Asher

This kid.  He is just one of my favorite people in the entire world.  I've been thinking a lot lately about how blessed I am to have him in my life.  I will admit, the first few months of his life I weren't sure we were going to make it, and there are days when we just don't get along, but I just love him to pieces!  

He is one of the most loving, caring people you will meet.  I was so worried before I had the girls how Asher would react, but it has helped him grow so much!  He loves those babies and they sure do love him.  He loves to help me take care of them and almost always does what I ask, whether it is getting them a toy so they'll be happy, putting the bottle back in their mouth, or throwing away diapers.  Often he'll do things for them unasked.  He loves to talk to them and has the cutest baby voice when he's doing that!  And it's not just my girls.  All babies love Asher!  He rides home with his friend Monty from Preschool and Monty's mom tells me that Asher always gets her baby laughing while they're driving home.  He also loves being around kids just younger than him.  While at my mom's house this last trip, he played almost constantly with London, who is a year younger.  He also played with Isaac and Hunter (1.5 years younger) and kept saying things like "Ok kids, do you want me to get you some yogurt now?" And at the doctors office, he asked a little girl playing with the toys in the waiting room if she wanted his help figuring out a toy.  

I love how kind he is, but it also makes me a little worried about him.  He is so sensitive and expects people to be as nice as him.  And when other kids aren't very nice, it just takes the wind right out of his sail.  The other day I was driving him to school. I take him and Monty to school, and Monty's mom picks them up.  Asher was so excited before school because he had an All About Me poster he was going to show the class and he just loves school in general.  Monty was...not in that great of a mood.  When it came time for Asher to come home, I waiting for him to burst through the door with a big grin on his face like normal.  But instead he slowly opened the door, stepping inside and dropped his backpack.  When I looked back at him I could tell he was trying to hold back tears.  I called him over to me and set him on my lap to try to comfort him and find out what happened.  Unfortunately, Monty has some anger problems and since he is around Asher a lot, Asher tends to get the brunt of it.  I guess on the way home they were fighting over a toy and Monty hit Asher right in the face.  It just deflated Asher for the rest of the day.  I tried so hard to cheer him up, but nothing really worked.  It breaks my heart to see that to my happy little boy!  I know he will probably need to learn to toughen up, but I don't ever want to see him become hardened.  

David and I engage in some harmless teasing him every once in awhile by pretending to eat his candy or drink his chocolate milk, and he takes it so hard!  He is learning, and has begun teasing us.  I will tell him that I love him and he'll then turn to David and say "I love you Daddy!"  And when I want him to do something and he tells me no, I'll get mad at him and he'll say "Mama, I was just teasing!"  He really hates any conflict and if David and I get mad at him about something, he gets way more upset that we are mad at him then any punishment we give out.

I feel like this post is a little disjointed, but it's just a bunch of things I've been thinking for awhile that I feel like I need to document.  I have so much respect for my son.  He really hasn't had an easy life, with all our moving and job uncertainty and not having as much money to spend on him as we would like, but he seems to have moved past all that hard stuff and now just focuses on the good.  I love that he gets so excited to show me the things they worked on at school.  I love that he loves everyone and wants them to be happy.  And even though it can make things harder once in awhile, I love how sensitive he is.  How big his heart is.  I just love my little Asher.

9 Months

These little cuties turned 9 months old today!  I feel like time is flying by so much faster with them!  It's probably because I am so busy taking care of all the kids during the day that I don't have time to just sit down and think about it.  They are so much fun and have been such great additions to our family.  Here's a little summary of them at 9 months!

Mia:

• 16 lbs 14.5 oz (27%), 28 inches long (64%), head circumference 46.5 cm (97%)
• Her hair is getting so long!  Well, most of it is long.  She still sleeps on one side so it's kind of all rubbed off on that side, but it's still cute. ;)  I may be tempted to try a little ponytail soon!
• Still has 2 teeth.  I think more are coming, but it's taking a little while.
• Has developed quite a piercing yell that she likes to do at random times.  It doesn't mean she's upset, just that she wants to be heard!  When I'm talking to David on the phone and she does it he says it hurts his ears.  During Stake Conference she was doing it so much I had to take her out into the hall!
• Has pretty much stopped nursing.  She is more of a biter and would get bored of nursing so she was just hungry all the time.  Now that she's completely on bottles she's much happier.  I do nurse her if she wakes up at night just because it's easier than getting a bottle ready and she's usually ok doing it then.
• Uses her little pincer grasp to get what she wants!  She uses it to pick up cereal, toys, and also to pick at Dad's face! (which he really loves...)
• Loves Cheerios and oatmeal with fruit mixed in.
• Still sucks her thumb when she's tired.  It's just so adorable to see her grab the edge of her blanket and suck her thumb when she's falling asleep!  I'm secretly glad I got a child who loves to suck her thumb.  It had to happen sometime because me, my mom, and I think even my grandma all sucked our thumbs!

