something-itis

Quincy Quote:
Brandon is working as a vet tech for an urgent care pet clinic and worked a 16 hour shift one night. The next day Brandon explained that he had been helping care for a sick cat most of the night and Quincy asked:

What -itisis did it have?

How she knows what -itis means, I didn't know. Brandon informed me that OLIVIA (the pig) had itchy foot-itis the other day on TV. So, apparently Quincy now concludes that if you are sick you have some sort of -itis.

The drama continues

Well, just when we thought we could put all the drama behind us for the months of August of September, we discovered it was going to continue.
I went to a follow-up appointment with my OB/GYN on Monday afternoon and talked with him for awhile, he told me it appeared my body was trying to get back to normal and that he thought I would probably be fine in spite of my continued symptoms. I was cleared to resume normal activities including exercise and work and all that. I returned to work and even thought about exercising on Wednesday morning but couldn't bring myself to drag my rear end out of bed, but it ended up probably being a good thing because while at work I started to hemorrhage. Thanks to very helpful coworkers, a great husband and mom, a fabulous medical team and modern medicine... I got the opportunity to have an emergency D&C operation, an overnight stay in the hospital to treat a relatively high fever, and to FINALLY end this whole ordeal.

I can now say that I am almost positive nothing else can go wrong in relation to this most recent pregnancy, and that I'm just glad to have it all over with. Although I'm sure I'm a better person for having the experience, I hope to never have to repeat it.

It will be nice to hear General Conference this weekend! Hope you all get the chance as well!

Happy October!

Update: long overdue

I am not very faithful about updating our blog, or seeing if other people update theirs either... but to update you on the past.....4 months-ish of our lives, Here you go:

June:
1- Busy with stake Trek (thank you to all the family members that helped with our children while Brandon and I went and braved the never ending wind, hot sun, bugs, and bland landscape of Wyoming in hopes of helping the youth of our stake have a positive trek experience.
2- Happy Crowther/Haslam family reunion. Occurred the same Saturday that we got home from trek... so it was a long drive from Wyoming to Green River all in one day. But Happy Father's Day to Price and even though we didn't run the river this year, it was good to at least be able to see it again.
3- Ta-da! We're pregnant!

July:
1- Happy Independence day! Love the BBQ's, fireworks, and friends/family!
2- Happy 8th wedding Anniversary! I love Brandon!
3- Happy Haslam Family/friends reunion at Cherry Hill. Good food and friends, and a 2 nice relaxing days at the water park. Camping with an infant isn't very easy though. :)
4- Happy Birthday Quincy!!! 5 already-- wow how the time flies!
5-Pre-kindergarten physical and immunizations for Quincy. What a brave girl.... didn't cry and answered all the questions right!
6- Dinner with 2 of Brandon's old mission companions (and their families) = a lot of people in Fuddruckers restaurant, and 3 30ish year old men with indigestion from attempting the "3 lb challenge" or something like that (See Brandon's facebook for pictures!)
7- Valynn goes to Girl's camp for the week. Theme: Way to Be (focus on the 9 be attitudes given by President Hinckley.)

August:
1- 1st pre-natal appointment= 11 weeks. Everything looks good.
2- Brandon on a trip to Jackson hole with UVU Outdoor Education department
3- Assumed miscarriage, Brandon came home early from his trip.
4- Brandon goes on Scout Camp with the ward young men's program.
5- The same hour he gets home we pack up our family and go for a night of camping near Strawberry Reservoir. It was cold, but fun to spend some time with Kristy and Troy Beckstead, Melissa and Nephi Peterson, and have the kids play together in the dirt.
6- Dave Matthew's Band concert. Almost got high off people around us smoking weed, but enjoyed the music and company!
7- Back to school night and meet Quincy's teacher-- seriously!
8- Nevermind! miscarriage was apparently either a miscarried twin or a sub-chorionic hemorrhage-- either way, there is a baby, alive and well, and still growing on ultrasound.
9- Brandon starts new job working as a veterinary technician at Pet Urgent Care.

September:
1- School starts. Quincy's first day: arrived late.
2- Avett Brother's concert at Deer Valley Resort. One hippie attendee's sign: "You're are SO good!"
3- Happy Labor Day!
4- Girl's Night Out with the Fab 5, dinner and movie at Melissa's house.... too bad we are all adults now and can't stay up all night anymore-- kids/work aren't very conducive to napping cause you didn't sleep well the night before!
5-Utah State Fair. Lots of fun, very tiring, but lots of fun-- unlimited ride passes for the girls WAS a very good idea. Happy birthday, Susan.
6- Appointment with OB/GYN doc. Not good news, no heart beat anymore. Confirmed miscarriage, but too far along for a D&C. Labor induced on the evening of the 13th, our little boy: Samuel Reed Haslam delivered on 9-14-10 at 7:09 am. (Samuel, I wait for the day when I will get to hold you again.) Thank you to all the family/friends who helped with our kids, meals, emotional support, and everything else. We are so blessed!
7-Week off work cause I have great coworkers and family!
8-Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus up at the Energy Solutions Arena. Had a good time, but the girls were just as excited about getting to ride the trax train for 4 city blocks as they were for the circus!

