Exciting Week Ahead

Opening Day 2009 Goodies

THE Cobbler

Lots to look forward to this week.
1. Tennis Lessons -- Millie will start on Tuesday. So excited!
2. Summer Reading Club Kickoff -- Millie and Abe have been members each year since they were born. Millie signed up for her library card at birth and started attending story time at 4 months. Brother started attending earlier as a tag-a-long to his big sister's toddler time. Needless to say, they love the library. I have volunteered to help with registration while Daddy will supervise them at the luau kickoff. We're getting our costumes ready and can't wait. Dr. Spaghetti and staff have worked really hard to make this summer's reading club better than ever.
Can't wait to see what the kiddos read this summer. We really like to bring our stories to life with costumes and props, food and crafts. I've thought about starting them a little book club. Wouldn't that be fun??? Each child reads the same book at home and then we come together for a playdate centered around the story. We'll see what we can cook up.
3. Farmers' Market Opening -- I heart fresh veggies. Last year, I was so excited, I brought a new sundress just for the opening, woke up bright and early and shopped till my heart's desire. Some of the items I picked up were the jalepeno cheese bread, jelly, blueberries, blackberries, squash, honey. My. Mouth. Is. Watering. I made my first cobbler from a Williams-Sonoma recipe -- mixed berry. So yummy. Hope that with a little tinkering of the recipe, I can make something Millie Bug can eat. This year, the managers of the market promise an even bigger and better shopping experience, so I'm counting down the minutes.
Inspired by a community garden I've seen recently, I've really wanted to plant my own garden in the back yard. I know absolutely nothing about gardening. Ha. But you've got to start somewhere. I'm pretty sure we have too many squirrels and other critters to be a successful gardener, but the library has this cute kid-friendly container gardening book I may pick up. Maybe I should start small and work my way up.
4. Beach Vacation in a Few -- Already started packing!!!

Ice Cream Sundays

Millie loves ice cream.
(Thank you, Sweet P's Mommy for the recipe! I think it calls for an ice cream social soon ... for the kids, of course, ... wink, wink!)
As with any diet, her diet is more about portion control than deprivation. She can still eat what she likes, just not as much and at certain times. If there is any blessing associated with diabetes, it's that if you are vigilant and responsible, you can learn to eat healthy for a lifetime. Through this blog and Facebook, so many have shared their stories of friends and family members with diabetes. Some say they are healthier than most, that their A1Cs are better than most, that their eyesight is better than most. Point: We have no idea what bad food can do to any of our bodies. A silent killer, indeed.
Anyway, we've enjoyed trying new things. But sometimes, convenience is key. So often we have to snack, and it's just easy to have food already nice and portioned for us. When it comes to ice cream, it's so easy to fudge when you have to dip into that creamy gallon of Blue Bell. My first thought was let's look for something with Splenda or low-, no-sugar. But then I came across the little party ice creams -- the single-serves. Perfect! 12 grams of carbs. I added a little squirt of whipped cream (less than 4 grams of carbs, so it's "free") and a few drops of chocolate syrup, and VOILA!!! my baby has an ice cream sundae on Sunday. And the entire family enjoyed one on the front porch in the already sweltering Louisiana heat.
Now, that brings us to our next obstacle: How do we deal with the ice cream truck? Yes, they're creepy to begin with, but what child doesn't love hearing that music, frantically dumping their piggy bank and dashing out to catch the truck with the frozen treats?
Well, yesterday, we "got to that bridge." And I wasn't ready "to cross it." So instead of saying "No, you can't eat anything on there, baby." I just took my time and the truck had driven off before she could gather her allowance.
Later, I gave some thought to how I would handle the situation next time. Sometimes the chase is all the fun, so I think we'll play that part up. As for the sweets, allow her to get what she wants. It may mean she may not be able to eat the entire treat or at that particular time, but I'm sure it's manageable.
Summer and ice cream just go hand-in-hand. And I can remember moving to a "big city" and hearing and seeing an ice cream truck for the first time, and well, it was magical. My parents always made it such an exciting treat for us kids, so there's no way I'm depriving my baby girl of this summertime experience.
So here's to sweet sundaes on sweltering summer Sundays! Say that fast 10 times!

