Family Update

I wish that I could get Easton to do some of his cute things on camera but every time I take out the camera he will either stop doing it or he won’t do it at all. One of his newest and cutest things he is doing is counting. But not just counting, it is Count von Count-sesame street counting. No, he didn’t learn it by watching Sesame Street (he hardly watches TV) but he learned it from his daddy. Easton has a few sesame street books and one of them is a counting book with The Count. Anytime Nathan reads it to him he does the laugh “AH AH AH!” So now when Easton counts (he generally only counts to 2) he will do the laugh after. “One, Two, AH AH AH!” I laugh every time. This is the best video we could get.

Easton is also starting to try to sing songs with us. Before he would attempt to do the hand movements or just listen and sometimes dance but now he is actually trying to sing. He only gets a few words here and there (generally the first and last word of each line) but it is still really cute to have him try. He is probably the best at the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He also attempts to sing and sign the ABC song (which we sing and sign to him before he naps everyday). The other day he even tried to sing I Am a Child of God (this is the song we sing to him every night before he goes to bed).

Blair is as cute as ever! She still doesn’t do much just the normal newborn stuff: sleep, eat, and poop! She’s still very cute and we all love her to death (Easton was actually trying to hug her to death today…I don’t think he understands that we can’t give baby the same hugs we give mommy and daddy). It was cute but a little scary at the same time. Blair is doing really well with tummy time. She has a really strong neck. She is constantly moving her hand from one side to the other. She apparently has really strong feet too (I should have already known this since she was constantly kicking the crap out of me when I was pregnant with her)! Anyways, she can push herself using her feet from one end of the play mat to the other end. That is until the plastic bar gets in her way and won’t let her move any further. Yesterday she even turned herself 90 degrees.

Nathan is finally done with his third year of medical school (yeah)! Well, he’s been done for over a week now but I’m just finally getting around to writing about it. He is now a fourth year medical student. I can’t believe that he will be done in less than a year (he graduates May 15, 2010 for anyone who wants to come out and see him graduate). It has definitely gone by fast (at least for me. I don’t know if he would agree with this or not).

I’m starting to get the hang of having two kids now. I think the real test is taking the kids out by yourself. Our first outing was to the library last Thursday and it took us almost 2 hours to get ready and out the door (well I did talk to my mom during part of that time so it wasn’t quite 2 hours). Friday we went to play group at the pool and that was a lot easier and faster. We were ready almost 45 minutes earlier than we needed to be. I’m excited to say that I only have 15 more pounds to lose before I’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight and I am actually fitting into some of my pre-pregnancy pants already! It definitely feels good to not have to wear pregnancy clothes.

Father's Day and Blair's baby blessing

Happy Father's Day Nathan! You are such a wonderful father and husband. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. We love you! I am so grateful that Nathan is a worthy priesthood holder. Nathan had the opportunity to bless his baby girl on Father's Day in sacrament meeting. We were lucky enough to have Blair blessed while my mom was still in town. We found out last minute (Saturday afternoon) that we were going to be able to do it. Thanks to my sister in law, Mykle, Blair was absolutely beautiful. Thank you for making Blair's blessing dress. It turned out amazing! It is absolutely gorgeous. Just a few pictures of our adorable angel all dressed up in her beautiful blessing dress.

Don't forget to check out grandma's visit (posted earlier today).

Grandma's visit

The first two weeks of Blair joining our family, I have been really spoiled. Nathan took the whole first week off to help me and then my wonderful mommy came in to help the second week. I know most people say that you should take it easy when you have a baby but I have been feeling great and haven't been able to keep myself from going out and doing things. I can honestly say I feel so much better now that I'm not pregnant. I have way more energy. I know this is mainly because Blair is such a good sleeper but with help I can also take a nap anytime I want. I guess we will see what this week has in store for us now that I'm on my own. Here is what we have been up to this last week while grandma was in town visiting.

First trip to DC:

Botanical Garden:

Easton loved this water fountain. He kept running away and would end up here.

