Ashlee Elizabeth-Birth Story

Our little lady is finally here and this is her story....

My Doctor gave us the option of being induced after 39 weeks and after discussing this with Chris we picked a date that worked best with Chris' school schedule. Fortunately for us it worked with the Doctor's schedule as well and so we were set to be induced on Friday February 18th at 9am. As the date got closer I of course got more and more anxious and nervous to be the mother of three kids. I worked until Thursday which helped keep my mind off of my nerves. On Friday we took the kids over to Grandma Nelson's where they would stay until the baby was born. On our way over there Valley Hospital called and asked if we could come in at 10am instead of 9am. I was just happy they didn't ask us to come in another day so we hung out with the kids for a while then Chris gave me a tour of Touro University and then we headed over to the hospital. We got there at 10am and were taken to our nice suite at the end of the hallway. It took a little longer than normal for us to get completely set up but finally around 11:30am the Pitocin was set up and going. By noon I was remembering what contractions felt like and then before I knew it I was to a four and able to get my epidural. It was amazing how little pain I was in and then the little pain I was in was gone! Things went pretty smooth for a while until we noticed that with almost every contraction the baby's heart rate would drop quite dramatically. The nurse was keeping an eye on it and moved me from one side to the other to see if that worked for the baby. After a little while they decided to move me to internal monitoring and place an IV of solution directly into my placenta to hopefully release some pressure on the baby's cord. I asked Chris and my Dad to give me a blessing and after that I felt a bit better. When I was to a complete 10 they had me push a few times and decided that they didn't want me to push any more until the Dr was there.

(Me before we started pushing)

That was a little stressful to me, but I figured it was better that he was there just in case something did happen. The doctor showed up pretty fast and we got started. By this time I was given oxygen and the nurses were constantly messing with my belly to keep the baby stimulated to get her heart rate up. After pushing for about 10-15 minutes and feeling like a complete failure the baby's head came out. I remember asking my mom if everything was ok and she said yes, but later told me she wanted to tell the Dr to hurry up because Ashlee's face was getting bluer and bluer. The whole time Chris was so supportive and keep telling me how great I was doing! When Ashlee's head came out the cord was wrapped tightly around her neck, so much so that the Doctor couldn't just pull it off and had to cut it off right then and then Ashlee was placed on my chest....

This was a new experience for me. Katelee was rushed off to get oxygen and Ethan was taken over to get taken care of right after delivery. I enjoyed seeing her so close so soon, but got a little stressed when the nurse kept saying "come on baby, cry.." Soon enough she took her breath and cried and the tears from this momma came a little faster. I was so excited to see my newest little angel. She was perfect in every way and her cry is one that I hope to store in my long term memory forever! Even though she was slimy and nasty I loved her instantly!

Here is my beautiful girl just minutes after birth. Looks like Katelee to me and Ethan to Chris!

When they cleaned her up and gave her to Chris he brought her over to me and I got to hold my little lady again! I love the smell of newborns, it might seem nasty to think about it but it's a smell that to me represents life and happiness!

Proud Grandma!

Ashlee and Dr. Bart, always telling jokes!

Look at that blond hair, much blonder than her Brother and Sister's was and much less too!

We called the kids and told them to head on down to the hospital. When they showed up it made me so happy to see them. Unfortunately it was close to shift change when they took Ashlee into the nursery so the kids weren't able to hold her until the next day. They were able to see her through the nursery window and they were excited to finally have her out of my belly. They cuddled with me for a while and then they went home with Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn for the night. Finally around 9:30pm Ashlee was brought into our room.

The next day the kids came again and finally got to hold their little sister. How excited they were to finally touch here and talk with her. Katelee kept calling her Ashlee Elizabeth and Ethan just kept saying over and over how cute she was!

Ethan with his newest little sister....

Katelee with her little sister....

We were able to leave the hospital Saturday after Ashlee turned 24 hours old! We were excited to bring out newest addition home!

Ashlee Elizabeth Nelson

Friday February 18th, 2011

7 lbs 10oz

20 inches

5:12 p.m.

