{phone dump friday}

How is it Friday again already? I'm not complaining, just surprised. These weeks - probably because they've been so busy - have been zipping by for me.

You all might remember a few weeks back when Asher got the awful haircut. Poor guy got butchered by a woman who claimed to be a stylist, but was really anything but. I took him to my hair stylist to get it fixed and vowed not to cut his hair again for a long, long time. Well...this week was when I caved. I liked his longer hair, but it was starting to move past cute into shaggy and that was not ok.

I wasn't taking any chances this time around and took him directly to my salon. Can I just say right now that I dread finding all new people when I move. It's really one of the worst parts - new hair salon, new doctors, new dentists - bleh.

Anyway, she did an awesome job on him!

Before:

After:

We did a bit more fingerpainting outside, but since it was so warm I just had Asher strip down to his diaper to save myself some laundry. After I got him out of his shirt and shorts, A asked if he should take off his diaper too. I had to explain that we don't live in a naked painting kind of neighborhood. ha!

On Monday we had to go to the mall and I couldn't leave without getting Asher a little treat. He doesn't get something every time we go out by any means, so I wanted this trip to be special for him.

Hello, Duck!

Asher loves Donald Duck so I knew he'd go nuts over this guy. He calls him "Duck" - they have been going everywhere together.

Of course, our week hasn't been perfect. Yesterday something mysterious was wrong with Asher's post-nap milk so I got this face for awhile. He's kind of ridiculous and cranky sometimes. Guess that's being 2!

On Tuesday we had a busy afternoon planned so we decided to hit the park early in the day. Apparently we got there really early because we were the only ones playing for awhile! The funny thing was that once another kiddo arrived he was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat.

I texted Drew to share the irony. His advice? Don't escalate. ha ha - I made no guarantees.

We have a busy weekend of packing, a last breakfast with some friends, and, oh yeah, Mother's Day. Wonder if the boys have anything good up their sleeves?

Tonight I'm going out to The Melting Pot for a fond farewell dessert date with my Mom's group friends. It's going to be so fun! {but moving is starting to make me sad... :-( }

Happy weekend, all!

mommy's picasso

Thanks, everyone, for your excitement about our move! I got a lot of questions about how this all came about - details to come soon. The official close-on-the-house-pack-the-truck-and-get-down-there happens in just two {!} weeks so things are rapidly transitioning into survival mode. As in, we are pulling our daily clothes out of boxes and exclusively eating off paper plates. Well, it's not quite that bad yet - give it a few more days. ha!

This is the 4th move that Drew and I have done together since we got married, so you'd think we would be old hats {and in some ways we are} but adding in a little guy who unpacks while we're packing and still, surprisingly, would like to do other activities makes this move a particular challenge. God willing, this move will be our last LONG distance move and that this house will be ours for a LONG time!

Despite all of the packing, phone calls, trips to Raleigh, and naps for an exhausted mama-to-be Asher and I still manage to have a little fun. :-)

In fact, just the other day we tried something brand new that was such a huge hit I know we'll be doing it again just as soon as I can find our supplies after we move. Hmm...

It took a bit of research...

but then Asher was ready for painting! I got him all set up on the deck with his easel and drop cloth.

Next order of business - smocking. Thanks, Daddy for wearing out this shirt so Asher can have the world's most adorable paint smock. How ridiculously cute is my little guy in this big shirt? love!

Ash wasn't totally sure how much he liked the paint at first.

 

But a couple seconds later he was all about it.

 

Asher is quite the painter now. Ever since that wonderful day when he first got his fingers all paint-y he asks for "paint, paint" every afternoon.

Of course at the end of the fun I asked him to stand by his painting and smile for me. Instead, he stood by his painting, held his fingers up to his mouth and asked, "eat?"

Why, oh why can't my son pose for a picture just once??

Looking on the bright side, I'm grateful he asked first and didn't proceed to lick the paint off when I told him it wasn't for eating.



Artists really are a different type of person - aren't they? :-)

the rolling stones

So I've mentioned a few times how crazy busy it's been around here and I'm sure one or two of you is wondering why I'm being so whiny. Turns out I have a good reason - we're moving!

{oh yeah, and I'm pregnant. and have a 2 year old}

Meet our new house!

She's still being built, so don't judge her lack of complete siding and a yard too harshly.

At the end of the month my little family will be moving a few hundred miles south to Raleigh. My parents live there and we are so excited to be close to them! We're also excited that after 2 years of living in a {small} rental townhome where we weren't allowed to paint any walls or hang any pictures we will have both space and the ability to make it our own.

A few more pics of our home-to-be...

we're going to have a backyard - yay!

don't be jealous, the porta-potty wasn't included in our contract

We've spent the last month or so driving from DC to NC {and back...} finding a house, then once we picked this one choosing all of the interior finishes {yay for catching ours before it was finished!}. Since they are still finishing up the inside I don't have any photos of that part. You'll have to wait until we move in - home tour to come then. :-)

It's added up to many hours in the car and now many more hours packing up our townhouse.

See.

 

Our house is a maze of cardboard - joy.

