February Update

We have been much busier as of late.  Now that it is warmer and the flu has subsided we have been getting out with the boys more and more.  And we HAVE NEEDED IT!!!  Max is stir crazy and takes it out on us.  We are still working very hard at finding our stride as a family of 4, and some days I feel like I have failed miserably.  Valentine's Day ended in tears for everyone but Curtis.  But I think as we get out with friends and get back into normal activities it will get easier.  That is what I keep telling myself anyway.  I have to remind myself that Max will not remember these difficult days, especially the days when he and I just don't get along.

Asher had his 2 month wellness check last Friday.  He is doing very well and exceeding expected milestones for his age.  He weighed 13lbs 9oz and was 24 1/2" long.  That puts him in the 87% and 93% respectively.  He also focuses on faces and some objects very well and is smiling in response to other people.  He also supports his head well even though tummy time has been lacking.  He is sleeping very well and is now only waking up once in the night to nurse.  We are so blessed!

Here are a whole bunch of random pictures from the last few weeks, mainly of Max.  He needs the ego boost right now though.I will post a couple of videos of Asher soon.

 Max making "volcanoes".  I have a video of this that I will load soon.

 Asher loves to take my spot in the bed while I get up to use the restroom and pull on clothes in the morning.

 Max refused to take a nap, and I found him asleep on the couch waiting for his daddy to get home.

 Look out Asher!  Don't let Max catch you playing with his puppies!

 Max had his teeth cleaned for the first time.  He did so well and we were proud of him.

 Zoo day!  It was still a little cool, but was definitely warmer than earlier in the week.

 Eli is showing his stuff!

 First black eye.  Max and daddy were playing on a swing with a broken latch.  Max fell forward and hit g=his head on the restraint.  Quite a lump that night.

 But the next morning the lump was gone and his eye was purple.

 Haha!  I growled at him!

 6 days later.  The eye is yellow-green now.

 Carson and Max enjoying some dessert.

Adi, Max and Eli are riding the train!

1 Month old pics

So the first couple of pictures are Asher's 1 month pics taken closer to 5 weeks in age.  My stickers were a little late in arriving to get a true one month pic.  He is growing like a weed!  We have already bumped him up to 6 month onesies and pj's to accommodate his length.  I seem to remember another little boy who grew quickly out of his smaller clothes.  I guess they will have that in common anyway.  Asher continues to be such a mild baby (knock on wood) and we have settled into a fairly regular routine including him sleeping a 6 hour stretch at night.  I am so blessed with my wonderful boys.

I will admit that Max is having a little difficulty sharing us with Asher.  We were expecting it, but it still hurts me a little when Max asks for me to put Asher down and play with him.  I try my best, but I feel like I am often disappointing him.  He is acting out a little more than usual, which again is probably very normal, it is just very un-Max.  I am hoping that given a little more time things will be easier.  Max continues to LOVE Montessori school and we have arranged the schedule so that Curtis drops Max off in the morning allowing Asher and myself a little more heavenly sleep.  Thank you Curtis!!! 

Thank you so much for the blanket Jenny and Trent.  The thank you note is in the mail?  Someday soon? 

Max often asks to hold Asher, but it never lasts too long.  He is far to busy to sit around holding his little brother.

Harley outfit from Papa.

I almost caught a smile.  It tends to disappear when the camera comes up.

Asher talking

and burping… such a BOY!

One week Portraits

My friend Bri Wacshmann has taken many portraits of our family over the last couple of years, but her specialty is newborn photos.  I never had professional photos of Max when he was so tiny, and I do regret it in some ways.  The time just slips by so fast, and I cannot imagine Maxwell was ever as little as Asher is now.  Anyway, please enjoy these beautiful photos of our boys.  And in case you are worried, I was inches away at all times.  In fact I think she may have had to photoshop my hands out of a few of them.

Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!  It was a great Christmas in Waco, even though Max fully expected it to snow.  He has it in his head that snow=Christmas.  Well that may be true in some parts of the world, but generally not in Texas.  We have not had any snow at all this year, even with all of the crazy winter storms we have had this year.  

We have had a lot of family here since the arrival of Mr. Asher, and Max was thrilled to have Bo and Sadie here to spend Christmas with him.  It has been so great having visitors, but alas everyone has gone home and left the four of us here alone.  It had to happen eventually, but I feel wholly unprepared to take care of both boys by myself.  Prayers are appreciated!

We had so many wonderful gifts this year, but I am the most thankful for Asher.  He is sweet and mild (knock on wood) and we all love him so much.  Max often refers to "our" baby and will "pertect" him if I need to leave him in his swing or bassinet for a few minutes, and we are working hard on learning how to touch him gently.  Max is excited to play with Asher and is learning a big lesson in patience.  In fact on the second or third day we had Asher home Max asked when they could play together.  I told him that Asher grows every day and soon enough he would be big enough to play.  Max said that it wasn't fast enough.  Sigh!  I don't want either of them to grow so quickly!!!

  

 Christmas Eve and everyone is in their pjs!

 Max is checking out his stocking.

 Santa brought plenty of Minecraft fun to Bo.

 Santa brought Max a new bicycle and Sadie has a new camera.

 Love this kid.  He has probably played with these blocks more than any other gift.

 Papa came through with a robot puppy, just what Max had wanted.  Zoomer is very cute, but doesn't follow any commands, just like a real puppy.

 Asher woke up for a few minutes. Santa was good to him as well.

 His awake period did not last too long. He is easy to snuggle!

 Trying out the new bike.  He is not too sure about it yet, we need some practice.

 My boys!

Happy 4th Birthday Maxwell!

Ugh!  I cannot believe he is four years old.  It is so amazing to look at Asher now and remember when Max was that small, and realize how quickly time passes, TOO QUICKLY for my taste!  We had two fun filled days of birthday shenanigans and I'm sure Max could have gone for even more.  We worked hard to make this birthday extra special since Max is feeling a little displaced these days.  Thanks to all the family and friends who were here with us to help celebrate our big dudes big day.

Brooke had an idea to let our boys decorate "gingerbread" houses, which were actually graham crackers.  They all had a really good time.  Max wouldn't wear his yellow apron so we put an old t-shirt over his clothes.  He is concentrating hard!

 Cousin Cash, along with Jason and Natalie, came down from Dallas to help us celebrate.

 The fabulous Baker boy!

 Looking delicious, and let me tell you most of the decorations ended up in the mouth.

 Carson worked hard on his house as well.

 Eli taste testing the frosting.

 Four candles for a big boy!

 Kristen and Baker brought Max a stomp rocket.  The boys went outside and played with it for a long time.  Thanks for the awesome gift!

 Getting a running start and a big jump to launch the rocket.

 Does he look like he had a good time???

 We opened family gifts after the party wrapped up.

 Oh, these two goofy boys.  

 Thanks for the tent!!!

 Max saw this keyboard/DJ set at Kohl's.  We doubled back and bought it for him later.  He opened the bad and started screaming about how it was just what he had always wanted!!!

 Celebration of life at Montessori school.  He and Ms. Marie are singing the song about the months of the year.  This took place on his actual birthday.

 Then Max put all of the months down in order.  He walked around the "calendar" four times as I showed pictures from each year and talked about all the adventures Max has had each year of his life.

Singing the "Celebration of Life" song, followed by "Happy Birthday".

We finished his birthday fun by taking him to his favorite restaurant in Waco "Feddwreckers".  He loves it for the games.