This weekend, we celebrated my 44th birthday. Wow - I actually had to remeber what year I was born and calculate my age to make sure I wasn't mistaken when I realized I was turning 44. We had a great weekend filled with a lot of fun and cool activities. And, I was surrounded by my three favorite men, dear friends, and two favorite Vizslas.
Friday night, we watched the original Fantasia for "family movie night" from the 1940s. Interesting little movie. When Heath first put it on, I rolled my eyes and thought the kids will never sit through this. For folks who haven't seen this, it basically starts out with an orchestra and the conductor claims this is a movie. As the movie progresses, it gets a lot more interesting because they play the Nutcracker (one of my favorites) and the visuals get more creative including an appearance by Micky Mouse. Though, I am convinced this movie was created with taking LSD or some other mind altering drug in mind. By the time the intermission ocurred, it was 9pm and time for the boys to go night, night. We announced that we were turning the movie off and Tas cried and threw a tantrum. I must admit, I was sorry to have to turn it off too. We all had gotten really into it. To be continued...
On Saturday, we started the day with the 40 years of Sesame Street DVD, which I ordered for the boys. Kermie came on and sang "It's Not East Being Green" to which I started hysterically crying. I couldn't help being overwhelmed with emotion over the show that was a major part pf my childhood. I cooked pancakes, then headed out for a birthday yoga class - ahhhh!
When I returned from yoga (yogurt per Tas and Chance) and a green tea at the local coffee house, we packed up our family belongings and did what people did 100 years ago. We traveled to our dear friends John and DeDe in downtown Raleigh and slept over! On the way, we stopped at our dear friends Mark and Sherri's house to a quick New Year's visit. Then, for a family dinner at Cantina 18 in Cameron Village accompanied by very special wine from our friend Pat. We had plans to do a casino/murder mystery at the Raleigh Little Theater to celebrate my birthday and their 75th Anniversary while Joanne watched all the kids at John and DeDe's house. The RLT event was wonderful as we were transitioned to a 1930's casino where Heath and I played craps all night while getting clues for an impending murder. After the event, we ate shameful amounts of delicious chocolate birthday cake at John and DeDe's while enjoying Trader Joes port. The best gift of all was that Chance was at 150 when we got home and the boys slept through the night. They LOVED the sleepover! Thanks Heath, John and DeDe for a memorable birthday!
In the morning, we ate yummy pancakes and bacon prepared by Chef John and caught up some more while the boys enjoyed all the new artifacts at their home and time with baby Atticus. We went home, cared for the pooches, then headed to the NC Science Museum in Raleigh. This was really an eye opener for how much the boys have matured. No stroller, they followed directions, held our hands and thought all the bugs, snakes, dinasours, birds, etc. we SO cool! I decided that the museum should reexhibit to exhibit. After the museum, we popped over to the Museum of Natural History for a Bluegrass show. We only caught 30 mins, but it was very good and the boys loved this too!
On the way home, the boys crashed hard and are still alseep. We have decided to keep them that way and enjoy an evening to ourselves. We have a mushroom and sausage pizza on the way. In the iterim, I took the pooches for a walk before we are covered in snow and ice tomorrow and am enjoying some downtime. Thank goodness, my Mom got me that 3/4 down jacket last winter.
Happy day, happy weekend!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
I am starting out the New Year with a blog post. I did not realize how many people read my blog until I took a break. I did transcribe the first year blog and saved it a Pages document, but never got beyond that as far as publishing goes. I think blogging again will be one of my goals this year.
Q4 blew by very quickly. I find myself sitting here wondering how in the world it could be January 1, 2011?? Heath and I have been off from SAS for the last 8 days for the winter break - YAY! Carita and Marshall have been here for about 10 days, which is so nice. I hope that they have enjoyed the chaos that has become our house as I know we have all really enjoyed having them with us! We will be sad when they leave this Wednesday.
To give an update on the boys, they have really grown and changed so much over the last three months. They are talking, communicating, being affectionate, are potty trained and like to do most everything for themselves. Their teachers have submitted their paperwork for them to move up to the Children's House when they turn three this month. They are acting every bit of three. I love them dearly (more than words could possibly say) but there are times when they really push their boundaries and press our buttons. I don't think they could be any cuter and sweet though. Three will be a tough year for us, but a magical age. The age when they will really transform into little boys. I will try to savor every minute of three and survive it at the same time. I know once we turn this corner this stage of my little babies will be gone forever.
