Wyoming

We recently went on a week long vacation. We had already planned a trip to Arches National Park for the weekend. Then Dave got a TDY to FE Warren AFB in Wyoming the following week. We decided to keep our trip to Arches then we would drive up to Denver since it was on the way to Wyoming and then continue on to FE Warren. Since I am still not working I thought it would be a nice break and I got to see family and friends on the trip. 

We got to have a few delicious dinners with our friends who are stationed there and I got a few new recipes to make at home! It was very nice seeing them and getting to catch up. Quinn and their youngest daughter had a great time playing as well. 

One day Quinn and I went to the Cheyenne Frontier Days Museum. She LOVED the big boot in the front of the museum. They had a kids room there and we were the only ones so she got to play with everything as long as she wanted. The whole time she was coloring and sitting on the horse saddle she kept yelling "yee-haw." We had a fun time making "soup" in the kitchen area and seeing the pink horse. She got a puzzle and cowgirl hat from the gift shop and wore the hat for much of our trip there. 

 

Again with the hat. 

 

This guy turned 2 months old while we were there. He is a very easy baby (other than being up all night) and allows Quinn and I to go on adventures. He is happy in his car seat and just goes along for the ride. 

The last day we went bowling and had lunch while Dave finished up his work. She loves to bowl and it was a great ending to our week. If you notice in the picture, Quinn got some new kicks. They light up when she walks and she LOVES them. She actually wore them out of the shoe store and kept saying "new shoes, new shoes." 

Dave and I are always talking to each other about how much we love her and how amazing she is. I mean really- she is the best. On our drive home the sun was in her eyes and that is something she HATES. So we gave her some glasses (which always are worn upside down) and she continued on eating her breadstick. 

We had a great trip and it was nice to get away from normal life and catch up with family and friends. 

Family time is good, life is good. 

Quick stop in Denver

On our trip we stopped in Denver for a night and I stayed the next day while Dave went to work. We got to introduce Leo to Dave's sisters and nieces. We ate some yummy food and just relaxed. Julie and I got pedicures on Monday and it was the BEST. My poor feet needed it! 

Braxton and Quinn had so much fun playing together. It is going to be neat to watch them grow up and continue to build their relationship. Soon Leo will be right in there playing also. 

We attempted to do a cousin picture but Quinn was not having it. Maybe next time we will get a better photo. 

Family is good, life is good. 

Buffalo Train Ride

One day while in Wyoming Quinn and I (and Leo) went on a train ride at Terry's Bison Ranch to see some buffalo. It is their down time so I didn't think it would be busy but I also didn't think we would be alone on the train! We ended up getting our very own personal train ride which was pretty cool. Quinn had to wear the hat on the train. Maybe she is a true Western girl and not a Midwestern girl like her momma. 

The ride was very fun. We got to see horses, camels, ostriches, other trains and of course, buffalo. Since we were the only ones we got to do whatever we wanted (the driver told us to). He opened the door and the buffalo came right up. He let us feed them and take pictures. James (the train driver/farm worker) was great and gave a lot of information about the farm and the buffalo. 

This guys name was "Dave" so I had to take a picture. He was one of the two males that was in the herd we were able to feed. 

Quinn wanted to feed them but wasn't sure also. She was cute and excited. She danced and screamed and did her "oh my gosh!" quite a bit. After the train ride she said "train, fun". 

I love this video of her feeding the buffalo the treats. 

Leo was not impressed with the train ride as much. But really, he just slept the entire time and Quinn and I got to share a lot of special memories together. He is an easy baby and I love him so much. 

Train rides are good, life is good. 

