The Masias Family

The Empty Blanket

2012-01-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

So obviously I am having a mix of good and bad days. I am grateful that the good days so far have greatly outnumbered the bad. However, Friday was a bad day. Sunday was a bad day. Friday I think I was more emotional because Ember would have been one week old. Thinking about how things would be different had she lived really makes me sad. Clearly my life post partum has been completely opposite from when I had Asher. I never thought a quick recovery would make me feel guilty but it does. I know that if I were caring for a newborn on top of recovering from a c section I would be much more tired than I am. But my heart is aching for the midnight feedings, the cute little outfits, the precious newborn baths, the happy visits from friends and family. I never heard my baby cry. I wonder what her cry would have sounded like?

I don't know what prompted my emotion on Sunday. I didn't go to church. I am not physically ready, but also not yet emotionally ready to confront people and deal with questions or even looks of compassion. All I can say to express how I felt yesterday is that I MISS MY BABY. I miss her. I miss her so much I literally can hardly breath sometimes. It just feels wrong. Not in the eternal sense. I know there is a plan. But to have been pregnant with her for 8 months, to have delivered her and then held her in my arms and now NOT to have her with me feels unnatural. I guess because it is. I should have her with me right now. In the literal sense. Last night I just held the blanket we had her wrapped in while she was with us and I just cried. I examined the blanket for any sign that she had ever used it and I couldn't find anything. (I know that seems weird but I couldn't help myself.) She is gone. All I have is the empty blanket and my memories, which I cherish but it just doesn't seem to be enough sometimes. I tried to cry quietly, but apparently that is impossible for me. Sheldon heard and found me upstairs crying next to the empty blanket. The poor guy did not know what to do. He folded up the blanket and put it away and sat down next to me where the blanket had been. That kind of annoyed me, but also gave me a sense of relief. He is really good at letting me cry and also letting me know he is here for me. I am very grateful to have Sheldon for a companion. His awkward presence was humorous and through the tears I said, "You don't know what to do, do you?" We both kind of laughed and it made me feel better. Honestly, there is really nothing that can be done. No amount of hugs or words can take the hurt away. I will still feel it and I will still mourn. But, knowing that he cares and wants to be there for me was all I needed from him in that moment.

I explained to him that there are times when my faith in God and His plan is enough to cover the pain, but last night it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to know that she will always be a part of our family. It wasn't enough to know that we will see her again. That everything happens for a reason. The pain just crept around that knowledge and settled its way in my heart to the point where I could not contain it. I just want her here with us right now and the fact that she isn't just leaves a hole in my life. I know that it will get easier with time, but right now it is not easy.

I could have recorded these feelings on a private blog I created for Ember back in October. But, I wanted to share them. I guess I want people to know what I am experiencing. I feel better today. I feel the same peaceful comfort that I have been relying on for the past week. It is an unexplainable feeling of comfort, but I know with out a doubt that it is the Holy Ghost comforting me because God loves me and because there are people praying for me. So, please don't stop. I really need the prayers because I really need the peace.

Ember's story... summarized

2012-01-26T09:49:00.007-07:00

I want to start off by saying that although the loss of baby Ember has been extremely difficult, I feel it has been made much easier by our faith in the plan of salvation and the loving prayers that have been offered by so many in our behalf.

On October 13 I had my 20 week ultrasound. Sheldon was still deployed to the Middle East, so my parents drove up to be with me for what we thought would be a day of happiness and celebration. The ultrasound was amazing. We were able to see little Ember move around and her little heart beating. I was so excited to find out we were having a girl. I was even able to receive a phone call from Sheldon after the ultrasound to let him know we were having a girl and that everything seemed fine. The only problem was that they had said that the doctor wanted to have a consult with me after the ultrasound. I brushed this off and assumed it was because I was high risk. Sheldon, however, was immediately concerned when I told him I was having a consult. He was right to be concerned.

After my call with Sheldon we were taken (my parents and I) to a consult room where the doctor explained to me that during the ultrasound they had seen that the baby has a neural tube defect called “anencephaly.” I had never heard of it, but my mom had given her nursing background. They had to describe to me that early on in the pregnancy her brain and scalp hadn’t developed completely and that babies with this condition cannot survive outside of the womb. Obviously I was devastated. I can easily say that was the worst moment of my life. There are really no words to describe my shock and sadness. I had been feeling her move for weeks. I had earlier ultrasounds in which everything had seemed fine. We had announced our pregnancy to all our family and friends. This was my baby. My precious baby we tried to conceive for 18 months. I had been extremely bonded with her from the moment I found out I was pregnant. I couldn’t imagine losing her. I couldn’t imagine that there was anything wrong with her.

The next step was to tell Sheldon. I can honestly say I do not think I could have made it through my pregnancy with Ember had it not been for Sheldon’s unwavering faith and strength. I hated having to tell him the news over the phone while he was on the other side of the world. His reaction was sadness, but also a calming peace. We were able to work with the Red Cross to bring him home early from his deployment. He was with me within the next 48 hours. I have a much greater appreciation for the Red Cross since this experience. I found the people that work for them are incredibly compassionate, helpful and professional.

We had to decide if we were going to continue the pregnancy or terminate it. I tried to consider both options, but really never seriously considered terminating. I knew that if at any time my health were at risk I would be induced. I just knew that termination was not for me. I wanted as much time with my baby as I could get regardless of any complications or discomfort I would feel during the pregnancy. I knew that no matter what she looked like, or the health problems she had I loved her the same and could not treat her or the pregnancy any different than I otherwise would. That was the easiest and best choice I could have ever made. Very few people have questioned my decision to carry her full term and I am grateful for the respect that others have shown to me.

We made the decision to keep the details surrounding Ember’s health just within a small circle of people. I never thought I would be a private person, but this experience has shown me that some things are too personal to share publicly. I also knew that telling people about Ember would make them sad and uncomfortable. It is a horrible feeling to know that your reality has negatively affected someone else’s day. People usually didn’t know how to react or what to say, and I just wanted to avoid the awkwardness. I also think I wanted to protect Ember from any sort of judgment she might receive from those who might Google anencephaly. It is a disfiguring condition and I just didn’t want people to see my baby with that in mind. To me she is normal and beautiful and perfect and I just don’t want others to feel any differently about her.

I was warned that I would have an incredibly uncomfortable pregnancy. Those of you who have been pregnant may laugh at that statement. I did too, until I got to about 27 weeks and my comfort took a severe nose dive. Babies with anencephaly often do not have the reflex to swallow the amniotic fluid so it just accumulates in the uterus. By the time Ember was born at 34 weeks I had about 4 times the normal amount of amniotic fluid that women have during a normal pregnancy. They drained 4 liters of fluid from my uterus before she was born and that was after the sac had ruptured. I was growing at a much faster rate which was extremely painful and embarrassing. Yes, I know I was huge. The way I see it is the only thing I will ever be able to do for this sweet child during her time on this earth is to provide her with a body. The only sacrifice I will ever be able to make in her behalf is to carry her and protect her for as long as my body will let me. Do you know what? It was worth every second of pain and discomfort.

Oftentimes women miscarry anencephalic babies very early on. They rarely make it to 20 weeks, and those who do can go into preterm labor at anytime. It is common for the baby to be stillborn or pass away during pregnancy without any warning. When my water broke last week I knew it meant that her time had come to say goodbye. She blessed us with her spunky personality (she was incredibly active during the pregnancy) and I believe the Lord needed her back with Him. She was born at 9:50 am and was with us for just over an hour. We all had time to see her, hold her, tell her how much we love her and kiss her goodbye. She has already taught me so much and I know she will continue to teach me throughout my life. I feel so lucky to be her mom. I know she is an incredible person and I can’t wait to see her again and learn more about who she is.

I will continue to post some more things about her as time goes on and I feel ready. I really appreciate the love and respect that others have shown to us. I know that people might have more questions and I am open to those, just please email me at michellemasias@yahoo.com.

Ember Ruth Masias

2012-01-20T23:51:00.001-07:00

We had our beautiful baby girl, Ember Ruth Masias, this morning. We were able to spend a few peaceful and happy moments with her before she was called back to the arms of our Heavenly Father. Asher was able to give his precious baby sister a kiss good bye and our family feels blessed to know that we will see her again some day.

I will post more details later, but also want to say that the love and support we have received over the past few months has been an incredible blessing. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin our journey toward healing.

Fan-dash-tastic

2011-10-11T01:15:00.002-06:00

Time to announce one of my guilty pleasures. And I hope this doesn't disappoint any of you, but I'm sure it will. I just love the Kardashians! I watched the wedding episode and I was totally loving it. And Rob is the only reason why I watch DWTS.

So if you watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians please tell me, which sister are you most Ike? I'm either Khloe or Kourtney. I can't decide.

Also, we have our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday! My parents are coming up to go with me and I'm so excited! It will be nice not to feel like a single mom on the occasion.

