Daddy's little helper

Ashlyn got to ride with daddy while he was planting wheat this past Saturday.

 

Rows look pretty strait dad, good job!

 

Barn Update

Demolition continues....

Ashlyn & Grandpa Tim supervising

top completely gone

new 3' wall and first rafter going up

... last rafter going up

Now we're just waiting for the tin to get here.  

Can't wait to see it all finished!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

Can you hear that? I think it's the Easter Bunny coming!

 

It's a Girl!

My sister Lyndsey and her husband Keith had a little girl last night!  She was induced so we knew that the baby would be born yesterday but it seemed like we had to wait forever to meet her... but it was worth it! She is just perfect. Mom and baby are doing well (dad is doing good too!) Ashlyn and I went over to meet her last night and took a few pictures.

Introducing:

 Chloe Ann Beranek!

Born April 10, 2009 at 6:55pm

7lbs   3 3/4oz

21 inches long

 

Chloe and Ashlyn (9 months)

amazing how fast they grow!

 

 

9 Months Old!!

My little baby is growing up! Today Ashlyn is 9 months old! Hard to believe how fast the time goes by (I know I say every month!). She continues to grow like a weed and is becoming mobile. We saw Dr Knudson today and he said everything looked great! She is right on track developmentally :)  

Here are some of the things she is up to.

•  She is on the verge of crawling any day now. She can scoot herself around in circles and move short distances on her belly.  

• Likes solid foods and usually has three meals a day. So far the only thing she doesn't really like is prunes... I don't blame her!

• Loves to feed herself and eat anything we are eating... messy!!

• She also has been drinking out of a regular cup and a sippy cup.

• Beware, don't offer her something she can't really have, she gets really upset if you let her touch something but not let her have it... like paper :)

• She has been sleeping really good for the last few weeks. Usually from 8pm - 6:30am!

• Loves to play with necklaces, buttons,  zippers and draw strings.

• Can give you "5" when she feels like it.

• Likes to watch the dog run around and thinks playing fetch is hilarious!

Stats from her Dr appointment today:

Height: 29" (92%)

Weight: 21lbs 12oz (91%)

Day she came home!

9 months

She looks like a giant in this seat now. She's been in her convertible seat for a month now, I just thought I'd continue the monthly pictures in her infant seat.

Barn

We started to tear down the top of the old barn this week... actually we hired my cousin Mike (Mike Kral Construction) and his crew to do it. They got the whole thing down to the blocks in two days. It went incrediably fast! We'll be putting a roof back on it and putting new tin on the whole thing. Then it will look like a new shed!

 

 

 

 

 more pictues to come!

Little Hunter

Ready to go hunting with dad soon :)

 

New Tooth!

I just noticed that Ashlyn's top left tooth cut through!! Now she has 3 teeth. I don't have a  picture since it is just through the gum. How exciting!

We had our annual girls weekend up in the cities this past weekend and it was great! I always look forward to getting together with the Kral girls to shop, drink and talk. :)

Not much is new at the Loula house. Ashlyn has been working on crawling and she's been making progress! She has also started saying "Ga" a lot the past few weeks. So now she says da, ga, ah, eek, makes clicking noises with her tongue and squeals. It's really cute, sometimes it even sounds like she says a real word like ah-ga which sounds like 'all gone' at times (okay, maybe just to me!) Here are a few pictures from the past week.

Hanging out with cousin Jared last Friday.

 

Trying out the sweet new hooded towels that I learned how to make, she loves it!

 

Working on learning how to crawl... support upper body with arms... check!

 

Butt in the air and use knees... check! Now if she could only get the two to work together :))) 

Curly Hawk - soooo cute!

Swinging

We took advantage of the beautiful day and went to the park. Ashlyn had so much fun on the swing. It might be her new favorite thing! After we were done swinging, we took a nice long walk around town and Ashlyn took a little nap. Then later, when Joe got done with work, we went for another walk with our dog Gauge and played fetch. Ashlyn thought it was hilarious when Gauge chased the ball. It was sooo cute!! 

>http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=kd4xsy&s=5

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Busy Weekend!

We had a busy weekend at the Loula house! Friday Joe and I went to the comedian Steven Lynch in the cities and Grandma Deb came over to watch Ashlyn. Then Saturday we had Brent & Desirae's wedding and Grandma & Grandpa Loula watched Ashlyn overnight. It was nice to have two date nights... we don't get out that often just the two of us and Ashlyn LOVES being babysat by her grandparents so it's a win-win situation! Then we wrapped up the weekend by having supper at the Bode's to celebrate Bryan's birthday :)

Us before we went to the cities

Grandma Deb

Helping Grandma Deb make a cake!

Snack time at Grandma & Grandpa Loula's

Raiding the tupperware drawer

Hanging out with auntie Christy and cousin Connor.

8 Months Old!

Ashlyn is 8 months old today! Hard to believe she is 3/4 of a year old. She's has such a fun personality and makes us laugh every day. She wakes us up talking every morning and usually "talks" for the first hour. It's almost like she has to make up for being quiet all night! It's cute :)  She has been enjoying her new car seat and we went to the grocery store this morning and she had fun sitting in the cart. She even helped hold some of the groceries for me. Our latest nick name for her is Little Miss Wrecking Ball. We have to be careful where we put her since she will grab everything within reach and shake it, chew on it, then knock other things over with it and finally she'll toss it. Her favorite is dropping things on the floor and watching where they go and of course she wants you to pick it up for her so she can do it all over again!! It's such a fun game... for her, not us!

As usual, the week has gone by so fast. Tuesday we had MOPS, Thursday was ECFE and Friday we went shopping in the cities with auntie Lyndsey to help her get ready for the baby who will be here in a few short weeks!! I think she's going to have a girl ;)  I moved Ashlyn into her convertible car seat and she seemed to like it. There is lot more room to kick around :)  Grandma Deb came over to watch Ashlyn on Friday night while Joe and I went to a fundraiser for MOPS in Mankato. It was a good time and we had a good turn out!

 

Playing with a new "big girl" toy. Growing up is so much fun!

Bath time... always a good time!

Playing with toys in the water tray at ECFE.

Eating a Biter Biscuit... she loves to feed herself, but it can get messy!!

A little bit of everything

I'm recovering from Desirae's bachelorette party last night, it was a blast! I haven't been out till 3am in a long time and after today I remember why... I need my sleep! Ashlyn didn't cut me any slack either, she normally naps for about 3 hours (2 naps) during the day but today she had two short half hour naps so I didn't get to nap much myself. Needless to say, I'll be going to bed when she does tonight! ;)

I took Ashlyn to the doctor on Monday to check for an ear infection because she seemed to be pulling at her ears lately and she wasn't sleeping very good, but both ears were clear and she didn't have any other symptoms so that was good news! She also weighed 21 lbs!! We only have one more pound to go before she has to move out of her infant car seat. I'm not looking forward to it because it is so easy to just pick up the whole car seat and go. If she's sleeping I don't have to wake her up to get her out either. But she is really heavy to carry around and she really likes to sit up and see what is going on if we're grocery shopping so she will enjoy sitting right in the cart an having more to look at than the light fixtures :)  I think I'll be switching seats in the next week. We went to visit cousin Landon, he's such a cutie and getting big! Ashlyn wanted to grab his eyeballs but we didn't let that happen. It's always fun to have play dates and we look forward to many more! We also went for a walk on when it was so nice out... I officially have spring fever!

Getting ready for a stroller ride

Practicing standing in her room

Making one of her many noises

Reading "The Grouchy Ladybug"

Enjoying the sunshine in the living room

Watching cars go by

Eating at the mall

So happy!