Learning to ride a bike and the other misc. things going on...

I have been so busy with school I haven't had time to blog about well anything. Last wed. before church, Blaine and I had 30 minutes to spare so Blaine decided he wanted to ride his bike. (which this summer I took the training wheels off because he wanted to learn to ride with out them. He got scared and intimidated and didn't want to try riding his bike anymore. Which he pretty much could do it, he just refused to do it!) I told him that I wasn't going to put his training wheels back on his bike, and if he wanted to ride his bike we were going to have to learn to ride with out training wheels. Which his reply "Okay Mommy, I'll try but I'm not so sure about this." Well it took us a total of 1 minute to ride down the hill in a straight line with out training wheels. Then 3 minutes of convincing him he could ride in circles and 1 try of actually doing it. So my little boy can now ride his bike!!!




Yesterday Dustin and I took him to city lake to ride his bike. Less than a week after learning to ride his bike, I can't keep up with him! He looks like he has been riding a bike for months and it has only been 5 days.

This past week end Blaine went to his first Halloween Party. He was so excited and he really loved all the games they played. He has told everyone about the party (every little detail!) He is just growing up so fast.

AND I AM....

A BOY!!! More testosterone in the house. I am OUT NUMBERED! I am one female to 3 males humm.

And I am.....

STUBBORN, that is what I am. I am already taking after my daddy.

Well, I have to go back in a month and have another ultrasound because this baby is stubborn! What we could see looked good but we have to go back and get a good look at the heart, facial profile and the attachment of the umbilical cord (that was the main things we didn't get a good look at but the brain and other things look good.) Thank you Lord! All we want is a healthy baby and things look pretty good so far. The baby is also measuring bigger than its due date so if it is the same on the next ultrasound they might move my due date up. So the part you all have been waiting for, is it a boy or a girl. Well that's a good question considering it to the ultrasound tech 30-40 minutes to find out because you guessed it STUBBORN! The legs stayed crossed and my hand down there most of the time but we do know what it is but right now I'm going to leave some of you in suspense on what sex the baby is so take a guess and I will update either tonight or tomorrow. So leave your guesses to see it your right!

INTERESTING...

You Are a Monroe Piercing

You are glamourous, sophisticated, and very classy. You're the type to think carefully before getting any sort piercing or tattoo. You are naturally charming. People find you to be very alluring. Your manners are impeccable, and you always have something witty to say. While you look like you're high maintenance, you have simple tastes. You're a homebody who often rather curl up with a book than go out.

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatpiercingareyouquiz/">What Piercing Are You?

For those of you who are wondering, I wasn't able to get an ultrasound today so it will be about another few weeks before we know what we are having.

Last night I went to watch my brother play football which it wasn't a real exciting game considering the team we played have only had a team for 2 years and they are a Kentucky Christian school so they didn't have many players. However I really enjoyed watching a game that had so much sportsmanship.( usually the teams are bad mouthing each other and playing very aggressive which this wasn't the case) I really enjoyed seeing two teams come together to play a sport the way it should be. At the end of the game both of the teams joined together at the end to pray which was awesome to see. (one of the boys from the other team was taken by amubulance to the hospital for his neck; I hope everything turned out okay for him) After the game I found out that my brother is ranked #1 in the state for points and ranked #6 in the NATION! How awesome is that. I can't express how much I am proud of him for working so hard I just hope he will come to his senses and go to college and get an education.

My sister turned 29 on Wed. so we had a get together at moms on monday to celebrate which is always nice to go home and have moms cooking and be with my family. Happy Birthday Crystal, I love you!

PLEASE READ!

