Micheala's been busy

Micheala has been a busy girl! As you can see in the pictures Micheala was a flower girl in Mike's cousin Aaron's wedding in March. She did such an amazing job! For the girl that doesn't want people to look at her and laugh she walked down the aisle and did a great job! She danced all night with her sister too. It helped having so many cute and young bridesmaids that helped Micheala. Then in May, Micheala had her dance recital. She is in the picture above with one of the seniors that she says is, "beootiful!" She loves the dance recitals and getting to wear makeup. Dylanne didn't dance this year, but at the recital it was easy to see that she missed it. We will see come this fall what she decides to do. With softball and soccer all summer, she may just want a break!

I took some pictures of Dylanne playing softball that I will upload and she has her first soccer game tonight. I will post them soon!

God Bless!

K'la lost her first tooth!

Micheala has had a loose tooth for several weeks now. Actually the permanent tooth is already in behind it. Well, Tuesday night she finally decided she was getting that tooth out! She worked that thing like crazy and had it bleeding and finally it came out! I didn't think her eyes could get any bigger but the look on her face was priceless as she was so excited! She borrowed her sister's tooth fairy pillow and slept with it all night and was so excited the next morning when she woke up to find a $2 bill with fairy dust all over it! She has carried that $2 bill all over and has shown anyone that will look at the fairy dust!

JDRF Walk for the Cure 2011 and the Kool-Aid Stand

It started with a promise to Micheala. I promised her that I would do everything that I could to raise $10,000 for the JDRF Walk this year. I had to explain to her that this will not make her "undiabetic" today, but this money will go a long way in helping find a cure in what we hope is the near future. Well.....WE DID IT! I have not got the official total yet, but as of the Saturday morning of the walk, we raised $10,464! It was a lot of hard work an generous donations by a lot of people. We had about 67 people walk and support us the day of the walk and it was a fun time had by all. I have this check hanging in my office today to remind me that you can do anything you put your mind to....focus and don't listen to the doubters...have faith in yourself. Thanks to everyone that helped us meet our goal!

I also wanted to include the Kool-Aid story:

The Kool-Aid Stand

As parents, there are certain times that we couldn't be more proud of our children. This just happens to be one of those moments for me.

As we near the end of our fundraising efforts for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), I have been stressed out to the max. Friday evening, Heather and I were having a conversation about what to do to raise the final bit of money that we need to reach our team goal of $10,000. We had already raised quite a bit of money and were really close, but close doesn't cut it as I made a promise to Micheala to do everything that I could to raise $10,000. Micheala and I were both suffering from a virus; she had a temp of 103 and I was not feeling the greatest. Heather and I went back and forth; we've exhausted all of our friends and family, had a silent auction, sold t-shirts and even cleaned carpets for a day. What else was there to do? How were we going to meet our goal? As our discussion ended, I got up and took our dog outside to go to the bathroom.

After 10 minutes, I came back into the house to be greeted by Micheala; who was once laying down but now was sitting upright. She says to me, "Dad, I have an idea how to raise money to make me undiabetic!" I said, "Ok Micheala, let's hear it."
She proceeds to tell me that tomorrow she can build a kool-aid stand and sell our kool-aid in our driveway to people and that will raise money for kids to be undiabetic.

I left the room and was followed out by Heather. I am man enough to admit that this put me in quite an emotional state. Here lays my 5 year old diabetic daughter, with a fever of 103, barly with enough strength to get up and use the bathroom, wanting to build a kool-aid stand and sell kool-aid to help out. How does a 5 year old have so much unselfish perspective?

We told K'la that she could do this if she wanted to and she quickly got her older sister Dylanne on board. So we purchased 2 pieces of poster board and some plastic cups and told K'la that if she was feeling better by Wednesday that she could follow through with her idea. She was excited.

I gained a great deal of perspective from this. Micheala knows only through her experiences what diabetes is. She doesn't understand that this disease is killing her dad and may cause her complications in the the future. She doesn't understand what "research" means nor does she have a total grasp on the importance of the JDRF Walk for the Cure and why we raise money. To her it is simple.....raise money to be undiabetic. What she knows or feels is that she needs to do something to help and this is the best way in her mind to do just that. A cup full of pennies is a lot of money to her, which brings me to understand that it's not entirely just about raising money, but about being part of something special...being part of the cure.
So Wednesday night, in 40 degree weather, K'la, Dylanne, Heather and myself will be in our driveway, in Urbana Iowa, selling our sugar free Kool-Aid to raise money for Team Pump Princess and JDRF. We may only sell a glass or two, but I think the real victory will be watching my 2 girls contribute to a great cause, not because they were told to do so by some adult, but because they chose to.

