I told Kailyn about this today

The Artificial Pancreas
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-28-diabetes28_ST_N.htm

She was excited beyond belief and asked, "so I could eat and drink and not have to prick my finger all day".  Not even flinching at the fact that she would still have to wear a device and still have to prick, but the possibility of eating without thinking about it was thrilling to her.  I am more excited about the catching the highs and lows and tighter blood sugar controls.  I told her because it is going to be available in a few years (it will become a reality) and it will give the walk she plans to do in the fall even more meaning. JDRF is the non-profit doing the research for the technology.

Houston, I think we have a compromise.

We have been talking about the inevitable with Kailyn for a long time. Her sister is going to share her room with her.  She has big dreams of moving into our room, but I am not sure if it will ever happen.  She even made a king size bed in the middle of the room over the garage and said that her father and I could sleep there.  All we would need to do is put some wood up and get a rug and we would be good to go. LOL

We could make the playroom into a bedroom, but no one wants to move down there.  They are more than willing to let Keira have that room (willing to throw her to the wolves), but I am not too keen on having my baby on a different floor than me.  She sleeps next to me in a Pack and Play now. Moving a room over would be the first and only logical step.(for me at least)  
So, Kailyn and I were looking at Bunk Beds.  She, of course, wants the one for $1,000 from the Pottery barn. We get those lovely magazines all the time and I oooh and ahhh at them as the kids shout out what they want.(in their dreams)   Well, today I decided to check out the Ikea website.  We are about 2.5-3 hours from the nearest store, but from what I hear, it is well worth it to go.  Even if you just go to look.  Kailyn balked at the metal frames at first and said she liked the Pottery Barn ones much better until she stumbled upon this:

Its a double bed loft with a desk and a full shelf above the desktop. (hard to see) All we would need to get is a chair (in her words) I also told her we would need to get a mattress. Here is a link: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S59872897
She could keep all of her belongings under her bed and have even more storage for knick knacks under the desk. Kailyn likes her "stuff".   Keira would not be allowed to store anything over there and would use the bed and shelf Kailyn uses now and the desk would go into Sam's room.  They both would have their own dressers as well.  There would be a virtual line on the floor in the room and in the closet.  Keira would have to cross Kailyn's line to get to her side of the room, but I am sure Kailyn will let her have an easement.  Sounds fantastic to Kailyn for now and I probably will get the usual "I don't want to share my room" with the new plan in the morning.  However, we will do our best to make sure she still has her space and I think this is a wonderful idea she came up with.  I think telling her it is made in Switzerland was the icing on the cake. ;)

We are spoiled

We get yummy home baked meals from Grammie a couple days a week.  This is very helpful because I am still recovering from child birth(yes, I know, she is 8 months old). Right now we get a fish and a Mexican meal just about every week. Tonight was beef Enchilada's from a Mexican cooking light magazine with corn on the cob and rice and beans.  Keira had her first stab at rice and beans tonight and LOVED them.  This was after she begrudgingly ate sweet potatoes with rice in it because she was so hungry. She has had plain rice, but not with beans mixed in. Now that she has had crackers and other things she demands to have the good stuff.  I swear she was using her own sign today to tell me she wanted crackers and not the sweet potatoes. She kept looking at me opening and closing her thumb and finger just like she does when I give her a cracker. Once she gets that pincher grasp down I see almost no baby food going into her mouth. (If any)  Right now she is staring down her Daddy's Shipyard Summer Ale. Sorry, its not happening kid!!!
Thanks for all the yummy food Grammie!!!

Milestone in Artificial Pancreas

I thought this was blog worthy.
This is not a cure, but it would mean a much better quality of life for Kailyn
and other Type 1 Diabetics like her. Its the closets thing to a cure and a major breakthrough.
I need to research to find out when they are going to have these potentially ready so we can be first in line.  Hopefully it happens before the teen years.

http://bit.ly/c4cQmo

I guess we need to get our walking shoes broken in for the JDRF walk in September so we can raise money and get this project on the road.

VBS High Seas Expedition

The Kids LOVED It and Sam Did not realize it was going to end. :)

They are already talking about next year.

Here they are practicing their moves.

