Introducing...

Dallin William Seiter was born on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 6:08 AM at exactly 3 weeks early!



He has brought such a wonderful sweet spirit to our home. The kids all love him so much and want to hold him and kiss him all the time! He has been my easiest baby by far(knock on wood)- he sleeps alot which will probably change with time and he is a great nurser.




As for how things went down, I'll try to make it short but feel free to just skip through to the pics if it's TMI for you. :)

Last Monday, August 31st I had my weekly OB appt. and my Dr. told me that I was GBS+ which would mean that when I went into labor I would need to get to the hospital ASAP since I would need to have 2 doses of antibiotics administered every 4 hours prior to birth. Now for those of you that don't know my history, I tend to have very fast labors. in fact, with Oliver I was at the hospital only 2 hours before he was born and we were there as quick as we could get there. Here is a pic of me at 36 weeks, 4 days with my friend Becca 3 days before I went into labor:


So I woke up at 4:10 in the morning of September 1st and thought that I felt wet down there and I got up to use the bathroom. At this point, I was pretty sure that my water was broken. I woke up Marcus and had him call my mom to come watch the kids while I called the Dr. and took a quick shower. My Dr. said to go in ASAP since I was GBS+ and my history of quick labors. This whole time I have yet to have any contractions & I naively was worried that I might have to get induced with Pitocin to kickstart my labor. Of course as soon as we are in the car on our way around 5 AM I started have contractions, but they were no big deal. We get to the hospital and into triage and then things really start moving along! Contractions start coming on hard & heavy and no one has even checked me yet or put me on a monitor. Marcus then starts to tell the nurses at the desk about my history of fast labors & the fact that this was baby #4. Things start moving at a faster pace after they realize my water has broken and I am 7-8 cm dilated. All I am thinking about is the fact that I want my epidural now! They then move me to L&D and start my IV with fluids and my antibiotics. They say I can't get the epidural until I have enough fluids in me. This felt like dejavu all over again since this is exactly what happened with Oliver and I barely got it in time to push. Turns out that as I finally was getting my epidural I HAD to push so during the whole procedure I am trying to fight contractions and a major urge to push! As soon as it was in, they prepped me to begin pushing and my Dr. said I was ready to go. The epidural obviously really hadn't taken effect yet and I could feel everything as I was pushing. This was not as bad as I thought it would be, but I definately felt everything which I was not used to. After maybe 2-3 pushes during contractions out came our little man as perfect as can be at 6:08 AM almost exactly 2 hours from the time my water first broke. He came out crying with apgars of 9/9 and has some dark hair with blue eyes. He weighed 7# 2 oz. and was 20.5 inches long and was 3 weeks early! He latched on easily and has been a joy every moment since then. My Dr. speculated later that according to the ultrasounds I had during this pregnancy that my actual due date in reality was more like Sept. 15th 0r 16th instead of Sept. 22nd which explains why Dallin was not smaller at birth for being so early.





I have really enjoyed this past week and we really bonded in the hospital because a majority of the time it was just the two of us. :) We had to stay a mandatory 48 hours from birth because I was GBS+ and also because Dallin didn't get both doses of antibiotics before he was born. Words cannot describe how surreal yet wonderful his birth was and this past week has been great. Dallin is all we could have hoped for and more. So although his birth was a huge surprise, he is the greatest gift we could have ever received!

Minority Rules

So, I am back to report the long awaited question as to the gender of baby-to-be #4. Well, according to all of you my poll says that I am having a girl, by an 80% margin. I also thought it was going to be a girl because I was more sick with this pregnancy than I have been since I was pregnant with Kelsi. Marcus on the other hand thought this babe was to be a boy. The ultrasound made things pretty clear...















IT'S A....BOY!!!








So I guess that Kelsi and I are going to have to get used to being in the minority, but I am truly excited for another happy and healthy baby-to be. :)

Baby update

Well, I hate to disappoint all my loyal blog readers, but about 2 hours before my scheduled Dr's appt. the office called to say they needed to reschedule my appointment because the Dr. was going to be "out of the office" the rest of the day. Basically, my Dr. is in a private solo practice so if he has an emergency surgery, delivery, etc. you take the chance of having to wait or be rescheduled to another time. So this give everyone more time to cast their votes in my baby gender poll--it looks like so far it's 75% Girl and 25% Boy. I guess only time will tell.
So, check back on Wednesday of this week and I hope to have more exciting news for you then. :)

Potty Power & a last minute poll!

Hey all! I know I have been a slacker as far as blogging goes. :) All I can say is that I am making no promises about improving. Lately, at our house we have been spending alot of time in the bathroom. Why, you ask? Well, since Kelsi turned 3 a couple of months ago I decided to get serious about getting her potty trained. Also, I figured since I have been having to spend alot of time in the bathroom as well lately I might as well just take Kelsi when I have to go for the 100th time. If you haven't figured it out by now by my subtle clues....YES I am pregnant with baby #4! (And yes, I think I am crazy to be adding a 4th babe to the bunch!)

