Atkinson Family Life

Hiding HIS Word…

2012-01-24T20:47:00.001-06:00

I finally videotaped Asher reciting his Bible Verses today.

The first one, Psalm 8:9 is one he has known for a while…

“O LORD, our LORD how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

He just finished learning John 3:16 this past week…

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whosoever should believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

It makes us so happy to hear Asher hiding God’s Word in his heart!

And in case you haven’t seen this clip from focus on the family, here you go!

Love the “wow” at the end! :)

Asher-isms

2012-01-23T19:41:00.001-06:00

Asher says or does so many funny and cute things each day. I really need to get better at writing them down!

When he is sad and I tell him something to cheer him up he will say, “that will feel me better.” The other day he forgot his toy at a friends house and after we went to get it he told me, “this will feel me better!’ I LOVE it!

When we went to retrieve the toy I leaned back in my seat and unbuckled him and let him go up to the front door. He got about half-way to the door, turned around and looked at me in the driver seat with my window down and said, “I’ll go get it mom, you wait here.” I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry – when did my baby get so old?!

He still pronounces his middle name “Joseph” with the s and ph reversed so it sounds like Jophes. It will be a sad day when he starts to pronounce it correctly. ;)

He LOVES to tell (and receive) secrets. Instead of putting his mouth up to our ear to whisper he puts his ear up to our ear, but still whispers. It’s precious.

He is very into imaginative play these days. He likes to have cars and trucks or his stuffed animals watch cartoons with him and/or eat meals with him. The other day while I was making lunch I heard him talking to all his animal friends about what his mommy was making them to eat for lunch. They all sat lined up on the table next to him and needed plates and bowls… I did draw the line at utensils telling him they just ate out of the bowls like Daisy. Thankfully he was okay with that.

He has officially learned the art of stalling at bedtime. He will think of anything to keep us in the room longer. Questions, stories, another hug etc. Today when I went into his room at nap time to tell him it was time to sleep (instead of continuing to talk…) he said, “mommy, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time…” When did he get so big?!

He likes to “read” books all by his self these days. When he doesn’t know the words he will just kind of mutter for each page, but then when he gets to the last page he will almost yell, “THE END!”

Asher loves M&M’s but he calls them “M’s the M’s” and it cracks me up.

When you ask Asher a question that he needs to think about or doesn’t know the answer to, he will (I promise, I’m not making any of this up): Put his finger on his lip, say, “hmmmm let me think” and then give the answer. He acts like a 70 year old man! It’s absolutely hilarious.

Today he skipped his afternoon nap so we took a late afternoon trip to Target during “nap time” – he was very sleepy and as he started to yawn in the cart he said, “Oh I’m ‘zosted’ Mommy!” (exhausted). :)

I know I am biased, but I just love spending my days with the funniest, smartest, and sweetest little boy in the world. We will go from a tantrum one minute to a hilarious conversation the next. Moments when he comes up to me and says, “Mommy let’s hug!” are enough to bring tears to my eyes. In the words of Asher, taking care of our two boys each day does make me (us) ‘zosted’ but I (we) wouldn’t trade a minute for the world!

Celebrate!

2012-01-21T20:39:00.001-06:00

Today we celebrated this cutie who just turned 1!

{Which is really hard to believe because I’m pretty sure we were just driving over to meet her for the first time…}

Her Mommy and Daddy threw the cutest party with the yummiest food and cake(s)!! :)

She was the perfect guest of honor and loved opening her gifts!

Oh the sweetness!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Coralaine! We LOVE you!

It’s good to be loved.

2012-01-21T20:21:00.001-06:00

Brotherly Love…

Puppy Love…

LOVE this sweet little face!

SO big!

2012-01-18T13:20:00.001-06:00

Jesse has hit the stage where he is literally changing and getting bigger every day. He had been teething for a while and we discovered his first tooth on New Year’s Day. Today I noticed his second tooth finally popped through, too! :) I snapped a few iPhone pictures the other day of his new little tooth-y grin.

A little bit closer up!

Jesse is a big fan of FOOD! :) So far he loves oatmeal, sweet potatoes, bananas, and pears. We’re going to start peas next.

I think what makes him seem the biggest to me is that he is a great sitter now!

He still falls over now and then but it doesn’t phase him at all. He just flips over and starts rolling.

I remember that funny feeling with Asher when I would lay him down in one spot and find him somewhere else… and now that’s how it is with Jess! He’s a mover and shaker. A few times I’ve even seen him stick his booty into the air like he’s really thinking about going places. In the meantime he mostly turns in circles or rolls to where ever he wants to go. :)

* * *

In other news, someone is feeling MUCH better after the stomach flu and back to his goofy old self. :)

LOVE these two boys!

Birthday: Take 2

2012-01-15T21:44:00.001-06:00

Chris’s Birthday was Tuesday of this week… On his birthday he started his day by helping a little girl off the bus after she had thrown up everywhere. He ended his school day with a frantic phone call from me asking him to come home quickly because Asher had just thrown up everywhere. That night we tried to still “celebrate” with his birthday dinner… but taking care of a sick kid pretty much trumped any fun birthday plans. I decided Chris definitely needed a birthday do-over!!! :)

So today was Chris’s birthday re-do!! We started with cinnamon rolls for breakfast…

Lots of football watching in the middle (and a little Buckeye Basketball, too.)

And finished with a yummy new recipe for dinner: White Chicken Enchiladas. (These were SO good!) And a family favorite for dessert: Pioneer Woman’s Texas Sheet Cake. (Amazing!)
{Pinterest} {Source}

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband.

So glad we could take an extra day to celebrate you!

We love you so much!

{And it’s ALWAYS nice to have an excuse to eat cake!!!}

This & That…

2012-01-12T14:45:00.001-06:00

Chris had to go back to work last week and we’ve been mourning the loss of daddy ever since. ;) For the first several days Asher asked where Chris was, why he was at work, and how soon until he’d be home (at 9 o’clock am that was still a lot of hours to wait!) I have really missed Chris and the extra help. It has been nice getting back into a little bit of a routine after two weeks of ‘fun’ though!

On Saturday we took advantage of our Children’s Museum’s ‘early hour’ for members. We were allowed in at 9, before the general public at 10. It was so great!! In some exhibits (like the dinosphere) we were just about the only ones in there!!

Asher LOVES the children’s museum and asks to go about every third day ;) so he was thrilled and even more excited to have daddy come along. It was their final day for the Jolly Days (Christmas-y stuff) so the guys enjoyed one last ride on the Yule Slide until next year…

After 3 or 4 weeks of no church nursery Asher was reunited with his nursery buddies at MOPS on Thursday and then again on Sunday during church. Unfortunately we think he picked up the flu bug at either church or the museum and by Tuesday afternoon he was SICK!! :( It truly broke my heart to see him so miserable. Chris hurried home from work (on his birthday no less) to help me clean up. At one point in the middle of the night when Asher got sick and needed new pj’s and sheets he looked at me and said, “I’m sorry I do that mommy.” I could have just cried! We told him over and over not to be sorry and that everyone gets sick. I think it made him feel a little bit better to know that even mommy and daddy had been sick before. Daisy swooped into action and spent lots of time right at his side snuggling him.

The next day he quickly discovered the one perk of being sick – unlimited tv! I think we’ve both watched enough cartoons for a few weeks! We’re praying that Jesse stays well and that somehow Chris and I escape it too.

Poor Chris’s 31st birthday got a little bit overshadowed by the Stomach Bug of 2012!! We did bring him cupcakes - from a cute cupcake bakery in Carmel - at school that day (before I knew Asher was sick). And as luck would have it, Chris had to help a child at school get off the bus after she had gotten sick everywhere. NO ONE should have to deal with that much grossness on their birthday. He definitely gets a re-do next week. :)

One REALLY funny moment happened the next day. Chris and I were up off and on a lot of the night with Asher so we were both walking zombies the next day. He was half-way through a meeting when he realized he was wearing a suit and his SLIPPERS!! Ha! :)

6 months old!

2012-01-06T13:34:00.001-06:00

Jesse you are six months old!

The past six months have flown by! This month in particular you have grown by leaps and bounds making the jump from 5-6 months seem bigger than any of the others so far! I think your month-long croup/cold/cough had you feeling pretty crummy so now that you’re healthy you are changing faster than ever. It’s a good thing I know each new stage is so much fun, otherwise I’d be pretty sad to see how quickly you’re leaving the little baby stage.

If there was a ‘theme’ for this month it would be allllllllmost sitting up. You really love to be up and looking around and you’re pretty steady, just not all the way there yet.

Propped up and ready to play!

You are such a cute and smiley baby. When you smile, you smile with your WHOLE body. You wiggle and thrash and just exude sweetness. You are the happiest when someone is holding you. Being held by aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and us all of Christmas break hasn’t helped your desire to always be in someone’s arms.

You are loving bath time these days. You are in the awkward in-between-stage of not wanting to lay down, but not being stable enough to sit up safely unassisted so you are wobbly, but you love sitting and splashing in the water.

We decided to wait until 6 months to start food, but we did start you a few days early. So far you’ve tried oatmeal and, just yesterday, you started bananas. Each day you have become more interested and better at swallowing. You seemed to especially like bananas!

