Ashley Plus One

The Sixth Month

2009-08-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

I could not believe that my baby turned six months old at the end of April! Time has just gone so fast! I wanted to do a celebration, but Anton had to work late that night, so it was just Jackie Bear and I hanging out that day. He is such a sweet baby and always has been.

April included Easter with the ward Easter Egg Hunt and his own Easter basket from the Bunny. He spent that day (and pretty much every day) jumping in his little jumpy. He was addicted to that thing! Too bad it didn't last after he learned to crawl.

Jack at the ward Easter Egg Hunt

Me and Jack on Easter, after church

Dad and Jack playing with his Easter basket

Jumpin' Jack

Daddy's little boy!

Me and Jack at the park

We let Jack try some cool whip and he loved it!

Jack on his 6 Month Birthday!!

The Fifth Month

2009-08-09T17:17:00.001-07:00

We started this month with painting one wall of our family room bold red! This project started while at dinner with my visiting teachers when I told them how I wanted to change my house after being stuck in it for so long during my pregnancy. They told me to paint a wall a bold color and put up curtains, so I did! Adriana even came over and helped me paint it red after we had primed it. We made a huge mess and got paint on the carpet, so Anton banned us from doing the second coat - which he did and it looked great after that :)

I also had the chance to go home for a few days this month. My siblings and I all rocked out to Guitar Hero the whole time we were there!

This month was also St. Patrick's Day, so we had our annual dinner of corn beef and green cornbread complete with green honeybutter and green lemonade. And Jack was my little Leprachaun this year!

March concluded with my birthday and our first time leaving Jack with a babysitter. Anton and Jack took me out to dinner on my actual birthday to McCormick and Schmick's, which is my favorite restaurant! Jack slept almost the whole time so Anton and I had a great romantic, relaxing evening! Then on Saturday we left Jack with the Smith girls and Anton took me to see "Wicked." It was amazing! I love musicals and this one did not disappoint! It made me nervous to leave Jack for the first time, but once the show started I was able to relax and just enjoy myself!

Adriana and I painting the floor...um, wall

My brother, Adam, and I rocking out. I totally beat him, well, in my dreams I did :)

Anton with Jack and his cousin, Kennedy

My mom gave me these GWTW dolls for my birthday - it's my favorite movie and where I got the name, Ashley

My sister, Laurel, snuggling with Jack after church

A Slovenian eating my Irish dinner!

I just love this picture of Jack - he looks so sweet and you can see the drool running off his chin. It was around this time that the faucet turned on

Are you a good witch or bad witch?

The Fourth Month

2009-07-26T16:37:00.001-07:00

February: So I am bad because I don't remember too much about this month. Other than Valentine's Day - my first one with TWO Valentine's! Anton made me breakfast in bed and then I got to take a super long bath - my favorite! When I got out of the bath Jack was waiting with a present for me! Then my two boys took me out to dinner at Outback for my favorite meal of Alice Springs Chicken. The other big event from this month is that I had book club at my house - complete with a chocolate fountain - Yum!

A funny thing happened at a visit to the doctor, though: We were at the ear, nose and throat doctor and the nurse came into the room to fill out some stuff on the computer from Jack's file. He just stared at her and grunted and then smiled - waiting for her to look, but she didn't. So he grunted louder and louder and smiled until she finally acknowledged him. Anton and I were silently cracking up waiting to see what all he would try to get her attention. He definitely is used to being the star!

Jack with his Valentine's present for me - a book about mothers and a sweet card!

Jack and I just hanging out on the bed resting when Daddy got home

We had this Air Jordan outfit for him and we decided he needed some bling - like a real playa would have :)

Wearing his hat made by his Aunt Laurel

The Third Month

2009-07-26T15:50:00.001-07:00

The beginning of the third month saw us coming back from Utah and trying to settle into an actual routine - not just pure survival. I spent a lot of January trying to reclaim my house from the disaster that is made from being sick while pregnant and then down with a c-section. I swear there was not one square inch of my house that had not gone completely to pot. Also, Jack started getting more active and rolling over and even cuter then before!

