Pink Life Support

My time has been consumed by a tiny little girl and her tiny pink pump. YES! We switched from MDI (multiple daily injections of insulin) to an insulin pump a Minimed from Medtronic and yes she got to pick the color :) I don't think she would have allowed it any other way.

Now I had mixed feeling about using an insulin pump, and sometimes I still feel that way, but I can tell already that we have chosen the best method for her. She's able to have a little more freedom and not so many bombs of insulin. Or as the pump starter nurse here said "think of it as bullets of insulin instead of grenades". Which means before we would give her a big shot of insulin which tends to sit under the skin and all be absorbed at once which caused Little Miss to have very high blood sugar levels caused from the food she consumed then low's from the big dose of insulin. Now she is able to have the same insulin but with more of a drip affect so her body absorbs it over time rather then all at once. I have noticed a big difference in just the 2 short weeks it has been and while she doesn't' LOVE getting her "sticker" aka catheter or infusion set inserted(every 3 days) it certainly is nice to be able to just push a couple buttons and not have to poke her little body with a needle 5 times a day.

infusion set allows insulin to drip in via a tiny catheter - also allows tubing to be unplugged for water sport aka bath's ;)

And on top of all those good things we also have a live log right there on the pump so we can look at how much and when her last dose was, no more guessing, HEY don't JUDGE, we are insulin giving robots and it's hard to remember when your going through the motions on little sleep....do you remember how many breaths you took at 8:08am?! Didn't think soooooooo :) so now we know we aren't missing things and if I panic I can double check.

Now with all that greatness does come some bad news....mostly I can live with it cause let's face it, DIABETES SUCKS AND I WOULDN'T WISH IT ON MY WORST ENEMY.....MAYBE JOSEPH KONY ;)So the  bad news: well, there's no long acting insulin so if the pump has a kink in the tube or something happens, tough cookies, we are on high alert when there is high blood sugars(which are still happening, we have fine tuning to do) and my daughter is connected to a machine, all be it pink and small but it is still a reminder that insulin is keeping her alive and it isn't a cure but a way to manage her disease which in the past would have caused her a slow painful death! Boy am I glad for technology. We still have to check her blood sugar FREQUENTLY and at NIGHT (There is no true rest for me/us) and Finding a place for the pump to hang out comfortably on her little body is a challenge....hence another reason I am MIA, working on a great affordable juvenile diabetes pump pouch. I always find a necessary reason to sew even in the dark cloud that is diabetes. It's in my blood like a disease ;)


So there you have it! I am missing from blog land and or my friends and family recently due to a tiny pink life saving machine!!! Which I am utterly thrilled to have in my home each and every day!

The Boys space themed 7th birthday party

Warning lot's of pictures ahead!!! We had a BLAST (pun totally intended!) But sleep overs!!! That's for the birds I NEVER want to do that again and in my opinion every one was well behaved!!

sign posted on front door

Birthday Boy! he chose the shirt :O

Favors:Milky way fun size, glow sticks, space erasers and other fun things :D

My BABY!!! Handmade paper mache moon pinata!!! It turned out perfect!!!

Cake pops: I used colored candy melts and tooth pics to create continents and gasses etc....

Shooting star cheese

Flying saucer crackers

Alien Head grapes

Rocket Fuel

"Meat"eors

Party central

The crew minus the boy - he was having a moment!

She dressed her self! I did make her some adorable ruffle space pants - no go!

game: Pop the alien -Green balloons with alien faces drawn on stuffed with candy :D

Some of them were extra tricky!

DOG PILE

Glow stick dance party!

Pinata time!

Gluten free cake pops: easy peasy - I use gf cupcakes from whole foods much em up with the frosting on roll them into a ball and dip in candy coating each cupcake makes about four which is great for her!

the moon cake pop complete with alien dude!

The Mrs! Me the party maker, cleaner upper, baker etc...

so much boy girl stuff in 1st grade its unreal!

Moon shoes!

Awe

Sweet girls no boys party would be complete with out them :D 

  

Logan and his BEST bud!

Happy Birthday to my little man! Your an amazing smart handsome mix of two of the greatest people on earth if I must say so myself! It was a BLAST to celebrate another wonderful milestone in my little mans life! looking forward to more....with maybe less party ;)

Enjoying one of his gifts, a book about space ~ me enjoying my favorite moment of the day with him....I adore the end of my days with this little guy, thought I should finally capture the moment just the other night! This picture is burned in my heart forever!

DIY Pretend Salt & Pepper

Pardon the cruddy pic, it's early AM :)

I went a little over board on the kids play kitchen accessories. All of it was quick and easy because I had a big list to tackle in order to get it all done by Christmas. Some of the accessories include: Apron's, Chef Hats, Felt Cupcakes, Plastic Eggs, utensils, dishes, cook book, etc,etc....the list goes on and on, a lot of it I made or purchased very inexpensively. My kids especially love the Salt and Pepper (they also love to put salt on their food at the table, the play ones have actually curbed the novelty of real salt shakers;). I thought about making them in felt but wanted them to have sound like real ones, that's when the light went OFF! Dur! Paper! So here's a quick little super satifying fun to play with DIY - you'll be thinking to your self why didn't I think of that!

