Catch Up

Ok, please give me some grace, it's been a while.  Starting over is HARD.  Very hard... and exhausting, and on top of that, we have been in a transitional limbo for the last 3+ months.  Building a house from scratch is amazing and exciting, but a TON of work, especially at the end.  I know more about window treatments and every review written on every appliance known to man than you could ever dream to!  When I say we have been busy, it's very true, so do NOT take it personally if you haven't seen or spoken to us recently... trust me, it's not about you.

Ross is loving his job, but do to sucky construction, the commute is long, almost an hour each way.  Once the construction is done (in years), it will be a fantastic drive, but for now, it's less than ideal.  He leaves at 7am and returns after 6pm.  The minute he walks through the door is a mad rush to finish feeding Asher, get him in the tub, and get him to bed.  He wakes very early, so he almost always needs a pretty early bedtime (NO, putting him to bed later will not make him sleep later in the morning... when I say we've tried everything, I mean it, so please trust we are doing what's best for him).  Then I make dinner, Ross gives Ash his bedtime bottle (because it's really the only time he gets to see him besides the bath and a few minutes in the morning), we eat, clean up, do dishes, laundry, etc., then it's way too late and we both get very little sleep.  Repeat.  We are enjoying being here, but it's been hard, so please understand that!!!

Updates: Asher tested positive for anemia a while back once we moved here.  It's a test we were told to do a few days before moving (literally, Asher's last check up with his previous ped was right before we moved), and once we moved, we were uninsured for a month, so it got delayed.  His new ped here recommended iron drops which are HORRID.  They don't even compare to any nasty medicine you can imagine.  Picture this... you are chewing on a mouthful of pennies.  Yes, pennies.  You are sucking on them, and then chewing on them and then your mouth is bleeding profusely from chewing them.  THAT'S exactly what it tastes like  :(  We mix it with a tiny bit of prune juice to try to mask it and have to give it via syringe because it's the only way.  I tried it in his food once and he screamed immediately!  Poor pumpkin.  She recommended it for months, 3-6, saying 3 months would get him back to normal, and 6 months would then restore his "stores" that were depleted.  He has been on iron fortified formula and infant cereal forever consuming far more than 100% of his daily allowance of iron.... so, it either has to do with him being allergic to dairy and puking constantly for months, and/or it's an iron absorption problem.  Anyway, we have to give it to him daily and it sucks!  Shortly after we moved he he caught an infection from someone and had a double ear infection which was AWFUL.  He as miserable and literally sick for over a month with that.  He's teething like crazy now so that isn't fun, but he's been relatively healthy so that's fantastic!

For his birthday we took him to the Indy zoo and it was great!  He was super quiet the entire time, just staring and taking it all in.  His favorite part was the reptile house!  At the time, the only animal he could identify was a snake.  His eyes totally lit up when Ross lifted him to see in the tank where a snake was... he looked back to us, looked at the snake, looked to us with a huge smile and said, "SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS".  SO adorable.  We had a very small gathering for his birthday with grandparents and aunties/uncles only, as a small gathering was what was best for him.  He loved it and fared like a champ with all the ridiculous overstimulation.  He was also dedicated at church the morning of his party so it was a very special day.

I've shared with some of you about my health... for an entire year now, I've been having RA like symptoms.  It's a long story I won't disclose here, but I finally sought help for it recently after moving here.  3 rounds of blood tests and some x-rays later, a visit to a Rheumatologist, and lots and lots of questioned insurance claims later, and it's inconclusive.  RA is a rule out disease that's incredibly difficult to diagnose.  It typically takes a long long time to come to that conclusion after all other avenues are exhausted.  So... I'm not there yet, and for now, I wait, in pain pretty much daily. The specialist wants to see me every 6 months for the next 2 years at which time I will probably do more blood test and possibly more x-rays.  We'll see.

We are about to close on our house!!!!  Our closing date is on 10/30/12.  Yes, it's lightning fast.  Insane.  It's gorgeous and we LOVE it, particularly the view of the "young timber" in our backyard as my dad calls it.  We are insanely busy with re-packing (LAME), buying what we can afford for the house (after I research EVERYTHING to make sure we're making a good choice), making sure there is enough money for everything else, making a list of what we need to buy after closing, arranging the move (shout out to the Carmel firefighters!), and decorating a house 3 times bigger than any of our previous residences from the ground up.  It's a ton of work, but we couldn't be more psyched to get in there and get settled.

Asher is a freaking genius. Seriously.  I know all parents think their kid is the smartest and cutest, but this kid... he's adorable obviously (thanks for that, God!), but he's SO SO smart, and SOOOOOOOOO funny!  Even on the hard days, he makes me smile every single day.  He's been walking like a champ since before his 1st birthday, and RUNNING since just after his birthday!  He is talking up a storm and knows lots of animal sounds.  He has tons of book and flashcards that he LOVES and we go through multiple times daily.  He knows most of the books by heart.  If I recite a page (because I have them all memorized too), he will go to the other room, find the exact book amongst many, and find the exact PAGE I am reciting.  Genius.  Thanks to his flashcards and to an annoying toy (but FABULOUS learning tool) my sister let us borrow, Asher also can identify a handful of letters already!  SO SMART.  He also knows the sound the letters make, thanks to Titi's toy  ;)  He uses a handful of words as well, and understands SOOOOOOOO many more.  He changes daily it seems like.  His receptive language is off the charts.  He knows exactly what we are saying (particularly me) alllllll the time!  He knows cues to things thanks to the routine I have him in that is sooooo important to him.  He seriously amazes me daily at how smart he is!  Thanks again, God, he is such an amazing joy in our lives!

There are LOTS of pictures and videos attached, as there is a large span to cover.  The videos are already SO outdated, it's crazy to watch them!  He's been walking like a champ since early September.  He prefers running now  ;)

This has been my anthem to my Asher:

JJ Heller
When I'm With You

When I hold you in my arms, Love
Something changes
It's the strangest feeling
The things that used to matter
They don't matter to me
When I see you
And you're smiling
How my heart aches
So full it is about to break
You make me believe in love

I could never count all the ways
That you change me, Baby
Every day the sky is a deeper shade of blue
When I'm with you

When I hear you, and you're crying
It resonates, Dear
In a place I didn't know was there
You make me believe in love

I could never count all the ways
That you change me, Baby
Every day the sky is a deeper shade of blue
When I'm with you

Beautiful baby
You're sweeter than strawberry pie
Just like the morning
Your smile brings the sunshine

I could never count all the ways
That you change me, Baby
Every day the sky is a deeper shade of blue
When I'm with you

I could never count all the ways
That you change me, Baby
Every day the sky is a deeper shade of blue
When I'm with you