Anton and Jack after church. Anton was so proud to have a mini-Anton!

We used this picture of Jack for his birth announcements, which we finally got sent out a couple months late. He was getting so good at smiling!

Anton and I bought this onesie in Memphis, TN during a trip to Graceland a couple years ago. It says, "Future Elvis Impersonator Thank You, Thank You Very Much" The little guitar is courtesy of Build a Bear.

Jack and Dad spending some quality time with the play mat

Still Momma's boy, though :)

The Second Month

2009-07-09T15:16:00.001-07:00

The second month began with Anton's mom, Sharon, coming out for a visit for a few days to meet her newest grandson. Grandsons are not a new thing for her - Jack makes #9 with only two granddaughters. It was great spending time with her and she helped at night with Jack so I could continue sleeping to heal from the C-section. Then we prepared for Christmas during the Big Snowstorm of '08 - it made it hard to finish shopping and a big adventure to get to the airport. We spent one night in a hotel by the airport and one night at the airport itself waiting to get on a flight to Utah. We finally made it there the morning of the 24th and my family met Jack for the first time! My sister, Laurel, held him first and started crying - it was so sweet! We celebrated our first Christmas with a baby, which was wonderful, except I ended up in the ER with severe stomach pains. I ended up with emergency gall bladder surgery that we had not anticipated at all! I just sat in the ER saying, "Are you freaking kidding me?" over and over. I thought I had been through enough with such a hard pregnancy and that nightmare C-section, but I had one more physical problem to go. So, I got my gall bladder out while we were in Utah - the one good thing from having that done before the end of that awful year is that we had already maxed out our out-of-pocket expenses with health insurance, so the whole thing only cost us $100. Also while in Utah, we blessed Jack at my parent's ward. He looked so adorable in his little white tux! The blessing was beautiful and I was so proud!

Jack sleeping on Grandma Sharon - everyone always commented on how sweet he was - and they were right!

Our house decked out for Christmas - the snow and red shovel made it so Norman Rockwell

Jack bundled up in his blue bear snowsuit and me wearing, well, the only thing that fit after having a baby :)

Jolly old St.Nic

Jack with Grandma Jenny - my mom

Jack on Christmas night in his little red robe from Grandma - he looks like Christmas to me!

Ignore how hideous I look right after surgery and see how happy Jack was to see me after being separated from me all day! It made my Momma heart so happy to see that he did love me - he just squealed when Anton brought him into the room and he heard my voice!

The day of the blessing with GGMaMa Wanda and GGPaPa Ted - my grandpa

Jack with my beautiful sister

The whole family minus my brother Brennan who was a mission - I love this picture of all of us! My brother Adam, his daughter Kennedy, and wife, Erina, my Mom and Dad and Jack, my sister, Laurel, and me and Anton

Month One Addendum

2009-07-09T15:11:00.001-07:00

So, I forgot to mention a couple major events of Jack's first month of life. When he was 3 weeks old and I had had approximately 6 hours of sleep total, we called for reinforcements - my Grandma Wanda. She flew out here two days after we called and stayed for ten days including for Thanksgiving. She took care of Jack so I could sleep during the day and even took one of the nighttime feedings with a bottle that I pumped ahead of time. She also made me eat and cleaned up my house. Yay! I felt like a new woman after she left! She also helped me get out of the house a couple times while she was here - to the grocery store and over to our friends, the Sammons, to watch the BYU v. Utah game. Even though Gma Wanda cheered for the U we were still so grateful to have her here.

Jack sleeping fitfully on his GGMaMa

Jack dressed up for Thanksgiving with his own pumpkin - he looks a little like a space cadet, but he's still cute!

Jack's first BYU game with Daddy - and Dave and Nick Sammons - too bad it didn't turn out better!

The First Month

2009-06-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

"You said to go back to the beginning, well, this is the beginning." I will spare the gory details, but the Reader's Digest version of his birth is that after 14 hours of labor, he came by way of a C-section. He was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and absolutely perfect! I had a rough time with the surgery and spent five days in the hospital and had two blood transfusions before they would let me go home. It was A LOT rougher experience than I had anticipated and the first month is really a blur of painkillers and no sleep. But here are some of the highlights.

