Liberace and the Mayor - the visual

From Thanksgiving. Photo credit to Caitlyn Greene. These are priceless as are the memories. You can see that Chance was really playing the piano. Tas was in it for the entertainment of it all. Each time they played a piece, they clapped for themselves. Too funny!

Go State!!!!

NC State finished off their season with a 28 to 27 victory over their longstanding rival Carolina - yippee! What is especially nice about this is that Heath and I were there on the 40 yard line with fantastic seats! We hosted the CIO of the Grove Park Inn and his son. Nice folks! We headed out to the game around 10:15 to tailgate. What we did not expect is for State to kick Carolina's butt! This made for a most enjoyable afternoon.

This weekend was a weekend of family and friends. We got to see Ladonna and Charles three days in a row including at the tailgate. Friday, we hosted all the O'Rourke boys plus families at our home for white bean chili and an outdoor fire. Today was a day to catch up and do lots of chores including planting irises that have been sitting in our yard for months waiting to be planted.

As for Chance's, he is doing just great. He had mostly numbers in range all weekend. I think we are all finally adjusting - especially me. I am reading a very interesting book called 'Sweet Kids'. The book is very interesting because it talks a lot about how diabetes used to be managed. I now understand why people are constantly asking me if I need to limit what Chance eats. This was the approach that docs used to take. Now, it is much more about letting diabetics eat healthy, eat the things they like, and then covering them with insulin. This way everyone is happy. Words of wisdom per the book:

"Parents' Job description: in feeding our children, we are responsible for just four things. Parents should:

1. Get the right foods on the table - put foods that are healthy and that we know our child will want to eat.

2. Make family meals frequent, peaceful and important - have regularly scheduled meals where everyone eats together and everyone can eat as much as they want. Children learn table manner by watching their parents. Mealtimes are not times to hash out harsh conflicts.

3. Eat what you want your children to eat - children learn eating habits by observation. If they see you eating broccoli, they're more likely to eat broccoli.

4. Set the rules, then stay in charge - mealtimes should be pleasant for everyone including the parent. Expectations should be set for how everyone behaves at the table. Kids will challenge the rules. Be firm and consistent."

As for Tas, he is a happy and chatty camper.

Liberace and the Mayor

If you take the time to think about all the good things in your life and the things you should be thankful for, you could probably come up with quite a long list. The issue is taking the time to think about it and then being thankful.

Thanksgiving is a mental health day among other things. I spent the day thinking about all the things I am thankful for. It was a nice list including our kids, Heath, our family, our friends, our home, our jobs, our healthcare providers, Gibson, love, peace, our health, our safety, to name a few. But I have to say the predominant thing I was most thankful for today was our kids. Children are little miracles. To watch them grow and develop their personalities is fascinating. Even with all the added complexity of Chance's diabetes, I am so thankful that Tas and Chance are our sons and that the universe has graced us with them.

We had a wonderful evening at Ladonna and Charles' house with all the family. The boys really brightened up the gathering with their laughter and playfulness. I am convinced that Chance is destined be an inventor or scientist. He loves to figure out how things work. Tas will do something where he can do the thing he loves most - interact with people. The boys played Charles' keyboard this evening and had a great time. Chance was meticulously pushing all the different buttons to make all these cool sounds. I think he could have muscial talent. Tas just laughed and pound on the keyboard. Liberace and the Mayor. Both were quite impressed with their newly found talent of making sounds with a large wooden box with keys.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night!

Playdates Oh My!

What a terrific activity - playdates. We did 2 this weekend. Fun for the kids, great social interaction for the parents. The key is to do them with families that not only your kids like, but with who you like as well. We did a late afternoon Saturday playdate and then another on Sunday morning through lunch. Both were with families that we really enjoy spending time with. One of the perks of having kids is some of the nice parents we have met through SAS daycare. While the kids run around and play together, the parents can socialize. A win for everyone!

Chance is doing great. We spoke to his doctor this morning who thinks so. We are raising his lantus dose since his fasting numbers have gone up. That means his pancreas is not producing as much insulin. The doc said we just have to deal with this for another 6 months or so until Chance goes on a pump, which will make manging this much more precise. Our goal for now is to keep Chance from crashing. When he gets on the pump we'll focus more on the numbers.

The Palazzo!!!!!

For anyone heading to Vegas, I highly recommend staying at the Palazzo, the newest addition to the Las Vegas Sands (Venetian) property. WOW! I have marble stairs in my room leading to my living room and velvet L-shaped sofa. This would be considered an upscale apartment in NYC!

