hadley pictures

{phone dump friday}

Last day of vacation - bittersweet as always. Asher has loved being here, especially the pool. He's still not a fan of the beach. Whenever we'd go he would look around for a minute then start waving and saying "bye bye beach" while heading for the exit. The ocean really scares him. Oh well - one of these days he'll warm up to it!

He spent a lot of time on my lap or playing in the sand.

 

This week's PDF will be a little big vacay recap - get ready for the real thing next week! ha!

Getting ready to leave for the airport. Asher had his backpack full of snacks and his blanket in tow - ready to roll.

 

Once we got here Asher hopped right in the pool and didn't want to leave. He mostly liked sitting in the {turned off} hot tub and dumping water all over, but after a lot of convincing started to swim with us. Now he loves to jump in from the deck and kick around. I need to get him some puddle jumpers - I think floating on his own would help his confidence a lot.

 

The only time he wanted to get out was when Drew offered him a relaxation lesson. Asher is a quick study.

 

A's big cousins handed down their tricycle to him so he also got a chance to learn how to ride! He picked it up quickly, but the smarty that he is realized equally quickly that it's easier for Daddy to push from behind. :-)

 

 

Ladybug came to Florida with us too. See.

 

She's getting hard to miss.

On the 4th we went to a festival here over at the golf club. It's mostly retirees here in the summer, so Asher was a pretty big hit. Despite all the attention, the heat got to him after awhile and he decided to retire himself...to the shade of the golf cart.

 

With a snack, of course. :-)

His celebrity status served him well after dinner when he was able to take a balloon centerpiece home. Lucky, lucky duck.

 

 

Last night we checked out a splash fountain before dinner. I was worried that Asher would be scared since that seems to be his MO these days, but I was wrong - he loved it!! I definitely need to find a fountain/splash park like this in Raleigh because he was a huge fan.

 

 

It was in a little park right next to the water, so A took the occasional break to enjoy the view. Who can blame him - gorgeous!

 

Since today is our last full day we took a final pilgramige to the beach. Guess what? Asher still doesn't like it. Ha ha - oh well. He is off my lap and I consider that a major win.

 

Can't wait to get home and see if I captured any great shots on the bigger camera. If not, I'm grateful for the iPhone!

Happy Friday, friends!

 

{phone dump thursday}

I don't know if you've noticed, but I have absolutely no respect for Phone Dump Friday. This is getting bad - I need to get back on the wagon.

Drew and I are heading to lovely Staten Island, NY tomorrow to be a part of his brother's wedding so PDF just isn't going to happen. My phone pics are my favorite part of this blog recently so I couldn't skip it. :-)

Lucky duck Asher is getting his grandparents to himself for the whole weekend! I'm sure they'll have tons of fun! I'm a little sad that A will miss seeing his aunt and uncle tie the knot, but honestly, at this age he isn't going to appreciate a wedding anyway. He'll be a lot happier at home.

Speaking of ducks, we had another couple rainy days this week so Asher got to become Asher splasher {his alter-ego} once again.

 

On Saturday we had the most beautiful weather. Asher splasher wanted to come out in the worst way so we made him a few puddles with the hose. I just can't help myself when it's this easy to make him happy! :-)

 

I posted this photo a few days ago, but I just have to mention it again. On Friday night I went out for dessert at the Melting Pot with the girls from my moms small group. A big part of moving for me is trusting that God will provide a new community and set of friends for us. He certainly did that here - praying the same will prove true in NC. I'll miss you, friends!

 

Asher discovered his sunglasses this week, but only wants to wear them when it isnt really necessary - like in a shady car while working on his computer. ha!

 

After running some errands A and I stopped for a special mommy/son bagel date. He tried cream cheese for the first time and loved it! Although, he seems to think the way to eat it is by scraping all the cream cheese off with your finger and enjoying that first, then eating the plain bagel.

 

We have a new tradition here lately. Every morning I make my bed, then Asher comes over to dismantle and jump on it. Hmm...not our best tradition.

 

It would help my tough stance if he wasn't so darn cute while doing it. Little monster. :-)

 

{phone dump friday}

We had an exciting day yesterday - I had my NT scan and got another peek at baby bug!

Not only did we get to see bugaboo, but {more importantly} we were told that all physical markers they expect to see at 12 weeks were present, so our chance of bug having a chromosomal disorder are relatively small. Of course, there's always a chance, but we're going to focus on the positive and be hopeful that everything's fine. :-)

Asher and I have kept pretty busy all week, actually. Last weekend when he was visiting his Grandma and Grandpa he discovered a new love for watermelon. Of course we had to pick some up at the store this week. Yum!