I was sooooo excited to see that he had hair when he was born!! All the babies on my side of the family are baldies, so he definately got the hair gene from Daddy.

He was born on October 30, 2008, so the next day was Halloween and we were ready with his first costume - a Pirate! He was the star of the maternity ward that day because of being dressed for the occasion :)

This is his first bath at home. It was the first time we wet his hair and realized that it was super curly when wet!

I had to include a picture of him with Daddy - they match in their little red shirts. It's funny how everything was so huge on Jackson the first month - even all the 0-3 month clothes drowned him. It's hard to remember how tiny he was now that he is bigger. And he looks so perfect there with Dad - Anton has been the best father any kid (or Mom) could ever ask for!

My sister-in-law, Meredith, came to visit with her four month old son, Gregory, when Jack was 3 weeks old. We got them Thing 1 and Thing 2 onesies! They were so cute together! But, as I said things are kind of a blur from this time period.

Seven Months Later...

2009-06-18T17:35:00.001-07:00

So, I have been seriously delinquent with doing my blog, but I have a good excuse...Jack! I have never been a blogging mom before - I've never been any kind of mom before and it is serious business. But, I love it so much! My plan is to catch up on what has happened in his little life over the next couple weeks. I want to go month by month with a quick recap. But, I couldn't resist posting a couple of my favorite pics from the last seven months.

This is my Jackaroni at the beach last weekend. He LOVED the sand!

This is my first pic with my baby. Right after they took him out, Anton was able to hold him up to my face for me to kiss him.

Is this a cover for GQ or what??!

The 41st Week Pregnant

2008-10-28T15:43:00.001-07:00

So, Jack did not come by C-section on the 16th as was planned. We went to the hospital that Thursday and they put in my IV and got everything set and we were only 5 minutes away from our scheduled time and the dr. decided to do a last minute ultrasound to check the position of the baby and what do ya know - he had turned around! The dr. gasped! We were all completely shocked. The nurses and everyone crowded around me and the machine and every single one of them said they had never seen a baby turn at the last second like that. He literally had turned that day! So, they called off the c-section and we went to Plan B (a plan that I did not even know existed). Well, they gave me some medicine to get my cervix ready for labor and we spent the night in the hospital. The nice thing was that I got to eat dinner after fasting all day. The next morning (Friday) they put me on pitocin. It got things going and I had contractions all day on Friday, but if they didn't keep increasing the dose, the contractions would slow down or stop. The dr. came back to the hospital to check my progress that evening and decided that I needed a break from the pitocin. So, they turned off the drug and let me eat dinner (after fasting all day again because you can't eat while on the medicine). I had not made a ton of progress for the all the contractions so that was disheartening. The dr. decided to give it one more try with the pitocin at a lower dose overnight and check me again in the morning. So, we spent another night in the hospital trying to get my body to take over naturally. So, by Saturday morning when the dr. came back and checked me again and saw that my body wasn't taking over for the medicine, we went to Plan C (a plan that was so far out of my realm of imagination that I could not even conceive by how much I had lost control of the situation). Plan C meant that we came home from the hospital with no baby and we have been waiting for me to go into labor.

But, that hasn't happened and I am now a week overdue, so they are inducing me again tomorrow. I am trying to be positive that my body will take over for the pitocin this time. If not, they will end up doing a c-section anyway, so I hope that is not the case.

The funny thing is that my family was in town all of last week waiting for Jackson to come with no success. They had to go home on Saturday so now they won't get to see him until we go home to Utah for Christmas. That part is a bummer, but it was fun to be able to show them around Portland and even take them to the beach. So here's a couple pics from the actual last week of this pregnancy with my family. Wish me luck tomorrow!!

My mom and sister and I at Cannon Beach. They froze their feet off getting in the water!

My dad and my Anton - too cool to put their feet in the freezing water.

My beautiful baby sis, Laurel, who is sixteen years old today. Happy Birthday, Sweet 16!

