I am still here!!!

It seems like everytime I sit down and even think about doing a blog post.... something happens and I get distracted. Plus, since my iTouch has Wi-Fi on it, I do most internet things, checking blogs, ect. while resting on my couch or laying down. Since I have not figured out how to post from it yet... I keep getting behind.

So, just in case you are wondering about how we are surviving........

Me. I am stable. That is the best way to describe it. The contractions are staying under control as long as I don't lapse in my meds or do too much activity. It is so hard to believe I have been on meds for 11 weeks now. That seems like so long to me! I really can't wait to be done with the ProCardia. It causes migraines and nausea, and occasionally dizziness. I am taking another med now to counter-act the headaches and ect so I can function. But that medicine makes me really out of it. But my head doesn't hurt and I can eat. So it's like a double edge sword with meds right now. I just am so glad this is all pregnancy related and I get to stop taking everything once Kaitlyn in born. But on the other hand, my sugars are still doing well and I have not had to increase any insulin in over 4 weeks. So that is great news! I am also trying to get over a bad sinus infection I got with the cold I caught 3 weeks ago. I lost my hearing a couple nights ago and got vertigo (where you are so dizzy you vomit constantly). It was not fun. I went to the doctor the next morning and I have a sinus infection, one ear slightly infected and my other eardrum had ruptured. So it may take a couple more days to get my hearing back to normal. But I am already feeling a bit better today, so I think the antibiotics will work. I just hate getting sick while pregnant. You never know what is something that needs to be treated, or just let run it's course.

And Kaitlyn is doing great. So far every ultrasound (I have one every appt) has been amazing and she is developing well. She was about 3 1/2 pounds last week. Her head is measuring just about average, which was one of my biggest concerns because of Josh. She is most definitely a girl, Dr. Julia told me she rarely gets that good of a look so she can say with 100% confidence. Which is good because my house is getting more and more pink in it. And my sister is throwing me a GIRL baby shower next week (something I never thought I would get!!!!). It's going to be so much fun. The boys don't really have a clue what is going to happen, but they tell me daily they just want her out. I don't think it is because they are that excited to meet her, but they are tired of all the restrictions and stuff on me that has effected them. But they are all troopers and are dealing with it pretty good.

Now the kids. All 3 are doing good right now (knock on wood). School is going well for all 3 of them and we seem to have a nice routine now that runs smoothly. Makes the world of difference when things aren't so hectic.

I will hopefully get to post some Halloween pictures in a couple days. My kids are very low key this year due to Trevor and Josh not liking to dress up and me having a hard time shopping anyway. But it's all good and they are happy.

How fast things change

~~Before you read this, scroll to the bottom and turn off the music~~

So updating my blog has taken a backseat... I'm sorry!!! But given the pregnancy issues going on, I am sure everyone will understand!

Just to start this update off..... and for those of you who don't know..... I did indeed get to have my first trip to the hospital for contractions last saturday night. I have been having them for weeks now, but they were every 3 min or so and after a day of meds, hadn't slowed down. I was also not feeling well which I knew could be possible pregnancy complications. I went in, they monitored me for a bit, gave me a shot, took labs and since I have an AWESOME doctor, I was able to come home after 4 hours. I just have to take the meds every 4 hours round the clock now for the rest of the pregnancy and be even more careful (is that possible???). So all in all.... it wasn't too bad I just needed an extra boost to get things back under control. I really hope this isn't a forewarning of what is to come... but who knows. Other than that things are stable for me.

OK... now THAT is all over with.... here is a big update on our little guy. It's been a busy week for him with big appointments. But first.... pictures!!!!

These pictures are funny. Believe me. If you know Josh, you know he HATES blankets of any kind. He has not had a blanket in his crib or his bed now since he learned how to throw them out. He doesn't sit under them or even care to have them around. But Trevor on the other hand likes nothing more than to tightly wrap his entire body in a blanket. He has been doing his daily reading alot while under his blanket on our couch. A couple weeks ago, out of the blue Josh just started dragging this blanket out and using it while he reads books. It is so funny to see him copying his brothers. Makes me smile!!!