I just love seeing her smile!  It's just so sweet!

This happened a couple times.  Thankfully she is learning not to do that!

Mia had just finished her bottle and Asher went over to play with her.  It was such a precious moment.

One of her adorable church outfits provided by her stylish cousin London!

Listening to Asher read a bedtime story

Ava:

• 18 lbs 7.5 oz (55%), 28.2 inches long (71%), head circumference 44.5 cm (68%)
• Has 7 teeth!  And 2 more on the way!  We've pretty much had 3 straight months of teething.  It's hit or miss on how good of a mood she's in because of that, but I think after the next 2 come in we'll have a little bit of a break (hopefully).
• Has the cutest little smirk where she scrunches her nose up.  It's so adorable and makes me smile every time I see it.
• Still my most emotional child.  People always ask if they have similar personalities and I always say that Mia is my pleasant, chill child and Ava is either really happy or really not.  Today at the doctor she screamed bloody murder while he was examining her, but as soon as he put her down she was back to her happy self, babbling away!
• Has started babbling so much.  David loves to get her to say "Dada" although I don't really count it as her first word because that's just her babbling sound (sorry David).
• Finally getting some hair to cover her head!  
• When she gets excited and thinks she's going to get picked up, she'll flap her arms and legs up and down while giggling.  It's so hard to walk past her when she does that because it's so funny!
• Loves to make messes.  She's army crawl her way to the toys and empty out every container, take apart any puzzle, and generally scatter everything she can find.
• Still nurses, but I'm not sure how much longer that will last.

Scrunchie nose smile!

She was tired, and she doesn't handle being tired well.  But she looked so cute!  Another outfit from London.

Rare solo shopping trip with Mom! She thought it was so fun!

I don't remember why, but she was so exhausted this night she was falling asleep while drinking her bottle!

She has started laying like this a lot.  A girl in my ward called it her "Sassy Pose".

Loves dogs.  And will find Millie wherever she is and pull out all her hair.  Millie is very patient about it.

Both Girls:

• Army crawl all over the house!  They no longer are confined to the rug in our living room like they were previously.  Ava is a little better at it so she has managed to go everywhere in our house, but Mia is catching up fast and starting to get into as much trouble as her sister!  They both get up on all fours, but haven't quite figured out how to coordinate the movements to get a real crawl going.
• Still wake up at least once during the night.  Between my three kids and being pregnant, it's been about a year and a half since I slept all the way through the night.  I'm looking forward to that day when it comes again.
• Love love love their brother.  Asher gets a little possessive of toys and things that he thinks the girls shouldn't touch, so there's been a bit of a learning curve with that, but he is so great with them and they just light up when he gives them some attention.
• Also love it when David gets home from work!  He is their playmate and can get them both laughing pretty hard.

They did this twice today where I went in to get them up from sleeping and they were playing with each other through the bars in their cribs!  It was the first time I'd seen them really play with each other!

At the doctor.  It's difficult getting two babies through the measuring, weighing, examinations, and shots all by myself.  That's why we usually stop for ice cream afterwards.

We got to see Grandma Clay!  Poor Henry usually gets squished in a twin sandwich.

They love her. ;)

My 38 weeks in picture!  I was very emotional when I took this.  It was right after the hospital called to tell me to come in so they could induce me.  But I was looking forward to getting rid of that gigantic belly!

38 weeks out!  

Asher wanted to do a silly face.

Bath time!  I usually do their baths one at a time because they like to kick at each other, but this night was an exception.

Mia is kind of a punk sometimes and likes to crawl all over Ava!

My babies!  I really really love this picture.

8 months old.  They are so cute.