I just sent out an email in hopes that who ever reads this could help me out. Here is the email:
Hi Everyone,
I am writing this in hopes that you can help out. My brother, Jacob Duncan, was nominated in the Evansville Courier and Press player of the week. He is up against 4 other boys who come from schools a lot bigger than his, so for him to even be nominated is an awesome achievement. He is very humble about this recognition and he doesn't think or believe he will win but I want to prove him wrong, because he does deserve this recognition. It amazes my family and I after every game he plays if someone come to tell him he did a good job or just come over and talk to him he always tells them thank you, thanks for coming and he appreciates them for coming. How many 17 years olds say that, that they appreciate someone for simply coming to a game or coming over to talk to them. I am very proud of my brother. So if you would please go to this web site, thescore.courierpress.com and go to vote for the player of the week and vote for my brother. His name is Jacob Duncan and he goes to Tecumseh. (there is another boy with the same last name that goes to Southridge) He is the first one on the list. You can vote a few times a day but the voting ends on Wednesday at noon. Right now the other Duncan boy is ahead by almost 100 votes. I really appreciate anyone who goes to vote and thanks in advance. Also if you could pass this on and tell others that you know if they would vote for him I would really appreciate it. (my internet is acting up and my address book isn't working so I am unable to send this email to all the people I know so if you could pass it along that would be great)

Once again the website is thescore.courierpress.com and his name is Jacob Duncan from Tecumseh. Voting ends Wednesday at noon.

Thank you so much!

God Bless,
Ashley Minks (Duncan)

Well summer has come and gone and now its time for school again, and I should be excited that it is my last semester for my RN but I know that I want to continue on with my education which means school isn't ending for me anytime soon. This is the first week back to school and I am swamped with work to do. Several projects and papers, test next week and oh one tomorrow (that's just the stuff I can think of that I have to do) oh yeah and the several chapters to read each day that we go over. Did I mention that I am already behind on my school work. So much to do and I am overwhelmed. On another note, I'm glad I have been busy this week because Blaine is at his dad's and with the extra school distraction it has made it easier to deal with him not being home. I am soooo ready for him to come home!


Well as most people know that I am pregnant and I am at 13 weeks. I went to the Dr. on Tues. heard the heartbeat which was 150. The Dr. made a comment of this being a very active child because we could hear the movements from the doppler when she was trying to get the heart beat. And I would have to agree because I am only 13 weeks however I have felt quite a bit of fluttering and movement from this little one. Blaine is very excited. The other day he put his head just below my chest and said "I can hear the baby's heart mom" I had to laugh and told him that was my heart and that he couldn't hear or feel the baby yet but he did it again and said well I can hear her moving. (Blaine wants a sister so he interchanges the baby for she a lot but occasionally he will call it a he so I hope he will be excited about a brother or a sister, well just have to wait and see.)

The begining of summer fun!

Wedding Pictures

Waiting for things to come together...

I'm still trying to get everything situated at the house since the wedding. It's been a slow process going through things and getting rid of things. I threw my back out about a month ago rearranging the bedroom one night while Dustin was at work (I knew I was going to hurt my back but I was determined to do it by myself... not the smartest idea but its easier to do by myself) Anyways my back is still out and I'm not sure what to do about it.



I have officially quit my old job that I would have been at for four years. It was a good move to make for us and with gas it was not worth driving Blaine to daycare and then to evansville and back on $4.oo a gallon for gas. when I made a little above minimum wage. But I do have a summer internship at St. Marys. I have been there for 3 weeks now and I love it. I was told once I was done with the internship and I found a unit I liked I just need to apply for the job and the would find me one! So that is exciting for me! Monday I went looking for graduate schools when I finish my RN. Its kind of exciting and depressing all at the same time. I'm excited to do what I feel that I was put here to do but sad because I have been in school forever and it seems that I'm never going to get done. I'm also debating on taking Blaine out of daycare for the summer because it is a waste of gas to drive to elberfeld when we live in boonville plus only working 2 days a week. I'm not sure what to do. Blaine doesn't seem to want to go anymore and cries every time I tell him we are going. I don't want to take him out because I will need a daycare in the fall and I want to make sure I have one before I take him out. I'm just going to keep praying and see what happens.



The other day God has placed me in a situation that I am struggling with. I know He knows what is best and that everything will be okay however I am still having a hard time excepting His will. I know He has been and will always be there for me. My heart knows everything will be just fine but what I feel is the right thing isn't agreeing with what God has planned. I know what I think is right isn't up to me because I don't see His full plan. Please keep me in your prays while I am struggling through this situation.

