The Day We've Been Waiting For

We've been married for over 4 1/2 years, and have been in school the whole time.

The first two years we were both in school. (And then I graduated, yay!)

Sometimes I look back at that and think of how crazy we were! Both being in school and working has so much involved with it. How did we not go nuts?

But now....

We are SO close to being ALL THE WAY DONE!

Jeff graduates with his Masters degree in less than two months.

December 18th, people! It's getting close!

And the cherry on top is that he just accepted an awesome job offer to start after he graduates!!!

Eeeee!!

We would not be at the point we are now if it weren't for Jeff's willingness to sacrifice.

I know I've said this before on my blog, but he has worked so hard these past 5 years.

Like so so so hard. It boggles my mind most of the time.

All of that has shown itself to the people he's applied, interviewed, and received job offers from too. They have all been impressed that he would work full-time, go to school full-time and still get good grades.

Most of the people (or maybe all of the people) that Jeff goes to school with are doing their Masters part-time. It's 30 credit hours, so a lot of people do it in three semesters cause they all work full-time and who would be crazy enough to take on a full-time Masters program too?

My husband.

That's who.

He's done his Masters in two semesters. A lot of that has been because he wants to start his career, be done with school, etc. So he's buckled down and done it in two.

This semester has been INSANELY busy for him.

In the month of September I think he had 15+ interviews (that's including second interviews) with different firms around Utah.

So I guess I should explain what Jeff is doing for work.

He's an accountant.

He's getting his Masters in Accounting and then he'll become a CPA.

So there are two roads people take when they are accountants. They either go into industry, which is more vague, but it pretty much means you're an accountant for a company. Ie Goldenwest (like what Jeff does currently). There are lots of other things you can do in industry, but the gist of it is you do accounting, finances, businessy things for a company.

The other option is public accounting. In public accounting you either audit or do taxes for several companies. So you work for a firm that has many many clients and do those services for them.

In Jeff's case, he's going to be an auditor. So he'll go to his clients, and be like: "Uh....your numbers are all messed up. Why didn't you pay such and such whatever money blah blah blah, audit audit audit."

Cause that's TOTALLY what he's going to say. And I TOTALLY know exactly what I'm talking about. (And Jeff would shake his head if he reads this, cause I sound like an idiot.)

Doing public accounting has many benefits.

People who are looking for CFO's think if you have public accounting experience that you're really marketable. And if you stay in public accounting you make quite a bit of money.

Cha-CHING!

So yay public accounting! Ha ha

Throughout his recruting process he has had lots of interviews. First, second, and even a couple third interviews.

He ended up getting five offers from places to work!

It was actually kind of harder having so many options, cause we really had to look at every little detail and decide which would be best for our family. It wasn't like he just got one offer and we had to take it, or two and one was obviously better than the other.

There was one place that really wanted him to work for them. They'd call him every other day and up their salary, and just try really hard to get him to work there, ha ha. They were really nice and generous to him.

The one we officially decided on is actually only five minutes away from our house! They have an office in downtown Salt Lake, but the office they want Jeff at is in South Ogden. Woo woo!

They offer a lot of opportunity for growth and things throughout his career, so we're excited he gets to work there. They are a really good company!

I'm so proud of Jeff for putting in all of the hard work now and the years leading up till now. He's never tried to take the easy way out of any of it, and it's paid off. Getting a Masters degree and becoming an auditor for a big, cool company....I cry just thinking about how great he is.

He's always put our family first, thinking about how he can make our life the best it can be. He's done that with the future in mind and has always reached for really high goals.

I'm very proud of him.

A lot of people wait to have kids or even get married till they are all the way done with school. It definitely makes sense why, because it certainly is no little sacrifice to have kids while still being in school!

And when that happens most moms have to work outside the home to compensate for their husband/themself being in school and not having as much money. (School eats all money)

Is it any wonder then that I'd be forever grateful that I haven't had to work since Grace has been in our family?

Do you know how lucky I am?

I owe so much of my happiness to Jeff. He's all of my happiness.

Happy that I get to be a stay-at-home mom. Happy that I can have a baby girl to watch grow. Happy that I have food and shelter and security. Happy that I have so much love in my life.

Everyone deserves a partner in their life who works hard to ensure that happiness. I know I'll always be grateful that I have it.

