What to do?!?!

I realize I have been a HORRIBLE blogger since Kate was born. I guess 3 kids is when I hit a brick wall where I just never felt like I had time. Sadly, I have never been good at writing in a journal and my blog is the best I have. I have decided I am going to get better about blogging for this very reason! I however am way overwhelmed thinking about trying to catch up and fill in the gaps. I'm just going to start from now and move forward. I may do one little blog with a quick run down of the past YEAR! Now if I don't post within the next week... someone slap me! :-)

Kate's first month

Kate's first month went pretty well. I recovered ok. My mom took the girls back to utah to her house for about a week and then Ryan's mom had them for about a week and then they came home. They say not to have your kids go somewhere else while you recover but I didn't think it was that bad. The girls had a blast and I'm sure would have stayed in utah if we would have let them! We were glad to all be back together as a family again tho and we were ready to start living life with 3 kids. To be honest, going from 2 to 3 was WAY easier than it was for me to go from 1 to 2!! Maybe it is the age gaps but everyone told me how 2 to 3 was awful. I have honestly enjoyed it. The girls love Kate and always have. Kate has been our easiest baby by far. She has always been so content. In fact the first 6 weeks of her life I exclusively breastfed her. I was so happy that it was finally working out for one of my babies! She slept so much and was always content after eating. However, when she was taken in for well checks she was not gaining weight. She kept growing like a weed in every area except for weight. Now that I look back at pictures I don't know how I didn't see how skinny she was getting. The dr. had me bringing her in once a week for weight checks and we were trying to add a little formula and that still wasn't enough. I had no idea because she never cried like she was hungry. I figured she was full and happy. We found out she slept so much because she was becoming lethargic because her body wasn't getting what she needed. At that point (6 weeks old) we switched her completely over to formula and she gained an entire pound in a week! I was shocked! She started being awake a lot and it was so fun to finally start getting to know her since she wasn't asleep 90% of the time. I did my best and that's all I could have done. I had to give up breastfeeding and do what was best for my baby girl. She sure chunked up in a hurry tho!

One of her first baths at home. She never really hated baths like my other kids did. It was so much more enjoyable that way!

On her one month birthday 3/24/2012

In her cute jammies her daddy bought her when he snuck out of the hospital one night to have a little break.

The girls obsessing over Kate :-) They could not stop looking at her.

Ryan's mom passed out. Now I know where Ryan gets his skills of falling asleep anywhere from!

Kate's birth!

Could not stop crying!

My mom with the girls!!

Ryan and Kate in the OR while I was being stitched up :-) The computer won't rotate it for some reason!

First bath- they did it without me since I wasn't allowed to get out of bed for 24 hours! I was so sad, but Ryan got lots of pictures!

Horrible picture of me but I love it anyways! Snuggling my baby in my room. I couldn't put her down. It was so amazing to me to have her with me, with no machines attached to her.

Ashlyn lovin on her baby sister.

Taylee loved her too

Snoozin

I have the cutest husband ever. He sure loves his baby girls. She was all dressed and ready to go home in this picture!

