Chapter Two

Behold: Chapter two of "The Iron Stake". Hopefully those of you who read the first chapter didn't get too bored. If you haven't read the first chapter, you might want to before you read the second... that usually helps.

To read part 1, click here.

Chapter Two

When I awoke upon our arrival back at my house, I had long forgotten about the man with the dark eyes. James helped me out of the car and kissed my hand. "Feeling better?" He asked. His face was still concerned.

"Much better." I reassured him, leaning up to peck him on the lips. "Sorry about that back there. I think I was just tired."

James laughed. "I love you." He said quietly.

"I love you more." I said.

We kissed again.

"So should we tell your parents?" James asked excitedly, grabbing my left hand and gesturing to the ring it now held.

My eyes lit up. "Yes!" I exclaimed.

I grabbed James' hand and took off in a full-on sprint toward the house. "Mom! Dad!" I shouted as I ran carelessly up the porch steps, dragging James behind me.

The old stairs creaked with each step and I narrowly avoided tripping over the hole that sat in the middle of the top step. It had been broken years ago. My father and his brother had been moving a new recliner into the house when my father lost his grip on the side he had been holding, only to send the chair crashing onto the porch. Needless to say, my mother had been less than pleased. She had nagged my father over and over again to get the step fixed, saying it was a safety hazard. He, however, insisted that it added character to the house, though I think it was just because he kept forgetting to fix it. That man was always working on about fifty projects at once and I doubt he ever had time to repair the step.

My father loved this house. He had found it for a "steal" when he and my mom were first married. Both my sister and I were born in this house, so we knew of no other home. We had spent so many happy times here - Christmases, birthdays, and family get-togethers - as well as many sad times like when my grandmother passed away.

It wasn't a bad looking house, either, thanks to some renovations made by my father over the years. Through all the renovations he made, though, he had always managed to keep the same classic, almost antique look. It was Victorian style and painted yellow, with white trim and a wrap-around porch. An old swing hung on the porch and I remember spending hours there with my sister when we were younger. The front yard had been the setting of countless games of "Cops and Robbers" and "Capture the Flag" when our friends or cousins would come for a visit. Needless to say, I also loved this house.

"Mom! Dad!" I shouted again, running through the front door and into the living room. They sat on the couch almost expectantly with smiles on their faces. My sister, Kelsey, entered the room.

"What are you so excited about?" Kelsey asked with a chuckle.

I jumped up and down. "I'm--we're engaged!" I shouted, too giddy to build up much suspense. I held out my hand. "And look at this rock!" I said, wiggling my fingers slightly.

Mom and Dad stood up and hugged us both, laughing. "Congratulations, you two." Dad said, and I thought I saw tears in his eyes.

"Wecome to the family." Mom said to James.

I couldn't stop smiling. "It was the greatest thing ever!" I exclaimed, my heart pounding in my chest. "He brought me to the middle of nowhere and parked in front of this giant butte. We climbed and climbed for what seemed like forever!" I told the story in full detail, and my family, being the loving family that they were, listened to the entire thing an pretended to be interested in every trivial detail.

Sometime in the duration of my story, we moved into the dining room where my mother set out some cookies and lemonade for us.

"Well, we are very excited for you guys." My mother said. A genuine smile played around her soft face and her gentle features glowed.

"Once you're my brother, I can pick on you even more!" Kelsey said with her girlish giggle. She took a big bite of her cookie.

"And since I'll be your big brother that automatically gives me the right to...I don't know...put frogs in your bed and gum in your hair, right?" James laughed as Kelsey nearly choked on the cookie. "Aw, you know I'm just kidding, Sis." James and Kelsey laughed together.

"So what are your plans for tonight?" My dad asked while James and Kelsey continued to tease each other.

"I think we are heading over to Diana's house." I said. "She's having a party with a bunch of our friends from her complex and I would kind of like to announce the good news."

"And I'd like to show off my woman." James said, jokingly.

We all laughed.

James drove home to change and I ran uptairs to shower. I toweled hastily, knowing that James would be back any minute to pick me up. I quickly pulled a brush through my hair. After drying my hair, I applied a thin line of black eyeliner around my bright, green eyes.

The doorbell rang downstairs and I shouted to my mom to answer it.

