Europe 2012 Part 2

Rome

So here's the next half of our trip. The day after graduation we hopped a plane for Rome. Rome was hot and crowded for the end of October. Much less romantic than the first time we visited but the fact that I was so tired and emotional and dragging around a 3 week old baby could have had something to do with it.

The first day Devin thankfully insisted we sleep in while his parents went out sightseeing. The walked all over the Colosseum and Roman Forum while we stayed in bed until noon. We then met up and toured a church, had lunch and went on an evening walking tour through the city which included the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona among others.

The next day we took a 3 hour tour of Vatican city where we walked through the museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Finishing our day with a 2 mile walk back to our hotel.

Our last day in Rome we went to Circus Maximus and saw more ruins. Then we went searching for gifts/souveniers for the kids before catching a taxi to the airport to fly back to London. 

Castle San Angelo

Spanish Steps

Circus Maximus 

  

It was quite the whirlwind trip. I'm still not sure what is easier. Traveling with 3 kids (that are potty trained and able to feed themselves) or a brand new baby. It was nice however to get away and just be adults and not have to cater to a bunch of kids for a little while. I still missed our kids back home. That was the longest we have ever left them and it was harder than I anticipated. Anyway, I'm glad we did and glad it's over. Enjoy the pictures!

Europe 2012 Part 1

England

So let me preface by saying I love to travel under normal circumstances. I love to see new places and try new things and it doesn't typically stress me out. However this last trip was in no way normal and couldn't have happened at a worse time. I DO NOT reccommend traveling overseas with a 3 week old! I even had feelings deep down that our unplanned pregnancy would somehow get me out of this trip. But like a good wife I supported my husband who had a strong desire to actually walk at his Oxford graduation despite now living 5,000 miles away. So planning this trip included Devin's parents who wanted to be there in support of their son. We had decided it was too expensive to take our other 3 kids and so would leave them with my parents. Then somewhere we decided to add on to our trip since we were already there. With discussions back and forth it was finally settled that we would head to Rome after the graduation. Wouldn't have been my first choice but I wasn't going for me. So needless to say I was not looking forward to this trip.

The older I get the less I like to fly. I remember as a kid wishing so often we could afford to fly places more often. It was so exciting then. Now, any little bump of turbulence freaks me out. Any abnormal sounding noise scares me. My husband, who fully understands the physics of how planes can fly just laughs at me. I say, even if I could copmprehend it all, who's to say the plane wouldn't just drop out of the sky at any moment? So our flight out to London was the worst I've ever experienced. For a 9 hour flight we had maybe 1 hour of calm. We had so much turbulence. At one point the plane literally dropped probably 20 feet. Soda. coffee, water went flying everywhere. I sat with my eyes closed, clenching my chair and my baby and crying and praying for most of the flight.

We arrive in London early morning and after dropping our luggage at the hotel, we catch a bus to Hampton's Court Palace where King Henry VIII lived. We are all so exhausted we could hardly stay awake if we stopped moving.

The next day we took the Underground to St. Paul's Cathedral. You may know because Prince Charles and Diana were married there. It was also designed by the famous Architect Christopher Wren.

After this we went to Greenwich where the Prime Meridian is marked with a line through the park.

Cutty Sark

That evening we caught a bus to Oxford getting us in much later than hoped. The next day was the graduation ceremony. Our former nanny and good friend watched Kelsey for us while we attended. The ceremony was nearly 2 hours and most of that was in Latin. It took place in the Sheldonian which was also designed by Christopher Wren.

   

Despite being exhausted beyond all hope of catching up I'm glad I went for the graduation. It was interesting and unlike other graduation ceremonies. I'm so proud of my husband!

She's Here!!

Okay I'm behind on posting this since she's been here a whole month already. Kelsey Grace O'Dowd was born September 27, 2012. She wieghed 8lbs, 5oz. and 20.25 inches long.

  

We showed up at midnight for a scheduled induction. Labor was quick and delivery went well despite my epidural not working and it being a super busy night of births that my doctor didn't make it to the delivery. My mom came out just before to stay with the other kids while we were in the hospital. We were all very excited for her arrival. Later that night about an hour after her feeding she started to choke and turn blue. I patted her back with a little extra force and she started to breathe again. A couple hours later it happened again. I called the nurse and she was concerned and took her to the nursery to check her out. A few hours later the nurse returned to tell me she had another choking episode and they sent Kelsey to the NICU for more tests. I was starting to get worried. They wouldn't let me feed her or touch her and they had started a round of antibiotics. They did chest x-rays and blood tests. After about 12 hours in the NICU they recieved tests results all being normal and I was finally able to hold her and feed her. Unfortunately because they had started a 48 hour antibiotic they could not release her until she had received the last dose. So from 1am on Friday until Sunday at 10am she was there. In retrospect it was overkill. It was most likely leftover mucus she was having difficulty swallowing. It was difficult for me to leave her there and walk back and forth from my room every 2-3 hours. I'm thankful she was and is okay and have a better appreciation for those who have spent numerous days, weeks and months with their child in the NICU.

Now, a month after her birth she has made her presence known. The kids love her and give her lots of hugs and kisses each day. She is pretty demanding and when awake she just wants to eat. She can only handle smiling and being talked to for so long and then gets fussy. She has already traveled overseas!

We still haven't settled in to a routine. My world pretty much revolves around taking care of her and thankfully the rest of my kids are understanding and able to do a lot for themselves. We'll eventually get back into a routine and back to school work and cooking proper meals and cleaning. For now, I'm enjoying every minute I can with her despite the fussiness. They grow up too fast.

Thanks Aunt Amy for the cute shirts!

SUMMER VACATION!!!

Why is it summer seems to be the shortest time of year? Ours wasn't even that busy or jam packed with activity, yet it has already come and gone.

Since my last post which was the end of May we:

1.Finished up the school year
2.Attended VBS at our church
3.Went to the pool or waded in our kiddie pool
4.Endured 2 1/2 weeks without daddy when he went on business trips
5.Started our next school year in July
6.Road tripped it out to Colorado for almost 3 weeks

The highlight of the summer was our trip to Colorado. We had all been looking forward to this for a while. Mind you travelling across the desert in the middle of summer at 7/5 months pregnant was not the best part. We saw things like the Grand Canyon and Four Corners. We stopped in Durango for a couple days and visited with Devin's parents and rode the Durango Silverton train. We then spent 4 days in Breckenridge where my parents, my 2 sisters and their families rented a house. Some of us had not seen each other for 2 or 3 years! It was a great time and great to see everyone and meet new nieces and nephews. The rest of the time we stayed at my parent's out in Peyton. We joke that they live in East Kansas because it seems so far. But even though it's on the eastern plains of Colorado, you can still see the mountains and it is quite peaceful. The surrounding neighbors have horses, goats, roosters, geese and others. Their 5 acres gives the kids lots of room to roam and explore. While there we, attended my old church, a concert given by my brother in law which everyone should check out at www.collinstoddard.com , took the kids to Santa's Workshop, went swimming, and had a get together with many of my relatives.We enjoyed our time there and visiting with lots of family. Our hearts are still there and we hope to one day be living there again.

While we were in Breckenridge my brother in law snapped this great photo of all of us together!