Growing Boy!!!

Seriously, I'm a horrible blogger! I can't seem to keep up with updating pictures and blogs here...but I'll try to do better! A lot of it has to do with our broken computer. Mike has the day off today and I told him to when I come home from work I want to see a new computer ready for me to use!!! He laughed...but I think it's gonna happen, finally! I'm SO not used to the laptop I have and my measly iPhone can only do so much... ANYWAY....Asher won't stop growing!!!!! I'm loving every minute of him. He is such a sweet baby!!! I don't want to jinx anything...BUT he has slept through the night THREE nights in a row!!! I'm loving it!!! I'm talking like ALL the way through...like 8p--7a!!! I definitely don't miss getting up in the middle of the night. ESPECIALLY since I'm back to work!!! YEP, I officially started back to work last week. I was really hoping that it wouldn't happen...but it did. Since Mike works from home 3 days a week he has been taking and picking up Ash from daycare. I will say that I LOVE his daycare. They are super sweet and have a great curriculum (even for infants!!!). They are Christian-based, very new, clean and love the 'teachers' in the infant room...and they are about 2 miles from my house. They also have video cameras in the rooms so I can check up on him every 5 minutes! ;) ha. It's fun to be able to see them reading him books, playing paddy-cake, singing songs, feeding him and watching him sleep. Of course I wish it was MEEE that was doing all of these things, but it's good to know that he's in great hands! That's all for now....back to work...

Sunday's best!!! This is the outfit that Asher wore to his Dedication at our church last weekend. Such a special day!!

2 Months!!!

I'm a bit late...but Asher is now 2 months and 7 days! He had his 2 month appointment last Monday and got the shots like a champ! I heard lots of horror stories and was expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised when he did great. He was a bit fussy that night but really nothing too bad at all. He weighed in at 12lbs 7oz and is now 23 3/4 inches long! He's definitely a growing boy!!!
Last weekend my mom, Asher and I went on a road trip to Oklahoma City for my cousin's baby shower. As always, Asher did great in the car! My mom got to experience how me and Ash get up in the middle of the night since we were in the same hotel room! :) It was great to see my dad, stepmom and stepsister who drove in from Nebraska! My stepsis, Kinsey, drove back to Dallas with us and spent her whole Spring Break here at our house! We loved every minute of it! We stayed busy visiting family, going out to dinner/lunches, shopping, and also went to the Harbor and the Arboretum. She took lots of pictures of Asher...I can't wait to see the final product! Asher loved spending time with Aunt Kinsey and he can't wait to see her again!!! xo!
Asher smiles a ton these days! He is SUCH a sweet baby! He loves car rides, stroller walks in the neighborhood, being outside, lying on my/Mike/anybody's chest, he loves to look around at lights, walls, shadows...really anything. He coos all the time and is starting to giggle. He is so fun!!!

SUPER sweet newborn photo. This is the pic I used on the birth announcements that went out a few weeks ago.

Newborn photo shoot

Newborn photo.

Ashers first time at the church nursery. THEY SAID that he did great. So I'll have to trust that it's true. ha! He was swinging in the swing when we picked him up and cried when they took him out to bring him to us. Maybe he DID have fun?!? :)

My stepsister, Kinsey, did a photo shoot of me and Ash at the Arboretum. I can't wait to see them all!

Kiddos!!!

My brother and SIL had their new addition to their family 3 weeks after Ash was born. Everly Blue was actually born on Asher's initial due date...January 24th. She is so adorable!

Check out her sweet cheeks!!!

Austyn is now a big sister!!! She gets adorable every time I see a new picture!

My sister is due with her 4th boy on March 10th! I can't wait to meet Corban Stone!! Her other 3 boys are staying so busy with auditions for new print ads, commercials and even movies! Here are their new head shots!

Skylar

Logan

Aiden

We just booked our flights to visit California! I really wish we lived much closer--I hate that I only get to see them a couple times a year. Sooo...Mike, Asher and I are heading out to Cali in April. I can't wait!!! My mom and stepdad are renting a beautiful house on Newport Beach for us all to stay at!! My grandparents are even coming in town from San Francisco! EIGHTEEN of us in the same house (including the 3 newborns!!). Although I'm really nervous to fly with Asher...I'm REAALLY excited to see my fam and be on vacation!

Speaking of Asher...here are some new pics of my love......

Baby Legs are my FAVE! They are so cute and easy for diaper changing! These are still big on him but at least he has room to grow! :)

Asher LOVES this sweet elephant that my bff gave him. It winds up and plays 'Rock-a-bye Baby' and moves his head back and forth. We keep it at his changing table to make that a more pleasant experience.

6 weeks!

Went to dinner with my BFF & her family. They loved Asher!

hanging out on the couch

***Not sure how the photos got split up but I'm not taking the time to fix it. Ha!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Asher is growing everyday. I went to an appointment this morning and realized that the carseat is SO heavy with him in it now! EEk! Hopefully my muscles will start to get with it since we have a long time ahead of us before he's out of that thing! Our home PC has crapped out on us recently so I've been MIA in the blogging world. I had to get out my MAC laptop and try to figure out how to post pics. I'm proud to say that I figured it out without having to call on my friends Lee (www.learnfromlee.com) or Ters. ha!
Valentines Day was greatness. Mike got me a garnet ring surrounded with diamonds. Garnet is Asher's birthstone so it's super special to me! I've been saying that I wanted something to resemble him or his birthstone but I couldn't decided what to get. I'm so glad he surprised me with this AND picked it out himself. It's BEAUtiful!!! Since I lost my wedding ring a few years ago...now I'll wear this on my wedding finger. :)
The weather has been UH-MAZING recently and I'm hoping it'll stay this way! We've been going out on walks when Mike gets home from work and I'm LOVING it! We are SO happy with our stroller purchase. We ended up getting the Britax B-ready that our carseat easily attaches to but it also has the actually stroller seat that also fits an infant. It's super smooth and rear or front facing which I love!