As for the potty training it is going pretty well, but Kelsi seems to have some hang-ups about going #2 on the potty so if you have any advice about that I am open to it because come September I do not want to be changing three kiddos diapers.



So since September is my due date we are actually finding out the gender of the baby today! Needless to say, we are very excited at our house. So if you feel up to it I am adding a poll to my blog to predict the sex so please leave your vote! I will be posting the results tonight after my kids go to bed assuming that the baby cooperates with the peepshow. Wish me luck!

Where it all began...

So on this past Monday, February 23rd Marcus comes walking in the door with these...



{Now before I go anymore into this post I'm going to warn all of you this will be a long one and my feelings won't be hurt it you don't read it all the way through.}

Needless to say, I was surprised to see him with all those flowers. I thought at first that maybe they were a belated Valentines surprise because our Valentines day was spent at urgent care waiting to have Marcus's ankle looked at because we thought it was broken. Luckily it wasn't but going out that night kind of didn't happen after the day we had. :(
So then I realized the date and remembered that exactly 10 years ago to the day was the day that we got engaged, although I thought it was the day we were breaking up, BUT I digress...Here is the story of where it all began for us.

On February 23rd, 1999 I get a phone call from Marcus saying he wanted to take me out to lunch to talk about some things that he had been wanting to discuss with me. Now when I heard this, the way he sounded and what he said made me think he was wanting to take a break from us or break up all together. Needless to say, I was freaking out! I confided in my mom about my impending doom and she tried to reassure me. Little did I know that she and my whole family was in on the scheme.
So he comes to pick me up and his best friend is in the car with him! I'm thinking, how are we supposed to "talk" if his BF is there with us? He made some weird excuse about how he his BF was leaving on his mission very soon and he couldn't tell him no when he wanted to come along. The car ride was pretty much silent until we got near the airport. Then I was just confused. Marcus then tells me that his BF was going to drop us off and we were going to eat at the airport. Obviously, I am not catching on too quick to his plan. So we are dropped off and then we wander through the airport and finally we get in a line where Marcus finally explains to me that we are going on a surprise trip for our three month anniversary together. At this point I am just relieved that he is not breaking up with me. While we are standing in line he gets a phone call and then immediately says he needs to use the restroom. He tells me to stay in line & that he'll be "right back." Well, he is gone forever. This is on a Tuesday in the middle of the week so it's not like there is a line for the bathrooms especially the men's restrooms. He comes back and we get our tickets where I find out that we are going to San Diego. He then says he needs to use the bathroom again and that I should board the plane without him. I'm panicking because I don't want him to miss the flight and I get sent to San Diego by myself. Finally he does show with a bouquet of my favorite flowers identical to the ones Marcus brought home two nights ago in his hands. I finally realized that during all those bathroom breaks he was trying to meet up with some co-workers who picked up the flowers for him because he had to call a ton of florist shops to find sterling silver roses which are, as he found out, very rare and hard to find esp. on short notice. (Wow! I am trying to be short, but this post is getting long.) So we get to San Diego, pick up our rental car and drive to LaJolla. We ended up grabbing a late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe in downtown LaJolla. Then we decide to go down to take a walk on the beach and watch the sunset. The whole time I'm starting to think that there be more to this getaway.

{We had talked about marriage and had even looked at rings recently but Marcus had always said that he wanted to have the ring made by a friend of a friend in Oregon so I assumed that there was no way that that could have happened yet. Little did I know that as soon as he found out what I wanted in a ring (no yellow gold and not big or gaudy) he put designs together and had it made.
He was not wasting time!}

So we are walking on the beach and then we stop in a little private alcove to watch the sunset and the seals. I suddenly realize that we are completely alone and it is so romantic. All of a sudden Marcus is holding my hand telling me how much he loves me, wants to spend eternity with me and then he gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him with a ring more beautiful than I could imagine with the sun setting in the background. This was just the beginning of many great memories and moments to come! I am grateful to Marcus for loving me and that he has stuck it out with me for 10 years. I love you babe!

Kelsi's turning 3!!!

Kelsi's turning 3 this weekend and I thought I would write some of the many reasons I love this little girl! When I found out I was pregnant with her it was such a surprise and even more so when I found out she was a girl. :) I was so excited because I had always said how I would love to have at least one girl in our family.
She came into this world early, quickly, and full of life. She was literally trying to move off the scale when they were trying to get her birth weight after she was born. Here is some pictures of her when she was one day old.




She has been a totally different child from Kendall which has taught me an enormous lesson since she has become part of our family. I have come to realize that her need to be a part of everything and always know what's going on is just who she is. She hates to take naps and has pretty much outgrown them since she started climbing out of her crib last year. (Kendall never climbed out of his crib ever!) She also has started getting up at the crack of dawn every A.M. regardless of what time she went to bed the night before. We never have to set our alarm clocks anymore. :)



Kelsi was also my chubbiest baby, but I loved all that baby fat. To this day she still loves to eat all the time. One of her favorite phrases that I hear all day long is, "I still hungry Mommy" even if I just fed her. Kelsi must always be the center of attention and she always has something to say. She has got some pretty strong opinions. For example, when we are kneeling together for family prayers Marcus will ask her to say the prayer & she most times will respond with, "I thinking it's Mommy's(Daddy's or Kendall's) turn." Many of her sentences in conversation start out with deep thoughts such as these.



