Future Daddy with a mustache

Landon is (almost) always wanting to help Momma...

 

 Even wanting to help burp his brother...

I have to share my conversation with Landon the other day.

Landon:  "Mom, can I put Asher's burp cloth on my shoulder?"
Mom:  "Sure.  Landon do you want to be a Dad someday?"
Landon:  "Yup, and I'm going to have a mustache too."
Mom:  "Why are you going to have a mustache?"
Landon:  With a sarcastic tone - "Becaaauuse, Dad's have mustache's."

Landon obviously doesn't remember this photo, taken when he was just 9 months old.

3 weeks old

You would think being at home on maternity leave I would have time to update the blog.  Not so much.  Life is busy!  On that note, time is slipping away from us as Asher is already 3 weeks old!

I swear I didn't intend for him to wear the same shirt in his 2 week and 3 week shots.  You see, we had a little vomiting incident and I had to change him out of his super cute Johny Cash Crawl the Line onesie.  Anyway, look at these cheeks!

Asher is doing so well.  I had him at the Dr. last Friday for his two week check.  He weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds 4 ounces.  Considering he lost several ounces in his first days of life, he gained almost 2 pounds in 2 weeks!  He also grew 3/4 of an inch.  Asher is 21 1/2 inches long.  Asher is in the 90th percentile for weight and 75h for height.  God is good!

The future Mrs.

On Saturday, Asher and I, along with my Mom, sister-in-law Cathy, and niece Eryn, traveled to St. Ansgar for a bridal shower.  The lucky Mrs. is my sister Jodi!  She is getting married in October and her future sisters-in-law threw her a bridal shower.  Here is Jodi with her future sisters-in-law.

 Jodi got a lot of really great gifts.

Everything was so beautiful, and the food was out of this world.  Here are some of the guests.  Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the most handsome guest there.  Proof that he was there is the bottle sitting on the coffee table.

 Jodi with her future mother-in-law on the left and her mother on the right.

 And us girls.  Cathy and I both have the privilege to be in the wedding and here we are with the bride.

I am so excited for all the events to come.  We too will be throwing Jodi a bridal shower in the weeks to come.  Then we got the bachelorette party, and the big day!  Can't wait!!

Swim lessons

This week Landon had swim lessons at the Calmar pool.  For a little guy who has hardly ever been to a pool, he did alright. The first two days were a little rough.  Landon screamed when he got in the water on Monday, and wouldn't even dip his toes in the water on Tuesday.  

I think we hit our peak on Wednesday, Landon did really well. 

 

 

On Thursday and Friday it was cold (68 & 70 degrees) and rainy/cloudy, so Landon was not really interested in doing much in the water. 

 

In the evenings, Landon sure is talking up a storm about what he learned, so I would say it was a good starting point.  We'll try again next year.  Until then, here's a quick video.

2 weeks old

At two weeks old, I love my big brudder.

 

 I have found my thumb on more than one occasion.

 

I sleep a lot.  I am starting to be awake more during the day, and sleeping longer stretches at night.  I sleep 3-4 hours, wake up, get my diaper changed, eat, and go right back to sleep. 

I hate to be swaddled and I really like to sleep in my car seat at night.

People say I have red hair, and I believe them.

I am the sweetest, most wonderful baby, and I am two weeks old today!

Landon talking to Asher

Fun at the Fair

This past Wednesday afternoon, I ventured out with both boys to the Winneshiek County Fair.  It was a perfect day, with temps in the 70's. 

Since this was my first outing alone with both boys, I was not about to tackle anything crazy.  That meant, no rides.  The only thing Landon Landon ended up wanting to see was the animals.  We toured through the cow barns, walked on the outside of the pig barns, saw rabbits, roosters and more.  Landon was really interested in seeing horses, but there were none.  Landon was intrigued however by the cow show going on.  

Despite the prefect temps, the sun was a bit warm for the newest mister, so we made a quick stop for a shake and it was time to head home.

Asher missed it all...

