All right, so its been a couple of weeks since the last post and it seems as though a lot has happened since then.
First we will start off with the new news with Mike. He quit working at ThermoFisher in the production area after 6 long months of doing something he didn't like and working with people he really didn't enjoy. No worries though, he does have a new job that he is MUCH happier at. He is working for the Cache Valley Radio Group doing sales. He started on Friday of last week since his boss would be out of the office all this week. He is on salary for the first year while he builds his client list up then he will be moved to commission. If he starts making more money with commission than his salary before a year then there is the possibilities to be switched sooner. With this job he will be signing businesses up to do advertising on the radio. Since we all know that radio is pretty much the best way to advertise it shouldn't be too hard to get clients. He loves not having to work certain hours during the day and not having to use a time clock. That is Mike's kind of job for sure.
School has started once again. Mike is taking 5 classes online which is a lot, but we have the time all figured out for the most part so I think it will work. He usually gets off around 5, then he comes home and plays with Reighlyn while I get dinner ready, we eat, and then it's time for him to go do homework in the office. While he is doing homework I get dinner cleaned up, Reighlyn feed, bathed, and put to bed. Then its time for me to do homework. It's pretty nice that Reighlyn goes to bed at 7:30 or so. That way Mike and I can get a couple of hours of homework in along with spending come quality time together before bedtime. Our days start pretty early now, we get up around 6 and right now we just go one walks as a family,but soon I will have a bike and then we will go on bike rides together while the weather is nice. We will have to find something else to do for exercise come winter, we are thinking maybe going swimming a couple of days a week and then just working out in our basement the other days since we have a treadmill and exercise bike.
My days right now are very relaxed and chill. I was suppose to start watching the Gleisberg girls full time as of Monday, but due to a employment change for Jonathan, getting hired on by the USU police department, he won't start work until the 10th of September when he goes down to SLC for 3 months for the police academy. So while I have a couple of days off I have been working hard to get ahead in my classes, which are two, so then I won't feel too stressed when I do have them from 8-5 Monday- Friday.
More new exciting news is that Mike, Reighlyn, and I will be taking a trip to California! We leave next Friday morning and will be visiting the beautiful city of LA. Mike is going for a BYU game with his brother and we all thought why not bring the families and have a little mini vacation. So we will get there Friday morning and start going site-seeing and won't stop except for them to go to the game on Saturday evening. While they are at the game, Reighlyn and I will be chilling at the hotel, taking naps, relaxing, swimming....whatever we want! Then we will be coming back Sunday afternoon so we can be back for our busy work week to begin Monday morning. It will be exciting because I have never been there and obviously Reighlyn hasn't either... so it will be FUN! Don't worry we will take TONS of pictures to show you all when we get back.
Another trip to report will be one Reighlyn and I will be taking without Mike...SAD =( I will be driving home with Ariana and her girls on the 17th of September for her to go to a wedding she is in. Jonathan was going to go but since he got the new job...no more Midwest trip for him. I am SO EXCITED because I wasn't going to be able to go home with year since Mike started a new job and I will be too pregnant to fly around the holidays. I haven't been to Iowa since May of 2006 and Reighlyn as never been there, so it will another exciting new trip for her. I think we are planning on taking the girls to the zoo one day, Tasha is in a Parade the Friday we are there and she is marching at halftime in a football game...so those should all be fun things to take the girls to. The rest of the time will just be relaxing time. We might also do a little sewing during the day since we just found out what we are having....
Ok enough stalling....we are having a little BOY! And before you start thinking you never know it could end up being a girl....no believe me it's a boy, no question about it. I have pictures to prove it. So that will be the first boy on the Wright side and the first boy on the Ashton side to have that last name. So everyone wins. Mike was really hoping for a boy so I am glad it is. I wasn't really hoping either way I just thought it was a boy since I have been so sick on this pregnancy compared to Reighlyn. Good news is I haven't gained any weight yet and I am half way there. The doctors only want a weight gain of 15 pounds so I am doing good as far as that goes. I actually lost 5 pounds at first, but have now just recently put those 5 back on so we are back to 0 pounds gained. I am not sick any more though and everything looked great with our little guy. The name we are thinking of is Keegan Michael Ashton. He is due the 15th of January, so not too much longer to go!
So quick new news on Reighlyn is that she is now the proud owner of 4 teeth. Two on the bottom and 2on the top and they all came at about the same time. Poor girl as got some buck teeth though for the top...a pretty big space,but hopefully that will close up a little as she gets more...if not we will love her just the same. Mike said he would be ok with her having buck teeth till she is 19 then we will get her braces...he thinks that will keep the boys away. I think it will just make her hate us. Reighlyn is also now done breastfeeding for the sake of me since she now has teeth. We decided to put her on Rice Milk, which she loves. Once she is one or maybe a little bit before then we will put her on cow milk. But she is loving her food and has decided that baby food is not for her. She loves noodles, rice, bread, potatoes, cheerios, yogurt, cottage cheese and pretty much anything else mom and dad are eating. She also had her first lollipop week or so ago. She thought she was living large...when really all she was doing we making a HUGE mess...don't worry I got pictures of that wonderful day. Alright well I can't think of anything else right now so I will end. But don't worry there will be more to come soon!

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Helping mom unpack my bag

Reighlyn sitting on her toy bike

Look I am walking!

I figured out I can stand up now

This is my play area while mom works

More upbeat news is that Reighlyn turned 9 months yesterday! We didn’t have a whole lot going on. I only had one baby to watch yesterday, Brookley who is 6 months old. I watched her from 8-4. Since she isn’t mobile yet, she likes to just hang out on her blanket or swing, which makes for an easier day for me. Reighlyn has decided that she loves to help mom with whatever I am doing. So yesterday when I was starting to unpack our bags, she decided to unpack her bag, which meant there were diapers, toys, juice, baby food and clothes everywhere….oh what a good helper, right?

