Sharing

Dusty took this picture on his phone at Longhorn Steakhouse last week. They were so cute sharing their milkshake! Unfortunately the Reese's Peanut Butter/Chocolate part kicked in just before we were ready to leave the restaurant! Talk about wound up!

Honorary "Uncle" Cyrl holding Asa. He is so nice to have dinner with us all the time, even with our crazy hyper milkshake kids! Now that is a friend!

Big Smile - Two Months!

We have been enjoying these big smiles from our little guy! On Thursday he will be 2 months old!! This past week he was having trouble with spitting up and would lose all the contents of his stomach at least twice a day. It didn't seem to bother him at all, though. He would be smiling, puke, then go back to smiling! It went away for a few days and then came back today. He goes for his two month check-up on Friday so I will see what the Doc says. It may be reflux which is pretty common.

Anson asked me in the car today when we were going to have another baby!!! I told him that I don't know. Then I asked why. He said "Because I want lots of kids!" And Dusty said, "Great. When you grow up YOU can have lots of kids!" It is pretty sweet... Anson tells us every day how much he loves Asa and he is so glad to be a big brother. And tonight Ella told me at bedtime that "Me so happy with Asa". I thank God for giving them sweet little accepting hearts when they could be jealous of all the time I have to spend with Asa in these early weeks.

The other day we were talking about heaven and how God is preparing a place for us there right now. I didn't know how much Ella was understanding until she said "I want my room purple"! So Ella's room in her mansion in heaven will be purple!

Anson and Ella have been playing outside quite a bit in this nice spring weather. On Friday we ate our lunch outside on a blanket. I had gone inside to do a couple quick things when Anson came in and said "Mommy come outside, quick. I think you will enjoy this!" (Since when does he say "enjoy"!!) I then hear Ella crying for me... she had climbed up the lattice work on the outside of the deck and was holding on to the hand rail for dear life! She was about 4 feet off the ground. Anson thought it was great and was so proud of her! I later found out that he told her to do it! I guess I can't leave them for a second! :o)

Our Florida House!!

We just received word yesterday that our offer has been accepted! Here is a little about the house...

It has 3 bedrooms 1.5 baths in the main house and the detached part has 1 bed 1 bath, a kitchenette and a huge office. We will close in the little breezeway between the two buildings to make it part of the main house and that will become our master suite. The kids will each have their own room upstairs! And the kids rooms are off a big family room/play room with a fireplace and beautiful red pine floors! The house was built in 1925 and needs some updating but nothing Dusty and his guys can't do in about a month. That puts us moving to FL sometime this summer but definitely by Aug. 1. We are very excited about this move and feel it is God's plan for our family.

One thing we love is the huge yard! Our plan is to fix it up like we would to rent it out and live in it a couple years while we find a place to build our ideal home. But this house will be a great place to live for that time.

We close on April 5th. But the best part... wait for it... we got it for $37,000!!!!! I still can't believe that we found a big house for this price. God is so good!

Family Resemblance

Asa

Anson

These are my two boys at approximately the same age... I really need to take one of Asa in the same outfit. Coming soon!

Bedtime Stories That Will Warm Your Heart

The other night Dusty was reading to Anson and Ella at bedtime and the story had a horse in it. At the end of the book, Anson placed his finger at his lips in the "thinking position" and asked "Daddy, are you stronger than a horse or is it stronger than you?" Dusty said "I don't know". Then Anson asked "Well, what about a pony? Could you kill a pony?" To which Dusty replied "Yes, but why would I want to?" And Anson said "Because I've never had wild horse meat before!"
I guess Anson is in the mood to try some new things!! This cracked us up and I promised Dusty I would post it!

First Smiles

I published this entire post using one hand! I actually have a whole list of things that I can now do with one hand! I guess that is what being a mom teaches you! We have had a crazy week with kids being sick but things are looking up! And kuddos to my best friend and hubby who helps sooo much with the kids and cooking and cleaning and yes, even laundry!
I will write a better update when I have two hands free. .... May be a while! :o)

Asa is 1 month old!

Isn't my little Ella getting tall?
Ella in her new dress.

Asa enjoying his first trip to Grant Park!

Anson and Ella on the Lion bridge at Grant Park.

Asa is getting pretty active! He was kicking his legs this morning!

He is trying to smile!!

At his well check-up on Friday, Asa weighed 9 pounds 8.5 ounces and was 21 and 3/4 inches long! So he has grown 2.5 pounds heavier and almost 3 inches longer since birth! I was very happy with his report!

This past week he was having a terrible time with gas and was very fussy for a few days, mostly in the evening. I was getting a little worried that I gave birth to a cranky baby, but when we figured out it was a gas issue I began my online research. I was giving him Mylicon gas drops, which I found out only joins together small gas bubbles making them into one big gas bubble so it is easier to make them burp. But if they don't burp, that huge gas bubble moves down into their system causing great pain! Then I read about "gripe water" and decided to give it a try. It is a natural remedy which has ginger and fennel in it which calms their stomach and helps get rid of the trapped gas. After one dropper full of this gripe water, he was a new boy!! He has been so calm and relaxed and can even burp now! So I would like to thank the makers of gripe water for the return of my happy baby boy! ( By the way, I bought the "Little Tummies" brand by Little Remedies, available at Target and most pharmacies in the antacid section).