"Hey James." I heard Mom say. She sounded as if she hadn't seen him in ages.

"Hey Mrs. Woods." He answered.

"None of that, now." She scolded. "It's Maggie or Mom to you. And no more ringing the doorbell, you're family now."

James laughed. "I'll remember that."

I rushed into my room and quickly threw on the dress I had been wearing when James came to pick me up earlier. I put on a pair of silver flats and matched them with a silver locket James had gotten me for my twentieth birthday a couple months before. I noticed that it went really well with my new ring and I wondered if he had planned that.

"Hey, Babe." I said as I walked into the living room where James sat, reading a magazine. "Ready to go?"

James pursed his lips. "Not with you looking like that." He said with a smile. "You look way too beautiful."

My face heated up and I kissed his cheek. "Let's go."

Diana's apartment was packed with people, both friends and strangers. Music blared through all the rooms. Thank goodness the whole complex was home to college students - all of whom were probably at the party - or she would have some angry neighbors.

Diana stood across the room talking to someone, but as soon as she saw us enter, she danced over to us.

"So I hear you have some good news!" She yelled over the noise.

"How did you know?" I asked, shocked.

"What?" She asked.

"How did you know?" I shouted louder.

"I've known it was going to happen for the past two weeks, girl!" She hollered, her voice getting lost in the music.

I turned to James. "You told her?" I asked with a laugh. "You actulaly trusted her?" Diana and I had been best friends since the sixth grade, but I would have never trusted her with such a huge secret. She tended to have difficulty keeping her mouth shut.

James shrugged. "I figured that she wouldn't spoil that kind of surprise for you." If I hadn't been standing so close to him, I wouldn't have heard a word he was saying.

"You don't know Diana very well, do you?" I asked. "She always spoils surprises." I laughed and Diana nudged me.

"Not true!" She argued. "I kept this one without a problem!" She chuckled loudly and wandered off into the crowd, dancing all the way.

I appraised the room of dancing college students and couldn't help but dance a little myself. I recognized a few friends who stood in the middle of the room. My eyes met those of Jennifer, one o fmy best friends from high school and she waved. I wasn't offended that she didn't come over to say hi; she was busy dancing with her new crush, Austin.

As my eyes wandered to the back of the room, where a table sat cluttered with all kinds of food and drinks, I noticed someone standing in the corner to the right of the table. He stood in the shadows, appearing to want to stay out of sight and he wore all black. A chill ran up my spine when me looked up and his familiar, haunting, dark eyes met mine.

Even surrounded by darkness, the man's eyes glowed with an intensity that I could not handle. It was the same man I had seen, no, imagined earlier. I noticed that his eyes weren't completely black as I had previously thought. They were worse than that. Instead, they were a very dark, deep shade of red, almost the same color as the dress I was wearing. Though strange, it wasn't the color that had me frozen in the middle of the room. It was that same, all too familiar feeling of being forced to stare into these eyes that had my blood racing and my feet pasted to the ground.

"Sweetheart?" I heard beside me. The man with the dark eyes looked away, releasing me once more.

"Yeah?" I asked halfheartedly, turning.

James still stood next to me, concern flooding his face. "You okay?"

I didn't answer, but took one more glance to the corner of the room, only to find it empty. Of course. I scanned the room quickly, but there was no sign of the man with the dark eyes.

Realizing James was still waiting for an answer regarding my wellbing, I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked up at him and smiled. "Are you okay?" I asked.

James leaned down and kissed my nose gently. "Perfect." He said.

"I think I'm just tired." I mumbled. "It's been a long day. A good day, but a long one."

"Do you want to go home?" He asked.

I nodded.

James grabbed my hand and led me outside to his car.

Later that evening as I climbed into bed, I couldn't keep my mind off of the man with the dark eyes. Twice I had sworn I'd seen him. And twice he had disappeared in an instant. The image of his eyes was carved into my brain and I had a difficult time letting go of it enough to relax.

When I was seconds away from sweet, sweet dreaming, a rustling awoke me from my half-sleep and I opened my eyes. There, standing in the corner of my room was a dark figure; one that looked awfully familiar - too familiar. His eyes glowed dark red and his black hair blended into the darkness...

