Ellasyn Paige Keisel and other stuff

Introducing Little Miss Ellasyn Paige Keisel

"Ella" 

 born 2/21/11 at 3:18 pm  6 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long

She wasn't due until March 13, 2011 but felt the need to come 3 weeks early.  I was in labor for a full 24 hours before she was born.  I started having contractions around 3 pm on Sunday after church while I was doing some crazy nesting stuff at the house.  I started by scrubbing the bathroom floor and then working my way down the hallway scrubbing all the doors and baseboards.  Haha, I couldn't stop myself.  Connie had planned a sleepover with Abby but when she came to get her, the boys decided they wanted to go too.  I tried to lay down for a nap but was having contractions every 5 min and had a hard time napping through them.  I then tried to take a bath and drink some water and they still kept coming.  I finally called Chad, who had been Mountain Lion hunting all day,  and told him I was going to take another bath and see if they would stop. I called him again around 8:30 pm and told him I thought we should just go to Gunnison to the hospital and see if I was progressing at all because my contractions were 3 min apart but didn't feel very strong.   When we got to the hospital they checked me and said I was dialated a little bit more than at my last appointment and they wanted to hook me up to the monitors and see if I progressed.

It was a weird process because it wasn't a definite decision to keep us.  They said they wanted to watch us for an hour, then in an hour they said they wanted to keep me for a few more hours, and it went on and on.  They hooked me up to an iv and finally in the morning started giving me pitocin to get stuff going.  The pitocin was making me have contractions but they sure weren't doing very much and I wasn't progressing very fast. I was starting to get frustrated.  At 10:30 am they checked me and I was at a 5 and they asked if I was interested in getting an epidural because the doctor that did those was getting ready to go to a funeral.  I was definitely interested and he came and put one in in just a few minutes.  I was able to finally get a little nap and so was Chad.  That was nice.  While I was sleeping, my contractions decided to subside and so once again I was not progressing.  FRUSTRATING!!!  Anyway, my friends Mitz and Deanna were there and once they came in and started talking to me and they turned my Pitocin up, I finally started up again.  I started to have to breathe through my contractions even while I was being numbed up and I knew that we were finally getting close.  I was at a 7 or so and the nurse said it would be fairly soon.  I told her I knew it wasn't going to be long and she said that it would take awhile.  It normally doesn't take too long once I really get going.  About 10 minutes later she came back and I told her I had a lot of pressure and she just kinda smiled.  I told her she should call the doctor and she didn't believe me much.  She checked me anyways and said, "Oh, I guess I better call the doctor!"  You think?  Haha, but anyway, I was ready to go and the doctor came in and said, "I normally would give the mom a practice push but I would really like to help you have this baby!"  Apparently, I was very ready and after a brief reminder of how to push, since it had been 7 years and all, I was ready to go.  Three pushes in, he says,"There's the head, next push give me the body."  Wow, really?  That's it?  Here was this beautiful little baby with a perfectly round head and a little bit of bruising.  She still didn't have a name and Chad and I weren't in a hurry to settle on one.

We were really excited to have the kids come and meet their new sister.  It was fun to see them react this time because they are so much older this time around.  They were instantly in love!  All of them were very excited and enjoyed their short time with her.  After they left, I got moved over to my other room and Chad started filling out all the paperwork for the baby.  He went and got a blank piece of paper and started playing around with names.  We really wanted to have a name that was long that could be shortened like all of our other kids.  We also liked older names and/or family names.  Chad came up with the idea of making Ella into Ellasyn.  I love the name Ellison because it is my Great Grandparent's last name.  I loved them very much and I love that we could honor them this way and also use the name that we like.  Chad really liked the name Paige also so we used that as her middle name.  So little baby Ella it was!  Everyone was really impatient about waiting for the name.  They had all received pictures but no name.  Chad text a picture with her sweet little name and everyone loved it.  People that know my family totally understood where the Ellison, Ellasyn thing came into play!  I love it....now I'm glad that I have her and I can love her!!!

