Marsh Madness

It has been six months since we moved out of our second home or "Marsh Madness" as we nicknamed it.  It's funny how quickly something can go from being Home to being somewhere you don't belong.  We loved this house, and sometimes we hated it (let's be honest it was a 1970's split entry and there wasn't one square corner in the entire house) but for 9 1/2 years it was home for us, and a million memories were created within it's walls.

 

We moved a 7 month old baby girl in with us, and later brought a newborn son, and finally another daughter home to this house.  Each of our children took their first step in this home, left for their first day of preschool from that house.  We walked those halls many nights with a sick baby, kissed a thousand boo-boo's better, and swept countless fruit loops from that kitchen floor.  We shared nine beautiful Christmases together next to a crackling fire in that house. 

From that garage Rob worked on our vehicles, and many others as well.  He repaired and cleaned mowers in that driveway, and cheered and yelled at the TV in the family room through football and basketball games year after year.  There might even be a ding or two in some walls after a particularly frustrating loss...

I loved our garden, it was my daily therapy to go spend 30 minutes pulling weeds or watering plants, checking to see if anything was ripe.  I could head out there ready to scream and somehow find peace in that soil.  I also loved working in that kitchen.  I wasn't much of a cook when we moved into that house but by the time we left, I have to say I was much more domestic.  I was canning, and making everything from scratch!  ( I still don't sew, nor will I ever.)

We loved working on this house, updating it room by room.   I'll never forget the day that Rob asked what I thought about moving a ceiling fan from one spot to another, I told him it was a good idea.  The next day I came home from work to find a hole in the ceiling and Rob in the attic moving wires. 

 

 We remodeled the kitchen, a bathroom, we built a second bathroom in the basement, we replaced every single door, we painted and repainted every room, we spent hours in that yard, built a shed, put in a vinyl privacy fence, rebuilt the deck, added french doors... we had a blast.  It was ours, and it was such a joy to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors (aka Rob's labors, let's be honest he did 90% of the work). 

We loved that it was located in a cul-de-sac.  We had the best neighbors, and all summer long the cul-de-sac would be filled with children playing running from one yard to another.  The adults would chat in driveways or over the fence, and frequently come over to help each other with various projects.  In the winter time there wasn't much change, the kids would just bundle up and find the biggest pile of snow to sled down.  If we weren't fast enough to clear our driveway, someone else would surely do it for us.  That's the kind of people that we lived by. 

During our time in this home we faced many difficulties, trials that threatened to tear our family apart.  We are so grateful that we were able to go through these challenges in this home, because the neighbors, and members of our church were incredibly supportive and sure helped to lighten our burdens.  We are all better people because of the examples that many of those neighbors and friends have set for us. 

Now, don't get me wrong- I am happy to be where we are now.  This was all part of our plan.  Rob made a huge sacrifice when we decided to purchase a home.  After nine months of searching it became apparent that we would have to make a decision between a house with horse property and a house with more that 2 bedrooms.  For the sake of our family, Rob gave up having his horses close by so that we could have a home large enough for a growing family.  It was agreed that this would be our 5-10 year home and then we would move back into the country. 

So, here we are, about 2 months away from moving into our new home and we're thrilled.  We're excited for this next step in our life and we are really looking forward to making a million new memories in the new house.  There are wonderful neighbors to get to know out here (although they're a little further apart than our last neighbors) but we look forward to developing new friendships with them. 

However, a home this wonderful does deserve a tribute.  

So here's to you Marsh Madness:  You built us into a family, and you brought people into our lives that we will cherish forever.  We will never forget you, we will always be thankful for our time with you, and you will always have a place in our hearts.  It's our sincere hope that the next family gets everything out of you that we did.   

Losing My Best Friend

It was May 2, 2012 when my best friend, Savannah walked up to me while we were waiting outside for our teacher to come get us she said I am moving to California. "Why?" I asked . She said "Because my dad is building a new Get-Air in California". I was so sad about losing my best friend! I planned a SCHOOLS OUT! Party on May 26, 2012.That was the last time I saw her. She was the last guest to leave. I cried that moment and for the rest of the evening. She's in California and I hope she is having a great time.
                                                               From,
                                                                         Megan Marsh

Here is th e picture of us when we last saw each other. 

Drive In Movies - An American Classic

So Rob and I had this great idea the other day to take our children to their first Drive In movie, we were certain they would love it! We came up with this great idea to put a large air mattress in the bed of our truck and all lounge back there. After we got Rob's big heavy tool box out of the bed we realized that we don't own an air mattress so we began calling friends that lived nearby until we found one. We were so busy working on building our deck before we left that we hadn't even fed our kids dinner yet so we stopped and grabbed some burgers on our way to the show ($20) we arrived at the Drive In with plenty of time to spare and got a great spot (another $20) but soon realized that our friend's air mattress was no longer with us (oops) yes, on some busy street we were the rednecks that dropped a Queen sized air mattress without realizing it ($40). We tried our best to see if we could figure out where it had been lost but with no success. So we piled the pillows and blankets that we had into the back and figured it would still be fun. Well, the kids quickly (like 5 minutes) got bored of waiting for the show to start so I had to keep taking them on walks so that our baby didn't dive out of the truck bed head first. We finally decided to move her car seat to the back so that when the movie started we could buckle her in. When the show finally did start we arranged everyone, and a couple of minutes later it started raining. Megan was the first to go in declaring that she was "freezing to death", then I followed shortly with Kaylee because with her strapped into her car seat she was getting the majority of the rain/wind. Rob and Austin braved it the longest but eventually when all the blankets were completely soaked through they gave up and we were all inside the cab of the truck. We soon found out that didn't work because the windows were all fogging up and we couldn't see the movie anymore. Kaylee found Rob's Dr Pepper and dumped it all over the drivers seat, emptied my purse and later fell on a bag of unopened potato chips popping it open at the bottom. I think it was about this time that we called it a loss and everyone voted to just go home. So as we drove home we realized that we had just spent $80 to watch the first 15-20 minutes of Cars II. Our children were in the back seat asking that the next time we went to a show that we just go to a regular theatre, the kind inside.

