Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very happy holiday! I started a tradition with my family that I'd like to share with you all. Each year I ask the girls and my husband to make a list of 10 things they are thankful for and why. I make my list and then when it's time for dinner, we share them. It's been neat to watch the list evolve as the girls are growing up. It also made me cry because it's proof that they are becoming so appreciative of the things around them.

So here we go....

Jill's List~ 10 Things I'm Thankful For & Why~

• My Husband~ He gets up every single morning at 5am and goes to work all day as a truck driver and heavy equipment operator. He finally gets home around 6pm each night. There are not too many days he complains about having to work. He's a wonderful provider and works hard for us to have the things that we do.
• My Girls~ I'm blessed to be called "Mommy" and I thank God every day that he gave me them. They're my world and continue to make me proud each day. I'm so thankful they are "good kids" and have some pretty amazing morals and values that I know will carry them through life.
• My Mom~ There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God she is around. She has been my rock and without her I'd be lost! I look forward to our Saturday mornings together.
• My new Church~ For years I have longed to find another church home. We'd been members of a church for a long time but when you don't feel like you're being fed spiritually anymore then I feel it's time to move on. It was one of the hardest decisions because we had become a big part of the church but it was time to move on. We visited a few churches but none of them fed me....until we were invited to attend CCC with my best friend. From the moment we walked in, I had goosebumps! I sat in the service that October sunday with tears streaming down my face. I felt so comfortable. I felt so at home. I felt like God was speaking right to my heart that day. And the sermon...well it just happened to be a sermon that spoke right to Frankie and I. I looked over to see Kayleigh smiling and clapping to the music. The two Sundays that followed, my brother was in town and we missed church....yessss we couldn't attend physically but we MISSED it! My girls kept asking when we were going to go back? That made my heart smile :) The following Sunday, they were actually up early and ready to go! We haven't missed a Sunday since. They are asking to get involved with the Youth Group activities and Kayleigh even asked to bring her best friend with us. I know this is where we were meant to be! :) Thank you Jillie for leading us in the right direction!
• Insulin & "Goober"~ I'm so thankful to Frederick Banting for helping to discover it. Without constant doses of this wonderful drug, Kacey would die. YES, DIE! I am also VERY thankful to "Goober", Kacey's insulin pump, for all the hard work he does every single day to keep Kacey alive. Before pumping, Kacey was taking 8+ shots a day and with the pump, she gets one needle every 3 days (most of the time). It's made life easier for her because she can eat with the press of a button. For a child, thats GREATNESS! :)
• My Friends~ I'm blessed to have some of the greatest friends I could ever ask for. They've been there for me through my roughest times and been there to witness some of the happiest! It's so nice to be able to pick up the phone and call them and know that if they can be there, they will! I'm also blessed with a BFF that tries so hard to understand diabetes and listens with an open heart. She's heard me complain & bitch, watched me cry, and seen diabetes...good and bad. And not one single time has she ever turned her ear or her heart. It's hard to find a friend that does that. Most of them get tired of "diabetes talk" or they get tired of the inconvience that diabetes gives us. But not her!
• My bathtub & hot water~ Sure it sounds silly! At the end of a rough day, I love to go sit in the bathtub and relax. All of the stresses flow out into those bubbles and I can usually get out a new person ;) It's called "Mommy Time"!
• My cell phone~ I'm not so sure what I ever did without one! It allows me to have constant contact with my husband, my girls, my mom, my brother and my friends. I can be reached anywhere at anytime and its a nice security blanket!
• My new minivan~ I LOVE IT!! It makes life so much easier. I'm thankful to my husband for working so hard to get it for me even as impatient as I was. He kept reminding me that the right deal would come along...and it did!
• My computer~ Because all my D-Moms live in it! :) It also allows me to keep in contact with other friends and family that aren't as close as they can be. It allows me to share all the amazing pics and scrapbook pages I create. It has also become a very useful tool for the girl's too!

Frankie's List~ 10 Things I'm Thankful For & Why~

• My wife~ My best friend and I love her
• My children~ I love coming home to see them
• My job~ Good benefits for my family
• Home~ Place to rest and stay with my family
• Health~ Keeping healthy so I can work
• Friends~ To do things with and talk to
• Jesus~ For keeping us together and taking care of us
• Brother~ Finally got to meet him after 34 years
• Mother~ For being my Mom
• Nae~ For helping my family when we need it, never having to ask

Kayleigh's List~ 10 Things I'm Thankful For & Why~

• Insulin because it keeps my sister alive.
• Family because they support me everyday and made me who I am today.
• My cell phone because it allows me to have a social life and to stay in contact with my family and friends.
• A house because it provides me with shelter and a safe place to go knowing that I can always come home. Lots of people are homeless.
• An education so that I can strive to be the best that I can be.
• A hard working father who loves me because he works everyday to make sure I have the things that I want and need.
• A loving mom who helps me with my cake business so I will be successful and is always there for me.
• My sister because she loves me and provides me with someone I can laugh and joke with daily.
• Nae because she always gets me what I need and then some. She put me through all of my cake classes as well!
• Janice & Josh becuse they are my best friends and I always have fun when I'm with them. They make me smile and laugh daily!

