Nothin but the Blues!

BLUE for World Diabetes Day that is!!

I was hoping to light the house up in BLUE, wear all BLUE, and go to the Circle in the Square event in Downtown Portland.

I am instead laid up in bed (had a procedure done on my foot so have to keep it elevated). The PJ's I won from the Great WDD PJ Giveaway would be put to good use right now! Guess I will have to wait but I am soooo excited to have won! What a great company and way to contribute to JDRF, please check them out (PJs for the Cure) and order some pjs for you and your family.

Yesterday, I sent my hubby to the store and asked him to pick up some blue nailpolish for me. He thought I was silly but found me a great shade of blue (and asked that I never have him pick out nailpolish again) After I painted my nails, Bryce decided he wanted his painted too...and his toenails. Then his little brother wanted his painted blue too. Jaden, our almost 8 year old, said "girls paint their nails, not boys" so even though it was BLUE, we couldn't convince him to do it...oh well.

I have been wearing my "Cure Type 1" necklace I won over the summer from Wendy at Candy Hearts (Gets me a lot of comments, even met a mom with a type 1 daughter that is now 16.)

I also finally got around to using the gift certificate from Lauren's Hope that I won. Bryce picked out a robot medical ID necklace and I picked out a stainless steel water bottle for him (thinking I might save it for xmas) They have so many great things, it was hard to decide.

Friday, we got our box of KidStrong Hydration drinks we won from Our Diabetic Life. Today we did our taste testing...

Jaden (almost 8): likes orange best, then fruit punch, doesn't like grape

Bryce (5 1/2, T1): likes fruit punch best, then orange, doesn't like grape

Drew (2 1/2): likes all of them

John (hubby): likes grape, then orange, and doesn't like the fruit punch. Says they taste like watered down Kool-aid or Gatorade. Not too bad. Okay for the kids, not for him. Later said they were pretty gross.

Me: I liked the grape and fruit punch but not the orange. I think they are okay for the kids and like that they are low carb and fortified with vitamins, etc. Probably wouldn't buy them (granted they only sell them in the NE states right now but still)

FedEx did NOT deliver our new Dexcom receiver on Saturday like I expected. I assume it is coming on Monday. This mini Dex-free vacation has proved we CAN live without always seeing what Bryce's numbers are doing but we really miss those arrows!

So I will end my drug induced rambling for now and conclude that this was a great WDD. Hope you all had great numbers and got the awareness for our cause out there :-)

networks

Wondering what other networks everyone is part of.

Juvenation, D-mom and D-dad connection, Circle of Moms, etc. ???

Notice a lot of people talking about each other's posts on Facebook, do you have a page for your blog/D-stuff, or just your own page?

Just trying to find the best way to be connected. You all are such a great support system. Want to make sure I am not missing out ;-)

you can find me on FB: Denise Dupre Hopkins

gone to Vegas...???

Last week, Joanne told us how Eileen (her daughter's continuous glucose monitor) decided to up and quit. I joked and said Eileen probably was going to elope with Dex (Bryce's cgm). Well this morning, Dex flashed us his giant exclamation mark with a crazy error code. Thanks man! Hope you and Eileen have a great relationship together! May your replacement be more reliable and trustworthy!

**Dexcom has Fedex'd a new one out that we should get tomorrow...ugh a day with bg 'pictures' and no 'movie'

evidence of others...

With no school today, I took the boys to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). As we walked through the parking lot, my oldest spotted a test strip on the ground. Evidence others like us have come through here. Funny how we find those little buggers everywhere but finding one we KNOW we didn't drop is kind of exciting.

We were actually meeting up with another D family -they came an hour after us so we knew it wasn't their strip either ;-). The mom and I met at the JDRF coffee group and her little D man is also 5 years old. Bryce and him got along great! They tested at the same time (Bryce was low, he was high) they showed each other their pumps (Bryce's Ping, his OmniPod) Other than that, they were just a couple of boys running around playing at all the exhibits. :-)

tears

Monday is set/sensor change day...

Once a week, Bryce needs to have a new sensor for his CGM (continuous glucose monitor) put in. I also change out his infusion set for his insulin pump. Usually this is no big deal, but lately he has been having a lot of anxiety before I put them on.

TODAY THERE WERE TEARS!!

BIG FAT Crocodile Tears

His tears led to my tears and a lot of snuggles after. I HATE that we have to do this to keep my son alive and healthy. I HATE that he gets scared. I HATE that, after 2 years, it is not easy.

I HATE DIABETES!!!!

just a drink to you, life saver to him

For those of you that don't live the D life, juice is not just something you drink when you are thirsty, it is a life saver for our sweet kiddos. When blood sugars go low, juice is the perfect way to bump them back into range FAST.

Rule of thumb is you want 15g of fast acting carbs to treat a low...Juicy Juice makes these awesome mini juice boxes with just that amount. Us D'rents, stock our houses, kid's classrooms, cars, bags, etc. with these little life savers.

And this week, Lora over at My Diabetic Child is giving away a bunch of these Juicy Juice boxes.

Get over there and check it out now!!

Halloween Fun

Had a great night trick or treating. The weather here in Oregon was PERFECT!! Didn't need our jackets and the rain held out till we were back home and getting in bed. Couldn't have asked for a better night!

This year, Jaden (7) was a vampire, Bryce (5) was a ghost, and Drew (2) was a Jack o' Lantern.

Check out all that loot! MMMMMMM!

I realize that we don't do anything different with our Halloween candy than we had before D other than testing and bolusing. Mostly that is because we have never let our kids gorge on candy...EVER. So we let the boys pick out a treat a couple times on our walk through the neighborhood then one more when we were all done. So overall, Bryce had 3 pieces of candy all night and he was thrilled!! Surprisingly (or maybe not since we did sooo much walking) he was LOW. All. Night. Long!! Poor kiddo gets all his sweets while he is sleeping. How fair is that?

Anyhow, the downfall to all this great candy is that I keep wanting to raid their loot. Mmmmm, twix, peanut butter cups, hundred grand, kit kats....so yummy (and so small, and easy to eat many!)