happy birthday justin!!!

i've known justin for over 10 years, and i have always loved him. we've been married for nearly four years now, and they have truly been the best years of my life!

times like this i wish i were great at using words and saying just the right thing.

justin is perfect for me! i am so lucky. he stops my heart and makes me laugh. we agree on the important things and he values my thoughts. we are a team. i am so proud of him and how hard he works and learns. he has amazed me with some of the personal sacrifices that he has made in the last four years to make me happy or more comfortable.








justin is a great dad! i cherish the moments i get to just watch my boys. i love how honored he feels about his role as a father.

i love his dreams and his goals!










i think that justin is the best looking guy i have ever seen. i love his eyes, and eye brows, and his cheeks, and his hair, and his shoulders and his hands and his smile and his everything! he's my kind of rain.

justin is so good. i am so happy that i get to share my life with him forever. he's my buddy, he's my pal. he'll probably never know how much the little things, and the big things, and the in between things mean to me!










i deeply, deeply love him and am so thankful that i get to be his one.

happy birthday friend.

two little teeth...

this is not a happy face, but at least you can see his two sweet (and sharp) little teeth.

happy asher...

asher loves to see himself in the mirror.

have you ever felt like this?

face pictures update...

well, i put all the month birthday face pictures into the frame. there are seven months so far. more then half a year! i had been putting this off for a while now because i was telling myself that if i didn't see them all together then he wasn't really getting that old, and that his first year isn't on the downward slope. but, denial is useless...so here we are. i have loved the last seven and a half months and try so hard to live each day with asher fully present in the now. not wishing for the future or longing for the past. he is such a wonderful gift and i am thankful (whether i'm tired or fully rested) for every moment that i get to spend with him!!

i just liked these pictures...

aunt olivia was the first person that asher gave "kisses" to, and she is still the only one that he will always kiss when she asks.

our happy holiday dance...

here is a little holiday dance from our family to yours!
man, this cracks me up. thanks gretchen for putting it together. happy holidays everyone!

passing the time...

asher and i were taking pictures of ourselves with the camera on the computer today (the things you do when you spend all day with a 7 month old...). it was really funny because he loved seeing himself and would smile really big, but it takes 3 seconds for the camera to take the picture, so by the time it would snap the shot his smile was gone. oh, well...i'm sure we'll try it again another day.

funny noises...

asher was making funny noises while he was eating today. you have to listen close to hear it, but it sure was making me laugh!

oh, boy...

asher has figured out how to unlock our entertainment center. i caught him in the act! i need to not only baby proof our apartment, but asher proof it. and his morning just isn't complete unless he pulls my dish towel of the rack, and most days, all of the towels out of the drawer. what a sweet little trouble maker.

update...

well, the sock saga was a success! asher has been wearing his sock/mitten pajamas for a week or so now (more frequent laundry for me...) and his little fingers are SO MUCH BETTER!! other than the first night with a few extra wake ups (...he just made some noise and went back to sleep) it hasn't even been a bump in our road. he still sucks them during the day, but not nearly as much and this just gives them so much time to heal at night. eventually i think we'll be able to leave the socks where they belong!

on another note, asher now weighs 15 lbs 8 oz. the doctor was concerned because he didn't gain any weight between his 4 month and 6 month visits, so the goal was to get him to gain some and he did! almost 2 lbs. i'm sure it is because we finally found some formula that he likes.

i am just so thankful for asher and that he is healthy, happy and strong!

cool trick...

look, dad...no hands!

splish, splash...

asher is all about splashing in the tub these days. even in the bath he is always moving! it looks like a lot, but in this video he is only splashing at about half his normal craziness. what a funny boy. sometimes he even stands up to let us know when he's ready to get out.

i took his comfort...

oh, my heart is aching! i feel like such a mean mommy. asher's comfort is to suck on two of his fingers, but he does this so much that it has caused them to become terribly chapped and it's starting to cause problems with his little fingernails too. i've worried about this since the beginning and tried to give him other forms of comfort instead. we've tried the traditional pacifier and finally found one that he tolerates, but spits out as soon as i put him in his bed. we always have his special blanket that he likes to rub on his face, and recently i found a puppy dog
that feels a lot like his special blanket and he really likes that too.

