mr. clean

On the list of things that surprise me about Asher we have a new item to take first place - this boy LOVES the vacuum!  At first I thought he might be scared of it, but just the opposite is true.  When I turned it on he ran over and hugged the bag.  True story.

I wouldn't put it past him to stick his hands under the beaters, so I picked him up and now that's the only way I'm allowed to sweep - pushing the vacuum with one arm while holding him in the other.  It's quite the workout! 

The other morning he was majorly underfoot, so I offered him the brush arm of my canister vac and asked him to clean up.  I've never seen him more excited.  He ran it back and forth {and back and forth} all over the floor.

{see his favorite friend, the Oreck, standing at attention - we used him next}

Asher even knew to get under the furniture.  That's my boy.

Next time I'm going to plug it in and let him really go to town - might as well get some of the crumbs he makes sucked up!

 

Kids are so fun - you just never know what's going to tickle their fancy!  ha!

three day weekend

Daddy's home today!

Daddy's home today!

Hooray!  Hooray!  Hooray!

incognito

The sun, it's been a blazin' around here lately.  Asher loves to play outside, but we've had to insist on a hat and/or sunglasses rule for the most part so he doesn't fry his sweet face.

The other day he was wearing both and when I looked at the photos realized how suspicious he looks.  Very much trying to fly below the radar.

What, Asher who?

It also occurred to me that he probably can't see much of anything under all that shading.  Poor guy!


Smile?  At what? 

Daddy??  Is someone pulling me soon?

It's not easy staying safe in the sun.

photo edits

Just practicing with some cool photo editing tools I discovered in Photoshop - fun!

original:

sharpened:

black and white:

color boosting:

vintage:

welcome scarlett!

We have a new baby to welcome into our extended family!  My best friend from Bucknell, Emily, had her very first baby on May 23rd!

Oh my goodness, how cute is Miss Scarlett Louise - love her!

{phone photos, sorry}

It's hard to believe that this newlywed couple from just last summer are parents already.  I'm so thrilled for them and know that they will do an amazing job raising Scarlett.

Of course, I had to make my newest 'niece' a very special blanket to cuddle with.  And, of course, it had to have her name on it.  :-)

I tried something new and put her name on one side and her monogram on the other.

I also sewed up a little Taggie blanket for her to cuddle with.  I couldn't resist putting her initial on it as well {I'm a hopeless personalizer!}

Scarlett - get ready for a visit from Auntie Emily and your new friend, Asher!  We love you sweetie!

enough already

I think Asher's done with photos for today.

Okay buddy, I'm picking up what you're putting down.

wordless wednesday - tea time

Target is my favorite store.  They have almost everything I need - toiletries, groceries, clothes, baby stuff, cleaning supplies, bed/bath linens and...

elephant tea pots.

Oh my goodness!  How cute is this!  I love the little special items I find within the bulls eye clad walls.  When I saw this guy was only $13 I didn't even try to say no.  :-)

point of exhaustion

Over the weekend we all got sick.  Nothing major, just a cold, but when everyone in the household is sick at once it feels bigger.  Yesterday morning I woke up feeling 150% better and assumed Asher was too.  Since we were feeling so great I decided to run some errands that got put on the back burner.

Number 1 on our list:  get Asher's hair cut.  This boy gets more hair cuts than I imagined possible, but I really love him with a short cut and hate it when his hair gets all unruly on me.  It was right around the time I had to wrestle him into the salon chair that I realized he might not be feeling as bright and shiny as I was.

Normally getting a trim is no big deal for A.  He sits still, watches the cartoons they have playing, and 10 minutes later we're on our way.  Not so much this time around.  I ended up sitting in the chair with him on my lap and he calmed down pretty much right away. 

After his trim we had to stop at the grocery store, despite the drama over his haircut.  To ease the transition back into his car seat I offered Asher a few animal crackers {his new fav}.

It only took us about 10 minutes to get to the grocery store, but within those few moments Asher fell completely asleep.  Bless his heart!  I guess between the hair ordeal and being sick he was plum worn out - even though it was only 10:30am.

You know it's true exhaustion when a boy doesn't even finish his snack.

