Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!

This year we have been very blessed.  We have a new house!  We love having a place that is all our own to raise our wonderful kids.  We added one more kid to the mix just a few weeks ago.

Baby Kelen was born on Dec. 2, 2015 weighing 9lbs. 14 oz. and 21 inches long.  He spent 3 days in the NICU due to a pnuemothorax (or collapsed lung), but he is better and home now.  Kelen is now 2 1/2 weeks old and is 10 lbs. and 22.5 inches long.  He is a good baby and we all love him so much and are glad to have him as part of our family.

Emmet is 1 1/2 years old and is an active boy!  He loves all of his siblings, and is especially fascinated with Kelen.  He loves to run circles and dance to music.  He is quite vocal in his opinions, regardless that he can't talk yet.  He will push and pull us too to get what he wants.  He still takes a nap everyday, which we all appreciate.  He is a fun boy that keeps us on our toes.

Vaden is 3 1/2 years old and is our little princess.  She loves all things girly and pretty.  She also loves all her brothers and loves that we now have 2 babies for her to help take care of.  She loves to play with Asher, but is just as happy to play all by herself.  She is going to preschool and loves to have playdates.  She is especially excited for Santa to visit and bring her a doll house and dolls.

Asher is 4 (almost 5) years old.  He is the big brother and does a great job helping out at home.  He can now empty the dishwasher all by himself.  He is getting more and more independent.  He can get dressed all by himself too.  He loves going to preschool and learning.  He comes home and can't wait to do his homework!  He loves to color and draw and is very detail oriented.  Asher is into hot wheels and Mario Kart.  He is still a sensitive boy that wants hugs and kisses and never wants to be in trouble.  Though they all have their own rooms now, Asher and Vaden usually sleep over in each others rooms.  He love to play with Vaden and Daddy, especially in the snow!

Ryan is busy balancing working from home and helping out at home now that we have 4 little ones.  He plays basketball with ward members and takes the kids outside to play.  He is a great support to me as I am busy keeping house and raising 4 little kids.  We try to enjoy every moment, they go by so quickly.  We enjoy being closer to family and making new friends in our new neighborhood.  We feel very fortunate in all that we have.

Wishing you Happy Holidays!  - The Crockett's

Welcome Home Baby Kelen!

 Kelen Jamee Crockett was born on December 2, 2015 right before 1 p.m.

He weighed 9 lbs. 14 oz. and was 21.5 inches long.

 Ryan and I went to the hospital early that morning so I could be induced.  When they were putting in my i.v. the nurse accidentally sprayed blood.  I got really dizzy and thought I might pass out.  A very strange feeling.  So the nurse had my i.v. on full to get the fluids in my system, but it initially made me feel horrible!  I felt super nauseous and vomited.  Not fun!

 After all that, I felt better.  Ryan and I just waited for a while for the antibiotics and the pitocin to do their thing.  I eventually got an epidural.  With my last baby the epidural was great and amazing and I loved it.  I could still move but there was no pain and no tingling.  This time, it was not great or amazing.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I had the epidural instead of all the pain, but it was almost uncomfortable tingling and numbness because the epidural was ridiculously strong.  I really couldn't even tell when they moved my legs, it was weird and annoying.

 Anyway, once I was dilated to a 10 and had everything was prepped and ready, the doctor had me push.  Kelen came right out the first push.  He's a big boy and his shoulders were broad, but we didn't have any problems.

 We went to our recovery room with him and were able to have visitors.  My parents came and saw him that night.

 My sister Kasey watched my other kids and brought them to the hospital the next day.

 The kids didn't really have any interest in the baby but they did like the nutrition center.

 Asher and Vay got to have chocolate milk while Emmet ran wild! It was a bit stressful.  Ryan took them home and spent the rest of the day with them until my parents showed up to babysit for the night.

 Emmet is fun to watch with Kelen.  He is super curious and just stares.  He is constantly sneaking upstairs to see this new little wonder.  He also imitates what we do, so if we touch Kelen's head, Emmet with touch his head too. 

 Vaden loves to have a baby around.  She wants to hold him and kiss him and is always rubbing her cheek on the baby.  She will definitely be my best helper.

