Little fans

Some recent pictures of the kids:
Reese loves her hat from Cousin Renee
Despite Asher's donning of his JETS gear and watching the whole game like a true fan, Payton and the Colts prevailed...
CK said his outfit is really a Vikings jersey since it says Favre on the back :)

Reese loves her farm puzzle from Aunt Judy and Uncle Steve...she now knows Duck, Horsey, Cow (Moo) and Puppy.
Reese likes to get nostalgic and climb into Asher's carseat
And in a sad sports streak in our house, Reese and I donned our Duke gear to no avail as they lost (badly) to Georgetown on Saturday.

1st Run. In Shorts. In January.

I went for my first post pregnancy run today in Lake Havasu City where we are visiting CK's Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents. I actually got to run outside wearing shorts! The weather was beautiful. My legs/lungs, not so much. But what can you expect after not running for 10 months?

AZ in January = wonderful

We made it to Phoenix and stepped off the plane into 65 degrees and sunny...absolutely wonderful. I didn't want to get into the rental car. Asher felt fresh air for the first time (since he's normally under a blanket when we're quickly going from house to car to house/store in the Montana winter weather) and seemed to like it. The plane ride was ok. Both kids were awake the whole time but relatively well behaved. Asher fell asleep as we were landing (of course). Unfortunately we couldn't sit next to each other because they only have one infant oxygen mask per row (fun things you learn when traveling with 2 kids under 2). So they put us in aisle seats one behind the other which worked pretty well. We switched kids halfway through the flight and all 4 of us made it to Mesa in good shape. We're currently driving to Lake Havasu City and both kids are sleeping in the backseat. Unfortunately, we're stuck in pretty ugly traffic on I-10 so it could be a long drive. I don't miss living in a big city with big city traffic, that's for sure. We're happy to be here and planning on enjoying the wonderful weather for the next 10 days.

Asher at 7 weeks and Reese at 17 months

Asher will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe since it has gone by so fast. Reese will be 17 months on Thursday. They both seem to be changing every day. Asher is much more alert just in the last week or so. He is cooing and smiling and loves to be talked to. His current "routine" (if you can even call it that at 7 weeks) is to sleep from 10-2ish and then be up every 1.5-2 hours after that. Not great but could be worse. He also seems to be in the same stage as Reese was at this age where he'll go through 2 or 3 outfits a day (I won't gross you out with the details of that). Unfortunately, Asher is still resisting the bottle. We switched from the Adiri ones that Reese likes to a Playtex drop-ins one and he drank from it a few times but is still fairly finicky anytime he is offered a bottle. CK continues to try to coax him into it so we'll keep at it...

Reese is walking everywhere now. She's consistently taking only one nap a day now and lately has been doing so later and later. She's still sleeping in our bed which is not ideal but we are going to move her permanently into her own crib and room when we get back from our travels over the next few weeks. We didn't think it made sense to make any big changes until we're back home and can get her into a more comfortable routine. Reese is learning new words every day and lately has picked up puppy, turkey (sounds more like cookie), and Minnie (for the Minnie Mouse figures on her Huggies diapers). The screaming is slightly less frequent and mostly we try to ignore it and hope she eventually finds another way to express herself.

I'm feeling pretty good and have my final post partum doctor's appointment later today so hopefully I'll be able to start doing more. I've been walking on the treadmill (that Jen was nice enough to let me borrow) and doing some DVDs. Trying to take it slow, especially since I pulled a muscle in my lower back picking up Reese (my body's not used to picking her up). I'm really looking forward to running again, though, so I hope to start that (slowly) in the next few weeks.