 

ME:"You can not bring guns (pretend ones) to church Sam"

SAM: "Why can't me bring guns to church?"  ME: "Because God does not like you to shoot people with guns"  SAM: "Dis is not a gun, Dis is a phone" ME: "You can't bring it to Bible school no matter what it is"  SAM: "Oh, I didn't know dat" "I shoot da bad guys with the gun and God does not like the bad guys"  ME: "You are not allowed to have a gun or shoot bad guys, only police can and they try to bring them to jail first".  SAM: "Dis is a phone, I no want to talk about guns anymore."  ME: "breathing a sigh of relief" 

He made a gun out of some plastic connector toys we have and has been playing some sort of bad guy game with Kailyn. Pretty sure this has been brought on by the Toy Story movies they have recently seen in anticipation of seeing Toy Story 3.  I guess I am going to have to drill in what is real and what is pretend with guns.  This has been a very abstract week for him and I have a lot of explaining to do to help him understand what is real and pretend. Between Toy Story and Vacation Bible School I think he is a little confused.  He asked me if "The Real Housewives of New York" was real while he walked through the room. I said yes. If he catches me watching the RHNJ I will tell him they are not real.  I guess that's a start. lol

VBS was a success!!!!

They loved it and are exhausted. Its called "Expedition on the High Seas". Both want to go back tomorrow, but Sam said for a minute he did not because it, "made him too tired".  I think playing in the pool and getting up earlier than normal made him tired.  Apparently, they do not stop at this camp and move through station after station. Eight kids out of 11 from his preschool class were there and many kids that Kailyn knew were there too. One of the girls in her "crew" is going to be in her class this fall.  Others that are going to be in her class this fall were there too.  They put her and one of the other Type 1 Diabetic children in the same crew. He is a boy that she has never met, but the Mom was there to keep an eye on things. I don't think he goes to Gorham because there is only one other boy in the 2nd going to 3rd grade class that has T1D and this was not him.
The plan was for Kailyn to call me on her cellphone at snack time. She brought her Diabetes bag and all her supplies. If she was low she was to tell the teacher and call me as well.
I made her snack and put the grams for her on a piece of paper.
She called, I walked her through the pump and then
click......She hung up on me.  I did not even have a chance to ask if she was having a good time,
but I guess that was my answer. :)

Keira says No and Hi

Keira says Hi

VBS at the Methodist Church Tomorrow

Kailyn is nervous. Sam is not.  Sam has a friend that he knows is going. I think Kailyn is more nervous about the Type I Diabetes aspect of it more than anything else.She is worried about who will take care of her in case of an emergency.There are going to be 2 other TID kids there though and one of the kids mothers is working at it.  I am hoping that once she gets there and sees that she knows other kids (which she should with 200 going) she will feel better.  She has her cellphone and I got more minutes to put on it so that she can call me at anytime. I think we are both a little nervous. I am nervous because it is the first organized thing she has done without me being there and I want it to be a success. We both need to break that barrier at some point and going to a church camp for 3 hours for 5 days in a week sounded like a good start. Here's to hoping that she loves it!!

The Swingset and pool drumroll.........

Above is what my kids call supreme summer fun.

The bare patch is where the tent that broke was. I might put the toddler slide and playhouse there.

This is what is inside the fort under the slide deck as I type.

All of the above was made possible by Grampy Jock. 

Thank you Grampy!!

Technology from my perspective.

My kids think I lived in the "olden days".  When I was the same age I thought the same thing about my parents. My perspective now:  when they were growing up does not sound as out of whack as it did when I was little. In fact, when you think about it, the only difference between their generation and mine was the hair styles, music and political movements.  In the realm of technology we have advanced together.

I mean, they had TV, record players and radios. All of the modern conveniences have really happened majorly since I have grown up, become and been an adult.  Of course, if they were alive when the car and planes were invented we would be talking a different story, but they were not.  Here is a list of the changes that have happened since 1975.  There are many more, but I would be writing forever.

Music:
We still had records
8 track was on its way out and never got really big to begin with.
Then the cassette tape
Then the CD
and now the i-pods

Phones:
I grew up with a rotary phone
touch tone phone
cordless phone
big ass cell phones with no reception
smaller cell phones with no reception
cell phones with reception
and now the i-phones

Computers:
We had a typewriter with white out eraser for papers
Then a huge computer with a floppy disks that you
had to use a C/: prompt for
Computers without floppies as slow as molasses with drumroll......
Spell Check!!!
THEN the Internet came when I was in high school, but
at the end of it and almost impossible to log on with dial up.
I got my first e-mail account my Junior year of college
Then still slow computers with DSL or phone connection
Now fast computers with instant connection

Books:
Libraries or store for books
Books on Tape
Books on DVD
Now the Kindle for books, unless you are
not tech savvy enough or do not have enough money for such a luxury.

