The key to the tones
Miles woke up with a blood glucose level of 432 this morning. He had a serious problem, and I didn’t know how to fix it.
Miles’ numbers have been phenomenal for the past month. PHENOMENAL. BETTER THAN EVER! Even right through the holidays he stayed consistently in the low one hundies. Then the numbers started to creep up this past Thursday. We’ve all been horridly sick since New Years, and it’s pretty normal for BG’s to run a bit high with illness. I couldn’t get him to come back down though. Friday was spend in the 300’s, despite us using all our usual tricks. After a night of the same, a test on Saturday morning confirmed the presence of keytones in his system. I will refrain from typing any of the number of expletives that come to mind when I think about this. I’m beyond bummed that we can no longer say he’s never had keytones.
For those of you who don’t speak diabetes, ketones are a bi-product of the body burning fat for energy instead of glucose. Keytones are very hard on the body. It is very similar to acetone. (You know, the stuff that takes your fingernail polish off. Yeah, imagine that coursing through your blood stream. No bueno.) High BG levels, and keytones also walk hand-in-hand with dehydration. The body is desperately trying to rid itself of the toxins and excess sugar, but can’t get ahead of it. It’s a vicious cycle that, if unbroken, quickly leads to danger. High levels of ketones can lead to diabetic coma or death. Not wanting things to get to that kind of level, we started seriously increasing his insulin to bring his numbers down. He’d come down a little, and go right back up again.
(Totally fell asleep typing last night. So tired. Story of my life.) (*yawn*) (Anywho….)
Again our attempts failed, and when Sunday morning brought 400’s, I was sure the day would end in the hospital. We had to get his numbers back down so his body could flush the toxins out. We got even more aggressive. REALLY long story short, it took almost three times his regular rate of insulin to bring his numbers down. He was at 80 when we tested him in the afternoon. (And the heavens parted, and a host of glorious angels sang HALLELUJAH!! …………in my mind.)
I’m not sure how it all started. I’m sure we did a million things wrong. It is so nerve wracking to give your child extra insulin! The fear of making him go low is just too ingrained. I swear his diabetes just likes to mess with us.
I guess I can say that I’m grateful for the experience. Greg and I learned a lot, and I’m confident we’ll be able to avoid a similar situation in the future. I’m just thrilled that we are back to normal! Miles, of course, was a champ through it all. He.is.awesome.
Christmas 2010
I only sent out a handful of Christmas cards this year, so I thought it might be fun to share it with all of you here.
It’s a little late to give you all well wished for the holidays, but I really do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season. I know we did. In fact, it just may have been my favorite Christmas ever. I LOVE my husband, and my Big B, my Mile-zuh, and my Eve-ee too.
A tale of unders and a snowy day
****I’m not sure why I’ve had this post saved as a draft for pretty much a month. Better late than never. =) ****
Eve likes to fake potty training. It’s pretty cute, and annoying. I’m probably the worst potty trainer ever. My boys were both awful, so I’m taking an entirely different approach with Eve. We’re in no hurry to officially start, but I decided awhile ago that whenever she asked to “go” I’d accommodate. My goal is to be patient, and follow her lead. She asks all the time to use the toilet, and LOVES it. However, when her unders go on, she pretty much refuses to use the toilet. That’s so Eve. She really likes things to be on her terms. (No idea where she got that from.) After a day without diapers, we are back in them, and still practicing in the toilet whenever she wants. I’m ok with moving on her terms in this case. My boys have scarred me. :) Isn’t she cute in underwear though?!
I am loving December so far. It started off with a bang…eight inches of snow and a school cancellation. YAY! Wednesday December 1 was the first time my kids have experienced an official snow day from school. I think every kid can agree that there’s nothing quite so awesome as a snow day. After a slow paced breakfast, we suited up in our snow gear, and went out to enjoy the source of our mini holiday. It was perfect-for-play wet snow, and we had a blast.
I adore Eve’s snow kissed profile.
We got cold just in time for lunch, and a mug of hot chocolate warmed us up quickly. Hot chocolate is a big deal at our house. I’m so glad for modern advances in medicine. It makes it possible for us to enjoy a simple thing like hot chocolate as a family. Diabetes stinks, but life with chocolate is still good.
