Time MARCHes on, APRIL flew by, MAY I have your attention, its now JUNE?!

This has been my longest blog gap ever! Four months have come and almost gone. As far as keepin' up with the Jones' here it is:

If you are not in the mood to read and just want to look at pictures, heres a quick recap:
I had a birthday, went to the rodeo, mother's day, went to Vegas, loved Vegas, Asher is crazy hyper. :)

March: My birthday! I turned 2? years old! :) Birthdays are not near as exciting as they used to be. At work we did a "panini party" and Grant got me a Fossil bag that I wanted. I am finding that I am way more excited about Asher's birthday than mine. Spring Break came with my a warm welcome! This school year was my roughest for various reasons, so any break was great! My dad, Eric, Ricky, and Christopher came for part of the week and we went to the Rodeo and saw Miranda Lambert. Eric was brave and bungee jumped. My palms were sweating just watching the elevator lift him in the sky. We also went to Galveston and attended Grant's cousin's wedding. It was at the Hotel Galvez. The colors were beautiful, the bridal party was gorgeous, and the reception was very fun. It was Asher's first reception to attend. Notice I didn't mention the wedding, because Grant actually stayed in the room with him because he was being cranky. I don't think Grant seemed to mind only going to the party portion of the night. :)

April: At school we had the TAKS test. If you are not in education you need to understand that this is the Olympics of school. People train all year, eat a good breakfast, hone their skills, and demonstrate their built up endurance on one fateful day... haha sound intense? It is! The whole building is tense! There is so much pressure placed upon students and teachers to perform well. Ughhh...so glad its over! At the end of April I went to visit Kristine in New York City. It was 3 super busy, awesome days! Daniel also joined us, so it was a great reunion of friends. Kristine was an amazing hostess because she knew all the best spots to go to. We had great food, great drinks, great laughs, and soooooooo many walks. haha. I just knew I had gained 5lbs on this trip, but when I got home, I had actually lost a pound. I'll take that. :)

May: My first Mother's Day! It was a bittersweet day. I was missing my own mom, but I was also celebrating with my son. Grant and Asher suprised me with a trip to Las Vegas in June! Asher also was introduced to swimming! He is very good in the water. He keeps his tongue hanging out constantly. Grant and I LOVE watching him play. It is so cute! We first let him play in a blow up pool in the backyard, then we took him to the neighborhood pool, and then to Grant's aunt and uncle's house on Mother's Day. The neigborhood pool is mainly why we chose to build our house in Fall Creek. It is so kid and family friendly. They have an area that is just water sprinklers coming up off the ground. Asher loves crawling around there. He thinks everything is so funny. His latest "thing" he does is a fake laugh. He looks at people and cheeses at them with a fake laugh. It cracks me up. One thing he did not think was funny was a little bit of baby swim lessons. Grant's mom told us you are supposed to look babies in the eyes and say, "Ready, Ready, Ready" and then dunk them under water in an "S" motion. He did great at first, but then when we did it again he started freaking out anytime we said, "Ready, Ready, Ready." Later that night when I was giving him a bath I said the dreaded three words...and he started freaking out in the bathtub. hahaha. We also went to Whitney's A&M graduation and had a great time celebrating her.

June: We went on a baby-less vacation! I love Asher, but Grant and I enjoyed our 3 days away! Las Vegas was amazing! We didn't walk away millionaires, thousandaires, or even hundredaires, but we had a great time. We stayed at the Wynn, which is a 5 star hotel. Laying by the pool, with waitresses waiting on us was a little slice of Heaven. Whitney, Grant's sister, stayed at our house with Asher. She was so great with him, and I was so greatful to have her volunteer for the job. Grant's dad had a surprise 60th birthday party last weekend and it went off wonderfully. Grant had his first Father's Day and he had to work. :( BUT I did make him an awesome dinner of Sante Fe Chicken, Stuffed Jalapenos, and Chocolate Cookie Puffs. Whitney told me about this recipe blog called skinnytaste.com. It is AWESOME!