Reality Check

As I look up at the time projection on my ceiling I realize I've only been asleep a few hours and yet Katelee is crying. I pull/push/drag my big pregnant body out of bed and hobble down the hallway. Kate wants me to sleep with her, which I politely decline... "Mommy has to sleep with Daddy, you will be fine.." She whines and asks me to sing to her. I sing (the best I can at that hour) a few songs and cover her back up, rub her face and give her a kiss. She whines a little as I walk out, but stops when I'm in the hallway. About an hour later she is calling my name, once again I pull/push/drag myself out of bed and weave down the hallway again, to find her asleep... she must have been dreaming... About an hour later I'm woken up by a soft little hand rubbing my arm. I roll over and have a nice little talk with Katelee again, "honey, you need to sleep in your bed, come on I'll take you back..." She of course wants to be carried, so with my two year old in my arms we play 'bumper walls' down the hall. I lay her in bed, sing again and head back to bed. Then the "Katelee" wake up hour of the week comes around, 5:00am!! I'm woken once again by a soft hand rubbing my arm and a soft little face nuzzling into my body. I look at the clock and can't believe this is the fourth day in a row she has been up at this time. A little grouchiness takes over and I ask Katelee to lay on the floor, "No, I get in your bed!" is the reply I get. I climb out of bed, pick her up and say, "Then it's back to your bed!" Katelee immediately begins screaming and calling for her Daddy. I try to calm her down, but she can be persistent. I put her down in our room so I can go potty. Daddy calls her over to his side of the bed, where she decides she can lay on the ground. The next time I'm woken up, besides the 4 times I press snooze on my alarm, is at 6:30am to the sound of my little lady telling her Daddy, "I love you!" and cuddling.

I'm exhausted, I'm a little grouchy, I'm feeling very BIG, I'm wishing it was Saturday, I'm running late... I'm just not in a good mood.

Flash forward about 45 minutes later, I'm on my way to work. My drive is now about 35-40 minutes and I've got nothing but time to think... I do a lot of thinking in my car on my drives... Today a thought comes to my mind, Every morning Ethan comes into our room when he wakes up, he looks for me and always comes over and hugs my leg... We have the same morning chat, every morning, "How did you sleep last night, buddy?" His replies sometimes vary, but mostly they are "good!" This morning it was "good, but my nose isn't feeling well!" That made me smile, then Katelee comes over to say good morning and gets in Ethan's face, "I no wake you up today!" she says with all the enthusiasm that little body of hers can muster! I silently think to myself, "Yeah, but you woke everyone else up!" It still makes me smile, she is definitely the morning person in our family. Ethan is not grouchy in the morning, but he isn't energetic either! Katelee steps out of bed and is ready to do ANYTHING, the rest of us need some warm up time! This thought makes me smile as I drive to work and realize how lucky I am. Being pregnant always makes me more emotional and lately I have been feeling the emotional effects of pregnancy. My mind immediately turned to a story my friend told me. She has a friend who just lost a 20 month old son. He went to sleep with a slight fever and never woke up. I do not know these people yet this has affected me tremendously. Immediately tears wheal up in my eyes as I drive down Sahara, the thoughts of how fortunate I am to have my children alive overwhelms me. My recollection of my restless night pops into my mind and the thoughts of annoyance turn to overwhelming gratitude! How grateful I am to have a child that can wake me up in the middle of the night, because that means she is awake and able to walk. How grateful I am to be the person she chooses to go to in the middle of the night for comfort. How my mother mind had a reality check this morning. How often I take for granted the health of my children and their sweet spirits. How often I take for granted what I have been so greatly blessed with....

I have wonderful parents that would do anything for me and my family. I have a mother that watches my crazy kids every day and never complains about it. I have parent's that tag team sitting in the bathroom with Katelee so she can get potty trained. I have a dad that works all day and then comes home and takes my son outside to play even though I'm sure he'd rather be sitting down relaxing. My parent's put up with a lot from me growing up and yet they still love me and my family. They love us through our faults and I know I can always count on them to be there for us!