Kacey's List~ 10 Things I'm Thankful For & Why~

• The first thing I'm thankful for is my family because they take care of me and helps me when times are tough.
• The second thing I'm thankful for is the friends I have because they help me when times are tough and they are someone to talk to.
• The third thing is my toys because it tells me that my family cares about me and they want me to have fun.
• The fourth thing is my sissy because she loves me alot and cares about me. I love you my sissy!
• The fifth thing is the bed and room I have because it means my family loves me alot.
• The sixth thing is a house because it shows me my family wants me to have a good life and shelter.
• The seventh thing is my Mom because she takes care of my diabetes and gives me food and shelter. I love you Mommy!
• The eighth thing is my hard working and loving Daddy because he loves me very much and he shows me that he cares about me and that he gives me food and shelter. I love you Daddy!
• The ninth thing is my Nae-Nae because she loves me alot and makes me lots of beautiful pump packs. I love you Nae Nae!
• The tenth thing is my pump because it helps me with my diabetes and it shows me that my parents love me and trust me. I love you Goober and HERBIE!

So there ya go! Our Thankful Lists! They all seem so similar when I read them and we all did them in sperate rooms so we couldn't see what each other was writing. Funny how some of us are thankful for the same things! :)

Again, I wish you all a very happy holiday! We all have many things to be thankful for!

Icky Sicky

The last few days have been some nasty diabetes sick days. Kacey started with the sniffles last week and then she got the sore throat and stuffy nose. I was giving her the Triaminic and hoping it wouldn't develop into anything worse. By Sunday, she was blowing her nose and it looked like Spongebob had melted in the tissue! Yeah....ewwwww is right! By Monday afternoon, she was feeling really crappy and I was called to come and pick her up from school an hour early. She kept saying "Mommy, I really tried to make it all day!" Her blood sugars were still swinging and she was just a mess. So yesterday morning, I got her an appointment for 9am. Diagnosis....sinus infection and the start of bronchitis. Ummm....GREAT! No wonder she felt so freakin lousy! So I took her back home and thats where she stayed the rest of the afternoon.

By last night, she had a terrible sinus headache that made her sick at her stomach. This is when diabetes gets really scary for me! She ended up throwing up her dinner because she was coughing so hard and then the headache made her nauseous. (***insert worry here***) I grabbed her pump to check her blood sugar...113 with 8 units of IOB!!! So now...do we wait to see if shes gonna drop or spike up from puking? I was too scared to chance it so I gave her 8oz of Hawaiian Punch. Wait....Wait....Wait....check 30min later....252....YUK! And then 2 hours later....460!!! GEESH!!!

This cold is just kicking her butt! I'm so thankful that we're out of school for the holiday for the next 5 days. Hopefully she'll be as good as new by the time she goes back. Then when we go back, we only have 2 weeks til they are out for the Christmas holiday break. (Thank God!)

I'm just feeling a lot of frustration school wise and the thought of homeschooling Kacey is looking better and better. If she wasn't such a social child, I think I would have pulled her already. But she likes being with her friends and she's been in her school for 6 years now....so its a tough decision! It's just hard on me because at least once a week (sometimes twice) they are calling me to come and get her because either shes dropped low and is scared shes going to drop again OR shes so high that she feels like crap and wants to put her head down and go to sleep. So what do ya do? I've never been able to feel how it feels to have those nasty blood sugar swings but I've heard they make you feel pretty icky. So who am I to make her stay at school when she feels so crappy? I can't do that to her! I know shes not "faking" because her numbers tell all and when I bring her home, she gets on the couch and she goes right to sleep. Usually after about 2-3 hours, she starts to feel better and she gets up for dinner and eats and then goes right back to sleep. I guess we will ride the roller coaster of this year and then we'll see what happens when she gets to middle school.

Today's task....REST and Write 10 things you are Thankful for and why? Each year, I will have the girls write down 10 different things they are thankful for and Frankie and I do the same thing and then we share them at Thanksgiving dinner. I'm excited to see what they choose! I started this last year with them and I think it's a neat way to see into someone's heart. :) After the Thanksgiving list is made....then it's on to the Christmas list!!!

The 2010 D-OC Blog Awards

It's that time again! The 2010 Diabetes Online Community Blog Awards. This year is going to be a fun one! There are several neat catagories for you to nominate your favorite blogs. Please be sure to take a few moments and nominate your favorites!

