Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Happy Birthday Sam!

Happy Birthday Sam!
Today you turn three.  You are such a big girl now!  You have been super strong these past few days and most of the blog doesn't even know why.  (this has nothing to do with my lack of blogging...this is pure laziness, dishes, reading and knitting.  Sorry about that!)

We took you to the hospital emergency room on Sunday evening. You'd been feeling sick all weekend...sick like napping on and off all day and really really tired.  And you'd been drinking a ton of water (over the past two weeks) and peeing a lot...while i thought you were doing an exceptional job of keeping hydrated, we know know that you were starting to show us signs that you have diabetes.  Auntie Gail helped us see on Sunday evening that we had to take you to see a Dr. and i'm eternally grateful because she may well have saved your life...with one prick of a finger, you were diagnosed, given awesome care and now our lives will be a little different forever.

Your dad and I cried a lot while you were recovering, hooked up to tubes of saline and insulin and sleeping.  It hurt so much to think that you were so sick.  As soon as your sugars and other levels got a bit better the next morning and you could have actual food and water again...we knew everything was going to be ok.  You were quietly smiling and talking that Monday evening, the very next day from when we brought you in.  We got to take you home almost 24 hours after we came in...pretty amazing.

We were at education sessions today (and the rest of the week) and Gram and Papa and Gram and Grandpa and Auntie Andrea were there too, all learning about how we can help you be the best Sam you can be with the help of insulin and controlled diet.  Katie, who missed you sooo much and cried because she was sad, was with GG Lill (and had stayed over the night before at Gram and Papa's and the night before that Gram Cheryl had stayed over at our house with her).  I'm overwhelmed with information but also grateful...

Grateful for:

The love of our family and friends,

the knowledge and skills that we all bring to the table (biology, math, coping, positivity, creativity, organization etc),

our already strong focus on healthy eating that may make these nutrition changes for our diet a little less difficult and the opportunity to learn even more about healthy eating,

the digital scale that I bought with Christmas money,

realizing now now we dont have to find a place in the cupboard for the scale because it will live on the counter,

the health care system...we have dietitians, nutritionists, social workers and doctors all working hard long hours for us so that we can become diabetes experts ourselves,

and probably many other things that i just don't know about yet. 

Sam...this will all become normal soon.  You will still be you...feisty, outspoken, funny, friendly, kind and polite (you're probably about the only 3 yr old who the nurses have heard say "no thank you" when they were coming at her with a needle)(true, it was kind of screamed/yelled through tears, but very polite)

I wish I had more time and brain power to write more about the other amazing things you have been doing as you grow lately, but I'm exhausted and still have to get meals and things ready for tomorrows session.  I'll make sure to bring lots of activities since Katie is coming tomorrow too and I'm sure you'll want to colour, play dolls or stickers together.  

We can't believe you are already three...be happy, the dietitians said they can work the Strawberry Shortcake ice cream cake into your meal plan for your birthday party on Saturday.  Wouldn't be a birthday without cake.  =)

We love you!






Thursday, January 5, 2012

Christmas and Happy New Year

Happy 2012!
We have had a lovely holiday so far. Christmas was great, especially not getting sick like last year (remember...Ben and I were throwing up?). We saw lots of family, had some lovely food, and the girls especially received many thoughtful gifts.

Santa brought them a rather large doll house. Taller than both the girls! I suppose he figures this way they can grow with it a bit.

This is the girls opening the box for the dollhouse, which had a note on it telling them to go downstairs after they opened the box. Katie refused at first, saying she'd rather play with her new stamping set.

The girls also received from Gram and Grandpa and Ben and I some Rapunzel dolls and from other friends some Strawberry Shortcake dolls, so I think this house will get lots of play time.

Santa assembled the dollhouse for us and had it ready to go downstairs. Smart guy.

The girls watching TV with the new blanket Gram Mary made for Katie. It's such a warm fleece that Ben and I love it for tv watching too!

We went to G Auntie Gail's for Xmas day dinner. Katie and Sam were a little shy (actually a bit of a theme this season...) but warmed up a bit come present time. Katie is wearing one of the headbands the girls got from auntie Alli in their advent calendar...you should all know that I steal them every chance I get because they are so adorable. And if you want to give me...ahem...I mean, my kids... more cute headbands, feel free to do so.

We've definitely enter the land of dolls but also maybe board games...we got the Candyland game as a gift and it's fun! So great to play a real game with the kids. Katie is definitely a little more into following the rules, but will still bend them when she gets bored. Sam doesn't really care about the rules much. She wanted to stay on the sticky "miss a turn" spot for about half the game.

I found time to bake (of course!) and Ben requested cinnamon buns. They were delicious, I didn't do the cream cheese icing since it's not Ben's favorite but found a simple brown sugar caramel icing instead. I only iced some of them in case the icing wasn't great, but not to worry it was good. Yum. We froze a bunch so we wouldn't eat them all at once.

Last Friday we went to a park for a sledding party with friends. The weather was pretty good (as in, not too cold) and there was some snow (which, I imagine by now might have melted some as it was 12 above zero yesterday!). The girls had lots of fun. I brought some hot chocolate and we all got some rosey cheeks. The sun started to peek out just as we were leaving to go to our friends house for lunch (Jon, Shelley and their kids L and E...it was a full house with lots of friends!).

Hope you are enjoying the few days left of holidays. This week has been great with Ben still being home and we have been doing some more relaxing and normal activites...a few small playdates and catching up on laundry etc. Sam's potty training is awesome and she hasn't worn a diaper since the Tuesday before Xmas (except at night). We don't have big messes to clean up any more but we are sure going through a ton of laundry...wet undies mostly. Usually just a bit wet and definitely making progress every day. Exciting! I can't believe how much less garbage we are making without the diapers. Big milestone for our (second) big girl! :)