Easter 2011

I know I still have to post my labor story, but I swear everytime I try to sit down at the computer or do anything for that matter a little sensor goes off in Bella's head that says "Oh mom is about to be productive I think it's time to fuss" LOL It's amazing how they learn that so early, and how quickly we forget that! I hope everyone had a good Easter. Ours could have been better, but my kids thought it was great so that's all that matters right :) Here is a pic of my cute kiddos from yesterday. Arabella wasn't too thrilled, because she wanted to eat right that second.


I'm not sure if you can see, but I painted Arabella's toenails and fingernails. I love when babies have that done! It looks so cute. Plus I am one of those crazy moms who thinks that for special occasions my girl's nails need to match their outfits and we might as well get her used to that early right. I know it just creates more work for myself, but I love sitting with my girls and having conversations while we paint their nails :)

Arabella Lu Quintana

She's here! She's here! She's here! Monday night after a bit of a rough labor (I'll save that story for another day) our baby girl was born at 7:30 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz (my biggest baby!), and was 18 1/2 inches long. She is perfect as can be! We are all enjoying every minute of having her around. Tasia says she loves being a big sister. Syd and Dom can't get enough of kissing her. I am still trying to figure out my new camera, so I haven't had a chance to upload the pics on there yet. Here are some from my cellphone for now though. Also if you go to bellababyphotography.com, view photos and put password 0411arabellaquintana you can see her gorgeous photoshoot they did at the hospital. This was about 5 Monday night. The kids had been so good the whole time I was in labor, and Tasia finally couldn't take it anymore and crashed! She didn't want to leave my side all day. Here is our baby just minutes old! She looks so much like Anth and Tasia :)

She seems to like that fist :)

Look at all that dark hair!!! I love it!

Seriously, I can't get enough of this little girl!

This was just this morning. We were taking a picture to send to Daddy to tell him good morning. Can you believe her dark piercing eyes?!?!

Ok so like I said, it's just a few pics from my phone, and you can see more on that website. I will try to get my camera figured out and get the rest uploaded soon, so I can post them. Then next week I will post the fun labor story, because I know you are all dying to read it lol Well I am dying to document it at least :)

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

At my appointment yesterday I was dialated to a 2 and 70% thinned. My dr said it's possible I will go on my own this weekend, but if I don't he is starting me Monday!!!!! There's an end in sight. YAY!!!!!!!!!!! I have to call at 5:30 Monday morning to find out what time to come in for induction. The kids are going to have a sleepover with Grandma Quintana in case I have to go in right away, so they can spend the day with their aunties. Then after I have Bella they will come to the hospital to meet her, and sleep at my parents house Monday night. Tasia says that as soon as she wakes up Monday morning she will be a big kid, because she is going to be a big sister that day lol I can't wait to hold our baby girl! My next post will hopefully be pictures :)

Still hanging in there...

We are 8 days away from our sweet baby girl's due date, and I am feeling it lol I tried going and having a pedicure, because I had heard it can put you in labor but all I got out of that was cute toes :) I am still contracting a lot, but according to my dr it isn't doing much. I am thinned out, but not quite dialated to a 1 (as of this past Friday). My heart has decided to play tricks on us, so we are constantly monitoring it. I have a bit of an irregular heartbeat, and it has been beating really fast. My dr says it's normal, but if it gets up to 120 then call him. The highest it has gotten so far is 111, and let me tell you it's not a pleasant feeling. I am pretty sure this little girl is sitting right on my pelvis, because I can barely move most days. My funny mom tried to tell me to get on my treadmill today to try and get contractions moving, but she is up in the night! Anth is pretty sure I will have her before the end of the week. I am starting to feel like she will never come, and that I am going to raise a toddler in my stomach but I know that isn't true. Sorry I know I have done a lot of complaining lately, but if pregnancy gets worse with each one I don't know how people keep having kids. I swear soon you guys will get all the sweet, mushy stories of our new baby girl, and it'll make up for all of the complaints you've so patiently sat through recently. I bought Castor Oil, and am considering taking that tomorrow night. We shall see. It worked with Tasia, so I am hoping it'll work with Bella if it comes down to that. Wish me luck!

My babies are headed home!!!!

My parents and kids left Cali this morning to start their trip home. I can't wait to see them. I have missed them so much! Tasia is going nuts without them too. She asked me 3 times yesterday when they will be home lol It's too quiet around here. Tasia has slept with us the entire time they have been gone, because she is so used to having someone to sleep with at night. Last night when we told her it was bedtime she didn't even bother going into her room she just went straight to ours. I'm used to her climbing in bed with us at night, but it's different having her there from the start. I have talked to my mom everyday since the kids have been gone, and most of the time they were too busy playing to come talk to me. When I talked to them in Vegas they were just winding down for the night, and Dom had had so much fun that he said he wished they could stay there for a week lol They had been playing in the hotels arcade, and had gone on 3 different motion rides. They each had 4 new stuffed animals they'd won to bring home. My poor little man had a rough time sleeping that night though, because he told my mom he isn't used to being so far away from us. He's such a little sweetheart. I love my mama's boy! I guess Syd had won a few games in a row when they had been downstairs playing, so she purposely let Dom win and then made a big deal about how he had beaten her. She is such a good big sister! I am going to go enjoy some quiet time with my little Tasia, but I will leave you with this picture. This was the first morning in Cali at about 8, and the kids were already trying to convince my mom to let them go swim in my aunt's pool. She made them wait until the sun was at least shining on the pool some, so it wouldn't be too cold though :)

So proud of my Sydney!

