Swimming Lessons

Asher has been taking swimming lessons the last several weeks and it has been so much fun. He did a really good job and now he can float on his back by himself! He is pretty proud of himself.

The first day of swimming lessons was a bit hard for me. Asher was super excited and adapted to his class and his teacher really well, but it tugged at my heart strings a bit to see him so independent. I was proud and excited for him, but it just made me realize that he really isn't my little baby any more. He is growing up so fast and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. I also had a hard time because I taught swimming lessons for 6 years during high school and college and so the first day I almost drove myself crazy by mentally correcting everything the teacher did, "Oh, she should hold him under the head not the arms", "Why is she giving so much attention to the crying girl, give her time and she'll be fine", "The kids are sitting on the step too much, if I was teaching I'd be having them do this"... and on and on. Finally by the second day I realized that I just needed to let the poor teacher do her job and to stop planning my own lessons. I was paying her to teach my son for a reason and she really is a good teacher.

In fact, after the first day of lessons Asher told me "Mom, my teacher is a princess" and he whenever he talks about her he calls her "the princess." It is really cute.

Much to my surprise, because he never liked to do it with me, Asher's favorite part of swimming lessons was to do a "monkey" (hang on to the side and work your way down the wall) and jumping off the side. He was quite enthusiastic about the jumping! Watching him brought back many happy memories of summers full of three-year-old jumping off the diving board onto my head!

The best part about where we took the lessons was that they had the lessons inside and then the kids (and moms) could swim in the outdoor pool afterwards for as long as they wanted. This was really good because Rose would have thought life unbearably unfair if she hadn't gotten to go swimming too. She did a really good job being patient and watching Asher and then would go right out into the little pool and copy all the things she saw him do. She is now really good at blowing bubbles, kicking her legs and putting her eyes in the water!

Asher's lessons were at 9 AM and then we'd usually stay and swim until 11:30. We have had such a fun two weeks spending every morning at the pool. I am really going to miss it but I guess that summer is coming to an end really soon so I'll just have to accept it! I don't know how I am going to convince Rose that she doesn't need to wear a swimming suit every day now though... I don't know what it is with that girl and swimming suits, but she loves them!

Here is a cute video of Asher and Rose swimming. Rose surprised me and put her whole face in the water, I'm glad I got it on video!

You Can't Get Any Nerdier Than....

Being SO EXCITED about getting 11 volumes of World History for your Birthday!

But oh, I was so excited. I've wanted this collection of books "The History of Civilization" by Will Durant since I was in High School. They are really wonderful history books but they are expensive and hard to find. So it was so wonderful when my family banded together to buy them for me for my birthday! I'm sure they will keep me busy for a long, long time.

We spent the 4th of July up in Idaho and had such a good time. There is NO WHERE that beats Idaho Falls for 4th of July celebrations.

Asher tried out the slip and slide but he didn't quiet get the idea of going on your tummy. He bear crawled it instead.

Rose didn't want to have anything to do with a something that sprayed water at her. She prefers to just look cute in her swimming suit (sim soot as she calls it).

And eat yummy food at Grandpa's house

We also had a good time at the parade. Rosie LOVES airplanes and was so excited by the airplanes that kept flying by. If you want to hear something really cute ask her about airplanes. She will give you an ear full about "airplane, sky, airplane, broooom, sky." She might even sing you her airplane song, which is pretty darn cute and pretty much consists of the same words as above but with her own made up tune. She is always singing!

Again in her swim suit. If it was up to her she'd wear a swim suit every day! If she finds one in her drawer she will carry it around all day begging me to put it one her. She doesn't like to get wet, just look cute I guess.

Oh, and I had a sparkler on my cake this year! I haven't had one since I was a little girl and it was a lot fun. But not nearly as scary or as long as I remembered them being when I was little :)

Besides birthday happenings and the 4th of July we have been having a really good summer. We are getting excited about the new baby coming in the Fall and Asher has decided that we are going to name the baby "Dumpin the Dirt". I think he might be disappointed ;)

Mostly these two kids have just been keeping me on my feet. They can get into more mischief quicker than anything! It is a good thing they are so cute.

Rose peeking in the bathroom at Asher. We are trying to work on the concept of privacy!

Rose did her own hair. I told her I'd cry too if my hair looked like that!

And this one is from a long time ago but I just found it and thought it was too cute. We just got Asher a big boy bike (with training wheels) and it was about time because he was WAY too big for this little push bike. Oh, and Asher and Rose call the bike Rose is on the "peanut" which I think is actually a good name for it!

Hope your summer is going well too!

Book Release. Finally!

I know I've been super quiet on this blog lately but it is because I've been working hard.

We are excited to announce the November 1, 2011 is the official release date (baring unseen circumstances) for our book "The Gift of Giving Life: Rediscovering the Divine Nature of Pregnancy and Birth" by Felice Austin, Lani Axman, Heather Farrell and Robyn Allgood.

