48 Questions

OK, DOC, I'll play...

 

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

No.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

Probably yesterday. But never in public. NEVER. I don't know why but I would rather eat glass than cry in public.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

Yes. People are always shocked that I write in cursive. It's cursive, people, not hieroglyphics. Did you know they barely teach it in schools any more? For shame.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

Salami. What I'd for a 6-foot Spicy Italian from Subway right now.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

Yes

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

Absolutely

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?

Yes. I am also misunderstood a lot.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

No. They ripped them out when I was 33.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

If someone paid me

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?

I don't eat cereal

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

No

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

Muscle? No. Personality? Yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

Anything with swirls & hunks of peanut butter & chocolate

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Their clothes. Go ahead & judge me for being materialistic

15. RED OR PINK?

Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?

I lack patience

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

My old self

18. WHAT IS THE TECHNIQUE THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST?

Parallel Parking

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

Nude

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?

Apple chips

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

Office noise...me typing and some guy in another office talking quite loud

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?

pink

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?

The smell of onions in the air when they are being picked in the local fields. Weird, I know

24. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS TO YOU?

Important enough to believe I am right

25. MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE?

Depends on the season

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

No thank you

27. HAIR COLOR?

Dark brown

28. EYE COLOR?

Dark Brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

No. I have perfect vision

30. FAVORITE FOOD?

I love pizza. I really do.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Happy Endings...tee hee....tee hee...

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?

Les Miserable. Russel Crowe, you disappointed me

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?

blue, but it has a pattern. It's new. I got it at KMart for $13 and I love it

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?

Summer

35. FAVORITE DESSERT?

Warm chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. Or creme brulee. Or warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream on top of creme brulee. That would be rad

36. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO?

Thank you for reminding me that I haven't exercised in a year. A YEAR, PEOPLE!!!

37. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION?

Television. Mindless television.

38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

I just finished Breakthrough. Does that count?

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

I don't use a mouse pad

40. FAVORITE SOUND?

My girls' laughter

41. FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC?

Depends on my mood. But never punk. NEVER.

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

Tahiti

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

I can find a song to match any situation and I can find a cartoon character to match any person.

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Southern California

45. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?

Southern California...in the EXACT same city I was born. Sad, but true.

46. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HOUSE?

Beige

47. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR?

Grey

48. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING 48 QUESTIONS?

Depends on what my other activity options are.

Sick Days are Here Again

Sing with me now...

 

So long healthy times,

go long good times

We are rid of you at last

 

Howdy sick times,

Decent blood sugars,

You are now a thing of the past

Sick days are here again

We are sleep-deprived again

So drink another cup of coffee again

Sick days are here again

Yes, folks, that's right.

That nasty cough + fever that lasts FOREVER decided to visit us.

 

I knew it...I just knew it...when Ella started popping blood sugars in the 300's last week.

3 days later she was hacking & snuffling and running a fever.

 

We started out all nambly-pambly with running a temp basal of +35%.

Diabetes laughed at us.

 

That's some ugly-lookin' BGs right there

 

So I finally put on my big-girl pants and cranked that temp basal up to +95% ALL DAY LONG plus an extra 0.25u (we like to say it's "for the homies" because it makes us laugh. Don't ask me why) with every single bolus.

 

I am so thankful to have the DexG4  because I would be scared poopless to be pumping this much extra insulin into her body without being able to see what it's doing.

 

I am AMAZED at how much extra insulin she needs to fight whatever it is she has going on.

Even with all of this extra insulin, her blood sugars look like the landscape of Magic Mountain:

 

Landscape Photo of Magic Mountain:

 

Ella's 12-hour Blood Sugars Today:

 

 

And then, just to mess with me even more, she's high all day and low all night.

And I run her normal basal rate at night.

Riddle me that one.

 

Here's hoping those antibiotics kick in soon...

So we can get some decent numbers during the day...

And some decent sleep at night....

So that Happy Days will be here again.

 

Stay healthy, people.

 

As always, this should NOT be used as medical advice.

For the love of Domestic Divo please do not run a +95% temp basal + give extra insulin for the homies just because it half-way works for us.

 

 

 

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test Take Two

Last September, Livie had her first Oral Glucose Tolerance Test because she tested positive for autoantibodies. 