A loud scream echoed through my room and it took me a moment to realize that it was coming from me. Though my scream pierced the darkness, the man still stood unmoving in the corner, staring at me.

Suddenly, my bedroom door flung open and slammed into the wall. "What's wrong?" My dad said as he entered the room quickly. Immediately he was at my bedside, taking my hand.

"There!" I hollered, pointing toward the corner. But when I focused on it again, it was empty except for the pile of clothes that sat dumped there. "I...there...he..." I stammered stupidly.

Dad looked from me to the corner and back again, concern filling his eyes. "There's nothing there, Mel." He said quietly. "I think you were having a nightmare..."

"But...he..." I continued to stutter.

"Go back to sleep, Sweetheart." Dad said in a soothing voice. "You're alright. You've had a long day; get some rest."

I nodded stiffly; my whole body was numb. "Okay..." I mumbled and laid back down.

Dad kissed my forehead. "Good night." He said as he left the room.

"'Night..." I said, but he was already gone.

As I sat there in the darkness, I clung to James' locket as if it would comfort me and I tried to control my heavy breathing. I closed my eyes and tried unsuccessfully to rid the image of the man's face from my head.

After tossing and turning and checking the corner every five minutes, my eyes finally closed once more, and I fell into a deep, but troubling sleep.

Well, there you have it... chapter 2. Let me know what you think!

Ash

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

No, I don't have any updates on our lives, and no, I don't have a new chapter of my story to post yet. In time, they'll come. But, in light of it being Sunday, I thought I would post this video. While I was fixing my hair this morning, I listened to this song about 4 times... mainly because it is one of my all time favorite songs. So here is an amazing song put to some amazing clips.

Note: You might want to pause the music player on the bottom of my blog... the song is a lot better if you can actually hear it. ;)

Once Upon a Time, Ashley Wrote a Story...

Okay, so this is something that I haven't done in a while. I was reading through some of my old stuff and realized how truly terrible it is... so I felt like I needed to redeem myself a little. Maybe this won't be much better than anything else I've written, but it's definitely revised a little more and planned out better... I think. I hope at least SOMEONE will read this and let me know what they think.

A little background: this was a story that I wrote for my creative writing class. It started out as a vampire story, but has evolved into something a little different. The story had to be a minimum of 8 pages long and a maximum of 20... mine was 20. I could have kept going, and I wanted to. So, about a year later, I decided to continue the story.

Also note that "The Iron Stake" is the title of the original 20 page story I wrote - back when it was ONLY a vampire story. So, chances are, the title will change. So, if any of you continue following my writings here, I might need some help thinking of a title eventually - at this point, it's probably too early to come up with one.

Like I said, it is a vampire story... kind of. And yes, I know vampires have been grossly overdone since the whole "Twilight" thing. This is why I need help - I want opinions and advice. I am REALLY trying to stay away from the "Twilight" type of vampires and stories. So lets just say this: don't go into it thinking it's a vampire story... because there is more to it, this chapter just doesn't get into it. 

This is the first chapter. But my question is: Does this even interest you? Is it even worth me trying to continue? I have about 4 chapters written out now and I'm just trying to figure out if I should stop while I'm ahead. ;)

BTW, sorry that the format is kind of weird... unfortunately, it does weird things when I put it on Blogger, and as I am not a master at HTML coding... I decided just to leave it. Hopefully it doesn't bother anyone too much. I also want to apologize for any typos... while I was retyping the whole thing, I may have made a mistake or thirty. ;)

Anyways, the first writing I've done in a long time... I give you:

The Iron Stake

By Ashley Wallentine Whitten

Chapter One

The hot summer sun beat down through the car window and onto my pale skin. I turned slightly in my seat and leaned the back of my head against the window to block the sunlight from hitting my face. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Melanie..." My name was just a whisper in my ear. I opened my eyes a little and saw James leaning toward me. I smiled and yawned hugely.

"Hey..." I said as I rubbed my eyes.

"Hi" James said with a laugh. "We're here." He added.

I hopped out of the car, excited to see where he had decided to take me. James had been strangely cryptic when he had picked me up from my parents' house. For all I had known, we were going on just another date. But when I appeared at the door in a dress, he had frowned, and ordered me to put on something more casual, specifically something that could get dirty. And, even though I had spent a good long two hours getting ready that morning, I didn't object.