Tas notices and remembers EVERYTHING and asks us why, what, over and over, etc, etc. He is very inquisitive. I am convinced that he has a photographic memory and a built is GPS. He always knows exactly where he is when we're driving and remembers people's faces, locations of places, etc. To give two really good examples:
About two weeks ago, I took the boys to Cameron Village to get some Christmas gifts and eat dinner. On the way home, Tas had to pee so we stopped at John and DeDe's house, which was very close by. After leaving their house, I drove to Western Blvd where we saw the WRAL tower decorated with Christmas lights. The boys loved this. This past week, we took the boys to John and DeDe's for a holiday dinner and visit. When we left, as soon as I got to the intersection of Pullen Rd and Western Blvd, Tas said "Mommy, we're going to see the tower now." I was amazed!
Even more amazing, yesterday we went to visit Oskar and his family for the holidays. On the way out of their intersection, I ran into a work colleague named Tom who had just come back from running and lives on Oskar's street. I introduced Tas and Chance to him. As I pulled away, Tas said "Mommy, Tom is the drummer." I hit my breaks, put the car in reverse and pulled back to Tom. I told him what Tas had just said. This really blew our minds because Tom is one of the people who does the drum circle that we went to a few times this summer!! Tas remembered him completely out of context. It was then that I realized that Tas must have a photographic memory and that this was clearly a gift that he would be able to leverage throughout his life.
Chance is really thriving and is brilliant in his own right. He is always trying to figure out how everything works and how everything goes together. He is a very focused and determined individual and does not let diabetes slow him down. He is also left handed and has some tendencies towards being artistic. I have tons of artwork that he has done at school. More than I have wall space to hang.
Chance is doing really well with his diabetes except for a few bad lows in the 40s that we have had this past week. For reasons that we don't know why, we have had to reduce Chance's total daily insulin by about 30%. We have moved to glucose tablets to treat lows instead of apple juice. These work much faster to raise Chance's blood glucose levels and are much easier to administer and have on hand. Yesterday, I was out walking on the golf course and all of sudden Chance got very quiet and pale. I tested him and he was 45. I almost had a heart attack because I was about 15 minutes walking distance from our house, but luckily I had grabbed Chance's kit and the tablets were in there. Phew!!
As for me and Heath, we are in the process of establishing our goals for 2011. I think I want to keep these simple since surviving (and enjoying) the threes is clearly one of our biggest challenges and goals so I don't want to have too much else to worry about. I do however want to set some goals for us having more quality time together and more time for me. Good luck with that you say right?
Here's to a fantastic, happy and healthy 2011!
Q4 blew by very quickly. I find myself sitting here wondering how in the world it could be January 1, 2011?? Heath and I have been off from SAS for the last 8 days for the winter break - YAY! Carita and Marshall have been here for about 10 days, which is so nice. I hope that they have enjoyed the chaos that has become our house as I know we have all really enjoyed having them with us! We will be sad when they leave this Wednesday.
To give an update on the boys, they have really grown and changed so much over the last three months. They are talking, communicating, being affectionate, are potty trained and like to do most everything for themselves. Their teachers have submitted their paperwork for them to move up to the Children's House when they turn three this month. They are acting every bit of three. I love them dearly (more than words could possibly say) but there are times when they really push their boundaries and press our buttons. I don't think they could be any cuter and sweet though. Three will be a tough year for us, but a magical age. The age when they will really transform into little boys. I will try to savor every minute of three and survive it at the same time. I know once we turn this corner this stage of my little babies will be gone forever.
