Happy Halloween!

Today was Halloween, but to us it was just another Sunday. Chalk it up to another Utah quirk, we can't trick or treat on Sunday. Today was like a ghost town. I tried to make our home look inviting to trick or treaters but there were none to be found. Last night was the understood designated celebration of the holiday. We didn't even have that many trick or treaters though. I'm left with lots of leftover candy. The weather was not great, a little rainy but the rain held off for most of the popular time.

We started our weekend of celebrating the holiday with the Blessed Boo Ha Ha event at the kids' school on Friday night. There was trick or treating at all the classroom doors, a box maze, and food and music in the gym. This was the second year that this event was held, but we missed last year since we were in New Jersey. To be honest, we didn't miss much. I was on security detail so we stayed the duration and the kids ran around with their friends. Keely trick or treated the classrooms at least 3 times and I had to take her treat bag away or she would have eaten half of it before we got home.

Their costumes: Keely was a senorita. She found the red dress at Target and we accessorized with black heels (to be reused for Christmas), bead necklaces, and black gloves.

Quinn was a hybrid of years past with a new light saber. He didn't dress up for the school day, mostly because they didn't allow masks or weapons and his costume revolved around just those two things with a ninja twist so I guess he didn't see the point. I swear though he was the only child of 300+ not wearing a costume. That takes guts. No peer pressure for my boy! He wore his school uniform and told everyone he was a student :)

They trick or treated last night and this was the first year we let them go around the neighborhood by themselves. They had a walkie talkie and they were to stay together the whole time. It worked out fine, and they even checked back in once before going out to finish up a few more houses. Then they got tired, and came back home to give out the treats and review their bounty. We are flush with candy. And I have no office to bring it too...so the students at the U of U will probably be getting some!

I'm glad Halloween is over. It is most definitely not my favorite holiday and now we can look forward to Thanksgiving!

Textbook

I've grown to not like taking the kids to the doctor when I think there is something wrong with them, or they are complaining of something. I typically end up feeling like I wasted a co-pay to hear that it's "viral" or "just wait it out". I guess I have the peace of mind from it but it's a battle to know when and when not to make that appointment. I've even made and then canceled an appointment in like 20 minutes...boy, those receptionists must think I am nuts!

Yesterday was the kids' annual well child checkups with Dr. G. I just love this doctor, she is great. Very practical and gives great advice. She is hard to get in with though so we usually only see her at this one appointment each year. Side Note: Quinn was upset to miss music to go, but I told him there was no way I was canceling since it would be at least 6 weeks before we could get in with her. And she's booking out to February already, so that was a good decision! Anyways, here are the stats.

Quinn at 9 Years: 61 lbs, 52.5"
Keely at 7 Years: 45 lbs, 47"

They both checked out well. No vaccinations and I denied the flu shot as I usually do. At these ages, it's mostly a time to ask questions. I had one major thing for each child.

My concern with Quinn was his nosebleeds that he has been getting more frequently. She advised us to use Vaseline on the inside of his nose to keep it moist and hopefully cut down on the bleeds. If that doesn't work, she will send us to an ENT. It's not that frequent (maybe 1-2 times per month) so I don't think it will come to that.

Keely seems to always complain of a belly ache and sore throat, and she has started clearing her throat a lot. When the doctor came in, she had already seen the nurse's notes about my comments. She said it was like she was reading a textbook, the symptoms completely matched something diagnosable and treatable. I shouldn't be happy about this, but I am because it means we can do something about her complaints! She has a textbook case of....wait for it....Acid Reflux! I totally suspected this but I wondered if it was common or treatable for a 7 year old. Well, it totally is and now we are armed with a 90 day prescription of an acid blocker so her little tummy and throat can heal fully. We'll see Dr. G again in February to see how the meds worked and also check her weight (she's been almost stagnant this past year, possibly due to the acid reflux making her not want to eat as much). Mystery solved. Co-pay justified. Sometimes it works out :)

Seven!

For Keely's birthday, we decided to take a whirlwind trip to Jackson and Yellowstone National Park. That trip and the pictures associated are a post unto themselves so I am going to separate her birthday celebration from the trip. She deserves her own birthday post, so here it is.

