The Battle with the Blood Sugar!

This Gestational Diabetes thing is really frustrating. It isn't so much about what I eat, I can deal with the Vegies and the limited bread/carbs and fruit (although the fruit thing is hard, especially with all the yummy fresh fruit around) and even eating lots of protien. I am dealing with all that, I am following the diet they gave me and I really am trying to get this thing under control. But when I eat what is 'good' for me and my blood sugar is too high, it is extremely frustrating. Why is it that I can eat the exact same thing for lunch two days in a row and one day the blood sugar is 'Normal' and the next it is too 'high?' I am baffled and I hope that when I see the Dr. again on Friday I will get some more guidance and answers.

I am determined not to complain, except maybe once in a while to Steve, my Mom, and my sisters. I am getting anxious as the end is getting closer. 60 days until my due date, but I am thinking/hoping they don't let me go to my due date - I don't need Jumbo Baby! HaHa. But really if I can just get to the 37 week mark I will be a happy camper.

I have been greatly blessed with some fantastic Doctors and that gives me some peace of mind. So as the battle continues, I know that I will be well taken care of and I am determined to WIN!

Is anyone out there?

I am just wondering - really are you there? No one seems to be reading or at least leaving any comments. I do love the comments. Come on make a hot (and not the good looking kind of hot) pregnant ladies day and comment. Really I would love it!

Out of the Heat

I do not love heat! I don't love being hot - give me some 80 degree weather and I am a happy girl. Once the thermometer starts creeping past 95 - I really don't like it. Now, add into that mix that I am a large, somewhat grumpy pregnant lady, let's just say it is not pretty. So I have more or less decided to just stay inside, unless absolutely necessary. I can't even take the kids swimming, but in my defense it is 109 degrees or so. Let's hope we cool down, just a little bit soon.



In that light and in a need to just escape for a little, Steve and I decided to head out to the coast Friday evening and then hit the beach on Saturday. It was spur of the moment and although in our early married years we did the spur of the moment thing often, with more kids it has happened less and less. So when we announced to the kids we were going these were the reactions:



Tyler - Looked at us oddly and said, "What?"
Brooklynn - With big tears in her eyes kept saying, "I don't understand, what do you mean?" She was most confused, I mean really confused, I explained it to her a number of times before she understand and was rolling with the idea.
Josh - Was naked and looking for his swimsuit in about 20 seconds. He just heard beach and was ready to go.



So with that we packed some clothes and left. Let me just say the 30 degree drop in temperature was WONDERFUL!



On Saturday, we enjoyed breakfast at Denny's, a quick check out of the outlet stores, a couple of hours at Avila beach (Steve thought it was cold), a lovely dip in the pool at the hotel and then we were on the road to head home. I am amazed at what a mere 24 hours out of this heat did for my spirits and the joy it brought the rest of the family. Well worth it!

Enjoying a snow cone! Josh picked green, he always pics green.

Proof I was there - I can't believe I am posting this lovely shot.

Swim Club

We found out this year that the Clovis Swim Club does a summer program at all the highschools. For a most reasonable price, especially for around here, we could sign Ty up and he would swim Monday to Friday every morning for an hour. It was a great way for him to improve his swimming and learn some of the more advanced strokes. Not to mention it is much cheaper than swimming lessons! To top it off once a week they would have a swim meet. How fun I thought - and it has been. Although we missed the first 2 swim meets while we were in Idaho/Utah. Tyler has completely enjoyed it. The first meet he swam in was a little crazy, he swam a 25 Free Style and a 25 Backstroke. It was so fun to watch him. Last week was great MINUS the 106 degree heat. He swam the butterfly leg of the relay and did great! The 25 Free and 25 back. They also put him in the 25 breaststroke, but he opted not to swim it because he does not love it. This week is his last meet and even though it will be hot still I am excited to get out there and watch him again! He is improving his times and although he hasn't necessarily been the fastest he is doing great and getting better. Not to mention that he has loved it. He will deny it and even say he wouldn't do it again next year, but he is a liar and you can tell by the look on his face when we are there!

Vacation Part 3 - Fourth of July

After our time in Bear Lake and to make our long trek from home worth it, we headed back down south to Julie and TJ's house. It was going to be another family reunion of sorts with everyone there except for my parents and Marilee. Adam braved bringing the kids on his own and left a sad lonely and very preggo Mar behind. We missed having her with us, but were happy we got to enjoy time with Adam and the kids.

