Happy Halloween!!!

Two posts in one day!  Woohoo! :) 

So here's what you've all been waiting for... well, what I've been waiting for. :)

It's Wednesday, obviously, and well, Eric and I are youth leaders at our church's youth group, so we had that going on tonight.  And there was a theme - to dress as a household object. 

My brain kind of got stuck on that one, because I really didn't want my child's first halloween costume to be a chair or a spoon or something.  What I really wanted was for him to be some cute little animal or something of that nature.  However, I also thought it would be really fun if the three of us 'went together'.  We brainstormed for a LONG time.  For awhile I thought about being the three different utensils.  Eric thought maybe we could be 'small, medium, and large' of something, but we couldn't decide what. Then Eric had a brilliant idea to appease my desire for Asher to be some cute little animal, AND meet the parameters of our theme for youth group. It was a mad dash to create them in two weeks time, and so I've been sewing and stitching and gluing and braiding and twisting and tying at every naptime and bedtime and independent moment I could find. So I present to you our very first Halloween costumes as a family of three. 

The Groom... oh excuse me.... the BRoom. 

The Mom... err... the MoP....

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And that cute little thing we're both chasing around all day long... Can you guess what he is???

 

 

 

 

A little Dust Bunny, of course!!! :)  (I may have gotten a little carried away on the fluff component...)

His little tail was wagging all over the place! :)

And his little bunny feet slippers. :)

Here's the best shot of the three of us.  (Sorry it's a bit blurry.  It was taken on a phone.)  Man is that baby cute! :)

 

 

Anyway, Happy Halloween!  I'm glad I can go back to doing things like dishes and laundry a naptime for a while... (my house is rather in disarray at the moment) but then I'm sure I'll be on to my next project soon enough...  I mean, seriously, it's only three weeks till his first birthday!  :)   But for now, I'm very very glad it's done and over with.  (BIG sigh of relief.) 

 

 

Happy times!

#Meagan



A day late...again

Sorry to everyone who checked our blog yesterday for the weekly pic to find... nothing.  I don't know what else to say, except that it just didn't get done.

For those of you who want to know, sleep seems to be getting a little better.  We've been doing a modified "cry it out" for the last three nights.  "Modified" because I stand in there next to him the whole time and constantly lay him back down every three seconds when he stands back up.  It seems to be working, though.  The first night he screamed for about 45 minutes but last night we were down to only about 20 minutes!  When he's finally worn out, the last thing he does before finally putting himself to sleep is talking to himself.  It's cute as can be.  But last night it got even cuter, because it also included laughing at something.   Made me feel like what we're doing is okay, if the last thing he does before falling asleep is a little chuckling. :)

In other news, Asher has graduated on to a few new things.  He's crawling up on his knees now instead of army crawling.  Also when we "walk" around the house holding his hands, he can now do it holding on to only one hand... when he's feeling brave.  It's a good sign that he's gaining some balance on his two feet.  He's also almost exclusively feeding himself.  Goodbye purees!

Our little guy is now 11 months and 1 week.  That birthday is just around the corner!  So hard to believe it's almost been a year already!

Here he is.  Oh and don't forget to check back tomorrow, because seriously, I am soooo so so so so excited about his Halloween costume.  One more so.

And just for giggles, here's one of our outtakes :)

#Meagan

Sleep, I miss you.

It's been a rough week in the sleep department.  About a month or two ago, I realized Asher was waking up on a very regular schedule in the middle of the night because he had gotten into the habit of being nursed at those times.  So I spent 4 horrible nights of being up a bazillion times trying to wean him off of nursing at night, and after those 4 nights, believe it or not, we had a glorious month of him sleeping through the night. 

Then a couple of weeks ago, Asher came down with a nasty cold, and was sooo congested and had such a rough sounding throat that the only thing that would soothe him and decongest him was nursing.  I didn't mind it, because he was obviously sick, but as the cold healed, I was starting to notice him getting back onto that regular waking up schedule, so I decided it was time to cut the nighttime nursing again. 

But this time it's been a WHOLE different ballgame, because Asher has in the past month or so (since doing this last time), learned how to pull up to standing in his crib, but does not yet know how to get back down.  So whereas before, I could lay him down and leave him to fuss for a bit in his crib and he'd put himself back to sleep within a few minutes, now, within seconds he's screaming at the top of his lungs, standing, clinging to the bars.  I can't just leave him to fuss anymore... and we've gotten some bonks and bumps already from accidental tumbles against the crib bars. Which of course, just make matters (crying) worse.  :( 

Sooo long story short, Saturday night I was up with him from 1:45 - 3:50.  Sunday night I was up with him from 11:30 - 1:00, and then last night, oh horror of all nights, I was up with him from 11:50 - 3:20, then he woke back up at 4:00 (when I finally caved and nursed him), and then he was up for the day at 6:20. Eric tries so hard to be helpful in the night but Asher who loves his daddy  so much during the day, screams anytime daddy takes him at night.  So sad. :(

My awesome husband, however, voluntarily took a 1/2 day of vacation this morning to play with our child so this sleep deprived mommy could sleep!  It was wonderful, and I am soo grateful.   I still have hope every night, though, that tonight will be the night that this craziness ends, and that he'll go back to sleeping through the night,  but then I also have this horrible fear that in breaking the nighttime nursing habit, we're also somehow creating a new "be awake forever" habit.  Not a fun exchange, and it really leaves us clueless about how to proceed.  Because sitting awake for 3 1/2 hours every night, simply isn't an option (obviously!).