Oh sweetness.  :-)

Here's hoping he feels right as rain today!

splashing around

Now that the weather is getting warmer Drew and I have wanted to get Asher a splash table to enjoy.  We had some free time yesterday afternoon and went over to Toys R Us to pick one out!

The two things A loves most are

1) being outside
2) getting wet

This accomplishes both!

The table we found has a bunch of great features than spin and squirt - Asher is in heaven!  He's a very serious guy when he's exploring, so it doesn't look like he's having fun, but he really is - I promise!

I asked him to turn and smile and got this face

Mom, I'm busy.

At one point Drew was showing him how to make the gears turn.

You can practically see Ash's gears turning while he takes it all in - love him!!

We also found him these water shoes.  I wanted something that would protect his toes from deck splinters, but would dry out quickly.  Toys R Us had these on sale for $5 - perfect!
 

Next time we'll put more water in the basin.  Today we were just trying to see how much he'd like it.

I did finally get a {small} smile towards the end - yay!

And yes, his hair and face are wet because he leaned waaaay over the edge and put his face in the water.  That's swim lessons for you!  {his instructor keeps encouraging the kids to put their faces in the pool and blow bubbles - Asher is top in the class and got major props from Coach Ron last week}

I have a feeling I'll be hauling lots of water buckets out to the deck this summer.

bargain shopper

Thanks for all of your great food ideas!  I gave Asher a new food yesterday - cut up hot dog.  Right now I'm trying to get him to eat any meats at all, so even though hot dogs aren't an ideal food I wanted to give it a shot. 

He picked up the piece I sat before him, looked at it...and threw it on the ground.  Didn't even get close to his mouth.  Meanwhile I'm eating a hot dog making YUM sounds {and meaning it - love me some Nathans} and trying to convince him of the deliciousness that awaits.

Hot dog = fail

That night for dinner I boiled him some ravioli.  He has liked these in the past, but yesterday he just threw them off his tray and wanted more green beans.

sigh

The reason I'm thinking about this so much is because his pediatrician said that if he wasn't eating a lot more solids by 18 months then we'll need to consider seeing a dietician/food specialist who can help him transition.  I know there are SO many bigger problems that he could have, but the thought of him needing a special therapist makes me want to cry.  I feel like a bad mommy.

We were good at breastfeeding!  Let's go back to that!  {except he doesn't fit on my lap anymore...}

Anyways, thanks for your ideas and support - I'll let you know how it goes.

-----------------------------------------------

I've been trying my hand at couponing recently.  Yes, it's a verb now.

You may have seen the TLC show, Extreme Couponing?  Well, it's nothing like that.  I'm a very non-extreme couponer.  Last week I saved 38% off my total bill and felt like a rock star.  It's no 98% off, but I'm also not spending 60 hours a week preparing!

Mostly I clip coupons from the paper, then try and match up bargains from our store fliers.  I still buy all of the meat and produce that I normally need.  I also don't have a huge stockpile {no room or desire}.

Asher gets the system and decided to help make the list yesterday.

Look, Mom, popsicles are on sale!

I'm pretty sure we need popsicles! 

Those he eats.  Oy vey.

We're off to the store today.  What super exciting plans do you have for this Friday?  Happy weekend all!

food rut

I feel like I just posted about this a few days weeks ago, but here we are again.

We're in a food rut.

It seems like I'm feeding Asher the same. exact. foods. every day.  I need some new ideas!  Help, friends!

Currently Asher refuses to eat meat.  We've tried cooked chicken and tuna - nope and nope.  He has 2 molars with another one poking through, so I'm hoping once it comes in he'll have better chewing ability and willingness to eat meats.

Foods that Asher eats willingly {and often}:

cooked carrots
green beans
peaches
yogurt
apples/applesauce
any Gerber stage 3 meals
any Gerber toddler "stews"
Minestrone soup
lentil soup
peanut butter covered graham crackers
bananas
grilled cheese
ravioli {no sauce}
mac and cheese
sweet potatoes

Asher will usually only eat a few bites of any one food.  He likes to eat a wide variety during each meal - is this common?  I like him to get a balanced meal, so I'm fine with that - just wondering how many other kiddos do this too.

What do you feed your toddlers?  Have any online meal resources or cookbooks to share? 

Thanks!