Makeup in the mail

I am behind in posting but I will post the most recent things first and then work backwards.
Quinn loves to copy everything I do in the morning when I am getting ready. She requests to do "eyes" and "lips". It is the sweetest thing and I try to stop and savor the moments but sometimes (many times) we are running late and it is hard to always let her do her makeup like mommy. I looked to find her fake makeup so she could get ready when I do but was not successful. I try to trick her and pretend to give her an eye brush with makeup on it but she is too smart. She wants to "dip" her brush into the eye makeup and then put it on- she always, ALWAYS goes for the purple (I can't wait to see how she wears makeup when she is older).
 My mom sent a package in the mail with a few things in it (because she is the best) and it included a princess case with hair accessories and makeup. I wasn't ready to give it to Quinn yet because we just got home last night and the house was crazy. I had it "hiding" on the kitchen table but she is just too smart. She pushed a chair over to the table and climbed up, reached to the princess box and came running to me screaming "princess." I was pretty amazed that she 1. Saw the box on the table, 2. Climbed up to get it, and 3. Knew it was a princess box (it says princess and has a crown on it).
Well Quinn LOVED the makeup. This box will be hidden and only played with in the kitchen when we have a lot of time. The aftermath resulted in a bath which left the tub with a ring of pink, it was very cute. She had a ball and kept saying "lips, I did lips." Her smile cracks me up.

Pink is good, Life is good.

These days

Being a family of 4 hasn't been as big of an adjustment as I thought except for when we have to leave the house. It is safe to say we will never be on time again. The biggest adjustment has been for the poor dogs. They just keep getting moved down the ladder and I feel awful. I really think they both are in complete shock about the little amount of attention they are now getting. My mom recently came to visit (more about that in another post) and Charlie was so excited because she paid attention to him and threw his frisbee. You know it is bad when Quinn is yelling at the dogs to "move" and "get". 

After Leo was born we were so lucky to have friends bring us meals. It was very helpful!! My friend Ashlee brought over these amazing cupcakes that she makes with this vanilla icing that I can eat by the spoonful. They are really good frozen so I put them in the freezer to eat later and Quinn saw me. She wanted me to get her one and when I wouldn't she decided to try and get them herself. Yes, she was hanging from the freezer door in an attempt to get to the cupcakes- they are that good! 

Lately our weekends include lots of Mickey Mouse clubhouse, being lazy and catching up on sleep. Leo has not been the best sleeper at night and Quinn is waking up a lot also. It makes for a very tired mom and dad. He is getting better (fingers crossed it continues) and only eating 3 times a night. 

Quinn is so good with him. She turns on his music in his chair when he cries and will try to share her toys with him. There are some times when I am feeding him and she wants me to play with her. She will point to his bouncer or the pack-n-play and say "Leo down". She is very observant these days and will copy pretty much anything we do: including pumping. She says "milk, Leo milk." (It is actually "milT"  which is the cutest thing ever). 

The kids (which is weird to say "kids" with a plural) took their first of many baths together. Quinn loved having him in the bathtub with her. He actually really likes being in the water and doesn't cry at all. He is going to have to get used to rocking the girl colors because we have a lot of pink things around this house. 

I just love this smile of hers. 

Sharing toys. 

He still isn't sleeping in his crib because he is eating so much it is easier to keep him in our room for now but we will put him in there for a little bit now and then. He loves his mobile and will lay there and watch it for about 15-20 minutes before he is over it. 

Quinn and I made chocolate chip cookies the other day. I found an amazing recipe on Pinterest that I think I will keep. It was not okay the number of cookies Dave and I ate in a matter of days. Quinn loved helping make the cookies- she is getting so big, so fast! 

Hope you enjoyed a quick recap of our days lately. 

Cookies are good, Life is good. 

A little Saturday morning workout

I had to share these pictures. Dave started his P90X workout this morning and Quinn wanted to join in. She was trying to do all the same things Daddy and the TV were doing. Then she got bored and tried to walk through his legs- making the workout a little more challenging. She is always cracking us up!

Leo was not interested in working out this morning.

Saturdays are good, Life is good. 

Leo's Arrival

At my 38 week doctor's appointment my doctor decided for several reasons to induce the following week. It was really weird to know that we would be having a baby on Tuesday! So in true Jarnot fashion, the morning I was to be induced we were running late because I wasn't finished packing my hospital bag. I think I procrastinated a little bit. Dave was cracking me up, he kept saying, who is late for their own delivery?! We are!! (and just a heads up to all of our family and friends- now that we have 2 kiddos, we will NEVER be on time again... sorry!)

