Where Does the Time Go?

Before we had Asher, I remember always hearing parents talking about how busy they were, and how they never seem to have anytime for themselves. Although I believed them, I think part of me always wondered, "What could they be doing all day?"

Well, I definitely don't wonder anymore. These pictures show a tiny sliver of a typical day with Asher and where some of my time goes. I've learned that being a parent means getting things accomplished in baby steps, or often, with two steps forward and one step back. Meaning, in order to get dinner made, for instance, you have to be willing to let you child create a mess (that you will later have to clean up of course) so long as it keeps him occupied for a while.

Trouble in the Basement

A few weeks ago I went down to the basement to put a load of laundry in the dryer. I pushed the start button and nothing happened. The buttons were lit and I could hear the motor trying to spin, but nothing moved. I couldn't believe it. How could our barely year old dryer already be broken? After telling Jeff about it and cooling off, I called to have a repairman come look at it. Two days later, the repairman came to our house and I nervously showed him the dryer and explained to him the problem. I left the laundry room assuming that in a few minutes I would get the bad news- resulting in a large, several hundred dollar service fee, of course. Instead, the repairman showed me this.

Apparently, our dear son Asher had decided to somehow find a dirty sponge (that Jeff had used to clean our grill) and carefully insert it in the slot where the lint filter fits. The repairman tried to give Asher the benefit of the doubt by saying that maybe the sponge somehow accidentally got sucked into the lint trap, but I could tell that he himself didn't believe it. And since nothing was actually broken and the repairman hardly spent anytime at our house, he didn't even charge us a service fee!

The incident reminded me and Jeff of a couple of similar stories. Our nephew Matthew once put a grilled cheese sandwich in a VCR, and our friends' son Isaac put a tortilla in a DVD player. You gotta hand it to kids; they're curious, creative, and experimental, and as long as no one gets hurt, is there really any harm done?

Snack Time

Contrary to what these pictures of Asher lounging might portray, things have actually been pretty busy around our house. I've been working on a project from home (helping another architect on a mountain vacation house) and so I'm back to having a nanny watch Asher once in a while, working on weekends, attempting to work in the evenings, etc.

We had a really nice, mellow Mother's Day (although we forgot to take pictures). Jeff and Asher surprised me with a jacket that I had tried on a couple of weeks before but refused to spend the money on. Thanks boys! Traditionally, I like to do something active and then go out for a nice meal on my special days (i.e. birthdays). But since the weather wasn't too great on Sunday, we were sort of at a loss of what to do. We ended up going to a park to attempt to fly the new kite we got for Asher. It was either lack of skill (definitely yes on my part) or lack of wind, but the darn thing would not stay up. I don't know if Asher enjoyed it, but Jeff and I had so much fun laughing and running around as the kite continuously crashed to the ground (and we also provided quite the entertainment for several onlookers). Later in the evening we went on a long walk and then had a nice dinner at home.

These pictures are of Asher eating one of his new favorite snacks- popcorn. He loves to sit out on our front porch when he eats it (I did it with him once and now he insists on doing it every time). Isn't he growing up so fast?

Just shooting the breeze.

Asher's sense of humor has been great lately. For instance, he loves to take songs that he knows and insert different words in them. Today he was singing, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...Up above the world so high, like a mommy in the sky", or "Cookie dough in the sky", and then he just cracks up. Here he is making silly faces and sounds.

I still don't know where he got his eyes.

Is it the end of April already?

The weather pattern has been so strange here lately. Rainy and cold most of the time with occasional nice, sunny days, just to tease us. Last weekend was nice so we definitely took advantage of it as much as possible.

Asher and I have started going to music class again (a class where we sing, dance, and play with instruments). We've also been going to a gym/tumbling class, similar to the one that Jeff and Asher used to go to on Saturdays. I'll take some pictures in the classes this week so I can post them.

Here are a couple of photos of Asher in his new duds and shoes (we finally got around to getting him some new shirts that fit him!). Also, Jeff asked me to post this video; for some demented reason he thinks it's funny. It's a video of Asher tipping over in his chair while he and Jeff were sitting in the backyard. Asher didn't get hurt and didn't even cry and I guess Jeff just thought it was funny that the whole thing was caught on video.

Babysitting Swap

Asher's friend Mishko came over to our house last Saturday while his parents went out to dinner. We've been trading off babysitting duty with them and it's been great. We do it before the boys' bedtime so it's nice and easy. Plus we live within blocks of each other.

It was especially easy on Saturday because the weather was great so we had no problem keeping the boys entertained. We played in the backyard and at the park, fed them dinner, let them watch a short video, and by that time the night was pretty much over.

Back Home

We had a pretty busy week last week. We left early Tuesday morning (at 5 am) to drive to Bellevue, WA with Jeff. It was great to see Jeff's towers in person, though I was disappointed that I didn't get to tour them (kids are not allowed on a jobsite). But it was still nice to see Jeff's office there (I expected a dumpy temporary space by the jobsite, but instead it was a super cool, modern sales office), meet some of the people he works with, stay in the hotel he stays in every week, and be in a different environment for a couple of days. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures while I was there but next time we go, I definitely will.

The rest of the week was pretty mellow. I'm still trying to find another project to take on, but I now realize that I have to start getting more agressive due to the slump in the market. I did find out that I will be teaching an evening class again in July though.

Here are a couple of pics of Asher "helping" me with the dishes. I think I mentioned before that this was one of his favorite activities around the house. It actually creates more work for me, but it does keep him occupied long enough for me to get things done around the kitchen.

Happy Birthday, Jeff

Jeff's birthday was last Sunday. I surprised him with a weekend getaway to Mt. Hood. But instead of snowboarding and skiing like we did BA (Before Asher), we went sledding (or tubing). It turned out to be a blast. Asher loved the snow (he definitely gets this more from Jeff than from me); he loved stomping in it, climbing it, eating it, and of course sledding down it.

Afterwards, we went to one of our very favorite Oregon restaurants, Calamity Jane's, a hamburger joint that's been around for a long time and that we regularily visit on our way back from skiing/snowboarding/biking in Mt. Hood.

After taking a break in our cabin (and trying everything in our power to get Asher to take his regular afternoon nap), we drove back up the mountain to Timberline Lodge, another one of our favorite Oregon places. Asher quickly fell asleep on the way and, against our better judgement, we woke him up when we arrived at the lodge a few minutes later. Unfortunately, my plans of hanging out by the beautiful fireplace, sipping hot drinks, and having wonderful conversation with Jeff were completely ruined by a very fussy, needing-to-nap toddler. Jeff and I literally gulped down our drinks and hurriedly stuffed our faces with fondu while Asher whined and cried and demanded that we leave.

We assumed he'd crash as soon as we got back to the cabin, and that we would then be able to watch a movie or at least talk, but he ended up getting a second wind and staying up way past 10. So although it was a great day overall (besides maybe the time at the lodge), I definitely learned a lesson: never plan a day with specific events that assume your child is going to follow a schedule.

The next day we went out for brunch, stopped at an outlet mall, then headed home. We ended the day with a very chocolatey cake that Asher and I made (I still owe Jeff a homemade birthday dinner, his favorite, chicken pot pie).

Getting all bundled up

Wheee...

Asher kept trying to make snowballs but his mittens wouldn't coooperate

Even though it was cold and snow was coming down, it really wasn't as bad as it looks here.

A family shot before we leave for lunch

Fast asleep on the way to the lodge

Going for a walk after brunch

Happy Birthday, Jeff

Watch how we crash into Jeff at the end of this video.