Asa is 1!

 And Just like that, my baby is one! It really isn't fair how fast it all seems to go. 

Asa is really good at imitating us: coughs, blowing kisses, growling, blowing on his food, waving hello and goodbye. He's like a sponge these days. He's trying to figure out some sign language but usually only does his attempts after I have done them. It sounds like he is saying "mo" at times too. He can say mamama and dadada and usually uses them in the right context. His main form of communication is urgent yells and grunts until we figure out what he wants. 

Whenever he goes to bed we have him blow kisses to everyone, and then I nurse him before laying him down. Now when he wants to nurse he blows kisses...good old classical conditioning. 

We did a beach day on his birthday and he didn't eat the sand by the handfuls...so he must be growing up.

He finally decided that crawling is much more effective than dragging himself around and he has gotten really fast. He loves stairs but isn't very good at going down, Aunt Brittany's stairs into her white room are his favorite because they are wide, and covered in cushy soft carpet so it doesn't hurt when he falls down them. The perfect place to practice. 

He is starting to cruise around on things and has moments where he'll stand unassisted, but they are very short. 

Church is a challenge lately because he spends most of his time trying to get to Dad on the stand. Tanner is fine with holding him but he isn't content with just that and wants to explore. So we spend a lot of time in the foyer right now. 

He really wants to be an independent eater but usually just grabs his food, sticks it on his fork, and then puts it in his mouth. He also thinks he should be able to eat his oatmeal all by himself, but ends up looking like this: 

Pictures just don't do justice to how much oatmeal he had on him, this was a straight to the bath mess. Josie, however, was thrilled with everything on the floor; this is her favorite stage...sometimes, Josie does not love when he screams in her face and bats at her. But she does love when he grabs one of her toys and waves it around in her face. Asa thinks it's hilarious when she tries to get the toy. That is when we get the best belly laughs from Ace. 

He tried whipped cream for the first time and loved it. 

His hair was getting a little out of hand so I gave him another haircut. I really didn't want to get rid of his curls in the back so he ended up with a mullet situation. 

Haircuts on babies are hard...he kept grabbing the sink handle and switching it to hot and then trying to bat my hands away as I cut his hair. So don't be judging when you see his new 'do. 

Showing off his haircut with dad. It's always exciting when he gets home from work. 

This boy is such a joy, he keeps us on our toes but we all just adore him so much. Now to see if we can keep him out of the dog food and away from the stairs...

July

July was quite the month. I really wish our summer would slow down a little but it just keeps flying by. 

Tanner was on call for the 4th so we didn't do much. There was a lot of disappointment when we didn't take them to see the fireworks, but they'll get over it eventually right? 

 

The big kids went and played racquetball with Tanner and Eliza asked if she and Vivi could have hot cocoa. That was a first for me on the 4th of July but I let them have it. 

And Vivi had to end it with some flair...

We had the neighbors over that night to sing Happy Birthday to America and eat our flag cake. 

The next night Tommy and Trey treated us to a little fireworks show and dinner around the campfire with unlimited s'mores, which made my kids so very happy and made up for their lame parents. We have the best neighbors, can't change my mind on that. 

Mariah went to her first ever Girls Camp. I was so nervous about her being away so long but I knew she was in good hands with the leaders that took her. She had a wonderful time and can't wait for next year.

We had a fun ward activity celebrating Pioneer Day where the kids played in water and ate way too much ice cream. I made stew and cornbread for our pioneer day celebrations but we didn't do our stick pull tournament because Tanner and the big three had to leave for Wednesday night activities. 

Eliza, Chet and Vivi wanted me to fill in their eyebrows and got a good laugh on their new looks. I'm loving Vivi's new winky smile she does. 

We got to go down to Kirksville and celebrate Miri. We all had a blast playing in the Kirksville pool and getting a little time with Grandma Crossley. 

I spent a weekend painting our office. Vivi wasn't too happy about being locked out but I wasn't risking her around the dark blue paint. 

Chet has been begging to learn how to mow the lawn and one day we decided to give it a go. I drove the zero turn around first to get the hang of it and didn't want to stop. It was so fun! I'm not feeling sorry for Tanner mowing anymore. He's basically on vacation out there with his audiobook going. Chet did a good job and is ready to try again. I also let him drive the truck up to the house on our lane and he now asks to drive every time we get into the car. 

The older kids and I went to the rodeo. They got ice cream cones and enjoyed the bucking bulls. 

My Sister Emily came with her two kids at the end of the month. We had been anxiously awaiting their arrival. 

Sophia and Grayson were kept busy the week they were here. First they fed the chickens. 

We went to the pool and then ate at the Snack Shack. 

We got more ice cream cones than we had planned, but the kids didn't complain about that. 

One day we went to the library for story time and then got to run through the rain to the cars. 

I channeled my inner Grammie and threw a tea party. Mariah and Chet made the cupcakes, Austin made jello jigglers, and Eliza decorated the table. 

Grayson looked quite dapper. 

Vivi was really proud of her "tortilla crown". She was a great example to her cousins on the best way to play with your food, sorry Em.