Happy Halloween

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Quinton. He is growing so quickly. I took him to the doctor on Thursday and he weighs 7 lbs 13 ounces! He is SO cute if I say so myself. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the kids that follow!

Bull Canyon

This was the weekend before I had Quinton. We went to Nick's parents house in Bull Canyon for a family reunion. We thought it was going to be one of the last times that we would all be together, but funny thing is we have all been together 3 times since because there were three babies born since that weekend. The kids all love going out there. They get to eat junk food, play in the dirt, ride the four wheelers and be with cousins.

Quinton's miracles

These are the men that I owe my life to. Doctor Evans is the one with the dark hair...he was the OB that delivered Quinn. Doctor Taylor is the Urologist that ultimately saved my life. He is the man that came all the way from Idaho Falls at 2:30 in the morning to look at my CT scans. They weren't sure at first if the fluid inside my body was blood or urine. They didn't have enough of my blood type to operate in case it was blood. Doctor Taylor is the one that finally figured out that it was urine and told them to operate and get the baby out ASAP. Doctor Christensen is the other doctor that was part of the delivery but I haven't been able to catch up with him for a picture. Doctor Barton is also another doctor that has had a profound effect on my experience with my last baby. I have been SO blessed.

Haylee did NOT want her picture taken with Madalynn, she wanted to have hers taken all by herself. This was the day that the girls came and helped me give Quinn a bath.




We had to buy a new carseat for Quinton since our other one was expired and this is the way that I had to get myself around. My mom took this picture without me knowing.







This is the way they transported Quinton from Madison Memorial to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and then back to Madison. This is the time coming back from EIRMC to Rexburg. You can't really tell by the picture, but he is NOT happy.





My little sister made and designed this quilt for Quinn. She did an amazing job and I am sure that Quinn is going to love it! Thanks Monica!


This is right before we left the NICU. This is the outfit I picked for him to come home in assuming he was full term. It is a little big still, but at least it will fit for a while even if it is preemie.








Nathan LOVES baby brother. He loves to jam the binki in his mouth, put hats on his head and hold him.

The Main Event

Madalynn's Birthday

I can't believe my baby is six. She was SO excited to be six. There must be something great about being 6...just like it was for being 5. She got to pick her cake from the grocery store. She picked one that had lip gloss, body glitter and a brush. I guess it is just what is to come. We got her a leapster and some Junie B Jones books. If you haven't read those, you need to.

Haylee starts preschool

Haylee has been looking forward to this day FOREVER. Really. Or maybe that is me. She got accepted into the same school that Madalynn went to which is nice because it is a bus transported school. The first day she was up at 4:30 all dressed and waiting by the door for the bus. She could hardly hold the excitement in. She didn't even look back as she ran out to the bus. I love the joy that she has all of the time about the simple and easy things.

Random pics of the kiddos

"Mom I not picking the tomatoes today"


Madalynn is Miss Independent now and showers on her own. On this occasion she wanted to wear Grandma's shower cap so she didn't have to have her hair done.


This is just typical Happy Haylee


Best friends

Nathan's Birthday

Man, what was I thinking having all fall babies? Oh wait, I didn't plan it that way, that is the way that it just happened. Nathans birthday was the day after Quinton came home so it was nice to be able to focus some time on him for a while since the baby was a main focus. He got to go to Dairy Queen with Grandma and Monica and pick out his very own ice cream cake.
He kept telling Nick and I that he was turning four. We would try to correct him and he wouldn't have it. So to those to whom it may concern, Nathan is a "four year old ladybug in a tree". I got some toys for him at a neighbors garage sale that were still in the boxes. He opened them, but we decided to save them until Christmas. He got a bosch drill and everything else seemed very un-important. Madalynn got him a little matchbox bus and Haylee got him a little matchbox airplane which were also fun for him. Oh yeah, Grandma Hubbard did get him a flashlight and OH BOY he loved it. The batteries were dead within the day and the ones we changed were also dead the next day. Nathan is such a character and so much fun to have around. For those of you who know him, you know that he can definitely give you a run for your money.

