Saturday, July 5, 2008 - Update

The three of us headed over to my parents' house for an early birthday celebration for Aunt Shelley. Izzy gets more adorable every time I see her. . .and she's so funny. The two of them are going to be quite the pair.

As you can see, Olivia is fascinated with her tongue. She also loves the word "Zoboomafoo." You will get a smile from her about 90% of the time. Olivia has been a bit cranky today (I admit I have too) and she really doesn't want me to type anymore.

I love to play with my tongue. . .it's squishy.

Olivia and Grandpa Sailing

Olivia and Aunt Shelley

Happy 4th of July!

Every year for the 4th, we get together with Joel, Laura, Julia and Rebekah. This year we aren't doing fireworks, but we still had to get together. . .otherwise it just wouldn't be the 4th of July. And, for the first time ever in the same picture:

The three Glunt Girls (from Goddard)


How sweet!

Can you believe I was that small?

Olivia and Rebekah

You are adorable!

It's exhausting to have such beautiful daughters!

Happy 4th of July!

Thursday, July 3, 2008 - Update

Olivia has had a busy couple of days that included visits from Nurse Holli, Shea and lunch with Grandma Mary at Olive Garden. What a popular girl!

I'm looking forward to spending a three day weekend as a family. I haven't seen much of my husband the last few days because he's been working at the fireworks stand after work until 10 pm. I don't think we'll be doing our normal fourth of July festivities, however, because I don't think Olivia would be too fond of the noise. (I wouldn't be too fond of her inhaling all of the smoke.)

Olivia and Shea

Shea also caught these adorable pictures of Olivia at church a few weeks ago. Thanks Shea!

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 - Update

Don't forget to visit our church's fireworks tent!

Maize Middle School parking lot

Maize, KS

Olivia has continued rolling over and seems to be getting the hang of it although she doesn't do it all of the time. Let's see. . .what else. . she still loves listening to music. Her favorite vegetables are carrots and her favorite fruit is pears! Lately, she has decided that she only needs a 10 minute power nap in the afternoon which makes it a little difficult for mommy to get things done. I've been giving her more tummy time than she probably prefers, but I know she needs it. It breaks my heart sometimes as I see her work so hard to do things that other babies do naturally. I am reminded of the feelings I had when I was trying so hard to become pregnant while it happened so naturally for others. I truly believe, however, that God needed her to be born so early. I just don't know why.

Ryan's new job is going fantastic. Everybody he works with seems super nice and I think they are learning what a hard working, talented husband I have. (He is a software engineer by the way.) I'm so proud of him.

Monday, June 30. 2008 - Update

Thankfully, another 23 weekers mommy told me about a 6 months NICU follow up appointment that Olivia should have. I called last week and had the appointment with the developmental pediatrician this afternoon. We waited over an hour and a half for the doctor! I was almost going out of my mind! Luckily, I was able to feed Olivia and she took a short nap while we were waiting. Olivia was an absolute joy the whole time (we left at 1 pm and didn't get home until 5 pm!) She was smiling and laughing during the entire examination. The doctor was astonished by what a happy, joyful baby she was. Now that I think about it, I was getting frustrated by the long wait, but Olivia was enjoying all of the cuddle time.

As you know, Olivia's actual age is 10 months, but they do not evaluate her as a 10 month old because of her extreme prematurity. They evaluate her by her adjusted age of 6 months which is what age she would be if she was born on her due date. Her language and communication skills are right on track with a 6 month old. Her motor skills are about 2 months behind her adjusted age (or about like a 4 month old.) Her biggest obstacle is her shoulder retraction which is a result of her prematurity. Instead of being curled up in the womb, she was laying flat in an isolette. She had no muscle tone and was forced to deal with things like gravity before she should have. Her arm position is what's normal and comfortable for her and as we all know, it's difficult to break habits. She is working so hard and I'm so proud of her. I feel blessed that there are no obvious signs yet of cerebral palsy. I'm so blessed with everything about her. She's perfect and she's amazing and I know she'll do everything in time.

A Walk On The Wild Side

Today the three of us visited Tanganyika Wildlife Park. It just opened to the public last week and is literally across the street from where we live. Before some of you rush out to visit, however, I would probably suggest that you wait about a year or so. Most of it is still under construction and there are not many animals out on exhibit. It has the potential to be an amazing place and it was worth it for me to see the babies in the animal nursery.

Wanna ride?

Baby clouded leopards

Baby lemur

I also wanted to mention that we received a plaque from the March of Dimes for raising over $2000 during the March for Babies. We were also mentioned in the March of Dimes newsletter because the Olivia and Logan team came in third for raising the most money for a family team. Way to go everybody! All I can say is. . .watch out for next year because we'll have t-shirts and all!

And, the 4th of July is coming up and I'm sure many of you will be purchasing some fireworks. If you live here in town, why not purchase fireworks and help out Olivia's church as well? Visit our church's fireworks tent in Maize KS. Look for the big white tent in the Maize Middle School parking lot (which is actually my old high school.)