Asher's 6th birthday party

Asher wanted to have an elf birthday party so that's what he got. All the kids looked cute in their elf hats and we has the cutest grandma and grandpa elfs there.

FIVE

Noah turned 5 (yes 5 can you believe it?) the other day.
I can't believe it.
5 years ago I had my first baby.
5 years ago I felt the most anxiety I've ever felt watching a tiny little baby in a little suitcase under lights for being jaundice.
5 years ago I felt love in a way I've never felt it before and understood a lot more about love and sacrifice.
I realized some time later that mommy is the best name in the world and that parenting would be the hardest thing in the whole wide world. (Good thing I don't have to go at it alone)

FIVE! Go here to see him in the chair for his other birthdays.

He had a Batman birthday party but more like a superhero birthday party. 

Yes, I made that. I know, AWWWWWWWWWWW-some :)

Yes, he was Captain America at his Batman birthday party. 

AND just have to say thanks to the moms who let their kids come on such short notice and even got Noah presents. I let them know at 4 pm that the party was at 6 pm. Good thing we have so many kids in our neighborhood :) Good friends for sure.

Colorful! I think she might be getting bottom teeth.

Hannah with her cousin. They are one month and one day apart. Hannah's older. 

Then there is this guy...

I love him so but he sure puts me through the ringer sometimes.

He's been through a lot.

He still doesn't like to gain weight.

We are going to take him to the NAET doctor next.

He's funny and stubborn, cute and tiny, determined and polite.

The other day I took time to tickle my boys. I can't remember the last time I did that. Heath does it all the time. I love their laughs. Our windows were open and before long there was a knock at the door. We opened it to 2 little neighborhood kids. They said, "What are you doing?", I said, "tickling". They said, "Can you tickle us?".   Sure, come on in. The laughing commenced.

I find myself talking in high, silly voices to get a smile out of Hannah. 

I've been feeling a little poopy the last few days so I put on some inspirational music this morning and thought about all my blessings. I think today will be a good day.

I love my husband.

the hunt, the shave, the mimi

The hunt is on and apparently so is the shave.
Liz (Heath's lil' sister) gave him a hair cut the other day and shaved his back and chest and stomach
WITH a straight razor no doubt.
She even let me have a try (no, I didn't cut him) and yes he is on our kitchen table.

First she cut a heart, then...

 it turned to this. What do you meant what is it? it's an elk. It's hunting season don't you know. 

and oh so attractive. Yes, it's still there and yes he's hunting as I type this and yes for an elk.

Heath caught this a while ago and I can't remember if I put it on the blog but definitely blog worthy.

AND then there's the stories of this week

We got rid of Asher's mimi (pacifier) this week. Heath told him if he put in the trash he could get a toy. He wanted a toy from Target. So, Monday morning he threw his mimi in the trash and we went to Target. He picked out an iron man toy. He did pretty well throughout the day and I didn't push a nap but when night came he was ready to throw iron man in the trash and go dumpster diving for the mimi. Well, I didn't let him. I rocked him to sleep that night which I felt was a good trade and he ended up in bed with us which I felt was also a good trade. The next day he was ready for a nap and then asked for the mimi a few times and I reminded him that he traded it for a toy. He said, "oh, I forgot". Then he was really tired and the screaming, biting, scratching, and gnashing of teeth began. I didn't know if we were going to make it and I thought about the back up mimi. I was strong and he finally fell asleep. phew! I rocked him to bed one more night and now there's no word of the mimi. 

Now that he's given up the mimi he's done with his hair doll (Mr. Beans or Beansies). This, apparently, has given him more time to do other things like wrapping himself in toilet paper, spinning around and around until he looks like a mummy (that's when I came in), and tearing his toast to pieces and throwing in on the dinning room floor while I was at the sink, or spilling his yogurt on the floor and trekking though it, or dragging a chair over to the sink and playing in the water until there's a swimming pool on the floor beneath. I'll stop there but you can tell we've had some excitement. 

The aftermath. 

Then there's baby Hannah. Adorable and Asleep. She's got a little ouchie bum that breaks my heart every-time I change her diaper and she screams. She's beautiful and has blue eyes so far.

Next time won't you sing with me?

Oh, also that's paint on his face. He and Noah decided they would paint on each other instead of the paper. And every time I open my blog and Asher sees the picture of Jesus he always says, "Jesus love me." How true! How true!

AsherNothat'spoop!

Today I decided to take the boys outside.
They wanted to take a walk so I took them on a walk through the wooded area behind our house.
There are still no leaves on trees so you can see straight back to the little pond.
Anyway, I told them not to touch anything unless they asked me first.
Moments later from behind I hear, "Mom, gwapes!"
I turn and do the only thing I can do with the amount of time I'm facing.
I yell, "AsherNOthat'spoop!" Yes, I'm pretty sure that came out as one word.
Deer poop in fact. It was not a grape at all and it was within inches of his lips.
Sooooooooo glad I caught it before it went in.
The rest of the walk we heard "more poop!, more poop!"  Lots of deer behind are house apparently.