We got there around 8 am (only 15 minutes late!). After we got to the hospital and checked in they got me all hooked up to the IV and started the pitocin. It started out really really slow. During the early part of the morning, Dave left to go let the dogs out and get some food. I wasn't allowed to eat until after delivery. I am not a happy person if I don't eat, so luckily it wasn't too long of a labor! It was strange just hanging out waiting for labor to really kick in. 

Our nurse said she expected he would be born between 4 and 5. I didn't start feeling any contractions until around noon. Then my doctor came in around 1:30 and broke my water. About 15 minutes later some serious contractions started! I was going to wait a little to get the epidural because I didn't want to have it for very long, I don't like the way it makes me feel. However, the nurse talked me into getting it because the anesthesiologist was already on the floor so I agreed. Well, I knew right away he didn't know what he was doing. My epidural with Q took all of about 2 minutes. This guy was pushing on my back and then hitting my back and I was having horrible (well at that point I thought they were horrible.... until I felt the ones to come later) contractions and the way he was making me sit was awful. He couldn't get the epidural to go in right so he had me lay down. Then I really knew he had no clue what he was doing! So he finally got the epidural with me laying on my side. About 2 minutes after he left the room I knew it wasn't working. I could completely feel the contractions and my right leg. Dave went and found the guy and he had me lay on my side and then turned the medicine up and left... never to be seen again! 

At this point, the epidural is STILL not working and the contractions are really really painful. Dave couldn't find any nurses or the anesthesiologist so we were alone in this room and I was dying! Apparently two other people were birthing children at that current time and they were all busy. Finally, our nurse came back to rescue me and got a different anesthesiologist to come in and he did my third epidural and it worked! I was 8 cm at that point and never ever want to have that pain again! 

Now I was feeling good (pain free) and Leo arrived at 4:16 pm without any complications after only 15 minutes of pushing.

He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long and just perfect. Dave was great the whole labor and I already can't wait to do it all over again! (funny how the mind quickly erases how awful it was!). 

After Leo got cleaned up, we moved rooms and my friend Joanna came to see us. She brought Leo the cutest little shirts and me some wine! (YAY!) Dave was able to go and watch Leo get his bath, I still couldn't walk because of the epidural. 

After Leo was brought back to the room Dave went to our friend's house to get Quinn and bring her to the hospital to meet her little brother. She was at daycare most of the day and then our friend Ashlee went to pick her up for the evening. We have been so lucky with all of our friends here in Utah helping us out! When Quinn got to the hospital she was a little shy around me and Leo but then quickly warmed up after she got to open her "Big Sister" present. The picture of them meeting for the first time is not the best because I was still unable to walk and had to take the picture from my bed. (That is one of the negatives of not having any family at the hospital with us- we are lacking in hospital pictures). 

Our hospital stay was great! When we told people here we were delivering at Davis Hospital they would just look at us and go "oh". I don't know why but the hospital has a bad reputation. We had friends that delivered there and they had a good experience and I loved that it was less than 10 minutes from our house. I am very glad we went there. Everything was great, it was super nice and I even got a pedicure! I thought I would be sad that Dave wasn't staying at the hospital with me but really it was nice. Him and Q would leave for the night and the nursery would take Leo and I got to sleep until his next feeding. I just called on the phone when I wanted to eat something and it was delivered to my room right away. It was a very nice 2 days! 

We left the hospital on Thursday and came home. Leo failed his newborn hearing screening and we have to go back next week for him to get another one. I think he will pass it, he appears to be hearing things and soothes to my voice. 

We left Q at daycare so we could get all settled in and let the dogs get used to Leo. She loved when she got home and I was there. The last couple of days when her and Dave would get home she would look for me, that made me sad to think about. 

Everything at home has been great. He is a very easy baby and sleeps all the time. He has had no problems nursing and will sleep for 3-4 hour stretches at night. Quinn has been great and is adjusting so well. Some of my friends in the OSC have been bringing us food every evening and it has been so helpful! Dave goes back to work on Friday but luckily my mom gets into town on Sunday.

We are very lucky that we had such an easy labor with Leo and that he is healthy. There was a lot of stress during my pregnancy and it feels amazing to have this healthy little boy finally here! 

Leo is good, Life is good.