Trick-or-Treat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2013

Harvest Party

I was lucky enough to be able to take this afternoon off so I could volunteer in Zane's class for his Harvest Party!  It was so fun to spend some time with him and his friends - they were so excited for their party!

Zane & his buddy Davis

Decorating his cupcake!

His masterpiece.

Mmmmmm

BINGO

My 6 year old!

Six

I cannot believe my baby is 6 years old - I say it every year, but time flies.  We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that these days just drift away with the blink of an eye sometimes.  I look at this baby and remember how much I longed for him - how much I couldn't wait for his arrival and now its six years later and I love him even more and still long to see him everyday.

Zane is the most inquisitive, laid back, happy, easy going, loving, sensitive, athletic, crazy boy I know and I am so glad that he calls me mommy!  We are so blessed to have you in our lives baby - Happy Birthday.

School Birthday Celebration

Because Zane's birthday falls on Halloween and his class is already having a Harvest Party then - his teacher and I decided to separate his birthday and have his school celebration today.

We were given a piece of construction paper and told to make a timeline of how Zane has grown over the last almost 6 years.  This was a task that I think I took a little too seriously, yet also procrastinated on - I finished it about 5 mins before having to leave for his school this afternoon!

Zane chose Mummy Pretzels as his birthday treat - so we made those last night - they turned out adorable (at least in our opinion)!

Zane's blood sugar had been high all.night.long last night and no matter what I did - it just didn't come down very far.  He said he felt fine when he got up, his pump site looked totally fine and it seemed to be coming down a little after breakfast, so I left the pump alone.  There was a sub-nurse this morning while our regular nurse was at a meeting and the sub didn't realize that it was in our plan that I am to be called or notified (via text msg) if his blood sugar is over 300.  This poor kid ran in the 400-500's almost all day.  I was about 10 mins from the school when his regular nurse called me and let me know this (around 1:15 p.m.).  Thankfully I was already on my way there for his birthday celebration - I stopped by the house quick to grab some supplies to change his pump and give him a shot of insulin.  The reason I'm telling you this is to let you know that the reason he doesn't look happy in the next few pictures is because he feels like crap due to his blood sugar being so high.  Also, to remind you that diabetes never takes a break - not even on your almost birthday, but also to show you that we do everything we can to not let diabetes come first - but that letting him be a kid comes first - so even with a blood sugar of 400; he enjoyed every bite of his birthday treat!  By the time I got back to work, he was already down in the 200's and was a glorious 98 by the time school was over - the rest of the night has been smooth sailing!

Here he is presenting his timeline!  He was so cute and looked so grown up.  He pointed to each picture and told his friends what "milestone" it was representing.  After going through his timeline, he fielded questions from his friends:

How long were you in the hospital for when you got diabetes? 4 days.
What is your favorite game?  Skylanders
What is your favorite toy?  I don't really have a favorite.
What is your favorite sport? Soccer
What did you bring for snack?  Mummy Pretzels

Passing out his treats!

And a fun video of him while his friends were singing Happy Birthday to him!  He got a little embarrassed, but loved every second of it!

Milkshake Bribe

While at my work for trick-or-treating Froday I decided it was a good time for the 3 of us to get our flu shots. Zane had OVER 3,000 shots before going on his insulin pump last October and never batted an eye at any of them. Poke after poke he took them all like a champ. But anytime he has had to have any immunizations he has turned into a total basket case - I never could quite understand it. Anyway, when I told him we'd be getting our flu shot Friday, he pleaded with me not too. I made the decision that he would not be able to talk me out of it, if he got the flu he could easily end up in the hospital and it's just not a risk I'm willing to take. BUT, I did bribe him (never said I was above bribery)...I told him if he didn't cry I would buy him a milkshake from McDonalds. Zane has had homemade milkshakes before, but never one from a restaurant. The main reason is, ones from restaurants have an INSANE amount of carbs (80+) which means an insane amount of insulin and the fear of the restaurant carb counts being wrong and then his blood sugar being all screwed up...it's a visicious cycle I tell ya!

Anyhow...he did great. Freaked out a bit when they put the alcohol on his arm, but took the shot like the champ he is!!

So today he redeemed his reward and enjoyed every sip! Now to see how his blood sugar responds! The boys have a babysitter coming tonight...good thing she's awesome with his Diabetes, she may need to be on her A-game tonight!

