Wall Photo

In August I had taken all of the boys pictures and I loved how they turned out.  I have all of them posted and the group photo is the one I used as my header on this blog.  After taking those pictures, I hung up photos of the three older boys on the wall in our living room and wondered what I would do when Kellen was born because his photo wouldn't match.  After talking to a neighbor about it, we decided it would be easy to convert Taft's shirt into a onesie for Kellen and I could go take his picture in the same spot.  Here is the best attempt at getting a matching picture to go along with his brothers.  We unfortunately couldn't take a brothers' picture with matching shirts because there were really only 3 matching shirts!

I have lots more newborn pictures that I have taken of Kellen and I will post this week, but here are his little toes.  This picture was stored with the one above, so it's getting put on now, but it kind of goes with the other photo shoot that we took later on.  Anyway, I'm excited to get them all on here and show you how much Kellen is already growing !

Arriving home

Kellen was welcomed home by lots of friends and family.  Although I said in my last post that he has been held less by me, you will see that there have been several other willing arms!  We have been so overcome with gratitude for those of you who have helped us soooo much.  We had meals brought in for a week and a half and they were all so delicious.  It was just nice to have people stop by and visit since we didn't go out for a couple of weeks.  I had lots of help with the older boys too.  Lots of friends and family took them so I could get some things done at home or get a nap!  It was a good reminder for me of how important it is to serve others and look for their needs.  I am still amazed at the things that were rendered on our behalf. 

Little Kellen is happy as can be with his fingers to suck on.  In the ultrasound pictures he was sucking on his fingers and he still does every now and then. I'm not sure whether I want a finger/thumb sucker or not.  None of my other boys have even attempted this.

 Debbie and my dad came to see Kellen right away and took the boys for me a couple of times.  They are always looking out for us and the boys love them so much.  Kyler even got to go to town with Grandpa and pick a new red bouncy ball and a pack of new superhero underwear!!  Every little boy's dream!

 My sister-in-law Julie was headed to Powell to ref a volleyball game and came over to Burlington to see her new nephew.  She came bearing lots of gifts for everyone and it was so fun to see her for a little bit.

 Grandma and Grandpa Winters stopped by to see their 19th grandchild and 16th grandson.  Luckily they know how to handle all those little boys and will have lots for them to do on the farm when they're older.

 When others weren't here, Grant made sure to get his turn holding his littlest brother. 

 My friend Alicia came from Rexburg with her kids to visit a couple weeks after Kellen was born and we got to spend an afternoon together.  The kids had a fun time playing and we wish they still lived here.

My brother Zach and my neice Isabel came to see Kellen and while they were here Isabel entertained the whole tribe.  They broke out all of the costumes and had a blast playing with her.  

Kellen Beke Winters

Kellen was born on September 22!  He weighed 7lbs 4ozs and was 19 1/4 inches long.  As you can see in the pictures, he has lots of dark brown hair and looks a lot like his big brother Grant.  Delivery went really well and Kellen was completely healthy.  Here he is shortly after arriving . . .

 Here's Dalin holding him for the first time.  He's been getting lots of opportunities since we got home to spend quality time changing diapers, burping, and just holding him.  With three big brothers, Kellen, probably doesn't get quite the same amount of holding from me, but maybe more Daddy time.

He is just perfect.  The first night in the hospital he slept so soundly and Dalin and I thought we had it made, but as soon as we came home and ever since then, we haven't been able to figure him out.  He just wants to be awake all the time so he doesn't miss out on all the fun! 

Nana (my mom) came to visit us in the hospital and meet the newest grandchild. 

On the day I was ready to come home with Kellen, Dalin went to get the boys so they could all come pick us up in the hospital.  Grant had a soccer game that evening in Otto and then they came to meet their new brother.  They were all so excited and just sat on the couch holding him as long as they could.  Kyler said, "Can we keep this baby forever and not bring him back tomorrow?"  He's been saying that every day since then and wants to be certain that Kellen will be his FOREVER.  Grant was just pleased that he had brown hair and looked so much like him when he was a baby.  For some reason Grant had gotten worried that the baby would have red hair and wouldn't look like the rest of us and that he would have hair all over!  It was very concerning for him and in fact, he said that if the baby had red hair he wanted us to keep him in the hospital until it changed.  he he he.  He's my worry wart and he was truely worried about this.  It was such a stress off his shoulders for him to learn that Kellen looked just like the rest of them!  He can't stop saying how cute he is and holds him everyday.  Taft also adores Kellen and is obsessed with helping him with his binki.  Taft still has a binki and loves it so much.  I think he knows the value of it to him so he just wants Kellen to be as happy as he is.  This is so helpful when Kellen is fussy because Taft will walk over and find his binki and put it in for him so gently, but it's not so helpful when he notices it has slipped out and Kellen is in a deep sleep and he tries and tries to shove it in until he wakes the baby! It has been a pure joy to watch them each day and to see how easily they've transitioned into having another brother.  Kellen's middle name, Beke, means "peace" in hungarian and that is what he has brought to this home.  Being a mother is definitely like nothing else in the world and I count it as the greatest blessing to be able to have had four healthy boys to raise and love.  They teach me more about this life and about myself than I could have ever learned on my own.  I won't lie, it is also the greatest challenge and exhausting, to say the least, but I can't think of anything else that I would rather be doing right now in my life. 

6 weeks ago - still pregnant

I have had some requests for the "before" photos and this was only days before our baby was born.  I am starting at this point in my blogging and working towards the present time!  Life has been a little busy with four boys, but I'm starting to feel on top of it all again and can take a little time to update my blog.

Dalin has tried hard with each pregnancy to gain some sympathy weight, but it has never really worked too well with his amazing metabolism.  He's just trying hard in this photo to make it look like it!