Asher the Elf

In the last post, Josh mentioned our family elf, Asher. Since he was such a big part of our Christmas this year, I thought he should have his own post!

It all started when I kept seeing pins on Pinterest of ideas for this elf on the shelf thing. I had never heard of it but quickly caught on to the gist of what it was basically about - an elf doll that comes from the North Pole to keep an eye on the kids and report back to Santa every night if they had been good or bad that day, then moves to a new spot when he returns from the North Pole each night. I thought this looked cute and after inquiring with other parents who had done this tradition before, I knew I wanted to make it one of our own family traditions!

Our elf arrived at our house the day after Thanksgiving. He showed up on the fireplace mantle next to the book that tells the story of  "Elf on the Shelf." We read the book to Korben and explained how you can't touch the elf because he might lose his Christmas magic. Then Josh and I asked Korben what he wanted to name his elf but he needed some choices so we gave him the options of Rufus (which means red and the elf's outfit is red), Sneaker (since the elves sneak around the house every night), Twizzle (because twizzlers are red? Not really sure where that came from but it was cute none-the-less), and Asher (which means happy since you know, elves are very cheery and happy)... Korben almost immediately chose Asher! And so it began!

I thought Korben would have an issue with the no touching rule but he actually did quite well with it! There was one day that he accidentally touched Asher and knocked him over while trying to get back a toy that Asher had "borrowed" and Korben was really upset about it! Poor thing felt so bad about Asher losing his magic! Thankfully some of the other elves came to the rescue and gave Asher his magic back! :)

Asher was quite the mischievous elf! He was quite fond of Korben's toys and took them to play with pretty frequently! I don't have pictures from all of Asher's "spots" but some of the places he was found were hanging from the ceiling fan pull string, playing with Korben's toy cars, roasting marshmallows on candles, eating cereal bars in the pantry, and reading a book to Korben's stuffed animals and action figures. Korben LOVED finding Asher in a new spot every morning! Asher even got blamed for a few things that he didn't do too. When I hung up all of our Christmas cards, Korben insisted that was all Asher! It was so much fun having Asher around and we can't wait for him to visit again next year!

One day Asher wrapped up Korben's books (enough for him to unwrap and read one a night before bed). There were a few new books snuck in the pile too... Korben especially loved it when he was surprised with a new book! :)

Asher making some adjustments to the light with Korben's toy Turner screwdriver. Korben yelled at Asher for taking his toys that morning!

Santa made an early visit to fill up stockings and Asher caught him on film with Korben's camera!

We were glad to see that Asher knew how to use the potty... we were also surprised to learn that elves have green pee! (Sorry if that one grossed you out... we thought it was funny though!)

Hiding under a glass!

Gone fishing!

Asher got got a little toilet paper happy and tp'd Korben's room!

Asher isn't in this picture but there was a day that he sat at the front of Korben's gingerbread house and ate some of the candy from it! I hadn't posted a picture of the house Korben made yet so there it is.

On Asher's last day at the house before going back to the North Pole with Santa, he left a goodbye note to Korben and made reindeer donuts!

Logan 9 months / Christmas party of FOUR !! (posted by Josh)

Logan had his 9 month appointment a couple of weeks ago, and is developing quite a personality these days. He definitely knows how to get his way. His favorite activities include the army crawl (even though he can "for real" crawl now), sitting and playing with all the new toys that he got for Christmas, walking while holding onto Mommy's hands, and climbing the stairs (baby gates are up). Here are his stats as of 12/21/11: Weight 19 lbs 14 oz (50%) Height 28 1/2 inches (70%) Head 46.5 cm











As well as being Logan's first Christmas, it was also Korben's first Christmas with his new baby brother. And as our family grew this year, so did the fun!! We went to ride the train in Grapevine at the Polar Express to see Santa, looked at Christmas lights just about every time we left the house at night, Korben had his own tree and unwrapped a book every night before bed time, built and ate a Ginger bread house, baked cookies with Mommy (and ate those too), watched tons of holiday movies, made homemade gifts and ornaments, and let's not forget we welcomed our newest elf friend Asher !! WARNING : ** CHRISTMAS PICTURE OVERLOAD **

8 months!

Hard to believe our youngest son is now 8 months old! He is growing and changing every day.


Here are a few fun facts about Logan these days:

--According to our scale, he weighs exactly 20 lbs
--He has 6 teeth (3 on top, 3 on bottom) and 2 more coming in
--He is now army crawling but still prefers to walk via holding someone's hand
--He loves the vacuum
--He loves plastic straws and will jack the one in your drink if given the opportunity
--He makes this hilarious alien static clicking type sound and squints his eyes when he gets excited about something. You have to see it to really appreciate but trust me when I say that it's adorable! :)














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More Mommy Confessions

It's not as bad as peeing in my kid's diaper or refusing to tend to monthly female needs in order to keep the baby in my arms asleep, but here is today's confession....

Logan has been sick the last few days with a virus, sinus infection, and ear infection. He's not a heavy sleeper to begin with so not being able to breathe when he lays down has not been helping things. Friday night, I could not get him to sleep in his crib to save my life. I tried everything. We even have a crib wedge and one end of the crib propped up on books. After about the 7th failed attempt to get him sleeping in the crib, I went to plan B. I laid Logan down in his crib and then I climbed my ginormous adult self into that tiny crib, curled up into a semi-fetal position so I could actually fit, prayed with everything I had that my weight wouldn't send the crib crashing onto the floor in a million pieces, and then nursed my baby while laying on my side and him next to me so I wouldn't have to move him after he fell asleep. And then I climbed my ginormous adult self out of the baby crib with as much grace as possible - which was pretty much none. But at least Logan stayed asleep and the crib remained in one piece. A definite victory.

Confession #2: I did it again last night. And I foresee this going on until my poor sick baby is well again. To be honest, I'm ok with that.

To top everything off last night, after I finally got Logan to sleep, I went downstairs and found my husband asleep in his chair and Korben passed out on the floor soaking wet in pee. Yay. I picked him up and carried him upstairs to his room and got him cleaned up with a clean pair of pajamas on. I told him I was going to go get his medicine (he's sick too) and change clothes (mine were now wet with pee too from carrying him) and be right back. By the time I made it back with his meds, poor little man was already conked out again.

And that was my night. Pretty sure I would have laughed at anyone who told me what kind of things I would submit myself to as a mommy before I became one. :)

But looking at those 2 (now peaceful), sweet little boys sleeping made all of the chaos that it took to get there totally worth it. I wouldn't trade these days for the world.







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