Today

Today, 

we danced...

we cooked...

we decorated...

we played...

we cleaned...

we splashed...

we dreamed...

and we thoroughly enjoyed being...

Blaaaahg.

Today was one of those days.

Actually, it was like nothing I've ever experienced before.

I was in the middle of nursing Hallie, on our bed, when she had THE most explosive diaper I've ever seen. It got everywhere. And by "it" I mean.... **it. No one should ever use that word that hasn't experienced what I experienced today.

Meanwhile, as I'm sitting on the bed contemplating what to do about all the "it," I hear Asher doing his throw-up cough. I knew it was coming. Then, I heard it all go down. Down on the floor, on my nice clean white carpet, in my un-sealed kitchen tile grout. All down the sides of our dining table and Asher's high chair.

By the time I managed to get out to the kitchen, Asher had barfed up his entire donut breakfast and chocolate milk. It stunk. I stunk.

And, I had several work deadlines looming over my head. And Chris had to leave for important work-related errands.

Since today seems to be a never-ending "AND..." day, I'll go ahead and un-load my "purse brain" (see a blog I wrote forever ago about having a purse brain)...here goes.

*I hate the new blogger layout.

*I will NEVER finish my stencil wall. Sigh

*Will Asher ever learn to share?

*The warning we got from our HOA about having weeds in our front yard, when the 50 empty lots surrounding our house look like a 4 foot-tall jungle??? I am proud to say my hubs took a picture of the completely enshrouded fire hydrant in the next lot and plans to mail it right back to the HOA with our own warning- their illegal treatment of fire hydrants due to lack of responsibility. I wanted him to demand a refund of our HOA fee, but he nixed that brilliant idea.

See exhibit A- Can you find the fire hydrant? 

*The vast amount of pinterest projects I long to do, and yet have no time for, no money for, and no energy for.

*I guess my baby weight is done falling off. I lost 26 pounds immediately, all while eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream pretty much every day since Hallie was born. I've been stuck at a stubborn 5-lbs-more-than-my-pre-baby-weight for a couple weeks now. Drat it all. I HATE diets. I stink at them.

*What do you do when both kids are crying/screaming at the same time? Eeny meeny miney mo?



Things I'm ok with today:

*The fact that my yellow and teal living room is yellow and teal. No, I'll never be able to add in red or blue accents, but I'm ok with that. It's me, 100%.

*Spending $40 on newborn pics of Hallie. One project I CAN do is order off the internet! Plus shutter fly had 50% off all their prints. I got a 20x30 print of her for 11 bucks! Thanks to my wonderful friend Katie for snapping some impromptu shots of Hallie! Check out here blog here!

*Someone on Forney Treasure Exchange buying a pair of my never-worn shoes for $20. Yay for closet clean-outs and junk-sale Facebook groups.


Things I'm VERY grateful for:


*My iPod. I've been able to tote it around with me wherever/whenever I need to nurse, allowing me to read books on it, watch shows, etc without having to be in the living room for TV or turn on a light to read.

*Friends who come by with dinner. If you have a pregnant or new mommy friend, please bring them dinner. Right away. It's such a lovely lovely thing.

*The fact that I'm about to fill a new hallway full of professional maternity, newborn, and family photos taken by my in-laws. It's definitely a blessing that I take full advantage of! =) Visit their website here!

*A husband who lovingly mows, weeds, and otherwise takes care of our lawn (well before we ever got our warning from the HOA, I might add. They must have come by 2 weeks ago and seen the weeds, then figured they could send the warning 2 weeks later. Dumb)

*Pinesol. And mops.

*A beautiful baby girl who loves to be held and depends on me for everything.

*An adorable toddler boy who loves to play cars and eat cheese.

*A playroom where Asher can make a huge mess.

*A wonderful mom who is going to be of great help next week when I'll be away at state testing for my job.