Thanks to our friends, family and neighbors...The Kool-Aid Stand made $343 on Wednesday night between the hours of 5pm-6pm. The girls were so proud.

Halloween and Updates

The girls had a lot of fun at Halloween this year. Dylanne was the Wicked Witch of South St and Micheala was Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Halloween honestly gives me a lot of anxiety. First, they don't make costumes for Iowa weather. So, the girls get costumes and then are all mad at me because we have to bundle up. Then the candy! O my goodness, there is so much candy and we have two diabetics in the house. Not a good combination! We went Trick or Treating with a bunch of friends and made it down one road when Micheala decided she was done. It's a lot of work to ask for candy and to be honest she had some and was dying to eat it! Micheala and I headed home, but I don't buy Halloween candy so we went to the neighbors and they let her help hand some candy out.

The girls did the free-throw shooting contest this year. This is Dylanne's third year and Micheala's first. Dylanne has gotten old enough that she is now using a real basketball and the hoop is much higher, which frustrated her a bunch. She got first place the last two years and was very frustrated with only third place this year. Micheala on the other hand, made no baskets, but thought it was a blast because there were High School girls there helping them and that is all she needed. Micheala really wanted a trophy and out of 5 girls, Micheala was tied for 3rd place so she got a trophy! She was excited and Dylanne ticked off! Ah, the emotions of girls.

That's about it for the Schrock house right now. They keep us on our toes and busy. They want snow now and are ready with their winter gear. I hope we don't get any this year. I have a feeling I will be disappointed.

JDRF and misc catching up to do!

Wow! I have some catching up to do.

Last spring Micheala and Mike participated in a photo shoot for JDRF. The hope was to use the pictures for the JDRF Gala that is held every fall. These are two of the pictures that were taken! They turned out amazing! The one of both Mike and Micheala was used on the invites for the JDRF Gala. The one of just Micheala was used as a big picture on the stage at the Gala. We were able to go to the Gala (thanks to so many wonderful people) and enjoy the evening in honor of Micheala. We had a wonderful time and were joined by our great friends Jason and Erica.

We have been busy since the last time I posted. School has started and Micheala is finally beginning to adjust. We had some health problems and those are posted at www.caringbridge.org site name: schrock.

Mike has been busy working his new job in Waverly. He drives an hour back and forth to work everyday, but he loves his job. He spent the summer coaching a 10U baseball team and really enjoyed working with the boys and other coaches. We had a blast going to the games and felt honored that those families allowed us to be a part of their boys lives.

The girls keep us busy. Dylanne is doing sports and enjoys school. She is a social butterfly so the second she gets home from school she wants to go somewhere to play. She enjoys the neighbor kids and she is usually at someone elses house or someone is at ours. Micheala learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She mastered it in no time and is now trying to pop wheelies and ramp off of things. Micheala's best friend is our neighbor Erica and everyday as soon as Erica gets home from work, Micheala is over at her house. Sometimes Micheala just goes inside and sits on the couch and snuggles with Erica.

That's us in a nutshell. Hopefully soon, I can get up some pictures of the actual Gala night.

School Begins!!

School has started! Dylanne started school on the 17th and Micheala started the 18th. The pictures shown are of the girls on Micheala's first day of school. They were both very excited about school starting. Dylanne has moved to a big kid pod in the school. She has an actual desk that opens and is very excited about it. Micheala is full-time school this year. After much discussions with the teacher and the nurse, I am feeling about as comfortable as I can be about her being there and eating lunch. She is very excited because her friend Madison is in her class with her. It is amazing to me how grown up they are getting.

Changes

We have had a lot of changes since our last post.

Mike:
First of all this Friday marks Mike's last day working for the Linn County Youth Shelter. He will have worked there for not quite 8 years and the County Board of Supervisors has decided to shut the doors. Mike will begin working for Bremer County on May 3rd as the CCO of Community Based Services. He will finally be working a day job and be home in the evenings and on weekends with the rest of us and we are very excited to have him at home! Mike has been spending a lot of his free time working with the CPU Storm baseball team. He has been helping coach and has really enjoying working with the boys. Their first game is tonight.

