Birds and the bees with a six year old

So the other day we were in the car talking about our newest and cutest baby cousin Atticus when Tate asked "Mom, why aren't we going to have any more brothers and sisters." I replied "Remember that medicine Dad took to kill his bone marrow so he could get new marrow and make his blood work good again. Well, that medicine made it so we can't have anymore kids. " I wish I could capture the look of profound awe and self discovery when in wonder he said "So you mean Dad has something to do with it?" He was so proud of his Dad! I said "you know how plants start out as seeds. Well, basically Dad has the seeds." THANKFULLY, I SHUT UP!!! And thankfully he didn't ask any more questions!

Cancer--a family affair

To say our families have been amazing through our whole experience is an understatement. They have done everything from provide life-saving stem cells to the latest bit of service--delivering medication. This weekend we were up in Midway enjoying time with my family. In Jon's haste to rush home from work and meet us in the mountains he threw in his almost empty bottle of his most important medication rather than the bottle that was just filled. As soon as we realized the mistake we exhausted all our resources to fill his prescription at a local pharmacy. The only option was to make a 2 1/2 hour round trip drive back home. That was our only option until Jon remembered that our brother-in-law was biking the Tour de Utah and his race went right down Main Street of Midway. So a new plan was made. Justin would put Jon's medicine in a ziplock in his jersey and at the appointed spot he would throw Jon his medicine and continue on his race. I am continually amazed at the parts that everyone plays to make sure we have have everything we need and that Jon's transplant is successful. How many times can one say thank you?

As I mentioned earlier, we didn't start a blog when Jon was diagnosed because it made him feel like the cancer patient, but I do feel bad that the only way we documented it was random emails. So I have added a little cancer chapter (to the left, labeled "Cancer Updates") mostly for me so I can remember what life was like--the really wonderful and the really hard.

May the force be with you

The sole purpose of this post is to brag, but once you see where I was and how far I have come you will recognize the need to have some bragging rights. So, I always try to make my kids a birthday cake. I feel like I should save myself the embarassment, but I'll throw in this birthday cake story too. There are no pictures of Tess at her first birthday with frosting smeared all over her face. Why you ask? Well, she wasn't too thrilled with the cake I made her. Banana bread cake with cauliflower puree. Jon will never let me live it down. But back to the real birthday cake story. As you can see from exhibit A this was Tate's birthday cake when he was 3. He was so thrilled with it. He called it his "pancake birthcake." The real story is I forgot to add the oil so it never rose. I added some icecream in the middle layer to make it a bit taller and hopefully taste a little better. A little unsucessful on both accounts, but all that mattered was that he was thrilled. Hooray for a happy 3 year old.
Speed up three years to the "Light Saber Cake." After looking on line at star wars cakes and seeing amazing Darth Vader fondant cakes I realized I had to figure out something that was a bit more manageable. Nothing like a good jelly roll cake. So with exhibit B you have brag #1.

As for brag #2--Jon and I are excellent pinata makers. Of all the talents to posess, I'm sure good pinata maker should be somewhere on the top. Last year Tate loved his baseball pinata. This year--the Death Star (Darth Vader's huge ship) was a huge hit. I wish I could take more credit, but Jon was the mastermind behind it. Happy Birthday Tate!

Three Sweet Funny Kids

So I thought I should give a little update as to what the kids are up to and what their little personalities are like.

Tate started first grade last week. I felt like I was giving up a lot in terms of climate moving from NC to Utah and I told Jon there was one thing I WOULD NOT DO...year round school. Seeing as Tate started last week you can tell how well I stuck to my guns! :) I actually think it will be great. Tate has 1 1/2 weeks left and then he gets three weeks off. He gets all these brakes in the year and as long as we move before June (which we better or someone is in serious trouble!!) he will still have all of next summer off. So basically our hope is to milk the system for all it is worth and have our child in school the least amount as possible. Probably not the best stragegy, but for first grade I think it will be great!