Play-by-play shots of the first meal!

Right now you’re eating baby food for breakfast and dinner. Asher loves to watch you eat and has all sorts of questions about baby food. He is such a sweet big brother!

In other BIG news, this month you got your first tooth!! We discovered it New Year’s Day at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. We knew it was coming with all the drooling, chewing, and fussiness and it finally popped through! We’re waiting for it’s ‘pair’ tooth to come and then hopefully we’ll get a little bit of teething relief. I think I forgot how not-fun teething is since your brother was a baby. Poor buddy, it’s hard to watch you suffer and know when to make you tough it out, and when to give you tylenol. Thankfully, you are still a sweet baby, you just need a little bit extra TLC these days… and lots of things to chew on!

I’m not sure how big you are yet, you have your 6 month appointment next week. You are wearing 6-12 month clothes. You are wearing size 3 diapers, and size 4 overnight diapers.

Sleep + Jesse is still a work in progress. :) Some nights are great (only waking up once)… other nights are not-so-great. Regardless of how many middle of the night wake-ups we have you typically get up for the day between 7 and 8 am. Naps are getting better and longer (HOORAY!) This is a welcomed change! Not only does it give me some uninterrupted time to get a few things done… but it means you wake up cheerful and happy! Keep those good naps coming, Jesse-boy!

Jesse, you are really good at rolling both directions. It doesn’t matter how we lay you down anymore because you will quickly roll over and/or scooch around in a circle until you are just the way you want to be. At night you sleep on your tummy, your side, and sometimes still on your back. You haven’t made any attempts to crawl or army crawl yet, but I’m sure you’re thinking about it. :)

I wouldn’t trade the last 6 months of my life for anything, I have LOVED each sweet and snuggly moment with you, Jesse. I feel like I’m finally getting into my groove during the day and getting two kids up, fed, ready, and out the door (even if it’s just to run to Target) is getting easier every time! ;) Jesse, we love you! You complement our family and we can’t imagine life without you. You are interacting more and more with Asher and it makes us happy to see our two boys loving each other and we both look forward to the days of two little boy playing cars on the floor or running trains along the tracks in the playroom.

… But for now you can just continue to be our sweet baby boy!

* * *

A few comparison shots:

Asher 6 mos. old Jesse 6 mos. old

Jesse 1 mo. old Jesse 6 mos. old

Happy New Year & Christmas in Ohio!

2012-01-05T20:06:00.001-06:00

“Celebrating” on New Year’s Eve has been different for a few years now. (Ha! Not that we were ever big party animals… but we used to at least go out to eat or see a movie!!) We took the boys bowling in the afternoon and had fun as our little family of four. Asher loved it and Jesse happily watched from the stroller.

After the boys were in bed on New Year’s Eve Chris and I enjoyed watching a few episodes of our Christmas Break show (we usually pick a show we have never seen and will watch it straight through over long breaks like Christmas or Summer… past shows have included 24, prison break – though we couldn’t finish that one, Modern Family, Covert Affairs etc.) This break our show was White Collar. Kind of random, but we LOVE it! We still have lots of episodes so you know what we’ll be watching on the weekends for a few more weeks! :) GOOD THING one of my resolutions was not to watch less tv. ;) We also played a few rounds of Just Dance on the wii before collapsing back on the couch in time to watch the ball drop!

New Year’s Day we loaded up the boys and headed to Cincinnati to celebrate Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson. We had a great day! We unfortunately forgot our camera at home so we only have a few iPhone pics.

Asher had SO much fun opening all his presents and digging into his stocking. PS I should have taken a better picture of the awesome stockings my sister-in-law knitted for each of the grandkids. They are amazing!

I’ll post some more pictures when I get copies from my in-laws!

* * *

I L-O-V-E the fresh start of a New Year. I love trying to start anew with organization and all my resolutions. This year I spent a long time coming up with goals/resolutions for this coming year and I’m prayerful that some of them will stick! And as much as I really do love starting a brand new year I’m always convicted that as Christians we don’t have to wait until January 1st to start fresh. Without sounding too cliché, what a joy to know that each new day is a gift from the Lord and a chance to start fresh regardless of what we’re going through or what has happened we can rest in this promise:

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” Lamentations 3:22-26

Happy New Year!

Christmas in Indiana

2011-12-29T19:33:00.001-06:00

Before leaving for Michigan we let Asher open his ‘big’ present since it would have been a little bit difficult to bring all the way to Michigan. ;)

A Train Table!!

Chris and I were up 'til the wee hours of the morning assembling the table. It felt like a parental rite of passage – staying up late before Christmas morning putting together toys. :)
The next morning we let Asher open the box while the real table was ‘hiding’ in the other room!
Then Chris lead him into his playroom to see the table!
Can you tell he LOVED it?!

SNOW!! (finally!!)

2011-12-28T12:16:00.001-06:00

We’ve been waiting and waiting for some snow and it finally came Tuesday morning after coming home from Michigan! It was the BEST kind of snowfall because we went to bed with grass and woke up to a blanket of white. Asher ripped off his jammies so he could get dressed and put on his snow pants in record time! He and Chris went outside to play before breakfast.

Making snow angels!

A daddy angel and a little boy angel!

Next they made a snowman…

Asher has been dying to make a snowman, talking about it frequently!

After all that playing outside it was time to warm up with his first cup of Hot Cocoa! :)

I’m so glad that our first real snow fall happened over Christmas break so Asher could experience it with me and Chris!

Christmas in Michigan

2011-12-27T22:09:00.001-06:00

We spent Christmas in Michigan with my mom and dad and sisters and their families. The last time we were all together was last Thanksgiving so it was SO great to have the time together!
Of course there was lots of cookie baking and eating!
One night we all went bowling. It was Asher’s first time and he had such a blast!!
A little bit of chaos with all the cousins!
Nana snuggling with Ben!
Britta and her girls!
{Kind of} a group shot!
Yummy Christmas Eve appetizers before church!
Some cuties under the Christmas tree!
The cousins all dolled-up after church!
Nana and Papa and their grandkids…
Jasper and Asher laughing about something!
“Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters!”
Christmas Morning!! Checking out our stockings
Jesse is looking a little sleepy in these pictures… oh wait, so am I!
Love this shot of the girls! They are the sweetest cousins and patiently played with all the little boys each day!
Jasper and Ben with their stash of presents!!
Jasper tearing into a gift!
Nana and Papa’s gift from us kids, a sign for the cabin!
Setting up the Nook!
Papa and Nana enjoying a house full of kids and grandkids!
Asher has been talking about this present – Mack and Lightening – for weeks! He was SO excited to open it and begin playing with it.
L-O-V-E that cute smile!
SOOOOOO fun!
A new Thomas tent and look, even Mommy fits inside.
Christmas dinner with Swedish Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Seafoam Salad, and lots of other yummy food…
Followed up with a Birthday Cake for Jesus, {more} Christmas cookies, and Rice pudding!

One night we played some Christmas “Minute to Win It” games…
This was “Jingle in the Trunk!” Everyone had 1 minute to try to shake 12 jingle bells out of a kleenex box that was attached to their trunk, ahem rear-end! Some of us were better than others!
The next game was cookie (cracker) face. It was a race to see who could get the cracker from their forehead to their mouth the fastest.
All the cousins lined up in the couch! The first year with Jesse added into the mix!
And speaking of Jesse… was his normal sweet self and LOVED all the extra arms to hold him. He’s now going in withdrawal and does not like to be set down for more than 10 seconds. He was definitely spoiled!
Daisy and me watching all the kids play…
Just Dance! SUCH a hoot. We spent lots of time dancing and laughing.
Thanks, Mom and Dad for such a fun time! We already miss you all!

Light Night

2011-12-16T19:36:00.001-06:00

Tonight was Light Night! After dinner we got the boys in their jammies and drove around and looked at all the lights. We had been holding off, hoping for a night with snow, but I’m not sure we have any coming so we went for it! :)

Posing by the tree…

And we’re off!

A couple houses in a neighboring subdivision do a light and music show. Asher loved it! Jesse also seemed to enjoy it before conking out in his carseat.

Happy Light Night!

Buddies

2011-12-16T19:34:00.001-06:00

Remember this?

Five Months Later…

We had another {quick} visit with Heather and Henry! It was so fun to see both of them! Hoping our next time together will be a little bit longer though. Love you guys!

Happy Friday!

2011-12-09T08:43:00.001-06:00

I couldn’t resist this cute picture of Jesse all bundled up for the frigid temperatures we’ve had this week. Still hoping for a little snow to go with all this cold weather!!! :)

Happy Friday!

O Christmas Tree!

2011-12-07T12:38:00.001-06:00

Last year we did the whole cut-down-our-own-tree-at-the-tree-farm-and-drink-hot-chocolate-business and it was so fun and a great memory! I’m sure we’ll do it again someday! ;)

This year we got our tree at Costco! ha! I’m definitely the more nostalgic one between the two of us, but even I was on board with the idea of a big beautiful tree, already wrapped up, purchased from a warm building. :)

Even Asher agreed, it was the way to go!

It must have been about 10 feet, because we had to cut off quite a bit in order for it to fit in our living room. It’s the biggest and prettiest tree we’ve ever had and we love it!

