Darr Family Blog

Weekly Happenings: This past week was the type where one day just followed another with us just going along for the ride. On Monday, I met with my gestational diabetes doctor and a nutritionist. They did another ultrasound of baby girl, who is weighing in at just over three pounds. The doctor said that as long as she continues to grow at a steady rate, she’ll probably be around the same weight as Joseph was at birth (so between seven and eight pounds). Everything else looks good as well. The nutritionist gave me a basic meal plan and taught me how to test my blood sugar (which I have to do first thing in the morning and then two hours after each meal). I’m sure grateful for my watch that lets me set a timer so that I don’t have to rely on my brain to remember! I’ve been learning what types of food work better at certain times of day (it really is an experiment). Only roughly nine more weeks to go! Wednesday, an electrician came, ran electricity, and installed outlets and a breaker box in the shed/office/man cave. He finished up on Thursday, which was also the day that our sprinkler guy came out to move one of our sprinklers a bit so that it waters the grass and not the shed. Wednesday night I hosted book club at our house. We read Dracula (perfect for this time of year) and had a good discussion (not to mention a great time hanging out). Friday, we went out to eat (I’m good as long as I eat a lot of protein, a little bit of starches, and a lot of veggies…avoiding too much fat or sugar) and then walked around La Cantera (an outdoor mall) because it’s good for my blood sugar to do some brief exercise after each meal. Yesterday, Paul worked really hard on his shed/office project. He cut a hole in the side of the shed so that he could install a window AC, using 2X4s to secure it in place, added more sand and gravel around the shed to help with drainage, used concrete blocks to make some steps (he also put a chunk of 2X4 under the doorway to strengthen it a bit), and probably some other stuff that I missed. Now all that’s left is to run internet to it, insulate it, and cover the insulation with sheets of plywood (all things Paul is capable of doing). Before we know it, it’s going to be done and ready for him to move stuff in!

The Weekly Weather: This past week was mostly warm, but the last couple of days have been cooler (especially in the mornings). Fall is coming!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Work, school, Scouts, and his building project in the backyard. Even with all that on his plate, he’s done a great job of being an attentive husband and daddy. I sure married a great guy!

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mainly getting used to my eating and testing schedule. I’m still teaching piano (I hope to be able to keep going until Christmas break). I’m also fitting in more doctors’ appointments as we’re getting closer to little miss’s arrival (especially with two doctors to go to now: my OB and my gestational diabetes doctor).

What Joseph’s Been Up To: School, homework, playing…the works. I’m so lucky that he’s such an easy-going kid.

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: This past week was a pretty low-key one. I had a doctor’s appointment where I found out that I have gestational diabetes. I was a little overwhelmed immediately after getting my diagnosis, but Heavenly Father has sent me a lot of comfort and Paul has been a great support as well. I think knowing that it isn’t permanent (since it has to do with the placenta instead of the pancreas, it should go away as soon as she’s born, which is only roughly 2.5 more months) and knowing there’s a way to treat it (with diet and, if needed, medication) has kept me pretty level-headed about the whole thing. Besides, why fuss about something that I can’t change? It is what it is. Tomorrow I will meet with the dietitian who will tell me exactly what type of foods I can eat and how much, will determine if I need insulin or medication, and teach me how to check my blood sugar levels. The only other thing of note that happened this past week happened on Friday. We had some guys come and build a shed in our backyard so that Paul can have a dedicated office space after Abigail arrives (right now his office is in the spare room which will be turned into her room). We still need to have an electrician come out to run electricity to it. Then Paul will put in a light, cut a hole for and install a window AC, run internet to it, and insulate it. Wahoo!

The Weekly Weather: Still warm…still humid…but the mornings have been on the cool side, which is nice.

