Two Months

Baby Jack is two months old. We went to the doctor this week so he could get some shots and he weighed 11 lbs. 10 oz. (5.275 kg) and was almost 23 inches (58 cm) long. I always think that Jack is bigger than Asher was at this age, but at two months old Asher already weighed 12.5 pounds and was 24 inches long.

Jack is still an easy baby and really doesn't cry unless he gets really hungry. He's on a good schedule, eating every 3 hours during the day and taking 2 hour naps, and he sleeps all night long. For a long time he liked to be awake from about 6 pm - 11 pm, but the past few nights he has gone to bed around 8 pm, woken up to eat at 11 pm and then slept until 7 am. I definitely can't complain. During the day he sleeps on his belly in his crib and at night we swaddle him and put him on his back. When we are out during the day he will nap in the Moby Wrap and when my Thai tutor is here he usually naps while getting passed back and forth between the two of us.

Asher gets excited every time we go get Jack up from a nap. He can't wait until he can see him, but then as soon as I pick Jack up Asher starts asking (and demanding) that I put Jack down. It's a little love/hate thing, but overall I think Asher sort of likes having him around. Jack definitely loves Asher, he gives Asher the biggest smiles and giggles.

Now that Jack is bigger the cloth diapers fit him even better, he even wears them out of the house (I was a little scared to do that at first because Jack was too skinny and the diapers would leak a little bit). He still wears a disposable overnight, but I think I'm going to try cloth one night and just see what happens.

Jack spends most of his awake time playing with the play gym, hanging out in his swing or sitting on the couch with me while Asher plays cars. We have been taking him to the park in the evenings, but he has yet to stay awake long enough to actually see the park. The taxi ride puts him to sleep every time.

We are having so much fun with Baby Jack and this next month should be even more fun. Baby Jack is taking his first trip to the beach next week and then his first airplane ride the week after that.

My Baby Wish List - Update

Yesterday morning I woke up to a wonderful email from the VERY generous folks at Cotton Babies:

Dear Roger & Courtney,
Your family has been approved to receive a Diaper Grant from Cotton Babies.
Your package will include:

* 15 bumGenius One-Size diapers (3 white, 4 butternut, 4 twilight, 4 grasshopper)
* 2 packages of Cotton Babies flannel wipes
* 2 extra one-size inserts
* 1 XL Bummis Tote (purple)
* 1 S Bummis Tote (red)
* 1 bottle bum Genius! Bottom Cleaner

Praise the Lord! I was blown away by this company's generosity. When I applied for the grant I was thinking I would just get a few diapers, but instead they are setting us up so that we can easily cloth diaper this new baby boy.

I also got an awesome deal on a travel swing on Ebay. It is currently sitting at Mimi's house waiting to be packed up and brought to us when she comes to visit this new little guy.

And to top it all off Mimi went by one of our favorite consignment shops to find that all of the summer clothes were $1 each. She loaded up on newborn and 3-6 month clothes. Asher and I spent a long time on skype last week checking out her purchases. The newborn clothes are actually already here in Bangkok (they came in a box with Asher's birthday presents) and the rest of the clothes will come with Mimi in January.

I am getting so excited about this new little guy joining our family and watching the Lord provide for our family.

And of course I am always excited about spending my days with this big guy!


He will be two next week. I can't believe it!

My Baby Wish List

Since we are having another precious little boy and I brought a lot of our baby stuff with us there's really not much I need to get before our new little guy joins us. I put together a little wish list of the things I would love to have. I would love to hear what you think. Have you used any of these things? Do you love them? Hate them? Think they are a waste of money? Let me know!

A Baby Carrier
I'm wanting to get either a Action Baby Carrier or Ergo Baby Carrier with Infant Insert. Originally I was sold on the Ergo (thanks Beth Puckett!), but now I am leaning towards the Action Baby Carrier (ABC). The ABC is cheaper ($90 vs. $105 for Ergo and $25 for Infant Insert), comes in pretty colors and from what I have read online it is the best structured carrier when it's hot outside. The Ergo comes highly recommended and I know it works well, so I'm still having a little trouble deciding. I thought I had hit the jackpot a few days ago on the Bangkok Craig's List when I found a used Ergo for sale. Then I saw the price. The lady wanted nearly $200 for it because she bought it new in Bangkok for around $275.
Any suggestions or personal experiences?

Boppy Travel Swing
Asher loved swinging when he was little and thanks to my cousin Kelly we were able to borrow a swing while we were living with Mimi. Maddie Jackson slept sweetly in her Boppy swing the first time I met her and I love that it's super small. The bad thing is that I can't find it for sale anywhere except Ebay. The good thing is that I can buy a used one on Ebay at a reasonable price. I did actually come across a Fisher Price travel swing here in Bangkok for only $222.15 (actual retail price at Babies R Us in the States $69.99). I think I will be sticking to Ebay.