Having a productive and enjoyable business trip. I am attending and speaking at the G2E conference, which is the largest gaming conference with around 30,000 attendees from all over the globe. I met with lots of casino folks today even folks from Cape Town, South Africa - one of my favorite places. You have to see this conference to believe it. There is live music, show girls, the latest slots machines and table games, etc, etc. Also, did a press interview this morning and met with my co-panelists and moderator for my session tomorrow on tracking and rewarding non-gaming spend.

Although, I miss Heath and my punkins, this has been a nice break from all the activity at home. I will refer to a favorite quote and say that this trip has helped me reconnect with myself and two of the things I am passionate about - my work in the gaming industry and traveling.

"If moving through your life, you find yourself lost, go back to the last place where you knew who you were and what you were doing and start from there." Bernice Johnson Reagon

Sports and Vegas

I went to a parenting seminar this past week that talked about the importance of sports in our children's lives. How this teaches kids about consequences, failure, perseverance, and self worth at an early age. Not having played sports as a kid, I think I really missed something here. I will take this as a lesson for my own kids and encourage them at an early age to play sports. For me, I think I missed the opportunity to learn about being strong and not wanting to give up, even when the going gets tough. We had some ups and downs with Chance this weekend that have rattled me to the core including a 38 glucose reading yesterday afternoon.

I left for a business conference in Vegas today. Upon departure, Heath told me to focus on 4 things while away. 1 and 2: Get over worrying and feeling guilty about everything (in other words recover from being raised Catholic), 3. Be civil to him and the boys (like not swearing when the boys push my buttons), and 4. Toughen up about parenting and all the diabetes duties - this is closely related to 1 and 2.

I am taking this advice to heart and am thankful that I have a husband caring enough to give me this advice. I know it will be a progression, but if I am going to survive parenting and Chance's diabetes, then I do believe these are words to live by.

We took the boys to their first State game. Will post pics soon. They loved it! We tailgated with Aunt Lala and Uncle Cha! How fun!! After the game, my Dad and Rosemarie spent the night with us. What a treat!

Lastly, our close friends whom will remain nameless informed us that they are expecting. I do believe this is the best news I have heard all year. They are fantastic people and we are so excited to share the parenting experience with them as well as be a part of their child's life like they have been a part of our boys lives. We love them dearly and are so happy about this news!

The chatterbox and the honeymooner

Since Tas had his ear tube surgery, his vocabulary has really exploded. In the last day, he has said Heath, Cha (for Uncle Cha), Lala, book, Trader Joes and several other words. He is also linking multiple words together. He'll walk up to us and say Hi Mama or Hi Dada. Very cute! He also likes to stand on my chair behind me and play with my hair. Reminds me of when I used to do this to my parents and grandparents. He was also asking for Nana this morning, which is what they call my Mom.

Chance is in a "robust" honeymoon. The doc says this could last a month or up to two years. Either way, Chance won't go on a pump until the honeymoon is over. The honeymoon is the phase where the pancreas starts producing insulin again. His glucose numbers are lower but he is still requiring insulin especially to cover his carb intake. We'll have to take this one day at a time and really watch his glucose readings.

Tonight, had a girls night out while Heath a guys night at our place.

Staycation!

Love it. Take a few vacation days, stay home, even have a house guest. No packing, driving, flying, etc. Staycation is not a bad way to go. Heath went to the Oklahoma State vs. Nebraska football game for a few days. My Mom came to visit. What fun we had!

We went to Pullen Park, did the JDRF walk, went to dinner and a movie, had a day of rest at home and concluded the staycation with a spa day at the Umstead. Fun and relaxation!

JDRF walk is a success!!

Great time had by all while raising $2,180 for an diabetes research! Tas and Chance had A LOT of fun with our dear friends William and Elias. Thank you to all who donated, my Mom for flying in and Kymberly and the boys for walking to support team Clayton!

It's a rollercoaster ride

Went to Pullen Park today with the boys and my Mom. It is such a delightful place and really brings me back to my own childhood. Then, we to Mellow Mushroom for pizza. We had a great day, but Chance's numbers were in the low 100s which is lower than I would prefer. Good for an adult, but not so great for a 21 month old. The bedtime check was 83 and he was fussy. So is this a fussy toddler or was he crashing? How is one to know so I gave him milk. In the middle of all this, our heat broke so I had to have a technician come out. I don't know how Tas slept through all the noise and happenings in the house. It is truly amazing since the heating unit is literally outside the nursery.