Tas notices and remembers EVERYTHING and asks us why, what, over and over, etc, etc. He is very inquisitive. I am convinced that he has a photographic memory and a built is GPS. He always knows exactly where he is when we're driving and remembers people's faces, locations of places, etc. To give two really good examples:
About two weeks ago, I took the boys to Cameron Village to get some Christmas gifts and eat dinner. On the way home, Tas had to pee so we stopped at John and DeDe's house, which was very close by. After leaving their house, I drove to Western Blvd where we saw the WRAL tower decorated with Christmas lights. The boys loved this. This past week, we took the boys to John and DeDe's for a holiday dinner and visit. When we left, as soon as I got to the intersection of Pullen Rd and Western Blvd, Tas said "Mommy, we're going to see the tower now." I was amazed!
Even more amazing, yesterday we went to visit Oskar and his family for the holidays. On the way out of their intersection, I ran into a work colleague named Tom who had just come back from running and lives on Oskar's street. I introduced Tas and Chance to him. As I pulled away, Tas said "Mommy, Tom is the drummer." I hit my breaks, put the car in reverse and pulled back to Tom. I told him what Tas had just said. This really blew our minds because Tom is one of the people who does the drum circle that we went to a few times this summer!! Tas remembered him completely out of context. It was then that I realized that Tas must have a photographic memory and that this was clearly a gift that he would be able to leverage throughout his life.
Chance is really thriving and is brilliant in his own right. He is always trying to figure out how everything works and how everything goes together. He is a very focused and determined individual and does not let diabetes slow him down. He is also left handed and has some tendencies towards being artistic. I have tons of artwork that he has done at school. More than I have wall space to hang.
Chance is doing really well with his diabetes except for a few bad lows in the 40s that we have had this past week. For reasons that we don't know why, we have had to reduce Chance's total daily insulin by about 30%. We have moved to glucose tablets to treat lows instead of apple juice. These work much faster to raise Chance's blood glucose levels and are much easier to administer and have on hand. Yesterday, I was out walking on the golf course and all of sudden Chance got very quiet and pale. I tested him and he was 45. I almost had a heart attack because I was about 15 minutes walking distance from our house, but luckily I had grabbed Chance's kit and the tablets were in there. Phew!!
As for me and Heath, we are in the process of establishing our goals for 2011. I think I want to keep these simple since surviving (and enjoying) the threes is clearly one of our biggest challenges and goals so I don't want to have too much else to worry about. I do however want to set some goals for us having more quality time together and more time for me. Good luck with that you say right?
Here's to a fantastic, happy and healthy 2011!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Where did my little babies go?
Papa Ralph and Grandma Ro sent the boys a box of clothes from Old Navy yesterday. The boys could not be more excited to try these on, remove the tags and model them while I took their photo. Then, wanted to wear them to school today. Too funny!
Where did my little babies go? Their little boys now....
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Fabulous Day
Last night, thanks to Aunt Ladonna and Uncle Charles I had a night out with Holly and Kymberly. We went for dinner and had a very nice evening. Carrie - we missed you!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Novalog - results!
We have great news! In the three weeks that Chance has been on Novalog insulin, we have seen significant improvement in his BG numbers and his overall disposition.
Out of 123 of Chance's BG readings in the last three weeks:
Only 1 was under 60
Only 4 were over 300
His average BG is 170
We're back to 3 day site changes!
Also, on the news front, Tas is pooping on th potty every morning!
Out of 123 of Chance's BG readings in the last three weeks:
Only 1 was under 60
Only 4 were over 300
His average BG is 170
We're back to 3 day site changes!
Also, on the news front, Tas is pooping on th potty every morning!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
I love you Mommy
So, I just can't take a break from blogging. So much is happening. Everyday, I think I should blog about this. Due to my overwhelming urge to blog, I have decided to blog and work on the book in tandem. I also did not realize how many people were reading my blog until I announced I was taking a break.
This past Saturday, Tas pooped in the potty! He came up to me in my bathroom with his diaper in his hand and said "Mommy, I have to poop." I quickly picked him up and put him on our toilet. And, out the poop came! I told him how excited I was that he pooped on the potty and called Heath up to see. We made a big fuss about it and even called a few people to tell them. Tas was so proud.
The other significant event on Saturday was that we started Chance on Novalog. We did this becasue we were doing every other day site changes when we should be doing every three days. I had talked to a bunch of diabetics and another mother of a two year old who said there is no question this insulin is better - and they were right! Chance's numbers have been great since we switched and yesterday we were able to stretch his site change till this morning - making it three days! YAY! It is not fun doing every other day site changes - not for Chance and not for us.
