2 1/2 years old

You're 2 1/2 years old today! Right now...

• you love mango!
• we are so proud that you can sing the whole ABC song, enunciating each letter! This is probably because you request that we sing it all the time.
• when we were in Santa Fe, one of the street singers sang the ABC's to you. You loved it!
• going to the church nursery one day a week is a highlight of your week!
• your favorite bedtime snack is either graham crackers with peanut butter or rye crackers with cream cheese and Promite
• we can hear both an Australian and an American accent in your speech
• if it comes from our garden, you'll eat it. You love picking tomatoes off of the vines.
• you love to play Hide & Seek. You count "1...2...8,9,10!" We have to hide quickly! You're not too interested in hiding yet.
• you can accurately name most of your body parts, including random ones like elbow. 
• you're doing great with potty training, as long as you aren't wearing anything on your bottom half! 
• you enjoy doing crafts at story time in the library. You like cutting with your scissors and using a glue stick.
• you have started praying by yourself at night (but usually repeating after us) and even at mealtimes!
• random things make you enthusiastic- "Asher, the table is brown." Asher says, "Oooo! Brown!"
• you haven't yet figured out that your ice cream is really frozen yogurt
• when you have a potty success, and you remember to ask for a mini M&M, you also want one for every one else in the house. You give one to each person and very rarely eat them yourself!
• you tell jokes, but they only make sense to you!
• so far, the terrible twos haven't been that terrible, thankfully. 
• we are definitely blessed!

Rain

We received some unseasonal wet and cool weather! It finally stopped raining long enough for Asher to go out and play. We went for a walk around the block and met up with some neighborhood boys, threw rocks in a stream, I caught a frog (and impressed the boys... "Asher's mom caught a frog!"). We ended our adventure by playing in a puddle. Asher still had his dish towel "super ee-o" cape on!

Grand Canyon National Park Photos (link)

The grand canyon was awesome, y'all. As Asher said, "Wow! BIG hole!"

We narrowed down our 1000+ photos, chose the best sixty or so, resized them, uploaded them to facebook, and now I can't find them on the computer anymore. The original, large photos are there, just not the small edited ones. So instead of resorting them all, here is the link to my facebook where you can see them all:

Grand Canyon Photos on Facebook

It took us three days to drive there, and we stayed four nights (the perfect length for us), and then three days to drive back. On the drive we visited a (retired) volcano, petroglyphs, a petrified forest, drove through a dust storm, and visited way too many wal-marts. We stayed at KOA's on the way, in cabins. KOA's are great, everything is similar so you know what you're going to get. The cabins means we didn't have to put up a tent, and we didn't have to pay for showers (like we did at Grand Canyon).

Asher did really well with the driving, and staying in a tent, and not falling into the "big hole" or anything like that. Check out the photos!

UMHB Alumni Dorm Dash Part 2

See this post for the story behind the photos and some photos of us in our dorm!

 Meredith and myself in front of one of the Mary Hardin Baylor signs.

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They had a coffee story swap time in the Alumni building and museum. Not too sure what the story swap thing was about, however, there was a box of photo props...

Some of the new additions on campus include lots of potted plants and hanging baskets, and swings!

We were very lucky to be able to take a hard hat tour of the new stadium under construction.

Meredith. I think she was in the middle of saying something.

Me!

From the home side looking at the visitor's side. It is going to be great when it is done!

UMHB Alumni Dorm Dash 2013

My friend Meredith and I went to the University of Mary Hardin Baylor to get our BA's in Education. I started in 1997, she began in 1998, and we both graduated in 2002. I took a semester off to live in Australia and returned to graduate with a different group than I started with.

After graduation I taught school for a year, and moved to Australia to study at Tabor Bible College in Perth (God has such a sense of humor, but that's another story). I started dating and became engaged to David, then moved back to Texas for a year. David arrived, we got married, he returned to Australia, I followed a few months later once I got my visa. We lived there for six years (with a stint in Indonesia) before moving back to Texas in January of 2013. At some point I remember I took Dave to visit UMHB during the summer.

Anyway, since I graduated  in 2002 I have only been back to the university once for a visit. I haven't been able to go to any homecoming games and I missed our 10 year reunion in 2012 (I was out of the country). So when the UMHB Alumni association contacted us about the Dorm Dash I was pretty excited. Meredith and I were able to go and stay in the dorms overnight and take tours to see the new buildings and the stadium under construction. It was the first ever Dorm Dash, so there was room for improvement (we wanted to go IN the new buildings) but overall it was great fun being back on campus.

Now for the photos!

Our dorm room for the night in Remschel

View from Remschel facing new stadium

My old dorm- Stribling- with the new stadium bring built right behind it.
Not sure how I feel about that- a football stadium just a few yards from student accommodation? It will also house the SUB, dining hall, etc so from that standpoint it is convenient.

