Nap Monster

As Asher is almost 3 months old, we decided it's time to think about breaking this baby's one bad habit... napping.  Don't get me wrong, napping is great and our son is a great napper...so long as he is sleeping on a person.  Not cradled in your arms, not in your lap: he needs to be belly to belly, chin to chin.  So how torturous is it to break the habit?  Very.  For both of us.  As the mommy, I love nothing more than my peanut snuggled on me and the idea that the feel of my heart lulls him to sleep is almost more than I can bear.  And the peapod, well, he doesn't really get why things need to change, therefore his motivation is nonexistent.  He spent the entire day cooing and giggling at me through weary red eyes- absolutely refusing to nod off unless heart to heart (which is where we find ourselves now at 5 p.m. because let's face it, I'm going to fold before he does).

Also in the news, he is teething like a mad man and his Sophie is his new best friend.

Here are some pictures from today.

"Nap?? What's nap?"

"I think I'll  just lay here and stare at you until you let me have my way."

"Hmm what is this squeaky giraffe you've given me?"

"Ears taste good..."

"Come on brain!  Connect my mouth to my hands!"

"What about the feet?"

"Oh those are good too!"

"But what if someone takes my Sophie from me??"

"I  guess I'll just eat my bib."

Settling In

We are officially feeling settled in.  Today was my first day being a working-but-stay-at-home mom.  Asher and I slept in until about 8:30, then we had breakfast and cozied up to the computer where we worked until about 11:30.  We took a break for lunch, went on a long walk with Harlan, and then went to the farmer's market.  We are now enjoying a family nap (well, Harlan and Asher are napping) and planning dinner.  

We had a wonderful weekend visit with the grandparents, and were very sad to see Karen and Jim go yesterday, but we have a feeling they will be back soon :)

We were SO excited to get the news of baby Nora Hinkle's arrival on Friday-- congratulations Alicia, Matt, & Amelia!

Here is a photo update of what's happening in Albuquerque:

Asher-- the master of sleeping anywhere at anytime on anyone.

Resting on grandma

 Wide awake baby

We are now giggling-- which is so much fun.

Ferociously sucking on grandpa's arm... after ferociously sucking on each of his shoulders.

GRASS!

A rare moment these days-- a crying baby means one of two things: hungry or ready for a nap.

Our new game 'Fishing for Asher' -- I move my finger a few inches from his face and he lunges at it until he catches it in his mouth.  Then he gnaws on it for a few seconds, spits it out, and is ready to play again.  

Static hair.  Love it.

We are in business!

I just received notice that the state of New Mexico has approved my company!

OLSON CONSULTING INCORPORATED is officially up and running.  Well kind of officially, there is still much to be done (...applying for S Corp status, getting an EIN, opening a business bank account, registering the business in Albuquerque...).  But I am excited to be going down this entrepreneurial road.  

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

I had a wonderful first mothers day.  Asher and I slept in until 10 a.m. and enjoyed a lazy day together.

Yesterday was my birthday and move-in day.  While Ben led the movers through unpacking our house all morning, I sat on the patio reading a great book ('Bloom' by Kelle Hampton) and getting bear hugged by a napping cricket.  It was perfect. 

The Bad

I wouldn't say this is bad, but Asher has started the stage of wanting to gnaw on everything.  For now it's adorable, but it reminds me that teething is in the near future.

The Ugly

Oh Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben.  Anyone who knows my husband knows he is a self-proclaimed dumpster for food.  Well last night we had just taken a pizza out of the oven when I saw Ben pull this out of a box...

I asked what he was doing and he said, "I need a dipping sauce."  This is when I made a mistake.  I turned my back for one second.  Nevermind that it was to pick up a dropped pacifier to calm a slowly melting down baby, all it took was one second.

You might be thinking, "Oh you biscuit (we are replacing bad words now to protect little ears)... you knew how bad this was going to be and were ready with a camera!?"  No, no.  Ben's total and complete pain-induced freak out lasted at least 10 minutes.  Plenty of time for me to go find a camera and take pictures.  Now you might be thinking, "Ben, what a siss pants."  While I won't defend my husbands judgment, I will defend his reaction.  

You see I realized about 5 minutes in that he hadn't tried your run-of-the-mill hot sauce.  I realized this when he was bent over the sink with his mouth gaping open and saliva was pouring (no joke, I've never seen anything like it) out of his mouth.  After he was able to talk again, he explained he had just put a dab of it on his finger to taste it before dunking pizza in it.  Just that tiny little drop knocked him on his ass (sorry little ears, there is just no other way to say that).  So we read the ingredients.  Ingredient #1, habanero pepper.  Definitely not to be trifled with.  But it was the third ingredient that got our attention.  Jolokia.  "What the muskrat is jolokia?" Ben asked.  And then we learned, jolokia is another name for the ghost pepper.  

The ghost pepper is the hottest pepper in the world.   To give you an idea of how hot, on the Scoville scale, a jalapeno is rated 2,500 and a habanero around 300,000.  A ghost pepper is 1,050,000.  So not only did I feel terrible for laughing (yes, I was laughing very hard while Ben was doing the 'too hot to handle shuffle' across our kitchen), but felt even worse for keeping such a novelty item around the house that my dear husband would inevitably stumble into.  

Asher Loves Twin City Lawncare & Landscape

Asher now fits in his Twin City Lawncare onesie!  Cute pictures of him advertising the family business follow, but first, some other updates.

Harlan.

Har has two nemeses in Albuquerque.  The first, 'bushes that bite back' (what Ben calls cacti).  The second, Asher's rubber ducky.  Harlan hates the crap out of the ducky.  Other than that Har is adjusting really well.

Asher's favorite thing to do is stand and take steps.  Ben loves it, I think it's a terrifying harbinger of things to come (in a year right??  ...if he starts walking at 6 months I'll need back up!).

For Uncle Aaron & Uncle Jarod

Asher's skeptical look