I really hope this video works (since I can't tell until I publish the post). It was the other night when Scott was getting his nightly G-tube stuff/meds/jammies done. All Scott was doing was sitting there looking at Josh. He wasn't making faces... just starting at him. It is rare we hear Josh laugh like this. I grabbed the camera because it was so cute. Enjoy!

Now for the appointments. Yesterday Josh had a routine appt with Dr. O'Gorman, his GI doc down at Primary Children's. There have been many appointments we go into knowing that there is multiple things to talk about. This was actually a quick appt for Josh and I loved that. He is doing very well from a Health standpoint. His height and weight are right at target now, he is on the charts and looks awesome. I already knew that, but it's still nice to hear. For once this was not our biggest concern area. Should mark the calendar on that one. LOL! But..... as usual there is always something that has to be figured out. This time it's his worsening (to put it mildly) constipation issues we have going on. He holds his stomach alot and says 'owie' and cries. He doesn't poop for days, when he does it is completely awful. So I didn't know what the answer was going to be... but something has to change. Dr. Molly (that's what she has the kids call her) had a resident and another dr in training all come in the room to get opinions. (love having THAT kid). She doesn't want to increase any meds (he is on 5 for constipation), but she is pretty concerned. She has been his doctor for 2 years now. She flat out told me she was really thinking by this time we would be weaning meds, not upping doses. So after a lengthy and in-depth conversation about the foods he IS willing to eat by mouth, she has a hunch. He eats a lot of carbs. Since he has been eating more by mouth over the last 2-3 months and that is when things got worse... she is concerned his body can't process carbs. I guess there is a couple disorders for that, but they are hard to diagnose. So since she doesn't want to totally rock the boat right now, we decided on a plan to see what we can do about it. Every 3-4 days we are going to have him go NPO (no food or drink by mouth) and do only G-tube feeds with his special formula and see if we notice any improvement. If we do.... we add more NPO days to see what happens. She does not want to make him NPO all the time, but at the same time is also worried about long lasting damage/results of this constipation. I have to agree.. he IS only 3!!! So that is our new plan. We did double one med dose, but that was it for now. She just doesn't want to increase any more meds since he is on 13 meds a day for all his problems. I will have to see how this is all going to play out.