She also has learned that she likes being upstairs with mom while she works on the computer. We brought up a little TV for her to watch and she actually just watching her show and plays, which helps me out a lot. But she thinks that she should crawl over and try to push buttons on the TV and play with the cords. Or she just gets right up to the TV so her face is touching the screen and watches it…. I swear my child is going to go blind before she is two.

I did weigh her yesterday for the first time since her 6 month check up and she only weighs 15 pounds, so she has lost weight, because at her 6 month I think she was at 15 or 16 pounds…. But I feed her all the time it seems, so I think we are going to be switching her to vitamin D milk so she is getting all that she needs. She also learned how to feed herself yesterday. Before she would get the food in her hands, but not know what to do with it, but she decided to put it in her mouth, so now she is happier. She can eat her Cheerios at her pace, not moms. As soon as I learn how, I will put a video of her feeding herself on here so you all can see.

Reighlyn’s new favorite toy is now this little bike that Ana brought over. It can either be a bike or you can stand it up so she can walk behind it. Well she thinks it is fun to play with all the toys on it, loves to sit on it and hold on to the handle bars and just laugh, but she has decided today that she loves to walk behind it. I guess now that she knows how to crawl she is ready for the next adventure. She actually does a pretty good job walking behind it. Sometimes she forgets she is standing up and just falls down, but she forgets to let go of the bike she is comes down on top of her. Don’t worry she’s a tough kid, she doesn’t cry really when she gets hurt, she is just ready to try it again.

Ok, well not to make this blog update all about Reighlyn, but she is the only one that has any new exciting news, so that’s all for now…enjoy the pictures!

Well something very interesting and actually scary happened on the 1st of August here in Logan, UT. The mountains right outside our front windows caught on fire! Now I am sure you have all heard about all the wild fires we have been having here in Utah since it is so dry, but I never thought it would be so close. During the day I kept hearing sirens, but I didn't think anything of it because they do pull people over a lot on Center street and a lot of old people up the hill from us get hurt a lot, but after an hour or so of hearing them I decided I would look out the window and wow was I surprised to see the mountain on fire and just tons of smoke everywhere. I tried calling my sister-in-laws and mother-in-laws because they both live up in that part but there was no answer so I started getting a little scared that they had been evacuated from their homes. Plus with the way the canyon winds are the fire could have easily made it's way down the hill towards our house. So there I am with Reighlyn watching this fire thinking, I am not ready if they come and tell us to leave. So I started packing a couple of bags just in case. Mike called and decided to come home in case we did have to leave, which we would go to Ana and Jonathan's since they live on the other side of town. We ended up not having to leave thank goodness, but we were ready just in case. This fire definitely has made us realize we need to really get our food storage and such together and a good 72 hour kit so we don't even have to worry about any of this, we could just leave very quickly if needed. So that's our goal for the next month to get the 72 hour kits all ready and to work on our food storage. I will post some pictures of the fire and of the planes dropping the red dust that helps stop the fire. At least it made for some cool pictures!

Hello all. I am sure you all thought that I probably had just given up on this whole blogger thing, but time just got away from me that's all. Luckily Ana has been doing a pretty good job of updating you all on our lives also. Well hopefully this will be a start to being back to updating more regularly, but no promises.
Well a lot has happened since our last blog so I will try my hardest to update everything I can think of without making this a novel and a half. We are all staying very busy here in Logan, UT. Mike is still working for Hy-Clone, which is now called ThermoFisher, which is the same company that Ana works for, but they never see each other, totally different jobs. Mike works in the production part of things. He will be coming up on his 6 month mark this week, so for a job we thought might just be a pit stop is lasting a little longer than we thought. Mike works the 2-10:30 shift Monday-Friday. It's hard for him because in the mornings while he is home he doesn't have time to spend with just Reighlyn and I and then by the time he gets home we are both in bed. We have been looking around for a different job for a couple of months. He has applied for a couple within the company which would have the 8-5 hours that he would be happy with so we could have the evenings together. Mike is still plugging away at school, which will be starting up here at the end of August so our summer break is almost over.
I am staying pretty busy for saying I quit my job to enjoy the easy life of being a stay at home mom. I am currently watching Ana's two kids, some weeks its everyday, and some I only have them a couple of days. I am also watching a little girl on Thursday's who just turned 6 months from 8-4. So my days are very full with 2 to 3 kids under the age of 1 and then one 2 year old. Addison has mastered the potty though which makes for one less diaper I have to change which is great when you are changing 3 different butts a day. Addison is quite the helper though, she is very good at bringing me diapers, wipes, toys, holding bottles for baby's, throwing diapers away and most of all entertaining them by standing on the couch and singing her little heart out to every song she knows. It keeps the baby's laughing most of the time. But she is also good at screaming at the top of her lungs when I just got all the baby's to sleep and waking them up. Oh well, what do you except from a 2 year old, right? In the midst of watching children all day I have recently started working from home doing data entry. I have only done it for about a week, but works out pretty well for the most part. Last week I worked a little over 10 hours, which is about perfect for my time schedule. I just bring the kids up with me to the office where I have set up a little TV and DVD player and have toys and they just watch Baby Einstein and play while I work on the computer. If we are having a bad day, I just wait till the kids are gone and Reighlyn is down for her afternoon nap and then get a couple of hours in. Mike has been very good about helping on the days I have deadlines also. The newest news is that we are excepting our second child. I am about 16 weeks along, so we are due in January, but I am hoping when we have our ultrasound on the 30th of August they will surprise us and say it will be December 30th or something. This pregnancy has been a VERY hard one compared to Reighlyn. I only threw up twice with Reighlyn and one of those times was due to car sickness and the other was a bad reaction to medication. With this one I am still throwing up pretty regularly. I have actually lost 5 pounds since being pregnant, which is good I guess since my doctor only wants me to gain 15 pounds, to try and have a small enough baby that I won't have to have a C-section. Since I have been so sick Mike and I are both thinking it is a boy, which is what Mike REALLY wants. I have pros and cons to it being a boy. The pros are if it is then we will be the first on the Wright side with a boy, and on the Ashton side we would be the first to have a boy to carry on the Ashton name, also that means I get to do a lot of shopping for baby clothes and shoes! The cons are I would have to do a lot of shopping for clothes and shoes which means spending a lot of money, but we will be happy with whatever the Lord has blessed us with. So we will keep you all posted when we find out what it is.
Reighlyn, where do I begin? She is defiantly growing up way too fast. I can't believe she will be 9 months this Thursday. She has now master crawling and is loving every minute of it. She can follow Addison where ever she goes along with following mom everywhere which is what she was so unhappy about for awhile. But instead of just crawling and enjoying that she has decided to start climbing and things and pulling herself up on to everything it seems. Yesterday I was in the kitchen doing dishes and the next thing I know she has used the handles on the drawers to stand herself up and was opening the draw to play with the bottles. Then of course she feel down and hurt herself, but that didn't stop her from doing it again. She has also decided that all of the buttons on the sound system, dvd player, tivo are fun to push especially when mom says no and moves her away, she just crawls herself right back over. She is in the process of cutting her first teeth. The bottom two are just about in along with her two top teeth. Needless to say when those come in we will be done breastfeeding. Which will be good that there will be a little break between the two so Reighlyn doesn't try to go back to breastfeeding when the new baby comes. Her hair is starting to turn blonde more and more it seems. It is also getting pretty long on the top, now we just need it to start growing on the sides and in the back, but until then we will just wear a lot of pigtails and whale spouts.
Alright I think that is a good enough update for now I will post some pictures on here so you all can see how big Reighlyn is getting.