Nominations will go on til December 8th!

Here are The 2010 Diabetes OC award categories!
Best Blog Design

Most Creative

Blogger Who We Wish Would Blog More

Funniest Blogger

Most Likely to Put You in a Good Mood

Best Commenter

Best Twitterer

Blogger with the Best Hair

Blogger You’d Share a Drink With

Best Photographer

Best Use of Bad Language

Best Vlogger

Blogger Most in Need of Comment Love

Blogger I Most Want to Meet Offline

Jump on over to the D-OC Blog Award site and check it out!!

Ok, so what do I do now?

1) Nominate a member of The Diabetes Online Community for each category whom you see fit.

2) Open up your email and in the subject put DOC NOMINATIONS, in the body of the email Copy and Paste the category list (below) and write in the name of the person you are nominating to the right of each category, as well as the URL of their blog page and/or website address, and then send the nominations to docawards@gmail.com.

One Rule. The website or blog you are nominating must be diabetes related. (If you think we should have any other rules please let me know!)

Share the love and show the D-OC your support by voting!! :) It's your right! LOL!

The Versatile Blogger Award

I proudly accept this blog award for The Versatile Blogger

There are 4 things that you must do in order to accept this award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award:

Thank you Nicole from, We Cara Lot Blog for taking the time to nominate me and making me feel special enough to receive this award! Thank you to every single one of you out there that read my blog. I'm so blessed to be part of such a wonderful online community of D-Bloggers and I'm even more thankful to call you all...my friends!

2. Share seven things about yourself:

Hmmmm...ok my 7 things....

One: I love doing crafty things! It can be anything from beading jewelry to painting stained glass. Both of my girls love doing those sorts of things too and giving them away as gifts. When Kacey was first diagnosed, I had a nasty run of insomnia and so I spent those hours beading. I ended up with a huge basket of stuff I had made and I sold it to friends, family and at local events and donated 100% of the profit to JDRF.

Two: I enjoy taking pictures and scrapbooking them. I've always been a huge camera fan and when my brother gets back to the East Coast, he's gonna share his photography skills with me. I hardly ever go anywhere without my camera! I'm hooked on Creative Memories digital software. I can sit for hours with the computer in my lap and create fun pages with the click of a button. It's so fun to be able to share those with family and friends :)

Three: I love Christian worship music. I drive Kacey to school every morning and we listen to K-LOVE to start our morning and it's such an uplifting feeling. It also warms my heart to hear my girls singing along to the songs or hearing them get a worship song stuck in their head and humming it during the day. We've found a new church that we just absolutely LOVE! It's everything I've always wanted from a church and I'm so in love with looking over at my girls during service and seeing the smiles on their faces because they're getting so much out of the lesson being taught. Some of our favs...Chris Tomlin, Lincoln Brewster, Nicole Mullen, TobyMac, Steven Curtis Chapman, Matthew West and those are just to name a few!

Four: I collect Pandora charms. My girls and my hubby started my bracelet for me in Aug 2008. I've got 18 charms and the safety clasp now. It's one of my absolute favorite pieces of jewelry! Each charm has a special meaning and it's neat to sit and look at my wrist and think back to what each one means.

Five: I never go without my toenails painted! I hardly ever wear polish on my finger nails but I can't go without wearing it on my toenails...LOL!

Six: I love Willow Tree Angels and Precious Moments. I started collecting Precious Moments for Kayleigh when she was little and when Kacey came along, I decided to start the Willow Tree Angels.

Seven: I LOVE COFFEE! All kinds and all flavors! I'm a Starbuck's lover and when I'm at home all day, the coffee pot stays on and it's easy for me to drink 1-2 pots of coffee on my own! Anyone that knows me well enough knows that my all time fav is Peppermint Mocha's :) :) :) :) !!!!

3. Pass the award on to 12 bloggers you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic.

Wendy at Candy Hearts Blog

Joanne at Death of a Pancreas

Laura at Houston We Have A Problem

Amalas at Plastic Pancreas

Jennifer at Sweet Sassy & Sugar Free

Lora at My Diabetic Child

Cody at Pancreatic Challenged

Renata at The Diabetic Duo

Amy at My Diary As The Mom of a Diabetic Princess

Kelly at Chasing Numbers

Tracie at Such Is Life

Cara at Every Day, Every Hour, Every Minute

I tried to pick ones that had not been chosen yet...if you have been nominated already...sorry! :)

4. Notify your nominees...consider yourselves notified :)

The Big Blue Test

Here are a few pictures from Kacey's Big Blue Test. She had so much fun doing this and watching what happened to her blood sugar in just 14 minutes.

Testing her blood sugar before she started....

Bike ride for 5 minutes

Jog in place for 5 minutes

Another bike ride for 4 minutes

Test again....

