a good laugh

i hope this makes you laugh, and maybe cry a little bit. click here.

sweet and clean

there is just no greater pleasure than a little time to splash in the water.

home again, home again...

...jiggedy jig. my mom tends to say that quite often, whether returning from a trip to the store or a week's vacation. i am not quite sure what a jiggedy jig is exactly, but, if i did, i would have done one this afternoon. casey left on monday for a business trip, leaving asher and i to fend for ourselves this week. we spent a few nights with casey's sister and family and then headed home. we, meaning casey, asher and i, all faired well, but are glad to be together again.

i am thankful for my husband. i am thankful he takes such an active role in helping, and raising, asher. what a joy to share this journey with him. and, asher thinks he is real fun too (asher told me to say that, and i agree).

growing boy

here are two fun videos (and, maybe you should think of them more as audio files) of the things asher is doing these days.

a little daddy time. casey is heading off to orlando for business tomorrow, so he is getting in as much asher time as he can (the dark figure above asher is casey, and, yes, the noises coming from the bed are asher's happy noises).



and this video requires no explanation... we LOVE to listen to him giggle (like casey mentions at the end of the video, sorry the quality is so bad).

little man

my sister-in-law, annie, inspires me. no matter what is on her plate, or what her day holds, she always finds time for mini photo shoots of her two amazing boys. learning by example, i took the time today to snap away at asher. whether he was sleep deprived or just being compliant, he gave me a lot of cute smiles. what a sweetie!

counting my blessings

to be thankful... what does that mean? good, ole merriam webster states it as "conscious of benefit received." on several occasions throughout the past two days (and although a few days delayed from actual thanksgiving), i have had specific opportunity to mention the things i am conscious of.

*family and community. the people that pour into our lives, and share it with us, make casey, asher, and i, better people. thank you, family/community/friends, for each being a part of that. thank you for being jesus to us. pictured here are bumpa and gramma with their little man. we devoured their hospitality and fussing over asher during the thanksgiving weekend. thank you, grandparents/parents, for much needed rest, and a date.



*my husband. watching him as a dad swells my heart to even greater capacities. i cherish him more than i ever have before.





*it goes without saying, we are thankful for asher. what an absolute gift. yea, i cannot sum it up better than that.
*motherhood. even though i have days i miss the freedom and spontaneity of not having a child, i feel as if i have found, and understand, more of myself.


no doubt, benefits received.

punkin patch

while we were in texas, we went to the pumpkin patch, or more rightly named by my dad, the pumpkin pile. although no match for the places in oregon, we had a good time trying out all the different activities - hay ride, a giant tree house, a fish pond, and the teepees. below are some pics from the adventure.

aunt jaime lovin' on asher.










nanny and papa enjoying asher, and the hay ride.








my brother, bryan, with his two boys, alex and brendan, at the fish pond.









my nephew, alex, on the hay ride.








asher, taken a snooze in the hay. doesn't he look comfortable?!









uncle bryan and asher, hanging in the tree house.








alex and brendan, amidst the punkin pile.







brendan searching for that perfect pumpkin.








of course, after selecting that perfect pumpkin, uncle casey has to help carve the perfect face. this one included a pirate patch, pig nose, and teeth that cross. what a beauty.

beautiful chaos

our family just returned from a trip to texas. a trip to texas always includes much eating of food that casey and i never prepare for ourselves, but do not mind making ourselves sick on when my mom makes it; three wonderful, and very energetic nephews; much visiting with friends; and very little sleep. this trip was no different, save for the fact that we now have a child thrown into the mix of that. from the pictures, you can see a certain trend - asher being held by his papa; asher being held by his nanny; asher being held by his aunt or uncle; asher being held by his cousins (i suppose there is also a trend in sitting in the recliner while holding him). it goes without saying that yesterday, the day after we came home, was a "special" day.

the beautiful thing about said chaos is that it is time spent with family. family is a thing taken so lightly, but is so irreplacable. asher is growing up in an environment rich with love and community and value built into it. i cherish the fact that asher has family here that instill that value into his life on a regular basis, and i cherish the times we spend in texas, although too few and far between, knowing that the same will be lavished upon him as well. they say it takes a village to raise a child, and i totally agree. i am just so thankful that the village surrounding our son includes those intimately connected in his life: his family.

namesake

casey and i chose the name asher for several reasons:
a) well, it just sounded cool.
b) it meant happy and blessed.
c) it also meant "a boy quick to laugh."

casey shares a special bond with his dad, in that, they laugh together. usually, it is over something very insignificant, very likely something that isn't even funny except to the two of them. they both start laughing, and it quickly progresses into a high pitched chuckle, eyes almost squinted shut, and a few tears. casey really liked the idea of sharing that with our son as well.

and tonight, it happened. who knew that a wide smile and a simple "hu" from your sweet baby could make your heart flip over. casey and i were just spending some time with asher on the couch, and, i wish i could remember what made it happen, but all of a sudden, asher started laughing. from the hysterical laughter it sent me into, he knew we liked it and continued to do it. who knows if he will do it again any time soon, but you can count on the fact that we will try and try again. there is just nothing more fun than playing with your child.

carvnival

every year, casey and i host a pumpkin carving party at our house (we are going on the long history of five years). each year has been in a new place, which keeps it interesting, and each year the guest list gets a little bit longer. on saturday we had much family and a few friends to help celebrate this year's 5th annual carvnival. our little pumpkin was awake for about 30 minutes, and then slept the entire party. i was a little disappointed that we couldn't show him off, but at least we were establishing good habits - sleeping through loud noises. casey once again carved the nicest looking pumpkin, as well as the pumpkin to welcome our guests for the party. this year's design - our address. having people in your home always seems to establish it as just that, home. all are invited to next year's event... perhaps then we will have more than a few people that actually carve.

