Birthday Boys

December is always a whirlwind of craziness and parties!

Between Ryan's, Tanner's and Taylor's birthday, we were all caked out when Grandma and Grandpa came to celebrate.  We opted for cupcakes from Albertson's instead....and I had to laugh when only 3 were eaten.  No surprise!

Go figure that this is the only and likely the silliest moment I was able to capture....Ryan and Tanner both in mid-gasp/sentence.

Happy Birthday, you fine, outstanding young men! 

Celebrating the Birth Day

I got brave, and asked my dear friend (there's nothing she DOESN'T know about me now!) if she'd consider taking Birth Day pictures of Keetley.  Luckily the stars were aligned, she was in town, had help with her kids, and we had a pretty good notion of what time Keetley was going to arrive...so Stevie showed up right in time to catch some pretty great moments. These are some of my favorites!!!  

Ryan and I have this *thing*.  He drops me off at the hospital, gets me comfortable, then leaves to do whatever it is he needs to get done....in this case, it was work.  I called him around noon, letting him know it was 'about time' and he dutifully came back to the hospital.  Works well for him (hello, paycheck) and I don't have to entertain OR share the TV remote.  :)

This one makes me laugh!   Before he even cut the umbilical cord, he texted his family!  LOL!  oh, technology.  So wonderful, and yet, so annoying.  LOL!

When I found out Ryan had texted all our family to let them know of the Keetley's arrival but that he didn't include a picture, I QUICKLY had to remedy the situation....again....technology.  LOL!

Thank you so much, Stevie!!!!  I'm so glad you were able to capture some great moments in the delivery room on Keetley's special day!  You've now seen it all.  If we weren't best friends before, we are eternal friends for sure after this! 

Simply Smitten {Keetley Ann}

She's here!  Keetley Ann made her graceful arrival into this world on 4.10.13, at 2:41 pm.  After snuggling with mommy for a good hour, she weighed in at 6 pounds 10 ounces, measuring 20 inches long.  She's our smallest baby by far, and we are simply smitten with her!

She's perfect in every way!  Beautiful button nose, dimpled chin, long fingers and the most beautiful pink lips a girl could ask for.  I think she resembles Taylor's look the most, but she's definitely from the same mold as her brothers.  Speaking of which....

Out of all the pictures at the hospital, this one ^^^  has got to be my favorite!  I am sure I caught Taylor off guard, because he and Tanner are very excited to have a baby sister!  Kortlen shared in the same excitement for about 2.5 seconds....I think having a sister is going to take some getting used to for the little guy!

My mom is so wonderful!  She came up the night before I was induced, and has pretty much taken care of everything while I was in the hospital.  I worked hard to get my house picked up and cleaned up before she came so she wouldn't have to worry or stress, and could just play with her grandsons, but I came home to an even MORE spotless house!!!  She took my boys home with her (thanks for babysitting, Clay and Deseret!!!) and they'll return on Sunday.  The break and quietness has been nice (I've been home for 4 hours) but I'm starting to go a little stir crazy.  LOL!  Time to catch up on sleep and maybe read a good book.  I miss them, but I don't miss having to bend over and pick up after them!  :)

: : : Labor and Delivery : : :

Keetley's labor and delivery were by far my easiest! I don't even need to give a simplified version of it, because it was so amazingly perfect!

Showed up at the hospital at 7 am for induction.  Painted my nails while Ryan grabbed my bag from the car and parked, and the nurse set up the bedding. Was started on an IV and pitocin right away, and by 10 am had the anesthesiologist prepping me for an epidural.

After Kortlen's "I am woman, hear me roar" natural birth, I was all game for making Keetley's arrival as painless as possible.  The epidural was so great, I was numb from my nose down.  Not even kidding!  By 2:15-ish pm baby was ready to come, I was ready to get her here, but the doctor was in another delivery.  My nurse (the same one who held my head in her hands during Kortlen's delivery and told me to stop screaming and BREATHE!!) turned off the pitocin and we all just sort of waited.  and waited.  and waited.

At 2:30 ish my doctor showed up, said I could push...so I did....twice...and she stopped me on the third push because baby girl had arrived!

Keetley was alarmingly purple to me!  The doctor laid her on my abdomen, and we got her warmed up.  She let out a few little squeaky cries, and we got to cuddle.  We tried nursing for a while, and at one hour old, the nursery nurses weighed, measured, and cleaned her cute little self right up!

