Mellow Man

Chris and I used to go to concerts or theatre shows all the time. It was one our favorite things to do.....still is- it just doesn't happen as often as it used to. In our almost 12 years of marriage we have seen: Foo Fighters, Blink 182, Jewel, Chris Isaak, Wallflowers, Sister Hazel, Sugar Ray, Mana, Conan, Les Mes, and I'm sure I'm missing some.....but no doubt one of my favorite shows is Jack Johnson. We went to his concert for the 2ND time this past October. We had purchased the tickets earlier in the year and then almost couldn't go because Reagan had just been diagnosed and I couldn't bear leaving her yet, but Ericka stepped in and took good care of her and Ryan!

Anyway, I'm a big fan of Jack Johnson....not a fanatic, I just really like his music. It's so relaxing and laid back....in fact when I was in labor with Ryan, I had his cd playing in the room. The girls fall asleep to listening to the Curious George soundtrack (he did it all). Pretty much like all of his songs. Anyway, I love going to concerts with Chris. It's fun and it brings us back to days when we hung out together and always had a blast.

Concerts on my bucket list?: Coldplay, Wicked, Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, and PAUL MCCARTNEY!!! (gotta do that before I die.....or before he does! Must see a BEATLE before they're gone!)

Ryan's second First Day Of School

We officially pulled Ryan out of Desert View Academy on Monday morning. Desert View was a great school and we loved it for Kindergarten because it was all day. The class sizes were small. No more than about 24 per class. She loved her teacher. It was near the Treehouse. I had always planned that she would attend DVA for kindergarten and then transfer her to Mesquite for 1st Grade, but I didn't. I thought just one more year. I would switch her for 2nd grade.

I feel it's important to attend school with your church friends. Not to make this post about me, but I remember growing up in the spanish branch. We went to a ward that was outside our school boundaries. All of our church friends went to a different school. I had members at my school, but it wasn't the same. Then in Jr. High, we went to Woodard where all of our friends went. Ericka and I LOVED it! It was great. And then the same for High School.

So Ryan. Everyday last year was a struggle to get to school on time. She loves her sleep! I would pick her up (from the top bunk) and get her dressed. She would cry and fight EVERY morning. I dreaded it. And she didn't' stay up late. Her bedtime is 7:30. She just was always a sound sleeper and needs 12 hours every night.....like her daddy. Reagan......doesn't matter what time she falls asleep....6:30am......like her mommy. Ryan also started getting into trouble in class. Notes almost every week, detentions.....blah. I tried to not place the blame anywhere else. If she was not behaving in class, we took it seriously at home. She would write letters apologizing to those she disrupted, including her teacher. She was not allowed to watch TV or play with her DS. Her teacher is very nice and conferences were always positive. "Everyone Loves her", "she's my smartest student", "Straight A's", "just Beautiful work", etc. ....."she just drives me crazy sometimes". Ok. Not really what I want to hear from a teacher. So we kept getting letters from the teacher and we kept struggling to get her to school happily. So it began to make us wonder if we should just switch her. Mesquite is a great school and the schedule would work so much better. So something just clicked on Sunday and we decided we would switch her the next day. Ryan was very excited. We showed up on Monday morning and accepted with Open arms (or open enrollment. Sorry I know this is a sore subject for most, but we do live in the district!) She has made friends and she loves her teacher. I have heard wonderful things about her teacher, and I'm grateful her classmates are kind to her.

So she has had a great second First Day of School.....but i forgot to take pictures.

Mickey's Halloween Party

We decided earlier this year that we were going to do all we could to make sure to take the girls to Disneyland during their Halloween season because Ryan is a HUGE fan of the Nightmare Before Christmas and Jack Skellington is her favorite character. We have annual passes, but we bought tickets to go Mickey's Halloween Party. The girls had a good time and the rain stopped as soon as we got there and began as we were leaving.

Quick funny story: We were especially excited to take them to the Haunted Mansion because its decked out as HalloweenTown. We talked this up ALL year long. We get on.....Ryan and Reagan bawled the ENTIRE time. Hated it. Figures.

The girls with Sally.

AND the Moment of truth: Ryan started to freak out! I couldn't believe it. I PUSHED her towards him and he was so nice. She calmed right down. He told her he was so flattered that she dressed like him. It was cool!

Happy Campers! Reagan even loved it!

The Costume Parade

The next day, it was supposed to rain all day, but not one drop! It was perfect.

The girls FINALLY got to take a picture with Silvermist.

And then Tink.

Teacups with daddy.

Ariel's Carousel

Reagan Loving it...

Ryan loving it.....

Chris too.....

This is Mickey Mouse.

After two days at Disneyland........

Til Next time.....

Chris took that picture! I LOVE IT!

This is Halloween! This is Halloween!

Reagan went as her favorite, Hello Kitty.

Ryan went as her favorite, Jack Skellington.

We pieced their costumes together. I made Ryan's tutu and Chris made Ryan's shirt.

I think they came out cute.

