The Armstrong 5

But Asher is a great baby. He's getting to be easier and easier... he has even had a few days the past couple weeks where he didn't cry at all! He eats about 5-6 times a day and usually no earlier than 4am. Lately, he'll eat around 8pm and sleep until 5:30am... what a blessing! He's started to notice people and things around him and watches his hands all day long. He'll bat at toys and reach out at his little duck that hangs from his car seat. He has also started to put his hands together and touch his bottle... lately he even pushes away his bottle when he's done! 

We certainly love our little guy and are so blessed to have had him with us these 3 months. We look forward to more months and years with this guy - although he's not that little anymore. He weighs a ton compared to his little friend Hope (who is a week older). He tried out Hope's bumbo stool yesterday but didn't seem to love it really. He holds his head up pretty well but I think once his back is a little stronger he might enjoy it more. But he LOVES his exersaucer the church is lending us. It gets passed around through all the moms in the church so we've got it for a bit now. He'll try and grab the toys but yeah, he's still working on the eye-hand coordination thing :-) 

I hope our blog has been a good way to stay "in the loop" for all of you who are not so local! We love posting and we love reading all of your blogs (those who have them and keep us informed). Well, Happy 3 Months Asher... and I hope many of you get to see and enjoy our little boy soon!

I beg you all to excuse our absence this week. It has just been nuts! But it's also been good. Here's an update on what we've been doing...

Ok so, we're moved out but not completely moved in. Do you know what I mean? We have a bunch of things still in boxes and needing to be put away, but it definitely feels like home and we're acclimating nicely. The cats have the run of the place and are making friends with their new neighbors (they're outdoor cats now). Zeek has always been a bit skittish but he's found a sort of refuge under the house that he quickly runs to at the first sign of trouble.  Madeleine is happy as a clam and gets along famously with Kory's dog Bernie. I've been enjoying the grand piano during rare breaks and Joellen has broken in the hot tub and today even got a chance to soak up some rays on the back porch. Sure beats the old place! Unfortunately, our change of address is going through at a snail's pace and we've only received 1 piece of forwarded mail since the beginning of the month! GRRR. I'm still waiting on my last check from AT&T which I think was mailed instead of direct deposited, or at least I hope because it's sure as heck not in the bank :) That and I think our kicker check from the IRS might be mixed up in all that too... 

Anyway, this week I started my new job working for Paul Moreland from our church. It's super interesting and I'm learning a lot although I'd forgotten what it was like to start a new job! I feel like a complete idiot because I'm in a new industry I know nothing about and all the papers I look at make me feel like I'm swimming around in a sea of ignorance. It's unlike the last four times I started a new job by going back to the same company. That was easy. This... well, I'm enjoying it quite a bit and slowly but surely, I'm getting a feel for how the business works. 

Yesterday, Joellen and I and Baby Asher took a trip over to Redmond to move a horse. Ok so you're right, we don't have a horse trailer and wouldn't know the first thing about moving a horse, especially one this size (for you horse people out there, he's a BIG yearling who's over 16 hands!) Thankfully, Aunt Karen and Mike agreed to help us move him (and by help I mean they did all the work). Mike was just a natural with him and coaxed him into the trailer even though he'd never been in one before and was more than a little reluctant to go in. This horse is owned by a syndicate we are managing. A syndicate (for those of you who don't know) is for people who want to get involved in horse racing but don't have the experience or time needed to make it happen. Basically, the partners put in the money and let the syndicate manager take care of the training, decision making and so on with regards to the horse (kind of like a limited partnership). I don't really have time either but what the heck, it's a great deal of fun and we get to be involved with more horses without having to spend a bunch of money on buying them all. We're hoping to maybe do more of these down the road but we'll start with this one and see how things go. Meanwhile the horse we own with Joellen's parents (McLaren) is up at Emerald Downs and working well. We plan to go up there next weekend to watch him workout and get our owners' papers. That's assuming of course the money we're waiting for comes in the mail by then... Fingers crossed. 

After moving the horse, we went up to Karen & Mike's, checked out their place and watched Big Brown go the way of so many Triple Crown hopefuls before him :( I guess that leaves room for McLaren to make history next year! We got to meet her new filly Zoe (2 weeks old) along with the rest of her horses and then headed back to McMinnville. Yes, it was a long day but Asher handled it like a champ.

Now, I just finished doing some Goldstreet work and as soon as I finish this post, I will spend the rest of the evening with my gorgeous wife and our lovely son enjoying some sorely needed and long overdue family time :)

Thanks to Gizelle for sending us this video...

We had a free dinner certificate for McCormick & Schmicks so we stopped up there on our way to the show. The concert wasn't scheduled to start until 9:00 PM so we didn't actually make it home until around 2:00 AM this morning which is something neither of us has done too much of lately. I guess you get out of the habit of being up all night :)

So again a big thanks to Gnome & Gizelle for a fun night out yesterday. Today, we finish moving the last of our stuff out of the old place. All the big stuff is moved... now, we just have to take care of a million odds and ends. It's amazing how much stuff we pick up along the way through life :)

So, things are going, slowly but surely! Moving is always worse than you remember :-) It's all the kitchen stuff that is difficult, and then the rest of the random junk that you just throw in boxes and never unpack. Mark and I are finally just throwing or giving things away. And I have a principle about sentimental stuff... If I die and someone else is going to feel bad about throwing something away, something that has no real purpose but to look at and possibly reminisce about... throw it out! I don't want anyone to ever feel bad about throwing away my stuff when I'm dead - for all I care, sell it and make a profit! Well, maybe I'll have to check with Mark on that one :-)

Mark starts his new job on Monday! Yay! I'm excited to get to hang out with him on Saturdays instead of him going to work... we can actually do stuff with other friends who have a regular M-F jobs. We're both so excited for this new job and we're blessed that Paul really values Mark the way he does.

Asher is growing and growing (what's new). He's wearing a lot of the 6-9 month clothes which is totally crazy! He's huge! But still so cute and small. But he's holding his head up pretty steady and he's starting to try and laugh. It's like a little chuckle that makes me laugh so hard, then he chuckles a little bit more too.... so much fun! I'm really looking forward to all the new things he learns... using his hands, saying mama and dada... I can't imagine what kinds of joy this little guy is going to bring us. He better after all, he's a lot of work right now ;-) But really, he's getting easier and easier... so many fun things are going to happen in the next couple months I just cannot wait!

Anyway, I can't think of everything I wanted to share... my prego brain is here to stay! Love you all!