Alright, now that it has been about 2 months I guess it is time to update the website again. I really need to get some pictures on here of Reighlyn... all in good time though.
Well not much has really changed since the last blog. Mike is still working for Hyclone from 2-10:30pm. I wouldn't say he is in love with his job, but he doesn't hate it like Qwest at least, so that is a plus. He is also in the same calling he has been in forever, the Elder's Quorum and I am still teaching primary, ages 10-11. Reighlyn just laughs at the kids in my class... they are so entertaining. I am now watching my sister's two girls 8 hours a day for about 10-15 days a month. I watch them when Jonathan works, and then on the days Jonathan doesn't work I watch them for a just a couple of hours a day while he flies. I know to a lot of you it seems like I am crazy to watch a almost 2 year old, a 5 month old, and a 6 week old....but it really isn't all that hard. Kileigh, the6 week old, sleeps a lot and when she is not, she likes to just chill for the most part. That is the exact opposite of my daughter who tends to be a drama queen and feel the need to be able to see me or have me hold her all the time. She is actually getting a lot better. She is slowly started to scoot towards things and when that doesn't work she just rolls. We are on a pretty good schedule though. She usually takes a nap at 10:30 or 11 for about an hour and half then she takes another one around 3 or so for the same amount of time. So in the morning, Kileigh takes a nap at the same time. So Addison and I do crafts, work on colors, numbers, shapes, etc or just play. Today was a beautiful day, so first we did crafts: made a bead necklace, glued shapes on paper and practiced them, colored, decorated a jar, and painted with water colors. Then we went outside and played with balloons and bubbles. It was a lot of fun. I will have to add those pictures to this blog also. Tomorrow we might attempt to take a walk to the park with all the kids... we will see how that goes.
Mike and I are looking forward to the end of the school semester, so we can have more time to play instead of worrying about school all the time. That is what Mike does in the mornings while I have the girls and then I do mine when he is at work in the evenings after the girls go home.
This past weekend we went down to Wolf Creek Lodge, located in Ogden Canyon. We were there with all of Mike's family for conference weekend. It was a lot of fun... very chill. Mike and I got in the hot tub the first night while Grandma watched Reighlyn, Mike got to go golfing with all of the guys on Saturday in between sessions, and I worked on a puzzle on and off throughout the weekend. It was very nice, but of course nice to get home and unpacked.
Sunday night when we got home, we had a meeting with a group of people. Mike and I planned a secret fund raising for Alisha and Craig for the park they are building in memory of there little boy, Ryan, who drowned in Lake Powell last August. We handed out flyer's... about 5000, and got over 100 volunteers to go knock doors to ask for donations. We raised a little over $2100 on Monday night when we went out. We are going out again with Monday for one last attempt. Then we are going to have a huge BBQ for all those who helped and present Alisha and Craig a check for all the donations. Hopefully it will be a bigger number than we have.
Ok, well I better end now...Reighlyn is getting fussy. Oh speaking of Reighlyn though.. she is growing so fast. She is now eating baby food 3 times a day. We have eaten rice cereal, applesauce, sweet potatoes and green beans so far. She isn't so sure about the green beans but we keep trying everyday. We don't want her to become a picky eater like her mom!