At the Botanical Garden they had a kids garden where the kids could water plants and dig in the soil. Easton had a lot of fun, especially playing in the water.

Kid size tool shed.

Easton playing with the gardening tools.

Digging in the soil.

Watering the plants.

This was Blair all day.

Washington Monument:

White House:

WWII Memorial:

Easton would have loved this water fountain so much more but unfortunately for him he was fast asleep.

Lincoln Memorial:

Making Cinnamon Rolls:

Easton and Grandma making Cinnamon rolls together. It is never a dull moment when Grandma's around.

Second trip to DC:

Natural History Museum

Easton on the metro sporting his new blue hair.

Family picture at Natural History Museum

Horsey Ride:



Easton didn't like that he wasn't getting Grandma's full attention. He wanted a horsey ride.





Thanks Grandma for coming and visiting us. We had a blast! We love you!

Family Pictures

We didn't have much time before church to take pictures so this is as good as they got. This was Blair's first time at church so we all decided to wear something pink to celebrate our new little girl.

Family Picture
Kid Picture

Easton

Blair

Photos, Pool, and Bath

Easton loves to hold Blair. He can't get enough of her. Whenever I take her away he says, "NO, NO, NO!" When I put her back in his lap, he gets the biggest smile on his face. He absolutely adores her. He likes to give her kisses and to gently pat her back.

Easton holding Blair.

Here are a few shots of my little angel. She is such a good baby just like Easton. I am definitely lucky! The last two nights she has slept five hours straight! She doesn't even cry when she wakes up. I just hear her moving around and when I check on her she is just wide awake licking her lips. After I feed her she sleeps for another two hours!

Finally getting upset with all the flash and pictures I was taking of her.

Easton finally got to go swimming in our pool the first time this year. Our passes finally came so Nathan took Easton for a swim. The baby pool was closed so Easton got to experience the big pool for the first time.

I swear he was having fun. He just didn't want to smile for the camera.

Easton playing catch with Daddy.

Going for a swim with Daddy.

Blair's first bath at home. She definitely did not enjoy it. This is the most that I have heard her cry, which means she did not like this experience at all.

visiting Blair and bringing her home!

Nathan brought Easton to the hospital to meet Blair for the first time. Easton came into the room carrying flowers (so cute!) Easton was really excited when he first saw Blair. He came right up to the bassinet with a huge smile on his face and pointed to her and said, "baby!" Here is a video of Easton meeting and holding Blair for the first time.

Easton meeting Blair for the first time!

Easton holding Blair.

Dad, Easton, and Blair

Getting ready to go home!

Me and my babies!

Blair in her going home outfit.

Easton is adjusting pretty well. He does have his jealous moments but overall he really seems to love his baby sister. He gets really excited when he hears her cry and comes running so he can see what is happening. He is definitely very curious and he likes to help out (maybe a little too much!) So far he has shared the swing and bouncy chair without too much of a fight. Easton's a great brother!

Blair's a little sweetheart. Overall she is a pretty good baby (Easton definitely set the bar high but she's still a good baby). She's more of a night owl so we will need to work on that. Once she does fall asleep though she sleeps for about 4-6 hours (can't complain there). She is still spiting up clear/yellowish brown stuff. It doesn't seem to affect her much. She just gags and coughs it up and then goes on sleeping like nothing happened. I on the other hand wake up in a panic and turn her to her side. I wish I could say that I'm sleeping 4-6 hours with her but of course that is not going to happen until she stops drowning herself . We have a doctor's appointment later today so we will hopefully find out what is going on with that.

Blair Marie Kelsey!!! Caulbearer?!? Maybe vampire!

Ash is still in the hospital, so I am responsible for blogging (Nathan).

We were supposed to call at six this morning to see if National Naval would have room for Ashley to get induced. At 2:30 in the morning, Ashley started contracting every ten minutes. The contractions weren't very strong, so she decided to wait until six to call. They asked us to come in at 7:30AM. We dropped Easton off with the Bahr family (Thanks!) and made our way to the hospital.

