The Thomas Family

My quest is over

2012-02-16T11:24:00.000-08:00

Cute new case

Old Ugly case

Happy girl!
I have been searching for awhile now for the perfect diabetic supply bag for El. Something that could hold all of her things and was not ugly. My sister in-law Jen gave me a link to D-MOM.blog which is a blog about a mom with a little girl that has diabetes. She reviewed a bunch of cute bags and I decided I would get one and try it out. I bought it from www.sugarmedicalsupply.com. When we got it El was soooo excited and to be honest so was I. I was excited that El and didn't have to have this ugly bag any more and I was happy that I could spot it easily and we wouldn't leave her 2,000$ plus pump somewhere, which has happened before.

Summer Plans

2012-02-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of summer plans this year. I might be a little ambitious, but I don't think so. After all this summer I WON'T be pregnant and I wont have tiny baby holding me back! I'm planing on riding in the bear lake ride, probably only the 50 miler but still fun. I'm also going to do this awesome race with a few of my co-workers later this year. I have a lot of work to do! Does anyone else want to join me? I was thinking we could make a trip out of the bear lake ride!

Our owl

2012-02-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you that we have an owl? He literally lives at our house. He is outside sitting on an eve hooting as I write this. He leaves me all sorts of presents like owl pellets, dead animals and various other things like sticks and grass. Generally things like that would bother me but he's just so darn cute. Can owls be cute?(I also think the owl pellets are really cool!), I'll have to take a picture of one and post it, They are full of all sorts of cool things like bones of small animals and different kinds of seeds. He only comes to live here during the winter, so we only have a couple more months with him until summer. We should name him since he seems to be a permanent fixture. What do you guys think? My kids are in love with the little guy too. We were watching him one night when he flew away. Ella started to cry and didn't stop until we found him again on the top of the play house. Such a cute little Hooter!

Temple Square

2012-01-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite memories from when I was younger involved going to temple square to see the lights around Christmas. Scott and I thought we would take the kids this year and start our own little family tradition. It was a total disaster! Abby cried the whole time, Ella wanted us to carry her everywhere and wouldn't let us take her picture(Odd considering the child LOVES to be in front of the camera!) Once she flat out refused to move, so we started walking which set off a chain reaction of crying and concerned mothers asking Ella (the apparently lost child) where her mommy was. We had eyes on her the entire time by the way. That in turn made Scott and I very grouchy and we shortly left thereafter. I think the only person that had fun was Riley. Will we do this again next year? YES! Tradition:)
Freezing Abby
Ella refusing to have her picture taken

Love Riley's face in this one

Blog Fatigue

2012-01-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't posted in awhile. Let just say I've had a little Blog fatigue and I needed a little break. The only bad thing about a break is that now I have a lot to catch up on! First on the list is Miss Abby's 1st birthday. I honestly can't believe how fast her first year went by. What we know and love about Abby, she is the sweetest baby. She loves everyone! She still has a special bond with Riley. She thinks she wants to walk but then she changes her mind. She tends to wake up three or four times a night but will go right back to sleep(much to the dismay of her parents!) She's into everything! Every drawer she can reach she's into. She loves apples and ice(yes I said ice). She has amazing blue eyes like Ella. She's still only 25th percentile and still my tiny little peanut and she's still the apple of her fathers eye.

Family Pics

2011-11-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

My friend Jeanette is an excellent photographer! She's been doing our pictures since El was just a a baby. I love her! Also it doesn't hurt that we've been friends since high school. I've got to have some pictures of just Abby, that girl wouldn't smile for anything.

Abigail Christine

2011-11-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

Abby Will be ONE on November 10Th. I can't believe how quickly this last year has gone by. Abby is the glue of our family. I know that glue is a funny word to use for a baby, but she really does bring and hold our family together. Everyone loves her and she loves everyone, although I think that her and Riley must have been best friends in heaven because of the special bond that they share. Just the other day, Riley told me that Abby was his favorite family member. She even past up Scott on being Riley's favorite. She has to say good morning to everyone in the family or she gets upset until they come and see her. She is crawling and getting into soooo much trouble. She's figured out how to pull the door stoppers off the wall and find everything she possibly can off the floor. She has 3 teeth. Developmentally she is in between Ella and Riley. Not to fast and not to slow. She LOVES to look at herself in the mirror, she could sit there for hours talking and looking at herself. I will say that she is very cute, so I can't blame her for wanting to look in the mirror:) Happy birthday Miss Abby, we love you. I'm still waiting for some pictures to come back that I had taken of her for her one year. As soon as I get them I'll post them so you can all see how beautiful she is.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T10:25:00.001-07:00

Claire and Ella
Scary mom!
Bumble bee Riley
Riley and Nathan
Bumble bee Ella
Flower Abby(Isn't she seriously the cutest in this outfit! Too bad she only wore the hat for the pictures.)

Fall

2011-10-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

We went to Cornbelly's on Saturday. It's this great little place at Thanksgiving point. They have fun activities for kids, not that great for adults but I think the adults just like seeing their kids happy which in turn makes us happy. Ella towards the end was a complete mess, she was screaming and rolling on the ground. She was causing such a scene! She does definitely create scenes, I think she likes embarrassing us.

sunday afternoon

2011-10-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

We wanted to head up to the mountains and see all the leaves changing before it got to cold so we decided to stop and hike to doughnut falls. The air smelled great and the leaves were beautiful. Fall as many of you might know is my favorite time of year. I wish it lasted longer!

Ri's first day of kindergarten

2011-08-29T20:30:00.001-07:00

Riley sarted kindergarten last week, he was so excited! He willingly got on the bus and loved every minute of it. I think that I was the nervous one. I followed the bus to school to make sure he got off ok. He went straight to the playground and started playing before they had to line up to go inside. I tried waving to him to get his attention, but he just acted like I was interrupting his awesome day. They soon lined up and marched inside. Ella realized that he was leaving her for the day and she cried for about 30 minutes after he went inside, her best buddy was gone and it made her very sad, although I think Riley was glad to get rid of his little sister. I stole this poem from one of my friends blog's and I loved it. I hope you don't mind Tara!

The First Day

I gave you a wink and a little smile

As you entered my room today,

For I know how hard it is to leave

And know your child must stay.

You've been with him for five years now

And have been a loving guide.

But now, alas, the time has come,

To leave him at my side.

Just know that as you drive away

And tears down your cheeks may flow

I'll love him as I would my own

And help him learn and grow.

For as a parent, I too know

How quickly the years do pass

For one day many years ago

I took my child to class.

So please put your mind at ease

And cry those tears no more

For I will love him and take him in

When you leave him at my door.

-Jamie Solley

Ella loosing her best friend:(
His new bud Broch waiting for the bus
Going to Kindergarten!
Lined up and ready to go to school!

Ella and Claire on their BIG day.

2011-08-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

I didn't think these photo's needed any explanation! Look at how happy these girls are!

Help u s find a cure for Ella

2011-08-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR/Walk-UT/Chapter-Utah4670?px=1374801&pg=personal&fr_id=1455

10 years ago

2011-08-15T16:36:00.001-07:00

Wow we seriously were so young! Love you babe, happy 10 years!

Happy 10 years

2011-08-15T13:14:00.001-07:00

This is at muir woods, this tree was over 1000 years old!

Very tall redwood

Scott on the bridge at stow lake in golden gate park
The rotunda

On our gocar! We almost got ran over several times in this wimpy little thing.

MMMMMMMMMMM Ghirardelli shakes.

Pica Pica the BEST FOOD!!!
Can you believe Scott and I have been married for 10 years? I look back at the time we've shared together and I really can't believe it's been 10 years. The past few years have been challenging to say the least. I know that every marriage has their ups and downs. If I had to pick anyone to go trough them with I am so glad Scott has been at my side and we've reached these mile stones and have grown together. I love you Scott and thanks for being the best husband and best friend a girl can have!

We took a quick trip San Francisco earlier this month. We would've loved to go somewhere longer, but because of Ella, we just can't be gone for too long or be too far away. My favorite part of the trip, the awesome food and sleeping in! The kids didn't care that we were gone for one second, they were busy having fun with the grandparents and their cousins.

A little Summer fun

2011-07-25T16:35:00.001-07:00

This one melts my heart!

Isn't she the cutest little Diva you've ever seen?

Goin' down the slip and slide
Abby's fist "dip" in the pool, I don't think she liked it.

I finally got the camera out and manged to take some pictures of the kids having some fun. This was Scott's dad's birthday party. He just wanted the grand kids to have fun on his birthday.

