10:00.

At ten o'clock we have to check Fisher's blood sugar. It's about three hours after his last insulin dosage, and therefore a good measure of where his levels will be through the night. He doesn't usually wake for the finger poke, and actually, even if we then have to give him some insulin (if his blood sugar is too high), he will generally sleep through that, too.

Monday night I opened the door to the kids' room to check him, and if he had been one centimeter closer to the door I would have whacked him with it, because this is where I found him.

Funny thing is, the next morning we asked him where he fell asleep. Ground, says he.

Merry Christmas!

Favorite memories of today:

Alla telling me she can't wait to see the joy on my face

Her eagerness to get to the tree already (why do we have to snuggle, mom?)

A truly white Christmas

Fisher feeling better (he's been running a mild temp since Wednesday due to a cold)

Feeling joy

Seeing joy

Building a bigger-than-Daddy-Frosty the Snowman

Watching Ron build Alla a snow chalet

Simple, easy dinner, eaten in my pajamas (Alla and Fisher's, too)

Feeling full

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

One month: the story.

One month ago today, Fisher was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. If you would have told me on that day, when we were at the ER and they were drilling an IV into my son's arm, that we would be ok, that we'd actually ever return to normal, I wouldn't have believed it that day. But, today, one month into our new normal, I can say that we are fine.

Most people want to know how we found out.

Over the course of five to six days we noticed a drastic increase in his thirst and very, very wet diapers. I could have wrung out his diapers. Ron and I both noticed, and of course we are not both home all day long. It was significant.

We emailed our pediatrician that Monday morning, who suggested bringing in a urine sample. (This is not as difficult as it may seem when your son is peeing approximately every two minutes.) We gathered the sample, dropped it off, and within 2 hours of being back home, our pediatrician called me at home and told me to immediately take him to Children's Hospital ER. He had just gone down for a nap. She said to wake him up.

We did, Ron came home, and we drove to Children's ER. We got there around three, and by six we were done with the ER part, and being admitted to a room on the third floor. A nurse had laid out jammies for him and was putting his arms into them while I sobbed. It was completely overwhelming, having arrived with what seemed like a perfectly healthy child and then being told that we had to stay two nights with our diabetic child. Not to mention trying to figure out what to do with Alla!

She busied herself with art supplies from the playroom, making creations for Fisher's room. She went through all of her snacks. Around 7:30 we had somewhat figured things out, and Ron took her home for dinner and bed. He came back later to bring a suitcase to last me the couple days, and then Fisher and I got to sleep, very late.

The next few days were spent learning all about this disease, and how to manage it in our very young son.

We have tired days, because we've had to check Fisher's blood sugar levels several times through the night. But most of the days are just like before, just with some extra pokes to his little fingers, carbohydrate counting, and insulin injections. We are managing, we are learning, and most of all we are very very thankful for a healthy boy.

This video was on our first night in the hospital, when I thought we'd never get to sleep. The next morning he woke up at five, crying on and off for Daddy or Alla. Thankfully there was a construction site right out of our window, with a very active crane to keep his interest most of the day.

One week til Christmas Eve.

And this is what we're doing -

Eating in-season pomegranates. Even Fisher is warming to them, though not with the gusto Alla displayed at his age. We have a tree!

We savor the Sunday paper.

We had a blast at our mama-daughter Saturday outing to Disney on Ice: Princess Classics! Alla says to me when it gets going, See, Mama, I told you there were going to be handsome princes!

After leaping out of his crib, we were forced to amend it, which he thinks is so cool as he climbs in and out, telling me, big boy.

Fortunately, this big boy bed business means he's safe in bed.

Unfortunately, he's OUT of bed a lot, turning the light on and off, playing in the diaper pail, putting wipes in there. Oh, fun.

She still likes stripes (so do I), and she always dresses herself in crazy combinations. Love it. Love her.

Tomorrow will be so fun!

I never posted about the tea party the Saturday before we took Fisher to the hospital, probably because Life kinda got shook up after that day.

But it was a day that I took her to meet three other friends and their mommies at a perfect little tea spot and these four little girls had their own pot of real pink tea and tea sandwiches and slices of cake and then she and I walked around downtown White Bear Lake afterward and it was just perfect.

And I thought, And this is only the first of three of these fun dates!

Tomorrow is #2, and I cannot wait to see the look on her face when all those princesses come to life!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Clearly, three sets of measuring cups will not be enough. Maybe I'll start a collection and hang 'em all over my kitchen walls.

2. Unfortunately, the awesome book, The Help, was ready for me at the library right around the time we got home from the hospital. It truly is wonderful, but I am up to my eyeballs in diabetes and Christmas, so I'm not making the progress necessary to finish the book by Friday's due date. I suck.

3. Alla's dance recital is next Thursday. I am so over this dance class. The recital is at seven o'clock. Hello, she's four? She's probably one of the oldest, too, so some of the little girls might be three. What three or four year old is at their best at seven o'clock? Not to mention the little brothers that have been watching rehearsals since September but will probably have to opt out of the real deal.

4. Four is the number of injections Fisher gets each day.

5. The number boxes are up and running! I love how it gets Alla out of bed for the month of December! Today's treats were books for each.

6. I should have called this post 'Whatever number I get to on Tuesday.'

7. I have no pictures to go with this post.

8. We check Fisher's blood sugar before we go to bed, has to be around ten. On a good night, we can all then sleep the rest of the night knowing his levels are in a good range. We had five of these good nights in a row, and then last night he was low at one in the morning, so we had to give him juice and check again in 30 minutes.

9. Who likes to drink juice at one in the morning?

10. This weekend is Disney on Ice! Alla is going to FLIP. I simply cannot wait to see her face. I wish I could video. Her, just her.

Hangin' in there.

Yup, we're hangin' in there. Tired, learning, trying to help each other out. Finding a new normal.

They still bicker about silly stuff like who gets to take Toby the dog in the car ride, but then sometimes they want only each other, and they love each other fiercely. I hope they will be each other's biggest fans. I am immensely proud of them both.