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. :)