Meet Quentin

Everyone, meet Quentin Jacob Somerhalder. He came into this world August 2 at 7:31 p.m. weighing in at a whopping 8 lb 2 oz (Aaron and I had made guesses before he was born of gender and wt: Aaron boy, 7lb 6oz, Lindsay- boy 7lb 8 oz. Both Daniel and Lenna were in the 6 lb range. Thank goodness Quentin was not our first!). The delivery went well (skip this part and follow * if you don't want to hear me ramble about the delivery). I took a little jog the night before (I was a little antsy- I didn't think I would actually make it to my due date) and the next morning did an prenatal pilates video. I don't know if these things got things moving or not, but by early afternoon I was having heavy contractions inconsistently and called up Aaron so we could head to the hospital. Because my contractions weren't super frequent, I was scared I wasn't progressed in labor far enough so we took a little tour of a Trader Joe's near the hospital. I think I need to shop there. Anyways, we got to the hospital around 4 in the afternoon, went into triage. I was still at a 4-5 (which is where I had been on Wednesday at the OB's), so they had me wait in triage for an hour to see if I was progressing. We were a little frustrated because I knew I was in labor and would be back in there by that night if they did send me home. Luckily, I had progressed by the hour and was admitted. At 7 the nurse checked me again and I was almost at a 10. By then contractions were getting pretty severe and frequent. Then my contractions really kicked into gear and I tried not to writhe off the bed. I knew there was an end in sight, though, and even though my contractions kicked my trash the actual pushing of his little body out didn't take long. The OB had to rush in a little bit but not anything crazy. My water never broke, she broke it when Quentin was crowning (which I appreciated- it hurt enough just pushing him out and the amniotic sac added additional bulk- though it would have been cool for him to be born "in caul"- though also, the cord was wrapped around his neck so better to just break it and remove said cord. ). It took a little bit of time before he started crying, which was a little scary but he pinked up real quick and was just fine.  

* All in all, a really good labor, pretty much what I was hoping for and now we have cute Quentin AKA Quen, Quent, Q, little man, and of course, baby Quentin.

Here are the millions of pictures you really care about. It is almost ten and I should be sleeping since that was what the infant is doing but I know some of you have not been able to see this adorable guy in person, so here you go! They are out of order. Lo siento- I have faith you will get the general gist. 

After delivery. I definitely was on a little bit of a rush.

In triage

 During a contraction (not the writhing ones quite yet, by then Aaron was helping me)

 YAY!

 My awesome OB

 Before going to the hospital

 Aaron was great during the whole hospital stay- he is an amazing husband and father.

 Baby shots done yesterday by my talented friend Jessica.

With Grandma Julie

 Kids meet Quentin!

Thanks for the booties Aunt Whitten!

Happy Birthday!

 Cousins!

 Grandma and Grandpa Pete!

Back to hospital shots- the kids loved my bed.

 Grandpa Ripp

 Grandma Ripp/Mom!

 The kids ask to hold him all the time and have been really gentle. They are adjusting really well!

2013- the post you've been waiting for

I finally uploaded pictures! Here is what we've been up to the first few months of 2013 (I think it's going to be a good year). 

I love this picture. Especially in the winter Daniel and Lenna were into getting "snuggled up." And who better to than that handsome man?

 K, so we went to Disneyland in January and it was wonderful! I adore Disneyland and wondered how it would be with kids. I had such a good time seeing their delight and enjoying the magic of the place.
This is the classic Disneyland scene. Lenna ran up to Minnie with her arms open and gave her a hug. It was awesome.

Yay!

Lenna did pretty well meeting the characters-- Daniel not so much. When we forced him to go up there with us (many of the times, he just sat back). He would cover his face in this manner.We went with our great friends the Kings- which made it even more fun!

 Princesses!!

Even at Disneyland bubbles stole the show for a while.