Now for his appointment today. He had an appt with Dr. Winters who is a Developmental Pediatrician with 'Children with Special Health Care Needs' (CSHCN). She is an awesome doctor and it was a GREAT appointment. We only saw her once before, last september so I wasn't sure how today would go. This was supposedly going to be yearly appts. Not so anymore. We discussed everything under the sun about Josh...from health concerns, developmental concerns to ways to keep him healthy. The only bad thing today at all was the fact that we go mis-info on a previous diagnosis for Josh. We were told Josh's Angelman Syndrome test came back positive, and today found out it was negative. She even called down to Salt Lake and talked to Josh's Genetics Dr. to confirm it was negative. Some nurse screwed up royally (but we don't get into it). I went into the appt with an actual list of things that I am concerned about behavior wise with Josh. Since he is complex with multiple things going on, I wondered if the struggles we have are just part of what he already has, or have we missed something. Josh has steadily gotten very, um.... how do I put this nicely?? ..........WILD and crazy. He is very all over the place, never focusing, always moving, climbing things unsafely, making messes, unwilling to sit with people, yada yada yada. I know most parents always think there child is the worst one out there at times, but I really wondered how several months ago (and granted he was sick and not full of energy) he was a mellow, easy going kid who was semi-calm..... to this WILD and out of control boy who I literally can't keep up with anymore. Where did my Josh go? He is head banging, hitting himself, throwing things, into everything under the sun, climbing on everything he can and usually falling because he is not coordinated enough, hyper-active (putting it mildly), won't sit at all, ect. I know 3 year olds are active. But this?? I really was thinking something was going on, but had to idea if it was sensory or not. After a long talk (like an hour and half!!) with Dr. Winters, and her asking all sorts of odd questions she finally sat back and told me I was not crazy, he is a handful and a half, and probably too much for me to be handling right now. I thought I was just being a wimp! She then told me what has completely surprised me in a way, but also made me so excited that my mommy instinct was once again right. Josh has ADHD. He is at high risk for it with his neurological problems anyway, but she told me she is 100% confident we will get this diagnosis at some point soon. Most doctors are very hesitant to even consider ADHD in a 3 year old, but she told me there couldn't be a more textbook case than Josh. He has all the risks factors for it, and all the signs for diagnosis. It totally made sense to me though. I have blamed some of his hyperness and behavior issues on his being developmentally delayed. But lately..... I am just in over my head. I can't even look away from him and he is into, onto, or under something so fast I can't even waddle over fast enough to stop him. I haven't been very vocal about how hard things have gotten with him, but it has. And now I know why. Now I know I am not crazy and wimpy, that even Dr. Winters told me she can't imagine how my family is holding up with him right now, and that there is something else going on, without a doubt. But...... what do you do with a 3 year old who has ADHD? Our plan for now is to go back to see her the end of january and if things have not improved with his hyperness and lack of attention, we are going to look at some meds for him. She thinks he might be able to pick up on speech and develop the language skills a bit faster if he could focus. I guess it really could be impeding his learning. Sad that I didn't realize this. But once again... the sooner we get treatment, the better off he will be. We learned that with Trevor and autism, and I will do what it takes for Josh now too. He is going to start back up with Occupational Therapy and Speech through the Primary Children's rehab, since he is not doing therapy (oops!) right now other than what they do at school. I dropped the ball on that one and after being told by two doctors in two days that I should not have let him have the summer off (and part of fall now too..) I am feeling that big mommy guilt. I just was enjoying not running to therapy for him too. I already am doing in weekly for Trevor... I just was not up to doing it yet. But I realize it is important and I need to get him back in as soon as possible. And we'll get there.

So.... now that this update is really long.... I am done. Josh just keeps me on my toes constantly. Literally actually. It's kind of hard to be on 'bed rest' or 'scheduled resting' and keep up with him. There is no sitting around when he is awake. I am just glad there isn't a lot of times I am alone with him because of school and naps. I just need to make it about 8 more weeks and then heal up from the C-section and I will be good to chase him all day long. Hopefully. LOL!

Where Have I Been?

I know a few people have wondered about me and what is going on. I haven't been blogging like normal, and I am not on Facebook as much. I thought I would explain why.

To say that my life feels like chaos is an understatement. My goal right now is just to get it to a point of 'organized chaos'. LOL.

I will tell you what is going on with each kid, and maybe you will understand.

Trevor. He is doing well. He likes school (hallelujah!!) and we haven't had an serious problems in the morning getting him ready. My biggest hurdle right now is doing homework with Trevor. He goes to school and does so good (for him) with keeping it together and focusing, that the last thing he wants to do is come home and do more homework. His homework should take about 20 min..... but it really takes us about 2 hours each night. And this in one-on-one. Either Scott or I have to be sitting right with him and keep reminding him of what he is doing, listening to his excuses, and fighting him. It is very emotionally draining. But we have at least moved past the meltdowns of doing homework. His IEP is due and we are in the process of coming up with solutions for what is going on. The latest thing we are trying, and what seems to be the best so far, is letting him have from after school until dinner as free time to do what he wants. Then as soon as dinner is over, we start homework at 6:30 and he works for an hour. What he gets done in his hour is all he has to do, and it won't count against him to not finish. He does not know that though... so we push him to do as much as possible. And it works better for me because I can still get dinner ready on time and deal with Josh. Fun times. Then you add in his new weekly therapy group that he just started. He goes from 3:30-5 every wednesday. I take him (as well at the carpool kids) straight from school to WHS in Ogden. Then Scott picks him up on his way home from work. It works good so far and Trevor seems to like it. We are only having to do monthly one-on-one with his therapist now that we added the group therapy, so it cuts down on the amount of school he will miss. Then you also add Scouts, and he is a busy boy! He has weekly den meetings and of course pack meeting monthly. It amazes me how busy kids can get at this young age. So... now you see how busy he keeps me, from the time we pick him up until bedtime. We are struggling more with 'autism' related things going on, and so it's been hard to get a good routine going for him, which he desperately needs. I am close though to having something working.

