4 Months

Eli said it best this morning, "Asher, you need to stop growing up because I want you to be my little boy forever!"  Asher is not a newborn anymore.  He is a chubby little happy baby who loves his family and loves life.  You can just watch him soaking in what the older kids are doing and enjoying the newness of the world around him.  I love to view the world with new eyes.  He reminds me to look up and just take a moment to watch the leaves shaking in the wind.  I want to freeze him right now, but instead I will just appreciate every stage we get to go through.  At 4 months Asher:

1.  Weighs around 14.5 lbs and isn't as chunky as Cora was, but pretty close!  He has his 4 months appointment in a week and I can't wait to see how big he is.
2.  Is standing on his legs and will strain and push with his legs to make you lift him up so he can be a big shot!
3.  Loves his jumper and messing with the toys on it.
4.  Finally likes tummy time because he can mess with toys and hold his head up high to watch what is going on around him.  On his back, he can actually scoot a little by pushing his legs.
5.  Grabs at toys, shirts, blankets, hair, etc.  Anything he can get his little chubby fingers on he will go after.  I am moving all the little dangerous toys to the kids rooms because everything goes in the mouth.
6.  Gnaws on his hands, drools, and spits up quite a bit.
7.  Has started screeching and squealing.
8.  Will sometimes go up to 7 days without pooping (which leads to some uncomfortable moments, but is actually quite normal for breastfed babies).
9.  Loves showers and baths
10.  Blows raspberries
11.  Is wearing 6 month, 6-12 month, and 6-9 month clothes
12.  Is called a few nicknames such as:  Ash, Ash man, Asher the smasher
13.  Laughs and is very ticklish

14.  Loves toys now

15.  Took a bottle and was babysat for the first time and did great...never cried once for my parents (while Brandon and I went to the Broadway Lion King). 

16.  Has been put in the nursery at church to sleep (hoping he can spend some time in there every Sunday to get used to it)

17.  Rocks to sleep with paci and is still getting up at least 3 times at night (yawn). 

18.  My favorite moment is going to get him out of his crib when he wakes up and he always is startled and SO happy to see me. 

19.  Is VERY friendly and VERY flirty!  Everyone always comments about how smiley he is.  He will start "talking" and smiling at anyone who talks to him. 

Miss you!

It has been a year since Brandon's Grandpa Louks passed away suddenly.  It is still hard to believe he is gone and we miss him terribly.  I never thought about the fact that when I got married I would be adopted into a whole new family whom I would love as much as my own flesh and blood.  I gained a sister, three brothers, another set of parents, a great grandparent, an aunt, and another set of grandparents (as well as a lot of other wonderful relatives).  They all mean the world to me and it has been one of the great joys in my life to be apart of their family.  I am looking forward to seeing Poppaw again someday and especially looking forward to him meeting Asher.    

Marion Lake

My Mom was camping at Marion Lake this weekend (they have a little camper), so we all decided to join her for the day today.  We had an absolute BLAST and can't wait to go back.  The cousins had so much fun playing together and we all enjoyed a cool day by the warm fire.  The kids loved building a fire, fishing, throwing rocks in the lake, going hiking, riding bikes, playing games, celebrating Brandon's b-day, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, and being together.  I can't wait until next summer when they can enjoy the other aspects of camping such as swimming and playing on the beach.  Eli and Cora are already begging to go back! 

Birthday

We enjoyed celebrating Brandon being on this earth with us for 36 years, yesterday!  The kids painted him pictures and when asked what they wanted to buy him Eli said, "A guitar!" and Cora said, "A motorcycle!"  They sure know their dad well!  We had a tasty dinner then headed to Freddy's for Turtle Sundae's and had a movie night.  I couldn't ask for a better husband and father to my kids.  Happy Birthday love!   

Holding Hands!

We had friends over to celebrate Brandon's birthday.  The Racchinis have been our friends forever and our kids are all the same ages.  Their youngest Liana is just a couple months older than Asher.  She was playing on the playmat and I laid Asher down beside her.  She immediately grabbed his hand and they held hands for a long time.  It was the cutest thing!  Even when she tried to let go he grabbed her thumb and held on!  It was just so darn cute!  Yesterday, we had some storms roll in and cooled everything down.  The highlight of my day was laying on my bed with both my boys (Cora was napping) with the windows open having what we called a "windy snuggle".  Asher loved watching the trees whipping around and Eli kept telling Asher how much he loved him and snuggling him.  I love being a homemaker!  You couldn't pay me millions to miss these moments. 

Pre-K

Eli had his first day of Pre-K/Preschool yesterday!  He was excited but a little nervous (I could tell because he got up a couple of times in the night and didn't eat very much breakfast).  We had to get to speech across town before school so it was a crazy morning, but good!  He has three of his old classmates in his class and a lot of new friends to meet.  He didn't even tell us good-bye when he got into class...he was ready to get started!  Brandon surprised him and met us at the school to take him to class.  Afterwards we treated ourselves to pumpkin spice lattes. I was so proud of myself for getting out of the house by 7:20 and still squeezing in some photos...until I got home after 9 and realized I had left the front door WIDE open!  I got a good laugh!  It was sad to see an end to Summer.  We have had so much fun!  Cora sniffled a couple of times because she missed him but also enjoyed our "girl time" as we call it.  The house was SO quiet.  I forgot that aspect of him being in school (those who know him know that he is loud and emotional and keeps us on our toes).  I really missed him and our conversations.  I was glad to pick him up and see him smiling! It is always hard to let go of your kids, but I know it will be so good for him socially!  I am praying for a great year!