happy birthday lucy!

We just returned home after a long trip bouncing from Oakland to Las Vegas to Orange County. We were in Las Vegas celebrating Lucy's 8th year on this earth with no other than the Blue Man Group. It was, in a word, awesome. 

For ninety entertaining minutes Lucy laughed, engaged, clapped and smiled. It was the best experience that a mother could witness, and it appeared to be the best gift an 8 year old could receive.  Life has a tendency to make the every day mundane. It is moments such as these that stand out and make it all worthwhile as we realize how incredibly fortune we are to experience such fun and happiness.  

Happy Birthday my sweet Lucy. If there is one thing I can wish for you it is that you take each day as it comes, enjoy each moment for what it's worth and always keep exploring to satisfy that ever inquiring brain of yours. I love you more than the moon, and the stars, and the sky.

happy birthday electra

Twelve years ago today I was in Toys-R-Us finishing up our Christmas shopping when I started having some rather striking pains. Focused on getting items crossed off my list I simply walked it off and kept shopping.  Soon after I found my way to our bright yellow, soccer mom car that was purchased in preparation for the bundle about to arrive. My hair was not much different in color back then. I can remember occasional contractions kicking in as I drove down the freeway, lamaze breathes making their way from my lungs. Soon enough I was home and questioning if I was really heading toward labor or just experiencing false contractions.  

By mid-afternoon Margaret stopped by to say hello and to this day remembers my nonchalant manner of saying that I was probably in labor. My guess is that indifference to labor is natures gift in getting you through the early stages before the real pain kicks in. We trick ourselves into believing that it's not so bad. 

Steven arrived home late afternoon so that we could play the waiting game. I folded laundry, griped the washer with each contraction and then picked our conversation back up once it passed. Alex and Steven joked about their luck of xy chromosomes while watching me endure the progression of labor before it was evident that we needed to get to the hospital.  

Little miss Electra, who was received her name months before, arrived just minutes after my arrival. Approximately 30 minutes, to be precise.  She was beautiful and perfect and everything we had expected her to be. Just minutes after her birth the nurses were commenting on how much she looked like her dad. That has not changed in the least. With Christmas only 2 days away the doctors allowed us to take her home on Christmas Eve. Bundled in her red fleece jumper, and red and white striped hat that the hospital volunteers had knitted, she was the ultimate Christmas gift for us that year, and since. 

Today I find her to be an amazingly cool kid. The kind of cool I could have only wished for when I was her age. She is kind, wise and amazingly strong and she inspires me each and every day. I am so incredibly proud to be her mom. Twelve years ago today was a perfect, perfect day. 

I love you, Electra. Happy Birthday.

morning routine

A step-by-step instructional guide for parents trying to get their type 1 child out the door each morning:

1.  Wake up bleary-eyed after 12am, 2am, and 4am bg testings.
2. Stumble to Peets in sweatpants that have been selected as pajamas for their multitasking abilities.
3.  Wake up kids.
4. Poke diabetic daughter’s finger, then realize you are out of test strips.
5. Go find test strips, re-poke finger. When reading comes back at 452 remember that you did not wash her hand first. 
6.  Get washcloth and go back to step 4, this time with test strips on hand.
7. Find previously purchased coffee and actually drink it.
8. Wake up youngest daughter, again.
9. Head downstairs to make breakfast. Crap! It’s Tuesday which means it’s pancake day. [note to self: simplify breakfast schedule.]
10.  Cook pancakes which appear to be 1.5” in diameter. Box says 36 grams for 3-4” pancakes. Try to get foggy brain to accurately calculate carb count. Give up and use food scale.
11. Call kids down for breakfast.
12. Pour 2 glasses of milk for daughters.
13. Call kids down to breakfast, again.
14. Pour one glass of milk into measuring cup, adjust amount and pour back into glass.
15. Go upstairs and wake up kids for the third time.
16. Add up carbs in pancakes again since you’ve already forgotten the first calculation.
17. Look through cupboard, drawers, pantry and fridge in an attempt to throw together a healthy lunch.
18. Measure and weight all items entering lunch box for diabetic daughter.
19. Go to calorieking.com to for carb conversion of 93g of strawberries. Internet not working!
20. Go down to basement and reset all computer looking parts that have reset buttons in hope that internet will come back on.
21. Dog starts barking. Realize you forgot to let him out of his crate.
22. “Wait! Did you bolus for those pancakes? How many carbs did we say?”
23. Finally get kids headed to the shower so that you can have 5 minutes to check email before packing up lunches and backpacks.
24. Get kids in car and dropped off at school.
25. On drive home think about the quietness that awaits you.
26. Walk in door and find meter on kitchen table.
27. Back to school…
28. Eventually, after dropping off meter and, if there are no calls about low bg’s and “I’m out of glucose tablets” you might get that second cup of coffee afterall.