Despite all of the work right now, which I guess came at a really bad time since I was in my first trimester for most of it, I'm thrilled to be moving to our own home. We are so blessed!

{phone dump tuesday}

I got a little behind last week with my birthday celebrations so I missed phone dump Friday - today is catch up day before Friday is here again!

On his way home from work on Thursday Drew stopped off to get me my favorite - cookie cake - for my birthday. He even went to the trouble of having them write "Happy 30th Birthday Emily" on it. Then, disaster struck. While driving the rest of the way home someone cut him off and he had to slam on the brakes. Cookie cake flew off the seat, lost its lid, and smashed into 100s of pieces.

 

Sad, sad cookie cake.

We ate the crumbs anyway - they were delicious. :-)

 

Drew felt really bad that my cake was destroyed so he went out the next day and got another, more traditional cake.

 

It too was delicious.

 

As if 2 cakes wasn't enough, check out what a found in the grocery store parking lot later that day. Lucky!

 

In a little departure from just photos I have a video to share. I caught Asher reading his book out loud the other day. He is too cute!

 

bugaboo {14 weeks}

Hey folks, who's ready for my first blog post as a member of the 30s club? Excited? Me too. :-)

Things have been crazy busy around here - the reason for which to be revealed on Wednesday, stay tuned - so the blog has gotten a little dusty. Regardless of the neglect, the bug keeps growing week-by-week!

We made it to 14 weeks - second trimester, yay! I'm desperately hoping this means some of my exhaustion will abate soon. So far I'm still really tired by mid-day, then completely pass out on the couch by 9pm. Pretty lame, but what can you do? I have a feeling chasing a toddler around for most of the day doesn't help this problem at. all.

Besides that I've been feeling really great. I can tell the 2nd trimester is settling in because I have a few more food cravings and aversions. Mostly, though, I'm just hungrier in general. Second breakfast is becoming a new normal around here.

Bugaboo and I had an OB appointment last Thursday and everything is just fine with us. I got to hear the heart beating away on the doppler - that's always so special. :-)

In some funny news, I went to get my hair done on Friday and my stylist specifically mentioned how thick my hair seemed. She didn't know I was pregnant, so I got to tell her the good news to explain my sudden luscious locks. I thought my hair was thicker, but the fact that she commented on it without prompting totally confirmed that it wasn't just my imagination! ha!

This week baby bug is the size of a lemon. Oh my, but I love lemons. Fresh lemon on pasta or fish - or even better, lemon sweetened up in cookies or cake. sigh.

Hungry sidetrack over...on to the good stuff. :-)

How far along: 14 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: down 3 pounds

Maternity clothes: not really, but I have to confess I did wear my still-too-big maternity pants to my birthday sushi dinner on Saturday. Regular pants get tight way too fast for the feast I had planned. :-)

Stretch marks: nope

Belly button: innie that I can tell is going to pop out w-a-y sooner this time around

Sleep: weird VIVID dreams

Baby movement: none yet

Gender: time will tell

Food cravings: California rolls, gyoza, miso soup, ginger dressing = sushi restaurant for my birthday dinner, despite not being able to eat many delicious other things on the menu

Food aversions: really grossed out by the hot dog I tried to eat for dinner tonight

What I miss: not being so sleepy

Looking forward to: just being in maternity pants full time. This in between size/shape is annoying.

Best moment this week: hearing bug's heartbeat at my OB appointment

Milestones: baby is growing downy hair all over to stay warm

 

the big 3-0

Is it obnoxious to write a post about your own birthday? At any rate, it's mine! :-)

I'm turning {gulp} 30 today! Actually I'm not dreading it at all - 30 will be fabulous!

I have a very busy birthday planned including a play date for Asher {very birthday-ish, no?}, a visit from my in-laws this afternoon, and I have a routine OB appointment. See, I told you - fabulous.

The more exciting plans come tomorrow - dinner out? Yes, please! Hair cut and color - double yes!!

Asher is currently in love with all things birthday, especially the birthday cake. Or as he calls it, "happy cake". Ha ha - love that. I told Drew there had better be some happy cake later or we'll have one very disappointed boy on our hands.

More birthday news - and photos - to come! :-)

the observation deck

A few days ago our community's lawn service company came by to mow.  Asher couldn't believe his lucky stars when I sent him out on the deck for a closer look.

Mommy!  mower!  mower!

It was all pretty exciting.

I just love seeing him get a thrill out of things like this.  :-)

Although I did get this look when I told him to come in and finish lunch.

I'm pretty sure my sweet little boy was thinking something along the lines of "are you crazy, woman?"  ha!

bugaboo {13 weeks}

What a weekend!  I'm keeping the roads hot around here friends.  Seriously, I can't remember the last time I just stayed home for a weekend and took it easy.  It's all been fun stuff though, so I can't really complain.  This weekend I headed {by myself!} to NYC for my soon to be sister's Bachelorette party!

At first I wasn't sure how much fun it would be to be a pregnant gal at a B party, but it was a blast.  We ended up doing a spa afternoon {ahhhh...} then headed to a cool tapas restaurant for dinner.  Luckily for me baby bug is hungry these days and everything tasted amazing! 

