Instagrams from Quinn's Birth

Her birth story is in the post below this one! 

Quinn's Birth Story

On the day of Quinn's due date (Saturday, March 16), I had consistent contractions for several hours in the early morning, but by the time we called my doctor, gave the hospital a heads up, and got the boys ready to go, the contractions had dissipated. I was disheartened... and maybe somewhat in shock that she still hadn't arrived. (With the boys, my water broke 11 and 15 days early, respectively.)

Monday morning (two days after my due date), the same thing happened, but I was trying hard not to get my hopes up. Again, by mid-morning the contractions had spaced out quite a bit. I had a scheduled doctor's appointment that morning, and as soon as I described the contractions as distinct—strong enough that I didn't particularly want to talk through them—Dr. Stodgel shrugged aimiably and said, "All right! You check into the hospital, I rupture your membranes, you get the epidural, and a couple of hours later you have a baby!" No big deal!

He left it up to me whether I checked in or waited to see if the contractions picked back up. Heaven knows I was ready, so I called and told Ryan to come home from work. It was time!

At 1pm, I walked myself up to the maternity ward and signed in while Ryan dropped the boys off at the Bartons' house. (We owe you!) It was surreal; I was almost incredulous that I would have a baby that day. But by 2pm, the doctor had ruptured my membranes; by 4:30 I had gotten the epidural; and by 6:15, little Quinn had arrived!

She weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 22 inches long. We named her Quinn Leona—Leona having been my Grandma Wood's middle name. It is a beautiful legacy to carry, and I'm pretty sure Grandma gave her her last hug in heaven before sending her to us!

I kind of wish I weren't in this photo, because I look shrunken and somewhat shocked (which I was, because hello, I had just given birth!), but I really like Dr. Stodgel, so here it is. He also delivered Chase, so between two pregnancies, I've seen this guy a lot of times. :) I had very few questions or concerns throughout my third pregnancy, so we'd just chat like old friends during all of our visits. 

Introducing Quinn to the boys was one of my favorite parts of her birth. Trenton especially was intrigued and kept climbing up to stroke her forehead and softly say "Hi Baby Quinn." 

The highlight of my hospital stay was this text from Ryan: "Boys are on their way to pick up the girls." What a thrill to have both boys and girlS in this family! :)

When it was time to leave, the boys, Ryan, and two volunteers escorted Quinn and me out to the car in the wheelchair. Toward the end of our walk out, Ryan ran ahead to pull up the car, and he casually told the boys to "take care of Mom and Quinn." The next thing I knew I had a boy on each side of my wheelchair, each holding a handle. Everyone who passed us oohed and awed over what handsome escorts I had. They were taking their job very seriously!

We love you, Quinn Leona! You are going to be one well-loved baby sister!

She's just too beautiful!

I love this face so much! And this time around, I know how quickly they change, so I'm soaking it up and taking as many pictures as possible!

Quinn is two weeks old today and already more alert. She is now able to hang out contentedly for slightly longer stretches of time. She has been a better sleeper than I remember either of the boys being, but I think she'll outgrow her newborn sleepiness soon. :)

She smiled at me last night—while we made eye contact!! I know those smiles won't come consistently for a several more weeks, but it still made my day.

 Baby bundles really are the best.

 That face!

Unwrapped. :)

Baby Update

One of these days I hope to write Quinn's whole birth story, but a few pictures will have to do for tonight. I've got my hands full with the transition to three kids!

Trenton is such an invested big brother! At almost every nursing session, he sits RIGHT next to me, because according to him, he "likes to pet her head." He says sweet things regularly like, "She's so cute," or "I really love her."

And, especially during the first few days home, we constantly would catch him sitting or lying next to her, just staring. I'm proud of how well he's taking this in stride! Chase is doing well with it, too. He's not as crazy into her as Trenton is, but he does often say, "It's okay, Baby Quinn," if she fusses.

Here are a couple of fun pictures of our little sweetheart!

Baby stretches are the best! Sometimes the stretching goes on and on. My mom and I could watch her stretch all day!

It is hard to catch this girl with her eyes open! Love those sweet lips.

Our EPA House

In the spring of 2009, we bought a little house in East Palo Alto. I never blogged about it, but I want to include it in our family blog books, so here we go!

East Palo Alto is right across the 101 from Palo Alto, and although we all hope the area is gentrifying, the city's crime rates have historically been high. We bought the house in the best neighborhood of EPA (called "the Gardens"), but let's face it, it's still EPA! When we bought it, it was bank-owned and had been vandalized (which saved us quite a bit of money on the purchase price!). We spent a lot of weekends there, with eight-month-old Trenton in tow, participating in a bare-bones renovation of the house and yard. (You know, painting over graffiti inside that said "F da police"! Just a normal Saturday!) Our neighbors on both sides were wonderful the whole time we owned it.

Interestingly (annoyingly?), we found ourselves doing the exact same thing come winter of 2012/2013, thanks to a renter who bailed and left the place in poor repair. After the work and stress of spiffying it up again (most of which Ryan handled), we decided to casually look into selling. When we found out there were only nine houses on the market in the whole city, we decided to list it. After one open house, we got an offer we couldn't turn down, so this weekend, we said goodbye to our cute little house in EPA!

