Christmas Break

Jeff has been off work all week and it's been great. It's been nice to just relax and get some quality family time together. We didn't do much the last couple of days due to the rain and bad weather and to all of us catching colds. But we did make a turkey, bake some cookies (gave some to friends and neighbors), and watch Spiderman 3 (Jeff's choice though I ended up liking it too). I'll post more pics from this week later, but in the meantime...

Asher really likes the puzzles that his aunt Rhonda sent (thanks, Rhonda).

But tape measures can be just as fun.

It actually snowed on christmas day, though it didn't stick. Jeff took this picture in our backyard.

Ugh. My birthday.

Monday was my birthday. I seriously don't ever remember liking my birthday; for one thing, it's a reminder of another year gone by, for another, it falls in the winter, my least favorite season. Plus, it always seems in the way: during finals week (when I was in school and now that I'm teaching) and right before christmas.

But I always want to do something "happy" for it anyway so that my mood doesn't plummet even further. So for lunch, Jeff and Asher took me out to a nice restaurant, but unfortunately this turned out to be more hectic and harried than fun (thanks anyway, Jeff). And in the evening, my awesome friend Kristin insisted on watching Asher for a bit so that Jeff and I could go out on our own and actually have a conversation. We did and it was great. After that, the boys sang me happy birthday and showered me with presents.

But I still hate my birthday.

It's still raining

Sadly enough, Asher's newest word is "raining". No surprise since we are definitely in the midst of the rainy season. But we're still making the best of it. Yesterday Asher and I made some homemade clay (salt dough) and made ornaments and, of course, a big mess.

Party in Asher's Crib

I would have to say that this is definitely Asher's first girlfriend. This is Olivia, the daughter of my dear friend Kristin. Asher has known Olivia since the day she was born (she is 6 weeks younger than him). He's always had a bit of a crush on her, but unfortunately, the feeling isn't always mutual. Sometime Olivia seems to want nothing to do with Asher, while other times she hugs him and wants to be in his bed (so moody, just like a girl).

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.




This picture was taken in September of 2006 (Asher was about 6 1/2 months, Olivia about 5)

A little milestone

Asher hit a milestone recently. He started putting sentences together. His "vocabulary" has been pretty extensive (for a toddler) for quite a while. Jeff even taught him to read some letters (and he even knows that Asher starts with "A" and that egg starts with "E"). He knows a wide variety of words, from the different colors to "google" (don't ask) to helicopter.

But putting sentences together is a whole new ballgame. He started out with 2 word sentences, like "more ballaboo", meaning more blueberries, or "two lello" meaning two things that are yellow. But then he started putting 3 words together, like "Ashy bubble no," meaning "I don't want to take a bath".

I guess this is why being a parent is so much fun; everything is so new and fascinating. I never knew what the process of learing a language was, and now I get to witness it first hand!

Here is a picture of our big boy on his 22nd month birthday. I can't believe he is almost two (but like my mom always tells me, he will always be his momma's boy).

Two Scoops of Raisins

Here is a little video that Jeff took of Asher eating cereal. Notice how he is picking out the raisins. In the middle of it he says, "uh-oh, more Ashy" (probably meaning "I want more raisins").

Asher the artist

It's been raining almost every day lately. We still try to take Asher to the park and on walks now and then, but we've definitely had to come up with more indoor activities. Last week Asher really got into painting. I know I am being the cliche parent who is showing off their child's scribbles, but just indulge me this time. And seriously, isn't he talented (hee hee).

Check it out

I added a link to Jeff's project in the right column of this page. Make sure you check out the "site cam" to see the day by day progress. For those of you who don't know, Jeff is doing the construction administration on this project. It is in Washington, so he flies there every week for a couple of days.

Back from the Midwest

It's been over 2 weeks since I've posted. I've just been so busy since we got back from Chicago. With teaching two nights a week and working on a small architecture project from home, every minute of my day is filled up. And Asher has never been the type of child to play on his own, so the second I try to work or get on the computer, he comes to my chair and says "up, up, up" to try to get me to put him in my lap.

Our trip to Chicago was very nice, but not at all relaxing. It seems like we always end up running around so much when we are there. There are just so many people we want to see in such a short amount of time. And almost everyone seems to live in a different suburb, so we are constantly driving back and forth, stuck in traffic, etc. Poor Asher endured so much car time, and so much time being stuck in a high chair in restaurants while we attempted to catch up with friends and family.

But it was so nice to see everyone and show Asher off. I think it is safe to say that Asher now has many adoring fans in Chicago. It was also great to see Jeff's nephews and niece. It is mind boggling how fast they've all grown up.

The weather, as expected, was cold in Chicago. So as you will see in the pictures, we didn't spend much time outdoors. Jeff and I swore that the next time we go to the midwest it will be in the Spring or Fall, when the weather is tolerable for a change!

Asher, Jeff, and Jeff's dad walked to the park one cold morning.

Asher enjoyed meal times with Grandma. We even let her give him treats a couple of times.

We went to visit some old friends of Jeff's who just had a baby 5 1/2 months ago. It confirmed that we did not miss the infant phase.

Asher found Jeff's mom's jewelry drawer one day.

We celebrated several birthdays while in Chicago. Jeff's family, like mine, has several birthdays in November and December.

Asher tryed to be a good guest at Thanksgiving dinner (which was at Jeff's sister Sheryl's house)

Asher with Grandma and Grandpa after a long, long Thanksgiving day.

Off to Chicago

We're leaving for Chicago this afternoon to go visit Jeff's family and celebrate Thanksgiving with them. It's been such a busy week. I tried to take pictures of Asher a couple of days ago but only managed to get shots of the back of his head. He was just too quick for me. So I am posting one of my favorite shots from a few months ago (asher was helping me make a cake).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Asher at Play

These are some pictures of Asher playing at home. I'm hoping they express at least a little bit of his silly, funny side.

Halloween - Roarrrrr

Asher didn't quite know what to make of Halloween. For one, he doesn't eat or know what candy is, so trick or treating was just an exercise of getting sparkly, colorful things from strangers. Plus, it took him quite a while to figure out why everyone all of a sudden seemed to be dressed like animals or elmo or scary things he couldn't figure out. Nevertheless he had fun.

We took him to The Kennedy School (an old school that has been converted into a restuarant/B&B/Brewpub/theater). There were so many kids there and lots of adults giving out candy (Asher liked picking out the chocolate eyeballs). He seemet to really enjoy seeing all the costumes, but most of all, he loved being a lion and having a tail (even if his costume was itchy).

A Perfect Fall Day

A couple of weeks ago we had perfect Fall weather. So right after breakfast on Saturday, we went to a pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island, which is about 30 minutes from Portland. We started out in the animal barn where Asher got to see cows, sheep, pigs, and even a llama. We then went on a hayride out to the actual pumpkin patch (where unfortunately most of the pumpkins were dead since it's so late in the season) and then went to the market and bought some fresh farm produce.

Later in the afternoon, we thought we would tackle the growing pile of leaves in our front yard. Asher and Daddy raked, while I stuffed the leaves in the bags. We worked so hard but did not even get halfway done. Afterwards, we all went out for ice cream (Asher's favorite food by far).