Slacking

2011-07-22T13:54:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I know I haven't posted in two months! We really have been having a great summer, but my laptop had been on the fritz so I haven't posted much. Hopefully soon I'll have some pictures and something interesting to post. For now this is all you get. Sorry is sucks.

Preschool Gradualtion

2011-05-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Best buds Brayden, Ben and Riley, Alex the other bud isn't in the picture

Mom and the grad

Family photo! Notice Ella refusing to stand by us
Graduate of the Crayon Club house preschool!

Happy Preschool graduation bud! You're moving on to bigger and better things (kindergarten!).
Love you Ri, you did great!

Day at the zoo

2011-05-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

The first warm day we've had this year we decided to go to the zoo along with the rest of the Salt Lake valley. Notice how pasty white I am. That's what I get for basically being inside for the last 8 months. I know it's probably picture overload, but I actually like looking at what everyone has been up to. I love seeing peoples families. It seems like we only know one aspect of a person, the person we work with or see occasionally. I think that's why I like to check out other blogs. I feel like I get to know them a little better because I get to see them with their families. I know that I wouldn't be the person I am today with out my family. I've actually had to stop myself from acting like I completely know a person that I've gotten to "know" from their blog.

ABBY-Gail

2011-05-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

ABBY-Gail as Ella says her name instead of Abigail is 6 months old already! Miss Abby is 16Lbs. She's 50th% in weight and 70th% in height. She giggle's now and she still the best baby, she still loves to be snuggled and she has to be apart of everything that is going on.I can't believe how fast time goes by after you have the baby. When you pregnant its like you're in molasses, and then when they're finally here, time fly's by. I can't believe how fast she's grown. I sure do love her and we are so glad she's apart of our family

The MUD HENS!

2011-05-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Riley is playing T-ball again this year. It's going alot better for him this year. He likes to play and all of his cute little friends are on the team. He gets three tries to hit off the machine and then they hit off the T. I love watching the little kids all run for the ball at the same time and fight over the ball, or in Riley's case sit down in the out field or rough house with his friends. GO MUD HENS!

Claire Bear

2011-04-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

This past week my little niece was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She's only 2 1/2 and only four months older than Ella. My heart broke to hear this, just because we've been there, all the memories of over a year ago came flooding back. All of the stress of having to learn a new life and worrying about your daughter, hoping she's going to be OK was fresh in my mind.
I talked to my sister in-law today and she was telling me how grateful she was for all the blessings she's had during all of this. She's due to have a baby in four weeks. She was telling me that they were so grateful that they caught it before the baby came and they would have been to busy to notice, and how grateful they were for us and their family and that we could help them get through it. I told her that we could hopefully get through it together. Wow, I have allot to learn from her. All I've felt for the past year is anger and thinking that how could any of this be a blessing, how does any 11 month old or two year old deserve this for the rest of their life? I know that I have along way to go, I know that this is our life and we are going to have to get through it and find the good in it and life. I'm hoping that somewhere in my heart I can let go of the anger that I've felt and just be able to concentrate on my sweet little Ella and hopefully be able to help her be a happy person in life. I don't want my anger to spill over to her or any of my children. I'm working on it. I'm grateful that my sister in law help shed a new light for me today with everything that has been going on in their life this past week. Hopefully heavenly father can help me find peace in this and I can can help my daughter grow to be the beautiful person I know she is.

SAD, sad, SAD day

2011-04-04T20:47:00.001-07:00

I lost the diamond to my wedding ring. I'm pretty sure I lost it at Costco. On the way home I happened to look down and see that it was gone. My heart skipped a beat. I went back to Costco and retraced all of my steps. It was just gone:( Scott told me it was ok and that it was just a ring, but it really is more than that. I think every girl knows what I'm talking about. It's very sentimental. That was the icing on the cake to the end of a horrible week. I keep hoping I'll get a call, but I think I've lost some faith in the human race. Either some one found it and kept it, or it's in a big pile of garbage never to be seen again.

Miss Cheeks

2011-04-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

She's getting some cheeks finally. Everyone say's she's definitely a Thomas. She looks like Riley and Ella, but I think she looks more like Ellie. I also think she has a little bit of me in her. What do you think?

T-R-O-U-B-L-E spells Ella

2011-04-04T20:35:00.001-07:00

This is a daily occurrence. Yup we're in trouble.

Ellie Bellie

2011-03-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

If I have not properly explained Ella to you, this picture says everything about her. This happened in about 5 seconds of not watching her.

OHHHH I'm old!

2011-03-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

So I had my uh-hmmm 31st birthday this week. Yikes I'm getting up there! You wouldn't believe how many people told me "wow now your old". If you all don't know, my birthday is February 29th so technically I'm younger than ALL of you! Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes, it really has been a great birthday week. Scott asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him I wanted to go snowboarding since I haven't been forever. Having three kids makes it a little hard to just take off and go every weekend like I used to. So he bought some tickets to the Canyons and away we went. He skied and I attempted to snowboard. I made him go down the bunny hill a few times so I could remind myself how to snowboard. Apparently for me, I don't just remember:( I decided to be brave and go on one of the grown up runs, five minutes into it I crashed HARD, and let me tell you I'm definitely not 18 anymore. I caught my back edge going down a steep hill. I hit my head so hard my helmet went flying off down the hill, (yes I wore a helmet, what kind of emergency room nurse would I be if I didn't practice what I preach?) That helmet paid for itself right then and there! It took me ten minutes to sit up and even then I felt like I was going to puke. I'm surprised I didn't black out. I thought I broke my wrist and a rib (seriously). I still feel like there is something really wrong with my rib and luckily only a sprained wrist. Poor Scott had to wait for 20 minutes for me to get back up, he asked me about a hundred times if he needed to call the ski patrol. UMMM no! I obviously cannot snowboard like I used to and I would just look really dumb! It took me about 20 minutes to make it down a five minute hill. Thanks babe for not leaving me. The rest of the day went awesome! I only fell about one more time after that. Tonight's a different story though, hence I am not 18 anymore. I seriously need more practice. Too bad the ski season is almost over. I think I'll stick to running and getting the hang of my new bike.

A few things I've learned over my 31 years
Your mom is always RIGHT! Seriously, where would I be without her. Dad I love you too:) I never knew how much my parents loved me until I had my own children. Children teach you more than you could ever teach them. Eating good and exercise are GOOD for you. Not having forgiveness in your heart holds you back in life. Kill them with kindness. I'm still working on patients, but I've gotten better at it especially with Ella.

Gateway and Birthday extravaganza!

2011-02-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

Picture overload! Riley and Ella's birthdays are one week apart so this year we decided to have one GIANT birthday party! Riley is my big 5 year old and Ella is now 2.
Riley is growing so fast and is so tall. He is doing great in school. I went and registered him for kindergarten. Sniff, sniff:( I'm excited for him to go to school, but I'm nervous and sad at the same time. This year he will be taking the bus. The BUS! He's still my tenderhearted little boy. He loves his sisters, although he does like to pick on Ella, but secretly sometimes I think she deserves it because she's such a stinker to him. She does only weigh ten pounds less than him and she beats him up often.
Ella is our strong willed, hard headed baby girl. She challenges us in ways we could have never imagined everyday. Yet we love her so much just because she is her. She is one one of the strongest little girls, and has had to go through so much in her short little life. She loves her dad, brother and her sister, but she still cannot live without her mommy. Secretly I'm glad she loves me so much! Scott has always been Riley's favorite, it's only fair that I have at least one kid that loves me right?
Happy Birthday to my sweet little babies. Riley would read this and say "I'm not your baby MOM!"
The rest are just pictures of a fun day at the gateway discovery center.

Emergency prepardness night

2011-02-09T12:10:00.001-08:00

Last night was Emergency preparedness night for Riverton city. Members of the city council called my manager at work and asked if any of us would like to teach. The topic was "first aid in the event of a disaster". First aid is right up my alley and I love to teach subjects like this so I volunteered along with one of my friends from work. Teresa did an awesome power point and we got to teach what we do every day to the citizens of Riverton city. It was so much fun! Thanks Teresa for making me look good! I have to disclaim the pictures below, I'm looking pretty retarded, for some reason lately I've been inept at taking good pictures. I love the awkward smile and weird stance.

Sweet like sugar!

2011-02-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

She's so sweet, laid back and cuddly. I wish I could just snuggle her all day!

Projects

2011-01-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know already that I love to sew. I especially love making baby things. I found this new fabric and quilt shop(it's not really that new, but I just found it). I'm completely in love with this store. They have the cutest fabrics! I can't believe I never went in before. I've known it was there for a long time I've just never dared go in with small children(ya know because they get into a lot of trouble!) I finally had a few minutes with just El and the baby the other day so I thought I would attempt going in. That was probably a huge mistake because I almost bought the entire store. Good thing Scott doesn't care (only because he probably doesn't know how much I actually spent. GULP!) They are located in South Jordan and called the Material Girls Quit Shop. Here are some of the projects I've been working on.