JDRF Walk 2011

Before Rob and I were even married, the company I worked for sponsored JDRF walks, and I would always participate. Only knowing that it was for children with diabetes, not understanding anything about their lives, just that we were raising money for a cure and I felt really good about contributing towards that.
Now that I am a mother of one of these children, my heart has a special place for every one of the these people who take a Saturday and walk for our children, who ask a few friends and coworkers to donate a few dollars, etc. Every little bit helps, every little bit does make a difference for these children and their families. We have reason to hope for a cure.
We will be walking with the JDRF in Orem, UT on Saturday September 24th, 2011. We'd love to have you join our team as a walker, or by donating, or simply by giving us your virtual cheers! Any support is greatly appreciated! Follow the link below to our team page:

http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR/Walk-UT/Chapter-Utah4670?pg=team&fr_id=1555&team_id=17641

Love Songs...and Marriage

Somehow a few small lines in a song can say more than a thousand words spoken or written. Or, at least that's how I see it.

I have been married to my sweetheart for almost 10 years, I've been calling him my sweetheart for over 13. He is my best friend. He is the best looking man I have ever seen. He is my whole life. I could go on for hours on how great he is. When I write all that it sounds like we have a fairy tale relationship, doesn't it? I have had more than one friend (ones that we rarely see) comment on how Rob and I have this idealistic relationship. In some ways I think they are right because Rob and I love each other far more today than the day we got married. But, like all relationships, ours has not been void of problems. The good, the bad, and the ugly? Yes, we have definitely experienced all three, and I'm sure that we will continue to do so.

I remember one particularly painful summer when things started to feel hopeless for both of us. One night we went to a concert with some friends and after the artist rocked some of his songs for a while he sang an Eagles song that I had never heard before called "After the Thrill is Gone" The lyrics are:

Same dances in the same old shoes
Some habits that you just can't lose
There's no telling what a man might lose,
After the thrill is gone

The flame rises but it soon descends
Empty pages and a frozen pen
You're not quite lovers and you're not quite friends
After the thrill is gone, oh
After the thrill is gone

What can you do when your dreams come true
And it's not quite like you planned?
What have you done to be losing the one
You held it so tight in your hand, well

Time passes and you must move on,
Half the distance takes you twice as long
So you keep on singing for the sake of the song
After the thrill is gone

You're afraid you might fall out of fashion
And you're feeling cold and small
Any kind of love without passion
That ain't no kind of lovin' at all, well

Same dances in the same old shoes
You get too careful with the steps you choose
And don't care about winning but you don't want to lose
After the thrill is gone

Ouch. As we listened to that song I sobbed. It was just the way I was feeling. It was like staring at something broken that you can't replace, but you have no idea how to fix. We were in a downward spiral, we were both hurting so much and the more we hurt, the more we did and said things to cause more damage to our relationship. The crazy thing was that we were both exhausted and feeling like we were doing all that we could to fix things. I'm ashamed to admit that it was this summer that I started thinking that maybe it wasn't going to work, that too much damage had been done. I know that when I allowed this sort of thinking into my mind, it definitely made things worse. On top of everything else that Rob was facing, he now had the uncertainty of a wife with one foot out the door. I can't imagine how that must have hurt him. Of course, I couldn't see it at the time because I was so consumed with my own pain. Hardly, sounds like a fairy tale now, huh?

Well, things have improved considerably for us so luckily the story doesn't end there. At one of my lowest points, my mom challenged Rob and I to watch a movie alone together. The movie was "Fireproof" and it was made by ministers at the Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia. There was a point in the movie when the main character is talking to his best friend and his best friend says something like "People say for better or worse when they get married, but they only mean for better." Whoa! That really got me thinking. Do we really mean what we say when we start our marriages? Do we really intend on staying and working together through the bad times? Do we really promise to stay true and faithful when we are seeing our spouse at their worst? Are we really going to continue to love them when it's no longer easy? Or do we expect our love to function on auto-pilot while we put all of our time and energy into children/pets/careers/hobbies/friends/ourselves/etc.? Do we expect our spouse to continue to write little love notes and send flowers? Do we take the time and effort to continue to court them? Are we doing things for our sweetheart because we love them, not because we expect anything in return? Are we quick to forgive? Are we working hard to remove bitterness and resentment? I ask all of these questions, not to judge any other marriages, but because these are all things I have to continually ask myself. I do think that to keep a marriage strong, we need to continually take our own inventory and correct course if needed.