We arrived at Julie's on Wednesday and just hung out and relaxed. Natalie had been in the hospital and had surgery the night before because she broke her elbow the night before. She was a trooper and had a pretty good day, despite her discomfort because of all the flowers and cookies and letters she recieved all day. She was very brave and Brooklynn was glad to be there to help her and do what she does best - Mother.

Thursday Julie and I braved taking the kids to Boondocks. When I say braved, I mean it was me and Julie with 11 children ranging in age from age 11 to almost 2. Not to mention little miss Natalie who was in a cast from wrist to arm pit. It was quite an adventure and I am glad to say that we didn't lose anyone. Everyone got a prize with the tickets they won and we didn't get rained on while trying to do the outdoor activities. We were also lucky enough to run into Misty and her kiddos. They were staying at her in-laws, who happen to live right around the corner from Julie. Anyway, it was fun to see them and I was most grateful to Justin who helped me out and took Brookie on the bumper boats!

The mini golfing crew

Justin and Brookie

Tyler and Logan on the bumper boats

On Friday we hung around all day and then in the evening after the Miller crew arrived we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I am sure I spelled that all wrong, but oh well. It was enjoyable, but it took a very, very long time. The temple was beautiful and I think the kids thought it was pretty cool, but by the end Steve and I were done. I thank the sweet worker who stopped me and suggested that we take the elevator because of all the stairs. I don't think Steve or I would have made it. We were quite the pair.

Natalie, Marin and Brookie

Me and my silly brother.

Julie snapped this cute one of our girls in their matching PJ's.

The fourth of July brought with it some great fun. Although not sure that we would even be there for it, Julie convinced all of us to get tickets to Stadium of Fire, with the Jonas Brothers. Oh yes people, we went and had a great time. Not only did we go to the show, but Julie had the great idea to go down early to Tailgate! So that is what we did. With 16 kids, plus Julie's babysitter and her younger sister, and 7 adults we parked it and ate some dinner! It was fantastic and saved us from battling traffic and worrying about getting there in time and finding parking. After a great meal and some fun visiting, we headed into the stadium. We split up in order for the cousins to each have a buddy. Steve, Adam, TJ, Ty, Jack, Brady, Garett and Logan sat in one area. Ryan, Nic, Amber, Annie, Justin, Spencer, Ben and Grace sat together. And the Julie, Me, Natalie, Reece, Brooklynn, Josh and Kirsten and her sister headed to the last group of seats. As far as I know everyone, including our little 2 year olds had a great time. I even got reports that Tyler and Jack were belting out the tunes and totally groovin! I think the winner for the party animal of the night was Reece - SHE LOVED IT! She danced and sung the whole show! The show really was fantastic and I'm glad JuJu talked us all into it. This was one of the best July 4th's ever!

Julie's traditional, but tedious, flag brownies

Spencer and Brookie


Cousins Grace and Reece

Brookie, Annie, Natalie and Marin

Waiting for the Jonas Brothers

Reece who loved the show soooo much!

That brings our vacation run down to an end. We chilled all day Sunday and then trekked back home on Monday. While it is always good to be home, I hate being so far away from all those that I love. I am blessed to have a great family that I love to be with. And that goes for both the Empey and Miller sides! LOVES to you all!!!

Vacation Part 2 - Bear Lake

After our little stop in Vegas we headed for Utah. After a night at my parents house and an early morning we started heading north again for Bear Lake. We had hauled all our camping gear and the kids were most excited to see their cousins.

Upon arriving at Bear Lake we drove right out to the beach to meet up with the Empey Family! It had been a long time since we had seen most of the family and it was wonderful to see them all. At least for the first 30 minutes. It was at that point that Tyler and some of the other kids started throwing water on Steve. Of course Uncle Steve is always up for a good water fight and throwing the kids into the water and what not. The water was high at the Lake this year due to all the rain they had been getting. This possed a big unseen hazard. As Steve started chasing Ty through the water he stepped into a hole and whamo - there goes his ankle. We assumed this hole had been dug before the water level got so high and was not visible to unsuspecting water goers. This was not a normal sprain as Steve initially thought it was and after some coaxing by his mom and his beautiful wife he agreed to go to the ER 23 miles away. Diagnosis - Broken! Not broken as in broken, but as in a chunk of bone was pulled away and was not looking so good in there. The Dr. oncall, who happened to be the OBGyn for the area, recommended seeing an Orthopedic surgeon, but for the time being Steve got to camp on crutches. We had not even set up our tent yet. We were quite the pair - me huge waddling and prego and steve on crutches. Oh the fun! We all know how much I love camping and this was not helping at all. Thankfully everything turned out great and despite the injury we had a great week.

