Alayna Update

Thank you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers! We saw a Pediatric Endocrinologist at Park Nicollet Clinic in St.Louis Park yesterday and got some encouraging news! He believes she has something called Ketotic Hypoglycemia. Basically, because she is so small (in the 5th percentile for weight and 33rd for height), her body has no fat stores to take energy from. So for her, when she eats (which is not alot to begin with) her body uses that for energy, but when that is gone, her body doesn't have the fat stores to steal from to keep that energy. Therefore she needs to eat very frequently, and more high protein/good fat snacks and meals. When her body has used up that energy, her blood sugar crashes, so to speak, because it has nothing to take from.

This all makes perfect sense to us, in how we deal with her food battles, and her behavior. We still need to monitor her blood sugars for the next couple weeks, just to make sure they stabilize. We are also waiting to hear back from other tests, one of them being an antibodies test that *could* show the early stages of diabetes. So, all good news for now!

What a roller coaster of emotions we've had in the past several days, but very thankful to have something to go with now:)

Wow, What a Whirlwind of Emotions.....

Oh man, it has been a very trying 24 hours here. This will be a long post, so don't worry if you can't make it through, I am writing this more as a journal entry for us. It's amazing how quickly your life can change in a few hours....

Friday morning Alayna woke up and came into our room, and promptly fell asleep on the floor. I didn't think much about it, figured she was woken up abruptly and was still tired. About 15 minutes later Emma came downstairs and said that she was now laying on their bedroom floor sleeping. Ok, now that's a bit strange. Brad went up, laid her in bed and came down to say that he thought she was probably getting sick. Lovely. I went in a couple times to check on her, and make sure she didn't have a fever, no fever. About 8:45 she finally came out, and laid at the top of the stairs, moaning. I tried to ask her if she had a tummy ache, or felt like she had to throw up, not much of a response. When I picked her up, she was completely limp, like NO muscle tone to her at all. I brought her downstairs and tried to wake her up. She would open her eyes, but then fall asleep immediately.

I had made homemade waffles for breakfast, and started feeding them to her, which she would eat with her eyes still shut. After about 10 minutes, she could sit up, and pretty soon wanted more. She looked VERY pale, and definitely not herself. (Do you remember my previous post??!!) Brad and I decided a call to her Pediatrician was in order and I chatted with a nurse for awhile. We decided to take her in at 11:30. Brad called to say that they were doing a bunch of different blood tests and would know more in an hour or so. After he dropped her off at home, he headed back into work. About 10 minutes after he left, the doctor called to say that her blood sugars were 334. He told us to promptly take her to the hospital where they would admit her and start figuring out what to do next.

Of course panic sets in as I think of my sweet baby having diabetes. I called Brad on his cell phone to get back home, and then we had to wait for daycare parents to pick their kids up, and figure out where our older two girls were going to go. I just couldn't believe this. Once we got to the hospital, we talked with the Pediatrician soon after and she informed us that it was in fact Type 1 Diabetes. Unbelievable. However, and 20 minutes later after giving her a blood test, the doc came back in very puzzled, because now her blood sugar was 60. She had no idea what was going on. They decided to monitor her sugars overnight to see what they would do.

At 11:30 am, her blood sugars were at 334, at 5:00 pm they were 60, at 7:00 pm they had jumped up to 225, and then throughout the night they were steady in the 130's. They were truly stumped as to what was going on. They also found glucose in her urine. However, there is a test called an A1C that will give you an average of the blood sugars from the past 6 weeks, and hers came back normal.

So many unanswered questions. Thankfully we have an appointment on Monday with a Pediatric Endocrinologist in the Twin Cities, and hopefully will get more answers there. It is just so hard not knowing anything. Obviously something is not jiving in her body, we just need to figure out what that is.

Fall Has Arrived

I have been slooooooowly adding my fall decorations the last couple weeks, and the reason being sloooooooow was because I had some awesome four legged furry friends find a home in my fall bins. Yep, that's right, mice. I opened up my bin to find my Indian corn shelled, wax figurines eaten, and even some ceramic pumpkins broken in half. Seriously. There was also a lovely little nest all made up. Isn't that sweet?