Wow, OK so updating the website has defiantly gotten away from me for a good couple of months, but the good thing is my sister and brother have done a good job of kind of updating people on our lives.
Well in case you haven't heard, we have had our little baby girl. She was born on November 2, 2006. We named her Reighlyn, in memory of my mother who passed away on December 26, 2003. She was born with a head full of dark, curly hair. After being induced and having my water broke at 8 in the morning, I didn't progress at all throughout the day, so at 6pm we decided to have a c-section. Reighlyn came into the world at 6:39pm weighing 9 lbs 6 Oz's, and being 21 1/2 inches long. No wonder I didn't progress all day, she wouldn't have fit. I heard my doctor make a comment that my uterus was very close to ripping open because she was so big and I was carrying so much extra water.
Well now that I gave you the quick version of that wonderful day, let me catch you up on the last 3 1/2 months. Shortly after Reighlyn was born, Mike started working at Qwest call center. He hated working there, but it was a job with benefits so he stuck it out until February, when he started working at Hyclone, or ThermoFisher(they recently changed there name). So he is now working were Ariana works. He works in the liquids department, so he helps make the liquid orders that come in. To be honest I really don't know exactly what he does. His shift is from 2-10:30pm, which works out great for us. Mike is here during the day to help me with Reighlyn and Addison if I need it. Then he goes to work about an hour before Addison leaves. Then Reighlyn and I do house work, homework, etc until its time to take dad dinner at 7. Then we go have dinner with him at work for an hour. Then we come home and chill until its bath time and bedtime at 10. Then I usually have her asleep in bed by the time Mike gets home from work, so Mike and I have a little of time to hang out, then its bedtime. So really it is the perfect shift for our lives right now. One part of Mike's job is cleaning out the items they use during an order, so kind of like dishes, only a lot more serious. He has to clean everything with strong chemicals to make them sterile, so he used a 2% acid, sodium hydroxide. Well this stuff is strong enough that the first day on the job it ate through his gloves and gave him a chemical burn on his wrist. Then about a week later, he had 2 pairs of gloves on and a couple of pairs of protective sleeves, and it still burned him pretty bad this time. With this acid, it totally just burned his skin off, so it looks pretty bad. We have been cleaning it and wrapping it, but it still hurting pretty bad, so I think he might go the the doctor today to make sure there is no infection and what he needs to do with it.
Well I am still being a stay at home mom and loving it. My days are all pretty much the same. I get up and work out in our basement before Addison comes in the mornings at 8. Then Addison and I usually watch Baby Einstein and eat breakfast while Mike works out. Then Reighlyn usually gets up and we get her dressed and feed for the 1st time and then Reighlyn will usually watch baby Einstein with Addison once. Then we color, or do a craft for a while at the table. Then we usually read for a while. At noon, its nap time for Addison, Reighlyn will sometimes go down at the same time, but not always. Then she sleeps for about an hour and half. While she sleeps I usually clean up the house. Then its time for lunch when she wakes up. By that time Mike is getting ready to go to work for the day. After Mike leaves for work, Addison just plays with her toys or reads her books while we wait for Mom to come and get her at 3:30. Reighlyn is starting to laugh, so she is often watching Addison and smiling at her. Addison loves attention from Reighlyn, so she is often dancing or singing for her when she isn't wanting to just hold her and love her. I think Ana and Jonathan are going to have to watch Addison close with Kileigh though because she is going to be a lot smaller than Reighlyn, but Addison will think she can handle her the same way. Either way though Addison will be a great big sister. Kileigh might just try a lot of foods really early...Addison loves to share whatever she is eating. I think she has tried feeding Reighlyn pretty much everything from marshmallows to apples.
Mike and I are still both doing school online. I am only taking 2 classes this semester though because I knew I would be busy. Mike is taking 4 classes, so we both stay busy with that. I think so far though the semester is going great for both of us, so that's always good. As far as church goes, Mike is still doing the same calling in the Elders Quorum. I am now in the primary. I teach the10 and 11 yr old. I wasn't sure if I would like going from nursery were I taught 2 and 3 yr old to 10 and 11 yr old, but honestly I LOVE it. We have so much fun, I do a lot of fun hand outs and have treats sometimes. I have 2 girls and 3 boys in the class and they all love baby Reighlyn. Mike takes her the 1st hours while I teach the class and then the second hour I take her during singing time. The kids usually take turns holding her, only under the condition that they have to pay attention and sing the whole time.
Well Reighlyn is growing way to fast for mom's liking. I can't believe that in another week and half she will be 4 months old. She came out being able to hold her head up and was rolling over at a month old. She has enough hair that her hair is usually up in a whale spout or in piggy tales. At first I did it just because it was so cute, but now that her hair is getting longer and curlier, I have to put it up or it is everywhere! She has almost mastered sitting up by herself, until then I just prop her up in the corner of the couch, use her beanbag, or use the boppy to help her sit up. She also loves to stand up. She stand on her own, she just need help balancing. She is smiling and laughing all the time now. Also her favorite thing to do is spit bubbles and to talk to anyone that will listen. She can actually coo pretty loud. That's how I know when she wakes up in the morning, I hear her cooing at her mobile in her crib.
Well I think that catches you all up on our lives for the most part. As far as our family is concerned it has been a busy past couple of months. We found out our New Years that Mike's sister, Alisha, is excepting a baby in July and they will be finding out the sex of the baby next week. Mike's brother's wife, Angie, had their second baby girl on January 18, 2007 by c-section. The funny thing is they named her Kylee, which is what Ana and Jonathan are naming their baby girl, just different spelling. Speaking of Ana and Jonathan, they are playing the waiting game right now. They are suppose to be induced today to have their second baby girl today, but I guess there was a lot of women in Logan that wanted to have their baby's last night, so it is pretty busy at the hospital today. I think it is probably due to the sudden change in weather, going form 50's yesterday to 6 inches of snow this morning. Anyway, they have to call the hospital back at noon to see if they can come in today, if not, they it will be tomorrow or the next day. So we are all just waiting. Once they get the go ahead I will be in charge of Addison, and it looks like she will be spending the nigh there tonight if they get in today. OK well that's enough blog today, as soon as we hear something from Ana and Jonathan, I will update and let you all KNOW!

