Honey in My Tummy

The Red River Exibition comes to town every June for a week since the past 30 or so years. It is a sign that Summer is here.
So carrying on the tradition. The tradition of the masses gathering together with the rickety old rides, scuzzy old workers, overpriced corn dogs, the sweet smell of welfare cheques being spent in a single evening before midnight.
Just writing it makes me feel like I'm in the middle of a Trailer Park Boys episode.
However, were here none the less.
Emma would love it if Daddy took her on the bumble bee ride. With absolute pleasure i grabbed her and ran into line before she changed her mind and wanted Mom to take her on her 15th ride in a row. I needed a thrill other than standing behind a stroller all night watching Mom and Emma have all the fun.
NEAT. If you strap y yourself in. Your offspring to the left of you. Yourself trying to be the coolest Dad there with your anecdotes such as "oh Emma this is going to be the best ride all night", or "hold on tight because were going to go way up high". Even NEATER the operator illustrates how you make the bumble bee fly up in the air by pulling the bar into you as far as it can go, but if you get too scared just let go of the bar and the bee will fly to safety down to the ground.
Ride starts.
I give Emma a moment to get adjusted.
She commands "Lets go high dadda"
"You ready Babes?...lets go...."
The anticipation must have really worn Emma out because when i couldn't pull the Freaking bar far enough into my stomach to get that gay little bee to go 2 meters in the air, she started to question me.
"Why we not go hi...dadda??
"My Tummy is too fat" as i hung my head in absolute shame. But didn't give up. The little train that could..was me for the next 4 minutes of the ride. Pulling that steel tubular object as far as i could into my stomach passing my then functioning pancreas, bulging out my intestines. UP UP UP...yes little buzz guy was flying high.
Emma was happy.
I was hurting.
Momma was bent over laughing her ass off. I think that was her down there but i couldn't see much past my burst blood vessels in my eyes.
So of course after the ride Emma needs to replay what just happened to mom. Humouring half of the line up waiting to go on next.
Good times.

Topper!! This morning eating french toast: "dada...your tummy stiw fat?"

A Diabetic Bed Built in 3 hours.

Winner...?

Well i guess i have to announce the winner. Or quasi-winner if i may.
Shannon was pretty close. Her answer was MICKEY, but in fact that was MINNIE being hugged in those pictures. A technicality? Yes.
So yes a package will be arriving at your door Shannon if you would email me your mailing address i will get your prize out to you as soon as i can.
Thanks for playing everyone.
Have a great weekend, Happy Fathers Day.

Contest Time!

I am stealing this idea from Scott. A while ago he had a pile of test strips that he took a picture of. The person who guessed the closest or correct amount of them in the pile won a prize. I thought this was a great thing. One it diverted us away from the worries and challenges that we all go through day to day with this disease.

But in the same breath it was related and kept us grounded to it. So i have been crunching some ideas around in my head regarding what the quiz should be.

So here it is:

Who is Emma's best friend when we go to Clinic?

We go to our Clinic appointment tomorrow and the contest closes soon after.

Good luck. The winner must be willing to give me their mailing address so they can receive their accolade!!!

Pictures say $160,000

Thank You Team Emma

My Hope

Well here we go. Two days away from our first of many JDRF walks.
What are we in for?
How will we feel?
Is this even worth it?
Should we have raised more money?
Done more volunteering?
So many questions.
I have been looking forward to in the past months was this walk. Both of us have for that matter. I know everyone else involved does not know what they are in for.
We are uniting. We are walking for our little girl. She needs us. Everyone there will be there because they want to. They need their face there to show everyone else that they care. It is necessary.
Surrounded by so many little ones with diabetes will have an impact on those who are walking with us on Sunday. Even i know they have been impacted already but i am sure they are in for something new.
I really hope it is evident that day.
My hope is they know how important of a day this is for us. My hope for them is that they feel some emotion relative to the day we were told about this altering disease.
Emma Denise and myself need the 40 other walkers on Team Emma to see the other 2 year olds, the other 10 year olds, and the other teenagers that this is a serious fuck of a disease.
Realizing that taking your 2 year old to the zoo and breaking for a snack because they may be hungry is not why you stop for a snack. You stop. You think. You look around at all the juice boxes given to the kids so the "guardian" can sit and have a break. Knowing they will be occupied for the next 3 minutes still, not thirsty, sucking this 30 gram of carb box of sugar back. While they squeeze the box upon sucking every last drop out of it, chucking into the garbage and carrying on to go see the monkeys. While looking at the monkeys you look at your little monkey with your newly adopted xray vision. Looking her as a number. Where is it going? Did she have too much. Or not enough. What is she now. Where is she.
So be it ... So be it if i have to quickly drink half of the drinking box so my daughter only consumes 15 grams of it. So be it if i have to monitor her actions, color, and mood after a juice box. So be it.
As much as this is so. It still hurts. She is Emma. She is safe.

Wonder Auntie

Emma's Auntie Linda has fallen ill this past week. This is her daycare provider. I feel by designating her with that title really minimizes of who she is and what she really does.

She is how come Emma is how she is today. A brilliant, vibrant, alert, polite , caring, inquisitive TWO YEAR OLD. Sure i give us credit over here. But it is Auntie Linda who harbours all of what Emma is taught day in - day out. We are probably the luckiest parents in Winnipeg right now.

When Emma was dx'd with TYPE 1 this past year. Auntie embraced the entire learning something new. She didn't even flinch. She just wanted to know what she needed to know, but she did not only know it after. She learned it like it was her daughter that was just diagnosed.

A few months later Auntie herself was dx'd with type 2. She told us that Emma and herself will work together on this to keep each other balanced. Both myself and Denise have tried to inform her of what she should be doing to manage her diabetes, but we couldn't tell her anything new that she didn't already know.

It is cute and heartbreaking at the same time when we talk about Aunties diabetes in front of Emma because her little (loud) voice pipes up with a huge grin she touches her chest and proclaims "Atie has Dibeeetees an so dus Emaa"!!!!

She is sure in good company. We are consciously trying to surround her with kids with type 1 for obvious reasons and we love when she is around kids who do not have it and runs faster than them, counts higher, and recites her ABC's.

She is an amazing little girl this is for sure. Thank you Auntie. I hope you feel better real soon. We need you.