don't let it stop you

I take my kids to the pool.  A lot. 

 

It's not at all relaxing. 

 

I have 4 of them.  They are young.  I'm basically just trying to keep them all alive, make sure they don't pee or poop in the pool, or drown, or jump in with a $10,000 insulin pump, or have low blood sugar, or need to nurse or eat, or get severe sun burns.

Most of my time is spent taking someone potty, lathering on sunscreen, or holding onto all 4 of them at the same time in the water as they say , "mommy mommy mommy mommy" I usually need a nap more than they do when we get home.

I don't do it do relax.  I just do it to be with them.  And we always have fun!

We went camping.  For just one night.  But we went camping.

I'm not totally sure why.  We were invited, which is a rare thing, so we figured we better jump on it.

During my 5 days of getting ready for camping there where approximately 100 reasons that came up that we shouldn't go. For example:  I have a 10 month old, who will probably freeze to death in the middle of the night, ohhh wait my 3 other children and myself will also probably freeze also.  And that same 10 month old, crawls everywhere and puts everything in his mouth.....not a good mix with camping.  Then there's my daughter with type 1 diabetes.....enough said.  And then there's my other daughter who hates and I mean screams bloody murder when she sees bugs.  And then there's me, well i just don't like being dirty or most things that go along with camping.  And then there is the work that goes into going camping for just one night, that is something to behold

Beyond, the medication, bedding, food, toiletries, bug spray, sunscreen, tent, grill, clothing, flashlights, chairs, utensils, there is simply the task of yet again of keeping my children alive.

Which sometimes these days seems like somewhat of a miracle.

But it was worth it.  Worth the 4 days of prep.  The dirtiness. The Levi eating dirt.  The Sarah and Norah pooping 14 times.  The freezing and 2 hours of sleep.  My kids loved it!  They were so happy and slept great!  They had no toys, no movies, no electronics.  Just God's beautiful creation all around them!  I loved watching them enjoy it so much and we will probably do it again ( in a year or two :O) ).

Sometimes I let life stop me.  Stop me from doing something I should or want to do because I think it's to hard or to much work.  Don't let life stop you, sometimes it is a lot of work, but sometimes it's totally worth it

Some of my camping favorites

Levi Paul {10 months} and the BEARD

Oh buddy, as you grow I just want to squeeze every ounce of babiness you have left!

Every morning after you wake up I bring you into my room and we play and cuddle.  Your sisters are sleeping, daddy is usually at work, and it is just you and me kid.  It is one of my favorite times of the day....you are just so happy to be with mommy.  I hope I can remember this moment when you are 15 and don't want anything to do with me, but that won't happen right?  you are mama's boy.

Your little teeth have come in on the top and I laugh every time I see them.  They are so cute and make you look so different!

You crawl and pull up on everything!

You love getting into the dishwasher cubes, everyday, over and over.  I even saw that Mallorie taped the cupboard shut one day to stop you from getting into it a million times!  You are relentless :O)

You play in the toilet like its a water bowl

You eat dirt and rocks

You play with outlets and eat charger cords

You grab your own poop

You are SOO wiggly

You are totally a boy...... and I don't know what to do

but you are so cute and cuddly too.

You lean into my me all the time, you just rest your little head on my shoulder and smile

When you turned 10 months old, so did Daddy's beard.  And since the time had come for him to end his journey of raising support for Compassion international the beard went bye bye. I shed a tear...... of Joy.  I mean, it's pretty cool your dad can grow such a beard, but I like his face and I'm glad it's back.

When you were born

At 10 months old (beard & baby)

What a difference a day makes......

Don't worry Levi, he's the same person and you love him  

and I love you Mr. 10 months old!

4th of July

One of my favorite times of the year, 4th of July

We weren't able to travel to KC this year because of many reasons, so instead we brought some mid- west to us!  Our great friends from Omaha, the Cz's came to visit.  Bringing there 4 children.  You know that couple you just get, that you connect and relate with?  That is the Cz's!
 Many times when I think about hard things I have endured in life I think and remember all the Cz's have endured, it helps  me with perspective, but it also creates a bond and relationship like with have with no one else.
The excitement in our home was endless, with a few moments of chaos invovled!
Seriously it was Best weekend of my summer.  