We made her cake on Thursday night so that it could be transported 5 hours northeast to our hotel room. It made the trip just fine, and was quite tasty. She chose the cake type (funfetti), frosting (white) and the design. I have no idea why she decided on stripes, and she initially wanted pink but we couldn't quite get the icing to color pink and she ended up loving the orange-ish color. She wanted hearts all along so we added those as the finishing touch. She wanted to write "Keely is 7" but I convinced her that with the 7 birthday candle, it would be obvious. So we ended up with Keely Clare in a greenish teal writing. If I dare say, this cake came out looking pretty Irish with it's orange and white stripes and green writing. So this cake was all Keely, and I love that she rolls with life when it doesn't turn out the way she originally thought it would. She was so complementary too, telling me it was a beautiful cake :)


She opened presents in the hotel when we returned from Yellowstone and Teton National Parks. She got a DVD, a Zhu Zhu pet (dubbed Pixie) and some accessories for it. We went out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and she enjoyed a chicken & cheese quesadilla. Another thing I love about my girl, she will try any type of food and doesn't get caught up with typical Children's Menu fare. After dinner, we had cake in the hotel and then capped off the night with swimming. That was probably the highlight of her day, but I told her that someday she will thank us for taking her to the national wonder of Old Faithful on her 7th birthday!

Keely Clare Donovan

Since I wrote up Quinn's birth story, now I will turn my attention to Keely. No shorting that second child here :) Whereas Quinn's birth story was long and complicated, Keely's was quite the opposite yet the story starts very similarly.I had lots and lots of contractions with Keely. I was dilating early and often, so much so that by the time I was induced I was 4-5cm dilated and pretty well effaced. Yes, folks that means I was halfway there before I even went into labor. But it was not without effort. I would endure hours and hours of contractions only to have them stop (sound familiar?). This time though I was taking care of a 2 year old so I didn't have time to just sit and time those contractions. I figured that when it was time, I would know. I did however hope that with each doctor appointment my doctor would say, head on over to the hospital to have this baby! But that never happened.Because I had a C-Section with Quinn, I was scheduled for an induction. I really, really, really wanted to have a vaginal delivery with Keely and was so, so, so lucky to have a doctor that supported this desire (and a state that allowed it, some don't even let women try). I was a good candidate for VBAC (vaginal birth after ceasarean) because of my incision and history. I had to sign a waiver saying I understood the risk of uterine rupture but hey, that slight risk was worth not having to have another major surgery and a heavy recovery time.So, after all those weeks of contractions and dilation my scheduled induction date arrived. This was actually a good thing because Nana was able to fly in as planned to take care of Quinn while we were at the hospital. The morning of the induction, we were set to arrive at the hospital at 7 AM. When we got there, I was told there were no beds available and we were sent home. This was devastating. I knew the longer we waited to induce, the bigger she would get and the lesser the chance of me being successful with a VBAC. My doctor was only on call that day, and I had no idea when would be the next scheduled date for her to induce. There were just so many unknowns and I cried knowing that day might not be the day. We hung out at home, and later that morning got a call from the hospital saying to come over but then were almost immediately called back saying to stay home because a woman had just walked in dilated to 9cm. I was so depressed by this point, really thinking I was never going to have this baby (well, not really but a pregnant women is flush with emotion and everything seems like the end of the world at 39 weeks 5 days pregnant). We decided to go shopping and have lunch, and just as we were sitting down the hospital called again. They said to come in and I told them I was turning my phone off because there was no way they were calling back to cancel again!

We arrived at the hospital in the early afternoon and I remember being so excited to be there that I almost bypassed the registration desk and headed straight for an empty room. They got me all checked in and settled. Shortly thereafter the doctor came in to break my water and get labor going. I was already having contractions on my own. The water breaking was the trigger my body needed to finish this thing off, and quickly. My water was broke at about 4 PM. I also requested an epidural. This was the only hitch of the labor and delivery. The epidural did not work on my left side and they had to give me a spinal. So I ended up with a leg that felt like jelly...not even feeling like it was attached to my body. But I couldn't feel the labor pains. I also remember vividly having pain at my incision site and worrying about uterine rupture. My nurse was so patient and informative though, reassuring me that as long as the baby's heartbeat was strong and consistent there was no risk of uterine rupture.

I was ready to push by 8 PM. I did a practice push with the nurse and she told me to stop almost immediately because she could already see the head. I heard her call the doctor telling her to get in here now because I was a good pusher and it was not going to take long. Of course I was a good pusher, I had 3 hours practice with Quinn. The doctor came in and prepped for delivery. I pushed through 3 contractions and she was out in 20 minutes! It would have been faster but my contractions stopped for about 10 minutes in that time period. I was in total disbelief at this point, because although I had desperately wanted a VBAC I didn't know if it was possible. Three critical differences made it happen though -- (a) I loosened my pelvic bones with all the pushing in Quinn's delivery (b) she was in the right position and (c) she was small, well at least as far as my babies go. After my experience I am such a proponent of VBAC and am so grateful that was an option for me. Truly the stars all lined up for it to happen though and I'm sure one small change would have made me have a repeat C-section delivery.