Dylanne:
Dylanne is doing well is school. She started softball yesterday and is very excited! She is growing like a weed and it won't be too much longer and she will be taller than I am! Both of the girls are finishing up dance and have their dance recital in a couple of weeks. Dylanne does not wish to do dance next year, but has shown interest in gymnastics. We had a friends birthday party at Twisters and Dylanne got to try out some of her gymnastic skills and she does actually have some raw talent. We will have to see if she gets to sign up this fall.

Micheala:
Micheala is getting so much better at working with her diabetes. We still struggle at times, but I think this is the nature of the beast and is something that we will just have to go with the flow. Micheala just celebrated her 5th birthday! Where did the time go? I can't believe our baby is 5! She had a wonderful day! We got her a bike and as soon as the garage door opens every morning, no matter the weather, she is on the bike and riding it in the driveway! She loves to ride her bike! She also got some seeds from her friend Erica and she planted them and they are sprouting and everyday she has to check to see how much more they have grown. She still struggles a little with going to school and hates riding the bus, but is getting better. She doesn't hate it, but would just rather hang at home with mom and dad. She will go to Kindergarten full days next year! She is a little frustrated that Dylanne gets to do sports and she doesn't. She will continue to do dance next year as she loves it!

Me:
I am working as usual. I switched jobs to the Health Dept. It keeps me busy and I travel a lot which I do not like. I made contact with my dad last November and that has been amazing and we talk (usually through email)several times a week. May 3rd marks 2 years since my Mom has been gone and I struggle with it everyday! People often tell me it will get easier and I am still waiting. Hopefully someday it will. The girls and Mike keep me busy and that helps a lot! We have great friends and I spend a lot of time with them and that is also wonderful!

Hopefully we can be a little better about keeping this updated.

God Bless!

Dylanne wins again!

Dylanne won the free throw shooting contest again this year! I wish I had a picture, but I forgot the camera. She was very hesitant about doing the contest this year. She couldn't decide if she wanted to do it until the day before the contest and finally decided that she would give it a try. We got to the contest and she started practicing. There were 5 girls in her class competing and during warm-ups she wasn't doing that great and I worried that I pushed her into it and she was going to be mad at me if she did really bad. When it was time to go, she was up first and did amazing! 11 free throws in 2 minutes! I was so proud of her and she was very proud of herself, especially when she got her trophy! We are so proud of her!

I Have Some Catching Up To Do!!!!!!!

Okay, so I have been off the blogger wagon for a while and I guess it's time to get back on. My wife pointed out to me the other night that the last time I udated this website was on Dylanne's birthday, so I guess I have some catching up to do.

The rest of the summer has been full of fun and excitement, with a little trouble mixed in to keep it interesting. I figured I would just update by person instead of trying to piece everything in order.

Micheala - Kla has been getting use to using the diabetic pump. It has not been an easy road, but a road that is getting smoother. She really has a great deal of anxiety when we have to change her pump site. It is a painless process and only has to be done every 3 days, but she still gets all worked up about it. We have good days and bad days. Some days she'll really embrace the fact that her and her daddy are a lot alike, and other days she'll say that she doesn't want to have diabetes anymore. There's been a few days in which she had some moments that absolutely broke my heart. On day she asked me who gave her diabetes and I had to tell her that I did. We had a long talk about it afterwards in which I stressed that being diabetic didn't mean she was bad, just that she had to take extra special care of herself. I also walked in on one of her friends tell a group of kids at our house that "having diabetes is bad and it means you're going to die". Once this kid spotted me, they were quick to change their story. Kla didn't react to what was being said, but it just made me wonder, why would anyone say such hurtful things around her. She is now a 4 year old preschooler and really loves going to school. She is doing quite well and is managing her diabetes in school really well with the help of our school nurse. She has just started dance, which seems to be the highlight of her winter.

Dylanne - Heather and I have tried to focus more on Dylanne as she seems to find herself on the back burner most of the time. We have spent some one on one time with her really pushing positive enforcement. She is super smart and is really progressing well at school. She is losing her hair and nobody seems to have an answer why. Right now they are saying it is due to stress, but who knows. My heart breaks for her as she sometimes gets dumped on by her friends. Dylanne by all means is no angel, but on a few occassions, mom and dad had to sit in talk with a crying child after some mean and hurtful things were said to her. I chalk it up to growing up and am trying to teach her to be nice at all times and things will come full circle. Dylanne is starting cheerleading camp this week and will be performing this Friday at the football game. She has also started dance class and really enjoys dancing with her friends.

