Asher's First Days Home

I blogged about Asher's birth story and about his newborn photos, but I never wrote about his first days home from the hospital. 

It was absolutely amazing. He is such a special sweet boy and I was in heaven with all the newborn snuggles. It was perfect timing because Garth just graduated from University and so we had so much time to just be together as a family. 

Asher was sooooo sleepy. He also had jaundice which definitely contributed to the sleepiness. When the nurse came to my home to check up on him, she was a complete MORON. She obviously didn't have any kids. When Asher dropped from 8 lbs 15 oz to 8 lbs 1 oz, she very strongly suggested that I needed to put him on formula. Keep in mind, he was about 24 hours old and my milk hadn't even come in yet. I cried and cried and cried because she not only made it seem like I wasn't feeding my baby properly, and that jaundice was the absolute worst thing that could happen to a baby, she also made me very self conscious and insecure about my stomach. I just had a baby 24 hours ago lady, it's not gonna look pretty! Anyways, so luckily just as I was sending Garth out to buy formula (because the nurse kept calling and bullying me into it...) my SIL Michelle came over and reassured me on how ridiculously stupid she was and that I didn't need to put him on formula if I didn't want to.

So I didn't. The first week proved to be difficult, because once my milk did come in, he wasn't eating enough and so I was always so engorged and having to pump a lot. We would wake him up every 3 hours, and when he wouldn't wake up, we would wipe him down with a wet washcloth (sounds mean but honestly we tried everything else first!) After about 2 weeks, and a lot of doctor's weigh ins, he finally got back up to about 8 lbs 11 oz, his jaundice was going away and the nurses finally left me alone!

Even though I had second degree tearing with Asher, my recovery was a dream compared to my c- section recovery with Grant. I was walking around, showering, and being a normal human being right after the birth. When Grant came to the hospital to meet his little brother for the first time, Garth went out to meet him and his parents. When I heard them coming I went to the door to see Grant because I missed him so much. When he saw me, he sprinted toward me and I picked him up in my arms, causing Garth a mini-heart attack before he remembered how different things were this time haha.

Grant had a bit of a hard time adjusting to a new baby in the house so it was such a blessing that Garth was around to give him lots and lots of extra attention. After meeting him that first time, he pretty much acted like Asher didn't exist (unless Dad went to hold him and then a meltdown would ensue).

Our little Asher was a dream. He barely ever cried and was such a content little newborn baby. Besides the fact that it was so hard to keep him awake for a feeding, everything went so smoothly and I will never forget those sweet moments I had with Asher in his nursery, on our new couch, cuddling him on my chest or holding him in my arms. Garth would have to literally pry him from my arms so I could have a break from holding him.

It is so amazing how much love you can feel for your little ones. You don't know how you could possibly love anyone or anything more, and then once you have another one your heart only expands and you love him just as much. My heart is just bursting with gratitude for my two boys.

Here are some pictures of Asher's first days and coming home from the hospital:

-A

An Airplane Carried Me To Bed

The hardest part about moving out of our place two weeks ago was packing up the "Boys Room."

When I was pregnant with Grant I knew exactly what I wanted to base his nursery design on. One of my favorite bands, Owl City, has a side project called Sky Sailing and he released an album called "An Airplane Carried Me To Bed." It is the perfect mix of chill, lullaby type music that I fell in love with. Their album art was also one of my favorites, and so I just knew that I wanted to do a paper airplane themed nursery.

Before Asher came around, we got busy decorating and re-adjusting the room to make it perfect for our two boys to share. Even though I am sad to say goodbye to their room sooner than we expected, I know that this was only the beginning and they will have their whole childhood to share a room together.

Here is a "tour" of Grant & Asher's Room:

Dresser: Ikea

Change Pad Cover: Etsy

One of the first things I knew I wanted in the room was a paper airplane mobile. I went searching on Etsy and found one for $40. I decided that we could make one ourselves, or at least Garth could. It ended up costing me about $5 in supplies and it looks amazing! I was so impressed with him.

Basket: Superstore

Clock: Winners

Letters: Michaels

For Father's Day last year, I framed Garth's shirt and tag that he wore on his mission. I thought that this would be the perfect place to display it, to remind our boys of their father's amazing example of serving the Lord.

I didn't have time to organize these drawers better to take good pictures, but I wanted to show these organizers I got at Ikea that are perfect. They come with a variety of sizes, perfect for the different sized drawers. They really help utilize every inch of space.

I wanted a gallery wall with a mix of random printables and colors and this is what I came up with. The 'G' is actually orange/white striped. Garth made both the 8x10 printables. The one is based of my favorite children's book "On the Night You Were Born" and the other one is Dr Seuss of course! The smaller ones are a mixture of printables I found online and pretty water color cards that randomly caught my eye one day.

Bed: The Brick

Duvet/Cover: Ikea

Grant loves his "big boy" bed and his transition into it could not have gone smoother. Garth and I were on the same page and saw no point in getting a toddler bed and when we found this one we had to have it. I love that it is lower to the ground which I think helped him ease into it so nicely.

Grant's Aunt Cynthia is super talented with stained glass and went out of her way to make a personalized paper airplane stainglass for Grant's room after he was born. It looks perfect in their room and looks spectacular when the sun is actually shining. (boo winter)

My favorite place in the room is their reading corner. We have spent a lot of time there over the last year and a half and even more when we finally found the perfect chair.

Chair: Ikea

Pillow: Superstore

Basket: Pehr (Chapters)

Stuffies: This picture is decieving but there are a lot of stuffed animals stuffed in that basket haha, im pretty sure there is an alligator, a blue bear and a huge turtle hiding. Some were gifts, and some were mine from when I was growing up.

Shelf: Ikea

Lamp: Walmart

Globe: Winners

Stuffies: Jelly Cat (Chapters)

Paper Airplane Decals: Etsy

Crib: Target

Sheets: Target

Quilt: Made by me and my SIL Chrystal

Our new additions for Asher!

...and because every December baby needs a cute penguin friend!

This is the beautiful album artwork that I was talking about. I wanted it so bad, so I asked my talented sister Mikayla to paint it for their room. She is amazing.

And last but not least the closet!

I have so many amazing memories with Grant in this room, watching him grow from a baby sleeping in the crib, to a toddler in his very own "big boy" bed. I cherish the nightly bedtime routine and I can smell the scent of lavendar baby lotion that filled the room after his bath. I remember how content I was with him on my lap, reading story after story in the dimly orange lit room. I remember when he first started to stand, I would watch him stare out of that window everyday, and I can hear his "tweet tweet"  sounds when he would spot a bird.

I remember his cries in the night and when I walked in and picked him up everything was okay again. I remember singing and rocking him to sleep on those random nights when he needed it most.

Even though Asher's time in this room was much shorter, I will never forget the first time we brought him home and I just sat in the chair, by the window and held him for who knows how long. I won't ever forget those peaceful and excited feelings of having a newborn baby again.

I guess it's pretty obvious I have become attached to this room and yes, it was hard to say goodbye to this chapter of life. I am grateful for all the memories that were made here and I am excited for change and I know there are plenty of new memories to be made in other houses, other rooms, other cities, and I can't wait.

-A.