Now for Jordan...he is doing great as well. 1st grade has been a change for him, but he has done well. He loves school, and just occasionally complains about how long it is. He also has nightly homework, usually Math and Phonics. He is easier to do homework with by far. He can usually do it with just me around to answer questions. I have him doing homework from 4:45-5:30 now so we don't have two kids doing homework at once. That was not working at all. Scott does a majority of homework with the kids, since I am usually trying to get dinner going to keep on our schedule. Jordan also plays soccer right now so tuesday nights he has practice and saturday mornings he has games. It gets crazy around here.

Now Josh. He is also doing well in general. Right now he has caught a cold and is not doing so hot. He got really dehydrated because he shut down with eating and drinking. I have him on his pump with pedialyte every hour he is awake. I am already noticing a bit of a difference in him, so I think we are on the right track. It just reminds me again how fragile he is. One cold can cause some huge setbacks. I don't know if he has lost weight, but I would guess he has. He has a GI appt down at PCMC in two weeks, so I hope to get him in a better place by then or else they will make us start doing more feedings again. I am a bit nervous about it. It has been really nice just doing 4-5 feedings a day and him not wearing his backpack anymore. I really, really don't want to go back to that ever again. He has a few routine appts coming up in October and things will get even busier for me. I will keep you updated on how things go with those.

Now for me. I hate to admit this, but I am one of the biggest problems going on right now. Between having contractions alot, doing scheduled resting, ect. some days it seems like a no win situation. I am very frustrated right now because I can't do what I want do to, but yet again, I do take on more than I can probably safely handle right now because I have no other choice. Scott has really stepped it up with being helpful and doing as much as he can, but he does go to work so I have to do stuff while he is gone. Nighttimes are crazy as you can probably imagine. Keeping on a good routine for Trevor and Josh, doing homework for 2 kids, dealing with Josh and his 2yr old 'activities' (aka, naughtiness), getting dinner done, cleaned up, packing two kids backpacks and remembering to sign everyone's homework, packing two kids' lunches, Josh's backpack, doing Josh's meds every night and getting them all to bed on time is not something one person can do. It is literally impossible. And my days are not any better. I spend my morning while Josh is at school doing my own doctor appts, dentist appts, pharmacy runs, shopping, therapy for Trevor, and then occasionally Josh's appt too....it gets crazy. I pick up the carpool every afternoon as well. So if you have any ideas on where I can fit in scheduled resting.... let me know. I am not finding it very easily. Of course when the contractions hit, or I have bad pain, I have to take a break right then and hope I can catch up later. I just really hope I can make it to thanksgiving. I have been more stressed than ever.... just trying to keep on top of things and trying to keep the strict routine that Trevor needs, making sure Josh is getting his meds 4 times a day and counting calories for him, the stress of what is going on with me and the baby is not helping any. I am just so glad that everything I have going on is pregnancy related and when she is born, it will all go away. At least I will feel better and be able to do more without worrying. Although trying to figure out how this sweet baby girl is going to fit into all this is beyond me right now. I know it will all work out, but getting there is not easy.

So, I am not on the computer like I used to be, and I feel so disconnected to everyone. I hate this feeling, but I do think it will get better soon. I think we have about figured out a good schedule for after school for the kids to let us get everything done that needs to be done in an organized manner. That will help tremendously. But if anyone else has any suggestions, let me know. I am always up for ways to make things better.

