New Pics

See more new pics on my Picasa link to the left.

Daddy's Duster

I always love it when Beau wears his duster when it's raining. I just think he's a hotty. =) This evening, when we came home from the dining hall, it was POURING, and Beau covered Asher up with his duster to bring him inside. It was so sweet. I don't know if anyone can appreciate it but us, but I loved it.

The Last Few Days...

In the last few days Asher has become even more mobile. He's almost actually crawling, and he's pulling up on everything. And he gets really proud of himself when he pulls up on something. It's pretty cute.

Asher and I went to Waco on Tuesday, because I wanted to see Skyler in her gymnastics class and Allie and Jack at their Baylor basketball and baseball camps. Asher is starting to enjoy people more and more. I think that he and Claire are starting to become "buddies". We even got to go to the Baylor pool, and Asher and Claire were TOO cute in their lifejackets. Asher loved floating on his back. He was so relaxed! The only bad thing about the trip was one of our car rides from Waco out to Mom and Dad's house with Allie and Jack and two SCREAMING babies! Like I said before, "It was opposite of heaven - and I'm NOT talking about earth!" And Allie said, "I HATE cars with crying babies in them!" Emily and I agreed. =)

Early this morning, when Asher KEPT waking up, I brought him to bed with me, and we slept until 9:00!!! It was HEAVEN!!! Then Rachel, one of the summer staffers here, came over after lunch and watched Asher for me while I got some things done around the house...AND I was able to take a nap! It was GREAT!!! It was nice to get a little extra sleep today, because, for some reason, I was a little wiped out after our Waco trip.

I wish I had something "profound" to write about like the rest of you fellow bloggers, but I just don't...except: "You can make a lot of money if you invent the right thing." (Emily, that was for you!)

Good night!

Zaccheus and Raspberries

It's weird, but almost anytime Asher is upset or won't eat his baby food, all I have to do is start singing, "Zaccheus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he...". For WHATEVER reason, he LOVES it! It's hilarious! And when I'm trying to feed him baby food, and he's clamping his mouth shut, if I sing that (or even just sing the first word, "Zaccheus"), 90% of the time, he'll open his mouth long enough for me to get a bite in. And sometimes that will work for several bites. And by the way, I've tried it with other songs too, but Zaccheus is his favorite! And "Have Patience" is his next favorite. He's a strange child...=)

And today he discovered the joy of blowing "raspberries" - you know, when he blows bubbles with his spit. He finds it quite entertaining!

"Belly Button"

Asher and I were playing on the floor...playing "catch" with his $1 grocery store bouncy ball, him pulling up on me, us laying down on the floor "talking"...and I started pushing in his belly button and saying "belly button" or "ding dong" in a funny voice, and he thought it was the funniest thing ever. It cracks me up the things that crack him up.

Asher and God...

Asher is doing this new squeal/scream thing today. It's so cute! He woke up doing it and has been doing it pretty constantly since then. He used to "growl" mostly, and I guess this is a new form of expression for him. I love it. =)

One of the things that has shaped my life the most and brought me the most comfort and conviction is that God is WITH us...all the time...at EVERY moment. It's good for me to think of that again! All we have to do is walk WITH Him, because He's HERE - even if we don't understand life sometimes. I've been confused at and hurt by life's circumstances plenty of times and many times I never "figure it out", but I always know that He is WITH me, so I carry on...and TRUST that He will be faithful...because that's who He is.

The other thing that drives me is that God is LOVE, and if I want to know HIM, I must KNOW LOVE. So that is what I strive for...to love Him and people. Everything else is wrapped up in that. Granted, I certainly do not always succeed!!! But I want to, so I ask for His help...again...and again...and again...

My FAVORITE song is "Rushing Wind" by Keith Green:

Rushing wind blow through this temple,
Blowing out the dust within,
Come and breathe Your breath upon me,
I've been born again.

Holy Spirit, I surrender,
take me where You want to go,
Plant me by Your living water,
Plant me deep so I can grow.

Jesus, You're the one,
who sets my spirit free,
Use me Lord, glorify, Your holy name through me.

Separate me from this world Lord.
Sanctify my life for You.
Daily change me to Your image,
Help me bear good fruit.

Every day You're drawing closer.
Trials come to test my faith.
But when all is said and done Lord,
You know, it was worth the wait.

Jesus, You're the one,
Who set my spirit free,
Use me Lord, glorify, Your holy name through me.

Rushing wind blow through this temple,
Blowing out the dust within,
Come and breathe you breath upon me,
For I've been born again.

Fun day...