*The two new chairs I got for our play room, which were on a ridiculously good sale, and for my sweet and generous husband who justified it by saying we would finally have enough seating for our Young Life kids. :) I really just want to sell the loveseat, replace it with these chairs, and have room for future play kitchens and doll houses. :)

find here but i think the sale is over

*Time to blog. In the midst of all this chaos, I still manage to find a good 30 minutes to sit, unload my purse brain and do what I really enjoy doing-writing. Granted, I'm typing one-handed while holding Hallie, nursing, and kicking a ball back and forth with Asher, so what I could have done in 15 mins took twice as long. :)

God bless all the mommies out there! Oh, and please send some peace, refreshment, and energy our way! Thanks God.

Psalm 127:3-- Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

my little guy

4 months old and chillaxin' in my lazy boy

The "terrible" two's are upon us. And by that I mean a slightly more independent and stubborn two year old, who sometimes likes to remove his own diaper and attempt to wipe his own bottom. So I thought before it becomes too terrible, I'd jot down some of the many many things I love about my precious boy, from day one to 26 months.

Asher, this is for you. One day you'll be 16 and trying to sneak out of the house, and I'll catch you, sit you down on my lap the couch, and show you this blog. I'll remind you of the days you gave me grief, of when I sustained you on my very bosom, of when I cleaned poop off your walls and carpet, and of when the first thing you said in the morning was "mama, mama, play!" Boy, I sure do love you with all my heart. And then you'll stop sneaking out and revert back to the perfect little child you once were. :)

the first outfit i ever bought him...Janie and Jack "how to be a pirate" shirt, and my favorite hat

The language called "Asher"-- 

Asher's favorite word of all time: COW
His first words: mama, then dada, then ball
grapes: beeps
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (the song): hippos and knees
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: ya ya ya ya tar
peekaboo: hippo
play: pyay
truck: kyuck
fish: nemos (whether they're swimming or come out of a box)
dip (ketchup, syrup, etc): bup
duck: wack
please: weez
jump: dup
blanket: bubut
any kind of ball, whether football, baseball, bouncy ball, etc: beesyball
juice: ghoose, and the gh is all gurgley sounding in his throat
cake: Cek. Like a valley girl trying to sound cool.
potty: poppy
balloon: bee-em, sounds like BM
sunglasses: suh suhs
circle: kurkle

Sentences: He's been putting together two words for a while now, like "mama play" or "red car." He's starting to put three words together, although he still has a way to go on full subject/verb sentences.

hippos and knees!

hippo!

Hmm..can i fit a pretzel inside my belly button?

Cool factoids:

He knows every sound of every possible animal that makes sounds. (Minus fancy endangered species-type animals).

He loves his belly button. A few months ago, his thing was pointing out other people's "bubbons," sometimes even attempting to lift their shirt to see their wondrous bubbon. Oh the horror.

He is a great helper and will put his toys away, with some help and coaxing.

He loves to sleep completely under the covers, like a bear in hibernation. I sneak in his room every night to move the covers back from his head and make sure he's getting air.

He loves cake pops from Starbucks. He calls them "pop cek"

He loves to help. If I'm cleaning the kitchen, he'll beg for a sponge, then go around wiping random things saying "help!"

He is ALL boy. He loves balls, tractors, cars, choo choo's, bugs, dirt, running, jumping, and chasing.

He's a skinny mini. He burns off everything he eats and then some. I've had more people than I can count tell me he's the most active toddler they've ever seen. He has the body of a marathon runner. A tiny cute one. :)

He loves to dance. He's got some sweet moves.

From day one, he was THE perfect baby. Happy as a clam. Only cried when really hungry. Slept well. Went everywhere with us. Chris and I had a grand ol' time going on date nights all the time, hauling our quiet sleeping baby with us. He let people hold him. He didn't cry when we left. Now, he still sleeps from 7:30 pm to 8:00 am, he loves going to other people's houses and church nursery, he plays by himself really well, he's not too attached to me or Chris, and he is finally starting to want to snuggle and cuddle for more than 1 minute! My take on his personality is that because he's so ready to go and loves to play and is independent, that he just doesn't have time to sit still on mama's lap, and well, just sit. But nap time and bedtime are a different story. See below.