Well, things with Kate's birth went pretty smooth. No big, dramatic story really!! We showed up at the hospital about 4am in Idaho falls (a half hour drive from home in Rexburg) on February 24, 2012. My mom showed up the day before and brought lots of fun things for the baby and lots of good food to fix. Thanks mom! You have no idea how much we appreciated it. We tried to get to bed early but we were up til pretty late scrambling to get things together for our 4 day hospital stay. I had never made it to my scheduled c-section date to this was a totally new experience for us! When we got to the hospital they got my IV going and we waited for our turn to be wheeled back to the Operating Room. Ryan stayed behind for about 20 minutes while they got my spinal done and I was all prepped and ready for surgery. I was shaking and pretty nervous! I don't care who you are, surgery is scary no matter how many times you've done it before! I told the anesthesiologist that my spinal wore off RIGHT as they finished sewing me up after I had Taylee and told him I may need something stronger that would last longer.  He kind of laughed and said i'd be fine. Well not even halfway thru I started to have a little feeling. I could feel what they were doing (not sharp pains but a lot of pain from the pressure and a little bit of stinging). I knew when they were stuffing my insides back in by the feeling I had. The doctor was a little surprised when i'd ask if they were doing what I thought since there was a curtain up so that I couldn't see anything. I started to panic that all feeling was coming back mid surgery. It was SO SCARY. I felt like I couldn't breathe and I was crying and totally starting to freak a little bit. I asked the anesthesiologist if he could give me something to make me not feel the pressure and pain. He said he could give me some heavy narcotics but that I wouldn't be able to even attempt breastfeeding if I did. I was determined to make that work this time around so I said no to the drugs and tried to just survive the rest of the surgery mentally. I kind of had to shut down and think about my precious baby i'd be holding soon and how this was worth it. The second they pulled her out and took her over to the table to clean her up I was immediately asking how she was doing. I was hoping so bad that we'd have our first completely healthy baby with no NICU time. They told me she looked great and was perfect. I completely lost it emotionally at that point and they brought her over to me all wrapped up. Ryan got to hold her right by my head so I could see her and it was the most incredible feeling. I was so used to them saying my baby looked good but needed a little extra help and then have them taken straight to the NICU and I would be able to see them for a few hours and not to get hold them til the next day! Katelyn came straight to recovery with us!! I just couldn't stop looking at her and bawling! I felt like such an emotional wreck. I probably sound crazy, but I'm sure those of you who have had NICU babies would understand. A perfectly healthy baby is the most amazing thing. Third time's a charm I guess. She hardly ever cried and slept so good from day one. The first 48 hours of her life are a pretty big blur because I didn't react well to the pain drug they had me on. I could hardly stay awake. I finally asked my doctor if we could try something different and that worked much better. I was finally able to function and take care of my baby girl.  We got so bored at the hospital that we begged to leave a day early. We weren't even there a full 3 days. The doctor said the baby and I seemed fine enough to go so we were SO out of there! She has slept thru the night 95% of the almost 9 months she's been here. I feel like we never really had a newborn because she has slept so well. She is such a blessing and I have not stopped thanking my Heavenly Father for blessing me with her.

A lot of catch up to do!!

YIKES! I can't believe I am so far behind that Kate's birth hasn't even been posted. I am going to be working on that!! Expect lots of updates in the next week to get me caught back up!

Valentine's Day, Anniversary and one big preggo!

My lovely 37 week picture. She has dropped for sure at this point!

Ryan always knows how to capture flattering faces :-) The girls and their v-day presents!

Going on our 6 year anniversary date. Don't judge.. I am 9 months pregnant.. remember? :-) And Ashlyn took this picture from the most flattering angle as you can see! lol

Well that pregnant picture is now almost 2 weeks old. I have grown significantly since then.. Don't know if I'll be sharing any more pictures of my largeness. We shall see! Baby Kate had definitely dropped about that time causing life to be not so much fun. I don't remember my others "Dropping" like this one has. Walking is NOT my friend these days. I have had some shooting pains down my legs that make me almost fall to the floor. The dr. said it's just the weight of the baby on nerves that go down my legs. It's fun times :-). I am so thankful for how "uneventful" this pregnancy has been. So far only one nonstress test (yesterday) just for checking up on the baby due to lack of movement. She of course was dancing all over the place once we got to the hospital to get hooked up to the monitors. I was so thankful for that movement and the heartbeat I heard tho and couldn't stop thanking my Heavenly Father for that reassurance that everything was ok. I am a little paranoid I guess that something would go wrong. These days I am not a whole lot of fun.. just ask Ryan. I am laying down a lot just trying to make it till friday! 3 more days... HALLELUJAH! I cannot wait to hold this baby girl in my arms and have her meet her sisters and daddy too.
For Valentine's day we gave the girls some little stuffed animals that they had seen in shopko and wanted really bad. They had no idea we had bought them that day tho. Later, Ryan's brother watched the girls so that we could go on a date! MUCH needed date. It had been forever. We went to dinner, saw the movie "the vow" and then went to cold stone with the lovely, much appreciated gift card Ryan's parents sent us! Move was GREAT.. I just wish they hadn't HAD to add the nudity in it. It was completely unnecessary. Ryan covered my eyes since it was a man's backside.. lol.
We had a wonderful anniversary spent with our kids. We went out to lunch at Red Robin (gift card again.. woohoo.. gotta love those!).. did a little bit of shopping and came home to put the kids to bed and watch a movie. I am so lucky to have Ryan in my life. I am pretty much the luckiest girl alive. He always expresses his love to me thru his words AND actions. He treats me better than a queen. I can't imagine how different (and sad) my life would be had I married anyone else I had previously dated before him. (no offense if anyone reads this I may have dated.. ) lol. Ryan is just the one perfect person for me. He understands me, he loves me no matter what, he is so patient and kind to me always, and is such an amazing daddy to his little girls. I am so glad he is mine for eternity. 6 years. How did 6 years go by already?? It has been an amazing 6  years and I wouldn't change anything about those years. He has given me a beautiful life and 3 beautiful and amazing little girls. Life is great!