So, after having a few words with myself, I got everything cleaned out, and the fun began. After looking at everyone's awesome fall decoration posts, I found many that did the photo frame words. Of course I had to do one myself. Thankfully I have about 450,000 picture frames waiting to be used. I spray painted them all black, added fall-ish scrapbook paper, and used my Cricut to make the letters.


I love how it looks, waaaaaay better than last years mantel which was just a little too busy for me

Outside I put some fall pumpkins and picks in the old cream separator, and of course my wonderful Indian corn that only has one cob left. Darn mice.

Here is my bench area, filled with fall goodies, this is one of my favorite areas to decorate. If you're new to Homespun Kitchen, this is an old hayloft door that I grabbed when my husbands Dad tore down one of the old barns. The bench my Mom got for me at an antique store, see how perfect it matches?!

This is the wreath on our front door. It's a berry/twig wreath that stays up year round, but then I add things to it depending on the season. Love that.

Here is a pic of the porch as you walk up to it. To the left of this is a little swinging bench that I decorate with red pillows and a little table that also has some fall decor on it. I LOVE this time of year, and I love seeing everyone's great ideas that get me motivated:)

Linking To:

DIY Showoff

Fingerprints on the Fridge

A Thank You and a Cake Challenge

First of all, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for your awesome words of encouragement and advice for my parenting woe post:) I feel so much better knowing that I am not alone. At least I don't feel the need to purchase a velcro wall anymore. Just kidding. Maybe.

So, if there are any other Food Network junkies out there like us, than surely you have watched a Cake Challenge, or 50. We LOOOOOVE those shows, and Cupcake Wars, Chopped, The Next Food Network Star, Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, Ina Garten......Shoot, little off subject there.....

So anyway, my girls decided to have their own "challenge" with playdough. I gave them 30 minutes to make their "cake" and told them that I would judge and award a winner. Now, lets back up a bit to say that THEY made me judge them. They did. I was not going to say a winner because, well, there is only two of them, lol. But they insisted that no one would be mad and they would be happy for the other. Well, ok then.

I gave them a theme, which was a baby shower. I laughed OUT LOUD when they both got their notepads out to whip up their designs. They also recruited daycare kids as their assistants!

Tada!! Here are their creations:


Emma's was a heart shaped cake with another heart on top, she made a teddy bear (which I thought was a baby with big ears, OOPS!), bottle and pacifier. Adorable!

Rachel made two suitcases on the bottom of hers with a heart shape, she then took a bamboo stick and stuck it through one of the heart shapes and into the suitcase so it stood up, how creative! She also made a bottle and a pacifier.

I loved how they found glitter to made the "cakes" glittery, (and my house sparkle, but not in a good way), and just the overall creativity of their work. Soooooo, the winner was....Rachel....

Emma acted all mad, but then started laughing, little turkey. All in all good fun was had and my house was left a glittery, playdoughy mess:)

Parenting- Just Keepin It Real

So yesterday was NOT a good day in the Zimmer household. Brad was gone for three days, which is normally just fine, but for some reason, this week was just an "off" week. Ya, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only Mom who has had this. Right? I hope?

I have three beautiful, intelligent GOOD kids. I do. I know that. But for some reason, my 4 year old enjoys wreaking havoc on me. I really haven't figured out why yet. When I do I will let you know. I think yesterday was the culmination of the whole week and it just broke me down. We went out for supper with my husbands family to celebrate his parents 45th wedding anniversary. My nephew (who is the same age as Miss A) was also there, and it literally broke my heart to see how much his mother was enjoying him and laughing at the things he was saying.

Afterwards we got in the van and I just broke down. I WANT to enjoy Alayna, but right now she is making it so hard for me, and it makes me feel absolutely horrible. So after the supper, I had to suck it up for a while as we went to his parents for cake. I'm sure many of you have had that experience of choking back the tears while putting a nice fake smile on your face.

After we got home, I lost it. I just want to see her in the mornings and be excited to see her, not dread it because the instant she wakes up she starts whining for something to eat. And then when I don't have what she wants to eat, she throws a tantrum. I prayed last night that God could just give me one whole day of her in a good mood so I could see what a great kid she really is. I know it's in her, for everyone else, she is great.

