Friday, August 29, 2008

My new favorite picture....



I took this picture today in our backyard (yes we have grass now!!) Doug had set up the sprinkler and he was running through it with the kids. I just love the facial expressions I caught on both of them!

Tiny Tim....


I introduced Tiny Tim to you earlier this month. My mother-in-law had rescued him from the animal shelter and thought he would make a good addition to our family and give our other new kitten "Tucker" (also from the animal shelter) someone to play with. Well today I made a discovery...Tiny Tim is really a girl! And not only is she a girl, but she is a girl in heat and I have two male cats that are not fixed! So I am going to have find a place where I can put her so that we don't end up having more little kittens running around soon! So I guess Tiny Tim is really Tiny Tina?

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

First Day of School!














First day of school, first day of school! *picture me jumping up and down on the kids like Nemo does to his Dad in the movie Finding Nemo* Okay, it didn't really start out quite like that. They all got up resonable well for me though...think they were excited! I didn't have any complaining or fighting at all this morning, boy was that nice! They both looked pretty spiffy in their new clothes too. And believe it or not I had all the kids dressed and fed and could of walked out the door with all of them by 8:00 if I had too (school starts at 8:45). Grammy came over to watch the three youngest so that Doug and I could take Doogie and Jayde to school and make sure they got to where they were supposed to be. Doogie (I am so proud of him) couldn't find his name tag on his desk like all the other kids and instead of freaking out and getting upset about it he waited patiently until the teacher came into the room, raised his hand and very politely told her that he couldnt' find his name tag. And those of you who know Doogie, know how he can get if he gets upset or frustrated...so I was so proud of him for being so calm and starting off in the right way.

It's really quiet over here...amazing how much of a difference missing just two kids can make. It was weird dropping Jayde off and knowing she will be there for the whole day. It will be even stranger when Jaxon and Ryann start school and on some mornings I'll only have two or one child. I think I'll be running my errands on those days!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Wow! I can't believe school starts tommorrow. I just finally got done getting everything ready for the first day. We went back to school shopping this afternoon with Grammy and she let the kids each pick one outfit out for the first day of school. Jayde absolutely had to have something to do with Hannah Montana and it also had to be a dress...after much searching we finally found one (oh we found alot of Hannah Montana stuff, but just no dresses!) It's a wild and crazy funky dress...and it probably wouldn't of been my first choice (or second, or third, etc...) but she was happy with it and I guess that is all that matters and the colors will look great on her. Doogie was on the great hunt for dragons, but we didn't find any at the place we were shopping at. So Grammy suggested some PUMA stuff... at first Doogie wasn't super excited about it until I told him that pumas were really fast runners and his face perked up. So he got a pair of shorts, t-shirt and a sweatshirt with a puma on it. Ryann decided that the PUMA stuff looked pretty cool herself and we found her some really cute girly pink PUMA stuff (though she won't wear it tomorrow...her and Jaxon don't start school for a couple more weeks). Jaxon got a cute shirt, sweatshirt and pair of jeans and C.J. got a pair of plaid shorts, shirt and a matching hat (we'll see if he'll wear the hat for me!) Then we went shoe shopping since they were having a sale, but we only found shoes for Doogie and Jayde...but since Jaxon and Ryann don't have school for a couple more weeks I still have time to find them something they like. I also should find a pair for C.J. since he is walking like crazy now and with fall around the corner he is going to need a pair of shoes.

Well, I finally bit the bullet and let the girls go over to play next door with the neighbor girls. It's not that I don't want them to play together because I do, I just like to know what they are up to! I always feel bad dumping my kids on people because I know what stinkers and handfulls they can be at times! But the girls had so much fun. Yesterday was the first time I let them do it and when I went over to get them they ended up hauling away half of her toys! So I made them take them all back today and told them not to take anymore toys this time. I mean they walked out of that house yesterday with two movies, a barbie doll, a jewlery box, a play clock, a stuffed bunny, a headband and last but not least a great big pink horse that you can sit on and ride! The neighbors didn't seem to mind though, but it's not something I want the girls to get in a habit of doing!

Hmmm...what else has been happening? Well we are still battling our colds though it seems to be only Doug, me and the two little guys...though Ryann's nose was a bit snotty today. And I'm am sorta wondering if some of it might be allergies.

Balder had his playmate over again today. Our neighbors (a couple houses down) have a german shepard pup who likes to escape from their yard and wonder the neighborhood. She came right to our house and wanted to come in. I don't think she is used to cats though since she tormented mine (or maybe my cats just teased her) most of the day. I went over there a couple times in the morning to see if anyone was home but nobody answered, so I just let her hang out with us. Each time I took her over she really didn't want to go home and when I started to bring her back with me, she practically dragged me home and wanted to come back in. The kids like having her around too and I got a couple pictures of them with her.

Well I better head to bed because I am getting up bright and early tomorrow to get these guys ready for school. I was going to post some pictures but I'm just too tired and don't have time right now. But I will be taking a bunch tomorrow of the kids first day back to school so I will try to post some tomorrow.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Well I'll tell you one thing...

atleast this cold doesn't seem to hang on as long as that darn stomach bug did. I was feeling pretty crappy the last couple days (Jaxon and C.J. too) and then today I woke up and felt a whole heck of a lot better(getting a full nights sleep probably helped too...everyone slept through last night), though I still have a snotty nose and a cough. However, I don't feel like my head is going to pop off my body anymore...so that's a good thing! Doug has come down with it now, he started feeling yucky yesterday and today he has been hanging out in bed trying to get over it. If this cold goes the way it has been though he should be starting to feel better by tomorrow. Okay and everyone (yes, that means you too) take your hand and please, please knock on wood that it doesn't keep spreading through the house and continue to go around and around and around. I mean, come on...school is starting in just a few days and I can't have everyone sick for the first day!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

What is up with this??