7 Weird Things about Me - Like there's only 7

2008-10-03T22:59:00.001-07:00

I am so excited because this is the first time I have ever been tagged! Thanks, Elizabeth!

1- Since Elizabeth started out with her weird food fetish, I will start out with mine. I HATE mint and chocolate. It is the grossest combination of flavors ever invented. Why ruin perfectly good chocolate by mixing it with the flavor of toothpaste?

2- I cannot go a day without watching an episode of MASH. It is my absolutely favorite show and I have all the seasons on DVD. I started watching MASH at night before going to bed when I was twelve and it was on right after the nightly news. When I got married, I drove Anton crazy with having to fall asleep with the tv on, but he is now converted to watching an episode of MASH each night as we fall asleep. It's my favorite, most cozy part of the day to lay in bed with my husband and laugh at jokes that are 30 years old.

3- In 2nd grade I use to beat up boys while my "gang" of girlfriends would sing the then popular song "ManEater." What else is there to say?

4- When I turned 21 my grandpa took me Vegas and gave me $200 to "learn to gamble with." Turns out, I am REALLY good at Roulette. I mean I have like a 6th sense or something. I have only played a few times, but I never lose! Vegas, anyone?

5- My favorite music is Showtunes. I love them!! In fact, I can sing every word to every song in MANY musicals. Give me a topic and I'll give you a song from a musical that applies.

6- I have a weird way of dealing with stress...especially physical stress when I need to get my mind off the situation (like at the dentist)...I recite the Presidents of the United States and the years they were in office. It really takes my mind off the situation and calms me. I've also used this tactic when annoying people are talking to me and I can't handle listening to them anymore. I started doing this in high school if my parents were lecturing me :)

7- I like big hair and I cannot lie. If the 80's ever come back, I'm in business. My personal grooming motto is "The higher the hair, the closer to God."

Hopefully, this hasn't scared anyone away from being friends with me, but there you have it. I tag Lisa, Merilee, Darilyn, and Meredith to share their quirks with the blogging world.

Ahoy Mateys!

2008-10-01T14:05:00.001-07:00

Anton and I attended the 3rd Annual Portland Pirates Festival two weeks ago and it was crazy! We were not planning on dressing up - mostly because we do not have traditional pirate garb in our wardrobe - but then a friend offered us their pirate outfits. We totally looked the part! Okay, Anton totally looked the part and I mostly looked like a pregnant lady with no sense of style. But, it was fun to see everyone else dressed up, too! So, for anyone looking for a swashbuckling good time next year, head to the pirate festival for food, music, entertainment and some wicked good people watching.

Captain Anton The Pirates fight the British

He got me booty!

Feelin' Good in the Neighborhood

2008-07-30T17:04:00.001-07:00

So in case you don't recognize it, that is Applebees' slogan. And I had Applebees on the brain lately because of their 3-Course Combo commercials. That, and I have been craving meat lately - I think the baby must need iron or something. So Anton and I went to Applebees so I could get a steak. We get there and sit down and the waiter comes to take our order. He takes my order first and because I am pregnant (okay, I'm just using that as an excuse, really I'm just a pig and was starving) I order the 3-Course combo and get honey BBQ chicken wings for my appetizer, then a side salad with ranch, the steak and baked potato yes with butter and sour cream, and a strawberry cheesecake dessert shooter. The waiter is like alright, you are hungry. Then Anton orders - and I could have killed him - a salad with dressing on the side. Seriously, I felt like such a hog. But, it gets worse. A guy other than our waiter brings out the chicken wings and side salad and asks, "Who gets the wings?" Anton points to me. Then the waiter tries to put the side side salad in front of Anton, but my loving husband says, "That's hers, too." He couldn't just let the guy sit it down and then hand it over to me later. So, I eat my wings and salad and then they bring my steak and potato and Anton's salad (with dressing ON THE SIDE). We eat all that and the waiter brings my dessert with two spoons. Silly waiter...let's just say only one of them got used - my husband who laughed at me the whole time didn't deserve any dessert. But, I must recommend this menu option to my faithful readers because it was DELICIOUS!! Just make your husband order real food so you don't look like a pig like I did. But, I rationalized gorging myself with the fact I have only gained 5 pounds during this pregnancy because of how sick I was for so long. Hopefully, I won't make up for it all now in the last couple months.

