Cute Baby Rowan

I only let him sleep on his belly when I am awake, he sleeps better that way, but I don't trust him to hold up his head yet. He tries to lift his head and look around if he is facing someone or on a shoulder. He was awake for about an hour this morning, just laid there looking around. He bonded with Daddy for a little while and squeeked at him every few minutes. Still have not heard him get really upset. He cried for a while in the car the other day, but Deacon slept through it and I didn't think he even sounded that mad, eventually he stopped and went to sleep. I hope he stays as sweet as he is now.

Love those little feet, they are so tiny, only the smallest socks that Kerra sent us fit him right now. He is still wearing preemie clothes. Benny keeps commenting on how small he is, Deacon was so much bigger than him, I never thought the 1 1/2 inch height difference would make a baby seem so much smaller! That little owie on the bottom of his right foot is from the PKU test that was done Monday.

Such a darling little face, my Mom thinks he looks more like me than Ben and says he looks like a little Asian baby. I can see that a lot more in this pic, he looks like a chinese baby or maybe a little Indian baby. Either way, he sure is cute. I love all that beautiful hair!

I love the top of his head, I am constantly playing with his hair. This is such a peaceful picture to me, nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby. That is a perfect little head.

Look at how long his hair is! Rowan has the most hair of any baby, I thought Deacon had a lot of hair, but Rowan has twice as much, it hangs over his ears and over his collar.

The Napping House

This is what happens at our house in the afternoon. The Peanut was full and warm all snuggled up in his blankey.

Deacon took his usual 3 hour snooze. And of course, if the kids are asleep, Daddy thinks he might as well be asleep too! He was completely knocked out, didn't even wake up when I took his picture with a flash. Even Shryn thinks a nap is a good idea. And why I am I the only one awake in order to take the pictures? Shouldn't I be the one napping?

Nana's Quilts

My Mother says she has a fabric addiction and she needs help to break her fabric habit, she buys it everywhere and is always working on some project, quilts, pillow cases, blankets, margarita glass holders ;) She is an amazing seamstress and could make just about anything, I think. I say who cares if she has a fabric addiction if this is the kind of thing she is producing with it! She may have a million projects going at once and continually be adding others but she always completes them and everything comes out absolutely beautiful. She gets so excited about each new thing she is making and I get excited with her. My Mother can make just about anything out of fabric and I could make just about anything out of paper. I can sew a straight line but that's about it, I just don't have the talent for it that she does. Fabric addiction or not, my Mother has a fantastic talent and I love that she shares it with the world. The quilt above is the one she made for Rowan, it is so cute, I love the fabrics she used and the machine quilting is so well done. Can you find the itty bitty baby that's sleeping on that quilt?

This is a closer shot of the fabrics she used, she told me the name of the line but I cannot remember it right now. This also shows the quilting.

I think this one is my favorite squares, those monkeys are so cute! I found some of these monkeys at Target but didn't have an extra $15 to buy one, darn it! I remember we had at least one when I was a little kid, I think it was my brothers though.

This is Deacon's quilt made by Nana. I wanted this quilt so bad I could taste it, I practically begged my Mom for it. At the time both my sister and my sister in law were pregnant along with me so there was a good chance I wasn't going to be the one to get this one. I love all of the different pieces of color in each square, I was so touched when my Mom finally gave me this quilt after Deacon was born (we did not know what he was until birth), he was the only boy born in that set of babies so I guess it was most appropriate for him rather than one of the girls.

Deacon wanted to show everyone that this is his quilt!!! Everything is mine, mine, mine. He told me today that Rowan is "his" brother. And Daddy is "his" Daddy also. This is Maddox's quilt made for him by Nana. This one was made with actual Old Navy "Fourth of July" t-shirts, we donated a couple to the cause. I love this one too, we took a picture with Maddox on this quilt when he was a baby and sent it to Old Navy, I got a thank you letter from them. The one that started it all! This is Marx's baby quilt made by Nana, it matches a larger quilt she made for me when I got married, I still have that one as well . I love that I have something for each of my sons when they get older that I can pass down to them from their Grandmother that was made by her hands. I have the baby quilt that my grandmother made for me, I would have given it to my daughter if I had one, but that one may stay packed away until I have a granddaughter of my own, it is very pink and not really a good fit for the boys. I am sentimental like that, I think we should hold onto our past generations and families should be able to look back on their heritage and see where we came from.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I hung up the Birthday Banner I helped my mom make, (well, I traced and cut out the letters, she did the rest) she did one for her and each one of her kids. I think they came out so cute and so much nicer than the ones you get at the party store. It's still hanging in the kitchen! This is birthday number 30!! Holy crap! How did I get to 30?

