Usborne Books and more!

Interesting sometimes how things fall into place.  Becoming an Usborne book consultant made complete sense to me right now.  I am so excited about!  Tyson loves these books and so do I!  These are high quality books with adorable stories and illustrations.  I love how it has books and learning kits for babies all the way to teens.  If you have haven’t heard of these books before that’s okay.  This company has been around since I was a kid but they are still relatively unknown. I totally had some Usborne books when I was a child.  :)  Did you? 

If you would like to set up a party and become a hostess let me know!  Because I just signed up I can offer some pretty awesome deals for free books!!!

If you live out of state and are interested we can set up an e-show for you! 

Or join me and become an Usborne consultant.  It is a super deal that I couldn’t say no to!

Pass the word around and here is my website!  www.readwithashley.com

Thanks guys!

     

Father’s Day weekend

We had a great Father’s day weekend (minus Sunday morning).   Friday night we drove up to Bountiful for my father’s cousin’s son’s wedding. ( So does that make us 2nd cousins???)  Regardless I refer to them him as my cousin.  It was such a lovely reception and I got to talk with some family members I hadn’t seen in quite some time.  Joyce, Ralph, Thelma, Leon, and the Ericksons.   Afterwards we went to my brother’s house to chat and hang out.  Mike and Emily are so fun and I’m so glad Mike is my brother and Emily is my sister in law. 

Saturday afternoon we had a little BBQ with our friends Joe and Heather.  We hadn’t seen them for a few months so it was fun as always to get together and chat.  We also went swimming and it was Andrew’s first time.  The weather turned chilly after about 10 minutes at the pool so I never even took Andrew out of his stroller.  So I guess technically it wasn’t his first time swimming.  It was more like his first time in a swim suit :) On Saturday night we went to the Strawberry Days carnival.  Brian and I always have a great time looking at all the people that come out to these things.  Anyone else notice those people?!  Anyway, we had some food, strawberries and cream and watched the rides.  That’s right, I said watched.  We’re a bit lame sometimes but those rides are so expensive.  A) We didn’t really want to spend the money and B) Tyson never asked!  We will take him on some rides when we go to Onion Days in Payson.  I swear we don’t always make our child miss out on things :) 

Then of course Sunday was Father’s Day.  I got Brian a PGA golf pass from Groupon.  He gets to go golfing at 5 various courses for free and then gets discounts at like 20 other courses.  He was pretty excited about that.  And I also blurted out the other day that I would get his window’s tinted on his car.  He has been asking for about 4 years to get that done and I finally decided it was okay :)  Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling all that great Sunday morning so I didn’t make him breakfast, I was a total brat and whined when I had to get up with the kids.  To be honest I totally forgot it was Father’s Day because the night before at midnight I realized we had gotten booked twice for our hotel reservation that is non-refundable and $410!  Needless to say I freaked out but my mom fixed everything for me.  I am a total wimp when it comes to those kinds of issues.  She has saved me many times on issues over the phone that require a manager.  So my mind was completely elsewhere which is why I forgot Father’s Day.  We had a wonderful dinner with Brian’s family in Payson in the evening.  It had been a few months since we had seen most of the family so it was really enjoyable.  I’m gonna have to make up the crappy morning to Brian next year…or maybe on some random day to surprise him :)

Brian with his 2 boys on Father’s Day! 

Tyson started swim lessons today.  I think he got told by the teacher 3 times to quit splashing the water…oops.  He didn’t listen all that great when they told him to stick his chin in the water and blow bubbles.  I asked him what his teacher’s name was and he said, “I don’t know.”  I’m not quiet sure what he got out of the lesson today but he made sure to tell me he had fun.  I only paid $25 for 8 or 9 lessons so I won’t be too heart broken if he doesn’t really learn anything.  He’s having fun so that’s what really matters right?  He is only 3.

And since I can’t leave Andrew out here is what he has been up to lately:  Growing, eating, pooping, sleeping, sucking on his entire fist, smiling, squealing, blowing bubbles and crying!  The last 3 mentioned are displayed in his video.  He’s so cute.

4 month stats

Andrew turned 4 months old on Friday.  Wish there was a way that I could freeze time.  He really should just stay the way he is ;)  He is a wonderful baby.  I think the Lord sent me a calm, happy baby on purpose.  Goes to show he knew exactly what I needed.  Our son Tyson is wonderful, but a bit on the active and rambunctious side.  I’m hoping Andrew’s calm nature sticks.  Comparing Tyson to Andrew at the same age they are very different in personalities.  However, with Andrew’s facial features developing the last month or so he is seriously looking more and more like Tyson.  When our screen saver pictures pop up on our computer I am taken back at times because I have a hard time figuring out who is who.  Tyson’s dark hair is really the only way that I can tell.

