A Blessed Life

So last weekend while Grandpa Jim and Grandma Nancy were here, I took advantage of the extra hands and took some time to clean out the boys' dresser. I came across a number of things that reminded me of how blessed we are to have these healthy, beautiful boys in our lives.

As their mother, I do remember how tiny these babies were as I held them in my arms just days old. But it didn't really sink in until I discovered these itty-bitty hats that they wore when they were in the NICU. I thought it would be fun to do a little shoot of the hats the boys wore back then and the hats that they wear now.

Their old hats now fit nicely on these Valentine bears that used to watch over them in their isolettes in the NICU. Tiny!!!!

The boys in their big boy hats now!!

The boys were quite curious about these little bears.


I must say, Blakey is the perfect model ALL the time!!

The bears are wearing preemie sized diapers that the nurses put on them. I took one off and compared it to the diapers that they wear now. Unbelievable!

As I reflect on my life at this moment in time, I feel so thankful for so many things. The boys, of course, are number one. Then my dear husband, who just the other night, when I was at the end of my rope of consoling a teething Nicolas, got up and was able to get him back to sleep. The next morning, after only sleeping 4 or 5 hours, was still able to crack a joke about a nightmare he had where Nico was up all night. Yes, I am very lucky to have him as my partner in crime in this thing called parenting!

Jeff and I are both so thankful for our families and friends who have loved and supported us unconditionally, especially in the last year and a half when we haven't been so good at returning calls, hosting events, and generally keeping in touch like we used to!

With that, I will go snuggle with Jeff on the couch while the boys drift off into dreamland.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Rebeca

Who are these big boys and what did you do with our babies?

Seriously people, these boys are not babies anymore!! "All they want to do is, all they want to do is STAND and STAND some more"..."they like to stand up (ooh), they like to fall down (ooh), all they want to do is, all they want to do is STAND!". Sorry, I sing this song to them and myself all day long. Yes, I am going crazy!

After a week of this standing thing, they are just now discovering how to get back down to the ground without falling on their poor little heads! Oh, speaking of heads and as luck would have it, Blakey is officially out of his helmet!! Yay Blakey!! It is so nice not to have to mess with that stinky thing anymore. We can't decide if we should burn it or keep it as a momento.

Both boys are "cruising" along the couches and the gates or anything else that might be in their path. Once the crying stops, it really is so cute to see how proud they are of themselves to be standing. The dogs have had to adjust to these changes too. Believe it or not, Guapo wins the Patient Pet award. He has gotten his tail pulled, his ears bitten and his food bowl moved across the room by the boys and he hasn't even flinched! He is a "tough guy" on the street, but boy is he a pushover behind closed doors!

The boys got together and decided it would be fair to give us a mama and a dada. Nico chose the dada and Blakey gives me a delightful mama all through the day! It was very thoughtful of them to not offend either of us!

Okay, enough chatter..........See for yourself all of the trouble these boys are getting into!

The boys have long since outgrown their bouncy seats but they are fascinated with the animals on this seat.

"We're in this together Bro" says Blake to Nicolas.

"Let me out, let me out!"

"Ha ha mom, you look away for a second and I'm gone!" says Speedy Gonzales Blakey.

This is probably one of the first times Nico pulled up on the couch. Yes, a very proud boy.

"These gates have nothing on me!" says a determined Blakey. I must say, he is quite "determined" (aka- stubborn) to get to where he wants to go regardless of what is in his way. Surprising for the Fassetts in this family? Not really!

A sleepy Nico in his Sunday Chargers jammies. By the look on his face you can tell it was an exhausting game!

Our future bookworm!

Our future musician. (as of last Saturday, the electronics are no longer in the boys' reach. We purchased a new entertainment center and these cool gadgets are way up high! sorry guys!)

**These pictures are from my nephew Andrew's 6th birthday party in the park.

My mom entertaining the boys with her songs. They LOVE listening to her sing!

Nico swinging away!!! "More mommy, more!"

Blakey figuring out what this scratchy green stuff is!

I should also mention that we have an exciting couple of weeks coming up. Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Jim and Uncle Dave are coming up for a visit this weekend. They will help us put in cabinet locks and electrical outlet plugs throughout the house. On Sunday, Grandpa Bob and Opah Cay arrive for a couple of days before they are off to Phoenix for Thanksgiving. The boys will meet their Uncle Scott (Jeff's other brother) for the first time on Monday while he is here on a business trip.

The boys say "Bye for now!!"

Love,

The Fassetts

Trick or Treat Fassett Style

As many of you know, Jeff and I both enjoy Halloween for various reasons. We love dressing up, decorating the house and passing out candy to little darling dragons, fairies and pirates. So, as you can imagine, we really enjoyed having our own two little darlings to dress up this year!

Blakey's helmet inspired us to go with a sports theme. Originally it was going to be an all Charger theme, but when we discovered Nicolas had grown out of his Charger onesie we had to go to plan B! Nico did have a Dodger onesie so it was quickly decided that we would have one football player and one baseball player in our house. As usual, the day before Halloween Jeff says "what are we going to be?". We brainstormed a bit to come up with something low maintenance as we had little time or money to put together anything too fancy. My initial suggestion was for Jeff to be a ref. Not just any old ref, but the infamous Ed Hochuli. (He is an NFL ref who blew a big game for the Chargers last season.) Jeff thought it would be fun to call his costume "Dead Ed". (something very out of character for him!) Remembering that I had my high school cheerleading uniform in the closet, my costume was easy and pretty much done!! We handed out candy for a little while and then strapped the boys in their stroller and trick or treated with my niece and nephew. Enjoy the pictures of our future athletes!

I had to get a picture of the backs of their jerseys. Jeff's family is in the sign software business so he is VERY particular about lettering and spacing, etc. He meticulously placed these letters on the jerseys and then ironed them on.

They call him "One-eyed Fassett" in the Dodger dugout.

Blakey warming up those legs for a long punt return for a touchdown. Go #43! (oh, he's with my sister, by the way, who was in a very cool gypsy costume. Dressing up runs in the family!)

Blakey with his cousin Andrew "Boba Fett" (a Stars Wars character I am told- boy do I have a lot to learn!!)

Nicolas with Carolina the Vampiress

#43 on the Chargers is a player by the name of Darren Sproles. He is the smallest player in the league but boy can he run like the wind!!

#16-Andre Ethier. Not sure why we picked his number other than the fact that he is a big home run hitter.

Rewind to earlier in the day, before the boys got into costume, we did a small shoot in the front yard with some cute Jack-O-Lantern hats that Grandma Nancy got for them. Blakey was particularly amused by these darling little hats!












So what else is new around here? Well, I am glad you asked!

As of this weekend BOTH boys are crawling and oh my goodness are we in for trouble!!! You can tell that they are just so excited to be able to explore their little worlds on a whole new level. In addition, Nicolas has now learned how to pull himself up into a standing position. He particularly enjoys doing this in his crib when he is supposed to be napping. We would usually ignore this but he has now fallen backwards several times resulting in him hitting his head against the railing and crying like a baby! (go figure!) They are both able to pick up "puffs" (cereal bits that dissolve quickly) and feed themselves.

Part of me is so proud of my big boys but part of me is sad that they are getting so independent growing up so fast!!

I think this post is long enough. Happy November to all!

Love,
Rebeca