(The real cover is still in the works)

We are really excited to see this book completed, it has surpassed our wildest expectations. We are so grateful to all the wonderful women who sent us their stories and who have helped contribute to the book in many different ways. This projects has been inspired and blessed every step of the way and we are so excited to finally get this book into the hands of LDS women!

To celebrate the book release we are giving away 10 free copies of the book! Go to the book's blog to find out how you can win one of the free copies!!!!

Free Relaxation MP3 for Everyone!

So we are getting excitingly close to getting the first draft of our book "The Gift of Giving Life: Rediscovering the Divine Nature of Pregnancy and Birth" completed! It has been two years in the making and it is so exciting to see it coming together. We are aiming to have the book out before Christmas! Yippee!

One of the other authors on the book just made a professional relaxation MP3, it isn't specific to childbirth, but is aimed at helping in general relaxation and well being. She is really talented at what she does and her relaxations are really fantastic. She will be selling her recordings through itunes but if you would like a FREE copy of the MP3 you can get one by signing up for our email newsletters. Then in a few weeks she will email you a FREE copy of the MP3!

It will only take you about 10 seconds. Promise.

Even if you aren't interested in pregnancy and childbirth it would still be worth it to sign up

because you get something free!

That is a good deal.

Oh, and also if you have been thinking about sending us a birth story and haven't done it yet this is your absolute last chance. Our deadline for drafts is the end of the week. Up until then you can email your story to thegiftofgivinglife@gmail.com

Womb Name

So I guess there was some confusion over my last post. Just to set things straight... we are NOT naming our baby "Apricot." That is just the "womb name." Jon's family always gives babies names before they are born. We called Asher "Buster" and Rose "Baby Bird" and none of them stuck... even though my niece did come dangerously close to really being named "corduroy"! This baby will certainly get a different name when it is born but until then its name is "Apricot".

I don't believe in giving babies final names before they are born. I think you need to meet the little person and bask in their spirit for awhile before you can know for sure what they need to be named. And actually this time we aren't planning on finding out the gender of the baby before hand--we figure that since we already have a boy and a girl we are already prepared either way. I've had several doula clients and friends not find out and it is really fun to see them discover it at the birth. It really is special and I'd sort of like to try it that way this time.

Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up. I guess I should have specified more that "Apricot" was a womb name but I just assumed that most of the people who read my blog were reading it when Rose was born and so they knew about womb names... but I guess that those who have only been reading the last two years might have been confused!

Good News Moment

Brought to you by Asher and Rose

Big Thomas The Train

Yesterday we went with my in-laws up to Heber City for "A Day Out With Thomas" on the Heber Creeper Railroad. They had a big engine that looked like Thomas and a whole bunch of activities for little kids. It was so much fun and I've never seen Asher more excited. I found an advertisement for the event in a magazine about a month ago and I cut it out for him. He carried it around for a MONTH (no joke) and told everyone that he could that he was going to go ride the "big Thomas the train."

When we got to the railroad he was beside himself. As I unbuckled his car seat he kept yelling "Get me out of here! I'm so bsesited (excited)!" I really think that it must have been the culmination of all his dreams to see that Thomas was REAL (even though he couldn't quite figure out why he wouldn't talk).

A couple of weeks ago I found him a pair of "engineer clothes" at a garage sale for $2. They are in great condition and Asher wants to wear them every day. He looked so cute all dressed up like an engineer and the cutest part was that there were probably about 15 other little 3 year old boys running around in "engineer clothes" too.

In fact, the whole event was definitely catered to the 3 and 4 year old crowd. There was a whole tent just full of train tables for kids to play with. I wish I could have gotten a good picture of the tent because it was teeming with little 3 year old boys in train outfits. So cute! He is definitely not the only little boy out there with the Thomas bug.

Though, I did feel really nerdy when I could identify by name every single train character... and there are a lot of them--- and sing all the words to the Thomas theme song! We watch and read a lot of Thomas around here, okay!

Rose had fun too but she isn't much of a Thomas fan. She liked the bubbles the best.

Then we got to ride on Thomas and that was the highlight for Asher. He was super excited and kept trying to cut in line. He was thrilled by the conductors who were all dressed up and proudly told him "I'm the Engineer".

My mother-in-law bought him a little engineer hat and oh, man he was cute. I couldn't get enough of him. His cousin River was a blast too. The two of them had a lot of fun together!

After the ride we didn't stay a whole lot longer because River had to get back home and because by this point Asher was sort of loosing it. It was naptime, lunch time and I've had more excitement than my little heart can handle and I'm overwhelmed time. When we got into the car he crashed and slept all the way home.

Rose and I got one last picture with Thomas, and I promise I wasn't cranky. I am just looking in the sun and there is something weird going on with my teeth!

It was such a fun day and Asher hasn't stopped talking about it. I think that if he is still this train crazy next year we might have to try to go again!

