wilkinson way

happy valentine's day!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:38:00 +0000

Lots of love...

from our little monster to you. :-)

stud muffin

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:37:00 +0000

Erin did such a great job making this shirt for Asher I had to post a better photo of him sporting it!

Thanks, Aunt Erin - we love it!

playing catch up

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:16:00 +0000

We're back! Asher and I had another fun week visiting his Grammy and PopPop - dude got s-p-o-i-l-e-d! ha!

Let's do a quick Insta.gram photo catch up of our time there...

Last Saturday we went to my cousin's wedding. Asher was captivated by the whole atmosphere and held hands with Drew as everyone walked in.

At the reception Asher thought he was pretty neat stuff sitting in the big chair between Grammy and PopPop. Good grief, he's adorable. :-)

My sister was a bridesmaid - her hair was so pretty!

After we got back to my parent's house Asher and I got down to the business of having fun. First stop - Jumpin' Jax!

Asher loves. to. bounce.

Wednesday Ash celebrated it being one-week-to-Valentine's-Day by wearing the vday shirt his Aunt Erin made him. Stud muffin indeed.

On Friday we went to a park that featured Asher's second favorite thing - a carousel. He rode the 'neigh neigh' two times and was asking for more... :-)

We're glad to be home with Daddy, but sure do miss you Grammy and PopPop. I have a literal mountain of laundry to do and my entire house is coated in dust, but once that all gets under control I want to catch up on all of your blogs too. Happy Monday!

the good life

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Asher and I are visiting my parents this week! We actually came down over the weekend for a wedding {more on that later!} and decided to extend our trip by staying a few extra days.

Asher has been making out just fine. Between coloring...

playing with PopPop...

and watching Chuggington on the iPad...

It's just a normal week at the office for this guy. :-)

{phone dump friday}

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:46:00 +0000

We had a week of highs and lows...

All of the high temperatures around here led to lots and lots of playground time.

My Yankees fan will spend all day, everyday outside if I would let him!

So much sunshine made some popsicles pretty necessary

and made this Mama and boy awfully silly. :-p

I tried an idea I saw on Pinterest and threw some glow sticks in Asher's bath the other day. That was a HUGE high for Asher! He kept asking for more - and more. ha!

Then there were the lows. Oh no. The lows were oh-so-low. I took A for a haircut and it ended up being a complete hack job. Check out the damage. *actually made me cry*

The good news - my stylist, Jessica, was able to save him! She trimmed and blended and worked her magic until my cute little boy was back. His hair is way shorter than I'd like it to be, but it will grow back in no time. phew.

Another low - Ash and I are sick. This warm weather is wonderful in one sense, but really kicked out sinuses into draining mode. We're both coughing, runny nosed messes. Gross. Hoping this will pass soon. We had a PJ day yesterday to try and recover faster. :-)

Ending on a high {of course!} - I made Asher a crayon roll and love how it turned out!

Happy Friday everyone!

curiosity

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:46:00 +0000

Puddles attract toddlers like PB calls to J.

When Asher and I were taking his Valentines photos he couldn't help but take a quick break to appreciate the puddles Mother Nature put in our driveway.

It had rained enough that, for the first time, A noticed water trickling down the gutter system. He was awe-struck.

And a little mystified.

But mostly really, really excited to see rain coming out of pipe.

You learn something new everyday!

valentine's preview

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:29:00 +0000

Now that February is officially here I feel good about sharing Asher's Valentine's Day shirt with you all. It's been done for awhile now and I've been chomping at the bit to share!

I'll be the first to admit that it's not the easiest thing to come up with V-Day ideas for boys. I mean, the entire holiday is centered around the color pink, after all.

But then I saw this adorable 'love monster' idea on Pinterest and immediately thought - I can make this! I have to make this for my little monster!

Asher and I took advantage of the nice weather a few weeks ago and did a little photo shoot outside. I probably took 200 photos trying to get a good one. There are a few cuties in here, but none that I was really jazzed about. Oh well - such is photographing a toddler. ha!

