Waiting Period

It's official I am a stay at home mommy to a very energetic, often opinionated, two year old. You know what that means, it is Wednesday and I have not put on make up or ran a brush through my hair this week(I may have brushed my hair once or twice ;). To some of you, it sounds like I am living the dream and maybe I am, it's just not my dream. While I absolutely love all of the quality time I get to spend with my son, I truly miss being in the classroom. The past few months I have pondered whether it is even Gods plan for me to be a teacher. I have asked and prayed and prayed and asked for God to fill me in on the path I should be taking. Should I even keep pursuing education? Am I meant to be elsewhere? Well God did answer me. Of course not in the obvious -yes Ashley,keep pursuing teaching, that is what you are meant to do answer I was wanting. He did it in the way that says I hear you, have faith, and Wait. Ugh don't you just hate when things don't play out just like they did in your head :) This is how God really answered me, he led me to read Lamentations 3. And by led I mean he threw it in my face at every turn. I mean for weeks I couldn't look at anything without a scripture from this chapter coming up. In normal Ashley fashion, it took me weeks to grasp what he was actually telling me. Side note- my aunt has always called me ketchup(catch up)because I was always the last person to get the joke. Anyways, I read this chapter and read it and read it until one day I was reading a daily devotional that had Lamentations 3:24 "the Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait in him." It hit me like a ton of bricks, I mean duh it was that simple. He was saying, Ashley I am all that you need, you will wait and put your trust in me. Once I got that through my thick skull, I have had absolute peace about this waiting period. Do I still wonder what I am meant to do? Yes. Do I stress about it and keep "nagging" God to give me an answer? No, I have my answer, this is my waiting period. No matter the outcome I know that Gods plan for my life is good and whatever plan I have pales in comparison. So I say Yes Lord. Yes to patiently waiting for your perfect timing and rejoicing while I wait!

22/23 Months...Fun Facts

Here are some fun facts this month about Easton. What he likes, what he doesn't like, what he knows, etc.

Easton Graham Faile...

Loves Fruit (would eat it all day everyday)

 Is obsessed with Hats (thinks he has to have one every time you walk out the door)

Can count twelve but often skips 7 and 8

Animal lover (he says his favorite animal is a cow)

Favorite color is green

Is a country boy at heart- In fact, we now call him Cow Baby

Still fixated on Mickey Mouse but we have added Dora and Caillou to the mix

Favorite thing to say right now is NO NO mommy/daddy,Yee Haw Horsey, and Auburn Tigers

Is very into hitting and pinching right now (praying this stage ends quickly)

Can identify 10 letters in the alphabet

Loves to play peek-a-boo and this little piggy with his toes

Still very fascinated with tractors, gators, and 4 wheelers (his favorite is the gator)

Calls chap stick-cow get it, lawn mower-walmart, 4 wheeler- fo whee

Points to himself when asked where is Easton or Monster (Josh's nickname for him)

All about mommy since I have been home this summer

Can Say his name is Easton (eaton) Faile 

21 months..... Those Three Little Words

I was worried that the older Easton got the less I would have to blog about. Not that I don't find my child extremely blog worthy, it's just I thought the learning/growing rate would slow down. Boy was I wrong. He has come leaps and bounds since just last month.

On my last blog I posted how he thought every color was yellow. It wasn't probably a week later that we were playing with a caterpillar he has. The feet have about six different colors on them. Easton named every single color and now he knows all his colors. His vocabulary has grown tremendously. He has said several 6 word sentences. He gets the talking from his mommy. He can also count to ten but will not do it on command. Actually, the only reason I know that he can count that high is because I heard him playing one day and he was counting to himself. I have heard him do this numerous times but if I ask him he will not do it at all. So who really knows what all my child can do because he sure hasn't clued me in on most of it.

