Latest sewing project!

My latest sewing project proved to be my most difficult one thus far. I decided to make little airplane carry-on backpacks for my nieces and their upcoming trip to Disney World…

I had a bag like the ones I made and I studied it as much as I could without physically pulling out the seams. :) They are definitely NOT perfect and strangely, they ended up different sizes even though I cut the fabric to the exact same measurements?! I chose fabric that had hot pink and red (along with other bright colors mixed in) and then I lined the bags with red Mickey Mouse fabric. Here are the final products.

Thanks for humoring me and for your very kind comments about my last sewing project! It has been fun to find a creative outlet now that I’m not creating bulletin boards and adding clip art to classroom newsletters! :)

Here’s a shot of Asher waving! It’s his newest “trick!”

And in honor of his cute dog outfit I took a picture of him with his favorite dog. I had to give him a toy to hold so that he didn’t grab onto Daisy’s fur! :)

Happy Friday!!

Ready for Spring!

I decided to take Asher out in the snow since it wasn’t too cold today, the sun was shining, and because cabin fever is alive and well at our house! :)

Here is Asher before going outside… It’s a lot harder to crawl all bundled up!

Asher was seriously enjoying the snow so I attempted to make a little snowman to put in his lap. We ran to get the camera and then I put him back in the snow, placed the snowman in his lap and he started to sob.

(Actually, I think this is how we are ALL feeling about snow these days!)

All better! :) Maybe we’ll just stick to being inside!

Playing with the ball popper is Asher’s favorite thing to do these days!

Check out that hair!!!

How could that sweet face not brighten any cold winter day?!

It’s official…

Asher is “saying” two words. He continues to say Dada (much to Chris’s delight), and now something that sounds like “Duh” every time Daisy comes into the room. Not sure if he’s actually trying to say Daisy or Doggy since we’ve said both in regard to her. I am trying not to be too depressed that Daisy came before Mama! :) (The /m/ sound is just really hard to make right?!?)

Asher is getting really good at pulling up on any and everything. We still try to anticipate which things are too wobbly to support him by holding them steady, but lots of tumbles and bumps are inevitable.

He isn’t cruising on the furniture too much yet, but he will take a few steps as he holds on to the couch or the exercauser if something he wants is out of reach.

Our little boy is growing up SO fast!

Kiss-able Cheeks!

When I was teaching at Heritage we always did a Valentine’s bulletin board filled with our students’ baby pictures that the parents secretly sent in. The kids would spend weeks trying to figure out who was who until the big reveal on Valentine’s Day. I loved it! One of my favorite pictures sent in was of a little boy covered in lipstick kisses. Seriously, adorable!! Now that I’m a mom I have no idea how that mom got her son to sit patiently while she got perfect lipstick marks all over him!! Asher is way too much of a mover and a shaker for that, but I was able to snap a few pictures for his Valentine’s…

Here is the Valentine we sent to Asher’s grandparents and aunties, uncles, and cousins:

“We love because HE first loved us.” I John 4:19

Something to sink your teeth into!

Over the weekend I discovered a few teeth marks on Asher’s crib railing!! After figuring out how to pull up and stand in the crib, our little beaver also figured out it was a great spot to gnaw using his top two teeth! Lovely! So I quickly starting googling crib railing covers. Most of them were the plastic type that I would need to order or drive ALLLLLLLL the way to Babies R Us for (no, thanks). And then a few were fabric types that I could also order, pay shipping on, and wait several days all the while Asher would still be chewing on his beautiful crib. Well since necessity is the mother of invention I sewed one! (Okay, so I didn’t invent it, but I still had to create one on the spot!) So without further ado here is my newest sewing creation!

And the action shot… :)

I used the soft minky fabric that we used for the pillows and curtains in his room, lined with batting, and backed it with brown fleece so technically it’s reversible! :) I know, I’m getting a little bit too excited about it.

And here are a few parting shots of Asher for those of you in warmer places (ahem, Texas) you can see all the snow we have… thankfully not as much as some places (ahem, Cincinnati, Michigan, Minneapolis…). :)

Valentine’s Weekend!

