The anniversary

One year ago today I watched my daughter's life change forever.

Who knew the road that we were headed down was going to actually be more of a roller coaster?

One year ago today she found out that she had Type 1 Diabetes.

I think I have shed more tears in this last year than my entire existence combined. But on the flip side I think that we have grown so much in so many ways. We live day to day on faith that no matter what happens we will prevail. We always do. We wake up each morning grateful that we have been given another chance to experience all the ups and downs of life. Together.

Being a parent of a diabetic is not easy. After checking her blood sugar 10 or sometimes more a day every number I see translates to me as a glucose number. It's 53 degrees outside right now and to me that means we need a snack. The time says it is 9:08 but to me that means something has gone seriously wrong and we have to get her blood sugar down. My mind is programed to read everything as it would be diabetes related. Feeling like this is something only someone who takes care of a diabetic would understand.

~blood sugar checks all day and throughout the night.

~Carb counting

~weighing food

~insulin doses at every meal

~Being constantly hooked up to an insulin pump

~changing her site every 3 days with a needle that I am shocked that we are brave enough to use.

~always being aware of changes in her personality, mood, or the way she feels to correct for a low or high

~holding on to any treat or snack that she gets until a meal so she can eat it

~knowing what to do when she is sick to not have her end up in the ER again.

~checking ketones

~using needles to inject insulin when I can't use her pump

~Monthly doctor's appointments

~looking for patterns in her blood sugar to know if any changes need to be made.

~and for mom the first thing I do every morning is walk straight to her room to make sure she is still breathing and that nothing went wrong while I slept.

All of this is our life now.

If someone would have showed me a list like this over a year ago and asked if I think I could handle all that I would died. But guess what? We do it every day.

And I don't even mind because it means that I get to hold my princess and laugh with her and sing with her, and play with her, and learn with her, and cry with her. She is so much more than "that diabetic girl" It is a part of her life but it isn't all of who she is. For this time in our lives I am here to take the diabetes part of her life and make it just as easy for her to live out the rest of her life. I think we make a pretty good team.

Here's to the next 95 years of her having diabetes!

Happy D-anniversary sweetie! Your mommy loves your more than I think you will ever know! I am more proud of you each day, even when I don't think that it is possible. You are a strength to so many. I just pray that as you go through your life that you will know and understand just how important and special you are.

Now off to get my hands on some ice cream. I have thought about it and think that the last time we had ice cream diabetes tried to ruin it for us. We are going to battle it again and not let it win!

Yup! I am still here!

Ok I have realized lately that I just need to post something! ANYTHING is better here than nothing!

I started my blog YEARS ago and I don't think that I have ever gone this long without an update. So sorry!

So here is another bullet point update just so that I can say that I posted something.

~I had the H1N1 flu last week. I truly thought that I was going to die! I am still trying to get my energy back and kick this cough, but I am grateful to be alive! I might order me a t-shift that says "I survived the swine flu....barely!" LOL!

~I just got back from the dentist. I hate going, but I had a good talk about my new found love of the movie theatre. While in the middle of putting my crown back on the dentist piped up and said "HEY! Wouldn't it be so cool if we all had Transformer teeth?" This made me laugh so hard!

~And incase I haven't mentioned I have a new found love of going to the movies. Not that I have seen that many movies in the last little while, but I have realized that is my favorite date night activity! I have always LOVED watching movies, but there was something about all the awesome blockbuster movies that came out that made me realize HOW MUCH I LOVE GOING!!!! If anyone is thinking of what to get us for Christmas...MOVIE TICKETS!!!

~Diabetes has been pretty crappy lately. In the last 2 months there have been a whole list of things that have made me scream!! First, the princess was rewarded with a milk shake (she had gone above and beyond what I had asked her to do and needed something special) I gave her insulin for half of it and told her to put the rest in the freezer. I got busy and forgot the follow through to see if she really did put it away. NOPE she ate the entire thing. I didn't find out until before bed her meter read and error that she was too high to read. Which means she was somewhere between 600 and a coma. Luckily we got that worked out. But then the next week she got the flu and couldn't stop throwing up. Her blood sugar wouldn't come up much above 80 the entire day. She ended up in the ER dehydrated and a mild case of Keytoacidosis. Then with a few weeks of her numbers being insane we made a ton of changes with her basal and carb ratio and stuff. This helped, but then she got the croup. She had to have a few doses of steroid to help her to breath. The doctor warned me that without changing everything again her blood sugar would run well above 600 for a few days. We had to stop using her pump for the weekend and go back to shots for everything. And yet again had to change EVERYTHING to keep in the 400 range. It was a long weekend! It was even Halloween! She couldn't have any treats or candy until the Monday after Halloween. Boy was I glad that was over! Right now we are back to "normal" but do you know what tomorrow is? Our 1 year anniversary of this crazy disease changing our lives forever! We are going to have to celebrate somehow.

