The Kavanaughs: August 2010

Minnesota

So, the 4th trip was to MN over the weekend. We were supposed to head up on Thursday night for a family reunion, but obviously that wasn't going to happen! We did head over on Saturday - Jocelyn was doing just fine by then. I don't have many pictures - too many other things were on my mind! We had a fun time visiting with family - we were at my aunt and uncle's house in Alexandria with all my mom's siblings and my grandma. My brother and Katie were able to make it back, so it was great to see them as well.

Jocelyn's new puppy and purse from Great Grandma

Jocelyn and Sadie - my cousin's daughter. The sweatshirts my grandma got in Door County this spring!

We stayed at my parent's house on Sunday and Monday to see Katie and Brian more.

At the zoo

Marshfield

So, the third trip in our world tour was a trip to Marshfield, WI to visit St. Joe's Children's Hospital! Definitely the least favorite of all 4 trips. So, the day of the memorial service (Tuesday, 8/3) Jocelyn woke up with a fever. Great. But she didn't have any other symptoms, so I figured it was a tooth. Gave her some tylenol, made it thru the service, and headed home a bit early. She was starting to get a little wheezy in the afternoon/evening, but nothing I was too concerned about. She still had the fever Wednesday morning and was still wheezing. I called the dr. and made an appointment for that afternoon. Calvin took her since he didn't work until later. He called me about 3:00 and said I needed to come up to the clinic because they wanted to admit her to the hospital! What?! When I got up there, he said they had decided to send her to Marshfield (they have a really good pediatric department and an ICU if necessary). And that they wanted her to go in an ambulance. Yikes. Apparently when the dr. was doing her exam, Jocelyn got upset (because she doesn't like doctors touching her) and she was having some gasping of breath during that time. And the wheezing was still going on. We had to wait over 2 hours for the ambulance, and when Calvin asked if we could just drive ourselves (it's a 1.5 hour drive) she said, no, it wasn't safe for her. So, we hung out in the ER in Eau Claire, they did some blood work, some chest x-rays, and started an IV with fluids. Then we made the trip over to Marshfield. I rode with her in the abulance, but had to ride in front. She did amazing on the ride over - she was dancing with one of the EMT's and then fell asleep. She cried a lot when she woke up, but I tried to talk to her and calm her down - I don't think it helped. The EMT's were so wonderful - really everyone was wonderful the whole experience. I have a new respect for families who have sick children - what a huge stress that must be.

So, we got to Marshfield, they kept her on the IV and just monitored her oxygen levels for a while, then gave her some steroids to open up her airways, and in the middle of the night gave her a nebulizer to help with the wheezing that had returned. Thankfully her fever was gone by Thursday morning, her breathing was much better, she was drinking on her own again, and we were able to go home! The diagnosis was she probably had a virus - most likely croup, and that she'd be fine in a week or so. What an experience! The scariest part was obviously the not knowing. But everyone was very calm and really didn't appear to be too nervous (that's probably part of their training) so that helped me stay calm too. Jocelyn was such a trooper - she was so brave and didn't cry nearly as much as I thought she would. I'm pretty sure she'll hate doctors forever now though! She's 99% better - just a little cough now and then, but is like her old self. She was all better on Saturday! She's been really clingy though - and only to me. I don't mind though - I'll take it while I can get it!

Sleeping in the hospital crib - she really liked the bed!

She didn't hurt her arm - that's on there so she wouldn't rip the IV out. Aren't the hospital jammies cute?

Calvin's bed

My bed

Mom and Dad were on their way back from Oregon, so they made a detour and came to visit too!

By mid morning she was too antsy to stay in bed, and we couldn't leave the room - they didn't want other kids to get her sickness - they have kid cancer patients there. Sad.

She got pretty good at wheeling the IV cart around - and she didn't want any help doing it!

Playing hide and seek - is this kid really sick?

Ready to go home with the turtle from the nice EMT's

Oregon

So, after we visited Aubrey and Tony in Rockford, we headed down to Oregon (IL) to my grandparent's house. I was looking forward to going down there - I hadn't been there for quite a few years, and I have such good memories of that house growing up. The house itself I love - we found the original house plans (my grandpa built the house) and I was tempted to keep them in case we ever build! And of course I love all the memories we have from all the times we went to visit over the years. I was thankful not much had changed in the house - many things we found even still smelled like my grandma. It was a very memorable experience, and I'm so glad I was able to do it. We found so many neat things! Among my favorites were my grandpa's military uniforms, letters he wrote to my grandma before they were married, her train ticket to visit him in Seattle, their class rings, and pictures galore!

