Family Camp Weekend

There is an amazing camp in Georgia called Camp Kudzu that is specifically for type 1 diabetics.  We have heard such wonderful things about it from the moment MJ was diagnosed last April.  There weren’t any spots left last summer by the time we tried to sign up so I was on top of it this year.  Since he is only 6 he will be going to their day camp in July (in a couple of years he will be old enough for the overnight camp).  However, they also offer two family camps every year- one in the fall and one in the spring.



I was praying that we would get in for the spring session- MJ doesn’t really know anyone his age who has type 1 and I wanted him to see that there are plenty of kids out there just like him.  Also I was hoping that going for the first time with his entire immediate family would put his mind at ease… well, mission accomplished!  We had a wonderful time this past weekend and MJ LOVED it.

We arrived Friday evening and got settled into our cabin – we weren’t exactly “roughing it” since each cabin has heating and air and hot water but we did have to bring our own sheets and towels. .  MJ and Ty of course wanted to be in the bunk beds on the top bunk (but as usual they ended up sleeping together on the top bunk) while Catelin was just as happy as she could be on the bottom bunk.








We had a few minutes to explore the campgrounds before our first meeting and MJ, Ty and Catelin were thrilled to find a playground!



The kids were split up into groups based on their ages – Catelin had some separation anxiety the first night but she did much better on Saturday and Sunday (and yes I resorted to giving her the pacifier- don’t judge!).  MJ and Ty had no problem joining their groups and were thrilled to make new friends.  Not only did most of the kids there have type 1 but over 75% of the camp counselors had type 1 as well- MJ was amazed at everyone checking their blood sugars and getting shots (or bolus infusions on their pumps) before meals. 

The weekend schedule primarily revolved around seminars for the parents and camp activities for the kids.  We had plenty of family time (each session was only an hour and then we were reunited with the kids for snack or break, etc).  It was nice (for lack of a better word) to hear other parents voice the same thoughts and concerns that run through my mind every day.  Just like I will never know what it is like for MJ to have this condition- what he feels on a daily basis- no one knows how it feels to be the parent of a type 1 unless they have a child with it.  I know there are far worse things he could have and I am thankful that he has a condition that is manageable even though it is not curable (at this time).  I have to admit I was pretty emotional during the seminars – being 8 months pregnant I guess I have an excuse!

We did arts and crafts as a family and made a stepping stone for the yard along with some other knick knacks.










We had a lot of free time on Saturday afternoon- it was a beautiful day (even though it was chilly)!  Ty fell asleep for a little while in daddy’s arms.

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MJ, Catelin and I decided to go to the rock climbing wall and the tree house while they were resting.  Can you believe my little Spiderman climbed all the way to the top and rang the bell (TWICE)?!


The tree house was awesome – it had swings, a trap door, slides, a staircase up to the “bird’s nest”, etc.  Don’t worry- Ty spent an hour there with his group earlier in the day so he didn’t miss out!


We went back to wake up Ty so we could go fishing on the pier.  MJ caught a catfish (unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough to get a picture).



After dinner that night we had a Lego building activity – MJ got to pick out which one he wanted (which of course was a 7-12 year old box with teensy tiny little parts)! 



We got back to our cabin late that night and everyone was exhausted!  The kids slept well (I wish I could say the same for Steve and me – I even brought my enormous maternity pillow)!  The kids woke up in great spirits on Sunday morning and we had a few more activities before we got on the road to head home.  The boys told me they want to go back there every day and that it was the “funnest place ever!”  We really had a wonderful time.  I am so glad MJ got to experience it and get to know plenty of others who have type 1 just like him!!!  They all (of course) fell asleep on the way home.

My Big Girl!

There were 3 things I wanted to do with Catelin before baby Eco #4 arrives:

1. Potty train her!  Every time we have a baby we have two in diapers and I am determined to only have one in diapers this time.

2. Move her into her big girl room.  Our nursery is neutral since we didn’t find out the sex of any of our children before they were born…so we planned to move Catelin into the guest room and keep the nursery for the baby.  We technically have a fifth bedroom in our basement but we made it into a playroom.  There is a queen pull out sofa in there if we have guests come to spend the night.  We also decided to keep the queen bed in CL’s new room for guest use as well (she can sleep in the boys’ room if needed). 

3. Get rid of the pacifier.  Yes, she still uses it only in the car and in her crib.  I know I should get rid of it but it is such a sense of comfort for her. 



Well, we successfully accomplished numbers 1 and 2 about three weeks ago!  I was nervous about potty training her – she was perfectly happy with her diapers and would tell me when she went but didn’t have any interest in the potty.  After the boys were in school a few weeks ago I brought her home and put her big girl underwear on.  I brought out the Minnie Mouse potty and told her it was time to go potty in the “big girl potty.”  We were in the process of completing her new room at the time and I had bought Disney princess decals for her wall.  I figured that the decals would be the perfect incentive for her so I explained that if she went #1 on the potty she would get to put one princess sticker on the wall and if she went #2 on the potty she would get to put THREE stickers up there. 

Well guess what?  That was the extent of our potty training.  She has been in big girl undies for almost 3 weeks now with ZERO accidents.  We are even letting her nap in her underwear (we put a diaper on her at night but she wakes up dry almost every morning).  If I had known it was going to be that easy (I literally potty trained her in one minute) I would have done this months ago!  hahaha   Of course, now that I am bragging she will probably have an accident but the point is she gets it…She knows what to do and how to do it- I am so proud of our big girl!

