Do You Know Where Your Child Is?

Well, I've done it again....gone over a month without posting. Here's a re-cap of what we've been up to.

This is Ashlyn's latest cheesy grin. She's also started giving dirty looks when something happens she doesn't like - we're not so fond of those! She says "Hi" to EVERYONE- what a friendly child! She'll say it over and over again to her reflection in the mirror or pictures of herself. Of course she'll never do it on camera while I'm trying to record her cute little voice.

We went to Derek's parent's home in St. George for Memorial weekend. We met them there as well as his sister Heather and her cute family. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as well as we'd have liked - hopefully we can look back one day and laugh. Just as we were packing the car and ready to take off, Derek said he was feeling kinda achy. That was on Wednesday. We got there just before midnight after an incredibly long car ride. On Thursday we were able to go to a movie thanks to Heather and Jared for watching Ashlyn! Derek had a high fever, kept breaking out into huge sweats, and was complaining of ear aches. By 4:00am Friday morning, Derek was on his way in to the emergency room escorted by his dad. Turns out that he had Influenza A. Yes, the same strand as the Swine Flu (it took several days before we found out that it wasn't actually the dreaded swine flu)! So he was quarantined to the bedroom for the day. Heather has 3 kids & Brynleigh was not quite 8 weeks old at the time so we were trying to be very careful. I swore up and down that I was feeling great and Ashlyn and I were showing no symptoms.

By Saturday I'd developed a cough & achiness, & I felt so awful when Spencer (3) had to go to the ER that night. Of 'course it would all happen in the middle of the night! When all was said and done, Derek, Spencer, Madelyn, Ashlyn, and Myself had all got hit.

With all that went on, the only pictures I took for the weekend were at the pool.

Ashlyn just had a bit of a fever for a couple days after getting home & then she was fine. I, however, had not gotten better after a week and finally went in to the doctor. What had started as the flu turned into Strep Throat and it took another week after that to really get feeling better. I had to reschedule a RS Enrichment Activity that I was hosting and postpone a trip to Utah to visit my family. Then it took another two weeks to catch up on housework and activities from my downtime. Knock on wood, things are back to "normal" around here. Once again....Heather, I'm sooooo sorry!

We stopped by the St. George Temple grounds before heading home.

For living in the Valley of the Sun, you'd sure think I'd have a better tan by now!

We made a pit stop in Lake Havasu to see the London Bridge. I was feeling pretty crappy, but from what I remember of it we had fun :)

What a Cute Daddy!

We haven't put gates up for quite a while now so Ash pretty much has free reign of the house (of course we've learned to still keep the bathroom doors tightly shut). Well, this night I was in the kitchen making dinner and Derek was upstairs in the loft playing video games. We both thought she was with the other. That was our first mistake. Then Derek heard noises coming from behind the chair. You may know of his love for the Hostess cupcake. Well, let's just say he's not leaving open packages lying around any more...

This all happened just hours after I had so proudly taken pics of Ashlyn eating her first lollipop. Yah, talk about a sugar high that night!

There is an awesome couple in our ward that I've gotten to know a bit. They got a Baby Grande piano and I was able to inherit their old upright piano. We don't have a lot of spare room or walls in our house and this thing is old and in total need of a makeover, but I didn't care. I was so excited to get it and start playing again. It's in the dining room/kitchen and that's where it's staying 'cause the thing is so stinkin' heavy I can't budge it to move anywhere else. I hired a mover to get it in and it just might stay with the house if we ever leave!

The only time I really get to practice is when Ashlyn is sleeping. She's a budding and talented little musician with incredibly helping hands! She's also very resourceful at getting what she wants:
You might be asking "Why not just put the cover down?". Well, it only took her about 20 minutes after having it in the house to figure out how to open it.

This was just cute - Almost.......

Now you've got it!

Not quite done being a bragging mommy yet...

We've decided to have a Pulsipher Family Fun Day once a month where we plan to do something fun & educational around our community. On Saturday, for our first official PFFD, we went to the Tucson Zoo. It was incredibly ghetto, but worth the $6 and there were plenty of trees to keep cool & out of the sun.

Ashlyn's starting to learn her animals. I figure if I keep talking and repeating things, she'll eventually catch on, right?

She definitely knows and loves her ducks! The "Gucks" say "Gack, Gack". Traslation: She knows that Ducks say Quack, Quack. She picks out the ducks in the bath toys and in all the books. Once she picks them out and knows what pages they're on, then she starts calling all the animals ducks. That's okay, I'll still think she's the smartest baby in the world.

And finally......... I'm so happy that her hair is finally starting to grow a bit. Okay, not tons, but enough that I can gel her curly little mullet and put a tiny ponytail on top of her head. It's even keeping in barrettes as long as she doesn't realize they're there. Yay!

Alright, think I'm done for now.

Thanks for checkin' in!

Shayla, if you're reading this, will you re-invite me to view yours? rashellj@hotmail.com