Here is a video of Asher and River riding the train. They are so cute I can hardly stand it.

Catch Up

I am so glad that it is FINALLY getting warm up here. I feel like we've have the longest spring imaginable! Which I really don't mind because I love Spring, but up here Spring means SNOW and that I am tired of. Yet the last few weeks have been really nice and we've had so much fun playing in our backyard. It is wonderful to have grass this year instead of dirt!

We really haven't been up to much lately but since it has been a long time since I posted I'll do a little catch up. Jon finally fixed our truck-- it broke last summer-- because he is done with school now (only has his Thesis left to write!). Asher was cute and got his tools out and worked with him. Here is Asher fixing the back of the truck.

He's also been into building lately and a few mornings ago he and I built this tower. It was his design and I was super impressed it held up as well as it did. Well, that is until Rose came over-- you can see her on the move in the picture!

Hmmm.... lets see what else have we been up to?

Playing at the park with cousins. Rose got SO sunburned that day. I felt like a really bad mom. It just really took me by surprise because it was the first day where it had been nice enough to be outside for a long stretch of time. But don't worry, I am stocking up on spray-on sunscreen(which is SO worth the inordinate amount of money it costs when you have little kids) and hopefully we will avoid bad burns again this summer.

Eating lots of pancakes for breakfast.

Asher really loves pancakes and lately Jon has been making him pancakes that are shaped like trains. This one that Jon made him actually has a face on it (that you can't really see in the picture). I guess he was so excited about this one he decided to hug it! Oh, and stick it to his tummy!

Rose has been very interested in books lately. Her favorite are ones about spiders. Strange, huh? I think it is because she really likes the "itsy bitsy spider" song, but maybe she just like bugs. She does get pretty excited about worms as well. She and Asher love finding them in the garden and carry them around in their pockets. Yuck.

Here she is reading scriptures with Jon a few mornings ago. They didn't know I was taking this picture. It just melts my heart.

Okay and to end this really random post I will end with a really random picture. A few weeks ago we went up to help my brother and his wife do some painting on their new house (which is awesome-- I am very jealous of them). I was in the middle of cleaning up my painting supplies when my brother mentioned that Asher had just ran into the bathroom with a bowl and had turned on the water. When I went in I found him and Rose lapping water out of the bowl and meowing like cats. It was pretty hilarious. Those two never cease to make me smile!

Oh, and he'd also grabbed a carton of chicken broth. I have no idea why!

Crazy boy.

Things I Don't Want to Forget

So I've been trying to keep track in my head of all the cute things that my kids have been doing lately because I don't want to forget. But alas, as soon as I sit down to write them I FORGET them. Grrr.

Still I think I can at least get some of them:

So, Asher no longer smiles with his mouth open. I guess that they were taking pictures for primary and someone told him to close his mouth and show his teeth. It sort of makes me sad. It was so funny and cute because he didn't know any better. But I guess it was bound to happen eventually... I mean can you imagine if he had his mouth open in his wedding pictures or something?

He has also been calling vitamins "mighty mighities" and I think it is so cute that I don't even try to correct him. I'm afraid he'll stop. Is it awful that I don't want him to grow up?

This is an old picture-- from his birthday-- but I think it captures his current fascination with tools perfectly.

Jon's brother gave Asher this little scroll saw (I think that is what it is) and he spent hours "cuttin" things. He is so cute with his tool bag. A few months ago he insisted on taking it to his grandma's house because he'd heard Jon mention that their sink was broken. He got all his tools out and tried to fix it. He often does that around the house too. If one of his toys isn't working or something is broken he will run and get his tool bag and offer to help. In all honesty, I can't wait for the day when he REALLY knows how to fix things and then I'll have two handy men around my house!

Rose is turning into more and more of a goof. Really she makes me laugh at least 10 times a day. She is getting to be a really good talker and lately has taken to yelling Asher's name to get his attention. The only problem is that she says his name "Ahhgurr" and the other day Asher took her little face in his hands and said "Rosie, my name is not Ahhgurr it is Asher." He kept trying to correct her and she kept snapping back "Ahhgurr".

She is also SO obsessed with coats-- I guess she takes after her mom-- she has several of them and is usually wearing one of them around the house. A few months ago we left her with a baby sitter and when I got home the sitter apologized because Rose refused to take off her coat during dinner and so it was covered with tomato sauce. She also said that Rose wouldn't take it off to go to bed and so that she was sleeping in it... still all covered in tomato sauce! She is stubborn.

She also LOVES to go places and is definitely not a home body. Whenever anyone mentions the car, outside or going somewhere she will run over grab her coat and shoes and then follow you around until you put them on her. Actually it is getting quite hard to find any shoes around our house because Rosie carries them all over the place!

And lastly, here are some pictures from when we went bowling a few weeks ago. It was really fun and the kids had a blast.

Oh, I really love them and it sort of breaks my heart that they are growing up so fast. Is there anyway to slow them down?