H1N1-Part2 and more

I have been dreading the time when we would have to finish our H1N1 vaccinations for the kids, since we had such a fun LONG wait to get the first half (only to find out we had to do it again and get the other half). My neighbor told me she went up to Weber State yesterday and didn't have to wait hardly at all. They were continuing it today, so I thought we should give it a try. Quinn was going to take them, but ended up getting really busy with work stuff at home, so I left Nalu with him and took the 3 other kids (hoping and praying we wouldn't have to wait long). Well my prayers were answered! We were in and out in less than 20 minutes. So much better than our first experience!!!! So now we are all (excluding Quinn-he is not a real believer in the need to get vaccinated-just hope HE doesn't sick) completely vaccinated against the H1N1, and just have to wait another month b4 we can get the regular flu vaccination, since the kids had the mist. And all of this in hopes to keep our little Nalu from getting anything this year. Speaking of him, here are a few shots, just because... Isn't his puppy outfit too cute?!

(thanks Katie)
We are off, in a little bit, to his 2 week check-up
and his 2nd PKU testing.
Poor little guy is gonna get poked in the foot!
I ALWAYS seem to be the one who gets to take
the kids to get all the fun stuff done, shots, etc.
Why am I the lucky one???

INTRODUCING

This will be news for everyone!

Even those who have been told a name.

You see this little guy has an indecisive dad.

Mom even called in the original name to the

lady at the hospital just yesterday, who is in charge of

birth certificates, and daddy had to call her again

today and make a change. He just wasn't completely

satisfied, but I think it is official 100%.

INTRODUCING...

Kaylnalu Alena Hanamaikai

Quinn liked Kayl (means free man in hawaiian)

and I liked Nalu (wave), so they

became one and in time HE can choose

what he wants to be called.

Alena is hawaiian for Alan, after his grandpa.

So there you have it. A week and 2 days

after birth this little guy has his name.

Flowers & leaves

I have received some beautiful flowers.

The ones on the left were on my nightstand,

from Quinn's mom, when I returned from the hospital.

The other big bouquet I got this morning

from WGU-Quinn's work.

They have both added beauty to our home

and are much appreciated!

This is our thankful tree.

I got the idea from a friend

(thanks Cindi).

Every day throughout the month of

November (we started a little late)

each of us adds a leaf to the tree.

We write something we are thankful

for and then by the time thanksgiving

arrives, we realize all that we truly have

to be grateful for!!

I have to mention that Ash's first

was Jesus. He said that with no

help at all. What a brilliant little boy!

Ash's favorite

One of Ash's favorite things to do is Puzzles.

I will find him several times a day,

doing this same puzzle. He puts it

together and then takes it apart,

again and again.

We have some word puzzles

that used to be his favorite, but now

it is this one.

I know one thing to get him for Christmas...

MORE PUZZLES!

A Trip with Grandma

Grandma frankie was kind enough to take

the kids out for the day, last Saturday, to Antelope Island.

Sad to say I live soo close to it and have never

gone there myself. But from what I was told,

after their trip out there, it is quite the place.

A definite must see! Despite the look on Ame's face,

the kids said they had such a fun time,

and Grandma spoiled them with souveniers and trinkets.

From what I was told, they had a hard time

getting Ash off of this Buffalo.

That's a surprise!

Ame hard at work, learning to sew.

According to Ame there were little cottages
that they got to go through, that were there
b4 antelope island, and you could see how they
use to live back then.

Grandma said it was hard to ever get pictures of
Kaipo. I had such a hard time believing that...hahahaha

Ash and Ame playing dress-up

Grandma trying to keep track of the kids,

and being soo patient!

Thanks Grandma for giving the kids such

a wonderful, educational experience.

And giving this mom and break!!!

Relections

This year Ame really wanted to enter the

Reflections Contest,

which allows kids to share their talents

in various categories of Arts, including Dance.

So she shared her beautiful talent of Hula.

The theme was, Beauty Is...

for Ame it was,

Beauty is in the hands.

So they had to turn there stuff in sometime in October.

Then the Monday b4 I had the baby I got a phone call

asking if she could share her talent at

the awards night which was on Wednesday,

the day I was to be induced. I told the lady I

couldn't promise anything, and explained my situation.

After having the baby on Tuesday, I left it up to

Quinn, if he wanted to take her.

He did, and of course she did outstanding.

She received the Award of Excellence

and will be advancing to Council Level-whatever that means

(but I know this is a state-wide competition).

