Fearless

Will learned how to jump into the pool recently at a friend of his Grammy & PaPa's house.

He went from "I don't want to come off the second step in the water to......

I WANNA JUMP DADDY!!!!! Again and Again and Again!

This actually where he learned to jump the first time. Seth, whose just turned 5 jumped off the diving rock and after watching 1 jump, Will was a pro. Michael gets quite a workout!

Let's do this!

Catching You Up With Ashlyn & Will

I did this backwards, pictures go from most current to older pics, so it's gonna be like going back in time....

Miss Ashlyn is 3 months old now and smiling, rolling over, holding her head up and loving her big brother.

She is a very sweet little girl, she sleeps all night now, takes amazing naps and is generally happy when she's awake.

She was not a fan of this hat or too small bathing suit so swimming did not go well on this particular day but the other 2 times she's been in the water, she's loved it.

She's taken 2 trips to the lake, she's gone on 2 boat rides and fallen asleep immediately both times.

She's constanly smiling, you can tell she's ready for laughter to come w/ it; I bet that's not far off.

This was after her first dip in the pool.

She is getting so strong and does really well on tummy, but doesn't last long because she likes to roll right over.

Will is such a proud big brother. He is adament that Ashlyn is "his baby", he loves having her at school; the teachers have taken him to her class several times to see his sissy and if he's having a bad morning at school, seeing her calms him down immediately. I knew he'd be this amazing but actually seeing it in action takes my breath away. I pray he's always this good to her.

Dad and Ashlyn relaxing by the pool.

Will loves swimming this year. His pal Seth taught him how to jump off the side of the pool. Oh man, he's a pro now. PaPa is being an elephant here and Will is cracking up. He's a little fish. We are practicing his swim lessons he learned in April with Miss Marcy and he's getting more and more confident in the water and on the steps.

Sleeping thru Cousin Evan's 1st Birthday Party.

Will in heaven holding Evan and Ashlyn. The babies....not so much!

Proud to have a baby sissy.

Will is getting ready to celebrate his 3rd Birthday. I can't believe he's going to be 3. Crazy how time flies. We are having a party w/ his friends from school at the OK Science Museum. It's Cars 2 themed. I asked him what kind of Birthday Party he wanted this year and he said "I want cupcakes" so I decided Cars since he loves that movie so much and we are most definitely having cupcakes.

With a 3 year old and 3 month old, Michael and I stay pretty busy. We love every second of it.

1st Month Home

Everyone at the Elephant Exhibit at the zoo. We got to see the baby very close up and pet her mommy.

Mommy Elephant getting her bath. Ashlyn was overjoyed!

Will was truly beside himself. He was pointing at Aunt Elephant (can't remember their names, sorry)

Ashlyn 5 weeks old.

Will going to school. He actually wanted to drive himself there.

Aslyn trying to keep up with big brother Will. Look at those tired eyes.

Aunt Trac and Ashlyn cuddle time.

Me and my babies! Will loves saying cheese if Miss A's in the picture.

Daddy and Will at the science museum.

Will driving an airplane.

Hello!!!!

Ashlyn 3 weeks old.

I think every parent under estimates how much work it takes going from 1 to 2 kids. Well, I probably shouldn't speak for every parent, but let's just say I completely under estimated it! The first 2 weeks home were bliss, Ashlyn slept amazing, we all got great rest, Will was the perfect big brother, order seemed to be being kept so I thought, "I got this, no

problem"

Then week 3 came and with it came belly issues for Ashlyn, major baby blues for Mommy, Daddy traveling, sleepless days and nights. The only thing that stayed consistent was Will being the perfect big brother. He loves his sister so much, he's very kind and gentle, glows with pride when anyone is around and tells them it's his baby or tells them her name and that she's his baby sister. Having her around has really brought out his personality; which I thought it would. It's also made him less shy around people he doesn't know, which I'm glad, he was very standoffish before.

Ashlyn has the same digestive issues that Will did. Fortunately I caught hers a lot sooner rather than going weeks with the screaming. Their little tummies are immature and they digest their milk very slow which causes extreme cramping in their little tummies. She's on 2 antibiotics to help with the discomfort until her tummy outgrows this. So it's gotten better thankfully but we aren't thru it yet. She has gotten back to sleeping better and the screaming has ended so we are getting back to a calmer household. I take the stress and overwhelmingness day by day and ask for help when I'm smart enough to know I can't tackle it all. Michael as always has been amazing, putting up with a crazy wife, a very busy son and helping with Ashlyn when and where he can. We'll get this all under control, just not quite as quickly as we did with just 1.

