Growing Up!

As many of you know I have three wonderful children that happen to all suffer from type 1 diabetes. You often hear me speak about my daughter Nikki who happens to be the youngest and the first to have been diagnosed. I think I probably have a lot to say about her because being the youngest she is the one that is always with me and as most of you can understand when they hit the teenage years theres really a lot you could say about our lovely darlings but don't dare.. I have children in the Tween years, Teen Years and Now the 20's. Did I really say I have a 20 year old son (well almost he will turn 20 in September).


You will see as our little ones hit those great Tween and teen years they will rely less and less on us till they are finally leaving the nest! Each age group poses its own set of worries for us as parents. My son Patrick the 16 year old just got his license today, hence the worries of is he testing before he turns the key, does he have drink boxes with him. As I sit here writing this post I am awaiting his safe return from his first solo trip to the mall. Yes there is always something to worry about and yes i hate to cut the apron strings.

I'am one of those moms that would be perfectly happy with my little ones never leaving the nest but hence they do want to spread their wings and venture out on their own. Our oldest did just that. Adam turns 20 this September and as many 20 years old he is ready for his independence. He hasn't moved far (around the corner from us) with 3 friends of his. Each friend has contributed their own stock of mismatched furniture, dishes, pans. All cramming their beds, dressers into tiny rooms with no closets. Most leaving homes where they had their own roomy, rooms with tv's and computers. These courageous young men are so excited and thrilled to have a place of their own. Instead of seeing no closets they see creative ways to use bins. My Adam who never made his bed (without lots of whining) is now telling me he will stop over after he finishes making his bed and doing the dishes! At our house we call him the cheesy king because he always left the kitchen with a sink full of cheesy pans for someone else to clean up. Could our Adam really be growing up! Adam is now working full time for the Center For the Disabled, we are very proud of him.

After being away from home for about 3 weeks now he has really started to show that he is maturing. This week he called to see if we could set up a Friday morning as a breakfast date, so we can catch up weekly (yes this made my heart melt) knowing that he does indeed miss me and wants to spend time with me. He has been coming over on Thursdays for family night and laundry day so we are all settling into a routine. I'am glad he is just around the corner from us so we know he is safe.

As the school year has now gotten off to a start we are all busy with the fun of gathering school supplies, completing and confirming 504's (yes i think that you must have a 504 in place) and all that involves, training and meeting with teachers our lives can get very hetic. Through all of the craziness as I call it there's nothing like a hug from your full grown son!

So for all of us who are sending our children off to college, school, or adulthood, grab an extra hug and keep them close in your hearts because they will surprise us and make us proud.

The one thing I have to say about having a family of children with diabetes, as many of you can also agree with, we do alot of hugging!

Julie

The Barton Center!

For those of you that are trying to figure out wheter you should send your child to camp I wanted to share with you my daughters experience at The Barton Center www.bartoncenter.org.

This was Nikki's 2nd year attending the 4 day session at Barton. It was a major event making sure that she had all of the right things with her, flash light, swim gear,sleeping bag, clothes and oh lets not forget the dress (or should i say dresses) for the dance they have there. The dance is one of the focal points in Nikki's stay at Barton. Since she couldn't decide what dress she was going to wear she brought all 3 with her. Taking them from hanging neatly on hangers to thrown into her suitcase (not sure she knows what they will really look like when they come out of that bag, wrinkles and all.) The point is that she is happy and so looking forward to going to Barton. This really surprised me since last year she had fun but i truly didn't realize the impact that those 4 days and nights last year had on her.

We arrived at Barton on Sunday afternoon, later than most of the campers so she was anxious to just get to her new friends, with a quick kiss and hug she was off! Now mom's will understand this, I was thinking and hoping she was going to hate the idea of leaving me just a little, but no she had more important friends to make!

My husband and I after 30 years of marriage decided to take a quick 3 day vacation since we felt comfortable in the knowledge that Nikki would be safe and in good hands of the diabetes professionals. We had a great time, but I missed not hearing Nikki's voice terribly. Ok I am sure all of you moms can understand this I have a hard time letting her grow up. A child with diabetes leans on us so much that when that care is shifted we kind of feel like something is missing. To be honest I really missed her! I know how important it is for her to gain independence and I am so happy that she embracing the spirit of The Barton Camp. But I am still a mom struggling with my youngest growing up.

I could hardly wait to pick her up on Thursday, of course I wanted to rush right in and hug her but she was busy still in the dining hall having dinner. When the parents were allowed in we all were surrounded by hugs and kisses from our fearless campers! A beautiful closing ceremony followed. My daughter was beaming and loved having her friends with her. She was a little upset with me because she met up with 2 of her friends from last year who were there for 2 weeks! Why didn't I sign her up for 2 weeks! They all exchanged e-mails and they have already scheduled the session for next year! 2 weeks of course! I know through this experience that she will love it and have a great time. In experiencing the closing ceremony at Barton you can see all of the kids that have returned year after year, many now as counselors and the bond that they all have truly formed. I know that my daughter could not have found a better place to be. Now someone tell me how I will get through 2 weeks without her!

There's A New Girl In Town!

There's A New Girl In Town and her name is Girly Girl Studio! If you haven't checked out this website take a minute to visit www.girlygirlstudio.com. We have been working alot with this company. You will notice that they have a lot of different hand bags and accessories. The unique thing about them is that you can actually choose the hand bag that you like and custom design it with the fabrics and ribbons that you want.

Being able to choose the fabrics we want and the different style of bags has given us the ability to offer a expanding line of items for our community. We've recently introduced a messenger bag that has all kinds of pockets for holding your diabetes supplies, the bag also flips on to the back of a car seat so you can have easy accessiblity to all your diabetes needs. Than to really make the bag a fashion statment we had a matching meter case done along with a matching pump pak. Can you see the possiblities we now have to give our community a growing line of fashion!

Girly Girl Studio has so many different styles and options available that we wanted to share this resource with our community. Girly Girl Studio specializes in doing home parties where you can envite friends and family over to create their own fun bags. (I had one of these parties and my friends loved it!). We all picked out the bags we liked and with the help of the consultant chose our fabrics, ribbon, handles and buckles. It was a lot of fun and I even earned "Free" Bags.

The Home party concept for designing your own hand bags has been taking off and growing, its a new concept that is being very well recieved (not surprised we all love hand bags) and being able to customize your own is a unique idea.

Girly Girl Studio is looking for consultants to help meet the demand, you can check out on their website how to become a consultant. You can also view the bags, fabrics and even order some pre-made bags. Sometimes I just love the fabrics and combinations that they put together.

So if you are looking for a unique fun way to earn extra income and be your own boss check out Girly Girl Studio www.girlygirlstudio.com.

I'll answer the question that is probably also going through your head, what about the boys and men in our lives? Well Girly Girl has not forgotten the men in our lives, they have a Manly Man division and will be offering messenger bags and diaper bags for men along with a growing line of fun accessories. Watch this company grow they are just so much fun!