Whew! That was a lot longer of a post than I intended. Sorry! And please don't take this as a feel sorry for me post either. That is not at all what I want. I just am being honest and letting everyone get a glimpse into the life of raising two kids with special needs and how that impacts everyday life. As I have always said, we don't know any different and we love our kids. That is all I have to say.

Soccer

Jordan started AYSO soccer a couple weeks ago and today was his first game. It's alot different than city soccer, since they keep score, have stricter rules and all games count.

Here is a couple shots of him before his first practice a couple weeks ago. He was so proud. And yes....we finally did get him to put his shin gaurds on the inside of his socks for his game today. LOL!


With Trevor being sick (he has had a staff infection in one of the glands in his neck), both of us had to stay home today. But Scott was awesome and still took Josh to the game. He loved it apparently. Here he is hangin' out.

And this is when he finally gave in and changed his socks to be over his shin gaurds. Silly kid.

And the rest of these are from the game. Since I was not there I am not sure what exactly is going on... but it's 6 year olds.... so I am sure it was a little choas.

His team did great and won the game 7-2. Jordan scored 2 of the goals. We are so proud of him!

Baby Update

I have actually needed to post for two days, but I am trying to be good and follow all my doctors orders :)


I had a OB appt on thursday morning. Things were not going my way from the get-go when my blood pressure was slightly high. Darn. Then when Julia (my OB) came into the room the first thing she said was that my Endocrinologist had faxed her 3 reports in two weeks about his concerns over my fasting sugars. She informed me that she very rarely gets any reports from Endocrin on her patients once she sends them. She told me she can't help me there, but just to follow what the doctor says. She knows I am, so it was more of a obligation to tell me than anything. After she did an ultrasound and found the baby to be doing great, measuring right on track, we talked about some possibilities of what might be going on. I have had some recent sudden swelling going on, and with that and my blood pressure slightly raised now, there is a concern for PIH, Pre-eclampsia... ect developing. Since I had it with Trevor, started to when I delivered Josh, the risk is quite high. So I have to take my blood pressure twice daily and if I have any sudden bad headaches hit or am feeling particularly crappy I also have to take it and if it's more than 140/90 I am heading to the hospital. Then I had a NST done to see how many contractions I had in an hour. I had too many for her to be comfortable with. So she started me on some meds to stop contractions, put me on semi bed rest until monday and we will see if that helps. If it does, I will just go on scheduled resting for the remainder of the pregnancy and take meds. If not... we will increase/change meds and I will have to go on more strict bed rest for the remaining of the pregnancy. So obviously I hope for the first option. I am really glad to hear that Kaitlyn is doing well though and isn't too big or two small. Since I am only 23w 5 days.... it is not a good sign.


I have tried my hardest to follow what she says and I think considering I have three active children, one requiring alot of support, I am doing alright. It's just frustrating. I look at all the pregnant women I know and I just wonder why I can't just have a complication-free pregnancy.

As I have been thinking the last couple weeks and stressing a bit over how this is all going to work out, I have to share something with you. When I found out I was pregnant, I was worried, stressed and not very excited right at first. Now... most people would think it was because we had not planned on any more kids, we had gotten rid of all our baby things, Josh requires alot of time, or how would we do it all. Let me tell you all of that was furthest from the truth. My worry was about how I was going to survive being pregnant with the problems I always have and keep my family life together. I was worried about whether I would have preterm labor problems and if I would deliver another preemie that would spend the first days of it's life in the NICU hooked up to tubes and wires. I worried about having a micro-preemie that would spend months in the hospital and problems the rest of it's life. I just wonder if I can handle that. At this point... not having baby stuff, not planning on having any more kids, not being ready financially feels like a something very minor to me. I know that Heavenly Father will take care of us and somehow all of that will fall into place. And it has. I have to thank everyone who has given us things for Kaitlyn. It has truly been a miracle how things have all came together for us. I am still really apprehensive about what the future holds and far as Kaitlyn and my health is concerned and I am trying to have the faith that everything will work out according to Heavenly Father's plan. Some days it's harder to remember that, but I am getting better.


