How do we spell TROUBLE?

A.S.H.L.E.Y. That's right, our sweet Ashley Kate is up and about and causing lots of trouble. Getting into trouble has never been more fun. I am loving each and every ornery act she commits. She does it all while wearing the sweetest smile you have ever seen. I try and try to keep her out of it, but she insists on showing me just how much trouble she can cause. Here are just a few examples.

While in her gait trainer she spies an electrical cord dangling off of the mantle. Although I know there is NO way she will be able to reach it she doesn't know it so off she goes. I watch while my little blessing works her way over to the mantle, positions herself directly under the cord and reaches, and grunts, and tries her very best to pull the cord off. I just giggle to myself trying to figure out what she is thinking.

After struggling to grab that cord for a while she spies out of the corner of her eye two large candlesticks that sit in front of the fireplace. "These will have to do", she decides. She strategically moves her gait trainer over to the candlesticks and grabs a hold of one. She begins to bang and bang and bang it against the wood floors causing much paint to flake off of the weathered candlesticks and many giggles to fall out of her mouth. She is so proud until Mommy can't take the banging anymore and takes the candlesticks away. She will not be detoured from her troublesome path. On she goes to find her next victim.

I find myself visiting with my mom a few feet away from her in the kitchen when all of a sudden we hear a loud crash. I turn around and step into the dining room not knowing what to expect. I find my sweet Ashely looking up at me as if to say, "I'm sorry mommy, but I accidentally knocked the picture and the easel over because there was not enough room for me to pass it." I find myself buying this excuse(after all my little Ashley Kate is as sweet as they come). As soon as I return the easel upright and place the picture back onto it, she reaches out, grabs a hold of it, and FLINGS it (on purpose mind you) onto the floor, and then claps her hands proudly. I am not kidding! I tell her,"No,NO" as firmly as I can without giggling at her ornery streak as I move the picture to the opposite corner of the room behind the dining room table.

As I said she is enjoying the fun of this trouble streak too much to be detoured from it. As I am standing there laughing with her Nan about all the trouble Ash is getting into today she reaches up and grabs a hold of the garland swag that frames the doorway in our dining room and before I can stop her she pulls and shakes and squeals(with glee might I add) so hard that she pulls the nail holding it out of the wall and flings it across the room. "OK, Ashely Kate, mommy has had enough." I remove her from her gait trainer and place her on the play pallet in the living room floor.

Unfortunately for me my stacks of laundry are a little to close to our pickle and as quickly as she can before being caught takes a stack of unmentionables and FLINGS them across the floor. Next on the stack she grabs a hold of a pair of soccer shorts and shakes them until they are no longer nicely folded then covers her head with them and begins to play peek a boo. This causes Blake and Allison to look up from there homework and begin to giggle and play along with her in what was once my nicely folded stacks of laundry. Now she has corrupted the older two and they have joined her in the spirit of causing trouble.

I would love to say that her ornery streak stopped here, but alas that would be a lie. The next victim of Ashely Kate's afternoon was Nan's mail that had been left to close to the edge of the coffee table. She is on a mission to be ornery and chewing up Nan's new mailing labels is just too tempting. Try as I might, she manages to destroy a page of them before having them pried from her little hands. Again she smiles the sweetest smile you have ever laid eyes on and I kiss those puffy cheeks and borrow a phrase from my friend, "You are just naughty today!"

Now after reading all of this would you believe that she isn't feeling good? Just imagine what life is like around here when she is. I tell you I have never been in love like this before. It is so true when they say, "Love is blind". I can promise you that it really is. All I see is this beautiful, strong, two year old miracle in my arms and all the trouble she has caused just disappears. I love her so much and she brings so much joy to my life.

Blake is right when he says, " I think God gave her to us to make us smile each and every day."