Birthday Blessings

I had a sweet birthday at home with my family (earlier this month).  They treat me like a queen - special seat at the table, flowers, hand-made cards and no cooking for the whole day!

Breakfast:



Lunch - even served on the red plate. 




We skipped dinner and a birthday cake since we were seeing some VERY high numbers in Joshua.  I just didn't want to have to deal with something that would be hard for all of us.  We had a nice dinner the following night (which I didn't get a picture of), but it was delicious! 

 Here are some of my birthday gifts.  Chocolate from Daniel and Isaiah and they each picked out something that they knew that I loved.  Joshua gave me an armband to carry an Ipod.  Rebecca gave me a gift card to Kohls.  We went shopping the following day and I was able to buy several new things with it!  Christopher and  Roger gave me an ipod - pink!  I've been wanting one and it was a nice surprise.  Christopher has spent hours loading songs and stories and speakers CDs (that I bought at the homeschool conference) on it for me! 

Each of these gifts was so very thoughtful and reflected something of the person that gave it to me.  I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family!



 Joshua made a new screen saver for me too.



I also received cards and gifts from friends and family.  Thank you!  I had a sweet birthday hanging out with my wonderful family.  I'm blessed!

Love
Leslie 

He did it!

I'm  proud of one of my little men today.  He wanted to try something new.  Face a fear and tackle it.  He asked if he could do it.  I agreed.  With trembling hands, he prepared.  He hesitated, wondering if he could go through with it.  He tried and nothing happened.  He looked at me quizzically and I told him to try again with more pressure this time.  And then, he did it.

Joshua tested himself for the first time today (and then again several more times today).  He was so proud of himself.  It was sweet to see that look of pride in his glowing eyes when he was able to do it.  I'm proud of him too.  I remember how scared I was the first time I had to poke him - and it wasn't even my finger. 



The only downside to his first testing.  He was low.  He hadn't felt it and it surprised us both.  Thankfully, he came up pretty well after a juice box and then a snack after another recheck. 

In other Joshua news, he was stung by a bee yesterday in the late afteroon.  We were going on a treasure hunt out in the yard when it happened.  He screamed from the pain as he was stung on the tip of his nose.  We went inside and I followed the steps in my home remedies book to treat him.  Thankfully, he had none of the bad symptoms.  He did however have pain and swelling

I was surprised when I saw him this morning to note that his nose was still swollen and red.  It looked more swollen, but I wasn't sure.  He still had no other danger signs, but still I wondered. 

I called the nurse at our ped's office to talk with her about it.  Is it different since he has diabetes?  The answer I didn't want to hear was "yes".  Since he has diabetes, he is more prone to infection.  So, while he did not have an allergic reaction to the sting, he does have to be watched to help prevent infection. 

Thankfully, he does not seem to be in pain.  His nose is still swollen and the sting site has a slight discharge at times.  I'm hoping that by morning it will look much better.  Praying for a quick healing with no complications.  I wish it had gotten me instead of him!

Otherwise, we are all healthy and staying busy.  More tomorrow.

Blessings
Leslie

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Have you heard about this book?  Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  One of Eliana's therapists told me about this book and gave me a copy of an article about this bread.  It really helped when a friend of mine, Jessica, showed me how she made it.  I bought the supplies - a large container to keep the dough in (it goes in the frig and can stay there for up to two weeks) and a thermometer and a pizza peel (for sliding the bread dough into the heated oven).

I had these things sitting around ... for months.  A good idea, but just not enough time to get to it.  Well, one day I decided to just give it a try.  I didn't read the directions carefully though and messed up the first batch of dough.  (Didn't let it sit out at room temp for a couple of hours before baking.)  I decided to give it a try anyway - and it worked. 

This bread is delicious!!!  Looks just like something you would buy from a store - firm crust, moist inside.  Did I mention that it is yummy!!!



Here is the author's website if you want more ideas on breads and like to look at pictures.  Don't go hungry.  ;-)   I love the photos and am hoping to buy the book with some birthday money.  We all enjoy bread at our house and it's been fun to experiment with this new (to us) bread.

Enjoy!

Blessings

Leslie

Playing catch-up with photos

I'm going to try to upload photos and post them over the course of the week and hopefully be "caught up".  Well, as best as I can be at this point.

Eliana has started music therapy.  We have had a lot of juggling to do to get this going.  She was supposed to start the week Joshua ended up in the hospital.  Then with the sickness getting passed around we missed some weeks in July too.  Hopefully now we'll be more regular in our time.

Eliana loves music!  She likes to dance, listen and to play instruments.  I'm so glad that she has this time and that our case manager suggested it for us! 



She is learning different concepts and skills and I'm finding ways to incorporate this into our daily lives.  I'm learning new things that I need to be teaching her because she is ready to learn.  I think it is going to be a great help for us!  The cabasa (below) is one of her favorite instruments!



Joshua and Christopher are playing football and practicing twice per week now.  It is going well and they are both enjoying their time.  They are in a great league with which we have had great experiences in the past.





Isaiah lost that other tooth.  I love the look of no front teeth on little kids and think it is really cute!



My sweet friend Catherine came for a visit so we could have some "girl's time".  We had fun and even got in some scrapbooking.  I'm thankful we can visit, but sure wish they still lived right next door!



 This is brief, but just a peek into a few more things going on in our days.  I hope your day is filled with God's blessings!