~I started a training class for work. It was supposed to go from 8 at night to 2 in the morning but I got kicked out because of the flu. I have to start it again on Monday, but this time it will be in the morning. I will be grateful when this is over too!

~So I had a birthday too. A few weeks ago I said goodbye to my 20's forever. This has caused me to evaluate my entire life and where I am going. I am so happy with who I chose to marry, and the kids that I have! However I have things that I want to change. I am excited for the future and can't wait to say "my 30th birthday changed my life for the better!"

~One of those things that I am going to change is my weight! I have been touching the side of the scale that I wanted to never see. I am going to do something about it before it is too late. I have agreed to a little friendly competition with some friends and a few strangers to see who can loose the most weight in 8 weeks. Wish me luck! The monetary prize at the end could be SUPER useful!

~I had a little D-mom's chat the other night on MSN live and I LOVED every minute of it! All these mom's I have met through blogging and they have all been such a huge support for me. It was awesome to chat with everyone in one spot. I am so lucky to have these lady's in my life!

~I got a new shift at work that will start in January. I can't wait to start it! I GET TO GO TO CHURCH AGAIN! It will be awesome to not have to worry about that. And I will have all of Saturday off!

~I am really excited for the holidays this year. Trev and I are on the cusp of something fabulous! I don't know what it is yet, but we can FEEL it! This new year is going to be so good to us! I JUST KNOW IT!

~That would be true if we don't loose our insurance first....more on this later, but we are trying to come up with a plan if we loose our insurance and are too poor get purchase a plan somewhere. It will work out though!

Ok guys that is about all that I can think of. That is a good start though! Plan on seeing me more and feel free to yell if I don't keep that promise again!

I have been a bad blogger lately.

I will be back in full force soon!

Until then enjoy this picture.

I love this kid!

Wanna Win?

It would be so awesome to go on the Heber Valley Railroad Haunted Canyon! We have never been!

Which is why I SO badly want to win these tickets.

BUT if you win I would be Super happy for you!

Go to Sell...Party of 3's blog and give it a try!

Simple, but True.

I, like many thousands of people, watched the LDS General Conference this last weekend. I feel so blessed to be able to watch it every 6 months. I tend to really crave it as the time gets closer. This time was no different.

With every talk I felt inspired to do better. Specific ideas were flowing through my head that I felt would make me a better person, wife, and mother. I was filled, literally, to the brim with the spirit to go forth and be more Christlike.

Then Monday morning came.

Monday morning those same inspiring thoughts were still there, but in the same breath I felt so horrible. Every thought I had on how I was going to improve my life was followed by a feeling of inadequacy, being a failure, and being completely overwhelmed. I was so confused as to how I could be feeling feelings at the very opposite sides of the spectrum at the same time. That morning I was sharing this thought with my dear friend NaTasha. She explained that she too feels this way often and has since learned that those inspiring thoughts are not to be overshadowed by the feelings that Satan wants us to feel. He wants us to think that it is too hard, or that we are unworthy to receive inspiration, or that we have already failed. She shared that she feels that there are two simple things that we can focus on and it will help to accomplish all the tasks to reach the goals we have set and to cast away the feelings that are plaguing our soul. By simply praying and faithfully reading our scriptures this will show enough diligence it takes to receive the guidance we need to make everything else fall into place. We will find the inspiration that we need to be better women, we will find patience to deal with the troubles that come up, and most importantly we will find the energy to get to work. With this on my mind, and feeling much better, I went on about my day.

Until we had Family Home Evening.

This was one thing that was on my list of things to do better at. I wanted so badly to sit down and have a wonderful evening with my family, have a lesson that the kids totally got, and to feel like this could really be part of our routine again. By the end of the evening we were all in tears and I was ready to bag it all together. Satan was winning. I knew it and I wanted to be in a better place again. So I put the kids to bed and sat in front of the tv to unwind. I kept thinking of Elder Holland's talk. So many people were talking about it. I was wrestling kids during conference, I knew I had missed something. I turned it on to watch it. I cried. I watched it again. I cried again. (You can listen to a portion of his talk above) To hear is powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon I knew NaTasha was right. This is the guide to make my life better.

Today, I learned the second lesson I needed to truly know for myself that indeed my dearest friend had given me the counsel I needed to hear. I was convinced, with the help of Elder Holland, that reading my scriptures was going to help, but apparently I needed a lesson in prayer too.

