Our long story shortened...

20 years of being in love

14 years of marital bliss

5 years of infertility

9 months of a high risk pregnancy

2 perfect boys (at the same time)

1 heart failure

1 type 1 diabetes diagnosis

1 happy life

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I am a stay at home mom who is raising twins. One of my guys has type 1 diabetes and one does not. I am writing this blog to unite type 1 parents or twin parents. Comment on my posts or in the "what's your high?" and "what's your low?" to join the community of parents just trying to do the best we can!

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5/30/13

I do again!

Fifteen years ago, I married the man of my dreams! He knows how to care for both boys for a whole weekend, check a three a.m. blood sugar, do a port/site change, count some carbs, play with the boys and count again, and love me all while doing it. Funny, when I met that scrawny, smiley, REM-loving cutie, at the time I was only interested in him for his great hair! My, my! He sure did come with WAY more great qualities than good hair! Happy Anniversary Honey!  I am the luckiest girl! 

5/26/13

Shay Day!


My hubby and I have been together for 21 years. We have been married for fifteen! So, when he asked me what I might want for our big one-five anniversary he threw out some suggestions - a trip to a tropical beach, a diamond, etc... 

"I want a puppy!" I said, sounding like a six-year-old. 
"A puppy????" he asked surprisingly. 
"Yes! A puppy!" 
"Hmmm... A puppy? Really?" he questioned one more time as he scrunched up his nose.

Then he said, "Are you sure you don't want a diamond? It would be WAAAAYY easier!" 

So, I researched and found the place! We put a deposit down in December. Then, we waited. We waited some more. I have never been one for waiting. 

Then! Yesterday! Was! The! Day! We got to bring our new girl home!! 

Here is a synopsis of life according to Shay! 

"Um, hello. My name is Shay, I guess..."

"Wait! Where am I going?" 

"This kid's nice but really, where am I going?"

"Wait! Why are we moving?" 


"Ok, this motion actualllllyyy feeeeeelllsss niiicccee..." zzzzz....


"WHAT IN THE HECK?"



"OMG... Seriously?" 


"Um, well... Ok..."


"Hey kid, could you please put me down?"


"This one seems nice!"


"Tug of war is TOTALLY fun!"



"Excuse me lady. Could you please stop laughing and put the camera down and um, I don't know... GET ME OUT OF THESE BARS!" 



"Whaaattt? I'm a dog. We get dirty. Oh, and please do not put me back in that God forsaken sink. Seriously, I mean it!" 


"I. LOVE. THIS. BONE. Yum! Yum!Yum!" 



"AHHHHHH!!!! What the HECK is that?" 


"Got it! Weeee!"

"Man! This all so tiring..."


"A little to the left, please."

"Ok, I seriously looovvvveee this guy..."



"Alright Stan from the "oh-so-special" Disney Channel. 


Looks like you are not the only dog with a blog. Because I made up my mind today. I'm officially staying with these people which gives me total access to my own blog." 



As for me, I love her! We all do! She fills the silence that my beloved King left behind

The only thing is, my hubby was right for the 100,000 time in our fifteen years of wedded bliss. A diamond would have been easier! 


5/21/13

D Connections!

I feel so lucky sometimes to live in this world of technology and also with my wonderful community of parents raising kids with diabetes. 

Today, the two worlds combined and in ten minutes my life was made happier! 

Here's what happened:

A wonderful DMom put up a post on Facebook asking if anyone knew where she could get a certain kind of "poker"/lancing device. I was so excited to see my old friend in the picture. 

We used this one when Rocco was first diagnosed at two. When it broke we used many others but he started complaining that they hurt. I tried to find our favorite kind but they had all been replaced by the newer versions. Eventually we got used to a different kind (multiclix) but we both have been sad our old friend had retired. 

But, alas!! Facebook saves the day again! 