Meme Time

Sometimes people's ignorance drives me crazy.

So instead of ranting about it,  here are some memes to describe how I feel.

Ha.

Type 1 Diabetes is hard business. I feel like I'm not going to be used to it for another couple of years. Being in the honeymoon period, coming out of that eventually, having more babies will throw a ginormous curve ball into everything, etc. 

Sigh. What can you do? Laugh at these funny memes, I guess. Laughter is better than anything else I can think of in this situation!

“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”

― Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Wrapped Around Her Finger

You know before you had kids how you'd look at young parents freakishly applauding their tiny baby's smallest, most menial accomplishments?

You'd look at them and think to yourself....

...I mean, obviously I'll think my own baby is great, but when said baby comes along, I'm not going to congratulate them for every little thing they learn. Can people really be that proud?

Sorry, former baby-less self.... it's possible.

It's not only possible, it is reality! Ha ha

I love that Grace is in this explosive stage where she is learning SO much! Her cognitive skills have sky rocketed the last couple months or so.

And yes...

I feel very proud.

I love my baby.

Her latest thing is signing and saying "please" for things that she wants.

When she actually says please, it sounds more like a snake, but a lot of times she'll halfheartedly add a P sound at the first.

"Ssssssss! Sssss!!"

An interesting thing about that too, is I think she actually knows she's being polite when she says it. She is a sweetheart.

She doesn't want to go down stairs backwards anymore, but she's not strong/coordinated enough to go down forward by herself. So now every time we are around stairs she makes me hold her hand while she goes down. Ha ha.

She's starting to get to the age where she can understand discipline a little better.

I almost feel like I'm in this transitional state where I am deciding what kind of mom I want to be.

I've disciplined MANY children in my life.

That's what I went to school for.

Jk...it's a lot more than just that.

But still.....

I know what's good.

I know what's not good.

I've had a lot of experience from all of the jobs/internships/student teachings I did before I had Grace.

So why do I find it so hard to discipline her?

That girl just melts my heart. She HAS my whole heart! I never want her to be sad!

I know what her limits are and I try to work around them, but there are always times when things aren't okay for her to do and she REALLY wants to still do them. *cue tantrum*

The past couple of days I've started to notice a little more fake crying on her part.

Her fake cries are harder to identify, cause she's actually pretty good at producing real tears and total sad face at the drop of a hat, but I'm starting to be able to see when she's crying for real and when she's just trying to get away with something.

Sigh.

That sweet little baby...

She really is a great little girl. When I'm talking about disciplining her, it's not like it's an annoying never-ending process. She is a toddler, though, so it is a part of our life.

The saying that you want to give them the whole world is so true. Why does it have to be true?!?!? It makes disciplining that much harder!

"You want all the candy in the store? Yes, of course you can have it!"

I guess I understand better now why a lot of parents are over indulgent. It's not a good thing by any means, I just think I get it now. I can see how easy it is to be that way with your children.

Babies need to learn though. It's important to learn patience. 

I firmly believe that the parent is the child's number one for everything.

Love.

Support.

Teaching.

And definitely discipline.

If a child's parent is in the room I have a hard time intervening on bad behavior. Parents are the child's best teacher! They are the child's number one. And since I know that's true, I want to be a good number one for Gracie Goo too.

I want to establish a healthy kind of discipline with her. I think I am, but I find myself being weak sometimes.

I know things like this start far before now in a child's life, and I think we're in a good direction. I'm just seeing weaknesses that only she can bring out in me and it kind of makes me shake my head.

I guess she has me wrapped around her finger. 

15 Months Old

We went to Grace's 15 month check up the other day. I love her doctor! She's so nice, straightforward, professional, honest, but not rude...all the good things a doctor can be.

She was pretty impressed by Grace and even used the word "advanced"! 

I've always thought she's a smart baby, but this is the third time or so her pediatrician has told me she thinks so too. 

Way to boost my mommy ego! Ha ha

The reason she said it this time was because of the word count I told her Grace can say. 

When she asked me how many words she can say I wasn't really prepared for the question so I said: "I think about 10." 

She then said, "Wow, that's really good! Most babies her age can only say four or five." 

Usually "mama" and "dada", plus two or three others.

The words Grace can say are:

Mom

Dah-y (Daddy)

Buh (Bye bye)

Go!

