Sketti-Face

The spirit of a true do-it-yourselfer!

Milestones: Big Boy toothbrush

Tonight during our weekly Wal-Mart run Asher got his first big boy toothbrush. He'd had one before that we offered him while he was teething as recommended by a friend, but it was basically just a teething toy. Ultimately, Jack the chihuahua ended up getting it. For functional purposes of cleaning we've been using the little over the finger cleaner, but I didn't think it was cutting it anymore since he has 2 bottom and top teeth. He loved the new toothbrush right away! He let me brush his teeth very easily, and even grinned. It must have tickled! As if that weren't exciting enough he took his push behind toy all over the house for the first time. He's usually a little scared of it since he falls a lot when using it. Tonight, he mastered it though. Looks like we might have some first steps before his birthday! It scares me how quickly he's changing!

Mommy Moments: Birthday Portraits

Ok, so now I'm sure why I don't go spend a thousand bucks on a photographer. Sears portraits studio is just fine by us! We're not too good. Basically, we like it because we can buy the CD with all the pictures to edit and duplicate as we like. The ones you see here have not been editted. Anyway, by last night I was Mommied-out! Mark was working, and my friend I spend the most time here is out of town. I could so do this picture thing by myself, right?... Wrong! Well, sure it could be done alone, but not while holding on to an ounce of sanity. It was an all day affair. Besides eating and taking a short nap we were doing something for the pictures. It started early. Like any good male does before a special occasion, Asher got his hair cut first thing that morning. We greeted the lady as she opened the Super Cuts. (Asher already has superhuman fast growing hair like his Mommy). Then it was off to Sears. After spending hours there, going back twice to finish, and getting smeared (I'm not using this word lightly) with blue cake icing we have some mediocre pictures. The photographer said we could have come back today since Asher was kinda zombie-fied, but I refused. I was not going to devote another entire day to the cause. Surely to goodness we could get a couple of good ones, and we did. (It's not that hard when your subject is the cutest kid on planet Earth!) When we finally got home at 8 :15 from a 2:00 portrait appointment my poor baby was exhausted and sick to death of that stupid quacking duck puppet. It's funny how smoothly and fairy-tale like things go in our heads. I just knew he was going to be this happy, bouncy 1 year old that loved getting his photograph taken while wearing an exceptionally cute outfit. His name was monogrammed on it for Pete's sake! What kid wouldn't love that? I guess his interest and mine are different:) Lesson for today: Take back-ups when taking a mobile baby to get pictures made. You might even want to take a 6 pack. No, just kidding on that part, but MAN!

Missing my Daddy

It's hard to believe that my sweet Daddy has been gone already almost 4 months. I wish I could say it's gotten easier. It hasn't. Quite frankly, it sucks! It's like I live it over and over again. There are many nights like last night that I cry while falling asleep. The reality of it just hits all at once, and I have vivid flashbacks of his last 24 hours on Earth. I know this will be a difficult season as we prepare to celebrate Asher's first birthay. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Daddy would have been here celebrating with bells on! He adored Asher! ...and I adored him!

I know what you really want...

...new pictures of Asher. We went to the park one day

last week. He loved the swings!

Major Life Change

Today was a bittersweet day. It was my last day working at Lifecare Center of Collegedale. I've been there for the last 2 years. In that time, I've grown to love a lot of the patients and employees. Even though it's far from perfect, it holds a special place in my heart. That job brought us to our home here in Tennessee, welcomed the birth of our first child, and sympathized with the loss of my dad. Now, I'll be starting Monday 2/25 at my new job as a home health speech therapist. It's all in efforts to spend more time with Asher. I'm nervous about the change, but I'm excited about what is in store!

Girlfriends

You know there's nothing like some girlfriends and a glass of wine. That's exactly what I got to enjoy this weekend. Asher and I went on a one night road trip to Tuscaloosa to see Katie and Katy. They were my two best buds at community college. Even though it had been (I'm ashamed to say) 2 years since we last saw each other, it was like we never missed a day. Mark teases me that I have more "best" friends than anyone he knows. Man, I'm blessed!