I send my little Princess to school everyday with her blood sugar monitor that goes with her pump (she has the Animas Ping. The meter is a remote to her pump. For the record the entire thing cost about $7000!) Today, when I went to get her from school she reported that her meter was lost. The teacher and office staff had been looking for it, but to no avail. I tried my darnedest to not have a panic attack. Instead I prayed. This tester could not be missing! What would I do? What would happen if we never got it back? The insurance wouldn't pay for another, what is really the point in having the "Ping" if it didn't have the remote? I tried to remind myself that if I prayed it will be found. I needed to have faith. The school started to call all the kids in the class to let them know they thought it might have been sent home in the wrong backpack. I prayed some more. It was 45 minutes after the kindergarten classes had gone home. The teacher saw a little girl from Princess' class out in the hallway still with her babysitter. She ran over and told her that they were calling the parents of all the kids to find this tester. The babysitter said that since she wouldn't have gotten the call she was more than welcome to search her backpack. When Mrs. Wilson pulled the tester out of the little girl's backpack I got the chills, so did the teacher. I KNEW that my prayers were answered! This was no doubt in my mind that this was the second half of the lesson that I needed to learn this week. (Also for the record, the tester was put in the wrong backpack by mistake. After her 10:15 testing the school nurse put it in the wrong backpack.)

Such a powerful lesson to learn. I needed to learn that my self esteem should not only be based on all that can be seen. The greater the tasks that one person can do does not tally up to the greatest person of all. What does matter is the importance of each task, the true meaning. I can't be overwhelmed by what I am not doing. Rather I need to be working on the small but simple tasks in order to to have it all fall into place. Now, I have the knowledge of how true, and how incredibly important the small and simple tasks really are in all that is overwhelming.

I am eternally grateful!

Sundays

I always took going to church every Sunday for granted. When I was a kid we always went as a family, there was never a question. As I got a little older the idea of church to me was so uncool, but seeing my friends there was really the only reason I went. Then I moved out of my house my senior year of high school. This was my freedom, so I thought, to stop going all together. My older sisters were trying to help me see what was important. They were trying to help me stay focused and by doing so they would come to my apartment some Sunday mornings and drag me to church. Honestly the best part of that was staying around for Sunday dinner. I no longer cared to go to church, it lost all importance to me. The reasons really are a topic for another time.

One day I realized I didn't know who I was or where I was going. After a lot of thought and tons of guidance I went back to the very same place that was so familiar to me, but with a brand new importance. The gospel was all the same, the spirit was still the same, and even most of the people was still the same. The only thing that made it so different was my perspective. I KNEW I NEEDED it! And boy did I! It changed my life and was truly exactly what I needed.

Now it is several years later and I am faced with a bit of a dilemma. You see I work for a job that requires me to work every Sunday. I have for a year and a half now and this is really getting to me. Sure I get to go when I am lucky enough to trade my shift or get the time off at the last minute, but most of the time it is uncertain if I get to join my family. The gospel is more important to me now than it ever has been. I feel I need it now more than ever too. To not be able to be there EVERY Sunday is killing me.

When I close my eyes and dream of a perfect Sunday I so clearly see the sight of my family going to church together. Sitting on the bench together and holding hands with my hubby. Even the idea of crayons spread over the bench seems perfect as long as we are all there. Then sitting in Relief Society with my BFF and all the other amazing women in the ward all learning, being uplifted and feeling the spirit. I smell the sent of dinner cooking and yummy treats baking after. Sitting on the couch watching a movie as a family then sending the kids off to bed to spend some alone time with the love of my life. Bliss!

I almost wonder how long it is until I can reach this perfect Sunday. But until then I am so grateful for the times that I am there. Today was almost this perfect. It was the Primary Program today and all week I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it. At the last minute last night someone traded hours with me. This allowed me to be able to go to sacrament to see the program. We sat on the bench behind my BFF and her parents, whom I was super happy to see again. My neighbor that has just started coming back to church again walked across the room to give me our daily hug, there is no perfect place for a daily hug. One of my young women that hasn't been to church in forever and who is really struggling came and sat next to me, I loved it! The kids knew their parts perfectly and sung their hearts out. I couldn't have been more proud. My dear friend in the ward that greets me every Sunday I am there with a hug and a "I am so happy that you were able to get off work to be here with us!" didn't let me down today. But to top off the entire experience my hubby found my wedding ring in his church bag. I thought over a month ago when I realized it was lost that it was gone forever!

You see I may not be able to go to church every Sunday, but the fact that I don't have the option has made me realize just how important it is to me. The times that I do get to go means so much to me. Those days always seem extra special. There will come a time that I won't have to work, but until then I am just grateful for days like today that are as perfect as perfect is going to get!