He loves to point out who's stuff is who's. He'll somehow find Chris's iPhone and come hand it to me, saying dada's. He'll hand me my bra and say mama's. Sometimes he tries to put on my bra and run around the house yelling "mama's, mama's!" hehehee

He loves to watch himself in videos and look at himself live on camera. If he wants to look at himself, he'll say "Asher, Asher, Asher" while shoving the phone in my face.

he really helped with laundry that day

a day at the farm

muah!

Cute moments to remember:

Hi! He LOVES to tell people hi. At the checkout counter at Walmart. In line at Chipotle. At church. At home. Everywhere. He will tell you hi at least 18 times, one after the other. It's really awkward when the person in front of you in line has said "hi" back at least 18 times too.

Soap. He calls lotion soap. He also thinks that lotion (soap) has magical healing powers. When he gets hurt, he cries and asks for "soap." If we do indeed give him some "soap," he proceeds to put it in his hair. Even if his ouchie was on his foot. His "soap" still goes in his hair. It's especially heartbreaking when he really does hurt himself, like bashing his head into the side of a coffee table, and you're holding him and all he can say through his tears is "soap soap soap."

Kisses and hugs. His very first interaction with another girl his age was to give her a hug. And another hug. And another. It was really cute at first, but when the other girl started getting weirded out, I wondered how I was going to tell Asher he had a limit on hugs. Now it's kisses. He loves to give kisses. Especially to his baby sister.

Itchy. He loves using this adjective. When he's tired, he says "itchy eyes." When he bumps his leg, he'll rub it and say "itchy." And, when he's truly itchy, he'll tell you. :) It's just too cute for words.

He loves to copy us. If I'm brushing my teeth, he'll go grab Chris's toothbrush and brush his teeth. Basically that means he'll stick the toothbrush under the water and suck all the water out. Rinse and repeat. :)

He loves a good bath. He'll spend hours (ok, not really, but many many minutes) playing with various and sundry tupperwares and cups and ducks and cars in the water. And he LOVES bubbles.

Here is my sweet one year old jumping in his crib-his favorite pastime!

cutie bootie

old man in his bathrobe

Habits and Routines:

Sleep: He takes one nap now, and has since he's been about 16 months old. Up until his recent breakthrough, nap time uses to consist of two hours of playing, destroying his room, and standing naked on the windowsill, then two hours of sleep. Now (knock on wood) he seems to go down for a nap pretty easily. Bedtime is at 7:30, and has gotten consistently smoother since we changed over from his crib to a daybed. Bedtime routine is snuggling up, reading a few books, singing a couple songs, telling everything in the room "night night," then prayers and kisses. It is one of my most treasured moments with Asher.

sleep position #1

sleep position #2

sleep position #3

Mealtime: Picky picky picky! I can't get this kid to eat the same thing twice. Healthy things, that is. It's a miracle if I can get squash, tomatoes, green beans, or corn down his throat. He loves CHEESE. He also loves SWEETS. Poor kid, got his momma's sweet tooth. Sometimes he'll eat eggs, lunch meat, pasta, yogurt, cereal, and fruit. He'll eat PB&J, but he wants to "opeyit" which means licking the PB off the bread and rubbing it all over his head. Chicken nuggets and "Bup" are a favorite. Again, ketchup gets everywhere. I've yet to find a good solid meal he'll eat on a regular basis. It's trial and error every single day.

his first lollipop

Momma's boy :)

Holding his baby sister for the first time

That was the good. Here's the bad and ugly:

"row up"-- Asher has learned the art of manipulation. He will make himself throw up if he doesn't want to go to bed. That, mixed with genuinely sick throw-up nights does not make for a nice bedtime routine. At least he's learned the words "row up" and will yell them out before he actually does the deed. That leaves me enough time to grab him and stuff him into the bathtub before he barfs all over the floor. It really breaks my heart seeing him throw up, whether it's because he's really sick or b/c he's trying to avoid bedtime.

Poopy diapers. He's learned how to "change" his own diaper. I think we've pretty much nipped that in the bud with duck tape.


That is my boy. And I love him. 100%