HALLOWEEN WEEKEND

yes, i know i am a little late on posting about halloween weekend but better late than never right? this weekend was particularly special because the entire duty side of the family was together for the last time before my brother in law leaves for an lds mission to moscow, russia. curtis' older brother josh flew in from texas and his younger brother, his wife and daughter came up from cedar city. so the whole fam bam was together and it was awesome let me tell you. i seriously love curtis' side of the family and it was so much fun to have everyone together.

so thursday night we headed over to the in laws house and went trick or treating in their neighborhood. brooklynn seriously had the time of her life, it was hilarious. brooklynn was so particular about what candy she got. most children just accept whatever candy is given to them but not brooklynn. she would examine each candy as it was given to her and if she didn't like that candy she would ask for a different one. and then before she put it in her bucket she would make sure to show all of us what she got. it was awesome to see her have so much fun! brooklynn went as doc mcstuffins and quinn went as lamby. 

on friday we went up american fork canyon to roast hot dogs and enjoy the beautiful mountains we have here in utah. as we were looking for the perfect spot curtis' dad lead us on a little off roaring adventure which didn't really work out for our prius and we had to turn around and find somewhere a little lower in the canyon. we settled in a great little spot and had a blast. we really do live in a beautiful state.. (still miss my california though ;) )

that night we went to hee haw farm. since it was the day AFTER halloween it was pretty much empty which kind of made it seem a little bit gross.. but it was still fun. there was a huge slide. and train ride, pony ride, hay ride, animals and much more. i saw a huge pig trample a tiny newborn pig and i about lost it because it was the saddest thing i've ever seen. boo! but other than that little incident it was way fun

^^there were no other kids going on the train ride other than brooklynn and her cousins and for some reason brooklynn decided she wanted to sit all the way in the back, funny girl^^

saturday my brothers wife took some family photos for us since we were all together and then that night since keaton will not be here for thanksgiving we had our thanksgiving dinner which was amazingly delicious! 

sunday we all just played games and hung out until it was time for josh to leave.

^^josh and quinn^^

basically it was an amazing weekend! 

QUINN WAS BLESSED

on october 20th at our church my quinn ruth was blessed.

it was a very beautiful and special day

thanks so much to everyone who made it out!

^^this slip my great grandma ruth made for me when i was blessed^^

^^ah these little botties are to die for! my dad picked them out in italy on my parents trip there last month!!^^

^^love this little ruffle bum^^

^^the dress that brooklynn, quinn, and i were all blessed in. so special!^^

^^family^^

^^all the men that stood in for the blessing^^

^^love my little family of four!^^

BROOKLYNN TURNS 3

brooklynn,

you are now 3 years old, and i cannot believe it
where on earth has the time gone?
we had such a great birthday weekend with you
your mimi and papa came into town which was such a treat
we went to breakfast at kneaders and you had a yummy cinnamon roll
after that we went to jump on it with mimi, papa, me, daddy, grandma, jackson, reagan, courtney, brittany, and scott
we jumped for hours and had such a blast
then we had lunch at johny rockets and you had mini hot dogs and a chocolate malt
then we went home to prepare for your family party
you opened your presents and we had a princess cake
it was a great day
i love you so much
you bring such light into our lives
you love to play dress up and play doh
you are very into coloring which i absolutely love
you have such a fun personality
right now you are really into growling which is just hilarious
you love your little sister and she loves you
these have been the best 3 years of my life
thank you for being you
i love you so much

love,
mom

Quinn Ruth Duty

Quinn Ruth Duty arrived August 29th at 8:21am.

She weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches.

She is absolutely perfect. I love every single thing about this sweet baby girl and I am so thankful for her.

I figure I should document how the birth went down this time around. Man, it was so different from Brooklynn's birth. I thought I remembered what it was like to have a c-section but I must have been really out of it last time (being in labor for 40 hours prior to have Brooklynn via c-section).