Stuck two little bows in her dark head of hair, swaddled her and we are so in love with her!  Pictures of her shortly after birth are coming....(Thank you, Stevie!!)

: : : Where her name comes from : : : 

My grandfather had a sheep and cattle ranch up Echo Canyon, near Heber, Utah.  We called it Keetley, after the man who had settled the area (google Keetley, Utah).  In 1989, the ranch land was found to be the perfect location for a reservoir to service the area, and long story short, was sold.  Our family spent MANY summers there.  The majority of summer photographs of our childhood were taken at Keetley.  We played in the "Witch House" and fished for moss in the ditches, bathed in the freezing bathroom, and babies got baths in the kitchen sink. We rode the rolling hills to move the livestock, or go with grandpa to change the water.  Keetley was the place of Crandall Family Reunions each 24th of July.  We'd sit in the shade of the humongus tress, play with cousins.  We would beg for a cousins old enough to take us to look for fool's gold in 'the mine' up the road....always gathering more rocks in our pockets than I'm sure my mom wanted in the washing machine.  It was a place of many cherished memories.  I'm so excited to have given our beautiful daughter such a meaningful name.

Her middle name is in honor of Ryan's mother (Edytha Ann) and grandmother (Anna Maye) and just so happens to have a little bit of my own name.

Atti{TWO}de

My baby is TWO!!!  

To celebrate, we splashed it up in Lava at the pool, with slides, sunscreen, and cupcakes...Didn't get a single picture of any of us in the water, but we had a blast!  The day was perfect: overcast, warm, and with my family.  Sadly, Daddy couldn't make it, because he was at work, My dad also had work, and Auntie Stephanie is on her mission (3 more weeks!)....we missed them!

Somebody was tuckered out at the end of the day!

On Kortlen's actually birthday, we celebrated with birthday cake and presents; Grandma and Grandpa Poulsen joined us for Sunday dinner and brought the ice cream, since I forgot to pick some up.

This little boy is so full of spunk and attitude....he's calm and intelligent, and such a joy to be with!!! He's definitely a daddy's boy, but likes to cuddle with mommy, too.  Not only does he love his big brothers, but he loves to bulldoze them and wrestle and tag along.  He's been pretty quick to keep up, so he's not left behind.

We sure do love you, Kortlen!!!

They.Are.Still.

My lovelies woke up at 5:30 this morning, as their dad was reading his scriptures on the couch.

"Oh, NO!" I said as I willed them back to sleep.  For two hours they whispered as I dozed in and out of conciousness after Ryan had left for work.  I allowed them to get out of their beds at 7:30, and then I wished I could crawl back into mine for the rest of the day.  I have had a terrible sore throat, and no amount of Chloraseptic or Coke has helped at all today.

And so it has been, all.day.long.  Nobody had naps.  Well, I take that back.  Kortlen slept this morning for about an hour.  Needless to say, he went to bed promptly at 6 pm.  (Boy, we've come a long way in six years!)  The boys watched Caillou on Netflix while I lay on the floor in front of the space heater watching Miracle on 34th Street in my bedroom.  I was supposed to be folding laundry, but slipped into a 30 minute coma.  I was obviously too tired to care if boys brushed teeth, or if they went pee after changing into jammies.

I was awakened when my six year old came in and announced that he was tired.  And he was going to bed.  I left my room to get a drink, knowing that Taylor, who had taken my spot on the floor, would be sound asleep within five minutes.  And he was.  That was at 9 pm.

*happy sigh!!!* 

They.Are.Still.  And they are asleep.  And I still have laundry to fold and a Christmas skirt pattern to alter because everyone is getting/has gotten new Sunday clothes for Christmas/birthdays and I need something, too.  I guess I had better get cutting, folding, pinning, and fitting!

__________

We just had three birthdays in the last two weeks.  Do you think I had the energy to get out the camera and snap JUST ONE SHOT???  Sadly, no.  And I feel terrible that I was so lame.  Because the boys, Ryan included, all had WONDERFUL days....We celebrated for 10 days straight!!!  From December 3rd to the 13th.  I just barely took down the "Happy Birthday" banner and popped the balloons yesterday.  I am ready for Christmas.  And ready for bed.  

{Pool Party}

Having a birthday in the summer is a really good excuse to get together with some dear friends.

Everyone but the babies...LOVED THIS SHOT!