What Paul’s Been Up To: In addition to work, school, and Scouts, Paul tasked himself with clearing the area for the shed to go in. We had previously had a couple of raised garden beds in that exact spot. It was a pretty big job to carefully pull out the plants, move the planters over, and then replant the plants. We’ll see if they take (it might have been too big of a move for them). If not, we can always replant. 🙂 He also had to cap a couple of sprinkler heads and move the drip lines for the plants. One more sprinkler needs to be moved slightly so that the water from it doesn’t hit the shed, but we may just call the guy who installed our sprinklers and have him do it, just to decrease Paul’s workload a bit.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mainly trying to get a handle on this gestational diabetes thing. Since I knew it would be a week from diagnosis to meeting with the dietitian, I have tried to make little changes, mainly with my diet. I haven’t gone crazy, since I know that I need a plan made specifically for me, but I’ve cut out processed sweets (switching over to fruit in small doses instead), brought my carbs down a bit, and increased my protein. I also eat three smaller meals and have three snacks. Hopefully this is a good start to getting my numbers under control.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a lot of fun at school this past week. They’ve been exploring things in nature (they did experiments with both apples and leaves). They also had a visit from the local fire fighters who talked to them about fire safety and let the kids check out their truck. We also had his parent-teacher conference. He’s excelling in most areas, especially reading. His teacher told me that there was an instance when she had a coughing fit while reading a story and just had him come up and finish reading the story while she got a drink of water. She’s impressed with the fact that not only can he read the words, but he can read them with expression as well. For the areas where he’s not exactly excelling, he’s right on par with where he ought to be. Good job, buddy! One entertaining story that gives a good glimpse into his funny personality: last night, I had to comfort him when he said he had the “baddest of bad dreams”. He dreamed that all of his candy got thrown away (Friday, he chose to toss a Dum-Dum so he could have some popcorn). Since it was apparently the last one, I promised him I would buy more Dum-Dums on Monday. He looked very relieved and willingly went back to bed. Poor kid! He’s also been fighting a cold on top of allergies. He developed a low-grade fever on Friday, so we spent yesterday at home. No fever this morning, but he’s still going to stay home from church with Paul (who luckily doesn’t have any responsibilities at church today) to get one more day of resting in so that hopefully he will be good to go to school on Monday.

This Week in Pictures:

 

Weekly Happenings: There were two main events that happened this past week that were pretty fun. The first one was the neighborhood party we attended at our park for National Night Out (a night meant for neighbors to get together and know each other a little better) this past Tuesday. Our HOA always puts together a great event at the park. This year was no different. There were tables for vendors (many who are also people who live in our neighborhood), the local petting zoo was there, first responders showed up, there was a balloon artist (one of Joseph’s favorites, for sure), the middle school band performed, there was a DJ, and there were food trucks to make sure everyone stayed well-fed. We had a lot of fun. 🙂 The other fun thing we did was to actually hike out to the dinosaur tracks in Government Canyon yesterday. Paul and I were not sure Joseph would make it (it is a five mile hike there and back, after all), but he managed to walk about three of the five miles. Paul would intermittently give him shoulder rides so that his little legs could get a rest. While looking at the tracks, we could hear a wild hog oinking somewhere farther off in the brush. This was sort of funny because we had just finished telling Joseph we didn’t have to worry about them coming out in the middle of the day (for some reason, he worries about running into one each time we hike there). Luckily, we didn’t see it (they can be mean if they feel threatened). After we finished, we celebrated by having In N’ Out and getting Joseph a Happy Meal. 🙂

The Weekly Weather: It’s been sunny and warm for the most part. Friday, we had a good-sized storm move through that brought cooler temperatures and quite a bit of rain. It only lasted a day, though, before everything was back to normal. 😉

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly keeping busy with work, school, and house/yard maintenance. Oh, and he helped me add Halloween decorations to the fall decorations we already had up. 🙂

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mainly keeping busy with Joseph, piano teaching, and baby-growing. 😉

What Joseph’s Been Up To: Mainly school, the occasional homework, and enjoying childhood to its fullest (playing with LEGOS, paying outside, playing dress-up, etc.).

This Week in Pictures: