Quentin Blaise is here!

Quentin is HERE! He was born October 12, 2017 at 7:40 am. He was 8 lbs 7 oz and about 21 inches long. Here is his birth story letter:

Dear Quentin,

We are overjoyed to have you in our family. It felt like we waited so long for you to come, and mommy had a really hard time during her pregnancy with you, but that made it so much sweeter to have you here. This is the story of your birth:

On Tuesday, Oct 10, I thought I felt my bag of waters leaking, but I wasn't sure. I went to bed and it seemed that during the night and the next day I was leaking, but I wasn't sure it was amniotic fluid, I thought it was maybe just the mucous plug. As the day wore on, I was more and more convinced it was amniotic fluid. It was a busy day, and I was trying to get laundry done, go shopping for last minute baby things (like the rock and play, which you love sleeping in), and picking the girls up from school. After school we went to the store because Alana has had a huge growth spurt and needed some new clothes. Charlotte had violin lessons with Cami Austin at 5, and she had a great lesson.

That night, October 11, the girls had activity days and Amy Chiodo offered to take Alana and Charlotte. She came early and brought pizza. That was funny because I had made pizza the night before, and we had a ton extra. But it was kind of Amy to bring dinner. Daddy was at school late because he was trying like crazy to get his dissertation done before the weekend. Anyway, while Amy was here I felt more fluid and I became sure it was amniotic fluid. I called the hospital and they said definitely to come in. I sent a message to daddy. Here is the google chat conversation:

I love you! I am 99% sure my fluid is leaking, but no contractions. Just small bits here and there. Either that or I keep peeing myself.
I am not sure if we need to go to the hospital tonight. I think they would just put me on pitocin, which I would rather avoid... Crystal

ok
Do you need me to take or pick up alana and charlotte for A days? If not, I'd like to work out real quick
Stuart • Oct 11, 4:52 PM 

Amy is going to
Crystal Oct 11, 5:08 PM
I think you need to come home now. I am pretty sure it is my water and baby isnt moving a ton

ok
do you think we need to go to the hospital?

Yes. I just called and they want me to come in even though I am not contracting

So I will get everything ready for the kids to go to Amys and when she brings the girls back we can head in. He isnt moving much even though I ate chocolate and had juice so Im kinda worried.

Will you please give me a blessing when you get home?

After that, I started bustling around to get everything ready for your sisters and brother to stay the night at Amy's house. I had prepared a hospital bag for you and I, but I didn't think about the kids.

When Dad came home he gave me a blessing. I was stressed because I knew that since my water was broken and I was having no contractions, the doctor would insist on me having pitocin, and I wasn't sure I would be able to make it through labor without an epidural, which I was willing to have, but only if necessary. Also, I knew that I would be in labor all night and I would be so tired. I am always scared of being tired because I don't function well with too little sleep. I get really crabby and say things I don't mean. In the blessing, Daddy blessed me to be able to give birth with no pain. I was annoyed at that because labor and birth are painful. BUT, it is amazing because actually later I did not have any pain when I was pushing you out. I will explain more about that.

Daddy and I waited because we wanted Amy to be home before we took Seth and Esther to the Chiodo's, but we ended up taking them because David was home. We chatted with him for a bit. I called my mom but she didn't answer. Then she called me back and I told her what was going on and she told me to just get the pitocin and epidural and try and rest. We realized we left some of the kids' stuff at home, so we went home and met Amy there (she had gone to the store after A days). Then we headed off to the hospital and to triage, arriving about 9:30 pm. I was already so tired.

In triage they assessed that my water had, indeed, broken. I wanted to make sure you were in a good position, and the doctor was ok with holding off on pitocin until 1 am. In hindsight, I should have just started it right away. We were admitted to a room around 11, and I tried to walk around but was just SO tired. I wasn't contracting yet either. I didn't really like the nurse. She was kind of rough and she was just so sure I would be a quick delivery. I probably would have if she hadn't rubbed me the wrong way, lol. Daddy and I tried to rest, but every time I would start to drift off to sleep, someone would come to check me, take blood samples, etc. It was annoying.

They started pitocin at 1 am, and by 3 I was ready for the epidural. I was having to focus and breathe through every contraction. I was dilating, but I don't remember the timeline for how fast I progressed. I couldn't get the epidural until around 4:30 because I had to have a whole bag of fluids to make sure the epidural didn't drop my blood pressure. It is not a pleasant experience getting an epidural, and afterwards I could still feel pain near my right hip. The nurse helped adjust me and I was able to rest a bit. She kept coming in and I would have not progressed as much as she though I would. She thought you would be born at 5, then 5:30, then 6. But you didn't come. The nurse went off duty around 7 and a new nurse come on. The new nurse was so happy and sweet and had an easy going manner. She came back in a little later and I was ready to push. I couldn't feel anything then, which was nice after how painful it was to have your brother Seth. Dr. Collins was able to deliver you. I had a contraction and breathed into the pushing, and you were out in 2 pushes! I couldn't believe it!