My sweet boyfriend gave me gifts even though I told him not to do anything for me. I have a new car he purchased barely a month ago and a brand new baby, what the heck more could I want? If it can be purchased at Sport Chalet and I happen to tell him I like it then I will probably own it. Once it goes on clearance, of course ;) I saw the Fox purse one day when we were in there and picked it up and told him it was cute, so he bought it for my birthday (I'm actually using it for a diaper bag), the slippers are just like another Roxy pair I have but a different color, the heels are actually from a shopping trip Ben took with his sister Jenna when she was here, he loved them and they needed 3 pair to get a really good deal, so he bought them, he never really said they were a birthday gift, but that's what I am counting them as. It will be a few months before I wear them.

Rowan Benjamin Sass

Here he is, FINALLY!!!! Rowan Benjamin was born on Monday, July 20, 2009. We checked into the hospital at 4:03 in the morning (ETA: I know that seems like a silly thing to take notice of, but it really is significant to us, there is a song by Shinedown called "If You Only Knew" that Ben told me reminded him of me when he first heard it, it's become one of "our" songs since then and one of the lines is "It's 4:03 and I can't sleep, without you next to me I toss and turn like the sea..." so when I caught the time of check in I thought of the song, I know, a little corny) and spent 2 hours in prep, they put in my IV (which was done beautifully by Donna, the labor nurse.) and Ben and I sat and waited, they asked me some questions and pretty much left us alone for a while. I was really sleepy and I could not get comfortable no matter what position I was in. I shifted around a lot and finally dozed off a bit on my side. Dr. Tutt came in and talked to us for a minute and I walked down to surgery at about 6 a.m. The OR was so cold I was shaking as I sat on the table and waited for the anesthesiologist to finish with the spinal. I started feeling the tingly in my legs before they even laid me down. Ben was waiting outside so I was alone and I admit I was a little freaked out. I wanted the numbness to hit, it is nerve wracking enough for me to be on that table, I am always a bit worried that the drugs will not work and I will feel them cut me open. I could hear the doctors talking to each other and a nurse asked if Daddy was there yet, I knew we were getting close, they bring Ben in so close to when the baby comes out I was a little afraid he would miss it! He sat next to me and held my hand and it felt like forever before they said the baby was out and I heard a cry.

He cried right away and sounded pretty healthy to me. They brought him around the curtain as soon as he came out and I got to see him covered in goo still and all slippery looking. Ben went with the baby to the warming table and cut the umbilical cord. Rowan didn't stop crying the whole time he was in the OR, I heard the nurse say something to Ben about being able to fix something and that we would be unable to circumcize Rowan right away. I had no idea what she was talking about but it scared me. Then there was talk of the nursery and watching him for a few hours, what what what??? NO! I was a bit afraid of lung maturity and hoped that he would not have to spend time in the NICU. I got to hold him for a second and kiss his little face before a nurse told me they had to take him because he was not breathing well. I asked a nurse how much he weighed as they were taking him out. 7 pounds even and 18 1/2 inches long. The baby was taken into the recovery room and Ben went with him, I was still being stitched back together. It seemed to take forever, I could hear the doctors talking and Dr. Tutt coaching someone (I'm assuming an intern) on what to do next. I had my tubes tied this time and that took a little extra time. I wanted to see the baby and hold him. After I was stapled back together and covered with blankets I was taken to recovery where they had the baby on a warming table and Ben was standing next to him holding his hand. He was not breathing fabulously and he was doing this funny cry that wasn't really a cry. There was a nurse watching him and deciding if he needed to go to the nursery or if I could have him. I was starting to freak out, something was not right and they would not let me hold the baby, which I knew meant I probably wouldn't be able to until I was out of recovery. I could tell right away he looked like Deacon and he had a whole bunch of hair. I waited a few minutes and a decision was finally made, they brought over a clear plastic box on wheels to put the baby in to transport him to the nursery and I did my best not to lose it.

I stayed in recovery for a while and Ben explained to me what was going on, Rowan had some fluid that stayed in his lungs and he was having a hard time getting it out so he was not breathing as well as he should, the pediatrician wanted to observe him for a little bit so I was going to stay put for a while and then go to my room, we didn't know how long the baby would be in the nursery. My Dad came in and talked to me for a minute, I started to get upset and he and Ben had to talk me down and convince me the baby was alright and he would be with us soon. Ben wanted to stay with me, he didn't want me to be alone, but I sent him to the nursery anyway. I wanted him to know what was going on so he could update me since there was no way I could go down to the nursery myself.

