Dear Daddy!

Dear Daddy,
I miss you a whole lot but I know you are making us proud in India, at least that is what Mommy tells me. She says that you are living out some adventures that you will tell us about when you get back. She says that the kind of stories you are going to tell us, you cannot find in storybooks, I'm really excited about it. I've been playing with Uncle Ez and Drew and they remind me of you. I'm going to dress up for you and make a sign so that you won't miss us at the airport when we pick you up. Here are some videos of some things I've been doing while you are gone.

Here is me playing the piano at Aunt Tammy's


And here is me on the farm with Happy the dog! She is so cool!

And here is me with about a million kitties, I think they like me a lot!


And I spent a lot of time looking out the window on the farm, I didn't want to be inside ever!

Your one and only Asher, I love you! :)

Asher at the Fire Station

This is mostly for Daddy, but I know the granparents enjoy it too. I took Asher to the open house at the Fire Station the other day. He kept saying "whoa, whoa, whoa." I think it was a little overwhelming, all the big vehicles. He loved the old antique fire truck more than the big ones (and we took a ride in it), and he was almost more impressed by the man in the motorized wheel chair. They had demonstrations with the big fire hose, and of rescuing someone at the scen of the accident, it was really professional. He wouldn't crack a smile for me though, he was taking it all in and he made his mom wear his fire man hat. Enjoy the pics and videos. There is no sound, and he gets knocked at the end by a girl running by, but don't worry he survived.

Here are some clips for Dad too, of Asher running really fast at Dinosaur land and showing off his jumping skills, enjoy!

Thanks Daddy!

Josh made the cutest videos for Asher to watch of him while he's gone. So we watched the first one today. This one had him and Asher in it, reading a couple of his favorite books, teaching him about his face (eyes, nose, mouth), and showing him his new car, and then I gave the car to Ash in person. So after naptime, Ash sat down in his green chair with a little snack and watched it. The video doesn't have sound, it's on my small digitial camera, but it's so cute, Asher gives his dad a high-five when Josh asks for it and towards the end raises his arms up when hid Daddy prompts it!

we are proud!

Well, we all love pictures. And I happen to have some of Josh's adventure! This is for everyone, but mostly for family. He's doing so well. I spoke to him over the phone (I was very sleepy) this morning around 6am my time. I am so proud of him. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail that he sent the other day...

"It was neat. I have generally been teaching at least 3 and a half hours so the class is pretty long. I have been starting each day with a quiz, then asking them to share what they have learned the day before, then I cover the material and try to end with some type of challenge for them. I have been learning a lot through all of this."

I don't want to give away too much information because I still don't know a ton about the country and what their status fully is on teaching or ministry. After all, there were 41 native Campus Crusade people that were thrown in prison before Josh went to the country. But they tell me that Americans are perfectly safe there.

another excerpt... "I went for a jog after class it felt good. I got a lot of weird looks. I think people thought I was running from something because one guy stopped me and asked “why are you walking so soon?” I think he meant to say why are you running so quickly but it is all the same. I told him it was for exercise. I don’t think people do a lot of jogging around here."

And for more you can visit Josh's Blog.

Asher's girl

Her name is Maya. She is the cutest little thing. And although he has other playmates around his age both boy and girl, he treats her different than any of the others. He escorts her around with a hand on her back and a hand on her shoulder. He shares ALL his toys with ther. He has this permanent smile on his face when she is here. And she gives him hug after hug after hug. He is not really into the hugs, because they knock him over and freak him out, but he enjoys them when she is gentle. And they communicate together, he talks to her, it looks like he is trying to giver her advice and she loves it when he talks to her.

It's kind of romantic. It's simple love, and a pure love. It's not like the love that we seen portrayed in the movies and on tv. It's simply enjoying that person and cheering them on and being happy for them when they succeed and accomplish things.

I think maybe perhaps this is why I'm not falling apart about my husband being gone. Normally, I would be so sad and lonely and "whoa as me," and I would be maybe worried or nervous or scared at night. But I didn't pick up mace, I don't sleep with a hammer, I know Josh is fine (well, probably cuz I hear from him). But ultimately I am so happy for him. He is on this great adventure and I couldn't be more happier for him, I cheer him on, I pray for him, and I feel like I'm seeing more sides to him over e-mail than I did when he was here. Things couldn't be better. I hope they stay this way! :)

big boy

My baby is a big boy! almost 17 months old

Some of the best things in life are free

We'd been wanting to get one of those cheap baby pools to put in the back yard for Asher. And I was driving home one day and saw this pool on the the corner with a "Free" sign on it. Turns out the family was moving, it was brand new and they couldn't fit it in with them. Asher was so excited and so was I. I put bubble bath in there with him, to get him cleaned up at the same time!

