A recap of the past couple of weeks...

It has been an amazing couple of weeks in my little world.  In some ways I wish I could live them all over again.  For those of you that are faithful followers, thanks for keeping up with me over the last couple of weeks as my blog exploded with a new post everyday (almost).  For those of you who just peek in from time to time, I wanted to give you a recap of the past couple of weeks.  There have been some amazing guest posts that you don't want to miss and just all around fun.

It all started on the first of March with an announcement for a giveaway (won by Joanne) and declaration that Bekah's dia-versary was coming up in a week.  I then had guest posts from my sister who gave an aunt's perspective on T1D and Bekah's dx.  She says "I have seen so much strength in my niece it brings me to tears.  I have seen my sister go through a nightmare moms never want to go through.  I think about them every night as I kiss my kids goodnight knowing that a nightmare or very sick kid is the only thing that will interrupt my sleep and meanwhile 120 miles away my sister is doing the same thing only she will be interrupted by nightly checks not knowing what the monitor will read at 3am.  Then get up in the morning with all 4 of her kids and start again."

Day 2 was a guest post from my daughter Megan. As she talked about what it's like to have a diabetic sister, she said, "I cant change what happened and why would I, if this would have never happened i wouldn’t know how much I love my sister and how much I need her even though im the older one."
 
My niece did a post for day three.  She and Bekah are BFFs.  Makaila shared a word from the cousin, stating "This year having a cousin with diabetes I have learned when you have diabetes you have to have shots, and at first your cousin having diabetes is a little scary but you get used to it and lots of times I even forget she has it."

 The next day, one of my longest running friendships was displayed.  As one of my closest and dearest friends shared her thoughts on T1D, she said "I've watched my dearest and closest friend go through more than I can even imagine going through as a Mama. I've watched her strength grow stronger and stronger with each day that T1D is in her life and the life of her family. I've watched her become a hero to her daughter and witnessed the undying love a mother has for her child. Its one thing to talk about the love a parent has for her child, quite another to witness it in the eye of a storm."

My 16 year old son, Josh was next to share.  As her brother recalled what the last year has been like along with Bekah's dx, he simply said "I remember everyone was really worried about Bekah"

My sweet husband was the last of the guest posts.  As Daddy chimed in, he said, "I am a better person through it all.  And so is the rest of my family.  I hope that in small and big ways we will go on to encourage others in similar situations.  I hope that we can give courage to those with fears, hope to those that feel they and the ones they love have been dealt a blow, and inspiration to others as we rely on God to take us through each and every day.  And most of all, I see now more than ever that each day is a gift we are given and the value of our lives depend on what we do with that gift.  Cherish every day you have to share with your spouse and your children as it is more valuable than anything else in this life."

March 8th is our day to celebrate God's grace every year.  I believe that God wants life to be fun and He wants us to experience joy.  There certainly are times to mourn but then we need to get back up and dust ourselves off and squeeze the joy out of life.  We had a party for Bekah, complete with balloons, pizza, cupcakes and a huge banner made and donated by a very talented friend.  The best part about the party was we were surrounded by some of our favorite people as they stepped out of their busy lives to be with us that night to celebrate our girl and God's amazing grace! 

At the party we collected stuffed animals to donate to the pediatric ER (where Bekah was first admitted) at our local hospital.  She received a stuffed animal on dx day.  It was so scary to go from the doctor's office to the ER and be poked and prodded, it really helped her to have a friend.   This is a tradition we will keep up.  We will celebrate, although probably not as big every year, and we will take new stuffed animals over to the hospital to give back what blessed us so much. 

Here Bekah is sitting on the couch at my parents' house surrounded by all of the animals that we were taking to donate

Here is Bekah in the volunteer room holding her donation (one of my sisters had stayed in town becuase she and her kids rode the train so they got to come with us)

Friday (March 11), Josh turned 16.  It's still a little surreal for me to think about having a 16 year old.  I certainly don't feel old enough to have a child this old.  He was adamant about going out for dinner on the actual day that he was born 16 years ago.  Bekah had a rehearsal for the fashion show she was to be in the next day so I arranged for a friend to take her and we went out to dinner with out her.  I feel a little guilty admitting it was the most relaxed family dinner I have had (in about a year).  I would start to count carbs and then remembered, the pancreas was off duty that night.   You can read all about the fashion show here and I will leave you with a final picture, taken by our friend at the rehearsal.