in love...with a bass

argyll's revenge played at shootz on tuesday night. here is a short video of their song "forget your worries."



i will be posting some additional pics of the band, but i had to add our "couple pictures." yes, yes, poor chris keller, but hey, he looks fine with that bass, doesn't he?

a thumb-sucking keller

i am amused by this. ben is embarrassed. i was feeding portie the other evening and was amazed to see that he moved his thumb out of his mouth when i asked him if he would like a bite. he now does this almost anytime we feed him. i love that he is a thumb-sucker.

look at that face...

i love these pictures of porter- they make me giggle. nuff said.

laundry surprise

so, ben and i have this bad habit of doing the boys' laundry and not putting it away for a while. we have 4 baskets, and 1 ends up being for jomi and 1 for gryffie. well, today the boys' baskets made it upstairs into their room, but the laundry was not put away. and then jonas brought the baskets down empty. i was worried for a moment, wondering what he could have done with all of it. i said, "hey jomi, what are you doing?" he said, "i'm bringing the baskets downstairs. i put away our laundry." he had put away, in the correct drawers, mind you, all of his and gryffie's laundry. he even brought his dirty laundry downstairs. rock on! that kid is awesome!

hello world!

so despite being listed as a contributor for quite a while, i have yet to add to this fine blog. you are all witnesses to the change. rachel and i have been documenting the odd, yet entertaining things that our children say. today i have something to add. jonas has said something that i wish to share with the world.

one of the boys' favorite shows to watch is "cooking lady." this consists of anyone cooking anything. recently a cook was preparing pickles. jonas said "those pickles look great...i love pickles...i'm going to break that glass, climb inside, and eat all of that lady's pickles."

i thought that you should all know this. now please, go about your business. the end.

roll with it, baby!

portie woke up this morning at 4:00 am and after eating, i laid him back down in his crib. he was not asleep, but at times, he will lay there and suck his thumb contentedly until he goes back to sleep. not this am. as soon as i placed him in the crib, he lifted up his head (yes, he sleeps on his belly as he is much happier that way). i thought, dang it- i have to be at work in 2 hours so i really want this little guy to go back to bed. he made some noises on and off, but then he really started to cry. i went back in to check on him and he had thrown his blanket off of himself and was now laying on his back. poor little guy, he rolled over and probably got scared. anyway, i am excited for portie's first roll! yeah, portie!

zoo fun

we enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend and decided to go to the zoo. it had been a while. the boys had a great time, and porter thought it was tolerable. (it will take some time for him to enjoy the zoo). we look forward to spending much of the spring and the summer at the zoo, but one of the benefits of going to the zoo in the winter is that it is much less crowded. here are pictures of our fun and some of our favorite animals.

v-day- a week early

i was talking with my mother-in-law on thursday evening and she asked if she could watch the boys for us saturday night. heck yeah! so ben and i decided to celebrate our v-day date night on saturday, as jonas is having a minor outpatient surgery next thursday, and we are not sure if we would be able to leave him at home next weekend. anyway, ben came home with some beautiful flowers for me.



then we got ready and went out to the waterfront. we went to pf changs- one of our favorite places to eat- for dinner. a table for 2 had a 3 hour wait- can you believe it??? we waited at the bar (i really love that all restaurants are now smoke free, and without 3 kids in tow, it was no big deal to wait) for only 45 minutes and then were able to sit and eat at the bar. we shared some dumplings and chicken lettuce wraps. then we split some crispy honey chicken with brown rice- delicious!!!

after dinner, we went to the improv (one of our new favorite date night activities). larry miller was the headliner. and he was hilarious. it was clean too! we had some cherry cokes and some banana foster bites with strawberry sauce and whipped cream. larry miller was awesome! we spoke with him after and purchased his book, spoiled rotten america, which he signed for ben. i took a picture of ben with larry miller, but i closed his cell phone without saving it. i tried to convince ben to let us go back to get another picture, but ben thought that would be silly. we headed home and all our children were in bed- fabulous! what a wonderful v-day celebration!

porter vs. rice cereal

i can hardly believe that port is almost 4 mos old. these last 4 months have gone by quickly. he is such a good baby- and we decided to get some baby food for him this weekend. yesterday we bought him rice cereal, and a whole lot of veggies and fruits. i wanted to feed him carrots first, but ben insisted we start with rice cereal. he didn't make too much of a mess. my boys have always loved rice cereal- in fact, jonas finished what portie did not eat. afterwards, ben took jonas and gryffie to the park. porter seemed tired, so i nursed him a bit and then he slept from 4:30 pm until 7:00 am. crazy, boy. but i can't complain!

my guitar hero

i think gryff looks like a little rock star in these pics- i love them. and i love that kid. the boys love playing with the guitar and drums from rock band- i enjoy them a lot as well.

winter fun

well, i have been feeling like a bad mom for not building a snowman with my boys, so i made sure we "played" out in the snow last weekend. the snow was too soft to mold so alas, no snowman was made- we did throw some snowballs and make snow angels. all was well- port was taking a nap at the time- until jonas threw a snowball in gryffie's face (so not cool). and then gryffie started to cry, of course. gryff and i went inside and i made him some hot cocoa. hot cocoa really does make everything better! hopefully we will get a little more snow so that we can officially make a snowman. here are some pictures of our "winter fun."

