Kaitlyn's Birth Story and pictures

We are still in the hospital right now, but I wanted to update some pictures for our family and friends who live so far away along with her birth story before we go home. I'm excited for our whole family to be together, but I'm taking advantage being here!

On Tuesday afternoon, I started to bleed a little, so I called my doctor's office and they decided to have me go into Labor and Delivery just to check. It took sometime to get the boys together and all their stuff, just in case they needed to spend the night at my parents house. I called Scott and he left work to meet us at the hospital. I don't know if Matthew was more excited about the thought of Kaitlyn coming or about having a sleepover at Granans! About 5:30, my mom and I left for the hospital. Scott actually beat us there. My contractions were 10 minutes apart and not hard or uncomfortable at all. I really didn't think that she was going to come. They hooked me up to monitors and checked me after about an hour and I was at a 3 (1 cm more than at my dr apt the day before). My doctor was actually the one on call and she thought it would be a good idea for me to go walk for a couple hours and see if that did anything. During the 2 hours, the contractions got closer together and a little stronger, but when I got all hooked up again, they started to even stronger. My doctor asked me if I wanted to go home or stay. I knew my labor's with the boys were fast and I didn't want to take any chances, so we decided to stay and see how it went. Good thing we did because I started to dilate quickly. I wanted to go natural again and I felt even more calm about it even though I knew what was coming! It all really started about 10:15pm. They told me I could go walk if I wanted to, but I didn't feel good about that. The first hour I labored standing up because it felt better, but as the contractions got stronger, I got really weak, so laying in bed was much better. It is amazing how fast time flies when you are in pain! I knew I needed to wait until after midnight to have her because I would get an extra day in the hospital. About 11:45pm, I knew it was close and my awesome nurse could tell (even though the doctors still didn't believe me). The nurse decided to get the room ready. She had a dr come in and check me and told her to break my water. As soon as she did that, I felt so much relief! It's weird to say that I was comfortable, but I really was so much more comfortable! A few minutes later, I told my nurse that I needed to push. She called the doctor. As soon as she came in, I gave it one push and Kaitlyn's sweet little head was out and we discovered that the cord was around her neck. They told me to stop pushing (which was awful!) and they tried to unwrap it, but couldn't, so they ended up cutting it. I gave one more push and she was here at 12:32 am! She looked just like Michael when they laid her on my chest. I was instantly in LOVE! I couldn't believe she was finally here! They just let her lay there and it was wonderful! Because she came out so fast, her face was purple and bruised, but that has faded. She's absolutely perfect! She loves to nurse and is actually pretty content! Right now, she has blue eyes, but we'll see if they stay. She loves to have her hands by her face and her feet up in the air! She really couldn't be any sweeter! I am so thankful to my Father in Heaven for her health and safe arrival! I am feeling abundantly blessed!

Enjoy the pictures! I will post some more of her with the boys when I can! Matthew was so excited to come see her in the hospital. He brought her pink roses and yellow roses for mommy! Michael had to stay home because he has a runny nose, but hopefully it's just allergies! I am excited to see them all together! :)

She is here!!!

Kaitlyn Louise Lake was born this morning at 12:32am. She's our smallest baby weighing 6lbs. 7oz and 18.5 inches long. She came very fast, so she's a little swollen and bruised, but she is doing amazing! She is so beautiful and we completely adore her! I just can't stop looking at her! I will post more later, but here's a sneak peek at our little lady!

Our sweet baby girl's nursery!

Kaitlyn's nursery is finally ready! And I can't wait to bring her home to it! Just one thing missing....Kaitlyn! I knew I wanted to do a ballet theme, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to do pink or purple, but Scott and Matthew both wanted pink, so we went with pink with teal and gray accents. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! Scott was an absolute trooper putting up the board and batten! He amazes me with his skills...skills we need to put to more use! :)

Here is the before:

Not too bad, just not very girly!

Here is a during picture (my hot husband at work!):

We got this for FREE on craigslist:

It was exactly what I was looking for! Just needed a little TLC and some girly updates!

