We are in!

We are moved into our house, and I am LOVING it. It is still in various stages of disarray and confusion, but it has carpet, a bathtub (no shower yet), a fully operational kitchen, an air conditioner (just a window one--we aren't that ritzy yet), and a toilet! What more can a girl ask for. Not a whole lot, except it would be nice to have blinds, windows without holes in them, a bathroom sink, a shower, walls without holes in them, light switches that work, washer and dryer hook ups, ceilings without holes in them, and a closet. But I can be patient, I'm just thrilled to not be a hobo anymore and to start unpacking (which I enjoy SO much more than packing).

All in all, life is really good. I just look at our house and I feel like I have been the recipient of a miracle. Not only a miracle that we could actually afford to buy a house (Some time really soon I intend to blog about all the AMAZING first time home buyer programs I found out about), but that we actually got the house to a livable standard in the short time we had. God sent so many angels to help us and I am so grateful for their help.

I just have to keep reminding myself that blessings are only blessings if they bring you closer to God. I have a roof over my head (which I just happen to own-- how crazy is that!), I have a husband who loves me and who is committed to providing for me and my baby, and I have the gospel of Jesus Christ. There really is nothing more that a girl needs.

The Birth Survey

If you have had a baby in the last three years click here to participated in the the MOST AWESOME SURVEY EVER!

It is called The Transparency in Maternity Care Project and is sponsored by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS). The purpose is to provide women with "accurate, objective data in order to make fully informed choices about birth settings and providers", and to give practitioners and hospital administrators the data they need to evaluate whether they are delivering quality care. When it is finished the hope is that a woman could look up her doctor/hospital and read reviews on the care provided, see c-section rates, and intervention rates, etc... Women would be able to find doctors/midwives that matched their ideology and needs.

I am SO excited that this is FINALLY getting done. It was my dream as a public health graduate to do something like this. I've heard rumors that there are efforts to do this sort of thing for ALL types of medicine. So that say you needed a knee replacement, you could look up the hospital/doctor and see their success rate, compare prices, methods, etc... How AWESOME would that be. It would be one step towards changing health care in America-- but I won't get started on that one!

So PLEASE if you've had a baby recently take the time to participate in the survey. Your voice will make a difference. I've heard that there has been a HUGE response to this survey-- in fact I think the server crashed once because so many people were trying to get on. I think this just goes to show that women WANT to have have their voices heard, and that they are eager to see CHANGE!

Please... Can I have one... Pretty Please...

Last week we went to the Cache County Fair with my wonderful cousin and his wife (who also happens to be a doula), and I have to admit I was most excited about seeing the chickens. There were TONS of chickens and it was hilarious to see all the different techniques the owners used to get the chickens out of their cages. I think the funniest one was the guy who grabbed them by the legs and held them upside down till they stopped wiggling.

Anyway, they had these chickens called Silkies and they are GORGEOUS-- well as gorgeous as a chicken can get. The look like Hostess Snoballs on legs. Their feathers are really fine and silky (thus the name) but I still haven't figured out how they can see anything through all their fluff. They are suppose to be really calm and friendly and make good pets, but are poor egg layers. I still REALLY want one, or two, or three. I told Jon that it has now become my highest ambition to win the Silkies fluffy chicken contest at the county fair! I can't wait till we get our yard done (next summer) so I can have chickens!
Here are some more pictures for you to oogle and drool over.

Crawl? Whatever... I'm flying first!

We think Asher might fly before he learns to crawl. Lately he has turned into an arm flapping maniac! Whenever he is happy, excited, frustrated, interested, bored, and for other unknown reasons he ducks his head and flaps his arms like his life depended on it. It is way cute, especially when he just really intense and sticks his arms out in front of him and goes... "uhhhhhh"



Yesterday someone, I don't remember who, really scared me because they told me that arm flapping is a sign of autism. I don't think they meant to scare me, but being a mother I started to worry. I had to google "autism" just to make sure Asher didn't have any other signs of autism-- I think he's okay. Everything I read said that arm flapping is only a sign of autism if they are older (like 3 or 4) and have been missing developmental milestones. Asher is right on track, so I don't need to worry. It kind of silly but for some reason autism scares me. I guess because it seems to be getting more common and no one knows why. It is really useless to worry about it, because even if he was autistic I would love him just the same. So I've made a new goal to STOP WORRYING and just enjoy his arm flapping stage, because just like everything else-- it will be over much too soon.



This is a cute video of Asher and I playing peek-a-boo at my Dad's house in Idaho Falls.