Just Funny too

The entire family and I went to Walmart last night after the Trunk or Treat to make sure we were "ready for Sunday". Chris had Ryan in a cart and I had Reagan in mine. I began looking at the nuts and debating if I wanted to get almonds or not. Reagan asked what they were and I said they were almonds.

Reagan: "oh."
We then see another package of the nuts pictured above.
Reagan: "What kind of nuts are those?"
Me: "Those are Brazil Nuts"
Reagan: "Those look super gross. They should be called 'Poop Nuts'."

I laughed like I was 5 years old. I seriously couldn't control my laughter and then Reagan started doing her silly laugh that I love and then I really couldn't stop. I repeated what she said to Chris and Ryan and Ryan, of course, thought it was hilarious. Chris laughed a mature amount of time, but I couldn't stop.

Poop nuts......hahahahaha!!!

What I've been up to.....

I used to be creative and crafty.....but lately I've felt like I've had not one creative thought in my head and that makes me sad. So within the last two weeks after Reagan came home from the hospital, I haven't been working a whole lot, so I've gotten in touch with my crafty-inner self and I've worked on a few projects I've dying to do!!

*yes, this post probably should've been on my personal blog, but I didn't feel like re-uploading the pictures....sorry.

I messed up the order for the before and after.

This is after. Found this fabric in the remnant rack at Joann's for $2!!! I recovered SIX chairs for $2! Love this fabric!

Before.

Made Ryan and Reagan matching damask skirts. Ryan didn't want a picture taken. Ryan's skirt had turquoise ribbon on the bottom of hers.

Chris says all candy corn ever made was made in the 1920's. He hates candy corn, so I made a wreath out of it to remind him of his love for CANDY CORN!!!

I love the Candy Corn Man hanging in the middle. Can't believe I found that. It's Perfect!

My Favorite. I found a tutorial for this pillow and I had been DYING to try it....and I did!!
The petals are made from Black leather. I think it looks great with my New white leather couch and Green walls. L.O.V.E IT!

I'm hoping this is just the beginning! It feels good to get the creative juices flowing again!!

Just funny

Last night, I was debating about what to make for dinner. Feeling a little lazy, since it was a rough day with Reagan being sick, I decided we would order a pizza or get something else.

Me: hey Ryan, what would you like to eat for dinner? I don't really feel like cooking tonight.

Ryan: Oh good! Cause I don't really feel like eating something you cook tonight either.



I was hysterically laughing on the floor......just what I needed. Love you Ryan.....you're hilarious!

Life as we know it.....

Now, I know that it could be A LOT worse. I know that there are Millions and Millions of other people and families that have it way worse than ours.....but our life as we knew it had changed.

I was unsure about posting at all, but I am treated this as our family journal and I guess documenting it should be therapeutic and maybe one day it can help our family to remember what happened and how we felt at first. And being a week after, it's amazing how much has changed already!

We have two gorgeous girls. Ryan, the older, 6, and Reagan, the younger, 4. About 3 weeks ago, Reagan developed a yeast infection and I took her to the doctor to get something to help since Desitin wasn't cutting it. Going to this appointment, we noticed she has lost a little weight since her well-check in January. We all noticed she had gotten taller and slimmer.....being the chubby girl she was, we thought she had finally hit her growth spurt, just like Ryan did at that age. Dr. prescribed a cream and sent us on our way. I, mother of the year, was not too diligent with the cream and the infection seemed to stick around and wasn't getting any better. Finally it got so bad that she had blood in her underwear and I took her back to the doctor to make sure I should continue with the cream

I took her in last Friday, September 24th in the morning. She peed in a cup to check for an UTI and then they weighed her again.....She lost 2 more pounds from the appt 3 weeks before! I freaked out a little and then told the nurse how I had noticed her drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. So, the dr. came in and I proceeded to tell him how the yeast infection was MY fault because I hadn't been applying the cream like I should have. He basically interrupted me and told me they found sugar in her urine. My heart sank. Having 2 sisters with Type 1 diabetes, I knew what that meant. I was sent immediately to get her blood drawn (traumatic!) and waited by the phone for a call from her Doctor. He called about an hour and half later to tell me she was a very healthy girl, that she looked great.....except for her blood sugar. 429.....normal is under 120. Told me to get to the hospital within the next couple hours. Who knows what else he said.....couldn't pay attention anymore.

We headed up to the hospital and we stayed there the rest of the weekend and we were discharged on Monday afternoon. During our stay, the doctors told us several times how pleased they were that they found it so early and that she could've been so much worse, as children often are by the time they find out they have Type 1 Diabetes.

I remember having 2 distinct thoughts.....

1. Why can't we just keep living the way we were yesterday.....ignoring it....not knowing. But I know she would just keep getting sicker and sicker

2. Once they bring down her sugar.....it'll just go away. Also....not so.

Chris and I didn't say much to each other about it that first day. We were sad and I gave myself one good cry and then I decided I was done with that. We could handle this. But it was hard seeing Reagan when it was time for a shot or for having her blood sugar checked. and all I could think was...."this is how it's going to be for the rest of her life." A sad thought indeed. She would never remember NOT having this. The next day Chris told me, "Of course Reagan had to be the one to get sick.....She's So beautiful, the Lord couldn't just let her be that gorgeous AND healthy." I cried one more time.

