Pocahontas snd John Wayne

Haloween at the Asay's was lived to the fullest this year--and we're still not done. It started with a great trunk or treat that our ward did. Tracy Bassett is the ward activities chairperson and she does AWESOME. Everything she plans is always so fun. Stetson was our pirate (thanks so much Rachel, we LOVED it) and Kandace was our penguin--same costume Stetson wore for his first Halloween. Michael and I were dynamic duo of cowboy and Indian. I was just thrilled I got him to dress up at all. What a great sport. Gotta love him. Last night Shannon and I threw together a last minute Halloween party in Byron--scategories and catch phrase never get old. :) Tonight we're going to the gma's & gpa's with the kiddos to trick or treat. Happy Halloween!

my morning so far

We woke up to yucky, snowy, windy weather today so I thought to brighten our day we'd carve pumpkins, so I bundled the kids up and headed for gma Asay's where the pumpkins were and headed back home for some pumking carving fun. This picture shows the extent of Stetson's participation in the pumpkin carving party. He wasn't so interested. He did roll up his sleeves and put his hand in but never actually touched the gunk. After I was done carving it I put a candle in it and turned the lights out and he started singing happy birthday to it. Just a heads up for first time moms: don't even try to carve pumpkins with your kids 'til they're ...4 or 5? I'm not sure but every Halloween with Stetson so far has been me carving the pumpkins.

Yesterday might have been the happiest day of Stetson's life because after story time I told him he could have a "spider muffin" that his cousins Zach & Ben made if he ate his potatoe soup.

We've been under the weather here but are hoping for a full recovery by tomorrow for the ward trunk or treat!

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Happy Halloween from the Asay's

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Being a first time mom

A couple days after Stetson was born, I took him to the clinic in Lovell for his first “check-up.” Since this was my first baby, I didn’t know what to expect.

The first thing they told me to do was take ALL his clothes off so they could weigh him. Some of my thoughts were, “seriously, lady?? I just got him all dressed, do you know what a pain that is??” Plus I remember being really nervous because I was totally new at this and not only was it awkward and stressful to dress/undress him, I’d have a complete stranger (who could do a better job than me) breathing down my neck the whole time. So I take his clothes off, they weight him; doc comes in and said he probably has jaundice and so we head for the lab to have some blood work done. I’m sure I didn’t fully realize what was happening (even though I should have because the doc was very sympathetically patting my back as we left) until we got in the lab and the lab aide put his gloves on and started talking about drawing Stetson’s blood. My thoughts this time were sheer fear because I didn’t think I could watch this happen to my precious firstborn son, and because I couldn’t imagine them drawing blood out of something so little. Immediately after I realized what was about to happen, I lied and said I had to go to the bathroom thinking I could hide out there and miss the whole thing. So I did—I went out into the hall, asked the nearest person where the restroom was and stayed in there a minute or two. Then I went back to the lab and sat outside the room and cried while I listened to Stetson scream as they drew his blood. Michael had to be the strong one and hold him through all of it—he was sweating afterwards. At the next blood draw I had a little more bravery worked up because I held him that time (instead of hiding in the bathroom).
There is nothing in the world like being a first time mom—at least for me. It was the biggest roller coaster ride of my life, and as I read all these sweet posts about my friends having their new babies, I can’t help but go back to when Stetson and Kandace came into this world and the feelings that accompanied me that day.

The good thing about raking leaves...

...is you can jump in them afterwards!

Stetson is such a joy to have in our home. His vocab is expanding every day and its SO fun to hear what he has to say...and interesting (and scary) to observe that he remembers almost everything I say and repeats almost everything I say. I better watch it!

He is doing AWESOME in the potty training dpt. knock in wood. He loves going to story time, playing with his uncles, watching Madagascar, eating "Lo-los" (cereal), taking his bath, drawing happy/sad faces on his magnedoodle, reading his Dora books (potty training reward) flushing the toilet and jumping on our furniture. We love you Stetson!

shout out

I took these father daughter pictures yesterday afternoon when Michael got home from work. He works full time at the hospital then goes straight to work for his dad after that...he's a hard worker. The black spot on his cheek is grease. These pics very appropriately capture Kandace & Michael's relationship...he loves her and she loves him. She loves to grab at his stubbly (is that a word?) beard and put her face on his. Michael is a dream dad--he gets up with them in the night, cleans the poop out of the potty chair, feeds baby, sings songs, gives bubble baths, the list goes on.

Kandace

Last night while I was at step, Kandace swallowed something. We're not sure what it was, but Michael said she swallowed it before he could get it out, and right after she swallowed it she cried hard. We were worried about what it was but thankfully Michael said he was able to lay her down and she went to sleep fine... until about 10:45 after we were both in bed. She started fussing so I immediately went in there because this is the first time she's done this. I nursed her for a little while then laid her back down. She immediately started crying again so to make a long story short, Michael and I took turns rocking/walking Kandace last night 'til what seemed really late but it was probably like midnight?? I know, nothing compared to what a lot of moms deal with on a regualar basis, but it was way out of the ordinary for us. Thankfully she's back to her normal self and hopefully back in schedule!! We'll see what the "surprise object" was next time she poops. :)

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A while back I went to check on Kandace when she was sleleping, and as I watched her sleep I was so overcome. I can't even articulate how it feels, but all you moms know how incredible it is to watch your babies peacefully sleep. This baby is such a blessing. Heavenly Father has truly blessed us incredibily with 2, healthy beautiful babies and I am thankful.