Chloe's Birth Story

On Thursday afternoon, I started having contractions that were pretty painful and about 15 minutes apart. We went grocery shopping and when we got home, I rested. The contractions continued and by 3, they were about 7 minutes apart. They slowed back down to 15 minutes apart around 4pm and by 5, they were back to 7 minutes apart. Ryan suggested that we leave for the hospital, but I wanted to wait a bit longer because I didn't want to get sent home again. I got up to go the bathroom and had a contraction that didn't seem to go away. Then it felt like I needed to push. We got everyone into the car and the contractions stopped. Which is good because we couldn't find Tess' bottle. About 5 minutes later, we were on our way to drop off the girls and I started to cry. I was freaking out about getting to the hospital in time. Since it was during rush hour, Ryan decided to drive straight to the hospital and called Angela to have her meet us there. We got about 2/3 of the way there and our van started to overheat. I told Ryan that I would just call an ambulance but he insisted that we would make it to the hospital just fine. We drove with the windows down for about 3 miles before the heat was just too much. We arrived at the hospital at 5:57pm. Everyone got out of the car and the car sat in the flow zone overheating. Ryan put the girls in the waiting area while I found a wheelchair. A nice man offered to help and pushed me to the elevators. Ryan met me at this point and the guy offered to watch the girls. Tess was crying because she had fallen down and hit her head on the floor. The man said that his wife was upstairs for an emergency but the man said she would have to wait for him. We got upstairs to Labor and Delivery and I was having contractions every 2 minutes. While they were checking us in, Ryan ran to check on the girls. The nurses were about to put me into triage and I told them that the baby was coming. They immediately put me in a room and when I got up from the wheelchair, I was leaking amniotic fluid. Once I was able to move to the bed, they checked me and I was at 10 cm with a bulging bag of water. Ryan came back and said the girls were fine and Tess had stopped crying. I asked if I had to wait for my doctor and they said that the laborist was on her way because they couldn't reach my doctor. I told them that I needed to push and the nurse took the sheet off me and my water broke and the poor nurse was soaked from her stomach down to her knees. Shortly after, I was able to push and after about 3 tries, Chloe was born at 6:15pm. Ryan received a text from Angela saying she just got the girls, and Ryan sent a text back saying we had had the baby. I asked how the girls were and doing and the nurse thought it was funny that I was concerned about my other kids. Hello? four little girls left alone in a hospital waiting room. That's something to be concerned about. It turned out that my doctor was actually on vacation and had left earlier that day. I'm not sure why she didn't mention that when I saw her on Wednesday afternoon, but it all worked out. Arrowhead Hospital now has a celebratory meal for the new parents. We each enjoyed a filet mignon dinner with steamed veggies, baked potatoes, rice and Ryan had berry cheesecake for dessert while I had chocolate lava cake. They served it with Sparkling Cider but we never got around to drinking it. We are home now and everyone is doing great.

Chloe was born on July 14th, 2016 @ 6:15pm. She weighed 7lbs 3oz and is 20.5 inches long. She is the biggest baby. She sleeps for 3 hours at a time and then will eat and eat and eat. She is such a good little baby. We love her so much.

Marbling Paper

The older girls marbled paper today and Tess played in shaving cream.

Tatyana always has to make a face for pictures.

Tess has a new favorite activity.

Abigail, the artist.

Olivia really did have fun, though her face doesn't show it.

The very last paper came out the coolest because Mom actually thought the whole thing through.

Pictures

Always eating something.

Why use paper when there is a whole floor to color?

Tatyana was in the school talent show with her friend, Rebecca. They did a great job singing "You are My Sunshine."

Tess loves to eat. Especially fruit and veggies.

It's always nice when all the girls can play together without fighting.