A couple of weeks ago I finally heard those three words that I have been working so hard to get him to say. He said "Love you mommy". I thought hearing him laugh was a wonderful feeling but hearing him tell me he loves me just completely melts my heart. I know I say all the time what a stinker he is (and he is) but he is still the sweetest, most cuddly little fellow I know. He will wrap his arms around my neck and just hug me so tightly and then give me a kiss on the cheek. I was so afraid that he would grow out of this stage but so far so good. Will still do our nightly cuddles on the couch. About an hour before bedtime we lay together and he drinks his milk while simultaneously playing with my hair. I just love my snuggle bug.

We are very excited for the summer! We have several birthday parties to attend, lots of mommy and E time, and plenty of swimming to do. For now, I will leave you with a few pics.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

20 months.....Blogging Hiatius

I have gone on a blogging hiatus for the past few months. I have three months to catch up on and if you know me you know I have the worst memory ever, hence the purpose for writing a blog in the first place. I will start at Easton's 18 month check up. We had to fill out a questionnaire at 18 months on how he was developing and E was on par with every milestone. I have not done this in so long but here are his stats:

 Weight: 23lbs 15oz  50th %  
  Height: 33 inch  75th%

We've still had the worst luck with being sick. I believe we have been sick at least once a month since November. This month Easton had viral tonsillitis, last month he had another cold, and the month before he caught a minor case of croup(again). I am just praying that this year has built up his immune system  and we will not have these problems quite as bad in the future. My late bloomer in the teeth department now has 12 teeth to account for. One day I almost lost a finger trying to feel to see if he had anymore teeth coming in. I won't make that mistake again. Oh, Easton also had his tubes put in back in February. He did great of course and they seem to be working well. He has not had any ear infections since.

I have been wondering when Easton would really get interested in toys .At 18 months I did notice that he started playing with his toys alot more. I actually had alot of his toys from his birthday and Christmas that we never opened because he wasn't interested in them yet. They are all out now and my living room looks like a play ground. Easton will sit and play by himself for a good while now. His favorites are puzzles and balls. He is still very obsessed with Mickey Mouse. This weekend while he was sick I promise you that we watched at least 20 episodes of Mickey.

My little guy is also quite the talker. He basically repeats everything you say now. Of course, he shortens them to two word phrases. Everything belongs to someone these days for example: mama's book, daddy's shoes, paw paw's hat, and etc. He also puts together a few three word phrases- I see you- was the first three words he put together. Somewhere over the last few months he dropped the word yes from his vocabulary and started answering every question with a NO. You can also ask him what color something is and it is always the color yellow. He can say all of his colors but identifying them is a whole other story.

We have had a couple adventures over the last few months. Easton went to the Circus for the first time. It didn't really go that great. I think he was too young, but we went with his friend Aiden who is 14 months older than E and Aiden seemed to really enjoy it. So maybe in another year or two we will be able to do more of the sit and watch activities. We also went to the rodeo which was a big hit. He is in love with animals especially horses and cows so he had a great time at the rodeo. It was a little lengthy and late so we did not stay for it all but it was an overall good experience.

Last but not least we celebrated Easton's second Easter. Our festivities were more spread out over the month so that made things a little easier. We started with the church egg hunt. E was pretty good at finding the eggs. Although I think he was one up on the other kids because every time he picked up an egg he opened it to get the prize out. By the end of the hunt the other kids had a ton of eggs and Easton only had a few because he spent most of the hunting time digging inside the eggs. Next, we had the children's program at church. The nursery kids were invited to be a part of the program. That was quite adventurous and I am sure we will never be asked to take part in something like that again. My child almost took a nose dive off the stage, once I saved him from that he decided to lay in the floor for a bit. It was cute though, we got plenty of laughs(not our intention). Finally Easter Sunday came and we went to a wonderful church service and then went to visit Jack Jack and Gi Gi for a bit. We ended the day with Grandma. My moms side of the family had another egg hunt. They are the only ones who still have kids young enough to hunt. So we practiced Easton's hunting skills again and it went about the same. Overall it was a great time and plastic eggs are still popping up at my house.



Easter egg hunt at Grandma's




Dad and E at the church egg hunt




Playing with rocks




Silly boy




Uncle Keith and E riding the 4 wheeler




At the Circus. This is a horrible picture but I believe it was the only one we took that night.