Finally, about 2 1/2 hours after he was born we got to bring the little guy in for a few minutes. We didn't have him for too long, maybe an hour, just long enough for me to feed him, he latched right on and nursed really well for a few minutes, the pediatrician had made the decision that trying to let him feed would be the best thing for him and would probably help him fix that little breathing problem the fastest. Sure enough, as soon as he got to eat he did a lot better and was back fairly quickly after they took him away again. That little face he is making is just priceless, I can just see the wheels turning trying to comprehend all this new stuff.

Daddy is just as smitten by this sweet little baby as his Mama is. Ben was so cute, he was talking to him and cooing, telling him how great he is. There is a picture of my Dad holding my sister right after she was born that looks a whole lot like this one, it's taken from a similar angle. It hit me when I looked at this one that it resembled that old photo quite a bit, only Dad has a little less hair than he did back then a little more grey.

Deacon liked the baby, he has no idea what he is in for! We just have to be careful that he is not too rough with him, he wants to love him a little too much.

The Older Sass Brothers, Ben is 29 and Tim is 21

And the Younger Sass Brothers, Deacon is 2 1/2 and Rowan is brand spankin' new!

Rowan's BIG brothers, Maddox (6 1/2 years old) and Marx (8 years old). This is Marx's 4th little brother, he has done this a few times. He loves to hold them and is a great helper with his younger siblings. Maddox is a little tender heart, he was so sweet with the baby, he wanted to hold him all the time and loved to watch him sleep.

Wide awake, wearing an outfit from Auntie Kerra, he is so short he only fit in the preemie clothes, newborns and 0-3 months were way too big.

All 4 of my boys! I don't know when I will have another chance to take a picture like this. L to R: Maddox Roy, Deacon Bradley, Marx Gavin and Rowan Benjamin. I have two sets of full brothers, each one has one full brother and two half brothers. Me and all my boys. They are really cute, but I look like hell! Mommy and Daddy and Our newest Baby Boy. This was after we came home from the hospital, his Auntie Jenna gave him the soft snuggly blanket, he loves to suck so I have had to resort to a pacifier, unless I want to be one, which does not sound real appealing considering how sore I am already from feeding him 24/7. Little pig eats every 1 1/2 to 2 hours!

Baseball with Daddy

Deacon loves anything involving a ball, he really is a boy when it comes to sports, he wants to play anything and everything that has a ball. I happened to walk outside one day when Ben was in the backyard with Deacon and discovered some baseball practice in session. I am amazed at the stance on the kid already, my Dad has mentioned several times how good his coordination is. I would not be surprised if he plays on his high school team at least. This picture was just too cute, I had to post it, Ben is at the other end of the yard with the bat waiting for Deak to throw the ball.

Here's the windup! Get ready Daddy!

OK, one more throw before we go inside, it's really hot out here!

And there's the pitch!! Is he destined for greatness or what? Next Nolan Ryan here! ;)

Marx's Baptism - July 11, 2009

Before the Baptism, Marx and Papa changed into all white. We managed to remember everything except a dry pair of underwear for Marx to change into after the baptism.

We are very grateful to Kris and Julie for making the trip out to Arizona so that our family could be at his baptism and Papa had the opportunity to baptize Marx. It was a very special day for all of us.

This is everyone from my family who was able to come to the baptism, L to R back row: Papa (Roy), Nana (Donna) holding Jack, Marx, Me (Michelle), Aunt Brook. Front row: Maddox, Will, Deacon, Charly. Uncle Travis was at scout camp and Aunt Cambria and Uncle Greg were unable to make the trip.

Papa was the one who baptized Marx, we had a little practice session a couple of days prior and reminded Papa of what Marx's middle name is. They both did great, I cried. Marx's Dad, Kris did the confirmation and both Kris and Julie bore their testimonies after.

Marx and Papa in their suits, they look pretty sharp. Marx is not impressed with ties, he took his off as soon as he could. I can't imagine how hot it is in a suit in Arizona in July. Yuck!

Nana and Papa treated everyone to lunch at Joe's Barbeque, it was SO good! They have the best homemade Root Beer, I refilled my cup twice.

Even Maddox finished everything on his plate.