Picky Eaters

I remember being a picky eater as a kid. And to some degree I still am. I don't eat things that I can't pronounce, or smell or look gross. However, a lot of what I hated to eat as a kid, I enjoy eating now or I'm just to lazy to pick out the stuff I don't like i.e. tomatoes in a taco. The girls, though, are extremely picky eaters. The only fruit Tatyana will eat is a banana. Abigail won't eat a potato in any form- mashed, chip, french fry, etc. They all hate candy, chocolate or dessert that has something in it such as caramel, coconut or whatever. And not one of them will eat condiments -on anything. Well except Abigail will eat ranch but only with chicken nuggets.
I have tried every trick in the book. I even bought Deceptively Delicious and that didn't work. It was more work for me. I've begged, pleaded, awarded and made the girls go to bed hungry. I have lost every battle.
Olivia is more willing to try something new IF her sisters haven't tried it and stated that it was gross or that they didn't like it. Tess on the other hand is a major foodie and will eat and try anything. I pray every day that she won't be influenced by her big sisters. We are working hard to make sure that the girls keep their opinions to themselves and to not make facial expressions when eating so that Tess will continue to eat anything and everything.
A few weeks ago, we had the girls try a Toaster Strudel. Mind you, when we were growing up Toaster Strudels were a delicacy and we rarely ever had them. The girls were so disgusted by them. Two of the three were in tears because we made them try the "nastiest food ever." What's wrong with these children? Things that would be the "nastiest food ever" when I was a kid was kidney beans, peas, fish, you know typical things a kid hates. Not Toaster Strudels and definitely not any thing with sugar in it.
Today I bought giant creme puffs as a little victory dessert and other than licking off the chocolate topping, the girls wouldn't touch them. No matter how much I told them it was pretty much the same as a donut.
I do have to say though that the girls finally decided that cooked carrots aren't so bad and they rarely complain about eating them. The newest protested food is black beans. Which happens to be Tess' favorite. We will keep trying them and one day about 6 months from now the girls will probably willingly eat them but until then, its an ongoing battle.
We keep telling the girls that one day the food is going to run out and they will have to eat whatever we have or can find. But I don't think they can comprehend that.
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Abby-girl

My mini me. Abigail is so much like me. A few good friends, shy and yet talkative. My favorite quality about Abigail is that she doesn't care at all what other people think of her. She just does her own thing. And its great. Wish I could learn that.

Abigail was an easy baby. Then from about 2 to 8, she was very difficult. I think in the beginning it was because of her speech delay and being frustrated all the time because she couldn't communicate. Then it just lingered on for a few more years. Believe it or not, she attempted to runaway when she was seven. She made it out her bedroom window before I caught her and then I chased her around the apartment complex. I was 9 when I attempted to runaway but I didn't even make it out of my bedroom door and I had packed a suitcase. Abigail had nothing. Boy am I glad that is over. I'm sure she will give me a hard time as a teenager but maybe, just maybe, she won't. Now Abigail is our "go with the flow" kid and for the most part, happy and loving. That attitude pops up from time to time but it happens less and less.
Abigail does pretty well in school but doesn't particularly like school. She, too, enjoys being with her friends and participating in the non-academic classes. Abigail loves to read books but they have to capture her attention right away. Then trying to get her to put the book down... well that's another story.
Abigail loves to sleep in and could sleep in until noon every single day if I would let her. But I'm a meanie and if I'm not sleeping, no body is. Unless of course, you are under the age of 5 and not in kindergarten or if you are sick.
Abigail really loves music and would love to be a singer when she gets older. Or a police officer. Such completely different careers but she could really do either of those if she really wanted to. Abigail is such a great helper, loving and very sweet. She can not wait until she is older. I am constantly being reminded that she will be 11 soon (not that soon) and then 12 and so on. She wants to drive and get a job and get married and have kids. And I'm just sitting here telling her to "be 10" for as long as possible. Though I don't think its working.