Cloth Diapers
I have a few and I applied for a cloth diaper grant from Cotton Babies. I'm still waiting to see if I got the grant, but if that doesn't take care of it this little one will probably just join Asher in the disposable diaper club.

3-6 month clothes
Asher was in the States during this time so all we have are winter clothes. I have Mimi shopping the consignment shops for me and I am keeping an eye out for sales now that it is time for Fall clothes in the States.

Personalized Boppy Cover
Asher had one, so it's only fair. If only the baby had a name...


Mobile
This was another thing that we borrowed for Asher while we were living with Mimi. I'm really not particular, so I'm just hoping to pick up one around here somewhere.

Baby Monitor
We had an old intercom thing that we used when Asher was little and we lived with Mimi, but it broke. I would really like to get one of those video monitors just so I could see what really goes on when Asher (and in the future his little brother) are going to sleep and waking up. Probably I will take what I can find, but I hope I don't have to buy it new. Like everything else they are way overpriced here.

Changing Table
This is like my ultimate dream. I've never had one before and really I figure that if I never had one with Asher I really don't need one (pretty much like everything else on this list). But it would be fun to have a nice organized place to put all of the diaper stuff. I found one here that matches the baby bed and seems pretty nice. Items like this leave me wishing that IKEA would just go ahead and come to Bangkok!

A New Place to Sit

We went to the Thailand International Furniture Fair recently and bought a house full of furniture. Okay, so maybe not a house full, but we did pick up a few things to start furnishing our house with. My favorite find of the day was a table and chairs for Asher. I have been looking for something like this since we got here and I found the perfect one.

Check out the chairs. There's an elephant, a bear, a cat and a green thing.

I sort of planned on putting the table upstairs in Asher's room, but it ended up downstairs because that's where Asher spends most of his time. He has figured out how to climb up in the chair by himself and he spends a lot of time each day playing cars on top of the table.

Besides playing cars and reading books at his table Asher has been watching this video a lot lately.

It's called "The Chang Song" and it's in Thai and we only understand one word: chang (elephant). The song is super catchy and we listen to it several times a day. I'm sure Asher will understand all of the words long before Roger and I.

Asher's Canadian Room

I have had this dream of having a nursery for Asher for a while now, like way before he was born. It didn't happen in Indonesia (not enough time), it didn't happen in Kentucky (no room) and it didn't happen in Virginia (not our place). Now that we have settled down in Canada for the next four months in our very own apartment Asher gets to have his own room and my little dream has come true!

Here are some pictures of the fun stuff in Asher's room.

Thank you Beth Jackson for making the letters for Asher's name, it is a wonderful gift. Beth made them to match Asher's bumper pad and I think they are amazing. She even made them out of foam board so they would be super light weight and easy to pack.

Asher's elephants are all from Bangkok, except for the big one, it's a humidifier from Target.

We got all of the stuffed elephants while we were in Bangkok for our honeymoon and a few years later when we were there for vacation. When we got them I never dreamed they would end up in my baby's room.

The coat rack we also bought while on our honeymoon in a neat little shop in Chiang Mai, I can't wait to get back there and buy more fun stuff for our home in Bangkok. Each of the hooks is a little elephant. Asher's winter coat and hat are ready for the cold days ahead, he hasn't worn them much yet, but it is definitely getting colder here. Asher's little backpack (his birthday gift from Mimi) looks so cute hanging up there.

The Cheeser

So far Asher has done well adjusting to another new place. This week he has been in childcare almost all day everyday, but he has had a lot of fun. He loves the people taking care of him and has fun playing with the other kiddos.

Today when we went to pick him up his teachers had a funny story for us. There is one other preschooler here and Asher and her usually play together just fine. Today his teacher noticed that he kept chasing her around trying to grab her back. After a while she realized that the little girls shirt was made from the same material as Asher's blanket. Asher thought she was wearing a blanket and wanted to rub his face on her! He's such a funny baby!

Asher in Virginia - Week 4

Sunday morning Asher needed a bath after his day at the beach, luckily he woke up early and we had plenty of time to play in the tub and take some pictures of Asher and his bear towel.

Monday afternoon Asher played practiced pulling up and standing. Playing guitar with Daddy is motivation for his to do almost anything.

I went to a consignment shop Tuesday afternoon and got Asher a great new toy, a walker he can push around the Quad. He loves it and he spent most of Tuesday afternoon/evening showing off how well he can walk.

On this rainy Wednesday afternoon we had to get out the rain cover for Asher's stroller. He stayed nice and dry while Roger and I got pretty wet getting to and from dinner. He loved pushing his feet up against the plastic.