A great DMom posted that she could still get them. She sent a post on FB and said she would send one right away. I noticed she was from Alaska! How cool is that!? 

I quickly added her as a friend so I could send her my address. 

Wow! That was easy! 

I was so grateful and I wanted to thank her. At first, I thought about her sending a thank you card. Hmmm.. Do I have stamps??? An e-card? Too impersonal.. But then I remembered Starbucks lets you email e-cards to people through email! 

So she sent me her email after insisting that I didn't have to and said she understood once these kids like something to make this life easier that she was just happy to help. 

So I launched my Starbucks app. Paid thru PayPal. And just like that. Posted a gift card to her Facebook page! 

In between loads of laundry, I made my little guy happy, made a new friend across the country and sent a thank you gift! 

I did a little happy dance as I switched the towels from the washer to the dryer! 

The world is so cool sometimes!!! DMoms can do anything! Thanks Kristina! 💃💃👫

5/16/13

You can't take the "boy" out of the boy, no matter how hard you try!

Recently, Rocco was accepted as one of 150 children to go to Washington! We have been so excited about our trip since we got his acceptance letter. In July, our family (Michael and Zeke, too!) will be heading off to Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to continue funding diabetes research for a cure and advanced technology. 

However, with power comes great responsibility. One of Rocco's tasks is to write to his two senators and one representative and ask them each for an appointment. From there the wonderful people at JDRF make the appointment. Then, Rocco and other children from his state go to their offices and speak to these members. Hopefully, once they meet them and hear their stories it will resonate deeper on voting day. It's always better to put a names and faces to the disease. 




He was having lots of fun writing the letters but then he made himself giggle. He said "Mom, look oops!" 




Notice the last word. 

We both got the belly giggles and thanked god for erasers! 

I guess you can take a boy to Washington... Have him speak on Capitol Hill...

You can even have him help raise $800,000 at a fundraiser

You can shower him and dress him up in a tuxedo. 


But at the end of the day, you can't take the "boy" out of the boy...

I only hope this particular senator has a raised a few boys of his own and doesn't notice that extra erased "T"! Lol! 

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5/14/13

Dear Old Navy, Upgrade Yourself!







Dear Old Navy, 

Upgrade yourself!

 

In 1991, my friend told me about a new store called Old Navy. She said they were owned by The Gap, but their stores were like warehouses so they could charge less. At the time, I was making $7.43 an hour, so I was thrilled at the prospect of getting Gap-like clothes on the cheap! Much to my delight, the clothes were cute and hip!

 

Over the past twenty one (OMG!) years, I have made many trips to my fav Old Navy. I feel like it is the one store that has kept me up with the trends along the way. Don’t worry though; I was wise enough to skip the Super Low Rise Skinny Jeans a couple years back! Once you become a mother, anything low-rise is not enticing unless you are talking about a toddler kiddie pool!

 

So the other day, as I do every spring, I hopped over to my favorite Old Navy location to gather up the latest fashions that would take me through the spring season. I always get excited to shed my winter layers, in hopes of finding a cute dress or some white capris.

 

I grabbed about twenty pieces. I know, a little excessive, but when you get to be my age and you have gained a few pounds over the winter, you need options. Getting re-dressed to trek back through the store in your socks, to grab the next size is no longer "cute"...

 

So I was on an exciting high in thinking about my selections, until walked into the industrial Old Navy dressing room, I looked around and quickly became “over it!” By “over it”, I mean I am done stepping into their warehousey dressing rooms. ENOUGH! I have been doing this for more than twenty years. So, I decided I will write them a letter.

 

Dear Old Navy,

 

While I appreciate the early years of your company trying to cut corners to spare my budget, I am officially calling you out.