 

She was 143 at the 2 hour mark and less than 140 is considered normal.

She missed qualifying for the oral insulin trial by 3 points.

 

THREE MEASLY POINTS

 

So last Wednesday we tried again.

 

Starting Sunday night, I carb-loaded her as if she was preparing for a marathon.

Pizza, bananas, pasta - if it had a lot of carbs, she ate it.

Momma wasn't messin' around this time.

 

Wednesday morning I loaded her arms up with "Magic Princess Paste sent from Cinderella that protecsts  skin from ouchies" (aka EMLA cream) and we headed down to Children's Hospital.

 

The last OGTT was horrible. Horrible. We had to wrap Livie up in sheets & hold her down to get the IV in. And the nurse missed the first time, so they had to repeat on the other side.

There was a lot of screaming & bribery involved.

 

This time was so different. The nurse was amazingly calm & had such a way with Livie.

 

When she asked if she could test her blood sugar, Livie held out her hand, stuck up her little finger and announced:

 

"I BRAVE"

 

Yes, baby girl. So brave.

 

Fasting BG 77. Off to a good start.

Time to get the "shot" (IV).

Livie was sitting in her daddy's lap and she start shaking. I took her little left hand in mine and she extended her right arm to the nurse. I shielded her eyes with my hand, turned her face into mine and told her the story of Princess Livie and her new purple dress.

The nurse was an angel. She nailed it the first try and when it was all done, Livie said, with surprise:

"It didn't hurt! I didn't feel it!"

Thank you, Cinderella, and your princess paste. Thank you.

She sucked down the "yummy fruit punch" and then snuggled into Daddy's lap and watched the new Lalaloopsie movie she got at Christmas...twice...lah lah lah, lah lah lah... 

 

 

 I brought my trusty Accu-check Aviva with me so I could get some real-time info because in this day & age waiting a week for lab results is just torturous and last time it was only 1 point different from serum results.

She was 150-something at the 60-minute mark. Eh.
She was 174 (we checked twice) at the 90-minute mark. Ack.

And then, perhaps sensing that I was going to have a nervous break-down if they didn't wake up and get to work, her little islets of langerhans kicked into overdrove for a beautiful 124 at the 2 hour check.

At which point Livie screamed: BANANA.

 

 Then we took her to "HotDonalds" for her post-OGTT Treat

 

 Where DD indulged in a nasty McRib seeing as how it's only available for a limited time.
I declined his offer to "try a bite."

 

 So what does this all mean?

Well,  once we get the real lab results back we should also get a profile that tells us much more about her risk factor. Right now all we know is that she is in the "highest" risk category. Thanks a lot. I need numbers. I need a timeline. My brain doesn't operate off of "most likely sometime in the next 10 years."

Second, because her first OGTT was abnormal, the oral insulin trial requires 2 normal OGTTs in a row. However, because I work in clinical research I know there's this little thing called a pre-enrollment eligibility deviation where the doctor can submit, on your behalf, a request for a waiver from certain inclusion/exclusion criteria. In Livie's case, the 3 measly points could very easily be attributed to standard lab deviation. So, fingers crossed it gets approved and we don't have to put her through another OGTT.

Third, it means I go crazy while I wait. Wait for results. Wait for when the big IT is going to happen. I am driving myself insane looking at her & wondering how many more days, nights & holidays we have left with her as a non-diabetic. I feel like ever since we got the initial TrialNet phone call I've been in this downward emotional spiral and I don't know how to stop it.

Yes, Tom Petty: The waiting IS the hardest part.

Oh don't let it kill you baby, don't let it get to you
Don't let it kill you baby, don't let it get to you

The problem, Tom, is that I don't know how to not let it get to me.
I'm desperately trying to figure it out.

Because I get this text in the middle of writing this post:

 

And I shove smarties into my child's mouth when she should be sleeping.

And I worry about the cavities.

And I worry if it's enough sugar...or too much.

And I worry what if she'd already been sleeping. Would she have woken up?

And she says she feels the low in her heart, but not in her fingers yet.

And not in her brain yet.

And I think:

 

Dear God WHY does she even have to deal with this??? 

 

And my heart breaks.

 

And I don't know how it will possibly manage when there's two.

