Surprise Baby Shower!

On Monday I was given a great surprise! Here's how it happened-
About a week ago Joe left his cell phone at home when he went out to work. At one point during the day it alarmed me that he had received a text message. When I looked at who it was from it said Beverly (my great friend and his boss's wife). I was not only curious but also worried that maybe Jason (his boss and friend) was trying to get an important message to him....so I looked at the text. It said "Monday the 24th works great for the surprise date for Ashley". OOPS! I suppose I shouldn't have looked at that. When Joe got home I told him what happened...he was not happy!
Anyways, Monday came and Joe still never really mentioned the date again. When he walked in the door from work at 5:30, he says to me "You need to take a shower and get ready for our date, we leave right at 6pm". So I rushed to get ready while he entertained Owen.
I walk out of the bedroom dressed and ready right at 6 when I hear the doorbell. Joe looked through the peep hole and says "It's for you". Hmmmm... I was really confused...I thought maybe he was making this a seriously fancy date by having flowers delivered or something like that! But when I opened the door, it was my friend Beverly (taking a picture of me) and my other friend/neighbor Jen. What??? At that point Beverly told me I wasn't going on a date with Joe, cause I was going with her!

I suppose you can see where this is going now! We picked up another friend, Meg, and went to one of my favorite restaurants, Urban Flats, where several other friends were waiting to surprise me! It was such a fun and special evening. It was great just spending time with friends...and of course having them shower me with gifts was great too!
Thank you so much Beverly for making me and Mason feel so special and loved!

Yummy cupcakes!

Me and Beverly!

So many great practical and adorable gifts! Thank you all so much!!

All of these gifts are from a great internet based shop, "Sew Thoughtful"-by Beverly!
http://sewthoughtfulbybeverly.blogspot.com/

This is my favorite shirt ever! Owen Is going to LOVE his Car shirt!

Recently

My New Favorite Picture!


This is Roxy's little kennel she stays in when we leave the house...I think Owen likes it a lot more than she does!

Owen recently received this hand held football video game in the mail from his Pops...he really likes all the buttons and noise!

Here he is trying to show the sign for touchdown, while not letting go of the game!

Yummy sucker! He picked it out at the doctor since he ws such a champ getting his shots!

Learning to eat yogurt all by himself! We've gotta ways to go!

All Done!

Beach Day!

Driving a car on Dada's back! Owen loves it and Dada loves it!!

I think he's starting to outgrow his crib!

Owen and His Ya-ya

In case you're wondering who Ya-ya is, well that's me...Ashley. I don't exactly know why but Owen has given me the name Ya-ya and has no interest in calling me Mama. In some ways it makes me sad because I've always looked forward to hearing my child call me Mama...not Ya-ya!! But in another way I think it's kinda sweet that he's chosen to give me his own name! So here are of few pics of Owen and his Ya-ya!
Story time!

He gives the best kisses (sorry Joe!)

My Second Mother's Day...I really never thought I would be 30weeks prego by this point!

Playing Peek-a-boo!

Another kiss...but this time through the beach chair!

And here's a pic of me and my other not-so-little baby boy! (31 weeks) I'm measuring 4 weeks ahead! Yes, that's one month!! I honestly don't think the reality has set in yet that we will soon have two little boys!! Please pray for us! :)

Tampa Zoo

On Mother's Day weekend we decided to take Owen to the Tampa Zoo. After researching the Tampa Zoo we found out that is was rated the #1 zoo by Parent's magazine--kinda nice to have that zoo so close by! :-) At the last minute we decided to go ahead and get season passes-one pass is specifically for me and the other is a "guest" pass that anyone can use...so Joe, Beverly, my sister, anyone who wants to tag along with me and Owen to the zoo!


Owen was so brave...he touched the Sting Ray!

We normally only allow "monkey" at home and in the car, but we figured a monkey belonged at the zoo!

Owen's favorite animals at the zoo this time were the birds!

