Thursday, May 29, 2008

Celebrating Asher's 1/2 Birthday!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Asher! Asher has changed a lot in the last month or so. He is now into a good routine. He sleeps from 8 to between 5 or 6 am typically at night. Oh, and you know when he started sleeping through the night? When he learned to roll onto his stomach & sleep like that. Humm... He nurses and then goes back to sleep until 7:30-8am. When he wakes, he has started to play with the toys in his crib (that is always a shocker). He nurses at 5am-8-12-4-and then 7:30-8 pm for the night. He finally started swallowing a couple bites of baby food. He is not a fan of baby cereal, but likes the baby fruits and vegetables okay. I can usually get him to take 3-4 bites before the head turning begins. Addison loves to help feed Asher, too! Physically he is growing and changing too. He had his first hair cut or trim over his ears. He still has a little mohawk, but he has lots of spiky hair all over now where it is growing back. He can now sit well without support and has started to lunge forward a bit more at toys. He also likes to stand at the toy box (with Mommy right there of course) and pick out toys and toss them out (or eat them). His favorite thing is to roll all over. It is difficult to catch Asher without a teether, his hands or even his feet in his mouth! He does not have any teeth yet, but is a big drooler. He has become more vocal, too, chatting to Addison some (and laughing at her a lot). Addison and Asher are really close and already play well together. I do have to watch Addison close, though, because she tends to think Asher should already be ready to play catch ball with her! Nap time is a bit trickier. Asher tends to wake up later in the morning, sometimes around 8. He rarely seems to be ready for a nap at 10. By 11, he is usually getting tired, but it is almost lunchtime. So, I keep him awake for lunchtime, then he naps most of the afternoon (on good days). I need to work on the morning nap situation better because he gets so tired in the morning. He goes to sleep better in the afternoon, too, if he has had his morning nap. Bad Mommy!

At his 6 month check up Asher was growing well. He was 26 inches long (41%), 15lb 5 oz (17%). His head is a little small varying from no to little growth (from negative on the charts to just on the growth chart). I was a little concerned at first, but Asher is developing fine. My pediatrician's wife is a pediatric neurologist, and she said just to watch him and she was sure he would come around. Chris reminded me not to go Mommy about it! Asher did not mind the exam at all, smiling at the pediatrician. However, I think he could do without all the shots (and Addison did not like those either!).

Today, after getting his 6 month pictures taken this morning (along with Alivia's 4 year pictures) we celebrated with a 1/2 birthday cake that the girls & I made (we found yet another reason to eat more cake!). I even let him try a little frosting! He ate it despite not being able to taste it probably because of his cold. 

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Asher!

 

Happy 1/2 Birthday Asher Wade!Asher's 1/2 birthday!Asher showing his new stanceAsher @ his 6 month check-up.1st car?

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Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day 2008

Rainy marchDaddy teaching Addison about motorcyclesGreat Aunt Norma & AsherHappy Baby AsherThe kiddos & Daddy

Memorial Day in Iowa. My mom hosted the Graybill Annual picnic following services in Shelby. Good food, & let's just say conversation that none of us will ever forget.

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Sunday, May 25, 2008

Happy Birthday, Alivia!

 

 

Alivia on her new bikeLet's open presents!Happy Birthday Dear Alivia!SwingingThe Austin babies...

May 25th is the date,

That Alivia wants you to help to celebrate.

For she will be turning 4!

So please join us for cake, icecream & more!

Today is Alivia's 4th birthday! It is so hard to believe that our baby girl is 4 years old already. Seems like yesterday that she surprised us with her arrival 4 weeks early.  Today she wakes up and gets dressed by herself. She likes to pick out her clothes, liking to wear pink on most days. She likes to have her cheerios in the morning, sometimes helping to pour the milk. We love it when she tells us many times a day that she loves us, telling us extra when we are doing something special or eating a special snack. Her favorite foods are totinos pizza (yuck!), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and desserts. Seriously, other than those listed items, we can hardly get her to eat! She is a lot like her Mommy & Daddy as far as being a picky eater goes.