We love Valentine's Day around here and I can't wait to celebrate with my love bug!

reading is fun

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:16:00 +0000

One of the many things I am grateful for in my son is his dual love of both running around outside and of reading. I don't know if you know this, but reading is more of a quiet, sitting still kind of activity and - well, sitting still is hard work for little boys.

But Asher does it well.

I found him reading by himself the other day and it warmed my heart.

Then he figured out a way to bring little boy back into the picture and picked up his animal book.

ROAR!!!

He loves this story. You look through the eye holes and become the animal that it shows. My favorite part? Asher does the sound of whatever animal is facing him - rather than the audience {me} - so sometimes I ~~have to~~ get to guess who he is. Love him. :-)

testing, testing

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:49:00 +0000

Been having a few issues with the Blogsy app, so I'm trying a few things to see what happens. Update later on how it's going...

I'll add some cute photos so no one feels like this is a waste of time. :-)

We really missed football yesterday. A few weeks ago we were rooting for the Steelers {even though they lost - boo} and I took some pics of my boys.

Love, love them on the couch having their game day snacks! What a pair.

Super Bowl weekend is coming!

polaroid action

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:20:00 +0000

I recently found a Polaroid action on the Coffee Shop blog and am loving it! With Picnik shutting down in April {sad face} I've been looking for new ways to do some of my favorite photo editing. This Polaroid action is a great replacement!

Has anyone used Picasa? I've heard that's another easy, free way to make collages, etc.

In the meantime...some Polaroids. :-)

{phone dump friday}

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:18:00 +0000

Another Friday here again. We had the best week of weather {until today} and spent most afternoons playing at the park. Asher was in 7th heaven!

This is the first time in quite awhile that we've been able to get to the park, so he did a ton of sliding, climbing, and driving.

It's always good for us to sneak in a little OT homework too!

The first day we were able to go outside it was sunny, but still a little wet from the melted snow. A perfect combination of sunshine and puddles to jump in!

I always try to take Asher's photo with my camera and most of the time he just wanders off. Turns out, though, that he thinks it's hilarious when I flip to the front camera and he can see us both!

I mean, who doesn't love a self-portrait. :-)

Last Sunday Asher got moved up to the 2 year old class at church. This is his first time in an honest-to-goodness Sunday school class. He had a really hard time changing classrooms, but I know he'll get used to it soon. I love that he came home with a bag full of his bible story and activity they did!

Last, but not least, my little snuggle bug. Oh how I love him.

Have a great weekend, friends!

saying who he is

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Some of you might remember this post I wrote after Asher was born explaining exactly why Drew and I chose the name for him that we did. The first "Asher" was one of the sons of Jacob in the Old Testament and went on to lead one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The name "Asher" means 'happy and blessed' - we just love that meaning and hope deeply for that to be our son. :-)

Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

Genesis 30:13

A few weeks ago I shared about how Asher has started in some occupational and speech therapy to help him get caught up with his peers in a few areas. There are days when I feel like he's staying exactly the same, or even falling further behind, but most days I can see the ways that he is improving. The biggest area I've noticed changes recently is in his speech.

Yesterday when Drew came home he took A out to 'drive' his car a little. Asher loves to drive his Daddy's car! When they came in, Drew said "tell mama what you just told me." Asher looked over at me and said "Happy!"

"Happy happy HAPPY!"

I just about started to cry. He said it so clearly and with such pure joy that it melted my heart. He is happy and now he can tell us all about it.

And now, thanks to the video feature on my iPhone and the awesomeness of YouTube, he can tell all of you when he's happy too. {as a side note, notice how clearly he said 'hi' too!}

plane gazing

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:12:00 +0000

Yesterday we had the best weather day here! January typically means 20 degrees with snow or sleet, but on Tuesday it was sunny and near 60. Wow! Asher and I took full advantage and spent most of the day outside. You never know when it might happen again and we weren't missing one second of the run-around-and-tire-this-boy-out weather.

This isn't something you typically read in the guide books, but one of the best things about living near DC {in Asher's opinion} is being within close proximity to, not one, but TWO major airports. That means lots of big planes flying around. The planes are high enough that the noise isn't an issue, but close enough that we can see them easily. Plane spotting is one of A's favorite hobbies.

With the crystal clear skies yesterday plane spotting was at an all-time high.