Asher does his own hair?

Some days Asher is particular about he wants his hair. I try to comb it and he gets angry at me, probably because there are big snarls in the back. Most of the time I can't figure out why he has this mess of hair only in the back. But recently I have caught him taking his hands and messing up his hair. His hair product of choice? Banana.

So Grateful!

I’m thankful!

Thankful for summer vacation, although it’s not much different than my normal days. But the fact that we can get away to go see family because we have a million excuses, weddings, graduations, reunions, etc.

I’m grateful that there are no rules in this blogging world. I can take time off whenever I want and just unplug from the internet and tv altogether and when I come back, no one is holding a grudge that I’ve been gone, just eagerly awaiting to hear what has been going on.

I am grateful for a home. Look at this nice place, while there are people on the otherside of the world living in shacks or even less than that. I don’t deserve what I’ve got, so may I continue to be grateful. (In case you're wondering, I covered over the address for internet sake)

I am grateful for Vitamin Cottage, Whole Foods and Wild Oats. We are completely spoiled living in Boulder County where people are more conscious of allergies, intolerances and health.

I am grateful for gardeners. After visiting my mom’s place and watching Asher eat blackberries and raspberries and strawberries right of the vine, I was so grateful that there are people out there that still grow things. In fact I’m so inspired that I brought home two tomato plants, two bell pepper plants, two banana pepper plants, parsley, mint, rosemary, basil, oregano, garlic and some other herbs back from my mom’s place. I can’t wait to eat my own home-grown food and not have to buy it at the store! (here are some pics from my mom's green house, her new business is called Sue's Country Garden, I'll will be displaying more from her later)

Grandparents. Very very grateful for them. They are the most wonderful things. They love your child, take of them for you (maybe even better than you do at times) and your kids are so happy to be with them. Asher has really been enjoying spending time with his grandparents. Ps. He also adores his time with his uncles Ezra and Drew.

Soooo grateful for a husband that is gorgeous, gentle, respectful, provider, my best friend, selfless, caring, loving, passionate, spontaneous, funny, flexible, hard-working, spiritual, happy, content!!! We went to my ten year high school reunion this last weekend and I wouldn’t have gotten through it without him. I’m sure I looked so much cooler because I was with him. Everyone thought he was adorable and nice and to my surprise, they weren’t incredibly turned off that he was a pastor and I’m a stay at home mom!!! **pics coming soon**

Let me leave you with some pics of my big boy. 15 months old, walking and so independent!

I need some advice...

So sorry friends, that I haven't blogged in a while. I've been kind of stressed out. Today is thankful thursdays, so first, I will tell ya, I am so thankful for SHOWERS!!!! And I am thankful that Asher is sleeping through the night. We decided to close both our bedroom doors and when he cries and wakes up for a feeding, we let him cry. So ever since last monday (a week and half), he is sleeping and I can now sleep, atleast until around 5am or 6am, I will feed him so he'll sleep in longer. One problem though, I have found that now I really can't sleep. I wake up around 2 or 3am and then my brain keeps thinking for the rest of the night.

Okay now, I need some advice.
1. For those of you who have weened your breastfeeding babies, I really want to ween off Asher, he's thirteen months now, going on fourteen and it seems like he is gonna throw some major fits when I stop, he already is upset about the cut-backs we've made already. Advice please!

***Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, Asher doesn't drink. He doesn't like to drink (well, of course breastmilk). I've tried every kind of sippy cup, and regular cup, he never took the bottle well. I usually get a few sallows in and then he refuses anymore (so this makes it hard with the weening).

2. A schedule. I raised my baby to be flexible, which suits our crazy lifestyle. But now I need some sanity and I think he does too. I don't even know what I need advice about here. Some scheduling advice. What's more important to schedule and what are some things that just aren't as important? Asher has been cranky lately, (he's teething something fierce) but I think more of a schedule and routine would help him and help me, because I still can't get anything done around her.

3. Just a prayer request. Would anyone be willing to pray for me about something??? We are trying to find a place to move to (to rent). We really need three bedrooms and a little more room, so Josh can have an office and we won't be on top of each other. But in these parts, three bedrooms are hard to come by and if you find them, the price is usually out of our range. I have my heart on a townhome right now that I would love to move into. But I'm afraid to get my hopes up because the last two houses we almost rented didn't work out. Some kind of fluke, like my e-mails went into their junk mail so they thought we weren't interested, or the landlord's daughter rented it to someone else while he was out of town. Ugh! I know I need to just rely on the Lord, but when do I get excited about a place and it's actually the right place? Please pray!

thanks so much for letting me vent, I really needed it!
sincerely,
stressed out housewife!!!
Julie

What's your tabloid?

