Warning--Long Post

Well a lot has happened since I last updated you, so I'll try and hit the highlights...

Jeremy and I successfully vacationed--yes, we made it 6 whole days! We've made a habit of summarizing our trips in numbers, so here goes:

• 1 enormous boat
• 3500 people on ship
• 3 destinations--Ft. Lauderdale, Cozumel Mexico, Belize City Belize
• 1 dolphin spotting
• 6 Rainforest Zip Lines conquered (Belize)
• 2 new Swedish friends--Kenny & Jenny, are you reading this?
• 1 run in with a Senator (Evan Bayh)
• 1 New York Yankee spotting (Derek Jeter)
• 1 of the best meals of our life (and I'm not exagerating)
• 5 phone calls home (only--this was very good considering they were 8 bucks a minute)
• Countless cocktails
• 2 great massages
• 80 times one of us asked "I wonder what Lilly & Addy are doing now" (at least)
• 17 four letter words said to the Delta agent who told us that we would be delayed 24 hours in Atlanta, have to pay for a hotel ourselves, stop in 2 cities to get home an entire day later than planned
• 1 option from there...
• $214 dollars for a rental car and within 8 hours we were home with our girls

Parenthood makes you do crazy things? It probably won't go down as my most rational decision to date, but when I was ready to come home, I was ready to come home.

Before our trip, we the girls were baptised. This was such a fun celebration with family. The girls were so good despite a very LONG Easter Vigil service. After the service they even entertained everyone 2 hours past their bedtime with no meltdowns! This was also coupled with Aunt Cat's visit to Indy. It was beyond wonderful to see them with their Aunt Cat. They took to her right away and she had them giggling during readings of "Beach Babies Wear Shades" within no time. They also appreciated her alternative nursery rhymes from a book entitled "This Little Piggy Went to Prada".

We've been expanding our horizons with food. Sweet potatos are still a favorite, but carrots and squash tie for second. As for apples, avocados, peas and bananas, they'll both pass. Each meal time with them is a blast. They love sitting in their high chairs and being a part of the action in the kitchen.

Both girls have cut both bottom teeth. I look at them and the past toothless grins are gone and both my babies have teeth! It really is sweet, then one gets my finger in their mouth and it isn't sweet anymore, it just hurts like hell.

Lilly has become more and more high maintance as she likes to be held all the time and rocked to sleep. We made a resolution that this wasn't going to work for the next year, so she's officially "crying it out". This applies to naptime as well as waking in the middle night and wanting to come into bed with mom and dad. The rule is if she's healthy and wakes before 6, she stays put...this was advice given to me by Senator Bayh's wife about their twin boys and we figured if she could do it, we could too. I'll keep you posted on our progress. She LOVES books and everyone is convinced she'll be a book worm. And no, she's still not rolling.

Addy is quite the wiggle worm and almost squirmed right out of our minister's hands during the baptism. She loves a good game of peek-a-boo and her hair is finally beginning to come in. She's content sitting on the floor for hours, but has recently began the "snatch and grab" game with her sister.

The other major milestone in the Ash world, is I've resigned from Ball State. I adore my job, but leaving these girls for 10 hours a day and making just a little bit more than what daycare times 2 costs just wasn't working for me. I hope to stay involved with education in one way or another and I'm keeping my options open, but I couldn't continue doing what I'm doing now. Think of me as I transition into a stay-at-home mom! Anyone who knew me years ago would say it would NEVER happen and up until a month or so ago, I didn't believe it either. Again, parenthood makes you do crazy things.

Here is just a sampling of pictures--too many good ones to include!

Lilly during the baptism

Addy during the baptism

"Who me? I swear mom, Lilly did it."


Fun times with our friend Jen and a good view of my 2 new teeth--Lilly

Vacationing, the rainforest shots were in Belize, the underwater shot in Mexico. We had to take these pictures to prove to the girls later in life that their mom & dad were cool once.

Addy and Lilly endorse Obama-Guest Blogger!

