Tag--

You're It.

My friend Mare tagged me in a fun little post so I decided to go ahead with it.  Beware, it is somewhat lengthy.  But you will learn so much about me. :)

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

haha.  Engagements, May 2007

11 Random things:

1. I just spent a lot of time looking through all of our engagement pictures.  I think I look mostly the same but Marcus looks so young to me.
2. I love massages.
3. I could never get enough sleep to feel rested. I'm always tired.
4. My biggest fear in the whole wide world are bees.
5. I am having a hard time getting back into running since having my little baby.  I love running so much but it just hurts now when I do it.  There is always pain somewhere...my shins, knees, thighs...and not just an out of shape pain, but a pain pain.  But I will push through it.
6. I get a bit of anxiety whenever I spend very much money.  Especially if it wasn't very carefully planned out.
7. I hate, hate, hate ketchup, mustard and mayo.
8. I want to cut my hair really, really short.
9. I am so bad at picking favorites. I just stared at so many pictures and couldn't pick one. If you ask me my favorite food, candy bar, vacation place, I will tell you about 5 things, or ask for categories. Or say 'it depends'.
10. I love the weekends, even now that I don't have a job. I love when Marcus is home with us.
11. I like food more than I did before I was pregnant.

Answers to Mare's questions:

1. One item I could not live without is my bed.
2. The best book I have ever read is the Hunger Games.  Does that make me sound totally lame and like I'm a non-reader?  Maybe so but I don't have a good memory so all I can remember is that it is the best book I have read lately.  I always love a fun, easy read. Oh, but The Help was an amazing one that I've read lately too.
3. I am a definitely not an early bird but lately I'm not that much of a night owl either!
4. One trait I want my kids to inherit from me is my ability to not stress about things.  Kidding.  Totally kidding.  This was a hard question!  I don't know.  My brains?
5. My ideal Friday night is going to get a delicious dessert with Marcus and then just hanging out with him, whether at home or doing something we've been wanting to do.  Even running errands, but just having him to myself and doing something fun.
6. My biggest pet peeve is when people sit next to me and just shake their leg or something so rapidly I can feel my whole body vibrating. For a long period of time, like a whole class or meeting at church.
7. If I had $1000 I had to spend in one day I would buy a new wardrobe, buy Marcus some new Toms and probably buy Asher a really expensive darling outfit.
9. I am most proud of graduating from college, running half marathons, and having a healthy pregnancy without complaining too much.
10. My favorite vacation is our trip to Europe.  There were so many crazy, funny, scary, random memories with Marcus that I will never forget.
11. I would definitely rather a pedicure over a manicure!

My 11 questions:

1. If you could be anyone for one day who would you be?
2. Sweet or Salty?
3. What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
4. What is your biggest pet peeve?
5. If you could have any talent and be awesome at it, what would it be?
6. What is your favorite way to relax?
7. What is your favorite college memory?
8. Would you rather cook or clean?
9. If you could only use one item of makeup what would it be?
10. What is your ideal Saturday?

Tag, You're It!

April J.
Nina O.
Christine C.
Ashley C.
Katie S.
Tierra F.
Elise B.

I decided to go with some wardies and my sisters.  And if any of you do this, I will be more than surprised.  :)  Go.

My Little Owl Guy

I kind of love ceramic animals.  I have a few birds, and now I have my lion.  And whenever I go to TJ Maxx or any store like that, that is the first thing I look for.  Something cute and cool.  And this week I found the best little owl there! He was darling but was white with strange bits of tan on him.  So I painted him "ivy leaf" and now just love him!

And since I've been sick and haven't had the time or energy to do any of the projects I've had in mind, this was just the mini project I needed.  And thanks to Asher's third nap yesterday I had the time to do it.  Also it was the perfect test run on the color since I was trying to find the perfect shade of green for my TV stand.  It is exactly what I had in mind.  Now I just need Asher to take a REALLY long nap and I'll get on it!

7 Months Old

Asher is seven months old!  (Yesterday...)

This was the hardest picture to get so far.  Asher would not hold still long enough to get one and it seemed like his hands or feet were blurry in all of the pictures because they were constantly moving.

At seven months:

Weight: 17 pounds even (He finally gained some weight!  He gained 1 pound 8 ounces in a little under a month)

Since switching Asher to formula we have seen such a change in him.  We always thought he was a good, happy baby, but now he is even better and even more happy.  He is so much more content and just loves life!  We are so happy that he is full now and doing so well.

-Asher now sleeps the entire night.  He goes to bed at 8:00 and wakes up around 7:30.  

-He takes a bottle 4 times a day and eats solid foods 3 times.

-He loves squash the best.  He also really likes sweet potatoes and carrots and loves trying new foods.

-He usually takes 2 good naps and sometimes a third shorter nap depending on how long his other naps were.  It seems he may be ready to phase that one out.

-He still hates being put in his car seat but is really good in the car now.  He will even take long naps in his car seat if it's nap time.

-He is constantly laughing.  He is the happiest little thing and just looking at him makes him laugh.

