What's In a Name?

Some people name their kids after family members they love, others after supermodels they envy. Some people want their children to be unique so they name them after trees and cities. Josh and I both loved the name Austin and knew without a doubt that was going to be the name of our first son. For Josh, there wasn't any specific reason for it, but I had my reasons! I wanted a baby boy with spiky blonde hair and big blue eyes and every time I heard the name Austin, that's exactly what I pictured! However, although that was the dream, I knew deep down that my child would probably look like his Dad and have darker features with green or brown eyes. After all, aren't darker features supposed to be dominant? I was so surprised when I got the blonde baby of my dreams and I fall in love every time I look into those big blue eyes. He truly is an Austin. We decided to make his middle name Joshua, after his Dad. The reason for that is obvious. Josh is the most honorable, patient, loving man in the world and I couldn't think of anyone I would rather name my son after.

When I asked Josh's mom why she named him Joshua, she said it was because she loved the scripture by Joshua that read, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." She wanted a son who was strong and dedicated to the Lord, so what prophet better to name him after than the man who took over for Moses in leading the children of Israel into the promised land? What's interesting is Josh truly is a Joshua! He has all the qualities of his namesake.

Do you see the pattern here?

Then there's me. My parents named me Ashly after a character from a famous soap opera. Charming, right? My mom liked the character because she was blonde, bold, beautiful, intelligent, and strong. She always got what she wanted and everyone loved/envied her. My Dad had the same reasons for liking the name, but I think deep down he just thought she was hot. Men.... His only request was to make my name different than the average Ashley, so they dropped the E. It has been my trademark, and also a big annoyance in my life because nobody (including family members) can remember how to spell my name! Anyways, everywhere I go, people tell me that I am definitely an Ashly and their reasons are just like the character I was named after.

My middle name was my Mom's choice, and it has had great meaning throughout my life. She wanted my middle name to be Nicole because it means "The Conqueror." My Mom felt deep down that my life was not going to be easy and I needed a name that would give me the strength to overcome the challenges that life threw at me. My Dad's only request was once again, to remove the E. This confuses people even more than my first name! I even had an elementary school teacher once argue with me because I told her she spelled my name wrong and she disagreed! Really lady?

So Ashly Nicol it was. As I have gone through life, my Mom has used my name to remind me of who I am. When those mean girls in high school were making fun of me and I came home crying and wishing I was someone else, she reminded me that I am the conqueror and because of that I would get through this and come out an even stronger person. She was right. When that first college love dumped me, I called my Mom up on the phone, devastated that I wasn't going to marry him after all. She reminded me, again, that I am the conqueror and I would get through this pain and find someone else who was more worthy of my strong personality and intelligence. She was right again. I could hear my Mom's voice in my head again as I cried over miscarrying my baby and took comfort in the thought that I would get through this trial as I did all the others because I am Ashly, the conqueror.

I believe there is enough proof here to conclude that it is important to give your child a name with meaning. That name will go on to describe their character, personality, and hopefully give them an identity to help them in times of trouble and pain. I don't know what we will name our next baby, but you can bet that there will be a well thought out reason for it, whatever it may be.

During the miscarriage I felt like I needed a special trinket to remind me daily of who I am and to give me strength to get through that particularly painful trial, as well as all the other trials to follow. So I found this little company that sells hand stamped jewelry and immediately fell in love with this bracelet! Now, every day that I wear it, I am reminded of who I am and I am filled with strength and hope that I will always come out an even stronger, better woman than I was yesterday.  

LaFeber Life Lately

A quick collage of our life lately:

MOM

I got my hair cut and added bangs! Too bad I rarely have time to make it cute like this...

I found $1.50 in the McDonald's drive through when I got out of my car to pick up my receipt that had fallen on the ground. Good Karma!

I love mornings that start with caffeine and cuddles. But the best part of this picture is my manicured nails! That's a rare sight!

I've increased the healthy diet and exercise now that I have weight from the miscarriage to lose.... boo!

One of my typical crazy days. I was in the middle of running on the treadmill when Josh called and asked me to meet him for lunch. It was a blur of sweat, shower, makeup, an extra spritz of perfume, and then we were out the door! And of course this was the day Josh wanted to introduce me to his coworkers... Sometimes I wish life would slow down!

Excited for Josh to come home so we could go out to dinner! Austin comes with us on our Friday night dates so it's not always romantic but I love any time I get with my boys!

Friday mornings are dedicated to Starbucks! I load Austin in the stroller and off we go for a walk up the street to indulge in a little cup of happiness.

There is a lot more to this puppy than meets the eye. It has become a comfort object for Austin and whenever he feels sad he finds it and cuddles with it. The other day I lost my temper with him and later found him lying on the floor with his puppy crying. Talk about feeling guilty!

Austin:

Acting crazy as usual.

He loves to applaud himself whenever he does something silly.