Comic Relief

2011-10-09T14:52:00.002-06:00

Being fairly recently potty-trained Asher is just now starting to put his underwear back by himself after he has taken care business. Hallelujah! Sometimes he tucks his shirt into his underwear and walks around the house like "What? Doesn't everyone do this?" I try not to react to it because I don't want him to stop getting himself dressed but seriously it is so funny.

Mother of the Year...

2011-10-09T14:11:00.004-06:00

I promise I'm not angry at the world right now. I have just had one of those weeks where tons of random crappy stuff happens. I know you know what I'm talking about.

Have you or your kids had the spray flu vaccine? I haven't had it, but this year Asher's doctor recommended it for him. I thought it was a great alternative to the shot. Well, curse me for being an uneducated mother of a patient because I found out later it is a live virus and there is a higher chance of having a reaction. And boy did he react. Yesterday at Costco his nose started running like a faucet. And he kept saying his legs hurt. I thought it was the cart hurting his legs so I put him in the big part of the cart. He didn't say anything else about it so I totally forgot about it. Then as soon as we got home he went straight to his room and laid on the floor. The boy never voluntarily goes to bed so that was a little strange. I put him in his bed and turned of the light so he could take a nap. Then about an hour later he woke up screaming bloody murder about his legs hurting. When I picked him up he was super hot. Obviously the kid was burning up with fever. So, I gave him some Tylenol and took his temp. Before the night was over he was at 103.6 degrees. What the crap?! I threw the kid in a cool bath (much to his displeasure) and applied cool compresses, etc. If it got any higher I decided he needed to go to the ER. Well, luckily I got it down to 101 before he went to bed. He got to Skype with his dad which calmed him down a lot, but I've never seen him so miserable. And the kid broke his leg last year so I've seen him uncomfortable, but this was ridiculous.

I woke him up at night to give him more Tylenol and take his temp which had dropped to 100. He has hovered between 100 and 101 today so I'm not super worried. Obviously if it starts going up again I will take him in. I just avoid the ER at all costs. All ERs are a nightmare I'm sure, but the one on the Army base is nothing like I've ever experienced. Kinda reminds me of the hospital in the show ER. But, that's a separate post.

I wanted to vent about what a nightmare the last 24 hours have been, but also let people know that the spray comes with it's risks. So, unlike what I did, please know what you could be getting into before you get into it.

Heyyyyy new post

2011-10-08T03:29:00.002-06:00

So I guess I will end my blogging hiatus. I didn't want to post this to Facebook because it has the word vaginal in it which could be disturbing to some. But since I am about 19 weeks pregnant with baby 2 I am a member of a forum called "My Birth Club". Todays post said:

If you lined up 20 children at any age, how will you be able to separate the vaginals from the sections, the OBs from the midwives, the medicated vs. Unmedicated, the hospitals vs. Homes? Can you tell by seeing, smelling, hearing, or touching them? Are some smarter than others? Cuter? Better at math?

I love that because I find it amusing how opinionated people can be about methods of childbirth. Sometimes it seems like people are judgmental of others and I just don't get it. I understand we all want to feel comfortable with our own choices but why care about the choices of others? Reading the comments was also pretty funny.

Anyhow I will try to blog again. I'm getting a little tired of Facebook. Has anyone else noticed that the new trend seems to be to use a profile picture where you think you look sexy? Maybe it's just my friends but it is cracking me up. Yeah I think I miss blogging...

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T11:55:00.005-07:00

Christmas was a huge success. Since I was on call for the holiday Michelle's parents came up for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... Thanks again for making the trip!!!

Michelle was excited to host, we planned a menu for the days that they were here.We had Christmas Eve Cheeseburgers, Fries, and Salad. Christmas breakfast we went with a tradition my family has done since I can remember, tamales...(except ours weren't homemade, we had to settle for Costco tamales). We had hor d'oeuvres for lunch and the traditional Christmas ham for dinner. Michelle's mom Karen provided a delicious chocolate mousse for dessert. It was great; a BIG Thanks go out to the ladies for making the food.

Asher as always ranks it in... it was fun to watch him open his presents all day, and when I say all day I mean all day. The kid would open one gift and play with it then open another one play with it... you see the pattern, he opened his last present around 3:30pm. Check out Facebook to see a couple of videos of Christmas Day. Hope you all you had a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

In case you haven't heard...

2010-09-29T14:42:00.002-06:00

I started a business selling Mary Kay! It is actually really fun and I'm loving it so far. If you are interested in the product or becoming a consultant let me know... it's a great way to earn some extra money and it's very flexible!

My website is www.marykay.com/michellemasias. You know you want to check it out and do a virtual makeover.

Daily life stuff

2010-09-17T11:59:00.004-06:00

It sucks when you're trying to be a good boy and put your half full cup of milk on the counter and aren't quite old enough to put it up there securely and it falls off and the rest of the milk lands on your face. OK, it's also kinda funny so we took some photos. I hope this doesn't deter him from doing his dishes in the future.

We made this Mario Batali pasta pomodoro recipe with our fresh Sungold tomatoes from our garden. It was pretty good but not fantastico.

Making peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips. Now those are fantastico.

His first encounter with the KitchenAid. I think it went well.

I know I can't turn my back on this kidlet for a second with out some sort of chaos, but never did I expect him to be conducting a study on personal hygiene. It was hilarious. And I really wish I could have seen him get on the counter. I think he scaled the drawers but I'm not sure. I'm just curious.

What?

Sooo... how do I put this on when I'm wearing these confounded zip up pajamas.

Well, if I can't get to my arm pits I guess it'll just have to be the forearm.

Not really awesome

2010-09-12T20:12:00.001-06:00

It was super awesome last night when Asher decided to run directly into the corner of the kitchen table. He came within millimeters of his eyeball. I guess that's why God created eyebrows. Anyway it has been pretty dramatic ever since. He seems to be developing a black eye. I'm sure it really hurts. Not just because of how it looks but because he's been SUPER whiny ever since. We debated on taking him to get stitches, but ultimately decided he'd be okay with out it. He did however have a complete and total meltdown in nursery today and was "kicked out" when he was brought to Sheldon and my primary class we were teaching.

It was also super awesome today in primary when they passed out letters about lice to the kids. All the kids were to give their parent's the letters (basically saying don't bring your kid to church if they have lice). I assumed this was pretty standard start of school year practice. But then when Asher was getting ansy (remember he was kicked out of nursery so he was with us in primary) Sheldon took him out to the hall. One of the primary presidency members said to Sheldon "so, how do you guys feel about the lice thing." Sheldon was a bit confused until she all of the sudden realized they forgot to tell us that there is a kid in our class that has lice. Apparently they found out last week and had to call the parents of all the kids in our class. Too bad they forgot to tell the teachers! The poor kid wasn't supposed to be there today but I guess his mom felt like bringing him anyway. I had no idea and I was sitting next to him the whole time. I mean I don't want to alienate him but at the same time I REALLY don't want lice. So, that about sums up the last 24 hours.

Boys like dirt

2010-09-09T13:25:00.000-06:00

For some reason it took me until today to really embrace the fact that my son likes getting dirty. So, I let him play with my leftover potting soil until his little heart was contented. He didn't make that much of a mess (and notice the spiffy boyish looking apron I made him). He then came inside and did some dishes for me so I can't really complain.

FYI the hair is going to be cut today. His first official paid for hair cut (he has pictures this weekend). We'll see how it goes.

2nd Birthday

2010-09-07T09:56:00.001-06:00

I am pushing Asher's present (it was a toy lawn mower) because he was afraid of the noise it made. I wasnt' pushing it to torture him, I was trying to show him how much fun it was! I think Sheldon thought it was pretty entertaining.

I made Asher birthday cupcakes that we Hostess cupcake knock-offs. They were delish!

We also went to Chuck-E-Cheese's. The boy LOVED it. Happy Birthday Asher!

goin on a diet

2010-09-07T09:46:00.001-06:00

So for two weeks we went on the Atkins diet. It was rough but I lost 5 pounds!

We locked up all our forbidden food (which we had a lot of) and went off sugar and carbs.

Asher is laughing in our faces as we starve and he eats his popsicle. No worries people, we don't think we're obese we each just have a couple pounds we want to use. I've never done the diet thing before but so far it's not too bad. Now, we are moving on to the "belly fat diet". We'll report on progress later.

Seattle and stuff

2010-08-02T00:27:00.001-06:00

When you live by Seattle you take people who visit you to Seattle. So, that's what we did last week because Sheldon's grandma is in town. It was pretty fun. For those of you who haven't been to Pike's Place Market let me tell you that they tie a Monkfish to a string and when people get close to it they pull the string and the fish jumps toward them. It totally freaks people out because as you can see below the fish is BIG and NASTY. So, they scared Sheldon's grandma with the monkfish and I am so mad I didn't get it on video. It was classic. Yes, that is a real fish in the picture.

