Thanks to our Grandparents

This year what I am most thankful for are grandparents.  They were once our parents but they somehow turn into these people who firmly anchor you in the past and just truly appreciate our children.  Grandparents who you once called Mom and Dad now have funny names like Grammie or MoeMoe and you somehow refer to them as that and not Mom anymore.  Its amazing to me that one of my laughing children can create such happiness to a group of people.  We spend Thanksgiving with my husbands family.  Both of his grandmothers are still alive and I don't know if Justin truly appreciates sometimes how amazing that is.  He is able to share his children with his parents parents!!  His mother's mom gets to see her own daughter be a grandmother. I am not sure if many people in life get to experience yet alone appreciate this.  I was extremely close to my grandparents.  They made me feel like I hung the moon.  And it is something I truly miss the further along in life I go without them.  Just the feeling of complete and utter love that a grandparent gives.   And both my children get to have this with two sets of grandparents and two great grandmothers.  So this year I truly have alot to be grateful for but I am most thankful for my family and the grandparents who have loved us unconditionally for years and will continue to love us for years after they are gone.  And we will continue to love them too.  I will go to sleep tonight with warm memories of Jerry, Ellen, & Margaret knowing their love is in my children and I will forever be grateful for that.

Three years young

My oldest daughter turned three this weekend.  At three she is old enough to dress herself.  At three she is old enough to be out of diapers and needing "privacy" when in the bathroom.  At three she can play soccer but refer to it as football.  At three she can take dance lessons and insist on wearing Crocs.  At three she doesn't always want to hug and kiss me good bye.   At three she answers all of my questions with "Of course"  It is kind of comical.

• "Do you want lunch?" - Of Course
• "Do you want to help me with dinner?" -Of Course
• "Are your toys supposed to be on the floor?" Of course they are not

She reminds me so much of Justin.  The way she talks, the way she laughs.   My Dad said she reminds him so much of me when I was younger.  Of course (see what I did there?) I don't see it. All I see is a little girl that is growing into a young lady that I am determined to keep her little and fun for as long as possible.  Life moves at a rapid speed and I am enjoying the moments in parenthood.

This is what Three Looks like-Enjoy!

7 Months

My baby is 7 months this weekend.  I am desperately trying to savor every moment and I am not wishing anything away like I did with Rhea.  (I wish she was talking, I wish she was crawling)  I am perfectly content with her staying a lovable blob forever.  But as we all know children grow.  They become these people in your life that you almost forget were not always there.  A whole lot of life has happened in the last 7 months and I am just grateful that the second time around I have stopped and enjoyed it.  I am also glad I have been able to capture some of these moments with my camera.

Diabetes and a three year old

Children are amazing creatures.  They pick up on things that you don't think they can even understand.  My insulin pump was beeping at me last night because the canula was low.  Rhea says to me "Oh no Mommy, your diabetes is low, you better get a juice.  Don't worry I'll get it for you"  I can count on my hand the number of times I have said I am low to her but somehow she realized it was important and compartmentalized it in her brain.  She then went on to tell me that "Rhea doesn't have diabetes, Maggie doesn't have diabetes, Daddy doesn't have diabetes, Dukie doesn't have diabetes, only Mommy does"  Apparently she has been listening to me.  Having had diabetes since 1991 it is a huge part of who I am now.  I want to set a great example for my daughters  of what living with T1 diabetes looks like.  I want them to understand the disease but I don't want them afraid of it.  I have  often been asked "Aren't you afraid of giving it to them?"  Of course I am.  It is one of the stupidest questions anyone can ask me.  Oh course I worry about the health and safety of my children but I don't let the fear of diabetes control my life.  I am the only person in my family with diabetes of any kind.  No one has any form of diabetes at all.  Maybe I am just a fluke.  Maybe for me it is not genetic or hereditary.  Maybe it is just one of those things.  So I will let Rhea get my juice when my sugar is low.  Because there will come a day when the only juice in the house is an Elmo juice box and I am positive she will fight me tooth and nail for it.  And I will need her to understand it is medicine for Mommy and that I am not stealing her Elmo.  But just to be safe I have stocked up on glucose tabs.

Smuggler

Tonight as I was tucking Rhea into bed she asked me to Smuggle her.  I had to think twice but then I realized she wanted me to snuggle her.  So I lay down and snuggle with her.  As I am laying there in bed with her she pulls out a flower.  I asked her were she got that and she told me she picked it in the yard.  I asked her to give it to me.  She then proceeded to pull out 5 more half dead flowers from under her blankets.  I told her I would put them in the kitchen.  She looked sad but didn't get upset (as toddlers sometimes do) so I went to the kitchen and put the half dead flowers in a vase for her and brought them to her room.  Upon entering she said "oh Mommy, they are so beautiful.  I am so excited they are in my room."  So technically she did do some smuggling of the flowers tonight.  And she did make me stop and realize the beauty in those half dead flowers.  Or more, the beauty she saw in the half dead flowers.  Then she asked me to pull her finger and she made a fart sound and the beautiful moment was gone.

Conversations with a two year old

This morning as I am lying in bed, Rhea comes into my room.   She starts to cry.  I ask her what is the matter?

Rhea "You left me home"
Me" What? When did I leave you home?"
Rhea pointing at my wedding picture  "You and daddy left me home.  I not there"
Me "Rhea that was our wedding.  You were not even born yet.  Someday when you get older you will have a wedding."
Rhea "No mommy.  I have four weddings"

Not much more to say after that.

Generation Gap

We put up all our Christmas decorations this weekend and Rhea was more than willing to help.  As we were emptying out the bins of stuff, she found about 5 Christmas DVDs and two Christmas VHS.  She opened every DVD to inspect the dvd and tell us she wanted to watch the movie.  When she got to the VHS she got really aggravated.  She kept trying to "open" the black case.  When Justin explained to her that this was the movie and there was nothing to open, it infuriated her even more. She threw a hissy fit and kept screaming at him to open it.  The funny thing is we don't even have a VCR to watch these movies so we couldn't show her what we were talking about.  We have since hidden those movies so we don't have to argue with a two year old about what a real movie looks like.  I am feeling really old tonight.

Night Moves- The Rhea edition

As I am driving home tonight the song Night Moves by Bob Seger was playing on the radio.  Since I have not shame I was singing along out loud.  Rhea decided to get in on the singing with me and proceeds to yell "nice boobs".  I stop singing thinking I heard her wrong but she kept going adding her own lyrics which went something like this "Nice boobs, Nice boobs, boobies boobies boobies.  Mommy's boobs.  Mommy's boobies".  I honestly have no idea where she gets it from (side eye glance to my husband)

Back seat driver