The past few days have had some ups and some downs including Chance's blood sugar readings.
Yesterday, I had the fun experience of finding out what it feels like when your drive shaft goes on your car and you are on a highway. I pulled off the road, called the manager at VW and called Heath both of whom arrived at where I was within 10 minutes. The first thought was that my tires were loose and falling off. The VW manager and his mechanic diagnosed the drive shaft. The worst part is that this is a very expensive thing to fix on a Touareg. The only upside to this is that it didn't happen while we are on our driving/camping vacation starting next Saturday.
The car episode occurred while I was on my home from Dr. Lagarde's office after an advanced pumping class. Prior to this, the head of all of SAS daycare came to see Chance's routine in preparation for him moving to Children's House next year. The net result was that she thought they could provide us with the same comfort level that we have in building K - Chance's current building and class.
Today, some friends of ours (Max's parents Noah and Nicole) bought me a cooler that they have that I liked. They had it at our last play date and I thought how nice it would be to have a cooler like that so Nicole went out and bought me one. It's amazing how a small act of kindness could have such a profound effect and brighten up a person's day. I paid it forward by giving the punkins daycare teacher outdoor symphony tickets for her birthday thanks to a suggestion from Holly.
This afternoon my Momma arrived. The boys and I have missed her terribly and are so happy she is here. When the boys saw her at daycare, they lit up with a smile. Chance ran over and hugged her. It was very sweet. We went to my new favorite restaurant, Macaroni Grill, where we were fed well and treated like royalty with our two lively twins. Coincidentally, Lex was there with her twin girls so it was a twins fest. After Tas and Chance started licking the salt and pepper shakers, we deemed it was time to go!
Tonight, Chance is slightly high - 220. While this is not a terribly high number, it is one that we can't do much with. I gave Chance some sugar free juice and .05 units of insulin. I am hoping that this combo will bring him down slightly and that he'll come down by morning. He had some pizza tonight, which could be the culprit or maybe the issue that it is impossible to accurately count carbs for a two year old who is grazing and picking.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
New Words for Tas
It has been a fun couple of days.
Saturday night, we went to one of our favorite annual parties - the Preakness party, but before the party we went to see Iron Man 2. Great summer flick! At the party, they auctioned off bets on the horses for the race. I won $120 on the third place horse - yay! After the race is over, then the fun really begins. The party organizers name horses after some of their party guests, everyone bets and then we get to race - that is someone rolls the dice and we advance in boxes on the pavement till someone crosses the finish line. I had a horse in the boob race believe it or not. I raced against 5 other women some with implants and some with just bog boobs. The race organizer said that Heath was my boob. Nonetheless, I was a good sport about it and really enjoyed the fun.
Sunday, we did our first pool play date of the year with the Robbins (the punkin's friend Max and his family). What a difference a year makes. Their community pool has a large 2 foot deep section. The boys just walked right in and walked all around. Instead of having to hold them the whole time, we just had to supervise as they played and explored. Of course, Chance wanted to push the buoys on the rope blocking our section back and forth, back and forth, etc. We swam for several hours then headed home after lunch. I then biked on the Kildaire Farm trails up to Trader Joes, which was a highlight of the day for me.
Last night, when I put Tas to bed and was getting ready to leave the nursery, Tas said to me "Tas loves Mommy". I stopped and asked Tas to repeat what he had just said. He said it again. I told Tas how sweet he was and how much I loved him and Chance. Then, this morning another new phrase came out. Tas climbed up the stairs while I was getting dressed and walked into my bedroom. He looked at my naked boobs and said, "Mommy tits". I again asked Tas to repeat what he said in case I had mistaken what I thought I heard. He repeated it and yes, I heard him correctly. I believe he may have heard this description for boobs from Heath. I let Tas know that the more proper word to use for this female part was boobs.
Tonight, after a day of up and down BG swings for Chance, we went to a JDRF briefing for the APP (Artificial Pancreas Project). There are many phases and research that needs to occur before there is a AP. After hearing the briefing, we believe the closed loop AP is many years away - like 10-20 years from now. However, they are getting close to an intelligent pump that will continuously monitor BG levels and either shut the pump off for lows or give insulin for highs with the goal being safety. Diabetics will still need to do blood tests, count carbs and give carb boluses for a long time.
