Another Grandma (and Grandpa) THANK YOU!

Grandma Jones came a week and a half after Kaitlyn was born and stayed for almost three weeks. She was such a blessing! It was a HUGE help!

They got lots of snuggle time-I love this picture!

Grandma being silly and making Brynlee erupt in laughter!

Grandpa meeting Kaitlyn. He joined the party for Grandma's last week. (Don't worry - we were not driving for this picture!)

Beautiful Kaitlyn Mykell

What's in a name? It took us a while to come up with another perfect girl name and one that was seven letters was even more tricky! When Whitney and Kenna were learning to spell their names I realized that they both had seven letters and Mike and I did too so we decided to stick with that theme when we chose Brynlee's name. We couldn't break the trend this time! I tell you what-there are some serious treasures when it come to seven-letter girl names! YIKES! Though Kait was born at noon, she didn't officially get her name until 7:30 the next morning because we just couldn't decide. We finally settled on Kaitlyn-spelled Kai for "the ocean or sea" in Hawaiian and Lyn for her Aunt Stef. Since we don't (and probably will never) have a son to name after Mike, we chose Mykell. We took a poll Thursday night to see what the girls thought between Kaitlyn and Shalyce. I was the only one who wanted Shalyce and after calling her Kaitlyn for only a short time, I knew we had chosen the right name for her.

Grandma made Kaitlyn's beautiful blessing dress. I had a dream about the dress and it being in Hawaiian print material. Believe it or not, that isn't too easy to find in Montana so I went searching here. The first time I was kind of discouraged because I couldn't find anything. Next I tried the Swap Meet-still nothing. Back to the fabric store and I found this-they only had six yards so I bought it all knowing I would use it for something. Grandma also made all of the rest of us (except Mike...) skirts to match Kait's dress. She took pictures with her camera that I will have to post later. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with Grandma and Kait in her dress. We were grateful to be able to bless her when my parents were here and to have Grandpa stand in the circle. Mike's cousin Craig and his family, were here on vacation so we were lucky to have them be a part of it, too.

The temple open house started two days before Grandma and Grandpa left so we got to take them through the temple. (We went one more time before the dedication-this picture is from our second time) Grandma got Bryn this dress for her birthday and made a pattern for the older two. While she was here she made Whitney and Kenna's dresses. THANK YOU! They love the dresses!

A few weeks after my parents left, I got out my sewing machine for some mending projects and Bryn said, "Are you sewing like Grandma?" Mom was patient to let Bryn sit on her lap-and for a two year old, she did a pretty good job being still and not touching things. I didn't get my camera out near enough, but am glad I got this shot.

2 1/2 weeks

I think my favorite part of having Mom here (besides all the yummy food, cleaning, letting me nap at least once a day, etc.) was watching her play and laugh with my girls. Whitney and Kenna were on fall break for Grandma's first week here so they got to hang out. Grandma came up with all kinds of fun games to play. One of their favorites was the "secrets" game. Grandma would whisper something for Bryn to do (i.e. "Go tickle Kenna's foot"). Then she would say, "Go!" Kenna and Whitney were good to play along and let Brynlee be the center of this game. It made them all laugh.

"My Grandpa is #1"

It was so great having Grandpa come too! He went on walks with Bryn, to ACE to get things to fix things here that we hadn't gotten around to (like a towel rack, cupboard door, girls bikes, stroller), and so much more. For weeks, Bryn made comments about the things Grandpa had fixed. Dad is always busy doing projects and helping others. Thank you, Dad!

They got their share of snuggle time, too. :)

We didn't get to take them snorkeling when they came in January, so I wanted to make sure it happened this time. And as a bonus, they got to swim with turtles!

It is amazing how big and old Brynlee suddenly was/is once we brought Kaitlyn home! These four girls have this Daddy wrapped around their fingers!

Time to say goodbye. :( I was teary for two days in anticipation of them leaving. Mike and the older two girls took them to the airport and I stayed home with Kait and Bryn. Brynlee wasn't really sure what to do with me crying. She kept asking me why I was sad - she's a very observant little girl. We can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa again in February! (We're meeting them at the airport in Honolulu and going to Maui for a few days together.)

Thank you for everything!

Sunday Photo Shoot

Our first attempt, of many to come, photographing our four beautiful princesses.

As you can see it was very bright outside.

(Kaitlyn is a week and a half old.)

I took Kait in to eat and Mike took some more pics of the older three. We LOVE being the parents of GIRLS! What a privilege to have these precious daughters!

We can't wait to have the temple open again-the girls have been really looking forward to the open house!

Happy Birthday Brynlee!

Brynlee is so much fun! Every day she has me laughing! She is recently potty trained, sleeping in a big girl bed with no binki, and now shares a room with her big sisters. About six weeks before Kaitlyn was born, she decided she wanted to wear panties so I figured we would try it. She has done great! Definitely not without accidents, but we are getting close! Just in time to buy diapers for Kait! Then week we brought Kaitlyn home Bryn climbed out of her crib so I figured it was time to graduate to a big bed, which meant no more binki. And I intended for the only change to be adding a new sister. She has done really well with it all.

Some Brynlee Facts:

She is still very attached to her snug (little blanket).

Loves books and has many books mostly memorized including Pinkalicious-it is adorable!

Wants to do anything and everything her big sisters do including polly pockets, ponies, barbies and even practicing the piano.

LOVES her new baby sister and the new role of BIG sister.

Making the traditional birthday "rolly pancakes" with Daddy for breakfast. I never let my older girls sit on the counter to help me cook. I'm getting softer with her and Kaitlyn will probably be worse so I guess we better stop. She does love to help in the kitchen whether it is cooking or washing the dishes, unloading the dishwasher, and setting the table.

Kisses for Daddy!

Showing me that she's 2!

YUM! You can't really go wrong when you get to have powdered sugar for breakfast!

She didn't want any to go to waste! Funny Girl!

We had her birthday cake a week late because I didn't get around to making the Minnie Mouse to go on the cake. I had good intentions, but my newborn kept winning out over the cake. And this may be the only fun cake she gets! Next year I have a feeling I will be birthday-ed out. She will be the third in three and a half weeks!

I wasn't really up for a party since Kait was only 2 weeks old, but we invited Sage and the Kimballs to eat cake with us. It will be fun to watch these two growing up together.

Big Helper

Brynlee LOVES to help me with Kaitlyn. She thinks it is especially fun when I let her sit on the changing table to help me.

1 week old-I have used this blanket as a measuring device starting with Whitney. I thought I had a one week picture of Brynlee on it, but I guess not.

Instead this is an almost 2 year picture! :)
It was amazing how big and old Brynlee suddenly seemed once we had Kaitlyn!

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!