Car seat covers! All of my cute pregnant friends will be getting one of these. I hope that's ok. The next is a baby boy quilt. The one with flowers is Abigail's quilt. I made one just like for Ella but hers was made with pink, green, brown and yellow colors.

Can I be a little excited?

2011-01-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

Finally! For the past 4 days El's blood sugars have been in the 100's! What does this mean you ask? It means we are finally dialed in and getting the hang of the pump! I know you are probably sick of hearing me talk about this, but it's so much apart of our lives there's no way that I can't talk about it. Hopefully this trend will continue. YAHOO!

One year and two months

2011-01-16T14:02:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow will mark Ella's one year anniversary with diabetes. Wow, I can't believe we've made it a year. At the same time, now its just our life and it's become a part of us. Getting El's pump has been allot more challenging than I ever anticipated it to be. We replace her pump every three days and it's quite the ordeal. Her pod which holds and delivers her insulin is very sticky. Every time it's time to change her pump she has a major melt down. Changing her pump is allot worse than getting the shots everyday were. It's hard to take it off and it hurts her more to put a new one on. In the last three weeks we've had five pump failures. Meaning that for some reason the pod stopped working and just shut itself off. This has led to multiple pokes and changing of the pod in one day which is very stressful especially for a two year old who doesn't understand why this is happening, only that it hurts and she has to get poked, this also leads to high blood sugars for most of the day which don't usually resolve until the evening. Yesterday she had to be poked three times. It was not a good morning for us. We took her to target and she got to pick out a prize for being so good with everything. Riley was fairly put out that El got a toy and he did not, but we explained to him why Ella got a special toy yesterday and he seemed to understand. Scott called Omnipod and was thoroughly pissed off, and so was I. It was a good thing he called, because I'm not very nice when I'm ticked. Omnipod has been somewhat helpful with all of the problems that we've had but it's still very frustrating. Looking back on this year it has been one of the most challenging years of Scott and my life. Together we've made it and hopefully we'll get to a place when our lives aren't so chaotic. I hope that we can instill in Ella that she is strong beautiful little girl, and she can accomplish anything in this life . So happy one year anniversary to all of us and we made it!

On the other hand my little Abby is two months old already! She's only 25th percentile in every aspect. She's still a tiny little peanut. Is this my child? My other two kids were well on their way to 98th percentile and were quite the little chunks. She's started to smile and she's cooing a little bit. She is still the sweetest little baby and loves to be cuddled. She hardly cries and she has slept through the night a whopping two times! Riley loves her to death and Ella loves to "play" with her. We're so glad she's in our family.

Abby's Blessing

2011-01-09T14:51:00.001-08:00

Miss Abby

2011-01-07T22:59:00.000-08:00

My friend Jeanette took the most beautiful pictures of my little Abigail. Thanks Jeanettey! She also took all of our family pictures and pictures of the kids. To see Pictures of Ab's go here. You can also get her info so she can take beautiful picture's or you!

Christmas

2011-01-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas at the Thomas' was really fun. I can't believe how much work it takes to be Santa. Did our parents stay up till one in the morning putting together toy's only to wake up at 6 because we we're to excited to see what Santa brought? It really makes you appreciate everything your parents did for you when you were a kid doesn't it?
Santa brought Riley a Thomas the train tent and he brought Ella a vintage pink kitchen. Melissa got luggage and GPS running watch. Scott got Google TV. It was a great Christmas.

What I have to look forward to?

2010-12-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

Two 16yr old girls driving their dad's very expensive sports car decided to drive up our driveway out of "curiosity". In backing out they somehow managed to run over all of our trees and high center the expensive sports car on our electrical box exposing dangerous live wires. Then they proceeded to try to lift the car off the box to get the box out from underneath the car potentially electrocuting themselves and have the car roll over them. Good thing I was there to tell them that was a bad idea:) Aren't teenagers awesomely smart? Good thing she gave me her parents real cell numbers. It was actually very amusing. The dad came over later that evening to apologize and he brought his daughter with. He wasn't very happy. The funniest part of the story, she told me that she's done this same type of thing before only it was at her school and she backed over a fire hydrant. Obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed. I wanted to tell the dad not to give her any kind of car keys in the near future, but I refrained:)

Ella's Pump

2010-12-03T13:21:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we finally got Ella's pump. Let me just start off by saying it was a long two hours! We have to go back to the clinic on Monday for more pump training and making sure she is doing ok with it. Right when we got there she knew something was up and decided to be a stinker the whole time. Then it was time to place the pump and inject the tubing into her skin. It makes this scary popping sound and then there is a sharp sting. Those two together sent her into hysterics and it took us 30min to get her calmed down! Once she was calmed she didn't even know it was there until she took her bath this morning and she kept crying for me to take it off. She kept sceaming at me OFF! OFF! Once it was covered up though she didn't even realize it was there. We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us, but she'll be better off with her pump.

Abby

2010-12-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Abby is three weeks old! She's the easiest baby, I can't believe how calm and snugly she is. We are so blessed to have her in our family. Even though she was quite a surprise and my pregnancy wasn't the best, we are so grateful she is here now.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was really fun this year. Very laid back and we had awesome food. We are so grateful for a wonderful family and out Thanksgiving baby!

Abigail

2010-11-13T19:48:00.000-08:00

Abigail Christine Thomas arrived on 11/10/10 at 2:30pm
Weighing 6lbs 2oz and 18.5 inches long
Too tired and busy to write anything else right now. More to come later.

My awesome labor story!

2010-10-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

No, no baby yet. Darn. On Friday we thought for shore we were going to have baby Thomas. All day I hadn't been feeling that great, and actually my OB took me off of work because of my kidneys showing some damage from the hydronephrosis and all of the contractions that I've been having. He really wanted me to make it to 37 weeks if my kidney's and contractions behaved. So at home I've been trying to behave. Back to my awesome story. I wasn't feeling that great on Friday. At 5pm I started having contractions, no big deal I've been having those for awhile. These stayed and weren't going away. So I start timing them. HMMMM 5min apart and there getting stronger. Scott gets home I tell him whats going on. He of course looks at me like "sure Hun". Contractions start getting stronger and closer. Nothing I do is making them go away. So I have Scott go and get the kids dinner, while their gone I hurry and pack a bag. I'm thinking "we're going to have this baby!" My mother in law comes and we head to IMC. I get there, they hook me up to the monitors and I have contractions for about 20 minutes regular, AND then...... they stop. WHAT! They just stop? I've been having these for 5 hours how can they just stop right when we get to the hospital? UGHHHH, I was so ticked. The nurse comes in with a little smile on her face and says "well looks like we're sending you home!" As she's thinking "crazy pregnant lady, who thinks she's in labor and ruining my night!". Then she tells me better to come in and get checked then have your baby in the car right?
Patients tell me all the time they feel so dumb for coming in and getting checked for their chest pain that somehow manged to go away when they got to the ER. You know what I say to them. I'm so glad you got checked out, better safe then sorry right? I really mean it when I say it too because you never know. I wonder if labor and delivery nurses feel that way or if their just annoyed when you show up thinking you're in labor.
I think next time I'll wait until her head is making its appearance before I go back to labor and delivery and feel like an idiot!
So here I sit, no baby.

Ella's Pump

2010-10-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.myomnipod.com/about-omnipod/system-overview/
This is going to be Ella's new pump! I'm so excited I literally could start crying over it. I know you probably think its ridiculous to cry over something like this, but it is going to change our lives, and more importantly make Ella's life better! We were going to start her on it in November, but obviously November is a bad time for us so she is getting it on December 6th. Hopefully life won't be too crazy at that point. This is so life changing for us! We will no longer have to give her upwards of 8-10 shots a day! She'll still have to check her glucose at least 4 times a day, but I'm pretty sure we can handle that. Her A1c should come down and overall we'll have better control over her blood sugar. I'm grateful we live in a day and age where diabetics can live a good healthy productive life well into their golden years. I remember being in the PICU when she was diagnosed. I was crying, all I wanted to do was hold her and take away what I thought was a horrible life sentence. Dr. Murray one of her enocrinologists looked across the crib at me and told me that she was going to be fine. That right now it was terrifying and scary, but that she would live to have a happy normal life, get married have children and one day be a grandmother. Most of us don't have to think of our children becoming grandmothers, but when you think there is a chance you will outlive your child, this thought comes into your mind and sends the most horrible fear racing through your mind of all of the "potentials". But here we are! My sassy little Ella is doing fine and hopefully soon to be doing even better. I thank god everyday for the chance to raise this little trouble maker. Even though sometimes I wished she was a bit calmer and not so mischievous, I know that without that personality she wouldn't be able to face the challenges in life I know she's going to have. Check out the link, its a pretty sweet pump, and we're so excited to move on to this next stage in our lives.

