Rice Cereal

Asher tried rice cereal for the first time last night! I thought that he would love a change up in his diet.  Milk seems like it would get a little old, right? Once I started mixing the rice cereal I wondered how any baby would even enjoy this mush.  But, we started off great.  Asher was ready in his bumbo with his tray and was looking around wondering what was going on.  He was intrigued with the new accessory around his neck.  Then the eating began...

 The the first bite came.  He hated it.  The second that I put the spoon up to his mouth he didn't quite know what to do.  One thing he did know was that he didn't like the taste.  His faces were hilarious.  I don't even think he swallowed any.  He would push it all out with tongue and wanted nothing to do with it.

 We were very entertained!  We laughed and laughed!

 What a cutie.

Oh and...look what I found in our sheets!

Happy weekend

Just a small post for the weekend.  

Ryan is out of town and so Asher and I are taking it easy.  Here are some pictures from this week.

 Getting ready to take Asher for a walk. Doesn't he look big?

Our first attempt at taking Asher to the park.  Well, let's just say it was a little premature.  He's still too small for everything.  He sure enjoyed watching the other kids run around though.  He was pretty much hypnotize by kids going down the slide. Great week!

Turkish Bazaar

One of the many things I love about living in Turkey is the incredible bazaar.  I look forward to going every Wednesday to purchase my produce for the week.  Everything is so fresh and it really is picked the day before the bazaar.  Did I mention it is so cheap?  Each stand has such a unique group selling their produce.  Most of the time it is a family ranging from the Grandpa, his son, their brother, his wife, her sister and their 4 kids or babies. No joke. I love it.  In fact, yesterday I had about a 5 year old boy help me pick my peppers.  He knew just what to look for!

 The bazaar is about the size of a football field.  One half is produce and the other half is any other random item you can think of.  See below.

 Sunglasses galore.  Reminds me of the streets in NYC.

 I always buy a new polish color each week. They are 1 Turkish Lira which converts to about .75 cents! Hard to beat.

 Apron anyone?

 All sorts of random kitchen appliances, sweaters, toys, purses and of course underwear.

 Socks 

and more socks... 

 Perfume. Never smells like the real stuff. Probably either watered down or fake!  They sure sale like crazy though!

 My favorite!! They taste like pretzels but better. They are amazing when warm.

Ryan with all of our loot.  Onions, peppers, peaches, nectarines, garlic, carrots, bananas and of course blinding hot pink nailpolish.

My buddy

Living overseas leaves me with a lot of free time.  When I say a lot I mean a TON.  Previous years I would spend a bunch of time baking, cooking, exercising, skyping with friends/family and watching way too much TV.  Now, things have changed. For the better.  I still have all of the time in the world but luckily it is now spent with this cute guy.  I am one lucky mommy.  I love him.  We enjoy playing, going on a lot of walks, reading books, bath time, singing and even more playing. The days go quickly and I'm trying to soak up every moment with this little man.

This summer.

On the train in Izmir.

At our first apartment here in Izmir.

Out on a walk in Aliaga.  Then what Asher does best.  DROOL.

And this guy is still and always will be my buddy.  I'm a happy girl!

Shower Day

When we got back from Italy my sweet friends Stef, Lauren and Megs threw Asher and me a baby shower.  It was absolutely adorable and definitely filled the void I had been feeling of my friends not being able to see Asher right when he was born.  I couldn't wait for everyone to meet my little guy!  It was fun actually having the baby AT the baby shower!  It was so great to see my friends and spend time with them.  The theme was so cute and so much time went into all of the details.  It was Ice cream parlor themed!  Stef knew just the way to my tummy.

 Stef being so cute and prego herself.  She is just the sweetest friend ever.

 All of the girls!  

 Megs and Asher.  She is gorgeous!  (And looks great with a baby don't ya think?)

Thank you for the shower!  I'm so grateful for supportive and thoughtful best friends.  It truly is the best feeling to know that even when I'm gone for 10 months I can count on my best friends to act like I didn't miss a thing.  

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Asher didn't complain about being loved on for a few straight hours.  Asher received the most adorable clothes, great toys that he is obsessed with and we are both loving the fun books. He appreciates everything! As do I.  

Thanks again!

Sunday Walks

I love Sundays in Turkey for a few reasons.  A few of them are that Ryan actually gets the day off where last year he didn't and I love being able to go to church together!  We love taking time on Sunday to enjoy a nice stroll along the ocean right by our house, eat huge Sunday dinners always accompanied by desserts.  Pretty much just being able to enjoy a whole day as a family.  Sundays also always include nap time and snuggle time. It's a must.  

4 months old...

Our sweet baby is now 4 months old! I am getting slightly depressed that he is growing up so fast and I feel like I'll be sending him on his mission like tomorrow.  He is the funnest little guy ever and he makes me laugh all day long.  He is rolling all over the place, grabs everything, flirts with everyone, smiles all the time and is just about to start laughing.  He would eat all day long if I'd let him and he is a really great sleeper! The only thing that's wrong is...pictures are becoming more difficult!  He doesn't sit still for me anymore.

 Adorable picture...

 Goofy picture.  This face cracks me up!

 Adorable picture...

Mom, I'm sick of these pictures so I'm putting an end to this.

I'm sure you can't read the paper in any of the pictures but I did what I could with a pen and a piece of lined paper! Just says 4 months old, the date and Izmir, Turkey.

He loves bath time! He wiggles and splashes the entire time.  

He is also learning to love his jumper.  He is such a busy baby always wanting to move his legs so this is the best thing for us! He just doesn't quite have the hang of it but he enjoys twirling around and bouncing a little bit.  YAY!  

I am loving Asher more then I ever could have imagined.  Love my little man.  

Happy 4 months!