the fifth and mimi

here are a couple short videos of argyll's revenge playing at the superbowl party. i am still not able to download the longer video from kelsey's b-day, but here are two original songs- snippets of original songs, i should say. the first is called "the fifth" and the second is "mimi's coming." enjoy!!!

randomness

every once in a while, i take some random pictures of the boys. here are a couple newer ones. i feel poor porter has been neglected in the picture scene since i have returned full time to work. so here are a couple recent pics. and while i am at it, here are some random thoughts.

i love that my husband is now in a band. i love seeing him play and sing, and most importantly, do something he loves.

i am happy to see how well porter is doing. he was sick for a week, and today he finally seemed back to normal. what a relief. he had bronchiolitis. poor boy. today he was back to his happy healthy self- cooing, smiling, "talking" like crazy.

i love watching ben wrestle with the boys, although it usually ends up with one of them getting hurt. i love to hear them giggle and play.

even though it is work, i like having a dog. we couldn't have a better dog really. he is house and crate trained and tolerates 3 little boys.

i am so happy carrie is back in the burgh. i love that she, steve, and lochlan were at the superbowl party last night. so happy. carrie is the best friend a gal could have, in addition to that sexy lead singer of argyll's revenge.

woo-hoo, way to go sixburgh!

what a game. i can't believe how intense it was! way to go, big ben and santonio holmes, and the rest of the pittsburgh steelers! what an awesome, amazing, exciting game. i am so excited for the steelers and this great city we live in! the boys were surprising fabulous for the game- port went to sleep around 6:45 pm and slept through all the ruckus. jonas and gryffin ate way too much junk food and drank far too much soda, but hey, it was quite the occassion. we spent the evening at the kellers with tons of family and friends. and of course, we had a pre-game concert by none other than argyll's revenge- which was again, totally rockin! all in all, one of the best superbowl games i have ever seen and the company definitely did not suck! woo-hoo steelers! here are numerous pictures from before, during, and after the game- the boys were all so exhausted and crashed on the couch- so cute!

my favorite guys

i was finally able to get some pics of the guys on the day of porter's blessing. i totally missed all the fun as i was feeding the baby. these pics are great. i love you guys and again i am so happy that you were all there with us on port's special day!

the debut

this past evening, argyll's revenge made its debut at kelsey's birthday extravaganza! so much fun! happy birthday kelsey!!! the boys totally rocked. they did 3 original songs as well as some covers. i have been trying to download a video of one of their songs, "mimi's coming," but am having technical difficulties (and much frustration)!!! instead here is a slide show of the fun. these guys are awesome! of course, i may be biased, but they really are good. argyll's revenge will be playing a private party this coming weekend at a pre-superbowl celebration. be sure to keep posted for local public events!

argyll's revenge

one word-AWESOME!

gryffie's b-day part deux

i realize i had not posted any pictures from gryffie's birthday extravaganza. we celebrated quietly this year with a trip to red robin with the rest of the keller clan (sadie, sorry you had to work). gryff's b-day presents consisted of a soccer ball, tent, and sleeping bag. the tent lasted 3 weeks before being destroyed, but was well enjoyed. here is a slide show of our fun. again, happy third birthday my sweet gryffie.

if you want to destroy my sweater...

as you know, we are big weezer fans, as witnessed by the name of our firstborn. anyway, carrie and i had a girl's day last saturday- it was a wonderful time. we went to the mall, had pedicures, ate lunch, and did some shopping. i bought both jonas and gryffie some cute sweaters at the children's place (there were some mad sales) and couldn't resist taking some pics of them.

here we go

here we go, steelers, here we go. pittsburgh's going to the super bowl! what a game we had on sunday. i was beginning to get worried and then troy polamalu intercepted and ran that touchdown! woohoo! how exciting! we were at the kellers for a small steelers party. numerous friends and family were there. the boys enjoyed hanging out with gma and making their ginger bread houses (we are a bit late on many of our christmas celebrations this year, which i why i just sent christmas cards out this past week!!). we enjoyed the food and friendship. of course, gryff and jonas were able to pick 2 things out of "grandma's special box." jonas picked this sour candy, and the pics at the end are of sadie, chris, sara, and colin trying the sour liquidy goo.

the boys did really well despite being up so late. porter did not like the yelling, but was able to fall asleep upstairs at 8:00 pm and did not wake up until the end of the game. at one point, we were a little worried about the floor caving in as everyone was jumping so crazily.

did i mention, here we go steelers! how exciting!

like father, like sons

the boys love to sing and now that we are enjoying guitar hero (thank you chris) and rock band (thank you gma and gpa kelly) in our home, the boys have instruments to "play" along with their singing. the boys definitely take after their daddy. they love playing with the drums and the guitar. here are some videos of our awesome little boys singing and playing. notice that again, weezer is a common theme. the first is a video of gryffie playing the guitar and singing beverly hills.



the second is a video of both boys singing and playing my name is jonas. you can see what a sensitive little guy jonas can be when gryffie "steals the show" and sings the wrong words.

a man's business with a little ben on the side

saturday night we went to finnegan's wake to see "a man's business" play. this is the band in which chris keller (ben's brother) and our beloved colin pinto-martin play. can i tell you i am meant to be a groupie??? i love that all places in pittsburgh are now smokeless. it is a lot easier to enjoy being out. so anyway, the boys in the band did well. ben played 2 songs with them and also sang and played a couple songs on his own. ben's dad also got some stage time playing the harmonica. here are some pics and videos of the boys saturday night.