Alivia is a great big sister, usually playing nice with Addison & Asher. She is very helpful with both of them, too. Alivia had to grow up fast, having been a big sister 2 times in her first 3 years. Alivia likes to ride her bike and is working on doing so without the training wheels (she got a new bike for her 4th birthday, too!). Her only problem is that she is too short to touch the ground (kinda difficult to learn to ride a bike that way). She also likes riding her scooter and our many other outdoor toys (she got a new razor scooter for her birthday that she really likes, too!). Inside she likes to color, work on writing her name and numbers in her workbooks, and play with her "babies" with Addison. She also likes any Disney movie, but really likes the princess movies. That is why her theme for her 4th birthday was the Disney Princesses. She picked out her cake herself. 

Today we celebrated with our family. Alivia was so excited she got up at 5 am! She had a good day...ended with a rainbow. Happy Birthday Alivia!

 

Alivia 4 years old4 year pictureJust Beachy

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Friday, May 23, 2008

Alivia's Birthday weekend begins...

 

In the Kingdom of the night...Mommy MonkeyThe new butterfly exhibitMore in the butterfly exhibitWatching the penquins

That's right, our baby girl Alivia will be having her 4th birthday on this Sunday! We typically celebrate her day by going to the zoo. But, this year we are having her party on her birthday. So, today we went to the zoo, rain and all. We stayed for the morning & ended the trip at Zesto's just before Asher was ready for a nap. Alivia & Addison both liked the new butterfly exhibit best, despite having to wait nearly 50 minutes to see it (again, in the on & off rain). It was fun & a work out all in one. Alivia is so excited for her birthday!

 

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Alivia's Last Day...

Alivia had her last day of her first year of preschool today. We can hardly believe she has already completed one year and is about to turn 4 years old (on Sunday!). Stay tuned to see her art album. I read about this idea in February, so I got a late start. I took digital pictures of her artwork to put on DVD. Much better than keeping all art work.

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbNmblo3bslq

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Day in the life

Oh, what a day! Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast with the kids, slowly! Take a long, slow walk looking for flowers and more baby Robins (and checking in on the ones on our normal walk). Then, watching Asher sleep while the girls and I play in the backyard. Eat lunch with the girls, feed Asher, then go on a flower hunt - to a store - so we can have flowers out front of our house too! We found flowers that were $80 at Mulhalls for $30 at Home Depot with my coupon (um, will not be going to Mulhalls for a while). Now, the girls are resting while Asher rolls all over the floor before his nap. I just love my life!!

NightnightSleeping boy AsherNew tree flowers for our entryway pot...I love them!

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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Missing Piper...

2 days past without a word about the cat from Alivia. Addison woke up every day asking for Piper and making the kissing noise to get her to come to her. Alivia changed the subject every day, so I thought Alivia was just trying to help. Then, Alivia started saying she was sad because she missed Piper. Yesterday, she was in tears because she wanted me to go and get her. Ah, it is so sad. I miss Piper too, but I most certainly do not miss the additional maintenance involved. We will see what happens here. I am looking into how Piper is doing and seeing if the new person wants to keep her. I wish we could have found Piper a home of someone we knew so we could go and visit.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Spring has sprung!

Asher loves stroller rides now!Family walk timeBaby robinsMommy robin

Just another family walk...but wait, what is that? The girls loved seeing the baby robins up close. The Mommy robin just left long enough for them to take a peek, then flew back so we could see her. You have to just love spring!