Sheldon Blvd. Woo woo!

Gram and the boy

We live by this really cute town called Gig Harbor. We went there on Saturday and I had the best fish and chips EVER.

Sunnyside Beach

2010-07-11T21:49:00.000-06:00

Fans are Fun

2010-07-11T20:12:00.000-06:00

We had a Tommy Boy momment this weekend and taught Asher to say "Luke, I am your Father" into the fan. He thought it was pretty funny.

Strawberry Fields and the 4th of July

2010-07-05T17:22:00.005-06:00

We went to a local farm on Friday morning and picked some strawberries. It was muddy, but that just made it more fun. Plus, if we waited until it wasn't muddy I don't think the berries would be there anymore.

Of course we have to get a picture with the tractor.

Sheldon showing Asher how to pick the strawberries.

Asher LOVED picking and eating the berries.

Muddy bum. Asher actually took a few steps at the strawberry farm (cuz he still hasn't walked since he got his cast off last week). I guess food is a good motivator for him.

We were the only ones there so we had the whole HUGE field to ourselves, well plus the farmers.

We spent the 4th of July with a mission buddy of Sheldon's and several other families.

All together the group had bought about $400 worth of fireworks. So, there were a lot. Some of them were pretty loud so here we are protecting the hearing of our child.

He LOVED the sparklers. We had to hold his arm still otherwise he would swing them all around and ash would fly everywhere. Mainly just in my hair. It burned my scalp and I lost some hair, but all in all it was a good time.

Pure joy. We had a great weekend and it has been especially fun because Sheldon got Friday and Monday off work as well!!! Happy 4th!!!

Goodbye to cast, hello to maceration....

2010-06-29T12:08:00.005-06:00

If you don't know what maceration is you probably don't want to Google it because it's disgusting.

We are incredibly blessed and happy however, that Asher was able to have his cast sawed off yesterday. Yes, they used a little saw (I don't know how else they would do it, but still it was a bit frightening). Asher had to wear these mini headphone things to help block out the noise. He wasn't really a fan of the sawing, but he survived. I never thought I would be so happy to see a leg in all my life. Sheldon and I kept touching his leg last night because we missed it so much. That may sound weird, but it was just very comforting to see Asher in his full-form again.

He has a skin maceration on his heel. When they took the cast off it smelled SOOOOO bad, mainly because his skin had been starting to rot in there. Yeah, disgusting. I felt so bad for him. He has really sweaty feet so I think that may be why it happened, but really there is no way of knowing. Anyway I was kinda freaking out about it but after we washed and exfoliated his leg and foot the skin looked MUCH better. And today I can already see a noticeable difference in his heel. Thank goodness. The doctor still wants him to come back in two weeks so he can check on it, but I feel confident that it will be fine.

He still hasn't walked yet. They warned me he would probably take a couple days to start walking again and in my naivety I dismissed the warning. "They don't know my boy" I thought, 'He'll be running around as soon as he gets the chance." Nope. He is definitely guarding his leg and puts very little, if any weight on it. He mostly crawls around. It's amazing how instinctive our bodies are. It's a beautiful thing to think about how he has gone from a broken leg to a healed leg in a matter of weeks. And his skin maceration has made enormous strides toward recovery in just 24 hours. I don't think we'll be visiting the park any time soon (since that's where he got hurt) but I'm sure he'll be running around getting into all kinds of stuff before we know it.

The old ball game...

2010-06-24T23:59:00.001-06:00

We went to a minor league baseball game tonight (the Tacoma Rainiers VS Salt Lake Bees). I think we were the only ones rooting for the Bees.

There was this nice boy who caught a fly ball and gave it to Asher. How cute is that??

Asher cradling the baseball.

I'm going to be honest. My favorite part about going to baseball games is people watching, but we still had fun!

If you listen real close you can hear my son singing in the car on the way home.

Brake a Leg

2010-06-22T10:21:00.005-06:00

There are several reason why I haven't blogged in a while, but this is probably the main one. For those of you who haven't heard Asher broke his leg (his tibia to be exact). He was going down a curvy slide at the park (during one of the only nice days we've had in 2010 by the way) and his foot got caught behind him and his body kept going forward. SNAP. I heard the bone brake and let me tell you I wish I could forget that sound. It was a nightmare!!! So we have been keeping things mellow at home while his leg heals in his GINORMOUS and very heavy cast. I carry this kid everywhere now, which I was not used to since he basically got too heavy for me when he was like 12 months old. Now it's pretty much like having a 30 lb baby who can talk but can't walk. I have to say we are incredibly fortunate that the bone was not displaced and should heal in a matter of weeks and no surgery was required. He didn't really sleep for the first few nights but it's now been two weeks and I think he's gotten pretty used to his limitations (although I'm sure he's very uncomfortable).

The cast goes right up to his diaper. We've had to get creative when dressing him.

And of course he's still the same Asher so I am very busy trying to keep him from braking his other leg.

We have aquired about 9/10 of these toys since he broke his leg (gotta love garage sales) and my living room looks like I run a day care. Oh well. Once his cast is off the toys will go back in his room.

Since he is pretty much imobile, and it has rained almost every day since he got his cast on, he has become quite the Thomas the Tank Engine fan. He begs to watch "Dah-mas" every morning. And how do you like my artistry on his cast?

We're just trying to keep him occupied and happy. My house is a mess and I rarely shower anymore (TMI, sorry) but really I am impressed with how well Asher has adjusted. He is still our happy boy!

People are always very nice when we go to the store, etc. They always talk to him and ask about his leg. I have had like 10 moms of boys tell me "Oh yeah. This is the first of many ER visits you will probably have." You may think that this would make me nervous, but in a selfish way it actually comforts me that it wasn't completely my fault. I feel like there has to be something I should have done to avoid it, but I know I have to stop rehashing the day. I think the hardest part, so far, of being a mom is trying to find the balance between protecting your child and overprotecting your child.

The little stinker

2010-05-14T16:41:00.002-06:00

How can one little person destruct so much in about 30 seconds? The picture is fuzzy b/c it is taken with my phone so I could text Sheldon evidence of his son's craziness.

Good thing I have mad skills and was able to fix it, although I fear my CapsLk button will never be the same again. But seriously I was so ticked! When he heard me coming down the hall I could hear his destructive pace quicken. He knew he had limited time and therefore tried to commit as much damage as possible before I came in.

Let's just say I am grateful that summer is coming and we can start spending more time outside.

It's All about the Benjamins

2010-04-29T16:54:00.003-06:00

Today Asher saw a picture of a $100 bill and pointed at Ben Franklin and said "Daddy." I'm STILL laughing.

Boys Weekend!

2010-04-23T21:59:00.005-06:00

Michelle the darling that she is headed to Utah to pick up my car that has been sitting in my Grandma's drive way for the past 7 1/2 months, Thanks Grandma. Therefore, it's just me and the BOY!!!! Today, after dropping off Michelle at the airport we decided to hit up McDonalds; Asher loved the food, he ate majority of his nuggets and fries with a little of my help. He loved playing on the playground with all the other kiddos. While Asher was playing I looked around the packed room and noticed one other man in that part of McDonalds and he was 84, I see what you mother's do during your afternoons. It was raining pretty bad after his nap so we just hung out inside. Tomorrow we going to the gym to play with some friends from work. Here are a few pictures of our day.

John Cusack? Really??

2010-04-06T01:24:00.008-06:00

I just finished laughing for about ten minutes straight because of this:

Sheldon and I were getting ready for bed and just being silly and talking in fake italian accents. One of the things I said in my accent was "buongiorno principessa!" and he was like "where did you come up with that?" I responded by asking him if he'd ever seen the movie Life Is Beautiful. Then I remembered a conversation we had months ago in which I discovered he had NOT ever seen the movie Life Is Beautiful. Shocking, yes I know. That's why I remembered he hadn't ever seen it. So again tonight, just as I did months ago, I said "I can't believe you've never seen Life Is Beautiful. It's a really great movie!"

I could tell he was a little annoyed that I was scolding him for not seeing it and so he says back to me (with an attitude) "I may not have seen it, but I know exactly what movie you're talking about. It's the one with John Cusack." Ok. I don't know if it's because it was midnight or what but I could NOT STOP LAUGHING when he said that. It was SO hilarious. John Cusack?? Of all the people to name. Let's just make a quick comparison:

Really?

I couldn't help but be reminded of THIS incident.

So, here is the icing on the cake. I looked up Life Is Beautiful online to show Sheldon a picture of the main character (Roberto Benigni) who by the way is ITALIAN since the whole movie is ITALIAN (which makes the John Cusack guess all the more hilarious). And Sheldon made his point. He said "I confused him with John Cusack because he looks just like him in that movie you have." I racked my brain... Say Anything, no. Better Off Dead, absolutely not. What is Sheldon smoking???

Then he got me-- The journey of Natty Gann.

Really. Sheldon told me it's all about the hats.