I was up all night (Doug was too) with Jaxon and C.J. again. C.J. has this horrible croupy sounding cough and was up coughing about every 1/2 hour it seemed and this morning he had a really snotty nose. I don't know what was wrong with Jaxon he just kept waking up crying. And I started getting a sore throat last night and now have a snotty/stuffed up nose to go with it. I don't know if it's allergies (the wind has really been blowing the past couple of days)or if we are getting sick again. I hope we aren't getting sick again...I just got everyone healthy!! And can you believe it...school starts up next week! So I really want to get everyone healthy by then.

Another Etsy Giveaway



Aren't these absolutely adorable?? Head on over to http://twinsrock-jolie.blogspot.com/2008/08/etsy-giveaway-round-25-minnie-tutu.html and see how you can win! :)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Fun Weekend Pictures

http://www.slide.com/r/hv2YuXDQ7z-P31u9sblhwJzrLFMZF1W3?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Once again I can't get my slide show to play on my blog so here is the link you can go to view it. As you can see we had a pretty fun time! :)

Otherwise nothing super exciting happening over here, the weather has gone from rainy to sunny to rainy again (it seems to just be going back and forth). I spent most of the day getting my house cleaned. Now I have two little guys asleep but I still have 5 kids running around (the neighbor girls are here), so I'm just keeping them all downstairs and they are playing on the wii.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Our fun and Crazy weekend

Well I think Doogie had a fun birthday party on Saturday. We didn't get to do what I had wanted to do...by the time all the boys got here there was no way that we could get them fed and to the movie in time. So we made pizza and the boys played video games...which meant that we all got sidetracked and missed the second showing! So we took them all out for ice cream instead. We were going to take them to the water park, but it was sooo hot that you didn't even want to be outside and one of the boys didn't feel like getting wet. So we pretty much just hanged out at the house all day and played video games, built with legos and pretended we were jedi. After Doogie's buddy from school went home (around 7) we headed over to Grammy and Papa's and went swimming, I was hoping to tire the boys out so that they would actually go to sleep that night. So even though my plans got all shot up, I still think they had fun and I told them I would try to steal them all away some other day soon so that we could actually make it to the movie.

On Sunday, we went out on the boat with my brother, his girlfriend and her son (who was at Doogie's party and spent the night) and we took Doogie, Jayde and Ryann as well (Jaxon and C.J. hanged out with Grandma and Grandpa). We had so much fun, the kids tubed (and Uncle Chris and I tubed as well) and then Doug got up on the ski. This was the time that I really wished that I had a longer lense for my camera so that I could actually get some pictures of their facial expressions as the bounced along on the waves!

Monday, I woke up so sore....I hadn't been using those tubing muscles for quite some time and my body was telling me about it! Not to mention I was just so tired from being up most of the night with one of the kids. Jaxon and C.J. have been really restless for the past couple nights and they have both ended up in bed with Doug and me. Which is why I'm still sore and tired today...gotta have a talk with these two boys about sleeping through the night again!

Ryann seems to be doing a lot better. Her blood sugar is starting to even out again and we are back to giving her four shots a day (poor thing, we were all really liking the part of no shots!) But I guess that is just the way life is and I guess I would rather have to give her shots again and monitor what she eats than have her be sick and throwing up and all that good stuff.

Anyways, I took a ton of pictures over the weekend (I filled up my memory card) so I promise you will see some pictures soon. I just have to get on the other computer (where my pictures are) before I can do it.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Etsy Giveaway Round 2

There's another contest happening! Please check out this link! http://twinsrock-jolie.blogspot.com/2008/08/etsy-giveaway-round-2.html I might have to get one of these for Ryann once she starts using a pump. 'Course you can use them for all sorts of other things too!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Everybody Knock On Wood!

Today, no one threw up and no one had diarhea!! Yipee!! Ryann woke up this morning a low, but has done okay for the rest of the day (though I still didn't give her any insulin). She was high at dinner and bedtime though so we decided to give her just a little insulin...but now she is dropping pretty fast so I just gave her a juice box to hopefully keep her up where she is supposed to be. So keep your fingers crossed that we don't have a long sleepless night.

Since everyone was feeling better (and we are having Doogie's b-day party tomorrow) I figured I better get this house cleaned up. I haven't really given it a good cleaning for a few weeks now when this nasty stomach bug first hit us. It took pretty much the whole day (have to work in between kids, feedings and naps) but I finally got it done and it feels sooo good to have a clean house again. Now we just get to see how long it will stay that way!

Doogie is pretty excited about his party tomorrow. His two best buddies will arrive around 10-10:30 in the morning. I'm going to have Doug take the boys out to lunch and then to the movie (we figured that it would just be too crazy to take all the kids, and the little guys aren't going to be very cooperative) and I will stay home with the rest of the kids. After the movie Doug and the boys will come back get changed and we are going to head over to the park (it has a "water park" next to it) so the kids can all get rid of that energy they have and cool off in the water. Then we will head back home and have some ice cream and cake...or I guess I should say have some ice cream cake, since that is what Doogie says he wants to have (which reminds me that I need to go and pick one up tomorrow!) Then I'm sure they'll probably play video games for a while and then one of the boys will go home and the other will spend the night. So it should be a crazy and fun day tomorrow. And I'm going to have everyone right now, take their hand, make a fist and knock on wood that nobody gets sick tomorrow!!