Hi everyone - I am Addy and Lilly's proud Aunt Cat - visiting my beautiful nieces for the first time. I am especially proud to announce that Addy and Lilly offer their official endorsement to Barack Obama! They are concerned about their future and after much careful consideration of all the candidates they have decided to endorse the candidate who offers hope and inspiration - and I believe I actually heard one of them say "Yes we can!" They are extemely smart, one even might say, visionary, babies. Earlier today Lilly was wearing a onsie that said "George Bush makes me spit up" which got a little dirty, luckily, we have numerous political onsies.

They are absolutely perfect in every possible way, I say this as an entirely impartial, unbiased observer;) They love reading, playing, and hanging out. When you read to them their huge eyes follow the pages and I would not be surprised to learn that they start reading at a particularly young age (next week!). They make the funniest expressions and sometimes give you a look that makes you believe they know exactly what is going on around them. They both do their best to communicate with you and sometimes get a tiny bit annoyed when you don't understand their "language."

Lilly is most assuredly a diva, when she wants something she does not want to wait for it. She has woken up around 3 AM both nights I have been here. I am convinced she just wants me to go in and say hello, so I go in and then we wait outside mom and dad's bedroom for one of them to come out. I thought we might have gotten a bit more than we bargained for when dad answered the door the first night not entirely dressed! She is the sweetest, kindest baby - her smile is incandescent and her whole face lights up when she sees her mom and dad.

Addy is a little bit quieter than Lilly and she does sleep through the night - however she does snore like a drunken sailor so this might be contributing to her sister's sleeplessness. She smiles at you and her eyes crinkle at the corners exactly like my sister's eyes and my own. She is a delight - she rolls all over the place and spends five minutes or so every hour in deep concentrated thought (probably on how her very exsistence has enabled her Aunt Cat to help the economy).

All in all I am completely and totally in love with these tiny, perfect little people.

-Aunt Cat

Teething bites...

Even as newborns, we never had a night like last night--it was beyond miserable. One of us was up every hour and the girls were just mad. Lilly's 2 bottom teeth have appeared and I'm certain Addy has at least one, but she's too cranky for us to even confirm. They have colds combined with the teething, so they are drooling, snotty, gross girls. As things go, I'm sure that this too shall pass.

I survived my pre-vacation test away from the girls last week. I had a couple teary nights on the phone, but overall, it was a good trip and probably healthy for all involved. As for next week, well that's another story. Jeremy and I are vacationing for the first time since before I found out I was pregnant. He won an incentive trip for work, so we are cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale and through Cozumel, Mexico and Belize. The grandparents are taking shifts. We'll see how it all plays out.

Another first last week, we cut Addy's hair. It is growing in, so the baby hairs were waspy and Einstein like, so we decided a trim was in order. It's still slightly out of control, but better.

The first video below is introducing apples to Lilly, her faces are hilarious. The second is Addy laughing with dad (again). And of course, an updated picture in their new J-Lo outfits...just when you thought they couldn't get any cuter.

Dad's Test

Another week has passed in the Ash house and it has come time for me to venture away on my first real "trip" without my hubby or the girls. I'm traveling to Boston for a work conference. This is the same conference I went to when I was 18 weeks along, but this year it is in Boston instead of Orlando. I'm excited to see old friends from grad school, but I'm still uncertain about leaving my munchkins for 3 1/2 days. Jeremy has called in reinforcements, so Grandma Jody and Grandma Linda are both helping, so we'll just have to wait and see...

Eating continues to be an adventure. Lilly is doing well, she hates peas and bananas, but could eat sweet potatoes for days. Here is her best post dinner picture...

Addy on the other hand is a disaster. She is Ms. Independence and insists on doing it herself, she grabs the spoon and when you take it out of her hand, she screams. So, you end up putting food on a spoon, giving it to her, she gets a small amount into her mouth, then yank the spoon away and shove another one in her hand with food on it before she notices the first one is gone. It's quite comical. Here is her post dinner picture.

Jen continues to be such a blessing for us. We consider ourselves so fortunate that she is able to watch our girls. They adore her and light up when she walks into the room. Here's a picture of her with them.
Lastly, here is a picture of them in their "work stations" they are busy little bees and still love the colors and noises of these contraptions.

That's it for this week. Aunt Cat--Happy Birthday! Everyone else, say a little prayer that mom AND dad survive the week.