Aunt Lala, Uncle Charles and Caitlyn (Cate Cate as Tas affectionately calls her) watched the boys tonight - thank you! After the briefing, we went for a drink at Maximillans. Chance's bedtime reading was 141 tonight - a fine number indeed! Tas is still wheezing so he'll go back to the pediatrician tomorrow morning.
Saturday night, we went to one of our favorite annual parties - the Preakness party, but before the party we went to see Iron Man 2. Great summer flick! At the party, they auctioned off bets on the horses for the race. I won $120 on the third place horse - yay! After the race is over, then the fun really begins. The party organizers name horses after some of their party guests, everyone bets and then we get to race - that is someone rolls the dice and we advance in boxes on the pavement till someone crosses the finish line. I had a horse in the boob race believe it or not. I raced against 5 other women some with implants and some with just bog boobs. The race organizer said that Heath was my boob. Nonetheless, I was a good sport about it and really enjoyed the fun.
Sunday, we did our first pool play date of the year with the Robbins (the punkin's friend Max and his family). What a difference a year makes. Their community pool has a large 2 foot deep section. The boys just walked right in and walked all around. Instead of having to hold them the whole time, we just had to supervise as they played and explored. Of course, Chance wanted to push the buoys on the rope blocking our section back and forth, back and forth, etc. We swam for several hours then headed home after lunch. I then biked on the Kildaire Farm trails up to Trader Joes, which was a highlight of the day for me.
Last night, when I put Tas to bed and was getting ready to leave the nursery, Tas said to me "Tas loves Mommy". I stopped and asked Tas to repeat what he had just said. He said it again. I told Tas how sweet he was and how much I loved him and Chance. Then, this morning another new phrase came out. Tas climbed up the stairs while I was getting dressed and walked into my bedroom. He looked at my naked boobs and said, "Mommy tits". I again asked Tas to repeat what he said in case I had mistaken what I thought I heard. He repeated it and yes, I heard him correctly. I believe he may have heard this description for boobs from Heath. I let Tas know that the more proper word to use for this female part was boobs.
Tonight, after a day of up and down BG swings for Chance, we went to a JDRF briefing for the APP (Artificial Pancreas Project). There are many phases and research that needs to occur before there is a AP. After hearing the briefing, we believe the closed loop AP is many years away - like 10-20 years from now. However, they are getting close to an intelligent pump that will continuously monitor BG levels and either shut the pump off for lows or give insulin for highs with the goal being safety. Diabetics will still need to do blood tests, count carbs and give carb boluses for a long time.
Aunt Lala, Uncle Charles and Caitlyn (Cate Cate as Tas affectionately calls her) watched the boys tonight - thank you! After the briefing, we went for a drink at Maximillans. Chance's bedtime reading was 141 tonight - a fine number indeed! Tas is still wheezing so he'll go back to the pediatrician tomorrow morning.
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Busy Schedule of a Working Mother
7:00 am - wake up
7:30 am - diaper and dress the punkins
8:00 am - make homemade waffles & eat breakfast with Heath and the kids
8:30 am - site change for Chance while Heath gives Tasman a nebulizer treatment. Also, download Chance's pump and BG meter and email to Nancy the nurse at Dr. Lagard's office
8:45 am - change diapers and get punkins ready to leave for school
9:15 am - depart for SAS - stop and get gas on the way
9:45 am - walk punkins into school
10:00 am - catch up on emails and comp plan details for my team
11:30 am - head over to daycare for Chance's blood test
11:50 am - go to SAS RFC to weight train while Chance eats lunch
12:20 pm - go back to daycare to watch teachers give lunch bolus
12:30 pm - depart for Capital City Chophouse for Bruce's (one of my team members) Starting Block graduation lunch. Do a conference call on the way.
2:30 pm - leave lunch and stop at Carters to buy the punkins new shorts so their shorts don't keep falling down
3:00 pm - work from SAS daycare in the floater office, finalize comp plan submissions, while doing 2 conference calls
3:45 pm - go to Chance and Tas' room for Chance's blood test
4:00 pm - go to the Umstead to have a glass of wine with a Hospitality colleague who is visiting from out of town
5:00 pm - pick up punkins from daycare
5:30 pm - arrive at home. Turn on hose for Chance and Tas to play with and entertain themselves
6:00 pm - prepare punkins dinner, wash hands, do blood test and feed punkins
7:00 pm - diaper and get punkins ready for bed
7:30 pm - read to punkins and rock in the chair
8:30 pm - lights out for the punkins after Tas gets a breathing treatment
9:30 pm - dinner and an excellent movie called 'Live and Become'
12:00 am - blog
12:30 am - transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer and...