For now.

Just some silly pictures from our trip to Twin Falls.

There are more to come!

Enjoy!

The new job

So most of you know that a year and a half ago my hubby lost his job.

Since then he has worked as a car salesmen, washed windows, tons of odd jobs for people to earn a little extra money, and then the job he is doing now fixing computers and networks as a contract employee.

I consider all those jobs blessings. I really do! Each and every one of them has helped us stay sort of a float. But even with working his tail off it still hasn't been quite enough. He loves working on computers and would love that job to be a full 40 hours a week, but it just isn't. An opportunity came his way to be able to still do that, and work for another job on the side. After lots of prayers and lots of thinking about it he accepted. We are pretty sure this is going to be pretty good for him.

He is now working for World Financial Group as a Financial Advisor. This means he will come into the home of anyone in need of a snapshot of their finances and a plan for their future. He will assist in going over every cent and advise the best plan to be where you want to be with your money. The best part about all this? It is FREE to the client!!! If you are in need of life insurance or any of the other way cool products that will help with financial stability in retirement then he can get you set up with those (they are not free, but something that everyone needs!)

So that is it! If anyone knows anyone that could benefit from any of this let us know! He needs the practice with friends and family, so don't be annoyed if he calls you to set up a meeting! He works on leads (given from the company and from friends and family) so he is still trying to build up a clientele.

I am excited to see him doing what he has been wanting to do. It is exactly what he was doing at the bank, but has the freedom to do more. It is good to see him have more confidence in himself again. With the hard path that we have traveled he deserves to be successful!

Him

I love this guy! He is the best!

Even when he motivates me to start working out again.....when I don't really want to!

He makes THE BEST peach pie!

His garden is so amazing that the green beans are longer than his entire hand.

When I get lazy on the house work he does it all so I can get caught up again.

He gets up in the middle of the night to do the blood sugar tests when I don't really want to.

He kisses me good bye every time he leaves.

He will bring me Peanut Butter M&M's and Dr. Pepper when I am grumpy.

He takes the kids to church when I have to work.

The list goes on and on, but the best of all is that he loves his family and works hard for us!

He does so much for our little family, and has really been through a lot in the last year and a half. I really wanted to let him know that I appreciate him and that I love him to death!

Good luck with your new job honey! I love you!

I got this email this morning:

"Your blog called me. It asked me to give you a poke and say "where is the love?""

I love you Holly!

You are right. My blog does need a little love.

So just because of that I am going to list a few things that over the next little bit I will be blogging about. Just so you can consider yourself updated.

~Back to school. Can you believe I haven't done that yet?

~My awesome pump holders that family and friends have made!

~The coolest package I got in the mail from the coolest sister in law!

~The JDRF walk! It was amazing guys! What a cool thing!

~Our trip to Twin Falls, Idaho. I know what you are thinking....the ONLY chance we get to take a family trip and we go to IDAHO? Don't laugh! It was awesome!

~What my hubby is up to! I love that guy!

and

~Whoever thought I could go a month without writing about diabetes was wrong. I have an update.

Now, there you have it. Somewhat of an update. I promise I will post pictures too.

Missed you guys! But I will not let you down!

First Things First

I will get to blogging about my life later...as for now check out my cute new niece. I got to take her pictures this morning. I am one lucky aunt to have such cute nieces and nephews.

This cutie is 2 weeks old. She was SUPER tiny when she was born and hasn't grown much since. Holding her and loving her was just what I needed today!

You can check out a few of my favorites here.

GUESS WHAT?

My super awesome friend Holly is having a little fun with raising money for our JDRF team!

Go check out her blog and see what it's all about!

You can get a FREE bar of the AMAZING Spotted Owl Soap just with a donation of $10 or more! This stuff is so good it's even my Hubby's favorite soap! And when was the last time your hubby cared what kind of soap he uses? YEA, IT IS THAT GOOD!

Thanks Holly!

This Girls Has a Story!

Some of you may be new to my blog and some of you have been around for awhile. I have been asked a few times about the Princess' story of when she was diagnosed recently so I thought it would be a perfect time to post some links to where you can read about it. I have written about it many times since November so feel free to search my archives (maybe someday I will put labels on my posts) or email me with any questions you might have!

We had been noticing symptoms that something wasn't right for a few weeks. They were progressively getting worse too. I wrote this post when all I could do was think about it. The thought of what was wrong was keeping me up at night! I knew something was wrong but with not having insurance I didn't want to over react. I was inspired to take her to the doctor and after meeting with her doctor, I made this quick post before heading to the hospital where we spent the week.

