Trouble....He's in Trouble

So I went to pick Asher up from Daycare today, and as I was walking in Miss Allison was telling me how Asher was in big trouble. I was nervous, thinking 'Oh no, what did he do? Is he hitting kids already? Did he pee during a diaper change? What happened?' Then she said 'He has pulled himself up 3 times today! He is not supposed to be doing that'.

I felt much better. Then got a little nervous.

This past weekend my sister and her 3 kids stayed with us. It was tons of fun, but definitely an eye opener as to how un-ready our house is for a fully mobile kid. For some reason it just seems like something so far off into the distance I shouldn't have to worry about. Almost like it won't really happen. Maybe we'll be the lucky ones and Asher will learn to walk and not want to play with anything except his toys.....one can dream right?

(This post should also be titled '7 Months' as Asher turned 7 months old yesterday)

Grandma...

This past weekend has been bittersweet. My Grandmother passed away on Thursday, so the weekend was full of tears and hugs. But it was sweet in that those hugs were with many family members I haven't seen in quite a while. My Grandma had 14 kids, which gives us 86 first cousins on just that side of the family. In addition, there are 144 Great Grandkids.

I remember all growing up we had these huge family reunions in Sun Valley, ID and later Oceanside, CA where all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins would gather. We were quite the brood when we all got together, usually taking over entire condominium complexes. But some of my favorite memories were getting together with cousins (there were usual at least 5-10 in each age group) and running around, playing cards, capture the flag, running through golf courses at night, etc. But it makes me want a huge family so I can give my kids that same experience.

Listening to the stories shared over the past few days has been wonderful. My Grandma definitely touched not only my life, but obviously hundreds of others. She was an amazing lady and she will be greatly missed. After I had Asher I would ask her little motherly advice questions and she always had great answers. I'm sad I won't get to continue to ask her questions as Asher gets older, but I am appreciative for all the moments I was able to share with her.

Love you Grandma.

Happy Halloween!

So for Halloween Afternoon, Asher got all dressed up and went with his friend Ethan to Wheeler Farm.... I don't think he's ever seen animals before, and I'm not sure he really understood what they were, but he seemed mesmerized.

We stopped and looked at the cows. I tried to get a picture of him with the cows, but since he was in the stroller, it was an odd angle. I'll keep practicing.

Ethans dad is a big biker, they were at Wheeler Farm watching him race. So Ethan's costume was a biking suit. And yes, his dad did win his race.
I'm not sure how much Asher enjoyed being strapped into a stroller with his big puffy spider suit on...but it was definitely warm for a fall day.

Now we're ready to hand out candy!!

Baby Yoga

So today in between dinner and bath time, Asher decided to practice some yoga. He's getting really good at downward dog.
In his attempts at crawling, he is in this position for a few minutes before he realizes he's not going anywhere. Mike and I watch him and yell 'Knees, Knees!' but he doesn't quite get it yet. Maybe he likes his knees and doesn't want to bang them up on the floor. Who knows....but it is entertaining :) and we're still enjoying his immobility....but I know that any day now that will be stripped away.

Halloween

Today was Asher's halloween party at school (aka daycare). He is the only baby, but we like to participate in things...so we got him all dressed up, made enough popcorn for everyone and off we went.

When we walked in the other kids were enamored (they usually are, i don't think it was just the costume). 'Baby Asher!! Baby Asher!!' (reminder, he is the only baby) The girl in the fairy costume above fixed his hat probably 16 times during the 5 minutes I was there. Pretty funny!

I am glad that Asher gets the semblance of older siblings without really having any...one benefit of 'school' :)

6 months

So Asher is officially six months, as of Saturday. The most major milestone is he is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. After a few rocks he makes the leap forward and lands on his face...all in an effort to crawl.

We're taking bets as to when that will be. I'm hoping he will just learn how to get himself into a sitting position. I'm fine if he waits a few more months before becoming mobile. Sadly, I don't think these decisions are up to me.