Test...2pm...174

Retest...2:14pm... 139!! Woohoooo! TAKE THAT DIABETES!

Kacey & Goober wishing everyone a Happy World Diabetes Day!

14 Years Ago Today...

On this day, 14 years ago, I was set up on a blind date with the man that would become my husband and father to my children. When we met, he had hair as long as mine, he drove a truck with 39in tires and our first date was to the Monster Trucks and Denny's for dinner. I remember being so nervous and scared because we'd never met before. Little did I know...I'd fall head over heels for him! The last 14 years have been an amazing roller coaster ride! I'm so thankful to be his wife. I decided to dig out some old pictures. Boy was it hard to find one from each year around the same time frame! Especially before digital camera time...LOL! So here goes.... 14 years of LOVE!

1996~ This was taken not long after we met. Good grief...I look so young! Well...I was...LOL..I was 21 and he was 28.

1997~ We'd been together for about 6 months here.

1997~ Just a little over a year later, he asked me to marry him!

1998~ Engaged and still soooooo very happy!

1999~ May 15th....we're married! It was my dream wedding! Everything about our wedding was perfect (except the cake! thats a post for another day!)

2000~ This was taken not long after Kacey was born (yeah see the chubby face...eek!)

2001~ The first year we bought Busch Gardens passes.

2002~ Still so much in love!

2003~ I cried when I found this picture. This was taken at his Granny's house and shes no longer alive and the apartment is no longer in their family. (Yep I know it says 2004 but the date on my camera was wrong...LOL...you remember those ones you had to set the date on? Ive got so many pics with the wrong date cuz I couldnt remember how to set it!)

2004~ This was at a friends wedding. How about that short blonde hair? HAHAHA! Yuk!

2005~ Hair longer and dark again (thank God!)

2006~ This was taken at Harborfest. We had so much fun that weekend! You can see his tattoos in this one. He has the key on his arm with a ribbon wound through it that says KAYLEIGH & KACEY since he said "They have the key to his heart." and then on his chest (against my wishes) he has the lock that matches the key with my name on it since he says "I hold the lock that no other woman can open." LOL...yeah yeah mushy huh? But its what he wanted!

2007~ This was at his family Christmas party.

2008~ This was taken at my Mom's house that Christmas

2009~ Having fun like always!

2010~ Still in love after 14 years :) This is my favorite picture that we've ever taken!

I LOVE YOU FRANKIE!

Robbed

Thats exactly how I feel about diabetes lately. I feel like diabetes has snuck in and robbed Kacey like a thief in the night. On Thursday night and Friday morning, the lows and spikes from the juice had taken it's toll on Kacey's poor body and she was completely wiped out. She ended up on the couch...just laying there like every single bit of energy had been sucked out of her. Over the weekend, the lows were still there but they were spread out. This morning, she woke up with a headache. She grumbled when I tried to wake her and that always is a true sign of a bad diabetes day ahead. She got up and had some breakfast and even though she was a 169, she was moving slowwwww. I drug her on to school and my phone rang about 11:45am. I looked to see who was calling..."SCHOOL NURSE". I held my breath as I choked out a hello. Kacey was in there...blood sugar a 118...lunch was in 15 minutes and she had NO appetite...she was cold...her tummy hurt...her head hurt...her throat hurt....and she was tired. Kacey wanted to come home. DAMMIT DIABETES! You've robbed her of ANOTHER school day!

I stopped asking God a long time ago..."Why me? Why Kacey? Why our family?" and I embraced the fact that this is how we had to deal with things and live our new life....but when we have days like this...it makes me so angry! There are so many times I think.... What if Kacey didn't have diabetes and could actually function to 100% in a school setting? What if she didn't have to worry about those lows that I know she's scared of? What if she could actually concentrate without diabetes sneaking in and robbing her thoughts? When we got home the other day, she cried and I wasn't sure what was going on. She told me she was scared. Scared?!?! Scared of what?!?! She is scared she is going to go low at school and there will not be anyone around to care for her properly. (**tears**) We went through this before and for some reason she's feeling insecure again. Not sure what happened unless it's from what happened at lunch on Thursday or something else going on. Somehow I have to figure out how to give her that security back. I'm thinking we might need another teacher conference with her included. It's not the highs that scare her because she can function and treat those but when you have those lows and you feel like you can't care for yourself on your own when thats what you've been doing then I think it worries her. She's had a couple of lows in the 50's recently and she knows that I can treat them for her but they've been those lows where she just sits there and closes her eyes and lays her head back. I know it weighs on her mind...what if that happens and Mom isnt there to treat them? She needs to know there is someone else that CAN treat them for her at school....OR maybe thats just one more reason we need the cell phone!