Asher loved decorating the tree!

When we first put on the lights I wasn’t too happy with how it looked so Chris humored me and we took them off and added twice as many. Now it is bright and perfect for night time movies or early morning cartoons…

Isn’t that right, Jesse!?! Merry Christmas!!

5 months old!

2011-12-06T20:37:00.001-06:00

Jesse you are 5 months old!

You are getting so big it’s hard to believe!!!

{Jesse, I have to apologize that so many of your pictures are taken on my phone and not on the actual camera. I’ll try to do better at actually getting the camera out to document your life!! ;) Poor, second baby!}

A few weeks ago you came down with croup and though you’re over it you still have the yucky cough. And then, just the other day, you came down with another cold. :( One of these days you’ll be feeling better again (I hope)!

You are struggling in the napping department. You will sleep about 20 minutes (sometimes more, sometimes less) and then you think you’re all done napping. I’m not quite sure what to do with a short napper considering Asher would nap for hours (albeit in his swing!) :) I’m not sure if it’s because of your recent sickness, the need for some more sleep training, or just your temperament… but we’re going to work on it! :) For the record you are an awesome napper if I will just hold you. :) I can’t complain that you’re my snuggly baby, but you really need to nap in your crib (for longer than 5 seconds)!

We haven’t started solid foods yet, probably sometime this coming month!! You are a good eater and usually nurse 5 times during the day and once at night. I’m so thankful that you’re basically sleeping through the night (again). You typically wake up once reeeeeeally early to eat, but go back to sleep until about 7am. You go to bed between 6-7pm.

Jesse, you love love love your big brother. Asher gets the biggest smiles and giggles. You love to watch Daisy and your favorite is watching Asher and Daisy play together! You spend your day in your exersaucer, jumperoo, playmat, or in the ergo! You are happiest when you are around other people or being held.

You are a sweet, lovable, and precious boy and we love you so so so much! Happy 5 months, Jess!

Taking the bus to Bethlehem!

2011-12-05T18:58:00.001-06:00

When we got out the Fisher Price nativity set last week Asher was quick to add in his extra farm animals so there could be another sheep, horse, and an extra goat. We set everything up and then I acted out the story for him using the little characters. I explained that Mary and Joseph had to make a long trip, but they didn’t have a car so Mary rode on the donkey. Asher was very sweet to grab a bus from his stash for Mary… guess he couldn’t bear the thought of her making that journey on a donkey. :) The double-decker bus now appears to be a permanent fixture in his nativity scene!

The excitement and enthusiasm Asher has for all things *Christmas* is so sweet and fun. I just wish I could bottle it up!

* * *

On a side note, Asher brought me Mary today and told me that she was going to make Christmas Cookies. I’m guessing he looked at the Wise Men, Joseph, and the Shepherds and realized his best chance for cookies was with Mary. ;) I guess it’s time for Mommy to make some cookies with Asher!!

For this child {we} prayed!

2011-12-03T21:06:00.001-06:00

We dedicated Jesse to the Lord the Sunday after Thanksgiving! A big thank you to both sets of Grandparents for hopping in their cars (on a day they probably would have liked to just rest from a busy weekend) to join us in celebrating our sweet Jesse Christopher!

At our church each set of parents is given a baton with a letter written by our pastor to be given to the child at their 18th birthday. It’s symbolic of passing on the faith, and though we know following Christ will have to be a choice Jesse and Asher each make for themselves, we pray to raise them in a home pointing them toward Jesus each day. As I read through Jesse’s letter it was hard not to get choked up at the thought of a tall, strong young man holding that letter instead of the sweet baby I see right now. I know it will go by in the blink of an eye!
Jesse, we love you so much! We are honored to be your mom and dad and pray that we will raise you in a way that honors the Lord and, one day, you will choose Him for yourself!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-03T20:45:00.001-06:00

We enjoyed Thanksgiving Weekend in Cincinnati!
Clifford and puppy helped drive to Grandma and Grandpa’s house… funny the things you’ll do to entertain or appease a two-year-old!

Grandma and Jesse
Before dinner we attempted some family pictures. It’s hard getting everyone (including three kiddos) to look at the camera, let alone smile, but I think we got some good ones!
Waiting so patiently for the good stuff!
Sweet Coralaine trying cranberries!

A little post-meal snuggling
Pumpkin Pie!!!

iPhone snapshot of the babies!

Phyllis and I went out at 12am for Black Friday Deals! We hit two stores and were home and heading to bed by 2:30. :) After a night’s rest Chris and I went back out and hit a few more stores making some progress with our Christmas shopping list, including Asher’s *big* present that we are SO excited for him to open!

Saturday we went to Entertrainment Junction in Cincinnati which is basically Train-Heaven. :) We didn’t bring our camera, but have some iPhone pics from our fun time there!

Jesse slept through most of our time there, but did make a quick appearance. :)

It was hard to capture the size of the displays on camera. There were rooms and rooms of enormous displays. The details were amazing! I can’t even imagine how many hours and the attention to detail it took to create everything!

Cousins enjoying the view!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa for a fun weekend!

rolling, rolling, rolling!

2011-11-19T19:40:00.001-06:00

My poor baby had croup this week. I think we’re finally on the up-swing, but it was a long couple of days (and nights) and SO hard to watch my sweet little baby suffer. One night while we were hanging out in the bathroom enjoying the steam he rolled over! He’s been so close for so long!! I don’t know why I am surprised that the child who waited until the LAST minute to roll/flip in utero would take his sweet time now! ;)

The other funny thing to me is that he is rolling back to tummy all the time, but has yet to roll tummy to back (without being raised up on a boppy pillow). He just likes doing things his own way, I guess!

He starts on his back and then rocks back and forth,

And eventually he flops over onto one side.

The hardest part for him is getting his arm un-stuck.

Being on his tummy is still not his favorite,

But he is getting better about it!

We’re also working on sitting up! He mostly flops forward, but his ab muscles do seem to be getting stronger. And contrary to this picture, I think he really enjoys the new perspective of sitting up and playing with his toys!

So thankful for this little sweet, smiley, ray of sunshine!!

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

2011-11-16T13:17:00.001-06:00

CHRISTMAS!!!

I know the stores have had Christmas stuff up for a while, but now that the temps are dropping, we had our first snowfall, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner it really is starting to FEEL like Christmas! :) There is a certain two and a half year old boy who asks every day if it’s Christmas yet, so I guess I’m not the only one who is excited!

One of my favorite traditions leading up to Christmas is always creating our Christmas card. Chris and I have sent Christmas cards since we were first married… even before we had cute kids to put in the picture. It’s even more fun now with two little boys to include!

This year I’m participating in the blogger promotion through Tiny Prints. Even before I signed up to participate I was drooling over their Christmas cards. They have everything from cute to classic, modern to vintage. They are so great! I’ve gone through all the cards several times and I *think* I’ve got my list narrowed down, so now I just need to choose my final one! Here are some of my favorites:

{Click any of the cards to be taken to their direct links.}

I love all the different styles, and as I browsed I noticed that you could change most of the cards to a different style like taking the “JOY” one above and turning it into this:

or this:

I also love these…

And I think this one is just plain beautiful!

(Front) (Back)

Something that makes finding your card super easy is all the different categories like: Christmas, Christmas Religious, New Years… etc. I’m almost always drawn to the religious Christmas cards, but surprisingly, my favorite this year is one of the New Year’s cards! Decisions, Decisions!

* * *

Receiving Christmas Cards is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things about the days and weeks leading up to Christmas! I’ve never had a really great way of displaying them, but this year I’ve been searching pinterest to come up with a good way to hang all the cards we receive. I’m loving this idea:

{source}

One thing is for sure, we enjoy the Christmas pictures we receive all year long because we display them on our fridge. In fact when we were selling our house it was suggested we take them down so potential buyers wouldn’t be distracted by all the pictures so I took them down, saved them, and putting them back up in our new house was one of the first things I did after moving! :) I love looking at the faces of our friends and family all year long.

Here’s to the beginning of what I hope will be a very MERRY and Christ-filled Christmas for you all!

PS If you blog and want to participate in this promotion and be compensated with some free Christmas cards, here’s how!!

2 and 1/2 years old

2011-11-11T14:43:00.001-06:00

Asher Joe, you are 2 and 1/2 years old on 11-11-11!!

I absolutely DO NOT know where the last two and half years of my life have gone, but I DO know that I’ve spent them with the BEST little boy in the world!

There is not one drop of baby left in you… you are so grown up! You love cars and trucks and trains. You love to make things crash. You love to be loud. You laugh when you fall down. You love blocks, and you love knocking blocks down. You like to throw balls, go down slides, splash in puddles, and jump in leaves. You like to swing and play in the dirt. You are ALL boy!!

Asher you are the world’s best big brother! You are so sweet to Jesse. You talk softly and give him gentle pats, hugs, and kisses. You handled the transition of moving and gaining a sibling so well. You make us very proud. :)

Even though you are a big tough boy you will still snuggle with us and give the best hugs. Sometimes after your nap when you are still a little sleepy you are extra snuggly and I can almost feel that little boy who I used to hold. But it’s usually over in a flash as you bound down the stairs to play cars or run around outside.

