Bradford Kelly Rasmussen -Our big boy!

Bradford -- 10 lbs. 3 oz 21 inches

September 13th

We have had all C-section babies. There are a lot of down sides to this, but there are also a lot of up-sides. You know when you will have your baby and it only takes about an hour... not bad, except the recovery is not so great! Anyway, Bradford was scheduled to come about 5 days early on September 13th. I went into the Dr. the week before feeling very large and un-comfortable and measured a whopping 42 centimeters. This had my DR rolling in laughter. I was measuring like I was 2 weeks over-due... 1st red flag! I had a huge baby inside of me. The night before our delivery the stomach flu hit. I was up all night w/ our cute Blakley who was the sickest I've ever seen any of our kids. She was throwing up every 10 minutes for almost half the night and then we had to leave her at 4:45 to go to the hospital. Our sister-in-law was here to take over, but I was one stressed out mama.

We almost debated canceling the surgery for a day or so just because she was so sick and I figured I would get it in a day or so. This had me very scared as your stomach is cut open w/ the delivery. Luckily I never got it. So, as DR. Yamashiro was getting things opened up, he was super surprised to see that our baby was transverse inside of me (sideways) and as he began to pull him out the feet were first, then the legs, bum and ribs then head... I could hear him saying, "wow, look at the size of this kid... he's got to be a 10 pounder!" I couldn't believe I had a 10 pound kid inside of me-- and yet I could because I knew I couldn't sit for the last few weeks or breath!

So, our cute guy arrived and we have just been enjoying him so much. The hospital stay was great with lots of down time. Bry took the girls the following day to California w/ my mom nad dad and Kelsie's fam. It was weird timing, but really nice to have them gone a bit while I relaxed in the hospital. Lots of visitors kept me company! We have a great support system and love all our family. One of these pics below is of Elli and Bradford... Elli at 4 months and Bradford 1 day still weighing a few ounces more than her!

Labor Day weekend

Rasmussen Farms photo shot

We went out into the field w/ the cousins because Marshal wanted to sit on a tractor. Bry even drove it around a bit for the kids to try out. The kids loved playing in the corn stalks and on the tractor. It always amazes me that I married a sort of farmer!

Elli's baby blessing was over Labor Day weekend. She was so good and we were so excited to see her blessed. She is such a little miracle for our family. I was very emotional as I watched her be blessed by her father. There are just so many factors that played into her survival and the fact that she is here is so special.

Back to School and stuff

Park City Trip

The week Blakely went back to school, my mom had reserved some condo's up at Park City Mtn. Side resort. It was a lot of fun. The pools were fabulous... the company even more fab... and the kids had a lot of fun hanging out w/ their cousins. I was on the brink of having a baby, so my energy was limited, but we enjoyed the alpine slide, (but abby and I opted to take the chair up the mtn. instead) walking around park city main street and taking fun photos w/ the kids, bus rides, and tons of swimming and eating. We had to come and go because school was in, but the other sisters spent a lot of time hanging out. It was the first time little Elli was away from home and she did really well.

First Day of School

Abby had her first day of Kindergarten and Blakely her first day (a week earlier) of 2nd grade. Talk about excited... It's so nice to have Blakely and Abby walking together to school this year. Their cute dad loves to walk w/ them on the mornings he is home. Abby's teacher is a cute little thing that is 26 and stylish as ever... Blakely is in a class full of friends w/ a teacher from Oakdale that has a great reputation. Here's hoping for a great school year!

For family night after Abby's first day of school, we went up to Silver Lake. It was a pretty night and the girls had fun climbing around. They have gotten so cute at following each others example. Abby has overcome a lot of fears in the last few months. Cute girls...

August trip to Idaho

We had a fun little trip to Rexburg /Idaho Falls to visit Karri, Aram and boys. On our way up we had planned to go to Lava, but time was short so we tried Crystal Hot Springs. We actually really enjoyed it and hope to return in the winter. We went to Bear World and loved it. We took a feeding truck out and thought it was crazy to have bears literally begging below us for bread. There were so many bears all over and after we drove through again following the food truck and were able to get some close-up shots. The kids also enjoyed a petting zoo and rides there. That night we ate at Judds. This place was crazy... 1lb hamburgers as featured on man vs. food. One hamburger fed our whole family! We drove up through Driggs, Idaho to Jackson Hole, ate lunch at Bubbas and and headed home through Star Valley and Evanston. When we were passing through Evanston, we hit a little carnival. We couldn't believe how much a ride cost! About $4 a ride... but o'well it was a little break from a long day in the car!

HHS 15 Year Reunion

This summer was 15 years since I graduated from Hillcrest. I get together monthly w/ some old high school girlfriends and we decided that we should try and throw a reunion together because nothing was planned until the 20 year. So, with some planning, we had a fun dinner at Madeline's Steak house and a family outing in the park. We didn't have a huge turn out considering our class had 700 people, but it was a lot of fun to see all those that came. It's fun to see everyone grow up and how they are w/ their kids etc. People are so mature an over high school... hang-ups and it was a lot of fun.