Thank you, Grandma!

Grandma Johanson came out to help with the new baby. We took a gamble hoping that she would be born sometime in the window that Grandma was here and she barely made it. She came Friday before our due date and left Saturday after Kaitlyn came. Kaitlyn was born Thursday, home from the hospital Friday, and we took Grandma to the airport Saturday. I was beginning to worry that Grandma was going to miss her - but it worked out perfect. We got to give Grandma a little bit of a Hawaiian vacation before putting her to work. It was wonderful being able to leave the girls with her and not worry at all! Thank you, Grandma!

Kenna had to have a checkup on her arm so she got to come and pick up Grandma.

Sunday visiting the Temple and Visitors' Center

Morning beach time with Grandma while the older girls were at school.

Since Kaitlyn hadn't come yet, we planned a picnic on the North Shore to watch the sunset. The surf was pretty good so we got to watch some surfers as we ate before the sunset. Taco Salad with Haupia Pie for dessert. YUMMY!

Snuggling Grandma before we had to say goodbye. Such a sweet picture. Kait was chubby from the start!

Thank you so much for coming to spend time with us and for all you did to help! We love you!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Sorry this video is so dark. Mike is going to play with it to see if he can lighten it up at all. Turn your speakers up-it's adorable! This was the first time she sang it un-aided. It melted my heart! She is already a good big sister and is so gentle and sweet with Kaitlyn! It will be fun to watch them grow and become buddies like Whitney and Kenna.

Settling In

Sept 27 4 days old
We let the girls snuggle Brynlee at bedtime occasionally when she was first born. They remembered and wanted to try with Kaitlyn. So fun! We love our girls!

Welcome Kaitlyn Mykell

Our sweet Kaitlyn Mykell was born Sept 23 at 12:05 weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and measuring 20 inches long. I had been a little nervous that she was actually going to be a boy. Bryn has said consistently for the past five months that the baby's name was "blue" and she kept saying it was a little brother. I couldn't convince her that it was a sister, so I was a little nervous we'd be bringing home a boy in pink! But instead we were blessed with another little princess.

The night before we went into labor-Mike was playing with Bryn and hid the volleyball in his shirt, so we had to take a picture. I'd say I carry better than he does.

I went to the doctor on Wednesday. She was going to be the doctor on at the hospital on Thursday so she said that if I wanted to meet her at the hospital at 7 a.m., she would break my water. I really wanted to have her before Mike's mom left, but wasn't sure I wanted to go about it that way. After my appointment I came home and walked two miles with Bryn in the stroller in hopes to help things along. I contracted while I walked, but once I stopped, the contractions stopped too. :(

Then at 3 a.m. I got up for the nightly bathroom run and just getting up gave me a hard contraction-harder than I had had so far. I had ten or twelve more contractions over the next 2 hours as I was in and out of sleep. But they were strong enough to wake me up. At 5 I got up and finished getting packed for the hospital and I continued contracting. My girls haven't been getting up until 6:45 when I have to wake them up for school, but they must have sensed their little sister coming. Bryn was up at 5:30, Kenna at 6 and Whitney at 6:10. We were able to say family prayer and make sure Grandma was all set (of course she was - she's a natural!) before we headed off to the hospital.

I was grateful we made it to the hospital and didn't have a car birth. We actually ended up having plenty of time. But I was glad we didn't wait any longer because I felt every single bump when I was contracting. Luckily they were still spread out anywhere from 4-10 mins apart. They have birthing tubs at this hospital and it was amazing how much it helped me relax! Mike was awesome, as usual! I was kind of excited to deliver at this hospital because they have a midwife and doctor there 24-7 so I was hoping to be able to have a little more midwife labor support. But they had so many moms come in that day, that we only saw the midwife once or twice.

My cute sister, Lynette, sent me this princess crown so I could feel beautiful while I was in labor. I was really in labor-this was between contractions.

At 11:45 I had the doctor check me and I was an 8, but my water was still intact. I was anxious to be done and she recommended that we maybe break my water then. Not excited about the prospect of turning the intensity up, I was excited to get to the end faster. After breaking my water my contractions came hard and faster-WHOA! Now I was seriously ready to be done! Even though I was only an 8, she asked me to push a little and see what happened. She was coming! :) So she and Mike scrubbed in and four or five pushes later she was here!

Mike was once again the first one to hold our little angel. It is a neat thing to watch him deliver our girls. He is such an amazing Daddy, from the very beginning!

No-I didn't wear the crown all through labor-but I had to put it on when all the work was done!

The binki looks so big!

Sweet Kaitlyn

Not everyone can say they recovered in a room with this view!

Yes that is a cast. Kenna fell out of our plumeria tree two weeks before Kaitlyn was born. She cried a lot and then wouldn't play. She is pretty tough when it comes to getting hurt so I figured it was something more than just a bump. Sure enough, it was broken! She had to come for a checkup on Friday so my friend, Teresa, brought her in to the hospital. We checked out of the sixth floor and went right to the third floor to change her cast. She was so excited to meet Kaitlyn!

Kaitlyn's first car trip.

Driving home by way of H3-a beautiful rainbow

Meeting Whitney

Brynlee is so gentle and hasn't even been jealous. She LOVES being a big sister!

Checking to make sure she has all of her fingers.

Meeting Grandma Johanson. She came on Friday before Kaitlyn was born and we were just hoping that she'd be born before she left on the next Saturday. Kaitlyn came at the perfect time. We were able to do some fun things with Grandma before she was born but still had her help while we were at the hospital! Thank you, Grandma for all your help! It was so great to not worry about anything!

Due Tomorrow!

I decided that maybe our baby hasn't made her debut because she's waiting for me to post the end of the pregnancy (and to find a name!). Or maybe she wants to be like Whitney and be among the small percentage of babies actually born on their due dates. So I will make a little post to encourage her to be born! We are technically due tomorrow (September 22nd). Last week I was a 3+ and 50% effaced so we will see where I am tomorrow at my appointment. I am hoping I am ready enough that the doctor will break my water since we live an hour from the hospital and I am not excited about the prospect of delivering in the car. Although Mike HAS delivered our other three, he'd rather do it in the hospital! And Grandma is only here until Saturday. :)

June 27th 32 weeks
There is increasingly less room on my lap and Bryn doesn't love sitting on it for bedtime and naptime. But she started insisting on snuggling with the baby like this for songs. My shirt had to be up so she could feel and kiss my tummy and then would carefully lay her snug on it and snuggle. I couldn't resist having Mike take this picture-so sweet! (I wish you could really tell that I was pregnant.)

Aug 7, 34 weeks.
This happened quite often when I was putting her down for naps. I didn't even know Mike took this picture until I downloaded the pictures onto the computer.

Aug 15, 34 weeks

Sept 19 Not quite 40 weeks! Almost there-hopefully my last tummy picture!

5,400 Pictures Later....

We finally made it through all the thousands of pictures from our Tour to Asia - and are half way done posting. Because I was taking pictures for the choir, I had a lot to sort through. Our Taiwan portion of the tour is posted below. I hope you'll be able to catch a glimpse of the amazing experience it was. Enjoy!