The people at the desk knew we were there to get induced so they asked us to sit in the waiting room. At 8:30, Ashley's contractions were getting worse, so I told the nurse a the desk that she had been contracting for the last six hours. The nurse wasn't impressed with ten minutes between contractions. In the waiting room, Ashley's contractions had picked up and I timed her at nine in twenty minutes! As soon as I told the nurse, there was an explosion of activity and we were in the room three minutes latter. It was a good thing, because by the time Ash was checked, she was completely effaced and 8cm dilated!

Ashley was having a rough time until the spinal kicked in. (see below after happy juice)

Dr. Stephens had met us on our way up to the labor deck and then left for a meeting. He rushed back and was shooting the breeze with us when Ashley got sick and vomited. Dr. Stephens decided to check Ash, and when he lifted the sheet, to our surprise, there was Blair's head IN the amniotic sac! It hadn't ruptured! It looked kinda like she was wearing a jelly fish bowl. The room exploded into action, Dr. Stephens broke the sac and took loop of cord from around her neck. As soon as the sac was broken, she started crying, which was a relief. She came out quickly after that. She was blue, but fiesty.

I have never heard of a baby born without a ruptured sac. According to some legends, a baby born "in the caul" is a sign of luck. It is an omen of a gifted child. In other countries, it is a sign your child will be a vampire! How cool would that be? Kinda the same as lucky if you like vampires. Being born "in the caul" is rare at less than 1 in 1000 births. Such a baby is called "caulbearer." Notable caulbearers include Napoleon Bonaparte, Sigmund Freud, Liberace and the Dickens character David Copperfield. Check wiki for an interesting read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caul

Stats: Born around 11:34AM with ZERO pushes, 6lbs 12.6oz, 19 inches lots of dark hair.

And I know you all just came for the pics and video of Blair:

News

First off I had my doctor’s appointment today and we scheduled an induction for the 8th if Blair decides not to come on her own. Of course this isn’t a for sure thing since we will have to see if there is room available for us (which may not be promising since there is a full moon on the 7th). Wish us luck!

Easton is pretty funny…The other day he found an ant (“ug” translation bug) crawling around in his room. At first he was very interested and excited about it. He got down on his tummy and watched if for a while. Then he ran and grabbed a tissue to squish it just like daddy does (unfortunately the ant was faster than Easton and/or Easton wasn’t using enough force to squish the ant). After a while of attempting to kill the ug he got scared of it and ran and sat in my lap. Apparently I can save him from scary ants too! He continued to watch the ant from a safe distance but then he realized the ant was going after one of his books. He definitely couldn’t allow that so he took off running towards his book to save it from the scary ant. He picked up the book and then told the ant, “NO, MINE!” He then ran back to my lap. About a minute goes by and the ant is headed towards the bouncy chair. Easton runs and beats the ant to the bouncy chair and sits in it to claim his territory. Again, he tells the ant off. “NO, MINE!” This happened once again with one of his toys. Easton apparently won’t share with anyone or anything.

Easton watching the Ant.

Easton trying to squish the "ug"

Easton getting scared by the "ug"

Easton telling the "ug" NO! I couldn't get him on video telling the ant no when the bug was going to take his toys.

After my doctor’s appointment Easton and I went to Chuck E. Cheese for Emma’s birthday party. Easton had a blast. I couldn’t get him off the horse racing game. I’m pretty sure he spent over a 1/3 of his tokens on that ride and probably would have spent all his tokens if he would have found it earlier and if I would have let him. He also had a blast dancing with Chuck E. Cheese. Needless to say by the time it was time to go home and take a nap Easton was not happy to leave. I had to carry him out kicking and screaming. One lady was laughing uncontrollably when she saw us exit and others on the way to the car just looked at me wondering what the heck I was doing to my child. I’m glad that he liked Chuck E. Cheese but I’m not sure I look forward to the next time we go there and it’s time to leave.

Easton riding the horse. He doesn't look like he's having much fun but believe me he wouldn't get off this thing.

Easton very excited about Chuck E. Cheese.

Easton spinning, jumping, and dancing.