June - Part 2 of 2

It is getting harder and harder to take decent pictures of my kids but I did manage to get a couple good ones at least. It didn't work out so great when I tried to get in the picture with them.

We went to watch one of Aaron's soccer games one evening. They played the Xango team on the field that RSL used to practice on. The kids loved running around and kicking their own soccer balls. At one point I turned around to see that Josh had handfuls of trash and carried them to the trash can. I was a bit grossed out and quickly cleaned his hands but was so impressed that he had done that all on his own.  He has no idea that I took these pictures of him but I did tell him how proud I was of his community service :)

That same evening my parents made a surprise visit once we got home. They brought some pizza which was so perfect as Aaron had headed out to another soccer game and I was trying to figure out what to do quickly for dinner.

We had a nice relaxing time outside on the swing watching the kids play together on the slide. Joseph was really loving it outside and was so alert.

The next day was as busy as ever. We did lots of yard work.

Here Josh and Rachael are picking strawberries from our enormous strawberry bushes. They completely took over and I ended up pulling up half of the bushes. Those things are so hard to clear out. This year we didn't end up with enough for me to make jam like last year because the kids had eaten nearly all of them.

That evening after Aaron headed off to a scout camp I braved up and took the kids to a Lehi Parade (Joseph was only 3 weeks old). I met up with some great friends who helped make the experience a good one. Josh and Rach ended up coming home with way too much candy and had a really good time. It was so fun watching them dance to the music and wave to everyone. Even more fun watching them frantically pick up as much candy as possible.
The video below just cracks me up, they danced like this nearly the whole time.

The day after the parade my parents were kind enough to take Josh and Rach out fishing with them. Rachael caught and reeled in her first fish. They had a great time! Thanks grandma and grandpa! (pictures courtesy of my mom and dad)

One day I was clearing out a bunch of card board boxes and before I could break them down into our recycling bin it turned into a house that they played in all day. It ended up inside for a couple days before it made it's way to the recycling truck but it got some great use. :)

 Story time with Daddy

This is probably the kids most favorite thing before bed. Aaron always makes the stories so exciting and fun. Here in these pictures Aaron was reading from the Book of Mormon Stories. He was reading them chapter 28: The Zoramites and the Rameumptom. The best was when Aaron went to read to them the next night Rachael requested the Rameumptom story. It was hilarious hearing her try to say that word.

 Joseph at 4 weeks old

June - Part 1 of 2

Besides the arrival of our beautiful new baby boy June was as busy as ever.

These pictures were taken when Joseph was simply 5 days old. So precious and amazing how alert he was even then.

One Week Old
I did a quick photo shoot to celebrate Joseph at one week. 
Josh and Rachael are so great with him. They are both so gentle and kind. I hear them speaking sweetly to him all throughout the day and ask me over and over if they can hold him.

We finally had a warm enough day (5 days after coming home from the hospital) that I turned on the sprinklers and let the kids run through them. They were loving it!

A few days later we packed a lunch (Josh had been begging to have a picnic) and drove out to the lake. Unfortunately when we got there it became very windy and Rachael and Joseph were both fast asleep. So I set up a picnic lunch for Josh in the back of the car and we sat there together chatting away. It was some good one on one time we had.

 The next day Aaron had taken a half day off work and we took the kids swimming up at Mama and Pop's clubhouse pool. They had so much fun and I enjoyed my cuddles with Joseph while watching.

Just some other random pictures of the kids playing in their little pool in the back and wearing their new goggles.

The New Playset

Aaron spent many many hours putting this thing together but the kids absolutely LOVE it. It is so nice to have a playground in our own backyard :) Every day at least once or twice i'll catch Josh and Rachael outside together playing on this. The swings are their favorite!

These are some random pictures I have taken of Joseph in June. 
I can always tell when he is comfortable because he will have both hands up near his face. Even if I wrap him up tightly in a blanket he will wriggle his way around to get those arms free and up near his face. It's so adorable.
The bottom right is a picture I took in the hospital, he was even doing it then.

Joseph's Blessing

Isn't he just squeezable? I searched high and low for his little outfit and ended up ordering from a shop in England. The same shop that Joshua's blessing outfit was bought.

Three of the other items we had with us for that special even were made by three of Joseph's Great Grandmothers. 

One happy family, sadly this was one of the best we could get.

I just love the picture of Aaron and Joseph below.

 Aaron gave such a beautiful blessing that set the stage for a perfect day!

 We were surrounded by wonderful family and missed those that couldn't be with us.

