Christmas Travels Part 2

We had a fun and packed week in Utah!

Wednesday the 11th: pulled into Huntsville late that night and it was freezing! We quickly unloaded the car, cranked up the heater at the house and then crashed!

Thursday the 12th: We headed down to Centerville to meet up with the bride-to-be Courtney, and my best friend Jess. It was so fun to catch up with them! Its been hard living so far away. But when we get together it's like we have never been apart. Corinne even commented on how much we are capable of talking ;) And I just loved to see them love and dote on my little boy! After our visit I just remember being so happy the rest of the day!

They Loved Collin!! 

Auntie Jess and Collin

Auntie Courtney and Collin

Auntie Court got Collin to sleep  

The Power 3!! 

Grandmama Hansen and Collin

Friday the 13th: This was a day spent in Huntsville. Bailey was feeling a little under the weather. It was so hard to keep her away from "Baby Collin" (or as she sometimes mistakenly calls him, "Baby Megan")- she loves her little cousin! And it was laundry day...4 days into vacation and we were already out of burp cloths and had tons of dirty clothes!

Bailey loves "Baby Collin"

Just 4 days worth of laundry! Oh the joys of traveling with a 2 month old- blow outs and spit up galore! 

Saturday the 14th: The day we had been anticipating for so long, and the main reason for the trip to Utah...Cohan's Wedding!! Unfortunately, Corinne came down with the same thing Bailey had so Collin and I headed to SLC on our own. Thankfully we had a backup babysitter for during the sealing! The sealing was wonderful. It was the first I had been to since my own and I loved that the sealer went through the entire ceremony and explained each part. And I loved that it was so close to our anniversary so I could reflect on those special blessings and promises. I was very emotional during the whole sealing (actually the whole day. Blame it on the hormones and lack of sleep...I have been way more emotional since Collin was born!) It was a very long day, but I loved being able to be apart of all the festivities. And I loved getting to spend the day hanging out with Jess and Josh (and I really appreciated the extra help with Collin and I know they loved the practice!)

Collin and the Bride at the luncheon 

Jess rocking Collin and Josh rocking Jess. These 2 are going to be the best parents...someday hopefully real soon! 

Happy boy in his wedding outfit

Collin and McCall- Courtney's niece

The Power 3- all married now! 

Courtney and Jonathan

Sunday the 15th: Another day in Huntsville. We purposely planned on every other day in Huntsville, to give the kids some good naps, to relax and so that we weren't driving all over the place every day.Thankfully Corinne and Bailey were feeling much better, but we were still keeping our distance to be safe. Collin and I slept in and were going to go to Sacrament meeting but Collin was acting a little off. He was really sleepy, eating on only one side at a time, and running a slight fever. I was pretty concerned since Corinne and Bailey had both had fevers. The stress of traveling and being away from Michael was definitely starting to wear on me! Thankfully this was the climax, and the rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. And thankfully the fever never amounted to anything and Collin was back to his normal self by late afternoon. In retrospect it was probably just the result of a really busy day before and not getting a really good nap.

Bailey playing in the curtains. She is such a silly girl! 

One morning Bailey and Collin played with each other for the longest time! I have probably a 5 minute video of them just playing. It was the cutest!! 

Monday the 16th: This was our day spent in Logan. Collin got to meet my 101 year old Grandma, aka GG, his Aunt Tanna, Uncle Jeremy and 4 of his Jenkins cousins. It also just happened to be his 2 month birthday!

Collin and GG

Kisses from GG

Uncle Jeremy

Aunt Tanna

Cousin Austin...the other boys didn't show much interest in Collin. But sweet Austin wanted to hold him! 

Sydney and Collin

Tuesday the 17th: Another day in Huntsville. Corinne and I made some yummy chocolate sandwich cookies with a peppermint frosting filling. They were delicious! I did another round of laundry (so not fun!) and packed up our stuff for our flight to LA the next day. Also that night some of Michael's siblings came up to the house to meet Collin. It was great to see them again and nice to see Collin loved by so many family members!

Aunt Charlette

Aunt Misty

Uncle Dennis 

Aunt Brittany

Aunt Misty and Cousins Kiara and Juli

Wednesday the 18th: This was our day in Salt Lake. We picked up Morgan from the airport in the morning, shopped at City Creek for a bit until it was time to meet up with my friend Caitlin and her little girl at Zupas. It was great to meet little Laila! She is 6 months old, but about the same size as Collin. It was so great to catch up with Caitlin too. We had a nice long visit. We sure miss being in the same ward as the Mortensen's! At Zupas we also ran into my childhood friend, Emily Tao. She is living in SLC and just happened to work at Zupas. Unfortunately we had just missed her brother Matt. After lunch we had more time to kill until I had to be at the airport so we do what Jenkins girls do best...shop! I suppose it was a good thing that I was already loaded down and didn't have room to buy anything :) At last it was time for me to head to the airport. Funny story: The Hales just happened to be flying into SLC that night. Their flight landed while I was waiting for mine so I figured out what gate it was coming in at, and met them as they were walking off the plane. They were totally surprised and it was fun to see them and have them meet Collin. (Papa Hales is the mastermind behind the beautiful cradle my dad made for us). Finally we landed in LAX, were reunited with Michael, and met my parents who treated us to a late dinner at In n Out. It was great to finally be "home" and for my dad to meet Collin!
Oh, I kept forgetting on the day of, and I nearly forgot to add it in here...This day was also our anniversary. Happy 3 years to us! It was a weird one being apart, and I had forgotten until half way through the day :) But we made up for it by celebrating later during our trip...more to come on that later!

