My baby's getting bigger!

Well, we made it through the first 2 1/2 weeks!  I don't know if other women feel the same way, but I think there's a pretty steep learning curve with having a baby!  I think (hope) I picked up on it pretty quickly.  There are some things I learned that I kind of feel like people don't really talk about, though. 

The first is, having a new baby is hard!  I love Asher to death and am very glad he's with us, but sometimes I get really frustrated and tired and feel like I just can't do all the diapers and feeding and burping and cleaning.  I've heard this saying before, but I read it again yesterday and I think of that every time I feel overwhelmed: Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint.  You have to go through all the mundane, not so fun tasks, but in the end, it's worth it!  And if you mess up and get mad, you can start over again.  We had a girl bring over dinner last night and she had a baby about 2 months ago.  She made me feel a lot better because she admitted that having a newborn is hard!  You just have to do the best you can.

Second, don't feel bad about getting an epidural.  It's kind of a trend in our ward for all the new mothers to want to do everything naturally.  I admire their courage, but I know I would not have been able to enjoy Asher's first little bit if I didn't get the epidural.  That same girl that brought us dinner did her whole labor naturally, and she said she wished she would've gotten an epidural!  She said she was so exhausted and tired that she couldn't enjoy the moment at all.  That was the first time I ever had someone who went natural admit that.  This girl made me feel so much better about things!  I don't regret getting the epidural one little bit.

Last, it really takes more than 2 meals from the ward to make you feel like you're being taken care of!  I'm so glad my family is here because we were brought a lot of meals from them.  And the girl who brought us dinner last night, that was a bonus dinner because she said she hated that they only got 2 meals when their boy was born, so she was amazingly nice and brought us lots of food!

Now, on to things about Asher!  He really is a pretty good baby.  He has started to fight off sleep, even when he's really tired, something I'm not too happy about because I know he'd be much happier if he's close those cute little eyes of his!  He love looking at faces.  I think it's because David and I have dark hair and pale faces, so he just likes looking at the contrast, but I like to think he likes looking at us!  He also smiles all the time.  I know it's probably just gas, but when I'm tired and frustrated, I like to think he's smiling at me and it makes everything all better!  He still has a full head of hair.  Someday I'll post a picture of me as a baby and you can see where that came from.  He grunts a lot.  I don't think it will take him long to start babbling and making all sorts of baby noises.  Even when he sleeps, he still whimpers and grunts!  And he does sleep with his mouth open, just like his daddy.  David and I think he's going through a growth spurt right now.  He eats ALL THE TIME and sleeps a lot, and we are both sure that he has gotten a lot bigger since his birth.  I'm very happy about this because it means that hopefully soon he'll sleep for 4 hour chunks at night!  It's fun to see him grow up, even with the short time we've had him.  Here are a few pictures and a video!

Aunt Lisa made this awhile ago to use for a prop for newborn pictures.  Asher fits in it a little better than cousin Ledger!

David's brother and his wife came up to visit us after Asher was born.  It was fun having them here!  Brittany took this pic of Dad playing with his little buddy.

We think that as soon as he gets a little more control over his limbs, he'll be sucking on that thumb a lot!  My mom said some babies like flesh and some like rubber (like pacifiers).  We definitely got a baby that likes flesh!

We think that when he opens his mouth really wide like that, it's just him trying to figure out laughing.  David does this with him all the time and I think he loves playing with his daddy! 

Family Photo!