Costa Rica

We had the opportunity to travel as a family to Costa Rica in April for 10 days.  (And I'm finally making the time to get some pictures posted!)  After graduating from college 8 years ago (wow, time flies!), I spent a year and a half teaching English/learning Spanish/living with a host family there.  It was an incredible experience, and since returning to the states in 2006, I've been anxious to get back!  I've wanted to re-connect with my host family, I've wanted to go immerse myself in Spanish again, but mostly, I've wanted to take Eric back to see where I lived and let him see for himself the beauty of the country that is Costa Rica. 

Sooo, after five years of nagging, errr... convincing Eric, we finally got there!  I couldn't bear to leave our baby for 10 days at only 17 months old, so we invited my parents to come with us -  to help us out and join our adventure!  We all had a great time!

It was so good visiting my host families who I'd lived with for over a year and then not seen for 6 years, and it was so fun introducing them to Eric and Asher and catching up.   The few days we had just weren't anywhere near enough!  

We also rented a car and traveled around the country, visiting Arenal Volcano National Park, Monteverde cloud forest (briefly!), and Manuel Antonio National Park (with it's rainforest running alongside pristine beach coves).  It is such a beautiful country!  It was so fun sharing it with Eric and watching Asher experience it - the beach, the jungle, the monkeys, the tropical fruit, etc, etc, etc!   It hurts my heart not knowing if  or when we'll ever get back.  My home away from home, so to speak.  Hope you enjoy a few of our pics!

Airport with Asher and arriving in San Jose! 



This kind man made our lay over go much quicker for Asher by offering him a ride on his cart!

Our first morning in Costa Rica!  Enjoying the tropical flora and fauna of the hotel garden!

All the travel tuckered poor Asher out!  He zonked on the bench at the restarant we ate at for lunch our first day! 

Reconnecting with Friends!  I really wish we lived closer to one another! 

 

Arenal Volcano National Park (Check out our hotel room view below!)

Grandma and Asher in front of our hotel!

 

Hiking around the National Park

First Monkey Sighting!
 

Where's Waldo... err, the toucan, I mean!

Asher having a complete BLAST on the wagon ride back to our hotel!

 Our brief stop at the beautiful Monteverde Cloud Forest!

 

View on our drive there (It was the end of the dry season. Usually is more green, but still beautiful!)



Hiking the Hanging Bridge through the forest

Such dense tropical rainforest!

 

Manuel Antonio National Park! (and area surrounding)

 

About 30 alligators under the bridge in the Tarcoles River on our drive down to the beach

 

 

The beautiful, open air lobby in our hotel near the beach

 

 

We made finally made it to the beach!!! :)



Asher's 1st time in the ocean!



 

 

Picnic lunch at the beach!



Ready to hike back to our hotel after a fun day at the beach.  Little did we know yet just how burnt we were!  Oh the sun in the tropics... at least we weren't horrible parents... Asher managed to stay burn free!



Enjoying dinner at an open air brick oven pizza place when...



...we spotted this sloth hanging out over our heads with her baby (not pictured)!





 


Back to the national park for a guided wildlife hike the next day

We saw SO many monkeys!!! Plus several more sloths, tree frogs, bats, etc!



It was an awesome trip and I feel like I've just dipped my toes into the collection of pictures we have. So many beautiful places, cultural experiences, fun times reconnecting with friends, and being with family.... I just hope we make it back again someday!   Like I said, a home away from home. 

#Meagan

 

 

 

 

 

17 and 18 months... oops!

So we were in Costa Rica over Asher's 17 month date so unfortunately we never got that one posted.  However, I did take the pics, and then I'll just let you know what he's been up to for the past TWO months! 

Here he was a month ago...

And here he is today! 




Believe it or not, I wrote this post last night, so I wouldn't forget to do it today, and then I go and forget to take the picture until it was almost bedtime, drool-covered, crazy hair, bizarre expression and completely undesiring to sit still.   You're welcome for the chuckle. :) That was the ONLY pic I could get of him looking at me! This is what the rest looked like...