I'm sure I've left out multiple things, It's hard to believe it is already Autumn, but I love the cooler temperatures and beautiful colors too. The insanely busy summer is now over and hopefully we will have a lull in the chaos before the insanely busy holiday season arrives.

Another Quincy Quote

A random sampling of the conversations I hear about or get into with my darling 4 year old daughter:

Quincy is getting pretty bright about figuring out the world around her. Her excuse for wanting to climb trees is so that "I can get a better view."

Last Monday, for family night, we talked about Nephi building the ship that carried his family to the promised land and how Laman and Lemuel argued with him and then tried to attack him. We talked about how Nephi put out his hand and the Lord shocked both the brothers.
Today during church Quincy's teacher came up to me and told me about the lesson they had. During the lesson, Sis Dawson asked if anyone knew who it was that wanted us to do bad things. Quincy's response, "LAMAN and LEMUEL!" Sis Dawson responded that Laman and Lemuel were pretty naughty a lot of the time, but then asked if Quincy had ever heard of someone named Satan. Quincy's response, "Oh yeah, I remember him. We have a movie about him." (Joseph Smith story).
Apparently in class they were talking about Christ being tempted by Satan. Sis. Dawson asked Quincy if she knew what Jesus said to Satan when he tempted him. Quincy's response: "He bonged him with his power."

Last night, (the girls were up late cause we had nap time earlier that day) Quincy decided she was hungry and wanted some soup. I asked her what kind of soup she wanted (anticipating opening up a can of chicken noodle soup and calling it a night) "I want to make some soup with my own recipe." I told her not tonight, she whined, and then- curious, I asked what her recipe for her soup called for. She informed me that it had apples, eggs, and flour. I told her that sounded like it would make a nice apple cracker, but not soup.... so she attempted a few other combinations:

Apples, oranges, and bananas (sounds like a good fruit salad, I told her)
apples, oranges, and beans (mmmmm!)
apples, beans, and eggs (even yummier!)
and lastly apples, beans, eggs and flour (makes my mouth water just thinking about it)
I told her: No, She was welcome to eat an apple and then it was time to brush her teeth.
Hopefully I haven't thwarted her creative juices for culinary art and we can try one of her "recipes" another night when it isn't already 11 pm.

Eleanor Quotes

Why is that AGE 3 is so well known for talkativeness? Some things that are said are so.... so... inappropriate?!!

Last Sunday is church there was a Young woman in our ward who has fairly dark hair and had bleached a small section in the back a strikingly contrasting blonde color.... she then had done in in a hair claw with the hair ends poking out the top of the claw.... Eleanor's comment: "Mommy, Mommy! That girl's hair looks like a chicken!"

Again, this Sunday, in church, we walked in (late of course) and sat behind one of the more elderly couples in our ward. The man is very kind and soft spoken, but like many old people his ears are still growing and have a few vagrant hairs growing from them. Eleanor's comment as she looks at the back of his head: "Mommy, Mommy! Guess what?! That man's ears look like a pig! (HUGE grin)"

My response: ".................................................(blink, blink)................... Thank you, Eleanor. Now sit down please." My thought-- I hope he is hard of hearing, so he didn't hear her say that.

Again, because of facebook, I sometimes feel like I'm re-telling the same stuff over and over again, but I guess I feel like Blogging is a little more "permanent"

My girls playing "cooking" yesterday: Quincy decides to put all her favorite foods on her plate including: tomato slices, corn on the cob, an apple, and a fried egg. On Eleanor's plate-- her favorite foods: ice cream cone, donut, french fries, and pizza. Oh, but don't worry, I was fed too-- a pear and an onion-- they were "delicious"! :)

All the pretty flowers... are gone. At least at my mom's house. My girls decided to "decorate" with Grandma's newly opening tulips-- every single last one of them- while we were visiting this evening. Brandon and I are embarrassed, cause we know the girls know better. I still don't get what is going through their head.... honestly, every single tulip, and any up and coming tulip has been picked (and now thrown out). Sorry, Mom. Hope you weren't enjoying any of the color in your backyard!

Happy Birthday Benjamin

Our sweet Benjmain is 1! Its hard to believe how fast the past year has gone by. Benjamin is starting to take steps and figuring out what foods he likes (he likes to feed himself, and if you want to feed him, I have to be taking food off my plate in order for him to let me put anything in his mouth-- I guess he figured out that food I eat was going to be more tasty than food I tried to just feed him.) Grandma Brown gave Benjamin a wind up Monster truck type toy that he just latched right onto and loved-- so great thinking, Mom! Its always so hard to find a present for a one year old!
We had a fun barbeque with most of the family and a few friends-- we love the spring time and we were glad we got great weather for the evening!Benjamin's cake was mostly held together with frosting but he seemed to enjoy it, he used it as a drum set at one point. He actually was eating it fairly well until he decided to turn around and smear in on the chair, and then, as is tradition, Brandon made sure he had a "good showing" and put cake in his face.

