More Updates from when I was gone...ALMOST DONE! After we left the hospital: Oh Wait-another cute video of family waiting for the arrival of Brodie my brother David made: Have I mentioned that my family is extremely talented.:) My sister has done birth pics, 3 day old pics, & Easter pics....when she's not busy editing all of her paid clients-we will have our pics! hehe. Those are coming soon!

Just a few memories since I've been gone...
October 2011-Brodie was Born!
November 2011- We celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a family!

December 2011-We celebrated our first Christmas

January 2012-Brodie had his first cold so we stayed in New Years Eve. Our family came and brought in the New Year at our place.
March 2012-Well, we SOLD our NEW house! As bummed as we were, we knew we needed to move back closer to home. We put it on the market and we left it in Gods hands. Within days, we had a great buyer and had it sold. We bought another home back in my hometown! It wasn't ready for a move in until May 1st so we moved back in with my parents. Luckily, they had an extra room available...BECAUSE....my baby sister got married March 24th! She had a beautiful wedding at the Woodlawn Plantation. It is a beautiful historic home surround by gardens. It rained all day up until the wedding and it dried off to make it absolutely gorgeous. The bride was breath-taking & the groom was so handsome. It was a perfect day and we gladly welcomed Jareb into the family. (Pictures to come soon).
April-My cousin Stephanie got married April 21st. I was a bridesmaid and was honored to be apart of her big day. The ceremony was held at her in-laws place. They built a huge barn just for the occasion. It was beautiful. Pics to come!

I forgot to mention in the update that Phillip and I became the Children's Pastor at IWC. He has stepped up so much since we jumped in with me being at the end of my pregnancy and then having Brodie. Brodie and I usually attend the 2nd service, but Phillip is there bright and early for both services. We love what we do & we know that we are right where God wants us to be. We love our children at IWC. That being said, we are off to meet a successful Children's Pastor in Gainsville, Florida. We are going with few church members & my mom is coming with us to watch Brodie while were in meetings. We are looking forward to gaining some wisdom this weekend. Be Blessed!

Update Continued...

My Hospital stay flew by. We had so many friends & family come visit and we were adjusting to being new parents. Brodie was so sweet. He slept & slept. I would wake up every 3 hours and wake him up to feed him. My nurse told me that next morning to enjoy the sleep and let him sleep. I just felt like waking up every hour to stare at him. There is nothing like it in this entire world. I now truly understand as best as I can Gods love for his children. We stayed 3 days.

It truly is a whole new world when a baby is born. Life changes. It is a wonderful change. It comes natural and your body happily accepts all that changes. The "sleepless nights" I was warned about became my favorite bonding time with Brodie. It was our time. It was in those times that I learned about him the most...how he likes the temperature of his bottle, how he likes to be held, etc. In his first month, he would wake up every 3-4 hours to be changed and fed. He slept in his bassinet that was attached to his pack-n-play by our bed. I also kept a monitor in there so I could simply look at my night stand and see/hear him breathing. I quickly started working from home so I had a strict routine. My theory on babies thus far is that a baby on a routine is a happy baby. A routine does not mean that you have to stay at home all the time. Me & husband are ALWAYS on the go. It just means that no matter where you are or what you are doing-that your baby is on a routine. At about 2 months old, Brodie outgrew his bassinet. We put him in the bottom of his pack-n-play and he didn't sleep at all. The next night I put him in my bed because I was so tired. He slept through the whole night & we loved him being in the bed. You may think I'm crazy & you may say we are creating a monster but we decided to let him sleep with us and he has every since that night. He also has slept through the night since then.








OKAY, REWIND. I just realized I'm skipping a lot of things...
BABY SHOWERS:
One Monday night at IWC(my church), I was preparing for Soul Steppers practice when one of my best friends Mandy Rahn comes in and asks if the kids could go in with the womens team so they could watch and ask questions. I said sure since my group was small that night. Little did I know, they had a baby shower planned. As I walk through the awakening drama room doors, I see my mom. I look at my sister, Amanda & say "Why is mom here??". She gives me this weird look and then I realize its a surprise shower. The worship and arts teams through my an amazing shower and I received some great gifts



Family Shower-Thanks to my mama, sister, sister-in-law, cousins, & aunts...

 

 

 

 

Looking back-they couldn't of picked a better theme..."Ashley's Little Pumpkin" Brodie was born a few weeks later on Halloween morning. He is my little pumpkin! More to come....