NIGHT NIGHT!!!!!
7:30 am - diaper and dress the punkins
8:00 am - make homemade waffles & eat breakfast with Heath and the kids
8:30 am - site change for Chance while Heath gives Tasman a nebulizer treatment. Also, download Chance's pump and BG meter and email to Nancy the nurse at Dr. Lagard's office
8:45 am - change diapers and get punkins ready to leave for school
9:15 am - depart for SAS - stop and get gas on the way
9:45 am - walk punkins into school
10:00 am - catch up on emails and comp plan details for my team
11:30 am - head over to daycare for Chance's blood test
11:50 am - go to SAS RFC to weight train while Chance eats lunch
12:20 pm - go back to daycare to watch teachers give lunch bolus
12:30 pm - depart for Capital City Chophouse for Bruce's (one of my team members) Starting Block graduation lunch. Do a conference call on the way.
2:30 pm - leave lunch and stop at Carters to buy the punkins new shorts so their shorts don't keep falling down
3:00 pm - work from SAS daycare in the floater office, finalize comp plan submissions, while doing 2 conference calls
3:45 pm - go to Chance and Tas' room for Chance's blood test
4:00 pm - go to the Umstead to have a glass of wine with a Hospitality colleague who is visiting from out of town
5:00 pm - pick up punkins from daycare
5:30 pm - arrive at home. Turn on hose for Chance and Tas to play with and entertain themselves
6:00 pm - prepare punkins dinner, wash hands, do blood test and feed punkins
7:00 pm - diaper and get punkins ready for bed
7:30 pm - read to punkins and rock in the chair
8:30 pm - lights out for the punkins after Tas gets a breathing treatment
9:30 pm - dinner and an excellent movie called 'Live and Become'
12:00 am - blog
12:30 am - transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer and...
NIGHT NIGHT!!!!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happy Mommie's Day
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in our lives. What a big job it is and we love you all!
My day started out wonderfully. While Heath and I were still in bed, we heard Tas jump out of his crib, run into the dining room, and limb up the stairs to greet us in bed! He was pretty excited by this new feat. Unfortunately for Chance, he has not mastered the skill of leaping out of the crib, so he was left behind for Dad to rescue.
Tas frolicked in my bedroom and bathroom cleaning the toilet, while I lay in my bed with an eye pillow trying to catch some extra zzz's. Heath and Chance were downstairs preparing a Mother's Day surprise for me. And what a great surprise it was - a stainless waffle maker that can make FOUR waffles at a time. Perfect for our family! Heath had printed me a card with photos of the boys and they had done their artwork inside. What a lucky Mom I am to have four males (including Gibson) who love me so much.
After breakfast, we headed to the Great American Tobacco Trail for a family bike ride - us on bikes, the boys in the chariot and Gibson on paws.
Heath was blowing up our tires and Chance decided to pull the tire pump off his bike and took the valve with it! So on a Sunday morning at 11, we were faced with a flat tire and a bunch of closed bike shops. On got on the web and called REI who said they could take us right away. We all went up to REI, got Heath's tire fixed, did a little bike accessory shopping for Mom and headed on. It was now 11:50 - LUNCH TIME for the punkins. I had a brilliant idea - hot dogs from Home Depot. These are the boys favorite.
I realized today that life is getting easier. We bought a bunch of hot dogs. Handed two to the boys and drove off to the bike trail. They sat in their car seats enjoying these tasty hot dogs, cheese puffs and apples. By the time we got to the trail, they were ready to go as were we. We rode for about 2.5 hours and a beautiful, sunny day. Everyone including Gibson had a wonderful time. The boys were enjoying the chariot. Every time we stopped, they would sign and say "more".
About 2:30 pm, which is WAY past the punkins nap time, Tas and Chance simultaneously melted down and cried all the way back to the car. We loaded up and by the time we drove out of the parking lot, Tas was snoring and Chance was as happy as could be.
The boys went down for naps when we got home and slept until 6:20. I ran to a bunch of stores to buy our Mother's Day dinner and a bunch of other items.
