A Party for ONE!

Can you believe it this guy turned one already and we celebrated with a big ol' bash. Jensen's birthday falls on Earth Day so we decided that we would have an Earth Day Birthday!

We started off the day by planting a tree in our front yard. This was our gift to the earth and to Jensen. I helped pick out the tree but Morris did all of the dirty work.
We set up a little planting station in the garage so guests could get in on the action. The potted plants and shovels doubled as party favors.
After the tree was planted we took Jensen over to show him his tree, he was more clearly interested in the dirt, we took several photos and they all turned out like this. Guests also left messages on rocks for Jensen that we put by the tree.
Our Family Tree
Cooper putting lots of though into his rock for Jensen
Jensen is all smiles when his aunts are around. He gets lots of loves and attention.
The aftermath of the globe cake I made for him. Jensen continued to spread the frosting all over his face making him look like an Avatar.
I made this little birthday box as a centerpiece. I put a picture from each month of the year on the outside of the box and then put a potted plant in it with balloons.
A close up picture of the party favors.
We had super yummy coconut cupcakes, wishing there was more of these still.
A photo of the beverage.
And most of those that came to help us celebrate our favorite little boy. We are missing a few who dashed off to an Easter Egg Hunt.
Yes, I did consume more than my share of the cupcakes and baby GIRL Poole (due in Aug) has also helped to increase my waistline as seen above.

Raise Your Hand...

if you think I am cute?

Jensen apparently thinks he is very adorable. At least I am raising a humble child.

But I kind of have to agree with him.

Ode to Richmond

Today I miss you (and every Thursday)

I miss your beautiful fall trees and the long fall season.

I miss the good friends you provided me with, good friends are hard to find and impossible to replace.

I miss your Nordstrom, you were small but satisfied a desire and sometimes a need.

I miss your delicious Celesti Gelati ice cream and the amazing "just ask" flavor that I worry I may never have again.

I miss walks in the evening that often turned into a neighborhood party.

I miss playing the train game with friends while eating cookies and drinking Root Beer.

I miss seeing lightning bugs in the summer evenings.

I miss not being able to take a bus to NYC.

I miss our not living in the "real world" yet lifestyle.

Today I miss you.

Until we meet again.

Best Part of Waking Up

I love the smiles this little guy dishes out in the morning.

Who needs Furniture?

It took a couple weeks for our furniture to show up so Morris made use of the space on his

graduation gift (a new bike) and rode around the house. The laps around the island were tight but he worked it out.

A Moving Story

Q: How do you fit a 1,100 sq. ft. townhouse into 10ft. of a moving truck? A: You ask two orthodontists to pack your truck. Morris and his dad utilized every square inch of that space.
And even found a perfect seat for Jensen.

Best friends in the whole world! Show up at 1 AM to clean my house and finish packing up the place, that is after they had watched my baby for 5 hours so I could attend graduation oh and then drive our family out to the airport at the wee wee hours of the morning. Really truly the best friends a girl could ask for.

Locking up the doors of our place for the last time.

Morris and Rich sharing one last brew together. (Well, actually Rich had already brushed his teeth so he wouldn't drink it but I made him grab one for the photo--what a good little dentist he is)

Our flight home--this is how Jensen was for the majority of both flights. We were very relieved as well as all those around us, I am sure.

Our welcoming committee. Mindy showed up with her 3 kids and signs to welcome us back to the Beehive State. Thank you for the love Rice Family!

The End.

It's been a rough day at our house. This big boy is weighing in at 13.4 lbs on his 2 month birthday. That is about the 90th percentile.

Gym Day 1: Check

Well I didn't run 13.1 miles today but 2 things are certain:

1. My waistline is definitely not in any hurry to reappear.
2. I did reach my mini gym goal I set for myself for Day 1 so that is good news.

This Week

We have been trying to keep ourselves busy while Morris has been away.

We spent a day at the pool with friends.
Aunt Mallory arrived to keep us company. Jensen was in love immediatly.

We went to Charlottesville and walked around UVA campus and...

had a picnic in a nearby garden.

We made treats for my doctor to take to my 6 week appointment.

Yep, it has been 6 weeks already.

Other highlights of the week:

Jensen slept just over 7.5 hours last night, I was awake the last hour just waiting for him to wake up.

I dropped off our last rent check-EVER!

1 Month

We finally got around to getting this little guys photos taken. We have only seen this one but I am pretty sure I am in love with them and him of course.

The time has come

Ok folks this party is going private. If you want to know our dirty little secrets you can email me ashleyapoole (at) hotmail (dot) (com). Believe me I do plenty of blog stalking so don't be embarrassed.

Goal 1=13.1 on 8-28

I think 3 weeks of rarely leaving the house may have gotten the best of me. I have had intentions of running a half marathon for some time now. I had actually entered the lottery for the Nike Women's Marathon in March but since it was a lottery I didn't feel like I was completely committed. I checked my email from my hospital bed and found out I was not selected and I have to be honest I was a little bit relieved. Well the woes of pregnancy and labor are quickly becoming a distant memory and I decided I needed to find a new race.
I had planned on a race in October but after finding out my sister was planning to run the Top of Utah in August and the race happens to be in our new backyard I decided to go for it. I am a little bit nervous that it is almost 2 months sooner than I was planning on but I am now committed. At least my sissy will be there to keep me motivated and my cheering section has now doubled.

Goal 2: Sprint Triathlon--Gonna need a little help on this one Heid.

Houdini

This is what Jensen looks like when he is put to bed.
This is what Jensen looks like after about 5 minutes of being in his crib.

A little bit of grunting and wiggling and he has his arm out of his swaddle and then out of his shirt through the neck hole, sometimes both arms. And then a fist is usually inserted into the mouth.

Mush

Mush:
Pronunciation: mush, musher, total mush
Function: Noun
1. A word created by my lovely sister in law used to describe adorable babies you want to love on all day long and now widely used in the Allen family
2. Jensen

We had a baby, It's a boy

Actually a week ago today. Here are some pictures from the hospital and the days that have followed.

Morris "Jensen" Poole, we call him Jensen
Born April 22nd at 10:54 AM
7 lbs. 15 oz.
Practically perfect in every way

First family photo
Our sweet gift straight from heaven

A very proud papa

One of the very few shots with his eyes open. He is still quite sleepy and maybe a little camera shy

My 4 day old boy with a faux hawk

Birth story and more photos to follow. This mama is still very tired and trying to recover.

We apologize to all of our friends and family who use hotmail, we did attempt to send you an email several times from the hospital with photos attached but hotmail would not accept the attachments.

The Old Days

While Morris was here visiting we wanted to do some of our favorite things in the city we love and miss.


First stop was a pre dinner treat at Diddy Riese. Nothing makes me happier right now than ice cream and cookies. I may have even bought a few extra cookies for dessert.


Enjoyed a walk around Westwood.

Spent time on the temple grounds on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Practiced our Blue Steel faces and modeling poses--totally appropriate on temple grounds, right?

A quick visit to the beach

and walk around Santa Monica

Before meeting up with ULCA friends for a BBQ at the Village. It was a great weekend and wish it could have lasted a bit longer.

It was hard to say good bye to Morris but he had to return to research, thesis writing and teeth straightening.