So here is a little glimpse of our adventure.

8 kids under one roof, joy unspeakable, mostly :O)

lots of POOL time

 

Sarah wanted to model on her pink car

 

Weee

 

2 babies

 

Singing in the rain

 

All 12 of us!

   

A baby with her babies!

 

Favorite of the weekend

 

 Happy 4th!

 

Norah is pumping

Remember how I told you might learn more about type 1 diabetes than you wanted to?  Well this is one of those posts.  But please, don't stop reading, bc next time you are out and about and see a little kid on an insulin pump you will think differently of the child and of the parents.

We started Norah on her Insulin pump 2 weeks ago

What the heck is an insulin pump?

Basically it's Norah's life line

It's an alternative to 4 daily insulin injections

It is a device that is inserted into Norah (yes inserted, as in a giant needle places a catheter type device into Norah's bottom)  and trust me, it's not fun inserting it, especially when you have to do it every 2 DAYS with 3 kids running around you!  Anyway, it's inserted into her bottom and delivers insulin through a tube which is connected to a mp3 type device. Here's a photo

My first thought was, "ok so Norah doesn't have to get 4 daily injections, just a horrendous injection every other day......  So why would I get a pump?"

It's because the dosaging is much more accurate!  Norah is so little, sometimes the amount of insulin she needs is way less than I could ever give her with a needle, so it's healthier for Norah.

So basically a pump helps you better control the diabetes, along with a healthy low carb diet (this is where people will disagree).  According to the Dr and hospital staff Norah can eat whatever she wants, just give her more insulin.  That is simply not true!  It does not work for our little Norah...

I digress, back to the pump.

So, the pump is like a 1980's mp3 player and we input how much insulin she recieves every hour and how much she recieves every time she eats.  It's like a giant, 2 trains coming together from chicago and New York,  math problem!  If Norah's blood sugar is to low, that means we need to reduce her insulin, if Norah's blood sugar is to high, we need to increase her insulin.  Sounds easy, if I were an actual pancreas, but unfortunately (or fortunately) I am not.  I don't know how much insulin Norah needs when she sleeps, or when she plays, or when she grows, or throws a fit.  I don't know how much she needs when she is overheated, swimming, or stressed out.  So it takes a few weeks to figure out, to watch her trends, count her carbs (very accurately), test her at night and change her insulin needs.  But don't worry, once we figure it all out Norah will grow, or get sick and it will change.....she is only 5 so this growing thing, yeahhhh not gonna go away for a while.

I'm still glad we have a pump though!

Plus it wouldn't be 2014 if there wasn't a stylish way to wear the pump.  So I special ordered  from etsy this pump belt for Norah to wear

Oh and we also have a Glucose monitor, that we inject, yes another awesome big injection, into Norah's arm and it keeps track of her blood sugar all day.   

This also helps us better adjust her pump settings.  Sounds great, right?  Well, it is if it were totally accurate, but it isn't, and we still have to poke her finger 4-6 times a day.  But it is a very good guide and gives us trends, and it only took one day of her wearing it for me to realize Norah can never have cereal from the box again  (even what I considered healthy, high protein, high fiber cereal.....).

Ignorance is bliss sometimes, because with the glucose monitor I can see what food does to Norah right away, hence the no more boxed cereal.  

I allow Norah to not like diabetes, when she is frustrated about it, I let her be, because it frustrates me too. But she amazing me all the time!  My little pumping Norah is a trouper! I can tell you that I would not want to sleep with an old pager attached to my hip, nor would I want to run around and play with that thing on, or get horrendous injections every other day.  She just does it, even though tears flow as the injections come, she continues to go run and play when we are done.  She goes potty with this annoying contraption attached to her, and she just does it like it's NBD.  She swims, she runs, she laughs, she eats (ways healtier than most chidlren),  and she is a 5 year old.  She just needs this life line to survive.

#istillprayforamiracle