Movies:
Once a year they played "The Wizard of Oz" on TV and everyone in the US watched
Same with "Its a Wonderful Life" etc..
Then VHS to watch videos. It was huge that we got one and we were one of the first. Had to drive 20 minutes to get the movies.
Then the laser disks as big as records. They did not last long. Can't even remember the name.
Then DVDs
Now "blue ray"
 
Cooking:
I remember getting our first microwave and my Mom talking about cooking in it.(like from scratch)She never made meals in them after a few attempts. It did not taste the same and was the same amount of work.  Silly Mom, Microwaves are for reheating meals or for heating up microwave meals.


Digital:
Digital coffee makers
Digital alarm clocks
Digital Clocks in general.
I don't know how my in laws would function without their little digital alarms.


Television:
TV antennas
Remote controlled TV antennas
Cable TV.
Direct TV
Cable TV with thousands of channels
3 news networks -now there are 300 news networks
TV went off the air at night- I remember them playing the star spangled banner on Sunday nights before the TV went fuzzy "gasp" Now its 24 hour TV.

Diabetes:
Insulin shots
Novolog and Lantus
Then the Insulin Pump and hard to use Continuous Glucose Monitors.
I can't imagine what it was like to be Diabetic around the time I was born.

I could go on. But, you get the picture. I can't imagine what technology has in store for us in the next 20 years. I'm excited!!!! Yes kids, I did live in the "olden days", but we did have heat and electricity.

ps: I love living in the modern days though. I can only take so long without the net, tv etc...

The Last Day Of School

Was not what I expected.  I expected to have my bubbly girl get off the bus bursting with excitement because she was done with school for the summer.  "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks" does not apply to Kailyn.  She loves to draw, write, read and her 2nd grade teacher Mrs.Carlson.  She excitedly started to riffle through her book bag to show me all of her treasures that she brought home for the last day.  Her teacher gave her some presents, but one of the most treasured one was a card personally written to her with a message inside from her.  The teacher had her goal for reading books for the summer inside that card and she was supposed to keep it to remind her of her goal. She got someone else's by accident. It was a boy's card and she is clearly not a boy.  Tears immediately began to flow. I told her that I would call the school and try to reach Mrs. Carlson and everything would be OK.  I did finally reach Mrs. Carlson a few hours later after an hour of crying from Kailyn and she said that she would fix the problem. Kailyn would get her original card or a new one.  This seemed to satisfy Kailyn, but before she went to sleep she uttered. "I don't want to go to Village School" one last time.  We will be doing a lot of  visiting school before it officially opens this year.  Luckily its behind our house.
We did end the day with an end of the year play date blow out. Complete with a late night with the Warehams that included pizza.  Hopefully, when she wakes up late tomorrow, she will realize that school is out for the summer.  In the mean time, I have to check some blood sugars in a few hours because she has been running low quite a bit today. A lot of physical activity.

A List Of Good Things That Have Been Happening Or Have Happened.

-Sam went to Kindergarten Step-Up day, was not nervous and his teacher was nice and bubbly. She loved Keira, but she is not getting her. ;) I did not know her before, but was pleased to meet her. I was also not nervous. Not even when Seth's ex-girlfriend introduced herself to me and proclaimed that her son (who seemed to be a bit out of control) and Sam would be friends.  Seth thought about requesting a transfer when he heard the news for a minute, but then decided he would wait to see how things went. If I know Sam (and I think I do) he will stay away from the trouble maker. He gives us trouble, but is a stickler for rules.
-Kailyn got a good teacher for next year and was excited to find not one, but 4 girls that she is friends with in the class. Bonus was that her life long BFF Izzy, that has gone to White Rock, will be in her lunch and recess.
-Keira is pushing up off the floor doing push ups and pushes up off her legs.  She also sits unassisted easily, says Hi appropriately, waves bye and hi appropriately, knows her name, my name and Dadda's name and can say Momma and Dadda.
-The kids are loving their new play set.  Sam's friend and his brother came over yesterday and played on it and tomorrow the Warehams will come.  It can withhold 6 children totalling over 300 pounds.
-I finally ordered some clothing so I will have more than 2 summer outfits.
-School ends for the Summer tomorrow
-All of the kids (including Kailyn) are asleep right now.  Kailyn has been a bit excited and very hard to get to sleep the last two nights.
-We, I mean I (cough cough, Seth fell asleep) got to watch a Movie. "The Blind Side" and it was good.