Asher, I’m convinced you have the vocabulary of a ten year old. You talk and talk and talk. I love it! We carry on real conversations and you are sooo good at remembering things that I often find myself amazed at the things you will bring up or the connections you make between places we’ve been, things we’ve read, cartoons you’ve seen, or people we know. You know all your letters and their sounds, and have for quite a while. You LOVE to point out letters while we are out places. You know that TARGET starts and ends with a “T” – which might honestly be more of an indication of how often we are there! ;) You love the cartoon Busy Town and remind me often that it starts with a B! You love letters and learning and it makes your teacher parents so happy!

You know your shapes and are finally getting the hang of your colors. For being advanced in your language skills I have no idea why colors were such a sticking point for you. I’ve probably spoken too soon, but I think you’ve got ‘em! ;)

You love all your grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, and cousins. You talk about them all the time which makes us so happy to know how much you love your family – even if we don’t get to see each other too often. You chatter about your cousins throughout the day just like they live down the street (and I sure wish they all did!)

Right now, you are doing a great job with nursery. You had a few rough visits where you cried when we dropped you off, but you seem to be back on track! :) You are also doing a wonderful job with sleeping. Naps are a breeze and you go down for bed at night really well. You LOVE your bed and always talk about how ‘nice and cozy’ it is. :) You know that you are supposed to wait in your bed for us to come get you in the morning and you usually wake up between 7 and 8 am.

A few of the things you LOVE right now:
*Cars – especially Mater and Lightening McQueen
*Playing with friends! Camryn is your buddy and you love her, often remembering her when we pray!
*Trains!! Thomas is still your favorite and you love watching Thomas cartoons on Saturday mornings.
*Singing songs and talking in the car – you point out things you see and we talk about everything under the sun while we drive.
*Horses – you especially love to look for them when we drive around. I’m so glad there are LOTS of horse farms where we live.
*Stickers! You love them. :)
*Chocolate Milk, it’s still your motivator for staying in your bed and sleeping.

Asher, I could probably go on and on right now, but my words wouldn’t really capture YOU. I am thankful that I’ve been with you each and every day these past two and a half years so I have a heart FULL of memories of the precious baby who turned into a goofy toddler and is quickly becoming a sweet and smart little boy right before my eyes. Asher, we LOVE you!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Buddy!!

Honestly… Thankful!

2011-11-07T19:29:00.001-06:00

If I’m being completely honest the past few weeks have been some of the hardest we’ve faced as parents. The lack of sleep courtesy of Jesse coupled with the strong-will of Asher has made for an exhausting season of life. For someone who is NOT hyper about keeping a tidy home even I have been frustrated with feeling like I just can’t keep everything together – kids, meals, errands, household chores, lingering thank you notes, returning phone calls, laundry, Bible study… At times it’s all just felt too overwhelming!! And proving Murphy’s Law ever true, any night that Jesse has gone for a longer stretch of sleep giving us the hope of more than a few hours of sleep in a row Asher has uncharacteristically woken up crying and needing us. It has honestly felt like a tag-team effort some nights to keep us both from getting more than two or three hours of sleep in a row. It’s been pretty easy to begin to spiral down the my life-is-so-hard-right-now train of thought!!

And then, it’s days like today that remind me of how good my life is, and how THANKFUL I am. Not that I ever doubted that, just lost sight from time to time!

Asher and Jesse had their 2.5 year and 4 month well-check appointments today. And in spite of a (super) busy week Chris joined us and I was SO glad to have him there!!

Turns out we have to really healthy kids! ;) (Something I take for granted on a regular basis!) Jesse is in the 93rd percentile for length (26.5 in) and the 95th percentile for weight (a whopping 17 lbs 10.5 oz). Asher is in the 75th percentile for height and the 80th percentile for weight. He’s hitting and exceeding the milestones that would be expected for a 2.5 year old and is healthy and happy! Thank you, Jesus!!

Yep, today was a good reminder of just how much we have to be thankful for! Even for the little (which really aren’t that little) things like watching cartoons snuggling with both my boys. :)

4 months old!

2011-11-06T11:50:00.001-06:00

Jesse you are a bittersweet 4 months old. Bittersweet because even though I love watching you become more and more aware of us and interact with us, I am always sad to to lose the snuggly little newborn-stage!

Comparison shot of Asher and Jesse both at 4 months:

You are the sweetest, smiliest baby (since your brother)! I really don’t know how we were blessed with such sweet boys twice!!

You are a BIG boy!! We go to the doctor tomorrow so we’ll find out your exact stats then, but you are already wearing size 3 diapers during the day, and size 4 at night. You are wearing mostly 6 month clothes and also some 9 month clothes! We think perhaps it’s your size that’s keeping you from rolling?? You are SOOOOO close we can all taste it. ;) You did roll a few times last week, but nothing consistent yet. As much as I love watching my boys hit their ‘milestones’ I’m also okay with not having two mobile kids quite yet.

Jesse, this month you started using your exersaucer and you love it! When you’re not in there you like to lay on the floor and move in complete circles or off your blanket all together. For someone who isn’t rolling you are figuring out how to move around quite well. You like your bumbo seat and your playmat, too. But I think your FAVORITE thing is just to be held or in the baby carrier. You are a sweet and snuggly boy and I wouldn’t trade that for a million dollars.

Sleep isn’t your strong-suit (yet), but we’re going to get there… I’m sure of it! I’ve been brushing up on my “healthy sleep habits, happy child” reading and I’m ready to get you going on a schedule! When we’re home in the morning you take a (short) nap in your crib at about 10 am. Then you take another nap (a little bit longer), also in your crib, around 12 or 1. An evening nap is hit or miss and is typically just a quick cat nap in your swing if at all. We’re trying to get you to bed between 6 and 7 pm. You sleep great until about midnight and then you like to wake up every three hours until morning. If you don’t get the hang of sleeping through the night (again) soon I suppose we’ll have to do some crying (both of us). Right now I’m one tired Mommy, but so thankful that the reason I’m waking up multiple times a night is for the world’s cutest and sweetest baby!!

Jesse, my favorite time with you is first thing in the morning when I hear you coo-ing and I go to get you out of your crib and am greeted with the biggest smiles. You wiggle with delight and it makes my whole day! Daddy also gets big grins when he comes home from work which I’m pretty sure make the stress of a long day melt away. You always give huge smiles to Asher throughout the day. I can already see glimpses of the friendship of my two boys and it makes me so happy.

You are such a good go-with-the-flow baby! You have been toted around to many more things than your big brother ever was at this age. You are easy and sweet and do really well in new surroundings. We’re so thankful for your laid-back disposition.

Jesse, I SHOULD remember how quickly the days and months fly by since my first baby is now almost 2.5 years old (!!!), but I still find myself snuggling you longer at night when you’re asleep on my shoulder and whispering ‘slow down! slow down!’ I am thankful that I know in my heart that each new stage is special and fun, because each time I pack away some clothes that no longer fit or see a picture of you in the hospital my heart aches.

There aren’t the right words to tell you how happy we are that the Lord blessed us with YOU! You are precious to us for a million different reasons and we can’t wait to watch you grow up and do all the things your big brother is doing! Life right now is busy and exhausting but wonderful. We love you Jesse!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:25:00.001-05:00

Asher has been so excited about Trick or Treating and tonight did not disappoint! :) He was a puppy and Jesse was a bee (though we changed him out of the costume so he’d be nice and warm as we walked around the neighborhood).

I love this little bee!

I’m pretty crazy about this little puppy, too!

The the stroke of 6 o’clock our little cul-de-sac was humming with moms, dads, and kids. Everyone just stood or sat outside with their candy bowls and the weather was beautiful. As it got chilly people starting lighting little fires in their fire pits. It was really fun and one more reason we love our new neighborhood! :)

Jesse was wide-eyed in the beginning and eventually fell asleep and slept the rest of the evening.

Home, enjoying some candy, and watching for trick-or-treaters! Such a fun night! I’m not sure how we’ll explain to Asher that he needs to wait another year for Halloween. :)

Pumpkin Day!

2011-10-29T20:06:00.001-05:00

Today we finally carved our pumpkin!!

Daddy is always a good sport and does the yucky part.

I think this was right before Asher said, “I want to go play cars.” and then left us to finish. ;)

Just add BABY!

I love that we did this with both boys when they were babies…

Jesse was a little bit of a tighter squeeze in the pumpkin. :) After a quick bath to get off all the pumpkin goop Jesse was a perfect pumpkin carving audience.

Chris’s Aunt Pat got all us Moxie clothes (It was a joke from a trip Chris and his family took to Maine when he was younger) and we were hoping for a family picture wearing them, but until that happens we definitely wanted to get a shot of both boys wearing their shirts. And it just so happens they are perfect for Halloween! Thanks, Pat!!

Something I love about this picture that most people would probably miss is Daisy sticking her nose up to the sheer curtain next to the door. She hates to be left out! Ha!

Asher is getting VERY excited about Trick or Treating and keeps asking if it’s Halloween yet! We even practiced ringing the doorbell and saying “Trick or Treat” tonight. He did a great job and even said thank you. When he was walking away he did wish me a “Happy Birthday,” quickly corrected to “Happy Halloween.” Monday should be lots of fun!!