Anyway, sorry for my rambled jumbled emotions spilling out all over the place.  We're tired over here.  But God spoke to me tonight reminding me that he is still in control of even this, and that making poor sleep habits, while draining for us, don't really count as bad parenting, because while we're exhausted, sleep habits are not exactly an eternity issue, if that makes any sense.  For what it's worth, it gave me a little bit of my endurance back to make it through this phase.  Everything is just a phase... at least, that's what I keep telling myself! 

So without boring you further, here's Asher's weekly pic.  We love him dearly, even when we're falling apart all over the place in the middle of the night.  

And just because I'm soooo grateful for Eric today, I'm breaking with weekly tradtion and giving you a couple of daddy pictures from the last few days that absolutely melt my heart. :) I think you'll agree.

Seriously, can these two look anymore alike?  I mean they're even sitting in the exact same way!  Check our their profiles... daddy and his mini-me.  Asher loves, loves, loves music!

And he loves his daddy!

Enjoy your sleep for us!  And keep us in your prayers if you would!  :)

#Meagan

On the go!

Asher is 100% ready to walk!  Just can't do it independently yet, but that day will be here before we know it!  Asher's favorite activity this past week has been walking around the house holding on to our hands... and then cries anytime we stop.  We'll post a video here shortly... of him walking, not crying.  ;)  (I know, I know, we still haven't even gotten the crawling video up, but we will!) 

Anyway, today he pulled up on the laundry basket and started pushing it around the living room - until it started tipping over on him.  I put something heavy in it, but then he couldn't push it anymore.  :)    We're going to borrow one of those push around toys from a friend to try out for a while, cause it's killing our backs to help him walk.   We looked at them at Walmart last night and the ones they had were $45 and we decided it just wasn't worth buying him anything big... especially with a 1st birthday and Christmas just around the corner... and he'll probably be walking independently before then anyway, at the rate he's going! 

It's a blast though "following" him around the house and seeing where he wants to go.  He's not been brave enough to crawl out of our sight so far, so it's interesting to see where his two feet take him... most often to the bathtub.  Oh boy, does he LOVE bathtime!   Good thing we're not in the habit of leaving water in the tub... he's also become a fan of unrolling the toilet paper... who knew one could have so much fun in the bathroom. 

Anyway, I'm getting rambly.  Here's our pic of the week!  

 Scars healing up nicely, and yes, we know these socks are too small. ;)

Here's a pic of Asher doing a magic trick. :)

 

And here's his best rocker face to go with his rock star outfit from Great Grandma Scherer...  Grandma knows her boys... daddy secretly wishes he could be a rock star too! ;)   

#Meagan

It's just one of those weeks...

Don't you hate those weeks, when it seems like EVERYTHING is coinciding at the same time? Like when something you do every other week, a monthly meeting you have, and something you're asked to do like every six weeks, etc, etc, etc,  ALL hit on the exact same week?  Well that's been our week.  I feel like we've been running around like complete crazies.  And then to top it off, tonight has been one of those nights when I wonder if we're helping our child or just harming him...  :( 

We had youth group tonight and it was our turn to lead the lesson.  We were scrambling to get out the door, and Eric was trying to print something off the computer.  Meanwhile, Asher lunged for the laptop and cord and in Eric's attempt to keep him safe, Asher fell face first into Eric's upright pencil.   Came awfully close to poking him in the eye, and left a stripe of graphite up his cheek.  :(

Then at the church, I was hurrying to get out some supplies and Asher decides it's the perfect moment to crawl under a table and spit up all over the place.  In an effort to pick him up before he army- crawled through it, I swung him up out from under the table, and at the worst moment he flung his head back and I wacked his forehead really hard into the metal edge of the table, and he split open the bridge of his nose.  Hurt mommy's heart pretty bad.  I'm glad he bounced back quickly from both, though, and hardly would have cried at all, if I hadn't been fighting him so hard to hold ice on his nose.   Poor little guy! 



Doesn't look so bad in these pics, but it's open and bloody, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some serious bruising in the morning. :(






I'm glad Asher and I have NOTHING going on tomorrow.  :)   Hopefully it's a better day for him.   Though, then again, I've got a baby boy who's into everything and learning to walk.  Hmmm... can't protect him from everything... just most things, I hope. 

#Meagan

P.S. On a lighter note, did you notice the unintentional Brady Bunch imaging going on?  Only he's gazing at himself... :)  Sorry, no siblings in the works yet, folks!

