Christmas in pictures...

Here is how our christmas went:

On Christmas eve, Ash and I went to work for half a day. He loves to play there and found a new friend in Ashley (who looks a lot like his favorite 'sta' [christa])


We went to Aunt Barbara's party (oops... no pics).
We went to Grandma Noralyn's and hung out with the cousins.


Asher got new presents... like a music set from Aunt Heather.


On Christmas morning Asher woke up to find a new work bench with tools, which he LOVES.


He also got some new shoes from daddy, which mommy doesn't understand but still thinks are awesome (basketball shoes are kind of weird).


Ash loved having his daddy home and they played with all their toys for a minute.


We got to keep Lisa's new puppy for a night so she was surprised on xmas morning. Asher and he got along so well I thought we might have to just pretend it ran away and keep it for him.


We drove to Rory's (to give them the puppy after all) and then to Grandma Mary and Grandpa Rick's... (oops... again no pictures... send me some dad so I can get them up here.) We opened presents with everyone... then Asher finally learned to share with little miss Ellee by giving her an empty box. (he has a hard time with sharing with her for some reason... she is cute and mellow it makes no sense). Then it was back to Grandma Noralyn's.


At Grandma Noralyn's house Rory gave Ash a HUGE dinosaur... which he was really afraid of...


And then he kind of warmed up to it...


And then he promptly went back to his new best friend the puppy (Beck I think is his final name) who also came to visit.


Asher also fed Marley the kangaroo. He tried to run with the bottle to see if Marley would follow him, and when he didn't Ash got bored and dropped the bottle and left.


We finished the night with our new tradition of hot chocolate, lots and lots of treats and a movie. It was a great Christmas!

New boots...

Asher got a new snow coat and boots so he could go play at Aunt Tiffany's house. I tried them out before I sent him over and he loved the boots! He had to "stomp" the snow. His little cheeks got all red, but he didn't want to go inside. He is such a boy.

One and a half...

I can't stand it. Time is moving to quickly.

Asher is officially one and a big half.


Ash's stats at one and a half:
Height - 33.5 inches - 75th%
Weight - 26 pounds 2 ounces - 60th%
Head - 19 inches - 70th%

Here are things Ash loves right now:






Things he can't live without:
1. binky
2. stuffed rottweiler puppy
3. graham crackers

Favorite things to eat (this list is sad):
1. McDonald's chicken nuggets
2. soup
3. caramel rice cakes
4. m&m's
5. yogart
6. apple Nutri Grain bars


Favorite toys:
1. building blocks
2. cd player (barnyard dance song)
3. any type of ball
4. crayons and giant coloring books


Favorite TV show - The upside down show
Favorite Shirt - black Knuckleheads hoodie with holes for his thumbs (thanks uncle brandon!)
Favorite Book - Spooky Old Tree (thanks grandma Noralyn!)

Loves to:
1. Make people laugh
2. Cook
3. Go places

He is such a sweet boy with a small crazy streak that shows he loves to have fun. He has brought such joy to us and reminds us on a daily basis how great all the little things in life are (like snow... which he loves).

We are so lucky to have such a fun baby (ok... toddler).

The craftmaster...

This is what happens when all the girls get together...

First we eat yummy food. (usually the Mandarin - definitely my favorite)

Then we talk about my latest craft. I don't consider myself crafty. I don't really paint things or scrapbook (in the normal way). But I've still managed to earn the nickname "craftmaster". This time around it was my blurb book that I brought.

We catch up and see what everyone is doing... exchange stories about all the fun things our kids do. About this time we miss our kids so we get out the dolls... here is Heather with her look alike baby:


Yes... I'm kidding. Nicole's little girl Abby wanted us to all "babysit" her dolls. So we each got to hold one


Then sometimes we move to the computer. And we look at all the "friends" (people we knew in high school) Nicole has managed to acquire on Facebook. Then we make fun of them. OK... don't judge. You probably do it to. People put some crazy crap on there.

And we eat "so cupcakes".


No matter what we do we always have fun. I'm lucky to have such good friends.

Baby throw up...

Here's a fun story... (kind of gross for those with weak stomachs)

When Ash was about 4 weeks old he started throwing up after every meal (and he was still eating about every three hours so it was ALL the time). The doctor would say "is it projectile vomit?" And I would tell him how it would spew across the bed and smack the wall of his crib. Yes it was projectile. Not fun.