Fall Break 2011

2011-10-26T20:56:00.001-05:00

Chris had Fall Break last Thursday and Friday so we went to visit my parents in Michigan. The weather was great and we had fun visiting the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and a Pumpkin Patch. We also spent lots of time just hanging out and relaxing. This was the first time my dad had seen Asher and Jesse (in person, we did skype a lot!) since July so they all had fun re-acquainting. :)

Kalamazoo Air Zoo

At first Asher was freaked out at the size of the planes up-close… but pretty soon he was loving them and is still talking about them!

Cheesy Grin!

LOVE this picture of Chris and Asher! :)

Gull Meadow Farms Pumpkin Patch

Asher loved all the fun activities!

A rare family photo, even though Jesse is hiding in the ergo. :)

On the hayride!

Picking out the perfect pumpkin with Nana and Papa.

I think Asher was getting slap-happy. I love the progression of pictures…

Jesse was such a good sport!

Just hanging out with Nana and Papa!

Riding the tractor with Papa!

Thanks, Nana & Papa for a fun weekend!

Thankful for extended time with Chris and our boys!

It’s the little things!

2011-10-26T16:12:00.001-05:00

We’ve been wanting a way for Asher’s playroom to be more organized and a way for him to help with the daily clean-up process. We have an IKEA unit that we love and we thought about ways to label the drawers. Words obviously weren’t going to help Asher and the thought of mis-matched clip art images makes my skin crawl (seriously).

I saw another mom do this with her kids’ toy bins and I thought it was a great idea! Basically I re-organized the drawers in our playroom and then took ‘aerial’ pictures of each drawer’s contents. I then developed the pictures and attached them to each drawer using contact paper. Now Asher has a visual reminder of where to put his toys away.

It might be a little thing, but I love it! :)

Matchy-Matchy!

2011-10-23T19:51:00.001-05:00

We were given matching jammies for the boys and I was so excited for the weather to get cold enough for them to wear them! They are so cute and snuggly and on Wednesday, when it didn’t even reach 50 degrees, the boys spent all day in them…

After I took pictures of both the boys I was going to take a few of just Jesse in the green chair so while I was taking pictures on the camera Asher picked up my iPhone and ‘took’ some pictures of Jesse. It’s was pretty cute… he told him to say cheese and he made the click sound. Think he’s seen me do that a few times in his life?!

It’s finally FALL!

2011-10-12T13:22:00.001-05:00

Fall is our first new season in our new home and it’s been fun to watch our trees change colors!

Asher’s had the most fun playing in the leaves…

Especially when we rake up big piles for him to jump into!

Hooray for Fall!

Keep you’re head up!

2011-10-11T11:44:00.001-05:00

Jesse turned a corner with tummy time a few weeks ago and doesn’t seem to hate it quite as much. It’s still not his favorite activity, but he’s getting so strong doing a great job of keeping his head up!

I love that sweet little face!!

Asher’s a great tummy time encourager!

3 months old!

2011-10-06T13:40:00.001-05:00

Jesse you are three months old!

The past three months have flown by, but it feels like you’ve been with us forever!

You are a sweet, easy-going baby and we’re so thankful for the way you’ve just fit into our lives and your brother’s schedule! That being said you don’t have much of a schedule of your own(yet). I will get going on that soon! Right now you usually take one or two longer naps (am and pm) and then some cat naps throughout the day. Your naps don’t really occur in your crib, usually you fall asleep in your carseat for one of your longer naps and continue sleeping in it even after we’ve returned home from wherever we were. Your other nap often happens on your playmat, swing, bouncy seat, my arms etc.

You like to eat every 3ish hours during the day and closer to every 2 hours in the evening. You WERE sleeping THROUGH. THE. NIGHT (for several weeks)!!! But those nights are gone. You are still a good sleeper, usually waking up between 2-4 and then again between 6-7am. You fall right back asleep after both of those feedings so I have no room to complain. Besides you are the cutest, smiliest baby (even in the middle of the night) that I love my time with you. You take a bottle like a champ which helps when we’re out and about or if I’m going to be away from you for a while.

Jesse you are so smiley and you love it when your brother talks to you. You do NOT like tummy time and we’re still working on strengthening your neck muscles. You can lift your head up, but you don’t like to! You have a fussy time in the evenings, but it’s usually cured with bouncing, walking, snuggling, or feeding you.

Jesse you are big! You are wearing 3-6 and 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. You have the cutest rolls and chubby cheeks. We are so so so crazy about you. Before you were born I wasn’t sure how my heart was going to love another child as much as I loved your brother. I knew I would, I just wasn’t sure how… but now when I look at you I think my heart might just burst! We love you SO much and are thankful every day for you and your brother!

Happy 3 months old, Jesse!

Perhaps I spoke too soon?

2011-10-03T16:01:00.001-05:00

I know I mentioned that Asher was doing an awesome job sleeping his big boy bed (and he still is), but we both got a big laugh when Chris went into to wake him up after his nap today…

It was one of ‘those’ days and I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to nap at all. He was playing and talking in his bed for a long time even after several warnings, and I was about to go get him when he got quiet so I just assumed he had fallen asleep in his bed… but I guess not! :) We asked him why he slept on the floor but he didn’t really have an explanation. I guess in the midst of playing tiredness still won out. I’m just glad he slept!!

I love that he put both his pillows exactly the way he sleeps on them at night. The smaller one is the one he used in his crib and when we transitioned him to a larger pillow in his bed I thought he’d be fine with getting rid of the smaller one, but no way! Every night he lays them on top of each other before falling asleep. Too funny!

Chocolate Milk… and everything else.

2011-09-27T15:54:00.001-05:00

I thought I should update Asher’s progress with the big boy bed… He’s doing GREAT! There were a few days where I was afraid he was never going to ‘get it’ and life as we knew it was over. BUT that was before the great motivator… Chocolate milk!! A friend suggested it as a reward for him staying in his bed and sleeping all nap or all night and it’s worked like a charm. Every time we put Asher in his bed he reminds us, “If I stay in my bed I get the chocolate milk!” and the first words out of his mouth in the morning are usually to request his chocolate milk. Not sure how we will eventually phase out the reward of chocolate milk, but I’m SO glad that he’s staying in bed and sleeping well that I don’t care if he’s still getting chocolate milk when he’s 5! :)

* * *

Fall is officially here! The weather is (mostly) cooler except for a few random days when it goes back in the 80’s… but in honor of it’s arrival we picked apples a few weekends ago! I think you know you have two kids when the thought of bringing the camera is just one more thing that you don’t want to have to carry so all our pictures are courtesy of the iPhone!

Asher was an apple-picking pro!

Enjoying the beautiful weather and time spent together!

* * *

A new favorite activity in our house is play-doh!! We tried it a few months ago without much interest, but right now it’s a big hit! Asher and Daddy love to play play-doh together. :) One of his play-doh toys squeezes the play-doh through little holes so it makes long strings like spaghetti. We both thought Asher would think that was really cool, but he actually doesn’t like it at all! He hates when we do it. I don’t think the Fun Factory is in his future! He’s a play-doh purist, I guess. :)

* * *

Jesse is still the sweetest little addition to our family! He’s laid back and full of smiles. His adorable little coos are a bright spot on even the hardest days. I do love when he and I get some one-on-one time in the afternoons while big brother naps…

But I also LOVE watching the interaction between Jesse and Asher, too!

My favorite part of this clip is Jesse’s big smile when Asher gives him a kiss at the end!

Asher seems to be getting the hang of being gentle with his little brother…

and Jesse was thoroughly enjoying the playtime with big bro!

SO thankful for these two sweeties!

* * *

The teacher in me thought it was time to do some crafts with Asher! I found a few cute ones on pinterest and decided this week we’d do a new craft each day. For Monday’s craft I probably spent an hour+ of ‘prep time’ Sunday night… scouring the internet for leaf templates, then printing them, tracing them, cutting them out, and lining them with tape. (Not to mention going to TWO different stores to get all our supplies… who knew it would be so hard to find orange tissue paper.) All that work and I think we were all done in about 10 minutes! Ha! Asher did a good job and hung in there for two leaves… I finished the last leaf while he played cars in the other room! ;)

At least he obliged in my request to take a picture with our ‘stained-glass’ leaves, because clearly… he would have rather been playing dinosaurs!

Sammy the Stegosaurus and Tommy the T-Rex are our new buddies! :)

Today’s craft was finger paints! Ha! I’m sure there’s a reason the box says they are for children 3 and up! I didn’t really give him free reign of the paints, we just made this cute owl.

Ha! He looks so enthused! ;) He actually really liked the paints, so if I’m brave I think I might let him just finger paint with them tomorrow. That however, might be the end of craft week 2011!

* * *

Well, I think I’m all caught up! Life is busy these days, but so good! I am thankful every day that my life consists of “mommy come play with me!”, diaper changes, and Mac & Cheese lunches. The days definitely are LONG, but I know the years are SHORT!

What’s not to like?

2011-09-21T09:06:00.001-05:00

We are so crazy about this sweet little boy!

What’s not to like?

Nothing!

What’s new with the boys!

2011-09-15T16:45:00.001-05:00

Things are going well at the Atkinson Household! We are enjoying the beginning stages of Fall which is (hopefully) here to stay!

