Ashlinn {3 months}

 At 3 months Ashlinn really started playing with us! She's always been a very expressive baby, but she really started interacting with us.

Ashlinn {2 Months}

I decided when Ashlinn was born that I would take her picture on her blankie every month for the first year of her life and give or take a day or two I've managed to keep up so far. I haven't, however, managed to keep up with posting the pictures, so here's a catch up post of her 2 month pictures.

I can't believe how rolly-polly she is. I shouldn't be surprised since all of my kids have been at this age, but since all the rolls disappear once they start moving, it still startles me.

Devon came in to help me take pictures (her camera is MUCH better than mine). She took a few pictures and decided she was done since Ashlinn was boring and didn't do anything yet.

So, Ashlinn rolled over! I'd been pretty sure she was rolling before this since I'm careful to leave her on her back when I'm not watching her and I'd found her on he stomach a few times, but this was the first time I'd caught her in the act!

She was pretty proud of herself!

Ashlinn {4 months}

Ashlinn was 4 months old yesterday! She now weighs about 16 lbs. She is wearing a medium onesie in these pictures and 6-9 month size pants. I can find out for sure how much she weighs soon since she will FINALLY be added to our insurance June first and I can take her in for a check up. I can't believe how complicated adding a newborn to insurance is now. I highly recommend having a baby in December when it is still open enrollment time.

Ashlinn rolls over from both her back to her tummy and from her tummy to her back. She scoots on her back and is trying really hard to scoot forward on her tummy. She now plays with toys, much to the delight of her youngest older siblings!

One Month

Okay so I'm a little late in posting this. Ashlinn was actually a month old LAST week, it just took me this long to get pictures up loaded and a post done. The reason I'm getting a chance to do it now is thanks to Grandma Carolyn who gifted us with a baby swing. The one we bought for Brenna has a broken motor and the one we had for Duncan through Owen literally fell apart underneath Owen.

Ashlinn and I got off to a bit of a rough start with nursing. She was barely back up to her birth weight at 3 weeks old. We seem to have things under control now. At her most recent weigh in, she was up to 11lbs!

Check out this gut and these rolls!

I started Ashlinn's Blanket right after our 20 week ultrasound (even though we weren't entirely sure she was a girl), it took me until she was a week old to actually finish it though. I made the blanket with 8 sections since she's my 8th child. I made a similar blanket for Brenna with 7 sections and the kids insisted that Ashlinn needed one of her own with 8 sections.

I'm going to try to take a picture of her on her blanket each month to show her growth over her first year. Let's see if I can actually remember!

Ashlinn Update!

Ashlinn had her 2 week check up last Friday on her 3 week birthday. Our doctor's office is really busy right now, so they couldn't get us in for an appointment until a week late. Friday was actually her due date since we had her at 37 weeks due to my health problems.

The good news is that she is doing really well. She still has a bit of jaundice, but it's nothing to worry about anymore. The bad news is that she was just barely back at her birth weight at 3 weeks instead of 2 like the doctors prefer. The two of us had a bit of a rough start with nursing. You'd think after this many kids, nursing would be a breeze, but not this time. Between Ashlinn being a little early and having jaundice ( not quite bad enough for treatment, but close) and me having the c-section and my blood pressure getting worse after her birth instead of better, we had some difficulties. I think we're over the worst of it now, but she might be going in for another weight check this week just to make sure.

Miss Ashlinn already tracks objects, rolls from her back or stomach to her sides and vice versa, and holds her head up. We've tried convincing her that it's okay to just be a baby, but she doesn't seem convinced.

Her siblings are quite thrilled with her! She is a bit apprehensive around the little ones, but still seems to enjoy the attention as long as a bigger person is nearby. I can't believe she's almost a month old already!

Happy Birth Day Ashlinn!

You might be the 8th (10th) child if it takes your parents over a week to download your birth pictures off the digital camera. Unlike the first child, where we'd gotten actual prints developed before we even left the hospital.

We had a c-section planned for Monday the 26th, but at my appointment on Thursday, things weren't going so well. Baby wasn't reacting the way the doctors wanted to the non-stress test and her fluid levels were right on the borderline of being too low. Add in the fact that my blood pressure had taken a huge jump upward again and the doctor decided to put us in the hospital overnight for fluids and monitoring and move the c-section up to Friday the 23rd.

The c-section itself went much better than last time. The only complications were trying to get functional lines into my apparently non-functional veins and arteries. Once they gave up on the arterial line (after 3 failed tries) and finally got one working and one partially working I.V. into me the rest of the surgery went off without a hitch. The standby trauma nurse never even had to come into the O.R.

Baby Ashlinn Sophia weighed 8lbs. 5.9 oz. and was 20 inches long, so not quite as big as the doctors were expecting although plenty big enough for being barely 37 weeks.

long skinny feet, just like all the other kids

Can you believe those cheeks?

Unfortunately, the younger kids all got sick and weren't able to come to the hospital for a visit. The older kids managed to kick their colds in time though.

Carlitos wasn't allowed to visit with his Mommy. Nieces and nephews have to be at least 12 even if they are the baby's nieces and nephews, not the Mommy's nieces and nephews.

Grandma's service dog, Barkley, was allowed to visit. He found the baby to be quite fascinating.

Ashlinn wasn't too excited about her carseat at first. She was much happier once the car started moving.

Her siblings were sure excited about her coming home! Even Owen who really wanted a brother, not a sister. It took him about an hour before he was telling us how much he loved THIS baby even if she was a girl.