(and apparently he thought Natty Gann was a boy)

So, although it is totally random that he confused the movies I can (in some strange way) see how he got them confused.

And I requested Life Is Beautiful from the library and we'll be watching it this week.

Easter Egg Hunting

2010-03-31T13:34:00.008-06:00

Last Saturday the Army base had an easter egg "hunt" for the kids. There were like ten thousand kids there I swear. They had to do three heats with just the 0-3 year olds. It was fun and Asher got the hang of it real quick. I think the drilling and obstacle courses we made Asher do in the weeks leading up the this really paid off. We have another egg hunt this next Saturday and we are PUMPED. :) (No, we really didn't do drills... but we thought about it.)

Getting ready to make a run for it.

Daddy showing him the eggs. (As if he needed to, there were a million of them and the whole time we were waiting Asher kept saying "Ball! Ball!")

After he had collected the eggs he proceeded to dump them all out. It was hilarious and you can tell by Sheldon's face he was thinking "No Asher. This is NOT the proper way to finish an easter egg hunt!"

The Easter Bunny was there too. And I think Asher is beginning to come to terms with the fact he will spend every holiday of his youth taking a picture with an oversized character of some sort. AKA there were no tears.

Yes, I shaved his head. For those of you who think I am awful for doing this you must not have a boy. And if you do, I bet his hair doesn't grow like a guinea pig. (he has so many cowlicks it's out of control.) I was getting tired of cutting this guinea pig's hair every three to four weeks.

Happy Spring!!

The Recall

2010-03-31T13:16:00.004-06:00

Our baby sling was just recalled and the company is giving us two options to replace it. We can either get a Shopping Cart Cover or a Wrap and Tie Carrier. I don't really know that we'll use either one all that much but I still can't decide which one to get. Any suggestions?

(I'm also wondering if it's weird that they're offering another carrier since that's what caused them the problem to begin with....)

the big 3-0

2010-03-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all who made my day great! I truly enjoyed myself! And, as you see above we all enjoyed my BR Ice cream cake that Sheldon got me. I LOVE ice cream cakes!

The only weird thing is now I am in my thirties and my husband is in his twenties for another couple years. Not super thrilled about that. But, I guess it just makes me a cougar or something. Anyway, the day was great!

Books Glorious Books

2010-03-02T15:07:00.002-07:00

I am looking for suggestions for books to check out from the library.

What are your toddlers favorite books?

I would also like to check out a couple for myself. I am not looking for anything too deep, mainly just entertainment, but I'm open to most anything. Please make suggestions! I would love it!

OK... I like confrontation.

2010-02-26T11:57:00.002-07:00

So the other day we're hanging out at home and the doorbell rings. I answer the door and on the porch stood a little girl (probably around 8 or 9 years old). She said to me "Can I borrow three eggs? It's my mom's birthday and we're making her a cake." I knew I had the eggs so I told her I was going to go get them for her. I got them out of the fridge and when I gave them to her I asked her if she lived around here (trying to get to know the neighbors and all). She said she didn't. Then she asked me if she could have three more eggs. Uhhhh. This is about the time when I started becoming skeptical of her honestly. I told her that all I had were the three I gave her.

So I said nice to meet you she smiled at me and I went back inside and closed the door. Sheldon and I both thought something didn't seem quite right about the encounter. So of course we secretly watched her from our window upstairs to see where she went. Where she went was across the street to meet up with her little cohort. We watched as they found a peice of wood sat on the grass and cracked one of the eggs I had just given her onto the peice of wood. What the crap?? I'm all about science experiments but are you kidding me? Sheldon was like "What are you gonna do?" (He knew that I was not going to just watch the injustice.) I said "I'm just going to go talk to them."

I went outside and starting walking towards the two girls half expecting them to run away, but they didn't. They just looked at me and then looked away. Oh, except the 'cohort' made a lame attempt to cover the cracked egg with her body... gross. I asked them what they were doing and they told me they were making sure the eggs weren't rotten.... ...yeah.

So I wasn't mean or anything. I just explained that they lied to me in order to get the eggs and that they cost me money. I also reminded them that they were wasting food and that there are lots of people, probably in this very neighborhood, who don't have very much food to eat. Then I made them give me back the other two eggs. I asked them where they lived and they told me some other neighborhood. That was that. I went inside and used the eggs to make dinner.

I feel kind of bad for confronting the girls and scolding them. I mean, I don't even know them. It reminds me of the time the Costco worker yelled at me for leaving a watermellon in my cart and I told him he was a rude jerk who needed to improve his customer service skills. Also, I consider a watermellon heavy and aren't we supposed to leave heavy items in the cart??

My question is.... am I too bold? What would you have done in these situations? I know not everyone is willing to confront a total stranger when they think they're in the wrong. When should I just let things go?

A little journaling

2010-02-25T15:46:00.004-07:00

Well, we've been in Washington for almost three weeks and still don't have our belongings. BUT the word on the street is that the moving company will be loading up our stuff in Utah tomorrow. This (hopefully) means we will have bed/crib/pots/pans/TV/something to sit on sometime next week. One can only pray.

Asher has refused to sleep in the pack and play since we've been here and has recently developed the skill of climbing out (but not with out first rescuing his stuffed monkey and favorite blankie). Witness exhibit A below:

Exhibit A

I am going a little CUCKOO since not only am I bored out of my gourd stuck in the house all day with no furniture and nothing to do (we only have one car here and Sheldon takes it to work). NOW I have the pleasure of chaperoning Asher during his afternoon nap. We've discovered that if Sheldon puts him to bed at night he'll stay in his crib (for several hours at least) so I can have some time with out my little shadow. Don't get me wrong, of course I adore my little boy, but the constant 24/7 companionship starts to get old after a couple weeks.

On the bright side... we got our internet set up! Now I can blog and facebook and catch up on all my missed TV shows. Oh and check my email and pay bills and stuff; I guess that's important too.

Also I have two announcements: 1. Today is our four year anniversary! and 2. I turn 30 next week. Yikes.

LOL if you thought I was going to say I'm prego. Totally not nor am I wanting to be... right now anyway.

New Video

2010-02-13T21:43:00.002-07:00

This was taken tonight. Our favorite 'Asherism' is that he promptly folds his arms anytime he hears the word 'prayer'. He does it at the end of the video. If it looks like we're in a hotel it's because we are staying in temporary housing on base. But, we signed a lease today for a house and we are pretty excited to have a home address again. So far we are loving Washington!

Last Weekend in CA!!

2010-01-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

We are going to Washington in about a week! (I can't believe I'm really moving to Washington!) We took the opportunity this weekend to visit some great places in the Bay Area. Starting with the Children's Discovery Museum. Asher had so much fun playing around at this museum.

GIANT Tractor tire

Playing with mirrors

He LOVED the water area. (No surprise!) He was drenched when we finished-- good thing we brought a change of clothes!

See the excitement?!

Then we went to San Francisco. First we rode on the cable cars. Asher looks grumpy but he loved it.

Eating a delicious banana split at Ghiradelli Square. The three of us downed it in like five minutes. Look at the expression of awe on his face.

Can't wait to eat the split! Tongue at the ready!

Looking at the Sea Lions at Fisherman's Wharf.

Honestly I'm really sad to leave California. :( But, I am looking forward to getting settled into our new place in Washington. We have been in limbo and living with other people for long enough and we're ready to begin our next chapter!

Some pictures

2010-01-25T16:18:00.004-07:00

Christmas break Sheldon came home for a visit. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures:

We went to the park and Asher loves slides. Here he is with some cousins sliding down the slide...

He tries to walk on the slide. It never works out for him. Here he is attempting to walk, but falling down the slide.

Happy to be playing with his cousins.

Chillin

Loving Baby Einstein

Jelly Belly Factory

What?? Did you want us to smile or something?

He LOVES to snort when you say "What does a pig say?" Here he is mid-snort with my sister. I'm pretty sure she'll love me for posting this picture.

Rudolph visited the neighbor kids on Christmas Eve.

Asher loved Rudolph almost as much as Santa.

We made a gingerbread house.

New Year's Eve. It was a really fun night. My family always has a party on New Year's and it did not dissapoint!

New Year

2010-01-16T11:35:00.004-07:00

Soooo it's been a while. I have more to say than this... but this is all I'm gonna say:

Yesterday I went on a walk (first time outside in a week due to this horrible cold I've been fighting). I walked past a neighbors house who still had their Christmas lights up and a little candy cane decoration above their garage and I thought to myself "HELLO, Christmas is OVER. Take down the decor people." Then I remembered that my blog still had a Christmas theme and said "Merry Christmas" at the top and decided since I live in a glass house and love throwing stones maybe I should do a little blog updating.

So, I have updated the background and will post new pictures later. But not before mentioning that Sheldon will be home for good (whatever that means when one is in the military) next Saturday. I could not be more ready!!! :)

Meeting Santa

2009-12-12T21:09:00.003-07:00

Curiosity

Skepticism

Fear

He liked the christmas tree a little better than Old Saint Nick.