I remember praying that first afternoon before going to the hospital and getting the feeling that this could be cured in her lifetime. The advances of medicine are just that....advancing! One of the first things the Doctor told us in the hospital that the research being done is promising great results. Of course, it is still a couple decades away, but that would put Reagan at 24 years old. That made me happy to imagine that.

So now.....she gets 6 shots a day and her blood sugar is checked 5 times. She doesn't mind her finger getting pricked to check her blood sugar anymore, but she doesn't look forward to the shots. But the aftermath of the shots is getting shorter and shorter. The first shots in the hospital took several of us to hold her down. Now she stands still, still cries but gets over it quickly. Plus, she gets a coin in her piggy bank after every shot and finger prick and once a month we'll go to toys r us for a new toy. We may be creating a monster, but it's worth it right now.

Ryan has been handling everything well. That's also the hard part, is making sure she still feels loved at all times. A lot of attention is going to Reagan and we also reward her with coins in her piggy bank for good days at school.

So.....this is our new life....still wouldn't change it for the world. :)

Tiny Tots

Reagan started Tiny Tots this week. I was able to convince her that she could still go to Beauty School when she was older, but for right now it's Tiny Tots.
First day of school is not the same without a Hello Kitty T-Shirt.

My own blog

I have started my own blog. I WILL blog once a week about my family on this blog. But I need my own place to rant and vent into the great space that is the world wide web since i am no longer on facebook. So join me if would like..... Here

Beauty School wannabe

We let Reagan know of a little secret.......there is something called "Beauty School". Her eyes opened wide and informed us that she would no longer go to preschool......only Beauty School. Here she is practicing on Taylor.

Hate to say, but not bad huh?

One night I told her I needed to go to the store and asked if she wanted to come along. She said "Yes!" I was gathering my returns and lists and then called her "Let's go Reagan!" I found her in my bathroom. She had changed into her church dress, dress shoes, and was putting on make-up. I asked her what she was doing? She said, "We're going out. I'm getting ready." Man, we're in trouble. WISH I would've taken a photo.

On the First Day of First Grade....

Even though Ryan has just started her 4th week of school (!), I had to post a few pictures of her 1st day of school. I can't even believe she's finished with kindergarten and she's now in 1st grade.
Her teacher, Mrs. Lawrence.

Right after this picture, she turned to us and told us we could go, waving her hand like she was shooing a bothersome fly.......
big girl now.

The Cruise!

A year ago, my in-laws surprised all of their children and spouses (that's me!) to go on week long Caribbean cruise this summer. I was excited (and freaked out cause I don't like boats or flying!). But it was a FABULOUS time! and I do love hanging out with all my brother and sister in laws.
So at the end of June, we flew out of Yuma (yikes! I hate those little planes!) to Phoenix. Then to Denver (which closed for an hour due to weather and we had to circle the airport in the air for an hour!). Then to Miami (which we waited on the tarmac for an hour because of mechanical issue....holy cow!). We also flew right by the Gulf of Mexico and we could see the fires burning from the oil spill. Pretty crazy to see that. We landed in Miami and let me tell you......HUMID! I would in a million years take our "dry heat" over the stickiness of Miami. How do they stand it??? So....we boarded our ship. It was HUGE!

*I usually don't include pictures of myself, but this time there are. Yes, I'm fat....no I'm not pregnant.



That dome area that is sticking out is a hot tub.



















Have you ever seen the ocean this blue?? Beautiful!


The Flow Rider! Chris got pretty good at it. (he's not pictured. sorry!)











The Royal Promenade. (shopping strip) See those windows above the stores? Those are rooms and our rooms were on the 2nd level of windows. Awesome!!!




















The adult only pool.



















The Kiddie pool













The Party Pool.









Chad in the belly flop contest, which he won!

After TWO straight days out to sea, we make our first stop in St. Maarten.

This is Orient Beach....the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. The sand was Soft! The water was clear and perfect!



Most of us.

Next stop, San Juan, Puerto Rico. LOVED IT!! SO awesome!

We visited Fort San Cristobal

Another Fort and cemetery.

cool buildings

hands down.....the BEST food we ate all week!

Last Stop....Labadee Haiti.

Most of us zip lined down the Dragon's Breath Flight line.

It was Great!!!

View of the zip line from the beach

That's me.

Labadee Beach.

All of us hanging out on our last day out to sea.

Awww....the Family Picture

We had a great time. We missed the girls, but they were well taken care of by my family here at home. We ATE! We Played! We Danced! We ATE some more.

This ship was SO huge. It had restaurants, spa, pools, 5 hot tubs, ice skating, rock wall, mini golf, Flow rider, fitness center with boxing ring, dance clubs......I can't even name them all.

I would HIGHLY recommend Royal Caribbean. I've been on two cruises with them and I would do it again in a second.

Til next time.......