There was, of course, a lot of stuff to go thru - I'm pretty sure they never threw anything away. Especially my grandpa in his garage/basement. Yikes. I failed to take a before picture of the basement - I'm really kicking myself that I did. It was amazing that Dad and Calvin got most of it out in just a few days. Wow. A lot of stuff went in the dumpster, but a lot of stuff (junk) was given away too! Some guys stopped by - they took a bunch of metal scraps, a few old appliances and some old booze! A few other things they put out at the curb and were gone within 15 minutes. I've realized that I keep a lot of things that I think are neat, or that are important to me, but that no one else will ever want! And I'm really going to be better about that - we have too much stuff as it is.

Here's the living room - Mom and I started by going thru all the papers/pictures and sorting them. That seemed to take forever!

Here's a portion of the basement after they'd been working for a whole day. Again - I'm really bummed I didn't take a before picture.

But, here's all the stuff they pulled out of the basement!

Mom and I with some cool old hats we found - still in the hat box! I think they were given to the thrift store on accident.

Jocelyn LOVED looking/talking at herself in this mirror. It kept her fully occupied for almost an entire day!

So, here's a video of her in the mirror. She's hitting herself in the head with the ice scraper, then giving herself a hug and saying sorry! Then at the end she's saying goodnight and goodbye. It was so funny!

Here's the funniest thing we found - a bag full of used soap! We found it the last day, in the bedroom closet. Mom and I were crying we were laughing so hard!

My good little helpers!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Now, I bet you're wondering why there aren't more pictures of all of us at the restaurant. Well, that's a funny story - one that will make his birthday one to remember. Jocelyn will occasionally tell me before she has to go poop. We don't normally make it in time, but at least she's trying. So we're sitting at the restaurant - just a small little Italian place in town. She's kinda getting antsy, and tells me she has to go poop and that she wants to sit on the potty. So fine, we go in there - just a one room toilet and sink. She doesn't go, and I don't want to hog the bathroom, so I get her dressed and we go back out. We get our food about 10 minutes later, and all of a sudden Calvin asks, Why is there poop on my foot? Sick. Her diaper (super runny) had leaked everywhere - all over the high chair, the floor and Calvin. I go out to the car, and luckily we hadn't unpacked the pillows yet. So I took a pillow case off, brought it in, Dad lifted her up, I wrapped her in the pillow case, and out the door we went. I got her wiped off a little out in the parking lot, then wrapped her in the other pillow case and we went back to the house. Meanwhile, Calvin had to bring the high chair into the tiny bathroom to get it cleaned up and himself as well. I guess everyone was staring at us, and needless to say our waitress got a pretty good tip. Like I said, a 60th birthday to remember!

Yummy - good cake Grandma!

One of my fun memories from childhood was catching fireflies at their house. They were always out every night, and we'd catch them and put them in glass jars. I showed Calvin, Kailee and Jocey how to do it - and we caught about 4 or 5!

Showing Grandpa her "bees"

So, we were down there for a long weekend, but Dad stayed until August 4th. The memorial service for Grandpa was on August 3rd. His sister and her kids came the day after we left to help with the house. I was amazed at the house after - they did a lot of work! I didn't take any after pictures because I thought we'd be going back down there, but it sounds like they may have gotten everything ready to go. Here are a few pictures from the second time we were down for the memorial service.

My cousin Karen - Jocelyn absolutely loved her! She's 12 - so just a few years older than Kailee, and she just clung to her. She even wanted her to put her to bed one night! I hope it gave Karen some good babysitting practice!

World travelers

Well, we've had quite the exciting end of July/beginning of August. And that's never good. I've realized that not having a drama filled life is really the way to go! It started back in June when my grandpa passed away. He had been living down in NC at a retirement home, and hadn't lived in his house for about a year. My grandma passed away about 10 years ago, and the house really hadn't changed much in that time - probably had a bit more stuff added to it. My dad is the closest sibling, so he headed down the end of July to start going thru the house, getting it cleaned up/out and ready to sell. It was his 60th birthday on July 25th, and we weren't going to let him get out of celebrating that special day! So Mom, me, Calvin, Kailee and Jocelyn all headed down as well to assist in the cleanup efforts and celebrate his birthday. (More to come in a later post)

Jocelyn and I went first, and on the way down stopped in to see our good friends Aubrey and Tony and their 3 adorable kids. We hadn't gotten together since Jocey was just a few weeks old, so it was long overdue. We had a blast hanging out, playing and going to the children's museum. You know you have good friends when you haven't seen each other in that long and you pick up like you just saw each other yesterday! Here are some pictures from the children's museum in Rockford - what a cool place!

Jocey and Zander playing with this cool peg thing where you'd make impressions of your hands and face.