Friday, October 31, 2008

Living With Type 1 Diabetes!

***Pause the blog music first***

I saw this video and it brought out so many emotions! I loved it, yet it made me so sad! I wish the world could realize what it is like to live with Type 1 diabetes or to have a loved one living with it. The DAILY struggles, the frustration, the elation when the numbers are good, the worry when they aren't, the sleepless nights, the feelings of being alone in this (when you know you really aren't), the empathy and compassion, the anger, the why me/them, the admiration of his strength and persistance, the fear, the wishing your son didn't have this disease, the pride and love when you see him fighting this disease, the heartache when you see his eyes well up with tears but won't let them fall in order to be "brave" even though the needles really DO hurt, the roller coaster of emotions, the excitement for new treatments but mostly the HOPE for a cure!

Today when Christopher gets home from school I am going to have him watch this and come up with a word for his hand and take pictures. I will have the rest of us do it also. Here's my favor: for anyone reading this, would you please do the same and email me your pictures (pass the word along too). Our email is: mickelsens@sbcglobal.net I would like to do up a video similar to this just for Christopher with all the hands of people who love him and care about him and his struggle! Thank you for helping me do this!

For Christopher: Bud, thank you for being so courageous in this fight! Thank you for teaching me what it means to trust in Heavenly Father and his plan for us. You are doing so well with living with this disease rather than being this disease. I am so proud of how you take care of yourself. No, you aren't perfect in your control, but I know you are trying your BEST and noone is ever perfect. I watch as you test and have to inject yourself with your pump site and especially your sensor site (that needle is pretty big and hurts) and I watch your eyes. You always try to be so brave. You have come a long way...from 5 shots a day to having a pump and now you have the continuous glucose monitoring system. How blessed we have been with this technology. Keep fighting hard and keep hoping hard-I know there will be a cure one day!! You are such en example and inspiration to others, not just because of your diabetes, but because of who you are as a person. Continue to be that young man. Make the right choices and you will be eternally blessed! I love you Christopher!!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Happy Halloween!!

We went trunk-or-treating last night at the church! It was fun...cold, but fun! They had hot dogs, chips, and drinks for dinner and then the trunk-or-treating started. The kids actually got to make about 4 rounds so they really made out with the candy...yeah!! Rich had school last night, so he didn't get to go or even see the kids in their costumes, but we took some pitcures and emailed them to him at school so he could see them. He always misses Halloween because he has to do month-end at work on the 31st, so Iwas excited when they were going to do trunk-or-treating on a different night. However, it wound up being on our mutual night instead, which Rich always has class on Wednesday nights, so it didn't work out any better for us! Oh well! We missed you Rich!! All-in-all I would say the evening was a success and the kids had a blast!
Happy Halloween!!

Mom and her little "lady" bug!

Brittaney as herself! :)

Christopher: Skateboarder

Kehli: Hermione (from Harry Potter)

Brenden: Iron Man

Katelyn: Baby

Tayler : "Lady" bug


Here are some pictures of the pumpkin we let the kids paint on. We let the boys do one half and the girls do the other half. They had so much fun and it turned out great! We did this Tuesday night so Daddy was able to be here and fun with us doing this! YEAH!! Here it is:
Girl's Side...

Boy's Side...

Monday, October 27, 2008

Christopher's Big News...

