Thanksgiving 2011

We had a super busy holiday weekend. You could probably tell from the lack of blog posts. I just  unloaded my camera yesterday and I did a very, very bad thing. Only took a handful of photos over the holiday. oops!! The twins visited from New York with Michelle and Jesse and Jim was here from Florida for the weekend as well. So there was alot to take photos of and I didn't.

We first went to my Aunt Anne's for my side of the family. It was a change of scenery for us since she has never hosted Thanksgiving before. And then we headed to Elaine's for Dave's side of the family. We ate all day and ate pie all night. Exactly what you are supposed to do for Thanksgiving!

Here are my pathetic three pictures I took on Thanksgiving... haha

Mabel joining us for dinner. Oak had already gone to bed.

Two Boys in a Tub

Jaxson usually takes showers now since he likes to "do it like daddy." I prefer it because it only take about five minutes from the time I hose him down, soap him up, and rinse him off with the shower head. And I am a record fast bath giver for Asher too but they never get to have any fun in the bath. So last night we weren't in any hurry for anything so thought they would enjoy some bathtime fun. Asher and Jaxson have been doing alot together lately and when I mentioned playing in the bath together Jaxson, who usually isn't very interested in bathtime, got himself undressed and was waiting in the bathroom for me. Once the bath was filled and full of toys they went to town. There was alot of dumping water on heads. I couldn't tell if Asher didn't like it since he was would smile rather than cry so I let them just go for it. In the end they both came out happy and most importantly clean!!

Picture From the Past

This is what my Uncle Phil wrote about the picture: My dad. Navy Vet. WW11. Flight mechanic, Navy bomber. Served with honor. Lived with honor. Steve was born in May, 1945 while dad was somewhere in the Pacific. The war ended in August. He came home about three months later. This picture was taken in December. It reflects both the Joy of finally making it home alive with our beautiful mother and there new baby boy, and the sorrow of losing his brother, Donald who was killed when his plane went down in the Pacific off the coast of San Diego, California.

 

My uncle Phil posted this picture the other day for Veterans day on facebook. It is a picture of my grandma and grandpa with their first of seven children, Steve. My aunt Anne commented that Asher had alot of resemblance to Steve when he was a baby. Everyone has always said that little Asher has a lot of Williams in him. As I was looking through some past posts on my blog and thought I would post a picture of Asher with his chubby cheeks to see what you thought.

Here are some pictures of my uncle Steve now along with my dad. They look very alike...for obvious hairy reasons. These were taken January of 2009.

This is my dad and Jaxson

My uncle Steve with Jaxson

My uncle Steve

Cheerio

So today I let Asher have his first bite. His first go at chewable food, not just baby food. I decided he is 8 months old and I just have to get it over with. Even with Jaxson I was always, and still am, paranoid about them choking. I really should learn first aid and maybe this would help my paranoia but anyway...

I bit the bullet today and gave him some cheerios. I of course bit them in half and considered halving them again even but resisted. I thought he wouldn't even be able to pick them up if they were as small as I wanted them to be. He happily picked up the pieces and quickly put them in his mouth. He made some interesting faces as he felt the texture of it. Many of them ended up on the floor or on his shirt. He was still in his pj's so we didn't bother with a bib. When he finished his first batch he giggled and wiggled in his chair when he saw me get more down. We will stick with puffs and cheerios for awhile but he is well on his way to a pork chop on a stick!

Asher: 8 Months

 Asher was 8 months old on November 9th, and yesterday we went to see the doctor to get a quick flu shot and other immunizations. When we got home I thought I better grab his 8 month photos. Now that he is on the move getting a photo of our little guy is proving more difficult. But to my surprise Jaxson was being very cooperative and let me take some photos of him. I took advantage of this and snapped alot of pictures of Jaxson.

On to Asher... at our doctors appointment we learned that he is 27 1/2 inches long and he is 20lbs 7oz. He is right on track on his growth chart falling in the 48th percentile for height and around 65th percentile for weight. The good thing about him being a big little boy is that we know he is getting plenty to eat and getting exactly what he needs. He is a mover these days. He is up walking along the couches, he is crawling around quickly, usually to get to something he is not supposed to have. We have to keep on our toes much faster to keep him out of all the things he shouldn't have.

