Montana

I think this just might be my l -0-n-g-e-s-t post ever!! We have had a great month. Isaac had a break in between tests so we took advantage of that and took a vacation! We went to Montana and enjoyed being together!

The boy cousins on the 4 wheeler with Grandpa. Kason loves loves loves those 4 wheelers.

So many fun things to do- like tractor rides!

We blessed Asher while there and it was really nice. He wore the same outfit Kason did, except we couldn't button one of the buttons. This boy is such a CHUNK!! I love it. He has rolls and rolls all down his legs to his cankles. He is just barely 3 months old now and is smiling and cooing and almost laughing. It is really fun.

We also went to Isaac's family's cabin in the mountains. It was a fun night of smores and a huge lightning storm! Kason was very interested in seeing some bears. We didn't see any bears though, just lots of deer!

Love those blue eyes! Kason's eyes were already brown by this point, so I am thinking they might stay blue.

Smiling!

Kason had so much fun with his cousin. It was pretty entertaining to watch them talk and play together, except when they were hitting each other. :) It was a good lesson in learning to share too. So many times a day we would hear "no, my have it!" back and forth. Kason still asks where Kade is everyday now though. We also were reminded again that Kason has no fear. He crawled under the barbed wire fence and ran as fast as he could out to the cows before we could get him, climbed on Grandpa's motorcycle, he keeps us busy!

I love this picture

I love this one too.

Slip n Slide fun

It was a good break, but good to be back too. Isaac is back to studying - one more test to pass. We are just enjoying the rest of the summer. It can't last long enough!

2 months

Asher is 2 months old! He had his checkup a few days ago. He weighed 14 lbs 3 oz (85th percentile) ! I thought he felt heavier carrying him around! He was also 24 inches tall. He is doing well and is starting to smile a little bit, though we have yet to catch it on camera. :)

It has been in the mid 90's here with humidity and no air conditioner! So, we took a trip to the pool down the street. Kason LOVED it! It has a fun slide and great kid area. He had no fear of the water that was well over his head.

This is a picture of Kason when he was around 3 months old I think. I don't usually think Kason and Asher look much alike, but in this picture with the same outfit on I think they kind of do! Although, maybe it is just because of the same outfit, same couch, and same baldness!

Kason at 2- 3 months


Asher at 2 months


Kason on his "bike"

Happenings

I have alot to blog about - well, mostly just alot of pictures to post! I have been trying to do this for awhile, but my days consist of trying to keep both boys fed, changing diapers, trying to keep everyone happy and trying to clean up the apartment so that we can at least see the sink and floor! But, we have had some fun things happening.

First, Isaac is done with the first year of econ grad school. Yeah! I am so so so glad to be done with that first year. The past 10 months have been, by far, some of the toughest months! Isaac did a great job though, and handled everything better than I did. I shouldn't really say we are done, though, because by mid July, he will have taken the 2 comprehensive tests that cover the past year. He has to pass these to continue on in the program. So there is still alot of studying going on. We are glad there is a light at the end of the tunnel though!

Kason thinking Asher was spitting up on him

I got ambitious one day because I was feeling badly for not hardly paying any attention to Kason. I have seen this idea in a couple places. Kason loved "tub painting"

This is how Asher sleeps alot. He throws his arms up and cranks his head as far to the side and back as he can get it.

Kason is in a big boy bed!! Some friends gave us the frame. The first night when we were putting him to bed he was a little upset about the change, but after he went to sleep we didn't hear a thing from him and it has been that way since then!

Asher is doing great and we think he is really cute. He was having some major spit up issues, but has been doing better the last couple days and I'm hoping that will continue

Kason is really good to Asher. The other day we were all driving home and Asher was crying. I looked back to see Kason singing and doing the hand signs to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to help Asher stop crying. It was so cute. It still amazes me how much Kason understands and how well he speaks.

Love bath time!

Big Boys!

We are loving the warm weather and sunshine! I love being able to go outside with Kason and Asher. And, on another note, Kason got a potty! He is pretty excited! I think we are a long ways off from being truly potty trained, but he has an interest in it so we decided to get one now so he could use it when he wanted. He has used it quite a few times and is always really excited and proud of himself. It will be nice to not have to change 2 sets of diapers when that time finally does come in however many months!

Fun with Friends!

Asher is growing so much! I think Kason wore this outfit when he was a couple months old.

Us!

2 Weeks!

Asher is 2 weeks and 2 days now so I thought I'd better write some of the details down before I forget! So, here goes! I was having a really bad pain in my right side all night the night before he was born, so we didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. At 4:30 am my water broke. I jumped up and said, “Isaac I think my water just broke”. He jumped up really fast too. I went to the bathroom and Isaac felt like he was going to pass out. He came in to ask if I was ok and I told him to go lay down. His face and lips were completely white! I thought he was going to pass out. He laid down and felt better though, thankfully! We called the doctor and he said to go to the hospital around 6. We were worried about the baby, though, since I had been having that pain, so we went a little before 6. I wasn’t having any contractions, which was weird compared to Kason’s delivery!! I could feel them a little bit, but not too much. One time the baby’s heart rate went down during a contraction, but it only happened once. Because of that, though, I stayed hooked up to the monitor things around your belly the whole time. The doctor came and checked me. He had to go do a surgery and said he would be back after that. So, we watched Dancing with the Stars on the laptop. I could definitely feel the contractions, but I knew they weren’t nearly what they could be. So, they kept checking me and things were progressing, but kind of slowly so they started me on Pitocin. I was a little worried about this, but it turned out fine. I think this was about 9:30 or 10? The contractions definitely started to hurt then. Holy cow. It’s a good thing you forget how badly it hurts. For some reason I just don’t want to get an epidural. I know everyone loves them, but I just am worried about it for some reason. The nurse told us about something called an intra thecal (sp) that is similar to an epidural, but not as strong or long lasting so that was my back up plan. It seemed like I was at an 8 forever. I mentioned getting the intra thecal and the doctor said I might only have half an hour left so I said I would try to wait half an hour. I think about 5 contractions later, though, I said I wanted it , but then I had to push. The doctor let me and 10 long minutes later he was born! When Asher came out he was completely blue and didn’t cry. That was scary, but the doctor didn’t seem worried, I don’t know if that was just to help us not worry or it was really no big deal. But, they rubbed him and he started crying and he pinked right up. Isaac said the cord was around his neck. He is gaining weight really quickly and at his 2 week checkup weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and was 21 inches! Adjusting to having a newborn is not as hard this time as it was the first time. I’m not freaking out about every little thing. The hard part has been balancing a newborn with Kason. I don’t feel like I am doing a good job with that at all. I feel really badly for him. He doesn’t get that one on one time anymore. He is definitely having lots of meltdowns and is emotional. It’s hard, but I think it will get better. I just need to be better at focusing on him somehow. Anyway, things are going well. It’s fun to think of the little boy Asher is going to turn into and how his personality will be once we get past this newborn stage. We are glad he is healthy and it is crazy to be a mom of 2 and a family of 4!!!

And of course here are alot more pictures!!

First Bath

My boys!!

This toy was a life saver, keeping Kason busy for about 2 days

He's Here!

Asher Gage Swensen

Wednesday May 6, 2009

11:49 am

8 lbs 2 oz

19 1/2 in

More details to come...sometime!