Introducing Drew and Brittany Thomas

It is official. My wonderful baby brother got married on Friday in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was an amazing day. Everything went wonderful. His bride looked beautiful and I've never seen my brother so happy. They are really so sweet with each other and I can't think of anyone I'd rather have as a new sister than Britt. It is so much fun to get in-laws! At least I've been really lucky so far and LOVE all of mine. The only downside was that it was windy-- but it is Idaho-- what do you expect!



Asher was Drew's best man, he got to wear a tuxedo. It even had a little cummerbund! He got more attention and kisses from all the bridesmaids than any other best man I know of.

You know marriage is really such a funny thing. One minute you don't have any responsibility to each other, and then with only a few words you make eternal promises. It is amazing how powerful words are. The best thing about getting married is that it just gets better and better. It is a crash course in love, and I think it helps us learn to love like God loves. I am thrilled for Drew and Britt and wish them all the best!

Hobo Heather

I've been hoboing it for the last week with Asher, and man... it is hard to be homeless with a baby. It has been an amazingly crazy week.

It started with our move, which went REALLY well thanks to wonderful family and helpful Elders Quorums. But I've decided that I own WAY too much stuff. My friend mentioned that humans are like goldfish, whatever size "bowl" you put them in they grow to fill it. When Jon and I moved from our one bedroom Provo apartment we only had a U-HAUL trailer and a suburban. This time we barely fit in a 17 ft U-HAUL and truck! Uggg. There is something really humbling and overwhelming about seeing everything you own in the world sitting out on the front lawn, and then trying to stuff it into a truck.

After the move, Jon went back to Valmy, Nevada for the whole week to work on the pilot water treatment plant they are setting up out there. (Just for your info, Valmy is the middle of nowhere northern Nevada, by Winnemucca and Battle Mountain-- in case that means anything to you). I went up to Logan to work on the house, but since our house is in various stages of demolition, I stayed at a friend's house. They are living in SLC for the summer. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I tried to paint the house with a baby strapped on my back. It worked fairly well, but I am SO grateful for my cousin who came and helped me for two days. By Thursday night I was BURNT out and I had to call Jon and complain and cry for awhile. In classic guy manner he tried to fix the problem, but I told him that all I wanted was for him to tell me "I love you, I'm proud of you, and MAN YOU ARE ONE HOT SUPER MAMA FOR PAINTING THE HOUSE WHILE TAKING CARE OF A BABY ALL BY YOURSELF!" Yep, I'm glad he's home and I'm glad his work had pity on me and isn't making him go back to Nevada for another week!

Okay, enough of my sob story. Now the exciting part. Asher says "Mama" and Jon and I both swear that he knows it means me. He's been babbling "dada" and "ma ma ma" for awhile now, but the other night Jon went to put him in his crib before I'd fed him for the night, and as soon as Asher saw me he started crying "Ma ma ma ma" and reaching for me! I think he knows that is me. So we are officially counting that as his first word. I'm not sure if he knows "da da" yet. I really want his next word to be "kisses" but that might be too hard:)

Other exciting Asher news. A few days ago during his bath, I was SO surprised to see Asher lean way forward, grab the side of the tub and pull himself up! I think he was really suprised too because then he almost dive bombed it over the edge! He hasn't done it again, but he is trying SO hard to move, crawl and stand up. I sure hope we get this house cleaned up before he can start moving all over.

I might be really sporadic in my blogging the next couple of weeks because life is going to be B-U-S-Y. This week Jon is here (yippee) and we are going to finish painting (in shalla-- Arabic for "God Willing) and then go up to Idaho for my little baby brother's wedding! Only a few more weeks of hobo heaven... or hell... depending on the day :)

Bitter Sweet

We are moving tomorrow. It is going to be REALLY hard for me to leave. I knew when we moved in a little over a year ago that we wouldn't be here for very long, but I didn't expect my heart to get so attached to people and to places. It has never been so hard for me to say goodbye before. I guess it is because I've made friends with several of the old ladies in our ward and I know that when I say goodbye, it is goodbye for good. That is hard.

It is also going to be hard to leave this apartment, not only because we have great neighbors and friends, but because this is the house where Asher was born. One of my friends who also had a home birth wrote a post entitled "A Baby Was Born Here" and I think she really summed up how I feel about this apartment. It really is a sacred place to me, and sometimes when I am sitting in my front room I get flashbacks (good ones) to me lying in the birth pool staring at the Christmas tree with Jon stroking my hair, me making a figure 8 pacing pattern in the hallway while holding my belly, me sitting on the toilet in my fleece PJs, and me squatting against the bed posts with Jon and the midwife squeezing my hips. Mostly I remember the sacred and peaceful feeling our home had for days after Asher was born, and how I felt like a queen.