I have wonderful in-laws that would also do anything for us. We have been using my mother-in-laws car for quite some time now. It has been a blessing for us while Chris is in school. My mother-in-law takes Katelee on Monday's and Ethan on Friday's. They have their special time together and with Grandpa until he goes to work. I have a father-in-law that is always concerned about us and makes sure we are well taken care of. They too went through a lot with Chris growing up, yet they too, still love us and our family. They too love us through all of our faults and would do whatever they could for us.

I have fantastic friends who randomly text me to see how I am, tell me something funny or just say hi. I know my friends would do anything for my family and are always doing little things to serve us. They constantly build me up and make me feel good about myself. My friends are the kind of friends that I will have my entire life, not just until we move or switch wards.

I have two, almost three, perfect kids. Ok I might be stretching it when I call them Perfect, but I am their mother! They can make me smile and cry all at the same time. They have complete hold of my heart and many times dictate who I am. They have a look in their eyes that lets me know they know who they are and why they are here. Perhaps that look is only one their mother can see, but it is so sweet and precious to me! I have a connection to them that is unexplainable. I worried when I was pregnant with Katelee that I wouldn't love her as much as I did Ethan. Ethan being the first born, the one that MADE me a mother.. But I was wrong. I love them both so much and I don't know how it will work, but I will love this third one just the same. My heart will grow a size and it will never be the same again. Some of my favorite things in the world are real hugs from my kids, comforting them when they don't feel well and getting told randomly that they love me!

I have a great husband. Is he perfect? No, but neither am I and that makes us perfect for each other. He is my corresponding part that keeps me grounded. I hear stories of other father's that don't do much. Chris is never afraid to be left with the kids, I know when I leave them with him they will be ok. He knows how to hold them and quiet their cries and wipe away their tears as well as I do. He knows I'm different and he lets me be that way. He listens when I need to vent, he doesn't try to tell me how to fix my issues but rather listens and understands. He remembers things that I forget minutes after they happen. He never claims to be better than anyone, he knows he has faults and he works on them diligently. He loves me beyond belief and works so hard to be the best husband, father and person for our family. He helps get the kids dressed every morning and night, he helps put them to bed and he studies every night as well. He fulfills his church callings to the best of his ability and sets a good example to me when I'm too tired to pray or read at night, by doing those things himself. I was truly blessed the day I turned 21 to meet my husband at his friend's house. That is a day I will remember my whole life, even though I couldn't remember his name for a month or so after that night!

I have been blessed with the best brother and sister a girl could ask for. They have always supported me and loved me no matter how crazy I was. My sister always shared her things with me, (whether she wanted to or not) and my brother was my best friend growing up. I can tell them anything and know they will never judge me! They do random things for me and my family that reconfirm to me that they love me the way only a sibling could! When they have accomplishments in their lives, my heart is full for them... And I know it's the same for them... My Brother-in-Laws and Sister-in-law are great too. They have always and continue to support Chris and our family 100%. They have taken me in as their true sister and I love them for it!

I could go on and on, but these are just the thoughts that came to my mind on my drive to work. What a reality check I was allowed to have today... How much I have been given in my life... My heart truly is full if not overflowing!

A Peek into Our Scripture Study....

So last night I decided it would be fun to just record a little bit of our family scripture study so we could look back on it and laugh! Katelee was especially on one last night and it made for a lot of fun....

Ethan was showing off for the camera, usually it's him that is reading the scriptures to us... Many times it involves sentences like, "and then the Nephites killed the Lamanites... He spanked him and then killed him..." Apparently all he has gotten out of our study is a lot of violence and killing.... We know what we need to work on....

I know they may not look or act like they are getting anything out of the scriptures, but we are getting family time together and if that is ALL they ARE getting.... That is enough for me!

Christmas... Finally

I know, I know... It's over a month past Christmas and I'm just now posting pictures. Sorry, things got a little busy. But better late than never, right? So we followed through with some family traditions that we have started. We went caroling to some elderly people in my parent's ward and passed out treats. The kids really enjoyed doing that this year, I hope they continue to enjoy that. It means so much to those people to have the whole Blackburn family stop by. Maybe not sing, but at least the company and goodies are nice! After that everyone else headed over to the house in N. Las Vegas... Chris and I headed out to the car dealership to purchase our new minivan, but we sent the camera with my parents and got some good photos. All of the Blackburn Grandchildren! It's so crazy to see these four kids and think how much our little family of 5 has grown!
Aunt Anna rode with the kids on the train! They all had a blast!

