Home Sweet Home

So we are home and have been for a few weeks now. I have not had a second to sit down and do this post. I finally got all my things done today so I can catch up. We have loved being home. Life started right up when we came home. We got home on a Friday and Saturday was Bergin's 3rd birthday. It was a great day. We just enjoyed being at our house. It was so nice to go back to our ward. We are so blessed to be in such a great ward. Our awesome neighbors put together an open house for us. Many people from the ward came to welcome us home. It was a great night. Life truly began on Monday. Niamh had already been going to school, and Ryan had her first day of preschool. Danny went into work late that day so we could have the day of "firsts." It was a good morning. I still can't believe that school is in and summer is over. It really went by fast. Big Blue, who is Utah States mascot, went to Danny's work. We went to see him. He had a bday balloon and party hat for Niamh, and he had a cute little bag filled with Utah State things for all the girls. They were thrilled (thanks to Danny for getting the stuff to give to him). It took the girls a few basketball seasons to get used to him. Bergin still wasn't quite sure, but she was excited to give him "hugs and high fives." We made it through the first week of being home. We celebrated Niamh's 6th birthday. We got together with the Bott's and the Whitaker's(our neighbors) and had a little BBQ and cake. Niamh had said that she wanted to go bowling and to the pumpkin patch for her birthday. We did just that. It was a fun day. We have been going to the pumpkin patch for the past few years. It is a fun tradition. The girls had a blast. They added a hose off your pumpkins place this year. The girls had so much fun getting all the dirt off.
Liam is doing good. I give him a shot at 8 a.m. and at 2 p.m. At 8 p.m. he gets hooked up to his sugar water until 8 a.m. He has a gtube into his tummy. It will get switched out to a button in a few weeks. The button looks like a button that is on an inflatable beach ball. It will be so nice to have. Right now the tube is 2 feet long. I keep it tucked into his onesies which is nice. His sugars are where they need to be which is all that matters. He sleeps all night which is nice. The girls all started sleeping all night at about 7 and 8 weeks. CHOP doesn't track a lot of babies after they go home just because they follow up with their local endocrinologists, which is what we will do as well, but we will also go back about once a year. One baby that went home on the same regimen as Liam just recenlty went back and had his gtube pulled. He needed the shots until he was 18 months old and was 5 years old when they pulled his tube. We don't know what will happen with Liam, but we know that as he gets bigger that things will change. He is not diabetic. He is hypoglycemic. He is still producing too much insulin, even with 2% of his pancreas. They say that as he gets bigger, the cells start to burn out and also as his body gets bigger, there is more mass for the cells to shoot out to. Only time will tell what will happen. We have a nice little accessory to atatch to us at 8 p.m. every night. They provided us with a little red backpack that all the tubing goes in. It keeps it all contained.
It is so nice to be home and back to normal life. As normal as life is at least. Soccer, dance, and car pooling is in full swing. As crazy as it may seem, it is so nice to be doing all these things. Adding a 4th to the mix hasn't been that bad. The girls have been so good since we've been home. My mom had brought them home for Niamh to start kindergarten. They just stayed here for the weeked with her then stayed at the Whitaker's (neighbors) for a few nights. Then my mom and dad came back to stay with them the night before we came home. I know it helped having them at home before we got home. It got all the excitement of being home out of their system. They grew really close this summer. It is amazing that they did as well as they did. I know Heavenly Father blessed them while we were gone. I know they had their moments, as we all did, but overall they did great. Their summer song was "Hey soul sister" by Train. They love that song and sing it as loud as they can every time they hear it. I love it. They (and Liam) make life worth living each day. They bring us so much happiness.
This past summer was the hardest time in our lives. There were days that came where I thought that there was no way I could go on. There was an amazing strength that we were blessed with. We have no doubt where all that strength came from. We met so many wonderful people who said they would pray for us. Those prayers were added to all those of whom we know and love. Our family name was on so many prayer rolls across the United States. One week I was at church and the lesson was on temples. A question was asked "why do we go to the temple?" At that time I thought of the prayer roll and it made me think about the special prayer said on behalf of those names. It was so neat to know that we were being prayed and fasted for each day. As I said earlier, this has definitely been the hardest thing we've ever been through, but it has also been the BEST experience as well. It has made me think more about the resurrection and how we ALL will be made perfect. I am so so so thankful for my elder brother Jesus Christ. Life is so much easier because of Him and the life He lived for each one of us. I love Him so much.
Since the day Liam was born, many reached out to help. I do not know what we would have done had our family not stepped in to help with the girls. They were taken care of so well. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family that supports us in all that we do. We are also blessed with great friends. There was one day when Danny and I came home from the Logan hospital and our house was spotless, Liam's room was organized, and dinner was ready. We heard our lawn still looked the best on the street even though we were gone. Danny takes great pride in our yard. It is a fun on-going battle with the neighbors to see who can keep the greenest lawn. When we got home there was a nice banner on our railing. Our fridge was clean and full of food and our pantry was stalked full as well. We can never thank our neighbors enough to let them know of our deep love and appreciation for them. We count them as our closest friends. Danny's work was so wonderful as well. He was able to take personal and vacation time while we were gone. His work stepped right in to take care of his load. They sent us a couple fun packages as well. They set up a benefit dinner at Texas Roadhouse and set up an account at Wells Fargo for our family which will help tremendously with our medical expenses. A couple very kind people donated their Marriott reward points which allowed us to stay in the same hotel the whole time. There are so many other kind acts that have not gone unnoticed. We met some wonderful people at the ward there as well. A kind family brought us a nice home cooked meal twice, who ironically enough was friends with Danny's first cousin. Danny's other cousin who is living in D.C. came to visit us. We were at church and the guy reconized Danny's cousin and made the connection that he was friends with his brother. It is a small world.
As I finish this post, I am listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing "Tell me the stories of Jesus" from a conference re-run and my heart is so touched. We are so blessed to be members of the church and have the knowledge of our Savior and the great plan of salvation. We wish to thank EVERYONE for all the help, prayers, love, support, and contributions. We will be indebted to you all forever.
I have put on a couple pictures from Philadelphia. A beautiful "big city" sunset, a super, super kind Amish man that will be a friend forever, who has a wonderful bakery, our daily mode of transportation, a LOVEly picture of me and Danny by the famous "LOVE" statue, the hairdo of every black little girl walking the streets, and a not so great looking picture of us enjoying a "water ice" at Rita's. It was probably one the hottest days there and we had heard about water ice. We went and got one to cool us off. I can't describe how they are made, but they are so good. It is a mix between an icee and a slurpee, but a million times better. We had a good time in Philly. I am so thankful that I could spend it with my best friend Danny. I love him and I am so thankful for the good husband and dad that he is. I am grateful that we can be an eternal family.