Saturday, August 14, 2010

Disney World of Color



Asher goes crazy for this commercial every time! I have no idea how he saw it for the first time since, we don't have TV...must have been when we were watching Hulu or something. Glad it is only 30sec long because I don't feel badly replaying it several times over, as he says "gi-n, gi-n" as soon as it is over!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Family Trip

Andrew, Asher and I snuck away just a few weeks ago for a "just us" family trip to the beach. We had been planning on going to Hawaii, but then we realized how insanely packed it would be this time of year and changed our minds. All we wanted was somewhere by the beach, that we didn't have to drive the whole time and could completely relax. After a lot of thought, we decided to go to my grandmother's house in Bethany Beach, DE. It wasn't exotic or super cool, but it was just what we were looking for and because she was there, she could provide babysitting!! (call me uptight, but I am not comfortable using a hotel babysitting service!)
The whole point of the trip was to just spend time as a family and use Space A to fly for free. Space A is where you get to hop onto a military plane and fly to wherever they are going for free. The free part is great, but there are no guarantees that you will get a seat, or even that the plane will go when it is supposed to, so it can be a bit stressful. After a week of trying to fly out with the AF, we switched to the Navy. We drove down to San Diego and got seats on a 737 going to VA beach. There were only 14 of us for the WHOLE plane...It was pretty awesome!
Asher slept almost the whole flight. So nice to have an entire row and floor just for me and him to stretch out and sleep! (wish it had been that way on the way home too!)
Morning beach time!!!!
Walking the boardwalk with Daddy
So glad he wasn't older and didn't have any idea about buying these things! He was just content to sit there and watch everything!
We had so much fun....Each morning we would walk through town and down the boardwalk to play at the beach for about 45 min or so and then walk back for Asher to take his nap. He loved smashing the sand castles Daddy would build him and we even took him swimming in the ocean with us! After Asher and I got a nap, we would play in the pool, go to the library, walk about downtown, or just relax at the house. Then in the evening when it would cool off and the crowds were gone, we would go back down to play at the beach.
He is making that face, because he just licked some sand off his arm! Crazy little boy, he loved eating the sand! YUCK!
Getting hit on by the lifeguards! The lifeguard games were held on the town beach one evening and Asher was a total hit! There were 11 different towns competing. We left before it was over but our town lifeguards were winning!
Asher and his maternal great-grandma
Asher discovered TCBY and funnel cakes and loved them both! We ate fudge, milkshakes, all-you can eat crabs, and all sorts of other good beach food! Most nights we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with my grandma who turned 85 a few days after we left. She is one of the most treasured people in my life, so it was such a blessing to be with her and have her get so much time with Asher. (she had literally only spent a few hrs. with him before this, at my sibling's graduations)
This one store had all these noise making stuffed animals lined up outside...Asher would literally start shrieking with delight and doing happy feet every time he saw them! He loved touching that purple pig's nose!
Just chilling and checking people out :)
This was the grandstand part of the boardwalk where we were able to enjoy several awesome concerts with Asher.
Saying goodbye :(
We ended up having to use miles to get home on a commercial flight because there wasn't a Space A flight going back to San Diego when we needed it. It was definitely an adventure trying out Space A, but while we have 1 child, I would do it again!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Going for the Gold

Seriously, Mom...You want me to win one of these?!?!? Isn't that a lot of pressure on me already?!

That's Asher with Billy Demong who won gold in this past Olympics for the Nordic Combined. He is the first American to ever win gold in Nordic Combined! We got to meet him this past weekend in Anaheim, while Asher and I were at the Shaklee National Convention. Turns out Billy has used Shaklee supplements since he joined the US ski team at 17. (in case your wondering he is 30) It was pretty cool to hear him talk about his experience with Shaklee and training.
Considering that the NICU Asher was in for over 45 days, overlooked the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, I think it would be pretty awesome if he won an Olympic medal one day! Heck, it would be incredible if he even got to compete in the games, never mind winning a medal!!!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

"Breastfeeding Doesn't Suck!" Celeb PSA - National Breastfeeding Month - Celebrity Video & Stories

"Breastfeeding Doesn't Suck!" Celeb PSA - National Breastfeeding Month - Celebrity Video & Stories

This a pretty funny 30sec video in honor of August being National Breastfeeding Awareness Month! Anyone who has been around me for more than 1 hour knows my child is VERY into nursing and I am very open about nursing. I cannot say enough positive things about my experience with nursing, although it hasn't been a cake walk (3 mastitis (staph) infections, pumping for months while he was in the NICU, having to cut out dairy, eggs, nuts and soy for more than 7months, etc) Even with all of that, it has been such a blessing and I am so thankful that Asher was/is able to nurse. I know not everyone likes it, or has an easy time with it, but I think that if our society was more accepting and encouraging, it would be so much easier for Mom's. It is truly incredible the benefits to your body and your baby....I mean who doesn't want their child to have a higher IQ, lower cancer, diabetes and obesity rates?!?!?! AND get to eat Ben & Jerry's without guilt, since your body needs 500 more calories a day while nursing! (FYI that's more calories needed to nurse than when you are pregnant!)

(*Warning, if you are uncomfortable with boobies, fun bags or any other slang term for breast you might not like the clip! Don't worry, they don't show any breasts, it is all talk)