Also, right now it's snowing outside.

Dear PA,
Don't you know it's the end of March, that the official first day of Spring was the 20th, all the snow just melted. Seriously, STOP SNOWING!

Tonight's dinner:
Noah: I don't want it, it's really really gross! (crying, crying, more crying)
Asher: Noah, calm down! Eat dinner!

He finally ate.

In the past week I've made gluten free corn bread muffins, lemon pound cake (oh so good), pancakes, bread and tortillas are on the list for tomorrow. I don't think I've been feeding Heath very well so this past week I've been trying to do a little better.

Asher's good arm, Happy Birthday to my Mom.

It really is time to blog again. So much has happened.
I am now 18 (almost 19 weeks) pregnant. I have my ultrasounds next week.

I had to take little Asher to the ER on Friday.
He fell off a chair and fractured his left arm ("the good arm")
After he fell off the chair, he cried some and then went to sleep.
When he woke up he wasn't using his left arm like he usually does.
Thank goodness we were at a friends house and they were able to watch Noah.
Heath was suppose to be going out of town to New York but come to find out after the trip to the ER the
bus had broken down and they never left (blessing)
I cried almost all the way to the hospital.
I couldn't help but think of all this little guy has gone through.
When we were leaving our friends house he said, "Noah coming?"
I told him that he wasn't and that we would be back for him.
He said, "where going?"
I tried to change the subject and ask him if he would like some french fries or ice cream (I know not the healthiest but remember I was trying to distract him).
but again, "where going?"
I said, "We are going to see the nice doctor."
He started crying and saying, "want to! want to!" while shaking his head no.
I turned the radio on which seemed to calm him.
Then I focused on drying up my tears before we got there.
Hard to do but I did pretty well until they called us back and started asking questions.
My heart hurt for that little boy.

They gave him some pain medicine and then off to x-rays. He got lots of stickers.
there was a T.V. in our room so I laid on the bed with him and propped him up on a pillow.
His little arm was resting by his side not moving much.
He wanted to watch the basketball game.
You see, Asher loves sports. He's a little over 2 but loves sports.
He has thrown a ball for as long as I can remember.
In the nursery they have a little basketball and hoop.
He spends almost all his time shooting  hoops. He really is quite good.
Anyway, we watched the basketball game while nurses came in and out.
The doctor finally came in and said they couldn't see anything in the x-ray which
at first was a relief to me. Then he said, "but kids don't usually act this way unless something is wrong."
He wanted to do another x-ray. After that, he determined there was a little dark spot in the x-ray above his elbow.
They splinted him and put him in a sling and we were off.

We had appointment with the orthopedic doctor on Monday.
They casted him. He picked the color himself.  Noah made it clear that he wanted his to be pink.
Asher was pretty calm.

Then we all went to breakfast.
Asher is two and I don't think we've all ever gone out to eat before.
I think the boys really liked it and breakfast food is my fav.

Asher likes to vacuum for me. He always says, "Help mama?"
He even still does it with only one arm. 

Noah loves doing a robot dance from backyardigans.
He always says, "You wanna see my robot song?"
and for some reason he always needs socks or gloves on to perform.

Today is my mother's birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

My grandfather is not doing so well and will probably not be here much longer.
I think it will be a good thing given his current condition.
He is really blessed to have children that love him and really take care of him.
Having worked with elderly people I know that the elderly are not always taken care of well.

Also, I made this scripture cover.

Don't look too closely I need to brush up on my sewing skills.

Also, here's the next challenge in the Word of Wisdom blog.

Let me introduce Mr. Beans.

Mr. Beans (aka Beans) is a hair doll.
Both Noah and Asher played with my hair (well, play with my hair)
One night I was trying to cook dinner (which inevitably ends up being the craziest time of the day)
and Asher needed to be held so he could play with my hair (it's like his little lovey).
I admit I got a little frustrated.
So, I searched on google for solutions for kids that play with hair and this doll showed up.
I know it looks a little weird  and it's been called a voodoo doll a few times but it really is a life saver.
I can go to sleep without a baby laying on my head and he carries it around twirling the hair in his ear and on his nose. He loves it.
If he has his mimi (pacifier) he has to have beans.

Ok, little blurry but I don't mind if you don't. Also, yes that is real hair.

Dancin'

We danced today. Don't judge, Asher likes to wear big boy underwear too.

Asher's birthday and other stuff, too.