Rob and I continue to face struggles. I am certain that we always will. Things aren't perfect for us, we're not blissfully happy all the time. But we love each other. We are committed to each other. We are willing to put in the work to enjoy our happily ever after. Some days we don't try as hard as others, but we're trying.

I share this in hopes that somewhere someone can learn from my mistakes. Learn that if your marriage is falling flat, it does not mean that it's time to get out, it means that it's time to put more in. If you feel your spouse is treating you unkindly, it's time to be even more kind and loving towards them. If you want your spouse to pay more attention to you, give them more of your time and attention.

At the end of the movie Fireproof (which I highly recommend to anyone) they play a song called "Love is not a fight" (below on my playlist) and there's a line that says "and if we try to leave may God send angels to guard the door". I am so thankful for the angels that were there to guard the door for me. Especially my mother.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said "Cherish your spouse as the greatest possesion of your life and treat him or her accordingly. Make it your constant goal to add to the happiness and comfort of your companion. Never permit yourself to let down in your affection, or your respect, or your faith in one another."


"No love is not a fight, but it's something worth fighting for."

What's so great about Meg?

I may be a bit biased (just a bit) but my first born child just happens to be all kinds of terrific. I think that all of us who know her are awfully lucky. She is one of a kind.

So for those of you who don't know Megan- here's just a few of the reasons she is so SO great:

1- She has the biggest heart ever, she is so full of love. She is cheerful and kind to everyone she meets, she is an incredibly loyal friend, and she genuinely cares about people. She mentions frequently someone that is going through a rough time, and she often comes up with ideas of something she could do to cheer them up or help them with their problem. Whenever she hears about any sort of charitable project she always wants to contribute everything she can.

2- She is fun, fun, FUN! A day with Meg means a day of being creative and silly. She is quick-witted and has us laughing all the time with one of her sarcastic remarks. She likes to come up with games and activities, especially for younger children.

3- She is a fabulous daughter. She listens and obeys, and rarely needs to be asked twice to do something. Sometimes she will just volunteer to help clean or prepare a meal. She'll pick out clothes for her baby sister to wear, and she'll distract her brother if he's having a hard time with one of his BG tests or insulin injections.

4- She is so talented! She doesn't have any one particular hobby that she loves, she just enjoys them all! She likes to dance, she likes to play sports, she sings, and has started learning the keys on the piano, she loves all kinds of art, and she is a whiz with technology. She knows Windows 7 better than a lot of adults and can navigate around like she's been doing it for years (did I mention she's 7?) She can work all kinds of cell phones, iPods and any other electronic gadgets. Since she was about 4 she has been helping babysitters work her daddy's TV/Receiver/DVD player/surround sound/etc. system. She is so, so smart. She tests a full grade ahead on her math skills and reading skills, and she's the youngest one in her class!

5- She's beautiful. I think I must tell her that about five times a day. It is so true. I don't just mean her outward appearance though. Of course her face IS beautiful (her daddy dreads her teenage years and the boys that will be knocking down our door) but her goodness, her sweet, loving spirit, her loving heart- all of those things that make her who she is, shine through her eyes and her goodness just radiates from her, her true beauty just takes my breath away.

This special girl has so much to give the world, and so far I think I've been the biggest recipient. What an angel.

One at a time

I know there's a saying that goes something like "I missed the forest for all the trees" and I once heard my dad say it backwards that, he had "missed the trees for the forest" saying that sometimes it was nice for him to get chances to spend with each of his 7 children one on one.
I think I know what he means. Now that we've had three kids for a year, I've noticed what a struggle it has been to try to divide my time evenly between husband and all the children. It never seems to be something that I can accomplish, someone is always left feeling neglected. But, I really do try to do my best. And it is something I thoroughly enjoy.
It's so fun to have special little things that make each relationship unique.

Megan and I make the sign language symbol for I love you and touch our hands together. It's just this sweet thing that we do, I don't know when or who started it, but it just feels like we've been doing it forever. Sometimes we just like to find quiet moments to just sit and chat about nothing and everything, she's got great taste in music, and has a whole lot more style than her mom. She has such a big heart, and she's so caring and giving with others. She is a joy to be around, and I hope that we can always talk like this.
Austin's courage is amazing. He really inspires me. He and I frequently go on "dates" when daddy is at work, Megs at school, and K is down for a nap. Our dates are usually building something cool out of blocks, turning daddy's weight bench into a rocket and capturing aliens on the moon, or building a campfire and tracking bears (he is such a boy!), it's wonderful, special time and I always wish that I didn't have so much work to do so we could enjoy it longer.
My KK is usually the first one awake (after Rob) so she and I always start our day by snuggling (love it!!) I used to read my scriptures while we snuggled but since she started ripping pages out, I've moved that to a different time of day. She is so precious. I love it when she'll sit still long enough to stay on my lap and make silly faces and play our silly games. But no matter what I do, she will NOT say Mama... nope, she is Dada's girl through and through and she reminds me mercilessly!
It's incredible to be a mom and to spend my days nurturing these amazing children and I wouldn't trade it for any job in the world. They are so wonderful and I love being their mom. It is so fun to have all three of them home, but it's also great when I can take the time to appreciate each and every "tree" one at a time, with my full and un-divided attention.

BTW- this picture is so funny to me, Megan was trying so hard to keep Kaylee still, K wasn't having any of that hold still nonsense and Austin wouldn't take his thumb out of his mouth long enough to tell her to knock it off so he kept glaring at her... my hams!