Tate was born with confidence and a happy spirit. He is the forever optimist. It didn't even cross his mind that he should be nervous because he was starting a new school and didn't know a single person in his class. He hopped on the bus with his good buddy and rode off. He came home with the same spring in his step as when he left! He is really having success in reading and his favorite part of school is the monkey bars. I figured out that if I want to know what is going on at school I don't ask "What did you do in school today?" If I really want to know what is going on I ask "What did you play at recess." Now that has some interesting asnwers! His passion these days is Star Wars. He loves everything about Star Wars. His light saber is by far his favorite toy and I'm impressed that the duels he and Cale have don't usually end in tears. The funny thing about Tate is since we hardly ever watch TV, he is more sensitive to TV than any kid I've ever seen. For example most Veggie Tales are too intense and when any scary part comes where the good guys would be in danger he gets worried and asks us to turn it off or change to a different show. So Tate-safe shows include "Tom and Jerry," "Yogi Bear," episodes of "The Muppets," and amazingly enough "Star Wars." Who would have guessed. As long as you talk him through anything that could be scary he is just fine. I'm amazed at how slow a 1980's film is! It is the ultimate in the good guys always win. It suits him well. A classic memory I hope never to forget: 2 little boys marching bare naked across the driveway singing the Star Wars theme in "dunt, dunt, dunts." They were retrieving their swim suits from the car and apparently that was the best way to do it!

Cale is funny, sweet, cooridinated as I'll get out, and a bit more complicated. He really gets humor--what is funny and how to be funny. We are constantly laughing. I mentioned earlier that he adds "mo" to the beginning of words. This is not an attempt to be funny. I should probably start correcting him, and if he does it at 12 you must remind me it is no longer cute, but at four...I love it. My top "mo" words. 1. Mo-saster (disaster) This is almost always used as an adjective to describe his sister. 2. Mo-sgusting (disgusting) frequently used for a plethora of things that they make, find, do, and especially bodily sounds. 3. Mo-3PO (C3p0 from Star Wars.)
Cale had a bad experience last year from preschool, so we really talked it up this year. Friday was his orientation and it is a good thing they had cool pinwheels. I told him it was a rule I couldn't get it for him, he had to go into the room and get it. He warmed up and had a great first day today! Hooray!!

Tess, how to describe her: so cute, snuggly--she'll lay her head on your shoulder and melt into you, loving and FIESTY! At this age the boys were into places to go and things to see. Tess is more into interacting with you. My favorite thing, and I think hers to is after she wakes up in the moringing or from her nap I pick her up and set her on my lap in the lazy boy. We make faces at each other and she copies mine or does a few new ones of her own. She loves to give the meanest glare and then brakes into a huge smile. She loves to sing songs, play peek-a-boo, find her belly button and be quizzed on her body parts. She also understands SO much of what is going on. It really amazes me.
I remember the first time I saw my sister's little girl throw a tantrum. She is the same age as Tate. If I remember right I think I just stood there with my mouth open and thought "What is that?" Tate NEVER threw a tantrum. I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying never either. We had Cale so we could realize that tantrums have nothing whatsoever to do with how well (or poorly for that matter) you parent. We had Tess to be amazed at how young they could start! We just realized that she has the talent of crying hard enough that she can pass out for a second or two. That is always nice. She is actually so pleasant and fun to be around a good 90% of the time. I think she'll give us a run for our money though as a teenager. Watch out!!

As of 8/6/2008 that is pretty much the Silcox kids in a nutshell!

Island Park

We went on vacation to Island Park Idaho for an entire week and it was just bliss! It is the perfect vacation spot for the ages of our kids. It was so nice that all that was on the agenda was to arrive on Sunday and leave the next. Our days pretty much went like this...

Wake up at 8:00 or later and fix breakfast. Go for a bike ride and get good and hot. Jump in the boat and take off water skiing and tubing. Come back and have lunch. Take a nap, read a book, go on a walk, go for a spin in the paddle boat. Just enjoy the scenery! Eat dinner. Jump back in the boat when the water gets glassy and ski till your legs feel like jello. Come back to the cabin, eat dessert, put kids to bed and enjoy each other and being together without any distractions. It was perfect!