Oh and my battery/charger came today so I will be able to take a ton of pics of the kids tomorrow!! Getting my charger in the mail today was definitely the highlight of the day!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Some oldies but goodies






Since I still haven't gotten my new charger for my camera and can't take any pictures...I decided I'll just show a few shots that I took a while back but never got around to sharing. Enjoy! As soon as I get my charger you can bet that I'll be snapping away like crazy and will have a ton of pics to share!

Remember this post??

http://asthecrazycroweflies.blogspot.com/2008/08/etsy-giveaway.html

Well, they announced the winner today...and guess what??? I won!! Let me tell you I was pretty surprised to see it, I never win anything! And I have to say it really made my day...especially with all that has been happening lately.

So I picked this onesie http://www.verykiki.com/black_guitar_onesie.html except it will be on a white shirt instead of a black (the black shirts didn't come in the size I needed for C.J. you all know what a big guy he is now!!)

If your ever looking for a baby gift this is definitely a site to check out!!

Fun times....

Yes, I'm being sarcastic! Heard back from Ryann's blood tests and everything was fine so that is good...just some nasty virus going around. Ryann woke up this morning covered in poo...okay, well not really covered but her nightime diaper had leaked and it sure didn't smell very good! So I got her cleaned up and in the shower. I than checked her blood sugar (and hold your breath folks) it was actually high. Which I much prefer over her being so darn low and then having to get her to take something for me. She also ate all of her breakfast this morning (something she hasn't done for a while). So Doug and I decided to give her a little bit of insulin and see how she did (since she was high and she did eat). Normally for how high she was and how much she had for breakfast I would of given her anywhere from 1 1/2-2 units of insulin. But since she had been sick and her blood sugar has been so wonky, I only gave her 1/2 of a unit. The kids were actually all up and dressed nice and early this morning (something that hasn't happened often since school got out). They were begging to go to the park (Ryann's preschool had a playdate planned for the day) and silly me decided that since nobody had thrown up for over 24 hours and they all were acting like they were feeling better we could go. Everything was going fine, the kids have been cooped up in the house so long with this crud being able to go outside and play in the fresh air was feeling pretty good to them. But then about an hour or so into it, Ryann told me she was thirsty and she had that look to her. So I took her over to the stroller and took her blood sugar which was down to 39 and got a juice box down her. She went back to where the other kids were because they were reading stories now and she wanted to listen. While she was sitting there listening (she was sitting with her teacher from last year) I took her blood sugar again (it had been around 15 minutes) and she was still pretty low so I gave her another juice box. After story time they had snacks and since she was still on the low side (though getting close to where she should be...I let her have some more juice) I had to kind of laugh when one of the gals there (her nephew had been in Ryann's class year) said "Ryann can have some juice!?" because during the school year I pack her a special snack and drink to eat so that the teacher and helpers don't have to worry about figuring out how much she can have to eat. So the Grandma and the Aunt and I then got in a discussion about how tough it can be with her diabetes and when it is low and what not. I was telling them all the fun we have had been having with her diabetes the past couple weeks or so.

Anyways after snacks she went off to see what her brother and sister were doing in the "hideout" (which is really a group of tree's that the branches bend down to make a tent...a pretty cool place to play). After a while I saw her wandering her way back towards me and I didn't really like the look she had so I pulled her aside and asked her if she felt okay (she had that I'm going to throw up look on her face). She said she did feel like she was going to throw up, so I said I'll take you to the bathroom, hold on (I needed to hand C.J. off to someone). Right when I handed him off to Ryann's teacher from last year (explaining that I needed to get Ryann to the bathroom) she started throwing up in front of everyone (yeah, great mom moment for me). So I'm trying to get her out of where all the kids troop around, grabbing some paper towels that her teacher gave me. Poor thing pretty much threw up all the juice I had made her drink...not sure if she threw up because she still has this tummy bug or if she just had so much sugar pushed down her at once that her tummy couldn't handle it. After she stopped throwing up I took her to the bathroom to get her cleaned up and stripped her shirt off (she was kind of upset that her cool preschool shirt had puke all over it). I put her in the stroller and checked her blood sugar which was starting to go low again...she didnt' want to drink anymore juice (which I could understand). Luckily one of the ladies sitting nearby had some smarties with her and it so happens that the reason she had these was that her nephew (which was there...him and Doogie really hit it off, he's 9) is also diabetic and was diagnosed when he was 4. So she was filling my ears with things to do and check on Ryann.

