A Family Trip

I wanted to put up a couple pictures of when we went to Disneyland....

Last week, my friend invited me to go see a Keaton Simons play at a her friends house in La Quinta. He one of my favorite musicians right now. During a break, Keaton asked if he could hold Lincoln. It was really cute. I learned that Keaton and a Linc were both born in water! I'll leave a link so you can check out some of his music ;0)

This weekend Keaton and a few other bands were playing a show in L.A at the Hotel Cafe, so we stayed out in L.A, and brought the kids w/ us. We all went out to dinner before hand at on of Hugh's favorite places and the Hugh went to the show with some of our friends and I stayed and hung out in the room with the kids.

The next day we all slept in and went to a Sunday lunch at Jerry's famous Deli. SOOO YUM! Then, we visited the La Brea Tar Pits. I remember going there as a kid. The girls really enjoyed it!

Lincoln Boaz is here!!!

Lincoln Boaz was born early sat morning March 14th weighing 8lbs 60z 21 in long ;0)
It was Friday the 13th, and my hubby and his friends left the house at 8pm and went to play poker.
I remember at 9pm after i put my girls to bed that I hadn't had dinner yet but I wasn't hungry at all. Anyways, i cleaned up the kitchen and picked up around the house. it was about 10'45 pm when i sat down to watch t.v that i thought i had a contraction. It was so short, lasting less than 10 secs, so i ignored them. Well at 11ish pm i thought it would be fun to time them. They were happening about 6-7 mins apart, but still only 10 secs long.
I felt bad calling my hubby, but something told me that I should. He was at a poker table and it was really loud when he answered, but as soon as i said "...contraction.." he ran out of there and round up his friends to get home. it was really funny how quickly he responded, and how relaxed and mellow i was.
He wanted to start setting up the tub right away, and i was praying that my contractions wouldn't stop. I didn't want to have to fill and drain the tub. At about 12:20am the tub was up, not filled yet, but ready, and we decided to sit down and watch some late night t.v. At 1am, we agreed that we should go to bed. Hugh fell asleep right away. I tried to fall asleep but couldn't, now that the contractions were getting stronger, and now about 5 mins apart, but still very short. When I got up to go to the bathroom, i thought it would be a good idea to call my family and midwife since the had a 1hr+ drive to my house. I stayed in bed till an asst midwife showed up (3am) and took my b.p and pulse. I was having to breath through my contractions at that point and the took all my attention.
I started having back labor at around 4am, and my midwife suggested i get on all fours so they could put pressure on my back. I had an urge to push, and i didn't even realize it until my midwife said "was that a push??" i said i think so...lol
I got right into the tub and my back pain almost disappeared! It was so relaxing! I started pushing with every contraction from that point and my water broke on its own and 2 pushes later came his head! I turned around and felt my baby and started to cry. It was a couple minutes until i had another contraction and out he came!! It was amazing! he was born at 4:50am. He didn't cry just looked all around. My placenta came in about 10 mins after and my hubby cut the cord when it was though pulsing.
My kids slept through the whole thing and my mother in law woke them right when he was born and the saw daddy cut the cord.
I couldn't believe i had him! I never had a VE, so it was so cool to trust that my body would push him out when it was ready :)

Nursing started out challenging, and I got really engourged and sore. But now were doing great, and it isn't any trouble at all ;)

Linc was weighed 4 days after he was born a was already 8lbs 10oz. He never lost any weight! He is such a calm and mellow baby PTL!

We actually went to Disneyland yesterday for a few hrs. He did great. Hugh had him in the 'Byorn and I would take him out to feed. I got to go on Splash Mountian with Ryann! It had been so long since I have been able to go on a ride like that. It was nice to get out of the house as a family, and suprise the girls by taking them to Disneyland!

Hopefully I can be on here soon again to update, and get some family pictures soon!

Home Birth Rocks!!!

Jeni

Baby Shower time and sickies

Hey! Sorry it's been awhile..

Time seems to be going by so fast!