Fall at the Thomas'

2010-10-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to cornbelly's at thanks giving point. It was actually very fun. We even got lost in the kiddie corn maze! They had a lot of activities and it provided hours of entertainment. We took Ri and Ella into this monster looking thing. You're suppost to be in his belly and he makes all sorts of noises. Note to self Ri is a wimp and probably won't be ready for any real haunted house action for a long time. By the time the monster pooped us out he was whining about how scary that monster was and how he never wanted to do that again. Ella handled it better than he did. My dad was taking me to haunted houses when I was around 4 and I've always loved them. I sort of have a weird addiction for scary things. I love scary movies, anything to do with ghost and haunting's, haunted houses etc... I think I get it from my dad. Looks like Ri isn't going to be into scary things like his mom.
This summer while we were staying with my parents we also planted a garden and today we got TWO pumpkins! Count them TWO! Ri was pretty excited, I was bummed we only got two out of around 50 seeds. I'm still working on my green thumb.

10 things

2010-10-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

10 things I'm looking forward to.
1. Running! I just want to run again, so much so that I dream about it. I even had a dream that I ran a marathon 9 months pregnant.
2. Sleeping on my back and being able to breath.
3. Riding my new bike
4. No more weird bodily functions
5. No more kidney PAIN!
6. No more waddling
7. Some time off to get my family and house in order (haha) not sure if we'll ever be in order
8. No more questions about when I'm due and people's "comments"
9. Being able to really give Scott and my kids hugs
10. Last but not least having a new baby girl to love and cuddle. She still doesn't have a name. So hopefully baby Thomas will be here soon!

Divine Intervention

2010-09-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what to say except were safe. I've never experienced anything like it in my entire life, I've never quite felt the kind of fear we felt last night, but here we are safe and luckily our house made it through the night. I never thought I would see a wild fire bearing down on us so fast that we had to grab and go. You always think "what would I take in an emergency" but you NEVER really think about it because its not going to happen to you! That's the mentality that I always had anyway.
The day started with me waking up around 3:30 because I worked the night before. I got up got ready when Scott started getting calls on his phone. It was people asking us if we knew anything about the fire behind our house. Fire? We went outside and there were huge amounts of smoke coming from a fire somewhere in the canyon behind us. Slightly concerned at this point. I called my friend Lonnie who's husband is a fire fighter and asked if they knew what was going on. She told me it was a mountain range and a valley away and to not be worried unless we saw fire trucks start coming into our neighborhood. OK, so don't be worried. Scott and I took the kids out onto the deck to watch the smoke and all of the sudden helicopters and planes started arriving and flying over our house into the canyon directly west of us. We then heard that they had evacuated 100 homes in herriman cove which is in that canyon. Getting a little bit more worried, but Herriman cove is a good 5 miles away from us and the wind isn't blowing south, so here I am thinking were ok. Meanwhile we kept watching the helicopter come up to the reservoir pick up water and take it over the ridge to dump on the fire. There were also a billion cars driving up to our neighborhood the "watch" what was going on. Smart Right? At this time the sun was starting to go down and we noticed that the smoke was getting allot thicker and darker. We knew this probably wasn't good. Then we started to see a huge glow on the underside of the smoke, ok time to start being worried. Scott called 911, the operator said if we were in any danger a truck would be in our neighborhood. No fire truck anywhere to be seen, but were thinking we're not safe. 5 min later Fire crests the ridge and starts coming down FAST! Scott once again calls 911 and I call my dad who lives 5 min away to come and get the kids. 911 operator says you can leave if you feel in danger and we'll TRY to send a truck. What?! TRY? No truck or flashing lights in sight. I load the kids in the car as fast as I can go, my dad arrives and takes the kids out as fast as he can. I start loading the car with the dog and all our photo albums, tried to grab as many clothes as I could while Scott turned the sprinklers on in the yard in hope that this might somehow help. By this time fire is half way down the mountain. I call 911 in one more attempt. Anything! She informed me we are now to be mandatory evacuated and she would TRY to get a unit out. Still nothing. Scott looked at me and we KNEW our house was going to burn down. We then left as quick as we could. I called work in tears to make sure they could get ahold of one of the Dr's I work with who lives in the neighborhood next to us to make sure they were leaving as well. All I could think was that they have 5 kids, they need to get out! When we left there where no fire trucks anywhere near our house and the fire was coming straight toward it fast. When a little bit of luck hit, the winds shifted. How? A lot of prayers and divine intervention. We went to my parents who live 5 min away and started getting them packed in all of the cars and ready to go. At this time evacuations were going fast. They evacuated everyone one street above my parents house. We decided to wait it out and see if we could stay. Scott and I were up ALL night checking on the house and talking to police to see what was going on. Around 1 in the morning (we left our house around 8:30pm)two Sandy city fire trucks showed up in our neighborhood and went straight to our house. They then started working trying to keep the fire at bay around our house. It's gone on the rest of the day. Fire fighters haven't left our house since. I'm so grateful for that! We still haven't been able to even get close to our neighborhood, we won't be able to get back until tomorrow night. The fire burned within 20 feet of our house! Hopefully we'll be able to get back and asses the damage tomorrow. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=783278853#!/video/video.php?v=1623813155147&ref=mf

30 weeks

2010-09-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ughhh, I don't even know why I'm posting this, but here I am at 30 weeks. I feel like I look horrible. I always think other pregnant ladies are so cute, but when it comes to me blah! I feel like I've been looking worse and worse. Toward the end my face always gets swollen and I hate the way I look. Recently I've been getting these horrible dark circles around my eyes. Last week my OB's office called me and told me that my IRON and blood count were critically low. Oh that's why I look and feel horrible I guess, and have 0 energy. Pregnancy just doesn't suit me, it never has so for the sake of my sanity I hope this baby comes a little early like Ella did.

First Day of school!

2010-09-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

Another year of preschool for Ri. This year I wasn't sad, only because he was so excited and to tell you the truth I was tired of trying to entertain him. This year they are getting him ready for kindergarten! I can't believe that next year he'll be in kindergarten! The only sad thing about this is how fast they grow up. I remember when we brought him home and I wouldn't let him out of my sight for one second. Now he doesn't want me around, he would rather play with his friends:( Don't you love his cheese it smile in every picture? When I tell him to smile normal he sais "this is my normal smile mom!"

New House Pics

2010-09-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

Some people have requested to see updated pictures of the new house so here they are. Some of the bedrooms aren't quite perfect after moving in, but hey we live here now. Finally!

Ella's walk and my woes

2010-08-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Ella had her walk this last weekend. We raised more than 500$! Thanks to everyone who donated. We know that this research is so important towards finding a cure for Ella. But its not just about Ella, it's about all those kids out there with type one who have to live with this their entire life! There is allot of research out there right now that Scott and I are excited about. They are working on an artificial pancreas that may be approved with in the next ten years. Right now this looks like awesome research that will hopefully one day benefit El. We are still on track for getting Ella's pump in September which will be allot better for her and us!

More pregnancy issues for me. I've had a lot of kidney problems lately. They think I have stones and something called hydronephrosis. Its when the uterus presses on the ureter (the tube that carries urine from the kidney to the bladder). This is normal in pregnancy, except that mine is almost completely obstructed by the uterus making the passage of fluid from the kidney to the bladder very hard. The Urine backs up into my kidney and swells my kidney to the point of extreme pain. I've had a couple of visits to the hospital since about 18 weeks. I've had to go to a urologist and he gave me not great news. If I continue to have pain and swelling I have to get uretal stints. Which has been my case, but he wants me to be further along in pregnancy for a couple of reasons. 1. In case I go into labor during the procedure, the more weeks the baby is the better she'll do if she's born. 2. I have to have the stints changed every 6 weeks, so the longer I can hold out the least amount of procedures I would have to have. So as of right now were holding off as long as we can getting the stints. Ideally I wouldn't have to have them, but only time will tell and time right now isn't looking very good.

