The Day My Sister Became A Mother

This is the only pic I got of Quinn on my camera. I don't know how that happened.

I have to say a little about Paige and Danny and their new little girl Quinn! To make a long story (that's not even mine) short and sweet Paige was in early stages of labor for over 30 hours. And I use the technical term "early stage" because of how much she dilated in that amount of time but boy oh boy it was a long day and a half for her. When I got the go ahead to make the drive to be with her early Monday morning I packed quickly, got Cooper off to school and headed for San Diego to meet my friend Joni who would be keeping Jack and Adele for the next day or so. I ended up at Paige's around 11:30 that morning. She made a sandwich, we went for a walk outside and she showed me around. All the while she had regular contractions that I could tell were very uncomfortable. At around 12:15 when we were back inside and she was sitting, her water broke. We jumped into our cars and headed for the hospital. A long and painful 15 hours later Quinn was born! I saw Paige go through every long (2-3min) contraction with an epidural that never really worked for her completely. She had to push for a long time and that little girl's head just didn't want to come out. She almost had to go for a c-section but the vacuum, some serious pushing from Paige and clever maneuvering from the Dr did the trick. 

There was so much more that she went through but I'll let her tell the story :)

I was so thankful to be there. Thankful to sit back and watch her and her husband, Danny, do it all together. He was a great support for her. I remember at one point, when things were a little intense, seeing her looking at him to just get through it and I could tell that he was a rock for her. I was thankful to somewhat (barely) fill the shoes of my mother who I knew desperately wanted to be there with Paige. I was also very thankful to be one of the first people to lay eyes on the perfect baby that Paige grew in her tan belly. (You would laugh if you actually heard how many times Paige said how much all that hard work at the pool paid off this summer.) Paige and Danny are in love with Quinn. Paige is a proud momma and I love seeing her that way. She was meant for it. And that little girl, she's pretty dang cute. I guess making cute babies just runs in the family. I think Adele should be a little scared of her competition but I know in the end they'll be bffs.

Speaking of beautiful babies, here are a few recent pictures of my darling children:

This is my life now

Sad story. My camera is broken :(

A week ago we went to the alpine slide up at Big Bear Lake. I had my camera for that and forgot it on the table on the way out the door. We took some pictures on our phones but they just aren't the same. We had a minor accident on the slide...Jack and I slid off the sled on the slide (say that 5 times fast) and he got a small burn on his cheek and ear and I got a massive burn on my upper inner left arm along with a few other spots on my arm and one on my knee. It's been a rough week healing from it. Really rough: infection, tears, peeling off bad parts and stuck gauze... Tub full of blood one afternoon....I'll spare you.

This last Saturday was when the camera broke. We took the kids to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles for the day after I bought an amazing membership that I'm going to have to post about. EVERY FAMILY NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT IT! More on that later....

We got there, I took two pictures then it wouldn't zoom in or out or focus. What the heck!? So we took more pictures on our phones...But the museum was totally awesome. Just like the movie Night at the Museum. The boys loved the dinosaurs. Adele was terrorized by the stuffed polar bear. We hit up Red Robin on the way home and vegged out that night. All in all it was a great day as a family.

Jake started school yesterday. It was one of the first days in a LONG time of me by myself with the kids, ALL DAY. It went just like any other day pretty much. We did some chores, we played, we went to the grocery store, we cooked dinner, had FHE. But it was all without Jake. That will take some getting used to. There were actually a few moments during the day that I thought to myself, "This is my life now." A little daunting, a little stressful...but also a serene feeling. It's kind of hard to explain. It's like I have been given the blessing of being able to enjoy my children and slow down for a bit. Something I'm not used to and something that I'm going to have to work at. I really look forward to this time in my life though. I enjoyed the last bit but there are so many things I look forward too about being home all day and playing. All I can say is thank goodness for pinterest. I'm going to need creative ideas for things to keep us busy at home, and on a budget. If I find anything extraordinary, I'll letcha know!! Like this museum membership....tomorrow. My hubby just got home and it's my 30 minutes in his schedule for the day :)