on a side note, there is now a new band forming (chris, colin, and ben) and their first gig is a party on saturday night! how fun! ben just got a new guitar and a freakin' huge amp. i have always told ben he should be in a band. the name will be revealed in the near future... rachel (colin's fiance) and i were trying to get them to name the band "lovers of rachel." chris wasn't for it. what will the name be? i know you can't wait!

portie put put

i can't believe my little baby is 3 mos old. or that i am now officially back at work full time. it has been a difficult couple weeks. i have really been struggling with balancing work, family, and church. when i am home, i just want to hold the boys. despite the frustrations, i have really enjoyed my 3 mos home and it is hard to go back to work. here are a couple pictures of portie poo. he is such a smiley happy boy, except when in his car seat. he is a joy, and an amazing addition to our little family.

gryffin-ism #1 and #2

so, i realize gryff says some funny things too. the other day i told him his hair was getting darker and he said "that's because i'm turning into a girl." hmm??? what else can i say there.

that same night, after dinner, ben and the boys were wrestling (a common pastime in our home which often ends up with one of the boys crying). gryff was up in the air on ben's legs, and stated: "i'm a fish, i have no legs, i'm a fish." so, we are saying he is full of non sequiturs, rather than acknowledging what a very strange child he is.

i've been tagged...

my friend bobbie tagged me. And here are the rules:

1-share 6 non-(though not necessarily un-) important things about yourself on your blog.
2-tag 6 blogging friends to then do the same.
3-let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
4-let your tagger know when your entry is up.

so here goes:

1-my secret ambition in life is to be like clarice starling from silence of the lambs. i would love to be an fbi agent and work with the criminally insane. i would love to be a profiler or a forensics specialist (think of dr. george huang on law and order svu which is also one of my favorte shows). in college, i took my first abnormal psychology class and volunteered at the utah state hospital in the forensics unit (the lock down unit for people that have committed crimes but are found not guilty by reason of insanity). i loved it. i have very fond memories of playing bingo and volleyball with some very wacky men and women. and i went on to work at western psych here in pittsburgh for 5 years. i love crazy people, it is true. especially schizophrenics. it amazes me how the human mind works.

2-i have serious stage fright. i consider myself an outgoing, friendly person. i am not shy, but if you get me up on stage to sing a song, play my flute, give a talk or lecture, i basically "freak out." i start shaking intensely. when i used to have solos in band, i would have people comment that i did well but ask how i was able to play when i was shaking so badly. during my 2nd field placement for school, i was able to get over some of my anxiety when i had to interview patients in front of my supervisor, the doctor, resident, and nursing students. but that was 4 years ago, and some of that comfortability has worn off. it's quite annoying and something i need to work on.

3-i started off as a chemical engineering major in college. i loved chemistry in high school and learning how things work together, so decided to major in chemical engineering. what was i thinking? not for me. i then changed to humanities with an emphasis in music. also not for me. i always thought i could play the flute well, but at byu, i realized that there were a lot more talented flutists than myself. i struggled with even basic piano and sight singing classes (probably also related to my performance anxiety). anyway, i finally decided on marriage, family, and human development and did well after that point. in grad school, i got all a's except for one b+ in psychodynamic theory- i don't have much to say about that class. i did not like my teacher, she had man hands.

4-i come across as sort of a prude, but i love crass and crude humor. i love going to comedy clubs regardless of how offensive the humor may be at times. sometimes i admit i am astonished at what people say, but i find the experience to be invigorating. it is so good to laugh! we went to the improv last night and the 2 comedians were quite amusing but i could never repeat most of the things that they said. there was one joke about an itchy sweater, but it's just not the same if i tell it. i blame my husband. what an a-hole.

5-i am an unapologetic chocoholic- probably something that most people know about me already. i have to eat chocolate everyday. and when i am pregnant, i basically eat 1 candy bar per day. full size, of course. sometimes, i eat just chocolate for breakfast. i know it is not a good thing to do, but my point of view is basically eat what i am craving. if i want chocolate, i should eat it. if i eat something else, i am still going to want that chocolate, so why bother with the middle man?

6-i am secretly happy that i have all boys. most people ask me if i am going to have another child to "go for that girl" but truthfully, part of me is relieved to have my boys. maybe it is because i am a social worker and have seen how girls are more likely to be victimized. i am not saying that boys have it "easier" but that they have different struggles. i feel i have the ability to be a better mother to boys than girls.

and now, my friends, you are tagged:

1-johanna b
2-emily m
3-jessie h
4-amy s
5-rachel m
6-marie m

jonas-ism #7

jonas has been saying some funny things lately. today we were watching the steelers' game. ben said something about san diego and jonas said "san diego, oh no, not san diego! what is that even about?" he then continued to repeat this throughout the game. it was amusing. did i mention, go STEELERS!!!

venting

so i am writing on our blog at 2:45 am. why? why am i awake at such an hour? i know you are wondering. as i was getting ready for bed, my pager went off for work. apparently there was a suicidal lady with long hx of depression and bipolar disorder that was in the emergency room. she wanted to go to heaven to be with her mom and could not contract for safety outside of a hospital setting. so, at 12:30am, i get dressed and drive through the snow to work. hey, i get paid, so no big deal, right? i meet with this nice lady who tells me she is not suicidal, she just doesn't have a ride home! what??? i ask her more questions. yes, she is safe. she has a therapist, she takes her medications, she has a case manager, she has a safe place to live, she misses her mom...different from what the doctor told me on the phone. and the doctor is now at home. lucky. i write my assessment and my note, update the doctor and nurse following the patient, give her suicide and crisis numbers, and call her a cab. then i go home, through the snow, and sit here at 2:45 am, because i can't go to sleep... hmm... i hope my pager doesn't go off again.

