The Kavanaugh Report

One of the things Morgan and I loved about our house when we first rented it was the beautiful backyard. And one nice thing about the backyard are the three large garden plats. Last year, we moved into the house to late in the season to take advantage of the garden area. Plus with studying for the bar exam and having morning sickness, everything we planted elsewhere dried up and died pretty quickly.

This year, Morgan and I were determined to use the garden and backyard to its full potential. One of the garden plats has raspberry bushes in it, and the other two were empty. So we headed off to the nursery to figure out what we wanted to grow. Once there we decided on a variety of different vegetables and herbs.

So we're growing green peppers, onions, cabbage, romaine lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, basil, and cilantro. I have zero experience growing vegetables so hopefully some of the plants will yield something. But I don't have a very good track record for keeping plan…

Wow, talk about time going quickly! Henry is now two months old! I can't believe it. I no longer have a tiny newborn...so so sad. Today, at the doctor's he weighed 12 pounds 6.2 ounces and was 23.25 inches long. He is starting to outgrow 0-3 month size clothes and is now in size 2 diapers. I just wish I could slow down time some. You get so wrapped up in the day to day care of a baby that I think its hard to step back and just enjoy the moment. I try to just soak up everything I can about Henry, but boy is it hard when dishes need cleaning, laundry needs folding, and you have a crying baby to deal with.

Speaking of crying babies...I have a confession. Its not a super big deal, or life changing or anything. But its something I have a hard time finally admitting to even myself. OK, enough build up. Henry has colic. Bam! There, I said it. Whew.

Over the last month, its become clearer to Morgan and I that Henry is not always the happiest of babies. Yes, he struggles with his poopin…

Henry recently discovered toys. It started with the mobile in his crib, then the elephant on his play mat, and now finally Zubels. Zubels is a knit rattle pirate with red hair and a peg-leg. The name "Zubels" is actually the name of the company that makes the toys, but I liked the name and it sounded fitting for a ginger pirate with one leg!

From the moment I showed Hen Zubels, Hen flashed him a huge smile and was hooked. Since then, Zubels has never failed to make Hen happy! I have a feeling Zubels and Henry will be best friends for the next few months. That is unless the dogs, who are also very into Zubels, make "friends" with him first.

Well, I finally have an update on Henry. Last time I updated we were on our way to a pediatric GI doctor to make sure there was nothing that was physically preventing Hen from going to the bathroom without pain. At that point Morgan and I were very concerned. The pediatrician scared us by calling us personally to tell us it was extremely urgent and by explaining (without us asking) that the worst case senario included major surgery.

So we went to the GI. The doctor did a physical exam and went over Hen's symptoms. Then she gave us the good and the not-so-good news. The good news was that there was nothing externally wrong with Henry. The not-so-good news was that to be sure Hen was normal they would need to perform a barium enema to ensure normal development of his intestines.

The next Monday we went to Children's Hospital in St. Paul to get the barium enema done. This was one of the hardest thing I've ever hd to watch. It was pretty uncomfortable for Hen and he let us kn…

Yesterday was a very special day for me! It was not only my birthday but my first Mother's day. My birthday falls on Mother's Day every 8 years. And how lucky am I that they fell on the same day this year?!

Morgan made the day really special for me. He started out by taking Henry when he was fussy at 5 am so I could get a little more sleep. Then he made breakfast in bed for me! We then went to Eau Claire for the day. It was the first time we have gone to Eau Claire since Hen's birth. I was a little worried about the longer trip, since Hen hates his car-seat, but Henry did great in the car, and just slept the entire time, both ways!


First, we went over to Morgan's Mom and Dad's for lunch. My sister in law Renee and my niece Jocelyn were also there. Henry was able to play with his cousin, aka sit on a blanket and stare at the patterned chair next to him. We also tried him in their swing to see if he liked it, but nope, it seems that Henry hates all swings.

Next, we went…

I retract that the prune juice was working. We got our hopes up that there was some progress. But any improvement we saw quickly faded and things got bad again. Henry's pediatrician can't do anything else for him. So we will be seeing a pediatric GI doctor tomorrow. I'll keep you updated, hopefully it's nothing too serious.

This past Sunday Henry was baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic Church! It was a great day! It also happened to be the day Pope John Paul 2 was beatified, which makes the day extra special. Calvin, Morgan's brother, is Henry's godfather, and my sister Ashley is his godmother. Both of our families came up for the day. My Grandmother and one of my cousins also made it up. 

Henry was so cute that day! He wore the same outfit that Calvin and Morgan both wore, so that was really special. He wasn't a big fan of the hat, but he put up with it. Honestly, I wish I could dress him like this everyday. How cute would he be?

The ceremony itself was super nice. It was after mass, and two other babies were also baptized. The only thing that could have been better was the one baby that cried the ENTIRE time. Henry did great, he didn't make one sound, even when the holy water was poured on his head! I was impressed!

After the ceremony, everyone came back to our house for lunch and cake.…

Happy birthday blog! It's been two years since I started The Kavanaugh Report. This just started out as a distraction from studying for finals, and has turned into a way to keep in touch with people and a way to journal about our lives. I've really enjoyed blogging. I love having a record of all the great stuff Morgan and I have done over the past two years. Thanks for letting me share, and thanks for reading.

I've been continuously surprised at how many people read the blog, and keep coming back. Over the last year The Kavanaugh Report has had:

Number of Visitors: 2,041
From Number of States: 48 (If you know anyone from Montana or Idaho tell them to visit so we can make it an even 50)
From Different Countries: 18
Highest Number of Vistiors in a Single Day: 190
Percentage of Returning Visitors: 53.60%
Average Time on Site: 1:53 minutes

Thanks to everyone who visits, and I hope The Kavanaugh Report will be even more successful in the coming year!

It's been a rough two weeks around here. I've mentioned this a couple of times here, but Henry has had problems with painful gas sine he was a couple of days old. We used gas drops to try to elevate his pain, but they only worked for a little while. Things continued to get worse for Henry, and therefore for us, as time went on. Basically, anytime Henry needed to fart/poop he would spend up to a couple of hours screaming in pain, grunting, pushing and turning red. The poor little guy was really uncomfortable. And unfortunately for all of us Henry was still pooping between 4-7 times a day. So we assumed it was just gas and tried to deal with the screaming. We learned some soothing techniques that made it easier for Henry.

Well about 10 days ago, these episodes got so bad, that Henry basically did nothing but try to poop/fart. He was miserable, we were miserable, and no one was sleeping. We called Henry's doctor, to see if this was normal, and what we could do. The doctor call…