The story of Creed!

I have been meaning to document Creed's birth for weeks. He is already three and a half weeks old! I can't believe it! So, before the details get fuzzy, I figured I'd better sit down and write it down.

It's no secret. I. was. miserable. Yep. Between my coughing (that has still not subsided by the way) and my hernia, I. was. done.

We had a scheduled induction for Sunday January 23rd. I was really surprised that Dr. Chalmers wanted to work on a Sunday. But, he said he'd rather do it then because Sundays are less busy. Plus he was headed out of town. We got called at 5:15 am and they said to be there at 6:00 am. I really didn't think we'd go in that early, so I was really excited!

Dan was snoring on the couch the whole time. :) I should have taken his picture. Everything was going great and by 10:30 the dr. had broken my water, and things went pretty fast from there.  By the time I asked for my epidural, the contractions were getting really hard, and at 11:30, I had my drugs and things were great.

At about 12:30, the nurse checked me and I was at a 7-8. I had warned the nurse that I go really fast at the end. So, when she said I was at a 7 or 8 I knew it was getting super close. By 12:45, I could feel a LOT of pressure, and I knew it was time. I woke up Dan and called the nurse back in. She checked me again, and I could tell something was wrong (not emergency panic, but something was bothering her). She finally told me that she had called the dr. and that he had just ran home, so he was on his way back. She had warned the Dr, but I guess when I said "fast" he thought he had at least a half hour. So, he ran home to Santa Clara! Santa Clara is at least 20 minutes away. The nurse didn't leave the room from then forward. She called a bunch of other nurses to bring in supplies, and she said that if she needed to deliver the baby, that it would be ok. Holy Moly! So in a blur, about five nurses rushed in and set up the room in about 3 minutes flat. They were all joking around, and the mood was pretty funny. They made sure to tease the Dr. when he got back!

So, the Dr. walked in the door at 1:05ish and we had the baby by 1:09. My epidural was different this time. When I started to push, it hurt. It didn't hurt like crazy, but I could definitely feel pain. So, when I started pushing the first push, I remember saying MAN, this hurts! The Dr. said something like "Don't worry, he'll be out on the next push anyway." He was right. I'm super lucky and only have to push a couple of times. The Dr. was teasing me the whole time about how important it was to have a baby with "long, dark, flowing hair." I bet my face was in shock because he started laughing and said, well, he's pretty much bald anyway.

The Dr. was also in shock that the baby was so little. He was betting on a baby that was at least 9 lbs. I guessed he would be about 8 lbs. He surprised us all and weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz. (WITH a long cord still attached). So, who knows what his weight should have been.

He was perfect!

Here is his scrunched face!

Dr. Chalmers said that we were really lucky and that we had a "miracle" baby on our hands because there was a true knot in his cord. If the knot gets tightened even a little bit it is very dangerous and the baby's nutrients and blood flow cuts off resulting in still born babies. I feel so blessed, and I can't imagine how awful that could have been. Dan took a picture of the knot.

 My Mom and Dad came for about four days and it was great. The thing I LOVE about my Mom is that she is a "doer." She doesn't wait for instructions, she just does. I got home from the hospital to a clean house and all the laundry done and folded. I loved having them here. It was hard to see them go.

My Dad became Londyn's right hand man. He played games with her, and she bossed him around like crazy. It was great because she got that extra attention that I couldn't give her. Both Grandma and Grandpa spoiled the kids rotten with treats. I think by the time they left, Londyn had 4 packs of gum! They got some new movies, new hair bows, some new games, and they had a BLAST playing with them.

All in all, everything went very smoothly. I am very blessed to have such a great family. Dan and my Dad gave me a blessing the night before we went into the hospital, and I felt the spirit really strong. I knew that my Heavenly Father was watching over us.

One last thing....the food at the hospital was sooo good. Weird, I know. I have been craving a turkey sandwich from there ever since we left! :)

Two week old picture

I can't believe this little darling is already two weeks old!

Creed Courtney Ulrich

Creed Courtney Ulrich

born 1/23/11 at 1:09pm

7 lbs 14 oz 

20 inches long

My Sunshine.

This is how I found Londyn last night. That little stinker fell asleep on the stairs!

I couldn't believe that she was so comfy, cozy, and content.

