We've been up to...

...a whole lot of nothing. Not much to report here. It is still winter and cold. Someday we will just get to go outside without the burden of bundling up, but for now the hassle still lives on.

Mike is going to Denver over President's Day weekend. Asher and I are going to hang out here with Nana, Grandpa and Aunt Barb. I have a special Valentine's gift coming for Asher-don't tell him, but it's this! I think he will like it. Track starts soon, so we are enjoying our time with Mike while it lasts. Life will start to get crazy again here in a month.

Have a great first day of February! You know, this is my favorite month...

Save Handmade

With the new laws about what can and can't be used in children's products an entire cottage industry may come to a screeching halt. For the most part these artisans comply with the new standards (and have for years), but don't have the financial resources to adhere to them. This is not a good thing. This is a classic example of big vs little and unless Congress takes a look at this law and creates a way to hold the big guys accountable without hurting the little guys we will loose a valuable resource.

Reading list 2009

I know you've all been waiting for it, without further ado here it is!

A Wrinkle in Time series
A Farewell to Arms
The Power of One
The Pillars of the Earth
The Hour I First Believed
Anna Karenina

A Woman's Guide to Family Finances (with a group of ladies)
Parenting with Love and Logic (a refresher)
The Blessing of a Skinned Knee
The Lives of Children
Coloring Outside the Lines
Real Boys
Grace Based Parenting
Living Simply with Children

Home Comforts
Hope in Troubled Times
Blessed Unrest
The Complete Idiots Guide to Adoption
A Room of One's Own

I am sure that there will be plenty others (some that because of their fluffy content that I may be a little embarassed to report on), but these are the ones that I want to be intentional about reading. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, let me know!

Asher Update

We visited the doctor today and it was the worst doctor's visit yet. Asher was mad from the second we took him into the room and let us know the entire time there and all the way home. Well, to be fair, the ride home was probably because of the 3 shots he got. Poor baby. I hate shot visits! Not vacinating has crossed my mind simply for the fact that those parents don't have to have shot visits. They may have measles, polio and a myriad of other visits, but no shot visits for them. Anyway...Asher is now 23 lb and 34 in. That is 10-25% in weight and 90% in height. In other words, just like his mama was. We are having a heck of a time with diaper changes. He kicks and kicks and kicks. He has spent a bit of time in the crib and hopefully he will soon make the connection between kicking mama and spending some quality time in his crib. All is well here, hope all is well there!

Christmas with the Lunde's

We had a good Christmas. No throwing up baby this year (wahoo!), but he was a cranky, fevery boy all day. I think he had a quick virus run through his system. Other than that we had a great day! Nana, Granpapa, and Unc Quinn came over around 8:30 and the day of fun began! Asher got spoiled (next year it is "Something you want, something you need, something to play with, something to read and something for someone in need."). His favorite gift by far was the ride-in tugboat from Nana and Granpapa. Little Tykes doesn't make them anymore so Mom tracked a used one down on ebay (good job for buying used!) and sat a the computer until she won it. It is the first and last thing he plays with everyday. Asher likes knocking down the towers Dada makes and walks around the house shaking his maraccas! He also got books galore (I have to admit that I went overboard there)! We really loved everything we got and are blessed to have families who are generous with us. We hope everyone had a blessed day and can't wait to see/talk to you all soon!

A chance to win!

Win a Free Organic Embroidered Ergo Baby Carrier Hands Free System from Along for the Ride

Wow...it has been way too long

I have been a bad, bad blogger and I am going to correct the error of my ways. I promise. We have been busy. Life with an almost 17 month old is nothing if not interesting. Asher is a crazy crasher man! He is into everything and is showing his independence like mad! Right now he is trying to put on Mike's slippers and having a time of it!


He has a vocab that I think would impress a speech therapist. His new thing is saying "It's gone" when he has eaten everything and asking us to read books. He brings us the book he wants, says "book", turns around and heads to the reading chair and says "OK". It's really cute, until he wants you to read Brown Bear for the 10th time in 3 hours! His favorite book is Moo, Moo, Brown Cow and he asks for it by saying "Moo, moo?". I love that he reads, but will admit that there are books that has been "lost" after reading them time and time again!

We are continuing to make ecologically friendly lifestyle changes. We now use only cloth napkins and Asher is in cloth diapers almost full time. I hope to have him in cloth diapers full time soon after the new year. I need some easier ones for Mom and Aunt Karen (I need to talk to her about this-note to self) for Mondays and Fridays and some more absorbant ones for nighttime. I tried overnights once and it was a soaking wet failure! Also, I am making most of our cleaning supplies. It is amazing what you can do if you research. I have found that all of our changes have also been easy on the pocket book. Who would have guessed that committing to going green could save you money! This spring we are going to get a compost bin for our back deck. I will be nice to have somewhere other than our disposal to throw scraps and we will have some nice soil someday for growing yummy strawberries!


We are also taking this challenge for Christmas. Most of the gifts we are giving will be made by myself. I have been scouring the internet for great projects and I think I have found some really good ones. I am so fortunate that I am creative and crafty. I love having a project going. Right now I have about 10 going, so that is a little overwhelming, but I have it under control (I think).

If you have been wondering what to get Asher for Christmas, here is a list of things Asher might be into this coming year.

I'll leave you with the promise that I will post more often. I forget that it doesn't take as long as I think it will. Here are some pictures from the fall. I can't believe it is almost winter!