spoiled rotten

Asher received so many wonderful gifts from our oh-so-generous friends and family for his birthday.  I just had to showcase some here and give them all a shout out on our little blog.

His first birthday party was in Cleveland - remember the LOUD race car?  He still loves it!  Thanks Aunt Karen and Uncle Carl!

Then Asher's Grammy and PopPop Cowell came to visit for his party and brought with them a whole slew of gifts.  Like I said - spoiled rotten.  :o)

He got a Little People Noah's Ark set and loves to clap the animals together.  Ash loves anything that come in pairs {the better to clap them!} so this was right up his ally. 

Aunt Erin helped him get it open - there were tons of zip ties and tape holding it all together.

Aunt Erin and Uncle Ryan brought him - drumroll, please - a cell phone!  Asher is obsessed with my phone and now he has one of his own.  It lights up and says all kinds of fun things.  Sadly, Mr. A has not been permanently distracted away from my phone, but it does take the edge off.

Grandma and Grandpa Wilkinson came for his party as well and brought along a very special firetruck!  It has a bell to ring and everything.  Wow!

Of course Mommy and Daddy had to give him a little something special - a ball!  Asher loves to roll balls around and now he has a couple to choose from.

We are lucky to have so many generous, loving people in our little boy's life.  Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate a year of Asher - whether through a gift, card, phone call, email, or blog comment.  We love you all!

birthday party!

Asher had his first birthday party on Sunday afternoon!

For the past few weeks I've been planning and prepping for this all-important day!  We kept it small - just family and close friends - but of course it was super special for my little guy.  After all, you only turn ONE once!

I couldn't find a theme that I really loved, so I decided to go simply with bright, primary colors.  After a lot of searching {I'm never satisfied that the first thing I find is the best} I found these fantastic signs from Sophie and Emma on Etsy.  They turned out so cute!

Some of you were asking about Asher's shirt - I can't claim credit for that either - it's another Etsy find!  Crystal over at Two Kangaroos did an amazing job making it.  She has tons of fabric/font/stitching options and had a really fast turn around time.

Of course, there had to be a little touch of mommy's hand in the decorations, so I made these hanging poms.  I first got this idea from Bonnie who made some for Jarrett's first birthday.  A quick internet search on how to make them and I was in business.  It was so easy and really added a fun POP of color!

I also made some cupcake toppers for our table centerpiece.  Super easy and fun to do.  I love doing some of these things myself!

Asher had a lot of fun playing with next to his friends during the party.  There was a brief meltdown at one point {I think Asher got a little overwhelmed, plus he missed a nap}, but overall he did great considering all of the people in his house!

Some of you might recognize this big smile!  We were so excited that Jack and Rene could come and celebrate with Asher!  Sometimes it feels like this blog world doesn't have real people behind it - it's so fun to meet blogging friends in real life.  Ha!

My favorite part of the party was Asher's smash cake.  He is extremely hesitant with new foods, so I was a little concerned that he wouldn't even try the cake.  Ash definitely hates having messy hands, so I helped him dig in at first and offered him a taste of frosting off of my finger.  That was all the encouragement he needed!  Of course he loved cake - who doesn't?!

We are so grateful to have such loving, supportive friends and family who came to celebrate Asher's first year with us.  There's no way we could have gotten through this first year of parenthood without all of your support and care.

happy birthday asher!

Asher, you are 1 year old!

As if I needed more proof that this is a special day, we woke up this morning to a winter wonderland - our first snowfall of the season.  There's just something magical about falling asleep to rain, but waking up to a world covered with white, fluffy snow!

Yesterday was Asher's birthday party.  We had a small party with our family and friends to celebrate Asher's first year.  It was so much fun - I'll do a special post about it soon!

Today I'm feeling excited, nostalgic and a little tearful about how much Asher has changed and grown over the past year.  I'm tremendously proud of all that he can do now, but also a little sad that he isn't my little baby anymore.  It's such a bittersweet feeling - but I'm trying to focus on the sweet parts!

It really is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since Asher joined our family.  This time last year I was in the hospital at the end of a long labor getting ready to meet my 7 pound, 5 ounce little boy.  When Asher was born he was completely helpless - he couldn't hold his head up, couldn't roll over, couldn't do much of anything!  Now he can do lots of things -

At one year, Asher:

• wears size 9-12 month clothes {and some 12-18mo}
• wears size 4 diapers
• has 8 teeth {4 on top, 4 on bottom}
• crawls really fast on all 4s
• pulls up on everything!
• cruises along the furniture
• sleeps from 7pm - 7am
• takes 2 naps a day {9am and 1pm}
• eat 3 solid meals a day
• drinks breastmilk 4x a day
• drinks water and milk from a straw cup - no bottles!
• loves to clap his hands
• says 'dada' over and over {no mama yet}
• loves to throw and catch his ball
• gives kisses and high fives

Asher Thomas, your Daddy and I feel so blessed to have been entrusted to care for you.  You are such an amazing boy and we love watching you grow and learn.  You're the best thing that's ever happened to us.  We love you.   

Happy Birthday!

on the night you were born

I heard this story when I was pregnant and knew instantly that I wanted it to be the first book I read to my new little one.  That first night after he was born, I read this to Asher as he slept in my arms.  Those were our first quiet moments together and I'll have these memories close to my heart forever.

Today marks 52 weeks since Asher was born - tomorrow is his first birthday.  Has it really been 365 nights since my precious tiny entered the world?  I'll never forget that first night - and have loved every one we've had together since then.

On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, "life will never be the same."

So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain that they whispered the sound of your wonderful name.

It sailed through the farmland high on the breeze...

over the ocean...


and through the trees...


until everyone heard it and everyone knew of the one and only ever you.

Not once had there been such eyes, such a nose, such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes.

For never before in story or rhyme {not even once upon a time}


has the world ever known a you, my friend, and it never will, not ever again...


Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn, on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born.

Asher Thomas, you truly are loved beyond measure.

There will never be another you, my son.  Heaven celebrated and so did Daddy and I when you were born.  Life will never be the same - and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Tomorrow is your first birthday and we can't wait to celebrate with you!

*On the Night You were Born is by Nancy Tillman - text not complete here

birthday: part-y 1

Last weekend Asher got to have his very first birthday celebration back where it all started!

 
While we were in Cleveland for the baby shower our friends Carl and Karen invited us over to their house and gave Asher his first birthday gifts.  So exciting!

I mentioned last week that Asher is currently in love with books.  In a bid to save me from the inevitable sanity break that will come if I have to read "Blue Hat, Green Hat" one more time, C and K got Asher some new stories - yay!  These dinosaur books are so cute - and teach a good lesson, to boot.  I've never seen them before, but we'll definitely looking for the rest of the series!

Asher also got a new race car.  It sings, rolls, and honks, all at one volume - LOUD.  Ha - so much for saving my sanity.  :o)

Seriously though - he loves it.  In fact, there was only one thing he received that got higher marks than the race car and books...

The bows!!

Karen put some bows on the packages and Asher loved them!  He couldn't get enough - there was clapping of the bows, there was sticking the bows to the coffee table.  Ash handed them to every one and looked very disappointed if they didn't visibly get as much enjoyment out of the bows as he did.

So, if anyone is still wondering what Asher would like for a gift, here's what I recommend:  an empty box wrapped up with a bow on top.  Can't go wrong.

Thanks for thinking of him and celebrating Asher's first year with us Carl and Karen!