The night before we dropped Brooklynn off at my in-laws house to spend the night there because we had to be at the hospital at 5:30am so it just made the most sense. This was hard for me.. dropping her off knowing that she really had no idea how her life was going to change while we were away. But we dropped her off got some dinner and then finished up some last minute things to get ready to have Quinn.

I had to stop drinking and eating at 11:30pm to prepare for surgery. The eating part wasn't a problem but not drinking anything after 11:30 was so hard for me. I felt like I was so thirsty and I was so hot so it was driving me crazy! 

Also, they wanted me to call and hour before I needed to be there to make sure they were not too busy for me to come in. Since I was scheduled I could be bumped back if there were too many people there who went into labor on their own. 

So between being really hot and not being able to drink any water, being really worried my c-section was going to be bumped back, and Brooklynn being away from me I could not sleep for a minute. It was awful. I was so tired but there was no way my body was going to let me sleep. So finally 4:30am rolls around and I can call to make sure I can come in. We got the green light THANK GOODNESS.

We got to the University of Utah hospital at 5:30am and got all checked in and situated in our room. It was so weird being alert and not in labor at all. I got my IV and had a bunch of different people come in and talk to me about the process. I don't remember how long it was before everything was all ready for me to go to the OR. They made Curtis stay behind in the recovery room while they took me to the OR to be prepped. I didn't know he wasn't going to be able to stay with me the whole time. I wasn't super happy about that but I was so excited/nervous I wasn't going to complain.

They had me walk to the OR. I sat on the operating table to get my spinal. With scheduled c-sections they do spinals instead of epidurals. So basically it's just one really high dose to make my lower half completely numb. While the annastieologist was doing the spinal he hit a nerve that sent a very sharp pain down my leg into my foot. It only lasted about 1 second but it was not cool. Once he was done they lay me right down because it starts working so fast. This was so weird. They started prepping me and it was like my body was disappearing. It was nuts.

I had heard about some friends who got really nauseous from their spinal and threw up a ton. I was really nervous about this but luckily for me I didn't get nauseous. I literally spent the whole time concentrating on breathing in and out. On each individual breath as I waited to hear that first cry. It was really weird being so much more aware of what was going on. With Brooklynn I was so out of it that I didn't really know what was going on.

Finally we heard a little cry and I was so happy. But they wouldn't give her to me right away because she had some fluid in her lungs and was having a hard time breathing. That was pretty scary because they had to work on her for quite a while. But everything turned out to be okay thankfully and I was able to see her before they took her to the nursery. I sent Curtis with her because I wanted at least one of us to be with her! 

After what felt like FOREVER they were finally done stitching me up and they took me into the recovery room where Curtis, my mom and my sister Ashley were waiting for me. 

I hemorrhaged a little bit this time and had a few small blood clots but it was a dream compared to what I went through after Brooklynn.

They finally brought Quinn into the room and I got to hold her for the first time. There is really something special about that first time you hold your baby in your arms. The love is just indescribable. And then from that moment on the love just grows with every second. ah it's incredible!!

I love this sweet baby girl of mine. 
Quinn Ruth.. you and your sister hold my heart. Forever and always!


^^morning before going into have Quinn^^

^^last photo before going into surgery^^

^^taking a little rest^^

^^looks fun huh?^^



^^Quinn Ruth Duty^^

hey get a good nights sleep, you're not going to get that for a while, they say.

here i am... 3:25 in the morning.. been up since 2.. went to bed at 12. 

cannot sleep. 

today is the day i have this sweet little girl. i'd love to be sleeping right now since i'm supposed to get up in 20 minutes but i just cannot sleep.

first off it's about 10 thousand degrees in our house right now.

second since 11:30pm last night i cannot eat or drink anything at all until after the c-section.