When I looked around, I was surprised - as well as a little disappointed - to find that we were out in the middle of nowhere. Directly in front of me was a monstrous mountain looking object and directly behind me was the road and vast span of empty fields. The only sign of any civilization was a small house about one hundred yeards to my right. I'm sure it used to be a cute house - it was white with blue trim and red shutters - but the paint was mostly chipped and peeled off and most of the shutters were broken. I doubted if anyone even lived in it now.

"Where are we...?" I asked, trying to mask the disappointment in my voice.

"Walter's Butte." James answered simply. When I didn't respond, he laughed and continued, "Oh, I know it doesn't look like much, but it's beautiful once you get on top. My cousins and I used to climb this little beauty all the time and--"

"We're going to climb it?" I asked in disbelief, a little bit of terror creeping up into my voice. I had never been strong at hiking and I was deathly afraid of heights.

"Sure." James said with a comforting smile. When I looked unconvinced, he walked around to the passenger side of the car and grabbed my hand. "C'mon," he said "it'll be fun."

The hike started out fairly simple, just a gentle incline as we headed up the massive butte, and I soon began feeling confident. This was not nearly as difficult as I had thought it would be. But my confidence was soon shattered when the slight incline turned into a steep mountain side that we were apparently going to try climbing.

James started up the side, but stopped when he realized that I wasn't following him.

"You coming?" He asked, taking one more step up the cliff.

I shook my head. "Are you kidding me?" I asked.

James laughed loudly. "Yeah, I am." He hopped down from where he hung on the wall and grabbed my hand. "There's an easier, and probably much safer path around this way." He kissed my sweaty cheek and led me a ways to the right until I saw a slightly less treacherous path up the mountain.

I sighed in relief. "You scared me there for a minute." I said and I trudged almost excitedly toward the new-found path.

We continued on the pathway for a while, though I wasn't sure how long, talking and laughing. And even though I wouldn't ever consider hiking as my idea of fun, I had to admit that I was having a nice time. The fact that I was with the love of my life probably had something to do with that, but that's beside the point.

After an eternity of walking and countless water breaks, we reached the top of Walter's Butte. I was panting and wiping sweat from my forehead, but James seemed to be doing just fine. He was obviously in much better physical condition than I was. James walked to the edge of the cliff and turned to face me. He extended his hands toward me and I walked to his side, linking my fingers with his.

"Take a look at that." he said, looking out over the ground far below us.

I appraised the scenery and marveled at the pure beauty of it. To be honest, I was never one to "stop and smell the roses" or really appreciate the natural beauties the world held and it wasn't until this moment that I realized just how much I had been missing. It made me sick to my stomach to see just how oblivious I had been. My long, golden hair twirled in the light breeze. The cool air felt amazing on my sweaty skin.

"It's beautiful." I said simply.

"So are you." I turned to see James no longer looking at the valley below, but at me. Heat flooded into my face and I looked down at my feet to hide my embarrassment. James reached up and stroked my face from temple to chin with the back of his hand. My blush deepened.

"Cheesy line of the day?" I asked, hoping to escape some of the awkwardness his compliment had brought.

James laughed. "Perhaps." He mused. He bent down and picked up a small stone from the ground. He chuckled again before throwing it off the cliff to the world below. He then turned back to me. His eyes met mine with an intensity that made my heart skip a few beats. "That doesn't change the fact that it's true." He said, and I saw nothing but truth in his clear, blue eyes.

I stared at him for a long moment, memorizing every line of his face - the smooth contours of his nose and cheekbones, the perfect curves of his soft lips, the shape of his mesmerizing ice blue eyes. I wanted to remember this face for eternity. I wanted to hold this picture in my mind and never let it go. And something inside of me told me that I wouldn't ever be able to let it go.

James leaned in slowly and pressed his smooth lips firmly, but carefully, against mine. He reached his hand to the small of my back and pulled me gently toward him while his other hand found my face once more. My hands rested on his broad, strong shoulders and I pulled his mouth tighter against mine.

Then, all too soon, he pulled away, leaving me gasping a little for air. Still holding my hand, he spoke and his voice shook.