So.. that is where we are with the pregnancy. I have not been on blogger or Facebook much lately so I feel so out of touch. I hope that after this weekend I can get more into the swing of things (safely) and be able to connect with everyone. Here's to hoping!

How we survived

Well the first week of school has come and gone.... even if it was only 3 days long...... and we survived! LOL!

Trevor did very well with all the new changes. Things still are not totally in place for him, but he is still doing better than I thought. He has a great teacher though, and I am utterly thrilled!!! He really likes her and says there are some funny kids in his class. That is about as positive as you can get with him. I hope in the next couple weeks we can get everything with his IEP in place and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Jordan is doing good too. His biggest complaint? School is too long. LOL! I warned him that it's not anything like Kindergarten, but I think he had no idea what I was talking about until now. He is going to do fine though. He has already invited a friend from school to go Duck Hunting with him. I am not worried about him at all.

Josh. What to say about this one? He did awesome!! He loves school and even though he has only gone once last week and now today, his teacher said he was so good. The only thing she keeps saying to me is that he goes 110 mph and she has no idea how we keep up with him all the time. I told her I wonder that too. I wish she could see how much different he is now than he was a few months ago. If she only knew how lethargic and the lack of energy he has had in the past, she would be thrilled for us too. Sometimes I just wish people could see how much support it takes to keep him going. If they saw the 6 big boxes of supplies that come from Apria HealthCare every month, or the 6-8 times a month I go to the pharmacy every month to fill his meds, or even see 4 baskets lined on my counter for the 4 times a day he has to have meds, or the amount of bottles of formula I still make, or the stressing I go through daily counting calories for him....... and that is just to start with. He takes alot of behind the scenes support to keep him well and doing as good as he is. And we know all too well if any of this stuff slips, so does he. I am very happy that he is doing well, don't get me wrong. It's just sometimes it can be exhausting.

Now onto Scott.... he is finally getting better. He has been pretty sick for the last week and it's been hard on all of us. He has not felt well enough to play with the kids, or help me out much. So it is sooo good to have him back. I missed him!

And now for me and the pregnancy. I had another Endocrinology appt last friday. My fasting blood sugars are still high and it's liver related. Before he upps my insulin again I am doing a couple things at night to try and trick my liver. So far though, it hasn't helped. I might have to have some liver testing done soon. I have been having contractions as well. I think (well really hope) it was just because I was doing so much and going 100 mph last week. Scott wasn't able to help me so I was incredibly busy. I had to take Josh to school, take the kids to school, pick up the kids from school, do homework, lunches, bedtime routine, meds, ect. So I am looking forward to this week with Scott feeling better and able to do alot more. I am driving a carpool so I am adjusting my daily schedule to accommodate everything I have going on. My kids get picked up mon-thursday, Josh rides the bus mon, tues and thursday to school. I pick up the kids from school mon-thursday and then I take them on friday mornings as well as Josh. It is taking some time to get used to the carpooling schedule, but I am very happy with it and it is going to work great. I just hope that with what happened this weekend, I will be able to drive the carpool up until the baby comes. We'll have to see about that. I have an OB appt this thursday so if I can make it until then without having some bad contractions, I will see what she thinks, or if she is going to make me start taking meds. I just wanted everything to go very smoothly. Is it too much to ask??

So that is how our week went. I am so happy to have some time to just relax now that they are back in school and I know in the next coming weeks, things will just keep getting smoother. It's always rough to adjust to a new school year. I will keep the blog updated though!

Josh's First Day!

As I promised in my post yesterday for Jordan and Trevor's first day of school..... it is Josh's turn today.

So what does he get to do on the eve of his first day of school?


