😂😂😂

That text between Sarah and myself pretty much epitomizes my goal as a parent....make my kids roll their eyes in embarrassment. I think I achieved it yet again today😂😂😂

 

Our Family Has Grown...

We've said for years that the next dog we get would be for Craig. He's always giving us all the joy of choosing and claiming our critters, we wanted him to have a turn. This weekend, his turn finally came:)

About a week after we lost our Brody Boy, one of my dearest friends messaged me about her sweet golden. She has had him since he was 5 months old but due to circumstances out of her control, she wondered if we would consider becoming his forever family. I approached Craig with this and then stepped back as he thought it over from all sides. Of course I showed him tons of pictures and videos of this sweet boy to help sweeten the deal;). Friday night (Craig's 54th birthday) he looked at me and said "Let's do it!  Can you be ready to go at 6am?"  Being the morning owl that I am (NOT) I got a twinkle in my eyes and said ABSOLUTELY!  Since I'd said not one peep to the girls about this, I had to figure out a way to get around them so they could be surprised. I enlisted Tess's help. The girls spent the night with her and Saturday gracie would hang out with her while Hannah headed to a special birthday celebration with her BFF. Craig and I got up at 3:45am to get ready and hit the road at 5am (an hour earlier than planned). We had a near 400 miles to go to get our sweet boy. 

It was such a fun journey and it was the first time in years that we'd gotten away by ourselves. We were cracking up at the names of some of the towns along the way. One in particular really took the cake....

Craig thinks I should transfer my banking to this bank 😂😂😂

We arrived in southern Missouri just in time to enjoy lunch with my dear friend and her daughters. It was so awesome to see them and hug them since it's been way too long since the last time. After lunch and catching up, we headed black to her home to meet CJ. It was love at first sight!!!!

We didn't get to stay near as long as we would have like because we needed to make the almost 400 mile drive back home. But we do promise to go soon:). 

We loaded up, settled CJ in the back seat, and headed home. About two hours of our trip was tons of hills and curves...poor little boy got car sick. Once we were on flat land again, he did awesome. Perfect little traveler!!!  

Now, we had two issues at hand: 1- since the girls were kinda spread out and we weren't getting home till 8:30, how to spring the surprise and 2- sarah had actually totally guessed what was up and we wanted to keep her off her game. We ran across a barn/shed dealer on the way so we stopped to take some pictures. I sent her a few and said we ordered a cottage. It was being delivered to the farm in 15 days (we wish!). Ok so yeah...there are times it's kinda ok to lie to your children😉

I sent her pictures to show her proof;). She bought it, albeit reservedly. 

We settled CJ at home, made arrangements for Gracie to stay with Tess again, then headed to the barn for what's turning into our weekly grill out with our barn family. We celebrated Shatara's 12th birthday, enjoyed Anne's specialty of Pinchos, and even tyedyed birthday cake:). Everyone was there except Hannah, who was living high on the hog at her BFF's birthday celebration.  

This morning, Craig let me sleep in while he got up and spent 2 hours playing outside with his boy❤️.  I can honestly say that those two ADORE each other. After that, we decided to enjoy the morning together. We went to the farmers market and Whole Foods. By noon we were finally ready to introduce the girls to CJ...

Welcome to the ark CJ, aka Captain Jaxon Samuel. Jaxon means God has been gracious; has shown favor. Samuel means God has heard. This was the name my sweet friend had given him when he was a pup. It's perfect in every way!  We chose to keep it and add Captain to it because he is Craig's little sidekick😍. We truly believe that God brought him to us through my friend and her dear family. He is loved beyond measure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Unexpected Angel.....

That is a picture of an unlikely little duo :)  Ginger was actually suppose to be Hannah's cat.  Hannah is the one who came home for dinner about 4 years ago, asking if she could have one of the kittens a neighbor the next cut-de-sac over was giving away.  To my utter shock, Craig asked if she had a carrier ready, we hopped into the car and went to see these kittens... coming home with the little spit-fire of the two sisters in the litter.  It became very clear within about 2 days, Ginger was going to claim Gracie as her girl and she has literally clung to her ever since.