They put you on my chest and I saw your little hands and your fingernails were the same as Grandpa D's. That was my first thought, isn't that funny? You were kind of purple and not crying and the nurse rubbed you with a towel and you coughed up some gunk and started breathing. It was an amazing experience to see you come into this world! I got to cut your cord, which is really cool to me because it was the thing that connected us to each other for 9 months, and I love that I got to do that.

I am so glad you are here. I have more to write about our time in the hospital and your first week here on earth, but I will save that for another letter.

Love, Mommy

"Awawa not girl, it's Awawa" by Alana

I was explaining to Seth that Mom,Charlotte, Esther and me are girls, and that he and Daddy are boys. When I said that I was a girl, he said "No, Awawa not girl, it's Awawa!"
We asked him "Is Daddy a boy?"
"Yes, Daddy a boy."
"Is Sethy a boy?"
"Yes, Seth a boy"
"Are Charlotte and Esther and Mommy girls?"
"Yes, they girls."
"Is Alana a girl?"
"No, it's Awawa!"

No matter how hard we tried to explain that I am a girl, he just kept saying I was not a girl, I am just Alana. It was so funny and cute!

Familyversary Trip to St. Louis

This was a busy year for us. Stuart taught seminary every day, which took a lot of preparation. He also had a class to teach on campus, plus trying to start his dissertation. He was completely burned out by the end, and I wanted to do something special to help him get away and relax. At first I thought I could find an overnight babysitter and take him to Kansas City for a night, but that was too difficult, so I planned a trip to St. Louis for the whole family. We left Thursday afternoon and got home Saturday night. We had a great time.

St. Louis is a really neat city. The downtown area is really cool, with the tall buildings, the arch and the river. There are lots of free attractions, such as the zoo and the science center, and of course there is the temple. The suburbs are really nice and the roads and everything are really well kept. We stayed at a Marriott about 9 minutes from the temple. We got there Thursday evening, and I took the kids swimming. Friday morning, we woke up and went to the zoo. It was an awesome zoo, and the best part was that it was FREE!! The kids especially loved the Herpetarium and the insectarium, the latter of which had a butterfly garden that was magical. They spent the most time in those places. It was hard for me to walk around, and Seth just wanted to wander all over, but Stuart was happy to humor Seth and we all had a great time. Near the hippos there was an aquarium with tons of fish. I guess it was also a hippo pool, but I didn't see them. The kids were so fascinated with everything, and they were busy looking, so I went to the back where I could oversee everything, but it was really crowded and I must have gotten distracted. 10-15 minutes later the kids were done looking and ready to move on. Stuart needed to use the restroom and I couldn't find Esther. He left, and I realized Esther was really gone. She was nowhere to be seen. I was really upset, but felt an inner calm. After a quick prayer, I immediately thought to call the zoo and see if they could connect me with someone to help me find her. I called, dialed the operator, and said "My 5 year old is missing. I'm by the hippos."

"What is her name?" they inquired.

"Esther," I desperately replied.

"We have her right here, she is pretty upset. Stay there and we will bring her to you."

It took about 10 minutes, and in the meantime I had sent Alana and Charlotte off in the other direction to find her. In hindsight that was a bad idea. Alana came back without Charlotte, so then Stuart had to go find Charlotte, but he somehow missed the message that they had found Esther and were bringing her to me, so he kept looking for her. I got Esther back and just squeezed her and felt so grateful to have her! Finally got across to Stuart that we had Esther, but we had to walk a ways to meet up with him and Charlotte.

It was pretty stressful, but I can see how the Lord was protecting our family, especially Esther.

After that we went to McDonalds, then drove around downtown to see the arch and cross the Mississippi River.

We then went back to the hotel. I took the kids swimming again after resting, then I went to the temple, which was an excellent experience. I really felt the Spirit and was so glad to be there.

The next morning, Saturday, we checked out of the hotel and Stuart went to the temple. I took the kids to the park and then we went to Target and bought a toy for each of them and some clothes that Alana had been needing. After we picked Stuart up we went to California pizza kitchen, which was yummy. That's a restaurant we don't have in Arkansas.

After that Stuart dropped us off at the Science Center so he could park and take a little nap. The Science Center was ok. I met another Mormon family and talked with the mom, which was cool. There were some cool exhibits and the kids played a bit, but it was stressful being by myself and Seth kept running off.

After that we drove home.

I am so grateful to have been married to Stuart these past 12 years. He is my rock. He loves me despite my faults, and I love him despite how much I nag him. I still get giddy thinking about him sometimes. It is nice that he has more free time now that seminary and teaching an audit class are over. He is more relaxed, home more, and more mentally available to us, which is awesome. He is the best partner for me and I thank the Lord every day for him.

Zum Gali Gali song

Alana's University of Arkansas Children's Choir Spring 2017 Concert

Alana had a great year with the children's choir. She learned some wonderful new songs and we enjoyed hearing her sing them around the house. Her siblings even picked up on many of the songs, so Seth, Esther, and Charlotte enjoyed the concert because the songs were familiar.

It was dark which made it hard to get a good picture from the back of the auditorium. The choir performed in a beautiful concert hall on campus.

click on the title to see the video:

Zum Gali Gali

We are marching in the Light of God

Freedom

After the concert we walked around the University of Arkansas Campus and got ice cream at Braum's. It was a perfect night.