Ear Infection and a Pattern

Well, after hearing Jay tell me for the last five days that he had a headache, today I decided to take him in and have him checked out by a doctor. In addition to his comments here and there, he had been having difficulty following directions, would cry easily, and would repeat phrases when talking. No fever, no runny nose, but sure enough he had an ear infection in his left ear. He's now on an antibiotic and hopefully will be back to himself soon.

On the Asher front, he has now established the start of a favorable night time sleeping routine. These last two nights he has slept for six hour stretches, now allowing me only one night-time feeding!!!!! Two nights = a pattern. Three nights = a routine. The difference is that two nights ago I put him into a blanket called "Swaddle Me", also known as what we called Jay's "Straight Jacket of Love"!!

Things have been going well this last week--better than I expected! Only five more days until Josh gets home!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today we made a day out of celebrating Dad's birthday! This included making and decorating the cake...



Finishing Jay's card...

Keeping Asher happy while we work...

And of course, giving it to Dad!



Happy Birthday, Dad! We love you!!

Learning to Smile

With Jay at Mom and Dad's for the day, I had a chance to capture the formation of some of Asher's first smiles. He is getting good at flashing some very big smiles. Though they're difficult to capture with the camera I love seeing the sparkle in his eyes as he works his way up to a smile!

These were taken this morning at home, before we headed out for the day and realized that it was Eighty-five degrees outside!!



These were this afternoon after we got back home.



Smile on, Asher! Smile on!

Jay's Syllables

Jay has mastered his letters and has moved on to syllables. He is really good at the consonants and we're working on the vowels.

Take it away, Jay!

Bravo!

Eleven-Pounder

This week has been a busy one for Asher. Not only did he get to meet new friends, experience his first walks to the playground and downtown, but he also had his tongue clipped. Asher was born tongue-tied, meaning that the web underneath his tongue was attached, prohibiting him from sticking out his tongue. At Asher's doctor appointment we learned that our little over-due baby is now eleven pounds! Wow, has he ever grown! Here are a few pics of him from the week.

Monday night playing on the floor.



Tuesday with Erin and Annika. I must add that Annika is such a sweetheart! She and Jay played very well together, and she did great holding Asher!


Wednesday afternoon, chillin' in his swing.


What a sweet boy!
Asher--five weeks.

Building an Altar

Yesterday morning I found Jay playing by the back door with the styrofoam cups. When I asked him what he was up to he replied in a very LOUD voice, "I am building an altar to my GOD!"


I think he has been reading a lot of Old Testament lately!

Easter Sunday

Sunday we had a wonderful day celebrating Easter! We started off by going to church in the morning. Easter is one of the few days that Josh and I are able to sit in the Sunday services together and it was very special! The worship service was excellent and the beautiful weather was a visual reminder to us of the new life we have in Christ! After church we came home and took some family photos.




While we were waiting for Mom and Dad to come over for lunch, Asher got to hang out in his favorite spot while I did some last-minute dinner prep...

We had a roast chicken, potatoes, corn, strawberries and bread to eat with mint ice cream for dessert! During dinner we also took time to read the Easter story from the Bible.


After lunch we headed outside for Jay's Easter egg hunt. He was super excited to find all the eggs that Dad and Josh hid for him!





Happy Easter 2009!

The Boys Today

Today was the only day this week that I didn't schedule anything outside of the house. The plan was to stay home and do ever-so-exciting tasks such as laundry, clean floors, and of course, keep up with the boys!

I used my time today as an opportunity to finalize what Jay and Asher would be wearing for church this Sunday. I had planned on making a tie for Jay to wear, but after looking closely at the pattern I discovered that it was for a men's tie and would be way to big for Jay. As a side note, I now am planning to find a child-sized pattern and make matching ties for Josh and Jay to wear--I just know Josh will be elated about this idea (chuckle!). So now, Jay will wear a white shirt and blazer,with a tie I picked up at the mall paired with either jeans or khakis. I like the look of the jeans, but Easter Sunday may mean dress pants. After we tried it all on, Jay wanted to leave the tie on for a while, so I let him.



While all of the clothes trying on was happening, Asher took some time to stare at his little yellow bird.

I don't know what it is about this bird, but whenever I set him down on either his tummy or back with the bird in view, he is very happy. If I move the bird around, he will follow it with his eyes, and even turn his head. He just looked so cute there in his crib!

All in all, our day at home was nice, and I am looking forward to getting out of the house a bit this weekend!

From the Pulpit

In addition to Josh's already busy activities of teaching at the college and taking on new projects at church, yesterday an article he wrote was featured in the Rochester Post-Bulletin! Josh was initially given the opportunity to write in the "From the Pulpit" section a few months ago and since being published in November, he has been published a total of four times!

Now, let me insert more of my biased, wifely bragging as I share that Josh also wrote an Easter devotional book for families at our church that was available to the entire congregation this weekend! Josh is becoming quite the writer and I am very excited about all he is doing to impact families for Christ here in Rochester! Keep up the great work, Josh!!!

Sheriff Celebration!

What a proud moment we had last night as Jay completed his first big potty training assignment! The goal: Go potty five times to earn the car Sheriff. We made the chart in February, and Jay has every now and then decided he would like to try for a star. Last night he reached number five! We all were very happy for him!


This called for a celebration! Eating ice cream...in the bathroom...

While watching the Cars movie on my computer...

Jay was elated!

We are now working toward Yellow Ramone. Jay asked to use the potty this morning and attempted to pee-pee without any luck, but DID let me know that he was going poop while playing. Progress, I tell you, progress!