Asher Turns 2

 *this post is a bit wordy...enjoy

Asher turned 2 years old on November 24.  His birthday fell on Thanksgiving day this year and what a blessing it is to be able to give thanks for him. 

Since Piper was born, he has grown up so much. Instantly he became bigger because Piper was so small. His vocabulary has increased and most of the time he is obedient...except for the occasional toddler meltdown.  How I love the toddler meltdown!! 

He gave up his paci right after his birthday.  I say gave up but what I really mean is that we lost it and he had to give it up. He did great.  I don't remember him fussing at bedtime. 

He loves his sister and lately has been trying to help entertain her with rattles and the music box he loved so much as a baby.  It melts my heart every night that he gives her a kiss goodnight. 

 He is really into Toy Story...this is his Buzz Lightyear!  He will start running around the house and holler "To Infinity and Beyond."  It took me awhile to figure out what he was saying but once I figured it out I was amazed.  I am still amazed at how much he picks up during a movie.  He is just like a sponge.  For Christmas this year we got him Buzz Lightyear action figure (don't call it a doll) and it has been a hit.  He loves it.  I think he played with it for two days straight before he realized he received more toys. 

He has become quite the helper.  Anytime I start something in the kitchen he goes to get his stool and wants to help. He has helped make waffles, red velvet cake and dinner multiple times. When he is done eating, he will bring his plate to the sink and wants to rinse it and then wash his hands.  He enjoys unloading the dishwasher and putting clothes on to wash.  I sometimes get frustrated because it takes me longer to do my chores when he helps but then I just remind myself that he is watching what we do and wants to be big!

Asher has become very independent.  Other than helping me with chores, he has been known to have some independent play time during the day.  When I rock Piper for her naps I tell him what I am doing and that he needs to stay in the living room or his room.  Most of the time he will get caught up playing with cars in his room that when I get done with Piper he doesn't notice. I think it is so sweet that his imagination is growing. He wants/tries to do everything by himself!!  I don't know how but he can completely work the DVD player.  I have heard this said of most toddlers but I still think it pretty amazing.

One of my favorite things about Asher right now is this...He will run through the house yelling MA! MA! and when he finds me, he stops, wraps his arms around my legs, looks into my eyes and says, "Hi Mom"  and runs back to wherever he was playing.  It cracks me up everytime.

 

After almost nine months, Piper has finally arrived!  What a great day it was! 

Piper was born at 4:46 pm and weighed 6 lbs 10 oz...a whole 2 lbs less than Asher!

This is the first time I got a close look at my baby girl!

She looks just like Asher when he was born.

Proof that she was really 6 lb 10 oz. 

The first time Asher wanted to hold Piper.  It took him a couple of days but he has warmed up to her!

Guess What...

Asher is going to be a big brother and we are having a GIRL!!

This is the absolute best picture that I have so please forgive the terrible photography. Also, this picture is from April and Asher looks so little. He changes so quickly!

Anyway...Jeremy and I are excited. I am about 21 weeks along. We told everyone fairly quickly because it was so hard to keep it a secret but I am just now getting to blog about it!

Asher has no clue what is happening. Although I hope that as I get bigger he will understand that he cannot jump and climb on me like he enjoys doing so much.

We had our ultrasound two weeks ago and Jeremy and I were convinced we were having another boy so imagine the surprise when we were told it is a girl. Jeremy said he almost fell down and my mind immediately went to doing hair! Isn't that crazy! After the shock set in...a couple of days later...we are excited to have a little girl.

We weren't completely set on a name when we went into the appt. but by the time we walked out we had it all figured out. Her name will be Piper Clair Bradshaw. Piper has been on our list for quite some time and we were on the fence about Clair but it just made sense after the appt.

*On a completely different note, I haven't been blogging and just feel terrible about it. There are so many things that Asher is doing that I need to be recording and I fail to do it because I say I don't have time. I will not be using that excuse anymore...I will be blogging more often even it is just a sentence or two so that I can remember what my toddler is doing and what Piper is doing as well.

Springtime Fun

The weather has definitely turned warmer and with a toddler running around our house, Jeremy and I are trying out some new things to keep Asher entertained. Well...we found something...the sprinkler!! Asher loves water so it wasn't a surprise that he enjoys playing in the sprinkler. He will walk up to the water and stick his head in and laughs!! It is so fun to see him playing outside.

