Up North

We had a wonderful week at the cabin in northern Minnesota! Asher was the world’s best traveler!!! Poor kiddo, he was stuck in his carseat ALL day (both days) but he was great and slept most of the 13+ hours (one way)! Chris was our road warrior and did all the driving (thanks babe)! It is always such a long drive (and even longer with a baby)! But it is ALWAYS so worth it. Here are pictures from our week at the lake…

Sisters… sisters… there were never such devoted sisters (+kiddos)

Mom, Dad, and all the grandkids. This was a really impromptu picture because we only had one day of overlap with all the kids. We were able to catch the picture right before Benjamin went to sleep! Phew!

We’ve been swinging on the rope swing since my sisters and I were kids. It’s a favorite spot at the cabin!

Jasper LOVES his cousins Linnea and Karin. Erica and her boys arrived late at night so when Jasper saw his cousins in the morning he just kept hugging them. I heard his say, “It’s so nice to see you Karin!” as he hugged her. TOO Cute!

Papa and Jasper down by the spring… Jasper came up to the cabin soaking wet (on a pretty cool day). Mom asked him if Papa took him in the lake and Jasper replied, “No I went in the lake by myself.” We all decided Papa was fired as being the babysitter! :)

Belle (the Shively’s dog) and Daisy are GOOD buddies. They spent lots of time looking out the screen windows on the porch.

Asher and Benjamin getting a little bit of face time. Asher was SO little in Michigan that I don’t know if he and Benjamin even really noticed each other the first time they “met”… the next time will likely be at Christmas when Asher will be about 7 months old and Benjamin will be 1!! I’m sure they’ll have lots of fun then!

All the boys!

My FAVORITE spot at the cabin, on the porch overlooking the lake. The weather was unseasonably cool most of the week so we didn’t spend too much time in the water, but it was sure beautiful to look at!

We’ve decided Brittany is the baby whisperer – she can calm any baby and put them to sleep in no time. We were only with Erica and her boys one day and unfortunately we didn’t get any pics of Erica with Asher. :(

Karin and Benjamin snuggling up with Auntie. :)

A family photo with Lake Pokegama in the background!

Adam was giving Chris a goofy pose as he was building the campfire for our final night. We roasted marshmallows and sang camp songs… SO much fun!

Both our babies asleep on the couch…

Chris took some AMAZING nature pictures. I’ve only been trying to get this blog post up for three days now so I’ll save those for another entry… :)

a double shot day…

Today Daisy had to get her three year shots and Asher had to get his two month immunizations.  Thus, we have a very sleepy baby and dog (not a bad thing)!  Asher was a champ with his shots… he didn’t enjoy them at all, but he got over it quickly.  He’s just chilling today and sleeping lots and lots.  Here is a picture of all three of us snuggling…

At his two month check-up Asher weighed 12 lbs, 12 oz. and was 24.5 inches long.  He’s in the 75th percentile for weight and the 95th percentile for height.  And he’s in the 100th percentile for cuteness. 

Two Months Old!

Asher is two months old today, July 11th! This is his official two-month picture taken in his comfy blue chair…

He is so different as a two-month old baby than he was as a tiny newborn. He is still a great baby! If anything, he is even better. Not to say he doesn’t have his fussy moments, but overall he is laid back and a happy little guy. He is typically very content and now that he has started smiling he is very smiley and the other day we heard our first little giggle. :) He is getting the hang of sitting in his bumbo seat for short periods of time. His neck is getting stronger by the day, hopefully due in part to very dedicated “tummy time”! He still loves riding in the car and swinging too.

Asher doesn’t have a “routine” yet, which is okay with us considering it’s summertime and that means Chris is home all day and we have vacations to work around. Hopefully we’ll get into a good old fashioned routine this fall!

During the day we try to do the eat/awake/sleep routine but he doesn’t sleep for each rotation anymore. And sometimes the sleep is only about 30 to 45 minutes. Typically Asher wants to eat every 3 hours, but if he is taking a longer nap we don’t wake him for his feeding anymore.

Our night time routine is a bath, a feeding, and then Chris and I take turns rocking and singing Asher to sleep. Lately Asher has been sleeping longer stretches. Often he’ll go about 6 hours which mom and dad love!!

We’ll be taking Asher to the Jasper family cabin next week and can’t wait for bring him to a place that is so special to all of us!