Christopher was approved to be put on the continuous blood glucose monitoring system for his diabetes. He has been on it for about a month now and it is making all the difference. It is a device that he wears all the time and it checks his blood sugar every 10 seconds and then takes an average of those results and sends the average number to his insulin pump every 5 minutes. Now he knows what his blood sugar is constantly. If he is going up or down really fast it will have 1 or 2 arrows beside the number too. This doesn't completely eliminate the need for finger pricks, but it greatly reduces them. The only drawback is the insertion of the device. It has a pretty big needle and it hurts, but then he gets to pull the needle out and just leave the plastic cannula inserted. He is pretty tough about it. Each sensor lasts about a week so he only has to change it once a week or so. The biggest positive is that we set alarms on it and if his blood sugar drops below 90 then an alarm goes off and if it goes above 240 then an alarm goes off. That way he knows to check his blood sugar right away. This device has greatly helped his blood sugars. You can imagine how easy it is for a kid to forget to bolus (give insulin through his pump) after he eats. He is anxious to get up and go play. Well, with this device, if that happens and his blood sugar rises above 240, his alarm will go off and alert him. What a blessing this has been. how thankful I am for technology and for these modern-day conveniences that make Christopher's life so much better and easier. I know that these devices are keeping him alive and helping to prolong his life and reduce complications. I still struggle with the fact that he has to endure this. I wish I could take this from him. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't let it slow him down and he is a trooper about it, but I know he hates it too. His insulin pump and his new sensor have changed things so much for the better, though! Hopefully, one day there will be a cure!! Until then, we wait and stand in awe of this amzing young man and how he endures this trial in his life so well!! What an incredible example of strenth and patience he is to me!!
p.s. When he gets home from school today I will see if he minds me taking a picture of his belly with his pump and sensor so you can see what it looks like. I'm sure he won't mind! :)
OK-the sensor is the whitething on (his) right side and the other round thing is his site for his pump. You can see his insulin pump right below it. Neither is very big, but they literally save his life!! Cool, huh?!

School Updates

We had parent/teacher conferences this last week and they went great! Here is the scoop:
Katelyn:
She is doing fabulous! Her teacher absolutely adores her. She said she has never seen a child that is so loving, empathetic, kind, and so aware of other peoples feelings around her. She said she is so well rounded. She said her social skills are incredible (couldn't ask for better), she said her attention span is so long...yea, and she said she has already mastered everything for kindergarten. She told us that she writes very well and her pictures are incredible. In fact, she said the art teacher came down after school one day to show her this picture Katelyn had painted of a sunflower. She told her she couldn't believe the detail and that a kindergartener had painted this. The funny part is that she said after she saw it, she turned around and then Katelyn painted a big green circle around it and she was like......NOOOOOOO!! I asked Katelyn about the green circle and she said that she had to draw the LONG grass around it. Pretty funny if you ask me. So, we can't wait to see this amazing picture!! I would have to say we were very pleased with the conference. :)
Brenden:
I was a little worried about this one. Brenden had a horrible experience with kindergarten. We did NOT care for his teacher. He would cry when it was time for school. I even spent a few mornings in tears myself. Then, when school started this year, he had this teacher and it was a man and he wore glasses jsut like Brenden. Brenden was so excited. He loved going to school! YEA!! But...the second week of school they had to downsize first grade and move one of the teachersto 2nd grade. You guessed it...it was my sweet, little Brenden's teacher that was moved and he got moved to a new class. Can you say HORRIBLE!! The day he came home and told me, he just started crying. I felt so bad. Anyway, I think it might have been the best thing ever. Heloves his new teacher and so do I. Brenden has straight A's. He is reading above grade level and is above grade level in math too. He loves spelling. If you ask him what his favorite subject in school is he will tell you "spelling tests". :) She has really pushed him and he has come out of his shell and has exploded academically. She said she just loves him. He got straight A's and is doing great.
Kehli:
Her teacher loves her too. She said she is very well behaved and is doing great at turning her work in on time. She has an incredibly neat desk and she showed us. Kehli got straight A's too and her teacher said she is going to try to challenge her more next quarter. Kehli loves to read and she is reading above grade level, of course. Her and Brittaney can't keep their noses out of books (not that I am complaing...I love that)!! Kehli is quite the artist also and we got to see some of her work hanging in the hallway. She is doing really well at math and her teacher said once she gets all of her timed tests under 3 minutes, she won't make her take one ever again. Kehli was very excited about that. She is very good at math too. She is also very fast running her mile. I can't remember her exact time, but she is the fastest girl and beat most of the boys....GO KEHLI!! She is having a great year.
Christopher:
We didn't have parent/teacher conferences for him. He got 2 B's and the rest were A's. YEAH!!His B in english was an 89. He has to turn in reading logs every week. If they forget to get them signed then she only gives them 80 out of 100. He forgot 3 times. When i saw he had an 89 I was going to write his teacher and see if she would give him an extra credit assignment to do, but then I decided this could be a great life lesson for him instead. I explained to him that if he had just turned in one of those reading logs with a signature that he would have an A. He said "Are you serious....awwww man"! I told him he has to remember that even the littlest of things can add up and make a huge difference. I think it was a good lesson for him, besides a B is great too!! We are really proud of his grades. And he got these grades while playing football too! Yea!! He is still playing trumpet and doing very well too! I will try and get the kids to do a post about school too. He is doing fabulous though and is having a great year so far!
Brittaney:
Brittaney got all A's except for a B in French 3. She was totally bummed! Her French teacher is very tough (which is great), so I just asked her if she did her best and she said yes, so I told her you can't be disappointed in that now can you? She works so hard and we rarely have to tell her to do her homework. Education is very important to her....YEAH!! She is having a blast in her show choir. I will try and get her to blog about her experiences with a broadway star in her show choir. She still plays her violin in orchestra too. She said she is going to run cross country again next year too. The young women in our ward are training for a big bike ride next summer. Some adults (including me) are going to bike down to the Louisvile, KY temple next summer with the young women. She is so excited! The YW have been begging for a high adventure trip. The boys get one every year and now they finally get one. It's going to be really tough, but she will do great! More details about that to come in the future! She is doing great in school too, though!
OVERALL: out kids are loved by their teachers and they were all praised about their behaviors and their grades. We have such great kids and they are all really smart too.....how did that happen? Rich likes to take the credit for that! :) Great job kiddos!!