2009-12-12T01:46:00.001-07:00

Something about this moment just made me laugh.

2009-12-11T00:07:00.004-07:00

One of my friends mentioned this blog to me. I tend to be a little cynical so I found it HILARIOUS. The blog author makes her posts up and is basically poking fun of mormon mommy bloggers.

I find her work genius and hope it doesn't offend you, but some of you may enjoy it so I had to share.

When you arrive at the page click the link for Seriously, So Blessed.

Toilet Humor

2009-12-04T14:04:00.002-07:00

A Note About Asher...

Back in September Asher figured out how to lift the lid on the toilet. He used to do it all the time. He loves water so I'm sure you can imagine his joy at discovering his own personal porcelain pools throughout the house. Yes, gross. Then, he sort of forgot about them (but not until after many an item had been lost to the toilet monster... sorry again about your bluetooth Lora.)

Now he has figured out how to open doors. I call him a Valociraptor. (If you don't know what I'm talking about you really need to brush up on Jurassic Park.) Now that he can open doors he has been getting into the bathrooms and been causing more mischief. He has remembered how much he enjoys toilets and specifically throwing things into the toilets. Like today when he threw his new shoes into the toilet. He was pretty annoyed when I scolded him and took his wet shoes away from him.

PS Why do kids bang their heads on the ground when they get mad? Doesn't the pain make them decide that's not a good idea?

PPS I haven't seen my hairbrush in about 3 days. Should I be worried? (Yes, I have brushed my hair in the meantime.)

Update on the screaming...

2009-11-29T17:15:00.003-07:00

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone for all the insight into the screaming child. We have gone with out incident for the past three nights. (I am knocking on wood as I type this.)

He wore his BYU sweatshirt yesterday and I like to think it had a little something to do with our victory.

Today he woke up with a hairdo that looked like he gave himself a swirly. It was pretty funny. You can't really tell how crazy his hair was in these pictures.

Checking out his hairdo. (he has been spotted checking himself out quite often lately.)

Here he is watching himself bounce on his horse 'hands-free' while he holds two of his favorite blankets. He thought he was pretty hilarious....

...until he fell off. I actually wasn't trying to take a picture of him falling, but he happened to fall right when I took it so it was pretty perfect timing. Is it wrong that I think this picture is hilarious? He didn't get hurt or anything.

Enjoying Thanksgiving dinner.

Later that night we found THIS in one of the cabinets. Hmmmm how did these get in here?

Happy Turkey Day Everyone

2009-11-26T18:49:00.003-07:00

I would like to quickly write a message wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful that we have such great family members and friends; love you all very much.

All this crying is making me crazy.

2009-11-25T01:01:00.002-07:00

For the past three nights Asher has woken around 10 or 11 SCREAMING. The first couple nights I was able to console him and lay him back down after about 10 or 15 minutes. I thought 'ok maybe he is having bad dreams.' Well, tonight he would NOT calm down. Screamed for 40 minutes straight like someone was trying to kill him. He wouldn't even look me in the eyes so it was like he was possessed. (Freaky!) So I'm trying to figure out what his deal is and I am wondering if he is waking up hungry. He gets a bottle before bedtime, but he rarely eats what I would consider to be a good dinner. He is in the 'throw my food on the ground' stage. I try a variety of foods but the kid just won't eat much. I never worried too much about it (you know since they say kids won't starve themselves) but now I'm thinking it might be tied to the screaming episodes.

What do you think? Have you had experiences like this with your toddler? I am in need of some sound advice because tonight's scream fest very nearly made me lose my marbles. I am slowly getting tired of being a sole caregiver 24/7. Sheldon has so much more patience than me. :(

Just in case you haven't had enough...

2009-11-24T00:36:00.002-07:00

These are some pictures my inlaws Tim and Jasmine got during our San Antonio trip. I am so glad I have copies because their pictures are great (and I'm actually in a few of them... although I don't know if that's always such a good thing). The second one is my favorite. It actually made me a little teary when I saw it. I love my boys!

Where's Waldo? (I'll give you a hint... he's one of the few who has his rank on his sleave.)

He's right under the lady in the yellow shirt.

Sheldon's BMT Graduation/Trip to San Antonio

2009-11-16T15:19:00.005-07:00

The pictures are in a funky order, but I am way too tired to deal with Blogger's quirks right now. Basically, we just got back from visiting Sheldon in Texas and attending his BMT graduation. Here are some moments we captured on the camera:

The Alamo

Asher next to some HUMUNGOUS animals that are fake but made to look real (why?) and are in the lobby of a diner. I don't know... I'm not from Texas.

Yee haa!

The graduation ceremony

Playing with Daddy

Petting the dolphins at Sea World

It was good to see Sheldon. I am SO proud of him! (And SOOOO glad Basic Training is over!) We had a great time with him and look forward to seeing him again in December for Christmas.

Riddle Me This...

2009-11-09T00:23:00.004-07:00

Asher was SHRIEKING all through church but as soon as I put him in his carseat to go home he was silent and smiling like a little angel for 10 minutes straight. What the???

And now I am going to brag: Today was the first time I made a loaf of bread that actually turned out good! (I guess that's not really anything to brag about seeing as how I just admitted that I SUCK at making bread.) But, I was very happy about it because it is a goal of mine to master the art of homemade bread. I can tell Asher is excited about it too. He is baring his teeth in anticipation of biting into it.

Halloween Party

2009-11-02T12:52:00.002-07:00

Some pictures we got at the Ward Halloween Party. Asher had fun with all the other kiddos and loved the haunted house. It was a great Halloween!

2009-10-28T23:30:00.001-06:00

Happy Halloween!

melts my heart

2009-10-13T23:35:00.002-06:00

I put a bunch of pictures of Sheldon and Asher together in a photo album book thing for Asher to look at. He's obsessed with it and spends literally five minutes at a time looking at it (which is a LONG time for this busy boy). It melts my heart and he always points at Sheldon and smiles. It's pretty darn cute and yes I am a sap and miss my husband.

He still won't say mommy or daddy on command even though I know he knows how to. BUT he will call the dog by her first name on a regular basis. He even asks for her first thing when I get him up in the morning. Little stink pot. ;)

making friends?

2009-10-11T22:39:00.006-06:00

So, Asher doesn't quite know about personal space just yet. This was clear today in church when he kept trying to hug another 1 year old boy (who he'd never met before in his life). Things turned interesting when a 1 year old GIRL joined us in the foyer. Asher quickly decided to try hugging her instead. Then the other boy got jealous and tried to go for the girl as well. It was hilarious to watch them both go for the same innocent and bewildered girl. The boys were totally pushing each other out of the way. But luckily after some coaxing from me Asher backed off. (Luckily I can still get his attention with cheerios and juice.) It made me think, 'I wonder if when he's a teenager I will still be able to distract him from girls by giving him food.'

Randomness

2009-10-06T21:32:00.002-06:00

Just some pictures I've taken lately...

Asher kissing his reflection in the window.

Playing in the yard with his new obsession: the tennis ball.

Getting his hair cut. What? Is it wrong that I engulf him in a large plastic trash bag so as to make clean up easier? It works wonderfully b/c not only does it catch the hair, it traps his arms so he can't grab the scissors.

His other newest obsession: pointing. He points at me, food, the dog, random furniture... you get the idea. He also refuses to wear a bib and can take off any bib I put on him (even the ones that go over his head like a shirt). He is seriously a little Hudini. Whatever. I once heard this definition- Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it. SO TRUE and my boy is only 1 year old.

So this picture has nothing to do with Asher. I LOVE COTTON CANDY! The local elementary school had a walk-a-thon and I went for one purpose... I knew they would have cotton candy. So, I bought some of course. Big, beautiful, pink, fluffy cotton candy. I decided to save it for later that evenning after I had dinner. When I went to eat it later it looked like it does in the picture above. The fluffiness had somehow condensed into a shriveled up chunk of sugar. Talk about LAME. I think it must have been the moisture in the kitchen?? I have no idea why it happened but lesson learned: When you buy cotton candy EAT IT IMMEDIATELY. I thought it was hilarious b/c I was truly shocked when I saw it all shriveled up. Don't worry I still ate it. It wasn't the same, but not bad. It just tasted like very dense cotton candy.

Fun in the Sun

2009-09-26T21:21:00.000-06:00

What can I say, the kid LOVES playing in the water. It was 100 degrees today so we took advantage of Grandma's sweet inflatible fire truck. The reason he is always wearing a life jacket is that he has a habit of just jumping into the pool.

Spoiled, but not rotten

2009-09-18T21:49:00.001-06:00

Livin it up in CA.

Asher loves Grandma and Grandpa's dog Katie. So much so that he often climbs atop her bed just to be close to her. I won't lie, I used to hate Katie (I'm not a dog person) but seeing how much Asher loves her has softened my heart... a little.

