Crazy Kid Stuff

Okay, not much to blog about lately, but with an 18-month old around I was sure to have something to write about sooner or later.

Last week Asher just about gave me a heart attack. I was trying to put his car seat back into the car, so I sat him in the front passenger seat so he would be close by but not in the way, you know? He had a great time pushing all the buttons and sitting in the big seat. Once I finished I shut the back door, then went to open the front door. As you probably guessed, it was LOCKED. I totally panicked, first - because it was hot, and second - because I honestly could not remember if/where a spare key was to get him out of there. Asher saw the shocked and horrified look on my face and started laughing! All I could do was to tell him to push the buttons (something we are usually asking him not to do), which he gladly did, only he kept pushing the lock button. We tried again, and finally he pushed the right one, and I opened that door as fast as I could. Guess I better find a spare for the next time, eh?

Okay, my next story is one that I am sure mothers everywhere have experienced, but this was my first time. (Warning: this is a little gross, proceed at your own risk) Last night it was bath time as usual, and Asher was splashing around, playing with the toys. I was thinking it was time to get him out, but let him stay in a couple more minutes...he was having a good time. I was absent-mindedly sitting on the edge of the tub when I saw an UFO(unidentified FLOATING object). That's right, a little piece of poop was floating in the water, and before I knew it, there was more. Yuck. He didn't seem to have any problem with it, and to be honest, I think he found it a welcome change from those restrictive diapers. Yuck, yuck. I plucked him from the 'sewer water' aka bath and took care of business. Reality tells me that this won't be my last encounter with a UFO. Ah, so many exciting moments to look forward to as a parent.

Besides those two occurrences life has been mellow. We are watching the hummingbirds outside our door, swimming, playing at the park and (mom's summer relief) even shopping a little. We are getting ready for our family trip to Hawaii...3 weeks to go! Thanks to lots of great suggestions from friends I think we will be ready for the 5-ish hour flight with Asher out of LA with lots of surprise goodies and videos. Here are a few random pictures taken in the last few weeks, and I am sorry to report that (for obvious reasons) there are no pictures of the aforementioned stories.

Asher and a little cutie playing at the sprayground.
He isn't afraid of all the water this time!

Asher and his uncle Adam...what a sucker, he let
him play with his phone. (You know he throws things, right Adam?)

Dallin was over the other day...look at these little men! Funny
how similar they can still be with such an age difference!

Some of our favorite summertime visitors.

P.S. Today is my amazing mother's birthday. She is seriously the most incredible woman I know. She is so generous and loving to all in our family, and really to all she knows. Asher sure does love his grandma too and loved the fun times they had together when she was visiting. We all have so much fun when she's around, and our biggest loss is living so far away. I guess it makes those times we spend together mean that much more! Happy Birthday, Mommy, we all love you so much! (Yep, all of us kids still call our parents 'mommy' and 'daddy'...we used to be a little embarrased because of it , but now we don't care anymore!)

4th of July, Family Fun

A day off in the middle of the week with the family is certainly a treat. We enjoyed our 4th of July here in Albuquerque, and it was a hot one! We started the day off at the ward breakfast at the park. We had some great burritos and Asher had a great time letting us chase him all over. Corey had to buy some fireworks (is it some unwritten rule of the male species that to play with fire= masculinity??), but sadly, the wind was CRAZY, so we still have a bunch to play with this weekend. We did decide to keep Asher up late so we could watch some bigger fireworks, so we drove to a good vantage point and watched the show. Asher thought everything except the fireworks were interesting, so I guess we have a couple years until he changes his mind. Ah, kids.

I think Independence Day is wonderful, especially at this time when we have so many fighting for the freedoms all of us want to maintain. So many have and will continue to sacrifice for the opportunities we love and take advantage of. What a great heritage and what a wonderful country we live in. God Bless America!!

Asher decided his Alligator (from G-pa Reitz)
makes a great pillow, poor little fella!

Asher's new do, and Hanging with Grandma

Last week my mom was in town for a visit and we had a great time! Asher's unruly little mop has finally been tamed by Meagan and a little hair wax. After a sucker, a few tears and some quick work by Meagan we had it! I must admit that I miss his little boy hair, but the new do is sure easy. It's hard for me to see him looking more grown up, but that's exactly what he is! I keep telling Corey that I don't want him to get any older or bigger so he will stay my little boy, but I know I don't get any say in the matter.

While my mom was here we visited the botanical gardens, the zoo, Old Town, and ate too much food. She sure had a fun time with Asher, and truth be told, I think he was much better behaved for her than for me. They especially had fun playing in the backyard and in the little pool.

Yesterday was Father's Day, and it was a nice and mellow one. Corey did get a much deserved extra long nap. Asher and I are so lucky to have him around. He is such a wonderful daddy and is always playing with his little buddy. And I know I am one lucky gal to have all the love and help he gives me. Thanks for being so great Corey!

I didn't get to spend the day with my own very special Father, but I do want him to know how much he means to me! All those daughters, and somehow he is still sane. I love him so much and can't thank him enough for all he's done for me in my life! Happy Father's Day!

Happy Birthday Corey!