The best part of the zoo might be the 2 mini water parks! Owen LOVED playing in the fountains!


My two boys...they'll have to make room for Mason pretty soon!

Owen was so tired after a fun day at the zoo! He was asleep before I even buckled him in!

Silly Owen

Can I just say I LOVE MY SON!! He is the greatest blessing!! I can honestly say I have the absolute best job in the world...being Owen's Momma all day everyday! I am so thankful that God blessed me with a husband who is willing to sacrifice so much so that I can have the privilege of staying home with our children. A lot of people wonder how we make it on one income...some assume Joe has a monster salary, but that's honestly not the case. We are thankful for the career, company, manager, and salary that God has blessed Joe with, but making it in this world on one salary is no easy task for us. We make many sacrifices as a family, but ultimately we believe we live an incredibly blessed life!
Here are a few pictures from our blessed life with our silly Owen!

Today we were reading a "My First Words" book, and we came to a page with a waffle on it. I said to Owen "Where's the waffle?" He quickly pointed to the waffle and stood up quickly while signing "please". He then looked at me as if saying "follow me" as he pointed to the kitchen and specifically the corner where the toaster and waffle maker are! He said please again and then went to his seat at the kitchen table!! I guess the boy wants waffles for dinner!

Throughout the day while Owen plays, he takes a quick break to "Re-charge" as we call it. He grabs either his monkey or his blankie, lies on the ground, and sucks his thumb...just for a few minutes...then he pops up with a new found burst of energy!

Owen likes to play naked...(yet another way he's like his father;-)

This boy LOVES to be outside! Sometimes I just can't take the FL heat so I offer a compromise and let Owen play on the lani...sometimes he doesn't play...he "re-charges"!

Owen loves play-dates with his friend Owen T.! On this particular morning my Owen kept trying to sit in Owen T.'s lap!!

Owen loves his sleep and he loves his crib! He now lets me know when he's ready for his nap! He picks up his monkey and blankie looks at me with sleepy eyes and I ask "Are you ready to go night-night" He usually says "yes" as he turns and walks to his bedroom and stretches his arms up to get in his crib! So funny!
One evening when I put him in his crib I just stood looking over into his crib where he was snuggled with monkey and blankie. I just wanted to rub his back for a second and admire how cute he is. Well he didn't want any of that...he just wanted his sleep...because he waved bye-bye to me and rolled over and closed his eyes!!!

Since he's been on his feet, Owen has been exploring new places to drive his cars...his current favorite places to cruise is on the couch and on top of his toy chest!


There was a day or two while Owen was cutting his newest tooth when all he wanted to do was snuggle (no complaints here!) So when Da-da got home from work they snuggled-up to watch a little E-L-M-O!

He's never really liked for anything to be on his head...but one day he enjoyed wearing my old toy McDonald's visor! Joe thinks he looks like a robot in this picture!

Weekend Trip to Orlando

This past weekend Owen and I got to tag a long on one of Joe's business trips to Orlando. Joe was able to choose the hotel we stayed at and it had the greatest pool! We've found that Owen is quite the little traveler! He does great in the car and usually has no problems adjusting to new sleeping arrangements (as long as he has his Monkey and Blankie)! Unfortunately is rained a majority of the trip, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the pool, outlets, playground, and Monkey Joe's Bounce House!





For whatever reason, Owen really liked the "just his size" pool chairs!


Someone's starting to get sleepy!

Now both boys are worn out! Time for a nap!

Since it rained Sunday we decided to go to Monkey Joe's!
Check out how blonde Owen's hair is getting in this Florida sun!!


Joe and Owen both had a blast going down the huge slides together! I think Joe was exhausted after climbing up so many times! What a good Daddy!


Peacefully sleeping! Our hotel room was nice...but there was only one room, so Owen's pack-n-play was tucked in the corner. We would put him to bed and wait a few minutes in the dark whispering pillow talk until we knew he was asleep, then we would turn on the TV and eat ice cream in bed! Now, that's vacation! ;-)