I have got to get better at this!

So here it is, a few weeks later, and I realize I have neglected this blog.  No decent excuse, just keeping busy.  So where has the month of November gone? Well, let's see.  We had Kendra home sick with a flu bug (cough, high fever) for over a week.  She actually ended up with pneumonia, but thankfully is much better.  She is back full force into her ballet and dance classes, preparing for her upcoming performance of "The Nutcracker" with Dance Fredericton on December 7. 


Kelsie's really busy part of her year is drawing to an end tomorrow.  She has been busy at school preparing for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".  Kendra and I went tonight.  What an amazing job they did!


Chloe has been busy being her sweet, adorable, puppy-girl self.  She had her first birthday on November 5th (where has this first year gone?).  She is busy playing ball and frisbee, learning lots of new tricks with them.  I am having a "ball" working with her and teaching her lots of new things.  She now even knows her left paw from her right paw and can sit and stay when the ball is thrown until she makes eye contact with me.


Another big event this month has been celebrating Diabetes Awareness Month.  Each Friday, we all wear BLUE to bring awareness of this disease, especially Type 1 Diabetes, since Kelsie has lived with Type 1 for over 9 years now.  She began the month by starting on a new, updated pump that has a Continuous Glucose Monitor, or a CGM, that is a small device that attaches to her skin with a little cannula that goes just below the skin.  It monitors the amount of glucose in the fluid below the surface of the skin and sends the reading to her pump every five minutes.   It helps us to get better control of all the highs she has been having and also alerts her to when she is going high or low.  We are seeing a difference already in her BG's!


My big accomplishment is that I finally reached my goal of losing 40lbs!  I hit the magic number last week!  Now I am working hard to keep it off and rewarded myself with a new L.L. Bean Jacket in a smaller size. It always feels great to reach a goal that we have strived for!


Hope everyone is having a great month.

Well, here I am, starting a family blog.  Where should I begin?  Well, let me see...

We are a family of five:  My wonderful husband Carl, myself, Lori, our two daughters Kelsie (15) and Kendra (11) and our almost one-year-old black lab, Chloe.   We aren't like any normal family, if there really is such a thing.  We have many challenges that we face daily just to get through our day.  Nine years ago, Kelsie was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes two weeks before her 6th birthday.  It totally changed our lives.  She has to take multiple fingerpricks to test her blood glucose levels (aka "her sugars") and be hooked up to an insulin pump 24/7 just to stay alive.  Add in the regular childhood challenges, and now the challenges of being a teen.  Then add in the fact that she has ADD that is managed with medication, and Dyslexia that challenges her in her learning and that gives you a kid with a lot of determination to succeed in life.  It doesn't stop there, though.  Add in an 11 year-old with the pre-teen moodies.  Oh, and did you realize that the moodies are the least of our worries with her?  Two years ago we realized she had stopped growing.  So following blood work, she was diagnosed with severe hypothyroidism (which explained why she was so pudgy and short) and Celiac Disease. Oh, that is the one where you don't eat wheat, you say?  If only it was that easy.  It is totally eliminating any hint or crumb of anything that could possibly contaminate your food so that you don't get sick.  Woah!  Mix it all together, and what have you got?  Our life.  

Oh, wait.  Of course there are the regular things in life, like the fact that Kelsie is in high school, Kendra started middle school, and between the two of them there is a myriad of activities, appointments, homework and fun times, too.  But despite all the struggles we face every day, we are a family.  NOTHING can take that away from us.  Nothing.