***Update - milkshakes are EVIL!  Evil to his blood sugar!  Zane was in the high 300's most of the night, but thankfully our baby sitter was all over it and with my guidance via text messaging, she was able to get him down into the mid 200's 5 hours after he had the shake!  Thankfully, he was totally unphased by the high blood sugar and happy as a clam with his shake!  But I promise you, it'll be awhile before he has another one, haha!

Six = Legos

Zane asked for a Lego Party this year and what Zane wants, Zane gets (not really, but he likes to think so)!  God knows I can't turn down throwing a party - especially for my #1, so the planning started about 4+ months ago!  Zane not only wanted a Lego Party, but he wanted a Police Lego party, I had no idea what he meant by that...but thankfully I figured it out and was able to accomodate!

As usual - way too much time was spent on the prepping of this party, but as stressed out as I might get at times over it - I love ever minute of it and would do it for him a million times over if he wanted it.  I am so thankful to two of my friends for their help with this party - it wouldn't have been the same without their help.  First to my friend Lori for being my photographer for the day!  I lost the charger to my big Nikon camera and had only 1 battery bar left come party day - so she stepped up to the plate and took a ton of pictures so I could show you :) and so we wouldn't forget how much fun we had! Next a big thank you to my friend Brenda for making some adorable Lego cookies last minute for me. I called her Friday morning from work when I realized that there was just no way I would get them done in time for the party and asked her if she had time to whip up a batch and she didn't even hesitate and had them done (better than I could've done) in a few hours and delivered them before the party started. I am usually way too prideful to ask for help, but I had to put that aside and ask for it and I'm so glad I did.  Thank you both for helping me out yesterday!

Also, this year I paid for help from Etsy for the invitations!  I usually always make my boys' birthday invites, but this year - I realized time is money and I just didn't have the time to do it.  Besides - they did better than I could anyway!

Without further a-do...

The invite!

Birthday wreath that is used for their birthdays every year - I just change out the middle.
And most of the food/decorations.

The Lego Pinata, Official Builders Passes and one of the games.

More decorations and LEGOS!

Big thank you to Josh too for cooking up a delicious beef brisket!  It was a surprise to me and one that I gladly welcomed - it was delicious!

Tate making his best educated guess on how many Legos are in the jar!

Zane and his good buddy from school Davis.

A last minute thought last week was to have a Italian Soda Bar (because its one of Zane's favorites) and I'm so glad that we did it - it was a huge hit and it turned out perfectly!

One of Zane's requests for his party was a Lego Pinata - I had no idea where you could buy one and honestly didn't even look that hard.  I figured I could just make one - so I did.  That is much easier said than done by the way - but I think in the end it turned out great.  The kids loved it and shockingly it held up through all of their swings!

CANDY!!!

Zane told me last night that this was his favorite party - that made me smile!  He is very thankful and so appreciative (as are we) to all of our friends who made the drive to make his day special.  Our house was VERY full and a lot more chaotic than I am normally comfortable with, but it turned out perfectly and I am so happy that he had such a great time!  We love you buddy!

Trick-or-Treat Practice

Every year my work holds a "Trick-or-Treat" event for employees families and this year was just as great as past years, if not better!  Its so fun to see the kids get all dressed up and be so excited for whats ahead of them!  Around every corner are more people filling their buckets with treats!

Virtually impossible to get a picture of all of them - but this was the best I could do.

Leah, Landon & Zane.

My little Frankie!

The Ninjas!

Dr. Seaver showing them his sword skills!

Yay, candy!

One tired Ninja!

R.I.P Great Grandma Alexander

Josh's beloved grandma {the boys great grandma} Alexander passed away peacefully on August 30, 2013 after 93 full years here.  Maxine lived a great life and was such a nice woman and I am so lucky that I had the chance to get to know her.  There was a graveside memorial scheduled for last weekend when out of town family were able to make it in.  Josh's dad led the memorial and did a wonderful job, there were a few tears and many laughs.  You will be missed Maxine, but we'll see you again someday.

Maxine and the boys Thanksgiving 2011

Maxine and Landon, Thanksgiving 2012

Zane helping papa put dirt in the grave.

Landon helping.

The place where the headstone was made put the wrong year of death,
they put 2012 instead of 2013!  Josh's aunt was being funny and "fixed it with duct tape"!
The company is of course going to fix it before its set.

Checking out other family member's graves.

Lunch with all 18 of us afterwards!  Great to see family, sad for the reason though.