Madalynn's first day of Kindergarten

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I can't believe that I have a kid in Kindergarten. I honestly thought that the kids would be home with me forever. The week prior to school starting was quite a roller coaster ride. I feel bad even still that I wasn't really able to share in the joy of the first day. I couldn't even walk her out to the bus stop. I am so glad my mom was here so that at least someone was with her. She had a healthy breakfast of captain crunch the morning of.
She is such a smart little girl. She has been in school now for 20 days and she already has learned a ton. She comes home singing new songs everyday, writing new things, drawing new pictures. She loves her teachers and she has a friend named Elise in her class.
She waits at the bus stop with a few of the neighbor kids. They have fun. The bus comes at 7:45 so there isn't a lot of time to hang out at the stop by the time I send her out. The house that they wait at has a tree with those little red berry things on it...they like to pick them and throw them at eachother.

Haylees Birthday

Haylee's birthday was clear back on August 26th. Yes, Yes I am a slacker on getting things posted, but I feel as if I have a valid excuse. Shellise (Nick's cousin) helped Haylee pick out a cake and took her for the day. Haylee still talks about it. Thanks Shellise.
Haylee got a cabbage patch kid, a McDonald's cash register with food (a favorite at a neighbors house), chapstick (OF COURSE) and a coloring book. She was pretty happy with her new collection of toys. The doll is now undressed on her bed, the cash register is downstairs, the food is all over the house and the chapstick was gone the first week. Oh Haylee, we love you SO much.

Family Pictures

When my parents came out here to Rexburg for their 6 year mainland trip my dad took us to the BYU-I gardens to get some family pictures. I think some of them turned out pretty cute!

Madalynn is SO lucky

Seriously. First the singing competetion where she won five hundred bucks...then the free fishing day *post to follow*.

On the fishing day each child got a little raffle ticket to be put in for prizes. There was also a prize for the biggest fish caught.

To make a long story short...Madalynn's name was called for the raffle and she won some really cute kids leather work gloves and then...Nick just happened to catch the biggest fish recorded so Madalynn won the grand prize for the girls which was a hot pink ladybug bike. It is a little too big for her (as you can tell from the pic of her trying to ride it with dad), but she looks forward to the day that she will be able to ride it all the time.

Free fishing day

This summer Lonepine nursery here in Rexburg had their annual free fishing day for the kids. We weren't doing anything else and so we decided to go. It ended up being a lot of fun. They were each allowed to catch 2 rainbow trout to keep (although since we had never been before we didn't know that). Haylee was scared to death of the fish. She actually caught the first one and as soon as it popped out of the water, she was GONE! Madalynn was kinda the same way. She just liked to throw the line in the water and reel it back in. Nathan liked to just sit and be with Daddy, but like his sisters, he too was scared of the fish. I think Nick had the most fun. He loved the pre-stocked pond, the beautiful weather, the free food (hot dogs and soda) and scaring the kids with the fish.

Seventh Anniversary

For our anniversary this year Nick and I actually decided to go and do something. My mom and dad were here in town for their 6 year mainland trip. We took advantage of the babysitters and went to West Yellowstone for the weekend. I hadn't been there since right after the fire...so it had been a while. It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of walking involved which wasn't the best thing for me to do since I was having some contractions, but I wasn't going to let it stop me. We did end up hiking down to the bottom of a waterfall and we did decide to walk around Old Faithful and all the hot pools. Of course it started POURING down rain when we were out in the furthest part. You can tell that we are getting old and aren't newly weds anymore. The first thing we did when we got to Yellowstone was check into the hotel and take an un-interupted nap, then we walked around some of the souviner shops, and then went back to the hotel by 8 and were both asleep by 9. Pathetic...maybe, but worth the money for the sleep and quiet.

Baby Quinn

Quinton

pics of Quinton

Here are some more pictures of the little guy. He really is a sweet little angel.