Grandma lets Asher play with her old broken down laptop and he is in HEAVEN. (The kid LOVES laptops.)

And of course Asher loves taking advantage of the pool in the backyard and playing with all his cousins. At first he objected to the pink life vest but we wore him down. (It's the only one that fits him and the kid has no fear and will just jump in the pool at any moment.)

He walked all around with his pink life jacket and green goggles. It was hilarious.

We are enjoying the last of the warm weather here in CA. Still haven't heard anything from Sheldon so we are keeping ourselves busy with fun activities.

Airman Basic

2009-09-15T16:07:00.004-06:00

Here is the first picture I have of Sheldon in the Air Force. I got an email today from the missionaries at the base. I am relieved to hear something-- this email/picture totally made my day!

Off we go into the wild blue yonder, Climbing high into the sun...

2009-09-08T23:19:00.002-06:00

Sheldon left today for Basic Training. It's exciting to begin this new portion of our lives, but also kinda tough. I am going to miss him a TON over the next few months. I am so grateful that we made this decision with a lot of thought and prayer because I know we are doing the right thing for us.

I just want to ask people to keep Sheldon in your prayers. I have a feeling that boot camp is going to be the hardest experience of his life. I do think he has an advantage because he is older and more mature than perhaps some of the others. I am still worried about him, however, and want him to feel the comfort and support that he'll undoubtedly need.

I am going to start writing him letters (even though I don't have his address yet) and if anyone has a message for me to pass onto him let me know!

Thanks for your support and prayers!

12 month stats

2009-09-04T02:14:00.004-06:00

This is for our record because I am horrible at the baby book thing. In fact, I am not sure I even know where the baby book is. Whoopsie.

At the 12 month check up today Asher was 21 pounds. He is 30 inches long and he got 4 shots. Poor little dude.

Some of his most recent favorite food are kiwis, mac and cheese and blueberries.

He has a total of 12 teeth. Yes, it's true. Including all four of his 1 year molars. ay carumba we are happy those finally came through his gums.

He is walking and climbing on everything. He loves to dance, wave and clap. He says "hi" "Dadda" and "mamma." He loves to tackle me and is especially good at the sneak attack from behind. He loves it when I have my hair in a pony tail and does whatever it takes to grab the pony tail. This means he has a habit of pushing my face to the side so he can grab it. He is sleeping from about 8 pm to 8am. Yes, I am one lucky chic.

Asher is a TOTAL Daddies boy and lights up whenever Sheldon comes in the room. It is probably the cutest thing ever. When Sheldon leaves for work Asher waves goodbye then toddles his way over to the front window to watch him drive away. Ok, so today was the first day he did this but I was so impressed I had to record it here. It melted my heart.

He is still such a happy guy and is super friendly. He laughs easily and is very easy going. He has never gone through the stranger anxiety thing. We get comments everywhere we go about how adorable he is. Awww. I was looking at pictures of when he was born and can not believe how much he has changed. It's amazing! Seeing his newborn pictures made me want another baby. I must be crazy because I am not ready to be prego again.

Life with Asher is so fun. He is such a miracle and I am thankful to have such a healthy happy TODDLER!

One Year!

2009-08-29T16:37:00.001-06:00

Well, it'll be one year on Tuesday but we celebrated today. We had fun with family and friends. Asher liked his cake as you can see below.

He also liked his presents. Or maybe Dad liked his presents in his behalf.

A Repeat

2009-08-27T13:25:00.001-06:00

Another visit with Kim has prompted us to take a picture of us with our expanded families. (See this link for the last group shot.) Liz' oldest daughter Emma had to go to bed so unfortunately she's not in the photo.

cousins

2009-08-23T21:26:00.000-06:00

Are these not the cutest little cousins you've ever seen?! Asher is going to miss Reagan.

2009-08-18T12:44:00.002-06:00

And the walking begins.

I bought this snow outfit during an after christmas sale last year. I got it really cheap but now that we're going to CA I'm wondering if we'll even use it. So, I had to try it on him. He hated me for a good 10 minutes after this picture. I couldn't stop laughing at the marshmellowness of the outfit. And it was especially funny when he tried to crawl but ended up rolling around on the floor like a beached whale. I know I am mean but it was hilarious!

Happy August!

How do they know?

2009-07-15T16:59:00.003-06:00

Do kids have radar for junk food? I've never seen him reach like this for an apple.

4th of July

2009-07-07T17:04:00.000-06:00

As part of our July 4 celebrating we went to the local carnival. I'm not going to lie, it was a little ghetto. But, it was worth it when we took Asher to the petting zoo. He LOVED petting the sheep and goats. He was cracking up.

We also went and saw some fireworks at Sheldon's old high school. We had a good time and Asher was totally entranced by the fireworks. It was crazy to think I have no idea where we'll be celebrating the 4th of July next year or if Sheldon will be celebrating with us or not. The reality of September 8 is starting to hit. We are definitely loving all the time we are spending together this summer.

Like a little mouse

2009-07-07T16:45:00.001-06:00

Asher loves to put things in his mouth as I'm sure most children do. The other day I thought he was just intrigued by his Baby Einstein video and decided to get a closer view of the TV. Then when I looked closer I realized he was GNAWING on my entertainment center. The little stinker went to town and took several chunks out of the wood with his teeth. Of course he went for the nicest peice of furniture we own. But it was pretty funny. (Pay no attention to the dust.)

PS... he is starting to look more like a toddler these days. I've had several people lately ask me if he is 18 months old. (He's only 10 months old.) I thought the first lady that said that was a wack-o but then several people have said it to me since. Crazy.

My NOT SO lovely Porch

2009-07-03T00:28:00.004-06:00

I remember when we first looked at our house thinking "I don't really like the front porch. Why did they paint it red?" Today my thought is more along the lines of "I HATE MY PORCH." The paint is pealing and I don't know if you got it the first time so let me repeat myself... IT'S RED. I guess that would be cool if it looked good but my house is light yellow with brick and my porch is the color of ketchup. This eyesore needs to go away! The problem is I'm totally not a decorator. What do I do with a cement porch that is covered in pealing red paint? What will look good with my light yellow house? I think the natural cement color would be my preference but there are so many layers of paint that I don't know if it would be possible to get them all off. Should we just paint it another color? What color?

I'm looking for advice people. Any tips or suggestions on how to cover up the ugly red with something that will actually increase our curb appeal? PLEASE HELP ME!!

Here is a picture of the front of our house back in 2007 when we bought it. The porch is even uglier now.

Remembering the Villa

2009-06-23T14:58:00.004-06:00

It's a fact that some of the greatest people on Earth have at one point in time lived at the University Villa in Provo Utah. And now these same people have some of the most beautiful children! I got together with some of my Villa friends this week and had tons of fun catching up.

Next week we are going to Liberty Park to play in the water. If you are interested in coming contact me for details.

Random Questions:

2009-06-19T16:04:00.002-06:00

Would you be an egg donor?

What about a surrogate?

How much money would you expect in exchange for an egg or being a surrogate?

I keep seeing ads wanting egg donors and it seems like the new thing. I can't decide how I feel about it.

So You Think He Can Dance?

2009-06-17T17:48:00.003-06:00

When he first started doing this I thought there was something wrong with him. (It used to be a much more subtle "Stevie Wonder" type sway.) I'm now beginning to think it's his form of dancing... what do you think?

As you can see sometimes he gets a little too into it and loses his balance.

Nothing Interesting

2009-06-16T15:30:00.005-06:00

After our crazy busy month of May, June has seemed rather dull. But we have still been having some fun. Last Saturday we went to the Farmers Market.

Asher had lots of fun making friends with all the people he saw and of course all the dogs that were there.

He wore himself out and fell asleep on the way home.

We went to his nine month old check up and he measured 30 inches long (still big for his age) and weighs 19 pounds 2 ounces. He is steadily growing and changing everyday. People always think he is older than he is. He is still a sweet heart but has also begun to have some opinions regarding bedtime and naptime.

Laughing at my lullabies

2009-05-30T13:45:00.002-06:00

So I am trying to decide what it means that Asher laughs at me everytime I try to sing him a lullaby. The best part is I'm trying to get him to get tired and it totally backfires. He just looks at me and laughs which then makes me laugh. It is adorable, yet I am always left wondering... is he thinking "Give it up Mom, you sound ridiculous."

The little stinker.

The Haps

2009-05-26T14:50:00.002-06:00

We went to Hogle Zoo last week and saw some metalic animals lounging about. Oh and we saw some real ones too. In fact I felt like I was in the wild when these two penguins starting fighting BIG TIME right in front of us. It was crazy and I honestly think they were trying to kill each other. I bet they were fighting over some girl penguin... afterall it is that time of year. All in all it was a good time. Hogle Zoo has done a lot of work sprucing the place up lately.