So without further adieu, I present the baby who was so ready to meet the world that she flew out of the womb, and hasn't stopped going since :)

Keely Clare Donovan

October 23, 2003 8:20 PM
8 lbs. 3 oz.
20.5" long

1 Down, 3 to Go

The kids have finished their first quarter of the school year already! Wow, that went fast. With that milestone came report cards and parent teacher conferences. Here's an update on each child:

Quinn is doing very well in 3rd grade. He got very good grades in all of his subjects, mostly C's (remember C is commendable) and just a couple of S (satisfactory) grades. His worst grade was in Conduct (but it was still an S) with a comment noting a need to practice more self control. Because he is very bright he finishes his work early. He is encouraged to read at his desk quietly but often finds himself socializing with friends around him. This distracts his friends from finishing their work. His teacher would like him to decrease this "chattiness" and make a better choice. She suggested he help his friends with their work, thus satisfying his need for socializing in a positive way for the class. He could really be a leader in the class not only in terms of academics but in behavior as well. The other kids look up to him and respect him, and when he acts silly they will do it too. We discussed this with Quinn and I think he really understood it. Hopefully he will start to make better choices and help the class to do the same. A lot of pressure for a 9 year old, huh? We are sort of at a crossroads where he can choose a path and we have to help direct him down the right one. He's a good kid and I believe he will make the right choices.

Keely is also doing well in school. She got mostly S's on her report card, with two S- grades in Language and Reading. She is not quite reading at a 1st grade level yet. It's not for lack of trying though, recently she is showing a huge interest in really reading (usually she makes up the words as she looks at pictures in the book). Reading and language go hand in hand, so as she reads more her language skills will also increase. It's also a confidence thing with Keely, she tends to still sound out each word even the ones she knows. Other than that, she needs to work on not talking in class, relating to her conduct grade of an S. She is often asked to "put up an office" (a binder around your desk so you can't see others around you). She already knows she has to work on that, but what I would like her to do is stop blaming the other people for her issues...she will always say so-and-so was talking and Mrs. C asked ME to put up an office. Lying and trust continue to be issues with her so I am trying to be consistent and clear in explaining why it is so important to tell the truth.

I feel like I've only noted the bad parts of the conferences...for the most part, they are both doing well in school. We are proud of the good grades and general lust for learning that they both continue to exhibit!

Pumpkin' Carving

This weekend we bought some pumpkins for the kids to carve. They even cleaned out the guts with some help from Dad. As you can see from their faces, it was pretty yucky as it usually is when you have to scoop out the innards of a pumpkin. I didn't participate in this part, I used baking as an excuse :)
Keely drew out her face on a piece of paper, then onto her pumpkin and I carved it for her. It was supposed to be a vampire pumpkin (thus the two pointy teeth). I am not entirely sure what Quinn's was supposed to be(maybe a scarier vampire because it also has two pointy teeth) but James carved his and then added some extra special effects on the sides. Then it was off to the porch for the lighting of the candles. As is typical in our house, Keely wanted to pose with her pumpkin...Quinn not so much.So we have participated in the obligatory pumpkin carving. The house is also decorated with our usual Halloween and Fall decorations, we have some candy in store for the trick-or-treaters, and we have purchased costumes for the kids. Quinn doesn't like his though and couldn't really care less about dressing up this year. I'm with him, this is not my favorite holiday and I can't wait until November 1st. I actually think this is my least favorite holiday, and I'd much rather have it over and done and look forward to Thanksgiving.

Nana and Papa Come to Town

I'm catching up on the blog, it's past the midway point in October and I have no posts this month :( It's been a busy one, dear readers but I do intend to catch you up and I do have some very exciting things in store over the next couple of weeks. Well, maybe not very exciting but there should be at least some things to write about.

Earlier this month, Nana and Papa came to visit for the kids' birthdays (right after Quinn and before Keely). They were only here for 3 days but we had a lot of fun. We went to the zoo on Friday and rode the carousel and train while we were there. We haven't been to the zoo in quite some time so it was a nice treat for the kids. It was also quite warm that weekend, our Indian summer continued well into October.

Quinn got a new Lego set from Nana & Papa for his birthday and he spent the better part of Saturday holed up in his room putting it together. His patience is incredible, and he prides his work when he is done.
On Sunday, we went up to Oktoberfest at Snowbird. We enjoyed a couple of beers, walked around, met up with some friends for a bit (planned and unplanned both...it just seems we run into people we know everywhere we go!) and had brunch at the Alta Lodge. It was a nice day, a little too hot even but gorgeous up there as the leaves were just beginning to turn. Quinn also did the new ropes course, it was a challenge for him but he made it through.
So that was our weekend with Nana & Papa. It was quick but fun, and we were sad to see them go. They won't be back until Christmas...seems far away but I am sure it will be here before we know it!