i am thankful for....

- a kind, and extremely generous, husband who gave me the morning "off" to go to my favorite tea shop and sit and write notes and be free.
- large pots of vanilla rooibos tea with cream. i think it has somehow made it's way from my stomach to my soul it is just that good.
- kind store employees that share their personal vanilla rooibos tea when the store is all out.
- even from the windows of "my" tea shop, the constant drizzle is uplifting somehow. cleansing, offering to us all the opportunity to slow down and savor.

good good things.

for daddy

this is for daddy, when he needs a little asher fix. we miss you, casey!

a tribute

one of the things about watching your kids grow is seeing the great, comical, and even difficult attributes of those that have gone before them show up in their daily habits, schedules, behavior. i marvel at that every time i see asher sway towards his daddy's keen attention to detail or a family member glimpsed in one of his facial expressions. and, today, even in this silly video, i see asher picking up on a favorite chore of his papa's. it makes my heart so happy to know that even across many many miles, my dad is close, present in my little boy and his delight to help wash a car.

love you, dad.

conversations about potty training

mommy: "asher, are you peeing in the tub?"
asher: "oh" (his equivalent for yes).
mommy: "where are we supposed to put our pee?"
asher: "tub."
mommy: "you are supposed to put your pee in the tub?"
asher: "oh."
mommy: "pee pee is supposed to go in the potty. so, where are you supposed to go pee pee?"
asher: "tub."

not necessarily the effect we were going for, but he is taking huge strides. i find it so funny how often the words pee and poop and potty are thrown around the house these days. it provides a certain level of intimacy, don't you think?!

just for fun

i realized how greatly i have slacked at documenting these past months of asher. so, i have really been trying to randomly capture moments here and there. these next two videos capture our daily lives these days.



our small patch of green in the backyard has been lovely. i cannot wait for consistent days of sunshine when i can leave the back door open and let asher roam and dig and poke bugs while i piddle in the laundry room.

and, we have this great dinosaur costume (thanks, johnson family!) that hangs on a hook in asher's room. most often he just likes to point out it is still there, but, on this rare day he wanted to put it on. so i quickly seized the camera, knowing the moment would be short lived. (just for clarities' sake, asher says "oh" for yes.)

i should have known

i should have known after finding this....




...that crawling out of his bed would be the next logical step. of course, we do not have photo documentation. only the thud of him landing on the floor in his room imprinted on our memories. but, no worries. he was so easily distracted, i don't even think he hurt himself. i think he started laughing within minutes. oh asher. what a funny boy you are!

over 100

two disclaimers.
1. sorry, not a tanzania post. i will work on that.
2. this is, most probably, for the grandparents and nostalgia's sake only.

this morning, during our rainy, lazy saturday morning, i thought i would write down all of asher's words. we have a pretty good list, and i just thought i would share. we are SOO thankful to have asher back to himself these days. i think the jet lag and culture shock have finally worn off. what a month :) we have been eating him up these last few days. so, here's to lazy mornings and family time.

asher's words at 18 months:
nana (banana)
puppy
dadi (daddy)
mommy
bumpa
nannie
papa
tow (towel and blanket)
tho (throw)
eh (egg)
peese (please)
ca (car)
tru (truck)
maymay (mailman)
tra tru (trash truck)
moo (moon)
spoo (spoon)
me
kya (kaya)
ha (hat)
shoe
sa (sock)
mi-e (money)
cheh (chair)
t (tv)
ehro (elmo)
breh (bread)
o (cheerios)
heh (hair)
pull
hole (hold)
ruh ruh (run run)
dow (down)
uu (up)
tra (trash)
be (blankie)
ha ha (monkey)
bil (build)
ba (ball)
copta (helicopter or plane)
chu chu (train)
eee (eat)
ju (juice)
eye
no (nose)
no
oh (yes)
rai (rain)
bubu (bubbles)
mayme (tomato)
uh oh
pata (pasta)
tate (potato)
(pancake)
peh (pear)
aaa (apple)
oor (orange)
babe (cranberries)
pru (prunes)
bak bak (chicken)
tore (story)
tu (tub)
poo poo
pee
pla pa (play park)
par (park)
teh (color)
pa (paper)
ra ra (rock rock, in his chair)
heh (help)
ta (talk, ie cell phone)
hi
bye bye
me (meat)
dada (dan dan, ie dan holcomb)
neh (nette, ie annette anderson)
bu (bus)
pre (pretzel)
me (milk)
dan dan (dance dance)
momo (more)
cli (climb)
juh (jump)
bow bow (bounce)
e (ear)
da (glasses)
do (door)
nah (knock)
nuh (knuckles)
heh (hammer)
meow
du du (duck)
mooo
hoo hoo (for owl)
he (heater or fan)
beep
toe (toast)
toes
pe (pizza)
tilla (tortilla)
pay (penny)
pay (paper)
ie (light)
pa (pocket)
han (hand)
te (hot tea or coffee)
chee (cheese)