We seriously wonder if Ginger actually knows she's a cat.  Gracie has raised her from 8 weeks old, treating her like a baby.  She dresses her up, totes her around in baby carriers and strollers, entertains her in baby walkers and swings, and speaks to her like she would a toddler rather than a cat.  She will sit Ginger down on my bed, tell her to "stay", and that silly cat obeys because her mama will reprimand her if she doesn't .  Ginger ADORES Gracie and tolerates the rest of us.  She literally HUGS gracie with her paws around Gracie's neck.  She purrs and mews as she snuggles in with her mama.  They spend all their time together; sleeping, watching TV, doing school work, and playing.  If Gracie is eating, Ginger is getting little bites of it too.  Sometimes I swear they share not only a heart, but a brain ;)

Over the past couple of years we started noticing that Ginger seemed to be occasionally alerting Gracie when her blood sugar would drop low.  At first we thought it was just a fluke.  I mean, this is a strange (said very lovingly;) little cat to begin with; one who doesn't even realize she's actually a cat.  But, it's become undeniable that she is intentionally alerting Gracie to her low BG.  This morning, around 5am, while Craig and I were soundly sleeping, unbeknownst to us at that time, Gracie had crashed on us.  I'd checked her less than an hour before and she was 108 and level.  Neither of us heard Dexcom alarm nor felt our phones vibrate with the warning.  When we woke up at 6:30 and saw that she had dropped to 40 and had been low for near an hour we were shocked.... the only thing keeping us from bolting out of bed and running to her room was her current BG at that moment of 233.  What on earth????  Over lunch today, Gracie asked me if I'd seen that she had crashed early this morning.  I said I had and asked her if she had woken herself up and gotten some juice.  She nodded yes, then told me "Ginger woke me up to tell me I was low."  I asked if she woke up to Ginger biting on her (that's how she usually alerts Gracie, not hard biting, just biting hard enough to get her attention, not causing any injury or breaking her skin).  She said no, that this morning Ginger kept kneading her in the chest and meowing to get her to wake up.  WOW!

We joke with Gracie about how spoiled Ginger is.  She is a cat with a diva attitude and she can be a bit of a brat at times.  But she's a sweet little diva nonetheless and we all love her like crazy.  This petite little cat, who is literally spoiled rotten and expects everyone to cater to her whims, truly has taken on the role of Diabetes Alert CAT and has decided that she is her girl's lifesaver.  We no longer think her alerts are flukes; we know that she alerts Gracie when Gracie is in danger, and she's persistent enough to keep at it until something is done about it.

It's really rare that we miss a low BG like we did this morning.  I am incredibly thankful that she has Ginger, her goofy little cat, looking out for her like she does.  I never expected or anticipated that she would grow into a service role like she has, but I also couldn't ask for a better little furry partner to keep an extra eye on my girl.  I am happy to repay her in love, snuggles, and all the tuna she could ever possibly want.  We LOVE you Miss Ginger Snap!!!!

It's That Time Of Year Again....

Well, it's kinda snuck up on us once again....can y'all even believe how fast time flies???  This will mark the 12 year that we've Walked To Cure T1Diabetes.  And, this year we have TWO daughters to walk for!

I'll never forget the first time we showed up at the annual JDRF Walk To Cure.... It was quite literally the day after Gracie had been released from the hospital as a Type 1 Diabetic.  She was 15 months old!  We were still in the "dumbstruck" phase and were still trying to wrap our mind around those two little words the doctor had said to me just 7 days earlier..."She's diabetic".  It was an incredibly windy Nebraska day; the type of wind you expect in November along the Maine coastline ~ gale force.  We showed up with a twin stroller, Gracie in the front seat with her paci in her mouth and trademark bow in her hair, Hannah at 3 weeks old in her carrier in the back seat covered as completely as possible to keep the wind from taking her newborn breath away, Tess and Sarah excited to run around.  We wandered around the park, looking at the vendors and not really understanding anything about what they were "selling", eating hotdogs, and basically absorbing our new community of families like our own.  I'm completely sure we had the "deer in the headlights" stare going on;)

Over the year following that walk, we settled into our new normal.  Life was no longer what we had expected... but in many ways it was better.  No, I would not wish T1D on anyone!  However, when faced with a chronic illness, an invisible disease, you tend to embrace life a bit more and you learn how to roll with the punches like pros.  You focus in on what's important and you suddenly no longer worry about the rest.  It is THANKS to JDRF for the amazing life both our daughters have now as well as the bright future they have to look forward to.  JDRF is integral in the advances in diabetes care and management: new technology, less long term health complications, better management of this life threatening disease.  Thanks to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) both Gracie and Sarah lead healthier and more "normal" lives than they would have 10-15 years ago.  We are able to stave off complications, DKA, and hospital stays because we know have real-time trends that we can watch on each of the girls from our phones ~ we can see ahead of time if Blood Glucose is climbing or crashing and do something about it to avoid a crisis, we can easily see when their insulin doses need tweaking, we can even tell if they are beginning to get sick thanks to their CGMs and get them into the doctor quickly to keep them out of the ER with complications.  This year the brand new Closed-Loop system has been made available.... the predecessor to an artificial pancreas.  This system will read algorithms and self adjust ~ add insulin when needed, decrease insulin, and even turn itself off if the diabetic is crashing.  AMAZING!  The days of only 3 finger pokes with a small knife blade and injections with steel needles that you sterilized and sharpened (I remember this from when my Dad was diagnosed as a Type 2 when I was in Jr High) are long gone :)