jonas-ism #6- primary program

for those of you who are not lds, the children at church (primary) put on a program each fall. the kids sing songs and have speaking parts. this was jonas' first year in the program. he had 2 important lines and did well. the first was about how much heavenly father loves his children. the second was regarding the importance of our bodies and how they are sacred. jonas didn't really get the word "sacred" so instead he said, "our bodies are secret temples." there were many giggles. and i have to say, he is telling the truth.

jonas-ism #5- adventures in the english language

so the boys love the movie kung fu panda, and have watched it numerous times as ben loves it too. there is a scene in the movie where po the panda is training with master shifu and gets hit in his "tenders." well, now when the boys wrestle, anytime they get hit (anywhere) they say "oh, my tenders." well, jonas knows it really means in the privates. so today i said "oh, my tenders" and jonas said, "you don't have tenders, you have ba-tenders" and i said, "ba-tenders? why ba-tenders?" and jonas said "because you don't have a penis, you have a bagina." oh, that silly boy! (we did correct him, so now i have va-tenders.)

happy new year!!!

just wanted to wish you all a wonderful and happy new year! the boys are all asleep and ben and i are hanging out, watching tv. we did have some bubbly- sparkling red grape juice- which was delicious. we decided against going out for the night due to the little 2 1/2 month old who has been sleeping so well that i don't want to ruin the streak (seriously, he sleeps 12 hours a night)! tomorrow, we are heading out to the deere's (my family) to celebrate the new year with our traditional meal of pork and sauerkraut. i am happy that both ben and i have the day off work to hang out as a family- a great way to start the new year. again, happy new years to each of you and lots of love!

the gryffie turns 3!

today is gryffie's b-day- my little guy is now 3 years old! that is so crazy to me. i remember when he was just a baby. look at how cute he is! unfortunately, i had to work today, but we went to red robin to celebrate gryff's b-day. gma and gpa keller joined us along with beth-beth and uncle chris. dinner was great and dessert even better. we got a couple sundaes from the restaurant and brought along a cake for gryff from the oakmont bakery (thanks beth). gryff was so cranky after school, but was so happy after dinner. he was dancing around outside, being silly like a little gryffie should be. i love that kid. he is such a good boy. some of the things i love about gryffie:

-his cuddles
-his singing
-his dancing
-wrestling with him
-hiding from him and jumping out to scare him when he looks for me.

yeah, i love that boy!

our elf dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

what a day...

so, the day after christmas has been fabulous. ben had to work, but the boys have been so well behaved. and let me tell about this little crazy 2 month old i have. porter went to bed last night at 9:00 pm and i woke him up at 12:30 pm this afternoon. he ate for 30 minutes and went back to sleep at 1:30 pm. i am using this time to catch up on cleaning, laundry, and of course, facebook and our blog. here are just a couple more pics i love of my boys! merry day after christmas! we are heading to gma and gpa kelly for the evening! tomorrow is football in the am and the kelly bowling party in the afternoon.

my favorite christmas gifts- my ipod from benji (thank you sweetie!!!) and guitar hero from chrissy-poo. of course this is another addiction for me... and i am getting much better. yesterday i played a couple times and kept getting boo'd off the stage. i am still on the easy level, but i am getting usually 90% right at least!

my favorite gifts to see given: jonas' wall-e toy and gryffie's bike. they are so happy that santa brought them these. also since we bought the van, ben has not been able to listen to his ipod as it does not have a tape deck. i found an ipod car adapter that makes it so we can listen in the car. now the boys can listen to shrek, willy wonka, or veggie tales any time they want!

here are a couple pictures i love of my boys- what cuties!

happy birthday and merry christmas!

well, today is my birthday- my 30th birthday!!! it's also jesus' birthday. hooray! although technically we all know i was really born on this day and jesus was born sometime in the spring. anyway...did i mention i was 30? i am actually okay with that. i mean, hey, i am happy with my life. i wish we had more money, but who doesn't??? i have a wonderful hubby and 3 beautiful boys. my 2 month old is sleeping 9-11 hours straight at night. i have a cute dog, although he drives me crazy and i love our little house and our super cool mini-van. i also have a master's degree and a decent job. so i can't complain. it has been a good birthday-uneventful but good. i made a really yummy dinner and we had the kellers and dustin over. it was very laid back- much more so than thanksgiving. i only wish my parents had been able to join us.

christmas eve was also great. we went to the kellers' for a christmas brunch and then headed out to baden to my aunt betty's house. it is a christmas eve tradition to go both places and is lots of fun. we have tons of delicious food to eat. after we got home, we took some pics of the boys and i helped porter put his "baby's first christmas" ornament on the christmas tree. the boys went to bed and ben and i exchanged gifts. then santa claus came- the boys made out like bandits!

some of the highlights of christmas: definitely all the traditions: caroling, family, friends, going to the strip district, shopping, wrapping. this year, i was also in charge of the christmas lesson for young womens at church. we have seven amazing girls. i enjoy spending time with them each week. i love being able to celebrate the christmas season with wonderful family and friends. i am especially grateful for my own little family. i am blessed to have these 3 little boys in my life.

