Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Sunday, May 18, 2008

A little love for the new guy

So I had a funny story to post but, as the Bawb's foothold seems to be well-developed already, I decided to throw a little love over to the new Winder blog (at least new to me--I had heard nothing about it until yesterday but I think it's great! By the way, Dad, I had also not heard anything about your Bassett Blog proposal and so didn't get to voice my opinion but let it be known I thought it was a brilliant idea, a top-notch prototype, and a significant disappoint that it didn't stick. More than anything though it made me want to keep up on the Winder blog and the Bawb because I'm with you in my belief that this is the Best Way, although we all know that the Best Way isn't always able to, in technical marketing speak, "cross the chasm"...sigh). Anyway, it started as a quick shout out to everybody to say I'm here (much as this email started out as a one liner with just a link attached) but turned into what, at nearly 11:00 at night, seemed to me to be a pretty funny story, if I do say so myself. Anyway, that's my post for the day so go check it out. Love you all and hope we can do a video call or something some time. We tried calling today but ya'll must have been out somewhere. Anyway, have a great week!

http://nedwinderfamily.blogspot.com/2008/05/unfortunately-balloon-free-zone.html

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Still alive...but barely kicking

Hi everyone!

I feel so blessed to be apart of such a wonderful and supportive family. The last few weeks have been some of the longest (aside from the mission) that I have dealt with. Do you all remember the adventures of Valentines Day? Well, mother's day was worse! How sad to say that these wonderful holidays were not pleasant for me! I love the things we celebrate on these day's (love and mother's) I just don't like WHAT people choose to celebrate these day's with. Let me inform you what the people of American Fork decided to give their mothers for Mothers Day.....daisy shaped sugar cookies. Yes, this is great for the Smart Cookie buisness, and yes we made a TON of money (that was for mom's benefit), but when you are a "one-man-band" trying to do everything, it begins to affect your emotional and physical cabilities. Our other baker (Quinn, the one who spent the night with me on Valentines in Smart Cookie) was on vacation, thus leaving me as the only baker. Not only that, but we didn't have anyone who could cover the front until 3 in the afternoon, leaving me to bake and help customers from 11-3.
The week started out long, but not too bad, they were only 9-10 hour days. Thursday night came and I was doing okay, but getting worn out. I had a friend call and ask if I wanted to go to the Playoff Jazz/Lakers game on Friday (the next) night. Seeing as how I haven't been on a date in a long time, and seeing as how I LOVE watching basketball, I couldn't turn this down. I was pumped! I went super early to work to get a good head start. I worked through the whole day, but as the 5:00 hour drew nearer, my hopes began to fade and I had to accept the fact that I couldn't go to the game. Running on little sleep and exhaustion, my emotions were building and I knew I had to get my anger and frustration out. So, "who you goin' call?".... Ghost Busters. Wrong, wrong, wrong, they are not the people for this job. Of course I called my dear Mom. I cried and cried and cried to her. I know that half the time she couldn't even understand me, but she was nice to just sympathize with me. We both knew there wasn't anything she could do in this situation that would make it all better, she could only listen and love and pray for me. That is why my mom is so great. So, I was just to say thanks and that I love you Mom! After getting off the phone with her, I felt a little bit better and made the dreaded phone call to my date, turning him down to one of the best dates ever. He was nice to try and work out some way for me to go, but I knew I still had hours ahead of me. I stayed late into the night and went early again on Sat. Sat. was busy, busy, but he closed the Provo store and had the girl's from that store come and help me. I survived the week, with a tally of 71.5 hours....your read it right, 71.5 hours. I get the pay check tomorrow...it ought a be pretty!
So, that is my life. No dates to report, just a full life at work. It was great to be able to go to James and Karen's wedding and see the wonderful blessings of the priesthood. It was a rather teary wedding as we could all feel Grandpa Winder so close, but full of happiness and joy. It was fun to be with family on such a fun day and see James and Karen so happy. It is so weird to think that little J-man is a married man with a house, but I sure love him and the whole Yorgy family. The wedding luncheon was amazing (as we all know how Uncle B is when it comes to food), I just can't wait to see what kind of a wedding reception they throw for the girls....It'll be a party! As we waited for the wedding luncheon to start, Andrea and I went to take pictures of Rosey at work "gardening" on temple square. We finally found her walking around a little square of dirt "picking weeds" as she says. I didn't see one weed on the premisis, but hey, whatever. :)
Okay, I have definantly rambled long enough, but it is just nice to be doing something other than rolling out sugar cookies. I love you all!
Love,
Janey

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Birth order DOES make a difference...for the mom!

I found this little ditty that goes along with Kristi's article on birth order... thought you might think it funny...

