Why eat Meat and Veggies when.....

You can eat your bib instead!?!?

Asher LOVES tasting/chewing on material of almost any kind. Our good friends, Henry and Erika got us these awesome bibs, but every time I put them on Asher, it is battle to get him to eat his food and not the bib!

Hooked on Phonics

Brooks is not a hard name to say or spell in my mind, but lots of people have trouble with it. Because I am a girl, most people think my name is Brooke, even when I introduce myself as Brooks. Over the phone people often hear "Brex"...why, I have no idea! Then when people try to spell it, they often ask if it is "es" or just "s" on the end.

Today was a complete first though..... I went to Starbucks this morning with my friend Jules. (pretty much the only place to hang out at in the morning on base) It wasn't until I was home and had put my drink down that I noticed how they spelled my name....... "Broox"..... Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised though with the way kids names are spelled these days. I am thinking on days I want to be "trendy" I should spell my name this way :)

Sneak peak....

Ok, so the house isn't 100% done yet.... I still want to paint the kitchen (thinking pale yellow right now) and our bedroom/bathroom (thinking something like chocolate brown) But we are getting close...Thought I would give you all a sneak peak before the full unveiling.

Crossfit Baby

As many of you know, Andrew is super into Crossfit. It is a crazy, intense, almost kill you, workout regime that he started while in Iraq. It is 1/3 metabolic conditioning, 1/3 Olympic lifts and 1/3 gymnastics. Andrew can't wait to get Asher enrolled in gymnastics and on his way to starting Crossfit. (yes, crazily enough, they have crossfit kids.) This past weekend we had to drive my Mom to the LA airport so we decided to spend the day there. We took Asher to check out all the crazy people at Venice Beach....and of course, how could we not stop at Muscle Beach for Andrew to do a few muscle-ups?!? :) Asher got his first taste of the rings too......Crossfit, here he comes!

A muscle-up...Start hanging and then pull yourself up and all the way through the rings until your hands are down by your hips....Do that many, many times in a row. Expect your hands and wrists to bleed...it is just the crossfit way :)

Thanks Mom!!!

My Mom just came for 5 full days. It was awesome and went by WAY too fast. I am counting down the days until she can come again (though I have no idea when that will be) My Mom was very gracious and spent the entire week helping me paint the house!!! (what Mom doesn't want to work when all her at home kids are at summer camp and she is on vacation!?!?) We painted the foyer, living room, playroom, laundry room, Asher's room, hallway and guest bathroom. It made for long days, but I couldn't have done it without her. And now our "cookie-cutter" military house is starting to feel like our own personal home!

I wasn't a total task master and made sure she had lots of Asher time... Because really, I am not nearly as cute, fun or adorable as he is to play with!!!!

Rolling

Asher is rolling now in both directions....I am not quite used to putting him down and coming back into the room to find him in a completely different area! Boots is starting to get a little wary of him. The other day Asher rolled himself towards Boots and pulled his tail for the first time. Boots was quite taken back and upset....He yelped, jumped up and then turned around and sniffed Asher, as if he couldn't believe this little thing on the floor had done that to him.

I do love finding Asher in the funniest positions though....How babies do it, I don't know.... This bucket was upright and on the other side of the room, when I put Asher down to play.....

Frying eggs

Can you really fry an egg on the sidewalk, when it gets super hot out? Our curiosity got the best of Andrew and me....This past weekend when it was 115, we decided it was hot enough to try....After feeling the sidewalk vs the road, we decided the sidewalk felt hotter.

Sadly, it didn't start frying instantly. We decided that maybe it would take time to "cook", so we left it and went inside to wait...... Unfortunately, the stupid Crows came and thought we had left them lunch..... What was left over on the sidewalk though, did look cooked...Maybe when Asher gets older we will try this again....

How to tell a good toy...

Taste it, of course!!!!

Asher's first solid food experience.....

all ready to eatHomemade Buffalo puree - YUM
Since I get to nurse, Daddy got to give Asher his first solid food!

What a cute face! I think he likes it!

So Andrew and I have been talking about starting Asher on solids for about 6 weeks now. My goal since the beginning has been to nurse Asher exclusively for the first 6 months and then start solids. Waiting till then was important to me for 2 reasons....1. he was a preemie and the Dr.'s said it will help him so much the longer I can nurse him....2. waiting helps prevent allergies. My Aunt actually exclusively nursed her kids for their first year before introducing solids for that reason. Then when we went to the Pediatrician and his development therapists in June and asked if he was ready, they all felt that he could handle the swallowing aspect of "solid" food, but they were worried he might take hit in his weight, because it is hard work learning how to eat vs. nurse. Since he is so small, he can't afford to lose any weight, so his Dr. wanted his weight to be closely monitored. Because of that we decided to wait until we were settled at Edwards and had Dr.'s nearby to check his weight regularly.