I believe that the place where a baby is born does become sacred, because for a few moments the bridge between heaven and earth is WIDE open and life begins. That doesn't happen ANYWHERE else on earth except in the places where babies are born. It is going to be hard to leave this place behind. But I guess I can console myself by realizing that someday I'll be able to bring Asher back and show him where he was born. I could even put my foot on the exact spot.

I hope several more babies will be born at our new house in Logan-- if so maybe I'll have to get a sign to put on my door that says "A Baby Was Born Here". It'd be a good conversation starter :)

Sheet Rocking Marathon

Over the 24th of July weekend Jon and I pulled a regular house working marathon. When we were tearing up the WAY nasty carpet in the bedroom, Jon's uncle accidentally put his hammer through the wall and we realized that the walls had never been sheet rocked. The people before had just put up wood paneling and the lathe and plaster was falling off behind it. So we had to pull it all off to the bare walls and put up insulation and sheet rock. Woah, what a lot of work! For three days we painted, demolished, cut sheet rock, hung sheet rock, ate sheet rock, slept in sheet rock, bathed in sheet rock and breathed in sheet rock.
I also got the living room painted and the cupboards in the kitchen painted. It is starting to look better little by little, but there is SO much to do. I am trying really hard not to stress out or get overwhelmed. We have to be out of our apartment by this Saturday so we are going to move all our stuff up there and just put it in one of the rooms while we finish up the rest of the house. I don't really know where I am going to be living (Jon will be in Nevada for work for 3 weeks). It is hard to be a hobo when you have a baby!

Here are some before and after pictures of the outside of the house


Before painting the outside

After painting

Before painting

After Painting


Jon tearing off the lathe and plaster in the bedroom


The bedroom torn down the the bear walls, can you see the dust!



This isn't a good picture, but I found that strapping Asher on my back was the best way to get any work done. I COMPLETELY understand why African women wear their babies this way. It frees up your hands, keeps the little nursling from grabbing things, and he really seemed to like it. He even tried to fall asleep. You know, we are so lucky to live the way we do. It would be SO hard to have to work in a field, carry water several miles, and do all the things those African women do when you had a baby to carry on your back! Wow.

MASSIVE OVERLOAD OF PICTURES

Yippee! I finally got some pictures downloaded so here are all the pictures I have been storing up-- yes and most of them are of Asher. I'm a crazy mom like that.

First time biting his stroller-- okay actually it is like the 100th time, he does it all the time!



First bag of cotton candy-- no I didn't let him eat, what type of mom do you think I am!



First time sitting in a shopping cart-- the belt was broken so I strapped him in with my sling



First time at the Shakespeare festival, and unfortunately NOT his first mowhawk



First time putting his hand on Wiiliam Shakespeare's leg



First time on the Merry-Go-Round at Lagoon




First time backpacking with Mom



First time sleeping in a tent--man what a rough night! I kept wondering what someone walking in the woods (in the middle of the night) would think if they heard a baby crying way up in the mountains.



This is my FAVORITE picture! Asher LOVES hiking and camping--I've never seen him so happy!



Zonked ou from all the strenuous hiking--really how can anyone fall asleep like that!


First time trying on glasses. Dad was getting a new pair- not these ones, though he almost did--really!It was a hard battle but I won.

Laboring to Save Home Births

This is a BEAUTIFUL article about the struggle the Amish women are having to protect their right to have home births.

I LOVE the last few paragraphs when one Amish woman describes her birth. She says “I pace my kitchen floor, lean over my chair, say my prayers…. When Diane comes, she’s my boss.” The article continues, "Even Annie’s most difficult delivery was met with a sunrise, a moment so tranquil, she recalls, she gave the child the middle name of “Joy.” An Amish mother expecting her sixth child recalls how Goslin (the midwife) strapped her birthing supplies on a toboggan and walked uphill to her farm when the road was impassible one winter. “I didn’t even think to be worried. I figured she’d get here. She always does.”

I LOVE this perspective on birth-- filled with Joy, Faith and Trust instead of fear, uncertainty and not trusting that women's bodies know what they are doing. I REALLY believe that this is how birth is suppose to be-- natural, peaceful and attended to by a woman whom the mother trusts and admires.