Ok, time for a quick update before our lives get very busy and I won’t have time to update for while. I am still pregnant, but we are getting closer. We went to the doctor on Monday and had things checked out. I am still dilated to a 1 ½ and the baby still has not dropped all the way. Also I am still have contractions about 2-3 minutes apart But the good news it that we are going to be induced on Thursday, the 2nd of November, unless she decides to come earlier, but I doubt it since she hasn’t dropped the contractions I am having are not doing anything but causing me a lot of pain. I am just hoping I can get some kind of sleep in the next couple of days so I have the energy to push. Lately I have been getting about 2-3 hours a sleep a night because if I lay down flat I can’t breathe because she is cutting off my oxygen supply and if I sleep sitting up in a chair then my back hurts all night long. So it is a lose-lose situation, but that situation is almost over. That is what I have to keep reminding myself when contractions keeping coming and coming. The one scary thing about my pregnancy is the amount of fluid that I am carrying. There is a very high possibility that we will have to have a cesarean delivery because when my water is broken the cord might come down first. Also since our baby is a very health baby (BIG) then we might have to have a cesarean because I won’t be able to delivery her, but we are putting our faith in the Lord and praying everything will come out as it should.
Mike and I are both trying to get everything ready for our little arrival. This past week I have been trying to deep clean one room at a time, with scrubbing the floor boards, shower, toilets, and shampooing carpets. Once I am done with the shampooing there will be no shoes allowed in our house. Mike is always checking on me and making sure I am not over doing it. I do take a lot of breaks during my cleaning, so I am doing ok. Really I think that all the cleaning is helping me keep my mind off the contractions and the pain I seem to have everywhere. This week Mike and I have been doing a lot of homework also. Mike has been doing homework from when he wakes up till we go to be because he is trying to finish one of his classes completely by tomorrow, so there is less stress for him as far as school goes. He will still have 4 classes to finish after this one, so he will still be busy, but hopefully not as busy.
I am also going to start working on a baby quilt for our little one. Since we still don’t know for sure what her name is going to be, I couldn’t get too ahead of myself. I have decided to make her a Curious George quilt, going off of the theme from the nursery. So tonight or tomorrow Mike and I are going to go pick our fabric for the quilt and then Ana is helping me gather pictures to trace on the fabric. I am going to embroidery bout 20 Curious George pictures to put into her quilt. We are going to get a couple of them traced and ready for me so I can work on them in the hospital. Then I will probably just work on it here and there and finish in time to give it to her for Christmas.
Ok well I think that catches everything up and the next time we write will be announcing our arrival of baby Ashton, with pictures included!

Wow, so October is almost over, it sure has gone by quickly it seems. I haven’t been very good this month with keeping the website updated, so I will just try and give everyone a quick update on what’s going on in our lives.

Last Tuesday night, the 17^th, I started having some very regular contractions, about 10 minutes apart. So Wednesday we had a doctor’s appointment already, so we deiced to let our doctor check things out first before we went into the hospital. The reason we were a little concerned is because I was only 35-36 weeks along, that’s pretty early to be having a baby, although as you have all seen I am HUGE! So in our appointment we found out I was 1 centimeter dilated and 60% effaced. The problem was that our baby girl had not dropped yet, so I wasn’t dilating past the1 so my contractions weren’t doing anything. Our doctor told us they were probably just Braxton hicks and would go away. Well that afternoon Mike and I went for a walk and the contractions got to be 5 minutes apart, but I wasn’t ready to go to the hospital. Then that night they got to 3 minutes apart, so we decided we had better go into the labor and delivery and find out if we were going to have our little girl. Well the disappointment news was there was little change. I had only dilated another ½ a centimeter and was now 70% effaced, but she still hadn’t dropped and since I wasn’t very far along, they could do anything to help the labor progress. So they decided to give me a sleeping pill and a morphine shot to help the contractions go away since everyone thought for sure I was in “false labor.” Well come to find out on the way home, I am allergic to morphine, so needless to say I was up the rest of the night throwing up along with the next day. At this point I was very sick so Mike went and had the doctor prescribe some nausea pills for me that seemed to help a lot and they told me to take it easy and not to be up and about.

So the short story I guess is, since Tuesday night I have been having contractions very regularly, about 3-4 minutes apart. On Monday, they got to be every 2 minutes, so we went into the doctor again to see if there was any change and if not, why I was having contractions. Well I measured very big for my belly that day; I had grown 2 centimeters in a couple of days, so the doctor decided to do an ultrasound. Well come to find out first I am carrying an 8 pound baby already, plus I am carrying too much fluid, so that is causing her not to be able to drop and also is causing me to dilate because my uterus is stretched to its max and is trying to contract back down to a smaller size. Also we found out that my due date was pretty far off, according to the measurements that did on Monday our new due date is October 31^st. So the good news from all of that is that if our little girl has not decided to come in the next week, then they are going to induce me on the 2^nd of November. With that news in mind, Mike and I are just doing our best to keep our minds on other things. I have been going through room by room and deep cleaning, while Mike focuses on homework. Ok, well I think that catches everyone up for the most part on our busy life. The next post will probably be when she arrives!

Another two weeks have almost past and it sure went by fast. I can't believe we are already in October! This is especially good because I thought for sure the last couple of months would drag on for me. Well not much going on in the Ashton world, but I will do my best to catch you all up on our exciting lives.
On the 23rd brought yet another BYu game which was home, so Mike got up and headed down to Provo at about 9 in the morning and got home around 7 or so. While he was gone I did my normal cleaning of the house, which takes longer now that I run out of energy a lot faster and laundry. After I got all of my normal Saturday activities done, I decided to rearrange our bedroom. Mike and I were going to do anyways to make room for the bassinet, but I decided to do it while Mike was gone s a surprise. We moved our bed to go by our bay windows and then moved the dresser to where the bed use to be. Then the bassinet fits perfectly in the corner by the bathroom. We wanted it in an area that wasn't by the door so she wouldn't be woke up by people out in the living room and also we wanted her not by the windows so she didn't get cold by a draft or something. Now that it is all moved, we both like it so much we will probably leave it that way even after the baby moves up to her own room. When we take down the bassinet, we will just get a over stuffed chair or something to go in the corner so we aren't left with a big empty space.
This lat week seemed to be a bit busy. Mike and I both had tests this week, so a lot of the evenings were spent studying for tests. Thursday night BYU played TSU, the team that one the conference last year, at TSU. So since the guys couldn't go to the game, they all made a trip to Logan it watch it at our house. Wagon got into Logan about 2 in the afternoon to spend a little time with his daughter before the game started at 4. Marc I think got there right before the game started. Craig came over about a half hour or so into the game. When I got home from work at 4:30 I just went up to the office to study and do homework while they had their bonding time. But boy can those guys get loud!! I was planning on cooking steaks and potatoes for dinner for them all, but first I didn't have enough steaks and second I was so tired after working all day and knowing I had tons a of homework to do. So needless to say the guys had Papa Johns pizza instead of a home cooked meal, but they didn't seem to mind at all. I am not a BYU fan at all, but I like to see them win because that means I have a happy husband.
Since BYU played during the week, this past weekend actually meant I had Mike the whole weekend. We didn't have any major plans for the weekend, just a couple of around the house jobs we want to get done like hang family pictures up, put a shelf up we have been meaning to do for about a month now, etc. But instead we went and helped Ana and Jonathan lay sod in their backyard. Ok well Mike went and laid sod and I babysat Addison. But I think I got just as much as a work out picking up a 20 pound child and hauling her around all day sure took a lot out of me! Jonathan had a couple of guys form work there helping, so it went pretty fast. First before we went to lay sod I had to go up to the university and take a quick test, then we went to there house. We were there until noon, then we had to go to the hospital to have our Lamaza teacher put our car seat in for us. She is a certified car seat something so she puts it in so it will pass inspection. Then it was back to Ana's for the rest of the afternoon. For being October it sure was pretty warm still, about 80 degrees. Then the guys went to General Conference and Ana and I went grocery shopping, fun huh?
Sunday was a chill day, Mike and I just watched the first session in our PJ's. Then the second session we went to Jami's and had a little luncheon with a group of people, it was a bit busy, but fun. Ok well that is all thats going on with us, I will catch you all up in a week or so!