Loads of yummy food was served, it was quite hot outside, and the kids had a great time together. Most of all everyone got to enjoy the time together oohing and ahhing over this little bundle of joy!

Bloopers!

Sadly many pictures were taken of our new family of 5 on this special occasion and the best was seen above. Even that shot isn't great but it sure does tell a story... Josh had been running around and was sweating from head to toe with a beat red face. Rachael too had a red face and was screaming uncontrollably, she had already been changed out of her cute Sunday dress and her hair was now a mess. (the night before we had stayed up late to see fireworks, she was clearly overtired.)

These three shots below really do crack me up - 

NONE of them were intentional. Imagine that there are speech bubbles above our heads and insert your own text. Can be quite entertaining.

Joseph Keefe

The Birth Story:   *It's a long one*

After a couple of very long weeks hoping I would go into labor on my own ( I was induced with the first two and desperately wanted to go on my own this time) I was induced on June 2nd. The weeks following I did find myself in L&D twice with excruciating pain. Ended up being a kidney infection that I was put on antibiotics for - thankfully that was taken care of.

The kids stayed with their Mama and Pops that night and I actually got a good nights sleep. We were told we could get a call as early as 6:30 am so I was all ready to leave at that time the next morning. Waiting around for a simple phone call can seem like forever so I went outside with Aaron to work on a sprinkler head. Finally around 7:15 we got a call to be at the hospital for 7:45. Yes, finally :)

A few days before induction

Aaron made a time stamp of the events on our ipad as the next few hours unfolded, this is exactly how it went:

7.44 Arrive at hospital
8.15 baby monitor hooked up
8.22 Iv connected to Kim - well poking for it
8.35 Iv finally connected
8.37 wristbands given to mum and dad
8.46 dilated to 4
8.48 dr broke water
8.56 started on highest dose of pitocin
9.02 cran raspberry drink
9.08 epidural man enters
9.20 epidural complete - nice guy told funny stories
9.52 catheter in
9.56 dilated to 5
11.09 fully dilated
11.13 waiting for doc - Kim wants to push and only me here...
11.23 really wanting to push no doc yet
11.28 born

All that and our beautiful Joseph Keefe was born weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long. My smallest baby. The experience was a little more intense than the simple list described above but overall a pleasant one.

I was more nervous this time, not sure why. The nurse wasn't all that great and really really hurt me trying to get an iv hooked up. I've had quite a few ivs and many blood draws in my lifetime and nothing ever hurt like this. Seriously I was nearly in tears and my whole arm was later bruised and very sore. She ended up having to get another nurse in to do it and she ended up squirting blood all over the place.

I couldn't believe they were actually letting me drink juices and water as the times before I was only allowed stupid ice chips. I was so excited and drank the cran raspberry juice I love so much. 

I was also encouraged to get the epidural asap as the anesthesiologist was going into 3 c-sections. I didn't want to get stuck without an epidural so I had him come in. It was strange to have it now as I was in no pain at all and quite comfortable (other than my throbbing arm). In the times past the epidural never hurt (probably because the contractions were worse) but this time ooya, it really hurt. He was a really nice guy and did exactly what I asked for, he was experienced for sure (explained later). 

Time continued to pass and I would have a random contraction here and there but nothing else. I started to feel really lightheaded and sick to my stomach at one point and nearly passed out. They continued to pump fluids into me because they said I was severely dehydrated.  I remember looking up at the clock when the first big contraction hit and it was 10:45am. It wasn't real painful but there was a lot of pressure. The epidural was doing just as I had hoped. It took the edge off but I could still feel quite a bit of what was going on. Right after that first one they continued to come less than 3 minutes apart, I contemplated pushing the epidural button...

15 minutes later I feel severe pressure and look at Aaron - he knew something was up. I told him that I needed to push. He wanted to go out and find a nurse but I insisted he wait. A few minutes later he ran out to find one (we hadn't seen one in awhile). A nurse came in and didn't seem to believe me when I told her that I needed to push and the feeling kept getting worse and worse. She decided to check me and sure enough, there was his head.

She ran out to get my regular nurse and once again it was just me and Aaron in the room. It seemed like time passed so slowly as we waited for a nurse to come back in and I was trying so hard not to push at this point. I looked over at Aaron and told him I couldn't hold back anymore and he looked a little freaked out. 10 minutes later the nurse arrived and started to prep, 10 minutes after that the doctor arrived. Literally 5 minutes after the doctor arrived our beautiful son was born. First push and he was out, incredible!

