Quesadilla Tranquilizer

Hmmm, what is IN this sleepy quesadilla?

Leaning to the side only to be quickly jerked up right while still clutching his quesadilla.

Showing some serious sleep skills, Soren also takes a big drink of water.

The classic jerk forward from the classic jerk back.

<
Conducting symphonies or leading sacrament hymns--this guy was BUSY while he slept.

Sleep is winning.

The quesadilla is helping keep his head up.

I feel you man, I really do.

Asleep.

Asher was hugely amused and pretended to sleep too.

Sweet, sleepy Soren.

Sweet, pretending to sleep Asher.

I love him.

Soren refused a nap today and as a result, he was unable to stay awake during dinner. First his eyes would roll then his head would follow. What amused me was his determination to finish his quesadilla! He faithfully took a bite each time his head jerked him awake. Really feeling for him, I gently took the quesadilla out of his mouth and held him while he slept.

I reveled in the chance to hold my sleeping baby babe during the day, on the comfort of the couch, while I had natural light to witness of his beauty. He was deeply asleep so I was able to caress his marvelous cheeks and attempt to count every long lash on his wonderful eyes. I ran my fingers through the perfection that is his red hair.

While I was succoring my sleeping one, I had the privilege of watching Asher nurture a little teddy bear. He talked to it, changed its diaper and gave the little guy a bottle. He then took him to the bookcase and attempted to pick out a book but couldn't decide which one. I suggested that he draw a picture for his baby teddy. Asher loved that idea and his face read, "Of course!" He pulled out the doodle pad, carefully set the baby teddy bear next to it and began to draw. I heard him say, "Oh, it's a backhoe!" What an excellent model of behavior! He drew just like he was the daddy because when we draw for Asher and Soren, Jamie and I always exclaim what it is that we have created (let's be honest--it's not obvious most of the time).

I was experiencing motherhood bliss. Mixed in with the glory of holding Soren while he slept and watching Asher display such gentle and kind behaviors to a baby teddy bear, I was reminded by the light of the afternoon and the coolness in the air of my first autumn as a mother and how fortunate I am to HAVE this motherhood experience.

Hello to our Grandmas!

Hi!

Prepping for the BIG One

Tissue pom poms, which were made from all the scraps of tissue paper I saved from Asher and Soren's baby shower. Glad I saved that tissue! The spread. Soren was fascinated by the concept of a tablecloth. Too cute eating his second stolen cookie and chilling under the table. The baby pom pom, made from scraps of scraps of tissue. My anniversary cake stand! Also, the blueberry (buttermilk) crumb cake was my best to date. My latest cookie favorite: OREO chocolate chip cookie cooks, yum! Ahhh, food, flowers, and color--bliss! So fun! My neighbor asked me to host a birthday party for another neighbor. The party was the perfect opportunity for making tissue pom poms, which I hope to make the center of decorations for Asher and Soren's second birthday party. The pom poms were fun to make and stunning to display and photograph. I am excited to fill our house with 'flowers' as Asher and Soren call them in LESS than two weeks for our big party.

Deuce Cutes

It makes me laugh to see how bald Asher and Soren were as baby babes--what cute little heads! My once bald little men are now talking lots and lots and lots.

Tonight Soren pointed to the image on Jamie's shirt and exclaimed, "alligator!" Asher requested that we draw him a steam choo choo! When I told Soren that I loved him he said, "thank you."

It has been a week of remarkable Deuce cutes. This weekend should be wonderful.

Color Watch

Love it!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Elevation makes toys more fun.

Just pretend you don't see a leg and extended hand poking from under the pillows and blankets...

I love how Soren is totally sprawled out.

Asher is pointing to Soren, even though he is hidden, with split legs in the air. shhhh.

Soren and Asher have several favorite activities--two of which are sitting on the ottoman to play with their toys and the other is pretending to be invisible under a pile of blankets and pillows. These two activities never get old. It is astonishing how long they will lie completely still under a bunch of pillows! It was this game that inspired Asher to say, "Oh no! Where is Soren?" and 'I see you!" Cute, totally cute.

Introducing the Baby Bubs:

Double bubs!

Sealing my baby babes into their crib with the baby bubbles makes me feel both relieved and like a jerk mom. I feel conflicted about stunting their interaction and physical creativity but I also need them to stay in their cribs for safety and sanity purposes.

I worried that they would find the bubbles traumatizing but instead they seem to think of them as fun, which makes me feel more relieved and a little less jerky.

Asher and Soren keep growing UP at a speed I don't recognize--it's too fast and complicated and slippery for me to figure out or slow down. I love who they are becoming and how magnificently they are developing their sweet personalities.

HOT HOT HOT House Tour

I love the house tours over at Apartment Therapy and THIS is nigh unto my favorite so far! I love the plates on the kitchen wall, the green ceiling, the use of oranges and greens...extraordinary!

Baby Perfection

Sometimes our children are perfect, aren't they? Last night my body nearly took flight with all of the love I felt for my children--it just seemed that my blessings were too great to be contained. Asher and Soren absolutely charmed me with their toddler cuteness. I pulled up to the house to see Soren's face explode into a smile when he saw me. We ran to each other and embraced and our joy was full. We played indoors and I marveled, as I do daily, at Asher's remarkable drawings. The boys danced and played and talked and were the embodiment of double happiness and contentment.

Simply said, they were perfect. Every detail of theirs was stunning--from the length of Asher's smile to the flight in Soren's skip and the tenderness in their hugs. My fortune has been made enormous by them.

Asher's Clock

This is one of Asher's remarkable clock creations. I like that there are what appear to be distinct numbers and that the clock is in a triangle, one of Asher's favorite shapes.

On the subject of Asher, this weekend his language matured significantly. It's as if he went from saying single words to entire sentences in a matter of--seconds. Seriously. This weekend he sang to himself, 'sun, sun, sun, sunny day!' Holy mother of cuteness. Asher also said, 'Oh no! Where is Soren?' when playing a game of hide under the blanket and pretend to be invisible. Then he said, "I see you!" after peeking under the blanket to tickle Soren.

Also this weekend Asher threw a fork in the face of our sweet little house guest Emma. Oh the horror. Fortunately her face was spared any damage. It's the life of a 23 month-old--lots of wonderful emotions!

Meet Dirty Pups

A man and his dirty pups.

In his former life, I'm sure dirty pups was an excellent performer of mechanical dog tricks.

Yesterday when I came home from work I found Asher and playing with his new favorite toy, a very dirty, old and broken mechanical dog. A very unlikely toy to be considered a favorite of someone who did see it through the years and cause much of its shaggy appearance. Nevertheless, Asher loves this scrappy toy, a gift from my visiting teacher. I quickly called it 'dirty pups' and the name has been adopted even by Asher.

Asher hugs dirty pups, cradles him like a baby, and carries him around every where. So cute!