Type 1 Diabetes Basics

For any of you who want to know more about Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes, I found a great page with some simple, easy to understand information about what it is, how it's treated, and symptoms to watch for. The information is provided by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Thanks again to all those who have taken the time to learn more about Austin's new life and have helped him feel as normal as possible.

http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=102585

Team Austin

Okay, this is long overdue, since this race happened in May... but better late than never, right?

As you probably already know, our son, Austin was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes 5 months ago and life has never been the same. It's been different. In some ways worse, some ways better, some ways just... different. Definitely more difficult, but we have all grown because of it, so I would have to say that we are thankful for it.


After Rob and I were starting to overcome our initial shock with everything, we both felt an overwhelming need to show our little man our support in his new life. I saw a flyer for a 5k run that his Diabetes Clinic was going to be hosting and suggested that to Rob, he loved the idea and offered to sign us up right away. As the race day drew closer we mentioned to a few family members what we were doing and they offered to join, we were very touched.


Rob used all his chances for running as an outlet for his pain and frustration for what Austin was going through. I think it was very therapeutic for him. I found comfort in information and read blogs and talked to as many other diabetic parents as I could.


Race day hit and Rob was pumped, I thought I was going to puke, but we set off with Rob's sister, Kristee, and nephew Trevor running with us. When we arrived, I REALLY thought I was going to puke as I looked around at all the "real" runners. I was laughing to myself at the thought of how quickly all these people were going to leave me in the dust!

Rob's parents brought our kids down to see us run, and Rob's niece brought her kids down to cheer us all on as well. So with quick kisses blown to our little cheering crowd we started our run! Holy crap! Salt Lake City has got some SERIOUS hills!!


Rob finished the run at 27 minutes, winning a medal for 2nd place for all the 20-something's! Trevor did awesome coming in just a few minutes after. I finished at 38 minutes!! (all I wanted was to beat 40 so I was thrilled) but the very best part was coming up on the final stretch and seeing our family members there cheering us on, then once I'd crossed the finish line Austin gave me a great big hug and I can't put into words how those precious moments felt.


I am so glad that we did it. I do think all you marathon runners are INSANE, a 5k was plenty for me! We definitely want to turn this into an annual tradition, so if you live in Utah and would like to- come join TEAM AUSTIN next year at the Utah Diabetes Center 5k fun run. All the proceeds go to help diabetic patients who have no other way to pay for their care. We are hoping that Team Austin continues to grow, maybe next year we can do shirts or something for all the runners and cheering crew (we'll have to see how we're doing on these medical bills!) it would be cute to have little pink ones or something for Austin's two sweet sisters!


I hope that Austin can feel of our love and support for him. He is a courageous little guy and we could not be prouder of how strong he is being with all of his new challenges.


2010 Runners: Kristee, Lisa, Rob, Trevor

Rob in his 2nd place medal!

Rob and Austin right after Rob's big finish.

I couldn't stop kissing the SWEETEST and bravest boy in the world after my finish

Here is our fabulous cheering crew!!!!! An important part of Team Austin!

Kristee was really slowed down at the end when all her grandkids and nieces and nephews wanted to finish the race with her.

2010 Team Austin

Trevor's cute little girl helped him finish strong!

Thanks to everyone that supported Team Austin 2010, we hope to grow our team for 2011!!

Sequoia

We bought our Sequoia in January 2009 because we were expecting our third child and Megan was in Kindergarten and we were already doing the carpool thing AND Rob refused to ever drive a minivan so SUV it was. At first, I hated driving something so big all the time and I had adored my Camry so I'll admit it was a hard adjustment to make, but I soon got used to it and now it is my baby. Rob takes very good care of my baby, insisting that we put good fuel and the very best oil in it. And of course, anyone who knows Rob knows that he is always getting after me for not taking it through the car wash often enough :)

My baby takes good care of us too though. In October I was rear-ended on the freeway with a 6 week old baby in the car, I was so scared that she would be hurt but she was completely fine, and probably would have slept through the whole ordeal if I hadn't gotten her out to make sure she was okay. The car that hit us had a bumper laying on the ground and the front all crunched in, so we were pretty lucky to just have a beat up bumper. Knowing that the Sequoia had protected my tiny baby so well made me really love that car.

Last Saturday night, I went with Rob to his work for a little while and as we were driving home someone launched a rock at our car. It hit the passenger window with enough force to shatter it, and then came through and hit my arm, but not with enough force to really hurt me. I wonder how hard it would have hit me if the window hadn't slowed it down. In fact, the only injuries to me were a few cuts on my legs from shattered glass landing on me. Naturally, it freaked us out, not knowing at first if we had been shot at, and then Rob of course grew more and more upset as the realization of how badly I could have been hurt set in. But, once again- the Sequoia took good care of us and I love that car even more. It has definitely earned a place in our family. Now to pay and get it fixed....

Home

I was listening to Bob Lonsberry this morning while I was driving kids to school and he started reading the lyrics to a song called The House that Built Me and started talking about family homes and putting roots down. He said "I think homes are almost made sacred by the things that take place there, and by the memories that are shared there." I couldn't agree more and it got me really thinking about the first place that Rob and I called home as we began our family. When we were first married we rented an old farm house only about a half a mile from the home that he grew up in. The house was built in the 1920's I believe. It was old, worn looking, it had almost no insulation, old paint and carpet, we frequently had cow poop in our yard and driveway, but from October 2001 through January 2004 it was all ours and we fell in love with it.