so here are a bunch of pictures from our trip to the strip, christmas eve, and christmas day. it seems easiest to do a slide show. merry christmas everyone!

back to work and fhe

monday i went back to work. i am a social worker at st. margaret's hospital in the emergency room (i love the crazies!!). i am working mondays and tuesdays until jan 12 when i start back full time. at that time, ben will be on leave from his job. my first 2 days were busy but fine. it was sad to leave porter, but i have great friends who watched him, so it was not as hard as it could have been. it was so wonderful to see port when i picked him up- i held him for 5 minutes before putting him in his car seat to go home and he was all smiles! so cute! he is by far my smiliest (probably really not a word) baby.

monday night we decorated cookies for fhe. here are some pics of the fun. i think the boys ate more icing than they decorated! notice how hopeful george is that some cookies may fall. he ate the table cloth later! true story, i heard him pulling on the table cloth and sent him to his bed. later he got sick, and low and behold, i came to discover he had eaten some of the table cloth. crazy dog!

thanksgiving and the tree

i wanted to post some belated thanksgiving pics- we had the kellers and rosenbergs over as well as part of the gardner family (steve, we missed you!!!) i am so happy carrie is back in town. the food was delicious, the company even better, and the boys loved playing in george's crate!

the saturday after thanksgiving, we went to lake forest gardens to cut down our christmas tree- lots of fun was had by all. the boys were in a mood- gryffie especially not wanting his picture taken- i had to add this short video. also, i still did not get more batteries for the camera, so i don't have a family pic in front of the tree we picked, but here also is our tree, decorated and in our home.

porter's blessing

so we had porter's blessing last sunday, november 30, 2008. and of course, my camera was out of batteries and we did not get the chance to take any pictures. how sad. many of our family friends joined us at church for the blessing and we would like to thank mom and dad keller, beth, sadie, dustin, and chris for being there as well as carrie and lochlan, dave and marion, may and dan, jessie and andy, chris and sarah, and colin. i really appreciate everyone and all their support. here are a couple newer picures of my munchkin- look at those cheeks!! he's my 15 pound 2 month old!

the return of chris keller aka uncle chris

as i mentioned before, elder christian keller returned from the seattle washington mission on november 19, 2008. out of all of us, i think jonas and gryffin are the most excited to see their "uncle chris." the boys were up until 2:00 am as chris' flight did not arrive until 8:59 pm and then we went to greentree for his release and back to the kellers to spend some time together. the boys did great, so i think they will be able to handle staying up until new years this year. some of the fun at the airport included seeing many friends, losing some of chris' welcome home balloons and watching the creative ways people tried to retrieve them, and of course, chris meeting porter christian keller for the first time. the boys are in awe of uncle chris- and so are we. we look forward to spending more time with him!

who's who among the keller babies

can you tell which is which? what do you think, do they look alike? people keep telling me porter looks like jonas or that he doesn't look like the other 2 at all. here are baby pics of each of them.

the cutest boys who ever lived

gryffin really likes the weezer song "the greatest man who ever lived," well, these boys are the cutest boys who ever lived. when they are not fighting me while i am trying to take pics, they are quite adorable. here are a few recent pictures of the boys. jonas is 4 1/2, gryffie will be 3 at the end of the month, and porter is now 7 weeks. i have been enjoying my time off work to be at home with them, and am sad to go back 2 days/week on dec 15. although the older boys now love going to school 2 days a week- they actually look forward to it and do not fight me to get dressed. today was a great day- ben drove the boys to school and although port woke up at 7:00am, he fell back asleep at 9:00 am. so i went back sleep from 9:30-11:30 am. it was wonderful! as a side note, i did not go to bed until 3:00 am which is why i was so dang tired this am. i had dessert night with my friends and then had to do some shopping for a baby shower i am throwing for a friend tonight. i got home around 11:00 pm, but didn't get into bed until 2:00 am. then porter woke up, ready to eat... such is life. i can't complain, port is now sleeping a 6-8 hour stretch each night before eating. he then sleeps about 4 hours more. hooray for big babies- i swear they sleep better.

happy thanksgiving!

i just wanted to take a moment and wish you all a wonderful thanksgiving. we are having ben's family and my best friend carrie, her son, lochlan, and her parents over for thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. i have been baking, cleaning, and cooking and despite some stress of balancing all that with 3 little guys at home, i am loving every minute of it. i can't wait to spend time with friends and family, and eat tons of delicious food. tomorrow we will be heading over to the kellers' for the annual turkey bowl. ben plays and i hang out and watch the parade while eating lots of doughnuts. it's grand. i have many things to be thankful for at this time of year- my wonderful husband, my great little guys, our home, my parents and in-laws, good friends, a good job, being on maternity leave, the gospel, having a calling i enjoy at church, etc. i could go on for a long time but need to clean the bathroom!!!

to update, porter is 6 weeks old today. he had his check up yesterday and he is 13 1/2 pounds and 22 1/2 inches long. he is in the 97th percentile in weight (no surprise, he is a keller). i am a proud momma- he is sleeping fairly well and continues to nurse like a champ. he's got these crazy cheeks that are so dang squeezable! the boys adore him, as do ben and i.

we also were very pleased to welcome back christian keller, ben's brother, from his mission this week. chris has served the last 2 years in seattle washington and came home last wednesday. we are happy to have him home, especially jonas and gryffin. they are so in awe of their uncle chris. as always, i am a slacker, but will post pictures of his homecoming at a later date. we will be having a shindig for chris on friday at the oakland building relief society room and everyone is welcome. it is a potluck and will start at 5:30 pm.

well, i'm off to clean that bathroom now. again, happy thanksgiving and much love to each of you!

spidermen

as promised, photos from halloween- while a bit late, i needed to post pics of my two handsome spidermen. these include the ward trunk or treat, going to the mall halloween party, preschool halloween parade, and halloween night. i had to include a pic of porter as well- he is very mad that we are not letting him eat his candy bar! he is our "hair wolf."