Day 4 of the Honeymoon

Well day 4 has come and gone and it was another awesome day. Words cannot discribe it. We went to Telum and Xal-Ha. Xal-Ha was our first stop and it was great. We wish we could have spent more time there but we were on a time scheudle with the tour bus even though they were late and we arrived late, and the guy talked forever we has less time than we were suppose to have about both locations so we were a little upset about that but hey what can you do. Xal-Ha is a ecological park where you can swim in underwater caves, swim with the dophines, scuba dive, walk across the river on a rope,jump off cliffs and all kinds of other things (which Dustin and I both jumped off the 15ft cliff so when I get pictures from the underwater camera I'll have to post them) Telum is one of the Mayan ruins and it was really interesting. The view was absoulutley breathtaking and our tour guide was a hoot! ( I do have pics posted on my myspace if anyone wants to see those.) When we got back we ate at the Itialian resturant which wasn't that great but it wasn't horrible either but once again Dustin and I are not three course meal people either so we should have just stuck the the buffets. Well we leave tomorrow at 1130 and are flight isn't until 3 so we won't get home until about 11 at night so tomorrow is going to be a long day. I am planning on getting up to watch the sunrise and walk on the beach before we have to go.

Oh I forgot to post last night that Kid Rock is staying here at our hotel, he was a little obnoxious when I seen him and Dustin saw him a little later and he said the same thing. Oh well. And tonight we met a Professional football player who was super nice! So who knows who we will meet tomorrow before we leave.

Day 3 of the Honeymoon

Well today is day three and we have had all beautiful days here which I am so thankful for. I haven't gotten to talk to my little bug much since we have been here so I am missing him terribly. We didn't do much today besides lounge around which was nice. We stayed by the ocean and the pool all day long and when I say all day I mean from after breakfast until eight at night ( I am really going to miss that) We ate at the mexican restaurant which I must say is the best place we have ate at thus far... go figure. We ate at the seafood resturant last night and neither one of us liked it. We figured out we are not three course meal people and that we don't like our fish coming staight from the ocean to our plate! (I wish I was joking when I said that but unfortunatly I'm not, I don't like my dinner still having eyes and staring at me!) Needless to say we ordered room service at midnight which was a lot better than dinner. Tomorrow we are going to one of the Myan ruins called Telum. Dustin and I are really looking forward to going. It is about an hour bus ride from our hotel but it will be worth it. We where going to go to Chichen Itza which is the 7th wonder of the world but it is a three hour bus ride from here and you are only there for two hours so you spend six hours on a bus and two hours there, huh go figure, so we chose one that is closer. Well I'm off to sit in the whirlpool on the balcony before bed. Ahhh isn't vacation great!!!!

LOTS OF RANDOMNESS

Well where do I begin? The past month has been exrtreamliy busy and stressful, from school and with planning the wedding I haven't had anytime to blog on here so here's an update of whats been going on.

I passed my nursing classes so I now move on to my final semester YEA! I didn't do so well on the final but only 8 people got a B or a C and over 20 of us failed however no one failed the class which is great news.

Blaine started t-ball last week. His team is the Indians. He listened really well to his coach and I am excited about that. Blaine is looking forward to his first game which is this sat. the 17th. I am excited to watch him play!

Blaine graduated early pre-k last week. Here is Blaine with his buddy Mason. (aren't they handsome!)

On Sat. May 10th Dustin and I got married and I have to say that the wedding went well. One of my favorite parts was the bridal party playing musical chairs. It was soooo much fun. Our photographer has the pics on his website which is artisticimageryphotography.com. Click on events then weddings and in the drop down box click ashley and dusting then you need to type in dances for he password. (WARNING there are over 1200 pics so if you have dial up it will take a while to view them) I will be posting pics later from our camera once we get home.