Recently, I was out shopping and Rob called to tell me that this house had been torn down. It knocked the wind out of our sails. We haven't lived in that home for more than six years, but it was devestating news. It sounds a little silly to be so upset about a house, and so I've tried not to make too big of a deal out of it. But maybe listening to Bob this morning validated my feelings a little for me. That house was a home for us. It did become sacred. This was where we spent our first night after our honeymoon with only: a bed, bowls, spoons, a box of cereal and a package of top ramen. I can remember walking into our bedroom in that home at 5:00am one morning to tell Rob that I was pregnant with Megan. I can still smell the freshly tilled soil of the big garden that Rob loved to work in during the summer evenings. I can hear the creaks of the funny, old fashioned closets and picture the little nooks that made that house so special. I can still feel the pain of Rob driving his little remote controlled car across that kitchen floor into my bare feet while I was cooking dinner. I can picture in my mind the corner of the living room where we put our Christmas tree. I remember another corner of the living room where I spent hours rocking little baby Megan. I remember the wash room where Rob first buzzed his head in support of a coworker's son who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Hopefully this helps explain why it is really sad now to drive by and see a big empty lot, and I'm sure it will also make me sad to see the new home that will be built there one day. Time marches on and new memories are made in new homes, and that's as it should be. But this morning the sentimental part of me couldn't resist picking up a brick that was once part of my first home with my sweetheart, the place where we became a family, after all it truly was a sacred dwelling. I hope somewhere we have a picture of that cute little house, if I find one to scan in I'll add it to this post later. For now I just have pictures of it as it is today.

My big fat opinion

Honestly, I do try really hard to keep my opinions to myself sometimes, and sometimes I am better able to keep quiet than others.... I try very hard to be diplomatic when it comes to politics. I appreciate very much that I am able to express my views and opinions and feel very fortunate to live in a country where I am free to do so. While enjoying that freedom though, I also remember that everyone else is afforded that same right and they get to express their views and opinions no matter what they may be. That's one of the things that make this country so great.
Now with that being said- I need to get a few things off my chest because I have been biting holes in my tongue with some things I have heard people saying lately,so watch out because here it comes:
First, it is really hard for me to accept that honest, intelligent, hard-working americans are buying the bull that is for sell right now. I know there aren't as many as there were before, but how can there be people out there who don't see the current administration for who they really are? If members of the federal government went around to people's homes and physically pulled money out of their pockets to give to others so they could "re-distribute the wealth fairly" they would be called thieves and be locked up. But because their robbery is disguised in congressional bills and taxes and sold to the public by people in nice suits who keep reminding us that they are only trying to help the poor little children, it is somehow not breaking the law. A thief is a thief. Although I do have to say that if I were confronted with one who had a gun to my head demanding that I empty my purse I would be much less afraid of him than a thief who calls his robbery a good deed for the public interest.
It has really been bothering me that so many people think that those of us who are against this health care bill are cold-hearted jerks who don't care about poor sick children. I can't speak for everyone, but I know for most of us that is just not true. I am all for helping out others who genuinely need help. There is so much need. I believe it is our christian duty to help out others where we can and I have been so touched by the generosity that I have seen on numerous occassions when good people came together to raise funds for a deserving party. But I do not believe it is the right of the government to force that assistance. They do not have the right to steal money out of one person's hand and give it to another. Wrong is never right, it doesn't matter how you package it up. It's stealing, it's dishonest, and it's wrong.
The federal government has no money. Anything "free" that comes from the federal government came out of someone's pocket. Nothing is free. Someone always pays. There are no unicorns, pots of gold at the end of rainbows, and there is no money tree growing in the backyard at the White House.
What the heck happened to the American dream? When did it become a bad thing to work your tail off with a sound business plan, possibly some good fortune, and help from others and make it big? Why are we getting stuck on words like, fairness and equality. There are only a couple of places that I believe those words belong- when we are talking about civil rights, humanity demands that there be equality. Nobody deserves to be treated with less dignity and worth because of physical appearance, beliefs, lifestyle, etc. I am not the least bit tolerant of any type of discrimination, so please do not mistake my next statement. Life is not fair. We aren't all going to get the same size piece of pie, most of us may not get much more than a lick of the fork. It stinks, it's unfair, cry about it, wish it were different, and then move on. But don't ever justify taking something away from someone else because they have more than you.
Rob works a full time job and countless side jobs. He is always looking for different ways he can make extra money to provide for his family. This is rewarding for him and other hard-working husbands like him to break their backs bringing home the bacon, but what's going to be the point when most of their earnings are stolen away by the federal government? What will be their motivation when they aren't being rewarded for their efforts? The way Obama is trying to make everything "fair" means that the lazy bum who hardly shows up to work is going to be compensated "fairly" with the guy who shows up early and hardly sits down to take a break all day. Can't people see how this ruins the entire system? What's the motivation to work harder and be better and do more if the federal goverment is just going to take it away and give it to others? Personal integrity will be the only remaining reason to put in an honest days work anymore.
Lastly, I have to say that it should speak VOLUMES to all Americans when the majority speaks loud and clear telling their government that they don't want something and their government says "we know what you need better than you do" or "we don't give a crap what you want, we're doing it anyway". This should frighten us all and should move us into action. It doesn't matter whether you wanted the health care bill to pass or not, this behavior of our elected leaders is unacceptable. We need to be very involved in making sure that we get as many slimeballs out of power as we possibly can this November. We (all american people) need to send the message loud and clear, reminding the government that they work for us, and we will not elect leaders who disregard their constituents. It is our duty to be informed and involved in the process of selecting candidates and studying issues so that we can cast well informed ballots and let the majority speak and then unite on whatever that decision is. If we vote in more Pelosi's and Obama's after we've seen what they will do, it's our own fault and we have no business crying when they fool us twice, or thrice, or wherever the count is now....
Become informed, get involved, support good, honest candidates, take full advantage of your right to vote or shut up and don't complain when you don't like what happens.
Thanks for letting me share some of my big fat opinion on politics lately. I promise my next post will be much more cheerful and positive.