Asher is 28 months old and almost 2.5 years old! He is just SO grown up these days and amazes us every day with things he says or does! We are in the ‘thick’ of the two’s around here so there is LOTS of “I do it!” and “no!” – I think consistent discipline is way more exhausting than the lack of sleep that a newborn brings. (Thankfully, Jesse is a great sleeper… so I don’t really have to find out what discipline + lack of sleep would look like, but I would assume it wouldn’t be pretty!) We are both so thankful that Asher is healthy and smart and strong so we can’t really complain that he’s also stubborn, head-strong, and well, sinful! There is nothing like parenting a two-year-old to make you aware of your own sinful nature! We’ll just keep working to ‘train him up’ and pray that one of these days it sticks!

He goes to church to play with the kids (aka Nursery) on Tuesdays while I’m in Women’s Bible Study and every other Thursday while I’m at MOPS (and on Sundays) and he does a great job! I love to stand in the hall and listen in… I can always hear him over the kids. He is just such a verbal and outgoing kid that it makes me smile! He is a little parrot and will mimic ANYTHING we say (anything). It’s mostly cute when we hear him singing songs or jabbering about something funny or sweet… but, it’s been a good reminder that there are two little ears listening to EVERYTHING that comes out of my mouth during the day (ie: driving and “talking” to other drivers ha ha!) and to model God-honoring speech. :)

His new thing is to say his whole name when asked what is name is. But, he can’t quite pronounce Joseph so it sounds like this: Asher Jophes Atkinson (reversing the “s” and the “ph” sounds). We keep modeling the correct way to say it… but I think his ‘wrong way’ is pretty cute. He loves to sing the Veggie Tales opening theme song and he has the book “Little Blue Truck” (which was a gift for Jesse, but has been claimed by Asher) memorized with the funniest voices and inflections. He and I memorized Psalm 8:9 “Oh Lord, Our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth.” after a few days of practicing and it makes Chris and me so happy to hear him saying it over the monitor or when he doesn’t know we’re listening. Out of everything we hope for our children we pray that they will come to know, love, and serve the Lord with all their hearts. Nothing would bring us more joy!

Jesse is seriously the best baby ever!! And I really didn’t think any baby could ‘top’ Asher! Jesse is very laid back and hardly EVER cries unless he’s hungry or sometimes just during the ‘fussy’ time in the evening. He has started sleeping in his own crib at night and is no longer in the pack and play in our room. (sniff sniff) He sleeps for nice long stretches at night which makes this mommy so happy! (I have to remind myself though that it might not last and we can still possibly regress in the sleeping department.)

Jesse is a big-time smiler and loves to coo. He will give Asher the biggest smiles when he comes to talk to Jesse. It’s very sweet and Asher L-O-V-E-S it! Jesse stays with me during Women’s Bible Study and MOPS and also does great. I’m sure the older he gets the noisier he will become, but I’m thankful to have him with me for now.

I love this picture, I left Jesse on the couch in his boppy while I went to throw some clothes in the dryer and I came back to Daisy in my seat keeping a watchful eye over the baby. :)

Labor Day Weekend!

2011-09-08T21:25:00.001-05:00

We had such a fun Labor Day Weekend!! Auntie Brittany, Uncle Adam, and cousins Linnea and Karin came to visit us and meet Jesse!!! Asher could hardly contain his excitement once he found out they were coming. His exact words were, “I so ‘cited! We’re going to talk and laugh and bounce!” :) For days and days he asked if they were coming so it was SO fun to wake him up from his nap on Friday and tell him that they were ALMOST here!!

Asher is crazy about Linnea and Karin and they are SO sweet to him!

Auntie Britt is coined the ‘Baby Whisperer’ in our family and she got right to work lovin’ on Jesse when she arrived. :)

* * *

Saturday was 100 degrees here in Indy!! The kids were on the waterslide by mid-morning. Next they hit the neighborhood pool. It was the perfect day to be in water.

Asher took a great nap after all that time playing with his cousins so us girls went to the mall to shop. We had fun in Charming Charlie trying on lots of fun accessories!

Striking a pose!

Later that night we went to Chris’s favorite restaurant (ha ha, not really)… Red Robin! Yum!

I think Jesse particularly enjoyed himself…

* * *

After our 100 degree day on Saturday we welcomed a cooler day on Sunday and went to Conner Prairie!

We explored wigwams, ground corn, paddled canoes…

Threw tomahawks…

and checked out the barn!

The animals are always Asher’s favorite!

How cute is this calf?!

So fun to experience everything with the cousins!

Linnea, Chris, and Asher running down the hill. Asher is VERY into “do it by myself” so Chris was trying to keep Asher from running too fast and tumbling the rest of the way. :)

Checking out the pigs… the babies were just sitting in the water and were SO cute!

* * *

When you live far away from family visits become SO special! After looking forward to them for weeks each visit is always over too soon. It was wonderful to have time to hang out and just enjoy being together. We are so thankful that all our family has been willing to come visit us this summer and been so excited to meet Jesse!

Linnea and Karin have lots of practice being great cousins. Asher is crazy about them, and I know Jesse will be too!

Auntie Britt cuddling Jesse was a common theme throughout the weekend! :)

Loving his fort playmates!

The weather was picture perfect Sunday night and we (the big kids and the little kids) literally played until dark. Probably my favorite part of the whole weekend!

Uncle Adam had the magic touch with Jesse… he just had to look in Jesse’s direction and would get the biggest smile and coos.

We love you guys! Can’t wait to see you all again hopefully sooner than later!!

2 months old!

2011-09-06T14:16:00.001-05:00

Our ‘little’ Jesse is two months old and hardly little anymore! He was just over 14 pounds today at the Doctor’s office! He’s wearing 3-6 and 6 month clothes. I feel like I just packed up his newborn outfits and I’m already packing up more clothes… everything needs to sloooooow down a little bit. :)

Jesse is the most agreeable and laid-back baby! He just goes with the flow and will happily sleep in his carseat all the places we take him. He SMILES and makes the sweetest cooing and giggling noises in the whole world. We no longer have to work quite so hard for his smiles as he gives them out a bit more freely these days.

He is a great little sleeper and will snooze contentedly throughout the day in his swing, the playmat, his pack and play, my arms etc. Right now he doesn’t require being rocked to sleep at night or for ‘naps’ – if I lay him down sleepy he falls asleep on his own… which is SO great! I’m hopeful this doesn’t change!! Depending on his last feeding of the night he will sleep until either 4:30 or 6:30 in the morning. I am spoiled by such a good sleeper!

I re-read Asher’s two month post and laughed at HOW MUCH MORE laid back I think I am with Jesse. I haven’t given much thought to a routine for him yet… I think I’m just savoring and enjoying this infant stage as much as possible. Maybe at 4 months we’ll work to establish some napping and bedtime routine! ;)

Jesse, you have brought a whole new dimension of love to our family. We are all crazy about you and so thankful to have you be a part of our lives. I love watching the limited interaction you have with your big brother and know that in no time you two will be talking and laughing together and sooner than I think I’ll have two little boys playing trains in the playroom!

This past month your aunties Erica and Brittany came to see you (along with your uncles and cousins)!! You don’t even know it yet, but you are one LOVED little boy.

* * *

Just for fun, here are Asher and Jesse both at two months old!

New Ride!

2011-08-31T15:22:00.001-05:00

Our new stroller arrived yesterday!!!

After LOTS and LOTS of time spent reading about double strollers we went with the Joovy Caboose. I love how light and compact it is! Asher wanted to go for a walk immediately and was thrilled when we finally took it for a spin after dinner…

It’s funny how something like getting a double stroller makes you think, “Whoa! We’ve got TWO kids!!” :)

Misc. Monday

2011-08-29T14:21:00.001-05:00

Asher’s had a string of nights sleeping in his big boy bed and we’re SO proud of him!!! Naps are a little bit hit or miss, but more ‘hit’ than ‘miss’! Yippee!

He sleeps with approximately 500 stuffed animals, and sometimes uses Clifford for a pillow (in addition to his two pillows), but if he’s comfy and stays in bed I’m not going to complain! :)

* * *

Jesse is becoming more and more a fan of his playmat. He looks intently at the animals and kicks his legs.

Can you guess how often those cheeks get kissed each day?!

* * *

One more IKEA project has been finished up…

We hung the bookshelf in the playroom (and also two little ones up in Jesse’s room)!

Hmmm, I think I’ll read this one…

Settling into his comfy chair…

Nothing like a good book!

* * *

The weather this past weekend was gorgeous!! We spent most of our time outside enjoying the break from the heat. So thankful for a low-key weekend full of beautiful weather and my favorite guys (all three of them)!

TGIF!!!!!