 

You stick, Omnipod!

For some people, the only thing they need to do to prep their pod site is an alcohol wipe.

I think of these people as the lucky ones.

Perhaps Ella has more oil glands than others, but we've always had issues with making the pod stick.

So we've come up with a method.

It's evolved over time...and right now the current method is working well for the winter months.

I'm sure we'll have to switch it up when summer rolls around & she's swimming for 6 hours a day.

But until then, this works for us.

And since several of you have asked, here it is:

 

Cast of Characters

 

 

1. Omnipod & Insulin - for obvious reasons.

2. Goo Gone or De-Solv-It - for the removal of the old pod & sticky stuff. Smells better than Uni-solve & won't remove your furniture finish or nail polish. Plus you can pick it up at your local hardware store for less than $5.00. LOVE IT. Also has a million & one uses around the house.

3. Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream - the newest member of our cast. We love her. Ella used to develop nasty, itchy rashes under her pod and we tried EVERYTHING. Bard's Barrier Wipes, hydrocortisone cream, cortaid spray, hibacleanse... Nothing worked. As soon as we took the pod off, she would itch until she bled. No more with this little lady around. And for some reason it's helped the pod stick. So she gets bonus points. Ask your doctor if you want more information on it.

4. Buzzy - for pain distraction. Does it really work? Who knows. But we use it & she likes it.

5. Alcohol Wipes - to clean/prep site

6. A variety of sticky barriers - We use Skin-prep, Skin-Tac or Cavilon. Whatever works for you.

7. Hypafix tape - for reinforcement. Also useful when you run out of scotch tape & have to wrap a gift in a jiffy.

 

Steps

1. Alcohol wipe new site

2. Rub a small amount of triamcinolone acetonide cream to new site

3. Let cream soak in for 15 minutes. During this time, I usually deactive & remove (using Goo Gone or De-Solv-It) the old pod and prime the new pod.

4. Blot sticky barrier wipe on new site & let dry

5. Stick pod on new site, apply Buzzy and let 'er rip

6. Put a piece o Hypafix across entire pod to reinforce

 

The final product ends up looking likes this:

 

 

We're also big fans of arm or leg bands. You can order them through Bands4Life or Tallygear. We usually throw these on if she's not wearing something tight around her pod like leggings or a tight long-sleeve shirt. Ella says it makes it feel more secure. They come in all types of colors & patterns and are custom-made to fit. Here's a photo of Ella rocking a pink arm band to match her pink dress. Check out Livie's awesome pose.

 

 

 

In the summer months when she's in the water a lot, we use Flexible Sports Tape around the pod. It comes in all sorts of nifty colors so we can match it to her bathing suit. She doesn't like wearing this all the time because it's not as soft as the leg/arm bands. So we only use these when we need to. Here she is at a water park rockin' the purple Sports Tape.

 

 

Hope this helps. Happy sticking!





December 14th

Tonight is the eve of Livie's 3rd birthday.

Tonight I hugged my kids a little tighter.

Tonight I was thankful that it's "just diabetes".

 

Tonight I put together Livie's 3rd birthday video and shed a lot of tears,

Tears over all we've been through and all we've accomplished this past year.

Tears over not knowing if she'll remain diabetes-free in future photos.

Tears because the time is going by too fast.

But mostly tears for the children who are no longer with us and will never see another birthday again.

 

It was very bittersweet making this video tonight.

Happy 3rd Birthday, my Livie Love.

 

The professional photos in this video were taken by a photographer who's grown to become my friend, Amy Fink at Belliveau Photography.

 



Thanksgristmas

Christmas officially arrived at the McMomma House on Thanksgiving resulting in a new holiday:

 

Thanksgristmas

 

I finally gave in this year and figured everyone else does it, I might as well join in.

 

We have a fake tree (I'm a practical gal if you haven't figured that out already) so we popped that bad boy up the morning of Thanksgiving and I hung up a snow berry wreath scented ornament for all of you out there whose immediate response was:

 

But what about the SMELL???

 

As far as experience, my kids think a pop-up pre-lit tree is way cool. Maybe all of you out there who drag your kids to a real Christmas Tree farm are the ones missing the fake tree experience.

Ever think about that?