Heather - well the whole cancer thing has resurfaced which pretty much puts my life on hold. It is very scary having to wait for test results and think about what or could happen. Luckily the lumps in her throat are going to be treated with medication and an additional, more scary cancer that was believed to be present, ended up not being present. Heather and I have talked laetly about how we are in a "good place" right now. Despite some of the scares that we've had and our busy agendas, we love the way things are going. Heather just started a new job with the Health Department and really likes it so far. I'm not real crazy about it only because now I have to get up early in the morning and take the kids to school.

Mike - what to say about me. Hawkeye football is in full swing and that consumes many of my thoughts. I have been busy painting cornhole boards for people, which is nice to make some extra cash and I love to do it. The insulin pump has changed my life, not only health wise but mentally as well. I seem to have a more positive outlook on things and quite frankly stopped caring about what people think of me and my crazy ways. I just figured that I am having fun, and that's what matters to me. I really love this time of year because I get to spend every other weekend with my parents at Hawkeye football games. I wish my wife was able to come, but somebody has to watch the kids. Soon enough Heather, soon enough. My job is still up in the air. The Linn County Board of Supervisors seem to think that shelter care is not priority, even though that all the shelters in Linn County and Johnson County are currently full of kids. In the last 2 days we had to turn 8 kids away due to being full. I think there is a need.

I hosted the 2nd Annual Schrock's Black and Gold Blowout on September 26. This year my neighbor and I built a 9' X 12' screen and projected the game outdoors. The early rain was a bit of a scare, but it cleared away and 75-100 of our friends and family got to watch the Hawkeyes upset Penn State. The evening was highlighted with many beers, plenty of food, great people, an airbrush tattoo artists and everyone dressed in Hawkeye gear. Alan Brecht won the annual Keepin It Real award for showing the most Hawkeye spirit by dressing in the full Hawkeye uniform. Although the party takes a lot of little pety work, and is stressful in preperation, it was all worth it in the end. Thanks to all that came. Below is a picture of the party right before game time.

Dylanne is 6!

On July 20th, Dylanne celebrated her 6th birthday. My how time flies. We held her birthday party on Sunday the 19th in which family and friends joined us for walking tacos and cake.Dylanne next to her cake that Heather made for her.
Dylanne wanted a skateboard for her birthday. I wish it would have come with a first aid kit, although so far so good.
Dylanne really enjoyed all of her gifts and the fun time with her friends and family.

The best part of Dylanne's birthday is talking about the night she was born. We tell her about the tornado that hit in Cedar Rapids during Heather's labor. She thinks that it is funny that the nurses said we should have named her Storm or Rani.

Chicago White Sox

I've been very lucky in the month of July for one reason. I got to see the Chicago White Sox play two times in one week. On July 5th, John Harris, his son, his son's friend and I went to Kansas City to see the White Sox play the Royals. Even though we lost the game, we had a great time. On July 9th, the same group of guys went to Chicago to see the Sox play the Indians. We lost that game as well, but again, had a great time. I find it amazing how even as a 32 year old man, seeing Major League Baseball, still leaves me speechless.Picture of the scoreboard in US Cellular field in Chicago.
A picture from our seats in Chicago.

I forgot my camera for the Kansas City trip, but we had awesome seats for that game as well.

Blank Park Zoo

A couple weeks ago, the family and I went on a mini vacation to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines. It was a great little getaway and definately worth the time and the money. We had a fun time and the girls, who love animals, were laughing and smiling the whole time.
Here is the girls in front of one of the huge fish tanks that the park had in it's indoor exhibit.Here is all of us on the train.

Both of the girls really enjoyed feeding the animals, especially the goats.
Here are my favorite gals watching over the giraffes. What a great time and nice day with the family.

Schrock Summer Report

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I have updated this blog, but I have been busy trying to keep up with all of the riff raff, better known as summer. So, since it is 4:30 am and I am at work with nothing better to do, I thought that I would give a little rundown of our summer thus far.

As some of you may know, I run a Baggo league from my house called Urbana Independent Bags League. I started it last summer and it is basically a gathering of neighbors and friends on a Saturday night for a grill out and a Baggo tournament. In the spirit of competition, I keep statistics and publish them on a website www.uibl.blogspot.com for the participants to follow. I rank players throughout the summer based on a point system that I developed. The whole purpose was to have an alternative source of entertainment that doesn't involve spending loads of money, includes families and is a safe place to drink some adult beverages and not worry about driving home (or at least for some of us). It has been quite successful and word has gotten out around town about the league resulting in more interest from others.

