pancakes

My boys love pancakes!

And I can't say that I blame them - between me and Aunt Jemima there are some pretty darn good pancakes served up at our house.

Raise your hands if you want more!

snow day

On Wednesday afternoon the snow started falling in northern Virginia at the rate of 2" per hour.  It kept up through the night and on Thursday morning we were met with this

a winter wonderland!

Wednesday night it didn't seem too wonderful.  Drew was stuck in horrible, horrible gridlocked traffic trying to get home from work.  We were actually worried for awhile that he might not make it at all.  He works 4 miles from our house and it took him over 2.5 hours to get home.  There were abandoned cars and drifting snow everywhere.  Not good!

Needless to say, Thursday was a work-from-home day for him!  While he managed to get a lot done at our kitchen table, there was time for a short break mid-afternoon to take Asher outside for his first ever romp in the snow.  Yay!

Asher was born last December in Cleveland, so he had seen snow before, but this was the first time we were able to get him in his snow suit and boots to really experience the flaky white stuff.  He was interested, but hesitant.  Honestly, I think he was so suited up he couldn't even really feel it.  ha!  I didn't want him to get cold.  :o)

The best part for A was when Drew plunked him feet down into the snow.  His boots supported his ankles really well and the snow came halfway up his legs so he was able to stand upright by himself!  That's a first!  Sweet Ash couldn't stop smiling at this new freedom!  Maybe now he'll attempt it inside as well.  We'll see.

His snow suit/boots/mittens came from LL Bean and were all hand-me-downs from his cousins.  Perfect!  I love getting special items like this for free!  Look familiar?

Drew made Ash a snowman that was just his size.  I think they're friends.  Or at least a curiosity.

Then there was, of course, the requisite "mom, I can't put my arms down!" shot.  Babies are so much work, you have to get your kicks when you can.

Now we just need a sled of some kind and we'll be all set!

i heart valentines

Who doesn't love a little more love?  Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays!  I adore all things pink and red, so this day is right up my alley.  :o)

Last year everything was still a little blurry for me - what with have a newborn in the house and all - so we didn't do anything too exciting to celebrate on February 14th.  Ash did, however, wear a little something special.  How cute is he in all his Little Body Big Heart cuteness!

Needless to say, I'm super excited to love up on my toddler this year!  First order of business, find an awesome Valentine's Day shirt for Mr. A.  Check.  But don't ask because you're not seeing it until the big day! 

 I was trying to think of a fun way to share this day with our far flung friends and family when I heard about Shutterfly's blogging promotion for their Valentine's cards.  Perfect!  I used Shutterfly to make our Christmas cards this year and was sooo happy with the way they turned out. 

It hadn't occurred to me to make photo V-Day cards, but why not?  Everyone wants to see Asher in all his adorable-ness anyways. 

Give the people what they want!

What to choose...

Here are my top contenders so far:

Did I tell you that for his birthday Asher gave me a photo mug from our first year together? 

It's from Shutterfly and I use it every day!  A mug or other photo gift would be fun for Valentine's as well {especially for daddy's that don't want a bunch of mushy stuff!}

Hugs and kisses to you all!

all that dc has to offer

Drew and I decided that the time had come for us to take Asher on an adventure into our nation's capital!  We've been living less than 10 miles from DC for the past 8 months and had yet to get there.  In all fairness, it's a major undertaking with a little guy. 

Enough excuses - on to the fun!

We decided that our first excursion should be to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  I had never been there before and it's one of those stops you just have to make once {or more!} in life.

Asher loved watching all of the other kids and parents look at the exhibits.  Did he like the exhibits themselves?  Well, not so much.  He seemed to enjoy himself, but was still just a little too small to really get awed by everything.

Drew took him out of the stroller for a more up-close-and-personal experience. 

A few hours into our adventure and Mr A started to get a little sleepy eyed so we headed home.

I'm considering our outing a huge success!  We'll definitely be back to visit more museums.  Personally I can't wait until cherry blossom season - that's something I have seen before and love, love, love!

catching up

Hello out there!  I'm still here. 

Drew, Asher and I had to take a sad {and impromptu} trip to New Jersey over the weekend and I'm just getting home.  We had to make the unexpected visit to attend the funeral of Drew's beloved Grandma.  She was such a wonderful, inspiring woman and will be greatly missed.

Now that we're getting back to regular around here I'm looking forward to catching up on all of your blogs and writing a few posts of my own.  Until then, Asher sends a smile and a hello!

here we go steelers, here we go!

Drew and I lived in Pittsburgh for a few years while he was in grad school and {without a doubt} the biggest thing we took away from the city of three rivers is our love of the Steelers!