Our honeymoon is going fantastic. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Our resort is huge. I hope one day we are able to come back. Our first day here we sat on the beach and swam in the pool. It is just amazing here. Dustin got sunburned the first day here which I don't understand since we put on the same sunscreen at the same time. I guess because I am a darker complected than he is. However I missed a spot in my hairline and it is a little sunburned but I can live with that. Today we went shopping in Playa del Carmen and it was a neat experience. We walked on the beach both nights we have been here and I have to say I don't know what is much better than walking on the sand with the wind blowing and water rushing over your feet. We have missed Blaine since we have been here. I have only gotten to talk to him once since every time I call he is asleep. (that mamaw has been wearing him out, but he has had fun from what I understand) Oh and did I mention that our room has to jucuzzis in it. Yes not one but two. One is in the bathroom and the other is on the balcony, how awesome is that! Tomorrow we plan on spending the day outside on the beach and in the pool which I am looking forward to. The weather has been absoulutely gorgeous since we arrived here.

Well I guess thats enough of the randomness for now. I'll post more pics when I get home.

Life just keeps going

Stress, stress and more stress. That's what the past few weeks have been. Trying to get everything in order for this wedding and my school and Blaine, most days I'm not sure which direction I am going. My body is telling me to slow down and take a break and my schedule is telling me to go, go, go you have more to do. So physically and emotionally I am drained. I have had a migraine headaches for about a month now (this is four days in a row now with a migraine, UGH!) My teacher sent me home on Monday which was nice to take a nap in the middle of the day but I still woke up with my head pounding. I feel like I'm starting to lose what little mind I had left... lol. I'm extremely worried about my grade right now and I have a test on Monday that covers 15 chapters and I haven't been able to study because of my head and everything else I have to do. So right now I have tons of homework to do and all I want to do is cry. Well that's my rant for now sorry to bore everyone but that's whats going on. Keep me in your prayers, especially with my schooling (I need it). On a positive note Blaine has been listening a lot better and behaving which makes me extremely happy(I hope I didn't just jinx myself by saying that)!

I am a Petunia What Flower Are You?

You are a tried and trusted friend who will be there for your friends when they need you. But you have a tendency to be nervous about doing things that go against the norm.

The things he says...

It amazes me what little kids think and say. Yesterday was a "Mommy and Blaine adventure day" which consists of getting errands done and also doing things with Blaine so it's a win win situation for the both of us. So I take Blaine yesterday to get his tux tried on for the wedding and while we are in the dressing room I told him "See Blaine you get to wear a tux like Dustin and Uncle Jake"... "Uncle Jake is getting married too!" "no buddy, Dustins is going to wear a tux and so is Uncle Jake and you get to wear a tux too. And Chloe is going to wear a pretty dress.." "I'm going to marry Chloe!" "No, No buddy, you get to carry a pillow with mommy and Dustins rings on it and Chloe gets to put pretty flowers on the ground." "Oh, ok."

Well I'm glad we got that cleared up before the wedding because I have a feeling I would have had a devastated three year old when he realized he wasn't marring Chloe that day.

Notice the high waters!

This weekend

This weekend was a busy one. Friday Blaine went to his friend, Mason's birthday party. It was a rock star themed and Blaine and all the kid had a blast! So now Blaine is insisting that his birthday party be a rock star party like Mason's. So I don't know what I'm going to do.

After the party I went and meet my sister, and a few of her friends at Gemaca because Jill was in town for the weekend. I love going to Gemaca they have great food.

On Saturday I went to Olive Garden with my friend Trinity. I had a great time. It was so nice to get out of the house and enjoy sometime with a dear friend. (thanks Trin, it meant a lot!) Hopefully some of us girls can start getting together once in a while and do something or even nothing at all. I really enjoy getting together with the girls!

SNOW!!!

I think everyone around here is ready for spring. I don't mind winter staying just a bit longer as long as there is a little snow on the ground. I have been waiting all year for snow but all we seem to get is ice. So for me the snow has cheered me up a bit since I have had a rather emotional and challenging week. I am a little dissappointed that the two things I had to do today got cancelled. So no ultrasounds at the clinic and I won't be cheering my little brother on at their regional game today. (the team we were set to play didn't want to drive in the snow however we got a lot more snow than they did) So monday we will be off to cheer the braves on and hope to win a regional championship. But an upside for the day is this is the first year that I have gotten to play with Blaine in the snow. So first thing this moring my brother thought it was funny to come and jump on me to wake me up (which I was already awake) So my brother comes in my rooma and bounces on me and says "get up, get up lets go play in the snow!" My brother is so funny when it snows because its like he is a little kid and he gets all excited about the snow. So my brother, Blaine and I all got ready and went out to played in the snow. I had a blast, I haven't gotten to play in the snow for several years and I must admit I'm almost as bad as my brother when it comes to the snow! So here are a few pics of the fun we had this morning.

