LADA and Type One Diabetes

So, it looks like I have Type One Diabetes. 

A few years ago, my general practitioner told me I was pre-diabetic and about a year or so later, she diagnosed me with Type 2 Diabetes. I took medication for Type 2 diabetes for over a year and finally found an endocrinologist this past May to take over my care. 

That endocrinologist did some bloodwork and discovered that my body was slowly destroying its insulin cells. He diagnosed me with LADA (latent autoimmune Diabetes in adults) and told me I did not have Type 2 Diabetes. Over the summer, I modified my diet and exercised regularly and my blood sugars just kept rising. 

I went back to the endocrinologist in mid- August for a follow up appointment and since then, I have had to go on insulin and wear a continuous glucose monitor. I'll go back in December for another appointment but it doesn't look as though things will change. LADA turns into Type One Diabetes eventually (some people last for years without needing insulin and some last only a few months). 

I might have made it a few years since I never actually had Type 2 Diabetes and was progressively slipping into insulin dependence. 

I'm thankful for a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Each day I learn more about how I react to certain foods and where the best places are for injections. 

Michael was pleased not to be alone in this fight and for that alone, it's worth it. 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba 

Avery's Princess Peach Party

Well, whoops. It's already more than halfway through September. Real life. 

Okay, without further ado, here are some pictures of Avery's Princess Peach Birthday Party! She knew she wanted a Princess Peach party since this Spring. As we got closer to time, she helped with the party details. We had the party on a Saturday afternoon so that the attendees could enjoy cake and snacks. 

We also planned some activities to do. Not all of them went according to plan which is totally fine. All of the girls had a good time and that's the most important part! 

Amazon was our friend for finding all kinds of cutie things for the party! I found this pink 7 balloon with crown! So cute! Along with this backdrop (which I accidentally thought was a tablecloth), it created the view behind our table of snacks!

We made two snack trays based on the fire flower from Mario. These are both Pinterest inspired. (I forgot the 2 chocolate chips that were supposed to be eyes on the fruit tray). 

The fruit version is made of strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, green grapes and some cream cheese fruit dip in a ramekin. 

We bought rice Krispy treats (work smarter, not harder) and vanilla flavored pink candy melts to drizzle over the tops. 

Here's the veggie version of the fire flower made with red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, and ranch dip in a ramekin (with black olive slices for eyes). 

I also made "Mario Sky" jello, which is something I made when Michael had a Mario themed birthday years ago. Super easy and fun for kids to see. 

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the cake! Avery chose a chocolate cake bottom and a yellow cake second layer. Cream cheese frosting & funfetti sprinkles. 

One of the activities we did was "Make Your Own Princess Peach Crown." The girls (and brothers!) loved this! Last year, we had a craft time during her party and it went over so well so I definitely wanted to have a craft time at this party, too. In staying on theme (and knowing that Avery would be wearing a crown) I wanted the other girls to have a chance to have crowns too. These would also count as part of their party favors. I was so impressed by the crown kit from Amazon. We chose one that had 20 golden crowns in different patterns, and came with gems of varying size and shape and color, and feathers and alphabet stickers. The girls had so much fun wearing their creations! The brothers both made crowns too. 

I set up our inflatable bowling set with the intention of printing out villain faces from Mario and having the girls "bowl away the goombas" but I forgot to print the pictures, so they just played bowling (in a heavily modified way) instead! 

We also played Pin the jewel on Princess Peach, which was also an Amazon find and came with two eye covers (orange & pink) and the girls really enjoyed this (the brothers did too!). 

While the girls were working on their crowns in a room, the brothers hid 40 Easter eggs that we had filled with chocolate coins (a Hobby Lobby find) in the large room. The girls then got to race around and find the eggs on Yoshi's Egg Hunt! They loved this! 

She enjoyed present time and then we ran off energy outside. 

For favors, I bought yellow Mario question-mark favor bags and filled them with Mario themed Fundables fruit snacks, a ring pop, and a small slinky (plus the Easter eggs with chocolate coins and decorated crowns). 

The party lasted for 2 hours and almost every guest stayed longer because they were having fun! That's so worth it to me. 

 One of the gifts she received included some gems which she decorated herself with the following morning! 

Here's a picture of the cake she decorated on her actual birthday since I forgot to take a picture of her party cake. 

We love you, Avery Kate! What a fun day! 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba