Teething and Weaning

The two most difficult things so far in my days of mommyhood.  I have never wanted Ashyr to grow up too fast (and I still don't) but I can say that I am ready for these two stages to be over..soon. Months 8 and 9 have seemed like they are dragging.  I absolutely hate seeing him in pain, constantly chewing on his little fingers and crying.  Teething is terrible, why wasn't I warned more about this?  And with baby #2 on the way, I really want him to be weaned by one year.  Having a couple months of not nursing a baby sounds wonderful! 

I can tell progress is being made in these areas, but it has been slow.  Seriously, why can't baby teeth just pop in over night instead of taking weeks?  I feel like I am trying to constantly console and comfort him all day (and night) and that becomes very taxing when you are already fatigued.

Needless to say, I am even more thankful for each smile and happy moment we have together right now.  
  

Christmas Recap

We had a great Christmas with my family. Our five days in Springfield included a trip toSilver Dollar City, Christmas church services, games, and of course lots of amazing food.

At Silver Dollar City for the Christmas tree light ceremony which was beautiful, but freezing!

With Natalie Rose--what a cutie!

 Jen, me, and Ashyr.

In his new outfit!

  

Ashyr got SPOILED on his first Christmas.

9 Months Old

Quick Update

This really isn't much of a post, but I wanted to pop in to say that I'm sorry my blog has been lacking content recently.  We have too much stuff going on which would make for some great blog posts, but I feel like I don't have time to sit down and tell you about it all right now.  I am hoping to get better about it in the near future once things settle down.  Probably after Christmas we will have a little breathing room and I will try to post more regularly. For now, here are a few pictures that I've taken over the past month or so and haven't shared yet. 

Thanksgiving:

Grant's 27th birthday cake. Homemade ice cream cake!

Fun with a friend:

8 Months Old

Well Ashyr is growing like a weed. In the past month he has really filled out (but he is still long in skinny). His personality has developed quite a bit too we think. He can be really funny and laugh at absolutely nothing in the corner by himself or he can be calm and pensive absorbing something for a long time (many times it's just his hands that he will stare at). One of the things he likes to absorb is music. It's amazing how fast it gets his attention. He stops whatever he is doing and just stares at the source of the music and listens, especially when it's Grant playing the guitar. He loves it.

Something else that Ashyr is doing right now is escaping me when I change his diaper and clothes. He is always so ready to go-go-go and I'm finding myself putting a leg over him to keep him still. It doesn't always work (he's stronger than you would think!) and he ends up crawling around the nursery naked for awhile. What does it hurt I guess? At least in this picture I got his diaper back on for you, but this is a great example.

Such a cutie. He makes me laugh all day long.

Fall Pictures

"Look at me! I can pull myself up!"

7 Months Old

My pumpkin is 7 months old today--wow! Currently he crawls everywhere, pulls himself to stand (pics to come), loves sweet potatoes, and is scared of the hairdryer.

Bee Creek

Yesterday was a real blessing to me. We had our annual Bee Creek meeting with our church at Weston Bend State Park. It was a time of great fellowship, great teaching, and great scenery...all because of our great God. I left there so encouraged by other members and so thankful for our church. I did not take this picture, but it is from Weston Bend State Park. The trees were all changing colors and it was simply breathtaking. There is something indescribable about worshiping God in the middle of his beautiful creation with other believers. Nothing compares!

Ashyr Crawling

Ashyr is crawling!  He has been for 2 weeks now and is exploring everywhere.  I am constantly chasing him and I can't imagine what it will be like when he walks :)