 

She can decorate and throw sass at the same time

Thanksgristmas Outfits


And then it was time to give thanks...by wearing politically incorrect paper feathered headdresses, painted macaroni noodle necklaces and eating way too much turkey.
My girls have yet to appreciate Thanksgiving food, so it was pretty easy to bolus for a dinner consisting of olives, cucumbers, turkey, grapes and frozen peas. YUM.

I'm thankful for an awesome wife...and my ability to grow facial hair.

 

 I'm thankful for Tickles who caught multiple mystery lows Thanksgiving week...and that Movember is almost over.

 

I'm thankful for frozen peas and diet Hansen's soda...and that Movember is almost over.

 

I'm thankful for raisins...and that Movember is almost over.

 

 In all seriousness, what am I thankful for? Well, in addition to what I've mentioned before, I'm thankful that we're on THIS side of the year...10 months into life with diabetes and not on the other side of the year...brand new to diabetes and overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.

 

To wrap up the Thanksgristmas season, we made salt dough ornaments COVERED in glitter.

Which made an absolute mess.



 

She's very careful with the placement of glue

 

Livie is not so careful...with anything...here she is shaking the glitter off of her cookie and onto the floor that Domestic Divo had just cleaned...it also somehow ended up in her hair...and pretty much all over her...

 

 

But the finished product made it all worth it.

 



 

Home-made gifts are the best, I say. Especially when they leave little bits of glitter around that remind you of the holiday season all year long.



Ain't nothin' but a G4 thang, baaaaabay!

One, two, three and to the fo'
UPS man is knockin' at the do'
G4 ready to make an entrance, so back on up
[Cause you know we 'bout to rip 'betes up]

Gimme the receiver first, so I can get it charged

Dexcom and Omnipod together, now you know we livin' large
Ain't nothin' but a G4 thang, baaaaabay! To make this Momma go craaaaazay!

 

Our Dexcom G4 Platinum arrived Monday.

Ella ripped it open like a package on Christmas Day

And immediately named it....Tickles...after its color "Tickled Pink."

 

I have yet to figure out how to make this appropriate in public.

 

Example:

"Mom....Tickles is vibrating and I feel high"

 

Yeah...

 

Anyhow, as soon as Tickles was charged up, we slapped the new transmitter on her and anxiously waited 2 hours for Tickles to go through her wetting phase...

 

Yeah...

 

 

Some of you will remember that we tried out the Dexcom7 (aka G3) but very quickly learned that we didn't work well together. She was wrong...a lot. Which lead to more blood sugar checks. And Ella was always leaving her here or there so she always gave me the "out of range" reading. I think we used her for about 2 weeks before we packed her up and put her out of sight.

 

So obviously I had reservations about paying $399 to upgrade to the G4, but I figured I had 30 days to try it out and return it if I didn't like it. Plus once Ella saw they had a pink one, she was "tickled" - nice marketing scheme, Dexcom.

Too bad you don't offer it in lime green or I might get one for myself just cuz.

 

We've been bonding with Tickles (Yeah...) for about 5 days now and I have to say I am in love. 

 

Here's my top 5 reasons why:

 

1. Accuracy - Other than some minor drifting that was happening around 8pm at night, Tickles has been darned accurate when Ella's in-range or high. There's still a lag when Ella's in the hypo range, so we set the hypo alert at 90 which is working better for us.

 

2. Range - Ella was HORRIBLE at keeping the G3 within 5 feet, which is probably why it was always so inaccurate. Tickles can be left on the kitchen counter and Ella can wander through the house and it will still pick her up. Right now I'm downstairs and she's sleeping upstairs and I'm watching a post-pizza high come down rather nicely on the color screen. G4 range is 20 feet, we've had it still working at around 50 feet when in an open area like at a park or outside.

 

3. The pretty ring tones. Seriously. I love that I know if Ella's high or low based on the pretty ring tone that either goes up or down.

 

 4. Size - the G4 receiver is much smaller and far superior to the egg-shaped G3 receiver. But would someone PLEASE make a rubber cover for Tickles (Yeah...see what I mean???) so I don't live in fear of Ella dropping it on the tile floor?

 

5. Ella loves it because it's pink and it looks cool...like a nano. Which makes me less likely to have to nag her about where it is.  

