Stetson's 1st haircut!!

no comments about the outfit please, I wasn't planning on picture taking


This is afterwards

Michael cut Dallen's (Brandon & Amber's son) hair tonight and we thought since we had all the stuff out we'd cut Stetson's too and see if it grows back faster/thicker. He didn't like it very much, so Michael couldn't really do that great of a job, but I think it looks good!

Children's Museum

It was kind of wet and stormy on Friday, so we went to the children's museum in downtown Indianapolis. It was pretty impressive. Stetson has a hay day, here's some pics. When we left the museum and walked back to the car, it was already about 90 degrees again, so we went to the "community" pool which is just across the street from us. Stetson is always a happy camper when we go to the pool.This was a huge glass case with a giant sent of tracks with funnels, kind of a maze that sent balls in every direction. Stetson just sat and watched forever, then he tried to get the balls out. :)
This was the maze of mirrors-not his favorite. I think he felt kind of disoriented and dizzy. :)
Of course we had to ride the carousel


There were these HUGE puzzle peices for the kids to play with and Stetson of course loved it

There was an area for 5 & under, and it was PERFECT for Stetson. He could have played there for hours. Right here he was playing at this structure with flowing water at the kids' level that had balls, ducks and boats to play with. He loved it.
One of Stetson's favorite things to do when we go to someone else's house is head for the fridge and play with their magnets and rearrange stuff, so he was definitely in HEAVEN right here because it was just a huge board with magnets to play with. This was in the under 5 area.

Thanks

Its amazing how many comments I get when I ask for advice! Thank you for your suggestions and expressions of support and concern for me--you are great. After Michael and I had been married for a pretty short while, we thought, lets go ahead and start our family, it will be fun!! And literally, thats what I thought, "it will be fun." And of course being a mother is indescribably wonderful, and full of "fun" moments, but I've learned time after time that its not always fun.
I found these thoughts by Elder Ballard and wanted to share.

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family...We need to remember that the full commitment of motherhood and of putting children first can be difficult. Through my own four-generation experience in our family, and through discussions with mothers of young children throughout the Church, I know something of a mother’s emotions that accompany her commitment to be at home with young children. There are moments of great joy and incredible fulfillment, but there are also moments of a sense of inadequacy, monotony, and frustration. Mothers may feel they receive little or no appreciation for the choice they have made. Sometimes even husbands seem to have no idea of the demands upon their wives." M. Russell Ballard

Lessons learned

Its been a rough couple days--Stetson is going through a new phase I think. He's taken to hitting and taking things from others for whatever reason, I'm not sure. I'm looking for some expert advice from you mothers on how to best discipline (if you even do) an 18 month old. Besides that, he's not been sleeping well, which means mom and dad aren't either. Last night he went to bed o.k. at about 9, then just kept waking up at random times VERY upset. At about 11pm we decided a nice ride in the car would do the trick...well not really. It helped some of the time, but sometimes he just wailed, so we considered taking him to the E.R. (I know, we're classic first time parents) because he was just unconsolable, which isn't really like him. Well we decided to get him some cough suppressent at Walgreens, but the pharacist said its not recommended for those under 2 yrs. So we get home about 2am, Michael sits in the car with Stetson 'til he wakes up(at this point we'll just take what we can get) and I catch some zzz's. Michael eventually came in and laid Stetson in between us which worked for a little while, then we took turns (mostly Michael) rocking him 'til he woke up for good at about 6:40. Rough night. Through all the insanity though, I've learned 2 things. Hard times bring me and Michael closer and I realize how much I love him. Two, there's no place like home. I know I would be WAY less stressed if I was in the comfort of my own home, minutes away from MY pediatrician that I know and trust, and I know Stetson could sleep better in his own crib. We're wondering if its allergies, or the fact that his mollers have been coming on for the last 3 weeks or so. What do you think? Is it pretty typical to get a cough/cold when teeth are coming in?

This afternoon Stetson struggled falling asleep, which is sad because I know he's exhausted. When he woke up I decided to take him on a walk to help get him in a better mood, but he just fell asleep, so that explains the picture.