Quinton Reed Hubbard

Quinton Reed Hubbard was born on August 22, 2009 at 2:36 am. He was 5 pounds 14 ounces and was 18 inches long. He was delievered emergency C-section at 34 weeks. He is SUPER cute and looks just like Nathan and Madalynn did at birth. He was immediately taken to the NICU and mom didn't even get to see him for 6 hours.

I am completely humbled and grateful after this whole experience. I went to the hospital on Wednesday because my tube out of my back wasn't flushing. They need to be replaced often and they had me come in for a replacement. I thought it was just going to be a basic surgery and would be home by noon at the latest. I remember them waking me up in the middle of it and saying something to the effect of..."something has gone wrong, we can't get the tube out to replace it, your husband is on his way." I really don't remember much after this point until Friday. I remember parts here and there. I didn't like the nurses at EIRMC, and the medicine they were giving me was making me SICK. I also remember them coming in and giving me shots in the butt for Quinton's lungs. I also remember them coming and taking my blood like every 2 hours for 4 days. My arms look like I am a total drug addict. (maybe i'll post a picture of that later).

I was finally transfered back to Madison Memorial which is where I wanted to be. Doctor Evans, my OB, came and checked into my progress. At this point I couldn't breath for some reason. I was having and extremely hard time. They had the Oxygen mask on me, but it seems to smother me rather than help. The nurse noticed that my stomach was rock hard even in between contractions and noticed that I was a little distended. Over the next couple of hours, my stomach got bigger and bigger and harder and harder. I do remember telling the nurses and the doctors that they needed to get the baby out or he would not make it. I remember being adimate about it. Doctor Evans didn't want to take the baby out because I was only 34 weeks along and because they didn't have enough of my blood type in the hospital in case my insides were filling with blood. He didn't want me to bleed to death.

Eventually there was a OB, a surgeon, a urologist, an anastesiologist and two assistants around my bedside trying to figure out what route to take. All I remember is that I needed to get the baby out or both of us were going to die.

After 3 CT scans they realized the the fluid that was filling my body was actually urine. As soon as they found out that it was not blood they immediately took me into the C Section room and did the operation. I remember geting the spinal and that is all I remember. I didn't hear him cry, I didn't hear the doctors, I don't remember Nick coming in and being with me. I actually don't really remember anything until a few hours later.

I am really humbled to be alive. I have a new love of the priesthood in my life. I really should be dead and I know that it is the blessing that I recieved from Nick that kept me alive. Also Quinton had some weird things on his Xrays and MRI's and Nick and his dad gave him a blessing and an hour later when the tests were re-done...they were totally normal. I know that it is the blessing that helped him. I recieved many blessings and I can feel all the prayers that have been offered in my behaf and in Quinn's behaf. I appreciate all of them. I am so amazed at this new little life that I have been able to create and give life to. He is adorable and I can't wait to bring him home finally.

Wheat Field

Right across from the temple there is a wheat field that is beautiful and full. Madalynn always sees "wedding girls" aka: brides standing in the wheat field getting their pictures so she has been asking if I could go and take her picture. The camera's batteries died just as I was getting Nathan's alone picture and I never really had the chance or desire to go back and get them...sorry little buddy. I wish that I could have taken more when the wheat changed to yellow because it was so pretty. Maybe next year I'll get around to it. Then Quinton can be part of the pictures too.

Derby

I never thought I could have so much fun at a Demolition Derby. It makes it a lot more fun when you are cheering for someone you know. I didn't have a voice by the time I got home because I was screaming so loud for Nick. His work bought this car and he and the guys at work fixed it up to be derby worthy. He did really well...he came in second place out of the whole thing. Too bad second place doesn't get any prize money. He is going to be driving the same car in the St Anthony derby on the 21st of this month. I am not going to be able to go unless Quinton is still in the hospital I suppose. If you are in Rexburg come and cheer him on. It is a lot of fun!