So that was the bulk of my week, exciting huh? Anson and Ella have been good. I took them to Monkey Joes on Monday (an indoor jumping place) and Dusty took them to the Yellow River Game Ranch on Thursday (and gave me the morning off!) The ranch has all the animals indiginous to Georgia, which unfortunately includes some pretty obnoxious free range chickens! The chickens followed them around and freaked out the kids and one pecked Ella's finger. So they didn't stay too long but it was fun to see all the animals. I got to go do some shopping with Asa while they were gone. I had not been in an Ann Taylor for months so it was nice to be back! Asa slept almost the whole time!

Dusty has been soooooooo helpful with the kids and housework, especially since Asa's birth. He cooked dinner twice this week, did the dishes a few times, took the kids on outings, and even did some laundry! What an awesome husband I have! I am so thankful to be married to my best friend!!

So this week we are heading to FL for a couple days. Most of "my readers" know, but for those of you who don't know, we are planning on moving to FL in the next 6 months! We put an offer on a house in DeLand and are still waiting for an answer (it is a short sale so we are dealing with a beurocratic bank) We should know something soon! We are very excited about the move! It is a perfect time to make a move before Anson starts school. We will be very glad to be close to our families again! So please keep us in your prayers and we decide on housing and just for the move in general!

And last but not least, I thought this video was so funny! Asa has a very active sleep phase just before he wakes up. He opens his eyes and makes squeaking sounds, etc. I could see him moving into this phase when we were at the park and caught it on camera. Enjoy! :o)

The week in pictures

Tiny little feet
Tiny little hands

Sweet little baby boy

Love those little feet!

3 weeks old!!

Cousins! Asa and Naomi! What a beautiful girl!

More cousins! Anson and Ella with Charlotte! We loved having Jared and Brittany, Charlotte and Naomi visit!

We even had snow on the ground to play in!

Ella... left alone with the stamps and stamp pads!

Anson making a snow man.

Ella in the snow

Boy, Do I Feel Loved!

This was a conversation Anson had with Ella today in Wal-Mart... But first, a little background... I try to spend as little time as possible in Wal-Mart but sometimes I just HAVE to go (those darn low prices!) So when Anson is in the mood to touch EVERYTHING in sight, making me stop the cart and call him to keep moving, I have to pull out the threat to "take him to the bathroom". (In other words, the wood shed!) So today when I asked him to put the bottle of shampoo back on the shelf, he turned to Ella very innocently and said,


"Ella, wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have a Mommy? We could touch anything we want and go anywhere we want!" A little offended, I asked "Well, who would take care of you if you didn't have a Mommy?" To which Anson quickly answered as if he had been thinking about if for days, "We would just go to Sharon and Sagan's house!" (Our neighbor friends) Even more offended, I said "Wouldn't you miss Mommy?" This one made him think a little longer. Then he said "Oh, I guess I would miss you , Mommy".



Let's just say I have been warned! I guess I am on thin ice with Anson! :o) I admit I have been a little more stressed than usual, getting used to being a mother of three. So I am making an effort to be patient, loving, and kind to my little charges so they no longer have to wish that they didn't have a Mommy! Don't get me wrong though, they are still going to listen and obey!!

2 weeks of Asa!

This bear is the size of Anson's elephant (for those of you who know elephant!)

This puts his size in perspective!

In his big crib!

Saying goodbye to Toto

Meeting Pop for the first time!

Holding Toto's hand

This one cracks me up!!!! :o)

First bath! 10 days old

In his cradle

first bath... not a fan yet!

"Nake Nake boy" - to quote Ella :o)

Just before his first bath.

Today is Asa's two week birthday! He is doing really well! He weighs between 7 and 7.5 pounds now and is eating well. We are having so much fun with him! Anson and Ella still love to hold him and talk to him. Anson tells him stories about all the "Big Boy" things they will do together when Asa is "4 like Anson". :o) Today was also the first day we were on our own! Dusty's parents left yesterday and my parents were here the week before. We are so thankful for our wonderful parents who were willing and quite able to come help take care of housekeeping and Anson and Ella while I recooperated! I don't know what I would have done without them! Actually, I would have been curled up in a little ball under the table (or something to that effect!) But now at the two week mark I feel pretty good! Today we ventured out to Target and the grocery store. Asa and Anson were great! Ella whined, complained about Anson standing too close to her on the end of the cart, kept putting things in the cart, and then at the Target checkout she handed the lady a candy bar and the she had it rung up and back in Ella's hand before I noticed! I made her void the purchase and had Ella put it back which resulted in a minor melt-down with waterworks! And that was before we made it to the grocery store! Two year olds are a challenge!

Well, enjoy the new pics of Asa! More to come soon!