Walk for the Cure

2010-08-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone I wanted to tell you all and remind you about the walk for diabetes coming up on August 21st at wheeler farm. It starts at 8:30am. I will be the team captain. The walk is 3.1 miles. Even if you feel you can't walk that far, we would still love for you to be there to support Ella. We have a fund raising goal of 100$. I think we can do that. If you know anyone who might want to donate, tell them to go to the JDFR website and click on the link for walk for the cure Utah and donate to team Ella. To register for our team follow this link
https://walk.jdrf.org//index.cfm?fuseaction=walk.walkeradd&eventid=6422&c=y&preConfirmID=87723585 and sign up for team Ella. I know all of you Love Ella and she needs and deserves a cure! Please come support our baby and sassy princess!
Thanks
Melissa

Would You?

2010-07-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up thinking about who would be at my funeral if I died. I know what your thinking, why would anyone wake up thinking that? I have no idea why, I just did. Random I know. Then I got to thinking about who my friends have been through life, and how people come and go. There has been a lot of coming and going in my life I guess you could say. It got me thinking that the only steady people in my life and those that truly love me have been Scott my kids and my parents. I was just thinking about all of the things Scott and I have gone through the past couple of years and its been rough. Especially with Ella being diagnosed with diabetes. It's been hard, its very stress full, it has become a part of our life. It has to or we'll lose our little girl. It feels like at any moment, any mistake you make, she could be gone. Some times I feel so alone in this other than Scott. I feel like none of my "friends" care. When Ella was in the hospital, not one person called me other than our families to see how we were doing. Ouch. When we moved out of our house, not one of our neighbors who claimed to be our/my friends came to say goodbye. Another big ouch. I might be reveling a little to much of myself on this post, but I tend to do that when I'm pregnant. All of my raging hormones come out inappropriately. Various other things have happened in my life that have led me to think if I died would you come to my funeral? At this point I think if anyone did come it would be to tell Scott and my parents that they were so sorry for their loss and not because they were sad that I was gone. So what's really important in my life? Whats really important in your life? I think at the age of 30 I'm finally staring to really understand what this means. I may have offended some people with this post (which let me remind you I'm pregnant and things I say are often very inappropriate and offensive.) But I think only like 5 people read this anyways, and I'm pretty sure their not easily offended.

Here's baby

2010-07-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Here she is in all of her glory. Any name suggestions?

House updates, mom and baby updates, and kid updates

2010-07-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

Kids Play house

Ella's room
Kids desk
Office
Kitchen
Master Bath

So over the past couple of weeks I haven't felt very well, and to tell you the truth I'm still not up to par. Luckily I have a Dr's apt tomorrow and he can hopefully send me in a direction for some relief. Kidney stones for two weeks are not fun. I had to work on the 4th of July and thought I was going to die. You know that rule of you can't call in sick on a holliday heavily applies in the ER, and the fact that I was the only charge nurse there for my shift. Anyway we are having the BIG ultrasound tomorrow so hopefully I'll have some better pics of the baby to show and hopefully she doesn't magically turn into a he tomorrow. Another weird thing is that I'm craving coffee soooo bad! I don't drink coffee. Never have, but I WANT IT! Vanilla Mocha bean sounds heavenly, I really, really want it. WHY? I have no idea, oh wait I'm pregnant.

El and Ri are having way to much fun this summer, I've been a bad mother and haven't taken alot of pictures, we've done allot of swimming, going to the zoo and the splash park. Being couped up in a basement all day is no fun. SO we've tried to get out as much as possible.

My builder claims the house will be done, carpet and all next Friday! That obviously this doesn't include the yard, but we are soooooo excited. It's been a long road.

Kidney Stones

2010-06-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

Too much pain to write, but they've struck me again. Next week I'll write about it.

It's a ........

2010-06-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't had my "official" ultrasound yet, but fortunately I work in an environment where I have Friends that can do ultrasounds! So a couple of weeks ago he took a peek for me and we couldn't tell because the baby was on the cord the entire time! The little stink wouldn't move. So we decided to try again this week and we got the news that we will soon be having another little GIRL! I'm a little nervous to think that we are going to have another little girl. Scott said that there was going to be way to much estrogen in the house(ha ha!). But I must admit most of the time Ella is very irresistible, yet very challenging at the same time. Is it fair to ask for a little girl that is like Riley? He has been for the most part the easiest child on the earth! Ella can at times be very? I'm not quite sure how to explain her, a clingy temper tantrum throwing to likes of which I have never seen little diva, yet the cutest little angel at times also. Just come to my house for a day and you will understand what I'm talking about. She has gotten better now that she is mobile (and can climb the entire stair case in two seconds flat and then scream at the top of her lungs because she is stuck!) But she does go though an entire range of emotions throughout the day, but that's what girls do right? OHHH how I love both of them so much! I'm
hopping this new little one will fit right in and be a mix of El and Ri. That would be perfect. Pictures of the girlishness soon to come.

Saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new!

2010-05-29T20:43:00.001-07:00

part of garage
cooking deck
back staircase
caufered ceiling
Master bedroom
New back yard
View of the living room
Kitchen
Auto court
House from the north side
Old Yard
Riley's old room
Ella's old room
Old living room
Here are some pics of our old house and some recent ones of our new house. I had a good cry leaving the old house. There are allot of good memories there:( I will miss it, it was so good to us.

Riley

2010-05-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last week it was Riley's end of year program for preschool. I can't believe he's been going for almost an entire year! I didn't get to go because I had to work but I got some pictures and I got to see a little video. His favorite things about preschool were cars of and his friends. There is of course a funny story to this little program of his. If you look at all of the pictures behind all the kids there is a doll that they were supposed to decorate. If you notice Riley's is the worst out of all of them! But let me explain to you why this is. For one week I tried to get Ri to decorate and color his doll and he wanted nothing to do with it. Me being the mom that I am just didn't want to do it for him,(and we were in the middle of moving) which if you notice there is practically not one doll there that the other moms did NOT do. I wanted Ri to do it himself with help from me, but I wasn't going to do it if you get the gist. SO when I finally made him sit down and do it. He drew a face and "stripes" for the shirt and then he was done. I tried to talk him into doing every other sort of craft that you could but he just didn't want to. After the program Scott promptly called me and let me know that Riley's doll was the worst one there and that it reflected on us poorly as parents because his doll looked so bad. Reflected on "US" poorly meaning "ME" The mom who did not do work for her child because I wanted him to use his OWN creativeness and do what he wanted for the doll. So therefor the doll looked lame because I didn't do it for him:( So yes I win the BAD mom of the year award for that one.

OK so I'm lame

2010-05-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't really been updating lately, well because I just haven't had time. Between work, moving, taking care of kids, spouse and trying to take care of me I just plain run out of time. So I'm doing a quick update. We moved in with my parents. Which I'm so grateful for. We moved into their basement and everyone has there own bedroom. We are definitely cramped, but at least we have a place to stay. Our house isn't going to be ready to move into until August, so three months of basement living. We can do it. If I haven't mentioned before our house is going to be in the parade of homes so you all should come and check it out.
On a second note, we took El in to the endocrinologist yesterday and she thinks she is officially out of her honeymoon stage. If you're asking what that is I'll explain it later. What that means for El is that we had to increase the amount of insulin she is getting AND.... she gets to have a PUMP!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! But we have to take a pump class first and the next class that is available isn't until SEPTEMBER! So we have to wait awhile to get it, but I'm OK with that because at least by then our lives won't be so crazy and we'll have time to learn the pump and settle into using it before the new baby comes. Also her HbA1C was 7.5. It measures blood glucose levels over three months. For a baby that is an excellent number and they were so glad to see her doing so well! I think Scott and I were relieved to say the least that she is doing so great, because if she's not it would be our fault.
As for me and this new baby, I feel like crap most of the time:( I always do. But I have a family I need to take care of so I try not to let it get me to down. Some time in the future I'll post pictures of something because what's a blog with out pictures? Just not today.

It's Official

2010-05-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's official, we are finally moving. Our house isn't done yet so we'll be moving in with my parents for three months until our house is done. We sold our current house to a family with six kids! They are moving here from Arizona. I hope they love this house as much as we have. There are so many memories that we have in this house. This was our first house. This is Ella and Riley's first home. Our first yard, good friends. Mt Olympus Peak Dr, we miss you!

Family Pictures

2010-04-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

Does anything go right on family picture day? Nope. We still got a few good ones in there.

Ri's first shiner:(

2010-04-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well Riley got his first shiner today. He was at my parents house for two seconds when we heard screaming. Riley was crying and holding his eye. I looked at Ri's eye and it was cut and black and blue already! It took about a minute for it to swell shut. We think he tripped and the tip of his glasses got pushed into his eye when he fell. Its a good thing we have two pairs of glasses because he totally demolished the pair he had on. Poor kid:(

OH BABY!