Dylanne completed her first season of coach pitch softball. She was on a team that had some boys and some girls, but they were all kindergartners. She did very well, although her attention span was lack there of at some points. I did work with her a bit in the yard, but she is just more interested in putting on dresses and playing girly stuff right now. Because of my work schedule, I was only able to see 1 of her 5 games, which was a bit heartbreaking for me, but I know that in the future I will be able to catch more of them. She also completed kindergarten with flying colors. All reports on her final report card were excellent as she has really grown this year from an academic stand point. Speaking of growing, she has really shot up this past year. I look at a young lady now and can't believe that it seems like only yesterday she was a baby. Heather and I struggle a bit with her sometimes "diva" attitude. Her attitude is up and down depending on what seems to be the day. I am really proud of Dylanne for the way that she has handled Micheala's newly diagnosed diabetes. She makes an effort to not eat in front of Micheala when Micheala cannot eat. She also has been an excellent friend to our neighbor boy, Austin, who is getting ready to have a bone marrow transplant this month to help his leukemia. We've had long talks about what Austin is going through and she has made an excellent effort to play with Austin before he spends time in the hospital.

What can I say about Micheala? Her strength has been incredible this past month. She has completed her first year of pre-school and thinks she is going to be in kindergarten next year. I have explained to her numerous times that she has one more year of pre-school left, but she refuses to believe me. Diabetes is going really well for Micheala. Her blood sugars are running normal, she is on a good diet and eating regimen and is doing her shots and blood sugar testings without throwing a big fuss. As far as her Chiari Malformation, that is going excellent as well. She is sleeping much better at night, which results in Heather and I getting rest as well. Micheala has taken a huge interest in gardening this summer, thanks to our neighbor Erica. She has planted numerous flowers around the outside of our house and can name all of them. She is also growing some tomatoes and peppers in a mini garden. Micheala and our dog, Mika, have become quite close over the last month. I'm not sure the dog appreciates all of the affection all of the time, but at night, Mika is always looking to lay with Micheala. One thing about our neighborhood is that there just isn't very many kids for Micheala to play with and she sometimes gets pushed aside by Dylanne and her friends, so she has become best friends with Erica, our neighbor. Erica does a fantastic job of letting Micheala help with her various outdoor projects. and Heather and I appreciate the patience Erica has with her. Although Micheala can get cranky at times, she still has that happy go lucky attitude that always can make you laugh.

Heather and I are doing great. We think that we have reached a point of "living" once again. Heather is busy at work trying to budget the various youth programs in Linn County and has been under some stressful deadlines as of late. She fractured her cheek bone last weekend while horsing around at one of our Baggo tournaments. She still has a bit of a black eye and some discomfort, but she is surviving. I am proud of the research and learning that she has done in regards to Micheala's health because she really didn't know all there was to know about diabetes until Micheala's diagnosis. We haven't had to visit that "cancer" word with Heather as of late, which is refreshing. She is currently thinking of taking another shot at her Masters degree in the near future. I am still working at the Linn County Youth Shelter. As most of you know, the flood destroyed our building last year and we are currently at a temporary location at the Linn County Detention Center. We were suppose to have a new building by now, but FEMA, the board of supervisors and other parties involved have been held up, causing a delay in our future. June 28th is a big day for me, as the board of supervisors have been kicking around the "need" for the Linn County Youth Shelter, and our future will be decided on or by that date. I have all the confidence in the world that we will continue to have a program, I just have to wait and hear it officially. I spent all of last week working on our house, as we got it appraised. I painted the living room (green) and our bedroom (magenta/periwinkle), as well as doing other repairs that I could do with my little knowledge in home repair. I have painted a few garages this year and sounds as if I may have a few more to do by summer's end. I enjoy painting and use it as a stress reliever.

Our family has also enjoyed our newest member, Braylon. We are so fortunate to have Chris and Joni live so close to us and can visit them at any time. Braylon has really grown and is absolutely adorable! The girls think he is awesome and always want to hold him, but Heather and I try to hold them off, as we see how they treat their dolls.

All in all, things are going great thus far. We enjoy being outside with our neighbors and friends. We are happy that we are finally moving forward health wise and can get back to doing the things we love to do. Heather and I talk at night about how we could never handle some of the things we've gone through alone and thinks it only makes us stronger, which I sure is true for a lot of families.