On Friday night, Jer took Landon back to the fair for a guys night out.  They joined up with a friend of Jer's, and his son and went to the tractor pull.  Unfortunately, they only got to see about 3 pulls before the rain moved in.  Hopefully, they will reschedule the tractor pull so the guys can go back. 

Our first stroller ride

Seriously, how cute are they!  On Thursday night, before the heat and humidity set in, I took the boys for a stroller ride.  Landon insisted on wearing his nike's, and also insisted on running.  He literally ran from our house to the mailbox which is 0.4 mile, and up hill.  I even got in a little jogging which felt pretty good.  As you can see, Asher was completely wore out by all of it.

Asher's photo shoot

On Sunday, my cousin Nicole came to our house to photograph our little Asher.  Nicole is an amazing photographer with Lukes Photography in Cedar Rapids. Here is a sneak peak of some of the photos!  Oh, and Asher is 5 days old in these pictures.

 

 

Big bro/little bro updates

Please excuse my lack of blogging lately.  This is due to many reasons.  

1. A new baby who seems to have his days and nights mixed up.  With the exception of last night, Asher feels that he needs to eat every hour. 
2. Lighting hit us on Monday morning and took out our phones, desktop computer and our internet.  Grrr...

With that being said, let me get you up to speed on Landon.  Landon is taking his big brother job very seriously.  On several occasions, I have said, "You are such a big boy."  Only to be corrected with, "I'm not a big boy Mom, I'm a big brother!"

Landon is super helpful, grabbing a bottle, paci, diaper, even grabbing his step stool to talk to Asher when Mommy is changing Asher's diaper.  Landon does not like to hear Asher cry.  

Last night, Landon and I got haircuts.  Asher was a good boy and slept through them. Landon got a big boy cut, complete with a faux hawk.

Asher is really doing awesome.  He is an eating machine.  The first week, he was up constantly.  Let me say that he is not fussy at all.  He is just eating.  Well eating and pooping.  Last night, was much better.  Asher only woke up two times after settling down at midnight.  He seems to sleep better when he has a bath at night.  After his bath, he is so alert and just wants to be up and looking around. 

Asher and I went in for our post-partum chiropractic adjustments yesterday.  Oh that felt so good.  Asher must not have minded it as he slept right through it.  The chiropractor did say that there were a couple places where Asher was out of alignment, so she fixed him up.  Maybe that is why he slept so good last night?

Asher's Birth Story

On Tuesday, July 5th, Jeremy and I were to be at the hospital at 6:30 am.  As much as I was trying to avoid it for weeks, I was 41 weeks pregnant and going in to be medically induced.

I was feeling pretty confident.  "I got this!" I told Jeremy. 

I was actually having contractions (didn't know it), that were 5-7 minutes apart and I was dilated between 2-3 cm.  Dr. Schilling came in a little after 7 am, and inserted a little pill that would get things going.  For the entire morning, things were going way to easy. 

Dr. Schilling came back around noon to check me again.  I was dilated to 4 cm, so she decided that instead of another round of medicine, she would break my water.  The next contraction was a little more intense, and they only picked up from there. 

From 2-3 pm, my contractions were back to back.  I was checked at about 2:15 pm, and was still only at 4 cm.  That's pretty much when I lost my confidence.  At 3 pm, I felt the need to push.  Needless to say, they checked me and was ready to go.  How did that happen so quickly?  I was really hoping to have some drugs, but there was no time.  Asher was ready to join the world and be scooped up in my arms.

Love at first sight!

Asher weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 13 ounces.  I was also a week overdue with big brother Landon who weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces, so I was not expecting this big of a baby.  Asher is healthy and absolutely perfect and we are head over heals in love!

Big brother Landon was super excited to go to finally meet Asher.

Daddy and his boys

Well, we were discharged on Thursday, and were ready to head home.

I forgot to get a pic of Dr. Schilling and Asher, but did manage to get one with one of the nurses.  Her name was Carol, and she was my delivery nurse.  Despite her not giving me drugs, I really like her.

And one more photo of Asher's cute little face.  My future brother-in-law Mike snapped this photo, and I stole it from him.  Thanks Mike!