With love
Leslie

Some facts on Type 1 Diabetes

for those who are wanting to know a little more.  I found the comments by the children at the end to be sad, but true. 

Facts on Type 1

I am thankful that in the midst of dealing with this disease that we do have a hope.  We know Who made us and for what purpose.  I am thankful that God can use this for good in our lives and I trust that He will.  I am thankful that our circumstances do not change the hope we have in HIm!

Hope you are having a great week -end!

Love
Leslie

A really sweet story

This touched my heart and I bet it will yours too!

Dog Saves Boy's Life

Life is ... busy!

I'm feeling swamped and trying to stay on top of things.  Actually, things are going pretty well, but my free time for blogging has suffered as I've tried to organize and get on top of other things.  (I actually loaded a lot of photos tonight so hopefully I'll get to that later this week.)  I'm working through my emails (slowly) and trying to tackle other projects.  (If you have asked for the form I made for Eliana, I haven't forgotten and will get to that soon.) 

Headed to sleep soon, but wanted to share a little something cute. 

Christopher is working out and often doing push-ups.  Eliana loves it when he does as she thinks it means it is time for a ride! 



Hope this brings a smile to your face.  It always makes me chuckle.

Praying God's blessings on your day!

Leslie

Health Update

Thank you for your prayers.  Things are much better here today!  Health is such a sweet blessing and one we have learned not to take for granted over the last several years. 

Eliana was finally able to eat something last night about 7pm.  She spent a lot of the rest of the night with painful diarrhea though.  She had a long night's sleep - about 12 hours.  She woke up feeling much better.  She was ready to eat this morning.  I gave her some Kix cereal to hold her until I could get some oatmeal ready.

An unexpected sweet moment came during this time.  When Eliana finished what was in her bowl, she began to protest.  I looked at her and then she said and signed "more".  I asked her to say please which she did.  I was happy to comply with her request.  We did this multiple times with her learning to say "more" first instead of just fussing.  She began to add please a little more quickly too.

Having her initiate speech is a wonderful thing!  It's something most children do and we can just take it for granted.  Each little mileston with Eliana though seems something to be celebrated.  If we can get her to move to two word sentences, that too would be a great milestone.  Something small, and yet big too.  It is just so sweet to hear her little voice telling me what she wants.  It is so nice to have her communicating! 

She has had a good day.  Playing, eating, no sickness.  What could be better?!

We tried to do a school day and had a pretty productive one.  At the moment, my oldest children are cooking dinner as part of their geography course.  We are having a meal from Maine.  It looks yummy. 

Earlier today I did something I should have done in a more planned fashion long ago.  A few days ago I began making a list of specific games, toys and activities that could be used to help Eliana with certain skill groups.  I tried to think of things in a variety of areas - speech, oral motor, gross motor, fine motor.  I also just tried to think of toys that we have and how they can be used in a productive manner.  I made a grid (2 pages) of these skills and printed it out.  I'm planning on having a teaching time with everyone in the family so that when they are playing with Eliana it can be done in a way that really benefits her.  We all play with her so there is no reason we can't learn to adapt our play a little bit so that she is learning while playing.  I'm hoping this will help me to stay on top of her learning too.  I can post more about this if anyone is interested.

The rest of the family is feeling fine.  Joshua had no relapse after being sick on Monday.  I emailed his numbers to his doctor last night and she said that everything looks great.  He typically has a spike at lunch time because we are giving snacks without a dose of insulin.  She said this was all still fine.  If/when he moves to a pump, he will correct it then.  For now, we are both (dr and I) comfortable with his regimen and not wanting to add another 3 shots a day for snacks.  That just seems like too much!

More later.  Still have things I want to do in a catch-up post like our trip to the beach.  We spent a wonderful week at the beach with my family just prior to Joshua's diagnosis.  I have some great photos to share.  It may be the week-end as most of my spare time now is in planning and schooling. 

We are thankful for our healthy bodies.  Thankful for good food to put in them.  Thankful for friends and family who are praying with us.  Thankful for a wonderful and good God.

Blessings

Leslie

Quick update - Tue night

Thank you friends for praying and for your hugs too!

She had a good long nap and has woken up ... cranky. (Which is very much out of character for her) She has been able to keep down some water, but not interested in food at all and I'm not pushing it. I'm just really not sure what to do to help her.

Sorry this is short. Just wanted to update.

Love,

Leslie

Eliana's turn - small request for prayer

Maybe this helps to confirm that Joshua's sickness yesterday was a virus of some sort.  That is good news in some ways, though I sure wish it hadn't been Eliana's job to be the messenger.

Eliana is throwing up. I thought it was just sinus drainage, because she woke up at 6am very stuffy and clearly dealing with internal drainage.  I began to doubt the drainage theory when it happened a second time. Now that we are up to 8 or 9 ore more, it is something else. She is miserable. I'm holding her. She's tired, but not able to sleep as she keeps getting sick.

Just interupted. She is keeping nothing down. Not even water.   I've spent the morning doing LOTS of laundry, changing clothes (both of us), giving a bath and well, doing clean-up.  So much for our first week of school,huh?  Actually the children have been doing school and helping out.  They have been great!

As I was thinking about this post while changing clothes, I remembered one of my last "small request" posts. It was for Joshua on the day he was diagnosed with diabetes. It just hit me and made me cry. The grief process can just hit out of nowhere sometimes, kwim? I'm not thinking this is like that. Not sure at what point this sickness becomes more than I need to try to handle at home though.

THanks for praying.