4 weeks already!!!

i can't believe how quickly time goes by. porter is now 4 weeks old- and still not understanding that he should sleep between the hours of 3 am to 6 am. i am exhausted much of the time, but loving how sweet porter is. the boys are still adjusting well, and i really do attribute much of their ability to adjust to adding george our little beagle to the family recently. they are easily distracted by george, so that is good. jonas is very helpful, willing to get clean diapers or wet wipes as needed.

here are 2 pictures of my little porter. he is great! he doesn't have a doctor's appointment until 11/25, but I am guessing he is close to 12 #s at this point.

let's hear it for the band

i meant to post this a while ago, but alas, dog, baby, potty training have all been distracting me. back in september, ben, colin, and david played at the ysa (young single adult) conference for church here in pittsburgh. their name- "the literals." this was a one night or one day only gig, and they were quite good. we had a lot of fun hanging out and being "groupies." here are some pics and a short video of the boys in the band.

our newest addition

we took the plunge- we didn't want to, but the boys' car seats were not fitting so well in the back of our car. so here is the newest addition to our family- our honda odyssey. yes, i am feeling so old right now, so not "cool" but let me tell you, this car is great. it is so roomy and i love the automatic doors. it also has leather interior, which will be nice when we start letting the boys eat in the car again and they spill things. i guess things could be worse. i can't think of any of those things right now, but i am sure they will come to me.

happy halloween

we have had some halloween fun, and it will be continuing tonight as well. last saturday was the trunk or treat at church which was a lot of fun and included many types of different chilis- YUM!!! then on tuesday, we headed out to ross park mall for their halloween night. we thought it was a trick or treat night, but they only had little activities set up, so the boys were a little disappointed. ben took them to the candy store while porter and i went to godiva chocolates. i was only going to buy 2 pieces of candy, but to my surprise, they had cranberry truffles- my absolute favorite! plus they had all these crazy new flavors of truffles. needless to say, i bought 16 instead of 2 and have been enjoying 2 truffles a day.
today, the boys had their halloween party and parade at school. porter and i joined in for the parade and i am proud of us for walking the parade route with them. the boys are dressed up this year as spiderman- jonas is the "red" spiderman and gryffie the "black" spiderman- (venom). they had such a good time. both of them love their costumes as they have the built-in muscles. jonas' joke is "do you have tickets?" you respond "to what" and he says "the gun show" as he flexes his big muscles!
tonight the kellers will be joining us for trick or treating and bringing us delicious pizza! hooray. i am looking forward to enjoying some of the boys' spoils. pictures to come. happy halloween everyone!

i survived!

sunday gryffie was super sick- he threw up multiple times and had a fever. there was no way i could send him to school on monday. so, i decided to keep both jonas and gryffie home with me- as well as porter and our dog, george. (have i ever mentioned how outnumbered i am- 3 boys, boy dog, man husband- good thing). well, i also had to go to the doctor's office to get some bloodwork completed. ben left around 8:30 am and the boys did not wake until close to 9:00 am. by that time, i had already fed porter and he was happy lying in our bed. everything went smoothly and we were at the doctor's office 10 minutes before our appointment. now, those of you who know me well know that i am rarely on time for things, let alone early, so getting all 3 boys ready as well as myself and being early was no small feat! i admit, i was proud of myself. after the md, we went to the grocery store, too. (i had to pick up more happy pills, ie percocet, do some grocery shopping, and pick up some pics). no problem! the rest of the day went well, and i even had dinner on the table when ben got home. hey, maybe i can handle this 3 boy thing. well at least yeterday. today gryffie and jonas are back at school and right now both the baby and dog are sleeping. hooray! i plan on sending jonas and gryffin to school just 2 days a week while i am off work- it is nice to spend some time with them. they are such great little boys (even gryff despite his crazy tantrums this am- and waking up three times last night!) and have been so helpful with the baby. i am blessed.

pumpkin time

last monday we carved our pumpkins that we had gotten at trax farms. we figured we should probably do that before porter was born, as after, who knows what we could get done. the boys had lots of fun- although i realize we did not take an "after" picture... but here are some pics of the carving extravaganza!

it's been one week...

since my little porter was born! crazy how quickly time goes by. he is a pretty mellow baby, which is great. he still has all his hair and we had his md appointment yesterday. he is now 8 pounds, 8 ounces. still such a little guy, but i am happy that he has regained his birthweight and more. he is still nursing like a champ. if only i could get him to be happy laying down on his own. and sleeping in his own bed for more than 2 hours at night... here are just a couple pics of porter since he came home.