No matter where we live we'll always be Steelers fans now.  Go 'burg!

Drew has been asking me for a quilt of his own to use on chilly winter days, so I decided to make him a Steelers quilt for Christmas.  It was really hard keeping it a secret in our little townhouse - a quilt isn't exactly something that you can whip up in a day and then hide.  I had to keep hiding all the fabric when I was done working for the day.  Not to mention how hard it was to finish a whole quilt while only working during naptimes. 

But I did it!  And I think it turned out really well.  I was so lucky to find the 'football' fabric in black and gold - perfect!
 

Go Steelers!

baby vs. food

Yesterday I posted about how Asher is currently resisting many forms of solid food.  I got some great ideas from people and decided to give some a go that same day!

First up:  chicken and cheese quesadilla

Ash loves grilled cheese sandwiches, so I thought these would be an instant hit.  Honestly what's the big difference?  Well, he hated it.  As in wouldn't even take a bite and turned his head when I tried to feed him a piece.  Then in anger over my insistence that he give it a try A took the offered bite and threw it on the floor.

Quesadilla = FAIL

Next:  black beans with cheese

I mushed up the beans and melted some cheese over the top.  He really does like cheese so I thought if I gave everything a cheesy flavor it might win me some points.  Blah.  Spit them out and made a yuck face.

Beans = FAIL

Finally:  hard boiled egg

Asher hasn't shown any affinity to scrambled eggs, but I thought I'd give this version a try.  You never know.

I've made hard boiled eggs before, here's how:  place eggs in cool water, bring to boil, cover and turn down to simmer for 1 min, take off heat {still covered} for 15 minutes, then place in cold water to cool.

I did all this, but when I went to peel the egg it went splat and oozed all over my counter - not even close to being hard boiled.  Gross!  No clue what went wrong - anybody know a better way to do it?

Needless to say, we'll be trying that one another day.

Hard boiled eggs = MOMMY FAIL

After all of this refusal yesterday I was planning to take it down a notch and go slower.

This morning Asher decided that eating the cup that held his morning Cheerios would be fun!

A few hours later he got a hold of my headband and couldn't get enough of the delicious elastic-y taste it provided.  Ooey gooey cheesy quesadilla?  Yuck!  Stretchy headband - YUM!
 

He wouldn't even put it down to play with his blocks.
 

Since he was so willing to put weird stuff in his mouth this morning I hoped that was a good sign that he'd try some new foods that are actually food {instead of things that hold food...or hair}

Great news at lunch!  I offered him some chicken noodle soup and he loved it!  Ash usually rejects noodles, but these went down easier with the soup broth.  I also gave him some cooked, whole green beans and he really loved those.  The pounding-on-his-highchair-tray-for-more kind of love!  The skins were a little tough and after a while he spit them out, but it was a great effort.

We'll get there!  If you come up with any new recipes for toddlers I will always love to hear them - feel free to share!

{By the way, not to brag, but how gorgeous is he?! ha!}

chowing down

Asher's new favorite game.

Mommy has decided that if he wants to bite the spoon, then he must be done eating.  I don't try to wrestle it back and he lets go right away.

No!  Wait!  I wasn't done - keep feeding, please!

Asher has actually been interested in feeding himself with his spoon recently.  He does a few bites {with my guidance} but then realizes that mommy is much faster and passes the spoon back to me to finish up.  He'll get there soon enough!

Speaking of food, does anyone have suggestions of foods that I can introduce to Ash?  He still resists a lot of finger foods, but I'm trying to give him new solids all the time.  His favorite is still baby food {any kind - fruit, veg, meat} - but I'm so tired of buying and making purees!  It seems like he should be past this by now.  Our pediatrician says not to worry, but it's hard when it seems like every other baby his age is eating all kinds of table food.

The thing is that he can eat solids - just chooses not to in most cases.  *sigh*  In fact, I'm beginning to think that he secretly signed a contract with Gerber because he will eat anything with their label on it!  Seriously, he eats Gerber Puffs, wagon wheels, maple crunchies, etc.  If he can munch through those rock hard apple wagon wheels then he should be able to eat anything!

Table foods that he eats and enjoys include: bananas, grilled cheese sandwich, cheese slices, pieces of apple, Cheerios, Goldfish crackers, french toast, any kind of bread/muffin, yogurt, turkey lunch meat {which I don't like to give him, but it's the only meat he'll eat!}

I've tried to give him canned chicken, browned ground turkey/beef, meatballs with sauce, pasta - he takes none of it!

Would you mind sharing what your kiddo likes to eat?  Thanks!

{Rene - I saw on your blog that Jack likes black beans with melted cheese.  We're trying that soon! Wish us luck! ha!}