Asher skipped the first part of school on Thursday and stayed home to play with me. We read lots of books and spent a long time walking around the Quad. He is super fast with his walker and loves to go running across the room.

Friday found Asher still playing with his walker, he never lets go of it, even when he falls.

Saturday night we went to visit the Johnson's at their new home in RVA. While the parents enjoyed talking and eating pizza the kids enjoyed playing with toys and wrestling. Asher saw the two girls wrestling on the floor and crawled right over and joined in the fun.

We are now at the half-way mark of our time in Virginia, I can't believe how fast these past 4 weeks have gone by. Asher is changing so much everyday!

Asher's New Toy

Asher's Top 10 @ 10

It's finally time for another Top 10 @ 10. When Asher was ten weeks old we put together a list of his ten favorite things, now that he is ten months old we are making a new list.

1. Mommy and Daddy

These guys are the best! I like them so much that I sometimes refuse to go see anybody else. I love to grab Daddy's nose and pull Mommy's hair, I love to ride on Daddy's shoulders and ride in Mommy's sling, and most of all I love it when they tickle me and make me giggle.

2. Milk

This one remains as one of my favorites. I still love it and I refuse to start my day without it. Sorry, no picture for this one, Mom says that would be weird and Dad whole-heartedly agrees.

3. Green Froggy Blanket

I sleep with my blanket every time I go to sleep. I fall asleep best if my blanket is over my face and almost stuffed in my mouth. Mommy and Daddy have to come up and check on me and take the blanket off of my face after I fall asleep, but they say it is totally worth it since I will fall asleep by myself.

4. Guitar

A few weeks ago my thrifty Mom went to a yard sale and bought me my first guitar. It plays songs from The Wiggles and well, those songs make me wiggle. Sometimes Daddy gets out his guitar and we play our guitars together.

5. Pacifier

This is another holdover from my original Top 10 List. I have definitely not out-grown this and really plan on never giving it up. (Mommy says there is no way I am giving it up until after we make the 14 hour flight to Thailand.) I don't need it all the time, but I require it for falling asleep and often enjoy it while riding in my car seat or when I get fussy.

6. Playing Outside

My favorite outside thing is flying in a swing, but I also love strolling around, feeding the ducks and sitting in the grass. When I get bored and tired of my inside toys Daddy will walk around outside with me so I can check out the yard and play with the dogs.

7. Sippy Cup

For the past few months I tried to drink out of a sippy cup, but it was too hard. It was just too heavy and it was too hard to get the water out of it. The other day Mimi let me drink out of her straw, it took me a few minutes to figure it out, but now I love to drink out of straws. Mom went out and bought me a big boy sippy cup with a straw and I love it!

8. Swimming

I. Love. Water. I don't care if it's hot or cold, sunny or rainy, the bathtub or the swimming pool, I just love to be in the water. I'm glad I'm moving to Thailand so I can swim all year round.

9. Books

One of my favorite places to play is the corner of my room with all of the books. I play with my books by myself sometimes, but it is even more fun if somebody reads a book to me.

10. Mobility

I love to run around the house in my walker and I am trying to start crawling. I can also walk around if somebody will hold my hands so I don't fall down. I love to get into everything and I love to chase people.

Thanks for reading another Top 10 @ 10, I hope you learned a lot about me!

More Pool Time

This week we have been swimming almost everyday. We went with Mimi and few times and then spent an entire afternoon swimming and eating popsicles with the Powell boys. I didn't take any pictures (I was too busy trying to keep sunscreen on Asher's head and a pacifier in his mouth), but I do have some swimming pictures from a few weeks ago.



Don't you love Asher's baby (fake) Crocs? Actually I don't love them, I love the way they look, but he can get them off in a split second. They are probably one of the least functional baby items I have ever purchased. His swim shirt on the other hand, one of the best. It cuts way down on the amount of sunscreen he has to wear. An added bonus: he has the world's sweetest farmer's tan.

Today I received Asher's new swim diapers in the mail. They are Imse Vimse cloth swim diapers and I am very excited to try them out. Swim diapers are expensive and we have been using a ton of them lately, I am hoping that these cloth diapers will be an easy way to save money. I'm also not sure if I can buy swim diapers in Thailand. It's hot all the time in Thailand and I know we will be doing a lot of swimming, this way I know Asher will be prepared.

Traveling with a Baby

Everybody knows that we travel a lot. While I was pregnant with Asher we flew almost 30,000 miles, and while we have slowed down a little since he was born, we still spend a lot of time going places. We started out flying to the beach when Asher was 7 weeks old, flying half-way around the world (literally) when he was 13 weeks old and then driving all over the southeast and flying to Denver during the past few months.

