The Potty Adventures
Potty training has finally begun in earnest around here.
We’re not doing too badly. The little one seems to be “getting it”, and that makes me glad I waited so long.
Today we had a poopy in the potty – her first.
It was so, so cute. I had left her on the toilet for quite a while – she kept insisting she was going to go. Then I peeked in and saw her standing, pulling toilet paper off the roll.
And then she said “oh, gosh. oh, gosh. ucky.” And then flushed.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Normally the gosh word is forbidden, and I gently remind the kids to say “oh my” or “oh my goodness” instead, but this was just so cute that all I could do was laugh at her. I didn’t even know she knew that word.
So, the potty adventures march on… we’ll see how tomorrow goes!
(p.s., thanks for all the comments and prayers in response to my last post… I so appreciate it!)
~ knowing what I didn’t want to know ~
Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
How ironic that this verse was my kids’ memory verse for church last weekend and we repeated it over and over on the way to church (yes, we are procrastinators!).
The following day, I got a call from the TrialNet coordinator and I learned some info that earlier in the month I had been wondering, Do I Really Want to Know? I had ended that post with the same verse – Joshua 1:9. It IS ironic. But it’s not a coincidence.
Jesus assured us in Matthew that the Holy Spirit would be with us, reminding us of all God has said to us. (John 14:26 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”)
The Holy Spirit has obviously been whispering to me!
What I found out is that my oldest child has elevated levels of one of the three autoantibodies that is tested in Phase 1 of TrialNet – these autoantibodies are used as a screening test for increased risk of Type 1 diabetes. I have done much reading since then, and as far as I can tell, this translates into her having about a 15% chance of getting diabetes in her lifetime. (To give you some perspective, a child with no family history of diabetes and no elevated autoantibodies has a 0.2% chance of getting diabetes.)
Honestly I have had a difficult time dealing with this news. And in a way that surprised me. I have had diabetes for 26 years. I knew when I had children that they would have a higher risk. But this news just made it real to me.
I keep telling myself that things could be worse. People can live active, healthy lives with diabetes. This is not a death sentence. However, I also know the day-in and day-out struggles of living with this disease. The way the word “complications” and all that it entails is a stark reality that never leaves the back of my mind. The fact that people with diabetes have a shorter lifespan. These things are what makes this hard for me.
So what does this mean for us in the short term? Well, it means another blood draw to confirm the results, probably within the next week or two. Then if the results are confirmed, she will be included in Phase 2 of the study. Phase 2 is additional testing (including genetic testing) that will give us a more exact risk of her being diagnosed with diabetes within the next 5 years.
Wouldn’t you know it – she was the only one of the three kids that had trouble with her first blood draw. It definitely didn’t go well for her. Blood draws don’t phase me in the least, but she’s not me. They had to stick her twice and they even had trouble getting enough blood. It was traumatic. Would you please pray that the next goes smoothly and for her peace of mind during the testing?
I would also ask you to pray for me as I continue to deal with this news. Pray that God’s words become my true reality…
TTAH Tuesday – Three Random Kitchen Tips
Hi everyone! The sun is shining and God is good!
Here are three random kitchen tips for you today. You may already know them, but if at least one is new to you, I promise you’ll be happy to have heard it!
- I was always frustrated by the fact that we could never eat all the bananas before they got too ripe. (I despise brownish bananas – I’d prefer to eat them slightly green!) But then my boss at the time told me that when they get too ripe, to just throw them in the freezer and then they can be used later for banana bread. I was so psyched – no more wasting bananas, and if I need to bake something for a meeting or a friend, I almost always have some frozen bananas to use! When they thaw, they are perfect for recipes that call for mashed bananas!
- Use a plastic knife to cut brownies. (I will admit I just learned this one last week). The knife just slides through the brownies cleanly without messing them up! So cool!
- Kids want to make cookies but you don’t really feel like standing in the kitchen for an hour plopping dough on cookie sheets and waiting for them to bake?? This is perfect for you, then. Make bar cookies. Use the same recipe, but instead of making individual cookies, put the dough in a 13 x 9 greased baking pan. Cook at the same temperature but cook longer… up to twice or even possibly three times the duration of the normal recipe (depends on the recipe – you’ll have to watch them closely the first time to make sure you don’t burn them). I love doing this because I don’t mind mixing up the cookies but baking all of them can sometimes be a drag! This way the kids are happy and so am I!
Got any busy mom kitchen tips you’d like to share?? Leave ‘em in the comments section!
Puppy Cupcakes
Three breeds of pupcakes.
The favorite breed, a.k.a., "Molly"
For the girls’ birthdays (8th and 2nd), we had a combined party at the end of February. The party was puppy-themed and I experimented with decorating these cupcakes to go with the theme. I’ve been meaning to post these photos for a while but I kept forgetting.
It really was much easier than it looks. I used canned frosting and baggies with the corners cut off (no icing bags or tips required here!) to get all of these looks and I think they turned out just fine. I also used large marshmallows, jellybeans, mini m&ms, tootsie rolls, and starbursts to make the various ears, noses, tongues, and eyes.