Here's to a great rest of the summer for all!

Micheala Update

The past couple weeks have been pretty busy. We are doing doctor's appointments, which seems like every other day, on top of doing our "everyday" business. Right now we are trying to regulate Micheala's blood sugars. She barely takes any insulin at all, due to her being in her honeymoon period. A honeymoon period is when Micheala's body puts up the last little fight to produce insulin, causing her to have low blood sugars. The honeymoon period can last for days, weeks or months; there is no way of telling. We are fighting low blood sugars in the mornings and at night and our doctor has been adjusting the insulin accordingly. Micheala is also not a very big eater, so we have to force her to eat, which is a battle. She has become more accustom to the blood sugar checks and the injections. She says that they don't hurt, but gets herself all worked up prior with anxiety, which causes her to put up a little fight. Needless to say, Heather and I have been watching her like a hawk. Heather is starting to get the hang of things and I am learning some new things as well.

She still has her crazy attitude and personality, so the diabetes has not slowed that at all. She has taken an interest in gardening and has planted numerous plants and vegetables in our yard. She has gone back to school and things there have been good.

Never for a moment did i ever think that Micheala couldn't handle diabetes, I just never wanted the opportunity to find out that she could. She is getting a better understanding everyday of what she has and what it means. Today she saw a commercial on TV for some candy, she looks at me and says, "Dad, I can't have that, it will make me sick, it's got too much sugar". I looked at her, smiled and said, "Yeah but you know what, we can eat all the God Damn cheese that we want too". Maybe that's only funny to us diabetics.

The other day, our little neighbor boy with lukemia, Austin, told Micheala that she just needs to remember to be brave. Every once in a while, Micheala will say, Austin told me I need to be brave, and this helps her with her injections.

Dylanne is doing an excellent job of being respectful towards her sister in regards to eating. While we don't want to deny Dylanne the satisfaction of a deserved treat, we ask her to eat it away from Micheala. She does this and understands why she has to do it.

Heather and I are exhausted, both mentally and physically, but we do not let that slow us down. We are trying to maintain a normal lifestyle with family and friends, but sometimes find ourselves too tired. We've both had our share of sleepless nights and have to test Micheala's blood sugars a few times overnight.

Heather and I would like to thank all of our friends and family for supporting us the last couple weeks. Most people still see Micheala as the fun loving 4 year old and not the "diabetic girl", and that's all that we ask. We appreciate all of those who are eager to learn how to care for Micheala so they can spend time with her without Heather or myself.

Finally, St.Lukes is interested in doing a story about Micheala and some of the adversity that she has gone through. It's more of a hospital PR, but I figured, if it does happen, maybe this can be a way for Micheala to reach out to other kids her age going through adversity and let them know that things will eventually be alright.

Micheala........

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out in blog land! Today my wife and I celebrated Mother's Day in St. Lukes hospital. Let me explpain and I'll start from the beginning.

Heather and I had Micheala take part in a study down at the University of Iowa about a month ago. The study tests children of Type 1 Diabetics to see if they have the signs of becoming a diabetic in the future. If the test comes back positive, then that means that your child would have a chance to become diabetic and the University would like to study the child to see if the early signs of diabetes can be identified much earlier. Well Micheala's test came back positive, which was heart wrenching for me, but it was not a 100% sign that she would be diabetic, just that she has a chance. Over the last week, Heather and I started to notice the symptoms (extreme thirst, frequent urination and mood swings). We tested her blood sugar at home and it was high, so we headed to St. Luke's to get the official diagnosis.....Type 1 diabetes.

Micheala will be hospitalized for a bit to regulate her sugars and is already doing better. She still has lots of energy and the hospital staff complimented us on being "so alert" to the symptoms. She did not get sick or dehydrated like I did when I was diagnosed, so we have skipped some of the scary parts of diabetes, but we know we have a long road ahead of us.

On a personal note......I am crushed. I never wanted this to happen to any of my kids as I struggle to keep my diabetes in check. I guess now I will have to refocus and buckle down on my own health to encourage Micheala to do the same. I have trouble understanding why Micheala just can't seem to get a fair shake in life. I find myself very guilt stricken and wish I could undo it all. K'la and I have always had a special bond and I guess now there is one more thing that we share.

Micheala turns 4!