Birth order of Children:
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
_____________________________________________
Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't' do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month
____________________________________________
The Layette:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate
them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?
_____________________________________________
Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing
______________________________________________
Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
______________________________________________
Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
_______________________________________________
Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
_____________________________________________
Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
_____________________________________________
At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
____________________________________________
Swallowing Coins (a favorite):
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!
___________________________________________
GRANDCHILDREN: God's reward for allowing your children to live!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Friday, May 9, 2008

Max?



You know, I've never seen Max and David Archuletta at the same time....

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Thanks for adding the Texas Bassett Slideshow!

That was such a fun surprise to see little Bentley and Gwenie pictures popping up on the Bawb...thanks for adding it. We miss you guys so much.

Before You Hear It From Someone Else. . . .

Hi guys,

I love the BAWB. I thought I better announce some news so you hear it from us first. (No, I am not pregnant!! heehee) I'll just get right to it. Dad and I are going on a cruise! Here is the story.

For a while my siblings have been talking about taking another cruise together while grandma is still healthy enough to go. Last Sunday, after family meeting at Kent's, a few of us got talking more seriously. We talked about places and times people were available and then I had to head home to celebrate Janey's birthday. Kent, and especially Sherri, must have been in a trip-planning mood and spent not only the next few hours, but the whole next day (Sherri), searching for something feasible. They found a 10-day Royal Caribbean cruise next February that was a great price. Sherri also found great airfare and made phone calls to everyone to see who was "in." Ted said it was a great deal, Doug and Leslie (who doesn't have great health) were psyched and said they wouldn't miss it. Well, the pressure was great and how could we say no? Even though we may have to put the basement bathroom remodel on hold, we said yes. We put a deposit down this morning and even purchased travel insurance.

And now for the hardest part. We are going to Spain! The cruise leaves out of Barcelona, we go to Malaga, the Canary Islands, Morocco and even Cadiz! I have a pit in my stomach thinking of Blaine as he is reading this. How can we go to Spain and visit Blaine's first area and not take he and Kristi? I don't know. We are ridden with guilt but bubbling with excitement all at the same time. I'm sure the fact that we will take lots of photos to share won't help. But hopefully you can be excited for us.

I don't know what else to say. I love you all.

I just wanted to brag for Stef

Because we don't have internet and Stef can't get on to write on the BAWB I wanted to quickly brag about her for a minute.

First of all, she is an amazing mom. It is fun to see how much she loves our little Bret, and how naturally she seems to know what to do while raising him. She does such a great job on the homefront. I appreciate and love her so much!

The thing that I wanted to brag about was the fact that she graduated from college on a Friday, took the state health exam on Saturday, had a one year anniversary on monday, and had a baby on wednesday. In the midst of all the things that have been going on in getting ready for that, she also managed to pull off a 4.0 GPA for her final semester of school. I am so proud of her and the wonderful and disciplined student she is. I need to learn from her how to do it.

My grades aren't worth metioning, but miracle of miracles, I passed all my classes.

Love you all,

Nick

Monday, May 5, 2008

Poor Blaine!

Studies confirm what Blaine has known all along!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24397323/

Pretty cute huh?


This picture is for B&K who wanted to see a picture of baby Bret's hair. Keep in mind as you see this picture that it is all natural. We did not put him in this position or anything, he was just sitting there like that. Cute kid huh?


Love you guys.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Baby Bret - Welcome home...

I can't believe it. I'm still in shock.

There's going to be another little Bret in the family. Well, actually not another LITTLE Bret, just another Bret who is very little. I've heard you kids bat around names between yourselves for years. And I'll frequently hear the name "Bret" pop up. And I've always said, "I'll believe it when I see it." Well, I was wrong. I can't believe it. But I think I said that already.

I'll try not to presume that he is named after me...that I am some kind of legendary person who is so outstanding in so many ways, that people for generations will want to name their kids after me (Like Grandpa Ned, George Washington or Nephi). But I'll presume that his parents really loved that name (independent of me), and that all the planets aligned and that name just felt right at the time. Of course, if it was a matter of timing, I'll try and not think about the fact that Nick and Stef were up all night and all day delivering that baby and so their minds maybe weren't thinking very clearly...but I am just so happy that I didn't do anything to tarnish the name so that it was available for someone to use without it being an embarrasment. Now I've got to make sure and endure to the end so that I don't embarrass him in anyway. Maybe I'll even go on a diet. Hmmmm.

So thank you Nick and Stef! What an honor it is...and I hope that the rest of you don't mind if I spoil that little dogger just a little more than I might have otherwise...:)

Welcome to the world - Bret Nicholas Bassett

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Bret Nicholas Bassett


Dear Family,


Well, for the record I would like to record our wonderful experience of bringing Bret into the world. Pardon me if it is very detailed...mom has taught me to appreciate recording little details that I would never remember, but will be fun to recall someday as we think back on our experience. Anyone who doesn't read every word, I won't be offended.