Taking a stroll.

Happy Baby!

Naked Baby! He loves the bath but doesn't like the getting out part when he is cold! :(

I love my Lovie Dovie!

I absolutely love spending every minute of every day with Asher!!! I guess I shouldn't say EVERY minute of EVERY day, because I do get breaks to take a shower, get my nails done, go on dates with my hubby, etc. Asher and I have been having so much fun staying at home together. Mike works from home each Tues & Thurs so those days are even better because he's here and is able to help out, eat lunch or even just come out of the office to take a break and play with us...or watch Ash sleep. :)
I'm learning new things each day about being a mommy. It's crazy the things that happen that I was never told about! I'll be honest to say the first 2 weeks were CRAZY! Emotionally, I was a wreck! I'm so glad I'm past that part. I probably cried myself to sleep almost every night. Sometimes I didn't really even have a reason, it just happened. BUT I have the best husband in the world and he was there each night to wipe my tears and promise me that everything will be alright. I think overall I was just overwhelmed. A lot of it had to do with the obstacles of breastfeeding and the pain I had from the delivery after I came home from the hospital and of course, having a brand new, iddy-biddy sweet baby that was on a crazy schedule that I wasn't used to. I no longer could get my normal 10 hours of sleep each night. I had to kiss that bu-bye!
Now I can say that I still have the everyday challenges of taking care of a newborn but I'm LOVING it! I'm used to my sleep schedule and Asher is actually sleeping 4-4.5 hours through the night--on a good night! (knock on wood!!!) I'll typically take a nap in the early morning or afternoon while Asher is sleeping to catch up on sleep if I'm dragging. Other than that, when he is awake we recently started to read books, sing, play with his various toys that play music and make noises, and play on the tummy-time mat. He doesn't last very long at any of these activities...but it's fun while it lasts. Ha!
I can't wait for the weather to get warmer so we can get out of the house and use the stroller. We have a great park right by my house and I'm itching to walk on the walking trail each day. Icy weather has taken over of temps in the teens & 20s recently so we've been staying in-doors. I'm looking forward to the 60 degree temps that it's supposed to be this weekend! I'm also looking forward to my Valentines date with my hubby. My mom offered to watch Asher while we go to dinner tomorrow night...assuming the roads aren't icy. A's pediatrician has said since day one "Don't forget to date your husband!". I totally agree and can see how the focus can be taken away from the marriage. We are so thankful that we have so much local family that CANT WAIT to babysit for us!! :)

2 Week Doc

I'm a bit late...but this past Monday Asher had his 2 week pediatrician appointment. I do like his pediatrician but I've heard a few really bad stories recently from a moms group that I attend. So I'm kind of up in the air about staying with him or looking into a new one already. I think we'll give it a bit longer and see how it goes. Anyway, here are the stats:
Weight: 8.7lbs 25%
Height: 21 in. 50%
Head: 14 1/2 50%
The doc mentioned that everything looks great. He went over any questions I had and explained about Asher's feeding, development, sleep, bowel/bladder and safety tips. Overall it was great except the part when Ash peed all over himself including his FACE! Eek! We managed to get him all cleaned up and and home safely! :)

Here are some recent pics:

1st day he wore shoes. haha! We went out and about that day and he got so many compliments on them! :)

My dad & stepmom (Happy & Memaw).

Not sure why this one is upside down...but this is Asher getting some tummy time on mom & dad's bed.

My mom, Mimi with Ash. (This is before Asher was treated for his jaundice...you can tell he is yellow!)

Mike's stepsister, Laurie, loving on Asher

Neighborhood girlfriends. They delivered a delicious dinner and we introduced baby Ash to baby Dash! Dash is 3 months old...they will be going to daycare together!! :)

Mike's Dad & stepmom (Grandad & Gigi)

Sweet friends visiting us at the hospital.

Back to reality...

My Dad & step mom, Dawn, came to visit for a week and left this afternoon. They were such a great help and we had a great time while they were here. They loved on Asher the whole time...it was a great visit and we can't wait for them to come back already! While they were here we got out a few times with Asher. We all went to the mall, out to dinner, to family friends house, etc. We are starting to get the hang of putting the car seat in and out of the car and packing the diaper bag to go out. Dawn was sweet enough to watch Asher and encouraged Mike & I to go on a date! We went to a local favorite for dinner (Zanata's) and out for ice cream even though it was probably 20-something degrees outside! It was nice to get out of the house...just us two! Another night we ran errands and I went to get my nails done, that was nice too!!
Tomorrow we'll be back to reality. Mike will be back to work and I'll, of course, be home with Asher. He has his 2 week wellness appointment at 8:30am. I'm still getting the hang of getting up early (after being up overnight to feed him) and be up and ready and at the doc at 8:30AM...so we'll see how I do. EEK! I feel like I need 2 hours to get me and him ready. I hope once we get in a better routine, it'll get better.

Post baby body changes:

• I can see my toes again!!!!!
• I can sleep on my stomach again! LOVE it!!
  
• I'm COOOLD as opposed to being hot all the time!
• I now have lower back pain (maybe from the epidural!??!) I need to check with the doc...
• Even though you can't tell by looking at me... I lost 24 of the 28 lbs that I gained during pregnancy! YIPEE!!!

I'll have Asher's stats after his doc appointment tomorrow BUT I can already tell that he's heavier and longer when I hold him when nursing. He's also basically growing out of the 'newborn' clothes and fits in most of the 0-3months and a few 3mo!