But...wait! She's what???

Two. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I really thought she'd stay a baby forever. I look at her baby photos and really can't even remember what she was like. She's such a funny, sweet little stinker. I don't know where to begin to describe her personality and all she does. She passed the 2 year doctor's test with flying colors, because of course she is the smartest child ever. Grandma and grandpa came to town, and P got to spend her birthday weekend in a hotel, with a pool and fruit loops and a very funny maid who sang happy birthday. Grandma organized a very cute little party for her, and somehow the room was FILLED with presents. I've never seen such a spoiled child, yet I still love to get stuff for her. Maybe it's the expression on her face when she sees something new and wondrous, or hearing her exclaim "wow! doggies" when she rips off the paper.

I really really really wish I could figure out how this happened so that I could recreate it for Halloween.


Grandma found the most adorable little cake that was shaped like a Maltese puppy. Which of course she wouldn't eat. Her birthday cake was m&ms. See this look below? It's called her crusty look and she's almost got it perfected. I'm assuming by the time she is 12 she'll have it just right.




Cows. Or moos as P calls them. They were in our backyard. This is not a normal occurance, even though we live in farm country. I'm still a city girl so this was disturbingly fascinating to me.

See the wood on the left? That's my deck. And the trees in my backyard. And the cows in the trees.


I got this funny dog costume for our dog, but it was too small for her.



Paisley's "asses."

Whiny days

Happy anniversary to my in-laws, Karen and Calvin. They've been married for a crazy amount of time, like 42 years. And they're not even old. My MIL has been visiting for the last week, and she's driving me crazy! Just kidding, she's amazing, and is really like another mother to me, but also like my best friend. I wish she didn't live all the way in Utah, I'd rather she just moved in with me. She doesn't get frustrated with Paisley the way I do, she has a lot more patience, and because it's not her child she finds her antics hysterical. I actually usually do too, unless it's the constant whining and pleading to go outside.swing.slide.cobey.pool.show.blankie.juice.walk.byebye. I guess it doesn't help that I can see her two top eyeteeth under her gums. That can't feel good. Anyway, here are the absolutely gorgeous roses that Calvin begged me to go to town to get so sweetly ordered from a flower delivery service and had sent to my house.




Karen also spoils this child rotten. Here's Paisley's birthday present, although I'm sure it won't be the only one. Must say though that buying a swingset at the end of the season is a great idea. And? I put it together ALL BY MYSELF. Well, Karen read the instructions but I did all the grunt work. I only had to take it apart maybe 6 times, so it was a success. The empty spot now has a baby swing hanging, so I know we'll be living in the back yard for the next 2 months. I was surprised at how much my ass was sore the day after we did this! I should put these together all the time, it's a good workout.





Here's my budding gymnast. She's seriously a monkey.






Paisley loves to attack me and use me as her jungle gym.



I went to get her from her nap the other day, and found this. She was able to open the drawers on her crib and threw all of her tights across the room. I never realized how many tights she had. Guess we'll be wearing skirts all winter.




This is one of my favorites. I love watching her pretend play, and I guess the baby needed to go potty. We've been working on Paisley going potty, but haven't gotten very far. I'm just trying to get her used to the idea first. She does enjoy sitting on it, and asks frequently to sit on it without her diaper. Maybe one of these days something will actually happen.

Terrible almost twos

Paisley is almost 2. She definitely acts like it. I always thought the phrase "terrible twos" was just a saying. It's not. She's a little hellion. I'm thinking they act like this because they understand most things, but they can't communicate what they want or how they feel, so they get frustrated easily. I just try to take that into consideration when I'm so frustrated with her, and it usually helps me stay calm and patient. Usually. I can't seem to get anything done with her around, because she is either constantly begging for my attention or getting into something she couldn't. This morning she opened the front door and was headed for the street! So if anyone ever comes to my house, that's why it's a mess. It's so nice to have P to take the blame.

This was way back in June, but I love how she manages to get M&Ms all over her face. And hands. And clothes.

Her other favorite food: chips. Any kind, anywhere.


These colorwonder things are awesome. The markers and fingerpaints are great because they are clear and only work on a certain paper. No messy fingerprints on the wall! The paints do get a little goopy, but when you stick your whole finger in I guess that's what happens. It's a little hard to clean off too. And Paisley? So proud of her, she only tried to eat it once.






Her obsession with shoes has reached a whole new level. She's conned her grandmother into helping her take her shoes off and on. And off. And on. Over and over and over...at least 20 times a day. Same shoes on and off, my shoes, her other shoes. It's a little ridiculous. She takes her sandals off in the car, then gets mad at me because I can't put them on while I'm driving. She picked these tennis shoes out, I would not normally pair a cute dress with tennies.

Long time gone

Two weeks and no pics. Bad Ashley. I seriously have the hardest time getting pics of P. She's a little whirlwind and I have lots of pics of her hair. We went to KC a few weeks back for a family reunion and a birthday party for my dad. How cute is my niece? She just started kindergarten, I cannot believe she's old enough for that!



Every morning Paisley would help Papa water his flowers, and she'd come in with these darling daisies in her hair. These kids love their Papa, and between P and her 2 year old cousin, his lap is always full. It got to the point where she wouldn't even come to me, which she had never done before.


I think I've posted pics of this before, one of Paisley's favorite activities. At least going up and down the stairs is a good workout for me, right? I think I bore her, because she does this, or constantly asks to go "bye bye." Not really sure where bye bye is, but it's not home. We often go down the street to her best friend Cobey's house. They tend to get along really well (as well as 2 year olds do) and she asks about him all day. The way she says his name sounds like Boppy, so I hear a lot of "Boppy? Go bye bye? Boppy?"

some favorites

3 years ago today...

I know I have more photos than this of our rehearsal dinner, but I can't find them on the computer. Here are a few pages from our scrapbook...