A dancer of all types of music

We have ourselves quite the dancer. Our girl certainly enjoys a good theme song as seen previously by her dance to the Backyardigans. Not to turn her nose at the classics, she also loves Mickey and his Hot Dog Dance... yes, Harlan she's after your heart buddy :)



But, she also has an appreciation for today's music. A little Miley Partying in the USA anyone?



Hopefully soon we'll be able to catch her as she "appreciates" the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feelin' "... this really is her favorite song right now.

She actually does listen to Baby Einstein and the like at times, but it just doesn't have a good dance beat so I doubt I'll be catching any of that on video anytime soon ;)

Video catch up

As I cleaned off the Flip, getting ready for Christmas, I discovered a few videos I thought you all might enjoy... so why not play a little catch up...

In her "playhouse" - rather, Harry's hammock (yes, it's from October)



Going Places (little more timely, back to December)

Breakfast with Santa

Yesterday Miss Sasha had breakfast with Santa. Well, actually, it was more like a photo with Santa that was a bit traumatic and then breakfast with Mama and Dada in the church social hall. Yes, I know I'm blogging about something that just happened, amazing isn't!?!

So, after mass we start down to the area and all morning we had been telling her Santa was in town to see her. We get in there and of course the kids already getting pictures are crying... awesome! We're not making a big deal, just telling her to say hi to Santa and everyone else. Sasha isn't exactly smiling at this point and showing a little concern. Then it's our turn...

We don't even try the Santa hat that was an option and I take her to Santa's lap... little concern, has turned in to great concern now and she's saying no and shaking her head. No tears but she DOES NOT want to be on the jolly man's lap and continues to reach for me as I quickly back away. All the while Daddy is trying to say things to calm her down but nothing is really working.

The only thing that captures her attention for a split second so she'll look at the camera for this picture was when I said "Where's Harry?"

And this is what we have for our 2009 Santa picture...



A bit of a frown but it works. Colors are a little funky but thus is what you get on a printer in the church and then scanning the pic.

A conversation between Sashie and Mama

Yesterday before school I had short conversation with Sasha, it went something like this...

Me: Who's Mama's smart girl?

Sasha: Sasha (said with a big smile on her face)

Me: *shock, lots of awwing, thinking she's astoundingly cute*

Me: Who's Mama's pretty girl?

Sasha: Sasha (again, a big smile on her face)

There you have it folks... she's knows who is a smart and pretty girl!

Okay, okay, I should tell you that for a while now I'll say stuff like this back and forth to her so she's not entirely the baby genius she seems... I said not entirely, she is some what of course since this did just come up out of the blue with no prompting at this time :)

A year and 1/2 ago...

... I was drugged out of my mind awaiting a little 4lb, 15oz and 18.25 inch bugger to be pulled out of me.

A year and 1/2 ago that little bugger scared her daddy when she came out so little. She was suppose to be over 5 lbs two weeks before that. We were expecting a 6 lb baby, not a preemie you had to search for clothes for!

A year and 1/2 ago, it was hotter than heck outside (African hot as someone's YaYa recalls), yet in a hospital room in the mid-South it was close to freezing due to the magnesium sulfate coursing through me so I didn't stroke out from the insane blood pressure.

A year an 1/2 ago today our world changed because of one little Sashabear...



Where did the time go my little pumpkin?

I want to be a supermodel!

Oh, wait... she already is! Yes, folks, our Sashie is a supermodel... or at least these latest picture of her sure make her out to be. On a sunny and brisk day in early November we ventured out to a local park to meet with a professional photographer. Here is a link to a few of the pictures from that session (the pics you see on the left):

http://www.ashleighpeak.com/home/2009/11/19/sasha.html


To see the 15 best pics from the session (those that the photog edited for us) follow these instructions:

Go to:

www.ashleighpeak.com

click portfolio

click client access

password is sashaw

Soon we'll receive a CD with all of these pics on it and I'll post them on our flickr site for you to print if you'd like.