Anyway, we're excited for happier days and a happier baby. Hope everyone is having a fun summer!

Our first week in Zionsville

We've had an eventuful week--we're trying to get in the groove of things and try to reach a "normalcy." Michael is working hard and seeming to enjoy himself. He's now started his research, which means he'll start getting paid, which is pretty much AWESOME. :) Here's some pics of our first week in Indianapolis.
Thursday we went to the "village" which is a cute little part of Zionsville that has a lot of tourist stuff. Every elemementary school in Zionsville has a "Nature walk" built for the kids, so we went and hiked it. It was way pretty. Parts of it looked like the sacred grove--a lot of green, which is a treat coming from Wyoming. :-) The kids loved catching the tadpoles and running around exploring.

Later that day we went to Shane & Claire's for a barbeque and she has a kiddie pool set up for the kiddos and Stetson went crazy. He loves the water. Plus we saw fireflies that night for the first time and it was pretty sweet. I tried to get a pic, but no luck.


Today we drove to Indianapolis. We don't actually live there, we live in a suburb of Indianapolis-Zionsville, which is the CUTEST town EVER. Brandon & Amber took us on a drive last night and I saw some of the nicest houses I've ever seen in my life. EVERYONE keeps their houses in tip top shape, including landscaping, everything. I feel like I'm in a fairy tale sometimes. Anyway, so this is the hospital where Michael works every day.
NFL Colt's stadium
state capitol building
This was at Champs restaurant in downtown Indianpolis. Stetson LOVED his chicken strips and fries

Indianapolis

I don't have any pictures, so sorry about that, but I did want to give a little update on our little summer "adventure." After LOTS of studying and practice tests, Michael finallyt took his mkat Friday @ 9 am while I stayed home and cleaned and packed, and then we were off at about 3. Michael thinks it went pretty good. He was doing good on his practice tests, which he says are very similar to the mkat, so hopefully he does good enough to get in!! Our trip wasn't that bad. I was just so happy that we ddin't get lost or have car troubles, I didn't even mind that we were in the car for such a long time. We saw lots of neat things. The scenery along the entire trip was beautiful. I've never been to this part of our country, so it was quite a treat. Probably the most surprising thing was how GREEN it was--starting in Nebraska, there was just beautiful trees lining the interstate. We drove over the Missouri river and the Mississippi, and saw the gateway arch in St. Louis. We also passed the jail in Liberty where Joseph Smith was. I hope we can stop on the way home and see it. We're only about an hr I think from Chicago, which is where Michael's dad served his mission. There's lots of things to do and see here, so we'll try to take advantage of it as much as we can. Stetson's already been in about 7 states (I think) since he was born. He's quite the traveler.

Anyway, Michael's been busy busy since he got here. He worked on his application yesterday observed in the OR. He said he was a little queezy when they were prepping the patient, but as soon as they starting "cutting in" he said all that went away and he was just really fascinatd by it all. I would have puked by then probably. Last night at 11 he got called to go observe another transplant surgery in Mischigan, so he just hopped on plane with the surgeon he's with and off they went.

I feel so blessed that Michael is having these opportunities and that people are so willing to help him. I think just being an Asay really got his foot in the door--he comes from a solid family of good, hard workers, so people trust him and want to help.

Stetson has done awesome witht he time change, he's almost totally back on schedule. We went swimming yesterday, and it was pretty crazy. When we first got in, he was a little timid and just walked around, but not long after, he thought he was in the tub and was back to his old tricks (trying to lay down on his back, rolling over, TOTALLY submerged himself like twice but it didn't bother him a BIT. All the more exciting if you ask him. I literally had to follow him around VERY CLOSE with my hands behind him to catch him. This kid is fearless. So needless to say, we didn't stay that long since I was responsible for 2 other kids that can't swim.

