Blog going private....

I have decided to make my blog private. I still want all my family and friends to be able to access it, so please send me your e-mail address so you can follow our crazy life! Thanks!

Chill day

At 7:30am today it was negative 13 degrees and our high for the day was around 15 degrees. So what do you do on a cold, miserable day in a little town like Moscow where the only places to go are Walmart and the library? You have a "chill day"!

There are a couple rules:

1. no cleaning until 30 minutes before the husband comes home!

2. you can't look at your "to-do list"

3. can't do any laundry

4. you must relax and have fun.

The boys and I had a blast. We slept in, watched Peter Pan, decorated our neighbors door (she had her tonsils taken out this morning), made a paper chain counting down to Reece's birthday, made numerous forts under the piano bench, and started reading John Grisham's new book. Spencer came home for FHE and then we were off to Spencer's volleyball game. The boys were hilarious as usual--Benson flirted with the ladies while Reece ran up and down the court giving Dad high fives. To top off our fun-filled stress free day I put the boys to bed and went to Sheri's for dessert with the ladies! Now it's time to blog and off to bed! Good-night! :)

Little chef

While Benson was in the hospital Reece stayed with Grandma Miller and watched Ratatouille with his cousins Kylie and Hailey. He then would help Grandma cook and would act like he was "little chef". Anyway, yesterday he decided he wanted to help me cook. So we made chef hats and made Aunt Dani's famous magic bars for our neighbors. He's in a new stage where he wants to help with EVERYTHING. He follows me around all day helping me with anything he can. He's a mama's boy and I love it!

Snow skiing champion

Reece had his first experience snow skiing and LOVED it. He wasn't so sure about the idea as we were walking to the bunny hill so I had to put mine and Reece's skies over my right shoulder, and hold Reece on my left hip. It was a funny sight and I wish I had a picture. Once we got to the conveyor belt Reece was a little more excited and we were on our way. We had the bunny hill to ourselves for an hour. Reece was a little champion--he kept yelling as we skied down the hill "I'm going snow skiing". He was fearless and loved going fast. When we were done he told me we had to go snow skiing "tomorrow". He's such a great kid.

Grandma and Reece hanging out in the lodge while I got a couple runs in myself!

Benson in PICU

Instead of re-writing what happened to Benson--i'll just post a letter I sent to our family about Benson's condition.

Dear family and friends-
I thought I'd send an update on Benson's condition. Quick recap: Benson went into the ER Saturday night and was admitted into the Pediatric ICU unit because of severe dehydration and a high blood-sugar level of 480 (normal is between 80-120). After a couple hours of intense poking, drilling, and minor surgeries they were able to get the IV in and start the process of hydrating him (we are fortunate he is with us today--we almost lost him). After getting a blood sample it was apparent he has type one diabetes. He went through the typical process babies go through when they get diabetes (dehydration, very wet diapers, vomiting, and rapid breathing caused by the extra acid in his body). We had awesome doctors and nurses who helped us figure out the right amount of insulin he needs. We also had a really good diabetes education counselor who taught us everything we need to know about diabetes and how to control it.

The last 18 hours have been really good. Benson is back to his normal self and his blood-sugar level has been in the range we want it to be in. We were just discharged from the hospital (yea!) and are happy to be home with our little champion. He's a fighter and I am sure we can credit some of that to his older brother who is always playing or shall we say picking on him. We have had many miracles in the past couple days and feel fortunate to have Benson home with us. Thanks for all your prayers and support. You don't realize how much that helps until you are the one receiving the blessings. We have felt many prayers over the past couple days and are grateful for the end result.

Love you- Spencer and Juliann

Not only did we spend 5 days in the hospital, but on the 4th day we were in the hospital my sister Jamie got married and Spencer's sister Natalie had a baby. It was a crazy day and thank goodness we survived and had awesome nurses to help out with Benson and Nicki to take care of Reece!




Reece in his suit ready for the wedding!

Benson on the 3rd day in the hospital. This was taken right after they took all the cords and stuff off him. It felt so good to hold him free of cords.

Natalie, Kylie, and baby Jacob!

Jamie & Matt Jimenez!

Christmas in Boise

For Christmas Eve we got dressed up and went into the stable and read Luke 2. Nicole rode her horse into the stable and my dad and uncle brought the cows in! Spencer was the narrater! It was a lot of fun.

Christmas day we spent with my family and then in the afternoon we went to the Millers. This is a picture of Kylie dressed up in her princess outfit. She let me do her hair!! It was so fun!Grandma & Grandpa Miller gave Reece this car set which he LOVES!!

Grandma & Grandpa Dunkley also got him some cars--little boys can never have enough cars.

Benson was quite excited to have a toy of his own--no sharing with the older brother!