2- Year Diaversary

Today is Kaci's 2 year Diaversary! - Today I just want to let everyone know that .....

Not Fred Flinstone.....



Not Fred Savage.....And certainly not this Fred from the Disney channel! He drives me crazy!!

I love THIS Fred!

I love Fred Banting! He was a Canadian surgeon who invented insulin along with his med student assistant, Charles Best, in the 1920s. ( He also shares my same birthdate -November 14, 1891- of course month and day...not year!) In 1923 Banting and John James Rickard Macleod received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. To read more about this fascinating man click on the link below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Banting

Thought for the day!

Someone will always be prettier. Someone will always be smarter. Someone will always be younger. But they will never be you.

Popcorn!!!

Just finished making up 12 poster board signs for PACK 565- to help with their annual popcorn fundraising sales! Can't wait to get our "Popcorn On!"

Of course, Kaci was ready to help! She is such a good volunteer!

Bailey will be selling popcorn in just a few weeks. For 4 weeks popcorn will only be sold at various "on site" locations. As soon as we find out where our location will be - we will let you know. We will also be happy to bring one to you! The second 4 weeks, Bailey will be able to go door to door and make phone call sales to anyone who is still in need of filling their "popcorn fix" Listed below are some of the delicious popcorn flavors you will be able to purchase.

White cheddar, cheddar, classic caramel, toffee caramel, caramel corn with nuts, and microwave- light, unbelievable butter and even kettle corn! YUM! Let us know how we can help you get your popcorn fix!!

Reagan Borchgardt

2/14/99-/7/22/11

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

I’ve learned… that it’s not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.”

Here are a few pictures from our beach trip. (and when I say a "few" I mean it.) My big joke is, "If there aren't at least 50 pictures of an event - it is almost like it didn't happen!" Sort of late posting them. I didn't carry my camera around with us much this trip. Guess I was thinking about other things and didn't want to worry about sand in the lense the whole trip! ha

Here are Kaci and Bailey- Not Feeding the SeaGulls at the resteraunt.

Here is me and my handsome boy!

My 2 favorite people!

Awwww....my better half!

Swimming with the dolphins....sort of!

The only thing missing in this great picture is Kaci. She took the photo and she did a great job!

I love this one of Bailey feeding the seagulls!

Love this one too! They feed them all day!


I fed them once.....and look what happens to me!

Once upon a time.......

Learned some exciting news today! At this year’s Children With Diabetes conference, Disney introduced a special new character named Coco. Coco is a young monkey with type 1 diabetes! You may recognize her from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She is often hanging out with her pals there. She sports a trendy diabetes bracelet and is friends with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and the rest of the gang.Her diabetes will not be discussed on the show- but rather a series of books that will be released a few at a time over the next few years.

The first book is about Coco attending Goofy’s birthday party. At first, Goofy thinks that Coco can’t come because of her diabetes. But Coco and her mom explain that she can do everything the other guests can as long as she plans for it. Coco is a happy, active and well-adjusted young monkey who is excited to attend the party and eager to talk about her diabetes.

Disney is also holding an essay contest. The "lucky" winner will receive a trip for 4 to Florida to attend the 2012 Children with Diabetes Annual International Conference from July 4-8, 2012!!

Click on the link below to learn more about entering:

http://www.onceuponatimecontest.com/home.html

Kaci's Diaversary is coming up in just 8 days! Here is a link to a blog entry I wrote just a few days after she was diagnosed on July 28, 2009. It is called "Lucky Ladybug" and just may give me an idea for my contest entry!

Let me know what you think....

http://andrea-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/08/many-cultures-view-ladybugs-as-lucky.html

"When kids volunteer it tells others that they don't have to be perfect or famous or even grown up to make a difference."

It's that time of year again! Time to stuff the JDRF School Walk Folders! Kaci has been waiting for them to arrive in the JDRF Austin offices for weeks now! Miss Amy emailed us as soon as they arrived and we headed down to the offices to pick them up! We started counting sneakers in stacks of 10 and cutting the 2000 stickers we recieved apart as soon as we got home. We started stuffing after dinner and finished just over 500 tonight. That leaves about 1, 500 more to go. Kaci wants to finish this group quickly so that we can get more. She wants to stuff more than she did last year.

Here is Kaci in 2010.
She stuffed right at 3,000 last year!

Here she is in 2009. She stuffed 2,000 that year!

Even Bailey joined us tonight!

So proud of my little volunteers.

Always looking beyond themselves trying to help others!

"I believe in the spirit of sharing and I believe we are what we are because of those around us.""I am what I am because of other people and they are what they are because of me being around.""One hand cannot clap on its own but it needs the other hand to make a clap." "Many hands make light work."- Maasai tribal sayings

Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really- Carlotta Monterey O'Neill

Heavenly Father,

Please help us in our time of need,

You have made us stewards of Reagan
If it is Your will, please restore her

to health and strength.

I pray too for other animals in need.

May they be treated with the care and respect

deserving of all Your creation.

Blessed are You Lord God,

and holy is Your name for ever and ever

Amen

Dell Diamond Cub Scout Day!

Here we are on our way to the Dell Diamond Cub Scout sleepover! We are not indulging in the "sleepover" part- but Bailey will participate in walking the field before the game, watching the game, and staying at the park until 1:30 a.m. to eat pizza, go swimming, play basketball and more! So much fun!

Life is like an ice-cream cone, you have to lick it one day at a time

The girls talked me into making cookie ice cream sandwiches today! So, what do you do for 7 minutes while the cookies are cooking in the oven?
Take a picture of me....

Taking a picture of you!

Then take another picture of Grayson and me being goofy!

The cookies have to cool before you can put the ice cream in the middle....