Pictures by the Rexburg Temple

I have been wanting to go and get some pictures of the kids by the temple and just haven't been able to coordinate a time with Nick to go together so on July 2 I took the kids and took some pictures. It was HOT and unfortunately the sprinklers had JUST finished so the grass was wet and the benches were all wet so I couldn't get the pictures that I had originally wanted. The kids were good to sit in the grass regardless of the sprinklers for a couple of pictures. (I had a bag of teddy grahams that I used as bribes.) I didn't get as many as I had hoped for, but they turned out pretty cute I think. I bet people got a kick out of watching me try to take them...I took some where I laid on my belly so I could get a better shot of the temple. I probably looked like a high centered whale. Poor Madalynn had to come and help me up once the pictures were taken. I am so glad that she is not embarassed by me yet, cause I know that time will come.

The Fourth of July

This year was pretty much like the other years. We went to the Rexburg parade. Nathan loved it because it is mostly the police cars, the fire engines and the tractors in Rexburg that drive down the street with an occasional cheer team, band or dance crew. Kids love that kind of stuff. We usually go to a place called Craigo's to eat lunch and go to Porter park to the festivities, but with my back being the way it is, we decided to just do the parade and go home. About 4:00 we decided that we would attend the fireworks in Idaho Falls. Nick and I have been married for 7 years and we have never gone to the fireworks in Idaho Falls which are supposedly the best show anywhere around. They cost this guy 2.5 million dollars to put on every year. My sister in law Holly was nice enough to let us come and sit with her and her extended family without having to sit and wait for 7 hours for a spot. The show was pretty good...I mean compared to Rexburg fireworks, anything is good, but compared to Seattle fireworks, nothing really compares.

I love this picture of Nick and Haylee.

Those with weak stomachs might want to turn away

So many of you are probably wondering what the heck has been happening to me the past month or so. I will try to give an update without too many details for those who are weak stomached. First off, I am expecting baby number 4. Nick and I were most definitely surprised, but are excited none the less. Since this is baby number 4 I was pretty confident that we would have no complications and have a easy labor. We didn't have insurance at first and I wasn't too worried, because like I said, it is number 4. Luckily we changed our mind on that one.

When I am pregnant I often get UTI's or kidney infections. I am used to it and usually can tell the symptoms as soon as they come about: lower back pain, frequent urination, burning, thirsty all the time. So I felt these symptoms and kept going to the OB to get my urine tested for bacteria and other odd things. Each time, it would come back clean. I think I went probably every week for 4 or so weeks. I could tell something was wrong but the blood work and everything always came back clean.

Dr Barton finally told me that it was lower back pain and that I needed to just go and see a chiropractor. That is when I came in and said, "no, it is not just back pain, and a stupid chiropractor is not going to do anything for me." He sat down and told me some of the things that pregnant women can get, but how un-likely and rare it was. He finally ordered an ultrasound of my bladder and kidneys.

By the time I was home from the hospital there was a message from Dr Barton that said to come back into the office right away. Obviously this isn't good news.

He sat me down and explained that I was one of these rare cases. The uterus had planted itself in just the right spot so it is smooshing the ureter from my right kidney to the bladder. Basically my right kidney was so full of urine that I had to get emergency surgery the next morning at 5:30 AM to get a stint placed.

I went to Mountain View Hospital in Idaho Falls to have Dr Taylor place a stint (a fake tube to replace the smashed one). The surgery went successfully. Well, that is until I went into labor. I was only 22 weeks at this point and so labor was NOT a good thing. I was sick to my stomach and in a great deal of pain. They hooked me up to monitors, IV drugs, I was taking oral drugs and getting shots of turbutaline in my arm every couple of hours. The surgery that was supposed to last 45 minutes at the most ended up being a 12 hour ordeal. They finally sent me home with oral medications to take any time I had a contraction.

The next day I was still having contractions and was in a substatial amount of pain. They scheduled me for emergency surgery yet again. I had to first go to Dr Taylor and get the stint removed and then head over to the hospital and get a tube put it. So at 2:30 I went to get the stint removed (EXTREMELY PAINFUL) and headed over to East Idaho Reginal Medical Center to have a nephrostomy tube placed in my kidney.