When we were sure that Ryann was done throwing up for now, I started rounding up the other rugrats so that we could head home and get cleaned up and deal with Ryann's low blood sugar better (that took around 10 minutes...they were all having too much fun playing at the park). Sinc e Ryann was in the stroller now it meant that Jaxon had to walk so I put Doogie in charge of holding his hand for me as we went to the car....which was fine with Jaxon since he wanted to be Doogie's buddy today. Unfortunately, Doogie ended up tripping on the curb and taking a spill...he got a few scraps but not too bad (I think it scared him more than anything). So I'm halfway across the parking lot pushing the stroller when this happened (luckily the parking lot wasn't busy) because I had to put Jayde in charge of pushing the stroller to the car while I helped Doogie and Jaxon. So okay, we finally got into the car and headed home (and thank goodness Ryann didn't have to throw up anymore!) When we got home I got everyone unloaded and into the house and Ryann was acting droopy again. I checked her blood sugar and she was down to 60 (which isn't terribly bad, but I knew it was going to keep dropping) and I was happy to hear her tell me that she was thirsty so that meant I could get her to drink a juice box! She sucked the juice box down for me and has now just been vegging out on the mattress in the living room (no, I still haven't gotten Doug to take it downstairs for me, but it has been coming in handy!)

So hopefully the rest of the day will calm down and we won't have anymore incidents. I'm just getting really, really tired of this nasty stuff (can you hear me crying now?)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Ryann Update

Okay, I heard from Doug (he is on his way to the store to get some sicky provisions). They checked her out, told Doug that Dr. I said we could cut her lantus back down to 1-2 units (we've already cut it back to 3 and she is still going low). She had to go the bathroom while they were there so they put one of those nifty little "helmet" thingies to catch her urine...but it didn't end up being urine....you get the picture. So they got some blood from her and are going to run some blood work and we should hear about that sometime tomorrow. They also gave us some suggestions on other quick sugar foods we can give her that will stay with her a bit longer so that she hopefully won't have as many lows. So, that's about all I know at the moment. If I hear anything else that is worth mentioning I will give you an update. So I guess just keep us in your thoughts and prayers that we all get healthy and stay healthy.

Funny for the Day...

Just had to post this conversation I just had with Jayde... We were watching Hannah Montana (Jayde's new favorite show) and during one of the commercials they were talking to the Jonas Brothers (one of the tweeny boy bands). Well one of the Jonas Brothers has Type 1 Diabetes and he was talking about how Diabetes has affected his life and what not. So I turned to Jayde and told her that he has the same thing that Ryann has. Jayde turned to look at me and then said "Maybe Ryann can marry him"! LOL! I busted up laughing....you gotta love how a 6 year old thinks! Kids, they really do say the darndest things!

On a side note, Doug is still at the doctors with Ryann so as soon as they get home I will post another update on how that went!

And I realize that I haven't posted any pictures for a while. That's because my camera is still dead and I'm still waiting for my new battery charger and new back up battery. It is just killing me to not be able to grab my camera and take pictures when I want to. I think the mailman is going to think I'm stalking him! So as soon as I get my charger I will be posting a bunch of pictures...or to keep everyone happy until than I can post a few oldies but goodies that I haven't shared before........

Noooooo

Now to fully get this picture of me, you have to imagine me holding my hands to my head and throwing my head back and yelling..."Noooooo"! So do you have the picture in your head yet? Okay, now I can get to the story of how I got there!

I didn't get to bed until after 11 last night (mainly because C.J. just didn't want to fall asleep!). Before I headed to bed I went in to check Ryann's blood sugar...which was low once again (we have been having a heck of a time keeping it up lately) so I was able to get a couple juice boxes down her. Normally one juice box will do the trick when she is healthy, but since she's been sick and we've been having such a tough time keeping it up I figured better safe than sorry! Doug then got up around 2:00 to check her blood sugar, and darn it...it was low again (even after giving her two juice boxes..about 32 carbs...at 11:30). So I went in there to help him get her to drink another juice box (Doug has been hurting the past day or so, his back has really been bothering him, so bending over into the bottom bunk of a bunk bed doesn't make it feel better). We were finally able to get some down her, and I was about ready to just pass out on the bed next to her I was so tired. So we go back to bed and next thing I know it's about 4:30 and Ryann is crying...I go in there and she is throwing up (I had really hoped we were getting past all of this!!) So after the first round had passed I got her out of her gross bed and put her in the shower while I once again stripped off puke covered sheets and blankets.

After she got out of the shower I took her out in the living room so I could check her blood sugar and see how that was doing. She was 80, which is right at the low point for where she should be at and I knew it would just keep dropping. Unfortunately, she didnt' really feel like taking any carbs in for me (and who can blame her when she is throwing up!) So I got out the 7-up and just stuck the straw in her mouth occasionally and had her take little sips...we continued this way for a while though she really wasn't drinking that much for me, when she started throwing up again and then the other dreaded stuff reared it's ugly head. Poor thing was sitting on the toilet with her throw up bucket because it was coming out both ends (sorry, if too much information...just wanted you to get the picture of how much fun I've been having since 4:30 this morning). Anyways, I'll move on after saying this happened a couple more times. Around 6:00 I decided I should test her blood sugar again and see how it is looking...which wasn't good, she was low. I couldn't get her to drink more 7-up for me, but I was able to tempt her with some starburst (I know I'm giving my child candy in the morning...but if you've ever been around a diabetic when they are low you know you got to go with whatever works to get their blood sugar back up). I was able to get 4 down her (you can tell she is sick that after the first two I had to practically beg her to eat just a couple more) which was around 16 carbs or so. Then I went ahead and let her fall asleep...she was so tired.

About that time Doogie got up (this kid is an early riser...except on school days and than I have to shake him awake!) complaining about not feeling good again. Thank goodness though that he wasn't throwing up, he was having the other stuff though (I'll refrain from saying it because I'm sure you are tired of hearing the word by now!) After just laying around for most of the morning on the mattress though he is acting like he feels alot better and hopefully it will stay that way!!