I'm amazed at what our family can do these days. Cale excels in anything that requires gross motor skills and riding a bike is no different. Months before he turned 4 he was able to ride his bike without training wheels and now he is a pro. He kept up with Jon, Tate and I and was able to bike trails with tree roots, rocks and ruts with no problem. I guess what I am most amazed at is that we could all go (Tess in a seat on the back of Jon's bike) and everyone was happy the whole time. That is the true miracle.

Water skiing was great. The water was always good and to feel like you are skiing in the middle of a painting with pine trees, amazing sunsets and beautiful mountains was awesome. The first night we were there we turned the corner up the river and right before us was a huge moose coming down to take a drink. We named him Manny. Another time we saw a mama moose and her tiny baby. It was so neat. Most of my friends know that I love water skiing, but I thought I'd post a picture to prove that I can actually do it. Not bad skiing for 32 and a mother of three if I do say so myself! We also got a tube so we could pull the kids in something fun behind the boat. Tate was a bit nervous at first so we convinced Cale that it would be great fun and he happily jumped on. Wouldn't you know we had him sitting too far forward and with Jon going so slow we submarined Cale. Not for long, but just enough to worry him. He went on it a few more times, but Tate was the one who was just thrilled about it. A turn could never be too long and we cound never go enough times in a day for him! Watching him go on the tube was watching someone experience true joy. His smile could not have been bigger.

Some of my other favorite things about our trip--
Tate "Can I hug you Mom? I haven't gotten to hug you so much today."
Cale has always been funny with the things he chooses to say. He will often add "mo" to the beginning of a word. "Mo-naked" made it's appearance for the first time.
Tess must have loved the vibration of the boat. She would come to the drivers feet and lay face down on the floor of the boat. It was quite funny to see.
Jon--that we could actually go on this vacation. Last year lake water was out of the question.
Me--the sound of waves against rocks and my childrens laughter waking me up from a nap and going right back to sleep.

First Timers

So right after Jon was diagnosed with cancer 20 months ago, we had a marvelous friend that offered to start a blog for us. Jon said it made him feel like a cancer patient, so we opted not. There are some decisions you seriously regret in life, and now I find myself struggling to make a "non-cancer" blog. We should have taken our friend up on it. It certainly would have been on the benefits of cancer list.

Our web address is jonandquinn.blogspot.com. (It's not in high demand.) But it seems as if we have always just been Jon and Quinn and all smushed together like it is one word seems appropriate. Canadian geese choose their mate early on in life and then live a life of monagamy for ever after. I could have just as easily been a goose. Since we were seventeen, we have simply been Jon and Quinn. We have been on many an adventure since then...graduating from highschool, Jon serving a mission for our church, getting married, both of us getting degrees from BYU, moving to North Carolina for some of the greatest years of our lives, adding one, two then three additions to our lives, Jon graduating from dental school, Jon being diagnosed with myleodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow transplant, Jon graduating from his orthodontic residency, moving to Utah and buying a practice. In a nutshell that is where life currently finds us--amid the wasatch mountains, happy with our three children, Tate, Cale and Tess, Jon loving his job--the proud owner of Silcox Orthodontics in Cottonwood Heights, and very grateful for a new perspective on life and the chance to live it!

Nov. 2006 right after diagnosis

Just A Little Update

Well, we’ve been in Utah for almost 2 months now and so we thought we should send out a little update on how we have faired since our move. All in all we really like it here. I get especially nostalgic about Chapel Hill when I hear it reached 76 degrees on the day of a huge snow storm here. There is much we miss about NC, but Utah has a few perks we have discovered as well, and we are getting settled and reacquainted with the great state that we left almost 8 years ago.

Jon successfully bought an orthodontic practice in Salt Lake City that he absolutely loves. He loves to go to work everyday and is driven by all of the many challenges that come with being a new business owner. He is finding out that there is a lot more to running a successful orthodontic practice than just being good at straightening teeth—and that makes it even more exciting. As far as his health goes, we think we are on the up and up now. After two days at work in his new practice, Jon had a nasty spell of pneumonia. He can’t seem to do anything just average or low key. So it was with pneumonia—he did it with gusto… he not only got bacterial pneumonia but RSV pneumonia as well. He was in the hospital for eight days, six of them being in isolation and the kids and I couldn’t see him. That was the pits. Sometimes it is hard not to be a bit impatient at wanting to be over this sick stuff and just get on with life, but there are a few lessons we still need to learn and apparently one of them seems to be patience! Jon’s doctors are also learning patience with us as well as Jon seems to have his own ideas and protocols for treatment. If anyone is counting, today is day 322 following Jon’s transplant.