I feel SO lucky that I had an AMAZING midwife. Over the few months that I got to know her, Vivian really became a dear friend and a woman whom I would trust with my life. She gave me physical, mental, emotional and most importantly SPIRITUAL strength. She helped me learn to trust my body and my baby and how not to be afraid. I will be eternally grateful to her because she stood by and watched as I labored, and she was there at my hardest moments comforting me and urging me forward. She received my baby and I loved it that her loving hands were the first touch Asher felt in the world (well besides me touching his head to make sure he was coming out). She cried with me afterwards, and held my hand days later when I was exhausted and overwhelmed.

I know home birth isn't for everyone, but mine was an AMAZING experience. It was sacred and life changing. I truly believe that every woman has a right to decide how and where to give birth and that NO one has a right to decide that for her. It makes me so upset that organizations and some doctors are trying to take that right away from women! I admire the Amish women for standing up for their rights.

Now I Know He Has Some Thomas Blood

Now I know for sure -- Asher DOES have some Thomas blood in him. This week I gave him sweet potatoes for the first time and boy did he HATE them! Every time I gave him a bite he would pucker up his mouth like I had just fed him dirt... oh well actually he likes to eat dirt... so... anyway. Every bite either got spit out on to his bib or sprayed back at me. I attribute this apparent dislike to him having Thomas blood running through his veins. The first time I had sweet potatoes was after I married Jon and I LOVED them. I couldn't figure out why I had never had them before until I found out the both my Mom and my Dad HATE sweet potatoes. I guess tastes can be inherited! Now I just need to figure out what to do with the three other packs of sweet potatoes I bought. Maybe I'll have to get tricky and disguise them... what about sweet potatoes and peaches? Sweet potatoes and pears? Sweet potatoes and applesauce... hmmm?

This is an old picture (taken in March) of me with my drop dead beautiful Thomas sisters. I am still having camera/computer problems so this picture will have to do, besides I love it.

Do you remember when?

Two of my fellow blogger-etts (Reading Armadillo and P Funks) have posted this game on their blogs and I think it is fun. Here are the game rules:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember(it can involve the family or even my husband too)!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!
3. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺
4. Consider this a Tag: if you've read it, you have to do it!

"All Things Grow With Love"

Yesterday was Asher's 7 month "lunar-day" and I have been AMAZED at how fast my little boy has grown up. Not only is he physically bigger, smarter, more mobile and aware, but I can feel that his spirit is growing and thriving as well. Sometimes I watch him and feel like his little body is much too small to contain the amount of love, joy and kindness his spirit emanates. I just hope that I can help nurture and preserve that love and goodness, so that he grows up to be a MAN who emanates love, joy and kindness. Motherhood is so much more of a challenge, spiritually and physically, than I ever thought it would be.

In related news-- my garden, which I previously thought I had killed in my attempt to incite an ant genocide, has been blooming and producing! It seems that all my "pesticide" did was thin out my lettuce, spinach and carrots. Okay, not totally true. I did loose two broccoli plants and the other two didn't produce any flowers. That happened to me last year too! I am really good at growing HUGE broccoli plants that don't produce anything! Even so, we have really been enjoying spinach, lettuce and peas for the last few weeks, despite my mistake.

Lesson learned: Nurturing a garden and nurturing a baby are similar because ;
1) they are forgiving,
2) they bounce back when you make mistakes,
3) they thrive in the sunshine,
4) they take time and patience, and sometimes you don't see the fruit of your labors till far in the future,
5) in order to reach their full potential they have to be protected from weeds, birds and other harmful influences,
6) God is the master gardener,
5) you don't need fancy equipment, books, tools or toys because deep down inside nature knows what she is doing better than anyone else,
6) Love makes them both good, strong and healthy.

Some one needs to invent....

This week I've thought of two inventions which if properly manufactured, marketed and distributed could make me a multi-millionaire overnight-- well that is if there happen to be several million mothers out there who, like me, have:

1) a baby who has learned how to blow raspberries with his mouth, and thinks it the ABSOLUTELY funniest thing in the world to blow one at mom when his mouth is full of peas or any other food (including breast milk);

2) tried taking a 6 month old baby backpacking/camping and realized that it is miserable and nearly impossible to fit one normal sized human mother and her rolley polley nursling onto the same backpacking air mattress. Who knew that a 6 month old could HOG a whole mattress to himself and push his mom off onto the ground.