Jayde is still downstairs, she finally got up...but then went to lie down on the couch downstairs complaining that she didn't feel good. I've checked on her a few times and she was either asleep or just lying there. I figure that is fine, at this point all the rest they can get will be good for them and hopefully help them get over this.

We finally decided call the doctor's office again and see if we could get Ryann in and have her checked out. So she will go in this afternoon, I will let you know what the verdict is. We just figured that now going on 3 weeks of this stuff is quite enough...we want to be healthy again!!

Anyways, I just checked Ryann again and she was low. So I was able to get a little over a juice box down her before she started hollering at me to leave her alone and then she fell asleep again. I need to check her again in a little while to make sure it is going up. Would like to be able to get something down her that isn't pure sugar...but like I said before when your dealing with a diabetic who's low you do whatever works!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

UGH!

Are we ever going to get over this crud??? After yesterday I thought we might finally be on the mend and than this morning Jaxon starts throwing up again. 'Course I'm not sure if he threw up because he's still sick or because he started gagging/choking. He had been laying on the mattress we have on the floor (gotta have Doug move it back downstairs one of these days so I can clean the floor!) drinking his juice when he started choking and than he started throwing up all of his juice. So I'm hoping that he just started choking and than had that gag reflex kick in which made him throw up and not because he still has this tummy bug! A few of the kids are still having some diarhea off and on, but it seems to be tappering off (can you hear me knocking on wood right now?)

I've been working on cleaning my very disgusting, dirty, germ covered house this morning. Hoping that I can get rid of the germs that are making everyone sick! Doug shampoo'ed the carpet downstairs this weekend trying to get rid of germs as well. I got the kitchen almost done, except for the floors and the sink...so atleast I have accomplished something this morning. It's always interesting trying to clean house and work around 5 kids...especially when a certain one year old wants to be right with you the whole time! Maybe I'll try to clean the floors tonight once everyone is asleep...atleast it will stay clean for a while that way! So if I can atleast get all the toys picked up for longer than 5 minutes so I can vaccum, then most of the other stuff I can do while the kids are asleep. 'Course that means I will be up later in the night...but atleast my house will be clean!

Ahhh...I don't know what to do about that Jaxon. He's been really picking on C.J. alot lately. I think he isn't liking the fact that C.J. plays with all the toys and can go everywhere he goes. But poor C.J. has bruises on his arms from where Jaxon has been biting him!! He gets put in time out everytime and I show him how much that hurts his baby brother...but he still does it. So if anyone has any suggestions on how to get a two year old to stop biting his baby brother shoot me a note!

I think I'm hooked....I came across a blog while I was perusing through one of my regulars. I had bookmarked it to come back to check out later and when I finally got around to checking it out yesterday I just couldn't stop reading! I would love to meet this lady in person I think we would get along great. She has a great sense of humor! She has been writing her story out on how she met her husband and has gotten to where she is today and it is a really good read. I've caught up to how much she has done so far and I can't wait until she writes more! Along with her life story she writes about other daily happenings and posts pictures (she lives on a ranch), she has pretty much self taught herself photography and her pictures are awesome. I love the fact that she also has a few tutorials and how she took certain pictures and what not...and she explains them in terms that you can understand! So if you want a good read go check her out: http://thepioneerwoman.com/black_heels_to_tractor_wheels_a_love_story This first link goes directly to her love story...though there are more chapters that she has written that aren't on that link yet, so you have to go through her monthly archives to find the rest (just look for the titles "black heels to tractor wheels a love story"). And of course he other posts are pretty entertaining as well. I was so hooked on reading her story yesterday that I got nothing done (I sometimes need a good boot in the rear to get off the computer!) So be warned that once you start reading you aren't going to want to stop!

Anyways, besides trying to get everyone healthy and my house cleaned nothing exciting has been happening. Doogie is hanging out with Grammy today (she's doing fun stuff with him for his birthday). I'm working on trying to iron out the details for Doogie's birthday party. I got in touch with his best buddy from school and he'll be able to come hang out with Doogie this weekend. So Doogie was pretty pumped about that...they haven't seen eachother since the last day of school. It seemed like either we were playing phone tag or someone was sick and we just hadn't been able to meet up. I guess he has been sick this past week as well but with something totally different than what we had. So it should be a fun weekend, we are going to take the boys to the new star wars movie (I just need to figure out what time), we were thinking of going swimming but I guess his good buddy is a little nervous around the water and swimming so since we want to make sure he is included in the fun than I'm thinking maybe we can go to the water park or something instead...that way the boys can still get wet! So I think they will have fun and hopefully tire them all out!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Another day....

Started off with a bang! Ryann woke up around 6:00 screaming again and yes...once again she was throwing up! Doogie was close behind around 6:30 puking up the stairs...luckily Doug was ready with a tub and caught it as he was coming up (except for the little bit that got on the landing that I was lucky enough to step in). Jayde so far is acting okay...but we'll see how it goes later on. Ryann's blood sugar is low once again, so that has been fun. When she doesn't feel good and she's low she really doesn't feel like eating and drinking things so it's always interesting. I was hoping the two little guys would get skipped this time around, but it looks like C.J atleast still has some diarhea. Will just have to wait and see on Jaxon and Jayde and see how they do as the day goes on. So this is how our day is going so far and it is only 9:30 in the morning....and I've already done two loads of laundry!