We moved her into her big girl room two weekends ago and she LOVES it.  She wants nothing to do with the nursery or the crib any more (“that room is for the baby now!” she says). 

Here is her princess wall:



And her bed – our little princess had to have a princess-themed room of course!



The closet doors were French doors that opened into the room and took up a LOT of space so I took them off and put up a shower curtain rod with an adorable curtain:



The sign above the closet says “I met my Prince Charming, his name is Daddy.”  I love it.

And when I saw the below signs on Etsy I just had to have them…they describe her perfectly…



I am going to wait until a couple of months after baby E #4 arrives to get rid of the pacifier- I have decided to pick my battles for now and I am not ready for that one!  hahaha

Steve’s Birthday and Valentine’s Day

We celebrated Steve’s birthday on February 17th – the kids were out of school that day due to the “snow” so we had fun making gifts and cards for him.  We painted their fingers and made this adorable plate (MJ wrote “Best Daddy Ever”).  We used their thumbs for the bees and ladybugs and Catelin’s pointer finger for the petals on the flower.  It turned out really cute.



Steve doesn’t really eat desserts but we had to have cupcakes!  The kids and I ended up eating all of them

Last summer Steve and I decided to start doing date nights at least once every 2 weeks.  My love language is quality time (if you don’t know about the five love languages you should google them!) and Steve’s is physical touch so the date nights are perfect for both of us.  We like to try out new restaurants and thankfully Atlanta has no shortage of them!  It has been so much fun.  I took Steve to the Kimball House in Decatur for his birthday dinner and it did not disappoint.



We aren’t big Valentine’s Day people but the Monday before V-day was one of our date nights so we went down to Sky View (the huge ferris wheel downtown) and watched the sunset.  It was awesome.  (This was followed by a fabulous dinner at One Midtown Kitchen).



The kids (with some help from daddy!) made me this adorable Valentine’s day present:

 

Winter Happenings

It’s been weeks since I have had time to blog- life has been extremely busy!!  A pipe burst in our kitchen right before Christmas and warped our hardwood floor (and flooded parts of our basement).  We had to move out of our house for over a week while they replaced the damaged floors and sanded/stained the entire main floor of the house.  This meant that we had to move EVERYTHING off the main floor.  Anything fragile we packed ourselves- including my entire china cabinet, all of our pictures, trinkets, etc.  Thank you to Lisa for all of her help with this!  We decided to spend some time down at the hunting property before moving in with Grandma/Grandpa Eco for a week! 

Our little huntress:


The kids (and Steve and me!) were so spoiled while we stayed at the Eco’s – Grandpa played baseball with MJ every afternoon and read the kids books every night while Grandma gave them baths in the “big big tub.” We also had some delicious homemade meals (which you probably know is not my strong suit)!





We went with a slightly darker and less golden stain than we had before (see upper right picture) and I LOVE it.  We also went ahead and had them paint our kitchen cabinets white while we were out of the house (something I always wanted to do but didn’t want to move out for).  We were out of the house for 9 days but it was worth it! 



We had to replace the carpet in the basement (along with some of the baseboards) and the walls needed to be repainted.  Thankfully most of this was done while we were gone.



We moved back in a little early and had to wait another day for them to move the furniture back into the house (including the oven)!  The kids and I ate dinner at the Lorimer’s and then watched a movie in the “big big bed” that night while Steve was out of town…



It took another week to unpack everything and feel settled again.  I am just glad this happened while I was 6 months pregnant and not 9 months along!  Speaking of Baby Eco #4, I just started third trimester (now 29 weeks) and am still feeling really good.  The baby is measuring right on track and the kids love feeling him/her kicking…It is precious to see their faces when they feel it! 

Here are a few pictures off my iPhone of some of the other fun stuff we have been up to during this time…
A trip to the zoo (of course)!



The kids have had about a million birthday parties over the past few weeks- we love celebrating with our friends!  Here is Catelin at the Children’s museum for one of the parties…



MJ is getting ready to start his very first baseball season and Steve is coaching his team.  Ty is also going to play rookie ball.  They got some cool gear with daddy…



We had another trip to the dentist and everyone is cavity free!



Daddy got to go to morning prayer at the school and sent me this video.  How cute is his class?!

The big school had their annual mother/son “date night” last weekend – MJ and I had so much fun eating dinner and watching Boxtrolls in the school gym.  It was precious.



We had the preschool’s Winter Carnival (the school’s main fundraiser) last Friday night and it was wonderful!  This year was a huge success- we had a ton of raffle items as well as silent auction items.  I love being part of this committee knowing that we are giving back to the school that has given us so much.  I was also in charge of the auction item for Ty’s class.  Since they are called the Curious Caterpillars we made an adorable Hungry Caterpillar themed picnic table.  We used the kids handprints as the caterpillar, the sun and the butterfly wings and then used fingerprints and stencils for the seats.  It was adorable!  I got outbid for it – but I love the family who outbid us so I wasn’t too upset.  



Since Steve and I were chasing the kids around most of the night I didn’t get any pictures!  But they all had a blast.

Some of my favorite pictures are the ones I take of MJ and Ty while they are sleeping- I swear I find them in the funniest and sweetest positions.  How they don’t wake each other up all of the time is beyond me…