I love Aaron's face in this. He took the kids on anything spinny, since Lindsay would have vomited even if she wasn't pregnant. The kids did surprisingly well on the rides- which probably helped our general enjoyment of the happiest place on earth.

The one shot of Daniel smiling with a character! Notice how Aaron is holding his hand down.

Another precious Disney postcard moment.

We got one of those huge turkey legs and the kids loved it almost as much as me (I really like them- they're meaty, cavemanny, get all over your face, make people envious and nauseous all the same time, tastiness.) Daniel, of course, loved anything edible.

There are tons of Disney pics. I am hoping to make a book before baby surprise comes. 

Random picture of the kids in dress up.

Dunnananana.... blackmail!

Valentine's Day!

Poor Lenna got her little trash kicked a week before her birthday in March. She had never done so much day time sleeping in her life.

Luckily when her birthday actually came around, she was feeling pretty good. We made popcorn and watched Wall E in the morning of her birthday. I would say this is only a birthday occurance, but we do it probably once a week- still.

The Walle E cake. I will say, I am proud of this cake. And she talks and jumps around about still. "Wall E cake- my birfday??!!"

 She is such an adorable and happy child. She is naturally happy and gregarious, and charms people the minute they lay eyes on her. And, she knows it. This girl can throw a tantrum. She will be the terrible two's people talk about. It is easy to get frustrated with her but hard to stay mad long because she is so affectionate, dramatic, and sweet. We love you Lenna! (or "Nen" if you're Daniel)

Now, for my handsome boy. His smile melts my heart. He is becoming more of a big boy. He is very logical and smart and has a million why's for the why question he just asked. He is still very impatient, and won't try to do something more than once if it doesn't come easy to him, but is good at most things and likes to please, so we really don't run into trouble much. Within the past few months he has become a little charmer and will say things like, "you're the best mom ever!" or "you look beautiful mama, " or "thank you, thank you wonderful mama!" He understands very well about the new baby coming and likes to touch my belly and just say "baby." Love you Daniel!

The morning of his birthday we had a bunch of balloons with "Daniel" printed on them. He was thrilled.

Frosting face making Daniel's birthday cake. 

He got an ice cream maker from my mom (the boy likes to eat- esp. "something sugary"). We made ice cream that night.

For birthday party we rented a bounce house to the delight of every child there (such a good way to go and really not that expensive!).

Presents were chaotic and I don't think he really knew what he got until the end of the week. (That night the little stinker, when asked, "Did you have a good day today?" said, "Well, it was ok, I wish I got more presents." I had to leave the room and take deep breaths.)

Random picture of me pregnant. I think this was in late February, so like 4 months?? I am definitely not that small anymore.

 We went up to Pine Valley in March and had a wonderful time.

One of my favorite pictures.

We went to Snow Canyon in St George. I've never been there before, but it was really neat. There was an area of flat rocks (I think it was called petrified sand dunes) that we spent an hour and a half at. It was right up Daniel's ally and Lenna loved it too.

The ubiquitous fireplace family photo. 

These are out of order, but here are some pictures from Easter. 

Lining up for the great egg hunt. 

At my mom's new house. 

Making Easter eggs.

Easter formals.

And now we're back to Daniel's birthday (not sure what happened with the order of the pictures, I downloaded them sequentially, but it's not worth the time of moving them all). I did a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake (not quite the Wall E cake, but still not too shabby).

Random FHE activity picture. We made graham cracker churches with leftover mickey clubhouse frosting.

I am a little afraid I am creating a Disney monster with my kids. I swear it's not the only thing they watch or the only characters they like (we have been in to Nick Jr. lately). But I  love Disney, so I think we might all be doomed.

Lenna moved into a "big girl bed" last week. She has not put herself down for a nap since. Le sigh. She loves her Minnie bed. I think her Minnie doll gets more sleep than Lenna or Aaron and I do though. :)

Summertime here we come! Sorry for the wait and length of this post. Hasta.