Everyone of us kids has wore that FS hat!
Blaine and his 4th Snow angel.

Blaine Burying Uncle Jake Blaine and Uncle Jake

Random Posting

So it's been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything so this will be a random posting.

The weeks have been so hectic with school, Blaine and trying to get everything together for this wedding. GESH, I am exhausted! So I'm in the process of putting together the wedding invitation, and I will be ecstatic when there done. So far they look good and I am excited to get them done and out of my sight. LOL It will be one more thing done and five hundred to go.

This past weekend I spent most of my time at Wood Memorial High School watching my brother play their sectional basketball game. The did advance to the final game and ended up winning their sectional by over 30 points. GO BRAVES! That is now 10 sectional titles in a row!!!! How awesome is that. So that mean this weekend we will be off to regionals. I am hoping they play good and win!

Sunday, I spent most of the day studying for a big test which by the way did not pay off at all, I ended up bombing the test on Monday. Which part of the problem was trying to study with a migraine headache and congestion. Not to mention I made the mistake of putting my purse under my desk during the test and with the last ten questions my phone rang twice. I looked up at the clocked when this happened and realized that it was A) either Blaines preschool teacher calling to tell me my brother hadn't picked him up yet or B) it was my brother telling me he was in a wreck with Blaine (and why we always think the worst of things I don't know but I did). So to make a long story short a missed most of the last ten questions on the test because I was worried about Blaine and my brother (which wouldn't really have matter if the phone had or hadn't rang I still would have missed most of those questions). And the phone calls were Blaines teacher and everything was okay.

So today I took Blaine to preschool which is one of the things I love doing. When I pick him up from preschool I always ask him "how preschool was?" and the most important question, "did you get in trouble at preschool today?" which it doesn't really matter if I ask or not a lot of the time he avoids the question. I usually know if he has been bad if he response is "let's talk about it later" or "I don't want to talk about it right now." However the conversation went something like this:

"what did you do at preschool today?"

I made an octopus.

WOW that's really neat. Did you listen to Mrs. Phillips today?

Yes, I did.

Now Blaine, did you get into trouble at preschool today?

I was just a little, little, little bit good.(blaine squinting his eyes, and showing me with his fingers what a little bit is)

Well does that mean you were a lot of bit bad. (which I try not to ask him if he was good or bad becuase I don't want him to think that he is bad so I don't want to place a stigma on him but sometimes I forget how I word my questions and I feel horrible after I ask them becuase I don't want Blaine or any child to think they are bad)

NO I was a little bad.

Now Blaine if I called Mrs. Phillips and asked her if you were good or bad what would Mrs. Phillips tell me.

She would say that I was good but a little bit bad.

Well what did you do that was bad.

I ran and hit my head on Rileys and I had ice on my eye.

Ohh, Well you know that your not suppose to run inside.

I know mommy, I'm sorry,I won't run again.

I know that I shouldn't be so hard on Blaine all the time but I have taken care of kids and I have always said that my child is going to be disciplined and listen and that I don't want my kid to be labeled as the bad kid and really I don't believe any child is a bad kid; Blaine is sweet and his a typical three year old but sometimes I forget that he is just three years old and expect to much from him at times. So I've been working on realizing that even though Blaine acts older than his age that he really is just three and accepting that he isn't going to listen all the time and his going to test my patience over and over and over. So there is my mommy rant for the day LOL.