Emily hard at work! 

Laila and Collin- 4 months apart but nearly the same size! 

Caitlin and Collin

Us and our sleepy babies! 

Saying goodbye to Aunt Rinny (no idea how to spell that!) at the airport...little did we know we would be seeing her in a week in CA! 

Ready for Collin's second flying adventure! He was such a great little traveler!! 

Christmas Travels Part 1

On December 10th Collin and I flew from San Antonio to Denver. It was Collin's first flight and he was a pretty good little traveler. He slept in the Beco from the time we got to the airport till the time we boarded, he ate during take off, was a little fussy, but quickly fell asleep after standing and rocking him in the back of the plane, then he slept the rest of the flight...even during the landing!

Sound asleep on the plane

Welcome to Denver!

My sister Corinne and niece Bailey picked us up from the airport and we spent the afternoon running errands, getting ready for our road trip the next day, and even squeezed in a trip to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop.

Love that Santa is looking down at him

The next day we loaded the car and hit the road for Huntsville, UT.

It was a long day, with all the extra stops we had to make to feed Collin. But the kids were great little travelers so the drive wasnt too bad. For having never been in the car for an extended period of time, Collin was an amazing traveler. He pretty much slept the whole time and just woke up every 4 hours to eat.
He did have the biggest blow out I had ever seen (he has since had an even bigger one!) at one of our stops. Thankfully he had just eaten and was sitting on my lap when it happened and not in his car seat...that would have been messy!

I'll save you the gross picture ;) 

Happy now that he is all cleaned up

Coming up next our week in Huntsville!

Christmas Travels

Collin and I were lucky enough to get to travel a lot this holiday season! We left on December 10th and didn't get home until January 4th. Thankfully Michael was able to join up with us on the 18th. We did so many fun things that it's going to take a few posts to cover it all...and beware I took a lot of pictures!!

Family picture from our quick little session with my SIL Anie, in her back yard :) 

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving may have not been spent with family this year, but we still had a great day! At first we were going to do our own little celebration and make a very non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, since Michael and I don't like turkey. But then we got an invitation to spend it with a bunch of people in our ward. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, lots of yummy desserts (I tried out a new donut recipe- pumpkin donuts- they were a hit!), and some fun games. It was great spending it with friends, and getting to know people in our ward a little better. And Michael and I agree that it was a much more exciting day than if we had celebrated Thanksgiving on our own.

His cute Thanksgiving onesie. Please note that this is a 6 month onesie. And he was not even 2 months old at Thanksgiving! Granted it was a bit loose, but still!! My baby is growing up way to fast! 

Collin's First Halloween

Collin made the cutest little candy corn for his very first Halloween. We had a ward trunk or treat the day before Halloween and got to show him off. On Halloween we spent a fun evening at home. My mom and I made homemade donuts in the morning. We tried out a new recipe for dinner- stuffed butternut squash pasta shells- delicious!  And we finished off the day by watching Hocus Pocus, and enjoyed our donuts with some yummy apple cider.

Halloween Day Outfit

Donuts and cider

With our little pumpkin family at the ward party 

Boppi was here!

First time holding Collin 10/19/13

The day after we got home from the hospital my mom, aka Boppi, flew in for a whole 2 weeks! We loved having her here, and all her help with Collin and things around the house. It was a sad day when she had to go home. But I know my dad, aka Owie, was happy to have her back. She's traveled a lot this year! We're just glad that we get to go see them both over Christmas!

Some highlights from Boppi's trip:

- Walking around downtown along the Riverwalk, through La Villita, and the Alamo. Also stopping by Michael's office and introducing Collin to his coworkers.
- Lazy mornings (maybe more of a highlight for me)
- Collin's first Halloween. She was a great help for this beginner sewer with his fun candy corn costume
- Trying some new recipes- stuffed butternut squash and sausage pasta shells and baked potato soup
- lots of shopping! This is always a highlight when Mom's around :)
- making homemade baked donuts with one of our shopping finds
- Some Halloween crafts
- Treating us to Collin's first restaurant outing...yummy Cheesecake Factory!
- Getting to catch up with a good friend who used to live in CA, whose daughter also lives in San Antonio, and happened to be visiting at the same time.
- Painting some adorable canvases for Collin's nautical room.
- exploring a couple of the local missions. Growing up in CA we of course know all about the CA missions, but never really knew that there were missions in other states too.
- And of course, lots of snuggles with Collin!!