I am so glad we waited, because Asher went from not interested in our food at all, to constantly reaching for everything we ate, which is one of the biggest signs they are ready for solid food. Then a couple weeks ago while in MN, my friend Krista introduced me to an awesome, alternative, health website by Dr. Westin A. Price. He talks about starting babies on meat, not grains. Mother's milk is largely protein and fats and so a babies stomach has more enzyme's for breaking down meat than grains. Plus, growing babies really need calorie dense, high iron foods which meat has more of, as opposed to processed grains. And meat allergies are extremely rare, but gluten intolerance, wheat allergies, etc are everywhere. So Andrew and I switched gears from thinking rice cereal, did more research and decided to start Asher on Buffalo! (free-range, organic of course!)

It was a complete success! He loved it! Now hopefully he will like it next time, as babies have a way of changing their minds frequently! :)

Atlantic to the Pacific.....Driving!

Yup....Asher drove with us in less than 1 month over 5,000 miles.... Only first time parents would be crazy enough to do that :) He is definitely not a fan of the car seat these days!

Andrew and I had a great time though introducing him to the beach. May 30th he got to feel sand and the ocean for the first time in Bethany Beach, DE. Then on June 28th we took him to the Pacific at La Jolla Beach, San Diego! He liked the Pacific way better, because the water was a lot warmer (plus La Jolla Beach is an awesome beach in general!)

All my family wanted to know, was whether he has my texture issues. I absolutely HATED the sand and refused to be put down on it when I was a baby! (I still don't love it that much) He didn't seem to mind the sand, but while we were in MN, we learned he doesn't like grass! So I guess he is my kid after all :)

The first 2 pics are at the Atlantic and then the Pacific...

Goodbye Little House

Last kisses in our home

I was and have been so sad to say goodbye to our home in Co. Springs. I absolutely loved our little home. She was from 1896 and was so beautiful! (yes, our house was a girl) So many special things happened in our little home. When we found this house and got Boots, was when I turned the corner, from hating the Springs, to learning to like it and be really happy there! (that and a lot of love from our church, IAC) I hope someday we can give Asher a tour of it and show him where he lived at the beginning of his little life.

If you are ever in the downtown Co. Springs area and drive by our little house, give her a wave for me!

Sloan Family Reunion

Asher and I just got back from the awesome Sloan Family reunion! Andrew's family has been going MN every summer for about 45yrs! The lake location has changed over the years, but not the wonderful family time. Unfortunately, I had to go again without Andrew....last year he was in Iraq and this year, TPS was starting the week of the reunion. Good thing I had Asher this year, not sure the family would have wanted me back without Andrew again :) (j/k)

Asher had a ball, with 27 other people there, he did not lack for arms to be held by. Plus, he got to meet his Uncle Jeff and soon to be Aunt Amanda!!! He had so much fun riding on his first boat ride (though he hated the life jacket), playing in the chilly lake water (he is a water baby!!!) and just playing and smiling with everyone! Up next year? Learning to fish and possibly riding the jetski with Daddy!

2 peas in a Hammock

Last week Asher and I flew to MN to attend the Sloan family reunion (more on that later) While there, we got to spend 3 nights with my old roommate Krista. She had Hank the day before Mother's Day (ie, he turned 2 months while we were visiting) Hank was 9pds 7oz two weeks early!!! Well, turns out that Hank and Asher are the same size! It was so funny to play with Hank, who is still like a mushy gummy bear (ie, floppy newborn) and Asher who is standing, rolling over, trying to walk if you hold his hands and really playful and have them be the same size! (they are almost 5 month apart exactly)

John(Hank's Dad) and I took them outside one morning to play a bit. These photos are completely unstaged! We put them in the hammock to swing a bit and they both fell sound asleep! It was so cute!

Sooo.....

So, I am horrible blogger! No matter how much I write posts in my head and make goals to blog, I rarely do. What is really sad about this, is I have such a cute kid that is SO easy to post about! (whether anyone reads my blog or not, he is so cute, how could I not post about him!!!!)

So instead of trying to play catch up like I am always doing; I am going to post most current and attempt to work backwards...Not high expectations on that ever happening though :) Here goes it!