I got some ideas from the web – if you’re interested in making these or other animals just google it and there are all sorts of photos & tips available.
Who knows what you could make with an adventurous spirit and a little experimentation!
learning new patterns…
I’ll admit that I’ve been seeing a counselor over the past few months. Life felt overwhelming, and I needed to talk about it.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you might remember me saying in this post how I probably should have seen a counselor as a teenager about having diabetes. Now I’m sure of it. I’m amazed at some of the things that came out during counseling with regard to having a chronic disease – here now 25 years after being diagnosed.
One of the things we talked about was the fact that when it comes to dealing with my diabetes, if I don’t do the right thing (take my insulin, check my blood sugar levels, eat (mostly) right, get regular physicals) I would die. The more things I do right, the longer I live. There’s a direct relationship there. Wrong actions = death. Right actions = life.
I’ve realized that I’ve applied this thinking to just about everything in my life. My counselor says I’m an “awfulist”. In other words my thinking pattern is that if I don’t do everything right, then the most awful outcome I can think of will happen.
I now recognize that I’ve subconsciously been thinking about my parenting like this. Let me give you some examples…
If I blow up at my kids… they’ll end up as adults with serious anger problems and feel like I never loved them. (They’ll also hate me and we won’t have any kind of relationship.)
If I’m not consistent with doing devotions with my kids… they’ll end up rejecting Jesus.
If I don’t keep the house clean… they’ll end up being slobs forever.
If my kids see me sin… they’ll think it’s ok and start down a wrong path.
All this over-analyzing, the super-high expectations I have of myself, the resulting guilt, and the fear of the future outcomes is exhausting. It’s also self-defeating. It makes me feel overwhelmed. And it makes me feel hopeless… because no matter how hard I try, I can’t be a perfect parent.
But I’m starting to see it’s all not true. My mind might automatically follow these patterns because of a diagnosis and because of my history… but it doesn’t mean it should. I’m leaving no room for God’s grace in my life. I’m not really in control of the future – He is. I am responsible to follow Him to the best of my ability, and ask for His forgiveness when I fail.
So I’m not sure how to change my thinking patterns. But I think just realizing that it’s happening is a start. Beyond that, I am seeking God’s help and his grace. And I’m seeking to trust Him for the future.
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
TTAH Tuesday – A tip for the kitchen…
Toddlers like to help. This tip will help you take advantage of that!
I bought a small stand-alone cabinet for my kitchen several years ago. The cabinet has been invaluable. It houses all the kids’ plastic cups, bowls, plates, straws, and silverware. The kids – even the smallest ones – can reach into all areas of the cabinet.
There are a couple of benefits to this. First, since they can reach it, that means they can get stuff out and put it away. Second, since there’s nothing breakable in there, all the stuff is available for play.
Even at about 18 mos., my youngest was able to learn to get a bowl out for her snack. Now at 2, when I’m unloading the dishwasher, she can put her own dishes away.
Nothing like getting them started early! I really like this because it teaches some responsibility for their “own” things and also gives them the opportunity to “help” mom.
Even if you don’t have room in your kitchen for a stand-alone cabinet that’s all their own, you could even designate one of your kitchen cabinets to house the kid-dishes.
Try it and let me know how it works for you!
Two of My Valentines…
Last Friday, my husband took our oldest to a father-daughter dance. It was so sweet. Just seeing the two of them dressed up and going out together, and then seeing the delight on her face when they got home was the best valentine present ever.
daddy's little girl
the day has come
Let me start off by explaining… I don’t like feet. I don’t hate them, really, but I don’t relish the thought of looking at or being anywhere near someone else’s feet.
That is, with the exception of my children. All of them have just had the sweetest little feet. I could kiss them all day… toe fuzz and all. My son had the sweatiest, stinkiest feet as a baby – but I still thought they were cute.
But all good things come to an end, don’t they? I wondered when this day would come. Now I know.
Being a good mom, I regularly clip my kids’ fingernails and toenails. Last week I did my daughter’s feet – she’s 7 – and it grossed me out a little bit. Her feet were clean (she had just gotten out of the shower), but for some reason I didn’t think they were cute and sweet anymore.
They were feet.
So now I know. And for any of you who ever wondered when the “cute baby feet” syndrome wears off… now you know. Age 7.
Enjoy your newfound knowledge.
TTAH Tuesday – Try These Chips!
Some good stuff from my blogging friends…
There have been a couple of fabulous posts from my blogging friends lately. Enjoy these…
A great New Year’s tip from a MOPS mentor.
and
Some misery (sorry, Pamela) and inspiration from a fellow mommy that will have you nodding your head in agreement, saying “been there, done that”, thinking I’ll cross that finish line, too and just plain laughing hard. (hint: go pee now so there’s no accidents. Really, it’s that good.)
Have a great “Back to School” Monday!
P.S. Read any good blog posts lately? Comment and share them with us!