 

Your from-up-above dressing room lighting is making the bags under my eyes look worse! This lighting is harsh, industrial and florescent. I won’t even begin to tell you what it does to my winter-hibernated, skin tone. I speak for the entire female population, when I say that your lighting doesn’t do any good for any of us. Even Jessica Alba doesn’t look good under florescent lighting. Come on! Can ya help a girl out? Or all of us out? This is 2013, there are plenty of mood lighting light bulb options out there. Just make sure you spring for the "make me look like a super, skinny, supermodel ones with skin like Halle Barry. Oh yes, they'll cost a little more but I promise more women will come! 



 

Your styles are “Oh, so cute”, but when I step in the grimy dirt collecting on your cement floors and hang my selections on your plywood walls, they don’t seem cute anymore. They seem cheap.

 


Then when I try 
on the clothes and look into your basic, non-elongated mirrors that seem to shorten and widen me, I feel cheap. Please, I need trick mirrors that make me look long and thin!


Do me a favor. Go shopping. Go into Ann Taylor’s or Banana Republic’s dressing rooms. It’s like getting dressed in the queen’s quarters! OK, maybe not that good, but other stores have created dressing rooms with side lighting, three-way elongating mirrors, and fabric walls. When you hang your new treasures on those walls, you feel like your new threads are luxurious and truly special.

 

So I officially call you out. Take a minute and stop worrying about next fall’s fashions and just please upgrade yourself! If you take some of the money you would normally spend on B-List actors in next season’s jingle-jangle commercials, I am sure you will have enough for new, upgraded dressing rooms.

 

My girlfriends and I will wait. We promise to come buy our kids’ back-to-school fashions from you once you are finished. 


In your last commercial you urged me to “Upgrade my wardrobe. I will if you will. You go first...


Thank you for your consideration.

 

Sincerely,


Shari


5/12/13

Happy Martyr's Day everyone!

You have a lot of time on your hands when you are not being someone's pancreas...

My husband took the boys camping for the weekend to one of last remaining remote areas with no cell phone service. 

I have three days with no one to take care of. Let me just say that again so it sinks in...

I have three days with no one to take care of! Wow! That felt good. 

Truthfully, I am giddy! No cell phone texts with blood sugar numbers. No snacks. No meals. No whining. No talking about farting. No little boy toys. No fighting over "just one more level". Best of all, no Minecraft!!!!

I don't even have my new puppy yet! 

Just me for three whole days and only my wants and needs! Yippee! Gee... Gosh, I wonder what those will actually be... Seriously. I have no idea. 

Ok what to do first? Drink? Unabashedly, eat carbs?  Call and catch up with my BFFs? Clean the house of any trace of my family? 

I know... NAP!!!! Nap without the cell phone glued to my head. 

So since I dropped them off I made a list of how my first night went! 

