Move to Idaho

I'm playing catch up on the blog! I've fallen far behind. After Brad's graduation we had family and friends help pack us up and we headed out to Idaho! It took us four days to drive from Kentucky to Idaho. And Brad's mom was so awesome and drove the car with me and the kids so I wouldn't be by myself! I am so happy she came with us :) The trip went better than I thought....considering we had two small kids and a new baby and had to drive around 10 hours at least every day. The boys only had one day where they were just REALLY tired of being in the car and I don't blame them. It was fun to drive across country and get to see a few fun spots like Mt. Rushmore and Wall Drug. Here are some pictures from our trip.

 All packed up and ready to go!

 Badlands...so cool.

 Mt. Rushmore. It was a perfect beautiful day.

 Blake chillin with me at the hotel.

We finally made it!

Dr. Brad Griffitts

Brad graduated medical school May 17th and it was such an awesome weekend! I can't believe he is now officially Dr. Bradley Griffitts. I am so proud of him and I know he was meant to be a doctor. He works so hard and is so good at what he does.

The weekend started off with family coming into town. Brad's parents and my mom and my brother, Adam, came in to celebrate with us. Saturday morning there was a brunch for all the graduates and their families. They gave out special awards from the different medical departments at the school and Brad got the award from the radiology department! It was so fun to see all of our friends we made during medical school and get to celebrate with them.

Later in the afternoon was the graduation ceremony and it was so moving to see Brad walk across that stage and get his diploma. He has worked so hard and I am so proud of him for the amazing profession that he has chosen to be a part of.

Easter

It has been so wonderful and beautiful having our sweet Blakelee, spring weather, and Easter all coincide around the same time and to enjoy all the new beginnings of things. I am just feeling so blessed today for my sweet family and for my Savior Jesus Christ who made it possible for all of us to have a fresh start every day and to be able to be together with our families forever. I know my Savior lives because I have felt and seen his helping hand in my life when I felt all was lost and I continue to see it every day. I love Him and I know that He lived and died and rose again all because He loved us so much. Here are some pictures of our Easter celebrations:

 At our church's egg hunt on Saturday

 They decorated boiled eggs and had an egg roll down the hill. Look at that concentration :)

Easter morning finding their baskets

 The easter bunny made a visit to our house after church.

Blakelee Kate Griffitts

Our sweet little girl arrived Friday, April 11th! She is so sweet and we are so in love with her. It is such a beautiful and wonderful thing to have a new little baby join our family.

We went into the hospital around 2:00 a.m. Friday morning because I was having painful contractions and when we arrived I was dilated to 4 cm which was the same as I had been at my doctor's appointment the tuesday before. After just waiting in the room for an hour Brad and I went and walked around the hospital for an hour or so and when I came back a little after 4:00 a.m. I was dilated to 5 cm and not long after I started having really intense contractions and within only an hour or two when they came to check me again to their surprise (not mine...they never believe me when I tell them that once things start going with me they go REALLY fast!) I was dilated to 8 cm and they had to rush to get the antibiotics in my IV and to get the anestheiologist in there. I decided to try an epidural this time and part of it was that my contractions were a lot more painful earlier on this time (like when I was at 5-6cm) and because I did not know how long labor was going to last I decided to get one even though it ended up not happening until at the very end anyways because labor was not very long. But having it for the last little while was totally awesome! It was a very different experience being able to sit there and see what everyone was doing and thinking about our little girl that was about to come. With the boys I was always in so much pain at the end I was totally oblivious to everyone and everything and just had to concentrate on getting through the contractions and getting the baby out. So it was a very pleasant experience and I loved being able to relax at the end. Anyways, after I got the epidural we were just waiting for a doctor to get there (because the on call doctor was already with someone else in the middle of a c-section.) I was totally dilated and effaced and my labor nurse just kept telling me to fight the urge to push when I felt it because we were trying to keep my water from breaking for as long as possible before the doctor arrived. My water did end up breaking, but probably only 10-15 minutes before the doctor finally arrived and then when I had my next contraction and felt the urge to push I pushed and she came out after the very first push! And she was beautiful and perfect and it is just such an amazing moment seeing her come into the world and seeing her for the first time. I love her so much and I feel so blessed things went so well and that she is such a perfect, healthy baby.

Blakelee was born at 8:25 a.m. and weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19 inches long.

 The boys meeting her for the first time.

Getting all fancied up to come home.

Home at last