Firsts for Ashbug...

Ry just took the boys to the park and I actually have a minute to get on here... Its been a busy house these last few weeks. Mainly with work. As many of you know, I'm not actually on a real maternity leave. I'm working from home. I've found that, though I get a lot done, I am missing my summer with my boys and not enjoying my new little man as much. I knew coming into July/August that it would be extremely busy... but I'm feeling a bit sad that I can't just enjoy the time with them without all this extra stuff! :-)

So now that my complaint is over... I wanted to share some of Asher's firsts. They are family first too... (smile)

First Road Trip

Ryan and I have always loved just getting in the car and driving for hours, finding new places and enjoying the amazing scenery the Pacific Northwest has to offer. So we decided to go for a drive to Whidbey Island a few weekends ago. It was a last minute decision after Ry was done watching softball games, so we were trying to catch the sunset at Deception Pass.

Loading up on the ferry was cool, the boys had all kinds of questions about where all the cars were going to go. The last time we did a ferry ride with the boys, they were a lot smaller and fell asleep most of the time.

The Ferry's out here are older vessels to say the least, but they look great from a distance...
We gave it our best shot to catch the sunset at Deception, but ended up in the small town of Coupeville. We stopped at Toby's Tavern , it was the only place open that I could find... boy talk about a cliche... it is a traditional pub with all the local folks included. The ladies behind the bar were calling out names/orders and throwing cat calls themselves... very interesting. However, the fish and chips were great!

After we pulled away from the tavern, we noticed the sun was heading down fast, so the boys jumped out and took a little walk by the pier with dad while I fed Asher. So this is our official sunset on Whidbey shot... :-)

First day at church

Asher's first day at church was July 27th. He was 5 weeks old. That morning getting 4 boys ready wasn't that bad. We didn't plan enough time, but what's new there?? Really it wasn't any different than getting ready any other Sunday.

This was my attempt to speed up bathtime before church. Asher loves the water, so he just settled right in. It really did go fast... all 4 boys washed and out of there in about 15 minutes.

The boys all wanted individual pictures with Asher though... so that of course took 5 more minutes than we planned.

He did a great job in service. I did have to leave to feed him, but we came back in. Which is a big deal. I was praying that I wouldn't have to forgo the main auditorium for the next year or so, so my hopes are high!

Till later... Nic

Asher - 1 month

Mr. Asher... or what we lovingly call him "Mister" turned 1 month yesterday. He weighs 10 lbs 5 ounces and is 22 inches tall. So he's growing pretty good!

I attempted to get all the boys in a shot that would celebrate his little milestone... but that proved harder than I thought. While the big boys were all willing, Asher found other things to catch his eye.

Here the skylights above the couch was too cool... we had about 5 shots with him locked onto the skylights.

After a while Josiah was interesting and he just wanted to stare at him. I was on the other side of the camera making all kinds of noises and calling his name, but nothing seemed to work.

Then Daddy came along and started to call his name and he decided to look at him. So this was the best shot we got. Quinny kept looking at the television... but hey he's only 3 years old.
This ended up being the only shot we got with Asher actually looking at the camera. Thanks Daddy! And happy 1 month, Asher!! :-)Till later... Nic

Family Picture Time

So technically our last "official" family picture was in November 2002 when Josiah was 1 month old. I know that doesn't seem right... but it is true. We took a family pic when Quinny was 1 but I didn't like how it turned out, so it was never hung on the wall. Thus it wasn't an official family picture. I also didn't distribute it to anyone else... so its like it never happened. (smile)

I was determined that before we added another Kelly to the family that we would get an official family picture that included Quinlan on our wall. So 2 weeks before Asher got here, we took pictures. And yes, these are official. :-)

Till later... Nic

Swim Lessons

One of Ry's birthday presents was swim lessons. He has been wanting to "go swimming" like the big boys and I told him he needed to learn first. Well I actually didn't want Big Ry to teach him because he can be a little intense sometimes. So we signed him up for classes through the city of Kirkland. They began back in June, but we never seemed to remember to bring a camera to any of the classes. Yesterday was his last class and I wanted to make sure we got some shots so we can document this momentous occasion for him.

This is Ry on our way to class.

Here, he is working on his crawl stroke. Check out those strong kicking legs!! He got distracted because he saw me with the camera. But he is pretty good on this stroke and swimming under water. Working on life jacket safety. He was really comfortable in it and jumped right in!

Then it was time to work on his back stroke. He does well with his hands above his head like a torpedo, but still needs assistance.
And back to the crawl stroke. He seemed to always revert back to this when he got a little uncomfortable.