"Mel." He said. "We've been together for some time now and I've become very...fond, for lack of a better word, of you."

I laughed. "Fond?" I reflected on the word. Certainly I'd thought that our relationship went far past just mere fondness.

A hurt look entered into James' eyes and I could see that he was trying to be completely serious.

"Sorry." I apologized. I pressed my lips to the back of his hand and the pain vanished.

"I've had a lot of thinking to do. About our relationship, I mean." I gazed into James' beautiful face, not paying as much attention to his words as I probably should have. My heart fluttered in my chest - I thought perhaps it might escape. "I've given it a little thought, well, a lot of thought, and I've decided that I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore..."

A deep scowl spread across my face when I grasped what he had just said. Pain and rejection rushed through me and I felt my whole body heat up. A tthe same time that tears stung my eyes, anger stung my heart and I wanted to scream. I could not believe that James dragged me all the way up this stupid mountain just to break up with me! Of all the nerve! What kind of man does that?

"...want you to be my wife." I heard him say, though I was too livid to comprehend exactly what he meant.

"Why you little..." I said without thinking, trailing off before I could say something truly hurtful. "Wait, what did you just say?" I asked, my brain finally absorbing his words.

James pulled me close once more and placed a kiss on my nose. He backed away and lowered himself onto one knee.

Tears filled my eyes again - this time, tears of joy - as he pulled a little, velvet, black bag from his back pocket. "Sorry it's not in a box," he said quietly. "Too bulky to fit in my pocket." He opened the bag to reveal a dainty, sparkling diamond sitting on a simple white gold band.

"Melanie Brooklyn Woods," his voice was clear and confident now. "I love you more than my own life; will you marry me?"

I screamed and pulled him up, wrapping my arms around him, tears still running down my cheeks. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist and he nestled his face into my shoulder.

After standing there for an immeasurable amount of time, James pulled away and spoke again, a smile played around his lips. "You...well, you never really answered me." He said. He tried to hold back his grin, but was completely unsuccessful.

"Yes!" I shouted and wrapped my arms around him again. He pushed me gently away, grabbed the ring from the bag and placed it on my left hand where I was convinced it would stay for a very long time.

*********

The hike down the butte didn't seem to take as long as the hike up, something that I contributed completely to my excellent mood. James and I held hands the entire way down. Whenever we would stop for water breaks, James would pull me into his arms and kiss me over and over again - which made my heart melt over and over again. It was strange and exciting to me that, even though we had been together for two years now, my heart still raced and my face still flushed every time James touched me. I hoped that it would stay that way as more time together passed.

By the time we got to the bottom of the butte, I was exhausted. The only think keeping me standing was probably the adrenaline from the high I was on from getting engaged. James wrapped one arm around my waist and we walked side-by-side toward where his car was parked.

As I looked around at what I had first seen as a wasteland in the middle of nowhere, my eyes caught on something moving in one of the windows of the old house. I squinted in an attempt to see better and I realized there was a person standing in the window. It was a man, with olive-toned skin and black hair. He appeared to be just standing there, almost as if he were watching us. His piercing black eyes met mine and a chill ran down my spine. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't look away from those dark eyes. It was like they were holding me using some kind of unseen power. As I continued to stare, I saw the man's mouth move slowly. He was mouthing two words. Two simple words that I barely made out as "save me."

The man dropped his eyes, releasing me from his gaze and I took a deep breath.

"Wow," I exclaimed with a nervous laugh. "Someone actually lives in that old house?" I chuckled lightly. My heart was still racing from the weird moment I had just shared with that mysterious stranger and I tried to keep my voice calm.

"I doubt it." James said, looking down at me. "That place has been abandoned for years. My great-grandfather used to own it."

I raised an eyebrow. "But there is someone in it." I insisted. "Look, James." I pointed toward the house. "He's right..." but when we both turned to look, the man was gone.

"I don't see anyone..." James said cautiously.

"He was right there..." I muttered under my breath. "It was a man...a tall man. With black hair and dark skin and..." I pictured his eyes again and shuddered.

James looked at me in concern. "Are you alright...?" he asked.

"He was right there..." I mumbled again.

"I think you've just been out in the sun too long." James said with a nervous laugh. "Let's get you home..."