So I learned quickly how to hold him out while he puked to avoid getting covered in it. One night I took him to Tom's football game and one of his friends' mom (Diane) was holding Ash and he puked all down her front. She was wearing a zipup and tank and the puke went all down her tank. We've always laughed at it (ok... Tom laughed and I giggled slightly and felt mostly embarrassed).

After two weeks of this they finally figured out he needed surgery to fix a muscle in his tummy that was causing it. After that he didn't really puke or spit up anymore... until now.

We had just dropped off Tom's truck at the dealership to get an oil change. They said it would be a little over an hour wait so we had settled into the waiting room (I settled, Ash was running rampant). Ash came over and started wimpering. My mommy psychic powers told me it was his tummy so I picked him up to run to the nearest garbage. He looked at me all sad like "it hurts" then just hurled. All down my front. The front of my deep v-neck shirt with a tank underneath. Into the tank.

So I thought baby puke with curdled milk was gross, but toddler puke with real food is even worse. Puke full of Top Ramen soup noodles. Yes what followed was extremely embarrassing (Tom came to rescue me). Ash immediately felt fine and started running rampant (in the bathroom this time though).

Long story short... karma sucks. We laughed at Diane when she got puke down her shirt. Except Tom laughed WAY more than I did... better watch out!

Cupcakes...

Ash's new favorite thing to do is cook. My pots and pans are all over the house. I bought him fake ones, but it just wasn't the same so he still uses mine.

Because he loves it, I've started baking something he can help with at least once a week. We do everything from muddy buddies (some with no peanut butter for the possibly allergic tiny tim) to cookies and cupcakes. His favorite by far is cupcakes and he prefers spice flavor with no frosting.

This has not been good for my (basically non-existent, but very much needed) DIET... oh well.

Ash helps put all the ingredients in the mixer. Last time I let him hold an egg thinking "he won't be strong enough to break it"... and he immediately broke it. All over himself. I gave a loud gasp and he looked up at me like "should I cry now?" so I started laughing and he decided it must be funny and laughed too.


I put the cupcake pans on the floor (so not hygienic) and let Ash put the little cups in the pans. Then we put the pans up on the stove (I'm not a germaphob but I still try to be a little hygienic) and I fill all the cups.


Here we are sitting on the floor with the cupcake pans... YES... by the catfood (gross) and on the crazy rug (my landlord's choice to cover up the fact that we badly need new carpet).


For the next week Ash runs into the kitchen and yells COOP CAKE. Sometimes he's happy with a little one... other times he really needs a big one. He's a riot.

New hair do...

The fauxhawk is out... flips are in.

I got tired of going to the hair place every few weeks to maintain the fauxhawk hair do. Ash's hair grows so fast that it had to be done often to keep it standing. It is his signature hair do that he had since the day he was born... and I'm sure we'll eventually go back to it. But for now... we've started letting it grow out.


It's got a little natural curl to it. Tom's baby pics had the same curl. Its finally gotten long enough that the little sides flip out. It's pretty freaking cute.

The Latest...

Too much to put in the list. These are all the things Ash is doing now:

Can point to many of his body parts (nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, tongue, belly, bellybutton, hands, feet, and even boobs [a male fascination I guess... he is very curious about them])

Knows many animal sounds:
Dog - woo-woo-woo-woo
Cat - meow
Cow - moo
Duck - WACK (says very loud)
Dinosaur - roar-roar-roar
Lion - also roar-roar-roar
Bunny Rabbit - sniffs his nose

He can also use sign language for more and please.

He can:
take a bow
stand on his tip toes
give high five
get a bowl for snacks

He understands probably about 90% of what I say. He will run to get pretty much any item I ask for. I think we are probably naive parents, but we think he is pretty stinking smart.

Smarty pants

Stuff...

My book came! I was so excited to get it. I'd check daily to make sure fedex was on track for delivery. I love it. I had kept a few random things... pieces from cards, hospital bracelets, etc... which were promptly glued in on the appropriate pages. Unfortunately I used those little sticky dot things and they got EVERYWHERE. I thought Ash would eventually sticky up the pages, but it was me... right from the start. Oh well. I still love it.

We went to Tom's basketball game today. Tom was bent over sitting on his heels watching the game and Ash ran over and just leaned against him. Then yelled a few things at the players. They are just so cute together.