Asher is becoming so funny. His little personality has developed so much. He is a jokester. He smiles all the time and moves ALL the time. Do one year olds ever sit still?? He was hitting our table with the remote and I was telling him, "No" and he looked at me and slowly lowered the remote until it almost touched the table and started laughing to hard. He did this about twenty times. Then he will lightly tap it and look at me like...Are you gonna get me??? He love to have us chase him around the house. He goes crazy laughing. We are proud to say that he uses his potty two to three times a day. He is a pro. He has yet to walk without holding on to the couch or coffee table. He officially had his first tumble off the bed at Mimi's house, and he did poke himself in the eye and it swelled up at home with mommy. We got his first "real" haircut. He wasn't a fan. It took Grant in the chair with him, me entertaining from behind and holding a sippy cup, and the hair stylist being goofy as well. He looks very cute. No more chili bowl. :) When he wakes up now he lets us know by taking anything there possibly is and throwing it in the room. Sippy cup thrown out on the floor, sound maker unplugged thrown over, shoes taken off and thrown, blanket also thrown over. haha I walked in and he had his music box raised over his head and I caught it before it hit the floor. I CANNOT believe that I am planning his first birthday. It is going to be pirate themed. Even though he won't know the difference, I want it to be great for him! haha I can hear the booming of him waking up right now so this is where this entry ends, and my mothering for now begins.


 

Backyard pool. What a cheeseball smile. Its like he's saying "No Autographs Please."

Super Baby!

Tounge out...

Rodeo!

Christopher, Dad, Asher

Eric before he bungee jumped

At the park with papa Arme

Grant styled Asher's hair.

The neighborhood pool

Grant's Uncle's house for Mother's Day

Mima and Asher at Whitney's graduation.

Uncle Eric bought Asher his first cowboy hat.

Mimi gave Asher some new Converse shoes

Grant and I at the Wynn in Las Vegas.

Laughing because he was banging the remote on the table!

What a little man. :)

The show we saw in Vegas

Asher wore this shirt when Aunt Whitney watched him.

At the pool in Vegas.

Daniel, me, Kristine on the Brooklyn Bridge

Asher made this for me for Mother's Day at Anita's house.

February, what a LOVELY month

February may be the shortest month, but it has been our busiest! Grant and I celebrated Valentines Day while Sharon and Glen watched Asher. We went and ate a fancy meal at The Rainbow Lodge, a restaurant that serves wild game. We loved it! Then we went to Sam Houston Racetrack and bet on the horses. I bet the winning horse twice! It was a very fun adult evening.

The next weekend I drove to Wichita Falls and had a great weekend with my dad and Ricky. I also got to see Diane, Stacey's family, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Gene. I loved letting Asher play with Colt, Stacey's baby. I think he is around 14 months now. Asher wore his Valentine shirt that said "Eligible Bachelor" all weekend. I love holiday clothes!

The following weekend, I drove to Dallas and had a girls weekend with some friends. Janie, Katy, Anthea, Lauren, and I had a blast! We stayed in the Hyatt hotel, went to the Spazmatics, which is a popular 80's cover band, shopped, and ate out. We had a wonderful time relaxing in the hot tub and catching up. It had been several years since we were all together in the same room. Despite the speeding ticket I got, it was the most enjoyable weekend that I've had in a while.We reminised and laughed for two days straight.

Yesterday was the Houston Rodeo Cook Off. Kason, Sarah, Charles, Blair, Grant, and I bought tickets to a tent and went down to enjoy the festivities. We all dressed in semi western apparel, but when we got there, we felt like we missed the memo. So many people were dressed in the tiniest western clothes they could find! We laughed about it all night. The atmosphere was rather "club like" rather than western, but it was still very enjoyable. We went into a tent of a teacher friend of mine, called the "Beefy Cowboys." The food was very delicious.  Afterward, we came back to the Ebbs' house and sat by the fire pit. The events and festivities of the night kept surprising us, and it was definately turned out to be another great night with friends.