Then came Christmas Eve. We always have the nativity acted out by the kids and then Santa comes by and then we eat sandwiches and goodies. The kids did such a good job on the nativity, they participated and even stood in their spots for quite a while!


Here is Katelee the Camel! She didn't really like her costume until she saw Maddy dressed as a donkey then it magically became ok!

And Ethan was a Shepard. He was so cute!!!

And Emily was a little Angel, of course!

Here is the whole group! It was a good Nativity!

Ethan looks so grown up sitting on Santa's lap. He of course was not scared at all this year, and told Santa exactly what he wanted!

Miss Katlee was a little afraid but she really wanted a new Baby Doll so she went up there and was brave! All for the sake of a new doll.... Such a girl!


Before the program we went over to my parent's house and we were able to open our PJs from Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn. After the program we then went to Nelson's house and we were able to open our PJs from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. When we got home the kids went to bed and the parents were not far behind! (wink wink! We wish!)




This was our tree with all the gifts! They were all packed in there nice and tight!

And this is what our living room looked like AFTER Santa came!

Looks like fun to me!

Those are the kids' piles of presents.

I came downstairs and let our parent's, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Brian in and then Chris let the kids come downstairs. On Christmas morning I heard the kids talking and got up to get them. They were both sitting in the den just talking. When I asked them if they wanted to see if Santa came they both smiled, as if to say, "duh!" It was the cutest thing, you could see the excitement in their eyes! I love that look!

Katelee was a little hesitant to come downstairs, I think she was just a little intimidated by all the noise and people down there at such an early hour. (6:30-7:00) Ethan on the other hand was all for the presents and fun!

This was our house AFTER the opening of gifts was completed! WOW, is all I could say!

After getting dressed in some new clothes we went over to Maddy's house to see what all they got and then headed over to my parent's house to see what they got. After that we then went to the 7-11 by my work and saw the lady that works there. We did this last year as well and she really enjoyed it so I thought, "hey lets do it again, make her Christmas a little more special!" Plus the kids get a Slurpee, so you know they aren't passing that opportunity up!

After that we went to Nelson's to see Uncle Brent and then headed over to the Howard's for Christmas lunch. That was a fun time and then later we headed back over to Nelson's to have dinner and spend time with the family! Then it was off to our house and time for bed, finally!

I love Christmas, I love the reason for the season and I love spending so much time with our families! It is always a little bit of a relief to have it over, as sad as that sounds. It gets so busy going from one place to the other, but since it's only 1 day a year it's all worth it! Merry Christmas to EVERYONE! We hope your Christmas was as much fun and full of love as ours was!

What's Been Going On....

I haven't been blogging lately and it's not because our life is so boring there is nothing to talk about, it's as simple as being WAY TOO crazy busy!!! So here are some bullet points of what we have been doing....

• Trying to Potty Train Katelee... Not going well at all. The poor girl is too much like me. "What a joy" you might be saying, however if you know the real me you know it means she is STUBBORN!!! At times she refuses to even mention the toilet and other times she will sit there and read books but that is all! I thought they always said "Girls are easier to potty train!" Well I will have to say that is false in our case!




• We had a great Christmas. The kids had a lot of fun! Katelee got some Baby Dolls and a Baby Doll bunk bed from Santa. Ethan got a big truck with trailer that is also remote control. Hopefully I will get some pictures of Christmas up and even a post...




• We had a very nice New Year's Eve. We Celebrated by going over to my sister's house. It was just Anna, Enrique, Emily, My parents and our family. We had our good food, played games and celebrated with New York. We had my parents dropped off and we were home before 10:30pm. Since I became a mother I really feel that staying up till Midnight is very overrated! Plus the kids were up BRIGHT and EARLY the next day!