The miller, his son, and their donkey

Anybody who knows me knows that I have a love for books, especially children's books. In fact, I hope to write one of my own some day. In any case, I LOVE books! Whenever I read, or read to my children, I learn something new and that's exciting!

Please indulge me as I share one of my favorite children's books, since it offers such a valuable life lesson.

The miller, his son, and their donkey (in Lisa's words)

So the story starts out with a father and son walking their donkey to a fair to sell him. They pass by a bunch of girls who start laughing at them for walking when they could be riding the donkey so the dad tells his son to get on and ride the donkey. Then they pass men who chastise the son for not respecting his elder and so the son gets off and the dad gets on. They pass some mothers and children who scold the dad for making his son walk while he rides so the dad tells the son to get on behind him. Later they pass someone who can't believe that they are both riding the poor donkey and says they are better able to carry it than it carry them. So they tie the donkey to a stick and carry it (yeah it looks pretty silly) and then a whole town of people are laughing at the silly sight so the donkey freaks out and kicks the cords off and falls into a river. The last page of the book reads:

The old man, vexed and ashamed, pulled his donkey out of the river, convinced that by endeavoring to please everybody he had pleased nobody, and had almost lost his donkey in the bargain.

"From now on," he said, making his way into town, "others can blame or praise me; I will do as I please."

So he did, and did well.

The bravest boy in the whole wide world

Here are some photos of the beginning of Austin's new diabetic life, in no particular order. We are so proud of our incredible little boy and feel very blessed to have him in our lives.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but basically the first 24 hours he was in the hospital, Austin had a finger poked at least once per hour. His tiny fingers looked horrible by Wednesday morning. Poor little guy.

It was so hard for us to see him like this. He looked so tiny on the hospital bed. We are so thankful to have him home and living life as normal as possible.

Here's Austin's bed at home, with Hospital Buddy and Rufus in their new home. We happily adopted them and brought them home from the hospital. Rufus is a bear with diabetes just like Austin, he was given to him by the JDRF. Rufus wears a diabetic bracelet just like Austin. And sometimes Rufus and Austin talk about what it's like to have diabetes.

How would Austin get through all this without the love of sweet sisters? Here's a card Megan mailed him to help him feel better (on the back she drew a picture of a needle).

This is our lives now, counting every single carb that goes into that kids mouth. Here's our new snack box with everything carefully portioned and labeled. We keep getting told that one day we'll be experts at this.

When Austin could finally leave on Friday afternoon he got to go for a wheelchair ride, which he thought was pretty cool!

Here is Austin with HIS Nichole, she was his favorite nurse and she took awesome care of him. She has a very special place in all of our hearts.

Here is Hospital Buddy, he was given to Austin to take care of. Austin checked his blood pressure, looked in his ears, listened to his heart, gave him shots and loved him better.

As you might imagine, it was quite the job to convince a 3 year old to let us poke his finger and give him injections over and over again so we made him these sticker charts, once he fills a sticker chart he gets to go to a dollar store and pick any toy he wants.

Here's Austin snuggled up with his daddy and Buddy watching a movie (we watched a lot of movies!) his cousin Josh brought up Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs the first day and we probably watched that eight times while in the hospital.

We all thought it was pretty cool that Spiderman was hanging out at his hospital. Each morning we had to go check and see if Spiderman was still there.

Here's Austin playing in the Play Room with Janiel. Every time Rob and I had one of our longer classes a volunteer would play with Austin in the Play Room until we were done. The volunteers were all so awesome and he loved all the different things they had for him to do there.

Here's Austin when they FINALLY let him have a meal. He ate ham and pancakes and he ate every tiny bite and then licked all the syrup off the plate.