Spend time hooked up to machines! Aren't you jealous? He does his last feeding of the day right before bed, but now we have added back nebulizer treatments as well. Scott and Trevor are sick right now (hence why Scott looks sick) and so it begins..... the steps we take to try to prevent Josh from getting sick, and for his lungs to stay healthy.

Believe it or not, he was smiling in this picture. He just looks really drugged..... well because he was! Thank you Trazadone!

Here is my sweet boy this morning before we left. He was so excited to take his picture. I was amazed at how well he did.

When I picked him up from school his teacher, Miss Lonah, said he did awesome and didn't cry once. She did say he went about 110 mph the whole time and asked me how I keep up with him. I laughed. She has no idea.

We are all still adjusting to the new school schedule and trying to make everything work. It's so nice to have some structure going on for Trevor though. We both needed it.

I will do another post in a couple days to update on how school is going.

It finally started!!

School started today!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!! (no I am not THAT excited.)


Here are Trevor and Jordan on their first day of 1st and 3rd grade. Can you believe they are that old? Time sure does fly.

As I have already said before the kids are attending Good Foundations Academy, a charter school, this year. It's a brand new school and we are so excited to be able to have this chance. Since it is a new school, they did some special stuff this morning. They had Hill Air Force Base come do the Flag Ceremony, did a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony with the Mayer of Riverdale and had police there. It was pretty cool.

This is how crowded it has been. Absolutely nuts!

This is the guy who was the driving force behind getting this school going. He gave a little talk this morning and I learned even more about how this school came about. Pretty interesting.

And of course... cutting the ribbon. While we were waiting for this to all start this morning, Trevor and Jordan could not get over how big the scissors were that they used. It was pretty funny.

And finally, as a little sidenote, I had to post a picture of Trevor's fish he caught at the Fish Farm with cub scouts on monday. He was so proud of his fish and even took this picture with my camera and took it to my mom's house to show it off. Made me giggle a little. So funny.

I will do a post tomorrow about Josh's first day of school. Can you believe my baby is going to preschool tomorrow? I can't!!!!

What we have been doing....

***Warning: May be a long post!******





I have been meaning to get this post done for about three days... but finally took the pictures and got it up tonight.



Here is some things that have been going on in our house.



First, we got a new Fish Tank. We had a 1.5 gallon tank with one fish in it. The pump/filter stopped working. Scott and I debated on whether to buy a 12 dollar pump for a 15 dollar fish tank for a few days. Finally we decided since Josh loves

fish so much, we upgraded to a 10 gallon tank and got more fish. Needless to say it has has been a hit and we see the 'fish' sign hundreds of times a day. It's been kinda fun for Scott and I. We have had to learn things about actual fish tanks, since they are much more involved than a tiny 1 gallon tank. But we are happy with it and it's been worth it.



So here is our tank. We have a Zebra Fish, 2 Red-Tailed Guppies, 3 Yellow Guppies and a Sucker Fish (Plecostamus).







This picture is blurry, but I was trying to get a picture of some of the fish. It's like taking pictures of kids... they never stop moving. LOL!




And now... the even bigger projects I have been doing.



After my last ultrasound that confirmed we were indeed having a girl, I have gotten started on the preparations. Both my sisters, Amy and Chantel, were so amazingly nice to offer me their baby clothes. Since we had to buy so many big items, I was willing to take all the help I could get. The clothes are adorable and I have had so much fun getting them ready. Here is what we have going on so far:




Here is her crib. The bedding is from my cousin, who lives in Kansas by the way. She shipped it out with her parents a few weeks ago and it made it's way to me. I was so excited to have it since it saved me lot's of money. Scott loves it alot since it's not pink. LOL.



Since Kaitlyn doesn't have a bedroom yet, her clothes are having to go into storage drawers. Good thing she won't care. Here is one with just newborn and 0-3 month size clothes.

Here is the drawers on the changing table that have onesies, hats and little things like that.

