January

It has been a COLD, SNOWY, January...in fact the snowiest (not sure if that is a word) January I can remember in many years. Of course for kiddos, this is fun times, for Mommies and Daddies, this means lots of creative planning for indoor activities. We have gotten out and enjoyed the snow a few times thanks to some wonderful sleds, provided by my in-laws, but on other snowy days, we've stayed inside watched movies, built lots and lots of tents, dressed up like firemen and baked way too many cookies. I've tried to do art projects with the boys on really long days, but I've found that at this age, it's way too much to manage because Asher is usually trying to eat the glue or swallow the pom poms and that usually results in some mini-tantrum as I'm trying to wrestle glue sticks out of my 16 month old's hand. Not fun! Plus, if you know Braden, you know he would rather read or use his imagination any day over sitting and coloring. Oh well...here is to being creative one day.

What else...we have tried to be a little more productive this month at breakfast time (one of my new years resolutions) and I have been helping Braden to memorize Scripture. Growing up, I had to memorize Scripture in High School and to this day, those verses still come to my mind in my moments of need. I hope I can help my boys "hide His word in their hearts" as the Psalms call us to. So far, Braden seems very interested in memorizing Scripture and it's quite rewarding when I see him randomly do something nice for Asher...if I ask him why he did that, he will say, "because that's what our Bible says...'be ye kind, one to another.'" Hooray...finally something is sinking in!

What else...we celebrated Austin's 32nd birthday a few weeks ago with a date night to Virago (our favorite sushi place). I love, love, love that after 8 years of marriage and 6 years of dating, that I still find myself giddy to spend time with this man. He truly is such an amazing husband and father and I am so thankful for him. Besides that, we ended the month with a round of runny noses, ear infections, deep coughs and high fevers. Here is to good health, warm weather and good times with family in the coming months. With that, I'm leaving you with some pictures of our January -

Braden, making a snow angel in the freshly fallen snow -
Asher, all cuddled up in his new sled. He seriously fell asleep in here at one point b/c he was so warm and tired from all the playing in the snow -
This was taken at Austin's parents house -
And on those crazy cold days when it was way too cold to be outside and school was cancelled for the nth time this month, we snuggled on the couch in our jammies and watched movies -
Celebrating Austin's birthday at home -
Braden, really, really excited when he found out that his birthday is the next birthday in our home -
Asher, post-ice cream cake. The kid LOVES ice cream!
My little firemen -
Sweet smile from my boy. If you ask Braden what he wants to be when he grows up, he undoubtedly says "a fireman." -
And little Asher dressed in his fire costume, playing with the fire house. Asher would wear this costume all day if I would let him. If he sees it in the closet, he stands at the door pointing and whining until I put it on him. It cracks me up!

Christmas

Okay, better late then never. We spent Christmas Eve morning at our house celebrating Christmas as a family. It was such a wonderful morning! When the boys stepped out of Braden's room and saw the tree, Braden said "Asher look!" They were both so excited to see their new toys and lots of new gifts under the Christmas tree. We spent the entire morning opening gifts. It was so relaxing and so much fun. Braden would open one gift and literally sit for 30 minutes and play with it before moving on. We'd have to beg him to open another gift because he was enjoying his new stuff so much. Little Asher just wandered around all morning playing. He loved digging in his stocking and pulling out various things, but didn't quite get the whole opening presents thing. At one point Braden looked at us as he was playing with his new fireman and firehouse and said "This is the best present I ever had." We paused for a few minutes to eat some homemade cinnamon rolls and egg casserole. On a side note, this recipe is stinkin' delicious...it's lots of work, makes a ridiculous amount of cinnamon rolls, but it is my new Christmas tradition. It was a perfect day with my family. It's amazing how much more you enjoy Christmas as an adult watching your children filled with excitement and awe. Around 1:00pm, we called Austin's parents to check on the weather report since we were supposed to be driving to Lexington the next morning and they told us that snow was in the forecast and that we should come on today. Now at this point it was naptime and it looked like a bomb had gone off in my house...wrapping paper strewn on the floor, toys scattered everywhere, a kitchen covered in flour and sugar and cinnamon, but we frantically cleaned the house, packed everyone's suitcases and three hours and no naps later got in the car and made the three hour drive back to Lexington. All in all a great day! More pictures to come from Christmas with our extended families, for now, here are some pictures of our little family.

The tree all lit up and ready for the little boys -

The boys digging in their stockings -


Asher, trying out his new ride. Now before you judge me on letting my baby have a paci in his mouth during the day, just remember that he had a double ear infection, a super snotty nose and a bad cough so the paci was quite necessary -

Braden playing with his new firehouse. Let's just later that morning, he looked at us and said, "This is the best present I ever had." So sweet -
Sweet smiles from the boys (Braden had some crazy bed head that morning). Never could get a good picture of them together-
Okay, this picture just makes me laugh. Austin had gotten each of the boys a small bag of gummy candy to put in their stockings. So here is Austin opening Asher's little bag and as you can see, Asher was VERY interested in getting in that bag. Ash has MAJOR sweet tooth and Austin seems to love to feed it -

Asher's Big Week

Well, Asher had a big week this past week. On Tuesday, he got tubes put in his ears. After 3 months of ear infections, hour after hour of fussiness, sleepless nights, early wakings and short naps, we finally got tubes put in. The surgery was only 10 minutes long, but did include anesthesia. It was awful handing my baby over to the surgeon, unsure of how his body would react to the anesthesia and it was even more awful holding a crying, disoriented baby as he was waking out of the anesthesia. After a 3 hour nap and lots of snacks, my little boy awoke a new man. He was finally happy, finally napping, finally sleeping at night and finally eating. It was amazing the difference in his personality. Of course three nights ago he started this ridiculous night waking thing where he now wakes for 2-3 hours in the wee hours of the night, wallowing and crying. We are currently praying for wisdom on how to handle it, but his days are enjoyable and for this I am thankful. The night waking thing has been hard, REALLY, REALLY HARD. Austin and I have not slept for more then 4-5 hours in 3 days. In some ways it feels like this is how it is going to be for the rest of my life...dramatic I know, but it really does feel this way, especially at 3am when there seems to be no end in sight. I find myself fearful when I hear him awake at 3am...anxious of when/if/how he will finally go back to sleep. I'm sure (okay, I hope this is just a phase), but I just don't know what to do about it. He is getting his molars in and that could be the culprit, but who knows. His ears were checked yesterday and the doctor assures me they look perfect...no fluid, no infection, nothing! Anyway, if you are reading this, pray for sleep in our home and for wisdom on how to handle a tiny, unhappy baby in the wee hours of the night. In other news, Asher got his first haircut this week. He desperately needed his wings over his ears trimmed and so after some good snacks and some entertainment by Braden, I got him to sit still long enough for a trim. He looks like such a little man these days. Here he is before his big haircut.
And here he is post, haircut eating a Christmas ball and sitting in a plastic bag. We really do practice safe parenting around here, even though it doesn't appear that way :)
Christmas pictures to come soon, for now it's time to wake some little boys from their slumber.