Brahms

Brahms is 2 weeks

10lbs 14oz
23in
14.5 in head

Baby boy is growing well, he is getting stronger and staying awake a little more. He is very sweet and love being snuggled and held.

1 week old take 2

We didn't make it out of the house in that outfit. Lol

1 week old

We are going on our first outing with just mama and the 4 kids. Let's keep our fingers crossed that all goes smoothly!

Good morning world

Luke lost his first tooth today

Eyes open

4 days old

Baby is very happy to have milk! He is sleeping much better now and still eating pretty much whenever he is awake. He is really layed back doesn't seem to mind getting jumped on or screaming. This poor kid is going to have to be tough with big brother Royce around loving him so much.

Bella got a hair cut

I should have done this a long time ago but I couldn't bring myself to part with her golden locks. She is such an active girl it was getting way to hard to maintain all that hair, I thought she would be really upset but she adjusted fine to it. I love her hair short she has such a cute face!

Napping on the kitchen table

Abrahm's Birth

We had a wonderful birthing experience with Abrahm and it has a lot to do with a really awesome hypnosis program we used called Hynobabies, I can't say enough good things about it. Not only did it help me stay calm and focused during birthing but it really helped me stay positive and upbeat during my pregnancy. Here is how it went.

We got to the hospital Wednesday morning at 6am (we had some wonderful people in our ward watching our kids). They checked me, I was dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced. Dr. Cummings came in at 7am and broke my water. We all expected things to just take off from there like they did with Royce, lol, they didn't...

I had been having light pressure waves (contractions) on and off early Sunday morning and that's how things kinda stayed all week and even after they broke my water. James and I just walked around, listened to music, and talked. It was actually really nice to just have some time together and to collect our thoughts.

At 2pm they checked me I was at a stretchy 4 and 80% effaced. The Dr. came in and said that I could keep waiting it out but at some point he was going to offer me something to speed things up.

Right before 4pm they wanted to give me my 3rd dose of penicillin (I was group b pos) and I decided that two doses in one day was probably enough and asked if I could skip this one. The Dr. came in and said that was fine (did I mention I love my Dr.) but that he wanted to try something to get things moving. I had never had any drugs to induce labor so I was super nervous. The Dr. was comforting and we decided to try applying a small dose of cytotech to my cervix to soften it up. Man did that work!

They had me in bed for an hour to monitor me and I had a few medium pressure waves but I could tell things were changing (finally!) At 5pm I got up and decided to take a shower. James turned on my Hynobabies cd and went in the other room. I really liked being in the warm shower and being able to be in different positions during this time.

After 45 mins I got out of the shower and could tell the pressure was getting stronger so I had a couple pressure waves on the toilet and decided to try using my birthing ball (exercise ball) I went into the room still completely calm and collected had a couple pressure waves on the ball when I felt a little pushy. I got on the bed in childs pose and started making noise (which I think took James by surprise because till this point I had been silent). I knew I was at the point where the baby needed to come out because I had hit my threshold. I asked James to have a nurse come check me.

 I turned to lay on my side and during the next pressure wave I started pushing and felt Abrahm coming down. I immediately hit the call button agian and told the nurses he was coming out. They came running I pushed through the next pressure wave on my side while the nurses were coming in, in between the wave the nurse checked and said "yes I feel his head" call the Dr. I started pushing again in-between the waves (because I was ready to be done).

I could feel his head moving down (It was pretty amazing), the nurses were still prepping and kinda chaotically running around and calling more nurses. James was standing next to me and as the babies head slid out he held it and supported it. The nurse got in there at this point and I flipped onto my back and put the back of my bed up. Right about then the Dr. comes running in wearing workout clothes and all sweaty (he had been in the gym running). The babies shoulders were stuck and the nurses didn't know what to do, the Dr. jumped in (he didn't even have gloves on, lol) shifted my hips just barely and out popped baby. I just sighed in relief. It felt so good to have him out (born at 6:05pm).