Seriously, is she not the cutest ever?!?

The Dr is in... just a little late is all

So here are the Halloween pictures... a little late in the blog post is all. I've been a bit tied up with work and rather tired so sorry about the tardiness of this, but nevertheless, here they are...

Dr Sashie at your service...



Watching TV or listening to an important meeting?


Important meeting, obviously!


Let's see what else is in here


The Halloween parade at school... with her teacher Miss Erica


Sashie and Paul - Halloween Parade 2009


You may remember Paul from this picture back in March 09... him and Sashie go WAY back to the infant room... this is them holding hands at the Art Night at school...


And just a cute one to end on to let you see that our girl is constantly on the go right now... as if there were any question...

Stellan needs prayers more than ever!

Yes, a Sashie post and Halloween pictures are coming, promise! But, as I've done before, I'm asking for prayers for another little babe... Stellan. He's now in Boston awaiting a fairly dangerous, yet necessarily procedure. Please pray for him to make it through and be healthy and for his family for strength. Pray for his doctors for guidance as well.

Here's his Mama's website for updates: http://mycharmingkids.net

Please pray for Stellan

I must say I'm stealing this post idea, but I don't think Lisha will mind... this little guy needs all the prayers he can get.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

The link above is to a blog that I (along with many others) have been following for a long while. This is an amazing family, and their youngest son, Stellan, has been battling SVT (very fast heart rate) since before his was born. He is back in the hospital now, sedated, and on a ventilator. His first birthday is tomorrow. His Mama is by his bedside right now with him and is sharing his story through her blog.

Please consider taking a minute or two to pray for Stellan. His family and story has made me grow closer to God and realize just how precious each and every minute is with Sasha.

The Cutest Little Cowgirl in all of the South

Yes, folks that is our Sashie! She may morph into a little heathen at times and display some terrible two-ish like tendencies - for instance, when she finds the power button on the TV or thinks Harry's water is the ABSOLUTELY most fun thing in the entire world - but she is always the cutest little cowgirl in all of the South as demonstrated by this picture...



No, we're not training her to be a cowgirl... please, seriously? But when I went to St Louis for a conference recently I saw this and knew she would love it due to her love for play hats.

Speaking of that trip... it was mine and Sashie's first overnight apart and it went very well. Daddy took care of our girl so well in fact (not that there was any doubt in his care, but more in me handling being gone) that I'm thinking of becoming more involved with the conference next year. We did do a short Skype session that helped but I was very pleased with myself thank you very much! Only a little teary when I left and one other time :)

In other news, Sashie just got over a double ear infection, sinus infection, and blown ear drum. Yeah, that was a kicker! Talk about a rough night for all the night before we went to the dr. She's doing MUCH better now and only has a slight cough and a runny nose. We did find out that she lost close to a pound in about a month so we'll have to go back for a weight check at 18 months (Dec). Dr isn't too worried since she's moving so much more, but just wants to be sure all is well.

On the food front, she's found a few favorites... peanut butter is a BIG one (just like Daddy!), pasta, and bbq chicken and corn... as seen here...



As you can maybe tell from some of these pictures her hair is growing in faster now. So much so that she can now do what every baby should... the baby bath mohawk... yes, Kate, you got there before Sasha!



In Halloween news, her costume is all set to go... can you guess what she's going to be from this picture? Thanks to Aunt Laurren she's got the accessories needed for the costume now :)



The pumpkins have been carved... not that Sasha was too thrilled with the actual carving




... from clockwise... mine (done by Josh), Josh's, Sashie's (by me), and Harry's (not carved (obviously)

And she's gotten a new friend to celebrate Halloween with... Indy her kitty cat from Uncle Nick and Aunt Mandy. She came with a book about her adventures and The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (was the DVD for her or Daddy and Me :) )



Well, I think that catches us up... Happy Halloween everyone!