• The kids, of course, had fun with their cousins.
• We had our traditional dutch oven cook off.
• Grandpa took Steve and Ty and Josh fishing. This was a huge hit with the boys.
• Brooklynn followed Grandma around and was her shadow and helper, she adores her Grandma and I think her Grandma adores her!
• Uncle Kelly set up an obstacle course for the kids and we all found out how fast Brooklynn is. She beat Haven and then went up against Tyler and she beat him too.
• We ate some great food
• We played at the beach
• We enjoyed spending time with everyone.

We love and miss you all and wish we weren't so far away.

Thanks to Kari and J, I do have a few pics to share. I don't think there is one of Ty, but I'm pretty sure Grandma will have some!Me and Steph! Here is a small glimpse of me Prego - Enjoy because I don't allow to many of these to be taken.

These two silly boys love and hate each other. They are almost like twins and loved not listening to us and wandering off together when they were told not to.

Brooklynn and Haven. They had a great time together and are both very silly girls!

Summer Vacation Part 1!

Just to remind you all this post will have no pictures. Sorry super boring, but such is life.

So our summer vacation started with a stop in Las Vegas. Steve had some work to do there so we all packed up jumped in the car and enjoyed a stop for a few days. Besides having a great time, it was a wonderful way to break up the drive. We stayed at a great hotel with a great pool (thank heavens) and thanks to Steve's quick thinking and talking we even got upgraded to a suite bigger than our house. No joke people it was really nice!

On day One in Vegas Steve worked all the day long and the kids and I spent the day by the pool. The pool was great, I would show you, but again no pictures. The kids loved it, I loved it and thankfully it wasn't unbearably hot. I found a nice spot under an umbrella, we had lunch by the pool and just enjoyed the change of scenery.

Day two brought with it some more fun. We decided to head down to the strip to take the kids to the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Aquarium. In my opinion it was well worth the money and all the kids loved it. Josh was not so sure at first, but warmed up and all the way through would look at the animals and then try to find them in his information book. It was cute and all in all his favorite animal was the Kimodo Dragon and the red ball that was sitting in his enclosure to play with. Tyler loved the sharks and Brooklynn really enjoyed all of it. Once back at the hotel we headed back out to the pool and enjoyed swimming and being together as a family. I really am blessed with adorable great kids and a fantastic hubby!

On day Three we woke up, packed up, Steve finished up all his work and we hit the road to Utah. We arrived at my mom and dad's house, enjoyed a great Thunder Storm and got to catch up with Steve's buddy JD, his wife Christy and their 4 adorable kids. We lived by them for the few months that we lived in Logan, Utah when Ty was a baby.

This was a great start to our Vacation and although we all despise the drive to Utah, this stop definitely made it bearable.

I have to mention one thing about Josh that was awesome. Really the kid is always so funny, but he loved the Elevator. He always wanted to press the buttons and for whatever reason, it made his day everytime we let him press them. There was one time where he didn't get to press either button so as we were waiting for the Elevator to stop, Steve being the quick thinking dad that he is, told Josh to quickly press the button so the Elevator would stop. He did and when he realized that the Elevator stopped and the doors opened because he pressed the button he was so thrilled that as we got out he started cheering, raised the roof a little, and even gave us a 'woohoo,' he them proceeded to dance through the lobby. It was so cute and of course the rest of us got the giggles. I love that little boy! He is such a nut. Oh and I musn't forget that in Josh lingo, it is a 'MOTIVATOR' not an Elevator.

Updates coming.....

As usual after a great vacation I am suffering from PVB - you know the post vacation blues. To make it worse I still have not caught up on my sleep and am exhausted.

I am going to update, but after an unknown person got ahold of my camera at my sister's house and deleted all and I do mean all, as in every last one of my pictures from our vacation, I am trying to collect shots taken by the rest of the family. I was most disappointed with the loss of all the pictures but especially of a few of the fantastic shots I took. For example the one that Ty took of me by the pool in Vegas, the ones of Josh and Jake being crazy, Steve playing with Maggie. The one of Brooklynn with Grandpa Nelson it couldn't have been more adorable. The pictures of all of us outside the new Temple in Utah, all the pictures at Stadium of fire and the list goes on.

After a few hours of anger and a few tears, I came to the conclusion that the memories are what is really important and besides everyone else took some pictures too, so I'll just have to get all the copies!

With that, I will update in the next few days!