On another note, I made my photography blog last night. Nothing much on it now, but hopefully soon (and once I get a new battery charger for my camera and get some editing software) there will be some pictures showing up. So be sure to go and check it out as well and leave a comment, critique, tip or whatever strikes you fancy!

http://crowephotography.blogspot.com

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Free book giveaway...

Just follow this link for your chance to win some free books! Who can resist the chance to get something for free...and I love to read!

http://bookroomreviews.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/win-a-set-of-fourteen-books/

Happy Birthday to my First Born!!

Wow! I can't believe he is eight years old today! Where does the time go?

We surely started his big day off with a bang too... We were visited this morning (around 2:30ish) by Jayde informing us that Doogie needed us. So Doug went down to his room to see what was going on. A few minutes later Jayde was back upstairs telling me that Daddy needed me...Doogie had thrown up all over his bed and bedroom floor and of course Doug was about ready to hurl himself just looking at it so I got the great honor of cleaning it all up! We put Doogie in the shower to get him all cleaned up, Doug went back to bed while I finished up getting things cleaned up and Doogie back to bed. I finally got back to bed around 3:30ish...but I couldn't fall back to sleep, which is why at 4:00 I saw Ryann get up and head for the living room. I waited a few minutes thinking that she would realize we weren't out there and come look for us in our room...when she didn't I got up to see where she had gone and what she was doing. It took me a little while to find her since she had snuggled up under one of the blankets. I checked her blood sugar to make sure that was okay (which it was) and then put her back to bed and then got back into bed myself and then I still couldn't sleep! I had finally just started drifting off when C.J. woke up around 5:30, Doug got up and brought him to me. I was finally able to fall asleep and than Ryann woke up screaming around 7:00. Doug went running in there to find that she was throwing up too! So he put her in the shower and than took C.J. while I once again got the great honor of cleaning it up...I guess in a way it was best that I did it, otherwise I would be cleaning up after him as well! So we checked her blood sugar and saw that she was low, so we then had to coax some sugar down her (and let me tell you when she doesn't want to take something it is really hard to get her to take it!) Anyways, moving on we finally got everyone settled down and we were all just hanging out on the couch (and mattress on the floor) watching tv and us adults dozing...since we hardly had any sleep last night when Jayde decided that she had to get into the mix as well and started throwing up! She had actually been the only one in the past couple weeks that hadn't gotten sick...but it finally got her today. So once again I was cleaning up and washing more sheets and blankets. I've already done 5 loads of laundry today and I'm still not caught up on my regular stuff!

On the bright side of things it seems that after they throw up they generally start to feel better and they usually only throw up once or twice and than they are done. We just have to keep a close eye on Ryann's blood sugar (which has already gone low a couple times today). She still has hardly been having any insulin, just her long term stuff and an occasional half unit of her short term insulin if she is really high. Otherwise we have just been leaving it alone since everytime we mess with it she goes low!

We went ahead and gave Doogie his birthday presents (which he is pretty pleased with). We got him the Lego Indiana Jones Wii game and a few others as well (along with the Wii fit...which I'm going to be using!) So he is downstairs vegging and taking it easy by playing his new game. Then next weekend when everyone is feeling better (knock on wood...I really hope we are over it by than) we will have his birthday party. Still working on the details, but think that since he only wants a couple of his friends to come over that we'll just take the boys to that new star wars movie that comes out next week. So I just need to get in touch with one of his best buddies from school and see if they will be able to join us next weekend, since I already spoke to his other buddy (his buddy's mom to be more precise) that he wanted to invite, today.

So lets see if I can think of anymore exciting news...oh yeah! Jayde has gotten on the Hannah Montana bandwagon. I think she mainly got interested in it because one of her best friends watches it (she has an older sister). So now whenever we go anywhere and she see's something for Hannah Monatana she gets all excited (she hadn't even seen the show at that point!) So I finally let her watch to even see if she liked it (which she does...and don't tell Doogie I told you this but...he likes it too!) And I must say it is a nice change from watching kiddie cartoons all the time!

Oh and I got my domain name for my hopefully soon to be photography business. Right now it just takes you directly to this blog. But eventually it will have other things on it. Doug said "I guess I better start looking into web design, huh?!" LOL! It will be nice to have my own personal web designer and it is nice to have his support and know that he is behind me on this even though it might be a while before it actually takes off.

I also want to wish my Grandparents a wonderful anniversary (Doogie gets to share this special day with them). So anyways, I think that about wraps it up. But I just want to say one more thing....

Happy Birthday Doogie!! We love you so much and are so proud of the wonderful young man you are becoming!! :)

Friday, August 8, 2008

ETSY Giveaway....