Although it was often a lot of work, it was a valuable learning experience for us, and we're grateful to have had the opportunity. We'll miss you, "Dirty House" (that's what the boys called it all winter), and we hope your new owners take great care of you! It's bittersweet to say goodbye!

The Latest of the Boys

Trenton - 4 1/2 Years Old

• Just after he turned four, this guy turned a corner. He's always been a sweetheart, but he had a major stubbon streak from about age 2 1/2 to 4. :) But now, he is SO easygoing, obedient, and helpful, especially with me being pregnant. He hops to it any time I drop something. The kid picks up more things off the floor day after day, at my request, than I probably do! 
• He does one chore every morning, unloading the silverware, as well as making his bed and brushing his teeth. 
• Usually his prayers involve him looking around and saying he's thankful for whatever he sees (the table, his shoes, his food, his bed, etc.), but the other night I talked to him beforehand about things that really make us happy and make our lives better, which we can thank Heavenly Father for. The one thing he said in his prayer a moment later was that he was thankful for "Mom's baby." I love my little sweetheart! 
• The other day I was sighing to myself about how quickly the house had gotten messy again, and Trenton said (cheerfully but fervently), "Having boys is a lot of work!" No joke! I told him it was but that I loved it. 
• He's not particularly interested in "academics," but he does know letters and numbers well, and he loves to read with me. He still struggles getting 13-20 in the right order, but we're working on it! Besides, how many four-year-olds know what "whops" are and how to ride them on a motorcycle? :) It's great to be a kid. 
• Trenton is very receptive to gospel teaching and loves to read the Book of Mormon every night. 
• He's thriving in his second year of preschool (at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church) and starts kindergarten in the fall! 
• He is awesome at reminding me every Monday that we need to have family night. SO helpful for this forgetful mama! 
• He's very coordinated on anything with wheels. You should see him stand up on his bike or little motorcycle when he wants to get more power. It's times like that that I just look at his skinny, long frame and wonder where my chubby baby went. He's growing so fast all the sudden! 

Chase - 3 Years Old 

• Chase is our resident goofball. He's imaginative and silly and, honestly, a little weird! Sometimes his constant chatter or his random body movements accompanied by loud gibberish sounds drive me nuts! He particularly likes to bust out the latter when I'm trying to get him dressed. Hmph!
• He still loves those "beadle friends," a few strands of red Christmas beads that get turned into everything from a finish line to a racetrack. They go in the car and in the bath—such a versatile toy!
• He is the instigator of most of the boys' play, and Trenton is beside himself with boredom on the rare occasions when Chase is napping or not with us. 
• He stopped napping several months before he turned 3. Now the two of them sit on the bed in their room and have about 25 minutes each of ipad time midday. I tell them when to switch, and they watch each other when it isn't their turn. Thank goodness for that little midday break for mom! M-Th are educational games, and F-S are "weekend games." 
• He is a messy eater. I think it's that creativity of his. He can't eat a banana and not pretend it's a ship and rub it all around the table. Subsequently, his daily chore is to wipe down the kitchen table after breakfast. :)
• The greatest insult in life you can give Chase is to call him small. He fairly regularly comes to me completely dejected, saying, "That boy called me small! I'm NOT small! I'm BIG!" (It probably doesn't help that Trenton's always talking about how he's bigger. Poor younger-brother complex!) 
• I bought Chase a big set of colorful gears for Christmas, thinking they'd be educational. Now, at Chase's idea, all the boys do is build them into "guns." Boys! 
• He's awesome on his balance bike and is so excited to start at Trenton's current preschool in the fall! 

Overnight in SF

Ryan and I had such a great time on our mini-getaway to the city!

Friday afternoon we dropped the boys off with our friends Sarah and John Farrell around 3:30. The boys barely gave us a second glance before they were off playing, and Ryan and I drove straight to the Omni Hotel, the same place we stayed the last time we did this, almost two years ago. In fact, our night was almost an exact recreation of that night. What can we say? We got it right the first time!

After sipping some complimentary hot apple cider and checking out our beautiful room, we headed on foot to Tony's, my favorite restaurant. It's about an eight-block walk, and I savored every minute of holding Ryan's hand; it becomes rare once you have two kids to hang onto! I relished being unrushed in the city, taking in the random sighs and smells, the tiny Asian markets that gave way to the glowing Italian restaurants of Little Italy.

Don't mind the no-flash, nighttime iphone photos!

After the best pizza ever, we walked a few blocks up Columbus to get hot chocolate from XOX Truffles, whose yelp reviews brought us in. Made from melted chocolate just like it should be!

I felt like a different person, walking the city at night! Usually I am homebound by 6pm at the latest!

Back at the hotel, we sat in the elegant lobby and talked for almost an hour. We agreed later that that time spent talking about our future was our favorite part of the getaway. 

The next morning my eyes hit the clock at 7:18, which is unheard of around our house because the boys wake up like clockwork at 7. I didn't even bother getting out of bed until almost 8!

(Our morning drinks spread, complimentary thanks to Ryan's hotel points.)

On our way home we made two quick stops at Honda and Toyota dealerships, because would you believe it's time to start at least thinking about a van? We will be a family of five in 8 weeks or less!