As you can see, Kelsi is definitely a girly girl. She loves all things princess and one of her favorite activities is to play dress-up. I love to put her in cute outfits and do her hair. Kelsi also is always singing some little made-up song or ditty. Mostly she will sing full conversations, but that girls mouth is always moving usually in a LOUD volume. Her nursery leaders love her because they say she is the "life" of the nursery and full of energy. She is also very social and loves to see her friends and go to school to learn.




Although sometimes I am plain worn-out at the end of the day because of her I know my life wouldn't be the same without her. I love her sweet spirit, smile and all her adorable, innumerable expressions on her mischievous face. I look forward to many more great birthdays and memories to come!
Happy 3rd Birthday Kelsi! I love you bunches!!!

{ Erth-day cake }

So Kelsi's birthday is coming up this weekend and for the past month all she's been talking about is her "erth-day cake." When I ask her what kind of cake she wants tells me "ice cream & brownie chocolate." She also loves anything that has to do with princesses, esp. Cinderella. Here are some cakes I have made for past birthdays for my kids.








So does anyone out there have any great & easy ideas for Kelsi's 3rd birthday cake?
I'm kind of hitting a creative block right now so I'll take any help I can get. :)

Amazing faith

So I wanted to write this little encounter with Kendall down before I forgot. This blog is part journal for me to record the cute and even not-so-cute things my children do. I hope it will put a smile on a few of your faces.

So last night, actually this morning at three I heard Kendall knocking on our bedroom door. (We've finally got him trained to knock!) He comes in whimpering that he had a bad dream and that his heart is "beeping" too fast. I give him a hug & tell him I'm sorry that he's had a bad dream. He then proceeds to tell me that he wants to say a prayer to Heavenly Father to help him sleep better. So we kneel down by my bed and say a little prayer. He then says, "ok mom I'm ready to go back to bed now."

To me this is amazing because when Kendall was much younger he used to have bad dreams quite often so Marcus & I suggested that he ask Heavenly Father in his personal prayers to help him not have bad dreams. So for months after, every night in his prayers he would say "please help me not to have bad dreams" and he never did. Of course as he has gotten older he rarely has bad dreams anymore so he usually does not repeat this request in his prayers too often anymore. This has always amazed me that the faith in his request & his belief in a Heavenly Father who loves and cares about him is enough to always keep the bad dreams away. He knows that if he asks in faith that he won't have bad dreams. Simple as that. I know I need to learn from this experience and express more faith in my Heavenly Father who knows and loves me as well.

a day of firsts

This past Saturday Marcus got back his hair clippers from his brother & so he decided to take the boys out back and cut their hair. This will be Oliver's first haircut & Marcus's first time cutting the boys hair. I must say that they turned out looking pretty good & I was relieved! Here is Marcus & Oliver before the cutting began.



Oliver's hair had all these funny wispy, long strands all over his head and the back looked like he had a combover so it was time. Oliver did well just standing up on the patio while getting his hair cut although he kept unplugging the clippers. :0





Kendall on the other hand had hair that had needed a haircut for quite some time! He was even growing some serious sideburns. I kept hearing him out on the patio giggling because he was being tickled by the clippers.





I have to say that Oliver did great for his first haircut & both boys look pretty handsome. Marcus did a great job cutting their hair for the first time & it won't be the last time he cuts the boys hair. :)

Snow Trip & Mitten Mystery

So...for those of you anxiously awaiting my first blog post. Here it is:

Right before Christmas we went with some friends up to the snow. My crazy kiddos had a blast, esp. little Oliver. He wanted to dive right into the snow. Of course he was the one kid in our family that didn't have snow clothes - thanks Crowders for letting us borrow them!



The pic above is us posing up near Christopher Creek. Notice all that beautiful snow!
We pulled off to the side of the road when we finally found a clearing & a little hill to take the kids sledding. :)





These are our friends the Newtons - they are some of our oldest & best friends! Thanks for bringing the hot chocolate. :) After we took these pics, a park ranger came and told us that we could not park on the side of the road so we had to find someplace else to play. Unfortunately, there really was never a good place to pull over safely which was fine with me since it was 21 degrees & freezing! I enjoyed the beautiful view from inside the car & I could have driven around enjoying it for awhile.




So as for the mittens...I bought Kelsi some mittens for $1 at Target and she used them for the first time on this snow trip. Well, as you can see from the following pictures she pretty much wears them all the time. In fact, if we are having a difficult time getting her to sleep all we have to do is promise her she can sleep with her mittens!