Katelyn's Surprise!

The other day, Katelyn told me to go upstairs and not to come down until she said I could. So, I went upstairs. I went and switched over the laundry and started folding. Of course while I was up there, thoughts were running through my head like...what is she doing down there? Should I be worried? Is she making a big mess? A few minutes later she told me I could come downstairs and this is what I found! She had made us lunch!! I actually started to cry over penut butter and jelly...who knew!! haha She even got us some pears and a glass of milk to wash it all down! What had I done to deserve such an incredible treat? I'll never know, but it made my day! So, the two of us sat down and had a special lunch together. She shared with me that she wants to be a chef because she can cook so good! :) Thanks for such a sweet, special memory Katelyn!! These moments are why I LOVE being a MOM!!

Katelyn Validates my "Mommyness"

I was upstairs and Katelyn came up to me and asked how old I was. I told her that I was 33. Then she asked, "Is that how old I will be when I am a Mommy?" I told her maybe and then asked her why. She said, "Because then I can say what I want to." I asked her what she would want to say and she said that she would tell people to clean and she would make lists. She definitely got that from me. Rich always makes fun because I make lists for EVERYTHING...but that is what works for me. Then I asked her what else she will do when she is a Mom and she said, " the same things you do, Mom". I said...what do you think I do... here is a list of the things I could remember that she said.
Gives me baths

Cleans the house

Cooks yummy food

Takes care of Daddy

Sings and Dances

Acts silly

Takes everyone places

Gives lots of hugs and kisses

Plays with me

Goes through our clothes

Does LOTS of laundry

Makes lists Helps people

Makes beautiful cakes

Loves my family

Helps me get on the computer

Fixes our boo-boos

I would have to say that she covered things pretty well! I'm so thankful that my 5 year old notices the things that I do. I LOVE being a mom and that just made my day! Thanks for noticing, Katelyn! Mommy loves you!!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Kehli's 9th Birthday Party!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Supplies

These are pictures from Kehli's 9th birthday party! She had a BLAST, but it was crazy. There were 20 girls (including Kehli) at her party!! I know....what was I thinking? I was going to do a slumber party, but after I told her she could invite her friends from school I decided against that...THANKFULLY!! She received many wonderful gifts from her friends. We had cake and ice cream and then they watched Camp Rock with the Jonas Brothers in it! Her friend Lauren and her cousins Heather and Brian spent the night (Brian slept over with Brenden)! I hope that she felt very special and loved because she is...special and VERY LOVED!!!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Funny, Funny, Funny...

PAUSE THE MUSIC FIRST, THEN WATCH IT!!

This is the funniest video ever. Brittaney showed it to me a few months ago and I can't stop laughing at it still. It gets funnier and funnier every time I watch it. I have been so busy the last 2 weeks and haven't posted so I thought I would share this and tell you to stay tuned for more posts. They ARE coming!! Enjoy the video.