Last weekend he also was given a new best friend - dinosaur. Loves him.

This week was one of those great mixes between rainy afternoons and sunny ones. I don't know about you, but I hate staying inside to do chores when the weather is great, so I welcome the occasional rainy day to get stuff done. We manage to have fun outside, regardless of the forecast.

I'm leaving Ash and Drew to their own devices tomorrow when I head to NYC for Ali's bachelorette party. Can't wait to see what new tricks Asher learns while I'm gone! ha!

Happy weekend, friends!

 

bugaboo {11 weeks}

Asher and I are in Raleigh visiting my parents this weekend, so I had to make due with a reflection phone pic for 11 weeks. Must be pregnancy brain already - I forgot my good camera at home - bah.

At 11 weeks I'm still feeling the first trimester symptoms full steam ahead. I've actually been a lot less sick, but still SO exhausted. I'm really hoping this passes soon and I get some energy back. This is how it was with Asher, so I'm sure {well, hopeful} once 13 or so weeks roll around I should be feeling a lot better.

Must have something to do with growing a lime. It's pretty exhausting work.

There has been a lot going on around here - it feels like we're running nonstop - so the blog has been taking a shameful backseat. I'm hoping to catch up on all of our goings-on {and yours!} soon.

How far along: 11 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: down 5 pounds

Maternity clothes: not yet - although I did unbutton my pants after dinner yesterday :-)

Stretch marks: no

Belly button: still innie

Sleep: up 1-2 times each night to use the bathroom

Baby movement: not just yet

Gender: no clue - anxious to find out in a few weeks!

Food cravings: I had the BEST garlic knots at a pizza place on Friday. Still thinking about them, yum...

Food aversions: coffee, yuck.

What I miss: having a nice cold beer with those awesome garlic knots

Looking forward to: seeing Drew's family at Ali's bridal shower this Saturday!

Best moment this week: sharing our news about the bug with more friends

Milestones: fingers and toes are no longer webbed - go bug.

easter visitors

Well, Easter was a week ago and I'm still working on our recap. Better late than never! {?}

We were lucky and had some good friends come in from out of town to visit. Asher loves having people over - especially the kind that give him lots and lots of attention. :-)

Drew and I have a kind of fun, unique shared experience in that our college roommates ended up marrying each other! We were all friends at Bucknell and now we get an easy way to visit together almost 10 years later {whoa - forget I typed that date...}

Welcome to DC, Bret and Betsy!

On Saturday we all headed into town to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Everyone who reads this blog knows how much Asher loves planes, so I thought seeing them up close would be a slam dunk. He liked it well enough, but wasn't quite as excited as I'd expected. Maybe because they weren't flying around?

Oh well - you can't win 'em all. :-)

Asher favorite part of the whole day was riding the carousel on the Mall. Of course I didn't get a photo of that. sigh.

Lucky us, I did get some shots at his second favorite stop - the fountain!

It took all 3 of us adults to keep him from jumping over the very shallow lip and into the water.

We all celebrated Easter Sunday together the next morning and had a yummy ham lunch. I don't know about you, but Easter just isn't Easter without ham. ha!

So great to see you, B&B. Let's make it less than a year between visits next time!

 

phone dump friday

I haven't been able to blog during the last few Fridays and really missed sharing all the photos that gather on my phone. I use this thing A TON to capture life as it happens!

For starters, check out my awesome March Madness bracket - all of my Final 4 teams are still in it! Drew's pretty mad at me for not entering our family competition. There might be a little $$ involved. : )

For the past few weeks Asher has been pointing to the featured books on the back of his nightly story, asking to read a book that we don't have. He wanted to read it SO badly, so we took a trip to the library - fingers crossed that they would have it.

Ash insisted on bringing his reference book along so I wouldn't get the wrong one - ha!

Lucky day for us...the library had it! Woo hoo!

Asher calls it "library book" and carries it around all the time. So sweet. We might have to put a copy of this story in his Easter basket {don't tell}.

Speaking of so sweet - every few days my little guy is extra loving. I know I showed a photo like this before, but just the other morning A insisted we hold hands while eating breakfast. He knows the way to his mama's heart, for sure.

During the rest of the week he rotates between regular sweet and, um, not so sweet. We've been testing a lot of limits, throwing fits, and showing major displeasure when the boss {that's me} makes a call that's not popular with the toddler segment.

This afternoon Asher wanted a snack and I rejected all of his top 3 suggestions - cookies, Popsicle, and cereal bar. After a bit of crying {that didn't work on this mean mommy} Asher decided he'd go the martyr route and requested a slice of plain bread.

Fine by me.

Ha ha - this boy makes me laugh so hard sometimes.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!