We had a delicious cookout on the patio and I couldn't help thinking over and over how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband and two absolutely adorable and sweet sons. Tas and Chance both said Happy Mommie's Day to me several times and I got a bunch of hugs from Tas.
Mother's Day is a great time to reflect on just how awesome it is to be a Mom and to take the time to let the folks who matter most how much you love them. Even though the twos are a tough age, I know there will be nothing else like them. As my friend Stephanie said on Friday, there is a reason that God made two year olds so cute.
My day started out wonderfully. While Heath and I were still in bed, we heard Tas jump out of his crib, run into the dining room, and limb up the stairs to greet us in bed! He was pretty excited by this new feat. Unfortunately for Chance, he has not mastered the skill of leaping out of the crib, so he was left behind for Dad to rescue.
Tas frolicked in my bedroom and bathroom cleaning the toilet, while I lay in my bed with an eye pillow trying to catch some extra zzz's. Heath and Chance were downstairs preparing a Mother's Day surprise for me. And what a great surprise it was - a stainless waffle maker that can make FOUR waffles at a time. Perfect for our family! Heath had printed me a card with photos of the boys and they had done their artwork inside. What a lucky Mom I am to have four males (including Gibson) who love me so much.
After breakfast, we headed to the Great American Tobacco Trail for a family bike ride - us on bikes, the boys in the chariot and Gibson on paws.
Heath was blowing up our tires and Chance decided to pull the tire pump off his bike and took the valve with it! So on a Sunday morning at 11, we were faced with a flat tire and a bunch of closed bike shops. On got on the web and called REI who said they could take us right away. We all went up to REI, got Heath's tire fixed, did a little bike accessory shopping for Mom and headed on. It was now 11:50 - LUNCH TIME for the punkins. I had a brilliant idea - hot dogs from Home Depot. These are the boys favorite.
About 2:30 pm, which is WAY past the punkins nap time, Tas and Chance simultaneously melted down and cried all the way back to the car. We loaded up and by the time we drove out of the parking lot, Tas was snoring and Chance was as happy as could be.
The boys went down for naps when we got home and slept until 6:20. I ran to a bunch of stores to buy our Mother's Day dinner and a bunch of other items.
We had a delicious cookout on the patio and I couldn't help thinking over and over how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband and two absolutely adorable and sweet sons. Tas and Chance both said Happy Mommie's Day to me several times and I got a bunch of hugs from Tas.
Mother's Day is a great time to reflect on just how awesome it is to be a Mom and to take the time to let the folks who matter most how much you love them. Even though the twos are a tough age, I know there will be nothing else like them. As my friend Stephanie said on Friday, there is a reason that God made two year olds so cute.
We've Never Been More Proud of Our Punkins
We have come a LONG way in a short time. Last night, we went to Macaroni Grill for a Mother's Day dinner - a day early to beat the crowds. We had a 6 pm reservation, but of course at 5:45 we discovered that we would not be there by 6 since I had just showered and Heath had not yet. At 6:30, we were gathering our things to head out. The boys were dressed in their adorable Tas and Chance overalls from their Aunt LaLa and Uncle Charles. The boys knew we were getting ready to head to dinner and were patiently waiting for us sitting on the foyer windowsill like little gentleman chatting away with each other.
We arrived at Macaroni Grill about 6:40 pm. We had a slight wait during which I washed Chance's hands and retested his blood sugar. He was high - 306, not a good thing heading into a sit down dinner. I gave him a BG correction. I think the 306 was due to us setting a weekend basal rate, which was 50% lower between 12-6 pm.
We ordered the boys a kid-sized pizza and broccoli. The server gave the boys crayons, which they used to entertain themselves. Then, Heath and I each ordered a nice glass of Italian wine and our dinners.
We all ate and were merry.
There was a nice older gentleman singing Italian songs. The boys both did the "more" sign and said "more, more" so I went over to the gentleman and told him he had a fan base. He came over to our table with shakers, which he gave to the boys and sang more to the boys and told them a story. It was terrific! The whole time while we dined, neither child fussed and were just spectacularly behaved. I could not have asked for a nicer Mother's Day dinner.
Finally, the couple next to us got up to leave and leaned over to Heath and said, "It was a pleasure dining next to your boys. They were so well behaved." The sense of pride was overwhelming for both me and Heath! Our our hard work is paying off!!!
