Katelyn is here!

It has been a while since I blogged, which I was never very good at anyway! But I have some great friends that keep up with amazing blogs, and I wish I could do that! So I am going to try to do better. We always have so much going on in our lives and I often feel overwhelmed when I think about where to start. For now, I will start with the birth of our newest beautiful addition to our family - little Katelyn Elaine.

This little sweetie was born on her due date, December 11, 2010, at 4:10 p.m. Because Kelsey's exams began on Monday, December 13th, we decided to induce on the due date. My doctor is great and she was on call that weekend anyway. This was the first time that one of our babies was going to be born by a schedule! Even our twins were spontaneous when I went into labor at 36 1/2 weeks. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that last night! I kept hoping to go into labor on my own to avoid being induced, but we knew it would be better having her born before exams started and risk Kelsey not being home! I was not looking forward to using Pitocin, and still hope to someday have a child all on my own. I don't have anything to compare it to, but I've read and heard that Pitocin makes the contractions much more painful. More on that later....

We checked in that morning at 6 am. I wasn't sure if we had taken any pictures of me pregnant (I didn't want any of course) and wanted Katelyn to see herself in Mom's tummy later, so we took a quick photo before heading to hospital.

I had been toying with the idea of not getting an epidural this time. This was my 4th child, yet I felt as though I really had no experience or at least nothing to give me any trends of what to expect and prepare for. The girls were born via C-section after I went into labor (they were both laying transverse), then with Drew my water broke first before I was even feeling any real contractions. Then when my labor wasn't progressing they started pitocin and I had an epidural shortly after that. I gained 50 pounds with my first and second pregnancies (yes, the same amount with one baby as with the twins :) and then only 30 with Katelyn, which I am still pretty proud of myself for that. Anyway, I thought that maybe I would like to feel what regular labor is like. And since I was dilated to a 3 already, I was hoping that maybe they would break my water and see how it went before adding the pitocin. But no. They started the pitocin immediately around 7 a.m. and didn't break my water until noon. Then things started happening really quickly! I got an epidural around 2 pm and it never really went into affect. All the medicine must have gone to my right leg, because it was numb for almost a day! And my right arm felt like it was asleep. And even more strange, I felt like I was slurring my words. Extremely uncomfortalbe. I still wonder if it would have felt better to not have the epidural at all. So ironically, I was able to get my fix of what natural childbirth feels like! It was pretty bad! But of course now, 4 months later, I hardly remember the intensity of the pain. Then came our gorgeous little princess. She was very purple when she came out, which was a little scary, but she was fine. Drew had spoiled us because he was a fairly easy labor and birth, and scored a perfect 10 on the apgar scale, which is very rare! Kate scored a 6 at first, then they bumped her up to a 9 after five minutes.

She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 20 inches long. Since it was scheduled, we were very prepared, and my sister Emily came friday night to stay with the kids. Then my mom came down and brought everyone up to see us Saturday night. Drew was so sweet with her!

And so were the girls of course. We didn't get any pictures of them holding her at the hospital, so these are right when we got home on Monday evening. Ella is in the red shirt.

fun in washington

we went on vacation in forks, washington visiting kelsey's family for almost 2 weeks this summer. we did lots of fun things! the first several days we were there the temperatures were barely in the 60s. really cold! especially to us coming from 100-degree oklahoma! then the weather changed drastically and it was 90 degrees which is really hot here. these first pictures are at rialto beach in la push. the one above is a huge log that washed up and stuck straight out above the beach. we all climbed up and walked out (handed drew up) for the picture.

 all three cuties! they were wearing 2 jackets each over their long sleeve t-shirts. we packed winter clothes and summer clothes and used all of them!

with grandma bourm

with all the logs and branches on the shore, people make little "houses" or shelters on the beach. the girls found several of these and climbed in and out. they were protected from the cold wind and mist too!

drew was a little frightened of the loud crashing waves, but loved to walk on the sand and pick up rocks (and taste them :)

uncle jon playing "simon says" with the girls!

 at the park

emma and ella did sack races and the 3-legged race! they did great and only fell once :)

in poppa's race car, riding scooters

drew riding a bike for the first time! he loved sitting on it :) great-grandpa and great-grandma bourm too

everyone riding horses - always a favorite!

faith, ella, gage, and emma

at lake pleasant

playing at the first beach in la push with cousins gage and faith and aunt cassi. emma, ella, and drew loved the beach so much! they wanted to stay there all the time and usually threw a fit when it was time to go :)

love this picture! the water was freezing, but none of them seemed to mind!

at the park in port angeles with cousin kim and her family

we watched fireworks from the beach - gorgeous! my camera didn't do it justice at all

with great-grandpa and grandma swegle

with great-grandpa kenny and grandma earline bourm

coming home - playing in the airport waiting for a flight, then drew and ella watching out the window of the airplane

we had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again!

Long time no see....

I don't know where to start! So it has been quite a while since I posted last. I've thought about it often, but I'm not very good at blogging yet and it takes me a long time to post anything! I will try to do better. I love keeping up with everyone else's blogs!

We had a very busy summer, starting with Drew turning 1 year old. He will be 16 months old this week and will begin going to nursery on Sunday! Yes, a few months early, but we have a great primary group, and Drew will do wonderfully!

He says several words like mom, dad, hot, milk, go, car, and is beginning to mimic new words. He is quite adventurous and gets into things that his big sisters never did! He loves to climb and I often find him perched cautiously on top of kitchen and bathroom counters, on the back of the couch, standing on the table, etc. He is still a very happy and content little boy and such a joy to be around! He loves to make you smile or laugh.

Emma and Ella are growing up so fast! They celebrated their 4th birthdays in August and got new big-girl haircuts.

Because their birthday is so close to the deadline we are waiting to send them to preschool until next year. They would love to go to school, but for now we have school time every afternoon at home. They both enjoy playing dress-up, swimming, watching movies, and most of all (for the moment) doing crafts. They will sit for hours at the kitchen table coloring, cutting, gluing, and hanging up their projects all over the house :)


Kelsey is working hard in his 2nd year of medical school at OU. We really enjoyed his time off this summer, but knew that it would end when school started again! He was also called as 2nd counselor in the bishopric at our church which keeps him even busier! He is still able to make room for his family and spends all his extra time playing with the kids and me.

I am almost 7 months pregnant now with a little girl due December 11th. We are all very excited for this addition to our family, but we have a lot to get done before then, like getting ready for Christmas (sorry- no Christmas cards this year!), making a place for her in Drew's room, and picking out a name! I am still working with the young women at our church and started teaching a few piano lessons too. I love staying home with the kids and enjoy watching them change every day.