Okay so I'm back and there is so much to blog about I don't know where to begin, so I thought I would just be funny, you know, break the silence!

I found this picture and I thought it looked kind of like one of those pics you see on the Tabloid Magazine covers saying "Jen and Brad split" or "Pitt and Jolie in nasty custody battle" or "TomKat hiding their baby"

so here is our Tabloid cover: (our fake headline)

Josh and Julie see witch doctor in the mountains to figure out how to get their baby to walk

complete story on page 6.

(Not so) Wordless Wednesday: My sugar-virgin is no more!

" Okay, blow out the candle little guy!"

"What? You can't really expect me to eat this?"

"No, Asher it's really good, try it!"

"No, don't make me eat this!"

"I mean, um, this isn't bad"











"Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar!"






"Yeah, well don't get used to it," says Mom.

Thankful Thursday

My baby turns one year old TODAY!!!! I so thankful for twelve whole months with this amazing little guy. Everyday has been a joy, I am so thankful that I was able be home with him and witness everything he has ever done, how special is that? I have learned so much over the past year about life, love, myself, family, God. Before he was born, my family had done some research into the geneology to find that my generation of daughters who give birth to first born sons are likely to find some kind of mental tumor that would cause some kind of retardation or even death. One of my cousins, lost her son to it. Another cousin didn't loose her little man but struggles daily with doctors not being able to diagnose his rare condition. I was told that I should get an amniocentisis. After reading about what that was, I couldn't risk the chance of miscarriage or infection to my baby, so I decided to trust God. After all, if something was wrong with my child, there was no way I would ever abort him. The more I gave it to God the more dreams I would have that would reveal all the things I was scared about and show me there was no reason to fear. We decided to name him Asher, it means Happy and Blessed. I found it in the bible. My pregnancy seemed to go well, and he was born March 29th, 2006 after about 7 hours of labor.

From the beginning this child has been nothing but joy. He didn't sleep through the night right away like I had hoped, he was a three hour baby, but I didn't mind too much because he loved to take naps with his mommy. He was always really alert as a baby, paying attention to everything and smiling when he heard his mommy speak or sing to him (which she did often). He was always turning heads, stopping people at the store, attracting the attention of sweet little girls who chanted "baby Asher, baby Asher", disrupting the sermon of Sunday morning during his morning poop (lots of grunting there), and had the older women begging me to babysit. He was special from the beginning! Oh yea, and perfectly healthy. I was so worried about breastfeeding and I shouldn't have been, he was born at 7lbs 4 oz, and gained a pound a week for a couple months off of breastmilk. I would hear comments about how fat he was and feel bad, but now looking back, I realize those comments were because they thought fat babies were ADORABLE! I thank God for all the fat, because that is what gave his body a great start to life and the first time he ever got sick wasn't until around 9 months old.

Okay I will try to end this novel soon... My baby is still turning heads. We stand in line at the post office and he stares each person down until they smile back at him. We walk down pearl street and even the tattooed guys with mohawks soften their spirits and smile at him. It was Asher that attracted our neighbors whom we are now friends with. With my husband and I being in ministry, we know God meant Asher for us, because he is the one that brings people to us which then go on to become great relationships.

My little boy today is very interactive, very talkative (although I don't know what he's saying), and he loves to smile, laugh, hug and sometimes even kiss (especially eskimo kisses). I can't wait for the rest of the world to meet him and confirm to me how amazing God has made him.
Asher thank you for gracing our lives, we look forward to what else you have in store for us, thanks for making parenting easy! (okay now I am going to go cry about my little baby growing up so fast!)

things that make me giggle :)

So my little 11 month old's vocabulary is not very exstensive. He of course says Mama, referring to me and when he is hungry. He says Dada, referring to his Dad and referring to me when Dad is gone. He says Babababa on command, I have no idea what it means. He says other things I cannot even spell or understand. But what I think he says the most these days is Dat, it is quite clever if you think about it, because Dat has such a transformable (is that even a word?) meaning. It can mean "what's that?" a common question of little kids. It could mean "look at that" when he is trying to show me something. It could mean "I want that" when he is reaching for something I have. And the list goes on because he uses it for everything. But what makes me giggle is that he uses it to act like a big boy also. When he is around his little buddies that are walking and talking and a bit older than him, he will say Dat, in a more mature voice so they will think he's cool. But their response is what gets me. They will say, "I'm not your dad" to him every time. I crack up because I know he's not saying Dada, he's saying Dat. But here my little precious is trying to act grown up around his heroes and trying to make conversation with them, and they think he is calling them his daddy. Oh Asher, you crack me up!