My Best Friend, Lisa

2008-07-16T19:42:00.001-07:00

This blog is a catch up blog from about a month ago. I don't know where time goes, but mine is going faster it seems. But, I didn't want to miss posting about the fun I had when Lisa and her two boys visited me. Lisa and her husband, Nic, and kids are living with her family in Seattle for the summer, so we are finally close enough to visit for the first time in years!

The one on the left is her youngest, Bennett, and the one on the right is Little Nic - he's taking a picture of Lisa taking a picture of us :)

I love this picture of Bennett and my kitty looking at each other through the cat door. He chased my cat around the whole time, but he couldn't get at her in the garage because the door was too small :)

We took the boys to the zoo one afternoon. Lisa (who is pregnant, too) and I only lasted a couple hours, but it was fun.

The boys were a little nervous about the dinosaurs that roared, but they forged ahead...

It was a fun couple days and I loved seeing my Lisa again! I will post pics of her in a few days because I am getting a chance to see her again.

It's a Boy!

2008-06-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

I had my 20 week appointment last week so we got to watch a fun, long ultrasound of the baby. He looks like a real baby now! I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago to check on a problem and the technician said it looked like a boy so we have been planning on a boy for the past month. But, now it's confirmed! I have felt like it's a boy from the beginning and boys run in Anton's family BIG time. His family had 6 six boys and then 2 girls and of the 12 grandkids 10 of them are boys. So, we knew the odds of having a boy were pretty strong. I am totally a girly girl so I am going to need a crash course in boy stuff :) Boys like going to the mall, right?
The name we are planning on is Jackson Anton Valencic. Baby Jack - has a nice ring to it! Jackson is a family name on my mother's side - my 4X's great grandpa was Jackson Andrew Yarbrough and he died during the Civil War in a Northern prisoner of war camp. So, I like the name because it's a good Southern name and I like the nickname Jack. Anton prefers the full name Jackson because it's tough but distinguished :)

Here is Jackson's profile. I love that you can see his little hand!

Here are his tiny little feet pushed up against me!

Mother Trucker

2008-06-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

So, my husband got a new truck for work. He works for Hilti (a company that supplies tools to construction companies) and had previously been driving a red Hilti van. Thankfully, he traded that in for a truck recently. The van was noisy and icky and smelled like it had been used to transport people from Mexico. But, the new truck is a smooth ride and smells brand new. It's also really comfortable on my back so I love driving it around now. Anton thinks it's funny for a pregnant woman to prefer driving his big truck so he has taken to calling me a "Mother Trucker" whenever I drive it. He thinks he's pretty funny and I have to agree since the name makes me sound pretty tough :)

Anton with his new truck filled to the brim with power tools. There's just something women like about a pickup man!

The Mother Trucker! Still a sweet ride even though it has the Hilti logo on it.

Tick Tock

2008-05-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

I found out how to add a baby ticker to my blog! I thought it was going to be so hard, but it was a piece of cake. I feel so technologically advanced now that I am a blogger :) Anyway, I am due on October 21 and now everyone can watch us get closer! It seems so far away and I am ready to have the baby right now - I want to dress up and snuggle a baby today!

There's No Place Like Home

2008-05-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Now that I am back among the land of the living I was able to take a short trip home to see my family. It was so much fun! My mom took me shopping for maternity clothes since I am going to get big soon!! My sister, Laurel, competed in a local beauty pageant and won! I talked to my brother, Brennan, who is on a mission. I met my new niece, Kennedy. And I was able to see two of my bestest friends and Anton's sister who lives in Utah. I had a great time and realized how much I miss everyone. I have been sleeping nonstop since getting home because that much fun wore me out! But, it was worth it.

My niece, Kennedy - I love the crooked smile!

My mom and I on my first Mother's Day!

My sister and a friend after the pageant.

Laurel being crowned by last year's winner - isn't she gorgeous?!

My friends, Kari and Heather - two of the best women I've ever known.

