Fixed Link and a Couple More

Elliott informed me the link to my easter post was broken. So here it is:
Easter 2015

Plus a couple new ones:
Long Weekend at the Cabin
Soccer Game
My Little Man
Last Time in the Moses Basket
Second Tooth

New Updates

October 2014
Bikes
Adventuring
Last Soccer Game

January 2015
Trip to Trader Joes

March 2015
Kitchen Band
Retreat
Isaiah's First Tooth
Orange Crushers

April 2015
Easter 2015
Poop Artist

Asher Updates

I have been horrible. I try. I make mental notes of when Asher starts something. But it is so hard to find time at the computer to keep track of this stuff! So I am going to try to memory dump it into one post.

4.5 months - April 1 - Cut his first tooth. The second one was only a few days behind.
5 months - Cut his bottom teeth. Rolling all directions. Becoming faster.
6 months - Sometime between five and six months he cut two more teeth (top left and right of the middle two) and his rolling became proficient enough that he can get himself anywhere he wants.
7 months - he now inchworms. He walks his feet up, so his booty is in the air, then slides his front half forward either with his arms or on his forehead. It's pretty funny. When he gets tired, he rolls. He still loves those middle two fingers. He also started babbling. He's becoming so much more interactive.
8 months - He can push himself into sitting. He's army crawling. He's banging on things. He started "tasting" food regularly. So far blueberries are his favorites. He also loves cucumbers. Last Tues (July 21) he started clapping as well as banging two objects together. He is far more interested in "playing" with toys. And putting everything in his mouth.

Asher is really fun. He is a very laid back little guy. Watches his two older siblings (who are crazy!) and laughs when they get close to him. He loves his mama. When he gets tired, I am the only person he wants. He snuggles. He'll pat my back (I think that's his way of asking for milk). He loves being in the carrier. (Only problem is this little turkey will bite my back. It hurts!)

I am sure there are things I am forgetting. This little guy is growing so quickly. Part of me loves it. Part of me says it's happening way too fast!

Asher and Food

Asher is getting tastes of most things off our plates these days. He loves carrot sticks, cucumbers, red peppers. He loves blueberries and raspberries. He's tried chicken, beef, tuna, curried lentils (he was excited about those!), squash (lots of types), green beans, onions, cauliflower, and many other things I am forgetting. Few things that aren't on the list - no eggs. no dairy. no gluten-grains (or others for that matter). He has had some issues with eczema so we are approaching food a little differently with him to make sure foods don't cause flare-ups with his sensitive skin. So far (as long as I keep gluten and dairy out of my diet) his skin looks great! And he is enjoying the taste of food!

Isaiah's First Backpacking Trip

Elliott took Isaiah for his first backpacking trip. Isaiah was so excited! Here they are about to leave:

All the rest of the pictures were taken by Isaiah (except a couple of him taken by Elliott) on Elliott's old camera. And the events are all relayed to me as obviously, I wasn't there :) (Ellery, Asher and I had a quiet day/night at home!)

They headed out about noon on Friday for the Siouxon Wilderness Area. They hiked about 1.5 miles in before finding a spot.

 

They set up camp then spent the afternoon, evening and next morning playing. They explored the area:

 Played in the creek (however, I guess it was really cold!)

 

They spent quite a bit of time reading and lounging in the hammock. This is Isaiah's view from the hammock.

 Isaiah took a picture of the sunlight coming through the hammock. He was pretty proud of it.

They walked all over downed trees to avoid the hot lava. They fought bad guys. All that kind of good stuff.

 

 

 They went to bed pretty late, but Elliott said they slept well. The next morning they did more exploring. They also had to pack up camp.

 Hiking on the way out.

Isaiah kept taking pictures on the car ride home. Here is Elliott calling me to say they were heading home :)

 Cute Isaiah feet. Dirty Isaiah feet. :)

 Traffic.

 His first selfie. We got a good laugh out this. Elliott didn't realize he was still taking pictures.

 More out the window.

 Another silly face!

They had a great trip and hopefully this will be a tradition that continues each year!

Family Day

We had a much needed family day. We started off the morning hiking Wahclella Falls. It had been a while since we had been there (since Isaiah was 2) - it's a great hike for the kids. 1 mile back to a beautiful waterfall.  The kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the pool by the falls and watching little fish.

 

 

 

Unfortunately Ellery cut her toe on a rock before we left. So I gave her a piggyback ride the whole way back. It was actually pretty fun having her cute little voice observing things in my ear. And she's pretty light - not too much heavier than Asher!

We made a picnic lunch and ate it at the fish hatchery. The kids think eating anywhere beside our dining room table is pretty special :)

 

We then wandered the hatchery - we fed the overfed rainbow trout, said hi to Herman the massive sturgeon and looked at all the fingerlings.

 

Then we went to the fish ladder. So fun to drive across the Dam and then wander the fish ladder facilities. The kids got a kick out of watching the fish jump to the next level. Plus we could see them resting underwater as well as look at all the lampreys stuck to the window (they look like eels). It was a very fun stop!

 

The kids were all pretty tuckered after our big day!

Big Helpers

Glory, hallelujah! The older kids are big enough to help!

Ellery likes to vacuum - though she thinks it's loud so she wears ear muffs. Gotta love her blue ear muffs and pink tutu.

Isaiah doesn't mind picking up dog poops (woohoo!) so he did that for me!

These little moments are precious. I appreciate all the help I can get around here!