However, he is not a happy camper when the water is turned off and he has to go inside!! This is a great way for us to get him good and tired so he will take a good nap!!

Our Days

By the time Friday rolls around, I often wonder to myself...What did I do this week?

And then I remember I have a toddler and remember that I did alot. Some weeks are busier than others and some weeks we don't go anywhere until Dad gets home. So I thought I would post some pictures of the fun things that Asher gets into during the week....Ready...Set...Go!

Asher has learned to climb and climb he does...on EVERYTHING!! This box of blocks is tricky because sometimes it moves and Asher falls but it never lets it get him down! Oh...and he is SO proud of himself when he climbs on anything!

He LOVES to help with the dishes...this was the first time we climbed in the dishwasher...thank goodness it was empty at the time and not full of dirty dishes. Now I can only do dishes when he is asleep or Jeremy is home because he wants to take out all of the dirty dishes. But I am grateful for his helpful attitude.

Sometimes we like to wear crazy outfits!! I put these Spiderman slippers on him and enjoyed walking around in them. I think it is funny because he just has on a onesie and was walking around with my rolling pin.

And apparently we are going to love Mardi Gras in our house. He has quite a collection of beads and likes to put them on and take them off. Sometimes we put them on Foster which is real funny but mostly they can be found around Asher's neck!

Lastly...Asher got a computer!! I know I thought it was a bit crazy to get him a computer also but Jeremy insisted!!

Just Joking...this one of Jeremy's old computers that doesn't do anything.

Asher loves to sit on my lap while I am at the computer and tap on the keys, which becomes a bit annoying. (And the other day he broke one of the shift keys so I only have one that is working which is becoming irritating.)

Anyway...Jeremy pulled this out the other day to keep Asher occupied while he was working and Asher loved it!! I think it is cute how he is sitting and it looks like he is typing. Don't worry...we monitor his content and the amount of time spent on the computer so his eyes don't go bad and hopefully he won't have carpal tunnel by the age of 2...haha!!

He definitely keeps my days busy and interesting! Hopefully the weather will decide what it wants to do and we can have some play time outside soon!

Weekend Fun

This past Saturday, we decided to take a day trip to Kemah. This was Asher's first trip to the Boardwalk and he did wonderfully!! We left around naptime so he would sleep in the car but decided not to sleep!!

Our first stop was lunch at T-Bone Tom's! It was featured on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives so Jeremy had to eat there and it was good. I got a shrimp po-boy that had so much shrimp on it that I couldn't eat it as a sandwich, so I just ate the shrimp. As you can see below, Asher was really excited to eat at a restaraunt featured on TV!!

Our next stop was the actual Boardwalk where we fed the stingrays! Actually Jeremy fed the stingrays and Asher and I just watched. He was pretty intrigued by the stingrays and got pretty close to the tank...close enough to pet one!!

Next we took a family picture at the fountain where Jeremy proposed to me several years ago. This was so fun to go back and have Asher with us!!

And lastly, Asher and I rode the train while Jeremy rode the Boardwalk Bullet...the wooden rollercoaster at the boardwalk. Asher was so exhausted by this point he just set on my lap and almost fell asleep but the train kept him awake. We enjoyed getting away for the day and look forward to many more adventures with Asher!!

Valentine's Dinner

Monday morning I woke up to this lovely box of chocolates greeting me in the kitchen!! It was a total surprise. Jeremy and I don't really do much for Valentine's Day...we think it is for those that are dating...but anyway. He totally knows how to make me happy, but I would have been happy without the chocolate, but happier with the chocolate!! I digress...

Before Asher came into this world, we would have breakfast together on the morning of Valentine's Day but now that we have Asher and Valentine's Day was on a Monday, I decided to make a special dinner for us.

I have always wanted to roast a chicken but was too scared to do it. Silly me!! So that is what I made for our dinner...

Roasted Chicken!!!

I must say, I don't know what I was scared of. It was quite simple and it wasn't a disaster!! I followed a recipe and cooked it in my dutch oven for a couple of hours and it looked beautiful. However...I cooked it with the breast side down so there wasn't much flavor there but the dark meat was juicy and flavorful. I even put some garlic, lemon and celery in the cavity of the chicken like the pros do!!

I am most impressed that I actually made the thing. I now have the confidence to roast a chicken and next time I am going to slather it in butter!!

Also...the chicken cost me less than $5.00 and we still have some in the fridge!! What a bargain!