Christmas morning

Mara was a bit more than excited to find out there were more than 3
presents under the Christmas Tree.

Mara had just finished her hot chocolate. A litte daddy-daughter time.
Some conversation, breakfast and of course ore-Sunday morning lesson
prep.

Asher has learned to climb the stool. All boy!

Mara and I are waiting foe Meg and Asher at Red Robin....Mara thinks I
should delete this picture. -J

Torturing dad!

Mara reads to Asher.

Mara is helping me finish some grocery shopping. Mara just finished an
hour of ringing the bells and singing Christmas carols to help raise
funds for the salvation army. -JS

Kenosha has turned into winter. Fourtunately snow brings slightly
warmer air temp but also wind. While we did miss getting burried by
the first two winter storms ( didn't amount to much) last night's
light snow and subsequent winds have made the whole area ready foe
Christmas.

Maegan and Asher just before thanksgiving dinner.

First Rib

While I was home this past week, Asher began an interesting new phase in his life. No longer is he content with simply eating his baby food. The real problems began when we went out to eat as a family. Asher had his first french fry...I think it might have been seasoned. He loved it! So the next day I smoked some ribs on the grill. And as we were getting ready to serve dinner, Asher was going nuts. Yep, you guessed it. He wanted some ribs too! Check out the video with Asher and his two front teeth going after his first rib.

Missed you on the 4th

Mara-

I missed being with you for fireworks on the 4th so I captured some of the fireworks show here in Kenosha so that I could share it with you.

Click on the picture below and it will take you to see the video!

- Papa

fireworks

Asher's Surgery

Well, today, I got to go to Children's Hospital and have something called 'surgery'. I thought it was great at first. The nurses were so friendly and very excited to see me. I showed them all my new tricks. I weighed in at 18.5 lbs which my mom and dad thought was great because I was 17.1# at my pre-op apt. last week. My dad says I like to keep them guessing. But, that is where the fun ended. Let me tell you, if anyone ever says, "You get to go in for surgery" in a really sweet voice...well, trust me...do not trust them.

Tonight my anesthetic block wore off and I told my parents what I thought of this little trick of theirs.

But, truly, I am healthy and responding well to my new jewels. Hurts like a bugger though. So, I must go back to bed. Pray for me, o.k.?

Asher Update

Asher had a quick check up today and he is now 25 inches tall and weighs in at of 17 pounds. The doctor said that Asher right on track with his percentile!

Middle of March Update

It's the middle of March and Asher is now six months old. Here are some new videos to check out.

Also check out our March photo album!

It's February

It's February and the kids are doing great! I am posting a few new videos for everyone to take a look at.

The first video is of our 16.2 lb big happy boy Asher!



This next two videos are of Ahser as he is just beginning to get the hang of his excer-saucer.

Bath Time

It's not hard to decide when its bath time for Asher. All you need to do is check to see if he's had a diaper blowout, if he has toe jam between his fingers, or if the creases underneath all those chubby rolls have something growing inside. If the answer is yes to any of these, then Asher is on his way to the bath. At first Asher didn't really like taking baths. It is winter here in Minnesota, so I guess maybe he just didn't like the cold, because he really likes the water. Maegan found out that if we use a cloth to cover Asher's upper body, then he really likes taking a bath.

In the clip below Mara and Maegan are giving Asher a bath Enjoy!

Some New Pics

Maegan asked me to get some pictures up on the blog just in case the videos are not compatible with everyone's systems and download speeds. I guess having broadband access has made me forget what life with DSL and dialup was like. Here are some pictures of Mara and Asher and their cousin Shea. I will be attempting to update the blog at least once a week with some new photos or stories that we help everyone keep track of what's happening with the Strecker's.

Check out our latest pictures right here!

December 2007 picture Album

A Little Help Please

I need a little help. It seems that Mara has come up with an update to the tooth fairy and I need to know if this is common practice or if I simple have my head in the clouds (or if I have a daughter with a really great imagination). When I went to Mara's room to wake her up and find out if the tooth fairy left her a couple quarters for her tooth I was surprised by what I found. I found two plastic bags. One had the quarters left by the tooth fairy (the tooth fairy borrows zip lock bags from the kitchen because too many kids couldn't find the money left underneath their pillows...not that I am speaking from personal experience). The other bag also had money in it, but what the tooth fairy didn't realize was that her tooth was in it also and so the tooth fairy left the bag. Upon further questioning of my daughter that morning, I learned there are new tooth fairy rules. And if you leave a tooth and some money for the tooth fairy you get money and also something special. When I asked Mara what that something special was she smiled and began laughing. Then she blurted out, "Candy!" and rolled over giggling with pure glee!
I told her that I didn't think the tooth fairy actually, the collector of teeth, would give a child candy, the destroyer of teeth.

This is where I need your help. Does the tooth fairy actually give out candy?