In case you've been looking for me on Facebook...

... my account has been acting up. I've searched this on Google and it looks like I'm not the only one that's had this happening off and on throughout October. I know many of you that I talk to on FB also check here so I just thought I'd post a little something here to let you all know I'm still around :)

I'll do a Sashie post soon :) Don't worry she's getting very psyched for upcoming Halloween festivities!

Sept rewind - video style

I realized that I never posted any of the videos we took during Sept.... and there's a few good ones.

This girl cracks us up daily and we love her all the more for it.

So, without further delay, here's Sept rewind - video style... there's four, but they're all pretty short.

Here's Miss Sashie dancing to one of her favorite shows:


For all of you out there that just "love" Harry, she decided to get him in on the action:


A little peek-a-boo:


And if you know of my "love" for the outdoors, this should come as no surprise:


Sending hugs!

Sashie and the pumpkin patch

Well this weekend was the start of a new tradition... visiting a pumpkin patch! Sashie was a bit little to go on the tractor train, and, after several days of rain, it was a bit muddy to actually go out in the field, but nonetheless we had a great time. Three pumpkins to carve and a mini one to hold on to and we are set for Halloween!

Here's some pics of the fun...



She kept going to this one and knew it was hers



Looking for Mama's



Me trying for a cute shot and her thinking "Really? I'm in the middle of pumpkins."



Heading out on her own



THE pumpkin patch shot



Loving her little pumpkin



Our family

A froggy and a kitty

Sashie recently just got some new toys... a Melissa and Doug Frolicking Frog and another Playmobil set... she loves them! She got these during our girls' weekend when YaYa came up.

Here she is playing and, as if you couldn't tell from the pics, she's teething pretty good too...







Harry was doing pretty good during the weekend too...

Photos and video coming soon

Sorry it's been so long since I posted but the end of Sept was HECTIC! After giving 10 trainings in one week for me, then me getting sick just after, we're now into October in one piece.

So, with that said, I just wanted everyone to know we are all alive (Harry just barely after Sasha bouncing on him this weekend) and well. Of course pictures and video have been taken throughout this time I just need to get on top of things and get them posted, which I promise to do very soon.

This weekend we took in the zoo's newest exhibit and saw baby bears and some wolves... Sashie loved both. We also saw one of her favorites... the sea lions! Swimming also started for us this weekend and she of course loved that as well. This time the class is much more structured and she's learning lots of things. By the end of class she was already "jumping" off the wall to Daddy.

Okay, that hopefully will tide everyone over until I get to the other stuff :)

Lots of love!

15 month checkup

Sashie had her 15 month appt yesterday and did really well. Here's her stats:

• 22.7 lbs (25th percentile)
• 30 inches (45th percentile)

As for milestones she hit them all and was actually hitting some 18 and 24 month ones.

Words: Mama, Dada, Hary (Harry, our cat), bye-bye, ba (bottle), YaYa, done, nana (banana), tagtag (her Taggie blankie), bibby (bib), today Josh is almost certain she started a version of What's this?

Signs: more, eat, milk, drink, book, all done, please, please, wash/bath, very close to thank you

She follows directions really well (when she wants to), sleeps consistantly from about 7:30pm - 6am-ish, she can drink from a straw, and eats pretty much anything... literally anything! Mexican, Indian, Italian, you name it. She LOVES Mexican... couldn't have been all that I ate when I was pregnant ;)

She did well with the shots but last night we started a pretty high temp and ended up covered in throw up after being in bed for a while. That was fun! A second bath and lots of TLC and back to bed. A rough night followed but as we continued with tylenol the fever continued to go down and she felt better.

We won't go back until 2 yrs old since she's doing so well and no shots are due. Oh and at 18 months the goal is for the last bottle (at night) to end... we'll see.

Here's a few pics from a few days ago... such our little diva!



Yesterday morning this is how I found her at one point...


Such the multitasker...