 

It's like this and like that and like that and uh
It's like that and like this and like that and uh
It's like this, the G4's the CGM with the most.
So jus' chill, 'til the next blog post.

 

PS - I blogged about my love affair with the G4 all on my own. I wish Dexcom would pay me for this...or at least send me a few free sensors on the side.

 

PPS - This is just our own unique experiences with the G3 and the G4. My results were not obtained via a well-designed and statistically significant clinical trial and most certainly would not qualify for a peer-reviewed scientific journal article. If you're interested in real results, I suggest you start here.  

 

PPPS - My sincere apologies to Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr. Dre

Thankful Trees

I am not a big fan of Standard Time.

I do not like that it gets dark at 5:30pm.

Mostly because I don't know what to do with the kids between dinner and bedtime if they can't play outside.

They love being outside. They will play for hours outside.

They fight A LOT when they are couped up inside.

So tonight I kept them busy with a craft:

 

Making Thankful Trees.

 

Livie's Thankful Tree

 

I did all of the cutting & writing.
Livie did all of the decorations & gluing.
When I asked her what she was thankful for, this is what she said:

Friends, Family, Almond Milk, Pizza,
This Pencil, Broccoli, Trees, My Life, Do not Let Your Heart Be Troubled.

That last one was a memory verse she learned about 4 weeks ago for Wednesday night church.
I couldn't believe she remembered it.

It's a good verse to be thankful for - it's something I need to recite every day.
"Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God and also in Me." John 14:1

 

 

Ella's Thankful Tree

 

Ella made this all by herself.

 

 

Did you see the leaf in the lower right of the photo?

 

 

I'm thankful for Diabetes Friends, too.

I don't know how I would have made it through this year without some of you.

And I don't even know a lot of you in real life!

And a lot of you don't even know me...or even know of my existence!

But when Ella was first diagnosed, I stayed up for HOURS reading blogs.

Reading and reading and reading and reading.

And thinking to myself:

 

Huh...these people seem happy.
If they're happy living with this, it means I can be happy living with this.

These people are funny, too.

You can still be funny and live with diabetes.

There is a light at the end of this dark tunnel!

 

Ella's also thankful for Family, Love, Life, Air, Best Friends Forever, Delight & Peace.

 

When she was done making her tree, she declared that every tree needs a star at the top.

 

 

My Thankful Tree

 

I didn't make a Thankful Tree.

 

Mostly because I was still cleaning up the kitchen from dinner while at the same time trying to keep Livie from cutting herself with scissors and gluing her fingers together.

 

But if I were to make a Thankful Tree, it would have a lot of the same things I was thankful for last year:

 

 My Family, Friends, Health, My job, My home...

 

With the addition of some new items like:

 

Insulin, Afternoon Naps, Glucose Meters, Access to Plenty of Blood Glucose Strips, My awesome Pediatrician, A good Health Care Plan, Crystal Lite, Insulin Pumps, Endocrinologists, CDEs, Nurses, Starburst, Skittles, Almond Flour, School Health Techs, Friends for Life Conferences (who's going in 2013?), Camp Conrad-Chinnock, Diabetes Friends, JDRF, Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, Dr. Faustman, DOC, Diabetes Research Institute...and on and on and on...

 

All too often throughout this year I've found myself dwelling on what we lost when Ella was diagnosed. Or dwelling on what we might lose if Livie gets diagnosed as well.

 

Then the other day I read this post from Moments of Wonderful 

and watched the documentary at the bottom of this post about Life for a Child.

And I felt like I'd been hit upside the head.

 

I complain about the 1 hour drive I have to take on the PCH Highway along California's Malibu Coastline to get to Ella's Endocrinologist.

Meanwhile, a little girl in another country walks 4 to 6 hours on a dirt path to get to a bus to see her doctor or get medical supplies.

 

I complain about having to deal with the online pharmacy when they ship me not 6, but 5 vials of insulin.

Meanwhile there are people who travel hours to get just 1.

 

I complain about the $100 copay for a 3-month supply of insulin or a 3-month supply of test strips.

Meanwhile there are people dying because they can't afford the medical supplies they need.

 

I need to stop complaining.

Yes, having a child with diabetes sucks and I think, once in a while, I'm allowed to vent.

Having 2 kids diagnosed with diabetes would suck a lot.