And I've just convinced myself 100% that it's beyond time for his 1st hair cut!

 

 Anyway, happy 1/2 birthday, buddy!  18 months today! :) 

After mommy and daddy, Asher's top three loves include:

1. Anything to do with dogs. 

He expresses strong preferences for dog books, toys, stuffed animals, watching the neighbor dogs out the window, etc, but he has absolutely NO desire to get close enough to touch them. 
        
     2. Music, especially guitars.

He still loves to dance, pretends anything and everything is a guitar, strums his belly and random objects often, toots on his hand like a trumpet, loves playing our piano, adores watching daddy play guitar, gets a huge smile on his face when he hears music.  What else to say... it's just a fave. 
 
     3.  Balls, and throwing things.

Asher will easily spend half the day playing with balls.  Rolling, throwing, kicking, dropping off the back of the couch, throwing out the door, dropping them on my face when I accidently fall asleep on the floor next to him playing (it was a real baseball, and hurt pretty badly, in fact.)  But throwing all things are a big favorite right now.  Throwing things down the stairs, off his highchair, across the room... maybe he'll be a pitcher someday... that is if he's not a musician. ;)

Rising quickly in his interests also include cars, being outside, and there's the old standby - bath time!  But what kid doesn't like bathtime and being outside??? :) 

Our little guy is always on the go.  Walking has turned to running (but after seeing our two year old neighbor running the other day, Asher's still very much toddling... just faster than he used to.)  He's into everything and loves to explore, but his little personality is coming out more and more.    He does not like touching the grass, he will not touch playdough or clay, he's fairly timid and often will take some time to warm up to new people and places (there are of course exceptions that make no sense to me, but as a general rule, he's a slow warmer upper),  he likes his hands clean, he took a long while to warm up to stickers--- goopy, scratchy, itchy, slimy textures just don't interest him at this point in his little life.   But that's Eric for you too.  :)   Eric's mom says he would come in from playing as a little boy several times to wash his hands.  I've always thought he was a bit of a germaphobe... but must just be a different personality than my own. :)  Eric still won't walk barefoot in the grass or sand if he can help it and would much prefer socks and shoes over sandals, whereas I'm barefoot most of the summer.   It seems our little boy is taking after his daddy in more than looks alone.  It'll be interesting to see how he takes after me as he grows, because we don't see a whole lot at present. :) 

Anyway, it's getting late and I'm drawing a blank, so that'll have to do for now. 

We sure love him! :)  

#Meagan
   
  

Easter - a long overdue post

We had a blast visiting my parents a few, er several, weekends ago for Easter.  Asher LOVES their dog, and had a lot of fun playing with his cousins and enjoying time outside for a rare weekend of warmth in the middle of a very cold Spring.

 

Asher's first experience dying Easter eggs...

 

Grandma bought him and his cousin, Anthony, matching Easter suits. :) They were pretty adorable. Though Asher didn't care much for being still for pictures.  Poor grandpa was trying so hard to get a good picture of them together! :) 

 

All the grandkids!

 

 

Easter Egg hunting was another story of it's own.  We'd gotten out some eggs at home, and I hid them the week before to see what he'd do.  He ran around the room picking them up and putting them in his basket, so I thought he'd do great keep up with all his older cousins.  But unfortunately he didn't even care. :)  ALL he wanted to do was walk the dog around the yard.  :)  A little disappointing for us first time parents wanting a few "first" pics of him picking up Easter eggs, but cute all the same. :)   

 

Anyway, just thought I'd share a few pics from the weekend, and yes, way overdue.  Post #1 in playing catch up from this past month, I guess!   Sorry it's so late!

 

 

 

 

Life is not always as one plans.