Oh, joyful day.

Nobody appreciates the little things like Asher. I love seeing the world through his eyes.

So many times I'm tempted to hurry him along when he dawdles. Or insists on stopping to inspect our neighborhood fire hydrant for the 10,000th time. But, as much as possible, I don't. We stop. We look. We appreciate whatever it is and wave good-bye when it's time to move on.

I have a new joy in seeing car dealership balloons as we drive by.

And passenger planes as they approach Dulles.

Who knows what today will bring!

man at work

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

Thank you all so much for your encouragment on yesterday's oh-so-glamorous diaper post.

Last night I took Allie's suggestion and snapped the cloth diaper down one row in the front to make the leg holes tighter {awesome idea, thanks!}. The bad news is that it didn't really help - Asher still woke up with soaked PJs and sheets. The good news is that for some reason he slept through it and woke up at his normal time. Guess that's a victory??

If things continue to fail, here's the plan for the next few nights...

• Snap it down, but also add a second hemp liner. Hopefully the second liner won't make it too fluffy to snap.

• Disposable with 2 boosters

• Hemp liner inside a disposable

At least I'm not out of ideas yet! {trying to stay positive here...}

*************************

In more adorable news... :-)

Asher got some new tools recently and has been really quick at learning how to use them.

Need something screwed in or out?

Have a plastic nail that needs to be pried loose?

This is your man.

His rates are pretty reasonable too. Got animal crackers?

is staying dry asking too much?

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:19:00 +0000

For the past ~~few~~ many weeks 5 things have been monopolizing my mind:

overnight diapers

wet PJs

wet sheets

cloth diapers

hemp inserts

And I'm sick of it. Really, really sick of it.

Sweet Asher has been waking up every morning to wet pajamas and, more often than not, wet sheets. Bless his little heart, but he's a heavy wetter. A very, very heavy wetter. {sigh}

Ready for a story? Come on, let's journey together. :-)

This all started way back when he was 7 months old and started wetting through his diaper at night. At that time I was introduced to Pampers Overnight diapers and our problem was solved for a few months. They provided the extra protection Asher needed and he stayed nice and dry. Then one morning he started waking up wet again...

Let me take a second and interject here that by 6 months old Asher no longer woke up at night to eat. He doesn't have a cup in bed and doesn't drink anything after 6pm.

Back to the timeline...we moved up a size in the Pampers Overnights and that worked for a little while too. When those started to leak a friend recommended Huggies Overnights so I tried those. And they worked! For awhile...

Now he's in the biggest size Huggies makes in an Overnight and wet jammies are our new normal.

In my search for a solution I found a diaper 'booster' at Babies 'R Us. These are basically long pads that you lay inside the disposable diaper. They absorb fluid, but also let fluid flow through into the diaper. Basically it gives extra absorbency. These work...eh, ok. It definitely helped a bit, but Asher was still damp most mornings.

So I moved on to cloth diapering. I talked to some friends who cloth diaper and got their opinions on what might work best. The consensus was towards a pocket diaper stuffed with hemp and microfiber inserts, so this is what I got. I spoke with a saleswoman at our local cloth diapering store and she recommended the Tiny Tush pocket diaper and JoeyBunz Premium hemp inserts. That's what we tried!

How unbelievably adorable is Asher with his red fluffy bottom. :-)

The first night was awesome. Asher woke up a little damp, but no worse than how he woke with the disposable + booster. Hemp is supposed to get more absorbent with washing and drying so I assumed things would get better with time. I also decided to add in a second hemp insert for extra protection.

The first night with 2 inserts was a complete disaster. Best guess of mine was that the super thick stuffing was cause a gap around Asher's chicken legs. His thighs are teeny tiny and {I guess} the pee was leaking straight out of the sides.

So...we went back to just 1 hemp + 2 microfiber liners. This was the same setup as night #1, but Asher woke up at 3:00 completely soaked. Grrr....

I don't know what to do. I'm frustrated, overwhelmed and sick of pee.

I've tried to get A to use the potty before bed, but he just isn't ready for potty training yet. He will sit on the potty very briefly, but that's it. I don't see the point in making us both upset by forcing the issue before he's ready.