Austin loved it when volunteers would stop by and see if he needed any toys. They had every thing he asked for and it was great, especially when he was still "plugged in" and couldn't get around much. He was so happy when they took him off the IV and he was "unplugged"

Here's Austin and Kaylee at 6am the morning before he went into the hospital, he was feeling so yucky that he couldn't sleep anymore (a giveaway that something is wrong, the kid would sleep until 9am if we let him)

Cheetos

It is amazing how fast your life can change. Our lives have changed in a big way, and it's therapeutic for me to write about it, but I seriously don't expect anyone to read the entire novel that will follow:

Our 3 year old Austin has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. On a scale of 1-10 on how knowledgable Rob and I were on diabetes before all this I would have to say we were a 0.5. In fact, if it weren't for my mother-in-law suggesting the possibility of diabetes I don't know when we would have put it all together that all the stuff going on with him was all tied together.
For some of you who may be like we were and not know the symptoms here are the things we noticed with him. Austin has been wetting the bed all the time, and not a little bit, he was completely filling a pull-up and then some and going potty all day long. He was ALWAYS thirsty, and always hungry. I thought the frequent trips to the bathroom were due to all the water he had been drinking. His behavior had also been getting worse, he'd scream over the tiniest things and he had become so clingy to me, he wanted me right next to him or holding him every second of the day. We thought he was possibly acting out because he's the middle child and wanted more attention or something, plus he is three after all. He was also getting skinnier, I thought this was due to the fact that he is going to turn four soon and was just getting the thinner "little boy" look instead of the toddler look.


When I started to research juvenile diabetes, Austin had almost every symptom. I hadn't weighed him for a while, and it honestly hadn't occurred to me that his "thinning out" could have been him actually losing weight. I told him and Megan that I wanted to check their numbers and so I weighed them both. Megan was the same as she was about 5-6 weeks ago, but Austin was 32 lbs, and he was about 37 lbs before. I stared at the wall and cried for a while and then Rob came home from the gym and asked what was wrong, when I told him, and we started going through the symptoms he just kinda sunk onto the couch and it feels like our lives have been in slow motion ever since.


If you've ever lived in our ward, you'll know that the next thing we did was call an amazing lady named Shannon. I told her what we were concerned about and why, she said we needed to take it very seriously and even offered to come over that night and test his blood sugar. When she tested it, his level was too high for her meter to read. She told us to get into his pediatrician in the morning and that we would probably be sent to the hospital. So Rob made arrangements to stay home from work the next day and we went in to see his Doctor. They weighed him (now down to 31 lbs), took a urine sample, x-ray of his tummy, and did another glucose test, which was 544. The Dr. came back in with another Dr. and sat down and explained how serious this was and told his that we needed to get to the emergency room at Primary Children's and that they would probably keep us for a few days.


After we left Rob and I were sobbing and trying so hard not to upset Austin, we went home and packed a bag. In hindsight we probably should have let someone else pack the bag for it, we were both in a fog and just threw random things in a bag so we got a couple of the things we needed down here. Austin didn't understand at all why he had to go to the hospital and kept asking if he could just stay home. Rob's parents offered to help so we sent them to my office to drop off my work phone and they came down to the ER with us to watch Kaylee so we could focus on Austin. On the drive down, Megan called from school and said she was sick and needed to be picked up. I started crying and told her where we were and why I couldn't come and get her, then I got on the phone with one of the secretaries and made arrangements for our awesome neighbor to come and get her until someone in the family could pick her up.


When we got to the ER Austin kept telling me how hungry he was, after a while of waiting I thought that since we hadn't been told not to feed him that I would just go ahead and get him something so we went over to the vending machine and he picked out cheetos, just as I was getting coins out of my purse they called us back and Austin was devastated that he didn't get his cheetos. They examined him, his glucose level was now 579, and said they would be admitting him and we needed to wait for a free ER room to start treating him. They also told us that we could not give him any food or drink until they told us it was okay. Austin was devastated and he didn't understand, so he kept saying "Cheetos" "Cheetos" it was horrible to know how hungry and thirsty he was and so hard to try to explain why he couldn't have anything.


They brought him into an ER room and said that they were going to get him on an IV drip to get some fluids in him. Wow- getting an IV into a three year old, that's all I will say- Wow. After a bag of fluids they started him on an insulin drip as well. He screamed and cried the entire time we were down there which was about 3 hours. When they finally had a room ready for him we took him upstairs, I carried him in my arms like a baby and Rob and the nurse followed with his IV. He seemed to calm down a little bit when we got him settled into his room, he liked the Lady and the Tramp picture hanging on his wall and even gave us a little half smile. Every time someone came in to check on him or do a blood test he would cry and ask them for Cheetos. It was breaking everyone's hearts and we all kept promising him that as soon as we could get him a little better that he could have some cheetos. Rob and I took turns laying by him and comforting him, and reassuring him that we would get him cheetos as soon as we could. Rob and I hadn't eaten anything all day either so around 6pm we were sent down to get some food, which was hard since neither one of us wanted to eat until Austin could. While in the cafeteria I saw a little bag of cheetos to get for Austin so that as soon as they said he could have something they would be ready for him. When we came back up, his nurse was so excited to tell us that the Dr. had given them permission to give him a small bag of cheetos and 4 oz of water. It made us both cry. We went into the room and found a happy little guy licking little orange fingers and watching a movie. What a tender mercy that small bag of cheetos was for our little boy. That night was the hardest night of our lives. They had been poking his finger every hour to test his levels and they told us that they were going to have to continue to do that all through the night. Rob was nearing his breaking point, and Austin was still very clingy with me so we decided that Rob would head home with Kaylee and I would stay the night with Austin. I was in his bed with him the entire night, they'd come in and poke him for a blood test and he would cry and cry and then they'd check his vitals and were changing his IV fluids frequently (they were trying to find the right combination of glucose water and insulin to bring down his blood sugar slowly and safely) every time they would change it, he would cry about his hand hurting where the IV went in and they'd give us a new heat pack for me to hold on his hand. We'd go through all of this and I'd get him settled and finally to sleep only to be woken again in about 10-15 minutes to do it all again. I would rather relive labor and delivery for all three of our kids again before repeating that night.