Tate is doing great and loves school. He is such a happy go lucky chap as is, but combine that with having his Granny at his school and it is a piece of heaven for him. We have had record breaking snow this year and as far as I'm concerned if it is going to be cold it might as well be white and beautiful. It beats the pants off of cold, gray and an inversion! Plus, the boys love the snow. They will get on their snow clothes and play for hours. A month or so ago, while Jon was in the hospital, Jay (Jon’s dad) took the boys up to the cabin on a snow cat. He tied Tate's sled to the back of the snow cat when they were coming out back to the car. He kept asking Tate if he was cold and he said no. When they got back to the car he told Jay that he was freezing, but that he didn't want to say so because it was SO MUCH FUN! That pretty much sums up Tate. He tries to get as much fun and excitement as possible out of life!

Cale continues to be such a funny little fellow. It is interesting the things he picks up on and how he processes them. Just this week Cathy could see a big hawk in a tree and tried to point it out to Cale. He said "My dad had a hawk. Before he was bald." His "Chemohawk" (the Mohawk Tate and Cale gave Jon before chemo). We all laughed about that. He is so particular about things sometimes and one day after I had spent 5 minutes (it seemed like eternity) trying to get him bundled up to his satisfaction--zipped up just so--in exasperation I said "Cale you're killing me!" It was 2 or 3 hours later when we were in the car and he said "Mom, you said kill me. Dat not nice." I had to reply that what I said wasn’t nice and I apologized. Nothing like your kids keeping you humble! Cale started preschool and they are serious about it. It is a great little school, but there isn't much play about it. They know all their sounds and numbers to 20 I think. Who would have ever thought that your kid would need remediation in preschool--when he is 3! I didn't think it was possible! He’s catching up and doing well. Phew!

Tess is such a lovey! She just turned one on Thursday. She is just the apple of our eyes. She is standing and pushing things around. It won’t be long till she is walking all over. I'm just waiting for the day I can do pig tails!

As for me, I'm doing really well. Kids are happy and well and Jon is doing good...so that pretty much equates to me being happy. I am getting nuttier and nuttier in terms of nutrition--much to Jon's chagrin. I just figure that after all his body has been through good nutrition can only help him. So he has all kinds of fruits and veggies blended up daily to which he and the kids are good sports! If ever he even thinks to complain I remind him that it is his fault that I’ve become this way since he up and got cancer! J

So all things considered, we are doing really well. We love being close to our families, but miss so much our friends and try any way we can to get them to come and visit. (That was an open invitation to any North Carolinians!) But we wanted to let you all know we are doing well and pass along our contact information. Every 6 weeks in Jon’s office they do a contest and the current contest is called “Who’s your doctor?” to which they have a bunch of random questions about Jon. One of them is “Where does Dr. Silcox live?
A. a house B. an apartment C. the garage D. His parents basement

If you guessed D you are correct. Nothing like going to seven years of graduate school so you can move into your parents basement, but in reality we couldn’t be happier about it. It is working out great. It is giving us a chance to get on our feet, figure out a business, and catch our breath before we start on another adventure and find a house. So, our address will change, but our phone number will stay the same. However, we will always get anything that comes to Jon’s parents address.

Hope this update finds all of you healthy and happy. The Tarheels just won and we are surprising the boys tomorrow and flying to California to go to Disneyland. So life is good….really good!

Sending lots of love,
Jon and Quinn


PS
Any email account associated with UNC will soon be inactive. Below is our updated contact information.

1213 Sweet Caroline Dr.
Riverton, UT 84065
Home phone 801-649-5407
jon.silcox@gmail.com
qsilcox@hotmail.com