The apartment Meredith and I shared. It didn't have a name at that time!


See this post for more photos!

Random photos of the week

Asher's first haircut, by Aunt Gail ("Dale!")

Dave and Asher examine a crawdad at Raby Park. Dave notices it it a girl and has parasites.

New tire swing! We had to convince Asher to get in but once he was in he was happy. Note that it is about 6 inches off of the ground.

Asher loves to help me by pushing the button on my chopper. After I took the blades out I gave him the little bits of almond that was left. He ate some, then all was quiet. I found him loading his train with he almond meal.

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Dave's arrival

After three months, Dave finally arrived in the US! Asher and I arrived in Arlington at the same time Dave's flight landed. It took him about two hours to get through customs and immigration, and get to the KOA where we were staying.

(We chose to stay at a KOA instead of a hotel because-

• the deluxe cabin was cheaper than a hotel room
• the cabin had a compact kitchen and a seperate room for Asher
• KOA's have playgrounds and other amenities hotels do not
• the KOA was central to where we wanted to visit)

I didn't tell Asher that Daddy was coming until just before he arrived. We talk about Daddy all the time, but then I let Asher to get all excited yelling "Da! Da!" So he was really excited as Dave arrived, and then wouldn't let him out of his sight, and kept asking, "Dada, byebye?"

We visited the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. According to the website, the exhibits were suitable for children ages 0-8. Really, not so much. More like 4 years and up. Asher was overwhelmed by all the schoolkids on field trips, and there really wasn't much he could do.

He did enjoy a few exhibits...

The trains captured his attention immediately.

There was an outdoor area to play with water.

 We also ate out at a restaurant called Abuelo's, which is rated one of the US's top Mexican places to eat. Asher loved the nachos and Chile con Queso. He does really well at restaurants, for a two year old. They gave him milk in a cup with a lid and straw, which was great.

You can't tell by his face, but he was having fun!

How to play football like a 2 year old

This is how to play football like a 2 year old...

First you get Grandpa to throw the ball...

And then you try to throw it back.

In any way possible...

Using both hands if necessary...

And sometimes in the wrong direction.

And you have to have just the right magic moves...

 And if that doesn't work try levitating the ball with the power of your mind.

And it always helps to wear two different shoes.

Easter Egg Hunt March 23

Eggies!

Today was the community wide Easter Egg hunt- Asher's first Easter egg hunt ever. Yesterday we let him practice in the backyard so he'd at least have an idea of what to do. (He picked them up and threw them at me like balls yesterday).

They divided up the field into ages, with eggs spread in each, and a line dividing the sections. The 0-2 group's eggs were closer to the fence, and each subsequent age group's eggs were spread further out, with the oldest group's eggs hidden throughout trees.

 All the groups started at the same time. Asher really enjoyed finding eggs and putting them in the basket.

 And then he discovered that there were things inside the eggs! And then he had to shake and open each egg and examine its' contents. So the egg hunting progressed a bit more slowly then.

 And he enjoyed it. When we got home we opened all the eggs, I let him have some chocolate and then I hid the rest of the chocolate from him. So far he seems to have forgotten about it, thankfully. I don't know if I am stricter than usual in terms of food, but he doesn't get chocolate to eat. Or candy or lollipops. Or whatever. TV is the thing I let slide, as a stay-at-home and temporarily single mom, it is the one thing that gives me a break when I am with Asher all day every day. But that's another story!

I haven't been to any Easter Egg hunts as an adult or a mom, so I have no basis of comparison, but I found this one to be well organized. There were lots of eggs, more than enough for each child (though I heard some moms, with kids' baskets overflowing, disagree). Asher didn't care at all for the 'Easter Bunny' so no photos of that. We were able to find a parking spot facing the field so Mom didn't have to leave the car on that cold and wet morning to watch.

Did you notice the liner for the basket? I whipped that up in about 20 minutes, and if you don't look too closely it looks fantastic! I wanted to brighten up his Easter basket. Filling it up with eggs covers all the flaws!

Happy Easter!

Wordless Wednesday- 20th February

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Boy did Asher wake up cranky today, and early too! But we went back into the bedroom, had a cuddle, and tried again. And he had a happy morning!

We made cookies for Valentine's Day. Asher stirred (he likes stirring) and smushed spoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheet. (Look at Asher's serious face.)
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So far (the last 3 months)

This post is to catch people up from when we left Exmouth to now...

So, our time in Perth was great, but somewhat hectic and stressful. It was good to be back with Dave's family for a while, to meet our new niece Kaitlyn (Dave's sister's baby), and to catch up with people. Dave's experience at the farm ended much better than the time before, though now the farm is experiencing a different set of problems (farming, 'even just fish,' is never easy!).

