our 2013 christmas card!!!

i've been trying and trying to get our family pics taken, and nothing was working out

so finally on sunday i set up my camera on the tripod, set the self-timer, got my lil' family together, and we had a little photo shoot

wasn't quite what i had in mind for this year, but at the same time i'm super happy about how they turned out :)

i have so much love for these kiddos, and w/out the love of Jesus, my heart wouldn't be nearly as full and overflowing as it is

we are truly blessed! 

kelly

this was my first maternity session

thankfully, kelly was super patient as i worked to get the shots that she wanted

baby should make his/her arrival sometime this month!!!

looking forward to meeting the cutie!

and now for the beautiful mama:

once or twice a month may be my new blogging norm

seems my blog posts are becoming fewer and farther apart

i guess that's to be expected when a newbie comes into the picture

i've heard it takes 6 weeks for a family to adjust to a new baby

asher was 6 weeks on monday

i think i'm still trying to find my groove lol 

it's funny…after i posted about asher's rough evenings, they pretty much stopped

i'm chalking it up to God and all the prayers that went up on our behalf :)

thanks to each of you who prayed for us!

although evenings aren't so bad anymore, he seems to becoming more and more fussy in general

he was so chill the first week of his life

i cut out dairy for about 3 weeks to see if that would help, but i couldn't really tell a difference so i'm enjoying milk products once again :)

though i am tempted to give it another shot considering how the last couple of days have been!

Brighton and i had a fun evening on Halloween

Dave stayed home w/ Asher, and she and i walked around the neighbourhood collecting candy :)

we practiced saying "trick or treat" before we headed out and she was saying it like a pro! but then when we would get to someone's house she would get all shy and either not say it or say it in a barely audible whisper lol

Dave and i enjoyed her stash of candy after we put her to bed that night :)

Dave hasn't got to spend nearly as much time w/ Asher as a baby as he did w/ Bump because of working on our house…but it sure brings joy to my heart when he is able to get in a bit of snuggle time :)

i also love how Brighton has just taken to Asher

she just loves the little guy!

it's hard to believe that in a month and a half, this little ball of energy will be two years old!

newborn // asher dai

my very own little bundle of sweetness

life w/ 2 munchkins

my baby boy is already 3.5 weeks old!

it kind of seems like he should be older than that

i think time may go in slow motion when you mostly get 3 hr. segments of sleep

of course during the day he likes to go 4-5 hrs. between feedings

anyways, here's a little look into the last couple of weeks in our lives

Brighton has adjusted so well to a newbie in the house

she doesn't seem to be threatened by Asher at all

i'm guessing it's because she's never been a cuddle bug so she doesn't get jealous of me holding him

she likes to give him kisses

and every now and then she'll hold him for about half a minute :)

storytime! reading him one if her favorites...Gossie 

first bath at home...not impressed lol

i was so grateful to my mom for coming up and spending a week and a half w/ us!

Brighton was in heaven :)

 the Sunday after Asher was born, Mom helped me put together a drop-in baby party

it was fun to have a chance to be creative and celebrate the birth of our perfect little boy

on the menu was:

vanilla and chocolate cake pops

caramel popcorn

party mix

cheese and crackers

pumpkin cream cheese muffins

cinnamon apple ring

citrus punch

coffee

 also, while mom was here, she worked on making Asher's baby blanket

Mummsy's little "helper"

the beautiful finished product!

we also took the chance to take a picture of Mummsy and Brighton w/ the baby blanket Mummsy made  for her

Mom, thank you so much for coming up and helping us out!

you are such a blessing!

i must say, having 2 kiddos in the house hasn't been the easiest thing ever

Asher was such a good little baby the first week of his life, but has been getting more and more fussy as time has gone on

that's been hard because i feel like i lost my happy little baby, and i don't know why

he barely cried the first week

now i spend about 2 hrs. every evening trying to console him

it's not constant crying, but about every 5 minutes he just spazzes

he starts crying really hard

his face turns all red and he starts sweating

and he clenches and claws w/ his hands

it's so sad...and tiring!

he's somewhat content throughout the day, but more often than not he wants to be held when he's awake

he also slept better at night early on so i'm feeling more and more exhausted

earlier this week i was having headaches and feeling absolutely awful

i just thought that my body was wussing out on me

hormonal changes, lack of sleep, maybe dehydration

i thought, "great, i'll never be able to have another baby because i obviously cannot handle it!"

turns out i was actually sick...took my temperature yesterday and it was 102

kind of a relief lol ... maybe i can have more kids ;)

anyways, the worst part of the sickness is over, and i'm feeling much much better today! yay!

and to end, just a few more pics...