let the wild rumpus start!!

 

well okay... he didn't really go wild he was born that way... but he is taking a nap... and so is isaac... which means mommy free time!  i spent the majority of this morning trying to get ready to go on a walk... which can turn into quite the ordeal... with two boys to feed, two diapers to change ( i am going to be brave and start potty training!!!!), two boys to dress (and myself... i am a little bit easier to dress because i don't run away and play games but only if i can find decent clothes to wear), i have the food and water to prepare so i can bribe them back into the stroller when it is time to go home, and then just the normal distractions i face on a day to day basis...if i can get over those hurdles we can go on a walk...  and then i spend the middle of my afternoon on the walk and trying to persuade asher to come home with me when it is finally time to come home...needless and sad to say, because i spent all my time doing that...

there ARE dishes in the sink and toys on the floor... sigh... but we did play and have fun outside for about two hours... we went to one of byu's duck ponds...it has two duck ponds... one is murky and stinky and yuck!!!! the other is clear and clean with a waterfall and stream and rocks to climb on... it is a recent discovery of ours and we have enjoyed going now that we know it is there... although... everytime we have gone asher has "fallen" into the water soaking himself and his diaper... by the way what are the rules for changing diapers in a public park?

it would have been nice to have a camera to capture the beauty of the day...but i don't have a camera right now (i lost the battery charger... sigh...)...  there were some beautiful moments i would have loved to capture today... for instance, we climbed to the top of the waterfall and played in the water... asher put his hands in the falling water and accidentally sprayed everyone that was up there with us... isaac was crying because he was getting wet so i was distracted and didn't realize how wet he was getting everyone (there was a couple romantically persuing a book together... taking turns reading it out loud... and a giggle of girls, seven and under, playing in the water too)... the couple was really sweet though and offered to take isaac while i rescued my son from climbing over some steeper rocks... i decided the waterfall was not a safe place to go yet... or by myself with two little boys... one that gets himself into scrapes and the other who must be held while getting other said boy out of his predicament... it is especially frustrating when that little boy won't listen and stop and come back so that i find myself leaping around like a mountain goat while carrying a nine month old in my arms... every leap becoming a potential fall and roll down the waterfall or into the water with him... i may be too paranoid it is true... but... well there you have it... if josh was with me then it wouldn't be so bad... but he is working and back in school again...

the other part of the day i would have loved to take a picture of was when asher hid in the great fir trees... i love how their branches make a perfect drooping canopy... a hidden place... when you step between the branches it feels like you are stepping into another magical world... Narnia?... a hidden fort?... a place where... surely... you may find an elf or fairy or two... or maybe its just the pure joy of being hidden... being secret... but you can still see everybody and everything... plus the magical world you are living in at the moment...... that is how i felt when i played under the trees... watching asher i am pretty sure he feels the same... plus there are mounds of mulch and dirt under the trees with which he can build with... there was a perfect moment when the sunlight hit asher just right so that he looked particularly impish/elfish hiding in the shade and branches of the tree... and i wished i had had my camera... oh well... (when my camera gets fixed i will post pics of that place... in the meantime i will post these random pictures so you can have something to look at)

asher's birthday

like i said i don't have a camera right now... i lost the battery charger and so was not able to chronicle asher's third birthday like i would have liked too... instead i will post some pictures of asher throughout his three years and talk about how wonderful and amazing he is :)

he was a very good baby... and slept most of the time in my arms or joshua's arms... we had a hard time putting him down... he didn't cry too too much (he did cry i do remember waking up WAY to early wondering how to get him back to sleep... we soon learned the art of burping a baby)

when he wouldn't take naps i would take him on a walk in the stroller... and sometimes he would fall asleep there... he still loves going on a walk in our stroller

he was and is a very adorable baby/boy

on really bad hair days i would wear this hat too!... which should have been an automatic qualification onto what not to wear!

once again proof that babies are beautiful and adorable no matter how funny their hair looks... how many rolls they have... seriously... nothing makes a baby uncute :)

                                               learning how to make a smooth move

                                             hmmm... yummy shirt

                                              

                                                   this tie is better though... have a taste

                                               strings! wow! wish i had discovered them sooner!

                                           it is true, i am adorable... completely cute!

i remember this night still, he would NOT go to sleep... he just sat there laughing and squealing and rocking back and forth... at first i was frustrated when i tried to get him to sleep... but then when i left him alone he was just too cute... so i went and got the camera... i should have had the video recorder... it was a silly sweet moment

                                             yes... he is still mischievous and likes to tease!

learning how to share... this was the first time he met his cousin sari... i think they are only a few months apart

dirt is still a favorite... the other day we were going to the park and he said, "is there dirt at the park mom?"... he wanted to make sure he was going somewhere with dirt... he must have gotten it from me... i loved playing in the dirt and the mud when i was little... my mom would dress me for church and tell me (and my brother, david) to sit still while she got ready... before she knew it we were outside getting muddy and dirty...(my dad had to leave earlier to help with church stuff ) i may not have understood then what my mother was going through... but i DO now! :)

he also loved flags... but had a hard time saying the word right... and would end up swearing a really, really, really naughty word! it was too too funny... once he said it in the Deseret Book Store (a Mormon/LDS store) repeatedly... we left quickly while stifling our laughter

                                                      he also, loved/s flowers and...

balls... he used to be able to dunk and swish on his toy hoop... but he has lost interest recently i am not sure why... we were pretty sure he would be the next... jordan, lebron, williams, etc etc but if he doesn't love it we aren't going to push the issue :)

he also loved/s daydreaming and...

escaping

running to escape

and finding the best way away and out

                                                               sure, give the innocent look :)

                                            just remember not to text/talk and drive! :)

                                             mom... put the camera down... he still doesn't like the camera

                                                                 look look a plane!...

                                          

                                                        i believe he is pointing to a ball... it was one of his first words... along with mom, dad, bob (i am not sure who bob was ), other first words were touchdown! money! booozer!(whe he was about a year or so old)...etc etc... from these words you can tell that his father and uncle love basketball and football!

                                this is the first time he met his second cousin talmadge...
                                                     i believe they got along really well

picking berries... non edible

he loved helping me with whatever i was doing...raking, vacuuming, sweeping dishes... not so much anymore

escaping again

stop taking pictures!

                                          fun in the snow

well... mostly fun... we kept loosing the gloves and using socks 

he was actually having fun this day... we went outside almost every day for the first year and half of his life... and then... i got morning sickness with my pregnancy... we also didn't watch ANY tv (asher didn't) until i get pregnant again... and now we are addicted... sad,sad, sad

this was right before or right after isaac was born... i guess i didn't take a lot of pictures during my pregnancy... i know they should be somewhere put i am not sure where...

just cute

and now he LOVES cars and fixing things, not balls so much

but he still loves dirt

when we go to the park he likes to make little clouds of dust fly... not so fun for those sharing the park with him... i haven't decided what the best policy should be... dust or no dust... only so many battles a mother can choose to fight in one day

besides getting older himself, i do believe the birth of his brother to be one of the most momentous occasions of his little life so far... he did remarkably well... he did hide under his crib a few times because he said he felt better under there... it almost broke my heart to know how sad he was feeling... but they love each other and do a good job of playing together... nothing serious... just normal stuff... like having a hard time sharing... and isaac cries sometimes when asher gives him hugs and kisses (another hard one... what do we do to repair that???)

sari and asher sharing with their grandpa (papa, my dad)

                                         and now he is all grown up! ... our little cowboy

                                              i don't know when it was that he went from this to 

to this

to this free moving, unstoppable boy