I would like to thank my friend Mitz for being at the hospital when we welcomed little Ellasyn Paige Keisel into the world.  She took professional photos for us to help us remember every wonderful second of the experience. I am so thankful for all the people involved in our lives and how God has used them to help provide for our every need.  Thank you to Deanna for helping me breathe!!!  We are so truly blessed beyond words!! I can't even begin to express my thankfulness during the last several months.  People have blessed us with meals, cribs, swings, clothing and other necessities, and lots of prayers.  I am a lucky girl and would like to share a few pics of our newest member of our

                      family.                                                                          

Zack and I wanted to make a dessert for when Lane and Connie and Kalli and her kids came over for dinner.  He wanted to make an apple pie and I was so glad that he wanted to make one of these with me.  I used to make pies with my Grandma Greene and I want to have those memories with my kids.  He is so interested and good at cooking and he thinks that it will be pretty great that he can cook for himself when he doesn't live at home anymore. I agree,  and I think the girls will agree too ;)  What a cutie!!  Anyway,  I was teaching him how to roll out a pie crust in these pictures.  I wish I would have taken a pic of the final product of our Apple Pie adventure.  It was probably the best pie ever!  It didn't last long at our house either.  In fact, I think Lane had two pieces!  I love my kids and love sharing time and experiences with them.  God is so good!!!!!  

Thanksgiving Point Giveaway

I'm not cool enough to have connections to have my own giveaway but I do know of a place where you can go to enter it!  They are giving away a family pass to Thanksgiving Point and I think this would be a super fun way to go up North and have fun with the kidlets.

Go check it out at : http://www.jillcanblog.com/index.php/2010/12/16/thanksgiving-point-is-neat-and-a-giveawaaaaay/


Hope it works and I wish you the best of luck!!  I know that I entered several times ;)

October Fun Times

Here are some pics from October.  It has been a busy but really fun month for our family.  We took a trip to the Burgh at the first of the month and Brett and Sarah treated us well and made sure that we all had a great time.  Sarah and I got some girl time with shopping and having the most wonderful (and humongous) pieces of cake ever!  We were celebrating our birthdays that were both in September.  It was great to have a little one on one time.  The boys spent a lot of time doing football stuff.  They were able to go have breakfast with the defensive line and met a whole bunch of players.  I was so glad that we had bought their new hats the night before so they could get them signed!!  They were so excited. 

We also got to spend the evening with Bob Graham's sister and her family.  They have a beautiful home there fairly close to B and S's house.  They spoiled us with the best steaks I have ever eaten and desserts and appetizers to die for.  The kids got to swim in their new pool while we all hung out and it was a great start to the vacation. 

We took the kids downtown and went on the Incline and ate at a really fun place with Sarah and Jakie while Brett was a work.  It was a really fun and relaxing time and the kids got to ride into the city with Sarah so Chad and I enjoyed the quiet ride ;)

After the game, which the kids thought was fascinating and they really enjoyed the whole atmosphere, we had pizza back at the house.  Ben R. came over and we all hung out.  The kids talked Ben into playing basketball with them.  He won the games that they played but he came out with all the injuries.  He had really bad rug-burns on his knees because the kids made him play on them.  He said it would have been great if he would have had some volleyball kneepads.  It was really great to just hang out that night and have a relaxing evening visiting.

Jakie is so cute and spending some time with him was the best.  He enjoyed playing outside with the kids and the dogs.  They had such a great yard and while the boys set up the new tree stand, the girls enjoyed their wonderful chairs set up on their lawn.  Abby thought it was spectacular that they had acorns and had to collect many of them to bring home. 

Overall, the whole trip was a hit except the way home.  We had to leave their house at 4:30 am and be to the airport.  When we got there, our plane had hit a bird the flight before and they were going to fly it to Ohio and bring back a new plane for us.  That would have meant that we would have missed our connecting flight in New York so they rerouted our family to go from Pitts to San Fran.  They said we would get into Salt Lake just a few minutes later than originally so we thought it would be great.  It was a 5 hour flight, which drove Chad crazy but we made it.  Once we got to San Fran, we had to go to a whole different part of the airport.  Our tickets were all messed up and we had to wait for them to figure this out and then had to go all the way back through security.  Our flight was delayed so we went and had breakfast.  No big deal but then it was delayed, and delayed and delayed.  4 1/2 hours later our plane finally came to Salt Lake and we hurried and boarded.  We were totally amazed when we finally got to Salt Lake that our bags were actually there with no problems.  Dinner at Sizzler in Orem and then home.  Supposed to be home around 3ish and ended up being home at 9ish pm.  Good times.  Oh well, the trip was great anyway, just a little downer at the end. 

The rest of the month was a blur but I did put pics up of the kids on Halloween and a pic of the new spud growing in my belly.  I will try to get pics up of the ultrasound pics we got.  They said the spud is a "she" so we will see if that is how it turns out.  We will take her and hope she is healthy and happy!!!  K, well, now that I have rambled on forever, I will let you get on to the pics.  Love you all and hope you are well!!!!

Chad taking a little nap in the airport and Abby is looking out at the planes.

