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.