With all that has been going on with Micheala, we added a birthday party to the mix. On April 19th, Micheala turned 4 years old. We had her party on the 20th, with Grandparents, neighbors and aunt Joni and Uncle Chris. Micheala set the land speed record for opening her gifts, so we didn't get many pictures. It's amazing how fast she has grown. Thank you to everyone that came.

Micheala verses the MRI

Friday was the day that was weighing heavy on Heather and my hearts for quite sometime now. We had many concerns and unanswered questions regarding the health of Micheala and the results of her surgery from last August. As many of you know, Heather and I grew concerned with Micheala about 2 months ago when she was display some odd behavior. She was wetting her pants in the middle of the day, having alarms at night, staring off into space and at times was acting "out of character". So after meeting with our pediatrician and making calls into our surgeon, we had set up an EEG and an MRI to get an idea of what may be causing these symptoms.

The EEG was done at St. Luke's in Cedar Rapids> The EEG was done to rule out any concern that Micheala may be having some seizures. Thankfully her EEG was good and there were no indications of any types of seizures, so that left us with the MRI.

Friday we traveled down to Iowa City, where my cousin Lani was to perform the MRI. Initially we were told not to feed Micheala due to her having to be sedated for the MRI. Lani approached us moments before the MRI about trying it without sedation. This required Micheala to lay still in the MRI tube for 15 minutes. After some convincing, we talked Micheala into doing it. So our brave little girl, scared and unsure of what was going on, laid on the table, put on the headphones and entered the tube for her MRI. Heather and I were able to stay and comfort her by holding her hands and basically just being in plain sight. She eventually got comfortable and made it through the MRI with flying colors. I am simply amazed by the strength that Micheala has by doing something that she was scared to do and by trusting Heather and I when we said, "We'll be with you all the way and we promise it will not hurt".

Next we met with the surgeon, who reviewed the MRI results and indicated to Heather and I that Micheala is fine. He explained that the initial surgery would show us instant changes, but it is a progressive recovery. The area in which Micheala had surgery will continue to shrink, but we will still see some episodes along the way. He tells us that we should only be concerned when the area stops shrinking, which will be measured with an MRI every six months. So, long story short, she is doing well and things are going as planned.

Thank you to everyone who has though and prayed for Micheala throughout this journey of hers. I have to believe that it is all of your strength that makes her brave enough to go through all of her tests and treatments. If anyone has questions about Micheala, please feel free to call either Heather or myself.

Welcome Braylon Christopher Shaw!

Today we welcome Braylon Christopher Shaw to the family. Joni and Chris had him this morning at 4:32 am and everyone is doing well. I thought I would post a few pictures to show off this beautiful baby boy, but I'll leave the details for Joni and Chris to share.

New Look Hawkeye Garage

So I got tired of the ragged Tigerhawk that I painted on my garage 2 years ago, so I decided to fix it. Truth is that when I did the original tigerhawk, I hurried through it and settled on something I wasn't real proud of. Well, those that know me, know that this wasn't sitting well with me. I hated looking at it when I would walk into my garage. I was also quite annoyed that I have been painting other people's garages and my garage looked the worst. Thought I would share what I have done. This was also a way to help me forget about my swelling gums. I used the same template as the helmet I made for my neighbor's boy, so you will notice they are the same, with the exception of the size.

Close up of the original tigerhawk on my garage wall. Looks pretty shitty in my opinion.
Another picture of the original tigerhawk. Still looks shitty from a distance.
The "new look" garage, the hawkeye football helmet.
Another shot of the "new look" garage.

Passing Time to Forget My Pain

What started as a sinus infection, soon became my worst nightmare. On Saturday, I started having some pain in my sinuses, so I got some meds to fight off the sinus infection. Once the sinus infection was gone, I still had some pain in my jaw, so I went to the dentist. Turns out I had a couple fillings that were out and some teeth that needed repair. So I had to get one of my wisdom teeth pulled and had a decision to have another tooth root canaled or pulled. I chose to have that tooth pulled as well because the root canal was quite a bit more expensive than to just have it pulled. So with a world of pain in my mouth, I am spending most of my day resting, due to pain medication and the rest of the day trying to find things to do to take my mind off the fact that my mouth hurts like hell. So I decided to make a Hawkeye Football helmet for my neighbor boy, Dylanne Harris. I used cardboard, crayons and black paint. I thought it turned out pretty good and it beats buying one of those "Fathead" things in the store (which go for about $100). Here are some pictures of the finished product.