2010-04-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yup you read that header correctly. Baby number three is on the way! We are excited and nervous. To answer that question in your head, yes it was a SURPRISE, and yes we are EXCITED and HAPPY. To answer question number two, I am due November 22. We are going to have a little turkey. I'm trying to talk Scott into NOT finding out what we are having but so far he's not down with that. I really want a surprise, ya know just to keep in line with recent surprises we've had already. So November there will be another Thomas here! Ella you'd better get walking girl.

Surprises

2010-04-10T01:25:00.000-07:00

Scott and have a few surprises coming up soon. Lots of different things going on in our lives right now! Now of course I can't tell you what those surprises are just yet, but trust me they are BIG! I can't wait to tell everyone. It's so fun making you all guess.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

My fisrt attempt at giving El double Piggies, They kind of look like little devil horns. If you know El these devil horns definitely fit her:)

Scott and I in front of the Bellagio

Scott and I went to Las Vegas for easter weekend. It was my Christmas present this year. A chance to get away just me and Scott. We went to Phantom of the Opera and Le Reve. I loved both shows! Wow the work and money they put in to them is amazing. It was so nice to get away, especially since Ella got her diagnosis. Diabetes is 24/7 for us and it was nice to get a little break, but stressful at the same time. We were on the phone allot making sure she was OK, and to tell you the truth we were really worried. Lets just say it was a rough weekend for the grandparents, but it was a great learning experience for them as well. It was hard to let go of the control that you have and to trust someone else with your daughters life (literally). I'll admit it was rough going, but the grandparents did a great job. Thanks MOMS and DADS for being there for Riley and Ella and for realizing that Scott and I needed to get away from the stress of life and what having a baby with DM can do to a relationship. So thanks it was a much needed break!

Hope for a Cure

2010-03-26T22:28:00.001-07:00

This year I wanted to do tour de cure for diabetes. I WANT a cure and Ella NEEDS a cure. If anyone wants to be on the team please let me know. I want to do this for her and all the kids with type 1, they deserve a cure! Today I found the blog of a mother with a child with diabetes. She had a story to share with every one. I hope that all of you will read it and realize we NEED a cure! http://ottermoms.blogspot.com/2010/03/diabetes-advocacy.html#comments

Ode to the Migraine

2010-03-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

Oh sweet migraine why must you plague me?! I've had you since yesterday. All night long you kept me awake! Nothing will take you away and you are making me nauseous. I'm probably not going to church today because you will not go away. You are now making your way into my eye and down into my jaw. When will it end? Only you know. Please go away soon so I can get back to my regular life.

Seriously I haven't had a migraine since forever, does anyone how to get them to go away? No, I will not show up in my ER requesting meds and help for my migraine! But I really want it to go away! So any ideas would be great!

Some Pics of the house

2010-03-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry about not posting them yet. Actually these are from awhile ago. It seems like every time I go up there there are a ton of people up there working and I don't want to get in the way, so I go up in the evening. Sorry about the quality.

Hillarious!

2010-02-23T13:44:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this commercial? I loved it. I couldn't stop laughing and neither could Scott. I laughed so hard I started choking. I think Scott should definitely become an old spice man.
http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice?feature=pyv&ad=3379911317&kw=old%20spice%20commercial&gclid=CMbt1JC3iaACFREYawod_RMb8w#p/u/0/owGykVbfgUE

Bellie girl is 1!

2010-02-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

Giant cupcake cake

Pigging out
My favorite picture!! She loves it!
Happy birthday Ella! I can't believe you're one! I remember bringing you home thinking that I wasn't going to be able to get through this (having two kids). I remember thinking that my life would never be the same. I was right. You've brought challenges you're dad and I could never imagine and at times we wondered if we could give you back:) We wouldn't change one thing about you and could never imagine our lives without you! You are definitely a girl. You DEMAND attention everywhere you go. You've been like that since the day you were born. You have the most beautiful blue eye's I've ever seen. You have been through challenges in your short life I could never imagine, and you've done it all with your beautiful toothy smile. I can't believe your mine. Happy birthday girl, we love you.

Ella's STATS
31 inches long, 23 lbs(gained two lbs since her diagnosis). She is 80th% in weight and 95th in height. She's keeping even with Riley when he was her age!

Do You Read Me?

2010-02-16T21:11:00.000-08:00

Does anyone read this blog? Just wondering if I'm writing into space or just for myself. Am I wasting my time?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RILEY!

2010-02-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was officially Riley's 4th birthday. It's so crazy, it seems like just yesterday he came screaming into this world. 12hr's of labor, two hours of pushing and one set of forceps later my little Riley made his way into this world. He was one of the most beautiful babies I had ever seen in my entire life. What we know about Ri. He is one of the sweetest most well mannered children you will ever meet, he has a very tender and sensitive personality. He is tall and handsome. He can spell his name with a little bit of help from mom. He is a great big brother. He gets scared when Ella has to have her shots. He calls Ella "Sissy". He loves preschool and he loves playing with his friends. It's killing him to be inside during this cold winter. He loves the beach! He still likes cars and trains. He loves his dad to death. He occasionally can be very stubborn. He makes Scott and I laugh every day.
We had a big B-Day party for him at the aquarium with all of his cute little friends, he picked the place. He also picked his Lightning McQueen chocolate cake.

Riley blowing out the cake
Everyone looking at the fish
Riley and mom
Doesn't Leiden look so happy to be at the party?
Scott, Jen and Mark
Ella walking with a little help from Grandma
Ethan, Riley and Grandpa

R-I-L-E-Y

2010-02-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

Riley spelled his name by himself on paper for the first time today. We've been working on his name for awhile and our ABC's. We did a couple of practice runs before he wrote it. YAY Ri! Good job buddy.

Ella's loot

2010-01-25T12:18:00.000-08:00

OK, so its not really loot but these are some of Ella's supplies. Scott and I are settling in to to a routine. Ella is in what called the honeymoon state of her progress and recovery. Her pancreas is still making a small amount of insulin which will eventually stop all together. We are having a hard time getting her insulin regulated. Its hard to know how much she needs when her pancreas is still making a small amount of insulin. So we have had allot of calls to the endocrinologist's office and allot of insulin adjusting. We are slowly getting the hang of it. Through all of this Ella is doing so good. She doesn't even cry anymore when we give her shots or prick her finger, she just sits there and smiles at us. What a good baby. I can tell she is feeling better every day. I think she's taking it better than Scott and I. I think she knows she is feeling better, I'm just sorry we didn't catch on earlier. Love you Ella.

Life Changes

2010-01-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

This past week has been one of the worst weeks of Scott and my life. Looking back on the events that have taken place over the past month I should have realized what was going on. I'm a freaking nurse you think I should recognize what is going on in your child, but at the same time what was I really supposed to looking for? Ella had been having extra wet diapers for about a month. At night she began soaking her bed and then during the day she would soak through her clothes. A few days before she got really sick she began having increased hunger and thirst. Are you getting the picture? I should have. I was actually going to take her to the pediatrician that next Monday for the weird peeing through the diaper thing. Saturday night El started to act weird, her breathing was a little off and she started acting like she was uncomfortable, I thought I would just watch her. The next morning she woke up and she had soaked the entire crib and she couldn't get enough to drink, we got her out of bed and her breathing had worsened and her mouth was cracked and the whole thing was dry. Considering how much she just drank her mouth shouldn't feel like a cotton ball. We rushed her to Primary's, on the way there her breathing worsened and her color was horrible. She was splotchy and mottled.
When we got there they took us right back and we were swarmed by nurses, techs and the Dr. When your child is swarmed in the ED and the Dr even shows up right when you get there you know its bad. I just didn't know how bad it was until I heard the numbers. Her respiration's were 80 a min. Her blood sugar was 590, PH was 7.0, HCO3 was 3, CO2 was 7. Those numbers are bad for those of you who don't know. She was then diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. When the ED Dr. came in and told me what the numbers were I started bawling. I have taken care of really sick kids in the past and I always push my emotions aside, because if I didn't I would never be able to do my job. I thought I would be able to be strong and not be one of those parents who crys, but here I was bawling in front of everyone wishing my daughter didn't have to go through this and hoping that she would make it through ok. She was placed on a insulin drip and a bunch of other meds to bring her sugars drown and get her blood gasses into balance. From there she was admitted to the PICU where she continued to get better. I have to say that the PICU is the best place and the worst place to be at the same time. It was horrible, but they sure did take care of my sweet little Ella and for that I can never thank them enough. When her labs started to normalize she was transferred to the Children's Medical Unit where the teaching began. Wow did I get an education! They only sent us home after they made sure Ella was OK and that her care would be OK when we got home. So now we are home! Let the rest of life begin! Its going to be a long couple of weeks. This is a life changing event for us and from this point on we can only help her recover and we can only get better from here on out. I don't want people to think that she is "sick". I do want people to know that she does have DM, but she is just like everyone else. If you can, take the time to find out about this disease, because it could change your life forever.