2011-08-26T20:22:00.001-05:00

TGIF has a whole new meaning when you have a two-year-old!! I love my Asher-boy to pieces and pieces, but we’ve had some rough days lately. He is one strong-willed child!! I attempted to get him to nap in his toddler bed one day this week. I decided if he didn’t sleep, he would still stay in his room the whole time. I put the gate on his door since he can easily open and shut the door. What then happened for the next hour+ was lots of running, jumping, laughing, crying, hiding in closets, pulling clothes out of drawers, emptying an entire box of kleenex tissues, flipping lights on and off, hanging on the gate and calling for me or Daisy or Jesse… etc. And this is with me going in OFTEN and putting him back in bed. BUT all’s well that ends well and Chris managed to get him to sleep in his big boy bed last night and he stayed there all night long (Yeah, Daddy!!)!!!! Chris told him they would watch the movie Cars if he stayed there all night and so when he woke up at 4 am and called for me I went in and found him in his bed searching for his paci, once we found it he laid back down and told me he’d get to watch Cars with Daddy if he stayed in bed. Then this morning when he woke up he hopped out of bed, spread out his arms and said, “Okay! Where’s the cars?!” :) Waiting until after Chris got home from work made for a long day, but he was SO excited to finally sit down and watch it with his daddy!!! I decided to take Asher for donuts to celebrate the big occasion!

After donuts we ran a few errands and one stop was Old Navy. Asher LOVES to go in Old Navy for one reason…

He is crazy about the dogs! :)

Something Asher said today totally cracked me up… I was feeding Jesse and he spit up on me. When Asher noticed the spit up he said, “Oh! Jesse spilled his milk on you! You need a new shirt. C’mon Mommy, let’s go upstairs and get a new shirt.” Such a funny kid!

It’s hard to believe this ~~little~~ big boy can cause such big messes… but we’re definitely back in the stage of blow-outs and spit-ups, as sweet as newborns are I definitely didn’t miss either of those things when Asher out-grew them. :)

This sweet boy was 7 weeks yesterday and we’re enjoying more interaction with him. Though they are still sparing, his smiles are SO sweet and last night we got him on a roll and he was smiling up a storm! He wakes up most nights around 4:30 to eat and then sleeps until his big brother wakes him. :)

I wouldn’t trade my two boys or the chance to be home with them every day for ANYTHING… but I do have to laugh thinking back to what I used to consider a ‘hard day’ when I was teaching or even having 1 child. Juggling a two-year-old and a baby is by FAR the hardest thing I’ve ever done… thankfully, also the most rewarding. :) I was telling a friend we were in the ‘thick of the terrible two’s’ at our house and she reminded me to stay on my knees… SO thankful for Godly friends and her wise reminder to remain prayerful and find my strength for each day in the Lord.

Happy Weekend!

Sweet, Sweet Jesse Boy!

2011-08-23T13:51:00.001-05:00

The other night I put Jesse on his playmat while I got dinner ready. He was kicking his legs and playing like crazy until…

He completely wore himself out and fell fast asleep!

And he slept like that for a long time… at least long enough for me to make dinner! Thank you, sweet little boy!!

Last night Chris was snapping pictures of Jesse and he caught a spontaneous smile! SO sweet!

Moving on up {kind of}…

2011-08-21T20:56:00.001-05:00

Asher has tried to escape from his crib a few times now. Thankfully they have been unsuccessful attempts, but we thought it was time to bite the bullet and move him to his big boy bed.

Up until now he’s been sleeping in his temporary bedroom (which was really our guest room) since the room we wanted for him was purple. For some reason we didn’t have time to paint when we first moved in… ;)

Saturday we finally painted his room while Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson entertained the boys for us. (Thank you!)

After we painted, Chris and his dad moved everything to his new room and assembled his cute little bed! It feels SO good to finally have the room painted and him moved out of the guest room!

Though it still needs some finishing touches, Asher is SO proud of his new room and loves to hang out in there!

He has yet to sleep in his new bed… we’ve tried, but he’s just not quite ready, and we’re not going to push it (yet) so in the meantime he’s sleeping in Jesse’s crib. :)

It’s hard to believe how BIG my LITTLE boy is becoming!!

6 weeks old!

2011-08-19T09:13:00.001-05:00

The days and weeks are flying by, and Jesse is six weeks old! He is starting to smile just a little bit and we have to work pretty hard for them. Chris usually gets the most smiles out of him! :) He is a very sweet baby and pretty go-with-the-flow. We had two playdates this week and he slept in his stroller at the park for both of them. At his 1 month appt. (which was really more like a 5 week appt) he weighed 12 lbs, 6 oz and was 24 inches long (97th percentile for both)!!! He is pretty much done with newborn clothes and I think I bought my last pack of size 1 diapers as I think we’re moving up to size 2’s soon! I knew it all went fast… but is it possible it goes faster the second time around?! :)

Here’s a comparison shot of Asher and Jesse both at 6 weeks…

(Asher, 6 wks)

(Jesse, 6 wks)

We got the playmat out while Asher was napping and guess who thought it looked like a really fun toy when he woke up!! ;)

Little Boys!

2011-08-14T13:40:00.001-05:00

We’ve had a house full of little boys lately!! My sister and her two little boys came to visit us after their time at the cabin and before heading home to Texas. Jasper and Ben are both older than Asher, but they are close enough in age that they all had lots of fun together!!! Things were definitely busier, louder, and lots more fun around here the past few days. Asher is going through withdrawal now that his playmates have gone home!

We spent lots of time outside…

The boys tried out the water slide and had a BLAST!

Everyone napped REALLY well this day!! ;)

I love this one! All three boys in their Lightning McQueen trunks!

When we weren’t in the backyard our time was spent playing in the playroom mostly with cars or trains, and watching cartoons…

Ben and Asher are about 6 months apart so they had lots of fun together!!

Jasper is a great kid, setting a good example for his little brother and cousins…

One night Chris kept the boys entertained while Erica and I were busy with dinner and Jesse… there were performances and parades. It was too cute!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, three boys in a tub!
We were brave enough to let all the boys take a bath together! They had so much fun, and it was very cute to watch them together!

You might think that with all the playing and goofing off the boys had little interest in Jesse…

But you’d be wrong! Jasper and Ben were smitten with their littlest cousin giving him LOTS of hugs and kisses…

And once the big boys were all sleeping Jesse got lots of extra snuggles and attention from Auntie Erica!

Jasper and Ben spent a few days with their other grandparents and Erica stayed with us. She was a huge help with the boys, grocery shopping, and meals! And of course, it was SO nice to have the time to just hang out together, too!

After picking up the boys at their grandparent’s Erica, Drew (who met up with them after a business trip) and the boys came back to Indy to spend one more night with us before heading home to Texas.

Thanks for coming to see us! We will be so anxious to pick back up where we left off at Christmas!!

EYE-KEY-UH…

2011-08-12T23:14:00.001-05:00

If you thought that title was confusing you should have seen the “directions” for this beauty…

But totally worth it! {Which is easy for me to say...}

A BIG thanks to my handy {and persistent} hubby who gave lots of hours of his life to our new IKEA shoe organizer…

Did I mention I LOVE it?! :)

…And because a blog post entirely about IKEA furniture is potentially quite boring here is a picture of my baby who, I am afraid, no longer looks like a newborn… but is still just as cute!

…And a picture of his big brother who is also growing up way too fast!

PS I have approx. a million pictures from my sister and nephews’ visit from this past weekend… I'll be getting those up soon {mom and dad}!!!

What’s in a name?

2011-08-11T14:42:00.001-05:00

Naming our second son was definitely a process!! :) We wanted a name with a strong meaning and something that ‘went well’ with Asher. There were lots of names that fit that bill… but Jesse was the name that we eventually chose for not just those two reasons, but also because we loved it!

Jesse means, “Jehovah Exists!” which we both loved. We also loved that Jesse was unique without being strange. We love that the Biblical Jesse is the father of David and part of the line of Christ. We both liked how Jesse fit with Asher and even though it’s a feminine nickname, we think it’s a strong masculine name… perfect for (someday) yelling, “Go Jesse!” from the stands of high school games! :)

Christopher means, “One who bears Christ in His heart.” It is also his Daddy’s name! We pray that both our boys will grow up to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, proclaim His existence to the world, and ultimately, live for Him all the days of their life!

Every child is truly a gift, and we are so thankful for these two gifts that we have been entrusted. Raising Godly sons is definitely a charge we take seriously!

1 month old!

2011-08-06T14:01:00.001-05:00

Jesse, one month ago today you joined our family! This past month has flown by, despite some long days and nights… :) You are a sweet baby and like to be held, although you do spend some time in your swing and pack and play during the day.

I don’t have your ‘stats’ yet as we go to the Dr. next week… but you’re wearing mostly 0-3 mo. clothes and most of your newborn clothes are getting to be too small. You are also wearing size 1 diapers.

You are sleeping pretty well, usually waking up once in the middle of the night (between 3-4am) and then again in the morning (between 6-8am). One night you skipped your middle of the night feeding and made it until 6:15am! It was a wonderful long stretch of sleep… but I don’t have my hopes up that you’ll be doing that consistently anytime soon.

You were eating every three hours until you got your cold and then it switched to about every two hours. I’m trying to get you back to every three hours again… sometimes you make it with no problems! Other times you act like your starving after two or two and a half hours. :)

You are starting to stare at us for longer stretches of time and starting to make noises that sound more like coo's. You only smile in your sleep or while you’re eating… I can’t wait to see your real-live smile! :)

You are losing your hair, something we were told happens to most newborns, it just never happened with your big brother. So far you’ve only lost your hair up on top so you look a little bit like a balding man. :) Don’t worry, we still think you’re as cute as ever!