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

So long furry friend

Last night we said good-bye to our cat, Piper. She is such a nice kitty and the girls adored her, so it was VERY difficult to part with her. Chris and I agonized over the decision. However, when we found a good home for her with a single girl who just loved cats, we decided to give it a try. We have talked to Alivia in the recent past about finding a new home for Piper, but we did not have the official good-byes last night. Chris and I just thought it would be too difficult. So far, the girls have yet to say anything about Piper. I miss her! I do not miss her mess, but I miss her. Her mess included the litter that I found everywhere including Asher's crib, some messes because she would eat too fast after finally getting fed because I forgot to feed her, and messes because I tried new liter that would not track as much and she did not like it or if the usually litter was not perfectly clean. Seriously, I could not keep up with her. We are going to give this a try knowing that we can always get her back.

So, so long our furry friend. We miss you already!

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Monday, May 12, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Mother's Day 2008
Grandma Bet with Addison & Taggies
Grandmas Vera & Marci with Alivia & Polly pockets

Mother's Day is a day of honoring all us mommy's, right? So, we invited my "Mommy," & my Grandmas to dinner yesterday. Chris' "Mommy" was supposed to work, but ended up being home after all. So, he and the girls ran over to their home in the morning to give her well wishes and kisses. Ya know, what EVERY Mommy deserves. I am a Mommy myself, & I will be happy with a card, hug, kiss, thank-you, phone call, or the like come Mother's Day. So, if you forgot to do any of this for your "Mommy," do it late. Okay, off my soap box.

After a nice dinner, Grandma Vera did not feel well, (I guess I am a bad cook) so our guests went home. We ended the day with family time outside. Chris & the kids gave me a giftcard to one of my fav clothing stores and some new sketcher flip flops that I can wear on my many trips to the park. Chris also reminded me (not like I needed to be reminded) that this Mother's Day I have the best gift of all...to be home with my kids!! THANK-YOU Topher for that too!

As Chris and I sat down for our 20 minutes with the kids asleep before going to bed, I heard a child stirring upstairs. Oh, Addison had a BAD case of the stomach flu. Lucky for her, it lasted only through 1 AM. Today, although tired, she is back to her normal little self. Poor thing. But, as I was cuddling her and holding her hair away from her face last night, I realized this is what being a Mommy is all about. And, I am so lucky that I get to experience it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is just 1 day,

But this Magnolia will bloom each and every May.

With each bloom know that Chris, Krista, Alivia, Addison & Asher too,

Love you not just on Mother's Day but the whole year through!

(Poem we gave the Grandmas with their Magnolia trees). 

 

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Motherhood Isn't Always Pretty

"89% of Mom's admit they've let themselves go" & I am one of them...

 

The Mommy look: BeforeMommy Before: Um, yuck!Mommy Before

...but I am working on getting myself back.

 

Locks of loveAfterAfterAfter

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Cinco de Mayo

Picnic at the parkDaddy & AsherLooking at the water up closeDaddy & Addison

We inadvertently celebrated May 5th at the park tonight & took a walk (that turned out to be longer than we thought) around the lake. The girls had fun. Asher slept a bit and checked out all the dogs. Addison loved the dogs, too, saying, "woof woof" as each one passed! Oh, I love spring!

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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Happy May Day!

Alivia helping with May Day treatsDSC04086Happy May Day!Addison with her basketMay basket lunch

Oh, remember as kids when we got surprised by May Baskets at the door? Well, as with any holiday, we had to make sure this holiday was special for our kids too. First, yesterday, Alivia helped me make the May Baskets for her friends and classmates with flower cookies and flower rice krispy treats. Today, she excitedly passed them out at school and at friends' houses (excluding one). Then, we came home to a May Basket lunch...yummy (yes, looks a lot like an Easter Basket, I know). Since Asher woke everyone up kinda early this morning (5:30 is too early for the rest of us to get up because we do not take 5 hour naps like he is taking today), the girls ate lunch and wanted to go to sleep. So, after "quiet" time, we are going out to buy some flowers. Alivia loves flowers and could not figure out why we did not have any. We will be on a real May flower hunt!

Happy May Day!

 

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