The balance of the day was filled with Christmas movies, blankets, and imaginary play. This classic Christmas special is a favorite at our house. I just about started crying when I discovered it again this year. I LOVED Grampy when I was a kid. I always wanted snow to stick on my boots the way it does on his. :) Anyways, as an adult I find the whole thing hilarious so I’m glad my kids love to watch it.
Inspired by all the holiday merriment, Brenden ( aka: Mr. Can-A-Costume-Out-Of-Anything) decided that Christmas was to be the theme of all games, and he wanted to be Santa.
He wore an old black leather belt wrapped twice around his not-so-plump belly, and his paper hat was too small for his head so he taped it to a bandanna. :)
Brenden had Eve wear her Christmas dress so she could be Mrs. Claus. She was all about dressing up, but basically ignored everything else. Playing with our LittlePeople nativity scene almost always takes precedence.
Miles plays a naughty elf really well…maybe too well.
Delight”full”
Remember how I said I wasn’t entirely sad about the arrival of winter weather? Welp, I may have spoken prematurely. If I could have, last Tuesday I would have kicked snow in the crotch. Never in my life has November precip been such a downer.
The plans were made, and we were pumped. We would meet up with my parents in sunny California to spend some much desired time with two of my brothers and their families. Sandy shores, salty air, green grass, and lemon trees…all to be enjoyed with good company. Enter lame-o blizzard and severe winter weather advisories, and all of a sudden it all becomes California dreamin’. Suck. The trip was off, and it really did feel like someone canceled Christmas. We miss our family who live there a lot. Fortunately we’ll be able to see them soon at our upcoming reunion. So excited for that!!!
Not wanting to spend Thanksgiving by ourselves, we decided to take my mom up on her plan B offer. We took a couple days to let the storm pass, taking time to set up our Christmas decorations. Then on Thursday we met the ‘rents in Gooding at my aunt and uncle’s home. Our turkey feast was fantastic, and we were grateful to be able to spend time with my grandparents, aunt and uncle, cousins, and parents. I also really appreciated my Uncle Randy’s thoughts about the pilgrims’ hard work and industry. What a great American heritage we have! We could learn a lot from the past.
After a wonderful Thanksgiving day, we drove to Twin to spend the remainder of the holiday weekend with my parents. “Home” is with the ones you love…truely. Even though my parents don’t live in the house I grew up in anymore, it still feels like home when we go to visit them. We had a really nice time, and got majorly spoiled. (Thank you again Dad and Mom!)
One thing that made it fun? The snow. That’s right, snow and I kissed and made up during our stay. How can one stay mad at something when it does this to faces?
Another highlight of the weekend was being able to watch ‘Christmas in the Nighttime Sky’ with my sister-in-law and her kiddos. My boys watched the annual firework show in her car with their cousins, while my mom and I ooooo-ed and awww-ed with a sleeping Eve in my car. On the drive home I asked Miles what he thought about the show. He answered, “When I saw the first firework,…….(long pause with wide eyes and jazz hands)…..my heart went right up to my eyes!” =) Can I just take a minute to say, I love that kid so much! You never know what’s going to come out of his mouth, but you can usually bet it’s going to be awesome.
I hope your Thanksgiving turned out to be a delight”ful” as ours did. Greg and I have so much to be grateful for.
PS- I read this today, and I think it sums up my thinking these days perfectly.
It is exactly what meant to say when I wrote my post about priorities. I have felt a big push to rid myself of physical and mental clutter. I really do believe that a simple life is a happy life. I’m thankful for the happy life I enjoy, and look forward to many many more happy years to come.
Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman…
It seems Fall has come and gone so fast. Is it just me?
It snowed today. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not altogether sad about it. Bundling up Miles like the kid from A Christmas Story (because he was sure he could make a snowman out of the snow/rain mix) made my morning. We have our radio perma-tuned to Christmas music, and I have a hankering for hot chocolate like nothing else. (That must be satisfied tomorrow.) However, Fall has been so nice this year, I hate to see it get so freezy. It’s a bit of a sad day when you realize that a cozy sweater just isn’t enough to cut it. It’s all good though, bring on the holidays!!!