Check out the difference between Asher’s one month and two month pictures!!!!

Graduation Festivities!!

This past weekend we celebrated Chris’ graduation from Ball State.  In May he completed his Master’s of Education.  This past January he passed his principal licensure exam with flying colors.  So now he is officially certified and ready to be a principal… when he’s ready!  :)  He’s planning to teach one more year and we’ll see after that.  To celebrate all his hard work both sets of parents and Chris’ sister, Liz and her husband, Joel came to have a special dinner with us (courtesy of grandpa and grandma Atkinson).  Nothing says, “Job well done!” like dinner at Maggiano’s!!  Asher was a total champ and hardly made a peep at dinner. 

While at dinner Chris checked his email (on the i-phone which is never very far away), and he found out that he was accepted into the Google Teacher’s Academy which only accepts 50 teachers nationwide each year.  He heard from some other teachers who had been trying to get in for three years now and this was his first time applying!!  Hooray for two reasons to celebrate!!  The one-day training will take place later this summer so I’m gearing up for my first night (or two) alone with the little guy as the training takes place in Boulder… that is if I can’t convince Chris that Asher and I need a trip to Colorado too!!  :) 

All in all it was a fantastic night and a fun weekend with everyone.  We’re all so proud of Chris.  Way to work hard and finish up before Asher arrived.  Maybe you’ll give us a few years before tackling that PhD! 

Nana and Papa Jasper stayed with us from Thursday to Saturday.  They hadn’t seen Asher since he was one-month old and a lot has changed in the past four weeks!!!!  They had so much fun cuddling and loving on our little boy.  Nana also spent time making us yummy food.  Right now our fridge is stocked with Maggiano’s left overs, rice pudding, molasses cookies, chicken salad, and chocolate cake.  YUM! 

God bless America!!

Happy 4th of July from Asher!  Here is our little patriot with our traditional 4th of July cake.

Asher went through three red, white, and blue outfits before we got our family shot.

We tried to catch a smiling picture of Asher.  He is very smiley, just not when the camera is out!  Here are some of our best attempts.  :)

…such kissable cheeks!

Taylor Friends and a visit to Upland!

This past week we had a special visit from my (our) dear friend Heather Von Tobel. Heather, Chris, and I all had elementary education classes together at TU. Heath and I were fast friends after meeting in math for teachers freshman year and even lived together our first year out of college before I got married. We’ve been in each other’s weddings and shared so much over the years. I really appreciate the fact that she came to visit so soon after Asher was born so she could get to know our little guy. Heather spent lots of time cuddling and loving on Asher these past few days. Thanks for coming, Heath! We miss you already, and can’t wait for you and Pete to (hopefully) move back to Indiana soon!

Chris and I are both so thankful for our TU friends! I know we both look back on our days at Taylor as some of the best for what we learned, who we met (awesome friends and each other!), and how we grew in the Lord!

On Wednesday we drove Heather to Upland to meet her husband, Peter, at Ivanhoe’s! Ivanhoe’s is a TU tradition and is known for it’s milkshakes and sundaes. We just had to let Asher experience the magic of Ivanhoe’s. After dinner we decided to drive around the “loop” at TU for old time’s sake. We also got out and walked around a little bit as well.

Here is Chris in front of Wengatz Hall – where Asher will live if (when) he decides to attend TU!

Peter was also a Wengetz guy… you can really see the pride he still has for his Wengetz heritage.

Here is Heath and me in front of Olson Hall. Having also lived in English Asher can choose to either marry an English or an Olson girl, but I do believe there to be some truth to the belief that Olson girls have more fun.

Peter held Asher and Heather’s purse so we could take our girl picture. :) Asher loved meeting Heather and Pete!

Even though it was a quick visit it was fun to introduce Asher to Taylor! We’re excited to bring him back in the fall for Homecoming!

What a difference a month makes…

We can’t believe how quickly Asher is growing up! We sat behind a couple in church on Sunday with a tiny newborn and it really made me see how big our little boy is! Here are some pictures of Asher in his little polo and khaki shorts that he wore to church… such a little man!

Here are some comparison shots of Asher from the month of May to the month of June… you’ll quickly see why we’ve already packed away all his newborn clothes and some of his 0-3 clothes are starting to get snug!!!

We love you, Asher!!