porter christian keller

porter joined our family yesterday, 10/15/08 at 11:15 am. he is 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. he is our smallest baby yet, but has the most hair. so far, porter seems pretty mellow- he squeaks more than he cries. he is a champ at nursing which is a relief. his birth was fairly uneventful- everything went well. we had a little drama after he was born when one of the nurses in the operating room fainted. we would like to thank everyone for all the well wishes and congratulations. here are some pics of our beautiful baby! and some of the boys as well. (ben took some pics in the operating room- but i didn't add ones where you can actually see anything- ie, the c-section, the placenta, porter when he just came out)

trax farms

we went to trax farms yesterday with ben's parents, sisters beth and sadie, and sadie's boyfriend, dustin. the weather was surprisingly warm for this time of year. we played and fed the animals in the petting zoo, took a hayride, went through the cornmaze, and picked our pumpkins. also, as tradition, we also went through the market and sampled the different apples and cider. after filling our carts with lots of fun treats, we ate lunch together (thanks to ben's parents!)-a mix of all the delicious food we found throughout. i always have to buy some fudge, just for me. it's fun to go each year and the boys adore it. here are numerous pics as well as a short video of jonas getting mauled by some goats while he is feeding them.

here to stay

well, i just had to let you know that sweet little george is here to stay! we picked him up sunday and so far, he is doing great! the boys are so in love. he has only had one accident in the house and he has made friends with buddy and sampson! we love our family walks together. he loves the backyard and is doing well. thanks again to may and dan for sharing their puppy with us- don't forget, you guys have visitation rights at any time!

and did i mention only 5 more days? i am doing well. i hit my 60 pound weight gain mark, however. oh well. i am looking forward to having little porter join our family- and being off work for 12 weeks! 12 weeks! how exciting! i look forward to spending time with the boys. my last night being on call is tonight. i figure i will work monday and then a half day tuesday. then after work tuesday, carrie and i are going to get pedicures. (did i mention i love that the gardners are back in town) then book group is that night. then the next morning, i have a baby. i think that is the nice part of having huge children and needing to schedule a c-section- i can plan ahead.

george

our friends, may and dan, have the cutest little beagle pup, george, who is about 4 mos old. we are considering becoming his new owners and had a trial run this weekend. there were some ups and downs, but overall, we had a great time with him. the boys, jonas especially, are already very attached, but right now is such a hectic time that we will probably hold off on taking him until about 1 week after the baby is born. we had so much fun with him this weekend, that i had to post some pics- i'm sure there will be some more in the future.

it's official

well, i have finally met with the md that will be delivering this baby and my c-section is officially scheduled. we will be having porter christian keller on wednesday october 15th at 10:30 am. this is a little earlier than i would like (9 days before my due date) but it should be ok. it's not like i have small children. gryffin was 10 days early and still 8 lbs 11 oz. also, there was a request for a pregnancy picture of me, so i thought i would post one- as unflattering as it may be. i have gained 53 pounds- gotta make a 9 pound child, right??? here is me in all my glory!

jonas-ism #4

jonas- "i want to be a teacher when i grow up.

rachel- "what do you want to teach?"

jonas- "i only want to teach the walls."

ben- "what do you want to teach them?"

jonas- "i want to teach them songs."

kennywood

we enjoyed a fun saturday at kennywood about 3 weeks ago. we went with ben's parents and aunt sadie. the boys had a blast! jonas and gryffin keep asking to go back and we sadly have to say, not until next year. it amazes me how excited they get for upcoming events. for example, we are planning to head to trax farms on october 10 for the fall festival (pumpkins, hayride, etc) and in each prayer, the boys always bless that we will have a fun time at trax farms in a couple days. it is fun to see them anticipate things they are excited for.

anyway, i do digress. here are a couple pics of our fun adventures at kennywood. i am still working to get the boys to look at the camera and smile (they are so dang stubborn!!!) but i think i got a couple good pics!

washington county fair

each year we venture down south to the washington county fair, usually accompanied by various members of ben's family. this year, chris is still on his mission (coming home in mid-november-yeah!) and beth had to work, so it was just ben's parents and sadie that we met. the boys love the fair- the atmosphere, the rides, the food, the animals, the hayride to and from the car. it is a fun time for all, despite me not getting my funnel cake this year. so sad! (of course, we did stop at sarris' candies on the way home for some small time sundaes!) here are a few pics of our family fun time.

ben's nemesis

some of you may know that ben was on crutches for almost a week approximately 2 weeks ago. well, i wanted you all to see his arch nemesis. the metal pole, sticking approximately 1 foot out of the ground at the end of someone's driveway.

ben has been training to run a half-marathon and then is hoping to run the pittsburgh marathon next spring. he often waits to go running until 8:00 pm, after the boys go to sleep. ben was nearing mile 8 of his 10 mile run when he was rudely accosted by this piece of rebar. not cool. the cut was 15 cm long, 1 inch deep and 1 inch wide. thank goodness ben happended to bring his cell phone with him. he called me, i called jane, our neighbor who came over within 5 minutes, and then ben's sister, beth, came and relieved jane. by the time i got to ben, he had already walked 1 more mile. we quickly went to the emergency room and were lucky to be in and out within 2 hours, 16 stitches later (thanks to my connection as emergency room social worker) and with ben hyped up on vicodin. the stitches have since been taken out, and ben's leg is healing. (we will not include pictures of the wound due to it's graphic nature, however, they are available by request).