 Asher wants nothing to do with the baby.  I think he is unsure and a little nervous with Kelen.  He doesn't like Kelen's belly button because it is cut.  I don't think he is overly concerned that is hurts Kelen, but is somehow concerned with it being to close to him.  He won't even go by Kelen's bottles or anything baby.  He will take a while to warm up to the baby.

 We had planned to come home from the hospital Friday.  However, early that morning Kelen had a pneumothorax, or collapsed lung.  He spent the next 3 days in NICU.  He had an oxygen bubble over his head and and i.v. and bilirubin lights.  It was a little scary because it's not fun to have anything go wrong with a baby, especially with their breathing.  He is all healed now and was able to come home yesterday afternoon.

 Here's his going home outfit.  He has a super quiet little cry and will sometimes hum when breathing.  He is a cute little chub. 

 We are so grateful that everything was able to work out and that he is home with us now.  We are very excited to have him as part of our family!  We love him so much already.

Happy Thanksgiving

 I am thankful for my family.

 Each of my kids are special in their own way and I love them so much.  Emmet is such a fun little boy.  He loves to dance and play with his siblings.  He loves to run circles around things.  He still can't talk but he lets us know what he wants by pushing us around.

 Vaden is our funny, little princess.  At least that is what she tells us!  She loves girly things and to dress up, but instead of being the pretty princess, she wants to be the funny one.  She is always telling us how funny or silly she is.  She loves her brothers and always takes care of them.  She loves school and having friends come over to play.

 Asher is a great big brother.  He loves school and to learn.  He loves doing his homework and is very detail oriented.  He loves to follow lists and instructions.  He is my best helper (he empties the dishwasher everyday by himself).  He is also good to be in charge of his siblings.  He loves playing with them.  He gets to wrestle with Emmet and imagination play with Vaden.

 I am most grateful for Ryan!  He is an amazing husband, father and friend.  He's the love of my life and has made all my dreams come true.  He's built us a home, makes us a family, and brings fun and spontaneity into my life. 

 

He works hard to support us and to help at home.  He loves and appreciates me and the kids.  

 I am grateful for many other things in my life.  But my family means everything to me.

Our New House- Part 3

Our house exterior

 

I really love our house.

I especially love our door color!

 Here's a view from the back.  We hope to finish the backyard next year so I can send the kids outside:)

Not really an excited room, but here is the laundry room.

It is simple but very functional.  I like the shelves behind the door that makes doing laundry more organized.

Here is our master bedroom.  

 Again, nothing fancy but it's great to have our own space.  I am not finished with it, but it may take a few years to get it how I want it since our room is not top priority with kids around:)

 But I do love our bathroom!

 It has lots of counter and storage space.  It has an awesome pocket door to our master closet (which is a good size!)

 I love all the details we picked that make the room just right for us.  Like the location of the towel racks, the medicine cabinet, having 2 mirrors instead of one huge one so we were able to put up shelves.  It's also great to have a large shower and a separate soaker tub since the last place we were in didn't.

 The basement is unfinished, but works great for the kids to run around and make a crazy mess.  We plan to one day have a guest room and large family/play area downstairs.

 Utilities, cold storage, and Ryan's future office.

I really do love our house.  It is pretty much my dream home.  I've enjoyed picking our all the design elements to our home and now being able to decorate and organize it so it really feels like home for us. I also love having a place that we can invite friends and family to.

Our New House- Part 2

Welcome to our new house!

We love our layout and how everything came together.  It really is a wonderful home.

 

Here is our front room and entry way.

 

From there, there is a little hall with the coat closet and powder room.

Our family area is a combination of the family room, kitchen and dining area.

Upstairs are all the bedrooms and laundry room.

The dining area works great for formal dining.  We are even able to extend our table to have more people over to enjoy a meal:)

I love the kitchen.  I love how much counter space there is and that the kids can sit at the counter while I cook or do dishes.  They like eating there too.

Another feature I really like is our command center wall.  It wasn't in the original plans, but we moved the kitchen over a couple feet to create the wall and have a slightly larger walk way between the kitchen and the family room.  I'm so glad we did.

Our New House- Part 3 to come soon.