But I need to stop dwelling on what we lost or what we might lose and start being thankful for what we have.

 

Because we have a lot to be Thankful for.

 

Life for a Child Documentary Part 1:

 

 

 

Life for a Child Documentary Part 2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 14th: World Diabetes Day

Last year on this day I didn't know that...

 

• Frederick Banting discovered Insulin
• November was diabetes awareness month
• November 14th was World Diabetes Day
• Blue was the official diabetes color
• A blue circle was the international symbol for diabetes
• My daughter would be diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 70 days

I've learned a lot in 11 months.

 

One of the favorite things I've learned is how to make diabetes fun & special for Ella.

 

So here's how we did our very first World Diabetes Day.

 

Last night Ella stayed up late decorating postcards for World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange.

 

 

I put Domestic Divo & his mostache to work, too.

 

 

 Ella found and used every single rhinestone in our craft drawer. Each postcard got gaudier glitzier and glitzier until I'm pretty sure the last one weighed at least a pound.

 

 

By the way - if by some miracle you happen to read this blog AND you are the recipient of one of these beauties, please leave me a comment because that would be awesome.

 

First thing this morning we mailed our postcards. The people at the post office assured us they would make it through, rhinestones and all. Then they charged us more for the super glitzy one.

 

I wore blue from head-to-toe and slapped blue ribbons on Ella & Livie.

If you ask Livie what it stands for, she'll tell you it's to celebrate Ella's Diabetes.

You rock, Livie.

 

I snapped this photo of me in my office wearing blue and posted it for this special little girl we met at diabetes camp - Julia - hope you felt the blue love!!!

 

 

After work, I grabbed a bouquet of flowers for Ella and picked up a pack of  Pillsbury Crescent Rolls to go along with dinner.

This doesn't sound like much to you, but Ella used to love to eat Pillsbury Crescent Rolls filled with chocolate chips.

She hasn't had one since diagnosis.

After dinner we watched "This is America, Charlie Brown."

 

Next year I hope to do more.

Next year I hope to be organized enough to get Ella's school involved with wearing blue.

Next year I hope to do an activity with her classmates and educate them about Diabetes.

Next year I will ask all of my friends & family members to wear blue and send photos to Ella throughout the day.

Next year I'll do more.

 

But this year...our first year...

just seeing the smile on Ella's face holding a bouquet of yellow tulips (draped in her arms like Ms America) and how she gleefully shoved two 16-carb-each chocolate-filled refined flour crescent rolls in her mouth...

well, that was enough for me. 

 

More importantly, it was enough for her.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drinking for Diabetes

November is Diabetes Awareness Month.

 

I was not aware of this last year.

  

This time last year my biggest challenge was trying to get Livie to not eat paint...

 

 

or trying to convince Domestic Divo to shave off the Mostache he grew for Movember.

 

 

In case you're wondering, YES, he's growing it again this year and would love any support...
http://us.movember.com/mospace/2658780

 

But this year I am all too aware that November is Diabetes Awareness Month.

 

Inspired by the fun time (I'm not kidding - the girls thought it was a blast) the girls had during our backyard clean-up day and the sheer giddiness they experienced getting paid $22 for recycling our glass, aluminum and plastic beverage containers, Ella decided to raise awareness locally while at the same time raising money for Diabetes Research by promoting what we are calling

 

 

Where we ask people to DRINK UP, save their recyclable beverage containers and give them to us. At the end of the month we'll sort them, take them to the recycle center and donate the money to a Diabetes Research Organization of our choice. We haven't settled on one yet...there are just so many out there we want to support...feel free to leave your suggestions and reasons why.

 

We made up some flyers and hit the neighborhood. Not only did we educate a lot of people about Type 1 Diabetes, but we also met a lot of super cool people that live right down the street from us. One lady even invited us in and showed us lots of photos of her family and grandkids and said she would recruit them to start saving cans for us, too!

 

 

We've also shared this with local family, friends, co-workers and facebook contacts and have collected several HUGE bags and have been promised lots more.

 

I can't WAIT to see my side yard FULL of bags of stinking old beer & soda cans at the end of the month.

 

I mean, really, what better reason to DRINK UP than DIABETES?

 

Even if it is just a Diet Coke.