In addition to being slushy, today was super busy. It was easy to tell that my children were feeling a little neglected as Greg and I worked on several projects. Greg had to leave for the evening just before dinner, and we were hurrying to get as much done as possible before then. The kids and I had a nice (but quick) meal together, then I was right back into finishing up what we had started. Long story short, by bedtime, my fuse had was all but gone, and my kids were increasingly hard of hearing. When the three little “dears” were finally jammied up, teeth brushed, and ready for bed, we all met in the boys’ room for prayers. That’s when I looked at my Miles, my Brenden, and my Eve, and I realized what I had missed out on all day. I asked them if they could think of a song that would help us all feel happy. Miles shouted out, “I Am A Child of God.” We sang it plus a song about a snowman, and it worked. I was really glad for that little bonding moment. I kissed my smiling boys goodnight, and carried my sweet Eve to her new big girl bed. (One of the before mentioned projects.)
I tucked her in with all her dollies, and she sweetly demanded, with outstretched arms, “Mommy, a hug.” How could I refuse? I leaned over to snuggle her when she wrapped her arms around my neck fiercely, and pulled my head to her chest. I could feel her hot breath on my face, and hear her steady heartbeat thump thump in my ear. I had the thought,” This is perfection.” I literally had to just close my eyes and savor it. After a short while, I slightly lifted my head just in time to see her eyes nod off. At the end of a day like today, I don’t know what I did to deserve such a gift.
I’m grateful I had the chance to tuck my kids in tonight.
Priorities
I often find myself driving down the road, thinking about how I should post “such and such” on facebook. Of all things I could be thinking about! It drives me crazy, so today I deleted my account. It’s gone. Bye bye. Sayounara.
I’ve thought about doing it many times before, but have always rationalized keeping it. There were good reasons to stay…strengthening extended family ties, connecting with old friends, keeping track of youth I’ve worked with, ect. ect. When it came right down to it though, I had to admit that facebook was a problem for me. It’s not like I was some crazed mother who would kill for her screen time. (so sad) I didn’t play any games on it. It just occupied too much of my mind, and therefore, had to go. I’m not going to lie though…I feel like I just stepped way out of the loop, and I’ll miss the laughs and updates. Sometimes a good thing has to be sacrificed for something better.
It had become increasingly clear to me that I need to re-prioritize and simplify my life. I think my family is lovely, and is much more deserving of my face-time.
How do you feel about FB? Do any of you know of a 12-step program for living without it? =) haha
PS- The picture of Eve and the shot of our family were taken by my bro-in-law, Jordan. I love them.
Boise Beav
Do you have four minutes? Look what we found on our walk last night. =)
There was much talk about Broncos and Beavers at our home this weekend (per the big game on the BLUE TURF), so finding this little fella on our Sunday evening stroll was very fitting. I thought it was a dog for a minute, until we got a bit closer. That’s when I flipped on the phone cam. I still can’t believe it let us just hang out with it! It was HUGE. After the video, we watched it swim for a minute too. It could go without saying that my kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. Yup…didn’t even have to mention that. Beavers are the new cool kid at our house.
Why is it that the word “beaver” brings out my immaturity in full force? Miles saying, “I nevah seen beavahs!” and “That’s one huge beavah!” in the video makes me laugh HARD every time. I love it.
Speaking of Beavers and Broncos…ESPN College Gameday came to BSU Stadium, and Bronco Nation showed up in full force. Greg got there at 5:20am (AM!) and the line to get into the stadium was already a mile long. Craziness. He and all the other thousands had a great time. I actually really enjoyed watching the show from home too. I was kinda surprised by that. Not gunna lie. I love a good game, but watching a bunch a dudes sit around and talk sports is not really my bag. It was good laundry folding material though. =) No actually, I really did like it, and had a good time comparing perspectives with Greg when he got home.
Unfortunately, I only had a couple hours with Gregger before he had to head back downtown at four pm for the game. He’s lucky to get paid to sit on the 50 yard line for home games. (He runs a camera for BSU during football season.) On a break, he and a buddy went up to the press box to eat dinner. (All access to the press box is one of the perks of getting paid to go to the game.) A few minutes after they sat down, the cast of Gameday came and sat down next to them. How rad is that?! He said they were really friendly, and chatted with them quite a bit. Afterwords, Greg wrote on Facebook, “I ate dinner with the gameday hosts. They are pretty cool, but Erin Andrews has nothing on my wife.”
Ahhhh….
Reason # three million why I love my husband. You only have to watch Gameday for two seconds to realize every male fan of the show involuntarily pants like a dog every time they see her. I seriously have nothing on her, but I have my husband bamboozled. I.think.that.is.rad.
