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.