-He is so social.  He loves being in new places and seeing new people.  He will laugh or make crazy sounds to get everyone's attention.  He is especially loud and happy at church where he gets lots of attention.

-He loves grocery shopping now that he can sit in the front of the cart and see everything that is going on.

-He is always moving.  He still rolls a ton.  He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but for now can only scoot backwards.    

-He sits really well and only topples over when he wants to -- if he see something he wants and needs to get it.

-He got his first tooth!  Just the top of the tooth is poking up.

-He is more independent and can entertain himself so well.

-He loves it when Marcus gets home from work and just laughs and laughs when he sees him.

-He is so much fun and we just love hanging out with this sweet little guy.

See last month here.

And...the outtakes.  You can see he's just constantly moving!

St. George With a Baby

We took Asher on his first trip to St. George this weekend. We had a great time which means it was the first of many.

Asher had a nasty little cold and by the end of the trip I had caught it too, but despite all of that we had a good time.  We went swimming and Asher absolutely loved it.  He would just splash and splash and kept accidentally sticking his face in the water.

The weather was so warm and gorgeous and we enjoyed going on walks, doing some shopping, and just enjoying the nice weather.  We also got to spend some time with Jamie and Adam and their cute Millie.  We went to dinner with them and hung out at their house.

Me and Jamie and our big babies.  Blurry pic but it's the only one we got of us!

It was so much fun to see little Millie and Asher together and watch them interact.  Millie is such a calm, sweet little girl, she is adorable!  And Asher was being a little bit of a goof ball and showing off for his friends.

A Day in the Life...

I realized that so often I don't take pictures because I want my pictures to look perfect.  I want them to look professional and gorgeous and just capture the moment so perfectly.  And, well, let's be honest, I can't do that.  Since I can't do that, sometimes I choose to not take a picture at all.  But I've realized how sad that is and decided I wanted pictures of Asher (and me and Marcus) throughout a normal day, unposed and just how things are.

So here is a day in the life of Asher.  Taken by me, mostly, but a few from Marcus, like the ones first thing in the morning when I'm feeding him.  Lots are taken at awkward angles or aren't the best pictures, but to me they represent our day and all of the small moments that are so sweet (or crazy...)

________________________

Good morning happy baby.  You watch me as we make your bottle.

You love to reach up towards me while you drink your bottle.  You reach for either my mouth or my nose, and like me to nibble on your fingers while you eat.

Then we go eat.  Today you had carrots and squash for breakfast.

Bathtime.

You go through a good part of your day without any pants on.

You play so well in your exersaucer while I run on the treadmill...but not until you'd fully examined my shoelaces first.

Naptime.  First I swaddle you up and let you play with my hair to distract you from the fact that you are being swaddled up, and about to be put to bed.  And yes, you are almost 7 months old and still like to be swaddled to sleep.  Just from the armpits down though, so you are free to move your arms or suck your thumb as you please.

Then you always play with the mobile for a minute, and think it is hilarious.  But sometimes it makes you frustrated that I don't let you eat it.

and then you go to sleep.  An hour or two later you wake up and I come get you.  And you are happy as can be to see me.

You are such a busy baby.  I put you down in the center of the closet with a toy and the next time I look over you are playing under dad's shirts.  Even though you can't crawl you can get to most places you want to be.

I couldn't make your bottle fast enough and you got pretty upset.  The water just takes so long to get warm!

I let you play in the sink when you were bored even though that is probably not a good place for a baby to play.  So when you are older and say I never let you do anything you want to, you can look back on this and see that I did.

When dad got home we took a little trip to Target.  Here dad was passing you off to mom because you needed your diaper changed - silly dad.

One of your favorite toys right now is a little white matchbox car that dad bought you.  Tonight you were getting tired and fussy and dad dumped your whole basket of toys out for you to play with and the little car is what you chose.

Goodnight sweet baby boy.

Love This Bug

Seriously Sweet

I have some seriously sweet and very creative family members.  My mom and sisters are all so thoughtful and do the cutest things.  I usually feel like I'm the least thoughtful and am so lucky to have these guys.

Katie made all of us the cutest Valentine's day bunting.  I loved it so much I still haven't taken it down.

Every year my mom makes us darling Valentine packages.  She has never missed a year and it is always so fun to see what she packages up for us.  This year she had assorted candies all wrapped up, a cute book and a mini little toy for Asher.

Over the weekend I heard Elise talking about homemade valentines she made for Mike, her friend on a mission, and Joe on his mission.  Miles heard her talking about it and said he forgot to get her a valentine.  He ran upstairs and got her the friendship bracelet he had been working on.  It was so sweet to see that he is learning to be thoughtful and giving too!

And then just yesterday I got the most fun package in the mail from Tierra.  The first thing I opened was a little envelope, and this is what it said:

Then inside the box:

All of these tiny little cute packages of yellow and orange things.  Sunshine in a box!

starburst, juicy fruit, crystal light, reese's, dots, sugar sprinkles

m&ms, cough drops, crayons, gobstoppers, goldfish

So cute and so fun!