Well, I didn't think we'd find ourselves in the hospital again so soon.  Poor little Asher has another respitory infection.  You may remember we spent five days in the hosital last March when he had RSV, then there was an unrelated surgery in July, another minor surgery in January, and now our poor little guy has pnemonia.   All being unrelated I know we're blessed he's not facing some chronic illness, but we sure haven't expected this path God's taken us down in learning to trust our son's health and well-being completely to HIS care.  There's nothing quite like seeing your otherwise healthy three month old put on oxygen, your 8 month old be taken screaming from your arms back to the operating room and watch him come out of anesthesia, or holding down your squirmy 17 month old while they dig around in his tiny arm to find an vein for an IV while he's screaming and sweating a fever over 103 degrees.  It's challenged us as parents, but we are blessed God holds his hand, and ours each and every day.  (And we are thankful for modern medicine!)

I've got a whole slew of posts on the back burner, half written, but as my title of today's posts so aptly declares, "Life is not always as one plans."  We've been living an absolute whirlwind since Easter, it seems.  I'll do my best to at least get the post of him in his adorable little Easter suit, egg dying and hunting (and all that cuteness) up on here later today.  :)

Since Easter, we've planned and celebrated Eric's 29th Birthday, planned and unfortunately had to postpone (on account of Asher in the hospital) a family baby shower for my little sister's first (due in a couple weeks!), finished planning for, laundering for, packing for, AND taking a ten day vacation WITH Asher and my parents to Costa Rica (where I lived and worked for a year and a half in my single days), spent one day back at home trying to do laundry and buy the basics at the grocery store while also comforting a sick little boy (who I didn't realize was quite as sick as he was!), and now are on day three here at the hospital.  Fun times.  It really has been up until this last week!

Anyway, the little guy is stirring, so I'd better go.  Here's a few teasers for putting up with my prolific writing above without a single photo, and our month and a half long drought on the posting front. 

To come:

Easter... 



















Asher's 17 Month post...
  (oops, sorry, guess those pics are still on the camera at home!)

Costa Rica...  gorgeous country, gorgeous weather, wonderful time!

And maybe we'll post a couple pics of him being such a trooper in the hospital.  :)  Sorry, I don't have any pics of that now, all of those are on the phone which is deader than a doornail at the moment, and I'm without a charger here until Eric can relieve me for a trip home.      

We continue to appreciate your prayers as Asher continues to heal!   (We were admitted Wednesday afternoon sometime shortly after our 1:30 doctor's appointment, and he's been on the mend rapidly since!  We have hope we'll be able to go home sometime this afternoon.  The doctor will be in sometime over lunch to check his progess!)  Anyway, thanks again for your prayers!

Meagan        

Hugs and Kisses

So this post has been hanging out half written for at least a month now.   I know I mentioned in our 15 month post that Asher started hugging and cuddling his stuffed animals.  It warms my heart everytime I see him doing so. :)  Anyway, I didn't have any pics of it to include in that post (now a month and a half ago!), so I asked Eric to try and get some for me.  It was well worth the effort for this adorable slide show.  While the pictures even were taken a month ago, I think you'll still enjoy.  :) 

 

That last ones my favorite, I think. :)   As for the kisses, somewhere along the way, Asher ceased waving goodbye and now only blows kisses.  So anyone and everyone, from the cashier at the grocery store to the random stranger walking down the street, gets blown kisses anytime they say "bye bye" to him.  They, of course, think it's adorable.   And I enjoy everyone thinking he's adorable, so I guess it works for now. :)  

 

Have a great weekend and we'll do our best to get his Easter pics posted before the 4th of July. :) 

 

#Meagan 

 

16 months

This month has been full of a lot of gradual change and improvement of Asher's skills, but looking back over the past month, I don't feel like I have a lot to say that I didn't say last month.... just that now he does all those things... better. :) He's a better walker (almost runner), he understands more, communicates better, says more words, has a stronger sense of independence, and throws MORE in not only the garbage can, but the toilet now too!  Growth in every area... not always good, but it provides good stories, I guess. :)  Anyway, without further jabber ('cause there's plenty more of that in this post!),  here's Asher's 16 month pic(s) in the yellow chair!