I nodded stiffly. "Yeah...out in the sun too long..." I repeated robotically.

For the whole ride home, I was in a daze. I was so sure that I had seen a man standing in the window - sure that I had seen him stare at me, seen him mouth the words "save me," and yet, I was so unsure at the same time. Over and over again I played that strange moment through in my mind and I couldn't make sense of it. If the mad had really been there, what did I need to save him from? And why would he leave so quickly?

The only explanation that made sense was that I had imagined the man. I was probably just exhausted and over-stimulated from the excitement of the day and my brain couldn't handle it. So it had conjured up this man with black eyes who needed to be saved from something. Yes, that was the logical explanation. And yet, those eyes seemed so real...

I rubbed my temples fiercely in a feeble attempt to rid myself of the headache that found it's way into my brain. Exhausted and confused, I leaned my head against the window once more and fell asleep, allowing the man with the dark eyes to drift away into utter oblivion as nothing other than just a figment of my imagination.



End Chapter One

Well, now, I hope that wasn't too terrible. But honestly, I would love to hear your opinion. Leave me a comment, or message, or whatever, but I would love some feedback. Thanks for reading!

Ashley

Mother's Day

Yes, I realize I am a couple weeks late.

It just came to my attention today that I hadn't even written about my first Mother's Day as a mother!

 How TERRIBLE of me!

Brandon surprised me with a "fancy" breakfast the morning before Mother's Day -

the reason I say "fancy" is because it actually wasn't fancy.

It was a bunch of items from the Burger King breakfast menu... and it was PERFECT!

I guess it's kind of our inside joke -

whenever we want to have a "fancy" breakfast, we go to Burger King.

He also surprised me with some GORGEOUS flowers!

Check 'em out! Aren't they FABULOUS!?

After breakfast, I went to the church for building clean-up,

and while I was gone, Brandon went to the mall with Collette to get me a present -

even though I told him that all I wanted for Mother's Day

was to have an uninterrupted 2 hour nap sometime that week...

he still owes me that nap because we ended up having kind of a hectic week anyway.

Anyway, he bought me a new shirt, which didn't fit,

so we went to exchange it and ended up finding a pair of cute jeans for the same price as the shirt,

 so we got the jeans instead. =]

Then I got to spend the day with my favorite man

and the sweet little girl that made me a mother.

She's a sweetie.

Being a mom is definitely the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me.

It can be so difficult at times -

and there will be many difficult times in the future

(like the teenage years... dun dun DUNNN) -

but I am already seeing so many rewards from my hard work.

These last three months, I have really come to appreciate my own mother

as well as all those other mothers out there.

I don't know how my mother managed to carry and deliver 7 children -

she had difficult labors like me too -

and then keep her sanity while raising them.

Of course, my youngest sibling is only 8 years old,

so I guess she still has time to lose her mind...

but I doubt she will -

she's AMAZING!

It's insane how much your perspective on everything changes when you have a child.

I find myself worrying only about Brandon and Collette

and maybe not enough about myself.

For the first week of Collette's life,

I would forget to feed myself

because Collette would cry if I laid her down to get myself some lunch...

I just wanted her to be happy and feel loved.

And, when I got sunburnt last week,

I was so worried about Collette getting sunburnt -

I did a really good job putting sunscreen on her, but neglected myself.

My world kind of revolves around her and,

while that can be overwhelming sometimes,

I'm okay with that. 

More than okay.

I LOVE it, actually. 

Anyways, so Mother's Day was great - 

I thank my Heavenly Father everyday

for the incredible chance I have to be a mother to such a sweet little spirit.

I just had to post this picture.

She put her hand there all by herself. 

I think we have a great philosopher in the making. =]

Love her.

Smiles, New baby, Picnics, and the Army

A miracle has happened. I've been trying to get a picture of one of Collette's HUGE open-mouthed, wrinkly-nose smiles FOREVER! But alas, as soon as she sees the camera, she does these really teeny tiny smiles. BUT today, Uncle Tyler was playing with her and BAM! he got that much anticipated photo. And It doesn't disappoint... just check out my little girl. Cute, right?

