Saturday, March 13, 2010 - Update

Shopping with grandpa

Olivia had a great time shopping with mom, dad, grandpa and grandma. Every day, she seems more grown up and says more grown up things. Olivia says the funniest things. . .she cracks us up every day. She gets so concerned when things aren't like they should be. . .if a pillow is off the bed, if the newspaper is still outside, if a door is left open. She can't stand to have doors or cabinets open. It's funny that one of my bad habits is leaving cabinet doors open, so I hear "Shut the door" a lot. She's definitely growing up right before my eyes.

Friday, March 12, 2010 - Update

We spent the afternoon with Izzy and Izzy's cousin, Maddie. Their family was in town from Wyoming and it was nice to see everyone. It was also Maddie's 4th birthday so we had an ice cream cake. I learned that Olivia's love of ice cream cake is even greater than I originally thought. We told her to come upstairs for ice cream cake and she wanted it NOW. I couldn't believe it when she started crying big tears and kept yelling, "Ice cream cake! Ice cream cake." I felt bad that she made such a scene and was given the first piece of cake. Olivia really enjoyed it. I'll have to add ice cream cake to the small, slow-growing list of foods Olivia will never refuse. Thanks to everyone for a great afternoon.

Maddie, the birthday girl

Olivia waiting impatiently for a piece of cake with Izzy and Maddie.

Thursday, March 11, 2010 - Update

Olivia has been learning new things every day. Her vocabulary is astounding. You only have to tell her one time what something is and she'll remember it. Olivia can sing a handful of songs (surprisingly on pitch) and count to 10. She knows quite a few colors and shapes. She loves to line things up and count them. She still loves her books and puzzles and Gogum (gloworm) and Wil-wee (Lily) go everywhere with her. There are tons of stuffed animals on her bed and one day I decided to put some of them away. . .ya know, the ones she doesn't really play with. Boy, that was a mistake. She got into bed and started asking for each one individually. . ."Duck? Lambie? Bear? Giraffe? Otter? Baby? Apparently, they still need to sit at the bottom of her bed. She amazes me every day with what she can do and how far she's come. I'm so proud of her.

More Prayers

I was so relieved to hear that Angie is back home and then I heard about Julie and her precious Evan. Julie lost her little girl, Brandy,when she was only 17 months old. A few years later, her little boy, Ryan, was born at 23 weeks. Julie and Ryan gave me so much hope when Olivia was in the hospital also born at 23 weeks. Julie is now 22 weeks pregnant with Evan and her cervix has shortened from 3.3 to 1.3 in just two weeks. This is what my OB suspected was the reason for my premature delivery. Angie and Julie are two of the strongest people I know. After giving birth prematurely and losing a child. . .I don't know if I could physically or emotionally try again. I have trust issues with the medical community. I think some of them have seen so many normal pregnancies, they can't identify when a pregnancy isn't normal. They don't care how long you've tried or what a miracle it is to actually be pregnant. I guess I'm still a little bitter about being sent home from the hospital at 22 weeks when I was so obviously showing signs of premature labor. I wish I knew then what I know now, ya know? A lot of my anger has subsided over the years, but when I hear about problems with someone else's pregnancy. . .it just doesn't seem fair. These people deserve a long, healthy, uneventful pregnancy and I pray with all of my heart that they will.

Prayers for the Kahl's.

Just wanted everyone to say a prayer for my friend, Angie. We met because of similar stories. . .both struggled with infertility, finally got pregnant and gave birth prematurely to boy/girl twins. She lost her little boy, Bennett who I'm sure is one of Logan's best buddies in heaven. Angie is pregnant again with a little boy named Cullen and I just heard that she was going to the hospital with bleeding and cramping. She is only around 25 weeks. She has done everything to prevent another premature birth, so when I heard the news. . .I was shocked. . .and angry. Why is it that some of us struggle so much to be mothers? It just isn't fair. Please keep Angie, Cullen and their family in your prayers.

** Update: Angie is home with Cullen still where he needs to be. Praise God!

Monday, March 8, 2010 - Update

Olivia has a new obsession. . .online gaming. Her favorites are Fisher Price's ABC Zoo and Sesame Street. I bet we spent 2 hours today playing some of her favorites. I've never seen anything keep her interest for that long (or have her sit on my lap that long.) It was actually a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon and she learned some new songs. This morning, she woke up and headed straight to the office to play her games. I'm sure it will be the first thing she asks about tomorrow morning as well.