Love

October 20, 2014 Dear Asher: Leaps and bounds this month! Oh goodness. You recognize your name, you say Dadda, I swear you have said Momma, and you can holler for your brother and we know exactly what your intent is.  Your crawling is wicked fast and you can crawl over any obstacle.  You also pull up on everything and walk yourself around furniture, will push chairs around the house to walk, and love your (borrowed) walker.  You've started to trim out a little and are starting to look a little like your brother at this age. You also love eating lots at meals now; you want exactly what everyone else is eating. You just are changing so fast! Love, Momma

October 24, 2014 Dear Asher- You are hilarious this week. Your brother went down the street to play and you went hollering "laaaaaa" down the hall and stood up looking through the glass door hollering. Made us laugh.  You always seem kind of lonely when he is gone, you look for him in the car and then the moment we pick him up you're laughing. It's really fun to see. You also think it's funny when we touch forheads you giggle and lean in to do it over and over. You also are just obsessed with any toy that has removable parts (your hammer-pegs, particularly) and love taking them out and trying (so hard!) to put them back in. Love,  Momma

I'm sitting in the parking lot of chick-FIL-a with tears streaming down my face. A friend just lost her baby. It was early. But I am heavy in my soul for their loss. For the baby she will never hold. For all the babies who never got to enter this world to their loving parents.  Time can make it easy to bear. But that loss in your soul, in your heart is always a little fractured.  So send up some prayers or good thoughts today if you're so inclined for this sweet woman and her family. 

October 17, 2014 Dear Asher: You have not been your usual chill self this week; this wonder week has taken its toll on your sleep and mood for sure. You have to be carried or sit in someone's lap almost all day. But you are figuring toys out now suddenly. You are fascinated by a driving toy that has a key, you have been trying to get that key in the slot for days. You work so hard! You hate laying still to get your diaper changed which is fun, to say the least. You scream bloody murder when we have to pin you down to get the fresh one on. Child, it would be so much easier if you just laid still! But you're back to playing the second you can roll away. You're showing major signs of wanting to walk. You have even let go a few times a stood. Briefly, but still! So big. Making my heart break.  Love,  momma

So I turn 30 today. It's.... Boring. I'm kind of excited and relieved to be out of my 20's.  I feel like I crammed so much dang stuff into the past ten years it's unbelievable. So on to cramming a bunch more into the next 10! I love lists, so I thought I'd wrap up my 20's with a list of the 20 biggest events of that decade and follow it with 30 things I'm looking forward to in the next. Here goes: Graduating college early. On accident.  Graduating grad school at USC a semester early, on purpose, to get out of that crazy town. Ending of my first real relationship and learning sometimes people are weak and will never find strength. Ending of my second long-term relationship and accepting that people do not change. My first real job. Emergency Management Coordinator. Starting. Hating. Quitting. Then restarting my PhD.  Taking a chance on a "too short" for me guy, having the best first date ever, and almost instantly knowing he was it for me. Getting e...

October 10, 2014 Dear Asher- You are changing so quickly the closer we get to your birthday. Or so it seems, at least.  This week you've started hating laying still for your diaper changes. Daddy and I fondly refer to it as "wrestling an alligator" and it's not far off. You want to roll away and take off. One day before I could get you pinned down your naked booty was halfway down the hall. You don't want to miss anything, you stand up with minimal assistance and chass� yourself around furniture. Get any taller and you'll be konking your head on the table when you stand up. I can't keep up with you these days honey! Love,  momma

October 3, 2014 Dear Asher- You got sick for the first time this week and it was just terrible seeing you so miserable. You ran a really high fever for a few days and just wanted to camp out on mommy and nurse. Your little face was so sad, we didn't hear your wonderful laugh for days. You're on the mend though and while still a bit drippy from crazy weather we have had, overwhelmingly you're returning to normal fairy quickly which is good to see. I suppose we are pretty lucky this is your first illness of any type, you are such the little soldier even when you feel bad. Lots of cuddles sure made you feel better though and we were happy to provide them. Love, Momma