Swagger Wagon!

That's right! We bought a van! It is a 2011 Toyota Sienna. We are very happy with our purchase. We had all 3 kids in the back seat of the Mazda before, and it worked... but Quincey and Maiya were always talking, fighting, playing. And now that we have more space I noticed an INSTANT change. Our drives are much more relaxing now. Which makes me look more forward to our trip to Disneyland and Oregon this summer.

A couple of my favorite features:

I love all of the space... and the 8th seat that can be stored in the back.

And I love that the windows come down in the back.  

When we bought our van, my sister reminded me that the Sienna is in the commercials as the Swagger wagon. So, I looked it up, and even though I am probably the last person in the world that had not seen it, it needs to be shown.....

2 months!

Miss Aftyn has been with us for 2 whole months!!! So far, everything has been really good. The transition has gone smooth. She is a great little sleeper, and we've gotten into a good routine.  All 3 children have had such distinctly different personalities from the get go.  I remember once Maiya learned to smile, you couldn't turn it off.  She smiled huge at everything and laughed at everything.  Aftyn's personality is much more subdued.  She CAN smile, but she really makes you work for it. She is very calm.   And, for right now at least, she doesn't mind being left alone even for long periods of time (like 30 min.).  The kids and I will be in a different room, and I will hear her cooing and just talking to herself. Though most of the time I go get her. It is so sweet. We are so happy to have her.

Don't Judge! I was busy over Christmas!

Yeah, I am a bit behind with posting these Christmas pictures.  But, I feel I have a good excuse.  Having a baby a few days before can put the Christmas blogging behind a bit, but I thought these pictures were too cute to not post.  So, better late than never...

Dressed in their new church attire :)

So glad they love each other <3

Pretty Maiya

Ha! Quincey's face is priceless.  He got the Woody doll that he wanted so badly.

And Maiya got her costumes... Santa came through for them. :)

AND a Buzz!  He must have been a good boy this past year.

Princess Piano for our Princess

And here is our real present, Miss Aftyn

She has changed so much already!

Before Christmas we got to do lots of fun winter festivities like:

Wear Santa hats and drink Hot Cocoa.........

Make Tortilla snowflakes.... (these were actually really yummy, we got the idea from here)

Visit Santa Clause (we only got a pic of Maiya with Santa, sorry Q)

And of Course, we got to make our own little Snow man. 

Overall, it was a very successful and memorable Christmas Holiday!

Siblings

Aftyn

Maiya

Quincey

Happy 5th Birthday Quincey!

My little boy is growing up!  He turned 5 today.  I let him pick what kind of birthday cake I would make, and he picked a Lego Cake!  So we went with the theme and had a fun Lego Birthday Party! He kept giving me hugs and saying this is the best birthday party ever.  I love my sweet boy. 

The Birthday Boy!

The Lego Cake (so fun to make... got the idea here)

The Lego Guy plates

Lego juice boxes

We played 'Lego, lego, who's got the Lego?'

I made this Lego Pinata out of a diaper box and tin cans... It was a lot of work, but worth it.

All in all the day was a success!  Happy Birthday Quincey!

The Past month

Well, It will be a month tomorrow that Aftyn has joined our family. Time sure goes fast! So far things have gone really smoothly. The transition has been very natural. Maiya is the little mommy. She loves her little sister and loves to help out. She gets really jealous and feisty if Quincey wants to hold her or pay attention to her, so most of the time he decides it's not worth the fight, and lets Maiya have all of the Aftyn time. But, he really loves her.
Aftyn is a really good sleeper, once she gets really asleep.  She loves to trick me.  I will feed her and burp her, and change her poopy diaper and she will be completely relaxed and then i will lay her down and try to go back to sleep and then 5-10 min later she will be grunting and uncomfortable, so I will pick her up and she will maybe burp again, or poop again, and then the cycle repeats maybe up to two more times.  With my other kids once they burped after each side, they would be good, but not miss Aftyn.  So, I have developed a fear of being woken up or what I like to call 'Awakaphobia'.  It is so hard for me to go back to sleep, because I am afraid I will be woken up in 10 min.
Other than that, I am doing well, my body is adjusting to little sleep. And she is so worth it.  Such a sweet little girl.  She has smiled at me a handful of times, I am excited for when she smiles more often. 
I have been getting so annoyed at my camera.  I see in front of me a beautiful girl with such good color, and then I take pictures and I get a red-faced, and spotty girlie. It makes me not want to take pictures.  I am getting better at changing the settings to get a better picture, and I have no idea how to Photoshop. I think that will be my next wish list item is a nice new camera.  Okay rant over. Here are some of my camera's handiwork......

