left for the hospital at about 6:00 am, and the boys arrived a short hour and a half later!

Broden Grant Ash ("Brody")

time: 7:39 am

weight: 7.2 lbs

length: 18 in

Deegan Delbert Ash

time: 7:43 am

weight: 6.2 lbs

length: 17 1/2 in

If you can't tell from the pictures, Brody has quite a bit of dark hair and a rounder face. He looks just like Karly did when she was born. Deegan has a skinnier face and lighter hair like me. For some reason, both boys were born with what my sister, Erika, refers to as the bishop hair-do. They have a lot of hair on the sides and are bald on top. Their hair is coming in nicely now, however. :)

Below is a lovely picture of me in all my glory, right before we left for the hospital. (Yes, I'm wearing one of Kelly's fishing t-shirts.)

35 weeks, 6 days

They spent exactly two weeks in the NICU because, while they were a good weight, they both still acted like preemies as far as eating goes. They were very sleepy and had to be fed through tubes in their nose. We had to slowly work them up to taking all their feedings by bottle. It seemed like a slow and painful process at the time, but we're grateful it was only two weeks. We are so lucky they are both so healthy and happy!

This is them snuggled up together in their NICU bed.

(Brody on the left, Deegan on the right)

They came home on August 26th to a very excited big sister!

Deegan, Karly, Brody

Life has been a blur ever since!

About a boy...

Two boys!! That's right...Friday night we went back to the hospital for another ultrasound with Crissy, and Baby B was much more cooperative! Two boys! I'm a little shocked, Kelly is quite proud, and poor Karly has no idea what's coming. We decided she will be the diva-like ring leader and probably put the boys to work for her, so she'll be okay. Oh, and for those wondering that I haven't responded to (sorry), there is a seperation between the babies--they are in seperate sacks, so they are NOT identical. Two boys...I have to keep telling myself. And what will we name them?! We are too good at vetoing each others ideas, so any of your ideas are welcome if you won't get offended if we don't use them. :)

We're spoiled...

We are so spoiled! Having a sister that works in ultrasound sure is an amazing luxury when you are pregnant. I think I've already had four! So, as soon as we thought you'd be able to see the sex of the babies, we went in for another. Well, one of the babies was very stretched out, totally relaxing...and well, see if you can guess what it is:

Yep! That's a Mr. Peepers...it's a boy!!

Profile of sweet Baby A--boy

The other baby, well not so cooperative. It liked the more scrunched position and was not quite ready to reveal its gender. We will for sure be trying again though! It did, however, give us the sweetest yawn ever! I love seeing my babies! Thanks Sissy!

Profile of sweet Baby B