I thought it was so cute that I left her there until Dan got home from Young Men's to see it. (Disregard the stray shoes on the stairs.) :)

I also couldn't resist showing her singing "You are my sunshine" too. Dan has always sung this song to the kids, so it's pretty special around here. I decided to make an art piece for the baby's room with some of the words on it, and Londyn was THRILLED. She kept singing the words over and over, so I just HAD to record her.

Every day Dan will call her fun little names, like "stinky suzy" or "fi-fi" and she'll respond immediately, "No, I'm not stinky suzy, I'M YOUR SUNSHINE!"

Pregnancy Update Journal Entry.

The ONLY reason I am I'm writing this down is for myself as a journal entry.
I have to start by saying that if you aren't ready to hear some blunt/disgusting details of how this pregnancy is going, you should stop reading.

Things are different with this pregnancy. I have had several "new" things happen that have completely thrown me for a loop. I thought that since this is my fourth child, I was seasoned enough in this area to know what to expect. I guess not! :)

Friday 31st Dilated to a 2.
Friday 7th Dilated to a 2.

It all began last Saturday. I thought the baby was coming. No joke. I was having contractions on and off all day, but nothing consistent. I even thought I had lost a small part of my mucus plug...sorry if that was TMI. Then, at about 4:00 the contractions stopped, but suddenly my crotch (excuse the word) began to hurt, rip-roaring HURT. It was something new to me. I had felt pressure with my other three pregnancies, but this was pain. I couldn't walk very well. I sat down for the rest of the night. I took some Tylenol but it didn't do much. It was NOT fun. The next morning it still hurt, but not as bad. I asked my friend Liz who is a nurse, and she said she thought I had probably done too much and that was why it had happened. As of Monday morning, the pain was gone and hasn't returned.

Fast forward to the next Friday 14th STILL dilated to a 2 (maybe 2.5 the Dr. says). So, the contractions and pain...did nothing. Awesome. The dr. supposedly stripped my membranes, but I couldn't even feel it. It did nothing. No contractions followed. Bummer.

Then comes Saturday...again I think I lose a small part of my mucus plug. For a split second, I'm excited. Then, it dawns on me. This happened LAST Saturday too. Maybe it's not what I think. Gross. I actually think it may have been the goo that the dr. puts on his hands to check my dilation. It's the only thing I can come up with. Lameness.

Then comes Sunday. (In the mean time, I pick up a hacking cough). Awesome. As I'm sitting watching a movie with Dan coughing a lot, and I have a small gush of fluid. Did my water just break? I honestly thought so for a split second. But, I stood up, and decided that my coughing had just caused me to pee my pants. Awesome.

Sunday night I hack (cough) all night. All night I think I'm leaking fluid, but really I'm just peeing my pants (a little bit) every time I cough. Doesn't this sound FUN!?! On top of that, my hernia (in my belly button) gets inflamed by the coughing. So, every time I cough, I have a sharp, stabbing pain in my belly button.

Monday (Martin Luther King Jr.) day means the kids are home from school all day. Mom being up all night coughing with a hurt belly button, and peeing her pants every five minutes=Mommy in a bad mood. My poor kids, my poor husband.

I am committed to be a happy camper today. I will be happy. I will be happy. I will be happy.

I have an induction date set for Sunday the 23rd, so the end is in sight.

Pictures of the kiddos!

Here you go Mom! :) Love ya.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was so much fun this year! We are in the perfect stage because all three of our kids believe in Santa, and that makes Christmas a BLAST for Mom and Dad!

We started off letting the kids open their Christmas pjs on Christmas Eve. They were all so excited for Santa to come, they couldn't contain themselves! I was freaking out too, because I was so excited!

We read the Christmas Story from the Bible while the kids acted it out. Londyn wanted to be a Shepard too, so we let her. :)

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Julie gave them pillow pets to help them sleep Christmas Eve. The kids loved them!

Oaklyn was hilarious. She asked Santa for an electric scooter months ago, and Dan and I had been on a "convince her not to want it" campaign, and we successfully convinced her to ask for other things.  I guess the main reason was because of $, but I really didn't think she was old enough. So, a few days before Christmas, Dan decides to get her the scooter. Her face was priceless. We told her that Santa talked to us, and convinced us that she was old enough and we told him it was ok. She was so surprised. Her facial expressions were so cute! Her main gift that she wanted SOOOO bad was boots, and Santa brought her two pairs.