Yes

Duh-n (Done)

Dis (This)

Uh oh

Daw (Dog)

Woof woof 

I don't know if "woof woof" counts as a word? So maybe it's just really nine. 

And her sign language words are:

More

All Done

Diaper

A funny story about signing "diaper".....this last weekend Jeff was home in the morning and was laying in bed when Grace got up. I was in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast and I hadn't changed her diaper yet. I told her "Go tell Daddy, diaper.", and she did! Ha ha. She immediately turned around, went to our bedroom, got on the bed with Jeff, and signed diaper. 

I came in a couple minutes later after I was done cleaning up and said: "Did she tell you to change her diaper?" and Jeff was like: "Oh my gosh, she did! I didn't realize that's what she meant when she did that." Ha ha. 

It's amazing to me to see my little baby do 2 or even 3 step instructions. 

When I did at-home therapy with autistic kids I worked with five and six year olds who couldn't do two-step instructions. I would work weeks, sometimes months, with them to "go get the ball and bring it to me". 

Children are fascinating, aren't they?

Speaking of autism, at our doctor's appointment the other day Grace's pediatrician said: "At the 18 month check up we don't do any shots, it's just to check her development. Plus we do an autism screening. .......not that I think she has autism. I actually know she doesn't...it's just a routine thing we do with everyone."

I wanted to stop her and say: "Oh no, it's okay, I worked a ton with autism before I had Grace. I'm glad you guys screen everyone. It's important!" 

But obviously I don't ever say things like that, even when it's appropriate. 

Just smile and nod, boys, smile and nod. 

It seriously is so important to catch those little cuties with autism early, though, and get them help as soon as possible. I can't even preach how much I believe in early intervention. 

And I'm sure nobody wants to hear me preach, so we'll leave it at that, ha ha ha. 

I think a big reason why Grace knows more words than average for her age is because of all the books we read. If she had it her way we'd read books ALL day. 

She prefers books over any other toy. Obviously she still plays with the other toys too, but most of my day is her bringing a book up to me, wanting me to read it. 

She has a couple favorite books right now, and favorite pages. She'll remember when the page is coming up and will get excited if she knows it's the next page. One of her favorite pages in a book she likes is where the shark in the book pops out of the water and scares the fisherman in the boat. The fisherman screams and without fail Grace screams every time with him, ha ha ha ha. It's so funny! 

She's a little cutie cute. 

I'm pretty strict about screen time, both tv and phone wise. I actually never let Grace play with my phone. That's just not a habit she needs! And cause I feel like there are way better things that we could be doing (like reading books!). One of things I'll let her watch on TV, if I need a minute to do something, is Baby Signing Time. 

Grace LOVES Baby Signing Time! 

Her favorite song is "The Pets I Love", cause it shows animals and she's animal OBSESSED! 

Dogs, cats, birds...

She wants all the animals. 

Yesterday we were watching and there is a song about signing "mom" and "dad". When the lady on the screen signed "mom" for the first time in the song Grace looked at me and signed it too! I'm not sure if she knew what it meant? But it was really cute! 

My mom and Dave have been babysitting Grace a lot lately, because we've been going to exciting things for Jeff's future (which I probably shouldn't talk about till later)....and Grace is in love with their three cats. 

The one cat Frodo (No, my family doesn't like Lord of the Rings, why do you ask? Ha ha) will let Grace do whatever she wants to him. She pulls him across the kitchen floor by his tail, she'll whack him to her hearts content, ha ha ha. She's definitely more brave with cats than she is with dogs. She LOVES dogs, and if we hear one outside she'll start to freak out, but she doesn't really dare touch them if we are around one. She'll get really excited and actually kind of cry out of excitement, but she has a hard time going and petting them.

One last thing about Grace's appointment the other day....and this might be more on the my-kid-isn't-stellar-at-everything side of things....

Grace's percentiles are funny! She's 37th percentile for her height....short girl like her mom.... 33rd percentile for her weight....the girl is a bird when it comes to eating.... and 77th percentile for her head! Ha ha ha ha....I've mentioned before that both Jeff and I have big heads.

Seriously though....the biggest thing I struggle with her is eating. She eats at every meal, but I am probably not lying when I say MOST meals she'll eat 3 bites and be "all done!"