Abrahm was all blue and completely calm, the Dr. started suctioning him got him to cry a bit and then handed him over. It was an overwhelmingly joyful moment, I think James was a little shocked it all happened so fast and he was trying to get stuff out to take picture and record the moment. I felt so good after! I didn't even feel uncomfortable when the placenta delivered or while they cleaned me up. I held the baby for a while tried to nurse, and finally let them weigh him. I guessed he would be 8 and 1/2 lbs. Boy was I shocked when they said 10lb 4oz. I never thought I would have a baby that big!

They gave him back to me and after a couple more tries he latched on. He is definitely a good nurser! and hungry boy!

The nurse  monitored us for 2 hours after delivery and we checked out and went home. Luke and Bella were still up and over joyed to meet there new baby brother! We had a little family time and continued on the have a restful nights sleep.

Cute face!

We are still waiting for the milk to come in and little man is hungry! James is being super Dad taking care of me and the kids. I could't ask for better care. We are loving this new addition and just enjoying each moment.
Update: just noticed my milk starting to come in, yay!

Few more pictures

Abrahm Jesse Mortensen

10 lb 4 oz
22in
14.5 in head
Born Sept 12, 2012 @ 6:05pm
We are full of joy to welcome him into our family. He came home to very excited and loving siblings. Mommy and baby are doing well. He is a very content hungry boy!

41 weeks

Tomorrow is the day. I been having contractions since Sunday. Went to the hospital yesterday and they sent me home for not progressing. Dr. Said to come back tomorrow morning and he will break my water. Hopefully it goes as smoothly as my other births. I'm feeling a little nervous. Any prayers are very much appreciated.

$15 dollar headboard

Our bedroom has been last on the list to get decorated. I have had my eyes on a cherry bedroom set that costs about $700 for a long time. Alas that is just not in the cards right now so when we saw this piece of as is wood at Ikea for $15 I couldn't pass it up! I love the way it makes our room look more grown up instead of like a college dorm. Now we just need to get some cute pictures on the walls.
Thanks honey for helping me get it up!

Rapunzel wig

I made a rapunzel wig for Bella. Now maybe we will stop finding toilet paper strips over the house. She is one very happy girl and she even said I am "the best Mom ever"!

Freezer Jam

Who doesn't love homemade jam, I made my figures batch ever today (our Wal-Mart just started selling pectin) I had no idea how easy it was! Took less than an Hour for these beauties. I just followed the recipe on the can for no cook pectin instant freezer jam.We are waiting for it to set up, I have my fingers crossed. YUM!

Royce uses the potty

Royce loves the potty! So today just for fun James got out the kids potty seat. To say the least he loved it. He probably spent an  hour sitting on it tonight, not all at once but total. He even refused to take a bath because he just wanted to sit there (he loves bath time). The most amazing part is that he managed to poop right next to it once this afternoon and once tonight and then he pooped in it and he peed in it once. We were very impressed unfortunately for him I am not interested in potty training him at present so for now it will just have to be a fun thing to play on.

Royce 19 months

We went to Royce 19 month check up yesterday. He is going heat minus the ear infection I didn't know he had. Here are his stats.
Weight 29lb (95%)
Height  above 100%
Head 95%

I always think Roy is so skinny compared to how Luke was (he was 30lb at 12 mos) but when we got to these checkups they remind me that he really is a solid kid. He is still our little smile box, lighting up the room when he enters it. The past few months he has learn and done so many new things. He is learning and trying to say new words everyday. He still uses body language a lot and is very good at expressing himself, it's really cute when he gets disappointed about something, he tilts his head to the side, scrunches his face and moans, he also like to waggle his index figure at you if you do something he doesn't like. He is enjoying being helpful and loves being silly and snuggly. He is still our little adventurer knowing no bonds and climbing and getting into everything. Bella loves having a little buddy who will do things for her, even if he does eat her crayons and Luke loves to wrestle (he thinks it's hilarious when Roy sits on his head) and is such a sweet attentive big brother. One of my favorites is every morning when Roy wakes up and Luke finally gets him out of his crib he immediately runs to our bedrooms yelling " Mama, Dada" he has a huge grin on his face, he checks both sides of the bed to make sure we are both there, then climbs in  and  snuggle us and then insistently asks for a baba. His enthusiasm is contagious. It reminds me to be grateful for everyday and every moment I have with these sweet babies.