We love this sweet boy! What a joy to have in our life and in our family! He and Quincy and Eleanor all keep us on our toes, but that is what helps make life enjoyable and exciting! Thanks for all those who came to share the evening with us and celebrate!

Eleanor

Oh, my sweet Eleanor (explanation follows)

Last night during FHE (BTW: We have had family night regularly for the past 5 weeks now, which I am very proud of!) Anyway, last night our lesson was on Easter and what Christ's death and resurrection meant for us. I was explaining (very excitedly to keep the girl's attention) that people who didn't like Jesus decided to kill him and they hung him on the cross. After he died they put him in a big room with a big rock in front of the door and 3 days later he was resurrected.

Mom: "And Jesus was resurrected very first, and because he was resurrected, that means WE can be resurrected after we die too! Hooray!"
Eleanor: "Hooray! Yeah! Rock off, Mom!" holding her arm out straight in front of her with her hand in a fist.

Yeah, I rocked off my 3 year old in celebration of Christ's resurrection and the atonement.

I've tried to post video to our blog about 6 times now and it always is "uploading" for close to 6 hours before I finally give up--- so either I'm doing something wrong, I'm just impatient, or its just not meant to be. Sadly I'm much better at posting on facebook that I am on keeping our blog up to date-- so sorry if you've been left out of the loop just because you're not a facebook fan.
Last week Brandon spent hours and hours serving in the jury box in a unpleasant case in the Provo City courthouse. The girls were happy to be able to spend time with some very kind friends-- Grandma, Kristen, and Sarah while I worked and Brandon "juried"- I don't envy Brandon's experience a whole lot!
Brandon took the kids down to Cedar City for the weekend and I had the opportunity to stay home and get done some long put off projects-- I (with some SIGNIFICANT help from my handy-man dad) replaced the broken fan in our bathroom and was finally able to scrub off the mold from the ceiling with greater assurity that it wont be able to grow again! (Hooray!) I also plastered some holes in the walls, changed out some plumbing underneath the kitchen sink that was leaking, and other "not very easy to do with children in the house or while they are sleeping" tasks. It was fun to be able to spend some time with my dad too-- I used to be his "helper" when I was little and he would work on various home improvement projects...."helper" being a very relative term. :)
Today I was finally able to meet with a pulmonologist for my sleep study results. She told me I had mild obstructive sleep apnea but did not require a CPAP machine right now-- other than that, she basically said that one major contributory to my constant sleepiness was my work schedule and the other was my weight... it didn't seem to matter that I have had very successful weight loss for the past 2.5 months.... she recommended I lost another 35 lbs and I could be sleep apnea free forever-- Believe me, I would LOVE to be 35 lbs lighter, it was just kind of a damper on the amount of success I've had so far-- I guess just the reminder of HOW MUCH overweight I am. So.... I guess we'll keep working on it.
Quincy and Eleanor still love their dance class through Hale Center Foundation. Benjamin is growing up like crazy and starting to take a few "stumble/run before I fall down" type steps. He's an absolute joy-- even though he is a little sick.

Kind of newsy, and nothing incredibly exciting, but at least it is up to date!

Progress

So I know I haven't posted for quite awhile. Most of it is that it is faster to post short blurbs on Facebook-- I know, lame excuse. Things have been busy though. As far as an update to the previous post Brandon has done very well, lost close to 25# and I am fairly close behind him having lost over 16#-- in 6 weeks, I'm pretty happy about that!! I fit into the pants I bought nearly 3 years ago to go on our cruise- so hooray! And I'm under the benchmark weight I set last fall-- so I get to reward myself with a massage ASAP! :)

Time for some lifestyle changes

Brandon and I have decided that we are way past due some lifestyle changes and have signed up for a "free trial" exercise/nutrition program for the next 8 weeks. We wont gross you out by posting our "before" pictures, but hopefully we will see some significant results in the next 8 weeks. So far we have found quiet a bit of frustration with figuring out what to eat. We are supposed to eat 200-300 calories every 2-3 hours throughout the day with a fairly even proportion of carbs, proteins, and fats-- have you ever tried to do something like that? Brandon and I have been eating fairly non-cohesive things throughout the day. Any suggestions for meal recipes following the requirements would be gratefully accepted. :)

Sledding

Poor Benjamin was SO tired. He fell asleep in the first 5 minutes!
We had fun sledding today, with just a few minor casualties. It's always nice when you can find snow gear on sale early in the season in anticipation of snowfall. (that and buy big, so hopefully it will fit next year!) Happy New Year!