Izzy’s Birthday Party

We celebrated my niece’s 3rd birthday party today.  It was a Snow White party and absolutely adorable!  Snow White is nothing compared to Princess Izzy!  We were honored to be a part of the celebration and had a wonderful afternoon!

Her Bitty Baby even had a dress to match!  We hope you had a wonderful birthday, Izzy!

Happy Birthday, Izzy!

The first time Olivia and Izzy met. . .and Olivia cried!  Can you believe that, Izzy?

They are the best of friends today!  Izzy has really become someone that Olivia looks up to, laughs with, plays with and loves.  Growing up without her twin, I feel so blessed that she has Izzy to share her life’s adventures with. 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Izzy! We hope you have a great day tomorrow!   We love you!

Dermatologist Appt

We had a dermatologist appointment today to address a few concerns that we have with Olivia.  Olivia was terrified and screamed the entire time (and that’s after bringing daddy for backup.)  She has awful “white coat anxiety” and freaks out if a place even resembles a doctor’s office.  This doctor didn’t even touch her.   Anyway, we learned that they are not going to do anything about Olivia’s keloid cyst/scar on her neck even though it is growing in size.  This is the result of scar tissue from her central line that she had in the NICU.  It is not painful nor is it currently bothering her.  At this age, it would be a major surgery because they would have to put her out.  She also has two moles that will need to be removed at some point, but we will just keep observing them for now.  We don’t know how her scarring (from the NICU leads) will affect her as she grows and develops, but hopefully she’s left with minimal injury and scarring.  I hope the “battle scars” that remain are worn proudly as a testament to everything she went through and what a tough girl she is!!   So, we go back in a year and hopefully by then, she is better able to handle doctor visits.  I finally made her go down for a nap because the poor thing has been a mess ever since her appointment.  Please continue to pray for the healing of Olivia’s skin. 

I’m Blue. . .da ba dee da ba dye.

Monday, August 16, 2010 - Update

I hope all of the kiddos and the teachers had a wonderful first day of school.  Most of the schools in our area started back to school today.  As a child, I never had a “good first day of school.”  I was a very anxious child.  Nowadays, children as anxious as me are usually on a medication.  I was THAT anxious.  I just remember never wanting to leave home or be away from my mom. . .especially on stormy days.  I would fake a stomach ache so that my mom had to come and get me. . .although usually the storm had passed by then.  In kindergarten, I lied to my teacher and told her I made this construction paper black cat when I really didn’t.  I worried about that for the rest of the year. . .ya know, maybe she would have all of us bring them back and I wouldn’t have one.  It looked really hard to do and I didn’t want to do that center.  I finally confessed to my mom about my lie when I was probably in the 3rd grade.  It seems so silly now.  That anxiety was with me through most of my schooling, but I like to think I am better able to handle it now.  I mean, I’ve been through about the most stressful times that I can imagine and I’m still standing.  :) I don’t see much of that anxiety in Olivia (except at the eye doctor, maybe.)  She loves being in social settings and is usually pushing me out the door so that she can go play.  I think she will be a child who loves school and has many “good first days.”  Thankfully, we have 3 years before I have to worry think about that.  

Me as a child in a flower girl dress.

Can’t end the post without showing a picture of Olivia in her pretty dress. 

Picture, Picture.

Olivia is maturing right before my eyes.  I can tell that her attention span is increasing (especially when she could probably watch Dora all day if I let her.)  She is following directions better as well.  Every year, Ryan’s brother takes back to school pictures of his girls.  Since he has his photography equipment set up, we have started crashing the party to get some pics of Olivia since it also coincides with her birthday month.  Today, we did just that and Olivia did awesome.  She listened to what she was supposed to do and stood (and even posed) to get her picture taken.  Up until recently, she would not have stood still.  I was a beaming mother!!  And, the pictures are going to be awesome!  Not only is Joel a fantastic photographer, but Olivia is a pretty good subject as well!  And I’m a complete sucker for pigtails. . .put bows in them and. . .wow!  :)  Thanks again, Uncle Joel!