in order: dad snuggling with asher before the party; my sister in law, annie, with her niece, johanna; our house lit up and full of people; long time family friend, serena, with our nephew, cade.

so many things - hello and goodbye

i feel as if there are a slew of things that need to be posted to the blog - our final appointment with our midwives, casey completing the patio, tummy time, our fifth annual pumpkin carvnival. in order to catch up, i am going to attempt to make several posts, contingent upon a cooperative certain someone.

we had our final appointment last week thursday with our midwives. what a bittersweet moment. to some extent, i feel like we are saying goodbye to family. pamela, kate, and stephanie invested in our lives so heavily for the last 11 months, providing support, wisdom, care and concern. it was so much more than just appointments when we would see them; it was a relationship. with final goodbyes being said and hugs given, i am so glad they are not far away and maintain a very open door policy. many many thanks and much love to all three of you.

and, through the encouragement of one of our midwives, asher had his first tummy time the other evening. as you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed it. and, i think daddy did too.

Sesame Street - Buffy Nurses Cody

oh my goodness, this is just amazing. thanks, jenny, for passing this on. it is just nice.
enjoy!!

here's looking at you

there is a reason casey takes video and i do not. the camera continues to get closer and closer to asher's face, but, at least you get to see some smiles.

smiles

this is the attempt at capturing asher's smile. he definitely enjoys giving mama smiles these days.

and, casey and i's favorite thing to say: "what a sweet boy."

distracted

let me start by saying that it is winter here. casey would categorize it as fall, but to my constantly frigid feet and hands, it is winter. today, asher and i made an outing to a bead store. remember that we live in portland, and bead stores are filled with creative and interesting people, of which i sometimes desperately try to be a part of. while trying to look like i belonged in this place, in walks a man with quite the interesting get up. it was while i was scrutinizing his sweater, shorts, extremely puffy socks, and teva sandals, and thinking to myself "bad choice.... socks with sandals," that i looked down at my own feet. teal wool socks, brown flip flops. you see, we have wood floors in our house, and in order to try and combat the chill, i "sometimes" slip on flip flops over my socks. perhaps socks and flip flops is my attempt at being creative. needless to say, between fully equipped diaper bags, a small, and growing chubby, little boy, cell phone, keys, and sanity, i occasionally get distracted. good thing motherhood is increasing my sense of humor.

moving on... we spent the weekend in sunnyside, washington, where casey's parents live. it was his grandpa's 85th birthday, so the large schilperoort clan assembled to celebrate. it was really fun to hang out with casey's aunts, uncles and cousins, show asher off, and, meet some of grandpa's siblings. i just love the history of big families, and coming from a small family, eat up the schilperoort heritage. i just love it! following are some pictures from the weekend. in order: my nephew cade, and my niece, leah, pretending to be farmers; auntie abbe reading with nephew, callum; asher taking a snooze in grandma's wagon at the big schilperoort lunch; asher giving auntie annie a typical schilperoort lopsided smirk.

random

on sunday, kevin and annie, and cade and callum, came over and had dinner with us. it was soo fun to spend time with them and catch up a little bit. we had such a good time watching cade and callum interact with asher, and to get a glimpse into a day in the life of having boys. we just enjoy the boys so much, and cannot wait (although, i am sure i will recant this statement in the future at some time or other) when asher is older and up and running. if you want to see more pictures, go to kevin and annie's site... she is sooo much better at taking and posting pictures than i.

ah, bath time. asher just loves it. we bathe him in the kitchen sink, and he will just lie there and look up at you contentedly. it is really cute when he gets his legs going.

to the moon and back

i have never cried while reading a children's book before. the depth of the words, the wonder of what they actually mean in relation to having a child, have never struck me. i have always seen stories as just that. i have read their words to nieces and nephews without much emotion or understanding... without connection.

and that all changed this morning. while reading a story to asher this morning, i couldn't finish the last page, because, as he intently looked at my face, all trust and innocence, i understood what it meant to love a child to the moon and back. and it made me cry. i understood that no matter where life took him, or what it offered, i would love him to my greatest capacity. and perhaps it is this love that allows me to bear the days of ceaseless crying, the hours in the night i wake up to feed him, the years we will struggle with independence and strong wills, the tragedies that will inevitably come his/our way. somehow to the moon and back does not seem so hard to attain.

firsts

it is amazing to think that casey and i get to witness all of these firsts for asher. he spends his entire day doing something, or discovering something, new, and we get to stand by and enjoy. for instance, his first time to sneeze five times in a row or to find the mobile hanging over his bed, or, to look at his mama's face and eek out a precious little grin (he keeps catching me off guard, so i have yet to have my camera ready to document).

and, casey and i experienced a first last night as well.... eating out as a threesome. for those that talk to us frequently, or know us well, you know that we have a love for eating out. it is the ultimate in date for the two of us, and, provides such great conversation. so, with a little fear and trepidation at how the evening would turn out, we took asher with us for dinner at the kennedy school. casey wore asher the entire meal, and he slept contentedly on daddy while he enjoyed his bleu cheese burger. we felt like we had triumphed yet another aspect of parenthood, incorporating our child into the things we like to do. i must say we are enjoying having another member to our family.

on another note, these pictures are of asher helping me with the laundry. as you can see, he doesn't like to help mama with the laundry. :)