It's true that it's been a little while. I've been posting mostly pictures.
It's also true that I can't recall the exact date in which I last washed my hair,
there are mini marshmallows in my bathroom sink , and
Asher watered my aloe with his milk yesterday.
Also, I'm pregnant.
I don't think I actually put that on my blog yet.
I'm 14 weeks, Due August 4th.
I've been so tired and a lot more nauseated than my other pregnancies.
Although, I shouldn't complain because my sister-in-law is pregnant and feeling a lot worse.
Noah is 4, Asher is 2 and I think he's feeling it.
I think we are seeing some of what might be called the "terrible two's"
terrible fits. He tries to make himself throw up when I try to ignore them but thankfully
he hasn't been successful.
I think a lot of his frustration comes from the desire to be so independent but the inability to become so.
Asher talks a lot. Says lot of words (too many to list), says 3 and 4 word sentences, says please and thank you.
He doesn't cry when you put him in the corner and he's stubborn.
He's got a funny personality and likes to make people laugh.
His arm is doing well.
We see an occupational therapist 2 times a week still.
His right arm is still smaller and I think will always be but he uses it more naturally and without hesitation.
He does really well when the therapist stretches his arm out. So much better then it use to be.
Although he hasn't gained much weight (still weighs a little over 20 pounds) he's grown taller and his head is getting bigger
and our doctor doesn't seemed to be concerned.
I try not to be too concerned either.
Over Christmas vacation he did get sick for a week and was throwing up a lot.
I admit I worried. The kid doesn't have a lot in reserve.
We have been lucky this winter to be pretty healthy. What a blessing.
Noah's speech has improved a ton. He sees a speech therapist 2 times a month.
Noah always says (pointing to my stomach), "I like your baby" last Sunday it was followed by, "but he doesn't have any church clothes."
Noah thinks it a boy and Asher thinks there are 5 babies in there and they're girls.
Noah's baby name suggestion is baby Jesus. Asher has suggested Apple and Claira.
Noah is pretty well potty trained. It took a little while to get him to go #2 by himself.
It was cold the other day our water pump was frozen. I had to put a heater by it so we could get some water.
and Despicable Me is probably the best movie ever.
Heath is doing well.  I guess a little stressed out right now.
This is the last semester of grad school.
We have no idea where we'll be headed after this but I hope it's close to family.
Also, Heath and I went on a date last Thursday. Almost a little weird just because it's only the 2nd in 3 years.
We are trying to make that a regular thing.
Well, I guess this is all for now. Here are some pictures from Asher birthday party.

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

Noah's present (a train whistle)

I have to admit it wasn't much of a birthday party. It was just us, no cake, just ice cream. I so did not feel good. I brought the presents down in a blanket and it was kind like a birthday Santa. The boys didn't seem to mind.

I told Asher to show me his belly. I know it doesn't look very big but I think it actually stick out a little. You can see that the muscles in his right arm are getting bigger. Anyway, Happy Birthday to Asher. 

Number 2.

My number 2 baby is 2 years old today, still in size 2 diapers, has 2 skinny legs, 2 arms (one that's lucky), and 2 ears that stick out a little. His birthday party is Sunday so I will post more pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!!

Pass the mallows!

Don't leave them alone too long. Notice they're on the T.V. in the background. Yes, another webcam pic. Looking into the warranty on our camera.

Sorry, one more underwear picture. I couldn't resist.

I really need to remedy the no camera thing.

hazelnut? underwear?

Have you ever seen a hazelnut? Ever eaten one?
I don't recall doing either (maybe seen one and didn't realize it was a hazelnut). I was just curious.
So if you were too, here's a picture.


So, Heath sometimes (when he's acting silly) will put Noah's undies on his head. Well, this morning Asher found some of Noah's undies (they were clean...promise). He put them on his head all by himself which in and of itself is kind of amazing considering his right arm. He just came in with them on his head. I couldn't believe it...so funny!
Well, in my thanks giving post I mentioned I was glad that my camera was working. Well, it is officially dead. I mean dead. After it wouldn't work to take cute pictures of the boys in the snow, I hit it on the hutch. Busted! Anyway, so I put Asher up to the webcam and took a pictures. It's not awesome but it works.

One thing I left out (on accident) on my Heath vs. Andy post is that Andy has a crush on a girl named Erin, too. Hum...kind of creepy how much they're alike :) OK, not really creepy.

It's true that I'm pretty sure I have at least one type-o (or just misspelled word) in each post.

Help and Halloween

I was down stairs this morning when I heard a little cry from Asher (who was in my bed)
I went up and snuggled beside him to see if he would go back to sleep.
A few second later I hear him singing.
The only word I could understand was "help".
Later in the  morning as I was making muffins he was singing it again.
I recognized the "help" again and try to put the rest together.
I figured out he was singing I Am A Child of God.

This is what I could catch on video. A little hard to hear with Noah singing Bob the Builder in the background.

Stinkin' cute!

Here's a little bit of our Halloween.

Trick or treaters ready to go. 

 Asher loves tootsie rolls. 

We had a party on Wednesday for the youth. I was a witch and ended up with the bandanna from the hitting the pinata on my head.

It's true that I feel like this is the best of motherhood so far. Also true that I'm worried about Asher weight gain again. and true that Noah loves to "make concrete" (this would consist of water, soap, and whatever he can find in the kitchen).. not my favorite mess to clean up. Heath's out hunting this morning. Hope he gets one so he doesn't have to go out tomorrow.