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.