The surgery went well and the contractions had stopped. This was on a Friday. It totally sucks to have this tube. If you don't know what these are, it is a tube that goes from my bladder, to the kidney and out of my back. There is a long tube that connects to a 600 ML bag that my right kidney drains into. So I have this tube and bag that I have to hide underneath my already tight clothing. Fun.

Monday the pain came back and the contractions started again. I swore that if I would have pushed the baby would have popped out. I went to three different doctors trying to find out what was going on. They thought that my appendix might have been failing. Luckily that wasn't it. They put my in the hospital overnight on a morphine drip in order to just relax my body and the uterus and bladder. I slept for many many hours and it was REALLY nice.

My wonderful mother flew in from Hawaii the day after my surgery to be with me for a few weeks. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her. She was my lifesaver. She cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids, weeded, sorted, nurtured and loved me. I needed my mom. She made it possible for me to just relax and not worry about cleaning and taking care of the kids. Although I am sure that she was exhausted each night. It isn't easy having three kids under 6.

I started having problems with my tube again. It was bleeding and not flushing like it was supposed to be. In the end, I had to go and have another surgery to replace the tube because the stiches had ripped out of my back. I am so glad once again that my mom was here to take care of me. She took me to the surgery and made sure that I was okay so that Nick didn't have to take work off. My neighbors have been really great to take the kids on a whim too since all of the surgeries have been kinda last minute.

I have been doing pretty good this week until yesterday. It started bleeding again pretty bad and it hurts really bad. Once the girls wake up I am going to head to the OB and just have him take the dressing off and see if he can see any infection or bleeding around the site. My kids have been really good to me since my mom left on Monday. Madalynn especially has been really helpful to me.

Also yesterday I took the kids to lunch at the park and someone hit the van. I guess not just hit, smashed. I got the estimate today it is going to cost 1800.00 to get it fixed. Stupid dishonest people. Like I said on facebook, there is obviously a lesson that I am supposed to be learning and must not be getting it yet. Maybe patience and long suffering is it.

The good news is that the baby is doing well and in no harm. Well that is what they tell me, but I am on some pretty extreme drugs so hopefully the kid is surviving it. I am actually doing well, it just stinks not being able to shower, bath, wear cute maternity clothes, sleep on my right side, lay down flat on my back and go on long car rides. I could have it a lot worse and I am grateful that Dr Barton listened to my and decided to send me to get that ultrasound because otherwise things might have turned out a lot worse.

Mudding

This is Nicks new hobby. He goes on Saturdays with a couple of guys from his work. I know that he misses his motorcycle, but I think the truck is much better for him. The lady who works with him wanted his motorcycle for her son and she wanted to sell this truck, so instead of any selling, they just traded straight across. It has been nice to haul away grass and weeds and junk. The one in the picture isn't his, because he can't take a picture of himself, so I think it is Camerons. He is the only one who didn't get stuck on this turnabout thing, and he has the weakest truck. It just shows that he is the man and can do anything.

Notice anything missing?

Madalynn is an old pro now on her bike. Thanks to her dad she can ride without training wheels. I wouldn't have taken them off because I am an over protective mom and didn't want her falling and getting hurt. Nick took them off and said, "you will learn how to ride a bike without training wheels." The first day she cried and cried. The second day she tried and tried. The third day all she did was ride and ride. That is what she does now too. She is FAST and likes to show off a little too much. She whips around corners and scares me to death. She is so proud of herself and it is so funny to listen to her now. She will see kids at the park and say, "they must not be going into kindergarten because they still have training wheels on their bike" or "(name) just turned six and she still rides with training wheels, I bet she has to go to kindergarten again." Everything revolves around Kindergarten now. Can you tell she is super excited to go? I can't beleive that I have a kid in Kindergarten. YIKES!