Tatyana

Tatyana. I'm not sure if she's the most like me or the complete opposite of me. She does really well in school and is a pretty well-behaved girl. She loves to be the center of attention and make people laugh, which does not come from me at all. Tatyana is a morning person and the only one of our children who can happily function on less than 10 hours of sleep. Tatyana is very girly and more of a swimmer or dancer rather than an sports athlete. I should mention here that she is quite the little video-gamer too. She loves vegetables and hates fruit, except for bananas. Tatyana is very mature for her age and understands a lot. We would leave Tatyana in charge but then Abigail would have a fit. Plus Tatyana doesn't like the responsibility. In school, she takes care of everyone. She will play with the kids who don't have friends or who get picked on. She will walk with another student to the nurse if they get hurt. And she welcomes any new kid in her class with open arms. When I decided to give Abigail "The Talk", Tatyana insisted on being included. I told her she should wait a few years but she just wouldn't budge. So after some thought, I talked with both girls and well Tatyana plans to never date or marry anyone. Ever. Nor does she want to have any kids. Although if Tatyana has any questions in that department, she is totally comfortable asking me. Tatyana's favorite television show is "Friends" because one of the character's names is Phoebe and Tatyana's best friend's name is Phoebe. Currently, Tatyana has taken on being the one with the attitude. Its been hard to adjust to because she has been so easy going with everything and we never thought that she would have an attitude. But alas, she is my child and I probably had one of the worst attitude problems as a child. We're just hoping hers is a short-lived phase. Tatyana has a very strong testimony of the gospel and loves church. We love that Tatyana has a spunky personality and can make us all laugh by just being herself. The above picture was probably the first time I didn't have to take 10 pictures just to get a normal picture. She always, always makes goofy faces.

Miss Olivia

Olivia has grown and changed so much this past year. We were best buds for almost 5 years. She was my baby. Then she grew up and went to Kindergarten. I am so amazed at how far she has come. While she does well in school, I can tell academics are not her thing. She loves art, music, p.e. and socializing with her friends. She hates to do homework already and I can tell we are going to have some fun afternoons of arguing when she gets older. At Olivia's last IEP, her speech pathologist said that they had a new girl in Olivia's class and they couldn't get her to talk to the teachers or even the other students. I knew how frustrating that was because Olivia was the same way just a few short years ago. Olivia took this little girl by the hand and said "Come play with me" and now the girl only speaks to Olivia. And they understand each other. It made me so happy. Olivia is really nice and loves to help others. Almost everyday she brings me home artwork that says "I love Mommy" or some variation of that. I think its the only sentence she can write all by herself and its a good one at that. Olivia is always hungry and would snack all day if she could. She despises sitting down for an actual meal and I think its because she can't eat and do something else, even if it were just walking while eating. Olivia is no longer obsessed with Spiderman. She still likes him but likes other things like MLP and Monster High now and will choose something more girly over Spiderman if given the choice. Olivia's favorite thing to do is get dirty. She could play outside in the dirt or mud all day if she wanted and she would be the happiest girl in the world. However, she is still very girly and is probably our most emotional girl as of now. I'm just hoping she will grow out of crying about everything very, very soon because sometimes its a bit over the top. But we love Olivia and all of her emotions that come with her.

Things about Tess

Little Miss Tess is quite the thrill-seeker. Her favorite thing to do is walk along the edge of the couch with a huge grin on her face. She loves climbing on everything and if she falls it doesn't stop her from doing it again. She has had more injuries than the three older girls combined. I am pretty sure she will break an arm or a leg or need stitches before she turns 2.
Tess is learning and growing so fast. She loves to help sweep, throw away trash and wash the table. During family prayer we sit around our coffee table and Tess will put her arms under the table and rest her head on top. It is so cute. Yesterday during dinner prayer, Tess opened her eyes, looked around the table, grabbed some corn and shoved it in her mouth, then closed her eyes again. She is so sneaky. I can totally see her teaching her baby sister all the naughty things to do and I'm sure between the two of them our house will be destroyed and I will never get to sit down again.
Tess is still a foodie but has become a bit picky. However, unlike her sisters she is still willing to try anything you give her. She also loves to eat paper and play dough.
Tess' favorite show is Curious George and could watch it all day if I let her. Thankfully, she loves to play outside just as much so she isn't addicted to the t.v. The only problem with playing outside is that Tess gets overheated fairly quickly so we can't stay out for long periods of time. Summer is going to be very long if she doesn't adjust to the heat. We did get her a little pool though, so that should help. And we have a very large patio for her to play on.
Tess gets very lonely when her sisters are in school. She does play well by herself if I am in the same room. When we pick up the girls from school, Tess shrieks in delight as soon as she sees them come out of their classrooms. She is going to be so excited to have a sister to play with in a few months. Well hopefully.
Tess is very outgoing and loves when people talk about her. She will be extremely cute when someone says something to her. She loves kids, especially kids who are older than her because they can do so many more interesting things.
We love this little girl so much and couldn't imagine life without her.

