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.