You’ve had several outings despite the heat wave… The past 20 days have been at or over 90 degrees… a first in history!! I’ve tried to run errands in the early morning, and then we’ve been in the AC after that! You’ve gone to church, IKEA, your grandma and grandpa’s house, Small Group, Daddy’s school, the Doctor’s office, Panera and countless trips to Target, Kroger, Menards… etc. :)

You like your car seat and quickly fall asleep once we start driving. You’ll often sleep in it for a quite a while once we get home, too! You also like to be snuggled in my Moby wrap just as long as your tummy is full and your diaper is dry. Otherwise you let me know you are unhappy!!

Jesse, you are very good-natured so far and I pray that you’ll always have such an easy-going disposition. We all love you so much and even though I’m chasing your brother most of his waking hours I love our chances just to snuggle together. :)

Happy one month birthday, baby boy! Don’t rush this growing-up business. I am enjoying your sweet little snuggly self too much!

We’re still here…

2011-08-03T06:40:00.001-05:00

…and I have the iPhone pictures to prove it! :) (Seriously, what did we do before camera phones?!)

I’ve been really slacking in the blogging department and I think I can blame it more on living in a tw0-story house now than having two-kids! Often when I have time to blog (while Asher naps or in the evening) I don’t want to walk all the way upstairs to where my laptop is charging (usually because I’m holding a sleeping newborn!) BUT, I will get back on track here soon… I guess I’ll just consider it my maternity leave!!

* * *

Last weekend we took Asher to Touch-a-Truck at Carmel High School. It was really cool!! There were SO many different trucks (and even a helicopter)! Jesse and I went along, but only stayed for a short time because of the heat. SOOOOO ready for this heat wave to be over!

Fireman Asher!

Checking out the helicopter…

* * *

Poor Jesse is recovering from a bit of a stuffy nose (likely his first cold) and an infected blocked tear duct!! So at three weeks old this poor child was already been on his first antibiotic! He does seems to be on the mend now and we’re so thankful! It’s not fun to watch your kids feel crummy, especially when there is so little you can do for them!

* * *

This past Sunday we made a quick trip to…

IKEA!!

Jesse was a shopping champ! He slept and then took his first bottle since leaving the hospital, and then he slept some more!

Asher was having way more fun at Grandpa and Grandma’s House playing playing playing! Liz and Joel and Coralaine met us there for dinner and unfortunately we didn’t bring our camera so this is the only shot I have…

It was a quick, but successful trip and we’re still up to our elbows in IKEA furniture pieces. Hopefully everything will be assembled and in place by this weekend when we are getting some VERY special visitors!!!

I love this shot! On the ride home from Cincinnati it was still sunny, but definitely past bedtime so he fell asleep with his sunglasses on. He was exhausted from a fun day with his grandparents and slept (almost) the whole way home.

* * *

Chris is back to school full-time (sigh) so I’m getting used to life with two kids. It’s been hard and great at the same time. Even in the most difficult moments I’m SO thankful that my job is at home with my boys, and even though it’s not where every mom wants to be, or can be, I’m so glad it’s where I get to be!!

I think I’m going to have a love-hate relationship with the car cart at Kroger! Love it for keeping Asher occupied and out of the cart (leaving room for Jesse and groceries). Hate it for how hard it is to steer… I about took out every end cap and more than one stand in the deli/bakery.

This past weekend Liz helped me finally figure out my Moby Wrap. We’ve had a few chances to try it over the past few days and love it. Thanks, Liz!

Oh Henry!

2011-07-27T19:58:00.001-05:00

I’ve shared on the blog before about my sweet friend Heather and how excited I was that we were expecting boys within a month of each other. It ends up that the boys were only born a few weeks apart and on Monday we got to meet sweet Henry and see Heather!

It was SUCH a great visit full of lots of talking and cuddling babies. We didn’t get a picture of us with the boys, but we did get some of them together.

Jesse was definitely not feeling up to a photo shoot and Henry was being very serious, but at least Asher was full of smiles. (You’ll have to take my word for it that Henry has the cutest smile with the sweetest dimples.) Thanks for coming to see us, Heath and Henry! We love you guys and can’t wait until our next visit! Make sure you bring Peter with you next time!! :)

Brothers

2011-07-26T13:02:00.001-05:00

After his nap the other day Asher asked to hold his baby brother. He was very gentle and so sweet with him. We are in NO rush for these boys to grow up, but we look forward to seeing a friendship blossom in the years to come.

2.5 weeks later…

2011-07-22T21:48:00.001-05:00

Jesse’s been with us for about 2.5 weeks now and it just feels like he’s always been here! Asher is adjusting well and is VERY sweet to his baby brother!

He’s always very interested in what Jesse is doing and wants to help whenever he cries.

I think I have a million pictures of Jesse sleeping in his swing, but he just looks so sweet and peaceful that’s it’s hard not to snap a shot.

Such a sweet little boy! We love you so much!

Love those toes!

Heat Wave!

2011-07-18T13:41:00.001-05:00

Along with the rest of the country, we are experiencing this crazy HEAT WAVE! We’re bracing for the worst of it to come later this week when I’m pretty sure Jesse and I will just hibernate inside in the Air Conditioning!!

And even though the heat is keeping us close to home Asher’s favorite way to stay cool involves sliding from his fort into his pool and playing in the sprinklers!

I just love that little face!

The mark of a good summer day is getting to play outside in water twice! On to bathing suit #2 after nap…

We hope you’re staying cool, too! :)

Nana & Papa

2011-07-18T13:19:00.001-05:00

Nana and Papa came back to Indy last week so Nana could help with me with both boys and so Papa could fly back to the cabin. We had a nice morning hanging out before Papa had to leave for the airport.

Asher loves his swing, but loves it EVEN more if he has someone to swing with!

Nana and Papa with their Atkinson boys.

Asher mostly loves his little brother and checks on him anytime he starts to cry, usually saying, “Oh Sweetheart!” ;) It’s too cute.

iPhone newborn photos

2011-07-17T07:11:00.001-05:00

Dear Jesse,

We KNEW we’d love you…

we just didn’t know we’d love you THIS much!

It already feels likes you’ve always been a part of our family…

and we’re SO glad you’re here!

Love, Mommy, Daddy, & Asher

Fun with Friends

2011-07-16T09:23:00.001-05:00

Our backyard is quickly becoming our favorite ‘room’ in the house! Asher would probably spend all day out there if he could! It’s big and wide open and has lots of shade so I can even sit out there with Jesse and watch Chris and Asher play together.

Earlier this week we were blessed to have our sweet friends, the McKiddies, come for a visit as they drove from Illinois to Ohio. Kate and Asher hit it off and had so much fun playing outside and then cooling off inside watching Word World and Veggie Tales together.

Julie and me with the little brothers while the big kids napped. :)

Oops, no picture of Eric and Chris. Sorry, guys!
We are so thankful for this special friendship that remains strong despite the distance between Indy and Chicago.

More Jesse pictures…

2011-07-11T09:35:00.001-05:00

Everything about Jesse’s delivery was such a blessing! We are still in awe of the fact that I didn’t have to have a c-section and are thankful to all our friends and family for praying for that outcome along with us! We had the sweetest nurses and my doctor was the one to deliver Jesse. We couldn’t have ‘asked’ for anything else to make Jesse’s birth any smoother! Here are a few more pictures from the hospital and since getting home.

Our sweet nurse, Kim. She was our nurse the morning of the c-section and then requested us again for the next day. She was such a calm and sweet person she definitely helped my nerves on both mornings. :)

I already knew Chris was a great dad, but he continues to jump right in and help and encourage me so much. Nothing like becoming parents together to make you see your spouse in a whole new way! :)

Atkinson: Party of four!! I’m definitely outnumbered!

My mom and dad took care of Asher for us while we were in the hospital! We SO appreciate all the love, care, and energy that goes into watching our busy, two-year-old for a few days and few nights!!

Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson drove over after work to meet Jesse!

Just a LITTLE bit excited to go home! :) We were really missing Asher and just ready to start settling in to our new house with both our boys!

* * *

Daisy checking out what those noises were coming from the baby carrier…

Little brother all snuggled into his pack and play!

Jesse seems to be really alert, looking around a lot throughout the day!

Daddy and Jesse snuggle time

Auntie Liz, Uncle Joel and cousin Coralaine came for a visit!

Jesse is all of a sudden making baby Coralaine look so big!

I LOVE this picture!! Asher fell asleep on the way home from Target with mommy and we had the hardest time waking him. I *think* this very sweet snuggly moment with Daddy and Jesse outweighed the melt-down that happened upon waking up, but I’m not sure!! ;)

Such a sweet little boy! I can already see how second babies are kind of forced to just ‘go with the flow’ – life is busy with a two year old and Jesse is doing a great job of putting up with the extra noise, touching, and all that goes along with a toddler brother.

We are SO happy to be home with this little guy. I knew I’d miss him at the hospital, but by the last night I was REALLY lonesome for him. It just feels so nice to be home with Asher and Jesse even if it is a bit chaotic at moments. :)

I hope to get more pictures of the boys together soon, right now Asher has a runny nose so we’re trying to keep some distance between them. ha! You can imagine how easy that task is. :)