Unfortunately I didn't get a really good picture of her and Collin. But I do know she got some :)

The Alamo

Halloween Ward Trunk or Treat 

After a rough morning for Collin, Boppi had the magic touch to finally get him to sleep. 

Boppi's beautiful handiwork above the bed 

Bath time with Boppi her last morning here

Me and my mom at one of the missions we visited

Introducing...

Collin Michael Coon

Born Wednesday, October 16, 2013

8 lbs 15 oz

21.25 inches

Our little boy is finally here! Its been a month already, yet it feels like he has always been a part of our family. We love him like crazy. We love watching him grow, but can't believe how much he has already grown in such a short time. Slow down sweet boy! 

I wanted to be sure to write down the details of his birth before I forgot them all! 

He was due on Monday October 14th. I had an appointment that day and an ultrasound, just to make sure that everything looked good. The ultrasound tech predicted that he would weigh about 7 lbs 10 oz (boy was she wrong!). When my doctor checked me I was measuring at a 2 and 75-80% effaced. Since I was at 40 weeks she stripped my membranes and we decided to schedule an induction for that Thursday the 17th.

last belly shot taken 8 days before he was born

Moving along to Tuesday, Michael was getting really anxious for our little boy to get here. He insisted that I run up and down the stairs and do some jumping jacks. I felt silly doing them and didn't think that it would do anything, but something must have worked! We went to bed around 11 that night, but I never fell asleep. Around 11:30 I started having some cramping, that just kept getting worse. I started timing them around 12:30, they were about 6 minutes apart, and just kept getting closer. I woke up Michael around 1-1:30, and we got things together for the hospital. We checked in at 2:22 am. When they checked me in triage I was measuring at 3 cm, nearing 4 and was 100% effaced, with contractions about every 2 minutes apart. The nurse could tell that I was pretty uncomfortable so she was kind enough to get the fluids started right away so I could get my epidural ASAP. I just have to add that Michael nearly passed out while I was getting my IV. It was pretty funny! I don't like needles and was nervous for the IV so I was looking the towards Michael and holding his hand. I think I had my eyes closed, but all of a sudden I sensed that Michael was leaning forward, over the bed a little more. Sure enough I open my eyes and he was totally leaning towards me. At first I thought he was just trying to get a better look, but then I noticed he was a bit pale, and swaying. Thankfully he recovered quickly after sitting down. He thinks that he must have locked his knees. I guess I'm not the only queasy one in the family.

I got to my room and met my nurses and by 4 am I had my epidural! It was wonderful, instant relief! My nurse Mandy (the best nurse, I was so sad that she was off before the delivery) was so reassuring and calming during the whole process. I was nervous about getting it, but knew that the pain would far out weigh the pain of labor. Turns out the IV hurt more than the epidural! I highly recommend them, but applaud the women who do it natural (like my dear mother!) Oh, and word had gotten around with the nurses that Michael had nearly passed out. So they made sure he was on the other side of the room while I got the epidural :) After that everything progressed pretty consistently and quickly. I will just list those details out:

4:40 am dilated between a 4 and 5

6:45 dilated to a 7

6:49 water broke

7 our favorite nurse Mandy left, and Diana came in. 

8:05 dilated to a 10, an at a +1 station (I think that's what it is referred as). They wanted me to get to a +3 before starting to push

9:10 started pushing 

9:56 He's Here!!!

Overall labor was a pretty good experience and I won't mind doing it again in the future. Even if I didn't get any sleep the whole night! I was really relaxed, but just too anxious and excited to sleep. Pushing was way more chill than I expected. The epidural let me feel just enough pressure that  in between pushing with the nurse we just chatted. It wasn't until those last few minutes when the doctor showed up that the excitement picked up. My doctor was at the practice's other office that day, so another doctor at the practice, Dr. Bryan Cox, delivered Collin. He was awesome, very energetic (great for pushing), and even sang happy birthday when Collin was born. Michael got to help pull Collin out once his shoulders were out and cut his cord. I chose to have the mirror when pushing, which was very motivating for me. And I loved getting to see Collin's full head of hair. I was hoping the whole pregnancy that he would have lots of dark hair like I did when I was born. 

As it got closer to him being born I was more excited than emotional and didn't think I would cry at all.  But as soon as they put him on my chest there was no stopping the tears. I can't really describe the emotions I was feeling. I was in awe, excited, amazed, exhausted, etc. There was so much going on that I don't remember much from the moment. I just couldn't take my eyes off our beautiful, perfect baby boy. I wish I could more adequately describe how I felt, it was just simply an amazing and miraculous moment!

Since then we have been loving our little boy. Sure there have been some ups and downs. And a lot of "maybe we should try ____" But I couldn't imagine our life without sweet Collin! (And in all honesty it really is hard to remember life before we had him, but maybe that's the result of lack of sleep) As his Aunt Corinne said in a text after he was born, "Welcome to the family Collin!"