2 Cousins & Chuck E Cheese

Last Saturday, we packed up Asher and headed over to Chuck E Cheese for 2 of my nephews' combined birthday parties. We walked in and there were... Lights! Sounds! Colors! Noise! John and I were overloaded within seconds and knew it would be a lot of stimulation for our little guy. He was such a trooper and loved looking around at all there was to see. His eyes remained wide throughout most of the party. He really was taking it all in and loving every minute of it.

My nephews Talan and Rylan celebrated both of their birthdays and the party was fantastic. They had a great time, their friends had a great time, and my whole family enjoyed everything, as well. We'll have to keep this venue in mind for future birthday parties when our little "squishy" grows to be a big boy!

Birthday boy, Talan.

Asher in this picture cracks me up - "Gross, Mom and Dad!"

Oh - I almost forgot! My mom, Asher's Grandma :), loves to give "non-birthday" presents to the grandchildren whose birthday it is NOT. She does this so that they don't feel left out. Of course, Asher has no clue, but she got him one anyways which was extremely thoughtful. She must have been unloading a batch of things she's been collecting over time - look at all this new stuff! Asher is one lucky little guy! (And now he'll be all the more fashionable, too!)

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Mistobox Has Arrived!

It finally arrived - John's Mistobox! I swear, John was so anxious for this thing to get here! He immediately tore open the graphic, little box and unwrapped the aromatic coffees, excited to see the coffee varieties and the 'mom and pop' companies from which they originated. (If nothing else, they've certainly got some excellent graphic design going on.)

INSIDE OUR MISTOBOX:

El Salvador La Grenadilla - from The Westbean Coffee Roasters in San Diego, CA

Rwanda Mwasa - from Ladro Coffee Roasting in Seattle, WA

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere - from Victrola Coffee Roasters in Seattle, WA

Honduras Jose Salomon Benitez - from Anodyne Roasting Co. in Milwaukee, WI

Although we do love our coffee, we've never paid much attention to the different flavors and aromas of special roasts such as these ones. We just brew up our Folgers and that's that. When we had our Keurig (which broke... 3 machines... 3 times) we would use different flavors, like vanilla, blueberry, coconut, etc., but that's about the extent of our coffee adventures. This is exciting! It's like wine... but coffee! I'll have to find that grinder that I know is hidden in our pantry somewhere, probably under a bag of old marshmallows or something, to grind up the beans so we can brew up our first taste test.

So far, we're impressed. But now, the real fun begins. I'll let you know what we think! 

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Happy 4 Months, Baby Asher!

At this rate, we soon won't be calling you 'Baby Asher' anymore!

At 4 months old, you are rolling over from back to tummy and vice versa all by yourself. You make all kinds of sounds and when you're on your swing you "talk" to the monkeys spinning around overhead. You are sleeping 12 hours a night which makes mommy and daddy very happy and rested people! You  LOVE your little plush giraffe, "Sophie". You also love your pacifier, playing on the iPad, watching musical nursery rhymes on YouTube, having Doggies read to you and Goodnight Moon, watching your Signing Time DVD, and getting your diaper changed! You are always playing with or eating your hands, which can get very messy at times. You even have started "fake coughing" when you want all eyes on you! You little booger!

You are such a momentous joy - our happy, delightful baby. Even when you have moments of fussiness, we still love you more than is even imaginable.

Happy 4 months, little Asher! We love you!!!

The older teddy bear in some of the pictures from our 4 month old photo shoot today was John's bear when he was a baby. John's mom surprised John with it before Asher was born. I can't believe how great of condition it was still in! Asher will love him just as much as John once did, I'm sure.

The monthly onesies were a baby shower gift purchased from Etsy.

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Happy Birthday to John!

Last Sunday was John's birthday! The plan was, and had been for days, for Asher to go to his Nonna and Grandpa's house and John and I were going to go to the beach.

We had our morning coffee and Asher helped John open his gifts. ;) Asher and I got him a subscription to MistoBox. We heard about this cool new company while watching our favorite reality show Shark Tank. If you don't already watch this show, it is a must that you start DVR'ing it right away. In a nutshell, entrepreneurs seek investments for their small companies and many of them become millionaires within months of going on the show. Mistobox is a subscription service for supposedly the country's best roasts. I got John a 3 month subscription and I'll let you know just how good they are once the first box arrives! John loved the gift and we are both anxious to try them.

John also opened a gift from my parents - some great clothes perfect for our beach day! Little did we know what was working it's way into our area up in the sky...

Read on as our day progresses...

...and the day continues.

I had just bought a new outfit to wear for our beach day. Well, my mom bought it for me, actually. Thanks, mom! :) John had his new beachy duds to sport. We definitely had a theme going and were SO looking forward to catching some rays and laying in the sand.

We dropped Asher off at Nonna and Grandpa's house. We saw some darkening clouds in the distance but figured the Florida weather is so unpredictable this time of year and we were hoping it would clear up pretty quickly.

On that note, I have something incredibly embarrassing to admit about the beach. We live in a beach town (well close enough, anyways), I went to high school literally within walking distance of the beach, we both have lived here our whole lives... and here's where it gets embarrassing... we both haven't gone to the beach here in almost 6 or 7 years!!!! I know, that's just ridiculous. John's very into boating, so we've always either had a boat to take out on the river or ocean, or we go with friends who have boats. But the beach... we have been seriously taking it for granted. We were pumped to have a real beach day.

And then this happened....

So we drove South thinking we could outrun the rain or find a break in the clouds. No such luck. After an hour or so of driving, maybe more, we decided to just get a bite to eat. Somewhere "beachy" so that we could at least feel like we spent a day in the sun. The first restaurant we went to had no indoor seating and everything was windy and wet. We got back in the car.

We headed back mainland and ended up right back in our stomping grounds. We decided to eat at Mustard's Last Stand - a local hotdog joint that has been around for ages and boasts some of the most unique menu items I have ever seen. Honestly, this is a restaurant I have driven by my entire life and never thought to go into. I've never considered myself a "hot dog kind of girl". What a mistake! I had a "Hollyweird Dog", topped with cream cheese, onions, and some kind of red sauce (?) and it was amazing! If you are ever in the Melbourne area, you have to give this place a try. Yum!

After our hot dog experience we decided to go pick up Asher. We arrived at John's parents house and stuck around for long enough to give Asher a taste of the pool. We dipped his little feet into the water for the first time. He wasn't phased by it! He seemed more interested in eating his hands. 

Our day didn't end until much later after dinner with John's parents and then cake at their house. We somehow fit grocery shopping in there, too. Phew! We gave Asher his usual - Bath, Bottle, Bed - and then headed to bed ourselves. Hope your birthday was fun, John! We'll reattempt the beach very soon! XOXO <3


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