One more drawer cart that has burp cloths, socks and adorable shoes.

And here is Scott's amazing solution. I was trying to think of a way to not have to use the drawers in the changing table for things like diapers, wipes, lotion, ect. Since space for her stuff is at a premium. As we were wondering through the store a few nights ago, he went into a different aisle and came back with this to hang on the side of the changing table. Wahoo!!! Problem solved. Thanks Scott... you are helping me sooo much.

I bought her carseat last month, but just bought a cute pink carseat cover to keep her warm and dry when she is born. SO much fun!!! And here is also the bouncer that my friend Melissa gave to us. It's adorable as well.

And lastly... the swing. We can't survive without one of those! My friend Melissa gave that to me as well. She bought it for her son who hated it and so it didn't get used much. I am sure we will change that.

So between getting going on the baby stuff, getting ready for school... it has been absolutely crazy!!!

The week I had a dentist appt that did not go great and so I am looking at multiple appointments to solve the problem. I am very sore, but I had so much to get done I had a hard time finishing everything.

Trevor and Jordan's bedroom has been completely de-junked and all their too small clothes are finally packed away. Their school uniforms are washed and hanging in their closets. It was a half day project, but is DONE!!

Today was Josh's room. I bagged up two kitchen garbage bags full of clothes that are too small for him. My baby is getting so big!!!! I can't believe he has grown out of so many clothes. Granted a lot of them were 18 mos size and he is 3 after all. But I have bought him some new clothes for preschool this fall and I got those all ready to go.

So I think we are officially ready for school to start on the 25th. I am excited and can't wait to get back into the routine of it. I know it's going to be a tough year with the kids going to a new school, me being pregnant, soccer starting soon, and ect. But I am ready for it and the kids really need it. We will be fitting in weekly therapy for Trevor and Josh, Scouts, and endless dr. appt (for me and Josh). But I think it will just make the pregnancy go by that much faster. Wish me luck in surviving it all!!

Ultrasound and Baby news

I had my Targeted Ultrasound yesterday. That is where they do all the measurements, check the heart, make sure there aren't any problems ect. Everything looks perfect! The best news I can hear! I did ask specifically about the head size with the history Josh has with microcephaly.

And.....it is a girl for sure! I think even though I was told that last time it was a girl, I was still afraid it could change.

So it looks like I can breath a sigh of relief and get to planning!! We are going to name her Kaitlyn Margie Christensen. Her middle name is after Scott's Grandma. She is an amazing women and it will be such an honor to use her name.


That being said..... the pregnancy is going about how I figured, with some minor bumps along the way. When I went in today for my regular appointment, my blood pressure was 98/45. So a bit low. For now she thinks it is just the way my body is responding to the diabetes and sugar problems. I sure hope so. I get dizzy so much... not just a little, but like knock me off my feet and throw up. I am just going to watch the dizziness and other stuff and go back in if it gets worse. She'll just monitor it for now.

I saw the Endocrinologist last friday. He started me on insulin twice a day. At night I take a long acting to help with the fasting sugars, and just a short acting with breakfast since my morning ones were higher. But he did blood work and found I am way under doing the carb eating... I need to have 45 per meal and 15 per snack. So I started doing that and emailed him the results monday night. Big surprise that once I started eating more carbs (I was really cutting them out before because of the fear of high sugars), they skyrocketed. So now I added insulin for all meals and upped the insulin I was taking already. So far.... still high. I remember with Josh we never really got the fasting sugars in a great place. It has something to do with your liver producing sugars at night while you sleep and your body not using them since you are resting. Nothing I have any control over.

So it looks like for now..... the rollercoaster of blood testing and insulin is going wild. I hope by next week to have it going better. I will email him on friday with my last few days of levels and we'll go from there. I am just glad that I can do this by email and not keep having to go back. Small blessings.


As soon as I can get the pictures to scan from my ultrasound yesterday, I will get them posted.