Connelly wanted a nerf blaster. Aren't boys funny!?! That's what he asked for last year! He's a boy true and true, and Santa brought him another nerf gun. He also brought him the coolest bike that turns 360s. He loves it!

Londyn got a scooter to be able to play outside with her brothers and sisters, and also go several princess Barbies which was what she asked Santa for.

The biggest surprise and the "HIT" of the day was the Barbie house that Santa built. It turned out darling, and the girls have already spent HOURS upon HOURS of play time with it. We need to acquire a few more pieces of furniture for the ginormous structure, but that can be done gradually.

After the kiddos opened their presents, we packed up the car to go to Holden. The kids were ECSTATIC to see their cousins and Grandma Tuttle and Grandpa Tuttle. They played with their bikes and scooters while we packed the car. It was so fun to enjoy both the St. George type of Christmas with outdoor bike riding AND the Holden type Christmas with sledding and TONS of snow.

The kids got to ride behind the four wheeler for hours (thanks to my brother Phil and Aubrey). They LOVED it!

The kids were spoiled rotten by Grandma and Grandpa Tuttle. The girls got the cutest aprons ever and got some fun toys too. Connelly got another nerf gun...man he could ALWAYS use more of those since they are his favorite EVER. Oaklyn got a fun kids cookbook, and Londyn got a pots and pans set with a tea set.

Dan and I were spoiled with a Kindle from my Mom and Dad, and we can't wait to start loading it with electronic books!

I am lame and didn't take 1 picture while we were in Holden. I had my camera and everything. Bummer.

We were really excited to see almost everyone that day. We missed Adrian, but got to spend some much needed family time with the rest of the Tuttle clan. We watched Inception, and ate until we wanted to die. It was wonderful. I loved every minute of it.

The "Real" Santa!

Here is a picture of the REAL Santa with my kiddos. :)

Thanksgiving!

 We have a lot to be thankful for, and we had a blast going up to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving this year. We ate until our heart's content, and we had a blast playing rook, eating, getting slurpees, eating, doing a little bit of shopping, and eating again. :) Julie made the most delicious turkey that I have ever tasted. It was awesome! We mainly sat around in our PJs for three days while our kids raked havoc on Julie's house. The kids love going to Grandma's house.

While we were there, we froze our tooshies off. I have to admit, I am definitely used to the St. George weather. However, we made a huge effort to make sure that we had the kids "snow" clothes so they could get their fill of playing in the snow. They lasted longer than I thought they would, and they loved every minute of it. I'm glad we can still visit the snow.

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Julie took the kiddos to Jungle Jims and the kids had a blast. Little Ayla came with us, and she was adorable! Londyn threw the biggest fit of her life before we went, so I was worried what it would be like when we got there. Luckily, she calmed right down when she saw what was in store for her. I was embarrassed she acted like a lunatic though. She was mad because Ayla had her purse. Of course, something involving a purse would cause so much trouble. I can tell that her "threes" are going to be much worse than her "twos" ever were. Oaklyn was Ayla's little "mother" on all the rides. She enjoyed taking her on the rides and buckling her up into the seats!

I can't believe how much Oaklyn is growing up right now. I am so proud of her. Most the time she is an amazing helper around the house, especially with her littler siblings. I am grateful for her. I am going to need any extra help I can get with baby number 4 coming in less than two months!

I found these pictures on my camera and I couldn't help but post them. These pictures are from when we were picking out our pumpkins for the annual pumpkin extravaganza. Connelly and Londyn were in HEAVEN!


This pregnancy is going pretty good. I am not much of a "happy-go-lucky" pregnant person. I am pretty ornery. I feel myself being moody, and I hate feeling that way. I am grateful that the time for the baby is almost here, but we are not ready in the slightest. I feel very ill prepared this time. We need to get busy on preparing the house for our new arrival. I am sure I am in for a HUGE adjustment.

Connelly's Wolverine Turkey!

Connelly had an assignment of helping a turkey "hide" from being eaten on Thanksgiving. He had the idea of camouflaging the turkey by dressing him up as Wolverine. He was quite proud (and so was I to be honest) of how cute the turkey ended up!

Londyn Lou is THREE!

My sister in law Jessica made this adorable cake for Londyn's third birthday. Londyn absolutely LOVED it (and so did I!!). I can't believe that she is already three years old.