I would love, love any ideas you all have. Please help!

{phone dump friday}

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:54:00 +0000

What a week. Despite the cold weather we've been keeping very busy around here. Asher has decided that doing one puzzle at a time is for babies. He's a big boy and likes the challenge of 5 puzzles at once.

That's just how he rolls. ha!

Of course, it hasn't been all play and no work. Drew was pretty busy roasting a special batch of his holiday nuts for playoff football last weekend. YUM! He makes the most awesome spiced pecans. Love!

I made a Christmas card book for Asher to flip through. I saw the idea on Pinterest {of course} and decided to put it together quickly one day. It was SO simple. All I did was take our photo cards and punched 2 holes in the side, then I put them on some book rings {$2 at Staples}.

Super simple and really fun for A. He loves looking through it and 'meeting' our friends and family.

Yesterday I made a big mistake. I put Asher's Goldfish crackers on the same plate as his hot dog. Whoa. What was I thinking?? Asher sort of has a one track mind, so he couldn't {wouldn't?} comprehend using his fork for hot dog, but his fingers for crackers. So he did what any boy would do and ate his crackers with a fork! Oh my goodness, this boy makes me laugh!

My last Christmas gift of 2011 arrived on Sunday! Drew's parents came for a visit and brought with them my gift from my future sister-in-law. She was my Secret Santa and I've been really excited to see what she got for me. So worth the wait - check out my awesome new iPhone case! Love it!

Last, but not least...we've started on a cloth diapering adventure! Asher has been having a lot of trouble with wetting through his disposable diapers at night {even with the diaper 'booster' that I found at Babies 'R Us} so I started researching cloth hoping to find a solution. I think we found one! Last night was our first try, so I'll be back with a full report and more details in a few days. Until then, check out my super cutie and his red fluff butt! Ha!

Told you we've been busy.

Happy weekend all! :-)

blogging on the iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:53:00 +0000

Ever since I got my iPad I've been looking for an app that would let me write blog posts {with photos!}. Surprisingly, there aren't many options out there. Lucky me found the Blogsy app today!

This is my first try using it, so I'll let you know how much I like it in a day or two.

So far, so good...

at least Asher thinks so. :-)

in her shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:52:00 +0000

Asher is going through his really hilarious phase where he wants to put on any shoes that are nearby. It seems like every few minutes I look over and he's hobbling around in my Crocs.

He tried to get into my tall boots this morning and about killed himself falling over. They go up past his hips, so I'm not sure how he imagined it working out.

This silly boy. He sure keeps me smiling. :-)

it's hard to get good help

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:53:00 +0000

Wait. Reverse that.

jumping for joy

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:34:00 +0000

Flash back time: I'm a little behind on this one.

On New Year's Eve my aunt had a lunch party at her house for our extended family. Many of my aunts and uncles had never met Asher {shameful, I know} so we decided a day trip was in order!

Lucky duck Asher got to play on their trampoline.

We had such huge success in the bouncy play place in Raleigh that I figured a trampoline would be a slam dunk. I was right - A loved it!

He also loved playing with his big cousin, Owen. Asher still walks up to Owen's photo here and says "O. O!" Drew and I decided that Asher really needs a big brother. Not sure how we can deliver on that one, but oh well. ha!

our apologies, puppies everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:32:00 +0000

I just had to write a quick post about something funny that Asher is doing before he stops doing it and I completely forget that it ever happened. That's basically what this blog is all about - in case you were wondering. :-)

For the first time ever, I got Asher to try a piece of hot dog and...he actually liked it! Go figure! I had a feeling he would be a fan, but he is so resistant to new foods that it's been a several month long battle to get that first bite in there.

When I saw that he liked it I immediately started saying "Oh, you like hot dogs. These are such yummy hot dogs." I really wanted to emphasize what it was called so when I offer him another one someday I can say 'hot dog' and he'll remember that he liked it and be willing to eat more.

It's basically a full time job out-smarting my two year old.

While I was busy saying how much A was enjoying a delicious hot dog, he picked up on the main word he recognized - dog. Before I knew it he was signing 'eat' then saying "woof-woof". Oh. Oh my. I tried to clarify that he wasn't actually eating a dog - that's just what the food is called - but I think that concept went way over his head.