I tried to post my thoughts each day to keep record of that time. My mind was still in shock a little, and I was so tired. Reading over this, this and this post I am not sure how I even managed a full sentence! It was so hard for me to see my 4 year old little girl getting poked SO many times. Our new life seemed overwhelming, but around every corner I could see how our lives where being blessed! To this day my heart is so full love and gratitude for all that helped, for all the prayers that were said on our behalf. See this post that I wrote about some of the ways we had been helped! It made it possible to look at the strength that she had and because of her we could handle it all! What a brave girl!

It isn't always easy though! There have been many times that are tough and it seems to be more than I can handle. But through it all my Princess can still smile, she can still be brave. She is an amazing example to all those around her.

And in case you have forgotten, we are still looking for people to join our team and to help raise money for the JDRF Walk for a Cur . See this post below on how you can help!

Our family is organizing a team for the JDRF Walk for a Cure on August 29th. This is our first year doing this and I couldn't be more excited! I have been busy trying to recruit people to our team and raising money to reach our goal of $1000.

If anyone living in the Salt Lake City area (or want to travel I suppose) and want to be part of our team please go HERE and sign up. We would LOVE to have you join us! Your efforts with raising money will help out a ton too!

If you want to just donate to our team you may go HERE. Even a dollar will be super helpful! And thanks in advance, you will never know how much this means to us!

This is going to be so much fun! I have participated in walks before like the Relay for Life. We did that as a family for a few years in a row. I even have organized a walk a thon for elementary school kids that was with the Muzak Heart and Soul foundation. They were all really cool, but this one hits home a little more than the others. To think that with our efforts there could be a cure for diabetes! What an awesome thing! I think about how diabetes has changed our lives, then I think of how much a CURE COULD CHANGE OUR LIVES and I get emotional! (I know what you are thinking, I am just an emotional person lately anyway!LOL!)

To someday say that she USED to have type 1 diabetes would be a fabulous thing people! SIMPLY FABULOUS!

Family is what is most important!

I was wanting to post a few things tonight after I put the kids to bed. I wanted to write all about Dude's first day of 1st grade, and about the awesome friend I have the came to my rescue with a pump holder. I even have a post almost ready to show off how totally awesome (and creative) my sister in law is. But for some reason I can't get diabetes off my mind.

Actually it is always there at the forefront of my mind. It never leaves. But tomorrow we are meeting with her Kindergarten teacher and the school nurse to talk about things before she starts school next week. We also have our first appointment with the Endocrinologist since getting the pump. I am nervous.

I started to get all emotional about diabetes again tonight. This happens occasionally, but even more so when things are not going how I would like them to. Some of our problems have been my fault and that makes it worse. Like the other night when in a sleep stupor I checked her and saw that she was at like 218. I gave her insulin then realized that I am not supposed to correct her at night until she is over 250! I laid in bed the rest of the night checking her every our or so to see if she was ok. Dummy me! But that isn't all! My sisters were going to watch her while I had to work on Monday. I was trying to show them how to work her pump. She was standing right by me then I told her to go play. She ran downstairs and I continued to show them how to use it. Well, it delivered the insulin! OH CRAP! I ran down and checked her she was at 77 with 3/4 of insulin on board already from lunch....yes already crashing. To top it off I accidentally gave her 1.80 units of insulin! I had to leave so I could make it to work on time, but as I was leaving my sisters gave her some chocolate milk and cookies...I cried the rest of the way home. It all ended fine, but it is so hard to forgive myself when I do things like this. I am supposed to be taking care of her, not making it worse!

So I went back and read my posts from when she was diagnosed in November and I cried. I cried at all the comments, I cried because my emotions were so raw then and I could feel them all over again. I cried because I can't help but feel why her sometimes. I cried because I don't know that I was cut out for this job, but yet I was so humbled when she was first diagnosed. Have I lost that?

Yes, I am a little stressed. Starting school is going to kill me. I realize it is just half a day, but that is half the day that she will be away from home under the care of someone else. Sitting in a class with 25 other kids with one teacher. Sitting in a school with one school nurse that is also the nurse for 11 other schools. No one knows my princess like her mommy and daddy. We can be across the room and know if she is high or low. I fear that something will be wrong and that no one will know until something terrible happens.

I suppose you would say right now I have two choices....stop stressing about things I have no control over (my dad's famous advice) or to have another restless night while making my self sick from stress.

Can I pick right in the middle?

Are you missing me?

I have so much to post but I just can't find the time to do it.

I need to make it priority though because I miss you guys!