SO in view of these exceptional circumstances in my life I've decided that I need to invent...

1) a MOMMY BIB! This stylish poncho-like bib will protect mom from flying spoons, flying sippy cups, projectile masses of peas and other solids, and did I mention... flying spoons. The deluxe edition comes with a face mask, hair cover, and a floor mat. Matching "Mommy and Baby" bibs available.

2) an INFLATABLE SIDECAR CRIB MATTRESS light enough for backpacking. This amazing mattress would have a little mattress with three little walls attached to it. This would solve the problem of trying to make sure the nursling didn't slid off, while still keeping him close so mom doesn't have to wake up to feed him! Brilliant. An inflatable playpen is in the works as well.

Accepting orders soon.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Here is the finished product.



She looks SO much better than before... imagine bare wood, concrete with cracks in it, no trim paint, and white dirty, chipping paint. We found out today that she passed the inspection with flying colors. The appraiser called us and told us it looks like a new house and that he didn't think we'd be able get it fixed and painted that fast. We really have to give a BIG HUGE thank you to our family... to my dad for tearing out the crazy electrical mess, to Brittney for helping wash, scrape and scrape and scrape, to Jaleen and Elvon for masking and taping, to Jim for EVERYTHING, Jon's dad for being a wonder with the paint gun, and to ALL of Jon's family who came down on the 4th of July and finished the painting so we could go to Idaho for my birthday! Thank you so much! We REALLY appreciate all your work and hope that we can repay you somehow-- you better take advantage of it, or such an offer may never come again. :)


The back patio, painted and looking a lot less mint green!

Painting Palooza!

WOW! What a crazy week this has been. In one mad crazy day of paper, tape and paint we got the outside of the house all painted. It was a lot more work and money that we'd thought it would be, but I guess that is going to be our theme song for the next few months. When I went to get the estimate for how much paint we were going to need the guy at the paint store told me that I would only need 5-6 gallons for that square footage. Little did we know that because the house has this strange old stecco on it ( it is really bumpy-- we think they mixed pea gravel in with it) the surface area was increased by almost 3 times. We ended up using almost 17 gallons of paint! Woah Baby! It reminded me of the intestines-- you know they have all those bumps on the inside of them that increase the surface area by 100 times so they can absorb more nutrients. That is like the outside of our house, except our house absorbs paint.

We also painted about a thousand box elder bugs. One time I found one in my hair all painted white-- it looked really funny.

The house looks much better now though. I am a bit more optimistic that this house will turn out really nice with just a bit more TLC-- and a whole lot of paint. I have some before and after pictures but my computer still isn't working-- so I'll post them later. Oh, my dad-in-law said that the outside of the house reminds him of cottage cheese. I think that might be an appropriate name for our house-- The cottage cheese cottage! Maybe I'll have to make a sign to go above the door ;)

And So It Begins

This weekend we got our first taste of what "fixing up" a house is going to be like. The appraiser had a few conditions for the house to pass the FHA inspection, like some of the electrical had to be fixed and the outside of the house painted. So Saturday we went up to Logan and my Dad and sister came down from Idaho to help fix the electric and get the house prepped to paint. We are going to have a PAINTING PALOOZA this Thursday and try to get the whole house painted in one day. Jon's uncle doesn't think we can do it (which is probably true) and so he has volunteered Jon's entire exteneded family (who will be up in Logan for the 4th of July) to finish whatever we don't finish so that we can go up to Idaho and celebrate my b-day (the 4th of July) in Idaho with my family.

We are closing on the house in Logan next Tuesday, provided all goes as planned. It still needs a lot of work but I don't know when Jon is going to have the time to do it! This month is going to be CRAZY! First off, we have a week of family vacations, then Jon has a three day back packing trip with his scouts, and then he is going to Valmy, Nevada for the last two weeks of July to set up a pilot plant for work! CRAZY.

It looks like I will be doing (and organizing) a lot of the work that needs to be done on the house-- like painting, carpets, windows, tile, refinishing floors, etc, etc, etc... Actually, I am kind of excited about it. I really like projects and it might be fun to show Jon that I can be a handy woman too. I've started practicing-- the other day my wheat grinder broke and I took it apart and fixed it without even having to call Jon! Whoo- hoo!

So if anyone has any advice about home repairs, remodeling, and such... let me know... I'm going to need all the help I can get!

Here are some pictures of the house-- I'll try to get some better ones so you can see it in all its tacky glory!

