Marina Brunch...

The family went for brunch at a Marina restaurant by the water. Here are some fun pics of our little Diva...... Everyone loved her little outfit.....

Halloween at the Pumpkin Patch...2011

West Palm had some really rainy weather over the past few weeks and I worked mainly days. Every time I wanted to stop at the pumpkin patch...rain....

So on Halloween morning Ashley & I went and tried to find the perfect pumpkin........


Here she is searching in this spot for a pumpkin.....................





She ran and ran all over the place.........



She found some big ones over here.....................



She though we may need a wagon to carry the perfect pumpkin......





And here it is....... The perfect pumpkin..........



All kidding aside.... do not wait until Halloween morning after days of rain to get a pumpkin.... They were all rotten or and nasty..... So we just bought a little one this year and we decorated cup cakes instead....


Ashley came down with her first cold on Halloween. She had a runny nose and was really congested so we let her take a long nap from 4-7:30. We even shut the lights off so other tricker treaters would not disturb her.

We went to the doctors the next day and she had a double ear infection and sinus infection... poor baby....

Family Day in Our Community

Our development has a family day once a year. This year they did a Halloween theme... they had a steel drum band, food, the blood bank, a Fire Truck, bounce houses, slides, barrel rolls, a petting zoo, pony rides and face painting. One thing they did was rent trolleys for the day to transport the residence to and from the Clubhouse. Ashley had so much fun... She danced to the music, played with some small animals and went on a pony ride....

What a wonderful thing our community does for us.


The trolly in front of our house

Ashley dancing to the island music



She loved the pigs.... She bent down and watched them oink and squeal..



She touched the fluffy bunnies....



She wasn't to sure about the pony ride..... I loved seeing my baby girl on my Poppi's favorite animal...

Do you think she had fun??? Look at this kid smile...

I got nervous with this one... She almost pulled the head off a little chick...... She learned real quick what soft means....

Pictures from October

Here are a few random pictures taken this month... The top two are pictures of Grammy and Ashley having lunch at the Gander Mountain Lodge Restaurant. I love the picture where they look like they are having the best conversation and laughing. The other picture is from her first store ride Winnie the Pooh... she loved it look at that smile..... The last one is one that just shows how grown up she is...

Ashley and Grammy at the Park

Grammy & Papa came to visit at the end of October. Mark and PaPa spent the week under the hood of the car in great hope of racing. While the men were under the hood Grammy and Ashley had fun at the park down the road. They went on the swings, played on the slides, climbed up the side of the jungle gym and played in the grass. Enjoy the photo's....








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Gymboree Pumpkin Patch Party

Ashley had a fun month at Gymboree. They dressed up and had a Pumpkin Patch Party. She had a lot of fun... Here she is my little ladybug...playing, snacking and having so much fun.....

ELMO LIVE Superhero

Mark went to Georgia for the first weekend in October and I had to work so my mom came to visit and help babysit. While she was here we went to see ELMO Live. All the Sesame characters were there. I was not sure if she was too young or if she would be able to sit through the whole play... She loved it.. the lights, sounds and movement really captured her attention and she made it through the whole play...

Here she is dressed in her Elmo outfit outside the Kravitz Center....



She loved looking around at the people behind us......
She clapped when everyone else did... that was too cute....
Here is the stage with Elmo, Big Bird...and the gang....


Look at the intense look on her face... she was really into it.....

Here she is with Grandma....... All smiles.......................

SARCOMA- Race for the Cure

Today wad a fun and emotional day. The Sarcoma Foundation has been having a 5K in Ft. Lauderdale for the past 4 years. I saw the event and decided to participate this year. I contacted Mike M who is a Sarcoma survivor and is the main contact for South Florida. He is amazing. The race was fun. You can definitely tell that there was a difference between the supporters of the cause and just the true grit iron runners. Mark and I walked it.. we thought about cutting he course by a 1/2 mile but we did the right thing and stayed on the course and finish a little less than an hour. I shared my dad's story with Mike and he made a sign on the course that said "In Loving Memory of Ronald Cloughsey". Here is a picture of the sign as well as me standing behind it with the shirt I made with a picture of the two of us.

Here are a few pictures from the race.

It was a beautiful, cool morning with some light sprinkles from the heavens.

Mark and I enjoyed the walk and we are thinking about doing one every once in a while. We are looking into it and we will bring Ashley in the stroller. It will be a great family thing to do and we will support some great causes.

Halloween is coming soon......

Halloween is coming soon......

So here are Ashley's Halloween pictures for this year. She will be a ladybug again since we got this years costume as a gift from a dear friend.

We have a ton of things planned this month. Grandma is coming to see me next weekend, we are going to a pumpkin patch party, a hay ride, a costume party, Elmo's Superhero play and Grammy and PaPa are coming soon too.

I will be posting the pics at the end of the month.

Have a great October everyone.

Elmo.......

So I thought this was so amazing tonight and I had to share it.........

Ashley and I were playing on the floor after dinner. She brought me over some books and we read them and then all of a sudden I think something clicked in her brain that the picture in the book looked like one of her toys.... She started making noise and pulled me by her toys. She picked up her tickle me Elmo and then pointed to her Bubbles book with baby Elmo in the tub.

I was sooooooooooo blown away that she put it together...

She is my smarty!!!

GYMBOREE

Busy Busy Day…… Ashley and I tried something new today. I have been searching for a group that teaches, plays and interacts with both baby and mommy. I have been to a MOP’s meeting which is more for stay at home mom’s that need to have adult contact and build relationships. It was a great group but not what I was looking for. I tried A latte Fun, again this was not very interactive it was more about free play and other mom’s just hanging out while the kids did their own thing. Story time at the library and at pottery barn is fun but not very interactive with the babies since the age group varies.

Finally a great place that focuses on what I was looking for…. GYMBOREE…. This is age appropriate, focuses on learning and developing, play and interaction with me and other little cuties. It is a bit costly, but it is worth every penny. I can not wait to take her back for some free play and another class.

Where did the Baby Go?????

So we took this picture of Ashley and I had to post it.....







Is she 15 months old or 5 years old...... This picture makes her look a like a little girl... not a baby..... Where did the baby go???????

Big Fountains in Downtown West Palm

Ok so Ashley loves bathtime now and she has had fun in some of the smaller fountains. I took her to the big fountains in the center of town. She was a little nervious at first then she loved it.... These fountains were no joke... Check out the hight on some of these bad boys.....