Overalls

It's been a busy start to the week already, so we're getting this one out late. Asher is continuing to develop, with improved crawling, taking steps while holding on to us, scooting backward into a sitting position, and continued babbling. A new joy for me as I come home from work is his reaction when he first sees me walk in. I really want to get a video of it, so we'll see what we can do. Here's our boy, with his harvest overalls on.

 

And a couple more for good measure. 

 

 

Here's an overalls comparison.  I know what you're thinking, but yep, it's the same kid.

 

 

                                10 1/2 months                                                              2 weeks

This kid's a blast.

#Eric

Asher's 1st Concerto

Asher rarely cries when we're at home, but when he does it's usually because we won't let him play with one of the following items:  the laptop, the remote, the phones, the cameras, you know any of the "toys"  mommy and daddy are playing with but won't let him have.  :)   We make a concerted effort to limit our use of these items when he's awake and playing, with the exception of the camera.  I mentioned in our previous post that he will spend half our weekly photo shoot crying because I won't let him have it, but the video camera is 10 fold as interesting, because it makes a little noise when it turns on, and another when you hit record. Often this means that whenever we go for the video camera because he's doing something adorable, he immediately stops whatever he was doing and reaches/cries for the camera.  So we often start it in the other room and then the first minute of every video we have is of us walking through the house.  Anyway... long story short, I just tell this story to explain to you the reason for the first 15 seconds of this video as I'm bringing the camera out of its muted hiding place while I turned it on. :)

So without further ado,  I present to you... Asher's 1st Concerto!

He went on to play another several minutes, but at 3 minutes, I knew I'd already gone way past the point where anyone but Eric and I and a select few would even watch it in it's entirety, and even if they did, they wouldn't watch it more than once. :) I tend to think the 3rd minute is the cutest, but I'm not skilled enough on here to know how to cut the video down to a shorter clip.  But I think the whole thing was pretty darn cute too, but then I'm not at all biased, am I?   Such a sweet little boy!

#Meagan

Curiosity

So I've been getting frustrated with these weekly pictures the last few weeks.  Can't really remember if I've mentioned that or not, but if I have this can be an update for you all... and I apologize if I'm repeating myself. 

Anyway, first of all,  I feel pressure - though I know it's silly- to put him in a new outfit that's never been seen in a weekly picture, which can be a challenge if I haven't done laundry in a while.  Then, on top of that, I have to keep it clean enough until he's in a time of day when he's not too sleepy or too hungry where he'd fuss through the whole photo session, which finding the right timing is a whole 'nother issue.   And then of course curiosity is in full swing in this little guys life.  He spends the first half of the photo shoot squirming to try and reach things off the bookshelf next to the chair, or trying to stick his arm down as deep as he can between the cushion and the arm rest.  (Don't get me wrong, I adore his curiosity these days, it just gets overwhelming when I'm trying to get a picture of him sitting still and looking cute.)   Then he spends the second half of the photo shoot crying because the camera looks like an awfully fun toy that mom's playing with and mom will not share!  So today we compromised and he got to hold a new "toy" for the first time in one of his photo shoots... the case for the memory card.  Ooo, how exciting! 

I told Eric it's losing its fun factor for me, but Eric has and end goal photo project in mind for when Asher turns one, and I know I'll appreciate these pictures in the long run, so I will persevere.  Even though half the time I get him all ready and the memory card is not in the camera, or the batteries are dead, or some other crazy to add to this hectic 15 minutes every Tuesday.  :) 

It's not really all THAT bad.  And I do enjoy seeing the results. 

Anyway, as for Asher's growing curiosity, many positive developments have been occurring.  He's crawling further, faster, which is fun to see, but definitely keeps me on my toes.  In addition to sticking his arm down the heating vents, he also has discovered the "joy" of sticking his hand in the VCR... yes, we still own one of those. ;)  My last weekly post became a self-fulfilling prophesy, of sorts.  Within days of writing that he doesn't put things in his mouth, he started feeding himself his Cheerios!  Woohoo!  And today fed himself chunks of fruit!   But with it came the new curiosty of mouthing things. Yes, after 10 months of not putting anything in his mouth, Saturday we looked back at him sitting in his car seat sucking on his sock covered toes.  His sock was soaked!  And then today when we were playing outside, I turned around to find him with an entire leaf in his mouth.   I'm just grateful it wasn't one of those brittle fall leaves that would have been in a hundred pieces in his mouth.  Definitely keeping me on my toes.  :)

It's a blast though, and its super fun hearing him jabber.  He carries on entire conversations with us in some made up language. :)   Zabba dubba bizu buza.... on and on, while he looks us in the eye like whatever he's saying makes perfect sense.  That's when we most wish we could see what's going on in that little brain of his!  

I'll stop rambling for now, because I think I better be getting dinner started, but I leave you with these pics.  Not the best, but they best show his hair (growing nice and long right on top), and his two little teeth.   (You can click on them to view them larger, if you desire.)

Happy Tuesday!
  #Meagan