words

asher has been trying so hard this past week to make "words" with his mouth. on this day, it was "ba." a few other favorites: ha and ga.

the essence...

... of saturdays. lazy breakfasts, pajamas until noon (at least), time with daddy, time with daddy, time with daddy.









i love this last picture. asher is into doing funny things with his face these days.

one of those days

as i munch too easily on caramel corn while i make this post (and, i must applaud my husband. at 10 p.m. last night, he allowed me to not only make caramel corn, but to make it for the first time, and, to make it in the microwave. what a patient soul he is.), i sigh. it has been one of those days - those days where i am ready to call it a day, ready to indulge on the tiniest bit of wine, curl up with my honey and enjoy a brainless movie. asher has not napped well. which means he makes this terrible, i mean adorable, noise constantly, mostly a whine, letting me know he has not napped well. he also decided to pee the bed, his clothes, his socks, his new, clean diaper, and the quilt where we change his diaper today. sigh.

but, amidst my tired soul today, this is what i remember: after peeing the bed, asher starts to giggle. perhaps at my sigh, perhaps at my clumsy attempt at trying to keep the "shower" off of anything salvageable, perhaps at the sheer joy of using the bathroom without a diaper on. and, that made me smile, and remember to take his too adorable picture.

i remember how sweet he was being while i tried to capture him sitting up like a big boy. no matter how many times he fell backwards, he always was willing to allow me to prop him up just one more time, and would eek out a grin.

i remember how quietly he sat in my lap, contentedly munching on the camera strap, while i reviewed the pics of the day.

it is these moments that make me say "yes, i love being a mama. let's do it again tomorrow."

perspective

i distinctly remember, around the age of 16 or so, visiting my neighbors house to say hello. my neighbor had a little girl about the age of 2, and, they were making cookies. the little girl was fully engaged in the process, and, when the recipe called for the eggs, instead of the egg making the bowl, it accidentally slipped from her hands and splatted on the floor. to a mildly OCD bent personality, i had to cover my mouth to protect the gasp from escaping. but what happened next has stayed with me for the past 11 years. instead of getting upset or frustrated, the mother handed the little girl another egg and proceeded to allow her to repeat that delightful experience of watching an egg splat on the floor, not ruining the tile or messying an already dirty floor, but encouraging the creativity in the mess. it was a learning experience that encouraged as opposed to stifled.

i cannot take credit for finding the following video (like i said, erin, blog worthy. thanks for passing this on.), however, i find it quite thought provoking, especially as a new mommy. watching it has inspired me to think differently about these early months with asher, but also to project that thought to the future and how i will encourage that.

ps. it is about 20 minutes long, so, i suggest watching during nap time.

for the grandmas

this post will probably only appeal to the grandmas (where every small detail is anything but small). lately, when going to get asher from naps, instead of finding him in the same position we left him in - head facing the head of the bed, feet correspondingly facing the foot of the bed - we happen upon this:










i am unclear as to how, or why, he rotates this way, but, apparently he is quite fond of it since after every nap, we find him this way. without a doubt, a cheesy smile always accompanies our discovery, almost as if to say "look what i can do, mom/dad. i moved."

ahhhhh... (relaxing sigh)

the weekend. as i type, i hear casey enjoying the last few moments with asher. the soft words spoken as he lays down in his crib, the occasional coos and giggles coming from the little boy whose desires to go to sleep and spend time with daddy conflict with each other. these are the days i relish, and covet. and what enjoyable days they have been. aside from enjoying the incredible sunshine we experienced all weekend (a rarity we portlanders crave), thought invoking conversations, simple floor time with asher, and accomplishing some to dos at the house rounded out the wonderful weekend. as we close off the day, i sigh contentedly. i have much to be thankful for. i feel challenged as an individual by the sermon we heard today. a sermon focused on reconciliation. a sermon encouraging us to not only seek reconciliation, but to take that a step further by living intentionally in neighborhoods of brokenness; by redistributing more than our resources, but our time, our lives. i feel thankful in my marriage for a man who invests so deeply with his time in our son and myself. a man who would much prefer to feed asher sweet potatoes than be anywhere else. i feel excitement for the future as casey and i continue to process about missions and our involvement in that. for the first time in our marriage, although there has been much conversation, i feel movement. and, although the movement has yet to be defined, i feel God is definitely defining, and refining, in us his purposes. may we continue to seek him humbly, with great passion for what He not only has in store for us in the tomorrow, but what he has in store for us today.

experimenting

oh the land of solid food. in my opinion, it is truly the most entertaining of experiments.

confession

i am a lazy blogger. i much prefer to scout out others' blogs than update my own. with the number of posts within the last month, this comes as no surprise to anyone, i am sure. lame, yes; helpful to the family that lives far away, no.

so, without further ado, an update for those that frequent our site (all of asher, of course).
we have a high chair that sits on the kitchen table where asher LOVES to sit. without a doubt his happiest place. he loves to watch us make dinner or just futz around the kitchen. he spends the majority of his time doing this.



one thing we continue to learn about asher is that he is going to be a mover, all the time. yesterday, this was exhibited by the progression of poses in his chair. i just couldn't help but document. for those of you concerned, no, he did not remain in this position, and yes, we are now strapping him in.

cousins

i grew up with four cousins; that includes both sides of the family. we didn't live very close to any of them, but always managed to see them about once a year. needless to say, it was a rare, and coveted, treat to spend time with them.

asher, at the age of 5 months, has seven cousins. and that number will continue to grow.

which brings me to the real reason for this post: my brother, garret, and his wife, mandy, are pregnant!! she is due around september 9, which means their baby and asher will be almost exactly a year apart. who knows, maybe they will share a birthday. having recently just walked that road, we are so excited for you, garret and mandy, and for the joys, and blessings, that come along with children. as your family increases, may He continue to show you what it means to make your home a praise to him. we love you!