Our flight to the US was better than expected, Asher having his own seat made a difference. He really was quite good for the flight, but the times when he was crying or upset felt like it lasted forever. Did I ever tell you that Asher threw up on our last trip to the US- on the lady next to us? It really can't get much worse than your child vomiting on the stranger next to you at the beginning of a 16 hour flight. So in comparison, this flight was easy!

Texas Weather

 Whether the weather is nice, or not, or somewhere in-between, we try to get outside for a few hours a day.

A Day in the Park

Australia Day, ANZAC biscuits

Happy Australia Day!

I've celebrated by making two batches of ANZAC biscuits- the first batch failed miserably, so I tried a different recipe. Anzac biscuits are usually made on Anzac (Veteran's) day, but I like the recipe and figured it was definitely Australian enough for Australia day!

Asherisms

 He's a bit anatomically challenged!

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• Asher has started beeping when he backs up. 
• He kisses things he likes, including waffles and his toy plane.
• Today's toddler-invented game involved me sitting hidden around the corner, and Asher comes around the corner, and I say "boo," Asher falls over, I fall over, Asher leaps onto me, and says "more boo! more boo!" And we begin again.
• Asher has discovered mailboxes (living in Exmouth, we never had a mailbox he could check, only a PO box). Dad leaves the junk mail in it for him and he loves to open it!
• He has worked out the difference between a sneeze (achoo) and a burp (bup!) but thinks a cough is a burp.
• We can have complete conversations without me knowing what he is saying.
• If he wants me to go somewhere, he grabs my hand and says "walk!"
• If he is pushing something, he says, "the push!"
• He asks for his Daddy continuously, all day. Dada? (Dada's not here.) Door? (Yes, Dada went out the door.) Car? (Yes, Dada's in a car.) And most recently, plane? (Dada's not in a plane, yet).
• He likes to feed the dog acorn and pecans. The dog will chew on them, too!

CARES harness and the flight

In retrospect, Asher did well on the flights. It felt like forever when he was crying or upset, but generally he was quite content and slept for a good portion of the flight. Something different we did this time was to book his own seat (technically, he is two weeks shy of being a 2 year old and needing his own seat, but I didn't want to hold him for a 15 hour flight!! We also bought a cares harness, attaches to the airplane seat to create a harness.

He has a scrape on his nose.

A big benefit is that the harness lets him sleep in the seat without slumping too much to the side. And there is the safety aspect and all that. He didn't like it when he was awake, though! You can read more about it here: http://kidsflysafe.com/

Things that we did on this flight that worked well:

• portable DVD player for flight from Perth to Sydney (they didn't have personal screens)
• CARES harness
• Asher had his own seat
• Asher had his own carryon that was full of toys that had multiple uses- paper for coloring, drawing, and sticking stickers on, travel 'magna doodle,' etc
• homemade sticker book (laminated paper) and lots of stickers
• lift the flap books
• books about planes, coloring pages about planes, toy plane
• lots of grapes, animal crackers (that was all he'd eat!)
• putting a disposable diaper disposal bag with 2 wet wipes in each diaper to streamline the process
• pull-up diapers to make diaper changing in the little bathroom easier

Things that didn't work so well:

• toy car- he loves them, but the passenger behind us had to keep fetching them!
• walking up and down the aisle... he wanted to be carried!
• the plane food. He just didn't care for it, despite having a toddler/child meal

We've always received compliments from the flight attendants on his behaviour, and this flight was no exception. I think it helps to be extra prepared and to expect not to enjoy yourself but to spend the flight keeping your child sane, content, quiet and distracted!

Dada, dada, dada?

 

Dave and Asher at Kings Park before Asher and I flew to Texas.

Throughout the day Asher looks hopefully at me and asks "Dada?" I tell him that Dada isn't here. He asks, "Door?' Yes, Dada went out the door. "Car?" Yes, Dada is in the car. And he's satisfied. Dada's going to be in the car for a while yet!

Back in Texas

Wow, it has been a while since I posted! We've moved back to Perth since then, and Asher and I have flown to Texas. Dave is still waiting for his visa, we estimate it might still be a month and a half at least before he gets his visa.

We had a bit of a scare when we had emailed the visa center to change our address, and they replied requesting us to submit a particular form with documents- which we had mailed in early December! The packet contained originals (as requested) so not only was it a scary thing to lost, it also meant it would take a while to get more originals to send in. Eventually I was able to contact the NVC by phone and they said it was an automatic response for that stage of our visa, and that they had approved that portion that day! Which means next the paperwork gets sent to Sydney for Dave's interview. We're getting there!

Dave has our laptop so I only have photos from the memory card to upload. Here is a random selection...

 

The tiger at Perth zoo.

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