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Sunday, November 6, 2016

Natalie's Hospital Stay

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 We found out the first part of September that Natalie has Type 1 Diabetes.  She'd been sick for a while, but we couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong.  She started laying around and sleeping all the time and then losing weight. Then when she started being thirsty and going to the bathroom all the time Rob and I were very suspicious. So I took her to her pediatrician and she had us go straight to the hospital after Natalie's urine test came back with lots of sugar in it. Natalie was there for almost a week, getting her levels back to a normal range. Rob was able to take the week off and be there with her 24/7 so I could be home with the other kids. Natalie of course took the news pretty hard at first, but we've been doing our best to stay positive and not let it hinder us in any way.

She was a total champ in the hospital being poked all the time, so we told her she could get her ears pierced. She'd been begging for a while to get it done.

It's definitely an adjustment, but overall she has been so good about it.  She takes her insulin shots like a champion and even tests her own blood regularly. We are just so glad to see her healthy and happy again.  It was such a worry there for a while, not knowing what was wrong. She didn't smile or run around like normal kids for a long while before we figured it out.
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Halloween Festivities

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 We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and had so much fun. Lincoln wasn't quite so sure about the bounce thing.
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We have the funnest pumpkin patch! Every year they add something new to it. They built a new castle that we got to go inside this year.
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 This is really my most favorite thing that we do as a family.  I love Halloween and fall time.

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 Lincoln loved the cow train.
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 Going through the corn maze.
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 It was a hot day! Unexpected for the end of October.
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 This was right before heading out to the kids' school fall festival.

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 Lincoln did not like his dog costume. He refused to wear the ears.
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 The kids played lots of fun games and got some treats.
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 We carved pumpkins the night before Halloween.
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 Natalie carved a ghost, Rob carved a Ray Man for Blake.  Blake carved his own little pumpkin that he'd gotten on his school pumpkin patch field trip. Jane had me carve a Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony) pumpkin for her.
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 Lincoln actually wore all of his dog costume without complaints when we went out trick-or-treating. :) It was a perfect evening...nice and warm. I love that Lincoln was smiling here. He thought trick-or-treating was pretty cool.

Randoms

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These two are too cute together.
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 These two are best buddies.
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Lincoln helped himself to some snacks in my purse.
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Natalie dressed Jane up as an old lady. It was too cute. She even had a hunchback. :)
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Rob cut Natalie's hair.  She still isn't so sure about her new do, but we think it's cute! She loves having long hair, and says that we can't do anything with it now, but yet when she had long hair, she just told me to put it in a ponytail every day.
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I got the girls some new cute boots.  Jane was glad to model them.

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The girls wanted me to take a picture of them getting messy painting.
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For activity days last month we had a night where we asked the girls to dress up as their favorite scripture hero. Natalie dressed up as Esther, along with four other girls. :)
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The kids had red ribbon (drug free) week at school. Each day they could dress with something different such as hats, crazy socks, etc. I had to get a picture of the kids on crazy hair day.
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Natalie was afraid at first to let me do her hair too crazy, but eventually gave in.
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We've had a really warm fall season so far until this last week. We had to keep turning on our sprinklers so our grass wouldn't die.
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It was so sweet, the other day Lincoln was falling asleep on the couch, so Jane went over and laid by him so he wouldn't fall off and then covered him up with some stuffed animals. She takes such great care of her baby brother.
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Lincoln has started falling asleep on the floor some afternoons.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Jane's Fourth Birthday

I took some pictures of Miss Jane outside of our house on her birthday and I think they perfectly capture her sweet and sassy personality.  
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Our Jane is such a cute little sugar-coated fire ball.  She's sweet on the outside and and super feisty on the inside.  :)

She loves playing Barbies and asks me all the time to play it with her. :)  Her best friends right now are Maya from next door and Addie and Sara from our old ward in Albuquerque.

She could watch Daniel Tiger, Sofia the First, and My Little Pony all day every day if I let her.
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She can basically fall asleep anywhere in any position.  :)  There was one time when I was gone and Rob was supposed to be watching her and he called in a panic and had searched the entire house looking for her, but with no success.  I got home and we found her under my craft table fast asleep under her blanket. :)

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 She is such a good big sister to Lincoln and always has been.  I was really worried about how she would adjust, but she has been an angel.  She is so tender with him and smothers him in hugs and kisses all the time.
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Lincoln loves his Janey girl.

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She has such a fun imagination and personality. The other day Natalie dressed her up as an old grandma and she thought it was hilarious. :)

She likes yogurt and pizza and sometimes mac 'n cheese.  Oh, and my whole wheat pancakes.  This girl is so full of spunk and brings us so much happiness.

She's really good at doing tricks on the bars in our yard and seems to be fearless about heights and things that other four year olds might find scary.

She has a heart full of love for her family.  She always tells me that I am the bestest mom.  She likes to hug and kiss Blake, which he is already embarrassed about.

She speaks her own little language.  We call it Janish or Janese.  She will probably need a little bit of speech help once she starts school, but for now I think it's adorable.

She's such a tease and has a cute sense of humor.  She always tells her dad that he is her cute little baby princess. :)

She loves doing crafts with me and could color the day away.
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 Jane had been planning her birthday party basically since the beginning of the year.  She wanted a Daniel Tiger party with all her friends.  As her birthday got closer, I was really dragging my feet about throwing the party, since Natalie had just come out of the hospital and we were adjusting to a new routine with her diabetes.  But, Rob was right when he said that I couldn't tell her no.  It would have crushed her.  So we went ahead with it and I simplified.

We bought pizza and a delicious chocolate cake from Costco.  The kids ate picnic style and then we played a few games.  I led the kids on a scavenger hunt around the yard and we found all kinds of treasures.  It was the cutest thing...they all followed me like little ducklings.  I was surprised how it captivated their attention for so long.
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 We had a little stop and go race and played "Tiger Tag".
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 And then Jane blew out her candles and we ate chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream, as per her request.  She's my child, what can I say? :) Oh, and she decided that she wanted it to be a pajama party, so it was funny that my kids were the only ones wearing their pj's.
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 And then she opened presents from her sweet friends.  It ended up being so much fun.  I was worried when ten kids (ages 5 and under) showed up and we told their parents they could leave, but the kids were SO good!  Everyone had a great time.

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 For her actual birthday, the kids woke up at 5:30 am because they were so excited.  She opened her presents from her mom and dad. A Peppa Pig house, a Shopkins Lip Gloss Truck, a few toddler Disney Princesses, a collection of My Little Ponies, and some Daniel Tiger books.
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 We got pizza for lunch since it was early out day for the kids and then played little board games, as per her request. We had a giant cookie cake for dessert.
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We sure love our Jane!