View of the dining room from the living room-- the pad is for a wood burning stove, which we will put back in ad the weird white thing on the side of the wall is coming down (does anyone have any idea what that is for?)

Living Room-- I still can't figure out what would posses a person to choose this carpet!

One of the upstairs rooms.

No Wonder My Back Hurts

I took Asher to his 6 month check up today and he weighs 18lbs 11 oz and is 28.8 inches long. This is why I feel like someone has taken a bat to me by the end of the day! Hauling that little brick around is getting hard. I think it is time to throw some of the excess weight overboard (ie. the infant car seat) and start packing light (ie. more slings-- I made a maya wrap that works great for slinging him onto my hip!).

Since I can't download any of my new pictures!!! Wah! I am going to post this old picture of Asher. It was taken when he was 4 months old at JC Penny's. I don't know that I will have his picture taken at a studio again for awhile because they really rope you in. I went in there with the intention of only buying the picture I had a coupon for-- little did I know they take advantage of your motherly instincts to sell you EVERY picture! Tricky Tricky. Beware.

Eggs and Butter

Last Saturday Jon and I took Asher to the Farmer's Market in his bike trailer. He isn't quite big enough to fit in it yet, so we strapped his car seat into it and took off. He really likes riding in it-- I have the cutest pictures but our laptop is on its last legs and the USB port isn't working, so no pictures till we get something else figured out!

Anyway-- we bought some really fun things at the Farmer's Market-- including-- FRESH CHICKEN EGGS! I really have my heart set on having chickens next summer (if this house we want in Logan works out) and have been reading up on them. I thought that I better see if fresh eggs are worth all the work-- and they are! I read in one of my chicken books that you can tell an egg is fresh by how tall the egg yolk stands up when you crack it. These fresh ones looked like eye balls they were so tall! They really tasted a lot better than store bought ones.

We also bought a tomato plant, which we made the mistake of putting next to Asher on the ride home. When we got home he was happily chopping away on a tomato leaf. I hope that it wasn't toxic.

We also bought this



a French Butter Dish!

One of my friends has one and I have been coveting it for awhile. It is really neat. You put the butter in the lid and then put it into the bottom which is filled with water. The water makes a seal around the butter. You can keep the butter on the counter keeping it fresh and at the perfect spread-ability softness. I LOVE real butter, but HATE it when it is too hard or goes rancid. The potter who made it also makes these



It is an egg separator!
We didn't buy one, but that I thought they were really cute. You crack the egg into it and then pour the egg whites out of its mouth. Maybe when I get my chickens I'll have to get one of these!

A Few Thoughts about Nicknames

When I was pregnant I really liked the name Ezekiel for a boy-- and I wanted to nickname him "Zeke". When I told Jon the first thing he said was "Zeke the Geek!" So that one hit the fan pretty fast. We didn't even try to think of rhyming names for Asher till after he was born, and then we realized that lots of things rhyme with his name. We started making a list and realized that all the things that rhymed with his name were violent or obscene-- Basher, Crasher, Dasher, Flasher, Hasher, Masher, Slasher, Splasher, Trasher (see if you can come up with anymore!). They aren't exactly the type of nicknames that someone trying to make fun of you on the playground would use. It is hard to bully a kid whose nickname is ASHER THE TRASHER BASHER SLASHER. So much for peace education-- I sure hope those names don't go to his head.

Speaking of nicknames, I have the habit of giving strange nicknames to people. I don't ever "think" about them, they just seem to evolve somehow. I've called my little sister Brittney, "Babes" for as long as either one of us can remember. My other sister is "Tick Tock" because it rhymes with "Hilary Dillary Dock... Tick Tock" and Jon's pet name is "Sir". So far Asher has had quite a few nicknames, here are what my subconscious mind has come up with so far...

Bub Bub-- This was a natural derivative of "baby boy" which was too hard for my post-labor brain to say. My favorite phrase to say is "Bub Bub take tub tub with Da Da?" Ha! That makes me laugh every time!

Pash Pash-- Believe it or not, I use this one a lot and I can never explain where it came from. Maybe I should make up a story.

Jiga-Jiga-- This is strangest one and came about because I like to make Asher smile by giggling his legs back and forth when he is lying down and saying 'jiga jiga jiga" and I guess somehow it turned into a nickname.

Ash-- this is the one that makes the most logical sense and the one that Jon and other people use. The other day at church this cute little old man... who is deaf as... well.. an old man... was really confused because he thought I had named my son Ashley. Oh, well... I guess that might be the one nickname he might get made fun of on the playground.