This picture describes her perfectly. Every day she just HAS to wear one of Oaklyn's old dance outfits. She changes her clothes at least 6 times a day, and she LOVES to dance. It is pretty funny that she wouldn't go into dance class when we tried a few months ago, because she talks about it like she is in "dance class" regularly. We'll try again soon.

This picture is so cute of her little smile. This was taken in the middle of singing her Happy Birthday!

She got a few different presents, but the thing she wanted the very most was "princess lip gloss". What a girly girl. Grandma and Grandpa Tuttle got her a "Tangled" Barbie and she has played with it every day since. Grandma Julie and Grandpa Dave got her a new dress and black shoes. She was so excited that she HAD to wear it to McDonald's for her birthday lunch.

Dan and I and the kids got her a new baby, a Bell Barbie for the tub, her lip gloss and a birthday outfit. It was fun to spoil her for the day. (Let's be honest, she is pretty spoiled EVERY day, but she was extra spoiled that day).

We finished off the night at IHOP with Daddy since he didn't get to go with us to McDonald's.

A few fun things about Londyn right now:
She LOVES soup. She asks for it almost every day. She especially liked the corn chowder that I made the other day.
She loves "dip dip" AKA Ketchup.
She loves milk in a sippy cup, and I have to be careful to not give it to her too much or she won't eat anything else.
She LOVES for her nails to be painted.
She loves the tub, but she HATES getting her hair washed.
She hates getting her hair brushed out.
She is pretty good if I take something away from her, she just says, "Can I maybe have it tomorrow?" Then I say, "maybe" and she is ok with that answer! (What a crack up).
She talks all day long. She tells me about her "dance class" her friends, Hiley, Chloe, and Trey Trey. She is my little shadow.
She loves Costco, and wants to go there almost every day. I have to explain to her that we don't need to go to Costco on a daily basis.
She got her first hair trim the other day to help with the tangles.
She loves dress up clothes.
She asks for Baby Baby by Justin Beiber so that she can dance to it on a daily basis.

I love your guts Londyn Lou. You make me smile with your fun personality. She really is a bubbly girl who loves to socialize with her little friends. She picks up on what I say a little too much though. Today she told me that her toys were being "annoying." :)

More pictures of the Pumpkin Party!

My cousin Eryn (one of my favorite people in the world, might I add) took a bunch of pictures the night of the pumpkin party! I am so glad because I didn't get ANY pictures! So I hijacked her pictures to show how much fun the party was.

Here is a picture of my Mom and Dad and my brother Court. How fun!!! Court and I are very close and I am so glad he was able to make the trek down to St. George for the party.

Here is a picture of my cute cousin Eryn and I. :)

Here is Jess and Maximo!

Nicole who had her first pumpkin carving party experience just moved into town with her hubby Justin from L.A. We were so excited to have them to the festivities. Justin is my first cousin too! :)

Here I am (being an idiot) with Justin and Scott. Love these guys. Scott makes me crack up every time he opens his mouth. I love it. Justin was a major carver this year who took on the spiderman pumpkin. Way to go!!!

And here were the invites from this year. Thank to Adrian for helping me with this part. I wanted to do a new design, but I was unsure of how to do it...she is always my go to girl for that stuff! :)

All in all we had an absolute blast.

We were caught in a dilemma this year because our pumpkin party is the biggest event of the year, and in years past we have always had "families" come. It was always fun to have the kids come and help carve the family pumpkins that night. But, this year we found that the list of people we wanted to invite is getting longer and longer (which is soooo fun!). We counted the amount of kiddos that could potentially come to the party and there were almost 80 children on the list. We decided that it was impossible to accommodate that many kids PLUS the adults this year. I was sad, but we ended up making the party "adults only". It was a great change, and I honestly had a better time because of the change. I love kiddos, but sometimes it is good to just get away for a little while and enjoy the company of adult friends. I think we will continue the tradition next year with adults only again.

New Job for Danny Boy.

Dan started a new job on Monday, and I am so proud of him. We have worked for the same company for over 4 years, and for the last year and a half, he has been the property manager for Pine Valley Townhomes in Washington. He was great at it.