So another week has come and gone, yet it seems not a lot has happened. Mike and I are still just working away at our classes. Mike is trying to finish up his last incomplete class from spring along with keeping up with his fall classes. We are still doing the wonderful thing classed job searching. There have been a lot of jobs that he has just recently applied for, so now it is a waiting game it seems. Mike is very excited to be done with the Herald Journal though. It has been a good job, but I think a year is enough. I am counting down the days until I am done with my job. Halloween is my last day, so that means not counting today I have 31 more days of work.

Our baby girl is growing everyday now, which means so is my stomach. Thanks to some recent shopping though, I have clothes that will fit me while we finish out this pregnancy. Saturday was my baby shower and it was a huge success. We invited a lot of people, but I knew that the majority of them wouldn’t come since they live farther away, but it’s the thought that counts, right? We had a good turn out though, not too many people because I don’t like being the center of a big crowd. Ariana and Jami threw the shower and did an awesome job. We did the introductions and then started playing games. The first one was there was a 10 different candy bars cut up on put on to plates. You had to go and look at them and write down what kind they were without smelling or touching them. Some people did pretty well, while others I think just guessed and wrote down the candy bars they could think of. Next we played Mike and Kj trivia. Mike mom and Ariana came up with 6 unforgettable memories from our childhood. Then Jami would say on out loud and you had to guess if the memory was from Mike or me. It was a lot of fun, but I could have done without some of those memories being shared with everyone. Then we played a price is right game. Ariana had printed pictures of 15 baby items off the internet and people had to guess how much the item cost without going over. Then we ate the wonderful food we had there. We had some roll-ups that’s are so good, but I couldn’t tell you what’s in them, I didn’t make them. Then we had bite size cheese cakes, fruit pizza, pasta salad, and finger sandwiches’. Then we opened presents. We received a lot of great gifts, especially a homemade quilt my visiting teacher made for us, it is beautiful. Then I showed everyone the nursery and they all loved it, which is always a good thing.

While the whole baby shower was going on, the boys, Mike, Marc, Jonathan, Craig, and Wagon were watching the BYU game. When they all got up to Craig’s to watch the game, they found out that their power was out. So after a little flipping out, they all came down to watch the game at Jami’s house until the power came back on, then they went back up to Craig’s. I think we were all hoping BYU would win, so the guys would be in good moods, but that didn’t work out exactly. I mean BYU didn’t win, they lost in double over time, but at least the guys weren’t in way bad moods, well at least not my husband. The rest of the afternoon was just a chill time. Then when all the family left, Mike and I had the fun exciting evening of homework!! Oh the joys of being in school. Mike and I went to bed pretty early that night, we were both pretty tired. Sunday was a very relaxing day. I did have one quiz to take, which only took 10 minutes. Then Mike and I just spent the day take a nap and watching movies together….it was wonderful.

Alright, now that work as slowed down a little, well at least in the mornings, I think it’s time I update the website. Well a lot has happened since the last update. School as officially started for Mike and I. Although we are both taking online classes, it still is very time consuming. We have both take 4 classes each, plus finishing up one class each from last semester. Mine is pretty much done, I just need to send in the assignments, and Mike has a couple of weeks left of assignments before he is fully caught up. We have pretty exciting lives now. When we get home from work, all we do is homework. But hey at least we can due it together, so we are still hanging out together. Mike does a lot of his homework during the day while I am at work and then the rest when I am home doing my homework. Since I don’t have a parking pass I have to come up to campus at 7 to get a parking spot. So I come and do homework for a half hour before I start work. Then I do it on my lunch hour and then anything left over I do after I get off of work. I was going to try and still might try to finish all of my classes before the baby comes. But I think working fulltime and trying to do that might prove to be too much.