Our silly boy :)

And I just look at this one and wonder... when did my baby turn into a little boy?

Other improvements/changes/growth we're seeing:

1. Asher is finally back to taking a decent nap of 2 to 2 1/2 hours rather than that measly 45 minute nap he was taking last month.

2.  He's got 11 teeth now.  His 4 front teeth on top and bottom and 3 molars farther back. 

3. Asher's up to at least 30 "words" that he says. (He points and makes the same sound for the object every time he says it, but it's not exactly intelligible to others. :) He'll say something like "ca" for clock and car. "Key" for cookie (graham crackers) and believe it or not, key. He'll say "ga" for garbage. "Di" for diaper. And many more of the same type of word parts, for juice, shoes, teeth, eyes, no - which usually sounds more like na or nah-nee, etc., etc., etc.  

4. He's started perking up all excited-like when he understands something I say in conversation with others and gestures that he knows what I'm talking about. For example, I was talking with Eric about something having to do with toothbrushes the other day, and Asher looked up at me with an excited look on his face and pantomimed brushing his teeth. :) He's joining in our conversations already! :)

5. Speaking of which, he constantly surprises me by how much he understands and follows through on things I ask of him. I didn't expect him to understand so much already. 1st time parenting, I guess. Just amazed at everything such a new, little person can do!

6. Those of you who are our friends on facebook know that Asher's made a smooth transition towards falling asleep on his own!  After rocking him to sleep his entire life, we decided it was time he learn to put himself to sleep.  I still do all the regular routine with plenty of snuggling and then lay him down drowsy.  The 1st night he only cried 11 minutes, the 2nd and 3rd nights less than a minute, and now we're averaging about 5 minutes or less.  Not exactly painful, as I'd feared it might be!  We're praising God for our sweet boy!

And he knows it too!  Lately he's been giving us this look out of the corner of his eyes, saying  "Look at me, I'm being cute." This doesn't capture it perfectly but you get the idea.  Such a funny kid.:) 

 

 

In other news, I'm feeling like he's actually "able" to help around the house now, or more willing to play independently for longer stretches.  Either way, I've been much more able to keep up with things around the house and consquently been more at peace, felt like I have more time to play, and just all around enjoy being a stay at home mom more than I have the last few months.  (I've never not enjoyed the mom part... just sometimes overwhelmed with the being at home all day part- needing to entertain while unable to deal with the mess around me that was making me a little stressed from time to time.)  I know my housekeeping is not as important as building into him... but regardless mess can equal stress, and not being able to keep up can be very frustrating and discouraging.  

Anyway, he now "helps" me push the laundry basket from the living room to the laundry room, put clothes in the dryer and take them out, unload the silverware from the dishwasher (handing me one utensil at a time while I hurriedly put away everything else), he'll play around me while I put clothes away and tidy our bedrooms, and then we're able to play much more of our day. :)  It's also helped alot now that he's getting older and napping less to get out of the house more for things like story time at the library, tot town (an indoor park for toddlers and preschoolers put together by our city's parks and rec dept. in the winter), and of course grocery shopping, and other errands around town. It helps with the winter cooped-in feeling, and also minimizes our mess making at home!  Let me just say though that we CANNOT wait for spring and summer to be here!  To go on walks, play in the yard and at the park, go to the pool, etc, etc.  especially since he wasn't walking last summer and is now almost running.  It'll be soo much fun, and we just can't wait! :)  


He's also the best dancer I've ever seen.  ;)  He's been dancing to music for quite some time, but we just finally got around to capturing it on video!

And it's just that much better in person.  :)  

Well that's Asher at 16 months, or well a snap shot of him anyway!

Sorry we've been a bad bloggers these last few months. Asher's going down to one nap a day has really cut down on my free time for such things as this.  But I've got a few ideas in mind for this upcoming week though, so I promise to keep trying. :)

Happy weekend!
#Meagan