Is something wrong here?

I know that all parents think that their kids are brilliant and will brag about them, but I can honestly say that Nathan is brilliant. He talks up a storm, he knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it, he picks out his own clothes, socks and shoes, he says his own prayers and basically is just too smart for his own good. Well this is what has started recently. Don't think that I am not thrilled because I am, but he is TOO young to be potty training. It makes a lot more work for me since he is too little to climb up on

the potty himself (heaven forbid he use a little potty!). He is too little to take his own pants off and he doesn't know how to unstrap his diaper (BLESSING!!). He tells me when he needs to poop and usually makes it to the potty in time. The other day he even told me he needed to pee pee and it did start to drip a little bit, but I think he got a little scared having it free and not tight up against a diaper. I just assumed that he would be at least 3 before this stage started, but hey, I am all about less diapers so GO FOR IT BOY!

Grandma Nilson and Grandkids

What can I say, we tried. We tried to get some cute pictures for a long time actually. We even broke out the licorace in order to get the little one to cooperate. Madalynn kept closing her eyes, Haylee looks at other things besides me, and Nathan is just Nathan. I am still not quite sure how Madalynn got her eyes closed EVERY time because my camera is like 3 pics per second. She is fast I guess. Nathan and Grandma made a special bond when she was here as you can tell by the picture. He loved her. Obviously the girls did too but there was just a little something extra special with her and Nathan. She was going to take him back to Hawaii with her since she will be back on July 18th, but we decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea in the end because of health risks and boredom. Haylee had the hardest time (well besides me) when she left. Haylee cried for a long time when the bus pulled away from the hotel. I was in the same boat. I had to sit there in the parking lot until my eyes were unblurred. Madalynn was like, "what is the big deal guys, she is coming back." I only had two other minor meltdowns that day.

Madalynn and Haylee

When my mom was here I was trying to get a picture of all of the kids together, but the individual ones worked much better.

Autumn and Nathan

I forgot that I didn't have these pictures when i updated my blog in Washington last time and they are just too cute to not add. Well the one of me is not so cute, I look a little out of it or something. Nathan was really funny with Autumn because he really liked her, but if I was holding her, or paying attention to her, it was a different story. If I would hold her, he would point his finger at her and say, "MOVE" or "DON'T". At one point I was holding her, he tried to wack her with his plate in order to get her off of my lap. However, when I wasn't holding her, he loved to give her kisses, touch her hair, hold her and wrestle her (we had to watch that part). I am excited to see what he does with another new one around.

Cleaning with Grandma

Cleaning outside with Grandma Nilson

The kids love helping clean outside...well they play while I clean or in this case grandma cleans. My mom wanted to help me clean the backyard so that the kids can play out there in the fenced yard while I just sit and rest. Nathan is in the stage where if we are out front, the first thing he does is rush to the street, and I am just not able to chase and carry him. My mom was such a HUGE help when she was here. There were things that needed to be done for a while and just weren't happening. She washed out the pool and bleached it, she emptied the old sand out of the sandbox and cleaned it, she washed the baby swings, she weeded, she mowed the lawn (which is no easy task with a push mower), she helped trim the rose bushes, she helped make the DI pile. The kids were eager to help clean things with the brush and to play in the water.

Is this Paint?

No it isn't paint...it is butter. I am a breakfast cooker. Not sure why I like to cook breakfast so much, because I hate to cook any other meals. I usually make blender wheat pancakes, wheat waffles, eggs and hashbrowns, french toast and oatmeal. We have a butter dish that sits on the table and apparently Nathan decided to experiment and taste it. He knew he was in trouble as soon as I came around the corner, but it didn't stop him from smearing it all over the table anyway.

Legacy Air Show

Each June the Rexburg airport has a air show where people around the state and other areas come to show off their skills. Nathan is OBSESSED with airplanes, as any boy his age would be, so Nick took Haylee and him to go and watch the show. They didn't last that long, but did get to see enough to satisfy the airplane hunger.