I got her progress report today and she seems to be above level on everything and I know there are days she struggles with getting things complete because her brain is fuzzy or shes just too exhausted to do them and yet I still wonder what her full potential COULD be? I looked at her days missed... 6 out of 36. Now in all fairness, she did have surgery for the tumor and a broken arm in the middle of all of this but there are days like Friday and today that sneak in and it makes me sad. Last year she missed 24 days and still ended up on Honor Roll!


Now...in the middle of all of this...I took her back to the orthopedic doctor. Her broken arm is not healing as fast as it should so she has to stay in the splint for 3 more weeks...bummer! So we come home and she is walking up the front steps and she trips going UP the steps and hurts her leg and then she gets in the bathroom to pee and she falls into the wall and hits her face. YES! I immediately checked her blood sugar and she was HIGH and now she's got a beautiful black eye!So was it the confusion and loss of balance from being HIGH or was it just Kacey being clumsy? I won't ever know because she doesn't even know! LOL...I told her she better stop getting hurt of Dept of Social Services was going to be knocking on our door! That made us both giggle. :)

Ohhhh and a bit of exciting news... I WON! I WON! I WON! Yes...I won the contest over at Nicole's blog, We CARAlot Blog for the PJ Giveaway. I'm so excited! I entered the contest for Kacey so as much as I wanted those blue circle jammies for myself...I ordered them for Kacey :) She was so excited and I let her choose the ones she wanted. THANK YOU Nicole for drawing my name and THANK YOU to Komar & PJs For The Cure for allowing those special D-Moms to hold the Mega contest! :)

Secret Santa Extension Time

It has been brought to my attention that there are some website problems with Elfster. Due to those problems, we have to extend the sign up deadline. The original deadline was Nov 15th but I am extending it 2 days to allow those D-Families that were not able to sign up some time to get registered. If you haven't signed up and you want to participate then please view THIS POST to link to register and view the rules. DEADLINE is Nov 17th!

World Diabetes Day

HAPPY WORLD DIABETES DAY!!!

Today has been such a wonderful day! After another rough evening of lows yesterday and a nasty round of highs last night, Kacey has had perfect numbers today. Can anyone say CELEBRATE?

We got up early for church this morning. The girls and I already had our fingers and toes painted this pretty shade of blue to match our outfits for today. We got a nice little surprise when my best friend and her family showed up...all wearing BLUE for Kacey! As I sat in church, I watched people walk in and I couldn;t help but notice all the blue. We just started going to this church so I don't know anyone yet but I couldn't help but sit there and wonder....Was she wearing blue for someone special? Was he wearing blue because he's diabetic too? Or did they all just have on blue because they felt like wearing that color this morning? Maybe they didn't have anything clean? LOL! Either way...it made me think and I smiled because I knew WHY we were wearing blue. We had on blue because today is World Diabetes Day!

My Mom with Kayleigh & Kacey

After church, we took some pictures to remember the special day....

Trenton, Elaina, Kacey, Andrew & Kayleigh (my Best Friend's kids & mine)

My Best Friend & her family

Once we got home, we had lunch and just relaxed a little while before The Big Blue Test. Kacey took part in this fun event this year and she actually understood what she was doing. It was so much fun! She started the test at a nice 174 and after 14 minutes of riding her bike and running around, she ended at a 139... BEAUTIFUL! It was funny to watch her start out really fast and then by about 10 minutes, she shouts "Hey Mom! I think I'm dropping!" Ummm....part of me wanted her to stop and test right then but I figured she'd stop on her own if she was "low". When she finished, she laughed and she kept going on about how fun it was. I asked her what she learned from the "test"? She looked at me with a puzzled face and replied, "DUH! Exercise drops your blood sugar!" Hahaha...thats my girl! :)

Thank you to everyone that wore BLUE for Kacey today! We love you all and we're so blessed to have your support!

Kacey's 6 Things

OK...so I was telling Kacey about D-Blog Day and the 6 things question and she asked to tell everyone her 6 things...so here goes....

6 Things Kacey (10yrs old and T1) wants everyone to know about diabetes.

1. Diabetes is hard. You have to do a lot of Math and sometimes I don't feel like adding.

2. There are only 2 things I am not allowed to eat....well drink...that is real fruit juice and real soda because my insulin can't keep up with my sugar when it spikes up. I can eat anything else I want to.

3. Lows and Highs don't feel good. Lows make me feel foggy. I feel shaky and sleepy when I am low too. Highs make me feel like crap (**insert Mommy giggle** I'm typing it as she says it) I get a sick stomach and a headache.

4. I love my pump! His name is "Goober". I used to have a pump named "Herbie" but he cracked and I had to send him back. It was a sad time.

5. I change my pump site every 3 days and sometimes they hurt. I like changing my site every 3 days instead of taking a lot of shots every day.

6. I WANT A CURE! (***Silence***...sometimes it's the simple sentences that get across the most) Enough said!

6th Annual D-Blog Day

Happy D-Blog Day!