DIY Pretend Salt and Pepper

Supplies:

Salt and Pepper shakers (dollar store or .97 @ walmart - for the pair)

1 piece ea black and white paper plus a piece of paper to catch punched holes (I used computer paper and kids construction paper)

Hole Punch

Step 1 put your husband to work while he watches sports(he'll love you for this)

Step 2 Have him fold the paper in half and in half again (4x the work in half the time) :D

Step 3 hole punch like crazy onto extra piece of paper (it takes forever this is why you have the hubs do it, you don't want the hand cramp TRUST ME!)

Step 4 use paper as a funnel to pour your salt and pepper in your shakers

Step 5 twist lids on very tightly or if your worried about the little monsters taking them off rub glue around the threads before doing so ;)

You did it!!! They will LOVE it!
The best part?! This whole craft cost me .97cents! What's stopping you now?!
The important stuff! Please do not re-use this tutorial as your own idea - you may however share it all you want and are more then WELCOME to sell any finished products you make using this tutorial(if you have the time and patience to do so!)

Calm Balm/Hiney Salve :D Safe, Organic, Natural and Momma Made!

My desire to make body products was out of pure necessity. My daughters hiney is endlessly chapped and dry, diaper rash cream wasn't cutting it, maybe even drying it more. I wanted something natural so I knew I could use it often with out harming her skin more(scary that baby products are so chemically ridden that it makes us think about how often we can USE it). I found a lot of what seemed to great natural products on the net but still spendy. So after a little research I decided I could make my own too! There really isn't a thing I won't try anyways. So I went to my LOCAL natural food store and got everything I needed for $13 bucks(which included a $10 bottle of essential lavender oil.)

Ingredients needed for your very own head to toe Calm Balm:

1/2 cup Sweet Almond oil(100% Pure Sweet Almond oil is a wonderful conditioning oil,a great emollient for softening and conditioning the skin. It is well suited for eczema, psoriasis and itchy, dry and inflamed skin.)

1/8 cup Beeswax (comes in bars of some shape, mine happened to be organic smelled more like honey than the natural beeswax??)

15 drops of Lavender Essential Oil(known for it's calming, natural healing abilities and antibacterial properties)

Heat Sweet Almond Oil in double boiler(my double boiler is a glass bowl in a pan with water)

Grate about 1/8 cup of beeswax and add it to the oil, stir gently till melted, remove bowl from heat.**Here is a good point to test the consistency. Drop a small amount on to a small plate and place in freezer, remove and check thickness. It's personal preference here if you want it thinner add a little oil and re-heat or beeswax for a more solid product.**

Once cooled (starting to turn opaque) stir in 15 drops of oil.

Pour into desired container I used a little glad container let cool at room temperature BEFORE putting your lid on:) I absolutely LOVE this stuff great for hands, feet, chapped cheeks face or behind (like my poor little daughters case) it does seem to resist moisture(while moisturizing), feels great on my skin and hers. Smells CALMING too!

Crock Pot Lasagna

SERIOUSLY people this is by far the BEST, EASIEST, dinner I have made in my 28 years of life! Better yet the babes(2 and 5) LOVED it! The little one even had seconds and little do they know it contains VEGETABLES. So why lasagna in the crock pot? Well I have a full time job and my husband was working late so that left me in charge of picking up the kids which ends up being an hour long commute(normally I come home and start cooking while he commutes), so that means we don't even get home till almost 7! I literally started and finished this dinner on my lunch break. ENJOY!

Here it goes (and really anything goes:) remember 20 minutes of prep time! Don't let my convoluted recipe deter you!

Ingredients: Sauce (see below for mine), cottage cheese and one egg,NO BOIL lasagna noodles, 1 bag of Italian blend cheese. THAT'S IT!

Step 1: Make your sauce weather it be with meat or with out that's up to you. I did one can of traditional spaghetti sauce, 1 pound of Trader Joes ground beef(my new fave beef)1 chopped up zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and onion(add more veggies if you got em'). Season as you wish.

Step 2:(this is my faux ricotta recipe) Mix one container of cottage cheese and one egg( I mix it in the cottage cheese container, less dishes;) . I seasoned mine with Italian seasoning and pepper.

Step 3 break out your awkward in my case hideous crock-pot and turn on low

***Here is the best part your almost done***

Layer the crap out of you lasagna in your CROCK POT
I used NO BOIL lasagna noodles(it's all I have ever used)

Layer 1
1/3 of your sauce
NO BOIL lasagna noodles (I had to break mine up to layer it with out a bunch of gaps)
1/2 of your Cottage cheese mix
Italian cheese mix (you know the cheating kind in the bag)
Layer 2
NO BOIL lasagna noodles
1/3 of your sauce
rest of cottage cheese
Italian cheese mix
Layer 3
NO BOIL lasagna noodles
The rest of your sauce
Italian cheese blend

Leave on low for 4 to 5 hours(or bake 45 minutes to an hour and cheese is bubbly)
and enjoy and amazingly easy good and good for you dinner!

It's 7:34 we have eaten and I typed up this whole recipe for you! That's how easy it is!Now to clean it up ;o ugh!