five seconds from a nervous breakdown

I have lots to blog about...like our trip to Virginia for Thanksgiving or Quinn's company holiday party or Asher's bout with the croup which kept us indoors and exhausted for five days but I can't bring myself to do any of it since I feel like I am constantly five seconds from a nervous breakdown.


Suddenly Asher has become so defiant. Just the most casual mention of the word "no" sends him into all sorts of hysterics. I just feel like I deal with tantrum after tantrum all day long. Today we had a serious power struggle over lunch and in the end I'm pretty sure he won as he ended up eating lunch on my lap instead of in the high chair. Oh, well, I'll try again tomorrow. I also feel like he has reached a whole new level of destruction not to mention the fact that I'm on Death Watch 2010 as he now pulls a chair to wherever he wants to get to, be it the stove, the knives, etc.. And have I mentioned how many times he has tumbled from these stools yet he is still not deterred??? And to top it all off all I can think of is that in about 4 months I get to add a newborn into the mix. Look for me sometime soon in a mental hospital near you.

family week

This morning was the start of what Quinn and I are calling family week. He has all of next week off, yay! And we are so excited to be able to spend all of that time together doing fun family things. And to make it even more exciting we are headed to Virginia tomorrow to spend time with even more family. We can't wait!

it's a...

Healthy and weighing in at 10 ounces. Everything is looking good for April!

fun friday

Asher and I went with a big group Friday morning to children's animal park called Noah's Landing. Asher was able to feed donkeys, llamas, a zebra, and a yak. He loved it. He just giggled every time they took a carrot from his hand. It was very hands on and he got to pet an alligator, a fox, a pig and an opossum (gross!). He wasn't afraid at all. I didn't get very many pictures because it was pretty chaotic with all the kids but he had a great time.

After the zoo, we raced home for a nap before all the Halloween festivities. I got him dressed in his costume and could hardly stand it. Isn't he the cutest Dracula you have ever seen?

We headed off to Quinn's office for our first Halloween party of the night.

Asher was a hit. It didn't take him long before he caught on to trick-or-treating. After about three offices he was all business.

He moved quickly from office to office.

 

He did stop long enough to take a picture with me.

After the candy there was a nice party of pizza and Halloween goodies.

Asher got to go down the slide with Daddy.

I left the red-eye in on purpose because I think it makes him look more vampire-ish.

After the work party, we headed out to the ward party. We made it just as they were finishing up the chili cook-off dinner. We had fun going room to room for the carnival. At one point, Asher was just in the middle of the cake walk dancing to the music. Then outside for Trunk-or-Treating. No pictures, but Asher was all business again. After both events, he had quite a haul of candy. 

It was so much fun to see him enjoy Halloween this year. I know next year will be even better!!

state fair

Quinn took the day off of work today and we headed out to the State Fair. Our first stop was the petting zoo. Asher screamed with delight at the animals but wouldn't pet them. 

We had fun walking around and checking out all of the food. Seriously, you could spend forever at the fair just eating. Everything looked so delish.  We played a few games. Quinn missed.

I didn't.

Finally, it was time to eat. Asher started with a corn dog.

I stuck with a lemonade and sweet potato fries. Quinn had the Krispy Kreme burger which is exactly like it sounds.

Can you imagine the calories?

Asher got his hammering on in a toddler section.

He also got his driving on.

We checked out the livestock. Saw tons of cows, pigs, poultry, etc...We saw a lot of prize winning produce, sampled delicious cheese and BBQ sauces and just generally had fun doing fair stuff.  Then it was time for dessert.

Asher really enjoyed his ice cream. Quinn and I shared a funnel cake.

To end the day we took Asher on the carousel. At first he seemed to like it but about half way through he wanted off.  All in all it was a great day at the fair.

our trip to utah

Asher and I had the most relaxing and delightful time for two and a half weeks while we were in Utah. I was too busy relaxing to blog but did manage to take a few pictures...not many...but some.

We arrived on the Monday after Malllory's birthday. My parents took us all out to dinner. I was too exhausted from traveling that day to take any pictures. But the food was delish and the company was great!

That same week we were able to go to Jaxson's last soccer game. Again no pics but Asher loved it. He cheered his little heart out and tried several times to run onto the field and start playing himself. We were also lucky to see Jaxson score three goals in that game!

That weekend, Ryan, Dana and the kiddies came down for the weekend. Asher discovered Jaxson's truck in the garage and would not stop until he could get in it. He spent a lot of time in that truck while we were there. He loved it.

We were also able to go to Jaxson's school carnival. It was a lot of fun.

Asher loved his balloon.

The next week, Asher and I met Ashley and Holden for Singing Time and Brunch. Quinn and Kurt are convinced that Asher and Holden will be best friends so it was good to get them together.

Unfortunately, this is the best I could do getting them both on camera.

Asher and Jax played so well together. They loved being together.

Asher and I were also able to go to lunch with Elise and Madeline. I had yet to meet Madeline and she is a cutie as you can tell from the picture.

We also had a mini Chambery reunion dinner while I was in town. It was so great to see so many old friends. Both Quinn and I miss our days in Chambery and all of our great friends we made while living there.

(Reid, Angie, Lorena, Mike, Jordan, Mike, Lindsay, Asher)

(Deanna, Beverly, Brooke, Kim, Kaelyn, Collette, James, Chris, Kyle)

Chambery 2.0 (Bailey, Rachael, Macy and Asher)

We were also fortunate to be in town for Stacey's birthday. Asher loved all the candles. Happy Birthday Sister!

