Happy Birthday Brad!

Gary's brother, Brad, turns 39 today. Enjoy the rest of your 30's, Brad!

Carrier Monkey

Sure, he looks sweet and innocent, but stand back, he is highly contagious when he has a cold. Gary and I have both been fighting a cold for over a week given to us by our sweet baby boy. My cold, unfortunately, has mutated into a bacterial infection in my throat. I've been struggling to speak/breath/sleep since Friday. Hopefully 10 days on some antibiotics will kick it for good.

Gary is on the mend so he didn't give me much sympathy when I told him I had trouble ordering my raspberry mocha from the drive through at Starbucks. I think he's just getting tired of being my interpreter. That and he asked why I'd go through a drive through without a voice. Good point.

10 Years After the Flood

It is hard to believe, but the historic Grand Forks flood of 1997 was 10 years ago. I remember watching the levees break on national news just like it was yesterday. It seemed so surreal at the time.

Fresh out of college, I began working for FEMA in May of 1997. It was a temporary position in the Public Assistance area working to repair city and county infrastructure, private not-for-profit agencies, and schools. Not only did it give me valuable work experience, it gave me something to give back to the community of Grand Forks and other ND communities affected by the flood.

My temporary position lasted for 3 1/2 years until I was offered a position with the state's Division of Emergency Management. That is where I met Gary, and well, the rest is history.

I don't get to Grand Forks very often anymore. They have done an amazing job rebuilding after the flood. Gotta love that North Dakota spirit.

Chase's World

As I was getting ready this morning I thought I could hear Big Bird in the background. My first thought was that it was coming from the computer. I knew the computer wasn't on, but I went to the den anyway. Sure enough, there was Chase playing Elmo's World on the computer! Apparently he knows how to:

1. Turn on the computer

2. Turn on the monitor

3. Turn on the speakers

4. Click into Internet Explorer

5. Go to "My Favorites" menu

6. Go to the "Chase's Fun" folder

7. Click on SesameStreet.com

I was flabergasted. I still am.

It was a "dandy" time ol' time

My grandpa uses the word dandy to describe a lot of things. Like, "That was a dandy lunch." Or, "That was a dandy museum." Well, I can describe his 100th birthday as very dandy!

I don't have a lot of pictures of the event because we were busy feeding and visiting with the 200 guests that showed up to help him celebrate. As I drove back home through Esmond today I wondered if the town was empty on Saturday afternoon. It was an amazing turn out and we made a lot of the Norwegians happy with the krumkakke, sandbakkels, and rossettes that went along with the coffee.

Little Viking / Big Viking

Happy birthday Grandpa Art. You're an amazing and wonderful man!

My family - Grandpa Art, my dad and brother, me (looking like I'm carrying twins), my sister and my mom.

7.8!

We had our first A1C yesterday since going on the pump. The news was good. Chase went from an 8.0 to a 7.8. They like kids his age to be in a range of 7.5 to 8.5 so the report was great news.

Gary and I were amazed at how well Chase handled the blood draw. Chase and I went in early to have some numbing cream put on his arm to reduce the pain. I thought the anticipation of having the blood drawn would unnerve him. Instead, over breakfast in the cafeteria, we tried to guess what color the wrap would be that they'd put around his arm. He was tickled to get a yellow smiley face wrap - we would have never guessed that one! The phlebotomist told him that he made her day because she'd been dealing with crabby old men the whole morning.

Today we started our Easter preparations. We dyed Easter eggs and made a bunny cake for Easter dinner. The insulin pump is going to make this Easter a little easier. Who knows, the Easter Bunny may even drop off a chocolate bunny for Chase this year. ;-)

Here's some of the fun from this morning:

HAPPY EASTER!

April is Autism Awareness Month

We woke a couple of mornings ago at 3 am to Chase having a blood sugar of well over 500. His tossing and turning woke us and made us take action. After some insulin and something to drink he soundly fell back to sleep. Lucky kid; I was awake for another 2 hours.

To beat my insomnia, I decided to turn on the early, early, early morning news and caught a segment on autism. April is Autism Awareness Month and Good Morning America spotlighted a film called "Autism Everyday". It is a very powerful film on a mysterious disorder. I encourage everyone to learn more about autism and how it affects families.

After seeing the video, a 3 am blood check will never be the same again.

Here is an overview of autism from the Autism Speaks website:

"Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe."

Autism Every Day (scroll down to the bottom of the page to view 13 minutes of the film)

http://www.autismspeaks.org/index.php