Isn't this just the cutest?! I think these onsies are absolutely adorable (and the baby is pretty darn cute himself...no he isn't mine!) You could win one of these adorable onsies...just follow this link and check it out yourself! http://twinsrock-jolie.blogspot.com/2008/08/etsy-giveaway-round-1.html
There is another one happening now (8-18) I had posted the wrong link...so I put it on this one too!! So go and check it out http://twinsrock-jolie.blogspot.com/2008/08/etsy-giveaway-round-2.html ....here's the right link on my blog! http://asthecrazycroweflies.blogspot.com/2008/08/etsy-giveaway-round-2.html

Thursday, August 7, 2008

ENT

In this case ENT stands for Ear Nose and Throat... we just got back from taking Jayde, Ryann and Jaxon to the ENT. Ryann's tubes are already falling out, but her ears look healthy so the doctor said that as long as she wasn't having any problems he wouldn't need to see her again. Jayde and Jaxon will have to go back in 3 months...he thought that it looked like Jaxon's tubes had come out as well, but he couldn't get a really good look because he had a lot of wax blocking the view...but he had done a test on him when we first got there (that basically blows air into the ear) and that came back fine. But because of his age, he wants to see him again in a few months to make sure they are still okay. One of Jayde's tubes had fallen out, and he went ahead and took it out of her ear canal for her (so now we have to do the "tube" fairy...very similiar to the tooth fairy). And because of all the problems she has had with her ears she will come back in a few months as well to make sure her ears are staying healthy. So it was a crazy morning....the girls did not behave very well in the doctor's office (they both wanted to sit in the the "big" chair), so we didn't have a very good start! So hopefully the rest of the day will go alot better (otherwise I might be pulling my hair out and be down a few less kids by the end of the day!)

On the sicky side...so far we haven't had anymore throwing up episodes or diarhea, but I'm not going to jinx myself again and say that we are out of the woods and getting over it!

Doug was cracking me up last night. I had mentioned to him that I'm thinking about getting more serious about photography. I have come across many people who have started doing their own photography in their home or on location with their digital camera and then they edit the pictures in photoshop (or some other photo editing software), some than will do the printing for their customers while others will burn the pictures in on CD and let the customers print them out themselves or have someone print them out for them. They are able to make their own hours, work things around their own schedule and that of their own children and they seem to be doing pretty well. After looking through some of their photos I said to myself "well I could do that". So I would like to take some more photography classes, get comfortable with the editing software and of course practice on my own children (and maybe on other children that I know) first...but who knows, maybe someday soon I will have my own photography business. All of this I was telling Doug and then the next thing I know he is on the computer buying me my own domain so that I could open my own business (how's that for support!) When I told him not to jump the gun, that it would still take some time for me to be ready to do this, his reply was that we needed to grab the domain name that we want now before it gets taken! He's also already talking about me just starting to take pictures for a friend of his (who also has his own business) to get some exposure and practice that way! So hopefully some day soon I will be doing my own thing and I might be enlisting your help for some business! I know that alot of photographers when they first start out and are trying to get pictures for their portfolio they do free sittings...so just be keeping an eye out for that.... *wink* * wink*

But anyways, that is all still in the talking/planning stage and I'm not sure when it will actually happen. But if you would be interested in something like that or know of someone who would be...let me know! Or if you have photography experience and would like to pass on some tips, any and all would be greatly appreciated!!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Spoke to soon...

Guess I should of knocked on wood a bit harder! It seems that this stomach bug isn't done with us yet. Jaxon, Ryann and C.J. started having diarhea again yesterday and then I was awakened by Ryann yelling for me this morning accompanied by the sound of her throwing up. Definitely not the way I like to wake up in the morning! So we will be taking it easy again and trying to get everyone healthy and over this nasty stuff! I guess it is a good thing we are postponing Doogie's birthday party to next weekend afterall!

On the bright side we have a couple new additions to our family. Grammy rescued a couple kittens from the animal shelter and they have found a home here with us. One of them looks like a little lion cub and his name is "Tucker", then the other is a tabby like Mikey but he has long hair and he also reminds me alot of my old maine coon Rimmer...we let Ryann name him since she finally got potty trained and she picked out the name "Tiny Tim" (there is a song that they sing in preschool about a turtle and it's name is tiny tim and so she has always liked that name). I think it is a cute name though and it will be funny later on when he is huge (I think he is going to be a good size cat) and has a name like Tiny Tim!

I also need to post some more pictures...but unfortunately my battery in my camera is dead and I can't find my charger anywhere. So Doug ordered me another one (after searching and searching for days for my old one) and I should hopefully get it soon. I hate not being able to grab my camera to take pictures when one of the kids are doing something cute!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Dare I say it...

But I think we might be finally turning the corner! I better knock on wood now that I've said that though, knowing my luck someone is going to start throwing up or having diarhea again! Jaxon is still having a little, but his poor bottom is looking alot better and he doesn't seem to mind sitting on it again so I figure that is a good sign!

We had been a little concerned about Ryann since we hadn't been giving her any novolog (her short term insulin) for a few days now (though I'm sure Ryann isn't complaining because her usual four shots a day has gone down to one!) But both our family doctor and our endocrinologist said that it was just fine as long as she was getting her lantus (her long term insulin) and that sometimes it just worked out that way when someone with type 1 diabetes gets sick sometimes they will end up needing more insulin and then there are times when they hardly have to have any at all. So they said to just keep doing what were doing. She went her lowest for us ever on Saturday night (this was the night that we were thinking that she might actually need her short term insulin again since she was up in the high 200's) but just an hour or so later she was down to 26! So we were up for quite awhile with her that night trying to get her back up to where she should be and keeping it there. Last night we sent her to bed in the 300's (which is pretty high) but we didn't want to risk giving her anything and her going low. I'm so glad we didn't give her anything because this morning she woke up at 54! So as you can see it is a big rollarcoaster ride dealing with a sick type 1 diabetic child! Not that it can't be a rollarcoaster on an average day too, so I guess just dealing with diabetes is an adventure.