Well this weekend was pretty darn spectacular. And that's not even sarcastic. Surprising, I know. For one, Collette has slept through the night for the last 5 nights - I don't know what I'll do if she goes back to waking up once or twice a night, since I've come accustomed to sleeping for a full 8 hours. It's really funny, for the first three weeks after Collette was born, all I wanted was like 2 hours of sleep - that's really all I felt like I needed. And then, Collette started going for a 6 hour stretch every night, followed by a 4 hour stretch. So, of course, I got used to sleeping for 5 or 6 hours straight, so whenever she would have a hard night, I was miserable - even if I got 3 hours of sleep. So, if she goes back to a 6 hour stretch at night, I might just go crazy... and die! Haha, well, I hope not, and I'll just pray that she'll continue to sleep well.

On Saturday morning, Brandon and I went to the hospital to see our friends', Jonathon and Camille, new little baby. He was 9 pounds 1 ounce! What a chunker! And what a cutie too! He has TONS of beautiful dark hair and just the chubbiest cheeks! When we saw him - even though he was a 9 pounder - he just seemed so small compared to my 13 pound munchkin! I hadn't even realized how big she's gotten! Anyways, congratulations to Jonathon and Camille on their sweet little gift from heaven. Babies truly are a blessing - sometimes a very difficult blessing to deal with. ;) Like I say when Collette is being difficult, "I love my daughter. I don't always like her, but I always love her." And I'm sure that when she is 13 years old there will be plenty of times that I won't "like" her, but I will always ALWAYS love her. Oh motherhood... so wonderful.

After the hospital, we drove out to Swan Falls with my family to have a picnic. It was Collette's first real picnic and she seemed to enjoy being outside. Funny story - I was changing Collette's diaper on our picnic blanket, and I turned to grab the new diaper to put on her when Emily (my sister) goes "Um, Ashley, she's peeing." "No, she's not..." I said, but when I looked at Collette, I could see the puddle underneath her rump getting bigger. "Sheesh..." I mumbled. "Well, the puddle is already pretty big, so I'll just let her finish." Needless to say, the blanket was soaked - I just had to laugh. Gosh I love that girl.

Swan falls is GORGEOUS! It was really nice just to get out of town for a little - even though it was only about 45 minutes out of town - and not have to worry about ANYTHING. We didn't even have cell phone reception over there, so no one could get a hold of us - which is kind of funny because the boys all went shooting about 7 miles away where they also didn't have any cell phone reception... a bunch of boys... with guns... and no working cell phone... real smart. Fortunately, nobody shot their eye out or worse - after all, they were shooting guns worse than just Red Rider BB Guns - and they returned back to us safely. Whew!

Aren't we cute? ...thought so...

Yes, I fell off... what of it!?

And, in other news, but related to the previous news, I got a nasty sunburn... surprise surprise. Actually, it's not a surprise... at all. See, I have a tendency to "forget" to put on sunscreen when I'm outside. And actually, it's not so much that I forget - it's actually just that I'm lazy as heck and I feel like I don't "need" sunscreen. "Oh, it's not THAT hot out here, I probably won't burn..." Famous last words. This time, we spent most of the picnic kind of in the shade. Guess what!? If you're in the shade and the sun is barely peeking through the leaves, you can still get burnt. Go figure. What's even MORE ironic about this whole story is that I was the one that remembered to bring the sunscreen - because of course, I was really careful about putting some on Collette - and I'm the only one that got burnt besides my mom - and hers isn't really that bad. Anyways, so the last two days I've been in pain, and a LOT of it. Hopefully this will be the only burn I get this summer, but that is highly doubtful. Anywho, here are some pictures of the burn (doesn't do it justice...) - and I don't care how bad the burn is... burnt knees HURT!!!

Note to self: wear sun screen. Lesson learned... I hope.

Then, the finale of the entire weekend... Saturday night at about 8:30, we (Me, Brandon, Collette, Brandon's sister, Kim, and her family, and my mother-in-law, Carol) all met at the Boise Airport to welcome my father-in-law, Mike, home from Afghanistan. He's been serving in the military over there for the last year or so and it has been a LONG year! It was so great to see him again and it will be wonderful having him home! We are so grateful for his sacrifice and also for his safe return! Here he is with little Ben - who is really not so little anymore!

Grandpa Whitten meeting Collette for the very first time.

