A full week with Ashley

Ashley on her 1st morning here, no smiles for the camera.

Today is the mark for our 1st full week with Ashley, it has been a good week. She is slowly coming out of her shell and showing us more of her personality. I had to work at the JBF sale, on Thur - Sun, so she got to spend a lot of time with other people, but has still adjusted fairly well.

Ashley "helping" Bug with his piano lessons on her 3rd day here.

On Thursday she was watched by my mom, she calls her grandma and already is very attached to her. We figured this out on Wed, the 1st 2 times she met her, she didn't really say much. Then on Wed morning when she came upstairs to leave for work, Ashley went running for her saying "gwama". She has adored her every since and she and grandma and Bug had a great time together on Thur.

Ashley taking a nap on her 4th day here, she apparently read herself to sleep.

She went and stayed with my friend Meegan and her 3 little ones on Friday, she seemed to do well and didn't fuss when I left, she ended up making fast friends with Meegan's little girl. In the evening she went with Don and Uncle Martin to Bug's football practice. She had fun running around and watching the boys play.

On Saturday she had a really hard morning, she tends to get up in the night and got up several times, Friday night. Then she woke up very early on Sat. I had to work that morning, so Don got to deal with a cranky little girl. In the morning, she was hiding from him and being really quiet, but did better after he took her outside to play. Then at football, she had a meltdown, so Uncle Martin ran her around to play and chipper her up. By the time I got there she was in a fairly good mood, but easily frustrated. So when we got home I put her straight down to nap, but by then she was so tired she wouldn't go to sleep. By the time she finally fell asleep. I headed out to go check out the 1/2 price presale at the JBF sale. I got Ashley a ton of clothes throughout the sale, hopefully she stays with us at least through the winter or Don will be extra mad about the money I spent.


Our 1st family picture a little blurry but still cute.

After the sale I went and met Don and the kids at Shogun's, I was a little concerned about Ashley's food pickyness, but knew she liked steak. Turns out she also LOVES fried rice, I think we even snuck a few veggies in while she was eating the rice, though she was as careful as she could be to pick around them. The dinner was a blast, and the fire and show were both fascinating and a little alarming to her, though she seemed to enjoy it overall. At the end of dinner Bug went and told the staff that it was Daddy's birthday, so they came and dressed him up, sang to him and took our picture. It was a fun family night out.

On Sunday, I took her to Church with Bug and I. She had a really good time in class, she really seems to enjoy playing with other kids. Of coarse everybody thought she was just adorable. We left after the 1st service so as not to overwhelm her, plus I had to work at JBF in the afternoon. When we got home we had some lunch and relaxed for awhile, then I headed out to work. Don put the kids to bed at the end of the day and she took quite awhile to fall asleep, but was out by the time I got home at 9:30 or so.

Ashley with Bug and Don at Don's birthday, full of smiles for the camera.

Today we had another very busy day, Bug had a dentist appt this morning, pretty good overall and no cavities. He also got his sealants put on since his 6 year molars are finally in. Ashley was just fascinated by watching what the assistant was doing to him. It was good for her to watch since she has her own appt with the dentist in Oct. and hasn't been to see one since she was around 1. Also she does not like having her teeth cleaned. She has obviously been allowed to brush her own teeth, without any adult interference, and freaks out when you try to give her teeth a good brushing. She lets me get in and move the brush around a little, but won't let me touch the front sides of any of them.

After the dentist our MOMS club had an open house today at a local ice cream parlor, needless to say Ashley was very excited about getting ice cream. She is not liking her somewhat restricted diet and all the new veggies that are popping up on her plate, so ice cream was a real treat. After running to Costco, we headed home for nap time and Bug's school work. When Ashley got up we went to her WIC appt and ended up just picking up her vouchers, the real appt will be next month. Then we ran downtown for an audition for Bug, it is for a print ad for Brooks shoes, they are shooting it on Thur and Fri, so we should know fairly quickly if he gets it or not. Cross your fingers for him. Then we took him to his theater class and ran to the store, then over to a play place for awhile, where she got to play with a little girl and her brother.

Tomorrow, we will be at home most of the day, and she will be off for a visit with her dad in the morning.