Signing Videos

Finally figured out how to get videos posted on here YAY!!!! Here are a couple videos of Easton signing. I forgot a few but he is doing a great job. Excuse the hair he just got out of the bath. Enjoy!

***ok if you are trying to watch these from a phone it does not work (at least mine doesn't). I am thinking you can only view these from a home computer.

17 Months...Hibernation

   The Faile Family has went into hibernation. We have had some much needed rest after such a busy fall and chaotic holiday season. I have enjoyed doing a whole lot of nothing and my version of doing nothing is staying in my pj's all weekend and piling up on the couch watching lifetime movies :) This however is not how Josh relaxes. Josh has found himself a new project. He has decided that he wants to buy cows. While I care nothing about having cows, it has prompted him into cleaning out the barn. This makes me happy because I  really want to have Easton a barnyard party for his second birthday. Is it bad that I am planning his birthday 7 months in advance? Not that I am at all ready for him to be two by any means. I haven't figured out quite yet why the year two is dubbed terrible two's and there is not a name for year one. I have taken the liberty of coming up with one on my own. How do you like Oppositional One? It doesn't sound nearly as good as terrible two but it defines my child to a T. I know some of you will look at that sweet picture of him sleeping and think that I am crazy but I am here to tell you that my child is a Faile through and through. He is the most loving and affectionate child I know but boy does he have an attitude. If he doesn't like something he lets you know in a heartbeat and it doesn't help that he is extremely LOUD.

   This month something exciting did happen. We had a snow day! For Alabama 1-3 inches of snow causes school to be let out, roads are closed, and the grocery stores run out of milk and bread. It's a big deal. This very well may be the only snow we see this year so I was excited for Easton to get to play in it. I bundled him in about five layers of clothes and as he was screaming I just kept promising him that it would be worth it. He reminded me of Ralphie off of A Christmas Story. He had on so many layers that if he fell down he could not get back up on his own. I was also thrilled that we were able to put those snow boots that I got him to use, because they are oh so cute!

   When I wrote last we were going to see the ENT. Easton does have to get tubes, he actually had an aptt. scheduled but because of the snow we were not able to go. He will be going back February 1st. I know that this is a very minor procedure and it will only last five minutes but he is being put to sleep again and I can't help but be nervous about that. So everyone please say a little prayer for my angel.

   No milestones this month but I will tell you some of the cute things he is doing. He now will answer questions with a yes or a no but he often gets them confused. Sometimes he even says yes while shaking his head no. This child is absolutely obsessed with hats, that is all he wants to play with. He his cutting his 8th tooth and loves brushing his teeth. He will say teeth teeth and run to the bathroom for his tooth brush. We are trying to teach him to eat with utensils but most of the time he will just hold a fork in one hand and grab his food with the other.

playing with a fork



Wearing daddy's shoes



Feeding the horses







Not the most beautiful picture of us. You can tell we are not used to the cold.



 

Resolution Smesoultion

   I am very aware that it is January 17th and I have just decided to make a New Year's Resolution. Well, I have not really just decided, I have been pondering whether to make one or not all along. At first I decided that I would not make a resolution because all they do is set you up for failure. In the past my resolutions have been to work out more, eat healthier, read the entire bible in a year. Anyways you get my point, I don't think I ever lasted more than a couple months with any of those so why even make one- right?

   Then my indecisiveness got the best of me and I thought what is the harm in setting a goal to make yourself better. I mean even if you only follow through for a month, that is one month that you were trying to better yourself. Hmm I think I'm on to something here. As I thought about what aspects of my life I could change for the better, I decided that this year I would not resolve to change anything about my outer appearance. So here is what I came up with:

• This year I resolve to love more. I resolve to fall more in love with my God, my husband, and my life in general. I mean what other way is there to be the best you you can be than to love more.

   There were a couple things that I came up with during this thought process. They were to be kind and be content. I believe that resolving to love more means all of these things. If I love more than I am bound to be content in all that I do and kindness is an extension of love. So there we go, this is my resolution for 2013. I expect everyone I know to hold me to this.

   2013 is going to be the best year yet!!!