When I am not making really stupid diabetes choices (wait until you hear what I did today! DIABETIC MOTHER OF THE YEAR RIGHT HERE! I will get to it soon! I promise!) or going on spontaneous camping trips, or getting the kids ready to start school, or trying to get my house in order I will sit down to post.

See you soon!

I heart my blogging friends.

Ok that last post is just lame.

Sorry! Maybe this will make up for it!

I have been thinking lately that there are some really cool people out there in the wonderful world of blogging! I have truly been touched this week in more ways than one by bloggers. Can I share with you why?

Chelsea, a long lost friend and fellow blogger came to my rescue with a REALLY cool belt that she made for the Princess' pump. (I am planning a post dedicated entirely to this so stay tuned) She read I was in need and came to my rescue! I was really touched! And it is awesome! If she had the time I would say to mass produce these things! SO CUTE!

I was blog stalking the other night and came across Shamae's blog. I cried when I watched the video about her daughter having diabetes. I sent her a comment and soon after that I felt like she was a long time friend. She sent me an email about a JDRF lunch the next day and wouldn't you know it SHE WAS GOING TO BE THERE! I had the privilege in meeting her and talking with her for a bit! I felt inspired by her and can't wait to read her blog more and maybe see her at more JDRF functions! Shamae, thanks again! I am so pumped about the Walk for a Cure!

I met Tristan a few months ago through a mutual blogging friend of ours. She emailed me after realizing the my daughter is diabetic. She too is diabetic and over the last few months has sent me the sweetest emails of encouragement and help! This last week she has received a CGM and is feeling the weight of diabetes. (I don't really know that for sure, but after reading her blog I am just assuming that!) I have been touched by her strength, and by her honest caring for people like me that she doesn't even know. Go give her some blogging love! I think she could use it!

Another old friend of mine, Aubrey, is feeling the stress of being pregnant. Her last post about weight gain and pregnancy touched me. She poured out her heart and I SO KNOW HOW SHE FEELS! Aubrey, hang in there!

Also there is Jill from Diabetes Sweeties. Her daughter is celebrating her 1 year D-Anniversary and Jill is celebrating her 1 year Blog-Anniversary. I have been reading Jill's posts for awhile now and every time I do I feel empowered to not let this disease get me down. She doesn't sugar coat it (no pun intended!) but yet she makes it all apart of her life. With her anniversaries coming up I wanted to send her a shout out...THANK YOU JILL! You have helped me, and taught me more than you will ever know!

Then there is AJSMOMMY she is new to this blogging community. Her daugher was just diagnosed with diabetes. I read her last post and all the feelings of when Princess was diagnosed all come flooding back to me. I cired. Why do we get so emotional over this time in our life? Reading her post brought me back to that moment. I can't help but feel for her. I pray that she can find strength!


I have met so many other cool people that have touched my life while I have been blogging. My hubby even mentioned to me the other day that blogging has really been good for me. Through every trial in the last 3 plus years that I have been doing this, I have been helped by so many! I am grateful for this community that some may laugh at, people that I call friends, but have never met! Thank you for sharing your stories so that other may learn. Thank you for your support and help to bring me up when I feel so down!

Yes, I am bored.

For lack of excitement going on in my "real life" I am now going to post something really lame that has been on my mind lately.

My list of things that I think should grow on trees.

Yes you read that right. I have actually thought about this more times than I would like to admit lately. I will be in the middle of something and actually think "Man, I wish [that] grew on trees!" So here you have it. My list. Feel free to add any you have thought of.

money - of course who doesn't think this.

peanut butter M&M's - I NEED an ample supply of these!

dish towels - it seems that I am always in need of this. Mine are always dirty, stained, gross, etc. If I could just reach out the back door, grab a towel this would save oodles of time and energy.

sprinkler parts - how many times in one month do YOU need to run to Home Depot for parts?

balloons- the ultimate entertainment for kids.

diapers - clean and unused of course! They cost too much money and I always seem to need one when it is an EMERGENCY!

scissors- it doesn't matter HOW MANY times I put them back in the drawer they still magically disappear.

patience- If this could be bottled and available at my finger tips there would be less complaining on my part. I would most likely be drunk with daily. That is the hope anyway.

hand sanitizer - there is a community of people out there and are just like my husband, germophoebes. There would be trees placed at every entrance to any public building to put people like my hubby's minds at ease.