We have found the Novalog to be faster acting and more effective hence causing us to reduce some of Chance's overnight basal levels by 10%. Overall, Chance is a happier camper.
Saturday night, we used our new sitter who is a type 1 diabetic. Her name is Melissa and she is wonderful. The boys loved her and it went well. Heath and I went out to Solas in Raleigh for dinner to further celebrate our one year diabetes anniversary. It really is a big deal that we all made it through our first year and have come out of it knowledgeable and in control.
This week has been a busy week at work - a good thing. I like being busy! Today, I was walking at lunch and crossed paths with John, a coworker whom I used to work with. I am embarrassed to say that I wasn't very nice to him - we just rubbed each other the wrog way. He is a diabetic and has been since he was young. I said hi and stopped him. I told him that my 2 year old son is a diabetic and that I had no idea what he was going through. And, that I was sorry if I wasn't nice to him. We ended up talking to him for a bit. He said the biggest thing is accept that sometimes Chance's numbers will be good and bad and this was just the way diabetes is. I think I had come to this acceptance on my own, but great to hear from a long time diabetic.
Tonight, we reach a new milestone in our family - taking away Tas' pacie. It is funny how a baby transitions into a child. It sneaks up on you. Before you know it, your little baby has become a little boy. It seemed slow whie it was going by, but fast in retrospect. It is time for Tas to let go of his pacie.
At bedtime. I looked around for Tas' pacie becasue I was going to cut the tip off in the start of the weaning process, but I couldn't find it. Tas asked for his pacie and I told him that Baby Atticus had come and took it becasue it is for the little babies. Then, he said, the "train had taken it to Atticus". And I said, "sure the train took it". It wasn't my plan to go cold turkey, but that is what we did since I couldn't find it. Chance said he wanted to go to Atticus' house to get it for Tas. Later, I found the pacie under the sofa, which I put away.
While I was reading to the boys, Tas said "I love you Mommy" (the first time he has told me this) and I told him I loved him too. He then gave me a kiss and a hug. How sweet! These are the moments I want to capture in my mind so I can cherish them forever. One day, I will look back on the moment with a smile.
Chance couldn't have been happier at bedtime. And why shouldn't he be? He is on a new insulin that is making him feel even better.
This past Saturday, Tas pooped in the potty! He came up to me in my bathroom with his diaper in his hand and said "Mommy, I have to poop." I quickly picked him up and put him on our toilet. And, out the poop came! I told him how excited I was that he pooped on the potty and called Heath up to see. We made a big fuss about it and even called a few people to tell them. Tas was so proud.
The other significant event on Saturday was that we started Chance on Novalog. We did this becasue we were doing every other day site changes when we should be doing every three days. I had talked to a bunch of diabetics and another mother of a two year old who said there is no question this insulin is better - and they were right! Chance's numbers have been great since we switched and yesterday we were able to stretch his site change till this morning - making it three days! YAY! It is not fun doing every other day site changes - not for Chance and not for us.
We have found the Novalog to be faster acting and more effective hence causing us to reduce some of Chance's overnight basal levels by 10%. Overall, Chance is a happier camper.
Saturday night, we used our new sitter who is a type 1 diabetic. Her name is Melissa and she is wonderful. The boys loved her and it went well. Heath and I went out to Solas in Raleigh for dinner to further celebrate our one year diabetes anniversary. It really is a big deal that we all made it through our first year and have come out of it knowledgeable and in control.
This week has been a busy week at work - a good thing. I like being busy! Today, I was walking at lunch and crossed paths with John, a coworker whom I used to work with. I am embarrassed to say that I wasn't very nice to him - we just rubbed each other the wrog way. He is a diabetic and has been since he was young. I said hi and stopped him. I told him that my 2 year old son is a diabetic and that I had no idea what he was going through. And, that I was sorry if I wasn't nice to him. We ended up talking to him for a bit. He said the biggest thing is accept that sometimes Chance's numbers will be good and bad and this was just the way diabetes is. I think I had come to this acceptance on my own, but great to hear from a long time diabetic.