Today we went to the park with Asher for the first time. He loved the swing and laughed so hard. It was precious! I can't wait to go again. He is becoming such a fantastic scooter. Having not quite mastered crawling, he can spin a circle like a pro. Scooting backwards is starting to become frustrating to him, but its very cute to us! :)

This week is our book club meeting, and Spring Break is only 2 weeks away!!!! I will be traveling to Wichita Falls to visit my dad, and Grant's cousin Artie is marrying his fiance Jen over the break. I'm very excited to go to Galveston for the celebration.

 

My cousin Stacey, Aunt Linda, and Asher in Wichita Falls

 

Asher and Colt

 

Asher's "Eligible Bachelor" Valentine shirt

 

Lauren at Girls Weekend

 

Katy and Janie

 

The five of us at the Hyatt

 

The Spazmatics---sooo fun!

 

Our first trip to the park! Priceless afternoon!

 

Grant and Asher swinging. Grant got mad Asher could go higher. :)

 

Mommy and Asher

Can it really almost be February?

January has flown by in a flash! New Years Eve was fantastic! We went with friends to a party downtown. It was a champagne tasting along with wine pairing at dinner, and the night was topped off with dancing. It was the best NYE I've had in many years! Besides that, Grant and I have been super busy with obligations, but have sometime found some wonderful time to spend together. As of late, we painted our bedroom, which was very hard for Grant because he prefers everything be vanilla colored. :) It turned out wonderully! We went to dinner with some of Grant's high school friends, and it was great to visit with them and their wives. Grant's sister, Whitney, has decided to go to Prague for a full year to teach English! She prayed about her decision and feels that this is where God wants her next year. She is currently raising support because she will be leaving in July. I have began working out twice a week with some teachers at my school, while Grant has been working well into the AM hours. He got home last night at 3:30! (So I guess that makes it this morning.) I really enjoy my coworkers at school. They are very laid back and they make me want to come to work in the morning...is it bad that its not the students???

Asher seems to change so much week to week. I even thought at the beginning of last week, "I wonder what he will do this week?" Sure enough, he sprouted his top two front teeth. They are only partially in, but they look so cute. He now has his top front and bottom teeth. He can sit up like a champ. We actually are not using the Bumbo quite as much! Pictured below, I found out he can get out of it. Hes gotten great at eating baby food, and even screams when we don't get the spoon there quite fast enough. haha. I am totally biased, but I think he just gets cuter and cuter each day. Last night was his first time to sit in a shopping cart instead of his car seat. His eyes were huge and he was holding on with a death grip. He did very well until I saw him chewing on the Walmart shopping cart and I shreaked! So gross! haha I have one of those covers, but of course it was at home in the closet where it gets lots of use...We had to move up to a bigger car seat because Asher is so big!! At 6 months he weighed 20lbs even, and was in the 90th percentile. He is about to be 7 months in a few days, and I bet he is 23lbs at least. I swear we don't over feed him! :) The best part of the day is when Grant gets home from work. The look Asher gets is priceless. It is the biggest, happiest grin ever! On Friday, I heard the garage door open so I grabbed the camera and took pictures when Grant walked in. Thats what the black and white pictures below are from.

In the future coming up, I am looking forward to February book club because we read The Help, and it was the best book I've read in a while, a girls weekend in Dallas, going to the Houston Rodeo, and working in a trip to Wichita Falls to visit family and friends. The Lord has been very good to my family over the last month. I pray for guidance and strength for the next month as well.

 

My chubby angel!! :)

 

Grant and Asher when he got home from work.

 

This is Asher's face when he saw Grant.

 

This is Asher's face when he gave up on tryint to crawl.

 

NYE 2011

 

Asher mastered the Bumbo

 

Bedtime!

 

Our painted bedroom! It turned out so well. Goodbye vanilla!