brotherly love

sometimes jonas does things that surprise me. he and gryffin often bicker. usually jonas instigates and gryffin ends up biting or pinching jonas in retalliation. it can be quite annoying. but then there are those moments when i can really see how much they love and care about each other. they insist on sleeping in the same room together, even though they could be in 2 separate rooms. they love to wrestle and give each other hugs. yesterday, we went to red robin for dinner. i don't know if you are familiar, but they usually have balloons at the entrance for kids to take. well, gryffin picked his blue balloon and jonas his red balloon. we drove home from the restaurant, no problem. now, when we got out of the car, gryffie accidently let his balloon go and as ben said, he "gave the balloon to jesus." (ben is embarrassed that he said something "like that" and that i am letting everyone know as he never thought he would be one of "those" people.) gryff was very upset, and jonas, without skipping a beat, offerred his balloon to gryffie. it was one of those moments that made me feel happy and lucky to have 2 such good little boys.

jonas says...

one evening at dinner, jonas started singing this. who doesn't love a little wu-tang clan? make sure you check out his moves!

with grandma and grandpa keller

our last day in denver was spent with gma and gpa keller. we were lucky and had the flight home one day later than the rest of the family. we went to a farm with gma and gpa and then headed back to the kellers for some delicous dinner- spaghetti- and dessert- chocolate cream pie! it was nice for us, the boys especially, to spend more time with gma and gpa.

denver revisited

pictures as promised

5 weeks and counting

i don't know when this all happened, but apparently we are having another baby 5 weeks from tomorrow. crazy! these past 8 months have flown by. i am tired- and have gained quite a bit of weight- 51 pounds to be exact (60 the last 2 times, so this is normal i guess for me). i am excited to spend time at home with the boys and enjoy my 12 weeks off of work.

ben painted the nursery this week. we still need to wash all the baby stuff we have saved up. and we need to purchase a dresser and changing table. then we will be physically prepared. emotionally, that's a different story. i am very excited for little porter to join our family. i know it will be a huge blessing! and the boys are so thrilled to have a little baby around the house. but it all seems a bit surreal still! guess i better accept it now, huh?

on a side note, i am so excited to be here in pgh! and my best friend in the world, carrie, is now back in the burgh as well. i also had time today to connect with 2 of my good friends from florida- jamie and mary! you girls are the best! i am glad to hear that things are going well for you both!

i still need to post some pics from denver. and we have had more adventures this summer too- the washington county fair and kennywood (a local amusement park). i think that will be my goal for tomorrow night!

oh, no!

so, ben has just introduced me to facebook. i had heard of it before, but didn't think to check it out. i have now been playing on facebook for the last 2 hours- adding people from high school, college, church, etc. 2 hours! 2 hours that i really should be doing laundry or cleaning the house or really sleeping since i do have to be up for work at 6:30 am. but hey, it is fun. i am seeing people i haven't talked to in years.

alas, i should go. plus i am using ben's laptop and he is now back from running, showered, and ready to get on the computer. time to get the boys' lunches together, too, and head to bed. or i could get on the desktop...

the dance of the kellers

this was one of my favorite moments in denver: seeing gma and gpa keller dance! they have got some moves and it was definitely a highlight of the party! don't mind ben laughing as he records this-he enjoyed the dancing just as much as i did.

web slideshows

ok, so maybe i am having far too much fun with these web slideshows. i can't resist. i have wanted to add them in the past, but just now figured it out. it saves space on the blog, and i am proud of myself for learning to use them. hopefully i will not overuse them!!!

denver co

well, we got back wednesday from our trip to denver. it was gma and gpa keller's 60th wedding anniversary and we all had a big bash. we were going to drive but after our beach excursion, decided the 20 hours in a car with 2 tired and cranky boys might be too much. oh yeah, and a 6 1/2 mo prego me!!! unfortunately, our flight was delayed in pittsburgh, which caused us to miss our connecting flight in chicago. we attempted a later stand by flight, but had to stay overnight in a hotel, where we finally settled in a room at 12:30 am. the boys did so well. our 8 hour trip turned into a 24 hour trip, and i briefly regretted flying. but once we got to denver, everything was so much better.

it was a lot of fun to meet all of ben's extended family. i had met gma and gpa keller 2 or 3 times before, and joe and sharon (aunt and uncle) but it was great to meet ben's other aunt and uncle, rich and dee, and all their children. and their children. the keller clan seems to be growing. and we had a wonderful 5 days in co. now ben wants to move out west- either to vegas or denver. he is coming up with a "5 year plan." we'll see!

i will post pictures soon of our trip. and maybe a video as well!

the point

so, we were bored and decided to take the boys downtown to the point. we had quite an adventure. here are some pics of the boys at the point: walking along the water and enjoying the spray of the fountain. it was a hot one, but worth the heat to hang out together on our saturday off!

better late than never- july 4th

happy belated 4th of july. we decided not to venture downtown for the fireworks, but instead had our own party here at home. jonas is a big fan, gryffin not so much. here are some pictures of the fun.

stone harbor nj

we had a great time last week at the beach with all the kelly clan. gma and gpa kelly rent a lovely beach house each year and we got to soak up some sun and sand. the weather was fabulous. the boys- not so fabulous. both jonas and gryffin got hit with fevers during our week of relaxation. my tan was neglected, but it was still fun. i found i have a talent i did not know about: bocce ball. what fun! we had a kelly family tournament. the final: greg and me vs. scott and eddie (i think). unfortunately, it got dark before we could finish and bocce will be continued next year...