The boys chattered all the way home in the carthis afternoon telling me about all kinds of stuff they did and wanted to do. We went "shopping" - one of their favorite pastimes - at Harris Teeter. Then, home for dinner. After dinner, Tas came running up to me in the bathroom and said he was pooping. He had started to poop in his pants but I put him on the potty and he pooped in the toilet. He asked me to go get Daddy so Heath could see.
I did not tell Heath that Tas had already pooped in his pants a little because I did not want to spoil the moment. Tas was so proud of himself! Heath came in and made a big fuss.
Tonight, we reach a new milestone in our family - taking away Tas' pacie. It is funny how a baby transitions into a child. It sneaks up on you. Before you know it, your little baby has become a little boy. It seemed slow whie it was going by, but fast in retrospect. It is time for Tas to let go of his pacie.
At bedtime. I looked around for Tas' pacie becasue I was going to cut the tip off in the start of the weaning process, but I couldn't find it. Tas asked for his pacie and I told him that Baby Atticus had come and took it becasue it is for the little babies. Then, he said, the "train had taken it to Atticus". And I said, "sure the train took it". It wasn't my plan to go cold turkey, but that is what we did since I couldn't find it. Chance said he wanted to go to Atticus' house to get it for Tas. Later, I found the pacie under the sofa, which I put away.
While I was reading to the boys, Tas said "I love you Mommy" (the first time he has told me this) and I told him I loved him too. He then gave me a kiss and a hug. How sweet! These are the moments I want to capture in my mind so I can cherish them forever. One day, I will look back on the moment with a smile.
Chance couldn't have been happier at bedtime. And why shouldn't he be? He is on a new insulin that is making him feel even better.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
My Blog
I am going to be taking a short break from writing my blog until October 30th, which is the date of the Walk for the Cure.
One of the items on my bucket list is to be a published author. The year that I got pregnant, I had a book deal in the works for me through SAS to write about the Casino industry, an area that I am very focused on at work. Then, I got pregnant with our boys and decided that the timing was not right for me to take on such an endevour. It would have put a lot of pressure on me after the boys were born to travel and promote my book at Gaming conferences globally and that was not my priority.
The goal for this first year blog was twofold - 1. update family and friends about our family advantures and 2. document our first year of dealing with diabetes. After doing this for a year, I have decided to take 6 weeks off to compile the content to be published most importantly for our boys. I want them to have something that can give them insight on this significant year of our lives. Something that will show them what their parents are made of and how surrounded by love they are by family and friends. Something for them to show their own children and look back on when they are older and we are all gone. I also plan to submit the manuscript to a few publishing houses hopefully with the help of JDRF. I believe the content of this first year blog could really benefit other newly diagnosed families.
As we start our second year of diabetes, we have made a decision to yet again give him the most leading edge care as possible. Today, we switched Chance over to a newer insulin called Novalog. It is supposed to be quicker acting and a more stable molecule making it a much better insulin for pumpers. We are hopeful that this new insulin will improve his care even more.
Until October 30th......
One of the items on my bucket list is to be a published author. The year that I got pregnant, I had a book deal in the works for me through SAS to write about the Casino industry, an area that I am very focused on at work. Then, I got pregnant with our boys and decided that the timing was not right for me to take on such an endevour. It would have put a lot of pressure on me after the boys were born to travel and promote my book at Gaming conferences globally and that was not my priority.
The goal for this first year blog was twofold - 1. update family and friends about our family advantures and 2. document our first year of dealing with diabetes. After doing this for a year, I have decided to take 6 weeks off to compile the content to be published most importantly for our boys. I want them to have something that can give them insight on this significant year of our lives. Something that will show them what their parents are made of and how surrounded by love they are by family and friends. Something for them to show their own children and look back on when they are older and we are all gone. I also plan to submit the manuscript to a few publishing houses hopefully with the help of JDRF. I believe the content of this first year blog could really benefit other newly diagnosed families.
As we start our second year of diabetes, we have made a decision to yet again give him the most leading edge care as possible. Today, we switched Chance over to a newer insulin called Novalog. It is supposed to be quicker acting and a more stable molecule making it a much better insulin for pumpers. We are hopeful that this new insulin will improve his care even more.
Until October 30th......
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