He LOVES rolling around on the couch and scaring us to death when he makes attempts to jump off.

And then he takes random breaks before the next round begins.

He loves playing at the park! We are excited for fall to come so it's not so hot!

Dad:

Dad works hard and lately has been working harder than ever! We haven't seen him as much as we'd like to because of the long hours he puts in at the office so we take any time with him we can get! Austin loves his Daddy and he knows when it is time for Dad to come home. He starts saying "Dada, Dada" and points at the back door until his Dad walks in. They truly are two of a kind. I love witnessing their special relationship.

Grandpa LaFeber came to visit last weekend and babysat Austin so Dad could take Mom to a movie! We hadn't seen a movie in FOREVER and sadly the one we chose was kinda lame. But it was a night out and we don't complain about that!

Dad and Austin love to race up the stairs at bed-time and bath-time. It is so cute! I love how excited Austin gets to try and beat his dad. 

I never have enough pictures of Josh, and since he is a guy, he isn't into taking pictures himself. So I will have to conclude his portion of our life lately in words. Josh is a hard worker. He makes sure the bills are paid, there's food in the fridge, and we are all comfortable and happy as I work as a stay at home Mom. I am so grateful he is doing this for me and that he sees and understands my need to be at home with our baby. Josh is also a wonderful father. The proof is in how excited Austin gets the minute his dad walks in the door. When Josh gets home from work, he helps me with Austin in any way he can. This includes bath-time, bed-time, and keeping Austin entertained so I can make dinner. Josh loves sports (an understatement) and is counting down the days until football season starts next week! He keeps telling me over and over which teams are playing and what food he wants to eat while he spends his entire Labor Day weekend overdosing on football. Josh is all about having a good time which can be hard when you have a little one. So sometimes he feels frustrated that we aren't on a cruise right now, or that we aren't lounging around on a beach somewhere. Not that he doesn't love his son more than life itself, but sometimes the rigors of life gets to you and you wish you could escape somewhere. I miss those days too.... but for now we are enjoying our lives as parents and are making the best of our time doing things a baby would enjoy.

Milestones: 13 Months Old

I just realized I have still been telling people Austin is 12 months old, when in reality, he has been 13 months now for 6 days! I think I have been in denial. I don't want my baby to grow up!

At 13 Months, Austin is:

- Talking A LOT. Mostly babble, but he has added a few words to his repertoire such as: Baby (whenever he sees a baby or a picture of a baby), more (whenever he wants more food or drink), dog (he loves dogs and says this word constantly throughout the day). He is also learning how to bark like a dog, and the yesterday he learned the word eyes. I have been trying to teach him the different parts of the face and now he walks around poking people in the eye and saying, "eyes!" I also hear him saying "baba" a lot throughout the day which doesn't stop until I give him his bottle. He also says "Jesus" whenever we climb the stairs towards our picture of Christ at the top.

- This kid is so social and he loves other kids! Whether he knows them or not, he wants to be their friend. Sometimes I feel bad for him because the other kids don't always want to play with him (usually because they are 5 years older than him) and he doesn't understand that. He thinks he is big too and doesn't understand why they don't want him tagging along.

- He calls other kids "baby" whether they are actually babies or not. I honestly think he thinks he is an adult like us and sees all the other kids as babies. He is getting better at being gentle with the actual babies which helps me not feel so nervous whenever he runs up to them wanting to pet them like a puppy. All day long he says "baby" and points to all the pictures of himself around the house. He doesn't know that is him..... it's so cute!

- He got his first kiss at the splash pad a few weeks ago. I died laughing, and the mom of the little girl died from being so mortified at her daughter's forwardness. The story went like this, I took Austin to the splash pad to play and get some of his energy out. There was a little black girl his exact same age there and instantly they connected. At first they stood there staring and poking at each other. I think the difference in skin color was the reason for that. They seemed to be in awe! Then they began playing and the two were inseparable. Where one went, the other followed. Her mom and I had a great time just talking and watching them explore together. Then, out of the blue, the little girl went up to Austin, grabbed both of his arms so he couldn't escape, and gave him the biggest kiss! It was such a big kiss that it knocked him off his feet! He just laid there on the ground, stunned. He wouldn't move. He laid there and stared at her, totally confused at what just happened. Like I said earlier, her mom was mortified. She picked Austin up and kept apologizing. I thought the whole thing was too cute for words and told her not to worry about it. From there on out, the little girl chased Austin around the park trying to kiss him and he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. It was love I tell you! So stinking adorable!

- We also had a not so hilarious experience at the splash pad. Austin loves water. He loves to play in it, and most of all, he loves to drink it. He doesn't care where it comes from or how disgusting it is, he will drink it! So I find myself constantly chasing him around trying to keep him from drinking the pool water, the puddle water, the dog bowl water, the bubble bath water, and the splash pad water. He was too fast for me this time though and boy did he suffer the consequences! For over a week he developed the worst case of diarrhea he has ever had in his life and with that came the worst diaper rash of his life. We were all miserable. It killed us every time we had to change his diaper (which was multiple times per hour) because he screamed in agony and was literally shaking from the pain. I tried everything in the book to help soothe that diaper rash but nothing I did worked until the diarrhea stopped. We are SO glad that's over!!!