Well Mike had a long fun weekend over Labor Day. On Thursday night, the 31^st of August I took him down to SLC to meet his brother, Marc to drive to Arizona. They went down for a couple of reasons. Marc is in the middle of moving from Arizona to SLC, so we was going down to set up the moving company that will come in and pack everything up and move it to SLC for them. Also the reason Mike went with them is because on the 2^nd was BYU’s opening game against Arizona. Wagon, my father-in-law, flew into Arizona on Saturday morning before the game, so the boys went to the game and had an awesome time even though they lost. It was a very long weekend for me. I was home alone from Thursday night until Monday night when he came home. I did keep myself very busy though. I decided that I would get all of the little things I have been wanting to get done around the house done with Mike was gone and surprise him. Ariana and Jonathan was a big help with getting things ready before Mike came home. We made curtains to go over the French doors going out to the deck; we hung “ASHTON” above those doors also that are painted black and look very classy. We tried to hang the shelf that goes in place of the old microwave, but we didn’t have the right screws. Then I went and got my family pictures printed and put into frames that matched the ones we have with Mike’s family pictures, but we ran out of time to hang those pictures up also. We did get curtains made for the office upstairs and the couch cover put on the couch in the front room. Also we got all of the sewing done for the baby’s room, curtains, bumper pads, crib skirt, etc. Ariana and I were in the middle of putting up the wallpaper border in the baby’s room we come to find out it wouldn’t stick the wall no matter what we did. So finally we had to glue it with Elmer’s glue and then put tape to tape it up with it dried. Well I was very frustrated and upset that I didn’t get everything I wanted to get done and the border wasn’t working it was time for me to go pick Mike up in Brigham City. I was on the verge of tears when I got into my car to back out. Well here’s a secret, don’t drive when you’re stressed out and wanting to cry. When backing out, I backed right into Ariana’s car. I was so upset; I pulled my car back into the garage and ran into the house crying very hard. Needless to say I had a panic attack, which in turn made me start having hard contractions. It was a very scary thing, especially since Mike wasn’t there and Ariana couldn’t clam me down. Jonathan had to go pick up Jonathan. When Mike got home he made everyone leave and took me to get some dinner and then we just chilled. My contractions continued throughout the night and the next day. We finally went to the doctor on my Birthday, the 6^th. Everything was ok though, the heart beat was great and I hadn’t started dilating yet. After our doctors appointment I had to go back to work for a couple of hours because I started training my replacement that day. That night, Mike took me to dinner at Chili’s and then instead of going out and buying me a gift, he took me to Michael’s to pick out decorations for our kitchen and living room. It was a wonderful birthday gift. I did go over my budget a little, but our house looks great with all the new decorations. That night when we got home my friends Kristin, Jami, and Loran came over to give me their gifts and to chill for a bit. It was a lot of fun. My mother-in-law did come on Saturday while Mike was gone to take me to dinner and clothes shopping for my birthday since I no longer really fit into any of my clothes. She spent the night Saturday night and then went to church with me Sunday. Also on Saturday Ariana, Jonathan, and I went down to SLC to see a friend who just got home from his mission. He went to lunch and then shopping at the gateway. I didn’t get anything for me, but I did buy Mike a pair of shorts and 2 shirts. Shopping for Mike is so much more fun than for me. I decided after all that happened over the weekend Mike was gone, that he wasn’t allowed to leave for that long of time anymore. There will be a lot of Saturdays I will be by myself now that football season has started, but no nights, so I think I can handle that. Jonathan’s birthday was Friday night, but he had to work, so we just called and wished him a happy birthday. Mike and I did go down to Brigham City to have dinner with his family to celebrate Craig’s birthday which was Saturday. Saturday Mike and his dad left to go to Provo for the BYU game at about 9:30 and didn’t get home until about 8:30 at night. While he was gone I did a couple of hour’s worth of homework, cleaned the house, and then ran errands with Jami and Loran. When Mike came home he was in a good mood though because BYU had won. Ok, I think that is everything for the most part that has happened over the last couple of weeks. Sorry this is so long, I need to keep it updated more often so they aren’t so long.

So I am not keeping up as well as I thought I was going to be able to with this new website, but oh well, here goes another post. It seems as if August as flown by for Mike and I. I barely believe that August is almost over. The day after our last post is when the month started flying by. On August 9th, our nephew, Ryan Steven Adams, passed away. It was such hard news to hear about and it took awhile for it to sink in for me. I just kept thinking they were talking about someone else and it wasn't our little Ryan. Ryan, who just turned 2 in June, and his family went down to Lake Powell to enjoy a yearly family vacation. On the 9th, Ryan fell victim to a drowning accident. Mike and I as soon as we heard, tried to do all we could here in Logan to get things ready for them to come home. We contacted to Bishop in their ward, but he already knew. About 20 minutes after Mike and I got to his sister's house to make phone calls people started showing up left and right. We had a whole group of sister's from their ward and their neighborhood coming over to deep clean the house so that when they got home they didn't need to worry about that. Then someone had the idea that we should try and fly them home instead of have them drive the 10 hour drive. We finally got in contact with Brother Harris, who is a very wealthy man in Logan who owes a jet. He was already going down to California to pick up family friends and agreed to stop in Arizona to pick up Mike's sister and her family. So Mike was the contact person who organized the whole thing. The jet had enough room to bring home the family plus Craig's parents who were down there because Craig's sister had just had a baby the same day Ryan died. Mike's parents, Mike and I picked the family up at the Logan air port and took them home. It was such an emotional day. I focused on Entertaining Josh,4, and Aubree, 6 (the siblings of Ryan) while Mike's parents and Mike tried to sooth Lish and Craig. The rest of the week seems like a blur. We were up at the house a lot that week. Helping them plan the funeral, and viewing. Also Ariana and Jonathan agreed to help make a memorial video for Ryan that was played at the viewing. It turned out so good, no one could watch it and not cry, whether you knew his or not. The viewing was Sunday evening from 6-8, but it really ended up going till 10:30. People were waiting in line for at least an hour, so that shows how many people love that family. After that night, we got up early the next day for the funeral. There was a viewing before and then the funeral itself went for over 2 hours, but it was wonderful. At the cemetery, after the service, they had everyone take a white balloon and then we all released them, it was a beautiful site. Since then, Mike and I have been just trying to be there for the family. We go up to play with the kids a lot because they need a lot of extra love right now. Also we just go up and take with Lish and Craig, just about anything. On Sunday night we went up and had dinner with them and with Mike's parents. We were going to play games, but it was too late. Monday brought a slap of reality for me. I had to go back to work!! After having more than a week off, it's hard to go back to working all day. It has been very busy at work though. Monday I worked 10.5 hours, Tuesday I worked 11.5 hours and yesterday I worked 10.5 hours. The reason it is so busy is because tutition deadline was Tuesday, so we had all the students that have been putting it off standing in line wanting to pay now. Monday, the 28th, marks the first day of school, so that means it will be busy in our office, for the next couple of weeks, which is fine with me, that means time will fly by, hopefully. It;s so weird to think I really only have like 2 months left of work, I will just have Sept and then October to work. Mike is still looking for jobs all the time. We have a couple that are looking pretty good, but we will have to wait and see I guess. We are both getting ready for school to start in a couple of days. We are going to sit down and map out our assignments though so we are hopefully done with everything before the baby comes so we can just enjoy her when she comes. Ana and Jami have been planning my baby shower also, so that will be fun. I am going to try and get the nursery finished before then, but we'll see. I need to order the curious geogre border and get that up. Then I need to make curtains, bumper pads, etc. Then I think it should all be ready to go. Well we sent Tasha home on the 15th, but it was a drama filled flight. Due to all the new rules at the air port, they made he throw away all of her liquid makeup, hairspray, etc. She was one upset teenager, especially since she had just barley bought all new makeup. I guess the only liquids allowed on the plane now is baby food, formula and breastmilk. Mike's brother, Marc and his Wife are kind of moved to SLC now. While they are looking for a house someone here, they are staying in a hotel, which can't be fun with a one year old. We did just find out though that Angie, Marc's wife, will be having a second little girl in Feburary, so thats exciting! Now we will just wait and find out what Ana is having, she will find out in Oct I think she said. Ok, well I think that is all that has been happening around, for the most part. If I forgot anything I will write another blog to catch everyone up again! Hope everything is going great for everyone!