I GUESS I HAVE BEEN TAGGED -----AGAIN

I did this almost 2 years ago and I wanted to see what has changed:

8 Things I am Passionate About:
Samuel
Kailyn
Seth
Keira
Walking (even though I have not gotten to do it often lately)
Diabetes
My Health(getting healthier)
Getting my home organized so that everyone can be healthier.

8 Books I Have Read and Enjoyed:
Slummy Mummy
My Sisters Keeper
Baby Proof
Poisonwood Bible
Grapes of Wrath
Such a Pretty Fat
Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution
Louder than words

8 Words/Phrases I Say Often:
I Love You
Sam Bam
Sweet Angel
Seth can you...
You are going to drive me to drink (under my breath)
I am so proud of you
You need to test your blood
Go to Bed

8 Things I Want to do Before I Die…:
Travel the world  (only certain places though)
Be a good photographer
Watch my kids grow up
Be a grandparent
See Cancer cured
See Autism cured
See Diabetes cured
See our Nation less dependent on Oil.

8 Things I Learned This Past Year:
No one is perfect
Being really close to dying is painful. Blood clots/PE. (even more than having a child)
Expect the unexpected
How to use the pump for Type 1 Diabetes
It's OK to take care of myself
Wonderful things do happen
I have enough love for three children
I do not want anymore kids- :)

Eight People I want to Tag:  No one, just wanted to reflect on what has changed.

2nd grade send off

It was an ambush.  I guess they call it that so parents don't make a big deal about it. However, you show up, get a program and the children all get recognized with bell cords and then sing a song called "Friends Forever".  I am not a teary kind of person, but this one put tears in my eyes. They sang it excitedly and knew it like the back of their hands.  A very funny aspect to the ceremony was that two of the 7 teachers were Seth's when he went through the school system.  One was his second grade teacher and the other his third grade teacher.  He never mentions these things until he sees them. :)  I wonder if they intentionally do not give Kailyn to any of the teachers he had? lol Of course, I was not prepared and ended up NOT bringing my camera. Heck, I am lucky we got the four of us in the car and there on time.
I want Kailyn to move on because she is ready academically, but her support system at Narragansett is unbelievable and her teacher this year was exceptionally phenomenal.  Seriously, you can not get better than her. I wish I could package her up and send her off to Village School with the 2nd graders.  Her and her nurse.  I won't be going to the school as much with Sam there because he is rarely sick. Maybe I should tell him to fake sick so that Mrs. Greatorex and I can shoot the breeze at least a few times next year?  The excellent news is that both the nurse and Mrs.Carlson are going to Village school in a year when the new Gorham School Systems reconfiguration kicks in to three K-5 schools.  I just wish that it would kick in this year so we did not have to lose Mrs. Greatorex for a whole year.  She has gotten us through some really rough days and you could not get any better care for your child than her. She is superb.
Tomorrow we find out who the kids will have for teachers next year.  There is only one K teacher I would rather Sam not have, but if he gets her we will hope for the best.  For Kailyn ,I told Mrs. Carlson I want a teacher JUST like her. lol  I have been told that all of the third grade teachers are good so I am not worried. Plus, I have NO clue who any of them are. No info on the teacher=no anxiety for me.
So, Wednesday is the day I am officially a Kindergarten and 3rd grade parent and our summer of  fun begins. Swimming lessons, Vacation Bible School (yes you read that correctly), Basketball Camp, Visits to Nanie's beach, Camp at China Lake, Swimming in our pool and playing on the new play set and Play dates.