This post is a bit random on pics, but it's been hard to stay caught up, so this is what we've been doing this past month.

Back up a little bit!

We attempted family pregnancy pictures when I was 35 weeks.

They ended up just being me solo because Will wasn't having it. I love these shots, I'm so happy I was able to capture this before Ashlyn got here.

Becky was able to get a couple shots before Will snapped. If there had been horses behind those fences, we might have had more success with him. Oh well, at least we got this one. Now our little angel is here and these shots will be great memories of when she was in my belly.

Hospital Pictures

My friend Becky also known as Greygill Fish Photography came up to see Miss Ashlyn while we were in the hospital and took some professional shots of her.

Traci was holding up a picture of Will from when he was born to see the resemblance.

These shots are so amazing. She is 1 day old here, Becky gets such beautiful pictures of my children.

In Mommy's Arms.

Proud Mommy & Daddy.

Peaceful little angel. Thank you Becky, these pictures I will cherish always.

Life with Two!

Being a big brother has come naturally to Will. He's amazing with Ashlyn. She gets a dozen kisses a day. If she cries he says "it's okay baby girl", if we are on our way somewhere and she's upset in the carseat, he tries to calm her by talking to her but the entire time has a sad expression on his face because he's upset that she's upset.

I always knew he'd be great with her, but he melts my heart everyday with his kindness.

When he's not handing out kisses, he's going 90 MPH! I'm not certain where this boost of energy has come from, but he's a busy busy boy.

Ashlyn sleeps a lot! Not sure what we did to deserve it, but she sleeps thru the night already. I have to wake her to feed her every night. I know it can change any day, but what a blessing to have 2 babies sleeping thru the night; definitely gives Michael and I a chance to get plenty of rest.

The big news from the weekend was Will got a new "park" for his backyard. We don't have a large yard and it's on a slope so we are limited in options for things like this, but this set is perfect. He can play on it without us having to worry about him getting hurt and it's perfect size for the yard we have.

Anyone wanna go for a ride???

The happiest dad in the world. Will has given Michael more cuddle time in the past week and a half than he has in the past 2 years. He's always been a cuddler w/ Mommy only, but that's changed now that Ashlyn is here. Truth is, you want cuddle time, hold the baby, "his baby"; he snuggles up to whoever has Ashlyn. He's been all about dad though and as much as it pains me to share, I'm so happy he's giving his daddy the attention I've gotten since he was born.

And finally this is my new nephew, Cade. He and Ashlyn are 1 months and 6 days apart. The Mazza family came to dinner tonight and we got the scale out to see how much "Tank" weighs and at 6 almost 7 weeks old, he's 15 lbs. He's a big boy!!! Ashlyn is 8 lbs 6 oz. She's back up to her birth weight so that's very exciting.

We are adjusting pretty well; the baby blues haven't hit too bad this time so that's been a blessing. Honestly, I'm so happy to have my family complete and to have 2 healthy happy babies, it's almost impossible to be frustrated or sad. I'm sure sleeping most of the night has a lot to do with it too.

Ashlyn Kate Martin

Ashlyn Kate was born Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 9:41 am. She weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz.

Will took a little while to get adjusted, but once he was, he wanted to give her nonstop kisses.

Michael and I are in absolute heaven. To have 2 healthy happy babies; we couldn't ask for more. We've been home since Saturday afternoon and it's been the best few days of our lives. Our family is complete, our little girl is perfect and our son is beaming with big brother pride and he's so gentle and caring to his baby sister.

When she came out she looked exactly like Will, but as the days have gone by, we see more of her own identity and less Will in her. Of course they can't deny they are brother and sister, but they don't look exactly alike. Since being home, surprisingly, we've gotten tons of rest. Ashlyn is a champion sleeper, gets up 2 times a night so far, sleeps great during the day, eats well....we can't ask for anything better. We are so thankful to have this little girl in our life, now we get to watch our babies grow and enjoy our little family.