What makes you giggle?

Wordless Wednesday!

I call it...personality!

Silly Little Baby Face

Crazy Hip Mamma Site is hosting Photo Friday, today's theme: Silly Baby Faces, I just couldn't pass up a chance to find more pics of Asher! Enjoy!

...and suddenly, the world just stops...

Today is Wordless Wednesday, but the last two days have been such a whirlwind, I must speak. My baby is sick. It started Monday night, we thought it was just teething. I must have jinxed myself when I blogged about how thankful I was for such a healthy boy, or maybe God is saying, you know I want you to find gratefulness in the worst times. So, he's miserable, coughs, sneezes, snot like crazy, the drooling is insane, his eyes are red/watery, his cheeks are red, kind of feverish! He wouldn't nurse for a period of close to 24 hours. He would eat solids however, so we plugged him full of vitamin C fruits and super greens. He's nursing now, but ugh, I just don't take it very well when Asher gets sick. I need to be thankful however that this is only is second time of getting this sick since he has been born. I want him to have lots of fluids, but he doesn't really like to drink anything but breastmilk. And ofcourse there is that added stress of feeling like you've left the world behind because you can't get anything done and you don't get enough sleep. But Josh was telling me last night that Asher is the most important thing right now, so if nothing gets done, then nothing gets done. Suddenly, the world just stops for our little one who needs more TLC than ever before. The thing that does scare me right now is the weird sounds he is making that I've never heard before. Seems as though his throat may be swollen and sore, ouch!

I am still going to be thankful...it was a beautiful 60 degrees out yesterday and I opened the windows to get some fresh air AND my baby is still smiling!

IF ANY OF YOU MOMS HAVE ANY ADVICE, I COULD REALLY FEEL ENCOURAGED BY IT!

Thanks for listening.

Photo Tag, MY BUMP!

This pic was taken last year on Valentine's Day, and we had Asher on March 29th!

Hey, I'm playing photo tag, it all started on Adventures in Babywearing's sight. Since Asher is almost a year old, Josh and I have been reminiscing about what our life was like a year ago. Very anxious to meet our little one. And just how much our life has changed from just being a married couple to being parents. During this "season" of life, I do miss some of the freedoms I used to have, but that hole in my life is filled with an even greater joy of experiencing the life of my amazing little Asher. One thing is though, it does depress me a bit because it's almost been a whole year and I still have not returned to pre-pregnancy shape and I desire to feel like I look good instead of frumpy!

Wordless Wednesday!

"Mmmmm...tasty!" A mid-morning snack.

The Mommy Chronicles

I LOVE BEING A MOM!!! My Baby turned 10 months old today, and even though I don't get as much sleep as I want, I have to say, he is the most amazing little person ever and I am still enjoying every second I get to spend with him. He's growing up so fast, I thought I should show you all what he's been doing.

My Little Helper. Asher loves to hang out in his jumperoo in the kitchen while I cook. He jumps and sings and talks and laughs, and I try to teach him a few things, but I just enjoy the company, he's my little helper!




My Little Genius. The other day I was reading a book to him and I read "clap your hands" and he started clapping his hands and then I read "touch your nose" and he touched his nose. He's been clapping for a while, but I didn't know he was paying any attention when I was trying to teach him to touch his nose. Of course I have not been able to have a repeat showing of this amazing feat, :)


My Little Learner. Taylor and Asher watch a Baby Einstein dvd together. Asher loves to interact with them.


My Little Adventurer. He's been pulling himself up on things a little bit, usually falls over, cuddles with mommy and tries it all over again.






My Little Imaginer. After barricading in a little play area in the living room with the couch cushion, Asher loves to put his toys in the missing cushion spot and he just sits there on his knees with a few interesting toys he's picked out for the day and I hear squeals and babble, it's adorable!

My Little Happy Bather. He loves bath time. He just graduated out of his little baby tub. Sometimes I put him in there, but that would be to deny him the joy of splashing! Oh he loves to splash!

My Little Angel! Asher means Happy and Blessed. I'm convinced that it means we are happy and blessed to be around him, but everyday he is growing into a happy and blessed little fellow. We love him!