It was only a week after last year's Walk To Cure that Sarah was diagnosed with T1D.  Yes, our world was suddenly shaken to the core yet again with those same two little words.  But over the past months we've watched Sarah take ownership of her T1D and we've watched as Gracie came alongside her big sister in a mentorship role.  This is a really hard life and unless you're living with the life and death decisions you must make each and every day, all day long, you have no way of understanding.  Our girls, and everyone like them, don't look sick.  By all accounts they look like very healthy kids leading active, normal lives.  What y'all don't see under the surface is the struggle to stay healthy and feeling good.  Life for T1D kids is like a 3 ring circus that nobody ever sees.  It's a balancing act: insulin, carbs, food (yes, separate from the carbs for many reasons), activity, emotions, stress, hormones, weather...you name it and it affects them and their BG.  Once you hear those two little words, nobody in your family sleeps straight through the night EVER AGAIN, because doing so could have fatal results.  You want to hop in your car and run to the grocery store?  If you're living with T1D you can't do that until you know your BG first; if you're low, you must get some fast acting carbs into yourself and wait for them to bring your BG up before you ever turn the key in that ignition.  Want to go visit family an hour from home, even for the day?  You must pack extra supplies "just in case".  What are those supplies, you're wondering?  How about a small duffle bag full of extra pump supplies, sensors for your CGM, 3 kinds of tape, short acting insulin, long acting insulin, syringes, Glucagon kits, scissors, juice, snacks, lots of water.... and that is just the short list off the top of my head.

So why do we raise money every year for our local JDRF chapter's Walk To Cure?  Because we hope and pray every day that our daughters and everyone like them, live to see a cure and they no longer have to live with T1D.  But until then, we walk to ensure that they have a better life with fewer complications from this life threatening disease.  T1D is not something you can "grow out of" or change your diet and exercise routine to get rid of.... It's an autoimmune disease and it's LIFELONG, and as of right now, there is no cure.  Insulin is not a cure, it is LIFE SUPPORT... without it they die. That is the reality of T1D.  The other side of our reality, however, is the amazing community that is as strong as it is because of JDRF and their mission to finding a cure and bettering the lives of all kids like Gracie and Sarah along the way.  Please join us as we fundraise for this year's JDRF Walk.  I'll be posting about fundraising opportunities as we schedule them, and of course we'd love for ya'll to join our Saving Grace Team (Schroeder Family Team).  While our team was named over a decade ago and life threw us another curve ball with Sarah joining the T1D ranks, Saving Grace is aptly named... for it is by the Grace of God alone that these two girls are living the amazing lives they are.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God knows the plans HE HAS FOR THEM and those plans are awesome, even if we don't understand or see His vision while we are on the journey.

Right now I would like to share a link with ya'll.  Tupperware graciously donates 40% of all sales from this link to JDRF:)  http://www.tupperware.com/?fundraiser=5963cfdf1f800b180743e9da
I'll be setting up our team page tonight and will post the link to that this week.  We'd love for everyone to join us as we Walk To Cure T1D

A New Addition....

               

Even tho we are all grieving Sweet Oliver's passing, we are thrilled to welcome little Kyah May into the family. Sarah fell in love with her when her eyes fell upon her picture on Facebook. She drove 5 hours west today to pick her up and bring her home.  

Princess Kyah is just a bitty little pup...8 weeks old Chihuahua. She was exhausted after her long drive to her new home and leaving her mom and litter mates, but we are all in love already. She hasn't met her cousin Doug yet, however he seemed enchanted by his baby cousin, from the safety behind the baby gate. She is just too bitty right now to meet Doug nose to nose, but I'm pretty sure they'll enjoy some adventures in the future. 

Welcome to the tribe Kyah May!

 

 

 

 

 

Another Unwanted Goodbye...

                 

Gracie's sweet bunny, Oliver, passed away today. This was totally unexpected. She was making music videos with him yesterday, he was fine this morning...tonight, when I went to check on the critters and give them their evening petting, I found him "asleep" in his litter box (his favorite place to nap). I reached in to scratch his long, soft ears and found he was gone. Telling Gracie was so hard. She adored that fluffy boy. 

Oliver....you were an amazing friend. We all loved you dearly. You were such a joy, it allowed us to open our hearts and home to other critters, other bunnies among them. We miss you sweet, quiet presence already. 

Oliver....beloved and cherished  2012-2017