Anton and I with his sister, Amanda, and her new car.

Flippin' Baby!

2008-04-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

So, I have been sooo excited to tell everyone about our funny baby. I went to the doctor and she needed to do an ultrasound to check the baby’s heart (just standard procedure for 12 weeks along). So, I was laying on the table and Anton was standing next to me and the doctor was on the other side doing the ultrasound. She found the baby inside of me and was saying stuff like, “Here’s the baby’s head. Here’s the torso. And if we look really close, we can see the baby’s heart fluttering.” That lasted all of a few seconds and then the baby kicked their feet above their head and started doing flip after flip! The dr. had to lift the ultrasound wand off and me and let the baby settle down and then she tried to check out the heart again by pushing down on me, but the baby kept doing the same thing!! We were all cracking up! She said the baby must be doing great to already have personal space issues at 12 weeks old. The funny little thing is only 2 inches long, but already is pretty sassy! We are proud parents! But we knew any baby of ours is definitely going to be a character :)

Thanks

2008-04-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to thank everyone for all your support. It was my birthday a couple weeks ago and I was actually dreading it because of being so sick and thinking no one would even know it was my birthday. But, I had a great birthday! Several people stopped by and brought me flowers or a card. It was so sweet! I am so grateful for all my new friends here in Oregon. Also, thanks to everyone who has brought dinner over to Anton and to my sweet visiting teachers, Adrianna and Claudia.

My Secret

2008-03-02T15:03:00.001-08:00

Well, it's time to let everyone in on my little secret...I am pregnant!! Yep, that's right - ME! After years of waiting and hoping and trying everything from special herbs to specialists I am very unexpectedly pregnant :) Anton and I had given up on trying to have a baby and had just completed our adoption paperwork with LDS Social Services. After not feeling "quite right" for a few days, I made an appointment with my doctor. In order to avoid the inevitable question, "Are you sure you're not pregnant?" I decided to take a home pregnancy test so that I could assure the doctor that was not the problem. After using the test stick, I set it on the ground and went about my morning for a few minutes. I did not even want to look at the dumb thing because after about 40 negative tests I could not stand to see another negative sign. So, imagine my shock when I picked up that stick and saw a positive sign for the first time ever! I could not have been more surprised if I woke up tomorrow morning with my head sewn to the carpet. I just took the test and sat on my bed and prayed, "Heavenly Father...Really??!" I literally could NOT believe it for several hours. My mom called and I had to talk to her like nothing was going on - which is crazy hard for me because I have absolutely no poker face. I swear I did not hear a single word she said! I just kept trying to say, "Uh-huh" at the right times. Then I had to wait for Anton to get home to tell him. It was the LONGEST wait of my life. I almost went completely crazy waiting for him. FINALLY, he got home. I was sitting on the bed and when he came in I asked him to go in my closet and grab the yellow sweater hanging in the front because I needed something out of the pockets. The yellow sweater is a maternity sweater that my mom bought for me years ago and says "Baby" on it. He grabbed the sweater and reached into the pockets and pulled out the pregnancy test (two of them actually - I had to double check!). He yelled out to me, "Are you serious?!" then came staggering back to the bed. Neither of us could even believe that it had finally happened for us! His next question was, "How did this happen?" After a brief and loving explanation I found myself thinking, "I wish he'd said he was unclear on the process years ago - we could have had 6 kids by now!" Just kidding, honey. He just couldn't believe that once we stopped going to doctors and trying that is when I get pregnant.

So, that has been our little secret for the past couple weeks. We are so grateful and excited! It has already been a very rough road, however. I have been very sick with throwing up/nausea, etc. I always said I wanted to lose some weight before having a baby...I guess I should have been more specific :) But I am taking some medicines now that are starting to help me keep liquids down and a little toast. I am very grateful I live in this time and place where I can get good medical help.

I will keep everyone posted on how our little apple seed(that's how big the baby is this week) is coming along.

My Maiden Voyage

2008-02-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

The title is a misnomer since I am not a maiden. But, I am creating this blog with some other cute women from my ward. Now I am high tech!!