My Favorite Things

As we were sitting at DQ last night enjoying some tasty treats, we got to the point in the meal where J and I look at each other and say, "So how many carbs was that?" This led to me reflect on the fact there are some things I've grown to love over the past year with the big D. Not one to be selfish (at least not with information. Chocolate - Maybe. Covers - J says yes), I decided to share with my wonderful D family in hopes that if you don't already know this stuff, it will help you out!

* The Dairy Queen Website

http://www.dairyqueen.com/us-en/eats-and-treats/nutrition-calculator/

This website ROCKS. It's the best nutritional calculator that I've ever seen. You can go in and get carbs for whatever you want. Need just the cone carb amount? It's there. Need just the ice cream? There. Need just the candy topping? It's there too! And you can even mix and match to get the carb count for an entire meal! I LOVE this! This was a life saver for us shortly after dx when we were not comfortable guessing carb amounts. Plus, I use their info as the standard if we get ice cream somewhere else.

* Kid Cups from Red Robin

http://www.redrobin.com/

How awesome is this?!? I wish every place put the measuring information on the side of their cups!

* Natural Cheetos

http://www.fritolay.com/our-snacks/cheetos-natural-white-cheddar-puffs.html

OH MY SUPER YUM! It's not any surprise that Sweetpea LOVES her some cheetos! The only thing I could get down my throat the first 3 months of pregnancy was cheetos and spaghetti o's. Gross, I know. But it kept me from puking!

These days, I really hate the fluorescent orange cheeto fingers and the fact that there is no way that color could be found naturally anywhere. I'm just starting to get into this "whole food, all natural, organic" life style. So finding these was AWESOME!

They are super good! They are all natural. And they are very low carb! Trifecta!

* The Accu-Chek Multi-Clix

I love this lancet! I love that I don't have re-load every time. It contains a drum of six lancets - you just turn to advance to the next one. I love that they are sealed - so you don't need the sharps container. I love that it is pretty painless. We had to switch from the Accu-Chek meter when we got the pump to the One-Touch. We like the One Touch meter - but still use our Accu-Chek 'clicker'!

* My iPhone

I might love this a little too much. I love it for LOTS of reasons but this is how it relates to D, so..... I love the Nutrition App that we downloaded for free! It's my go-to for carb counts. I LOVE being connected to the net all the time so that I can google carb counts if needed. I LOVE the alarm feature so I can take it with me if I have to sleep in her bed, if I have to set it so I can re-check after a middle of the night low without fear of falling back to sleep, or whatever. I wish I didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night, but since I do, it's a nice feature.

* The Diva Pouch - Found at Too Sweet Boutique http://www.etsy.com/shop/toosweetconfections

Is this not the cutest thing EVER?!? I love how this D-Mom decided that current pump pouch fashion was "lacking" and made her own super cute stuff! I sure wish I could sew like that! We ordered one for Sweetpea for her 1 year D Anniversary. I can't wait to get it!

* Petite Baubles

http://www.petitebaublesboutique.com/

This is where I got Sweetpea's medical ID bracelets. She has one with a kitty on it and one with a princess crown. They are super cute and have held up well. She wears them ALL. THE. TIME. She even sleeps in them sometimes. I was worried at first that the cute little clay animal/design would not last - but it has! Even after almost a year of tough 3 year old play! Also, she is TINY! This is one of the few places that would make a bracelet for such a tiny person.

* 31 Zipper Pouches and Thermal Totes

http://www.thirtyonegifts.com/

This is what I use to carry our D stuff around with me. I like having another bag instead of just putting it in my purse so that if Sweetpea goes off with J, he can just take the bag. (He LOVES carrying the pretty bag!) We take it back and forth to school, to Mimi & Gaga's house - everywhere. I keep her supplies separate inside with the zipper pouches. It drove me crazy to throw everything into it and have a big mess in the bottom of the bag. So, I now have a pouch for extra pump/site supplies, a pouch for low treats, and a pouch for the vial of insulin and extra syringes. It works for me! AND - when it's hot, I can just throw in an ice pack and it will stay cool.

* Apple and Eve little juice boxes
http://www.appleandeve.com/

These are ORGANIC apple juice boxes with 13g carbs. Big Bird is on the front of the apple juice. I like them because they are organic and smaller that the Juicy Juice small boxes of 15g carbs. Smaller box is better in my book.

To be fair, J's gripe with these is that the straw does not go in easily. This is true.

And also, to be fair, I really do like the Juicy Juice 15g apple juice boxes, too. Other than organic apple juice, both contain just about the same ingredients and are both 4.23 oz. Like I said, I'm still pretty new to this whole "natural, whole foods" thing so I really can't compare the nutritional/health value of the two. I just know that space is limited and small boxes are good!

There you have it!

That's all I can think of right now! I'm sure there are other things I can't live without, and if I think of them - and actually remember them - I'll do a follow-up!

What are some of YOUR favorite things?

*** In no way am I getting paid to advertise for these products. I just truly LOVE them and wanted to share. However, if someone from these companies happened onto this post and WANTED to give me some free samples, that would be totally cool by me! And I'd probably give you lots more good press! :) ***