One of my Momma friends recently wrote a post about traveling with baby and I thought I would add my thoughts about traveling on airplanes with babies.

1. A good stroller is a must for long trips. We started out with a travel system, but now have a Maclaren Triumph. It's super lightweight and easy to fold up. When we had the travel system we would gate check the stroller and car seat, now we check the car seat with our luggage (it's free to check a car seat) and only gate check the stroller. When we are in an airport Asher stays in his stroller most of the time, but having a sling is great for those other times.

2. Try to not get stressed. When we flew from Indonesia to America we traveled for 2 days with 6 checked bags, a stroller, a car seat, a guitar, a diaper bag, 2 carry on bags and an infant. It was a lot of stuff and it was a tough trip, but I think one reason we made it so easily was that we just took it one step at a time and tried to stay calm.

Roger struggling with all of our bags and Asher struggling to stay awake.

3. I love nursing tank tops and my hooter hider! For two days of flying all Asher did was eat and sleep and these shirts made it so easy for him to eat and the hooter hider made it easy for me to feed him. Actually I love my hooter hider all the time, I use it anytime we are out and Asher needs to eat. It is probably one of the best baby things I have bought.

4. Dress warm and take a change of clothes! Airplanes are cold and babies like to be warm, so when we fly Asher wears pajamas with feet. That way I can change diapers easily, he stays warm and I don't have to keep up with socks. For our long trip I took several pairs of pajamas and put a clean outfit on him every 12 hours. I also took little baby hats so that his little bald head would stay warm.

Asher was nice and warm, but feeling a little crazy after 2 days on an airplane.

Well, I think that's all of the advice that I have. Basically, go prepared and enjoy yourself. If you have any questions let me know, I would love to help.

Asher's Friends

Asher is fascinated with other kids, whether they are bigger than him or smaller than him he loves to be around them. He had a great time getting to know Maddie and recently he has gotten to see some of his other buddies.
Alex recently turned a year old and invited Asher to his birthday bash.

This is actually the best picture of the two of them that I got. Trying to get two pictures of wiggly boys is hard! Asher watched with wide eyes as Alex tore into his birthday cake and got a bunch of new toys. I had a great time eating pizza and cake and talking to my friends.

A few weeks ago Asher's cousin (well, I guess technically his second cousin) came over to celebrate Easter. She was pretty confused as to why a lot of her baby toys were at our house. Asher has been borrowing her swing, bouncy seat, exersaucer and the famous walker since we moved to America.

Asher wasn't exactly the most gracious host. He pinned her up against the wall and grabbed her hand, every time she would get loose he would chase her and catch her again. He is a genius in that walker!

Now, these two are not exactly kids, but Asher did have fun eating dinner with them a few weeks ago in Lexington.

Don't Sarah and Woody look good with a baby? I think they should look into getting one of their own!

I Love My Sling

I love wearing Asher in a sling. There are many different kinds and many different brands. I have a New Native Baby Carrier, I have no idea if it is the best, but I got it for $15 from a website called Mama Bargains. I would love a cute HotSling! but they pretty expensive.

Prayer of Hannah: GIVEAWAY: A Pouch Sling!

This blog is having a giveaway for a pouch sling. To enter all you have to do is leave a comment, so go and leave a comment and hopefully you will win a sling!

I have been wearing Asher in a sling since he was a tiny newborn. I think this picture was taken when he was about a week old.


Doesn't he look sweet all curled up in there? When Asher was first born I would wear him in the sling almost every morning while I fixed myself breakfast and straightened up the house. Now that he is bigger I usually wear him on my hip or sitting up in front of me in the sling. Here is a picture from our trip to the beach. Asher rode in the sling almost the whole time we were on the beach.

Although I used to make fun of slings (click here to read about it), I am now a big fan. They are sort of difficult to get used to, but once you get the hang of it they are very easy to use and most babies love them.

Six Months

Asher is a spiky, red haired six month old!
Sometimes the hair is not so spiky and sometimes it is more blonde than red, but it always makes people smile. The name "Asher" means happy and we love to see how happy Asher makes people. Every week as we go grocery shopping we watch as people see Asher and smile, every time we are at church we watch people rub his fuzzy hair and smile. We love that our son is such a happy baby and that he makes other people happy, too.

We haven't been to the doctor in a while, but I think Asher weighs about 17 pounds. He has just started eating cereal and some vegetables, but still loves milk more than anything else. Asher still rolls over all the time and is learning to sit up on his own.

Asher's favorite toy is his walker, he gets in it and zooms around the kitchen playing with his toys, opening and closing drawers and grabbing towels to stick in his mouth. When he gets tired of the walking he goes under the table and plays.