Well thats it in a nutshell, hope all is well with everyone back home, pictures to come. :)

My north star

The North(ern) Star is the prominent pole star that lies closest in the sky to the north celestial pole, and which appears (approximately) directly overhead to an observer at the Earth's North Pole. The current North Star is Polaris, which lies about two-thirds of a degree from the pole at the end of the "bob" of the Little Dipper asterism in the constellation Ursa Minor. Polaris has a visual magnitude of 1.97 (second magnitude). (Some people mistakenly think that Polaris is the brightest star in the night sky. This title belongs to Sirius, and there are many others stars also brighter than Polaris.)

The North Star has historically been used for navigation, both to find the direction of north and to determine latitude. It always appears due north in the sky, and the angle it makes with respect to the horizon is equal to the latitude of the observer. The North Star is visible only in northern hemisphere skies and so cannot be used for navigation south of the equator. (Wickipedia)

I love thinking about the north star in relation to my dad, because like the north star, my dad has been a constant, never changing, reliable help I've used through my life to help guide my way. Thank you dad for being my #1. I love you and am GRATEFUL for the father you have been and are to me. Happy Father's day.
And happy Father's day to Michael-I am grateful for you for your unconditional love and patience you show Stetson. You are a great dad!! Happy father's day Michael

still counting down

This is downtown Indianapolis
I actually took this pic a couple weeks ago but haven't posted it. Michael and Stetson were sleeping SO cute together, and as soon as a took the pic, Steston woke up, so thats why he looks kind of sad. Anyway, Michael's still studying non stop, so we're hoping for high scores. :) We're getting anxious to take off for Indianapolis. We talked to the woman we're staying with yesterday, and she seemed really nice and accomadating, so hopefully everything works out! She said the neighborhood we'll be in is really nice and there's a pool, so that will be nice.

6 days to go...

...'til we leave for Indiana. Today was our last Sunday in the spring creek ward for a couple months...kind of sad. On a happier note, Stetson seems to LOVE nursery and I don't anticipate ANY problems when he's officially old enough to go. He's been going to nursery the last few weeks because either he'll go with me when I do singing time or go with Michael, who has been helping out until they find new nursery leaders. He seems to totally love it, and it will be nice for Micahel to be able to go to Sunday school/elders quorumn again. We've been trying to clean house a bit and organize to get ready for our little adventure to Indiana. I'm bummed about missing the the Foulger Family reunion, but I'll probably fly home with Stetson in July to see Joel come come from the mish.
I wanted to take some pics outside today before church with everyone looking their "sunday best" and all Stetson wanted to do was play with the basketball. I think he's already chosen bball over wrestling.

Don't judge me

Have you ever had one of those days where you just feel like the laziest turd (exuse my language) in the world and you don't want to do ANYTHING???????? I've been feeling like that the last couple of days. Maybe its the rain, I don't know but I don't like it. Michael and I are trying to take better control of our finances, and one way of doing this is to plan our meals to minimize trips to the store, thus spending less $$. I've actually been doing this for a while, but I'd always forget something and have to take a trip to Wally world in the middle of the week and end up finding 10 other things I "just had to have." Well we planned pretty good this week and haven't ran out of anything (besides milk and bread, so maybe we are really bad at this, but we're big milk drinkers). ANYWAY for some crazy retarted reason I haven't been in the mood for anything I've planned on preparing, and feeling like EVERY last ounce of energy has been sucked right out of me doesn't help. Anyway, thats my sob story, and I'm stickin to it. I do have to say that I have the best husband in the world though, who manages to make me laugh and lighten things up when I overdramatize things. Right now he's at the library studying for his big mkat June 13. Keep him in your prayers. He's working really hard and I'm proud of him. P.S. In case you didn't get the picture, its titled "lazy man's way of walking dog" and if I had a dog, thats how I'd be walking him today.

I almost forgot

Jan printed off some way cute pics for me so I scrapbooked them.

company

We're sad that Michael's mom and grandma had to leave today, but it was fun while it lasted!! Here's some pics of our fun visit with them.walk to the park

Stetson & great-grandma Dorothy
Michael & his mom