This year’s topic is: 6 things you want people to know about diabetes....


1. Just because my daughter is diabetic doesn't mean she can't have that cupcake or ice cream cone. She CAN eat sweets but she just has to give herself the insulin to cover the carbs in those sweets. PLEASE do NOT tell her she can't have those sweets and hurt her feelings. She does have feelings like any normal person does...and thats all she wants to be is...NORMAL!


2. Type 1 is NOT the same is Type 2 so unless you know the difference then I really don't want to hear about your Great Aunt So&So that got her toes amputated and your Great Grandaddy So&So that didn't watch his sugar and lost his eyesight. The long term complications run through my mind almost daily and I don't need to hear that you "know how it feels" because unless you're a Type 1 diabetic, parent of a Type 1 diabetic or in daily direct contact of a Type 1 diabetic then you don't know how it feels. The one thing that would make me happy is for you to learn the difference between Type 1 and Type 2.


3. Insulin is NOT a cure! I can't put it much plainer terms than that. My daughter is connected to an insulin pump 24/7 and has to count ever single carb that goes into her mouth and give herself the insulin for it. Insulin does not cure her diabetes...it keeps her ALIVE! Without insulin she would die within just a few days. Her blood sugar would go so high that she'd go into a diabetic coma and all her organs would shut down. The best thing you can do is donate to JDRF to help us continue to research for a cure. One day I hope to say...Kacey USED TO HAVE Type 1 diabetes.


4. Once you're the parent of a Type 1 diabetic, you NEVER rest! When you leave the hospital with your Type 1 diabetic, it's like leaving with a newborn all over again. Only this time, it's like they never get older. You constantly worry! You go into their rooms at night or first thing in the morning and you hold your breath and check to see if they are breathing. You prick their fingers and pray for good numbers. You never leave the house without a bag of some sort that is packed with meters, snacks, juice boxes, wipes, bandaids, glucagon, insulin, infusion set changes, needles, notepad, pen, glucose tabs along with anything else you can think of that you're going to need while you're out. It's like carrying around a permanent diaper bag! You lose countless hours of sleep...checking blood sugars...taking care of lows...worrying about highs. Your brain becomes a mangled mess of scrambled eggs as you are consumed with numbers. Your day as the parent of a Type 1 diabetic NEVER ends. You long for the days when you could sleep through the night without waking up out of a dead sleep in a panic because you forgot to set the alarm or because you reached over and shut it off in your sleep. All you want is an hour to get a nice hot bubble bath without someone knocking on the door and saying "Mom, I'm low!" or "Mom, my tummy hurts cuz my sugar is a 458 and I feel like I have to throw up." Yes my friends, this is true! A D-Mom NEVER rests....NEVER! Even when we're given the time to chill out and clear our heads...we are still never really resting!


5. Life with Type 1 diabetes does get easier. I know some of you probably think I'm nuts. Geesh she just finished telling us how she never rests and how hard life with diabetes is...but yes it gets easier. You seem to settle into a new normal. You life with diabetes adjusts and those every day worries just become something you normally do every single day. I remember how many "Mommy Meltdowns" that I used to have when Kacey was first diagnosed in July 2008. Here we are over 2 years later and I might have one or two a month now and they aren't nearly as tough as they used to be. I remember crying for days and hours on end. I don't have the tears as much as I do the anger for diabetes trying to control Kacey. For Kacey, it's just her way of life now. She doesn't remember life before diabetes anymore. I know, it's hard to think about it. She was only 8 when she was diagnosed and it's been over 2 years but she really doesn't remember life before her diagnosis. Is that good? Yes and no. I think it's better for her that she doesn't because this is all she knows now. This IS her way of life and she doesn't have to be sad about the days before diagnosed when she could grab a handful of goldfish and not have to check her sugar and give herself insulin for them....oh yeah, and don't forget to count them! It's just something she does now...her new normal. Some days I sit and watch her...she does so much of her care on her own now. She doesn't want us helping her but there are those days that I stop to watch. She sits down with her plate...checks her blood sugar...counts up the carbs by each thing on her plate...adds them all together with the cute little notepad she carries with her...plugs that into her pump....smiles as she puts Goober away...and begins to eat! All of that just so she can put food in her mouth. And you know what? She does it all with a smile! Even if her blood sugar is 300+ ...she grumbles a second over the number...and then goes on about her eating.

