Projects

 This summer we took on a project that Brett has wanted done for the last 5 years. We extended the driveway so we have a HUGE amount of cement on the side of our house now! Brett plans to put up a nice basketball hoop and play basketball every day. We also decided to make new garden boxes and surround them in concrete. The extra space of concrete by the garden boxes is for a shed. We did concrete around the garden boxes because the area they are in has a tree problem. The neighbors have aspen trees and they multiply and pop up EVERY where like crazy. Our grass was a big mess of tree stumps from cutting down tree starts every few weeks. The concrete should stop them from coming up and ruining our yard! Plus we won't have grass and weeds all over the garden boxes like we previously did! Yahoo! It will be so nice when everything is complete. We still need to buy dirt to fill the boxes, a shed, and a basketball hoop. Plus some bushes and plants for landscaping to make it look nicer. But... that will have to wait until next year. Unfortunately we aren't millionaires. These projects cost too much!

The girls have been out bike riding almost every day this summer. Claire is really good on training wheels and plans to learn to ride without towards the end of summer. We may try sooner, since she has really got it down with training wheels. Olivia is getting much more bold this year on her bike. She likes to go speedy fast, faster then even I am comfortable with. Luckily even though most kids in the neighborhood seldom wear a helmet the girls are in the habit and usually always wear them without a fuss. Which makes me happy since I am anxiety lady and pretty much fear the worst in all situations. My mother did the same.. so it's just natural for me to always be on high alert!

Latest and Greatest

Well, summer is in full swing. Olivia is getting quite used to staying home every day. She is loving watching endless amounts of Netflix movies and shows. I need to figure out how to set those parental controls! Claire is loving having a playmate every day! Liv and Claire are out in the neighborhood almost every day looking for friends to swim and ride bikes with. Emma loves going outside too. She has discovered "bees" which she calls every bug/insect.She loves to pick up the rolly polly bugs and the ants, and unfortunately she has got her hands on some spiders too. Yesterday she was desperately reaching for a wasp that was having a drink on a hose. I kept pulling her away telling her no and ouch! but she kept going back trying to grab it. I have a feeling she may be stung or bitten by a few bugs/bees this summer. She doesn't understand that the only bugs her sisters are holding are rolly pollies. She is fascinated with animals and bugs. Although she is starting to grow a fear of the larger animals. She still likes them, but doesn't want to get to close or have them lick her.She is also loving the strawberries we have growing out front. She picks them every day and eats every last one. She is still learning that the red ones are better then the green ones, but she eats the green ones anyway!

The baby (30 weeks now) seems to be doing well. He (or so they say, I still won't fully believe it until they have arrived) is very active. Always kicking and moving and shaking my belly. I am working on getting some clothes ready and figuring out room arrangements... but so far, I am have not gotten too far! He has like 3 outfits now... I am thinking I will just buy lots of cheap onsies. They can live in those day and night just fine! The girls have been sleeping down stairs in the guest room. They want to move in down there, but I told them they need to wait until after the family reunion since we have a few families staying with us in July. So, maybe after that we will start the re-arranging. I want to get a simple alarm system for the windows down stairs so I can keep my sanity and still sleep at night with them so far away.

Gestational Diabetes is going quite well. I debate with myself daily if it is hard or too easy. Some times it is very difficult and I want go crazy with cravings and I get so sick of it all. Other times I am eating a treat and wondering how this is a diet! Last night we went to the movies and I wanted popcorn. I ate a lower carb dinner and waited for snack time so I could eat it. I thought I would eat as much as I wanted and not count carbs. It gets in the way of enjoying my food sometimes if i know I am going over my allotted amount. Anyway- so I ate all I wanted. I thought for sure when I tested my blood sugar later it would be high, but it wasn't, it was actually quite low, in the 70's. Guess I could have had some soda to go with it! Later I looked at # of carbs in popcorn. I could have eaten 5 cups and been within the # of  carbs allowed. I should have looked at that before I assumed it was a high-carb snack!And that is when I wonder how this is a diet at all! But I am blessed. I do not have a bad case of diabetes. I am only slightly insulin intolerant.  So i can really get away with eating anything I want as long as I eat it at the right times. I can't carb over-load, but I can still eat a treat and have my levels be within range. I have decided I will still follow the diet and eat the amount of carbs that I am supposed to, but when I want a treat I am not going to worry about it being too many carbs, because I know my body can handle it fine. That being said, it is still hard being patient and waiting to eat that treat at just the right time! And counting carbs and not having as much as I would like at meal gets really annoying too. But, it is good for me having to practice some self control with my eating habits. I needed it! Plus it makes me add more healthy foods to ALL our meals and snacks. Now I have to think outside of the box for snacks and breakfast. It is hard eating a protein  with every meal and snack.
Anyway- life is good. We are blessed. We are all doing well and are happy most of the time!

Gestational diabetes

Almost a week ago I was told I do indeed have gestational diabetes. To be honest this has been a top fear/anxiety of  all my pregnancies. I have cried over the thought of it many times. I know that sounds pathetic. I am crying over the potential loss of sugar and bread and pasta. Surprisingly though- when i actually was diagnosed I only felt really sad about it for about a day and I am okay with it now. Today I was even grateful that I am being forced into a healthier lifestyle. The last few days have been hard. I have not met with the dietician yet and have not started testing my blood sugar. So I am nervous about that. I am learning a lot about diabetes and what I can and can't eat and how to control it. I thought it was simple, but it is actually rather complex. I am hoping the dietician can teach me more of the basics and I can get a better idea of what to eat and what to avoid. For instance I didn't realize milk was a rather bad thing to drink. I knew it had sugar and carbs, but I guess it spikes blood sugar quickly so it is not good for a diabetic diet. I have so much to learn. I hope I can incorporate these changes into my daily life for good so I never have diabetes later in life. That would be so horrible to live with forever.

I have been scared for the baby and that I will damage them for life if I eat a cookie or too much fruit or some thing. I am scared that I hurt it last week when I went I went overboard with sugar. I am such a sugar-aholic. I want to eat my bowl of cereal for breakfast soooo badly. But I know I can't. Especially something really yummy like cocoa Roos or golden Graham's. I hate that I have to eat eggs and meat for breakfast. Yuck. All I want is sweets. It is hard. I know this will be hard for me, but I also know it will be worth it. The best things in life usually come from hard things. I really do already feel better physically. I am not as tired and not as moody. I guess instead of PB and J on whole wheat bread (which I justified as being healthy) and gold fish crackers for lunch, we will eat a bunch of veggies and some turkey and cheese. I am hoping cheese is ok... Now I am unsure since finding out about milk! I will figure this diet out... Sooner or later!

Dance Recital

The girls had their dance recital this past Saturday! They both did great and were so cute. I was so worried because the day before Olivia had to learn an opener and closer dance for the recital. She had mostly no idea what she was doing. Luckily since everyone was on stage she wasn't noticed!
Claire did a tap dance and they looked so small and cute. Olivia had a huge boost of confidence and smiled and remembered her dance perfectly for the recital. The day before during rehersels she looked scared to death and I thought for sure she would burst into tears. I was so happy when at the recital she looked like she was having fun! After she said she loved it and had lots of fun! Claire seemed to enjoy herself too. They are so cute! I loved watching them grow and improve in dance.

May Pictures

Liv and Baby at week 26