Well, as of Monday he is the new Manager of Maintenance. He is also in charge of book keeping and accounting, and since he is definitely a "number cruncher" type of guy, he will be GREAT at it. As the manager of maintenance, he is in charge of all of the maintenance personnel in the company. Plus with being in charge of the bills, he will be able to keep an amazing close eye on where the money is being spent. (Believe me, I know how GREAT he is at that...since I go to Wal-Mart, and he calls me instantly to ask what I bought...gotta love it.)

I am excited for him to be a lot closer to home since his office is about 2 minutes away now. :) YAY!

We've had a whirl-wind over the last two weeks. Dan started his new job, and our ward got split. We are anxiously awaiting two new callings since everyone got released instantly. :) The unknown is always hard for me.

Halloween 2010

This post is going to be VERY random, so feel free to skim. We started out Halloween week with an INVASION of flies. We could not believe how many flies were in our house. I had cleaned the oven, so I left the doors open for a little while. HUGE mistake. I was trying to air out the house, but instead, I created a perfect place for the abnormal amount of flies to go. I noticed after this event that flies covered my car and the outside stucco of our home. I guess it was the weather or something.  Dan ran to the store to get a bunch of those sticky fly tapes and this is what they looked like after a day or so. YUCK! We knew we were having a lot of company coming to our home, so we wanted to get rid of them before our guests came.

Oaklyn got to dance as the pre-show for Odyssey Dance Company's Thriller, and she did a GREAT job. She is getting to be such a great dancer. Grandma and Grandpa Kjar were in town, so they came to watch her dance too.

Since the stage was so small, they broke up Oaklyn's team into two different performing days, so this is only half of her team.

Londyn, bless her tired little heart, was so beat by the time Halloween came that she kept falling alseep all over the house. She is in a hard stage right now. We are trying to take away her nap because if she gets one, she will not go to sleep at night. But, if we lose track of her for a second, she will fall asleep around 4 or 5 o'clock.

The kids helped carve pumpkins and had an absolute blast with the annual Ulrich pumpkin tradition. Connelly and Max were especially excited. Mike and Jess even went and picked up a few extra small pumpkins for the boys to carve. They were so enthusiastic, and they carved their pumpkins almost all by themselves!

We had a lot of family that came to the festivities and it was so much fun! As always Mike and Jessica were carving fools, and both sets of parents did great fulfilling their "quotas." I kept joking that they couldn't go to bed until they had carved more pumpkins! I was really kidding, but they honestly carved their hearts out. I was honestly in awe at how many pumpkins were carved this year. Mike carved 25 pumpkins HIMSELF! Dan and Mike stayed up until 3:30 for several nights in a row. I am bummed that I didn't get any pictures of my cousins because Eryn and Scott came and carved, and so did Justin and Nicole. We had a blast laughing until all hours of the night.

Oaklyn decided to be a skeleton this year, and she was so excited to have black hair. It was REALLY hard to get out of her red hair though. So, for trick or treating on Saturday, she opted not to redo that part. (I was glad). The kids had a blast at the trunk or treat, their class parties, and the Ulrich Family festivities. Con man was a ninja!

Here are some pics of the trick or treating. We are always so tired by the time this comes around that we only go for about 15 minutes (SHHHH, don't tell the kids this is abnormal). The kids got so much candy at the trunk or treat, they didn't need anymore, and they had fun going around the block in our neighborhood. :) Londyn was so tired that she didn't want to get out of the stroller much. We forgot to get a picture of her in her Fi-Fi the dog costume.

We ended up with right around 80 pumpkins this year. Holy moly. What a crazy couple of days. It was a blast! This year was kind of hard on me because I am so big pregnant. I was so tired by Halloween, that all I wanted to do was sit on the couch. :)

Thanks to Julie and Jessica, my house was clean, the kids were entertained by a million activities. I love having family in town. I wish they all lived closer! (meaning....move to St. George). :)

The pumpkin tradition is always a huge group effort. Here we all are trying to decide the best way to set out the pumpkins! We light them all with candles (thanks to Julie for bringing the left over Lion House candles), and some pumpkins need two.

For a few days after the event, the pumpkins sat on the side of the house. Connelly was in HEAVEN bashing the pumpkins. We finally got them all in the garbage cans yesterday. It takes a few weeks to recoup. :)

Here he is...so proud of his bashing skills.

We had a great time this year, and we hope to continue the tradition for many years to come. Good thing we have a year before the next one because the smell of rotten pumpkin is still a little fresh for me. :)