A new year begins!

Happy New Year!  I had tried to post right after Christmas, but my computer and internet were acting funky!

Anyway we had a delightful Christmas season!  Ashton was so cute!  Under the tree where two large gifts for him.  One from Pop-Pop and us and one from Grandpa Bob!  He saw the large one from Pop-Pop and Us and exclaimed, "I knew I was on Santa's good list!".  So cute!  The remote control Monster Truck was definitely the hit of Christmas!

So excited for his Monster Truck

The day after Christmas we went to our friends house to ride real ATV's. Ashton was a little reluctant at first (even though all he ever asks for is real ATV), but the smiles on his and Lily's face were priceless!  So awesome!

We rang in the new year with our friends Patsy and Mark, Katie and Dan, and Hope and Andy.  The kids had a great time playing together!  Ashton fell asleep in the car immediately upon pulling away!

Ashton the entertainer!

Ashton at 2015 CCM Primary Program

Today was Ashton's pre-school holiday program at school.  In traditional Ashton fashion he was contrary to what was expected of him and  did not sing.  He pretended to yawn muliple times covering up his mouth, coughed and sneezed multiple times into his elbow, took off his snowman hat, sat and laid down on ground.  Truly the entertainer!  He had forewarned me that he would not be singing, so I knew not to get my hopes up!  But he was delighted we were there!  When his class first walked in, he was the only kid to run out of line into the audience to hug his daddy!

He also is picking up a few choice words...today I swore I heard him say Damn it!  When I asked him to repeat himself he said he said, Bam it!  Also he has been using "What the heck?"  Time to clean up our language usage!

We got our new camper today!  And boy oh boy is Ashton excited!!!!

Pre-meditated nightmares

Ashton loves to sleep in our bed and in our room.  We've tried very hard to break him of this habit, including rewards to Chucky Cheese for so many successful sleeps in his room.  Last night took the cake.  He told me he was going to wake up in the middle of the night and come into our room because he WOULD be having a nightmare!  Furthermore, while we were still putting him to bed and he was still awake, he was complaining that he was having an active nightmare as we spoke!  That boy will try anything to get his way sometimes!

Another cute thing he did recently was go to whisper in my ear something so that his sister Lily wouldn't hear it.  Just to be sure, he asked, "Mommy if I whisper something in your ear, will Lily not be able to hear it on the other side (ear)?  LOL!

November news

Magical Fall Hike

Ashton seems to be doing well in his new school.  He no longer gets up in cries and hides in the morning  His teacher reports that he has adjusted extremely well.  The only thing she mentioned that she is working with him on is choosing friends for work time vs. play time.  He went through a phase where he kept saying he was having "nightmares" so he could sleep in our room.  We recently did a reward system to get him to sleep in his room and that seemed to work.  Although last night he woke up in middle of the night and wanted Daddy to stay in his room and cuddle him back to sleep.  He also has really cut back on his naps....bummer...I really miss those especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  He continues to love anything with wheels and constantly talking about saving up his money for a tractor or four-wheeler.  I am hoping to get him a ride on a four-wheeler over the Christmas Holiday break.  We've been on lots of little hikes this fall and he really enjoys it! He and Lily are so creative in their thought and play as they wonder the woods together.

Fall Fun

Well we have definitely had a fun filled October!  Tonight we have the grand finale of Halloween trick-or-treating in Pop's neighborhood.  Ashton originally wanted to be a black cat for Halloween.  He's not a big costume guy so I didn't want to spend to much time and energy on a costume I knew he probably wouldn't ever wear!  So we took at black beanie cap and I let him paint a cat face on it.  I think he wore it once for the recreation and parks trick-or-treat!  The last few days of dressing up he has been wearing his fireman jacket and hat (an old standby).

Also Ashton started his new school.  He appears to like it overall.  Every once in a while he complains that he "hates" school, but I think overall this was a good change for him!  I really hope he begins to "love" school otherwise it's going to be a long road!!!!

Lastly, his love affair with basketball was short lived.  He really enjoyed the first few classes, but after a while he lost interest.  We will try again in the winter with some friends with a new venue/instructor.

Changes are coming

Changes are coming for Ashton next week.  This week we received a phone call from Lily's school the Carroll Creek Montessori School that Ashton's number had come up in the lottery and they had a Pre-K4 opening for him.

Originally we thought we wait til next year for him to go to Lily's school, but the principal said they only had one opening in kindergarten last year, so it may or may not be possible.  So considering that he still wasn't having a thriving attitude at his school in Mt. Airy, he will get to go with Lily in the mornings to school, it is a half-day program, it is free, and his friend Chase goes there, we deciding to bite the bullet and go for it.  So he will start on Monday.  Gosh I hope he likes it!  Otherwise he is going to be miserable the rest of the school year!

Can you say STUBBORN!!!!

Can you say STUBBORN!  This describes Ashton to a tee!  He if he wants to do something....wonderful, but if he doesn't want to do anything, watch out. HE WILL NOT DO IT!  I does not matter how much you bribe or consequence!

Take for example swim lessons.  First, keep in mind, Ashton LOVES the water!  Last spring we signed up to take swim lessons at Frederick High School with Lily's former swim coach.  He sat on he side and cried the entire time.  We decided to wait until Fall.  Well fast forward to now, the first class he sat on the side, got in one time, and swam one lap with Ms. Diane.  The 2nd lesson he sat on the side and refused to get in.  I even bribed him with chocolate and lollipops.  Daddy told him he was going to take away his lovey pokey.  He did not care, he was not swimming.  We decided to try one more time this week....major fail!  Not only did he refuse to swim, he went into the locker room and changed his clothes so he wouldn't have to swim.  Little booger.  Oh well, we'll try again another time.

The good thing is he did ask to play basketball and he actually is enjoying it!

Pre-School continues to be an adjustment.  He still doesn't like to go.  He doesn't like nap time which is a two hour block.  A friend of mine suggested we do no cry bags, and that has seemed to work.  In the beginning he received a no cry bag with a prize every time he did not cry when I left.  Now he is working on not crying for several days in a row!

Despite not seeming to like to preschool the pictures the preschool send us show us otherwise!