Ryann is still loving school. She is now ready for Friday to come because she gets to sleep in ;0) The kid is just like me, hard to wake in the morning, and loves to sleep in! She has been enjoying doing her homework and helping pack her lunch for school. Going to her school's basketball games these last couple weeks have been really fun for her and us. This year both girls and guys made it to CIF. Ryann and Reagan both love watching the cheerleaders and cheering for the players. One of Ry's teacher's has a daughter on the team, so she gets excited to sit with her teacher instead of us..lol

Reagan loves her mornings with mommy. We are usually out and about together until we pick up Ry. One of Reagan's favorite things to do is go to the Living Desert and watch the mini trains. She loves trains!! Last week I took her to chuck-e-cheese at 10am and we had the place to our self. The maintenance guy was testing all the rides and games, and they kept spitting out tickets....so he let Reagan have them. We left by 11:30 and had over 200 tickets, and I didn't spend any money on tokens... Reagan pickes out a prize for her, and Ry, it was so sweet.

Last weekend I had my baby shower. My friends Meg and Farah, and Sister Leanna threw it for me! They did such a good job too. It was outside, sunny and perfect weather. I got some great gifts, and I have already washed, put away and organized everything ;0)

Later that night Hugh and I went to a charity dinner/auction on Palm Springs. I wasn't feeling well by the time I had to get ready. When we got there, I felt horrible and my throat felt so sore. I ended up completely loosing my voice and couldn't speak AL ALL! Hugh was taking me around and introducing me to all these new people, and I would just smile....lol (Hugh did mention to them that I had lost my voice.) I must have met about 20 people that night, and never said a word~!

It wasn't until Tuesday (3 1/2 days!) until I got my voice back. It was so strange to whisper to the girls, and not speak to them. I did notice however, that the girls stayed so quiet! They were even whispering back to me when they talked..it was really cute. But, I'm feeling 100% better.....but Hugh is sick now :( I made him some homemade chicken noodle soup (recipe from my mom. The best ever!!) and he is getting some much needed rest. Hopefully by tomorrow he will be feeling better.

Well, I cant believe that we're about 3 weeks away from my due date. I can't believe how fast these weeks have gone by. My midwife Karen, came to our home Wednesday and discussed the "birth" plans. We are all set for baby to come. I get really anxious thinking about the homebith. I cant wait to post up pictures and my write about the birth story :)

Anyways, it's getting late, and I should go check and see if my sicky hubby needs any water or Tylenol..

Love,

Jeni

Hello There ;)

Well, Ryann has survived 2 weeks of school already. I'm sure "surviving" is wrongly said because really, if you ask her, that is her favorite part of the day. She is going Monday-Thursday till 12:30. Last Thursday I said, "Ryann do don't have school tomorrow, it's Friday!" She told me, "How boring!" Yeah...she loves it ;) I love picking her up each day, and hearing her stories about how it went. She is learning so much already, and making so many new friends. Reagan and I have had some great time together as well. She is a funny girl! As we wave good-bye to Ryann and Daddy in the morning she tells me, "Just Reagan and Mommy" ahhhhh

For Ryann's bday we went to Disneyland and had a great time.(till the end..lol) Aunt Rosie and Uncle Gary came as well as our friends Priscilla and Josh. They also have two girls, and watching them play was too cute. As we left the park that night we realized that Ryann was supposed to get a special bday gift, but didn't :( It's a really long story, but if you want to know more Hugh posted it all on his facebook...lol

I am now about 6 weeks away from my due date, and getting anxious! My midwife is going to be coming out in 2 weeks our home and discuss our birth plan and go over alot of details about the big day. My tummy is feeling extra full these days, I can tell he's getting big! My baby shower is coming up here on the 21st. My friends Meg, Farah and 2 sisters are throwing it for me. Having a boy is so different. It's so much fun to see blue and green for a change!

Well, time to get back to life ;) I'll update again soon!



JVH

(The girls at the local street fair sharing a smoothie)