So we are very proud of our girl, for her

confidence and desire to share her beautiful talents!

the day of firsts

Grandma Frankie was emotional as she held

our precious boy for the first time

(she has been amazing and soo helpful this whole week-

I don't know what we would have done without her)

on our way home from the hospital

we picked up Ame from school, so SHE was the

first to see and ride next to him in the car.

then at home...

each of the kids got their own turn

to hold him for the the first time

and each of them were soo proud and excited

especially Ash, who is officially no longer

the baby of the family

first day in the house full of craziness

first nap at home

and his first sponge bath at home

(this was the day after he arrived home)

and MANY more firsts to come

Baby Hanamaikai #4....naming STILL in progress

(I should be getting some extra rest, but I figure that once I get home, quiet time to get this story written down, may be hard to come by)

So here's the story of his arrival:

I had a Dr's appt on Tuesday morning and was only dialated to about 3 1/2, despite the strong but irregular contractions I had been having the day b4. So we discussed all the last minute details for my scheduled induction Wednesday. All along I have been predicting I would

have him on my own, and a mother's instinct is always right! Because around 2-2:30 I started having SERIOUS contractions, and decided I better start keeping track of them cuz they were

getting pretty regular. They were 10-15 min apart, but I was sure like the previous day

they would just go away. QUinn had class to teach up at Weber State @ 5:30 and kept asking

me if he needed to cancel class. I just kept responding I DON"T KNOW...As it got later in the day I called my sister, just to warn her of what I was feeling and told Quinn to just go to class,

but to keep his phone close. Meanwhile we had made plans for Quinn's mom to come up that night to stay with the kids, since we were suppose to be at the hospital early the next morning.

I got the kids dinner and baths early, JUST IN CASE. And then there was a knock at the door.

It was Frankie and I guess quinn had mentioned something to her about me feeling contractions and so she decided to head up early. Once again thanks for a Mother following her instincts. I finally listened to my own body and called quinn. I told him he better get home-he said "Are you sure, I can be done in like 45 minutes?"Good thing I said, NO come NOW. He made it home and we gathered up a few things, Ame said a beautiful family prayer, and we headed out the door. It was now sometie after 7:30pm. We got all the details taken care of to be admitted, and the nurse checked me-I was now at 5cm and my contracts are less than 5 min apart. They started TRYING to get an IV in me, somthing I have never had a hard time with, but for some reason today was my lucky day to get poked like 8 times. Those things are soo painful!! Anyway, Karli arrived and we got on Skype with my parents. I got an epidural, my water broke, then my Dr arrived and checked me. I am now at a 6. Meanwhile we are chatting away with my parents and quinn is doing what he does best at this point...searching the internet for NAMES :) The nurse kept adjusting the baby heart monitor on my stomach because she was having a hard time getting a constant heart beat. They decided they needed to insert a monitor in the baby's head. So they go to start that process and found something else instead...THE BABY'S HEAD!!!! WHAT? Karli and Quinn are both looking and can't believe it, as well as the nurses. DON'T PUSH is what they are telling me, as they frantically try to find my DR. I could tell that nurse was nervous SHE would be delivering this baby. Lucky for her my dr hurried in and our precious little boy slid right out!! Without even one push from me. Is that that a crazy story or what?! I mean I could have probably had this baby without an epidural and still felt minimal pain. My dad joked that we shouldn't get charged full price because no one had to do much work. I know anyone who has had long, hard labors is HATING me right now. But that is the story of how our little guy came into this world. He arrived at 9:30pm (yes less than 2 hours after we got to the hospital), was 5 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.

And here he is:

he was so alert, but at the same time mellow from the minute he came out

Because he came so quick, karli and quinn were unprepared with cameras. But luckily THEY remembered to pull them out, because I was still in shock that it was over. And because of the new hospital policies the kids have only seen their brother via skype. But whe are hoping to go home tomorrow to meet them! Quinn promises baby will have a name b4 he goes home????

Halloween-round 2

Ame had a little Halloween Party at school,
and since quinn was home working (and Ash was napping),

Kaipo and I headed over to join the party.

Ame and her buddie, Emma

I HAD to add this video clip, just for

Grandma Asplund.

This is a song I remember as a girl, from my moms

classroom. Except I remember mom played this one,

back in the day, on a record player :)

*Witches Brew*

the song got interrupted towards the end with

the classroom intercom, but you get most of it.

Unfortunately I don't have many pics from

our LONG Halloween Day in Orem.

(I thought the craziness of THIS day

was going to for sure put me in labor-

but as of Monday morning I am still prego)

So saturday we headed down bright and early for

the baptism of our great friends daughter,

Skylar. To make the day even more special,

it really was a beautiful SUNNY day,

which was especially nice after a

snowy COLD week. After Skylar's baptism

we headed to our second one, for cousin Ella.

Her baptism was just a special, and is

getting Ame excited for HER turn next year :)

We were so grateful it worked out so we could be

apart of these 2 girls extra special day!