Getting Started

2010-01-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try and get started on my new gluten free food blog! I'm a little nervous. I don't want people to be too harsh on me. I'm not claiming to be an expert cook, I'm just trying to create something for people who have a hard time knowing where to go and find good recipe's and food for for celiac disease. When Scott go this diagnosis, I came home depressed because I had no idea where to turn or what we should eat. Everything in my pantry had wheat, barley or rye in it. I didn't know where to turn or what to do. My next trip to the grocery store took me about two and half hours because I had to read every lable and I just wasn't sure what to make! But eventually I got the hang of it. Hopefully I can pass some of what I learned on to others so that they can have good recipe's and good food! I need some good food blog names, so if you have any ideas pass them my way. Bon Appetit.

Total Randomness

2010-01-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know why but last night I was thinking about this summer. Scott and I took the kids to the Herriman city fair. It was pretty sweet! It had rides for Riley, Miss Herriman and her group of second and third were singing up on the stage, and of course it had a ton of booths where you could buy things. It was at one of these booths where they happened to be selling dwarf frogs. It caught Riley's eye and he wanted one. So Scott being the good dad that he is purchased two for him, it came with food and a cage! Me being the realist that I am was very distraught over the Frogs being bought. Why you ask? Because I knew that for however long these stinky gross little frogs would be alive, I would be caring for them! So we brought them home and Ri was so excited to have them, for about a day. (Which by the way I predicted.) That weekend we had a little misshap where the cage fell over and hit the ground, one of them got smashed and quickly died the next day. I discreetly flushed him down the toilet, and not one person, mainly Riley noticed. One down, one to go. So for a few more weeks I took care of the other frog and one day it stopped moving and died (repeat flushing scene.) Riley never really noticed that both the frogs had died. He just went on his merry way, and so did they, down the drain. I don't know why I thought of this and why I decided to write it down other than the fact that I thought it was kind of funny and at the time when I flushed the frogs I thought I might be damaging my child for life, but it seems he's just fine. Everyone needs a laugh, I guess this was mine last night.

Christmas Eve Sledding

2009-12-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

The past two years we've taken the boys sledding before our family party. This year Riley really wanted to go down by himself and he made it without dying! Go Ri! I think it's a fun tradition that we've started. Bellie stayed at home with dad, but next year we'll have her out on the sled going down the hill.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T17:45:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! This year we took Ri and El to see Santa. Last year Ri totally chickened out. This year Riley was so excited he could hardly contain himself, but when he sat on Santa's lap he drew a blank kind of like in the movie A Christmas Story ( my favorite Christmas show of all time by the way). But then he came to and asked for..........yep you guessed it, cars and trains. Because what else would he want? Bellie was surprisingly perfect and just sat there and didn't make a peep. She let me know that she would like a singing tea set and a Winnie the Pooh push toy, I passed that on to Santa so on Christmas morning she won't be left out:)
I know that in general the thankful posts are usually reserved for thanksgiving posts, but I just wanted to take a moment and express how grateful I am for the life that Scott and I share together and our beautiful children. I thank our Heavenly Father everyday for the blessings in our life and I'm grateful that every year we get to remember our savior and the blessings and sacrifices he made for us. So often I think that I get caught up in the excitement of everything that goes on during the season instead of remembering what Christmas is actually for.

House and bath time

2009-12-19T15:45:00.000-08:00

The house is coming along nicely! The foundation is almost done, and soon the framing should start to go up.

This is a piture if Riley when he was the same age, I think that they look allot alike.

Ella loves her bath, I can't believe how cute she is (most of the time).

Gluten free chicken corn chowder

2009-12-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

This was a hit! I made some soup today, because everyone except for Scott is sick at our house. This was some of the yummiest soup I've ever made! It was adapted from a recipe I got from my kitchen cafe'.

Chicken corn chowder

*Plan Ahead: This recipe calls for cooked chicken.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped(I left this out, I don't like the flavor that red pepper adds)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped, seeds and membrane removed (this is important for flavor - but doesn't add heat because the seeds and membranes are removed and it is cooked with the other veggies)
1/4 cup thinly sliced or cooked chopped ham
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14-oz.) cans chicken broth
3 tablespoons cornstartch
3 ears of fresh corn kernels or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
4 oz. softened cream cheese
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Place olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute celery, bell pepper, onion and jalapeno until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ham; cook for another 3 minutes. Whisk the broth with the cornstartch in a liquid measuring cup or bowl and then stir into the soup. Stir in the corn and chicken. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat. Whisk together the cream cheese and milk in a large bowl until smooth (I had a difficult time getting my cream cheese to completely whisk into the milk so my soup had some minor small lumps but next time, I'll soften the cream cheese until almost melted in the microwave). Whisk the cream cheese/milk mixture into the soup along with the salt, pepper and cheddar cheese. Simmer on low until ready to serve.

yummmmy!

GO UTES!

2009-11-27T16:13:00.000-08:00

GO UTAH!!!! Beat BYU! We love our UTES, and we are raising cute little UTES to love UTAH too. So watch out cougars!
P.S If neighbors trash our house this year, there will be retribution and we will disown you as ever having been our friends:)!

The Halls are Decked

2009-11-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

WOW! Christmas is here! We have a tradition of putting up Christmas decorations after we get home from Thanksgiving dinner. Haven't put the tree up and Ri is dying to get it up, maybe this weekend:)

Footings

2009-11-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

YAY! Finally the footings are in. The excavation of our "hole" has taken a good 6 weeks. 650 truckloads of dirt were hauled away. We are finally starting to build the house!

She's 9 months OLD already!

2009-11-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

Well our sweet little angel is 9 months old. I can't believe how fast time has gone by! What we love and know about Ella. She is 21 lbs, 28.8 inches long and her head is 18.8 inches around. The Dr was a little concerned about her head circumference being large and growing so much in the last three months. If it continues to grow as much as it has at her first b-day, she'll have to have some tests done. But for now she is doing just fine. She loves to sit and watch everything that is going on, she likes to take everything in. She loves to figure things out, how they make sounds and definitely what they taste like. She loves to empty anything that is remotely close to her. Baskets, purses, bags. If its close to her you can guarantee that she will empty every last nook and cranny until she has discovered everything she can about what was "hiding" inside. She now tolerates the car seat, but that's only if Riley is sitting next to her and he can entertain her. She LOVES her mommy, and cries every time I leave the room or she can't see me. She definitely loves her brother and her dad, but mom she cannot live without. Please stop growing up so fast!

Halloween!

2009-11-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

I don't really have anything to say other than I love halloween and it was fun.

The Lot

2009-10-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

WOW
300 truck loads of dirt later, this is what we have! Bring on the foundation.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies MMMMMM!

2009-10-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

White Velvet Sugar Cookies

2 cups butter, softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ¾ cups flour (I used 2 cups of Grandpa's kitchen flour and 2 1/2 cups of pamela's gluten free flour)

Cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour. The dough will be VERY soft; don't worry, it gets firmer after chilling. Cover and chill two hours or until firm. Roll out on floured surface to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into shapes; place on greased baking sheets (or use parchment paper). Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set (but not browned). Cool 5 minutes. Place on wire racks to cool. Frost as desired.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
**This frosting is my absolute favorite sugar cookie frosting. It doesn't set-up and harden like some sugar cookie frostings - it stays very soft and gooey, perfect for sprinkling with colored sugar or nonpareils. I'm warning you, it is so fantastically delicious, it will ruin you. In a good way. Please don't hate me for it.**

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another medium bowl, beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form (it helps to use a chilled bowl and chilled beaters - and make sure the peaks are stiff not soft). Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and mix carefully (so as not to deflate cream) but well. Frost to your heart's delight! (Be careful if adding coloring - the liquid food coloring found in the baking aisle can quickly thin your icing so you may need to add a bit more powdered sugar to compensate. I prefer to use Wilton's gel coloring but either will work.)

Sugar Cookie Frosting
**This is my basic, go-to sugar cookie frosting (aside from sneakily buying it in a can sometimes) and it is delicious - in a sugar cookie frosting way.**

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
4-6 tablespoons milk
food coloring (if desired)

Combine butter, vanilla and salt and beat until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments until combined. Add milk and food coloring gradually until you reach your desired spreading consistency. Frost away!