He is good a pushing himself backwards...right now he often gets himself stuck halfway under the coffee table.

Other major milestones...hmm. No teeth yet, but I'm pretty sure he is in the process. He chews on everything. His fingers, hands, toys, paper, whatever he can find. He even try's to chew on my elbow when I change him....

We're feeding him solids, though he still doesn't open his mouth for them consistently. Every once in a while he will...but not often. Soon enough he'll pick it up I'm sure.

He love love loves bathtime. He could play in the bath forever. He loves Griffin the dog. He's mesmerized by him. Asher will be playing and Griffin will walk into the room, Asher stops everything and just stares at him for a good 3 or 4 minutes. It's quite funny. But I've found if we need him to look at a camera, you just have to get Griffin to stand by the camera.

He is a great baby. We are really lucky to have such an easy going guy. He rides in the car with me to work each day, 30 minutes each way. And rarely does he make a sound. He goes right to sleep when I put him in his crib. He mostly sleeps through the night, 7:30pm to 6:30am. (he sometimes wakes up for a minute or two but goes back to sleep immediately). In the morning's, he'll lay in our bed with Mike and quietly play while I get ready for work. He's very self entertained with a few toys on the floor. He loves to cuddle and gives great hugs already. (not sure if he's just trying to grab something, but it sure feels like a hug).

We're really lucky to have him in our lives...couldn't have asked for a better boy!

Ain't no Mountain High Enough...

The other night while Asher was taking a bath, he accomplished his first pull up trying to climb out of the sink. Pretty Crazy. (ignore the commentary in the background)

My Boys....

My Birthday

My birthday first started out with Mike playing with Asher all morning so I could sleep in. (Best Present EVER!)

Then it continued with a 'Picnic in the Park', well up the Canyon really. We stopped at the store to pick up some picnic lunch items, and decided on sushi. We drove up the beautiful canyon enjoying the fall colors and ended at the top of Brighton. We saw a trail into the wilderness and a picnic table, so we headed in.

As Mike was pulling the picnic items out of the bag he placed a beautiful blue Tiffany box in front of me.

I was enamored with the box alone. Mike's never bought me anything from our good friend Tiffany before. I've been tempted to buy things for myself, but haven't. So this was my first official Tiffany gift.
And I opened it, and it was a beautiful simple silver necklace with an 'L'. He had a very cute, romantic lovely card in it as well. Very very cute, and very very happy :)

Then we continued to eat our sushi while Asher watched wondering why he never eats with us. Afterwards, we packed up everything and headed back down the canyon. On our way we decided to stop and take a few family pics with the beautiful backdrop. The seasons can be so short in Utah some years, you have to take advantage of these perfect days when you get them.

Afterwards, my sister Amy came and picked me up and took me to the mall for a surprise. I wasn't positive what we were doing, but I had an idea. She took me to the makeup counter to get a makeover (i.e. have them teach me how to wear makeup). I thought it was fitting that for my 30th birthday I learn how I'm really supposed to put on eyeliner :) She then bought me way too much makeup so I can accomplish the same looks on my own....

Afterwards, Mike and I left Amy to watch Asher and headed to one of our favorite restaurants for long romantic dinners, The Melting Pot. It's a fondue restaurant if you haven't been to one, and I really enjoy. Mostly just the Cheese Fondue and the Chocolate Fondue, but the actual dinner/meat/broth one was really good this time. I was impressed.

But it is definitely a large amount of food to eat, and a full 4 courses. But it was delish, as Ina would say :)
Afterward, we stopped back at the house to get more comfortable (take off the heels and put on flip flops and a hoodie) and head back out to our movie. What date is complete without a movie. So we went and saw The Proposal with my secret husband Ryan Reynolds. It was a great birthday movie.

Overall, I had a fantastic birthday thanks to my Fantastic Husband :) (and my fantastic sis Amy)