Corey is 31 and dealing with it! The two of us had a fun night out last night while Asher and my mom had an evening together. She is here for a visit and to watch Asher for me a couple days while I work. We are happy to have her here!



Today we started Corey's birthday. I say it this way because he usually thinks his birthday is a week long celebration. We hung out at the zoo again, and tonight we had Corey's family(Aaron, Meagan, and Adam) over for ice cream cake. It was a fun night. Corey received some great birthday booty, but the funniest of all was the Tetherball. We have had a naked pole a in our backyard without a b-ball hoop on it since we moved in, and so Aaron and Meagan decided to give it a purpose! Perfect, and I was a mean tetherballer in elementary school! I might be a little rusty, but I can't wait to play! (Aaron, you might have to help us put it on...pretty please??)



This last one is from our little trip to the Spray-ground last week. The water was pretty cold, but he was a good sport. Ya gotta love summer!

Memorial Day Weekend

We were so excited to have a long weekend as a family. Corey has just started his summer law clinic courses, so this weekend was a special treat! Until the beginning of August he will be busybusybusy. Asher and I plan on stealing him for our own designs every chance we get.

These pics show that our little ground-dweller is finally deciding to try out some two-legged living! Yipee! I know I will be glad to have him up and off the floor. If he weren't such a super speedy crawler he might have some incentive.



Here is some of our park fun. Asher LOVES that sand (I chose not to include the ones of Asher with sand all over his mouth...sadly, he loves to sample it too).



We decided to go to the Botanical Gardens on Saturday. They just opened up the Butterfly Pavilion, and have upgraded the whole place! We hadn't been in a few years and we were really surprised at how cool it is now for kids and adults. There were still a bunch of chrysalis's' and butterflies emerging, which I have never seen before and thought it was pretty amazing.



Asher couldn't get enough of the miniature train area. He was really excited every time a train passed him by. This picture cracked me up...a mouth full of cookie, in awe of the train that had just chugged by us!



On Memorial Day evening we hung out at Aaron and Meagan's place for a BBQ. It was lots of fun, and the food was great! Asher found that piling rocks on their patio, and transferring ice out of the cooler were loads of fun. Apparantly he know what to do with a soda can, and he had fun chasing the cat around (much to Corey's dismay...he is pretty allergic, so absolutely NO cats in our future). It was a very enjoyable evening and weekend...sad to see it end!

Weekend in Vegas!

We spent the weekend in "Fabulous Las Vegas" and had a great time. We checked out as many of the tourist-y places we could. It had been a long time since I had been, and this was Corey's first visit (besides the airport)...wow has it changed!




We loved the dolphin/white tiger habitat at the Mirage, and Asher squealed with delight when the dolphins came close to him. Corey thought the exotic cars at the Forum Shops were pretty cool, and I of course loved theM&M store, and gelato at the Venetian. Yummy yummy! We also drove to the Las Vegas temple, which was very pretty and had an amazing view of the city. The shopping was fun, since there are tons of different places than we have in our malls here in NM. If you look closely at the pictures, you will probably see that Asher wasn't always as thrilled as we were, but overall he really was a good kiddo.



We did do a little pool-time as well! Asher splish-splashed to his heart's content. The cool water was a welcome change with all that 90 plus degree heat. Whew! We had a great time together.




These are a few pics I had to add...these were some of Asher's highlights of our trip to Utah.
Doesn't it look like he and the dog are about to escape and go somewhere? He LOVES those dogs. Kayla's prized ferret, Baxter was his also his partner in crime. They were two of a kind! He chased that little critter all over the house, and the funniest part was that Baxter would pause, wait for Asher to catch up, then run away again. They sure had fun.

Wedding Bells and Graduation!

This last week has been a busy one. Asher and I flew to Utah for some family fun. Poor Corey had to stay behind to take a couple finals for school. We sure miss him!

Our first big event was graduation for Jen and Josh at the University of Utah...way to go guys! Asher thought all the clapping was great, and couldn't help but enthusiastically join and clap for about every one of those graduates!

After that we headed up to Idaho Falls for Ryan's wedding. We are all so happy for Ryan and Danna. She looked like a princess! What a cute couple they are, and it was a very nice wedding.

I did, however, think that winter was over. Idaho Falls proved me very wrong. It was SO cold, and Saturday morning we actually woke up to snow. What in the world is going on out there???

Asher was not as thrilled about the wedding day as the rest of us, and was sure to broadcast that loud and clear. I think he screamed and cried the whole day. It was a good test of endurance for me...whew! The only thing that brought him out of his crazy mood was a chocolate milkshake from McDonalds. I only wish I had thought of that sooner (good idea grandpa!).

The drive back was a little humorous. Poor grandpa had to drive Ryan's truck home from the airport, and hadn't realized what that might include. The words"Honk! Just Married" and "I'm a real boy" were all over the truck. People would honk, speed up to see who was inside, then start laughing when they saw who was actually driving. It was great, but he was a little embarrassed.

We are enjoying spending time with the family and wish everyone was closer so we could do it more often. We will take what we can get! We love you guys...

P.S. Happy Anniversary Corey! I love you! (Wow, 8 years goes by fast!) See you soon...