We'll work out the details at some point - ha ha!

{phone dump friday}

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Friday again! I really look forward to the randomness of these Friday posts. I feel like it lets me start the weekend with a clean mental slate. :-)

Let's just dive right in, shall we? I woke up feeling really sick this morning. Drew has had a head cold for awhile and I guess I finally caught it. Blah. Hopefully baby boy will be spared!

Yesterday Asher and I were running some errands and we had to swing into Toys R Us. I was a little nervous that A would have a hard time seeing lots of fun toys, but not bringing any home.

My fears, however, were all for not {this time}. I was SO proud of how Asher saw his beloved 'choo-choo' toys, but when I said we had to get going he simply waved to them and said 'nigh, nigh' {good-night/bye} and came with me! Go Asher! :-) On our way out of the store he spotted this old school riding toy and couldn't wait to hop in and drive. How could I say no?

Mama was all out of quarters, so nothing actually moved, but he couldn't care less. He was very suspicious of Mickey peering over his shoulder, though. ha!

Asher got a handsome new shirt from his friend Scarlett for Christmas and was super excited to wear it yesterday!

Earlier this week I made turkey chili for dinner {YUM} and Drew got to bust out a gift that Santa put in his stocking. Santa knows that Drew likes his chili spicy!

One of my New Year's goals is to get my house cleared of clutter and re-organize what's left. This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile and have been putting off, but no longer! I'm tackling this project head on and will have it done soon. So far I've done Asher's room, my room, the kitchen, and living room. Still to do - the basement and garage. Saving the worst for last...not looking forward to those.

Asher has been a big helper towards this goal. Can you tell?

The other day I went into the kitchen to find Asher decorating our garbage can with his magnetic animals. Clever boy! It looks so much better that way. Well done sir. :-)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

first snow of twenty-twelve

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:13:00 +0000

On Monday we had our first snow of the New Year! It was falling in the huge, fluffy flakes that snow globes are made of.

Asher clearly didn't remember his love for snow and was pretty hesitant at first. He hung out in the garage, just watching it snow for awhile.

After a few minutes he decided to put on a brave face and took a few steps outside.

Awe {and snow} struck him almost immediately.

But then it got cold...and he scooted back inside.

Someone's baby blues were so beautiful in the snowy light that my camera couldn't turn away from him even to capture the snow falling.

Welcome, snow!

simply wordless wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:40:00 +0000

rainbow rice

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:18:00 +0000

A few people asked about what Asher was playing with in my Lightscoop post from last week and I wanted to fill you all in. It's a sensory bin of rainbow rice!

I saw this idea on Pinterest {where else??} and thought it would be a fun inside activity for Asher. All kids need sensory stimulation and rice is a great way to get this. The rice was really easy to make. I first saw the recipe on this blog post, but here are the details if you don't feel like clicking all over. :-)

Gather together:

5 pound bag of rice
white vinegar
liquid food coloring {not gel}
ziploc bags or glass jars
baking sheet lined with aluminum foil

{1} Preheat oven to 175 degrees
{2} Place 1.5C of rice in a ziploc bag or jar
{3} Add 1T vinegar and several drops of food coloring to the bag
{4} Zip tight and mix well - add more color, if needed
{5} When well mixed, spread the rice on part of the cookie sheet {I put 3 colors/cookie sheet}
{6} Repeat for all colors
{7} Bake at 175 for 20ish minutes or until the rice is dry
{8} Keep in airtight, shallow container for play

I used ziploc bags because it was just too much hassle for me to wash out a jar after each color. I didn't go too crazy shaking the bags and had zero concerns about the color and rice flying everywhere. The bags worked great and went straight into the garbage when I was done.

We use all kinds of scoops, plastic containers, rakes, and toy animals {for hiding and discovering} in the rice. I place it on Asher's chairs so it is at a good height for him.

I also spread a big sheet on the floor beneath the chairs. Spills are inevitable and the sheet makes clean-up SO much easier! {we have a lot of spills}

Make some for your toddler, he/she will love it!