38 weeks

So babie is doing good growing bigger and bigger. I am doing good, excited to meet him soon, I am staying positive and being patient. I figure if we are going by Royce time by the end of Sept we should have a baby. Crazy to think about and I am just going to enjoy what's left of my full nights sleep for a while.

Butter boy

I can't seem to hide the butter good enough. I have found several bars laying around the house with little teeth marks in them! Funny kid!

The laundry party

So since we got back from vaca some of my house hold duties have been difficult to catch up on. One of them is folding the laundry, it gets cleaned just not put away sooooooooooo last night after dinner I declared it a folding party and our whole family help sort and put away the laundry. The kids really got into it and by the end Bella was folding and refolding the towels. She made a mommy very happy comment by saying " Mommy folding laundry is fun! Can we do it again"? lol and again today I was washing some bedding and she asked if we could have another folding party. At first we were having a little bit of a hard time keeping Royce from making his own sorting piles but we quickly solved that by trapping him in a tall stand up laundry sorter with his "Bobo" or favorite brown blanket. He just hung out in there for like half an hour playing peek a boo.

Homemade cherry frozen yogurt

Our family loves frozen yogurt bars but it gets pricey taking 5 people out, and since we had a ton of yogurt from my previous post i decided to give it a go at home. Fyi you need an icecream maker.
Heres how i did it.
1. I strained the yogurt to thicken it. I did this by placing a cheese clothe in a collander that was inside a bowl. I pored the yogurt in the cheesd clothe and pulled the clothe closed over the top. I put it in the fridge and let it sit 3 hours. (This is also how you make greek yogurt:-).
2. Mean while i chopped up about 1.5 Cups of cherries, placed them in a bowl and mixed in 1Cup of sugar. I let it sit in the fridge probably an hour to develop its juices.
3. At dinner time i turned on the ice cream maker and put in 4cups of yogurt and cherrie mixture for about 30 mins. (This will depend on your machine).
4. Served with chocolate syrup and yum! It went so fast i didnt even get any picture. We will definately do this again and try out some new flavors!

Boogy Boarding Divas

Bella loved boogy boarding at the beach and Luke got really good at it evem going out and catching some of the big waves with Daddy. (The middle pic is of cousin Brynna catching a wave and Lukes head popping out of the water behind her)

Happy Fathers Day

We love you James you are a wonderful father and husband. I did this a couple years ago with Luke and Bella and thought it was time for a new batch with Royce. I truely hope that each of our children grow to fill your shoes, you are a uniquely wonderful man and we are so blessed to have you! I can never say that enough.

Homemade yogurt

This turned out really good and was super eash and inexpensive.
What you need is
-1/2gallon of milk
-4tb powdered milk (helps to thicken it)
-1/2c starter, i used store bought yogurt with active cultures (after the intial batch you can freeze half a cup and use it in you next batch)
Put the milk in your crockpot on low heat till 180 degrees (kills bacteria) i dont have a food thermometer so i guessed and cooked it for 2.5 hrs. Turn off crock pot and cool to 110 degrees (or till you can put your finger in for 10 seconds). I did three hours with the lid on.
Get one cup of wilk out and mix with half a cup of yogurt, pour in crockpot. Wrap crockpot with a towel to create a dark warm enviroment for cultures to grow and let sit for 8 to 12 hours. If you want thicker yogurt put cheese clothe over a strainer and pour yogurt in to strain out whey for 30 mins. Add fruit or honey as desired. I stored mine in mason jars.

San Antonio

We had the chance to go down to James brothers Joes graduation from residency. They are moving to Idaho in about a week and we wont get to see them as much. It was a lot of fun, we stayed at a resort part of the time called the Westin la Cantera. It had super awesome pools, bouncy houses including a giant blow up water slide and slip n slide as well as a kids club. Of course the kids loved seeing their cousins. Sadie and Bella were 2 peas n a pod. It was just a really nice trip visiting with family. We are so happy for Joe and Lisa and wish them lots of luck with the coming changes in there life.