Asher has decided that crawling isn't good enough for him and now he pulls himself up to get what he wants. Luckily the only real things he wants can still be kept out of reach: Laptop, remotes and cell phones. He is still obsessed with water and the first time he pulled himself up was so that he could pull himself over the edge of the bathtub because he was so excited to get in the water. He did it so quick it was like he's been practicing behind our backs or something.

We won a free two night stay in Mesquite so we took advantage of that over Memorial Day weekend. We had a good time. Unfortunately the only pics we got were of Asher smashing his face against his Pack n Play. He thinks it's pretty funny to make faces at us when we are trying to get him to go to bed. He is truly a character and I have a feeling he is going to be one of those little boys who likes to get into mischeif. Oh wait, that's all little boys. :)

Anyway, we had fun in Mesquite and the drive was easy peasy with the kid (much to my joy). We ate at buffets and swam in the pool. We even played BINGO and we each had 8 cards to keep track of. I kept pace with all the old ladies who play BINGO all the time and are on a first name basis with the casino employees. We didn't win any money but it only cost $3 so it was worth the fun.

Disneyland

2009-05-18T23:02:00.005-06:00

We just got back from So Cal and it was a tonna fun. Here are some of our pics...

We went to Disneyland for three days. The weather was beautiful and it wasn't very crowded. I decided that May is the best time of year to go.

Asher LOVES the water and being splashed. They have this area of CA Adventure for the kids to play in the water and he had a blast!

We had some time before our flight back to UT so we rented a car and went to Newport Beach. It was such a fun experience taking Asher to the ocean. He just stared at it. He played with the sand for a good minute and a half before trying to eat it. I was impressed.

Grinding His Teeth

2009-05-06T14:44:00.003-06:00

A couple months ago Asher started grinding his teeth. He grinds them anytime day or night it doesn't matter. It drives me nuts! It is one of those things that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I mean we're WAY beyond nails on the chalkboard here.

I was talking to my dear friend Kim yesterday and she said her son used to do the same thing. They think it's that he likes the sound it makes and suggested I buy the following food because they make a crunching sound when they're eaten:

So, I bought them at Costco today and had to test out a package. They were SOOO good! I've always had a thing for freeze dried food (ever since my mom bought me astronaut icecream when I was a kid). I'm hoping they'll help with the teeth grinding but in the meantime THANKS KIM, they are healthy and delicious!

(I don't know why but I really enjoy blogging about products I love.)

2009-04-28T20:56:00.005-06:00

There have been A LOT of things keeping us busy lately. Due to circumstances beyond my control and this glorious economy I am no longer working. It was a bittersweet change. We will miss my income, but I am SOOO excited to have about 40 extra hours per week to spend raising my sweet boy.

You can tell he's pretty happy about it too:

In light of the recent changes with me not working anymore, and after MUCH fasting and prayer Sheldon has decided to joing the US Air Force. At first I was a little resistant, but after learning more about the military and the benefits they offer I feel really good about it. Sheldon is really excited and has been working dilligently to get ready for boot camp at the end of the summer.

This is a video I took over the weekend. They had a public swearing in during the Motocross race here in SLC this weekend (random, huh?). It made me feel so proud of Sheldon.

Sheldon is in the front row. Unless you know which one he is you really can't see him clearly. I honestly feel like our little family will be so blessed through this experience. I am not very excited about how much Sheldon will be gone for trainings and deployment, but I truly think it will be a great opportunity for him to learn some amazing life skills.

We also went to California for my Dad's retirement. He just recently retired after 36 years on the San Jose Fire Department. Is it just me or am I surrounded by heroes? I am so proud of my Dad and it was SO fun to spend some time with my family.

We had so much fun visiting with our closest family friends and relatives.

My parents rented this bounce house to keep the kids busy during the party. Well, it worked. They were in there for HOURS and loved it. The thing was HUGE. You could see it towering over my parents roof from the road out front of their house. It had the main bounce area, a basketball hoop and stairs and a slide. I spent some time in there bouncing and it was super fun, but I am definitely not as tough as I used to be. I think my brain is permanently damaged from being bounced around.

Asher even liked it. (although it's not much of a surprise, the kid likes everything!)
All tuckered out after a day of visiting with family and friends and bouncing around in the bounce house.

Flying the Friendly Skies

2009-04-11T00:23:00.002-06:00

Next week I'll be flying to California with Asher. I am super excited to go "home" but also kinda nervous to take my SUPER squirmy 7 month old on a plane BY MYSELF (Sheldon will be joining us later).

So, does anyone have any helpful tips on how I can maintain my sanity and also not drive everyone else on the plane crazy?

Also, I've been reading about the regulations for babies on the TSA website, but does anybody know of any random rules I should be aware of? I know I can carry on a bottle, what about baby food?

The kid does not like to be held for long periods of time (by this I mean more than 15 minutes or so). Pray for me.

Ebay is Scary

2009-04-01T17:56:00.004-06:00

So we tried to buy a Canon Rebel on Ebay about a month ago (for my birthday). The day after we bought it I got an email from the seller saying they were sorry but they didn't have any more black cameras in their inventory and asked if I would be okay with silver. It pretty much really irritated me that they had listed an item that they didn't have in stock and we had already paid for it. Before I had a chance to respond to the email I got another email the next day stating that the camera I bought was damaged during shipment to their warehouse. They asked if I would be willing to wait for it to become available again. Highly suspicious? I thought so. They send me two different excuses for why they don't have the item we bought. Oh and the kicker was when they offered us $10 on our next purchase with them. Why would a completely dissatisfied customer want a measely $10 towards a future purchase? I have no intention of ever shopping with them again. Is the $10 supposed to make up for the $600 item they failed to provide us after we paid for it?

So, we told them we wanted a refund.

One week later and after a couple phone calls to the company the money was credited back to our account.

Today I received an email from Ebay asking me to rate the seller. I gave them a bad review. THEN I receive an email from Ebay that the seller has requested my contact information (address and phone number). I am pretty sure they already had my address since they were supposedly going to ship me a camera at one point in time. But the phone number thing was kind of weird. What sort of freaked me out is the email also said to let Ebay know if the seller starts to "harass" me.

Not ten minutes later my phone started ringing. I didn't answer. It rang again and I didn't answer. They didn't leave a message, just kept calling. I know it was them because when I got that email from Ebay they also gave ME the sellers phone number and that's what kept popping up on my caller ID.

If you were me would you answer or even call them back? What do you think they're calling for? Do they want to make peace or are they just trying to harass me? Do you shop with Ebay? My dad buys and sells stuff on Ebay all the time and I have never heard him have an experience like this.

New Camera

2009-03-30T10:51:00.006-06:00

I haven't read the manual yet. (Yes I know, shame on me.) But, I am already loving my new camera. One of these days (hopefully soon) I will sit myself down to read the manual and learn a few tricks.

I really wanted the Canon Rebel, but ended up with the Nikon D40 (mainly b/c of the huge price difference). I read hours worth of reviews and decided the extra $400 really wasn't worth it. Not for my first SLR anyway.

Here is our neice. I'm sad that there is a shadow over her face but I think it's still adorable.

My baby boy

trendy baby

2009-03-23T16:00:00.004-06:00

Has anyone besides me noticed that lately everyone refers to their children by the first letter of their first name? I noticed this trend about two years ago and can see that it is catchin on like wild fire.

Here is a question... where did this trend come from? Was it around before I noticed people doing it? Has anyone else noticed that some letters are cute and other just aren't? How can a letter be cute? I really don't know but it truly seems to be the case. I think the letter "Z" or "C" as a nickname can be cute, but "A" or "E" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

I usually buck trends like CRAZY but I can't lie this one is kinda cute. Although it seems to be getting out of hand and scares me that some day none of us will have real names only letters for names. Like some creepy sci-fi movie.

Big Bootie

2009-03-18T23:11:00.003-06:00

Our little twirp has been sick and tired for the past two weeks. The days have been long and the nights have been even longer. We situated his matress so that he was a little upright at night to help with his constant hacking.

One night we went to check on him and could not help but laugh at how he had positioned himself. HIS BUTT LOOKED SO BIG! The diaper didn't help the matter, but the bootie was still pretty large and in charge. Of course we repositioned him to be on his back, but not until after we snapped this photo. This is one for the baby book fo shizzle.

Even though he was feeling so yucky he still managed to muster the energy to grab my hair whenever he had the chance. I can't kiss his little cheek without loosing a few folicles these days.

In addition to being sick he has been cutting his two top teeth. Man, that sucked. But he is doing better these days and I'm done bragging about what an easy baby he is because I think I jinxed myself.

He is now 6 months old. He weighs 17 lbs 6 ounces and is 28 inches long. Even though he is skinny he loves to eat. We haven't found a food this little boogar doesn't like. (At first he rejected pears but I think he was having an off day because now he inhales them.)

That's it.