We had a fun Valentine’s Weekend together as a family… This sums up our weekend in pictures:

Friday, Chris came home with flowers and yummy chocolate for me! Thanks, Babe! Since peonies aren’t quite in season, Chris went with another favorite of mine…

We enjoyed chocolate fondue and the opening ceremonies of the Olympics!

Saturday, we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The Red Velvet Cheesecake was amazingly delicious.

Sunday, Asher had his first time in the church nursery (other than MOPS) and he didn’t cry until we went to pick him up! :) After his nap Asher got to open his Valentine’s Day present from Nana and Papa Jasper…

Thanks, Nana and Papa for the new books!! They are SO sweet and we’ve already read them several times! :)

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson for the cute Valentine!

Sunday night we made homemade pizza and watched on of our favorite shows!! The Amazing Race!!

Not sure who we’re rooting for yet… but Miss Teen South Carolina has GOT TO GO!!!

Today, Monday, Chris has the day off so we’re enjoying one more family day together. We woke up to more… (yep, you guessed it)… SNOW. :( I told Chris today that I’m officially “over” winter. The spring cannot come soon enough!!!

Hope you all had a LOVE-ly weekend!

9 months old!

Here is the most precious and handsome 9 month old baby I’ve ever seen!

 

I’ve tried to decide what went faster: my pregnancy or these past 9 months?  They both flew by, but I have to say that these past 9 months have been the blink of an eye!  And just like the three trimesters of my pregnancy, I feel like the stages of Asher’s growth thus far have almost been like three trimesters!

Asher has gone from a teeny tiny newborn

 

to a precious little infant,

 

to my big boy!

 

When I look back at pictures of him from only a few months ago it makes my heart swell as I think of fast the days are flying by.  When Asher was born I made it my GOAL to not miss a minute or wish a moment away.  I know I haven’t done a perfect job, but I’m SO glad it has been my conscious effort every day.  I had heard from too many moms that they wished they would have just enjoyed their babies more and not worried about housework etc.  Far be it from me to let a little laundry get in the way of enjoying my little guy!  Ha!

 

We had Asher’s nine month appt. today and here are his stats:

weight: 20 lbs. 1/2 oz. (50th percentile)

length: 28.5 inches (50th percentile)

clothes: 9 month onesies/shirts & 9-12 month pants

diapers: size 3

teeth: 4!  (He finally cut his second top tooth so now he has all four of this front teeth – top and bottom) 

Asher is still a great sleeper, when his teeth were/are coming in there can be some nap-less days, but for the most part he takes two naps a day ranging from 1 – 2 hours and sleeps 12-13 hours at night.  Yippee!

Asher is a crawling maniac.  He is also starting to pull up on any and everything!!  (As evidenced by the following pictures.)  

 

Asher’s temperament is still happy, loving, and goofy!  He smiles at everyone, unless he’s having a shy moment and then he turns his head away or buries it in our shoulders if we’re holding him.  He is so talkative.  “Dada” is a regular word and the little stinker will only say “Mama” when he is first laid down in his crib and he wants to be picked up.  He loves to “dance” to music and he rocks back and forth and shakes his booty to any of his musical toys.  He’s trying to get the hang of clapping, but so far it’s just waving of his hands.  He is also starting to get the hang of waving to us!

Something Asher is growing increasingly attached to is his paci!  :)  He likes to have it with him most of the time, but he doesn’t scream or cry if we take it away or if he loses it (yet).  :) 

Meal time has become an adventure!  He is perpetually trying to grab the spoon so things usually get pretty messy pretty fast.  He loves finger foods, but as he has become more proficient at picking things up he has starting to put too many things in his mouth which results in coughing/sputtering/choking.  Not my favorite!  Asher loves to eat cheese, lunch meat (especially ham!!), cheerios, yogurt melts, and tiny pieces of cut-up fruit in addition to his normal baby food and oatmeal.

Asher, I ask you everyday how I got so lucky to have you for my son!?  You are the sweetest, most loving, and silly baby we could ever ask for.  Daddy and I love to play with you and watch you explore the world.  In 3 short months you’ll be 1 year old!  It’s hard to believe the baby we spent nine months (okay, a lifetime) preparing for has already been with us for nine months!  And we can’t wait for what the next nine months (and the next nine months…) will bring!

We love you!
Mama and Dada