Easter Weekend

We had a busy Easter weekend and a busy week following!  I've finally got a few minutes to post some pictures...

Colton and I headed to Marshalltown Friday night since Mike was busy working for most of the weekend.  We were hoping for some rain so he would be able to join us- but at least he was able to come on Sunday.

Saturday Colton got lots of time outside playing and riding in the tractor at my parent's house.

Saturday night my family went out to eat for my little brother's 21st birthday.  It is hard to believe he is already 21....it seems just like yesterday he was running around at all my basketball games getting into trouble! We went bowling with all of his friends and then my parents, Colton and I headed home since Sunday would be a busy day!

Colton checking out his four wheeler....

a new toy for outside!

Finding eggs Sunday morning...

After a mini egg hunt for Colton at my parents house we went to my Grandpa Rittger's house to see my mom's side of the family.  The park in town  is right in his backyard so Colton had lots of fun playing there and chasing after the basketball on the court.  After dinner we had an egg hunt and Colton made out pretty well...lots of candy for Mommy and Daddy to eat! :)

Josh's cake our Aunt Carla made....isn't it neat? It would have been even better a cyclone cake!!

With the birthday boy...Happy 21st Josh!

After leaving my grandpa's, we headed to Mike's sister's house in Johnston for another Easter celebration.  We had our last egg hunt of the day outside there.  Colton got lots of help from his cousins, Reagan and Matthew.  I think he was more interested in running to the street than finding eggs!

Matthew helping him out...

All the grandkids, including the new addition, Kendall! :)

Colton had lots of fun playing with the kids- and was a tired boy on the ride home. 

We had a great Easter and got to see lots of family! Hope everyone else had a great one too! :)

Spring has brought...

Play time OUTSIDE!! We love being outside- Colton especially!! Everyday when I pick him up from daycare all the kids are playing outside and he is NOT happy when we have to leave. It makes me feel good that he is having such a good time at daycare though. 

With the nice weather brings lots of work time for Mike. He's been leaving for work at 6 am and home around 10 at night. With those long hours he isn't getting to see much of Colton- hopefully with the rain this weekend he will get to hang out with him. I am sure he misses him!! I've been busy this week getting my city stuff done at night since there is a meeting next Monday, I am ready for this meeting to be over with! :)

Spring has also brought....KENDALL!

David and Valerie (Mike's sister) got to bring her home on Sunday. She was born on Thursday night and spent a few days in the NICU before coming home.We went to meet her on Sunday afternoon.

Proud Uncle Mike and Colton. 

 Colton wasn't too interested in what was going on- we tried to just keep him away since who knows what he will do! :) I am sure they have lots of fun ahead of them playing and getting into trouble together!

She is so tiny...and has a TON of dark hair. So cute!

And those booties...Love them!

Welcome to the world Ms. Kendall Riley Jansen! :)

Friday Fun

Colton's babysitter is gone today so I took the day off to stay home with him.  We started out the day by going to the doctor to check up on his ears.  He's been pulling on them for a few days so we wanted to make sure he didn't have an ear ache. No ear ache this time! Good news :)  We came home after and have had a busy day playing and cleaning the house.  

We made some homemade play doh today for the first time...he LOVED it! At first he wasn't too sure what to do, by the end it was all over the table and he was having a blast!  

Weekend recap

Friday night we took off for Marshalltown after work.  We started the weekend off by relaxing at my parents Friday night and then Saturday we headed to visit my Grandpa Rittgers and then went bowling as a family Saturday night.  We haven't went bowling in forever so we were a little rusty at first.  Colton had a blast watching everyone and trying to figure out what was going on. 

Sunday we went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Brown, then stopped in Ankeny to meet Mike's sister, Valerie and her husband, David for lunch.  It was  a great trip back home and we got to see lots of family!

When we got home Sunday we did some cleaning inside and then finally went outside to play in the nice weather.  We got Colton's baseball tee out and he had fun trying to hit the ball off.  After playing outside, I had to make some cookies for a food day at work today.

Colton helping me....he likes grabbing the hot pads and says 'hot' as he is walking around. 

Waiting for his cookies.  See that drawer under the stove? Last week I was missing a shoe for a few days- we searched everywhere for it and finally gave up, knowing Colton had hiden it somewhere.  I was in the kitchen working on some city stuff and all of a sudden, Colton opened the drawer and said 'shoe!" Yep- he had put my shoe in the drawer under the stove. At least I finally got it back! :)  

Yummy!

Running around with no shirt...woo woooo!  

Checking out some basketball on tv

Playing with Uncle Josh's poker chips. We picked up all of these MANY times this weekend but it kept him busy for so long! He kept counting them and liked the sound as he dropped them back into the metal tin. 

Update

After my blogging break of 3 weeks...we are back! :) 

We have been so busy lately- between work, city work, volleyball and basketball, plus Colton time- I haven't been on the computer at home much lately. 

Work is going great- I love the job and the people I work with. I couldn't ask for a better place to be!

Below is a picture before Colton's first day at daycare.  He seems to like it there a lot- doesn't want to leave when I pick him up at night.  He is getting better about me leaving him there each morning- this morning he didn't cry for the 1st time! (Dian said he would cry for a few minutes every other time)  So it is some progress! He is saying so many words these days- and putting 2 words together. Yesterday after his bath, he was running around the house saying "all clean." 

Showing mommy where her nose is.

Playing in his tent with daddy.  Colton seems to think his tent is his safe place- anytime he has something he knows he shouldn't have, he dives into his tent and hides.  We never know what we will find in there!

A picture from tonight.... a big giggle after climbing up onto the couch to get the remotes. 

Friday we went to the doctor for his 15 month checkup.  He weighs 28 lbs and is 32 1/2 inches tall.  He was right on track with everything.  The past week we've all had colds and Colton ended up having an earache with his.  The doctor said his tube in his right ear was starting to come loose and is going to check on it in a few months.  Hopefully we won't have to have it replaced but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

I promise to update sooner than 3 weeks next time...have a good week everyone!

Exciting news...

I am excited to announce I accepted a job today in the billing department at the Harlan hospital. 

I'll start sometime before March 1st and can't wait! 

Of course I'll miss being home with Colton each day but he will be in great hands at the baby sitter here in town.  Colton has already met her a few times and he loved her.  He will get to meet lots of new friends and mommy will be bringing home some $$.  WOOO HOOO :)

Week in Review

Get ready for lots of pictures today. I haven't posted lately so here ya go...

Whenever I hear Mike say "Ashley, come look at Colton" I know something is up....this time he was wrapped in his blankie in the clothes basket. I walked in and Colton just started giggling. I think I'm in for it with these two together!

Someone has started climbing. On everything. The other day I caught this and since then he has started climbing on the couch, the computer chair and even tipping over his little chair and tries to climb on that. Just another thing to for him to conquer I suppose.

Sitting in his chair watching Barney. He is a huge Barney fan. It is so cute to hear him say "Darney" and sing along with all the songs. He gets shy once you catch him and he tries to hide it.


Chatting on my cell phone. I love listening in on his "conversations."

Sweeping up the carpet. He is still a lover of the broom and sweeper. My parents visited last weekend and got a kick out of him sweeping the kitchen. A boy that cleans up after himself- some girl will be lucky someday!

Mike had the ball ball for his town team league here and got it out to go to the game last night. Colton saw it and of course had to get all the balls out. He was going CRAZY with them and got pretty upset when Mike had to leave. He was happy once we got to the game though- he loves watching basketball.