Drew and Asher had a lot of fun while I was gone, of course.  I received quite a few pictures of boys getting dirty outside, then getting sticky from jelly donuts.  A good weekend was had by all.  :-)

Meanwhile, bugaboo keeps growing!  We reached 13 weeks together yesterday.  Since I had traveled all morning, then cleaned up all of the boys' fun remnants when I got home there are no belly pics.  Sorry.  Instead, here's another cutie photo of baby bug from our NT scan last week.  How adorable is my little bitty thumb sucker?!

{I labeled the baby parts, in case it's hard to tell what's what :-)}

I can't remember if I mentioned this last week, but our ultrasound technician commented right away on how big the baby is.  She thinks bugaboo is about a week ahead of my due date schedule growth-wise, which would put us closer to 14 weeks now.  No due date change, but watch for a Halloween baby come fall!

For now, we have a peach.  All of these baby fruit comparisons are making me very excited for summer and fresh produce - can you tell I'm hungry these days?  ha!

How far along: 13 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: down 3 pounds

Maternity clothes: none yet - although I did unbutton my pants after that awesome tapas dinner!

Stretch marks: no - hoping genetics serve me well again this pregnancy

Belly button: innie all the way

Sleep: up for a bathroom break 1-2x a night

Baby movement: I honestly think I've felt some flutters, but I'm sure it's too early and just my hopeful imagination  :-)

Gender: still a secret within

Food cravings: strangely enough, nothing specific

Food aversions: again - strange, but none.

What I miss:  having my normal energy

Looking forward to: being in the last week of my 1st trimester!

Best moment this week: seeing baby bug at the NT scan

Milestones: baby has vocal cords and fingerprints!

{phone dump friday}

We had an exciting day yesterday - I had my NT scan and got another peek at baby bug!

Not only did we get to see bugaboo, but {more importantly} we were told that all physical markers they expect to see at 12 weeks were present, so our chance of bug having a chromosomal disorder are relatively small. Of course, there's always a chance, but we're going to focus on the positive and be hopeful that everything's fine. :-)

Asher and I have kept pretty busy all week, actually. Last weekend when he was visiting his Grandma and Grandpa he discovered a new love for watermelon. Of course we had to pick some up at the store this week. Yum!

Last weekend he also was given a new best friend - dinosaur.  Loves him

This week was one of those great mixes between rainy afternoons and sunny ones. I don't know about you, but I hate staying inside to do chores when the weather is great, so I welcome the occasional rainy day to get stuff done. We manage to have fun outside, regardless of the forecast.

I'm leaving Ash and Drew to their own devices tomorrow when I head to NYC for Ali's bachelorette party. Can't wait to see what new tricks Asher learns while I'm gone! ha!

Happy weekend, friends!

when daddy's in charge

While I was at the shower last Saturday Drew was spending the day with Asher. I think it's so important for Drew and Ash to have days like this where I'm completely out of the picture and they can have their own fun. It's not totally clear what they do when I'm not around, but I got a pretty good idea when I saw this happen later that day.

 

ha ha!

Asher will now only eat grapes that are fed to him by T-Rex.

Well done, Daddy. Well done.

 

he has a smart brain

My parents like to tease me because as a little girl I would tell people that I had a "smart brain". I happen to think that's an awesome thing for a little one to brag about. :-)

Turns out the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because Asher has a smart brain too. Seriously people, this boy has been amazing me lately with the stuff he's saying and the ideas he puts together. Most of the time he'll repeat a concept I taught him, but once in awhile {and recently even more often!} he'll come out with a completely original thought.

When we were visiting my parents in NC last week we'd drive past a lot of farms and Asher always wanted to see and point out the neigh-neighs {horses} that would graze in fields beside the road. Just yesterday we were driving through Fairfax and he started saying "neigh-neigh, neigh-neigh". I tried explaining that we were in the city and there weren't any horses around, but he wasn't having any of it.

Once we stopped at a red light I looked at him and saw that he was gesturing out the window. I followed his pointing and saw this...

"mommy, rock neigh-neigh!"

I was shocked. The apartment complex had this horse head sculpture out in front of their building. Asher not only saw it from within our car, but also recognized that it was a horse made from rock.

See, I told you - smart brain. :-)

wordless wednesday - it's a bird

See him? :-)

 

showered

I mentioned yesterday that I spent the weekend celebrating my soon-to-be sister, Ali at her bridal shower.

Isn't she so cute?

Seriously, almost too cute. She's one of those girls who can pull off any and all trends effortlessly. Think I'm exaggerating? Ponder this one. Rather than the traditional hat made out of bows from the gifts, we decided to make Ali a belt and she. rocked. it.

 

Honestly, who can make a crazy bow belt look enviable? ha!

We had a wonderful afternoon of eating, drinking, gifts, games, and chatting. I love bridal showers. :-)

A couple of the other bridesmaids {there are 6 of us and we all live in different towns} are super crafty and put together these gorgeous centerpieces and 'thank you' favors. Ali is all about natural things and these fit her personality perfectly.

This coming weekend I get to see everyone again by heading to NYC for a girls' day Bachelorette Party - can't wait! Busy, busy!