I also was able to have lunch with several other great friends including Kim, Cami and Kristen. I also had a lovely dinner with two of my favorite people Kim and Lindsay.  Thank you to everyone who made time to see us while we were there. Thanks to my parents for letting me stay with them and not have to cook or clean and who took care of Asher when I was exhausted. I'm still having baby sickness but it is getting better every day. All in all, it was a great trip and just what I needed.

Our flight home was full of tantrums, canceled flights, flying west before heading east, etc...long and torturous. But we finally made it. We were greeted at the airport with flowers and a giant Thomas the Train balloon. Asher was psyched out of his mind to see his Daddy again. So was I!

18 months of love

Asher turned 18 months on Monday. He had his check-up the same day. He is one healthy growing boy.

He weighed in at 27 lbs and 6 oz and is 33 1/2 inches tall. He jumped up from the 50th percentile at his 15 month check-up to the 75/80th percentile. Needless to say he has had a bit of a growing spurt.

I just love this little boy. He has brought so much love and joy to our home. I often talk with Quinn about how amazed I am how he consumes almost all my waking thoughts. I'm constantly thinking about where he is, what he is doing, does he need a diaper change, is he hungry, etc...even when he is asleep he still is always in the back of my mind. I have no idea what I use to think about before I became his mother.

Asher still doesn't say too many words but I know he will get there someday. Right now his favorite things to say are "uh-oh" and "hot."

He is a climber. I've learned this the hard way when I've found him on top of our table with some sort of dangerous contraption in his hand.

I love when he crawls right into my lap and wants to sit with me while I watch TV or cruise the internet. 

Asher loves Mickey Mouse. He is his best friend and takes him everywhere with him. He often tries to feed him, give him a drink, or change his diaper.

Asher and Quinn play non-stop on the weekends. If you ever call our house on the weekends, you can always hear them tussling in the background. They both love it. Asher loves to be chased and always starts running whenever Quinn walks towards him. They have a great time together.

Asher pretty much is just a bundle of joy and love and we can't imagine life without him!!

I went to another OB appointment today. Had another ultrasound. It's crazy how fast the baby has grown since the last one a few weeks ago. The last one (I'm going to refer to the baby as he so I don't have to say it) he was just a blob on the screen. Today he had arms, legs and looked like a baby. He was moving around a ton. I also heard the heart beat. I got really excited! It feels more real now.


In other news, I was reading online the other night about someone who sucked on sour patch kids to help with nausea. Anything citrus and sour really seems to work for me so I took note of this, plus, they are delicious. Anyway, I've been thinking about it non-stop for three days. So finally today, Asher and I stopped off at Walgreens and picked up a few packs of sour patch kids. I'm excited to try it out.

a relaxing saturday

We decided to go to the beach yesterday. Quinn hadn't had the opportunity to go this summer so we thought we would give it one last shot while it was still warm. We had the best time. It's a little over a two hour drive from our house. So we left around 8 am and were on the beach by 10:30. It was overcast pretty much the whole time we were there but we didn't mind. The water and the ocean breeze were both warm.

Quinn and Asher played in the sand.

Asher was so content in his little hole Quinn dug for him. He loved just sitting in it playing with the sand.

They played and had fun in the water too. Asher was a little more timid this trip then the last one but he still had a good time.

The beach was practically empty. I loved it. I spent most of the time on the blanket resting and listening to the waves and soaking in the ocean breeze. 

Today is the day Quinn has been waiting for since January.  The return of NY Giants football.

We bought Asher's shirt last year. They are adorable.

And don't worry, I have one too. Yes, we are THAT family...I'm almost embarrassed.

update on ww

Many people have asked me for an update on Weight Watchers. I've tried to pretty much just avoid answering the questions for as long as possible, but that can only go on for so long.

The truth is, it isn't going so well. I hit a little bit of a snag. About a week after I started I found out about this:

I'm pregnant! So I have been losing some weight and not the way I wanted to. Vomiting is not my idea of dieting. But I'm on Zofran now and the sickness is under control. I still get sick but it is much more manageable and I spend next to no time with my face in the toilet so that is a good thing.

My due date is around April 11th and we are very excited. Asher loves babies. He loves to just get in their face and smother them with love so I think he will be a great big brother.

So weight watchers is on a brief hiatus, but believe me I plan on starting up as soon as possible post-baby and I'll still have my same goal weight just a lot more to lose!

boston

Scroll down for previous post on Newport, RI.

We drove back into Boston for a quick day of sightseeing. We stayed in the Back Bay area of Boston at the Sheraton. By the time we got to the hotel it was lunch time. We refueled and then walked around the Prudential Center for a bit before check in time. Once we checked in, Asher had a blast playing by the windows and checking out our view of Boston.

We did have a pretty great view of Boston.  Since we only had a few hours we decided to take the famous Boston Duck Tour to see what we could see.

Asher was ready.

So was Quinn.

Its not a great tour for taking pictures since you are pretty much driving the whole time but you got a great feel for what Boston has to offer and what to do next time you have a few days to spend there.

Asher was very lovey dovey on the tour.

This was on the Charles river looking back towards where our hotel is. Boston is a gorgeous city that I feel in love with. I can't wait to go back and spend some more time there.

Faneuil Hall

After the tour we walked back over to Copley Square to check out Trinity Church

Quinn loved these sconces on the facade of The Boston Public Library.

Asher was immediately drawn to this fountain.

He of course had to get in. He got soaked. We headed back to the hotel to change his clothes and rest a bit before dinner. The concierge recommend a great little restaurant Charley's on Newbury Street. We enjoyed walking around that evening and seeing all that Boston had to offer.

Then we got ready for bed. We had a mostly peaceful nights sleep. We woke up very early to catch a flight back to Raleigh.

One of my favorite pictures of the weekend...this is Asher trying to wake up this morning. He is just so cute!!!