15 carb snacks- a 15 carb snack tree would grow any type of snack ranging from juice boxes to cookies, granola bars, anything that is exactly 15 carbs. Any diabetic or parent of a diabetic could appreciate this! That way when some one's blood sugar is low there would choice, accessibility, and less chance of a crash. Plus I am in desperate need of 15 carb snack for my storage and the school's storage. I wouldn't have to worry about paying for them if I had my own tree in the back yard.

clean clothes- disposable clothes.....maybe not the best idea, but I sure would have a lot more free time if I could eliminate laundry from my to do list.

answers- this is a little strange, but sort of like the 8 ball or a fortune cookie that gives you advice, think of a tree. This would be a little more accurate. The tree would grow answers based on the needs it over hears. I would love to ponder something out loud in the shade of a tree and be able to pick the exact answer you needed!

lunch- for some reason I am not a fan of making lunch. I never know what to make, and I get tired of sandwiches every day. A lunch tree would be full of every type of lunch food already prepared and complete with carb count.

So there you have it. My list. Enjoy!

We are in LOVE!

With the Animas Ping that is!

Everything has been going GREAT with it! Not a single tear when we change her site NOTHING! (I might have just cursed myself) She has been proving how brave she is once again!

Her numbers have been so good too. There have been a few highs but I know exactly what they are from. An air bubble one time and then there were the times I let her disconnect for a bath and running through the sprinklers. It was nothing that couldn't be controlled.

I am desperate to find some type of holder for it though. We tried to just clip it to her pants or to a belt and it comes off or pulls down her pants. She had has it 3 days and had already scratched it up. Bummer! It isn't her fault though, it is just a little heavy to clip to her pants. We ended up putting the black leather case on it to protect it, but that just makes it more heavy and pretty bulky. It will work for now. I have some ideas for holders and such but until money grows on trees I will have to make do with what I have.

Overall it has been such a blessing to have the pump. I can't believe that it all worked out the way that it did. It is exactly what she (we) needed! She loves to show it off to people and tell them how it works. I can only imagine how she feels. Without the roller coaster of the highs and lows I bet she feels much better!

I just got caught up on a bunch of posts I have been meaning to write. I will come back tomorrow to write and update on how the pump is going!

Thanks for being patient with me being a slacker!

The Citizenship Award

We got a call the other day from the school saying that Little Dude was going to get a special award called the Citizenship award in the assembly the next day. We were invited to attend to watch him receive it.

The Citizenship award is the student of the year award for his class. Each teacher picked one student to receive it. Dude got it for his class! We are so proud of him! His teacher has so many nice things to say about him. She said that we should be really proud since he is a great student and friend to others in his class. He has been taking his trophy around showing it off to grandparents and family! It is so nice to see him proud of his success!

He also received a metal for the Distinguished Bear Cub award. They receive this when they reach all the goals set for their grade. What a successful Kindergarten year!


Here he is getting his Bear Cub award from his teacher.


Here he is getting his Citizenship award from the principal. The smile on his face cracks me up. He gets goofy when he is embarrassed. Just like his mom!

What a good kid!

The Signs of Summer

BBQ With Friends

We were invited over to a friends house for a BBQ the other day. We had some great food, awesome company, the kids played great together, and best of all an entire table full of stuff for S'mores. The recipe for the perfect night!


Little Man got his clothes all wet and went around most of the night with just a diaper on. It didn't slow him down! Here he is playing in the sandbox with his "Buddy".

This is NaTasha and Matt. They were the hosts of the BBQ and honestly two of the coolest people I know!

Oh he is going to kill me for posting this picture! This is usually what I get when I tell him to smile. Such a smart alec!

The S'more table! This isn't even all of it either. We tried something new this night! It was DELICIOUS! Graham crackers with sliced strawberries, chocolate bar, and toasted marshmallow! YUMMY!

We always love sitting around a bon fire with good friends and good food! It doesn't take much for us to be entertained!

Rainy Summer

This has been one of the rainiest summers in the history of man kind. Ok maybe just as long as I can remember. The other day we had to most beautiful rainbow (as seen on every other Utahn's blog) Here is my picture of it and of the kids playing in the puddles.

This is "Buddy". These two boys are the best of friends. His mom and I went on walks every day for months before they were born. They were born 11 days apart. It is silly how well they play together too!

Family Adventure- Deer Valley Picnic

We have still been doing our family adventures, but I have been a slacker on my blog lately and haven't posted about them. I did have some great pictures of our little trip up to Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City the other day. Daddy was going to be working up in Park City for a little bit so we decided to take a lunch and tag along.

We sat on the grass at the bottom of a ski lift, ate our lunch and played. It was beautiful! There wasn't any better place to sit and eat PB&J's and apples.





The kids had a great time playing around. The walked all over the place!



That was until Little Man's shoe fell off. Dude carried him to the grass so we could put it back on. This was a pretty tender moment. It just goes to show how much he loves his little brother!

I am so grateful for our family adventures! It has really helped us to enjoy our time together and to get out of the house. I really hope that we are making memories for our children that they will remember as the best times of their life. I know they are for me!