Drove home from dropping the boys with my husband. Turned on inappropriate Eminem and sang really loud! 
Saved a turtle (see the post below).
Got home turned off the phone and took a NAP! 
Was so excited to take nap I forgot about a conference call I was supposed to be on and missed half of it once I woke up. Sorry to my friends who had to wait.  I'm sure you understand. You have D kids too!
Wrote a blog post.
Turned in an article for my job.
Wore Jammies from 5 til noon the next day. 
Played with my bird.
Texted BFFs.
Sat on the deck and stared into space. Had original thoughts. Some deep. Some not. 
Drank a beer.
Checked phone for a blood sugar reading.
Again...
Again...
Posted something on FB so when I checked the phone there might be something to actually check. I knew I fooling myself into thinking I was checking phone for Facebook love when reality is that I have a terrible habit of checking it when Rocco isn't with me. 
Wished I knew how to smoke because smoking in my house without anyone was around would probably be fun.
Listened to Pink on my iPod and sang really loudly!! 
Danced uninhibited.   Around the whole house. 
Cleaned bird cage. 
Straightened house for an hour. Putting/erasing any signs of my needy family. Put away shoes, kid cups, back packs, socks, husband's randoms, lunch boxes, toothbrushes, wiped toothpaste out of sinks. 
Looked around when I was done and it looked too pretty. Too neat. It was eery. So I left my glass in the sink and didn't wipe down the kitchen table. There. Better. 
Thought about how lonely I will be when they go to college. Cried a little about the idea if it. Cried a little more when I looked at their baby pictures. 
Then spied a pair of little boy superhero underware left behind the bathroom door AGAIN and got over all that sadness real quickly. Counted how many years til college. 
Danced again. 
Did a load of laundry.
Realized I hadn't checked phone in an hour. Progress. 
Looked in a magazine. Made a mental to-do list of all things I probably will never do like make a planter, make the perfect pot roast and lose my belly fat. 
Ate some carbs and didn't check the box for the carb count. Why are uncrustables the world's perfect food? 
Locked up the house and covered the bird cage. Silently thanked my husband for always doing these tasks each night to protect us all. 
Snuggled in to watch Scandal my favorite show. Ate a mini snickers. Checked the carbs out of habit. Cursed myself for my lack of progress and ate one more. 
Watched three more shows. Stayed up until 1 am because tomorrow I DON'T HAVE TO WAKE UP FOR ANYONE. 
Included a prayer to let me please not wake up wide awake at 7. Please God! 
Didn't check my son's midnight blood sugar number and didn't set my alarm for  his 3 am blood sugar number. Silently thanked my husband for doing these tasks for me for the next three nights! In the woods. 
Fell asleep happy! 

The next couple of days were pretty much the same thing. On purpose, I didn't do any dishes all weekend. I realized, pretty much, I only use glasses, bowls and paper plates. Ha! 

Checking my phone became less frequent as I kept myself busy with seeing friends, and shopping with my mom and sister. I slept in every morning until 9 am. I couldn't force myself past that. 

On Saturday night, I missed them terribly. Checking my phone now became a habit again, but this time not for blood sugar numbers, but for any sign of them. Sometimes they can text from the river. By Saturday night, my house felt eery again, like I was missing something.  Sunday morning, I woke up and decided to do their laundry. I was going to avoid any kid-related chores all weekend but couldn't help myself.  It felt like home again to have all their crap laid out on the couches. I was happy to miss them. 

I think every mother on Mother's Day who has young children should get this present. Not flowers or candy but a chance to see how boring life would be without our kids and get a chance to miss them. 

Yes, I know ten minutes after they get home today, I will be rolling my eyes at their silly/"stupid" antics. But this time, I think the eye roll with come with a little happy, smirk on my face. Realizing the silliness of being seven won't be here for long and I should appreciate the pre-bedtime giggly show they put on every night as, actually not one more thing in my way but, part of the fun! 

Thanks Michael for the gift of appreciating you all again and shouldering the kid-raising responsibility for a weekend! I missed you! 

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! I hope you get a chance to miss your kids soon too! You deserve the break! 


To my own mother, thank you for raising me with all the unconditional love you had! I am nothing without you. You are my rock and I love you. Most of all, I appreciate you. 

Here are some funny cartoons for your reading pleasure. 









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5/4/13

Oh, what a night!



What an amazing night! Last night, my little guy Rocco was able to share his story to raise some money for the Artificial Pancreas Project with JDRF. It was a black tie affair that invited people to come and participate in a live and silent auction. I have been to a silent auction before but not a live one. It was so thrilling to see those paddles fly up knowing that each generous donation would be able to directly affect Rocco by (hopefully) middle school. Throughout the night, I was humbly touched by everyone's random generosity toward the cause. In the middle of the auction, as the auctioneer was yelling out numbers and paddle were flying, I made a promise to myself. I decided to longer sit on the sidelines, as I have done in the past, and wait for someone else to help Rocco. A cure is getting close but a better way of life for Rocco is even closer. It is my turn to help. I have to forget about being shy and afraid to ask people to give. I have to ask because people are kind-hearted and they want to help. Our family alone raised $1210!!!! Just by asking a couple of times on Facebook. It was $210 over a goal I really thought we would NEVER reach. It was humbled by their love for Rocco and his daily struggle. Their special gifts overwhelmed my heart but taught me that if I find my courage and just politely ask, I can make life easier for him. If he could get an artificial pancreas by middle school, he won't get teased by his friends that his "mommy" has to follow him around. This hasn't happened to us yet but I have seen it happen to other children who's mother's post their terribly sad stories on Facebook. I know that eventually kids can take a mean turn. An artificial pancreas will give Rocco freedom to handle his diabetes, on his own. 