The last day was also "Parent Participation" day. So big Ry got to help with the teaching that day. He did a good job. I didn't hear him yell once at little Ry. A scowl here and there...but he did really well! Both Ryans did!!

Of course Big Ry couldn't resist the lure of the basketball hoop... B-ball is in his blood!

Ry had a total of 18 30 minute classes over 4 weeks. He had a great time and I found it reinforced safety around water and gave kids confidence in what their bodies can do. Its time to say good bye to swim classes for now. Next summer he'll take some more and work on his technique. Mr. Phelps... look out. Your bazillion gold medals are no match for this guy!

Till later... Nic

Bathtime!

Asher took his first bath at home about a week after he was home. He loves the water. I read somewhere that newborns shouldn't be bathed but once a week for the first month... but I think we'll be doing it like twice a week because he just loves being in there!

After the bath, he was just as mello and happy.

Josiah holding Asher. He wanted his own Picture all by himself... but Quin popped in behind him :-)



Till later... Nic

Asher is here!

Here I had planned a full blog about this and can't get photos onto my computer... So with the few I have access to, I will make the official introductions...

Introducing...

Asher Alter Warner Kelly

Born Wednesday, June 18th @ 12:43 PM

8 lbs, 6 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long

He looks like his brothers... surprise, surprise! He has a full head of hair and is very alert. His name Asher is chosen from the bible. Asher is one of the 12 tribes of Israel and means fortunate, blessed, and happy. The blessing given to Asher in the bible by his father Jacob was "The food of Asher shall be rich and he shall provide delicacies fit for a king" Gen. 49:20.

His middle names are in honor of our maternal grandfathers. Alter Evans was my mother's father. He was a great father to his 9 children and not to mention me and my 24 cousins. Warner Goodier was Ryan's mother's father. He was a loving dad to his 3 children and 8 grandchildren too.

So my little Asher has 4 names... Big Ry thinks a proper nic name would be A.W. I'm partial to Ash-bug at the moment. Either way he is a blessing to have here!!

Jan Hicks from my job stopped by the hospital to visit... she took these great photos... THANKS!!

Till Later... Nic

Happy Birthday Lil' Ry!

June 8th was Ryan's 7th birthday. We celebrated by going bowling at Tech City Bowl and eating strawberry shortcake. Now... the history of Ry's strawberry shortcake is this... his first birthday cake was a simple white cake with whipped cream and strawberries on top. He didn't eat it. Everyone else did. So since then he has had white cake with plain frosting... nothing big.

Well sometime throughout the years he has had my strawberry shortcake. I make mine the southern style with biscuits, fresh cream and rendered strawberries. He declares it the best desert in the world every time he eats it. So when his 5th birthday was coming around...he surprised me by asking for strawberry shortcake for his birthday. Kind of a different request, but we did it. So I made up the biscuits, whipped up the cream and rendered the strawberries. We put a candle in his own serving and that was it. Since then he has asked for it for his birthday cake.

For this particular birthday... having the party at a bowling alley proved a little challenging because they don't allow outside food with the exception of a celebratory cake. So I had to figure out how to do the shortcakes as one cake. I thought about a casserole but opted to treat the biscuit like normal cake rounds and made a big parfait type cake. Since whipped cream isn't the most structured frosting... I put the whole thing in a bowl and WALA...Celebratory Cake!



Let's eat!!

Time to bowl... Casey and Little Keegs discussing strategy??

Jodee holding down Judah... he couldn't bowl :-(

Quinny and Chloe couldn't bowl at first either because the minimum age was 4... but the management let us get them shoes since they are almost 4 years old... (in 6 months) hey now don't laugh... for Quin on that exact day he is closer to being 4 than 3.

Our friend from church Conner Anderson came with his "A" game! He and Keegs tied for 1st place that day.

Josiah sized up his attempt for a strike... not this time :-(
Little Ry did good... He got one strike that day.

I even got in the action a bit... I think I bowled the first 5 rounds and then little Ry took over for me. 9 month pregnant isn't the best time to be bowling I found... I paid the price in cramping later! Not that great of a shot Shelly!!

Neighbor Keegan was all smiles...

It was really nice having Jodee out. She's healing up and God is doing great things with her! Terry and Keegan Sr. joining in the picture too.
The whole party was less than 2 hours... Ryan received great gifts from his family and friends! Big Ry and I got him swim lessons and Aunt Shell and Casey got him City Kids Camp. Both will have pictures coming soon!

Till later... Nic