Toothless

We had a bunch of family here for a BBQ and for a bon fire a few weeks ago (June 19th to be exact) and the craziest thing happened. My niece pulled out her loose tooth. She just took a napkin and pulled it right out. That was it.

Well Dude had a loose tooth too, but it was his very first loose tooth and was super scared to pull it out. I had my niece show him what he did and that started the excitement. He was talking to my brother in law and he told him to tie it to a door nob and just slam the door closed. He wasn't too happy about the idea so he got scared again. My sister in law said that if it hurt him to pull it out she will give him $2. Money will motivate this kid to do almost anything so he agreed. She reached right in and pulled it out! That was it! It didn't even hurt him! He was really excited!

The bad part about all this is his cousin was talking about how she gets $5 a tooth from the tooth fairy. I kept telling him that he shouldn't count on that! Well when the tooth fairy came it looks like that is all that she had. Who knows maybe she didn't want to run to get change at 2:00 in the morning!

So here are a few pictures of the toothless dude. They were taken at 1:30 in the morning so he was being a little silly.

You know what else is really cool? His other cousin lost a tooth the next day while we were still hangin' out! Must have been the weekend for it!

A lesson in Forgiveness

This story goes back a few months ago when I went to pick Little Dude up from school. I was talking to his teacher when I felt a tug on my jacket. I looked down to this cute little girl giving my a funny look. Without hesitation she said to me "Um, just so you know, your boy has a crush on me!" Then she runs off. I have never seen dude's face a brighter shade of red! I kind of teased him about it (come on you would have too!) and asked him if it was true. The response I got of "NO!!" was more comical than anything else.

So fast forward a few months. Dude came home from school absolutely mortified. Right away he said that he was hanging on the monkey bars during recess and this same little girl came up to him and pulled his pants down! She got in BIG trouble and was sent to the principals office. He was pretty miffed! I was a little too! I have never seen him more embarrassed in my life! He came home for the next few days and talk about how she sat on the playground and cried at recess because her punishment was not being able to play. This made dude feel really bad! He hated seeing her cry.

We were talking about it one day and I told him to maybe talk to her about it. He wasn't sure what to say to her. I asked if he was still mad at her for pulling his pants down. He said he wasn't so I told him to maybe tell her that it was ok and that they could still be friends.

I hadn't heard anything more about it so I assumed that everything was ok. From the fact that he got her phone number at school today and was dieing to call her when he got home just goes to show that he forgives her, and that they in fact are still friends!

The lesson to learn here is to not hold a grudge against the one that pants you on the playground at school! Everyone can be forgiven!

Tomorrow is a big day!

There are so many things happening here at our house! I have about a gazillion pictures to share and about as many more stories.

Despite all the craziness I can't stop being nervous for tomorrow. We have our very first pump training class tomorrow morning. This has all happened a little quick. Once Medicaid gave us the approval on the pump it was here a few days later. The doctor's office doesn't really want to put her on a saline trial since she will be starting school in exactly one month. They want to have as much time on the pump before I send her off to her first day of Kindergarten (whaa!)

Don't get me wrong, I am so excited for her. But have any of you seen her? She isn't very big! I still don't know how she is going to have this attached to her all the time. How we are going to stick her with this needle (that was a little longer than I though) in any fat? She doesn't really have any! And where am I going to store the pump? I just know that if I put it in a pocket (like there would be room in there anyway, her pockets are so small) or attach it to the top of her pants her little pants (that are always saggy anyway) will fall right to her ankles. I am sure this will all get worked out over time, but all day today this is what I keep thinking about.

So in other big news our little dude's last day of kindergarten is tomorrow! FINALLY! He will have a super short summer, since he starts up again in 3 weeks! Anyway, we got a call from the school yesterday saying he was going to receive an award and it will be given to him in the assembly tomorrow (which was today. got that?) Well he was awarded the Citizenship award. Apparently this is like the student of the year award! Yea that's right STUDENT OF THE YEAR!!! There is one child awarded from each class and Dude was it for his class! I am so proud of him! His teacher had so many nice things to say about him! What a great kid I have! You should have seen him smiling ear to ear when they gave him the trophy! He also got the Distinguished Bear Cub award for reaching all the kindergarten goals this year! YAY DUDE! I just have to say that all that this family has been through this past year, I am just so glad that he has still been able to concentrate! We really are so proud of him!

So I really do need to get caught up with all these pictures I have been taking! Some will really make you laugh! I have a few stories that will make you cry too, but I will get to those last! Wish us luck tomorrow! It is going to be a big day for everyone!