When we got home, we put our little punkins to bed and watched a great movie that John and DeDe recommended - 'A Good Year'. I had a glass of port. Besides being proud of our boys, one of the best things about this weekend was SLEEPING! Both Friday and Saturday night Chance was in perfect range so we slept both nights since we have finally gotten his basal rate sorted out.
Friday night, we went to see John Prine at Koka Booth with Ladonna and Charles, which was fantastic. Bill and Kymberly and their boys babysat for us - THANK YOU!
We arrived at Macaroni Grill about 6:40 pm. We had a slight wait during which I washed Chance's hands and retested his blood sugar. He was high - 306, not a good thing heading into a sit down dinner. I gave him a BG correction. I think the 306 was due to us setting a weekend basal rate, which was 50% lower between 12-6 pm.
We ordered the boys a kid-sized pizza and broccoli. The server gave the boys crayons, which they used to entertain themselves. Then, Heath and I each ordered a nice glass of Italian wine and our dinners.
We all ate and were merry.
There was a nice older gentleman singing Italian songs. The boys both did the "more" sign and said "more, more" so I went over to the gentleman and told him he had a fan base. He came over to our table with shakers, which he gave to the boys and sang more to the boys and told them a story. It was terrific! The whole time while we dined, neither child fussed and were just spectacularly behaved. I could not have asked for a nicer Mother's Day dinner.
Finally, the couple next to us got up to leave and leaned over to Heath and said, "It was a pleasure dining next to your boys. They were so well behaved." The sense of pride was overwhelming for both me and Heath! Our our hard work is paying off!!!
When we got home, we put our little punkins to bed and watched a great movie that John and DeDe recommended - 'A Good Year'. I had a glass of port. Besides being proud of our boys, one of the best things about this weekend was SLEEPING! Both Friday and Saturday night Chance was in perfect range so we slept both nights since we have finally gotten his basal rate sorted out.
Friday night, we went to see John Prine at Koka Booth with Ladonna and Charles, which was fantastic. Bill and Kymberly and their boys babysat for us - THANK YOU!
Monday, May 3, 2010
After the Excitement
After all the emotion and excitement of the Hope Gala, we had a fun and interesting week. We went to WakeMed and met with Nancy our diabetes educator to review Chance's numbers in person. This was very productive and we made some minor basal changes.
Thursday night, I went to dinner with Darcie the new diabetes Mom whom I am mentoring. It was great to see her and spend the evening with another Mom facing diabetes. Her son Ben is in a major honeymoon, which was reminiscent of Chance's earlier days. It made me realize how far we have come in such a short time.
Friday night, went to see Preservation Hall Jazz Band and My Morning Jacket with John and DeDe. Great to see them out with Atticus being so new to the world. The best part of the night besides being with some pretty awesome friends was that we SLEPT through the night for the first time in several weeks! No overnight check. How wonderful to sleep!
Tas is now Houdini and can climb out of his crib with ease. Yesterday, we figured we would try putting down the side of the cribs since Tas could climb out anyway. We wanted to even the playing ground so Chance could climb out too. Heath tried switching their cribs since one has a lower side rail and opening to get in and out for Chance. Heath even moved them to the other one's spot, but the punkins were too smart for this. They knew he had made the switch. We tried switching them back, but this didn't really help and added to the confusion.
During nap time yesterday, I heard Tas crying. When I went in, Chance was straddling Tas and had him pinned down in his crib. Since Chance has been eating a lot lately, Tas was not able to get up. In the evening, when we put them to bed, Tas said "side up Mommy". He knew if I left the side down, he would have Chance sitting on him again. So the sides are back up and everyone is happy.
Last night, we hosted our dear game night friends and their kids. This was very fun for everyone especially Tas and Chance who couldn't get up for school this morning. We were happy about this as it gave us an opportunity to sleep a little longer this morning. Chance was a little low going into the night last night, but we were able to keep him safe with a temp basal reduction of 60%. The pump really is cool!
Tonight, after our reading session while putting the punkins to bed, they both wanted to be rocked on their chair. Normally, I alternate this activity and rock one punkin at a time. While I was rocking Chance, Houdini climbed out of his crib and joined in on the rocking and snuggling. What a wonderful way to wrap up my day having two snuggly punkins on my lap. We rocked for a while and I sang to them. After that, they went right into their cribs and crashed out. Night, night sweet punkins!
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