We're heading to Arizona on Thursday. First to Lake Havasu to visit Sue, Larry and the LaFond crew that is down South for the winter. Then back to Phoenix to see Tom, Jane, and family, Nana, Granddad and Mom who will be visiting. We're looking forward to some sun and warm weather! We're back on the 7th for a few days and then off again to New Jersey to see family and friends on the East Coast. Should be a fun few weeks and I'm sure Reese and Asher will love seeing everyone. Traveling with two instead of one (especially when one is now mobile) should be interesting but our plan is to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. :)

Below are some recent videos of the kids:

Cute pictures from today

New Videos

Sleeping Beauties

Well the swing helps a little but Asher still prefers sleeping in Mom or Dad's arms (or knees as seen below)CK managed to get them both asleep this afternoon

Reese enjoying her favorite food...Cheerios
Lindsey and Reese
Reese still loves listening to Nana's book Twas the Night Before Christmas
I finally got some pictures of Asher awake and happy
Lucky for him he didn't have to watch any GIANTS games this year

Will the swing bring relief?

Some new pictures: This is the new swing that we got today for Asher (the one we had for Reese broke after so much use); so far so good, as you can see...only time will tell if this is the panacea of newborn contentment that they promise on the box :) Here's to hoping that more sleep and less backaches (from holding him constantly) are in our future.

Daddy and Asher snoozing

Reese showing off her new vest

Asher @ 1 Month

Asher is one month old today, I can hardly believe it has been that long! I guess with the extra trip to the hospital, the holidays, Mom's visit and the sleepless nights that all run together, time sure flies!

Asher is much more alert now, following shapes of faces and sounds. He is growing like crazy and is pretty much out of his newborn clothes and well into the 3-6 monthers. He's only sleeping in 2 and 3 hours stretches but that's better than 1 to 2 hour stretches like the first week. Unfortunately, with the second one there's not much room for napping during the day. It seems that Reese and Asher don't sleep at the same time much unless we're driving around in the car. Asher eats very well but spits up a lot (just like Reese did). CK's started him on a bottle of breast milk each day which he is reluctantly adjusting to (which makes Mom hopeful that she might just get to leave the house child-free for an hour or so in the near future!) Asher is definitely fussier than Reese was, getting gas pretty consistently right after (and many times during) eating. It's tough to watch him so obviously uncomfortable but I know this too will pass.

Reese is still increasing her vocabulary every day. In addition to people's names like Mama, Dada, Nana, Grandpa, Grandma, Asher, Andrew, Lindsey (sort of), Tanner (sort of) she is also regularly using Uh Oh, Coco (for Coke), Thank You, Wow, Horsey, Moo (when she sees a cow), Oooh Oooh, Ahh, Ahh (when she sees a Monkey), Hi and Baby.

She is taking more steps every day but still prefers to crawl. She's quite the little daredevil, however, climbing all over the couches and rocking herself on the rocking chair ottoman. More movement and exploration of course leads to more falls and bumps and bruises but she seems no worse for the wear. She's a pretty happy little girl. Luckily her biting habit seems to be waning. Unfortunately, she has picked up a screaming habit which doesn't seem to be going away despite our best efforts. We've tried ignoring her, saying No, and even screaming back at her (the most effective technique so far but only temporarily successful- like 3 seconds). If anyone has any great ways to stop this we'd sure love to hear them (and Asher would appreciate it, too).

Reese so far has shown growing interest in her brother. I haven't seen a lot of jealousy yet, mostly just curiosity (saying his name, pointing, trying to give him kisses) and concern when he cries. Sometimes she just crawls around the house saying Mama, Dada, Asher over and over. It's pretty darn cute. We are all doing well, wishing we were sleeping more but enjoying every minute of being together.

Reese & Asher

Here are some pictures from this week

A sight rarely seen in our house...

Happy New Year!

The shortage of posts lately is due mostly to my being tethered (for about 23 hours a day) to a starving (albeit adorable) 10 pound little man. Asher will sleep longer than an hour only if snuggled against someone's chest. This makes getting to the PC (or the shower or the bathroom, for that matter) a bit challenging. We have managed to leave the house a few times, however, and here are some pictures and video from the new year.
Double fisting already
Reese's new playroom in our condo. We got these great rubber mats to protect the floor (and Reese).
Here's Reese showing off for her audience

And the cutest giggle ever (not that I'm biased)