At 3 am April 30, 2008 Stef's water broke. She woke right up as soon as it happened and actually avoided getting the bed wet at all. She wasn't sure whether or not it was really her water because well, quite frankly her water has never broken before. After concluding that it was indeed her water she began to pack the bags. At about 4 am, while taking some close out of the bedroom, I woke up and was in that morning daze of thinking, "what time is it, what is going on...etc". I remember seeing Stef walk out of the room and noticed lights were on out in the hall. Then I looked at the clock and it said 4:15. I knew that we weren't planning on getting up that early but was just trying hard to think what might be happening. I remember laying there really hot and sweaty and wanted to ask Stef to turn on the air but thought that probably isn't ver chivalrous and decided I ought to get up and do it myself. After turning on the air, I noticed that Stef was sitting on the floor in the other room. I asked her what she was doing and she looked up at me with a little cute smile and said "I think my water broke". We both couldn't believe it, but she seemed so calm about the whole thing that when she told me to go ahead and keep sleeping it didn't hardly phase me. However, after laying there wide awake for 10-15 minutes I concluded I couldn't go back to sleep...Stef was starting to go into labor. Well, we called the doctor and the doctor said...(no more monkeys jumping on the bed) we should get in to the hospital but that it is not necessary to break any speed records getting there. We finished packing and drove to Timpanogos hospital. It took about seven minutes and we arrived about 5 am. After arriving they got Stef and, we gave them the birth plan we had written up, and from about 5 until about 7:30 they wanted to see if her body would naturally start contracting. She was having tiny contractions but not really anything at all. Finally the nurse (Kristy) came in and said she wanted to start Stef on some Pittosen. Stef was put on a normal dose and from about 7:30 to 9:00 she had a few small contractions, but nothing big or too painful. The nurse then came back in and upped the dose. From about 9:00 to 10:30, the pittosen was just picking up, and by about 10:30 they were full on. Those contractions lasted from about 10:30 to 1:00, and those 2.5 hrs were probably the longest of the day. I just sat by the bed and helped talk her through them. I would hold her hand and help her control her breathing and I would let her know when they were coming and when they were going away. It was hard but also a neat bonding time for us. I felt like we really needed each other working through some of those hard contractions. I remember constantly asking her, "Stef are you ok" her response was typically a slight shake of the head. She didn't have enough energy to talk back, and she really wasn't ok (hence the head shake vs head nod). She came into the hospital dialated to a 4, and by the time she got the epidurla she had only dialated to a 7. About 12:00 she called for an epidural and it took almost a full hr to get the anesthesiologist in here. By the time he (malcom) came it was nearly one and she was in bad pain. She said that getting the epidural actually felt good because it was at least pain in a new spot. The epidural brough pretty quick relief and then for the first time in several hrs, I saw the corner of her lips go up (she smiled). She also began to respond a little bit and could finally relax. It was great. About 1:30 (30 minutes after getting the epidural) the nurse came back in to check if she had dialated or not. In those 30 minutes she had gone from a 7 to a 10! The Nurse just said that once Stef was able to relax that dialating happened much quicker. So from about 1:30 to 3 Stef started pushing. Myself and Paige (the other nurse) were on either side of her helping. Little Bret's heart rate slowed down more than they liked when she pushed and so they had her pushing every other contraction. Stef couldn't feel a thing through any of that. His head finally started to appear and it was just amazing. Stef was such a trooper and pushed with all her might. The doctor came in, 3 nurses were in there, 2 students watching and me and Stef. Eventually the doctor told her that he was going to need to do a little snip to get his head the rest of the way out. He had Stef push for a minute and then told her to stop when he made the snip. This way his head wouldn't come out too fast. As soon as he did, indeed the little boy just came right out. It was a miracle!!! The doctor wiped him off a bit and then he let me cut the umbilical cord. Bret cried a little bit while they started cleaning him up. He was 20 inches and 8 lbs 5 oz. I am not sure how we got such a big baby out of Stef. Stef seriously did awesome though. After going through that, she can have whatever she wants. I followed Bret down to the nursery where they did some tests on him just to make sure he was ok (he was a little pale). After they felt like he was warm enough and in good shape they brought him down into Stef's post pardum room where he has just been great. As long as he is bundled up with a passie, he is good. It was very fun to see all the family, and then to get to see mom and Jane and Rose today as well.

We feel so blessed to have this new little treasure in our family. We love him and are grateful for the trust the Lord has in us to raise children during our lives.


Love you all. Thanks for being excited with us!


Nick and Stef