She didn't really know what to think. She kind of had a fit when Mike held her... but I'm sure once she figures out how much fun mustaches are to play with, she'll warm up to him. :)

Grandpa Whitten and Annalise.

Carol even got Collette a cute shirt for the occasion. It says "I <3 the USA." Go America!

And, just because my daughter looked so cute on Sunday, I had to take this picture. We got most of our baby clothes for free from Brandon's sisters, but this was one of those outfits that I saw in the store and HAD to buy. Just look how CUTE she is... goodness she is awesome. And of course, she pooped all over this dress at church... but she's still awesome.

Sleeping through the night

Is the greatest thing EVERR! Last night Collette went to bed at about 11pm (we had kind of a late night) and she didn't wake up until about 8:15 this morning! For the last week or so (excluding last night of course) Collette has been waking up about ever two or three hours at night, so it was a VERY nice surprise that she slept through the night. It was pretty much the best night since that little nutter-butter was born. Needless to say, I am one happy momma today!

I am still pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy being a mommy! It really is one of the most incredible experiences of my life. And so far, I'd say I'm doing pretty good - she's still alive and healthy, which is more than I can say about any of the plants Brandon has bought me since we've been married... or for any of the pet fish I ever had growing up - and she's usually pretty happy, so yeah, we're doing well. :)

I am just so grateful to have such a sweet little spirit in our home. She is just the neatest little girl and I just love waking up to this face every morning:

Of course, she's usually hungry when she wakes up, so that face is more like this:

But I can't think of anything that I would rather wake up to than that pretty little face. Well, maybe THIS pretty little face:

Haha, just kidding. But I do love waking up to his face too - he doesn't usually look this scary in the mornings... It really is incredible how much we love Collette though. I think she gets more love than any one person really needs. She is such a little angel and every day I think I couldn't possibly love her more and then BAM! I DO love her more. It's amazing, really.

In other news, I have recently become extremely obsessed with BOWS!!! I have a 3 month old daughter, can you blame me!? (Speaking of... she's almost 3 months old now! GAH! She's getting so BIG! And speaking of big... at her last doctor's appointment about 2 weeks ago, we found out she's about 13 pounds and 23.5 inches long. She's in the 91st percentile for height and for weight! Geez, she's a chunker! Granted, she'll thin out a bunch once she starts crawling and walking, but I thought that was kind of funny... Gosh I love her.) Anyways, I have gotten a BUNCH of bows for her lately. It's her fault, really. If she didn't look so darn cute with them on, then maybe I wouldn't have to keep buying them. Harrumph. And, I FINALLY found a beautiful white bow to go with her blessing dress. (Yeah, we haven't blessed her yet - we were waiting for Brandon's dad to get back from Afghanistan... shouldn't be much longer now!!! So excited!) Anyway, here are some of the bows in ACTION! :)

Look at those ROLLS!!!

Well, that's all I've got for today... hopefully my mommy-ranting doesn't annoy anyone too much. And if it does, deal with it. Cool beans? Thought so...

Ash

Baby-Wearing, Brandon's Birthday, and Spontaneous-ness

Baby Wearing. It's something I had once only been able to dream about. I was not fortunate enough to own a Baby Bjorn or any other baby carrier... Thanks to one of my visiting teaching sisters, this is no longer is this the case. I have now joined the ranks of women who wear their babies as they shop, clean, and do to things that are pretty much impossible to do when you are not wearing your baby. It is basically the greatest thing ever. I can actually get things done! Huzzah! Plus, they are oh so stylish too! ;)

In other news, the hubster is now an old man! Actually, his birthday was April 20th, and I'm posted a few things since then, but I finally had time to upload the pictures. :) Anyways, he turned 24... Woohoo! We went out to dinner with his family and then celebrated with my siblings - we were staying with them while my parents were away. It was basically a blast.

I made this rockin' cake for Brandon. It fell over a few times and looked awful... but it tasted good which is really all that matters, right?

Also, I was spontaneous today... kind of. I dropped Collette off with my mom and then went and chopped all my hair off! I'd like to think of myself as a spontaneous person... but I'm not, so this was REALLY spontaneous for me. Hopefully it doesn't look super awful. (Check it out... I'm wearing the baby again...)

Yeah... haven't decided if I like it yet... we shall see.