Sunday, September 19, 2010

Asher is TWO!

Brand new- don't know what was up with the date except that it was accidentally turned-on.  Dates on pictures make me CRAZY! Rest assured, this was 09/20/2008

Even still, I get all sorts of emotional when I think about Asher's first week.  He was 5 weeks early, delivered after I got really sick.  No one really seemed to think anything was going to be a huge problem, since at that time, he was already measuring via ultrasound at 7+ pounds and I had been taking good care of him ;-)  He had severe lung disease and respiratory distress syndrome and I did not even get to see him for more than a minute before he was evacuated to the UVa NICU.  The first time I saw him, I was just so scared.  He was breathing close to 200 shallow breaths per minute and had to be ventilated.  All the while, Valerie still had school, I was trying to recover from a C-section and a pretty ugly bout with my liver AND Mary Baldwin was calling daily to see if I was coming back soon.  That was insane.  The entire first year was, actually, but the second year has been much better.

We love Asher so much, he is a BUSY BOY, but we love it.  He keeps us busy too, makes us friends where ever we go and he is so adorable.  We all love Asher so much.  He is really lucky that Valerie is so much older, he has allll sorts of teenager giving him hugs and kisses and swinging him around all the time.  We love our guy so much.

Enjoy some photos- mostly from the last year
Asher in the NICU with CPAP. He had his eyes closed for 5 days straight, his body was using so much energy just breathing, that he slept... and did not sleep after that for about a year.  I kid not.





Itsy-bitsy boy always making the funny faces


Thirteen Months! Look at that baldy



Visiting right after Taylor was born- barely 12 months

15 months



Nakey baby in Jennifer and Michael's yard
First birthday cake
October 2009, on the way to see family in DC
Winter 2010
More winter 2010
Christmas 2010
Valerie's outfit she picked out for Asher
SECOND ER visit as a one year old.  This one was compliments of Valerie's careless friend.
BOOTS!
ALWAYS trying to escape from church
Going with daddy to therapy
The culprit of ER visit #1- earbud metal mesh
This resulted in a trip back to UVA for emergency retrieval down the esophagus.
Looking at airplanes
We love you, Asher!! We hope to help make this an awesome year to be two!

7 comments:

Shannon said...

Happy Birthday Asher! Smooches from Katie! :)

Florence said...

Very cute, happy birthday Asher. I love that the first 2 pics he looks so different, but has a very similar look on his face. Too cute!!

Anonymous said...

happy birthday you precious little man!!! we are all so glad that you are part of our lives... you will never know how much you have touched my heart little man!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Scott and Katy Adams said...

happy birthday big boy!!!

David and Debby said...

Asher, we are so so lucky that you are with us. We love you and loved seeing you earlier this month. We hope your birthday was wonderful. From the looks of the photos, it was a red letter day. love from grandma and grandpa

Colin & Lori said...

I LOVE those faces and sure wish I could kiss those cheeks!

rebeccaV said...

I love the chronological pictures! You've come a long way Asher! Happy Birthday!