happy easter

He lives!  He lives!  Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.

He lives!  He lives!  Salvation to impart.

You ask me how I know He lives -- He lives within my heart.

We are so blessed.

My Easter chick agrees.

Thanks, God for the blessing of your Son - and mine.

to catch a thief

A few weeks ago I mentioned how I think having a baby is causing me to lose my mind. I love you, but it's true.

Most of the time I just accept it and go about my business.

But sometimes it affects other people. Then other times it affects other people AND me.

Other people like The Law.

Uh-oh.

Today Asher and I were shopping in Target and I may have accidentally shoplifted.

Ok, I definitely shoplifted, but it was an accident.

Nice example for a baby, huh?

I had Asher in the Snap 'N Go stroller and put a bottle of laundry detergent in the basket under his seat. The few other items I needed were in a bag I carried along, so once I checked out I just unloaded the bag and headed out of the store.

It wasn't until I was at the car and went to lift his car seat off of the stroller that I saw the detergent still in the basket.

I don't know Asher...should we take the time to go back inside, wait in line again, and pay for this detergent?

Being a baby I didn't expect Asher to know what the right decision was here, so I decided for us.

I felt pretty ridiculous, but we high-tailed it back inside to pay.

Do you think we made the right choice Ash?

Oh good! I'm glad you approve.

Moral Lesson #1: Don't steal.

Even if your clothes are dirty.

heat wave

Cleveland had a record breaking heat wave yesterday! We got up to 82, which is 30! degrees above average. Holy moly!

Asher and I took full advantage of the sudden summer like weather and got somebody {not me} stripped down to his skivvies.

This boy loves nothing more than being as close to naked as possible.

He would have appreciated being taken all the way, but as I'm not interested in cleaning baby urine off every surface of my house, the diaper stayed on.

Ash didn't mind. Look how joyful.

I hope I can always make him this happy.

We also went for 2 walks and opened all the windows in the house!

It's suppose to be near 80 again today, so we're getting ready to go out!

Happy Friday everyone!

few words

Oh,

how I love

this little boy.

absence makes the heart grow fonder

Did you miss me?

Things have been pretty exciting around here the past few days, so I've been too busy having fun to post...sorry!

Let's get caught up...

This past Saturday Drew's friends from college, Ryan and Anna, came to visit and meet Asher for the first time!

I have to say, I think they were the first visitors who actually met Asher when he was in a consistent good mood. When he was brand new Asher tended to be more fussy and needy, but now Ash is so fun to play with -- he smiles and flirts with the best of them. So cute!

He smiles during play time, but we're still waiting for Asher to smile while getting his photo taken with other people. He's a little serious in group shots.

In a few weeks we'll be heading out to New Jersey for Drew's brother's wedding, so I'm hoping Asher will still be a little charmer to meet all of his great-aunts and uncles!

bumbo baby

On Tuesday I was trying to cook dinner, but Asher needed some entertainment, so I decided to try him out in his Bumbo seat.

The novelty of sitting straight up was a huge hit!

That is, it was until his big brain weighed his head down too much and it got hard to hold up. Poor guy!

After this we switched back to his reclining bouncy chair and he played happily while I finished dinner. I love that he's starting to be able to spend short periods of time playing solo so I can get things done. Not having to hold him 24/7 makes our cuddle times that much more special!

we love spring

Yesterday Cleveland got its first real taste of spring. It was an unseasonably warm 70 degrees. In fact, it may have been a new record.

We loved it!

Asher and I headed outside immediately after his morning nap and soaked up every minute of it. Normally Asher isn't very patient with being out and about, but yesterday he did great. We went to an outdoor mall and walked around in the stroller for a few hours. Asher was pretty confused by the sunshine and breeze {the poor guy has been indoors his whole life!} but rallied quickly with the help of a sun hat.

After we got home we opened up all the windows in the house and the sliding door in his nursery. Have I mentioned how much I love fresh air?! The house is so stale after a winter of being closed up -- I love airing it out in the spring!

It was so warm in the nursery that I decided to break out a short sleeved onesie for Asher {a first!} and let him go sans pants {another first!}. Let me tell you...this boy loves having bare legs and toes. Later in the day it got cooler and he did not appreciate being put in pants and socks.

We spent a good part of the afternoon laying on the floor together watching the ceiling fan spin. Who knew that could be so interesting?!