Gabe is sleepy but excited to go to Pittsburgh for the first time.

Zack playing on the DS at the airport

Kidlets up at the outlook point about Pittsburgh.  Jakie, Gabe, Zack and Abby

Heinz Field

Jake, Gabe, Abby and Zack enjoying the view as we go down the Incline in Pittsburgh.  It was so fun for them because none of them had ever been on it.  A tram goes straight up the hillside to take you up to more restraunts and housing.  The locals use it.

Kids at the restraunt where they cook your food on the grill right in front of you.  Another great first for them.  They totally loved it when the guy lit stuff on fire!  Thanks Brett and Sarah...it was a super dinner and really fun.

Gabe getting his first taste of wasabi...looks like he might throw up but it was just really hot and he was trying to swallow it.

Zack trying out the lobster.  Not a fan.

Totally mesmerized!

Our chef and Aunt Sarah enjoying her food.

Jake had to sit on dad's lap for a minute after the huge flames from the oil being lit on the grill.

Haha look at Zack's face.  He loved it.

Picture of my half-eaten plate.  It was sooooooo good. 

Brett, Jake and Sarah

Chad, Abby and Zack at the game

Spuds at the game

Spuds on the field for the first time.

Sarah, Brett, Jake, Chad, Gabe, Zack, Jamie, Abby   - this was our family's first time on the field.

Uncle Ben playing basketball with the spuds at Brett and Sarah's house.  Look at Abby's hair and face.  hahaha

They were having the time of their lives on this vacation and this was really fun the night before we had to come home.  Poor Ben, he won all the games but he had rug-burns because the kids made him play on his knees.  He was a really good sport.



Gabe wanted to be a girl for Halloween.  He wore Abby's Little Mermaid wig that she decided not to wear.  Wow, look at those fake ones.



Mermaid Abby



Future Buff?  or Rebel perhaps (haha)



Mommy and the new Spud - they said it was a girl at the ultrasound.  We will see.  I am 21 weeks in this picture on October 31, 2010

Starting a new chapter and working on an old one!

So Chad and I celebrated our 12th anniversary last week and it was nothing short of spectacular....or you could just say it was a plain, old ordinary day at our house.  I came home from a fun weekend of playing with my niece Meggane and her husband Osiris and Chad and the boys were coming home from a fun weekend of cowboying!  We did get to eat dinner together though and that is a rare occurance anymore.
I was cleaning through the huge amounts of junk and stuff that has accumulated there throughout the past year with practicum and student teaching!  Wow, can anyone say light a match!  It was kinda fun though to relive some of the fun activities that we did in the classes and it made me a little sad at the same time.  I have great stuff to start with as a teacher from my supporting teachers, but unfortunately, no job!  Oh well, I did find this super cute journal entry of Abby's from this last year and thought it was very appropriate since it was right around our annniversary.

It says:  I Love MY MoM and dad

Thae ARe in Love.

We must be doing something right!!  They say you shouldn't hide your affections for one another from your kids because it gives them a good sense of stability in the home if their parents show love for one another.

Enough said.  I love my guy and we will soon be showing our love for one another again when we have our next baby!!  WE ARE PREGNANT!!  Oh my goodness, what a surprise!!  We have an appointment in a week or so and hopefully can actually find out a delivery date but as of right now it is just the middle of March sometime.

Anyway, on to the part of the title where we are starting the next new chapter of our lives.  Gabe got him some braces, and to top that off,  he is now playing middle school football.  We are talking pads, helmet, mouthguard, refs and rules kind of football.  So great and Chad is helping coach.  I love being able to go watch now and see the two of them at work!!!  Great things are to come from this!!  Here are a few pics of his first game that they won...or should i say totally kicked some sweet, little bootie!!

I'm pretty sure the next post will be about the kids and their new teachers.  Abby got Mrs. Henrie!!!  Yeah for us!!!  Zack got Mrs. Helsten.  None of my kids have had her so far so we will see how it goes.  Gabe is entering uncharted territory for us by going into Middle School.  We go tonight for his orientations so hopefully I will understand what to expect a little more after that is over.  Well,  tata for now. I have bonbons to go eat...or some laundry and picking out my interview outfit for tomorrow.  Manti Elementary has some paraeducator job openings and they called this morning.  Wish me luck!! 

Here are a few bonus picks of Abby and I on our fun little weekend away having breakfast at IHOP, a pic of Zack just cause he didn't make it into this post and I love him, and a shoutout to my sweet nephew that had his big 2nd birthday this last weekend!

I do believe our present was "A HIT"!!  Haha, happy birthday little guy!!