I see all of these blog posts about how incredible their kids are, and the funny things they do, and it really tears me up. WHY does she have to be so difficult for me? She has made me question myself as a parent, and whether or not I even WANT to be home anymore. It just sucks because I really do love being home, and as stressful as daycare is sometimes, I DO enjoy it. We had fun creating things this week, and learning. But I also don't want to feel like running away by the time Friday rolls around, ya know?

So, I guess the point of this post is to see if there are others out there dealing with a difficult child, what your thoughts are/tips you have, etc.

I am just one tired mama....

Stromboli

Thanks to Alison from Oopsey Daisy for this delicious Stromboli recipe! I made this last night and it was a big hit with the kids. Well, and Brad too, of course.

Stromboli

1 loaf Rhodes frozen bread dough (I used my bread machine on the dough setting and made the dough)
Mozzarella cheese 8-12 oz.
Ham- thinly sliced 8 oz.
Pepperoni 8 oz.
Green pepper- sliced
Onions- chopped
Basil
Oregano
1 beaten egg


If you use the frozen bread dough, allow dough to thaw and rise. Roll out to a rectangle about 1/2-1/4 inch thickness.

Brush dough with beaten egg, and start piling on the fillings! I laid a pile of mozzarella cheese first, and then the ham. Unfortunately I had no onions or green pepper. Then sprinkle basil and oregano over the filling.

Now bring the sides of the dough together and pinch at the top. Flip over so the seam side is down, place on baking sheet and brush dough with the beaten egg.

Bake at 400 for 5 minutes, then cut it down to 350 for 18-20 minutes.

I love this recipe because it really is good with whatever you have on hand! Make sure to check out her post, as she has lots of step-by-step pictures.

Thank you Alison for the great recipe!!

Back To School Part II

With the first day of school here, I decided (like 20 minutes before they got home) to make a sign to hang on the front door to celebrate the first day of school! I had wooden tiles from our local craft store (that has permanent loans for me to take out, lol....) that cost me $1. I had Brad cut several wooden rulers in half for me, and hot glued them to the wooden tile. With the limited amount of time that I had, I just glued some school scrapbook paper onto the rulers and cut out "happy"

And of course there always has to be a special snack, so this year I made these super cute apple cupcakes I found on Family Fun.

Can you tell momma was excited??!!

Linking To:

"tute" in Tuesday
ABC and 123

First Day of School!

Wow, time sure flies when your having kids arguing, screaming, tattling, not getting along because you think your sister is dumb.....Oh my goodness, did I just say those things out loud?? I MEANT when you're having fun. Yeeessssss, that's what I meant.......

Today was the first day of school, and as the majority of Moms are quietly wiping away tears of sadness, I found myself skipping along to the sounds of birds chirping. Just kidding, it was raining out this morning, but I was skipping. Just keepin it real here.

Yes, I will miss my kids, they are a lot of fun to be around, and a big help to me. But I won't miss the arguing and tattling and so on and so forth.

We have much going on with the first day of school. The night before we have our spa night. I whip up facial masks in the blender, make fancy little heart shaped sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries, and they get to drink sparkling cider out of wine glasses. (Don't worry, they're plastic:) After soaking in the tub (and bubbles flowing out of the windows practically), they get pedicures and manicures. I give them the full treatment, massages, foot scrubs and of course polish. We call it Spa LaZimm (Zimmer is our last name). Alayna is very anxious to be able to participate next year, although we did allow her to come and have some bubble fun in the tub...

After our spa experience, I had the girls whip up some apple print note cards for their teachers. I just cut up an apple, had them paint it read, and stamp it on blank note cards. Once they were dry, we wrapped them up with red raffia, and made a tag with their teachers name on them.

And for breakfast, I made them pancakes in the shape of their initial. Such fun! And this afternoon, I made them apple shaped cupcakes for their afternoon snack. Emma told me I am the best First Day of School Mom ever!!!

Linking To:

"Tute" in Tuesday
ABC and 123