{iPhone Rewind} :: January

Happy New Year! We're looking forward to all that God has for us in 2022!

We started back to Preschool, and we used some baking soda and vinegar to demonstrate God's overflowing love for us :)

Enjoying a slower morning watching the snow melt...

"Will you take my picture? Because I'm beautiful!" Yes, Baby Girl, you ARE beautiful!

Watching Daddy shovel the snow #supervisors

My sweet Maddie has started scratching my back when she knows I am not feeling well. Aiden wants to be sweet like Maddie, so he was petting my knee :)

When you're brave for your shots, you get a blue lollipop and a blue tongue :)

Our superhero crew, off to save the day! #bestpurchase

Superhero snack time :)

Eli gets really serious when he starts creating with Play Doh

And some days, we build a blanket fort and have snack inside :)

Waiting for breakfast to be ready :)

Snow Day Round #2

Testing out the side braid "just like Elsa"

Built our own bubble machine #STEM

Love building things with this little guy :)

Feels like 4. FOUR. 

I think we're obsessed with Elsa...

Snuggles with my girl

My Blippi-loving boy!

Snuggling with Mommy to help her tummy feel better

Lots of fun imagination going on in this animal/dinosaur farm :)

Glad to be back in women's Bible study! I have set up my Bible and study book in the living room, so it's easy access and I can work on it, even if it's just in tiny breaks when kiddos are quiet {ha!}. But it also means I often find toys with my study materials #momlife

Without prompting, Maddie wrote her own name! We're still working on forming letters {and putting them in order...that boxy 8 on the left is "E, I"}, but she's starting to get the concept!

Eli has really been working on his buttoning skills! It's so cute how focused he gets :)

Snuggling with Daddy

International Puzzle Day!

I love my little penguins for my winter-themed tiered tray :)

Bible story time before bed

It had been a long few days, so we were trying to sneak in some extra snuggles and rest

Lord, may he always run to You in prayer and show You the reverence due Your name. Amen.

National Winnie the Pooh Day!

Today is National Winnie the Pooh Day! We sure do love Pooh Bear in this house, so we couldn't miss an opportunity to celebrate the silly old bear :)

Eli's coloring has really started to advance!

We used some of the worksheets from Rock Your Homeschool, which was good writing practice. Eli has started to like mazes, so I used that too. Maddie and Aiden aren't quite there yet, usually getting pretty frustrated pretty quickly. But that's ok; they both love to color/draw right now!

The activity pack also came with a couple of simple puzzles, and we already had some Pooh Bear shape cards to play with too. It was fun to see them get so excited when they put the puzzles together to reveal who was on them..."Hey! That's Christopher Robin! And that's Eeyore!" :)

We colored fun party hats {because you have to have party hats for a celebration!}, and we made a Pooh Honey Snack. And of course, no Pooh Bear celebration would be complete without reading from the classic book from A.A. Milne or watching the movie! :)

It was a fun day celebrating with my Pooh-loving crew! These holidays may be silly, but I sure do love the fun memories we get to make together!

Crohn's Chronicles :: Improving Labs

I have been feeling ok since the last time I updated. I was feeling pretty discouraged at the beginning of December, but it really helped to see some more improvement in my symptoms over the holidays. I'm not back to normal or even feeling great yet, but I also wasn't counting down the days until my next Stelara dose, so that is really positive news!

I had that Stelara dose {first time solo, without a nurse!} at the end of 2021, so my doctor had me do some lab work right before it to see where we were. My C-Reactive Protein {which measures acute inflammation} is finally in the normal range! Which is also good news as it relates to my higher cholesterol levels: if you have high LDL but a low CRP, that low CRP reduces the risk from the high LDL. So while I still need to address the high LDL {which is probably mostly attributed to low activity...hello, fatigue!}, my risks are manageable and not worrisome right now. Baby steps :)

My Stool Calprotectin {which measures inflammation in the GI tract} is still high. BUT...it has come down so much from where it was! In May 2021, it was 322 ug/g {normal is 0-120 ug/g}, which was an improvement from May 2020, when it was over 1,000. Now it's down to 166. So still high, and outside the normal range, but we're getting closer!

All of my other numbers {CBC panel} are back to normal, which makes sense, considering I have not had any bleeding in several months. TMI...sorry.

He also checked my medication levels. I had a good amount in my system that day before my next dose, which is good because it means it's working as a maintenance dose. However, my doctor said there's still room to adjust my medication if I start to see symptoms return before my next dose. So we'll see what the next {now} 6 weeks hold, to see if I need to change my dosage from every 8 weeks to every 6 weeks. I won't hesitate to increase that dosage if needed, but of course, I would prefer to put as little as possible in my body to achieve good results. I also don't have any antibodies built up against the medication, so hopefully that holds for a very long time...

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I know that was a lot of detail and clinical-speak, but I want to have a record of my progress. Because I am seeing improvement! It's slow, and the measurement/timing seems to take SUCH a long time before adjustments can be made. But we're getting there. I don't feel great, but I feel ok. Most of my GI symptoms have subsided {hooray!}, so now my main focus is fatigue, achiness, and migraines.

I know I have talked about fatigue before, but this has really been a struggle for me this past year. Fatigue is part of a chronic illness, especially one that has been active for 2 years. But this level of fatigue has been unlike any of the fatigue I have felt in the past. I have very limited energy, and when it's all used up for the day, my body just shuts down. I'm done. And please let me be clear: fatigue is different than being tired. I feel exhausted, even after 10 hours of sleep. I feel like I need a nap after a simple shower or running an errand. And it's not just feeling sleepy; it's the physical feeling of your body being done. It takes so much effort to get up and cook dinner and do normal things because my body just feels heavy from exhaustion. If I do get a burst of energy, I often try to capitalize on it as much as I can {because hello, life with 3 kiddos}...and I pay the price for it. I'm still working on that balance, and I'm thankful for a patient husband and kiddos. Because it's hard when mom needs to "rest" again. 

I still have a journey ahead of me...but I feel like I am finally starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel. The prayer is that this improvement continues and holds. For now, I choose to praise God for better labs and fewer GI symptoms. And I also choose to give myself grace when I need to rest, again, knowing that my body is healing, and it's just going to take some more time.

First Snow of 2022!

Today we had our first snow day of 2022! It started snowing overnight and snowed for most of the morning, so we got a good 7-8 inches! 

Since it snowed {and was super windy} all morning, the kids were on pins and needles wanting to get outside. It didn't stop or calm down until lunch time, so we were able to finally go out after nap. It takes SO long to get everyone in their snow gear, but it was so nice to actually have the right gear this year to keep warm and dry. 

We got to pull out the snow shovels that we were gifted last year, but then I had also bought little penguin snow molds, which the kids loved! They're great for snow and sand, so we'll be able to use them all year round.

Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I'll still take it :)

And of course, no snow day is complete without heading inside to warm up with some yummy hot chocolate and marshmallows.

The snow might last one more day, but then I am sure it will melt. But it's fun that we got snow so early, because there's still plenty of time for another snow day!