I couldn't believe that this was my third time and it was so similar to my last. Rachael and Joseph were born one minute different. I have to just say how much I love my doctor, he is absolutely incredible and makes the experience so relaxing and memorable.

Joseph had swallowed a lot of blood and wasn't breathing at one point. I watched as they continued to suck blood from him and filled a good size bottle. Eventually he began crying and turned from purple to a normal color and I was holding him close. Unlike my first two I got to hold him in my arms and feed him in the L&D room before they took him to the nursery. He had no oxygen complications and no major jaundice problems. He was so healthy and strong and perfect.

I ended up leaving the hospital the next day. At first I thought I was crazy for leaving early but it felt so good to come home (definitely wouldn't have left if it was my first). I was lucky I even got to be induced that day, all the L&D rooms were full and all 26 recovery rooms on mother baby were full. They ended up cancelling all other inductions the next day. I got put down on the Pediatrics floor for recovery, it was ok but so different being taken care of by the Pediatric doctors. They were sweet but I felt so forgotten and the bed was so uncomfortable.

Overall a great experience and we have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy whom we love and cherish so much!

Spring Break Weekend

We had a long full-filled spring break weekend. Aaron had Friday off work so it started there for us. Most the day was spent around the house, jumping on the trampoline and playing at the park. Wrestling on the trampoline is one of their favorite pastimes. I on the other hand stay far from the trampoline while pregnant, just sitting on it while they jumped was enough for me, I had to get off after a couple minutes. We had actually gone and purchased a trampoline pad from a nice lady in Lehi. She was selling it on KSL for only $35.00 and it had never been used. We've been looking for awhile to get one but didn't want to spend crazy amounts. This one is quite nice and enables Rachael to get on and off herself without the fear of falling into the hole.

That afternoon we joined up with my parents for a walk in the river bottoms near their home. Let's just say that no one told me there was going to be a fairly steep hike involved. My pregnant body did better than expected and I was very impressed with Josh as he rode his bike up the whole way back. It was fun to be outside on a nice walk with family. I can't believe how much the river has already flooded over.
I didn't take my camera (which is a good thing as i'm sure I wouldn't have been able to hike back up with it) but my phone took some pretty good shots.

From there we headed to their home to BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs. Mmmm Yummy! Once those were all devoured we enjoyed some Strawberry Heath Shakes. My favorite shake ever!

Saturday was spent doing lots and lots of yard work. I get so into it that I was pretty frustrated when I struggle to bend over to pull weeds etc. We did managed got our front yard all sorted and I could hardly move the next day. It felt so good though and we had a lot of fun. 
That evening we had Aaron's family over for dinner and games. I BBQ'd steaks and we had a game of settlers. I nearly won but Aaron took it :)

Both Sunday and Monday we had some great family and friends over for dinner and games. It was a nice long enjoyable weekend that went way too fast.


Friday before walking to the park we were sat on the front porch waiting for Aaron to join us. In the past years we've had major bee problems, I didn't expect to be seeing some already. It wasn't long before there were a few swarming the daffodils. I quickly snapped a couple shots before moving away, I didn't want to disturb them. It's really not the bees that are the problem, it's the hornets and their crazy nests we need to sort out. Luckily those haven't appeared yet.

This last picture I couldn't help but put on. Josh found a pair of my 'fake' glasses that I once bought years ago and the kids had been playing with them. Rachael sneakily put them on one morning and was checking herself out in the mirror. She was so adorable I couldn't help but capture the moment. I think this picture says it all don't you?

Spring Break - Day 4 (Aquarium)

This morning was harder for me to get moving as I was feeling the effects of being 33 weeks pregnant. I was exhausted today and could have so easily relaxed on the couch all day but I didn't.


Our highlight of the day was our trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. I was much more impressed this time around then the first visit as it had changed quite a bit. There was a lot more to look at and for the kids to do. Josh and Rach were so well behaved and had SO much fun! 



It is very dark in the aquarium and in some places flash camera is not allowed.  So in the few places I was allowed to use my camera I took a few shots. Some of the neat things to see included a large octopus (Josh says it was his favorite), anaconda snake (huge and a little freaky), colorful tree frogs (they were so stinkin cute) and more fish than you could imagine. Sharks, turtles, eels, crocks, seahorses, jellyfish, shrimp, stingrays... you name it, it was probably there.

Another really cool exhibit were the penguins. It was by far the busiest but yet so fun to watch them.

From the aquarium we headed home, I was exhausted and couldn't wait to get home to relax and maybe eat some ice cream before starting dinner :)

Literally as soon as I had pulled into the garage I asked Josh to help Rachael unbuckle herself as I took some things in the house. I came back out and lifted Rachael out of her car seat and she started sobbing hysterically  saying 'it hurts' over and over again. Immediately I was playing mom doctor trying to find out the problem. Soon to my discovery a dislocated elbow had to be the problem. Oh dear, you've got to be kidding me. I couldn't get mad though, I had no idea how it happened. The only thing I can think of is that Josh may have been trying to help her out by pulling on her arms...no intentional injury.
Immediately I called up our doctor and got right back in the car and drove 20 minutes to their office. Rachael was such a sweetheart as she continually told me about the 'hurt' in her arm and moaned a bit as I held her. It wasn't long before she was back to her normal self. I had the doctor give me a thorough instruction as to how to pop it back in place in case it were to happen again.


Amidst that extra excitement the rest of the evening was very enjoyable. I think i'll go to bed early tonight :)

Spring Break - Day 3 (Bubbles)

Another beautiful day until currently as I sit here writing this post the wind howls outside. The wind came up so fast this evening it was frightening. Watching and hearing things crashing down the streets and things blowing against the house - I have never liked the wind, especially at night! Thankfully it was our garbage day this morning, it usually seems like the wind storms come just as everyone puts out their trash and then trash is blowing everywhere but tonight luckily it's just the empty trash cans.


On to the exciting bubbles!!!

Because this morning was so nice we decided to do more outside. We were in need of some grocery items so we went to collect those and while at the store got some fun bubble creating tools. After lunch we set outside and bubbles were definitely the highlight of the day. They were out there forever blowing bubbles and chasing them around.

 I love how every time the kids go out to play our cats follow them. Socks (our male black cat) in particular will follow the kids around and lay on the grass watching them play. Today he followed me around as I walked around with my beloved camera and would just stare at me like in this picture below. Wonder what he was thinking...

 Another special item of the day were these delicious fudge bars. I let the kids pick out a treat and they chose these. 20 bars came in a box for $3.00 - we'll be eating these for awhile. Yum!

Spring Break - Day 2 (Mario and Smoothies)

Today was our Cleaning and Mario day. We got the house cleaned and played games including Super Mario Bros. Wii.  Joshua is brilliant at this game and it really does take a lot of team work. I had a blast playing with him and we managed to complete a whole world. It was a major accomplishment :)

At lunch time I let the kids choose where they would like to go for lunch. I was so excited when they chose to go get smoothies. We absolutely LOVE Smoothie King so we headed out.
I got these two beauties for FREE! That's right absolutely free and we enjoyed every slurp :)

This tired sleeping beauty found herself a nice comfortable spot on the couch and tucked herself in for a nice long needed nap.

 Don't you think the daffodils are beautiful! So nice to see some vibrant yellow outside.

Spring Break - Day 1 (Portraits and Parks)

Looking at the weather forecast for this week I was a little bummed. It's spring break and I was really hoping to do a lot outside. Monday being the first day I decided to do my annual spring photo shoot of the kids. I like to get updated photos of the kids every year around Easter so it was time.

After getting the kids ready and starting off a great morning we headed outside. It was colder than I thought it was going to be so we planted ourselves on the front porch. My lovely daffodils had bloomed and I thought it would be cute to let them each pick one. Rachael's ended up pretty much in pieces from her loving and smelling it so much and Joshua's has made it into a Lightning McQueen cup that is sitting on our kitchen table. He keeps watering it and it looks just as it did when he picked it.

We weren't out there too long but I did my best to take some good shots. Between Josh pulling hysterical faces because he was cold and Rachael refusing to smile or look at me I managed to capture these beauties.

The kids were now done and wanted to go inside. I was happy as I had gotten and absolutely stunning picture of Rachael and a great shot of Josh but not completely satisfied. I so badly wanted a decent one of them both smiling at least in my direction. But I went in as I didn't want to make it a bad experience. Minutes after entering the house Aaron arrived home for lunch - I was thrilled! He always has the kids full attention so I knew he could help.
We quickly went straight back out and in a matter of 2 minutes, literally, I was able to snap these. That gorgeous smile from Rachael is all for her daddy.

I was so happy - I LOVED the turn out! Now I was ready to tackle the rest of the day. Right after lunch we set out to the park. Three different parks and 3 hours later we returned home ready for some rest. Even though I had put sunscreen on my face I got burnt of course and the kids had nice lovely sun-kissed faces.

It was a great start to the week! That evening we had a long needed game of settlers with Marcus, Nichole and Natalie. Aaron won! :)