Things improved Wednesday morning when Austin was stable enough to come off the IV and could finally eat a real meal, but then we had to start injections...they brought him pancakes and ham and he ate every bit and then licked the syrup off the plate. Austin was miserable so I took him out to find the hospitals play room to cheer him up. It wasn't open for the day yet, so we just peeked in the window but he was so excited when he saw all the toys and realized that he was able to play in there while we were here. He couldn't wait for daddy to come back to the hospital that morning so that they could go play in the playroom together. They have an amazing program here called Child Life Services, they have lots of volunteers and they make sure that all the kids are still able to be kids while they are here. They frequently bring around toys and activities for the kids to do in their rooms, and books to read, they come in to play with them, and the ones who are able to go to their playroom get to to do all kinds of things there. They do some crafts with them in there, but then they also bring the crafts around to the rooms of those who can't go into the playroom. The thing that touched us the most is when they came in and gave Austin his hospital buddy. They told him that his hospital buddy was sick just like him and asked him to take care of hospital buddy. He took his blood pressure, listened to his heart, gave him finger pokes and shots and bandaged them all up. What an amazing gift this was for him and we could see how much this soothed him. That little hospital buddy has helped him in a huge way and Rob and I have such appreciation for the amazing people that volunteer their time to help out kids like Austin.

The last three days have been filled with education for Rob and I. For some of our longer classes, a volunteer would take Austin to the playroom to play, which was so helpful. Of course we had Kaylee with us through it all which made things interesting. I thought that the more I learned the better I would feel, and it started that way, but then it started to go the other way... we were learning about what to do if he passes out and what can happen if we don't do the shots just right and all sorts of stuff, all good info that we needed, but by mid-day yesterday I was feeling so scared it was making me sick to my stomach and the thought of taking care of him at home without a hospital staff nearby is terrifying. We have been reassured by at least 20 people that we can do it, and I'm sure one day I will have more confidence in myself as well, but for now it is so scary to think of bringing him home today. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled at the thought of sleeping in my own bed, I just want my little guy to get the best care possible, and when I'm the one with him most of the day- that frightens me. I feel completely inadequate to take care of him. Rob seems to be handling this part of it much better than I am. When we started the training on injections and finger pokes he jumped right in and was a pro within minutes, I was the pale-faced one standing back shaking. After all, shots and blood are the biggest reasons I don't work in the medical field!
This is plenty long already and truthfully I could go on and on but I think I'll end just writing about the nurses. Austin has had some terrific nurses while he has been here. Jed and Lindsay were both fantastic and Austin loved them, they both came to visit him a time or two when they weren't assigned to him anymore. But Nichole was his nurse the longest and she was his favorite. In fact in the few days we've been here she has become "his Nichole". We are so grateful that she came into our lives in this short, crucial time. Somehow this incredible person has helped Austin feel, for the most part, okay about getting shots and pokes. And she has helped Rob and I feel, for the most part, okay about taking care of him. She is awesome! She told us that she and her husband have been trying to have a baby for a few months and I hope that it works out for them because she is going to make a wonderful mommy some day! Thank you Nichole for taking such good care of our Austin!! We love you and will never forget you!

And now it's time to get ready to head home (ahh!) and the real work begins. We took a couple of pictures while we were here, we'll get those posted soon I hope.

The Language of Mom

One little, two little, three little spoonfuls...wait, when didI start sing-talking?? Oh yeah, that must have begun when I became a mom (actually a bit of it started 12 years ago when my first nephew was born and I became the proudest aunt in the world).
Today I am the proud mother of 3, aunt of 15 (soon to be 16), and great-aunt of 2 and my thinking process and language skills will never be the same... my poor brother stopped being Keith a long time ago and has since turned into "Keef"... I don't know how to feed a baby without making all sorts of whirring, buzzing, clicking noises... everyone in the world now has a boo, moo, or poo added to the end of their name... my husband lost his name altogether at some point and just became Daddy... dressing children requires singing "Put your little foot" repeatedly...for some reason I feel the need to ask "Who's my baby?" 50 times a day even though I've never actually forgotten...I actually changed the words to "Rock a Bye Baby" because I thought it was too violent...and I have actually said, on more than one occassion-"Do you need to push?", "Cows don't eat people", and "I'm sorry you don't have any farts, maybe you can try later"

Please feel free to add any of yours, it will make me feel so much better!

Christmas 09

This was Kaylee's first Christmas. She didn't get very excited about her presents. But she seemed to like meeting her new cousin Lizzy who is just 3 months younger than her.

Rob was the first one to try out our new laptop. Yep, he's so hot it sometimes looks like he's on fire. (Try not to be too jealous)

Whee! The kids got a Wii from Santa. Austin doesn't quite get what's so great just yet, but Megan will challenge anyone to a game of bowling or tennis anytime!

Austin got to meet Santa at his preschool Christmas party. He almost ripped Rob's arm off when he saw Santa come in. It was so exciting for him to get to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas.

We all had a wonderful Christmas. We have been richly blessed with beautiful children, a home, good employment, fantastic neighbors, good friends, and the support of incredible families. We consider the time we were able to spend together as a family to be the greatest gift this Christmas.