*cue Grace signing "all done"*

She's a really slow eater like me, actually. So even though it's three bites, it's three bites over a period of.....15 minutes.

You think I'm exaggerating? Come have dinner with us sometime.

I dunno....I think she's getting better.

There have been several meals the past couple of days that she's eaten everything on her plate and sometimes even had seconds. It just depends on the food.

So there you go....she's only PRACTICALLY perfect in every way...not TOTALLY perfect in every way. :)

Well, until next time....

We are super excited for fall and all the holidays that come with that! I have such fond feelings for this time of year. Our days and weekends are going to be getting a lot more busy!

Leeches

You know those boyfriends you used to have that were kind of like leeches?

You started out liking them (why else would you date them?) and then as time went on you realized they were getting WAY more out of the relationship than you were.

And if you ever prepared yourself to end it they'd emotionally/metaphorically grab hold of you like the little blood suckers they were and make you feel like you couldn't EVER let them go.

Ever.

Well...

I feel like I'm in one of those relationships right now.......but it's NOT with a person.

Don't worry, Jeff's still the best ever. As always, be ready for some solid Jeff praise later in this post.

Is it possible to want to break up with an internal organ?

Because, I seriously want to break up with my pancreas.

It's acting super leechy and causing me all kinds of grief.

One day it's like: "I'm still here! I'm helping you! Look at me, I'm the best!"

And then the next day it's like: "I'm sick. I'm super awful and don't feel like doing anything for you."

And then two days later it's like: "HEY HEY HEY! I saw you talking to all those doctors about me! Well jokes on you, I'm working again!!"

I am ready for some separation.

Unfortunately, they never actually remove said organ from T1D's, even when it's completely dead and broken.

Hooray.

I mean, I guess I shouldn't WANT it to be done working, right? Enjoy the honeymoon while it lasts?

Some honeymoon....

Not feeling much love over here.



In other news, it's been raining a whole lot the past couple of days! I love it! The only thing not to totally love is the fact that we have to stay inside all day.

Babies don't really like staying inside all day.

Grace is in love with reading lately. She brings me books all day and wants to just read read read. She has some favorite books right now that she gets really excited when we get to certain pages.

It's fun seeing her learn things.

She's learning the dog says "woof woof" and the cat says "meow" right now. She's really good at "woof woof", but her "meow" sounds.....nothing like a meow. Ha ha ha ha. She'll do the same sound every time though, if that counts?

We're slowly learning sign language which is exciting! It's fun to see the difference between Grace and Zach and how quickly they pick up on certain signs.

Boys and girls are so different, it's funny to watch!

They both sign "more" ALL the time.

Grace eats a cracker....as soon as the last bite is in her mouth....*signs more*

We read a book....as soon as the last page is shut.... she'll sign more.

The other night she signed more in the bath when I turned off the water. "More water, Mommy!"

More is our expertise.

Grace now knows "all done" and is very proud of herself when she signs it. She lights up and acts like she just conquered something amazing. I like seeing her feel good about things she does!

The other day Zach signed "milk", I think. It surprised me cause I've never helped him sign it, he had just seen me do it!

I'm also trying to teach them: help, water, cracker, eat, and drink.

I feel like they are little sponges, so hopefully that many isn't confusing for them. They learn so quickly, I think they are getting it.

Zach cracks me up, cause whenever I do any sign he'll smile and sign "more", not cause he actually wants more of something, but he's just saying: "hey look, I can sign too!"

Babies are fun.

We are already half way through September! Totally crazy.

94 days till Jeff graduates!

I'm constantly in awe by how hard he works.

I'm very grateful that he has put in the hard work now to set us up for a good future. Getting a masters degree is really hard! And working and being a husband and father on top of that is more than hard. He's so good at it though.

He's never taken the easy way out of anything. He's always had big goals for the future and has done what he needs to do to reach them. I'm just really proud of him.

Well, I guess like almost all of my blog posts you can see that my life is crazy, but really happy too.

I hope my humor about my trials actually comes across as humor. Laughing about hard stuff makes it easier to see all of the good that is in your life. I've been blessed with a lot of good!

The Weirdest Honeymoon

I'm not even going to sugar coat this one.

This blog post is about diabetes.

Surprise!

Jk. That's not a surprise.

I went to my endocrinologist today to get my A1C checked and let me just tell you.....I was so nervous!