The way it works is a simple concept partner with mind-blowing technology.  It will automatically check his blood sugar every three minutes and show up on his insulin pump. If the number goes higher than a good range his pump will automatically give him insulin. If his blood sugar goes low it will beep and tell him to eat before it gets dangerous. People in the US are already wearing these and testing them. Eventually, it will be tested and safe for kids. It is so close and that is why I promised myself to start helping. I have a voice. I need to use it. I will use it. 

My next step is the Children's Congress where Rocco and I will go and urge lawmakers to continue funding the research needed for the Artificial Pancreas Project and the cure. It is in danger of not being passed. Then, I will do the walk this year and that will take us into the Fall. After that, maybe I can do something at the boy's school. Who knows... I do know that it just has to be done. I am blessed to have Rocco WANT to participate in all of it. He said the Promise Ball last night was fun and he liked being up near the stage. He said his favorite part was talking to the people. When he was a baby, before any of this diabetes stuff came to us, I told Michael that I saw him, in his future, at a podium. My friend recently said he sounded like a future Senator. He says he wants to rescue sea turtles. I'm not sure what he will become but something tells me this won't be his last time in a tux by a stage! It exciting to watch it all unfold! 

Anyway, here are some pictures from the fun night! 


Getting fitted! 





Zeke loved it too! 


I can't wait to put this one next to their prom photos! 


Little adults!





Please, don't get muddy before we leave... 


Rocco's first hors d' oeuvres! He was very intrigued by a lamb chop. 



Keeping them busy while the adults mingled. Don't judge! It was either this or they would start wrestling! Haha!



These were the other little angels in the video. They both have type one. They are sisters. Their mom and I have become such great friends during this process. We are blessed to know them. 


This is the wonderful superwoman that put it all together! What a talented lady! 


The grandmas! They looked so beautiful!!! 


Rocco was excited to see a mini bottle of ketchup all to himself. 

Our fancy meal of steak and salmon! Yummy! 


Now this picture here made it all worth it. I have been so worried that all this attention for Rocco would send Zeke into a tail spin. But, he was so nice to Rocco the whole night. He was sweet and at one point scruffied Rocco on the head and said "I'm here for ya bro!" which translates into "I'm proud of you" in brother language. I took Zeke out all day today to make it his special day. 



All done with dinner! Off to work! 

This was the auctioneer. He was really awesome. He sent an electric vibe through the whole audience that was really the reason that they raised so much money! The kids were asked to pass out roses to the highest bidders! Rocco said he passed them the rose then told them "Thanks for coming!" and the he said they high-fived and fist-bumped him. He was so small I could only see his little blonde head make it through the crowd. It was cute. 


My mother-in-law even got in on the auction action! 


And then my mom couldn't help herself! We all were so electrified! It was fun! 


Family photo.



Superwoman let us take home a momento!


Thanks to Jeff, Donna, Kristin, Skyler, Beeba, Aunt Mandy, Pete, Maddie, Cole, Kim, Stephanie, Cathy, Sarah, Evan, Candace, Sherri, Cheryl, Uncle Dave, Lynnette, Miss Karla, Mala, Ruth, Kelli and Coach Dave for helping me exceed my goal!!! 



You all rock! 

The best part of the night is that they raised 

$770,000!!!!! 
So impressive! What a night! What fun to help!