The net, net is a 1-2 am check with a possible need to give Chance a snack at this time. Tomorrow is the JDRF walk. Maybe someone can push me in the stroller. Just call me sleepless in NC.

3 Stitches

Here is our latest saga in the Clayton household. Heath got three stiches in his lip yesterday after a head to mouth collision during a football game yesterday. Poor thing! Note this is flag football - aka no contact.

Suzanne (me) was invited to be on a panel at the Global Gaming Expo conference in Las Vegas week after next. to talk about measuing and rewarding non-gaming spend. I accepted and will be out there for a few days.

The boys had their H1N1 shots this morning, which potentially resulted in a 450 blood sugar reading at 10:30 am for Chance. I'll have to see how he is at lunch. Poor thing, there was not really anything we could do for him since he had just had insulin at 8 am.

Suzanne's Mom is coming today for 4 days - yeah! Grandma Carol will join team Clayton in the JDRF walk this weekend.

10 things motherhood has taught me

By Denise Jonas, mother of the Jonas Brothers. Leslie, a dear friend, sent this to me today since one of the Jonas brothers has type 1 diabetes. http://www.imom.com/10things.php

If you're a mom, this is worth a read. It brought tears to my eyes. Though lately, I must admit that I am frequently touched by things and can get weepy. For example, at NC State football games. When the State players run onto the field, I usually have a few tears because I know one day Tas and Chance will be that age and this wonderful time of toddlerhood will be behind us.

Chief Numbers Officer

I ordered new business cards today. They say Chief Numbers Officer. It is amazing how diabetes is all about the numbers. It is an on-going, full time position for me. Just when you think you have things in a stable pattern, it all changes.

We have a colleague who is a diabetic at work. He is on an insulin pump. He told me that he checks his blood sugar every two hours. He is trying to fine tune his insulin numbers so that he changes the insulin dose every few hours for optimum results. He was also incredibly nice enough to show me his pump and the site where it is attached to him - his abdomen. In listening to Russ, I thought about Chance and thought he would too try to fine tune and control his diabetes when he is old enough.

For now though, it is the Chief Numbers Office and her loving husband and father of the punkins that are responsible for the fine tuning. It actually does get easier as time goes on when you are more aware of the trends of the blood readings and what they mean. I will say though that the "honeymoon" caught me off guard. Chance's numbers have been trending up, which we assumed was a sign of the decrease in Chance's own insulin production.

On a side note, Tas is doing spectacularly today and has recovered nicely from his surgery.

Ear surgery for Tas and a Honeymoon for Chance

Today at 8:30 am, Tas had surgery to put in ear tubes and end the ear infection saga. All went well with the surgery. Like everyone told me, as soon as I got settled in the waiting room, they would come out and tell me it was over. They warned me in pre-op that Tas would wake up from surgery and be inconsolable. This is due to him being disoriented from the anesthesia not being in pain. I told them "not my Tas", he is cool as a cucumber. They were right. After sleeping in post-op like a little angel, he woke up and screamed and thrashed around for 15 mins. The rest of the day he did great and even took a 3.5 hour nap this afternoon.

Chance's blood sugar on the other hand, has been trending down. You really have to stay on top of the numbers and watch for trends. For the last few days, he has woke up below 100. Today, he was at 50, which is very low and potentially dangerous. In talking to the nurses, this happens in the honeymoon phase. Basically, the beta cells in his pancreas have decided to produce inulin.

I am a little disappointed because we were at a point where we thought that we had really mastered keeping his numbers in a good range. One realization that I now have is that keeping tight control over Chance's insulin and carbs will be the secret to solid diabetes control.

Trick or Treat - "car!"

What a delightful day it was. The Clayton's started Halloween with an outing to the Young People's symphony with friends. We went to see Phantom of the Orchestra at Meymendi Hall (the amazing new theater in downtown Raleigh). All the musicians were dressed up as zombies and came onto and off of the the stage one by one. The boys really enjoyed this and were not scared. They were dressed up as lumber jacks. Thanks to Jacqueline and Randy for organizing and arriving early to get us great seats. After the symphony, we went to Mellow Mushroom for pizza and then home for naps.

In the evening, we took the boys around our street trick or treating. We pulled the punkins around in their wagons and had them walk up to each house. They LOVED it. A few of the neighbors got the boys hot wheels cars instead of candy - really neat idea. The boys went nuts over the cars. "Car!"

The funny thing about all this is that my Mom got the boys trick or treat bags that they used to collect their goodies. Every day and night now, they pick up their trick or treat bags and say "bye bye" and wave like they're going out for another round. Too cute and very funny!