Got this on craigslist too:

Also just needed a coat (or 4) of paint.

Okay, so here are the after pictures of our little ballerina's room:

The view from the hallway.

I love this corner! I can't wait to snuggle her in this chair! I made just about everything in this picture (except the furniture). The flower balls were inspiration thanks to my favorite website: Pintrest! They took me FOREVER, but I absolutely love them! I ordered the wood letters unfinished off Etsy and added coordinating fabric, paint and ribbon. The curtains are made from a full fitted bed sheet that I got at Target on clearance for $3. I cut it up and added gathered fabric at the bottom and the cute bows at the top. They were kind of a pain, but totally worth it! I also made the quilt, which was the inspiration for the rest of the room. I have made a quilt for each of my babies and I hope it's something they treasure!

Here is a close up of the letters:

Here is a close up of her crib. I made the ballerina crib skirt...again a pain in the rear, but I love it! I tried finding one online, but they were all like $70. I now understand why...I will never make one again! You can see the updated bookcase and the dresser.

Here is a close up of the dresser! I think it might be my favorite piece in her room! My very talented sister Chelsey, made the sweet ballerina prints.

And last, her closet! I couldn't resist painting it and making it part of her room. I need to finish one more container for the bookcase, but I lost momentum! And I love her sweet and very girly clothes! Matthew and I can't wait to dress her up! I made the hair clip holder too!

We are all ready for you Kaitlyn! 37 weeks tomorrow...hooray! No preemie for us this time! :)

So blessed

Have you ever had one of those days where you look at your life and realize all your dreams and more have come true? Where you feel so abundantly blessed? Today was one of those days for me! Scott was able to work from home and as soon as he got done, he joined the boys outside and they got to work on the yard. We had 2 huge storms last year that we are still recovering from that left hundreds if sticks all over the yard and before we can tackle reseeding, we needed to get the sticks up. Anyway, it was so sweet for me to watch my 3 boys work together! They had so much fun! I am so grateful for all of them! And I loved being able to watch them from my kitchen window while I made dinner! It was a great day!

Outdoor fun!!!

We have had fabulous weather this week! So we have had lots of time to take advantage of our awesome yard! It makes me love our house even more! My parents got the boys a power wheels police car for Christmas and Matthew was so excited to take it for a real spin! Michael was a little nervous, so he painted the driveway with homemade sidewalk paint...loved it! Here's a couple pictures from today:

Maternity Pictures

A few weeks ago, my very talented sister took some maternity portraits for me. I think they turned out perfect and extra special because all of them were taken in Kaitlyn's room that Scott and I did together! You can see little sneak peeks of it before I post pictures of the whole finished product.

These pictures were taken in the rocking chair in Kaitlyn's room. I'm hoping to get some of the 2 of us when she is actually here. Lots and lots of sweet memories with my boys were made in their rocking chair. I can't wait to make memories with her here!


I think these turned out so cool! I especially love the 2 on the bottom with Matthew. So sweet! Matthew loved being in these pictures (Michael not so much!) I love them!


Silly Matty! :) This was his idea totally!


I love the pictures with my boys! They are so adorable! I can't wait to see what Kaitlyn looks like!



And I just love my sweet husband! I'm so glad we were able to get some with him this time!


I can't wait to be a family of 5!!! Couple more weeks sweet Kaitlyn! :)

Cousins and such good buddies!

My sister moved here a month or so ago with her husband and my nephew and it has been so fun to watch Michael and Caiden together! Caiden can't walk quite yet, but man, he tries so hard to keep up with Michael! Michael really loves having him crawl around after him! They are going to be great buddies!

Kaitlyn is so lucky that she will have a girl cousin on each side that is close to her age! Scott's sister is having a baby at the same time and my niece Rilee was born in December. Here's Kaitlyn and Rilee's first picture together! :)

And the ring leader of them all! Yesterday was a warm day, so we were outside and Matthew was making up his own games...just a glimpse into the warm months ahead for us! Yeah!