6. PUMP LIFE ROCKS!! If Kacey has to be a Type 1 diabetic and she has to give herself insulin every single time she eats...then why not choose the easiest way possible for her? In March 2009, our lives were changed completely when she got her insulin pump. Now, don't get me wrong...I understand that pumping isn't for everyone....but it was for us! It's exactly what Kacey needed to become her own little person. You see, before we got her pump, Kacey was up to 8-10 shots a day. EVERY single time she wanted something to eat...each meal...each snack...no matter how little or how big...she HAD to give herself insulin. Kacey was 8 when she was diagnosed and just 3 short months after being diagnosed, she started giving herself her own injections. Pretty dang good for an 8yr old. She was doing her finger sticks and figuring up her own dose and getting it right every time. She didn't want anyone giving the injections to her so she did them herself. Before pump life, we had to carry a notepad and calculator everywhere. This is where I can tell you...I hated Math in school...absolutely HATED it! Then when Kacey was diagnosed, I had to use Math to keep my child alive. How's that for some punishment? LOL! So, for instance, Kacey wanted to have lunch and you had added all the carbs up and it was 45 carbs. Her insulin to carb ratio was different for each meal. Breakfast is 1:8...Lunch is 1:10....Dinner is 1:12 and Snack is 1:10. OK...so this is Lunch... 1:10. She'd get one unit of insulin for every 10 carbs. So 45 divided by 10 is 4.5 units but Kacey was on the insulin pens so they only dose in whole units. BUT then you see her blood sugar is a 340. So now you have to give her a correction do (Blood Sugar) minus 150 divided by 50 = X units. So 340-150 divided by 50= 3.0 units. Then that has to be added to her food dose.... 4.5 + 3.0 = 7.5 units. Now, are you going to give her 7.0 or 8.0? It's hard because you have to know what the rest of her day is going to be like after lunch. Will she go lay down and watch a movie? Then give her 8.0 units since she won't have any activity. Will she go out for recess and run around? Then give her 7.0 units and hope she doesn't spike up. Yep, it was hard and yep she figured all of this out on her own at 8 years old! She used to amaze everyone around her and by the time she got to 4th grade and her teacher was teaching math equasions like these, she was already a pro and wow'd her teacher! BUT...it was hard! If you didn't have the calculator then you had to do it by hand on paper and pray you did it right! Now...her pump does all the figuring :) We have the freedom to go places without calculators and pens. She has the freedom to each what she wants, when she wants. She doesn't have to do that nasty dreaded dose of Lantus that would burn her bottom when we injected it. She could have her independance back. The freedom to be able to eat without someone seeing her give herself an injection. The freedom to count carbs and plug them into her pump. Those are the only numbers she had to be consumed with. She was able to be just "Kacey" again and not "Kacey with diabetes". She gained the freedom to tell or not tell those friends around her. I've watched her grow into a very responsible 10 year old and I can only hope and pray she continues to be like this.


So my friends, those are just 6 things I can tell you about diabetes. I could go on and on but I'm sure the rest of the D-Blog world is gonna cover almost every single base as they blog about their 6 things. You can read more blogs and their 6 things HERE. Thanks for letting me share!


Happy D-Blogging!

2010 Secret Santa D-Family Gift Exchange

We're registered!!!

If you are interested in participating in the 2010 Secret Santa D-Family Gift Exchange, then click the following like and get registered!

CLICK HERE

The exchange is from one D-Family to another D-Family.

The spending limit is $25

The DEADLINE for registration is November 15th. This gives us a month before the packages have to be in the mail. ALL packages should be mailed by December 15th to ensure they arrive ON TIME! On November 15th, Elfster will draw names and send you the name of the family you will be shopping for. Please update your profiles if you were signed up last year so we have current information in all of them. Also, take into consideration where your family is located in relation to where you live so you can allow time for delivery BEFORE Christmas. If you did not participate in our exchange last year, then just create an account and get signed up! We'd love to have our new D-Families involved this year. I know there are several of you that I haven't met yet! Also, feel free to post a like to the exchange on your blog because I know my blog hasn't reached out to as many families as some of yours have. You can also link back here if you want so they know the instructions.

Remember... NOVEMBER 15th is the DEADLINE to sign up! Once Elfster draws the names then I can't add anyone else in the exchange so help me get the word out now!

Hiding or Not?

It's been pretty dang amazing to watch Kacey blossom this year. She has become such a neat little person. She's developed an interest in fashion lately which includes trips to J.C Penny and Justice. She has always liked the 80's style but it hasn't been until this year that she's been able to really have the nerve to show it off. I've called her an "old soul" since she was little. Her love of old cars...old music...old trinkets...just stuff that some people would brush off as being junk. This year has been a year of change for her. She started out wearing the skinny jeans, Justice shirts and Converse. Now, shes moved on to the "Madonna Style" as I call it. The glittery stuff with the frills...legwarmers...knee boots...headbands with big bows. Yep, you know all that stuff! She had her first battle with being laughed at as well. Yes, they were "friends" but she was laughed at and she questioned her clothing style. I had noticed she was back to jeans and tshirts and I couldn't help but ask WHY? She then bursted into tears telling me about how she was laughed at and I shared a quote with her I had just read the day before..."In order to make a difference then you have to be different." She smiled and it was like a little lightbulb went off. We talked about the reasons she was laughed at....the other girls didn't have the confidence to wear what she was wearing...and how if she started a "trend" then others WOULD follow and then she could smile and say she was the first to wear it. And thats exactly what happened! A few days later, some of the other girls were wearing some of the glittery froo-froo stuff and big bows in their hair. (Can you see her pump in the pic above? Barely! And BTW, all the dark black on the outfit was glittery sequins that are hard to see in the pic.)