Andrew had his appointment on Friday and he did great.  The doctor said he is growing perfectly.  He was a trooper with the shots and didn’t cry.  He had a look on his face that seemed as though he was thinking, “What in the world?”  But I picked him up right after and he whined for 3 seconds.  See, calm nature!

Length:  24 1/2 inches—25%

Weight:  13 lbs 8 oz—25%

Head:  41.9 cm—50%

Also comparing Tyson with Andrew (because it really is so much fun) their size at 4 months seem to be almost exactly the same.  Tyson was about an inch longer at this point but everything else is pretty close!

I took these pictures on Friday.  He is so smiley like this ALL THE TIME.  Love him!  (So I had some trouble with lighting…someone who does photography tell me what to fix!  The natural light was to his right and was casting a shadow on the other side of his face.  What should I have done?  I tried making the light face him but that didn’t seem to work either…)

Andrew at 4 months…

Tyson at 4 months…

and back to Andrew :)

 

I seriously adore this picture.  Just wish I had fixed Andrew’s ears.  Haha!  They really don’t stick out like that :)

Two weeks ago Brian and I went on a date to see Les Miserables.  It was fantastic!!!!  I just love the music from that show.  I forgot my camera so no pictures from our date but we enjoyed every second of dinner at the Olive Garden and sitting in a theater watching the show.  Michael and Emily watched the boys and Andrew refused the bottle.  We’ll have to work on that buddy! 

Tyson starts swim lessons next week Monday.  I am excited about it.  I think he’ll love it.  I signed him up with some friends so I’m excited to sit by the pool and chat while Tyson works out some of his never-ending energy.  Lately he has been protesting naps.  Which I would be totally fine with if the kid didn’t get cranky and ornery at 5 pm.  He’ll nap about every 2 or 3 days.  Even if he won’t fall asleep he’ll play in his room for at least 45 minutes but honestly that doesn’t help him not be cranky by 5.  I hoping though with the summer here and him playing outside most days that he’ll get tired enough for a small nap.  Nothing is more annoying then driving to the bus stop at 7 pm to pick up Brian from work and I look back and Tyson is asleep!

We are super excited about our first family vacation.  It will just be the 4 of us.  We’re headed to California to see my Grandparents, then to San Diego for Sea World and the beach and then to Vegas.  We will be gone a little over a week.  I wish I had a vacation planner though.  I really don’t enjoy planning all of this.  But I’m sure it will all be worth it once we hit the road and all the preparation work will be behind me. 

I’ve recently started cloth diapering part time.  I know, it’s crazy.  I honestly am liking it.  I look forward to buying more cloth diapers and using up the disposables that we already have.  The upfront cost is a bit high but in the end will save us quite a bit of money.  Especially with more kids.  Brian thinks this is a phase and that I’ll be done with it as soon as I start.  I hope that isn’t true.  It requires some extra laundry but if there is a chore that I really don’t mind doing, laundry is it.  Now, if I had to wash extra dishes or empty the dishwasher more because of it I’d never do it :)  I wanted to try it to prove to myself that I could do it.  I’m not sure why…I’m just cool like that I guess.

This was his first ever cloth diaper.  He liked it so much he pooped in it within 15 minutes ;)

If I had stuck with the 60 day slim down program I would be done with it sometime this week.  However, after 32 days I kinda stopped.  I decided to take 1 week off but ever since then I haven’t done well with it.  I wasn’t as strict about it anymore.  I was still eating pretty healthy but not so much exercise.  I’ve still lost 13 pounds and I have at least 10 more to go if not 15.  I’m extremely happy with the results thus far though.  I think it was just what I needed.  I have another month before vacation and wearing a swim suit on the beach.  Wish me luck!

Couponing

Well, I’m back in the game, at least for now.  I stopped about a year ago when I became pregnant and was so sick I didn’t even want to look at the computer or head out to a store at 8 am.  Some friends were talking about all their deals and I started to get jealous.  Yeah, so here I am once again at it.  It is probably good timing because our supplies were starting to diminish.  It will take some time to get into the swing of things again.  Hard to separate out what I need or what is just a good deal.  I use to be good at doing that but couponing is so addicted especially in the beginning.  Here are some pictures of the coupons I was cleaning out from my binder from a year ago!  Ty had a blast with them, that’s for sure.  Poor Andrew did not enjoy being covered in coupons.  Haha!  It was really funny.