- He is in the stage of life where he is watching everything we do and he is learning what our routines are. When we say it is bed time or nap time, he runs to the staircase and begins racing us up the stairs. This little race also happens at bath time. When we wake up in the morning, he asks for his bottle (baba), then he runs to the living room windows because he knows that's where I am heading next to open the blinds. When he sees Josh and I talking, he wants to come talk too. When he sees Josh and I kissing, he wants to come kiss us too. He is our constant shadow and we have to be very careful around him.

-One of our biggest challenges with him being our shadow is that he wants to do whatever we do! So he now loves to unload the dishwasher and run around with the knives, open up the oven, and any other dangerous thing he can do to drive me insane throughout the day! He is climbing now so our childproofing has gotten even more creative. It is a constant challenge and we have to always be watching him because the second we aren't, you can bet that he is doing something he shouldn't.

- We started putting him in time out because saying "no" isn't working. He just repeats "no" back to us while shaking his head vigorously and then returns to doing the naughty thing we were saying no to! I have noticed the time outs working, although not as well as I would like. I have to sit there with him to keep him from escaping and at first I don't know who was more excited for that minute to pass by, him or me. He threw a fit and for those 60 seconds and I felt like I was holding a wild animal thrashing around trying to make its run for freedom. Then, once he got used to it, he started putting himself in time out! As soon as I would yell "no!" he would run to the corner and make a game out of it. Although it feels more like a game now, he has calmed down slightly and knows I mean business so I think it is working on some level.

Some moments over the month:

We try to get out of the house as much as possible so we took a trip to the mall!

At the mall, we got hungry and shared a soft pretzel. Austin ate all the salt off of it and I ate the rest ;).

The Galleria Mall has a fun indoor playground to play in!

As always, Austin ran around trying to get the other kids to play with him. Sadly none of them were interested but that didn't bother him.

He had a great time running around and playing by himself!

 

He has been driving me insane with all of his energy! The night before this picture, I was almost in tears and ready to give him away! Then, the next morning he was the perfect angel and wanted to give lots of hugs! Parenthood is such a roller coaster!

We went on a little lunch date together to Raising Canes and shared a chicken strip basket. He loved the ketchup!

I tried teaching him how to brush his teeth and he instantly became obsessed with his toothbrush! He freaked out if I tried to take it away from him so this is what he looked like all day.

He is literally a circus monkey! He likes to do tricks while standing up/balancing on his toys. It gives us a good laugh :).

He LOVES Macaroni and cheese!

He loves going for walks!

Taking a little break.

Whatever we eat, he wants to try. He is a big fruit eater!

Going on a walk with Dada.

Getting some ice cream after shopping with Mom and Dad at the mall.

He made the funniest faces but loved it at the same time! He kept begging for more!

Cuddling with his papa.

I love when it takes him a little while to wake up because he is so cuddly :).

Playing at Emmett's house. These two are so cute together!

We try so hard to read scriptures at night as a family and this is usually how it looks. Austin is EVERYWHERE and we don't get much out of the reading.

This was a rough morning and we both were exhausted by it..... it wasn't even 9:00am yet!

Why We Love to Visit Great Grandma Helm!

Today I took Austin to visit Great Grandma Helm! It was a fun filled day and he fell asleep in the car before we even made it half-way home. We started off with talking and hanging out but that didn't last long because Austin loves to get into EVERYTHING! Grandma was so proud of herself for "child proofing" the house before we got there but she had underestimated Austin's power of finding everything he shouldn't. So we decided to get out of the house and get some lunch! We went to the old Historic Boulder City Hotel. I love that place. The food is good, and the building is awesome! I was surprised that Austin actually behaved rather well! Usually when we go out, he has me so stressed out that I can't eat anything and I find myself begging to go home in my head. 

Once we got back to her house, we spent the rest of the afternoon outdoors. He still had us on our feet constantly but it was much much easier than being indoors.

This is why we love Grandma Helm:

 

She has all sorts of fun stuff to explore at her house!

She has a fun back yard.

She gets out the hose so I can play in the water outside.

WATER!!!

She plays in the water with me!

It's cold, but it feels so good! This summer heat has been killing us!

She lets me drag the sprinkler around, and put it anywhere I want on the grass.

She even cuts up watermelon for us to eat on the back porch and takes all of the seeds out for us! Now that's true love right there ;).

Grandma lets me sweep her porch!

She said I am a big helper.

Now if I could just figure out how to sweep the dirt...

She also lets me sweep her grass.

Grandma laughs every time I say, "OOOOO! What's this?!" and I say it A LOT!