So anyways, it's been a crazy past week and weekend for us Crowes. And then add on to that, Doogie's birthday is this weekend...that kind of snuck up on me! Can you believe my 1st born is going to be 8?! He just wants a couple of his friends over, though we still aren't sure what we are going to do. But I think we are going to post pone it until next weekend...just to make sure that everyone is over this crud and also give me some extra time to prepare...especially since my house looks like it's been hit by a tornado!

Can you believe that summer is almost over already?! I got to get out and start shopping for all their school supplies before all the good stuff is gone! We are going to start practicing walking to school too, so that we can get familiar with the new route and see how long it takes and what not. I'm not going to let the kids walk by themselves for a while though (wonder if I'll ever be ready for that! LOL!) But it will be good for them to be familiar with it just in case of an emergency. So we better get cracking...school starts back up for us on the 27th! And then Jaxon and Ryann don't start up until September 10th for preschool. Wow...my little guy is going to go to preschool this year! Another big change for us...I hope that he will adjust to that, he is kind of a momma's boy so we'll see how that goes!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Still sick here...

Though we did have a better night, after we finally got everyone to bed (which was after 11:00)!! Then Jayde came into our room about 6ish to tell us that Doogie was throwing up, so Doug went down there to take care of him. At about 6:45ish C.J woke up so I went in to go and get him (secretly hoping that I could put him into bed with me and catch a few more winks). Unfortunately as soon as I went in there a distinct odor hit me...yep, you guessed it...he had had diarhea and it wasn't only him, Jaxon had too. So I got a double whammy straight off this morning! Poor Jaxon's bottom is still really red and sore, so it hasn't been fun when it is time to change his diaper and he's been avoiding sitting directly on his bottom. With everyone feeling crappy we decided to just bring up our old mattress (that has been sitting in the hallway downstairs, because we need to find a spot to store it) and put it on the living room floor so that everyone could just sprawl out somewhere. Balder is really loving it too! Poor guy's leg is really hurting him and I think sleeping on the nice soft mattress is helping him out some. Grammy even came over a bit this morning/early afternoon to help since Doug had to run some errands. So far the only people who haven't thrown up yet are Doug, Jayde and me (though I've come close a few times!)

Anyways, I better get moving. Jaxon just woke up (he crashed on the mattress) and I think he is poopy again (ouch!) Which means another fun diaper change!

Summer Fun Photo Contest


The ladies over at 5 Minutes For Mom are having a photo contest, the winner gets $500...so I figure I have nothing to lose and who knows I might just get lucky (God knows we definitely could use the money)! After much and much debate I finally decided on this one picture (and let me tell you it was tough to choose just one...you know how many pictures I have! LOL!) But I just kept coming back to this picture of Jaxon from the very beginning of this summer (you can see he still has his shaggy hair). He really wanted to play in the sprinkler mat, but just wasn't too sure about actually getting wet! So he would stand there on the edge and just stick his hands in and get them wet! C.J. on the other hand just got right into it, that child is just fearless. Anyways, if I'm lucky enough to get into the finals (they will post them on the 15th)...I could use your votes!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Grammy to the rescue!

We are still getting hit with this stomach bug. It came back around today and hit us hard. I woke up feeling pretty crappy and it probably didn't help that I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I was up until past 12:30 with C.J., than Jayde was up at 4:30 (something about having a bad dream or being afraid of something), C.J. was then back up at 5:30 and Jaxon was up at 6:30. So it was a long night and I think tonight is going to be another long one!

Ryann woke up this morning covered in crud, she had diarhea and her diaper had leaked...so that wasn't fun to clean up. Then as soon as I had gotten her cleaned up Jaxon did the same thing! When I finally got everyone cleaned up and settled I was going to run and grab a quick shower before the next crisis hit...and that is when Doogie started yelling for me saying Jaxon was throwing up....yep, sure enough! And of course he had to do it on the couch...so I was pulling out the carpet shampooer and doing some cleaning.

I called Doug to see if he could come home, but he couldn't...he had something he had to get done first. So it was Grammy to the rescue, she braved it to come over and help all of us sicko's out even though she had just gotten over this nasty crud herself and brought some 7-up with her! And I don't know what I would of done without her help...it would of definitely been alot more chaotic than it was! Poor Jaxon was just feeling so crummy and his poor bottom is just so raw that he can't stand you to even touch it (which makes for interesting diaper changes)...so he's just been screaming bloody murder and wanted me to hold him the whole time. C.J. was pretty happy to have Grammy there to hold him and play with him, especially since I couldn't really do much for him because of Jaxon. Which is probably why he is being a mad hatter now that she is gone!

Doogie and Jayde were complaining a little at first about having a yucky tummy but they seem to be feeling fine now. So knock on wood that we are getting over the worst of this stuff and hopefull y on the mend. Jayde was so funny when I told her that Grammy was going to come over and help...she said that she really liked it that Grammy didn't have to do daycare anymore! I said well she just has the summer off and than when school starts again she has to start watching daycare kids again. Jayde was so bummed...I think they have really enjoyed having their Grammy to themselves this summer without having to share her with a daycare kid!

So anyways, I'm on my own again for a bit while Doug is at the store getting a few things that we need to ride the storm. I'm hoping that everyone will settle down okay tonight but I'm pretty sure I'm just fooling myself with wishful thinking!