Sooooo...all this being said....the reason for my post....pump hiding. I've really started taking notice about what Kacey wears but I've also been watching how she conceals her pump more. Now, don't get me wrong, she LOVES Goober and she LOVES all her pump packs but it's really cute to watch her "conceal" her pump so it's not the first thing you see when you look at her. She used to wear her shirts up so her pump pack sticks out...and she still does that some days...but I've also seen her hide her pump too. I think this is such an important transition in her life. She's going from being a little girl that showed off her pump to being a young woman who conceals her pump and only shares her diabetes with her close friends. It's actually a really neat thing to witness. Just another sign she's growing up. I know she's not ashamed of her pump because I've asked her about it and she said she just wants to be "fashionable"...and I know "normal" falls a close 2nd.

Now I have to share something I'm really proud of. We've finally found a church home. A true home! I'm so in love with this church and everything about it....and so are my girls. Kacey was actually really bummed cuz we missed church the last 2 weekends because we had my brother visiting. She wanted to visit with him but she's become quite fond of this church and it's surroundings. It's not your traditional sit down, stand up, sing hymns kinda church. They have a live band that plays all the current Christian songs that she hears regularly on our local Christian station K-Love 90.7fm. So, that being said, the first week we started church...we arrived with my best friend and her family. They have children's church in the back while service goes on for the adults. Kacey wanted to stay with her friend in the back and my heart went into a bit of Mommy panic. Yep, DIABETES! Do I go into the spill about her diabetes and tell the Youth Pastor? Do I single her out on the first day? She was wearing a cute outfit that concealed her pump. Do I make her feel "weird" with new friends. Nope! I signed her in...sucked in my Mommy gut...and kissed her goodbye as she took off to Youth Church with her friend. As I walked into the adult church I couldn't help but feel guilt. Why? Why did I feel like someone was sitting on my chest? Should I have told them? Should I turn around and go back and tell them without her there? NO! I didn't! I walked into church knowing she had just eaten breakfast...church was one hour long...and if Kacey needed me then she knew where I was. Was that the right thing to do? Probably not! But is it fair to single her out from the beginning? I wasn't sure if this was going to be our church home. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a place we liked. This past week, Kacey wasn't having a good diabetes morning. Her sugar had shot up causing some stomach cramps. She insisted that she wanted to go to church so we went BUT this time she stayed with us. Youth church goes up to 5th grade so she was able to come into service with us. In fact, she ended up liking being in the service with us intead of the back with the youth. I think it has something to do with the live band, her true love of music and the pastor preaches into terms everyone understands. She actually got something out of the service. So...what good would it have done to single her out and tell everyone about her diabetes when she wants to be in service with us anyway. So yeah, I guess in the long run I made the right decision. But I still ask myself...when does it cross the line? I know Kacey is only 10 years old but when does it become her right to tell who she wants and keep it private to those she doesn't? I guess each case is different but I don't want her feeling like everytime we go someplace new that I have to introduce her as "Kacey with diabetes" and not just "Kacey".

Lots of emotions swirling around lately!

It's such a tough year this year. This is Kacey's last year of Elementary School and its become my reality that next year I'm going to have a daughter going into middle school and a daughter graduating. Thats a heavy reality to accept! We're having lots of "lasts" and several "firsts" ...with and without tears. I know there will be more tears as June approches but I'm trying not to think about that right now. For now, I'm savoring every precious moment of elementary school!

We started looking at Culinary schools with Kayleigh. I think she's finally settled on one school She had narrowed it down to two schools and we're still going to schedule visits to both of them and then let her make the final decision but one school is looking better than the other. She wants to stay in-state so there really aren't many choices for her but she doesn't want to move far away....yet! When she graduates she will only be 17 and she won't be 18 until the end of Sept of that year. So she's decided to go for a 2yr Associates in Culinary and see where that leads her. She can continue on and get her Bachelor's in Business and Hospitality and then grow from there but a good 2 years then she will really know if thats what she wanst to persue. By then she will be almost 20 and she might want to move away and go to her dream school...Johnson & Wales :) and if she doesn't then there are still so many options for her locally. I'm excited for her to venture on this path but I'm nervous and scared as hell because she's growing up!

Like I said before...lots of reality going on lately!