I AM SO THIRSTY! 

i've thought about cheating like 500 times already.. but i haven't.

also, i'm supposed to check into the hospital at 5:30am but they make you call 1 hour before then just to make sure no crazy emergencies have come it and that they are not pushing back your surgery.

this happened to me when i was induced with Brooklynn so it's driving me crazy and i just want to know that i'll be able to come in on time and it's making it so i cannot sleep.

why am i not one of those people who can just chill and go with the flow? i am more of a person who needs to know right now or it's going to bug me forever. i'm dreading that i'm going to call and they are going to tell me not to come in and that i have to wait.

that will crush me and surely make me give into drinking 44oz of water right there on the spot.. okay not really but maybe. haha

i am going to be so exhausted though this process today with this no sleep deal i've got going on tonight but what can i say? i'm a worrier.

hopefully everything is all good. i want to meet this baby girl so bad!!!

...and i miss my other baby.

no more only child.

tonight was the last night that i put brooklynn down for bed as an only child.

the last night where my 100% focus was on her where i had no other distractions.

we're not having our little girl until thursday but since i have to check into the hospital at 5:30am and the hospital is about 40 minutes away it would be too hard to drop her off somewhere so early so she will be sleeping at my in-laws tomorrow night.

normally, we do our nightly routine and then she falls asleep on her own. but tonight i sat down next to her bed and sang her songs and scratched her back until she fell asleep.. then just watched her sleep for a few minutes before i left.

gosh, my heart is so heavy. i'm never away from her and so i'm worried about being away from her while being in the hospital. i mean, i know once i get there i'll have so much on my mind, you know, like bringing another baby into the world, that i'll stop stressing about her. especially because i know how much she loves her grandma and grandpa and they are amazing and she is going to be so happy there.

i really just need to relax.. which i'm not all that great at doing when it comes to my little girl. she's just been with me all of the time since she was born. i've only been away from her over night once while we went on a cruise when she was 9 months old. 

i think it's time i toughen up.

so, tomorrow is our last day as a family of three. SO CRAZY!!!! 

i cannot wait to meet my sweet little girl.

one. more. day.

t-minus 2 weeks people

alrighty, so we are officially 2 weeks away from having this sweet baby girl. 2 weeks never felt like so far away. every day feels like a week. i am soooo ready. 

now you want to know how i know we are exactly 2 weeks away? because i am having a scheduled c-section on august 29th at 7:30am. i have to admit that it is really nice knowing the exact date and time she will be making her arrival. there have been a lot of people who ask.. "why do you want to have another c-section? don't you wanna try?" and then i tell them how my delivery with Brooklynn went and then they understand...

finally induced 8 days over due...
would not dilate no matter what they did to make me (and they didn't some horrible things)
finally after 40 hours of labor barely being dilated to a 5 had her by c-section...
lost too much blood and had to have 2 blood transfusions..
2 rounds of antibiotics trying to get my temp down
i was in the hospital for a total of 10 days!

i absolutely do not want to go through that again. i'm okay with the fact that my body doesn't go into labor the way most do and that i have to have my babies by c-section. i am grateful for modern technology that allows me to have babies and that i didn't die giving birth to brooklynn. i know that's a little dramatic but that is most likely what would have happened without the option of a c-section. 

so this time around i will not be putting myself through endless hours of labor that i know will end in c-section. we just scheduled it out and i couldn't be more happy.

well, actually i'm a little nervous because it is major surgery and i'm quite possibly the worlds most paranoid person but it's all going to be good.

i cannot wait to meet our sweet girl. i know she is going to be an amazing addition to our family and curtis, brooklynn and i already love her so much! so hopefully these next 2 weeks go by SO fast because my back is killing me and i'm about to loose my mind! :)

also, i'm not sure i can stand one more person saying to me,
"whoa you're so big"
or
"are you sure there's not twins in there?"
or
"you look like you're going to pop"
or
"oh man, i thought you were way farther along then that!"
or anything along those lines or i might punch them in the face.

why do people think these things are okay to say to a pregnant women! come on people!!!

anywho, i'll leave you with some photos from when b was born.

^^look how sweet curtis and b are!! don't mind me in the background feeling like death! ha!"^^

^^here is a few days after brooklynn was born.. still not much color in my face but b was so cute!!^^