Well, we had a fun day today. Asher and I slept until about 8:30 (after feeding him at 5:30 then both of us going back to bed). Nadia and Ethan (friends at the camp) stopped by and visited for a little bit this morning. Asher and I went on a walk this afternoon and went and visited Daddy in the office. There he discovered the joy of a cardboard box. He's pulling up on just about everything now, and he liked playing inside of it too. It was pretty cute. Then we went and ran a few errands with Beau around the camp. After that, we came home, Asher took almost a two hour nap (finally, because his other two naps were pretty short), while I looked up info about car seats on the internet. Then Ethan came over to play for the evening, and Brad and Nadia went on a date. Ethan is two months older than Asher, and they're finally starting to show a little more interest towards each other. I actually created a little set up in the kitchen where I could feed both of them dinner at one time. I was pretty impressed with myself. =) Beau was also a GREAT help tonight. It was a TEAM effort! He's a good one! Once they were both asleep, I watched a little more of "Hitch" - which I've been working on a little at a time for three days now. Pathetic, isn't it? Maybe I'll actually finish tomorrow. And Beau is now undwinding from his day by...you guessed it, playing a video game. And soon, we will both turn in. Beau has to be at work at 6:30 this week, and I'm just tired. =)

My only other big thing is that I've been researching car seats today, because Asher will soon outgrow his first one. It's a little stressful to know if it's pretty necessary to spend some extra money on one, or if a less expensive one is really just as good. If anyone has any input, feel free to offer it. =)

Have a lovely night!

Enjoy...

Some of the things I've enjoyed so far today:

• Asher sleeping ALL night!!!
• Beau letting me sleep until 9:15!!!
• Beau toasting and buttering my pop tart for me, because I normally just grab one and eat it raw since I don't have time for anything else...But he said it's just so much better...and it is! =) And a small glass of cold milk with that. =)
• Reading my book
• Playing with Asher - him crawling all over us...
• Watching Asher entertain himself in his bed. (I love being with him, but sometimes it's really nice NOT to be "needed"!) He likes to play with his toys and pull himself to standing all by himself (which is a new thing!). And he's so proud when he does that. =)
• Watching part of "Hitch"
• Beau being off

Something I haven't enjoyed:

• Facing the dilemma of what is best for Asher - learning to fall asleep on his own (which most of the time I think is the best thing for him)...or rocking him to sleep (which I love doing, but lately he has seemed too ansty for that). Most of the time it's not a big deal to put him down...he fusses for just a few minutes, then goes to sleep. But this morning it was harder. So I was dreading putting him down this afternoon. I rocked him for a little bit to try to get him drowsy (because I knew he was tired), but it didn't work. So I layed him down, and I think it only took him five minutes tops to fall asleep (which has happened while I was typing this). And it's times like that, that I think it's the right option for him. I'm just going to stick with it for a few days, and maybe my answer will be clear...I hope!

Asher

I love that Asher's name means "happy" and that he IS!!! There are absolutely no words to adequately express how much we LOVE him!!! We think he's the GREATEST thing in the whole wide world! We love every little thing about him!!! He's extremely laid back - MOST of the time! (He definitely has his "opionated/spirited" moments as well!) He loves his tongue, trying to crawl, holding and chewing on his toothbrush, his hammer, his Mommy and Daddy!!!...and he cocks his head to the side and sticks his hands out with fists when he's really happy about something. How could we love a human being so much?! I think Beau and I always thought that we would forever love each other the MOST, then our kids the "next most"...but we both "confessed" to each other the other day that we can't help it...we love Asher as much as we love each other...just differently. =)

Bugs...

This is kind of weird...I hate bugs! That's not the weird part. =) The weird part is that when Asher and I were on a walk today, I was thinking about how great the sounds are in the country. But what are those sounds??? Bugs.

Lymph nodes...thank goodness!

Emily and I were planning on meeting at the Fort Worth Zoo this morning with our babies, but when I was feeding Asher, I noticed a knot on his neck. It concerned Beau and me, so we took him to the doctor in Waco. It was just as his doctor had suspected over the phone - swollen lymph nodes. He has a little sore throat - no big deal! I'm SO THANKFUL for his good health!!!

Beau was able to go with us to Waco, so when we were finished at the doctor's, we went and had a quick lunch at Panda Express. Great orange chicken and Mongolian chicken!!! Chinese is Beau's FAVORITE, so it's always a fun treat when we can get that...no Chinese in the big city of Glen Rose!

Upon returning home, Beau went back to work, Asher and I played for a while, he went down for a nap, I baked chocolate chip cookies, checked email, and now he's waking up from a nap...so I better go.

Happy 37th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!! Thanks for showing us what love and commitment are all about!!! We love you!