my little man turns 5

The night/morning Ashton was born will forever be engraved in my memory. Nothing I expected to happen, happened. He was early. He was breech. He was born by c-section. I remember how we closed on our house while in my hospital room when he was less than 24 hours old. I remember being more afraid of breastfeeding than giving birth. But that was easier & more natural than I expected. I'll never forget that day, those tiny itty-bitty moments, that add up to equal me becoming a Mother, my life long dream had come true. Thanks to my little 7 lbs. 7 oz. sweetheart; Ashton J Dean.

So now Ashton, you're five. You're full of energy, curiosity, a incredible desire for learning and you have a very tender heart. You give the best hugs & kisses and you still like to cuddle with me. Sometimes your sister makes you angry, but mostly, you are a wonderful, loving big brother. You love to eat fruit & eat it everyday. You also like popcorn, popsicles, chicken salad sandwiches and pancakes. You love to play & build things with your hands. Like sand castles in the backyard or towers or spaceships made out of blocks. You have exceptional manners too! You always say 'excuse me' to speak to a grown up. You say please & thank you. You put your dishes in the sink after meals. You also like having some simple fun jobs around the house, like feeding the dog & cat, taking out the garbage & recycling, and even helping me cook. You have already started to read. You are great with numbers & counting as well as remembering letters and what sounds they make. I think your new Kindergarten teacher will be quite impressed by you. You are also gifted at making new friends. Anywhere & everywhere we go you seek out kids to play with. Doesn't matter their age, gender or race, you don't discriminate. You say to them, "Hi, I'm Ashton, what's your name?" and you become instant pals. I admire that quality in you tremendously!! Don't ever lose that, because it is a gift that many people admire. Ashton, you are sweet and you always want to make sure I'm happy or smiling. Someday I hope you learn that just having you near me makes me happy & it has since first moment I knew you were coming. One of the biggest compliments a person can give me is to tell me that you look just like me. You are so handsome! You are a million times more beautiful than I could ever hope to be. Sweetheart, I am so proud of you. You are a good boy. And everyone who will ever have the privilege of meeting you, will never forget you.

On your 5th birthday, Mommy woke you up with berry make-a-face pancakes and a birthday candle in your bedroom, singing Happy Birthday. You were groggy at first, but then you smiled the biggest smile when you saw the candle. You ate ever raspberry & strawberry but not much of the pancake. Then we went to Liberty Park and met Daddy for lunch. You ate a corn dog and root beer. Then Grandma Bobi, Aunt Heidi, Jasmine, Jessica, Caleb, Josh & Nathan joined us and you played on the playground. It was really hot - so soon we left to come back to our house for popsicles & water play. You all put on your swimsuits & played on the giant blow up slide. After they left & things quieted down, you fell asleep on the couch in your swimsuit - all the fun in the sun wore you out.
Once Daddy got home from work, we went over to your new school; Hayden Peak Elementary for the school carnival. You & Kadence played in the bounce houses and slides, even earned some silly prizes. You had a grin from ear to ear the entire time and worked up quite an appetite. When we asked you what you wanted for your birthday dinner, you said one word: PIZZA! So we left the carnival and went to The Pie Pizzeria for dinner. It's a fun pizza place where you can write on the brick walls so we took a black magic marker and wrote, "Happy 5th Birthday Ashton Dean 06/25/09" in at least five or six places around the restaurant. You had cheese pizza and fruit punch and wanted to walk around the restaurant barefoot! Next Friday, July 3rd we will have a GREAT BIG BIRTHDAY CARNIVAL with all of your friends & cousins. It will be a memorable birthday party, I have no doubt!

Ashton, I love you with all my heart and I know as each day goes by and you get bigger & bigger that love will only grow right along with you. I am so proud of you! Love, Mom

Start of Summer

Ashton recently graduated from I'm a Star Preschool after completing 2 years there. He loved it & still asks about his teacher Ms. Wendi. He is very excited to start kindergarten and go to the 'big school.' He'll be attending Hayen Peak Elementary and will be on "D" track...which means his first day of school is not until the end of August! So we get a nice long summer!
Also in August, Kadence will begin her first year of preschool at Sunshine Square in West Jordan. She is very excited after watching her big brother make friends, do homework and take show-n-tell. I've heard good things about Sunshine Square, so we'll see how it compares to where Ashton went to school. New adventures all around!

This Friday will be Closing Ceremonies for Ashton's baseball. He was on team RIVERDOGS! He is quite a little player! Not the least bit afraid of the ball; in fact, he is quite aggressive. We had to remind him a few times to let other kids field the ball. T-ball is a great form of entertainment...we all had a good bunch of laughs. But the most important thing is that he had a great time, even if his favorite part was turning in his treat tickets to the snack bar after each game. His coach even pulled us aside to tell us Ash has a lot of natural ability & reminded him of himself as a kid. Way to go Ashton!

Kadence just finished her training at Marlene's Dance Studio in May, with the studio recital on May 29th. She did great! It's almost impossible not to watch her up on stage...she always steals the show. Her tap dance "Buckaroo" went well, she did most of the steps & smiled big. Then her ballet dance "take me out to the ball game" was a different story. She did the first few steps, then noticed me filming her, and immediately crossed her arms, stuck out her bottom lip and pouted after throwing down her plastic bat. Then she kicked her bat and sat down on stage, arms still folded, scowling at the audience. She stole the show, once again! She's quite a character! I joke with Dustin that I gave birth to a firecracker...she's such a fiesty, sassy, opinionated princess. Love that little KDBug; wouldn't change a thing!

So now summer is officially here...which means Ashton's birthday is just around the corner. He'll turn 5 on June 25th (which is SO hard for me to wrap my brain around...wasn't he just handed to me in the hospital all pink & squishy?). Since we have our first summer vacation (more on that to follow) the day after his birthday, we're going to have his party on Friday, July 3rd. The theme...? "Under the Big Top" complete with carnival games & food and an outdoor movie.

Just 2 weeks ago Dustin took Ashton to his FIRST major league baseball game...San Diego Padres. They flew down on a Saturday morning and returned on Sunday afternoon, just a bit longer than 24 hours, but they managed to get quite a bit in. Including Mission Beach complete with sandy feet & ice cream, the baseball game and even some gas lamp district. They had a great time! Kadence & I missed them indeed; but we had our own fun getting pedicures with Grandma Bobi. I let KD pick out the color that we BOTH used which was a soft sparkly pastel purple, then we each got flower decals on our big toes. It's something we will continue to do together, no doubt about it! So happy to have been blessed with a girly-girl.