Asher's First Giggle

Asher let out a little squeak the other day that I thought might have been a laugh, but today there was no denying it! My little boy giggled!! We were sitting outside in the shade of a big tree at our new apartment in Salt Lake and I just wanted to make him smile so I tickled him... (he smiles all the time - he is so happy!) but I got more then a smile, I got some giggles. I grabbed the camera to record it for Justin and caught just a little bit of our fun. I even thought it was fitting that I decided to put him in his "Giggle Saurus" onesie today.

This is music to my ears. I'm so happy this is just the beginning of the giggles. I hope Asher is always laughing! Enjoy!

I'm so lucky, she's my sister!

I love it when I pick up my phone and see "Hannah Crossett" on the caller ID, and get so excited when I drive up to my parents house and see her car parked in the driveway. You just can't ask for a better sister or friend than Hannah!

I joke that I am lucky that she still likes me after the things I used to do to her when we were younger (I did like to "trick" her and I was always playing with her toys...but, really nothing too mean...) Hopefully I have made up for it by now. I really am so lucky that she is my friend!

It's a funny thing with sisters, as we got older I always thought that she was the coolest and I wanted to be more like her. I remember talking to her once and she said that she always felt the same way towards me. Hannah is soooo fun to be around! Sometimes I'm sad that I missed some fun times in her life while I was away at college, but I am so glad that we will be friends and sisters forever. Hannah is so thoughtful and kind, she is good and always tries to do the right thing, she is smart, spiritual, and talented...she is Hannah!

I think there are a few people who would agree with me that we have some PRICELESS memories from our childhood because of this girl. Oh, I love her and I can't tell you how thankful I am to have her in my family. All I can say is... I'm so lucky, she's my sister!

Some thoughts from the husband and father...

Hi all, this is Justin. I just wanted to post this picture of my wonderful wife and beautiful little boy. This is a rare picture; for some reason we have more pictures of Asher and Dad than Asher and Mom.

I just want my little family to know how grateful I am for them. I occasionally had to remind myself that this Father's Day was different than any other Father's Day in my life to date, because now I am a father. This little boy will look up to me the same way I looked up to and learned from my father. Was my father perfect? No, and he'd probably be the first to admit that. But he did his best, and I love him and am grateful for his efforts and examples. I'm grateful he's taught me how to be a dad, and what it means to support and love your children. I would like to be the perfect dad, but since that's not possible I'm definitely going to do my best. During my Mother's Day talk, I played on a comment by the youth speaker and joked that when you have to get up in the middle of the night to help change a diaper that your love can be somewhat conditional. I take it back; my love has never been and never will be conditional. I love my little Asher boy so much, and I hope my words and actions always show him that. It's also amazing to me how much he's done for our relationship as a married couple. Life has definitely changed, but I couldn't think of a better way for it to.

Abby, I know I'm busy and hopefully I'm doing my fair share to help when I can. Thank you for your support and confidence. I know you know this, but it's because of the two (and however many may come down the road) of you that I'm doing what I'm doing. Am I excited about my future career? Absolutely; I love PT school and the privilege I will have at the end of 3 years to be a professional, a doctor of physical therapy. I'm also excited that we have and will have the opportunity to talk about and work together in this field. I guess I'm lucky, blessed really. I am going into a profession I love, and I have a family that I love even more. I'm grateful for the blessings and opportunities which have been and will be presented to me to take care of and ultimate be with my family. Thanks for sticking with me, encouraging me, and loving me. I really do have the greatest family in the world.

I wish I could take his pain away...

Asher had his 2 month shots today. He also has a little cold that he caught from his daddy. He really did have a rough day, but he was still such a good little boy. This picture was taken right after I finished giving him a bath. I massaged him with baby lotion and got him dressed and we sat down with the boppy pillow in the big red chair - and then he gave me those eyes. They seemed to say "Momma, I'm sick. I need you. I wanna snuggle."

I loved every minute of it!

Man, I love that face!

I never thought that I could love a face this much. This is Asher Mckay Carrier when he was one day old, one month old and two months old.

Happy 2 months little man. I am honored to be your momma.

My blissful evening

Wow, tonight was wonderful. Justin, Asher and I all enjoyed Family Home Evening in the park. Asher slept the whole time in the Lucky Baby sling (Asher and I love it), all the while grunting and snoring which kept making us laugh while we were trying to talk about the lesson. We read the conference talk by Bonnie D. Parkin entitled Gratitude: A Path to Happiness.

We sure love to talk about Asher and focus on him all the time, and who wouldn't - have you seen the kid?... but it was nice to talk just to my husband about things that are important to us.

Well, here's the thing...we have not been great at having Family Home Evening over the past 3 and a half years. It was always hard to make it official FHE time since we spent so much time together anyway. But, we know that the way to make it stick is to get into the habit now so that when we are busier with a bigger family we will already have it down. So, no point in being discouraged by our terrible track record. We'll just pick up from here and move forward.
It was also fun to be watching Super Nanny earlier this evening and see Jo talk to the family about having one night a week where they spend time together enjoying positive activities and building each other up.

No matter what you call it I think this could be the key to a strong and happy family.