Syd came to me yesterday and tells me, "Mom I need to talk to you." Pretty scary words coming out of your child's mouth, but I tried not to show that lol She asked me to read a note that her and a boy had been writing to each other that day, because she was worried about him. She noticed the boy was upset, and like the sweet girl that she is passed him a note to see if he was ok and ask what was wrong. The boy proceeded to pour his heart out to her and tell her that some girls have been telling him at lunch and recess that they want to kill him, and that everyone would be better off dead. Syd told him she didn't feel that way, and that she thought of him as a friend and asked if he had talked to the teacher about it. The poor guy said he was afraid to, so she came to me to see what I thought she should do. I wanted to cry knowing that this poor boy is going through something like that in 5th grade! Kids can be ruthless (girls especially!). I told Syd that I'm proud of her for being so kind to him that he felt he could open up to her like that. I also explained to her that she needed to show the note to her teacher, because something needed to be done about it and I can't help him. We talked about how sometimes kids get bullied for so long that they can't take it anymore and they end up hurting themselves, so if she let the teacher know what was going on and she could put a stop to things that it could make a huge difference in this boys life. I have always told my kids that they should be nice to everyone no matter what race, age, boy/girl, what they look like or how rich/poor, etc. they might be, and it makes me feel good to know that Sydney is listening to me. I'm glad that she knew it was serious enough that she needed to talk to someone about it. She has such a kind heart, and I hope she continues to be that way as she grows older.

Wow!

I swear when you are told you should be on bedrest (even light bedrest) that is when life picks up and goes crazy!!! Anth's bp wasn't going anywhere with the one med, so they went ahead and put him back on the one with 2 different meds in it. So far he is doing great on it! His bp isn't perfect, but it's close. That's one thing I can quit stressing about lol

Today we had to register Tasia for kindergarten, and I am just shocked that she is even old enough for that yet. She told me she doesn't want to go. In fact our conversation went something like this...

Tasia: Mom I don't want to go to kindergarten. I want to stay in preschool with my teacher and my friends I have now.

Me: Honey, you'll have lots of fun in kindergarten. Some of your friends from preschool might even be in your class, and you'll have lots of new friends.

Tasia: I'm not going!

Me: If you don't go a police officer will come and take mommy away for not sending you.

Tasia: That's ok. I'll still have daddy.

....I feel loved lol Dom told her there is a playground for the kindergarten kids though, so she is starting to warm up to the idea some. When we went today we saw Syd eating with her class, and she thought it was kind of cool to see her so maybe seeing her big brother and sister will make her even more excited to be there.

Syd and I have to go to the maturation program on Tuesday, and they will teach her not just about the girl stuff (which she already knows from the program last year) but also the boy stuff. I'm not quite ready for that at all! I like her being young, innocent and clueless. Well as far as I know she is still clueless, and I kind of like thinking that so the school is really bursting my bubble on this one!

Then on Wednesday Sydney and Dominic are leaving us for a whole week to go to California with my parents. They can't wait. I am a little nervous! I'm secretly glad that Tasia didn't want to go, because I don't know what I'd do if all my kids were gone lol They have lots of fun plans for while they are gone. They get to stop in Vegas, and are excited to sleep at the "castle hotel" (Excalibur). My mom has even promised them a trip to the M&M factory while they are there. They have every toy and little thing they want to take to keep them busy on the drive planned out too. My cousin is planning a sleepover for Syd and my other cousin's daughter, and Dom gets to have a special night with my parents while she is gone. I'm pretty sure by the time I get them back they are both going to be exhausted, but it'll be well worth it!

Last but not least....pregnancy (ugh!). Yes I am finally at a point where I am uncomfortable and not exactly enjoying it. I love feeling this sweet little girl moving inside me! What I don't love is that I am having contractions EVERY SINGLE DAY to a point where I start to wonder if I should go into the hospital and I am in tears, but at my appointment today I was told everything is still closed like it should be and that unfortunately I am probably just going to have a really uncomfortable last month. I also don't love the waking up nonstop to pee lol I don't get much sleep, so I have no energy anymore ever. Sorry I know I shouldn't complain, because at this point we are both really healthy and honestly that's what matters the most. I just want to be comfortable and normal again, but hey just over 5 weeks and this will all be done and over with and I'll probably be missing having her inside me feeling her move :)