Brielle's Baptism

Brielle was baptized on Saturday, February 1st.

 She was so excited for that day.  Everything ran smoothly, we were surrounded by family and friends, and it was a very special day for Brielle.  My Mom and Russell's parents were visiting for the baptism, and several of our favorite friends from our ward were able to be there as well.

 Afterward with her Primary Teachers, Bro. and Sis. Sant

 Mother Daughter

 With her friend Mia

 Both Grandmothers

 Grandma and Grandpa Streadbeck

 Mugleston cousins

 After church the next day.

(Ignore Clara's tights and shoes.  She chose them herself.)

Oh Pancreas, you've let me down!

I have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.  This is the first time I've had this condition.

Everyone has HEARD of Gestational Diabetes, but not many really know what causes it, or what it is.

Allow me to summarize.

So, the placenta releases hormones, and those hormones block the action of the mother's insulin. This happens in every pregnancy. Usually the mother's body just makes more insulin, three times as much as your body normally would. Sometimes the poor tired mother's body can't produce enough extra insulin. (like mine) So I'm not making the insulin I need to compensate for the placenta blocking my insulin uptake.

That means the sugar in my bloodstream can't enter my cells and be used for energy, it just stays in my blood causing high blood sugar.  Then my baby gets that blood that is high in glucose, and my baby grows too big and fat. Also his pancreas starts producing more insulin, and once he's born it is way too much insulin (when he no longer has access to my sugary blood), causing him to have low blood glucose levels after birth, and a higher risk of breathing problems. And it can all lead to diabetes later on for my baby.

Once the placenta comes out, I should go right back to using my insulin normally, and all will be well. (within 6 weeks after birth)

In the meantime I will be getting a Blood Sugar Monitor and test strips.  I'll have to lance my fingers 4 times a day and  monitor my blood sugar levels.  I'll keep a strict record of these numbers in a log book, and by following their diet regime, I should be able to keep my numbers within an acceptable range.

The eating plan isn't tricky, except that I'm not a snacker. I usually just eat 3 times a day, and so it will be hard to make time to eat several small meals throughout the day. With being so sick for a lot of the pregnancy, getting myself to eat, and wanting a food item enough to prepare it in advance has been the hardest. I'm 30 weeks pregnant and I've only gained 6 pounds so far. (which I'm not complaining about!) Anyway, the Gestational Diabetes shouldn't be too hard to live with, so no worries!

Kid cracks me up

Clara is always saying amusing things, as I'm sure most 3 year olds do.  Here are a couple recent ones:

The kids were telling their Grandma what tricks they were going to do on the trampoline, and Grandma asked Clara if she was going to do a trick too.

Clara:  Yes, I'm going to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Brielle:  That's not a trampoline trick!
Clara: Yes it is, I'm going to sing it ON the trampoline.


Then while driving home from the zoo, in gridlock traffic, Clara started shouting "Wake up cars!  Wake up!  Come on little cars, wake up time!"
Hyrum told her: "Clara, the cars aren't sleeping."
Clara:  "I know.  Because I just woke them up!"

Our Collection

 We're up to about 300 Disney Pins.  My kids and I love trading and collecting them when we go to the parks, and this year was just as fun as usual.  It's an obsession, trying to find the right pins.  We're really happy with the ones we've found so far.

We have room for 2 or 3 more!  ; )

Disney World!!!

For our Francis Family Vacation this year, our entire family went to Florida for two weeks (well, Matt and Caitlin didn't get to stay that long) and we went to the various Disney parks for 10 days.  The children had the best time!!!  We all did, it was a wonderful vacation!!

Winnie the Pooh ride, this is one of Clara's favorites!  (her cheeks are stuffed with snacks, so she looks like a chipmunk!)

 I love this picture on the Tea Cups!

 Everybody on the Dumbo ride.

 Florida has a brand new Fantasyland, and one thing they've added is Beast's Castle, which has a fancy restaurant inside.  We ate there one day, and it was delightful.  This is outside the castle.

 Inside you can sit in the ball room, the forbidden west wing, complete with an enchanted rose under glass, or in the Rose room.  There is magic snow falling outside the windows, and everything looks just like the movie.

 At Animal Kingdom our favorite rides are the African Safari, which we went on several times, and Expedition Everest (which I couldn't go on this year because I'm pregnant.)  Expedition Everest is the BEST Disney ride at any of the parks, at least I think so.  Hyrum and Brielle both tried all of the roller-coasters this year.  Clara could go on Thunder Mountain and the new Barn-stormer ride and she thoroughly enjoyed both (she doesn't scare easily and loves fast rides).

 Looking for animals on the safari.....

 Buzz Lightyear ride, all the kids loved this one.

 In the new Fantasyland there are now two dumbo rides (exactly the same) and the line to ride them goes into a large circus tent.  Inside they give you a pager, and your kids can play on a fun playground while the adults sit down.  When it's your turn to ride the ride, your pager buzzes and you go back to the line.  That way you spend very little time waiting in line, and most of the time playing.  We have a few pictures from one corner of the play tent.

 At Epcot there is a Finding Nemo ride.  At the end of the ride there are aquariums, some large ones with dolphins, sharks, and manatees, and some gorgeous salt water coral reef ones.  Then there's a section to see the sharks from Nemo.

 On two of the days, all of the girls dressed up in costumes.  Clara loves Minnie Mouse, so that's who she dressed up as.

 Brielle's favorite princess is Ariel, so she wore her Ariel costume.

 On the Jungle Cruise.

This day we went to Disney Hollywood.  The Toy Story Mania ride is my favorite there, this is in line and it's so cute!!

The ceiling is made up of board games.

We really aren't good at taking many pictures.  But we had the most amazing time with our family!!  The kids loved, LOVED, being with their cousins.  It probably doesn't matter what we do, as long as all the cousins can be together they'll be happy.  But going to Disneyworld is definitely exciting.  We made so many magical memories.  The light parade was amazing, the fireworks were awesome (they do a light/movie show on the Castle first), we ate out at lots of great places, rode all the fun rides, in the evenings the kids would all swim in the swimming pool, and then once kids were in bed the adults would play games and eat oreos.  It was a lot of fun!!  Thank you Mom and Dad for taking us!!

Faces in the Window

 Hyrum's bus picks him up from our driveway (for afternoon kindergarten).  Clara chooses to stay indoors, but she and Nephi like to watch and make faces at us while we wait for the bus!!