It was just one of those lazy, relaxing days. Asher was in a great mood for most of it -- I'm really excited for spring and summer now. Going for walks and playing together in the sun is something that Asher seems to like and will like even more as he's able to play more!

Yay for sunshine and warm breezes. Welcome spring! Feel free to stick around.

the cutest ever

This may be the cutest photo of Asher that I've taken to date.

 
We had a wonderful day together and this big smile came at the conclusion of it.

More on what made our day so great tomorrow.

I love this wiggle worm so much my heart hurts.

he's getting bigger

It's official: my baby is getting bigger.

For the longest time I had draped a white blanket that my Mom made for Asher over his bouncy seat so I could take his pictures. I found the rainforest animals a little, um, distracting and wanted to neutralize the background.

This plan worked because Asher just sat there and didn't need to be strapped in {I stayed with him as well}. Well, not any more.

As you may have noticed during the "Daddy and Asher blanket game" video, this little guy can really rock out. He gets so excited these days that he kicks and rocks until he practically propels himself out of the seat.

Save me, Mom, save me!

He's strapped in now. Tight.

Welcome to the blog, rainforest friends.

Asher also made the big transition to 3-6 month size clothes this week. I decided that it was probably a good idea to ratchet him up a size before he became permanently bow-legged from being stuffed inside footed PJs that were too short.

That owl one was just so cute!

My baby is growing up! I'm a little sad, but mostly proud.

Way to go friend. Enjoy your new wardrobe.

like a record, baby

For someone who can't yet hold his own head upright, Asher often surprises me with what he can accomplish physically.

Every night I gently place Asher in his crib to sleep. As you might remember from a previous post, I have a video baby monitor that I love! The video camera is positioned at one end of the crib, so I strategically place Asher in his crib so the camera can capture his face.

A la, this...

Without fail, every single day, I come in to find Asher like this:

How does he do it??

I watch him over the monitor constantly, but it's like he can tell when I nod off or get diverted elsewhere and that's when he makes his move.

He likes being mysterious.

I haven't caught him in the act yet, but I'm still watching. I'll let you know if I ever figure it out!

i could just eat him up

Couldn't you?



Sometimes I really do have to focus on not squeezing him too tight when I give hugs. He's just so delicious!



I love this little guy!

baby mohawk

Everyone who commented yesterday declared their love of the baby mohawk.

While I'm still a fan of the baby comb-over, I have to admit that the spikey 'do is darn cute too.

So for those of you who, like myself, can't get enough of the adorable baby mohawk, here you go. Drew's style held up remarkably well overnight. Asher was sporting a pretty awesome 'hawk the next morning!

oh, canada

Last night we watched the last big event of the 2010 Winter Olympics -- Men's hockey!

Since this was Asher's first Olympics we let him "watch" the game next to Daddy.

We realized halfway through that Asher was inadvertently dressed to support Canada, so we took this opportunity to teach him how nice it is to be a good neighbor and cheered for Canada!

Asher really liked sitting up like a big boy next to Daddy on the couch.

They are too cute together!

Then I picked him up for a cute picture of the two of us and this happened.

Mom, please. Us boys are busy.

Ah, well. We'll see if his tune doesn't change around dinnertime.

cruising through life

I decided that being a baby is a lot like living on a cruise ship.

Which means that I'm chief cruise director.

I spend my days maintaining and serving the 24/7 buffet, organizing fun activities, and planning off-ship excursions.

Asher seems satisfied with his vacation, for the most part.

Sometimes, like this morning, however, he seems a bit annoyed at the service.

This customer wakes up very hungry and demands breakfast instantly. I get him chowing down as soon as possible, but once he drains one side anger abounds.

He ends up banging his adorable little fist against me like an angry old man at the soda machine.

I said Diet Coke, not Mountain Dew...Diet Coke!

Around here the customer is always right and ideal service is our goal.

However, I am thinking about transferring to an Alaskan Cruise -- these Cleveland cruisers are way too demanding.

he's an ice guy

Aunt Erin sent Asher this onesie over the weekend and he just had to wear it right away!

Drew and I made our triumphant return to church this weekend and Asher went into the baby nursery for the first time. I have to admit...I was a little nervous. He did great, though - I didn't even get called out of service.

In fact, the only time he cried was when I picked him up. Thanks, friend.

:o)