Yipee for 4 day weeks.

4 day weeks are not so bad. Yesterday our Habitat for Humanity day got canceled so we had a whole day with nothing to do....Well of course there was plenty to do, but none of it was scheduled.

WPW update: After blood tests, Dr. McCormick up'd Ashlynn's flecainide and propranolol dosages. The tests actually indicated that she was not at a theraputic level, so he was comfortable increasing without a visit. We go back in March. We are all very thankful that a change in medicine was not necessary.

Potty update: Ashlynn "was" successfully using the potty daily until I decided to put up a sticker chart for her. I used a large blue laminated calendar. Last Wednesday she put her 1st sticker on it...and...then did not use the potty again until yesterday (when I took the chart down). She is so interesting. However, after she got her stickers yesterday she wanted to put them on the wall where the calendar was. She found the calendar in my room and put the sticker on it. She cracks me up.
My goal is to not stress about the potty situation. But geez sometimes that is easier said than done.

Weather update: It is sooooo nice to be able to play outside again. I know those of you up North will be mad about my following statement but....2 weeks of cold is ENOUGH!!! :) Ashlynn is enjoying her swing set, soccer balls, Luke and of course BUBBLES outside everyday!

And last but certainly not least the....

Holiday update: I just realized I have not posted anything about Christmas! Probably because I know that I could write for hours about what an incredible Christmas we had. Ashlynn of course made out like a bandit. So many wonderful toys, adorable clothes and precious books.

Her favorites include her sock monkey (she sleeps with it nightly), art table, mega blocks, Noah's Ark book, and Little People animals (to name a few :)).

Christmas Eve we went to Grandma Toni and Grandpa Mark's house (where Mark was the big hit)! It was super special this year because all of our family (that lives in Florida :( ) where there. Grandma and Grandpa had wonderful food, kick butt bbq and we all had a great time.






3:00 am Ashlynn woke up very upset. She never wakes up crying in the middle of the night so we got worried and went to listen to her. We brought her into our room after a few attempts of getting her back to sleep. She pretended to lay down and close her eyes. 30 seconds letter she lifted her head, looked at us, and said "Ho, Ho, Ho". Hysterical!!!

Needless to say Ashlynn slept in till after 9. We finally woke her up (crazy I know). She came out to her big wheel Tinker Bell bike and art table assembled under the tree. There was no need for any other gifts :) Christmas day was relaxing. We saw the whole family and even some of the clan from North Port. The Lee boys went wild for their new Rock Band game and Ashlynn received her penguin game and the famous sock monkey.







We are so blessed.

Wanted to share our amazing holiday photos.
Photographers: Allison and Jay McCarraher
Location: Lakes Park







Think that is everything.

Minus the stressful things like medical bills and Chase Home Modification Program. :)

We live a blessed life and I am thankful for everyone and everything in it.

Wow time flies

So I have decided that attempting to blog daily is not feasible. So my new goal...weekly.

In the past week....., well...., a whole lot of hearts were broken. Families went through tragedies that I can not even fathom. I held my family a little tighter, prayed a lot harder, and took those extra moments to appreciate life. In the mist of all this sadness I saw people rise to greatness. The human spirit is incredible especially when called to action.

I pray that those affected by the tragedy in Haiti will find peace and support.

On a more bright note, in a workshop today I learned to be a "bucket filler". And I have been thinking about it a lot. Check it out www.bucketfillers101.com What can I do everyday to fill the buckets of my students, family, friends, collegues, or people who simply need their buckets filled.

We are so thankful for everything we have and feel blessed to be surrounding with amazing people.
Love,
The Richardsons

There's a potty over here a potty over there

Throw your hands in the air, fill the potty over here. Hehee. Ashlynn went potty once last night and once today with daddy. I know she is no where near trained but it is really neat to watch her learn. She gets so excited. It is incredible the power of a sticker (need to remember that with my students).

We had a great evening. When I got home Ashlynn was up from her nap (which she went down for at 1:30 all by herself) (Yeah daddy) and she met me at the door with the biggest hug. It melted my heart to see how excited she was to see me. We played pretty hard and then it was time for our first ever finger painting experience. It was no where as messy as I had imagined. She had a great time but mostly wanted to use a paint brush. We were working on our thank you cards for Christmas gifts. My goal was to get her hand print on each card but Ashlynn had other plans. She DID NOT want me painting her hands. So instead, she painted pictures on each card.

We had a great time and then a great dinner, quick bath, a few books (one in which she is convinced Noah is Santa Clause and repeats ho, ho, ho through the whole book), and the bedtime songs. She sings what we call the "mamma dadda" song where she just repeats those 2 words in a beautiful singing voice. Well tonight she sang the "JJ Emma" song. It was adorable.

Truly a blessed life.

Blood tests and potty

First thing this morning we headed out to Lab Co. to have flecinde levels drawn. We got there at 820 and the place was packed. Ashlynn was very good while we waited. However as soon as we went back and she saw the woman pull out a needle she freaked. The portable dvd playing Happy Feet did not do the trick. The lady asked for me to hold Ashlynn on my lap and Steve to hold her arm. BIG mistake. She inserted the needle and the vein must have rolled because for what seemed like an eternity she moved that needle around in my daughter's arm while Ashlynn screamed bloody murder. Then her arm started to bleed next to the hole, it was very strange. So we decided to try laying her on the bed. I laid my body basically on top of her to hold her down while Steve held her arm. The woman was very quick this time and filled 2 vials with her blood. Ashlynn was devestated but she bounced back very quickly.

We went to have breakfast at Annie's and had a nice relaxing day after. During her nap she took off her socks and pants and spent a good half hour trying to get her pants back on. But I did not go disturb her. We just cranked up the heat and let her fall asleep. As soon as she was asleep I went in and covered her.

This evening we played and had a great time. When it was bedtime she wanted nothing to do with her jammies. She stood up naked in our bed and said "potty" as she grabbed her self. And guess what....We ran into the bathroom and SHE WENT POTTY!!!! I was so proud and she was so excited to get a sticker. She is asleep now and soon (after I clean) I will attempt to go to sleep myself. We should have results tomorrow about her flecinde levels.

Say a quick prayer. And goodnight.

Back on the blog

It has been a while since I last blogged. ashlynnfirstyear.blogspot.com/ As you can see. :) And oh how our beautiful angel has grown. She has become quite a character. In the past few months she has begun to talk A LOT! She loves to copy what you say and she loves to identify pictures in books, animals by their sounds, and her family members in pictures. She is super lovey and she adores giving super squeezes and kisses. Christmas was amazing, although I could have saved money and only bought her the art table. She had no desire to open anything else after she saw that. I could go on and on about the amazing things she has done in the past year. However, I think this blog will work best if I update with new info weekly.

So here is the new info for today. Getting ready to go to bed with a bit defeated. Ashlynn had an SVT this morning which we were able to break her out of (by scaring her) and I thought that was bad. Then at 5 this afternoon she had another. She has not had 2 in 1 day in a LONG time. So I am not sure what that means and I am anxious to talk to her doctor tomorrow. It was pretty neat though because we think she broke herself out of the 2nd SVT by bearing down. We have been practicing that with her.

So my request for those of you reading this...please keep her in your prayers and thank you for being in our lives.