Quinn's sister just bought a new home,

so we all headed to their

house for food and just hangin' out after the baptism.

Somewhere amist everything going on, Kaipo

started not feeling well. Which made for a not-so-fun

day for HIM! We all know it is unlike Kaipo to lay around,

with zero energy, but that was him most of the day.

He got a few bursts of energy, which didn't last very long.

He slept twice throughout the day, didn't eat much at all and instead

threw up a few times. He was pretty much just miserable!

What a fun Halloween huh?!

We debated just heading home, and let

Ame and Ash trick-or-treat there, but Ame SOOO

wanted to go with her cousin, so this is what we did.

Ame headed out with Ella (isn't her Cleopatra costume

so cute..by the way), while Kaipo took a cat nap in the car.

He woke up and wanted so badly to go out,

and after he walked a couple of houses,

then QUinn carried Kaipo on his shoulders the rest of the way.

So it wasn't the most ideal Halloween experience, but

we made it work the best we could for the kids.

Ash of course loved the second round of trick-or-treating too!

As fun and memorable as THAT day was, I am glad it is over.

Now it is onto the next BIG event...

so sensitive and sweet!

This is what was waiting on my pillow last night... Oh my Ame, what a sweet and sensitive girl!

How can she be this cute one minute and

earlier in the evening yelling at me

that I am NOT in control of her and to

STOP being her boss!

Oh the emotions of girls...

I know I was NEVER like that, and

am still not!! (hahaha)

wish I could have known...

Some dear friends of ours lost someone

very close to them this past week.

I didn't know him myself,

but after reading about him,

I wish I could have.

Here is their blog and I would urge you

to visit their site, if anything to hear this

beautiful song:

How Can I Be

http://2djs1mc.blogspot.com/

Trunk or Treat

Saturday Night our ward had a trunk or treat,

and since Quinn and I are on the committee

we couldn't miss it. Plus, the kids would

have never let us anyway!

It was really well planned and put together.

Here's the kids b4.

I was glad I got these pics because

as we were getting ready to go Ash

was screaming to have the whole

costume OFF, and the mask NO WAY!

Ash is our friendly skeleton

(a hand-me down from Kaipo at his age)

Kaipo chose his scary skeleton costume.

It was suppose to glow in the dark,

but not so much. Although it is quite

creepy looking!

And Ame is a pop-star.

Who you may wonder???

Most would think Hannah MOntana,

but mom told her to refer to someone

else, plus she couldn't really pass for that blondy anyway.

So she changed her mind all the time

as to who she was-Miley Cyrus,

Selena Gomez, Demi Lavato...

The youth took care of the carnival part,

with games and a thriller dance. VERY

well done too! There was also tons of

chilly & breadsticks, hot dogs and cider.

here they are performing

THRILLER
SOme adults joined in on the dress-up
and went all out. Quinn was who else
but Tiger Woods (real hard for him huh),
but he did gets lots of comments.
And me well lets just
be grateful I made it there :)

then it was off to
TRUNK OR TREAT
b4 everyone froze their tails off!
Ash learned the art of
BEGGING for CANDY real quick!!!
who could say no to this cute little guy!

AHHH the candy!

Talk about going ALL OUT,
well for the trunk or treat
this guy had the back of a commercial van
all decked out spooky and the kids had
to enter to get their candy.

Another couple did cotton candy for
their treat. Who do you think was
the favorite among this crowd???
Not me and my boring bowl of candy, that's for sure.
SO it was a really fun, COLD night.
And now we have our first round of
too much candy already, which will
magically and slowly disappear
before we get round 2!!!

Fall Fun Favorites

Some of the things that have become favorites for our family

at this time of year, and tradition I guess:

#1 making candy apples

(some to enjoy and some to give away)

#2 taking a hayride to pick pumpkins

these kids were serious searchers for

that PERFECT pumpkin

waiting for the haytruck to come back and get us

we had actually attempted to do this

last weekend, but the line was TOOO long

so we just bought some pumpkins.

We drove by the place after Kaipo's soccer

game and found good luck and NO line.
SO this time was all about the hayride

and the FREE pumpkin you get to pick!

#3 pumpkin decorating

for this mom-painting pumpkins is WAY

easier, plus the kids can actually do it.
I leave the carving up to dad, if

he chooses to attempt it.

Kaipo's is a vampire and Ame's is a witch.
Ame did hers all on her own, but Kaipo

WANTED help. He has become quite the little

artist, but also gets very frustrated when

things aren't just right. So mom helped a bit.

We even glued on vampire teeth, although you

can't really tell and it doesn't look much

like an actual vampire-HE was happy with it!

we did this while Ash was taking a nap,

much easier with the older two!

with all these activities, I don't know how I

haven't gone into labor yet????