Well it's been about two weeks since our last update, so I thought I better catch everyone up. Don't worry though you all haven't missed much. This past week has not been a fun one that's for sure. Mike woke up Sunday morning not feeling so well. By Monday myself and Tasha were sick also we are not sure if it was just the flu plus a head cold or what. I attempted to go to work Monday morning, but only made it about noon. Then the rest of the week was all down hill it seems. I didn't go to work at all, but I would have rather than feel like crap. On Thursday and Friday I had such a sore throat I didn't have any kind of a voice. It slowly came back on Saturday. Saturday I was feeling much better and so I worked out for about an hour in the morning. Then Mike and I decided to start organizing certain rooms. On Saturday we tackled the "junk" drawers downstairs and the office/sewing room. We decided to help the room look less cluttered we would move my sewing machine table and everything into the closet. It does fit perfectly. I have a shelf on one side of the table that has all of my fabric folded up on it, my patterns, and projects that I am working on. Then on the other side of the table is a couple of bins that has other projects I am working on, like my high school memory quilt and a monkey quilt I started making a couple of years ago. It does work out nicely, you can have the doors shut while I am not sewing and it looks very clean, then when I do want to sew I just pull up the extra computer chair and sew away. We then went through all of our school books and figured out which ones we want to keep and which ones we are going to sell. We also went and bought some selves and bookends to help organize everything. It looks great, so hopefully it stays that way when school starts and we get busy. Mike and I are both planning on taking 12 credits each. We are actually going to take two of the same classes I think. It should make it easier and fun to study together. While I was home sick from work last week I started cutting and out and sewing baby clothes. Mike jokes around and says that I must be running a sweat shop or something because I was making clothes left and right. So far I think I have made about 10 or so jumpers, all different colors. I have a couple more of those to make and then a couple of pair of overalls, dresses, and pant/shirt outfits. I also am going to make matching hair pieces for most of the outfits. I guess since I am not a girly-girl, then I will make our little girl one. I am always painting Addison's finger nails, so I am sure I will be painting our little girls from the get-go. I am getting excited for the baby to come though. I only have 3 months left of work, well actually less than that because the 31st of July marked the 3 month mark. Halloween will be the last day I will be working, unless the baby decides to come way early. I would love to be able to be done earlier because sitting all day causes a lot of extra pains for me. More exciting news for the family is that Ariana will be having a baby on the 25th of Feburary and Angie, our sister-in-law, will be having a baby on February 2nd. So our families are growing very quickly and it's so exciting. Well Tasha has been staying with us for the past week or so and it's been great fun, although I don't really see her all that much. She has been at our neighbors a lot. She has been working out with Jami, the neighbor everyday and also she has started deep cleaning her house. In turn for her cleaning, Jami is going to pay for Tasha to get a new hair color and cut. The big day for that is this Thursday, so ready or not dad, or little girl is coming home different. Mike's parents came up on Saturday to look at lots because they are moving here in a year. They didn't make it to our house until about 9:30 at night, but that's ok because Mike and I were busy cleaning and then putting in ceiling fans at Jami's house. Sunday we went to church and then did the chill Sunday thing. We did go up and have lunch with Mike's sister Lish and her family along with Mike's parents. After that we hung out with Ana, Jonathan, Addison, and Jami. We played games and then just chatted while the boys played play station. To catch you all up and the drama with the neighbor, things have gotten worse. The lady has decided that she will stand at her door and just scream at Jami calling her names and such all the time. Also she has decided that anytime Jami leaves her house she is needs to come out on her porch and watch and listen to everything. Finally Jami called the police to make a complaint. They really couldn't do anything unless the neighbor comes into her yard or her dog does. The police did talk to the neighbor and tell her to stop yelling at her and to just leave her alone. Well the lady didn't like that so she called and made a complaint about the police officer. So now the whole thing will probably end up in court. So Jami is having to get written statements from everyone stating everything they have witnesses. I hope that the lady will just move, but who knows. Jami has a feeling that she is going through Jami's mail and her garbage, so we all will be getting paper shredders soon, to help protect us. Because who knows if she is doing it to ours or not. Oh the drama, who knew things like this would happen in good old Logan, Utah. Oh before I forget the other great news is Mike's brother, Marc, who is currently living in Arizona will be moving to the Salt Lake area in the next couple of weeks to start a new job. Mike is very excited to have his brother so close, especially with football season quickly approaching.