in the last few days his fingers have become so chapped, swollen and red that i felt like i really needed to do something before they split open and became infected. so, after a few failed attempts to gently coax him away from this habit i finally went to my cousins house and we sewed some socks on the ends of his pajama sleeves.

i tried so hard to make it all okay. i even picked the socks that feel like his special blanket and puppy dog so that he can still rub his face. i put vaseline on his fingers and got him ready for bed in his new mean-mommy-altered pajamas. he was doing great and we enjoyed some singing/snuggle time. then, i put him in his bed, said goodnight, and told him how much i love him (this is when he usually puts his fingers in his mouth...) he cried, he screamed, he shrieked. it only lasted for 8 minutes, but to me it felt like 8 hours.

now, he is sleeping. we'll have to see how the rest of the night goes... (i have a feeling it won't be good), but right now i'm feeling thankful that babies don't remember everything. sigh.

fun evening...

we babysat for some of our friends tonight. asher was happy to have some kids to play with.














really happy.













really really happy. he was a little too excited for the baby's taste, but what can i say asher is just a happy, friendly kid. we had fun.

daddies and doggies...

today was a good day.

a few new things...

asher got a few new things today. the craziest being a TOOTH!!! wow, my little boy has an itsy bitsy little tooth popping through. time sure flies!! i can't believe how it wasn't there yesterday, but then i felt it this afternoon. great job asher man!! way to grow a tooth! he also got this awesome outfit from his great aunt becky. so nice! thanks aunt becky. and last, but not least he got a new friend. i think he is too cute and asher really likes him too. he played with him until bedtime.


new friends...
piggy back...
cute little guys...
two tiny tushes...
getting sleepy in their fort...
checking out his new pal...
does every kid like the remote control?
mister dog...
asher loves to stand up now...
aren't we adorable...

little fingers update...

thanks everyone for the helpful hints. i love having friends with experience!! i'm not sure if this picture shows how chapped and red they really are (click on the picture to make it bigger). poor little guy! so, last night...the socks didn't stand a chance. i guess i'll just keep trying.

best buddies...

i love to watch these two hang out when justin gets home from school. usually this involves little bodies being tossed high in the air and squeals of joy while i hold my breath and try not to watch!

p.s. there is a sock on asher's hand because i was trying to get him not to suck on his two fingers. he sucks on them so much that they are terribly chapped and almost bleeding. any ideas? tonight the poor baby went to sleep with one of my socks on each of his arms tucked high up under his pajama sleeves. we'll see how long it takes him to get them off.

wait a minute...

or is he more like sleepy?

resemblance?

justin took this picture - then pointed out the resemblance. what do you think?
could it be the ears?

i LOVE that little face!

least expensive, most valuable...

1 grocery store baby aisle bottle: $1.20

1 giant can of wal-mart brand infant formula: $8.98

having your baby finally take a bottle: priceless.

p.s. does anyone need any type of baby bottle or nipple imaginable and lots of name brand formula? :)

k ..i ..s ..s ..i ..n ..g ...

asher is pretty much a pro now at giving kisses. but, he doesn't just kiss anyone... anytime..., so i always feel so loved when he gives me a little peck.

asher likes to make faces in the mirror and today when i was in the back room and he was playing in the living room i heard kissing sounds. this was what i found him doing. too cute.

happy halloween!

i hope you all have a fun and safe halloween tonight! we took asher out with a few or our neighbors and their kids to trick-or-treat at the outdoor shopping center just down the road. we had a good time and asher got LOTS of compliments on his costume. we dressed him up like squirt from finding nemo (thanks lisa!! it was an awesome idea!) and we got the costume for a great deal. these are just some quick shots to give you an idea. more pictures to come!

Game on...

asher saw justin's football behind the chair today and spent a lot of energy trying to get it out. finally i realized what he was doing and got it for him. he had a good time rolling it all over the living room.


















he sure seemed to like the taste of it... yucky!


















for a while it was like he was wrestling it. he is so funny. in the end i think asher won!




















then daddy came home and they played together for a little bit. sweet little hands.