Winter and stitches

Ashlyn is LOVING making snow angels this year

I love that they are such good friends!!

Going for a sled ride.. courtesy of Ryan

This is how she'd sit whenever it was her turn alone. It was so funny looking!

Yes.. my husband has talent turning blankets into clothing.  :-)

Ryan's idea to make her think a bandaid on the head was cool. Totally worked!

She sits on the counter every night like this to brush her teeth.. she is goofy!

The closeup. Kind of gross!

This winter has been so mild that we've only had a couple different times to be able to go out and play in the snow. The kids LOVED it.. of course! Taylee's favorite was riding in the sled and Ashlyn loves to pull her. It was a sweet deal. I didn't even have to drag the sled around myself! They made a snow man with their daddy which fell over that same night.. but they had fun anyways.
In January I was playing with Taylee and I chased her down the hall right as she tripped and fell forehead first into my wooden hopechest. I felt like the most horrible mother ever! She was dying laughing and running one second and the next I just saw her fall from behind and immediately knew it was going to be bad. The second I picked her up she was pouring blood everywhere. So bad that she had one eye shut and the blood pooled over the top of her eye. It was insane. I immediately yelled to Ryan that we had to get to the ER. He came running and I was still in my pj's and NOT ready to go ANYWHERE. So I ran her to the bathroom and put some pressure on it with a wad of toilet paper and it stopped bleeding pretty quickly. It was a deep gash tho so he picked her up and took her to the community care while I hurried and got dressed and got there as soon as I could. I showed up just in time to switch off with Ryan and help hold her down. Ryan doesn't do so hot with that type of stuff so he went out in the waiting room with Ashlyn. It was SO sad.. but she did pretty well once it was over with. She doesn't have as bad of a paranoia with injuries as Ashlyn does so it wasn't quite as bad as when Ash got stitches. Poor kid! She still has a pretty nice scar smack in the middle of her forehead. Hopefully it heals up well and she won't hate me forever for that one.

Christmas 2011

For Christmas this year we went down to Utah (as usual). We spent Christmas eve and Christmas morning with Ryan's family this year and then went to my mom's home Christmas afternoon. We are so blessed to have such incredible family to spend holidays with. Santa spoiled the kids and so did their Grandparents. We were all spoiled! But of course.. spending time with our families was the best part. I am always a little sad when the holidays are over because the holidays are so "family" based with us and we get to see them so much! Luckily.. this baby is coming in just a few days and we will get to see some family because of that. Then soon after, Ryan will be graduating and we will also have the baby's blessing to get to see family AGAIN! Life is good! Here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas!

The girls with their cousin Lily On Christmas Eve right after opening their jammies

Ryan playing with our adorable niece Charlotte! I LOVE her cheeks!

Ry's grandma must know him too well :-)

Don't know what happened to Ash's cheek.. haha.. but they sure love their Grandma "Honkey"

She found out why Santa forgot her Fijit.. Grandma had one all ready for her!

Taylee LOVES her sit n spin!

Well there are a million more pictures from Christmas but we will leave it with just these few! We had a wonderful Christmas and we are so thankful to all our friends and family that made it so great. We are truly blessed!