Jaxson is learning this important lesson as well. Yesterday Jaxson left the ipod touch on the floor when he went to brush his teeth. When finished he left the bathroom and in a frantic voice started to yell at Asher, "ASHER, YOU CAN'T EAT IPODS!!" Hilarious.. I was on my way to get Asher and I heard Jaxson go on to tell Asher, "and you can't eat ipads or iphones" I don't think he even knows any electronics that don't have an "i" in front of it.

I could probably look at this picture forever. His big eyes are mesmerizing.. :) 

I forgot to post Asher's 7 month photos so I will just do that quick here. You may have seen them on the photography blog but I need to post them here more for myself to look back on. :)

Play Time On Camera

 One thing I want to do more is take pictures of the boys just playing. Not cleaning the house before I grab my camera. Not changing their clothes or brushing their hair. I used to do this alot more with Jaxson when he was a baby and haven't done as much lately. So this morning I snapped a few of the boys just playing. And playing together which makes me so happy.

And as the afternoon went on I realized that Jaxson seemed bored. We have tons of toys and different things to play with but sometimes they just need a change of pace. So I went to find the painters tape to make something I had seen on Pinterest. He loves playing with his cars but the "roads" made it way more fun!! And you caught me... I did clean up a little bit before these pictures....

This was the big (and his favorite) bridge

This was the parking lot in the kitchen

Movie Slumber Party

Last night we had the first part of the last movie of Harry Potter to watch. And Jaxson, even though I think they are a little too scary for him, always wants to watch them and tells me it isn't scary. He even told me last night during the scary parts that it was a "happy" movie. uumm.... ok...

Anyway, Jaxson has been a big cuddler lately. So last night we made a big sleepover size bed on the floor and each of us got a blanket and pillow to watch the movie. Jaxson loved it. And I love to snuggle with my babies. After Asher went to bed, Jaxson snuggled in between Dave and I and all the sudden kissed me on the cheek and then Dave. He said I love you both and had the cutest little smile. I am so happy to have this blog so I can read this story and remember his adorable little voice, and smile many years from now.

Pumpkin Carve-off Winner

Another year is over and I am already looking forward to next year. And so is Dave since...... he is still looking for his next win. ;)

Pumpkin A is Dave's pumpkin

Pumpkin B is Jamie's pumpkin

 Final Votes 

Pumpkin A....24

Pumpkin B....29

This was a close race, with it being a tie for some time and Dave took the lead for awhile but ultimately my owl won out. Thank you Martha Stewart, you have helped me win two years in a row. The lesson in this is if you want to win find your stencil on Martha Stewart!! Dave definitely did a great job on Darth Vader. The lines and corners were seriously perfect. We both spent about 4 hours working on the pumpkins and are both really proud of both of them.

Dave's favorite moment this year was when we were handing out candy two kids and a mom came up to the door and complimented on the pumpkins. I mentioned that we are having a voting competition on them and the mom and son both wanted to put in a vote for Darth.

The carve-off is one of my favorite things about the Fall. Maybe my most favorite. But that may be just because I have won two years in a row. :) But also we are really learning alot about how to carve an impressive pumpkin. We have improved a ton from the first year!! And we thought those were good.

Just Socks..

 I picked Asher up a package of new socks today and put him in a brand new pair before bed tonight. And before I put on his pj's on I realized how ridiculous cute he was in just socks. After these pictures I don't think anyone could ever argue that tube socks aren't the most adorable thing ever. At least on people before they have their first birthday..

Just Like Daddy

 I know I have written about this before but it is just too adorable to not write about it again and again. Jaxson loves his dad. LOVES him. As soon as he hears a car door from any of the surrounding houses he runs to the window and asks if Dave is home. When we wake up in the morning one of Jaxson's first questions is usually, "did daddy have to go to work?" And he gets so excited when I have to go to work in the evenings for a few hours so it is just boys.

So the last few nights Dave has been stretching because he is starting to run again. (This is preparation stretching, not after run stretching.. that is coming in a few weeks Dave informs me...) Whatever Dave does, Jaxson has to give it a try too. Jaxson sat down next to Dave and mimicked his every move and giggled most of the way through it. I am so glad I got a few photos.

And after the nice stretching session they quickly put on their bad guy costumes and went off to do whatever 'bad guys' do.