Blaine went to his dad's tonight. When he got home he wanted to play a game so he decided he wanted to play Memory. Which by the way my mom thinks I let Blaine find most of the matches which isn't really true. Blaine is really good at remembering where things are and the majority of the time if I know where a match is I will get it and not let him win intentionally. And like most times we play we both end up with about the same number of matches. SO after an in depth memory game I put Blaine to bed and we got to read one of the library books we got last week then we read our Bible and just like every night he begged me to do my homework in there which I said no because he would then stay up late finding something to talk to me about just so he can stay awake for a few more minutes.

Well I guess that's enough of the randomness for tonight and now its time to do the homework that I have been putting off for a few days now.

UGH ICE!

Yesterday I was sent home from clinical at 9 due to the "winter storm" (when I think of winter storm I think LOTS of snow not ICE!) We all tried convincing our teacher just to let us stay and finish the day so we didn't have to come and make up the day but the college said we had to go home since they are liable for us. I wasn't really the happiest person, not that I didn't enjoy the day with Blaine and Dustin but I put in a lot of preparation for clinical and needless to say I don't like having to get up at 4 in the morning for nothing! So yesterday I came back to Dustins to get Blaine and well if you know what Dustins driveway looks like you'll understand that getting out of his driveway is a miracle to leave safely on a normal day throw ice into that equation and well it is impossible, so needless to say I am still stuck here today. Dustin however did manage to slide out of the drive way at 4:30 this morning to go to work. Blaine is getting restless being stuck inside. So for me that means my patience is running thin so I'm going to say a few prayers and think of a few things that Blaine and I can do around here (that doesn't include TV, which is all he wanted to do yesterday) I don't mind cold weather so much as long as there is snow on the ground. Sooo either come on snow or just let spring come!

pictures

The past week

Well, I've been meaning to start this blog for a long time and just have never done so I decided than what better time than now right? I guess I'll start of with this past week.

On Monday we got to leave work early because of the winter storm we got. When I picked Blaine up he complained of his arms and legs hurting. My first thought was great, he is getting the flu like everyone else had the week prior. I get him home, check his temperature... 102 okay give him Motrin (the best drug ever for kids). I check his temperature again 3 hours later in the midst of a Monopoly game and it was 104.2. I give him more Motrin I checked his vitals, being the student nurse that I am, and those weren't so good either. So I said a few more prayers because the only way I was going to get out of my house was to call an ambulance because the storm was so bad. I stayed up most of the night praying that his fever would go down so his heart rate would go down with it. On Tuesday his fever went down a little but it would go down then go back up after the Motrin wore off. So on Wednesday Blaine started vomiting then I realized, hey he only went to the bathroom twice yesterday. Then the realization hit me that he was dehydrated. So I tried making him drink and he refused because he knew everytime he would drink something it would come right back up so I called the doctor and we went to see her and she decided to admit him to the hospital (which I already knew they would do) So off to St. Mary's we went and the whole way there all Blaine could talk about how he did not want a shot. Now trying to explain to a 3 year old that they weren't getting a shot but they would have to have a needle was a little difficult but he seemed to rather have a needle than a shot. So when we got to his room he made sure he told every nurse that came in the room that he didn't want a shot but he was going to have a needle. Now it was time for that needle. Two nurses took Blaine to the treatment room to start his IV and draw some blood. I like that they do that so the kids don't associate their hospital room or the parent with getting an IV. Blaine came back with a tear stained face saying " look mommy I have a wolverine hand." I was so proud of him for getting the IV, I could hear him cry and the only reason he cried was because he was scared and he didn't really cry that loud either. When we got off the elevator one of the nurses heard him say that him and his mamwa were going to play Candyland so she brought the game down to our room for him. I thought that was so nice. Dustin and my mom came to visit baring gifts of course. Mamaw bought him his two movies that he wanted ( The Aristocats and Snow Buddies) and 2 cars. We all played Candyland for a while then Blaine decided he was tired so he took a nap. My sister came by with Deerhead pizza ,which was awesome. So the next day (Valentines Day!) a woman who plays the harp for people who are in the hospital came in and played for Blaine. She even let him play the harp with her. As they were doing that another nurse came by and asked to take a picture because they were doing a project on distraction techinques with children. So here are a couple of pictures she took.

So later that day we got to go home. While Blaine is doing better he has seemed to pick up a cold.