Ash also figured out the water fountain. We were playing in the hall and one of the other guys' little girl needed a drink. So I lifted her up and she got one. Well... since I was doing something with another little one, my little one had rapt attention and was following our every move. Thus he figured out the water fountain. He got about 20 drinks from it before we left. Too funny.

Spook a boo...

This is Asher's picture at the Spook a Boo (spook alley) for babies at Lagoon. They needed pictures of little kids and since my dad works there he gave them pics of all the kids (and Danner... their dog). Ash and I made a trip down there on Halloween to visit grandpa and got to see all the pics.

Costume drama...

We got a cute little gorilla costume for Ash. Unfortunately this is what happened whenever we put it on...


He would just stand there and cry. He hated it! I even tried to bribe him with m&m's and that didn't work. So at the last minute Brandon and I found him another costume. We got these fake tattoo sleeves and put them on under a little rocker t-shirt he had. We spiked his hair up and made him into a little rocker guy. It actually turned out pretty cute.


We took him to Tom's mom's nursing home on Thursday night. He walked around with his little bag. He would stop for some people, but most people he would just walk on by. He got it a little, but he thought the fun was just hanging out with everyone. His uncle Rory was even nice enough to let him switch suckers (they were already sucking... gross).


and one of Rory (or should I say Hannah Montana!)

Still going to the park...

So we still go the park every friday morning. I push Ash in the jogging stroller. He loves it. He'll go stand by the stroller and wait for me until its time to go. There are a few kids who also go every friday the same time we do. They are all girls and they are 2-4 years old (Emily, Brynn, and Elizabeth). They love to come say hi to Ash, but as soon as they figure out he won't really follow them around then they are out.

We have a few games that we play and the girls usually come over for them. There is a little counter and we pretend it's a restaurant counter. I stand on one side and put handfuls of the little wood chips on it. Then I say "here is your hamburger..." or chicken nuggets, fries, milkshake, etc. Then all the kids push the wood chips off like they ate them. Yes... it is really dumb but all the kids come running as soon as we start doing it.

Ash also really likes to hand me things through the holes in the tunnels and then I hand them back.


We always have fun. It's starting to get cold and we won't be able to go much longer. I am going to miss it! There is a little kid gym pretty close I think we are going to have to try.

Blurb book number one...

So my blurb book is uploading right now! Thank you Natalie for telling me about them! As soon as I get it back I'll let you know how it turned out.

Pumpkin carving contest...

Tom decided he wanted to carve pumpkins with Ash this year. He went to the store and came back with four pumpkins. One for him, me, Ash... and Maisy! How freaking cute is that? He also got a white one for the baby and paints so he could paint it.

We put newspaper down in the living room, stripped Ash down, and started carving. Asher didn't even mind the guts. He would put his hands right inside the pumpkin. He is so thoughtful. He sits and watches Tom then tries to do whatever he saw him doing.

Asher understands what things are related to Halloween and he calls them BOOs. All the pumpkins, ghosts and scary things get called BOO.

We ended up with a wolfman (Tom's), a scary face (mine), a BOO (Asher's), and a cat face (Maisy's). I'll have to get a picture of the pumpkins and post them later.

Favorite game to play...

Ash's current favorite thing to do is play on the bed. He LOVES it. I'm not sure how or why this became his favorite thing to do. We'll be sitting down stairs and the next thing I know he's headed for the stairs. We climb all the way up and he goes straight for the bed.

He jumps around. Fights with his dad. Lays on the pillows. It is hilarious.



He also loves to play with phones now. He can open it up and then he pretends to talk on it.

I wanna be like daddy...

Tom plays flag football with his friends and me and Ash always go watch. Asher loves it and usually sits with me on the sidelines and yells GO DAD! He will pump his arms and clap and cheer. It is hilarious to watch (so I usually miss a lot of the game!). The last few times he puts some of the little flags around his waist so he looks like daddy. Then he will just start walking out on the field like it is time for him to go in. So much fun... win or lose we love to go. [Tom is the one in orange shorts behind Ash.]

Me and my buddy...

Here we are being crazy. Asher starts it by being all cute, and then next thing you know I'm acting like a one year old. And yes, that is a scab on his nose. He fell in our driveway. He was holding some rocks (which he loves) and protected them by holding on to them tightly (which means his face got no help). It looked really great for his school pictures at daycare.