Jesse James

2009-03-12T17:47:00.004-06:00

Does anybody watch the Celebrity Apprentice? If you don't then you will have no idea what we are talking about. But, for those of you who do... we have a new idea of how to dress Asher for Halloween. Easiest costume EVER. Just button a flannel shirt all the way up, put on a pair of dark jeans and VOILA- Jesse James.

And to carry on with the celeb look alike theme:

For some reason this facial expression reminds me of Ben Stiller. It's not totally a Zoolander facial expression but it still reminds me of it. Really he is just shocked that he was finally able to out maneuver me and grab the camera strap.

Lately

2009-03-01T12:51:00.001-07:00

We have been enjoying the celebration of Valentines, our Anniversary and soon another big day...

Here are some photos of the sushi that Sheldon and I made together for our anniversary. It was really fun and it turned out delish!

How is it possible that his hair can become so crazy after a short one hour nap?

2009-02-27T13:16:00.003-07:00

So it may be annoying when all people post are pictures or videos of their children, but let's be honest folks, that's all we've got going on these days. Plus admit it, he's funny.

Apparently Sheldon sneezes funnier than I do.

$200

2009-02-20T09:47:00.003-07:00

If you had $200 to spend at Costco what would you buy? I think it tells a lot about a person by how they spend a Costco giftcard. I'm thinking food storage, but I'm boring. My best guess is Sheldon wants movies or videogames, but he's impulsive.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh

2009-02-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Apparently something about this mobile was exceptionally funny today. My favorite part is about 40 seconds in.

I can't believe he's five months old.

2009-02-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

My Etsy

2009-02-02T07:59:00.004-07:00

I just opened a shop on Esty if anyone wants to check it out. My shop address is www.The1ZShop.etsy.com Feel free to check it out or spread the word.

Thanks!

Birthday

2009-01-26T10:11:00.003-07:00

Since I'll be ALMOST 30 on my birthday this year, I figure why not go big?

Here's what I want:

Now, I have taken a couple photography classes over the years, but have never actually owned a fancy camera. This camera is on the lower end of fancy, but I want to start small so I don't get in over my head. They even have a "Book for Dummies" for this camera... so I can't go wrong, right???

What kind of camera do YOU own? Do you like it? What do you recommend?

2009-01-21T08:14:00.003-07:00

I could not be more excited for tonight's episode. What does it say about me that I checked my DVR 3 times to ensure it will record the episode, but didn't watch 1 minute of the inauguration yesterday. Whoops. I guess I shouldn't admit that....

MMMM toes.

2009-01-16T10:39:00.004-07:00

The first time Asher tried out this latest obsession was at his 4 month check up. Apparently it's not too abnormal for the babes to try to suck on their toes. But, nevertheless I was still a little embarrassed. Talk about GROSS!

I love this video because it took him like 5 tries to finally get the toes in the mouth. Too bad I interupted his toe suckage with my laughing but I just couldn't control myself.

The stats

2009-01-06T21:05:00.002-07:00

Asher Masias

4 months old

25 1/2 inches long

14 lbs 4.5 oz

Not quite the same gigantic child he was when he was born, but he's still larger than average. In some strange way I am relieved that he isn't quite as big for his age anymore. I guess because I am such a shrimp and felt weird being a shrimp with such a large child.

Trying to be optomistic... but it doesn't come naturally.

2009-01-04T16:02:00.007-07:00

So, we'll start with

Things I LOVE....

One thing I DON'T love....

TAKING A SMALL CHILD TO CHURCH THAT MEETS FROM 11am-2pm. I realized today that if all Sundays in 2009 go the way today did... it will be a long year.

Make that TEETH

2009-01-03T20:02:00.004-07:00

He's getting better at holding his own bottle. His four month appointment is on Monday Jan. 5.... so stay tuned for some very exciting stats. (I know you're all on the edge of your seats...)

Tooth

2008-12-21T18:04:00.003-07:00

The picture is blurry, but if you look carefully you can see the little tooth that reared it's head at us today. We were not expecting this so soon. Crazy kid!

Growing so fast

2008-12-11T22:31:00.003-07:00

It's cliche to say this but kids grow up so fast! I thought what happens is one day you look back and wonder where the time went. This is not the case for me. I feel like I am watching Asher grow before my eyes. The time is just going so fast and I am loving every minute. As he grows it is bittersweet. I'm excited for his latest developments but also sad that he is changing so quickly. Maybe that is weird, I don't know.

I am saying all this because today was a laundry day and I hadn't washed some of his clothes in almost two weeks. As I was folding them I realized that there are a few articles of clothing that will no longer fit him and need to be boxed up. Why is that so sad to me?

But he is still an angel and is happy and laughs ALL THE TIME. He has been sick for the last week and even when he was sick he was a happy boy. But today he was back to his old self and cracking up at the smallest things. Like, when Sheldon got home from work Asher just took one look at him and started cracking up. Also, I was changing his diaper earlier and he just started laughing, which made me laugh... he saw me laughing and laughed even harder. Same thing happened when I was feeding him a bottle. Is this kid for real? He is so freakin cute.

Ashers Blessing

2008-12-10T22:20:00.003-07:00

My family came into town for Asher's baby blessing. Here are some of our pictures from this weekend.

We went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was so fun!!! (and a little chilly)

This picture was taken Monday. It warms my heart to see both of my boys bonding through the TV. Hopefully this will still be cute in a couple years...

2008-11-26T09:22:00.004-07:00

Today is the first time my wedding ring has fit me since March. Thanks Wii Fit!!

Antelope Island

2008-11-17T14:33:00.004-07:00

I have lived in Utah for almost 10 years and had never been to the Great Salt Lake! So this weekend we took a drive out to Antelope Island.

It was almost surreal driving out there. I didn't realize that there is this giant State Park with BISON roaming freely just miles from my house. We weren't able to spend much time there, but we made the time to enjoy buffalo burgers.

PS Asher slept the entire time. Silly old bear missed out. But, that's ok.

Sheldon hanging out with the kid while I climbed the mountain to get a look at the view. We had to take turns b/c of the babe.

MMM.... buffalo burger.

Yummy.

The view. It really was pretty cool.

Bison. Right there. I've never seen one so close. Even when I was in Yellowstone.

The many moods of Asher

2008-11-13T17:04:00.003-07:00

He's actually not a moody kid, but I had to title the post and I thought these pictures were cute.

Today Asher's feeling:

Skeptical

Surprised

Sad

Distracted

Happy

Tired

Entranced

SHELDON'S NEW RIDE

2008-11-04T21:28:00.005-07:00

Michelle finally made me go out and buy a new car; she realized that having to wake up Asher to take and pick me up from trax was getting a little annoying, especially since I will be going to school full time this upcoming semester. Here are the pictures of the recent purchase!

2 months old

2008-11-04T11:51:00.004-07:00

Asher is now 2 months old. We found out yesterday that he weighs 11 lbs 9 oz and he is 24 inches long. So he's long and lean.

He is such a happy baby. He's either smiling or sleeping. Except when he sees the camera or he's in his car seat. Then he becomes very solemn and serious. It's pretty hilarious. We love him!

PS Don't forget to vote today!!

Honey...

2008-11-04T01:37:00.002-07:00

So today was Asher's 2 month appointment. He is doing well and growing big (75-90% for length... who would have guessed??)

While we were there all of the sudden the doctor says "you know not to feed him honey, right?" OKAY you know the times when you have like three thoughts at the same time? That was how I reacted to his question.

Thought #1: Why would I feed him honey? He's too young for chicken nuggets.
Explanation: I only eat honey with chicken nuggets... nothing else.

Thought #2: Wait a minute... he's too young for HONEY. All he eats is milk!
Why was this my SECOND thought and not the first?
Explanation: I'm not an idiot. Just slightly sleep deprived lately.

Thought #3: Why is he asking me this??

I responded to the good doctors question by saying "No, what's wrong with honey?"

He told me about spores and botulism and all this scary stuff. So, I feel like a bad parent for never hearing anything about this before. I had no idea honey was a no no. Now I'm wondering if there are any other no nos I'm not aware of. (I can't wait to read the sarcastic comment that will inevitably come from Jon Tolman. ;) Something about how meth is a no no unless it's pure... I can only imagine.)

So, no honey and therefore no chicken nuggets for Asher for another year. Check.

Here's the kicker... tonight I watched an episode of ER in which they explain the danger of giving honey to a baby. Crap. I hate when you learn something and then all of the sudden it's as though it's common knowledge. Where the sam hill have I been?

Halloween Fun

2008-10-26T12:00:00.005-06:00

It's hard to decide how to dress your baby for Halloween. We went through many ideas, including Spock.

When we went to Walmart we found this cute bunny costume. The only problem with this is that Asher took it a little too seriously. When we left him alone in the living room he found some carrots and decided to dig in. When we came back in the room we found him chomping away. We had to tell him "Asher just because they are called "Baby Carrots" doesn't mean you can eat them."

Carrot drunk.

Just a picture of Asher looking cute the other day.