Changes

2009-10-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

Today I started a new Job at Riverton Hospital in the Emergency Department. All of us will have to be there full time for the next two weeks training, stocking and getting the department ready for the opening day on November 2Nd. The open house for the Hospital is October 23-24. Everyone should come and check it out. Its no where near as big as IMC, but it's not supposed to be. I will still be working at IMC but I'll only work there occasionally. So far I love it at Riverton! Its so personable and welcoming, such a community feel, there is also a satellite Primary Children's clinic on the campus and that means that we are going to see A LOT of kids. There is only a total of 18 nurses that work in the ED at Riverton and I like knowing who I'm working with. To be able to have that comradery and trust is invaluable. At IMC there is 120 nurses that work in the department, Yes you read that right 120 nurses! I never know who I'm working with or how many new names and faces I'm going to have to learn that day, Its a bit impersonal. I guess I'm staying at IMC because I want to keep my trauma certification and knowledge that comes with all of that, but I'm also excited to step into this new position. Wish me luck!

Myrtle Beach

2009-10-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent the week in Myrtle Beach. I thought that this would be a fun vacation, ohhh what was I thinking? Taking two little kids all the way across the country and living out of suitcases for a week is not an ideal situation. Lets just say that Scott and I will not be doing this again for awhile. Kids off their schedule everyday for a week leads to extremely tired and grumpy children. Not to mention the fact that we were all sick on the vacation. Myrtle Beach reminded me of a retirement town. Everywhere we went there were tons of people over the age of sixty five. Not many people with young families, and if that doesn't explain a little of myrtle beach here's the rest. There were these huge chain stores advertising beach ware every three blocks or so, about a hundred mini golfs' everywhere(not an exageration) and dumpy trailer parks and trashy lingerie shops everywhere. The beach was pretty, but the tide was high almost everyday we were there and so there were really scary waves, especially for the kids. My poor little nephew Nathan was ripped out of his dads arms and swept into the surf(very scary moment for all). Luckily he floated to the surface and Matt snatched him up. If you know me you know that I'm not really a beach girl, I feel really gross and dirty at the beach and I hate how sand gets into every nook and crany of you body and everything you own, and the ocean is just YUCKY for me, if you want an explintation on that one I'll have to put that in a later post. One highlight of the trip, Charlseton, now that's a cool city. Myrtle beach on my scale of 1-10, over all I would rate it a 3.

Our house is officialy for sale

2009-10-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well our house is officially for sale! It is going to be sad leaving our neighborhood and our ward, but there is comfort in knowing that we won't be leaving our friends and we'll only be three minutes away. Its going to be a fun filled adventure, and I'm really looking forward to it. Here is the link to the website http://www.qgia.com/rivertonhomes/
Take a look if you are interested or if you know anyone looking for a house send them this way.

Perfect Pictures

2009-10-05T07:59:00.001-07:00

This past week we went to myrtle beach which a latter post on it is coming, but in the mean time I just wanted share some pictures that my friend Jeanette took of my kids. I love them. If you want her info just let me know.

Oregon Coast surprise

2009-09-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend Scott took me to Oregon for a "surprise" anniversary getaway, which I accidentally found out about. We spent two and a half days there. Everyone says you should drive up the coast once in your life time, and you should because its beautiful. He also had a little ulterior motive planned and that was to go to the Utah Oregon game. It was pretty fun other than the fact that we sat in the rain all day and we lost:( I've never been to another big stadium, been the minority and watched a game like that before. It was truly was an awesome experience. The next day Scott and I drove up the Oregon coast. We started out in Tillamook, Ya know like the cheese in the store (that's actually where they make it) and we ended up in cannon beach. It was so beautiful! Its not like the California Beaches you think of, prettier I think. No offense to the California beach girls and guys out there. Its hard to explain, it feels like you're in the mountains at a glacier lake, but it has a beach and its the ocean, if that makes sense at all. Perfect combination of mountains and beach put together. Someday I hope we can go back.

Oregon Game

Hike to the biggest tree in Oregon 800yrs OLD! Bottom roots of a tree that fell over

More rain and Oregon game

Cannon Beach and yes that is the Goonies beach where the ship comes out at the end that you see behind us.

Sad loosing Utah:(

Best Pictures ever

2009-09-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

My friend Jeanette took these pictures of my sweet little angels. They are so sweet, and she did such a great job. If you want her info let me know and I can put you in touch with her. Thanks Jeanette, I love them.
http://jeanettesoffe.blogspot.com/2009/09/o-man.html
I can't get the link to work for some reason so just copy and paste into URL if you would like to see the pics.

CUTE with a capital C

2009-09-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

CUTE!

School

2009-09-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today was Riley's first day of school. He has been so excited. He loved it. I think he's growing up to fast:(

Gluten Free Chicken Tika Masala

2009-08-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

This is on of my all time favorites! If you like indian food, you have to try this. Warning: this recepie is not for light of heart and takes allot of work. The Naan makes it all worth while.
Chicken Tika Masala
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (may substitute paprika for the cayenne)
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients except chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and refrigerate for one hour. Grill or cook chicken in frying pan. Discard marinade

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup cream
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for one minute. Season with cumin, paprika and salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve over hot rice.

Naan
14 ounces (about two 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (we use Grandpa's Kitchen gluten free flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 egg
1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt (I only had vanilla yogurt and while it sounds like a bad substitution, I used it and the bread tasted fabulous!)
1/2 cup milk

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl by hand), stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and yeast. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, yogurt, and milk. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir for about 1 minute, until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated into the wet ingredients.

Increase machine speed to 2 (or by hand) and knead the dough until it is smooth and shiny. Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with a towel. Leave in a warm place to rise until the dough doubles in size, about an hour.

Put a baking stone or heavy baking sheet on the lowest rack of your oven. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.

Divide the dough into eight pieces and form into teardrop (mine were more like oval) shapes with your hands, about 6 to 8 inches across.

Cook two or three pieces at a time. Drop the dough onto the hot stone and shut the oven door, watching until they are just starting to turn brown in places, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove the naan and lay on a board. Serve warm with a nice curry. (The original recipe says to butter the naan with garlic butter after it comes out of the oven but I did this with the first batch and found it made the bread too greasy for my taste - we much preferred the bread soft and tender without the butter. Follow your tastes and do what you prefer!)

Will Poop for Friends

2009-08-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well Riley is officially potty trained! He has been for a couple of weeks now. Goes on his own, flushes, wipes, washes and all without me helping him. Well maybe I help him a little. Our potty party was sort of a success and not a success. He went on the potty for that day, and then decided going potty wasn't for him. Then one day I guess he was shown the light. So all of you I told you he would do it on his own time people can say "I told you so". Once he decided he wanted to, Scott and I really didn't have to do anything other than encouragement. He literally woke up and decided he was going to go on the potty and wear his awesome underwear! Scott and I were very skeptical because of all the trouble we had previously, but he stuck with it and hasn't looked back. The only problems we've had is that he gets too involved in playing with friends and doesn't take the time to go number two. So currently we are on a sort of "you have to poop before you can play with friends" kind of plan for right now, and it works like a charm! YAY RILEY! Dad and I are so proud (and relieved!).

8 years of bliss

2009-08-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Scott and my 8th anniversary. Wow we've been married for eight years, I can't believe it! It seems that long and it doesn't at the same time. The past couple of years have been kind of rough for Scott and I. It all started with my ruptured ectopic when I almost kicked the bucket and has just continued to pile on since then. Most recently finding out that Scott has celiac disease. But we have had more good times than bad and I can say that is a great and happy thing. I'm so lucky to have married someone that fits me so completely. I know that sounds so cliche, but it really is true. I'm so happy to have married someone who understands me and accepts me for who I am.
Ella also turned six months old yesterday! Wow time fly's! She is 18.4lbs, 27in long and hear head is a whopping 17in around. As the Dr. put it she is a VERY healthy little girl. Scott and I are so lucky to have to beautiful healthy kids.

Bear Lake

2009-08-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

We headed off to Bear Lake this past weekend. We go every year with our street and good friends. Its become a tradition and I look forward to it every year. Ri loves playing with all of his friends and playing on the beach and the sand. He wasn't to keen on riding the wave runners this year, but he did get to put his new swimming lessons to the test. This was Ella's first camping trip and she managed to do OK, but her nap schedule was messed up and that made life miserable for the rest of us. On the way home, we blew a tire on the trailer and had to change it while being eaten by horse flies. Upon reaching Evanston they informed us that all of the tires were bad and needed to be changed, but, and there is always a but, they couldn't fix them because they didn't have the right size. So they repaired what they could so we could hopefully make it home. On the way home from Evanston we ran out of gas in the truck! Who runs out of gas? Apparently we do. When this happened all Scott and I could do was laugh hysterically, at least we were close to home when it happened. A three hour ride took us 6&1/2 hours. Ahhh good memories.