A Girl and her Guitar

Sparkling Jewel

Power & Grace School of the Performing Arts Recital 2010: "Masquerade"

"Sparkling Jewels"

2 p.m. May 15 The Strand Theatre

I reluctantly volunteered to serve as a backstage mother. It was just too much of a risk sending Millie backstage with all those snacks and too much of a hassle to explain glucagon to an unwitting, already frazzled mother. Little did I know, one of the residents who had assisted Dr. McVie the day he first administered Millie's first insulin shot was also a P&G backstage mom! Love how God watches out for us that way. Millie did great with her schedule and snacks backstage. Although, it was difficult to watch her dance from the wings, I'm thinking she did more dancing backstage than on stage. But she had a great time.

She was chosen to present flowers to the dance teachers at the end of the recital. She was so happy to present Miss Kourtney, her teacher from last year, her flowers.

We were all so proud of her. Afterward, she was showered with flowers and gifts, and we went out for her favorite: tacos. Her magical evening was capped with her first overnight visit with Mimi without me since being diagnosed. Everyone did great! Lots of planning ahead, but we made it!

Served my time as backstage mom.

'WELCOME TO HOLLAND'

Found this on the Internet today. Thought I'd share.

"Welcome to Holland"
by Emily Perl Kingsley

"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
"When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
"After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
"But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
"So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
"It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
"But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
"And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
"But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."

When Life Hands You Lemons ...

Make Lemonade!!!

And that's what we're gonna do. Millie's summertime dream of her very own lemonade stand is going to come true this summer. ... And we hope it will be grand. Of course, it will be diabetic friendly lemonade. All proceeds will benefit the juvenile diabetes research foundation, even though Millie did try to finagle a treehouse.

Our family is working hard brainstorming on the sugary sweet details. So continue to stay tuned. We're very excited. And hope you will join us to raise awareness and funds for an organization that has already helped us so much as we've embarked on our diabetic journey.

Yay!

Way to go Bret Michaels! He won "Celebrity Apprentice" and therefore money for the American Diabetes Association! The thought that that money could help my daughter or others with diabetes is ... well ... indescribable.
Please visit here and here.

And Yet so Normal

Flying kites Saturday afternoon ... after daddy fixed us all breakfast in bed!!!

Let it Go

I cried for two hours on the phone to my mom, mostly out of pure exhaustion. And then another two to my sister.
I try my hardest to stay positive in front of the children. Millie is so loving and sensitive. If I sniff, she asks me if I'm OK, often keeping her eye on me to make sure my sniffles don't become sobs. But last night I had reached my limit. I waited until dinner was served, excused myself and tiptoed to the office to release. It included a few punches to the mound of laundry yet to be folded and a few muffled screams from my gut.
Most of the time, I am hopeful about Millie's diabetes, but sometimes, I let my thoughts wander to the "what ifs" and the "whys" and the "hows." This may have been prompted as I worked on an end-of-the-year gift for her teacher, sifting through photos just weeks and months before she possibly became ill. I want so bad to go back to those care-free days, to erase the very point at which her cells became attacked. It's difficult to look at pictures and wonder, "Was she sick here?" Or to see something that should have signaled to us that she was sick and wonder, "Why didn't we catch that?" The signs were there, "Why didn't we see the big picture?"
And I get angry. I hate that nothing in her life from here forward will come easy for her. That everything ... dance, tennis, school, piano, sleepovers, trips to grandmas, vacations, birthday parties, receptions, meals ... will be a challenge for her. And I never dreamed of that for her. I had so many expectations, so many hopes ... for a perfectly healthy, happy life.
To which my mom replied, "Let it go. Let it go, Cori." (The second ever so lovingly yet stern.)
To which my sister replied, let it go.
To which my husband replied, let it go.
If I was the tattoo-acquiring type, I'd probably get that etched on my inner wrist, to look down and remind myself. Or for a loose translation, let The Beatles' "Let it Be" play in my head.
She will FIGHT. She will EARN her praises. She will be STRONG, a stronger person, and will be BETTER for it.
For those who have witnessed her taking her thrice-daily shots, who have seen her count her carbs, who have watched her prep her shot, they are amazed. It is obvious God has amazing things in store for her.
Life is not perfect. It is not fair. I thought I learned that a long time ago.

Stay Tuned

Keep your eyes and ears open for our summer project we hope will raise awareness for juvenile diabetes!
And best wishes to Bret Michaels, who will compete in the finale of "Celebrity Apprentice." Can't say that I've watched, but I do wish him the best as he continues his efforts to Stop Diabetes.

A Little Piece of Heaven

My (Millie's) Bella Bit arrived in the mail today. It will pair perfectly with her MJ Cher dress. Can't wait to see it on her. Thank you Katie, photographer, crafter, mommy extraordinaire! Check out her etsy site for more creative pretties.