Blessed with Ice Cream

About 4 or 5 months ago, we were at Harbor Freight getting Ryan some tools for work. This elderly man kept running into us in every aisle. I will admit, we thought it was kind of creepy because we had the girls with us and he kept talking to them. But it turned out, he just missed his own grandkids who lived on the east coast and our girls were around the same ages. Just before he left, he handed Abigail a five dollar bill and told her to "tell your parents to take you girls out for some ice cream." So we took them to McDonald's.

A few weeks later, we were standing in line at Target. There were only 2 lanes open and about 10 people in each lane. The lady behind us had one thing and we could tell she was getting impatient. She even said aloud that this always happens to her when she is in a hurry. Ryan told her to go on ahead of us. She said thank you and just as she was leaving, she handed Ryan a ten dollar bill and told him to treat the girls to some ice cream. So we took them to ColdStone.

Today for Family Home Evening, we took the girls out for ice cream at ColdStone. We were standing in line and Ryan was talking to the lady in front of us about kids and how they can sometimes be a handful but they're so much fun. As we were deciding on what to get, the cashier handed Ryan a gift card and said it was from the lady who had just left. It was for $30. Ryan ran out to thank her, but she had already left.

Each time we explained to the girls how those people were kind and generous to us and talked about gratitude. Then tonight during family prayer Abigail asked Heavenly Father to bless the lady that paid for our ice cream because she was so nice to us. We are so blessed and sometimes the smallest blessings are the best. or yummiest.

Our pet rabbit

Meet Daisy Nibbles Kuhns (the girls chose her full name all by themselves)

We had been going back and forth about whether to get a rabbit for a few months. Ever since Tatyana did a school project about rabbits, that's all she would talk about. The reason we considered a rabbit instead of a traditional pet like a dog or cat is because its the only animal Abigail isn't allergic to besides birds and well we were not going to get a bird. We kind of decided to get a rabbit on a whim when the girls were gone for the weekend which meant it was very hard to find. Especially since Easter had just passed and rabbits are a popular Easter present. We lucked out finding this one and it just happened that she was a girl. The perfect fit.

Having Daisy so far has been great. All of the girls are super gentle with her and are no longer afraid of picking her up. Even Tess is super sweet with Daisy and just loves her. It only took Tess one day to realize that Daisy was a living animal and not just a stuffed animal and she is extra careful around her. Tatyana is in bunny heaven. Abigail and Olivia love that they have a pet to play with.

Abigail and Tatyana are in charge of taking care of Daisy meaning they clean her cage, feed her and bathe her. So far there hasn't been much of a complaint about it and its teaching them a lot about responsibility. Each day after they get done with their homework, the girls play with Daisy and take care of her. Daisy is only able to be out of her cage if she is being watched as she is still so young and can chew stuff up (she hasn't) and plus she isn't quite able to get around on tile.

Potty training a rabbit is much like potty training a toddler. You have to tell her no if she doesn't go in the litter box and praise her and give her a treat when she does use it. After 3 days, she is doing pretty well for being less than 8 weeks old. Adults are easier to train. She loves carrots and hay and so far she isn't much of a chewer which makes Daddy happy. She has only bitten the girls when they didn't wash their hands prior to handling her. They have since learned and she doesn't bite anymore. We do have the option to train her to use a collar and leash, but I'm not that ambitious. Maybe the girls will train her later down the road.

Hopefully having a pet will continue to be a great decision. Ryan thinks that once the novelty of having a rabbit wears off, the girls will forget all about her. We shall see though. The girls have had pets in the past and did quite well with them. However, this is the first one that is officially theirs that they are totally responsible for.

Welcome

I figured it was time to start a new blog so our family and friends can follow along in our adventures.