What should we do for 10 minutes while they cool on the rack?

Take silly pictures....

and more silly pictures.... make a fish face...

and another....

Here's my favorite. We set the timer to get all 3 of us and right before the picture, Grayson decides to show her other side!

Yummy! I think they are ready to eat.

Definitely.

Worth.

The.

Wait!

Being low sucks!

When you see this on the meter screen - the manual says your blood sugar is less than 20! WTF!? Are you kidding me? I had Kaci down a 25 carb juice box before I could even get a new test strip in to retest and see if this was a true reading or an error (sometimes you love electronics and sometimes you hate them!) Turns out - when I rechecked her about 45 seconds later- the meter read 214- Oops! Guess it was an error- could have been due to a bad test strip, a bent strip, water on Kaci's hands....who knows! But this was a crappy way to start off our first reading when we arrived to the beach.

Something about water play really bottoms Kaci out. A little time at the beach and we are below 70 (or super close to it) and ready for some juice and snacks at all times!

Here's another low! 15 carbs of juice and 15 carbs of pretzels.....

Wait about 15 minutes....recheck and then she was lower than when we started! YIKES!

Another 15 carbs of juice and another bag of pretzels....WOW~

Not a good way to start the day! UGH- Quick juice box and on the elevator ASAP to get some waffles with plenty of syrup!

And one more low later that day....hope this is the end of the lows, since it is the end of our vacation!

The only thing I have ever said to you, ever, is that I want you to be happy.- Steel Magnolias

Kaci gave herself her own shot tonight!

WOW! So proud of her!!

SO PROUD!

Broken Perfect

I’m sure that at sometime in your life you have tried to fix something that was broken; a plate, a glass a trophy. You try to put the pieces back together (which may be a challenge depending on how bad it was broken and how many small pieces it was turned into) then apply glue or a similar material to hold them into one piece again. Usually, you can still see that the object was broken. Maybe you can see the marks or notice that it is not quite exactly how it used to be. Even if you made an awesome job and there are no visible signs, you know that the object is more fragile now. It may break again easier than before. But if you took them time to glue it back together...it is because it is worth it. It is valuable...even if to nobody else...it is valuable to YOU! Once you have it all glued back together and it is dry- you can display it back on your trophy shelf...or drink your favorite hot cocoa out of it in the winter. It is "broken perfect!"

Well Kaci had her Dr. appointment today. Her A1C1 has gone up since last visit. Certainly doesn't make me feel good since I feel like I AM HER PANCREAS!!

Makes me feel like Michael Keaton in the movie Mr. Mom....one of my favorite scenes is when he is picking the kids up from school and he is going the wrong way in the pick up line. The not so sweet crossing guard mom leans over in his window and says , "Hello Jack! I'm Annette.Your doing it wrong!" That about sums up the way I felt when I saw that A1C1 number.....Just like Mr.Mom! I am doing it wrong!!!

I am doing my best- poking, adding, subtracting, dividing and giving shots....buy in the end...not getting the result I want. Not the result Kaci needs. UGH! Of course, Dr. Scott reassures me that it is OK. That we are in the beginning stages of puberty and things can get a little out of whack.

Kaci's blood work also found her to be lacking in vitamin D- so we are going to pick up some Vitamin D chewies at Target in the morning. Her blood work showed great good and bad cholesterol levels. It also revealed that her thyroid is not producing enough of the hormone that regulates her body's energy and metabolism. She has been prescribed Levothyroxine. She is excited about getting a pill case. I am sad that at 9 she has to have a pill case, and insulin, and test strips and needles and pokes and ketone strips and sugar on hand at all times.


I am 35 and I don't take any type of medicine - prescription or over the counter- to improve my health. She is 9. She is "broken perfect" I will do whatever it takes to keep her whole and together. To keep her healthy and happy! She is "broken perfect" and I may be "doing it wrong" but together we will figure this out!!


Click on the link below to watch Jack Butler- he's doing it wrong!


http://youtu.be/1zKWd5_zMcc

Just give hope a chance to float up, and it will....

As most of you know- Kaci's car did not win the Ford Motor Company contest. She did however come in 6th place- just one place short of going to the finals.

We are so proud of her and thankful to all of our wonderful friends, family and even complete strangers who donated to her car and more importantly this wonderful cause! This contest raised over $43,000!! Kaci's car raised $2,255.00! Amazing!

Ford Motor Company sent us an email tonight with all of the names of everyone who made a donation. We want to thank all of you!

Thank you to the following people:

Dominic Ramirez, Linda Schultz, Patricia Johnson, Mrs. Peterson, Cindy Bracken, Leah Leerssen, Laura and Ali McGovern, Denise Simons, Margaret Cromwell, PaPa and Grandma Dee, Elizabeth Doyle, Christopher Hall and Holly, Sherry Smith, Dot Borchgardt, the Walker Family, Rob Johnston, Bj Rosow, Auntie and Bubba Hargrave, The Crowley family, Thuy Tran, Michael Berry, Bobbie Wisnoski, Jennifer Yeatts, Margaret Mallard, Christi Borchgardt, Uncle Chad, David Murray, Aunt Amber and Uncle Mark, Phillip Bogucki, John Welch, Linda and Billy Keeton, Melissa Enochs, Michelle Hall, Josh Hargrave, Aunt Ginny Hill, Diane Wischnewsky, and Brad Finch!!

I know most of these names- there are however, a few that I do not know. Complete strangers who are touched by Kaci's story - or perhaps their life or someone they love is also affected by diabetes.


I say thank you to all of you with all of my heart. We did not win this contest-but DIABETIC RESEARCH won!

We continue to HOPE!

Thank you again, and just remember....

"Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts. So, when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will."
(My favorite quote from the movie Hope Floats!)