6 Months!!

 Oh baby!! 

Can I just say that I think my baby is the bomb??

I love his smile, his dimples, his laugh, his expressions, his cute little diapered butt & his cute little bare butt!

I love when he rubs his sleepy little eyes, eats his toe, rolls all over the room like a super stealth ninja to get what he wants, and I even love it when he screams in the middle of sacrament and then laughs at himself :)

He's a ball of fun for me and I just love being his mom!

At his 6 month appointment Asher....

Weighs 19 lbs 10 oz   - 82% (no longer in the 96th but that was to be expected)

Measures 27 inches - 68%

And has a noggin that measures 17.5 inches - 69%

Here are some of the things Asher has been up to and in to in the last couple months:

Just adorable!! Yes, yes, I know!!!

29 Years Young

On the 9th, my sweetie pie husband celebrated his 29th birthday!! 

Oh how I love this man.  He makes me smile, makes me laugh, reminds me everyday how lucky I am to have a husband as great as he.  Smart, intellectual, humorous, thoughtful and giving - he's the man I always wanted to marry - and looky! I did!!!

I spent Thursday at my parents house watching the nef and he helped me with a special project since I wouldn't have the time to do it after I got home and before Paul arrived.  We stopped by Walmart after picking him up from Preschool to grab a few necessary items and then we homeward bound where my little assistant Chef helped me do a trial chocolate sushi.  It went swimmingly and he was so excited that there would be a whole chocolate sushi roll for them to keep!  After the one was in the fridge I set to work to make one for Paul's birthday celebration.  

When I arrived home I set to work running about the house because there were many things I wanted to get done by the time he got home including most of the baking/cooking/cutting, decorations and spot cleaning.  I had to have a baby on my hip for most of that!   Since I was doing a night of sushi, I made a bunch of Birthday signs in Japanese, grabbed my paper lanterns, threw confetti all over the place and just had fun anticipating the night!

I placed signs on the exterior garage door, garage floor, my car, the interior garage door, the living room floor, and the kitchen table.  

And included a few priceless pics of my babies cute mug!:

When Paul walked through the door, Asher and I hid out of view until he walked to a certain point and then we (I) blew the noise maker and shouted 'Happy Birthday'!!!  He was pleasantly surprised - mission accomplished!!

Since there was no way I would be able to make all that sushi before Paul came home, part of the night was actually having him help me make his own birthday dinner - ha ha ....sucker!!  jk - I knew he would enjoy learning with me and so we had a fun night of it!   We made heart shaped, circle, triangle, and little square sushi rolls (all free of raw fish of course since we don't eat fish and certainly not raw fish!!)   We stuffed them with marinated chicken and vegetables.  I also had Asian sesame crackers, which Paul thought tasted like dirt (he wasn't far off) and several kinds of dips!

The chocolate sushi was my most favoritest thing! And the little square ones were the easiest to eat.  Now with a little bit of trial and error I will be able to do better with my sushi rice next time!

After that, Paul was presented with a piece of chocolate cheesecake - his favorite!!! 

And he opened up his present!! Which was a picture of the newest wedding ring that wasn't quiiiiiite done being made yet.  I swear if he loses this one, he's a dead man!!!  I bought him the ring that I was going to buy him in 2010, but was unsure if he would think it was as awesome as I did.  Good thing I didn't, although the other ring was still a very nice, awesome ring which someone probably is enjoying right now.  

And we enjoyed a night of hanging out and porking out and after the little one was asleep we enjoyed some time together: 

Love you, babe.

Shaun White's Stride

So I was at the grocery store with Paul last week and when I spotted this:

and I snatched it up purely because of the packaging.  I even said: "I'm buying this because someone's marketing skills are awesome".  I love that flaming red hair.  I love that Shaun White.  And I only chew gum that is Sweet Mint...in this case White Mint.  

Cuz I totally dig his hair - as in I looooooooooove it!!! - and he's just a seriously awesome athlete who's a bajillionaire just cuz he totally rocks the half pipe and did I mention the hair???  

So I bought the gum just cuz his face was on it.  

And then I realized it has ASPARTAME in it and I will never buy it again.

Sad.  It was really nummy.

Superbowl + Birthdays = Fantastic Fun!

Yesterday was Gaven's birthday and so we celebrated his birthday while cheering on the Giants for the Superbowl (I, however, had no interest in either team and so I was mainly there for the food ;) ha ha).  It is also Paul's birthday coming up soon and so we double it up! 

We celebrated with brats, wings, crackers and cheese, chips, root beer and apple beer - all things unhealthy!!  But it was delicious tasting food to dive into to break our fast for the day and start celebrating!

Asher is hittin' the booze a little too early if you ask me:

Dallin and Aiden did sit ups off Benny's back: 

I made our ice cream cake into a football for this celebration.  I was going to buy a football shaped cake pan and then decided that I could save myself 13 bucks and fashion it myself somehow.  It was rickety for awhile but I saved it and it turned out great - and yummy!  It was half Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup for Paul and half something NOT chocolate and nutty for Gaven :)

Yay!!!! 

Red Solo Cup, I fill you up!!

Let's have a party, Let's have a party!

Red Solo Cup, I lift you up!

Proceed to Party, Proceed to party!!

And the Giants won so many people in our household were just delighted.  I was delighted because I had a neck massage from my sister-in-law who is studying physical therapy and she worked out about 80 knots and adhesions in several layers of muscle.  Quite a good day!!

The Shape of Mercy

Mmmmkay.  So I wasn't supposed to read any books until I am up to date on Asher's journal.  I have the third book in the Hush, Hush series beckoning me every day from under my bed where I have hidden it from out of view.   

Friday night Paul and I went out with Paul and Teresa (for some Mid-Eastern cuisine which I loved) and we decided to find an ice cream joint around Sugarhouse afterward.  We ended up at Barnes & Noble instead because I have been craving the smell of new books and Paul and Teresa are quite familiar with their coffee-free smoothies - Win Win!!!

I needed to find our book club's latest read, The Shape of Mercy.  I heard a couple girls in the book club say that they loved every single page of this book and so I knew it would be one I would have to have on my shelves and not in my Kindle.  And I am so glad I do have it in hard copy because I, too, loved every single page of this book.

It's written by Susan Meissner and, as Publishers Weekly comment says on the front cover, "She is a stunning storyteller."  I sat down with Asher to read and I was sucked in immediately and knew I was in trouble.  

This is a story of Lauren who transcribes the 300-year-old diary of a girl named Mercy Hayworth who was convicted and sentenced of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.  I love Lauren's story and Mercy's story and the wisdom of the words of the author.  It's a book about how 'we tend to judge people based on notions rather than on truth, and without stopping to consider if we even have the right to judge them at all.' 

I love it! You should read it!