• We purchased a new Vehicle.... It's a brand new Dodge Caravan. Only a year ago I would have laughed at the thought of us owning a minivan... However, an SUV big enough to hold 3 kids, one in a booster and two in car seats are WAY out of our budget and they don't come with the storage room we need when we travel! I like to think of us owning a minivan as a very good sign that I am able to humble myself, somewhat! I love the van, the kids love the van and Chris really enjoys driving it. It was a stressful week or two trying to make sure we didn't get ripped too bad. We really did a good job... We got the price we wanted and 0% financing on top of that! There is so much room and we got the entertainment package... Amazing is all I can say. The kids sit on different rows and there is no more hitting, biting and arguing! Hopefully I will get a picture of the new Van on here soon.




• Next month we are having baby number 3... Yes NEXT MONTH!!!! I think you all might be ok with that, but YIKES is all I can say!!! The babies room is still a mess, however the crib has been set up for a while now, so the baby will at least have somewhere to sleep... The pregnancy is going great. My Dr. thinks I'm perfect, I would love to believe him, however I am paying him quite a bit of money, so I think his opinion might be a bit self serving!




• Chris has class Monday through Thursday 8am-5pm this semester. Friday is designated as a "reading day" and it really is a day that has to be used as a study day. Every night he studies after Katelee goes down for bed. This gives me and Ethan some good bonding time, but being confined to upstairs really limits what we can do. This schedule is really taking a toll on Chris, but we just keep reminding each other we only have another year and a half left! (Funny side story about this. The other night Ethan asked Chris was he was going to do that night. Chris said, "I have to read." Ethan looked at his dad and said, "But Dad, that is going to make you tired!" Then while Ethan and I were upstairs Ethan looked at me and said, "Should I go wake Daddy up?" I laughed and told him I'm sure Daddy isn't sleeping. But it was so funny!)




• My Bank has been officially moved to Flamingo and Durango. Joy! This has really put a wrinkle in days. Both Chris and I now leave the house by 7am. Chris drops the kids off in the morning and I head to work. I will be getting off work hopefully around 4pm to pick the kids up. Of course with this being our first week at the new location I haven't held my end of the bargain and my poor mother has had the kids for 10 hours a few days. I feel horrible about that and know it has to change. I am so tired now when I get home because we are getting up at 5:45am and I'm not getting to bed any earlier. There are still things that have to be done when we get home.... But we will get into a routine and get use to it in no time, I'm sure! (At least I keep telling myself that!)



• We signed Ethan up for T-Ball on Saturday. I looked into little league a while ago and saw that the kids had to be 5 to play, so I figured we would have to wait until next year. Then Saturday comes along and my brother calls and tells me to get Ethan down to the Wendy's and sign him up for T-Ball. After confirming the age with the guys in charge we headed down to Wendy's. I think Chris and I were more excited than Ethan, but he is the silent excited type. Later that day he told Grandma Alberta he was afraid he wasn't going to be any good... I am pretty sure he will do great, it's kinda in his blood! Having a son about to play T-ball kinda makes me feel old... But I'm so excited!

So when I get some more time I will update the blog with some cute pictures!

Random Katelee

This is a little old, but too cute not to put on here.

Katelee was fired up and we had been wrestling a bit. She ran over and got her brothers Spider man Cap and put it on and was acting like a monster in it. It was so funny I had to record it, but you know when you record something with kids in it, it never comes out quite as cute... But it will do!

(Sorry for my breathing, guess I was a little out of breath from wrestling!)

Letters to Santa

Chris had finals for a whole week which left me and the kids at home at night alone quite a bit. I tried to come up with as many activities as I could to keep all three of us sane. One of these activities was to write letters to Santa. I laugh to myself as I think of writing these letters when I was younger. We would be so specific as to what item we wanted, what page it was on and in what catalog, just in case Santa wasn't exactly sure! Since the kids can't quite 'write' a letter I told them to draw what they wanted. Ethan's letter involved two huge circles which were tires for the big truck he wanted and some other crazy lines and scribbles that was a trailer. Katelee's was a bunch of tight little scribbles which were baby dolls! When we were done I put the letters in an envelope and took it to work the next day to mail off to Santa! I love how they are both so intent on their letters! Oh how I love these kids and their Christmas excitement!