I shot out of bed this morning like I was going to be late, when really my appointment was four hours away.

Let me explain some of these terms....

An endocrinologist is a doctor who specializes in diabetes.

An A1C is a percentage of what my blood sugar has been over the past three months.

People with Type 1 Diabetes have low and high blood sugar and that's why things like insulin and skittles are in my life.

I've been tasting way too much of the rainbow lately...

Anyways...

Normal blood sugar is between 80-130. So for all of you people who have normal functioning bodies, your pancreas keeps you there at those numbers all the time and you never have to think about if your blood sugar is out of whack. Your body just works how it's supposed to.

For me a normal A1C should be about 6%. And non-diabetics usually range somewhere between 4-5%. 4-5% means that your blood sugar is on average between the 80-130. Peachy keen.

When I was diagnosed with T1D my A1C was 14%.

(Everyone who is medically inclined is screaming right now)

14% means that my blood sugar had been at an AVERAGE of 300 over that past three months.

Really really bad.

Well, today, my A1C was at 5.1%! Wooooooohooooo! That's a lot better than 14%. My doctor thinks it's too low though, so she's taking me off of insulin for now.

Say whaaaat?

I don't have to stab myself with a needle several times a day?

Hooray!

Does that mean I'm cured!?

Noooooooooooooo way, ha ha.

What we have going on here is called "the honeymoon period".

When people get diagnosed with T1D and start treatment for it, the pancreas will wake up for one more blink and be like:

"What? I'm dying? I'm not helping you anymore? Whatever, I'm totally going to help you!"

And then it does....for an undecided amount of time.

My doctor said she's seen people go through the honeymoon period for a month and other people two years! Everybody's body is different.

Who knows how long mine will last, but it definitely means I'll be tasting a lot less rainbow for a bit.

Insulin helps the blood sugar go down, but since I'm in that honeymoon phase where my pancreas woke up for one more minute I was getting too much insulin and it would make me go low (allll the tiiiiime).

And what do you do when your blood sugar is low?

Eat skittles.

It's kind of weird looking to the future and thinking about what I'm going to need to do.

Once my pancreas is officially dead and the honeymoon is over (honeymoons generally don't end in death...........I guess this one does though.......), I will go back on insulin. And I can guarantee it'll be lots more than I ever took before.

I'll get an insulin pump someday.

That's weird to think about.

So many changes......I guess I'll just keep honeymooning till the next big change!

Miss Eden

Miss Gracie Goo....

There are so many things I love about you!

I love how you explore every place and examine every thing you come in contact with.

I love your language. Your little babble is different and funny compared to a lot of babies. And when you're focused really hard on something it's even funnier.

I love how you search the whole house for Zach after your naps/when you wake up in the morning. You hate when you can't find him after your afternoon nap, because he's gone home. And on the weekends, because he doesn't come at all.

I love how you nod whenever I ask you a question, no matter what the question is.

I love how you love animals! And big trucks! And being outside!

I love that you get so excited when we're around cats and dogs.

I love how you understand so many words and you can be directed around the house or go to the door if we're going to leave.

I love how you always look at Zach to see what his reaction is to things. If we're all sitting at the table and I make a funny face you'll laugh, but then immediately look at Zach to see if he's happy about it too.

I love how your eyes change colors everyday, but they are mostly green and hazel. I always assumed I'd have blue eyed children, because the majority of my family and Daddy's family have blue eyes. Your eyes are a perfect mix of mine and Daddy's - green and brown.

I love how you follow Zach around everywhere and never let him be alone.

I love how you are learning new things everyday and how you've mastered so many milestones that used to be hard for you.

I love how you want to be independent and do things on your own, but you still know the moments when you need me and reach up to be held.

I love that you'll sit back and cuddle with me.

I love that you love books! And blankies! And dancing!

I love how you sleep so well at night and for your naps during the day.

I love how you get really sheepish when you want to kiss me or Daddy.

I love how good you are at telling me what you want.

I love how the simplest things make you smile.

I love how you love other babies and little children. You definitely think all of your cousins are the best thing ever. And I'm glad you have so many to play with and love.

I love how you know when you're doing something naughty cause you'll smile and shake your head "no".

I love how you hold your baby dolls and want to take care of them.

I love that you're my little girl. <3 p="">