PS: In case you didn’t know, BSU gave the Oregon State Beavers a good “waxing” on Saturday. =)
Um, yeah…
…this post is all about me not being able to focus on the crap I should be doing. Oh and my kids’ fearsome game faces.
Funny story: We don’t have cable. (That’s not the funny part. It’s especially not funny to Greg.) We are also proud members of Bronco Nation. On September’s doorstep, we were proud Bronco fans with nowhere to watch the Blue and Orange open their season against Virginia Tech. (This was not so funny either, and was very much a concern to said man with no cable.) Every viewing scenario was weighed and considered. Then Greg realized (or was told) that I would appreciate seeing the game too. It was decided that we would pack up the fam, and head to the Student Union Building on BSU campus. I was to arrive early, with kids in tow, to lock down a good seat. “Get a booth,” was the request made. Greg would meet us there when he got off work.
My arrival was early, and a booth was found. It was a great seat in mother terms. On the end, toward the back out of the way, near the bathrooms, all while providing a pretty good view of the huge screen. What this mom did not fully take into consideration was: the close proximity to the news reporter set up to do live shots during the six o’clock news. When I say close proximity, I mean he, his camera, crew, and lighting were all set up in the booth NEXT DOOR. Our tables shared a small half wall. Sure it was fun trying to distract him during his live broadcasts…Eve made him laugh, and he couldn’t help turning the camera’s attention to the girl dancing on the table. (Eve, not me. Though the latter would have been funny.) However, I quickly realized the folly in my seating choice when Mr. Highlights came over’ and asked if he could interview my family on live TV. “Don’t worry,” said he, “Nobody is watching anyways.” (Pshaw right!) I couldn’t say no. I was too mesmerized by his flawless powder.
How did it go? Well, let’s just say any abilities I have to look cool are void when I’m on camera. Lesson learned? Don’t sit next to a reporter covering the game when your children are cute, and decked in BLUE and ORANGE. Unless of course you like being on live TV with a man who wears his makeup better than you do. Somebody is always watching.
courtesy of Greg and his cellphone
Secretly though…and you can’t tell ANYONE, but…despite the fact that I’m darn sure I looked like a moron on TV, it was a total rush, and I loved it. Shhhh…
Amen!
Wednesday afternoon I found myself looking through this month’s New Era for a thought to share at our youth back to school party. Just as something caught my eye, Eve walked in, flipped the magazine closed, and said, “Amen!” Of course, then it became a big game of “don’t let Mom read.” Amen after amen, she laughed and laughed. So did I.
I love being a Mom.
Life is in full swing these days. Brenden is officially a first grader. The first day of school was a week and a half ago! So early this year! I don’t know where our summer went. B’s loving class though. He has the sweetest teacher, and seems to be making friends. I won’t lie though, it’s super weird having him gone all day. We all miss him…a lot. It does have it’s nice points however. For example, Eve and Miles have started playing really well together. Greg and I are loving that. I’ve been enjoying the late summer days with only two kids to manage too. I’ve tried to minimize Brenden’s time away from home by opting to drive him to and from school everyday. I actually really like the flow it gives to the day.
The other day, picking Brenden up got a little interesting when Miles suddenly announced that he had to pee. Miles has this horrible habit of waiting until the last second to tell me he needs a bathroom, and it’s usually when a bathroom is hard to reach. We were kinda stuck in a parking lot full of people. Brenden was going to be coming out any second. Leaving wasn’t really an option, but the look in Miles’ eye told me I had better do something fast. I scanned the surroundings for ideas, and then I saw “it” in the back seat. I thought to myself for a second, “Are we really going to do this? Hmmm….yup.”
“Miles,” I said, “drop your drawers. You’re gunna pee in this bottle.”
I picked up the empty kid-sized water bottle, and showed him. I might as well have told him Santa had come early. See, that’s the great thing about having boys. Peeing in weird places is like THE MOST AWESOME ADVENTURE EVER. They are a bizarre breed.
When the bottle reached half full, and he was still going strong, the OH CRAP!’s starting racing through my mind. I was pretty sure we were going to have ourselves a Dumb and Dumber moment…minus the surplus of empties. Mercy! Thankfully he topped out at a little under 3/4’s capacity. Don’t think we’ll try that one again. (I shouldn’t say that…I’m sure now we will.)
You’re so welcome for the disgusting cellphone pic of pee in a bottle.
Welp…I think I’ll leave ya on that note. Happy Labor Day weekend! =)
just (me)linda 