My baby is sick

She was up crying all but 5 hours last night.
Had a fever that reached 103.3 degrees
Eyes are very runny and she is all stuffed up.
I took her to the doctor and she did not find any outward signs
of a reason for such a high temp. In a baby as young as her
they like to check for a UTI just in case and if you are not
up to date on your vaccines then they give them IV's and
take blood. (Keira had a bad reaction to the Prevnar vaccine so we are waiting on that one)
I am pretty sure she just has a virus, but to help
cover the Doctors tracks and mine (just in case) we did the
blood work.  I am pretty sure Keira was baby swearing
at one of the phlembotomists while they were doing it.
She was looking right at her and doing her baby talk while crying.
I am willing to bet she has the same illness that Kailyn had last week that made us (I mean her) miserable. Sam had it, but you could barely tell.Pretty sure we will get a call saying they found nothing tomorrow.
Oh well, welcome to the medical world Keira.

We forgot to feed a kid!!! Just not any kid.

The one with Type 1 Diabetes.  Now, in our defense we had a hectic night and even a more hectic morning, but still.  I was up for a good portion of the night with the 7 month old.  Right before Seth left for work he woke me up and said he was leaving.  Kailyn and Sam were already dressed and K was even outside on the new play set. Anyway, I sat in the bed until the time turned exactly 8am because that is when the pediatricians office opens.  The kids were going to the Dentist at 10am and I had an appointment at 9:30am. Grammie had volunteered to take the kids to the Dentist so that I could go to the Doctor alone and I would meet up with her and take over.  I called right at 8am. The Doctors office wanted me to come in right away. So, I scrambled to get the baby and I a bit presentable and told the kids to head over to Grammie and Grandpa's house. I told Kailyn not to forget her Diabetes bag. I called on my way to the babies Doctor and canceled my doctor's appointment.  The baby had to get a catheter and her blood taken for the high fever and no outward signs of a cause besides a cold. (a whole other story)
After I went to the babies appointment I went and gathered the kids from the Dentist and off we went to bring Kailyn to school. While we were in the Dentist's office she had a low and we had to recheck on the way to school to make sure she was within range. She then declared she was hungry and I told her that she could have a cheese stick or try and wait another hour. She flipped out (hunger rage) and cried only saying right before we drove into the school that she had not eaten ANYTHING that day.  I informed the nurse upon dropping her off curbside and asked her if she could feed her.  I thought the whole "I'm hungry" thing was an attempt on both kids part to get fast food (which we do not do).
I still don't know if its true and could easily go and find out by asking her father and checking her pump, but I am enjoying the quiet that is called upstairs in my room with the door locked for a while. I am too lazy/tired (whatever you want to call it) to go down and find out.
Hoping for a less painful night for the baby so everyone gets fed in the morning.

It's been a long time and the playset

First of all, it has been a long time and a lot has happened since I last blogged.  When I first stopped blogging I was sick. Really sick. I had my gallbladder out and found out I was pregnant. PREGNANT.  Imagine trying recover from gallbladder surgery and having morning sickness at the same time. Not pretty. Out of that pregnancy came our third child and I had to rename my blog in her honor.

Keira came into the world on October 19, 2009

She is perfect in every way and seems to be the amazing last piece to this families puzzle.

We are still learning her personality, but at this point she seems a little bit more laid back than her older siblings and enjoys watching them and their antics.

Kailyn still has Type 1 Diabetes (until there is a cure) and Sam still has the label of autism, but we feel as though he is outgrowing that even with some quirks that need to be worked out.  I just found out that he will be going to Kindergarten in the pm every day in a regular classroom without any supports at first.

We feel blessed to have what we do and life is pretty normal until an emergency arises and then we are reminded that we have a child with a chronic illness.  It is hard to deal with Diabetes sometimes, but it does not consume us all the time. We are on autopilot and just do what we have to.  We talk about numbers, site changes, ketones and lows just like we would making a grocery list. Sounds frightening to some, but it is our new normal. People mention to me frequently how it is "hard", but I think raising kids in general is hard.  We have to feed, clothe, change diapers, help with homework and do our daily Diabetes care. Don't get me wrong, there are hard days, but those are getting easier to deal with and the really hard days are getting far and few between instead of every other day.

The Play Fort pictured is what Grampy and Aunt Alice have been working on tirelessly for the kids. The instructions said 6-12 hours to put together. Well, I have counted it up and it has been 18 hours and counting. It is STILL in progress. The box LIED.