Time passes by . . .

When I finally get a chance to sit down and think about posting something, I always face the same challenge - which things do I highlight? Our kids are just so dang cute and brilliant, of course, and do so many amazing things (amazing was the word on the street today on Sesame Street), that I can't keep track of all the things I think I should tell you about. Here's just a few from the last couple of weeks.

1. Last night Asher giggled! Well, okay, it was more of a low gutteral half giggle that turned into hiccups rather quickly, but it was the cutest thing I'd heard all day.

2. Last Friday Eli caught his first fish - and his second. Grandpa Traxler had bought Eli his very own fishing pole a few weeks ago and Grandpa, Papa and Eli headed out in the boat on Friday evening. I'm not sure who was more excited about the fish between the three of them. It was precious.


3. A few weeks ago, while I was at work, Eli gave Asher his bottle. He's such a great big brother. Asher clearly adores him.

4. Just over a week ago, Asher was baptized. I (Jen) got to baptize him, which may very well be my favorite moment of my life so far. And, of course, I forgot to bring my camera. So, when we get some pictures from Grandma and Grandpa Traxler, I'll post some.

5. Eli got a great kitchen set from some friends from church who have older kids. There's all the standard kitchen stuff, plus a washer and drier with an iron and a grill. Last night Jeff grilled us some delicious hot dogs and Eli set his grill up right next to him to work with Papa on dinner.

You just can't make this stuff up. We sure do love our life.

Our boys are getting so big! I put Asher in the Bumbo seat for the first time today and he loved it. Then Eli wanted to pose for a picture, too. I love our boys.

Day Care Buddies

On Tuesday, Asher had his first day at Appletree day care. Eli has been going there for about a year and a half and loves his friends in his classroom. Both boys will continue to go one day a week. Asher was a champ his first day and mom did okay, too.

Notice the shoes on Asher in this picture. They are from his Great Aunt Marsha, who also made some for Eli when he was little. Asher's are still a bit big, but they were just too cute with this outfit to pass up.

Asher had his 2 month check up yesterday with Dr. Staublin. He's doing great - 10 lb, 12 oz, and 23 inches long. The Dr. told us that, because babies are obviously not exposed to light before they are born, the pigments in their skin can take several weeks to really show up. Because of this, birth marks often start appearing around 8 weeks. Earlier this week I noticed a small brown spot on Asher's knee that wasn't there before. In fact, when he was born, we couldn't find any marks on him. Since we don't have him on his tummy and naked very much (as in never - it's cold!), we noticed a more prominent birth mark at his check up. It's actually sort of a reverse birth mark. On his back, just above his right hip, Asher has a large spot that's WHITE!

Vacation to Grandma and Grandpa T's

Late Monday night, we returned home from a wonderful week at Grandma and Grandpa Traxler's house. The boy's both seemed to have a great time and Jeff and I both got some good rest. Thanks for the extra sleep, Grandma and Grandpa!

We visited the Crayola Factory and the fish hatchery, where Eli got to feed the fish. Eli checked out Grandpa's fly tying table (a fisherman in the making?) and got to take his baths in the big jacuzzi tub - once even with lots of bubbles. We had a great time. Thanks for everything!

Get-away

This past weekend, we took some time to get away. We spent one night with Jeff's parents in Shelby and on night in a hotel in Ludington. I have to give a shout out to the kidsuits at Holiday Inn Express in Ludington. They have one queen bed and a partitioned off section with bunk beds! Eli loved sleeping on the top bunk (which had a raillling).



We also loved that there were kids life jackets in the pool. We had a great time.


And, by the way, Asher's smile is the greatest thing in the world this week.

Bigger already

I suppose that when one person is so little to begin with, it's pretty easy to notice when he's even just a little bit bigger. Asher's alert much more during the day now (and sometimes during he night) and I've even gotten a few smiles out of him, though I'm sure they're completely random. He had a bath in the kitchen sink last week with help from big brother Eli, but our sink isn't quite big enough. He didn't enjoy it very much. Last night we used the baby tub inside of the big tub instead - that was much more pleasant. Eli got to introduce Asher to some of his friends at school on Tuesday - he's so proud to be a big brother.