Our little Reindeer, coming home from the hospital

Big Brother Q

Little Mommy Maiya

Love baby yawns

Aftyn's Birth Story

At my 39 week appointment my midwife told me that I was 90 percent effaced and dilated to a 3 and she would be surprised if I didn't have the baby within the next couple of days.  I didn't hold my breath at this because I remember I was that way with Maiya too and still went all the way to her due date.  But, I was still hoping that it would happen sooner.  But Alas!  My babies are all very prompt and on time!  With my other two babies my water had broken but it did not set me into contractions and so I had to be induced with them both.  So, I had doubts that my body would even be able to go into labor on it's own without the help of Pitocin.  BUT!  I really hoped that I could do it without being induced.  One reason being because everyone says that being induced makes the contractions a lot more intense and close together than without.  But also because the midwives said I wouldn't have to be tied down to the bed with cords and that appealed to me. 

So, my due date came along and I had an appointment at 9:40a.  I was dilated to a 5 and  90% effaced and babies head was at a station -2.  But still not feeling any regular contractions.  When she offered me to be induced I had mixed feelings, but mostly I just felt like I would have to be induced anyways, so I might as well, because I was ready to be done.  So, through tears I told her to go ahead and set up the induction and I gave up my hopes for a natural birth.  The induction was set for Dec. 22nd at 5am.

I called Geren and stopped by his work because I was feeling so emotional.  He was so calm and comforting and assured me that he felt very strongly that the baby would come that day.  I went and picked up Maiya (Quincey stayed at his friends house) and we decided to go to Olive Garden to have a 'Due Date' celebration.  We had so much fun (even though there was hardly enough room for my belly at the table we sat at) and she felt very special. 

After lunch we went home and I rested and watched a movie.  While I was resting I noticed a slight pain in my back that hung around for awhile so I started timing it and noticed it was coming about every 2-3 min for about a minute long.  When Geren came home I had been timing them for 1hr and a half.  So, I decided to call the midwife because even though they were very mild I was already at a 5 so I didn't want to risk going to fast.

We got to the hospital around 4:30 pm.  The midwife came and checked me around 7 pm.  My contractions were still as mild as they were before.  Her intent was to break the water to get the contractions going.  I was dilated to a 6 and 90% effaced, but the babies head had gone up to a station -3 and so she couldn't break the water because of risk of getting the cord involved.  So, they told me to get up and walk around and try to get the babies head engaged.  So, we walked and walked and walked.  At 9:45pm my midwife checked me again, I was now at a 7 and at a station -2!! So she went ahead and broke my water.  AND IT WORKED!!!  It took about a half an hour of severe contractions and back labor and I was at a 10.  Then, I pushed and PUSHED AND PUSHED!!!! For an hour I pushed.  And at 11:41 pm she was born!  And I wasn't surprised when they told me she was 9 pounds 4 ounces, I knew she was definitely my biggest baby.  (Quincey was 8 lb. 7oz. Maiya was 7 lb. 8oz.).  My midwife was definitely surprised because she guessed 'maybe barely 8 lbs.' 

I was so happy and proud of myself and my body for being able to go into contractions without extra medicine.  And what they say is right.  The biggest difference I noticed is that I had more time in between contractions to rest this time.  When I was induced they were a lot closer together.  With that said.... I was so spoiled with Maiya.  I didn't have to push at all, and so I just kinda figured I wouldn't have to again.  But! I did, and it stunk.  During the pushing stage I remember saying, "Why do I have to do this with out pain meds???  Why don't I get an epidural like everyone else!"  I also was yelling at Geren asking why we had to have such big headed children!  The nurses thought I was hilarious, Apparently extreme pain brings out my funny side.

All in all it was such a great experience.  I loved my midwives, loved all of the extra freedom I felt during delivery.  And Geren was such a great help.  In fact, the midwife told me afterward how impressed she was at the support he gave me, and how involved he was and never told me to just get medication (which is how she says a lot of dad's react).  She said we were a joy to watch.  (I am glad so many people love watching me in pain).

Aftyn and I are doing really well.  She is a champ eater.  She has such a strong suck!  It hurts, but we are getting through it.  The most pain I feel is in my neck, shoulders, and arms from pulling on the bars while I was pushing.  We are so happy that she joined us before Christmas.