Saturday, March 20, 2010 - Update

Oh, I love Birthdays!

Today, we celebrated my brother's birthday! Olivia heard us talking about ice cream AND cake and thought we said "ice cream cake." Olivia absolutely loves ice cream cake. She wasn't too disappointed because I gave her cake and ice cream in every bite. Maybe that's why she was so happy today. . .

Back In The Saddle Again

Olivia discovered how to ride a pony in a dress. . .

Friday, March 19, 2010 - Update

Pondering the weather

It was beautiful outside this morning. . .almost 60 degree weather and we were looking forward to some outside fun. After lunch we went outside and it was cold and windy. Now, we're expecting snow with highs barely above freezing. Crazy weather. It's probably for the best that we didn't go anywhere because Olivia crashed around 4:30. I think the sleepover wore her out. She just crawled into her bed and went to sleep. Olivia hardly ever naps anymore and if she does, I often have to force the issue. Not today. . .she was exhausted. But, it sounds like she had a great time with her cousins.

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - Update

Olivia had a busy day today. We spent the afternoon with cousin Izzy, Aunt Shelley and Grandma Sailing. Then, I dropped her off at her other grandparents for a sleepover with 6 of her cousins. Yes, I think Grandma Mary has gone crazy. I'm sure she thought she would never have ALL of them together on one night especially after Julia and Rebekah left for California. This is very special for everyone. Olivia is often referred to as everyone's favorite cousin, so I'm sure she's having a blast! Boy, the house sure is quiet with her gone. Ryan and I don't know what to do with ourselves. Autumn is soaking up all the extra attention and is a little irritated at me for being on the computer right now. Okay, now she has climbed up in my lap which makes typing very difficult. I hope my baby girl is having a good night. See ya tomorrow, sweetie!

All 7 of the cousins at their sleepover!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - Update

It's amazing to find out what makes your child tick. What kinds of things are they attached to? Out of all her stuffed animals, I would have never picked these two as the most special of them all: Lullaby Gloworm and Leap Frog Lily. Olivia takes them everywhere. We had a battle a few weeks ago because she didn't understand why she couldn't take a bath with them. Instead of Gloworm, Olivia always called him Gogum and the name kinda stuck. She can now almost say it correctly, but we still call him Gogum. We even brought them to her eye appt in hopes it would be easier for her, but that didn't work. For those that are wondering, Dr. W is the only pediatric ophthalmologist in town. There is a low vision doctor in town, but I don't know if that's what Olivia needs since her eyesight is okay. I may need to look into that further. I don't know if she would act like this regardless of the doctor or not. I just want to make it easier for her, especially because she will continue to have regular visits for quite a long time. I'll have to ask about the sedation or anything that would help calm her down.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - Update

At her eye appointment. . .life was good until the eye doctor came in.

Well, Olivia's eye appt went just as bad or worse than usual. She was so happy when we got there, I thought maybe things would be different. However, the second the doctor walked into the room, she starting bawling. She hates eye appts (especially with dilation) and she doesn't care much for her eye doctor either. (This is why I've learned to bring my husband with me for dilations.) It breaks my heart every time. The news we got wasn't stellar either. He doesn't want to do a second strabismus surgery because he is unable to get adequate measurements because of Olivia's protests. She can't help it. . somehow it triggers really bad memories for her. Olivia's prescription has changed and she needs something a bit stronger, so she is getting new lenses. I suspicioned she would. She hasn't worn her glasses as well lately and I wondered if it was because her prescription changed. We also believe that she has problems with depth perception which is hampering her fine motor skills. We have basically accepted that, for now, her eyes are going to misalign. Our goal is to make sure they don't with her glasses on. Hopefully, we're doing all we can for her. No more eye appts for 2.5 months. . .whew.

Monday, March 15, 2010 - Update

Please be thinking of Olivia tomorrow. She has another eye exam with a dilation. These are just awful for her (and mommy too.) Thankfully, daddy is going with us and we're hoping for a good report. We've noticed, however, that her eyes are crossing even with her glasses on. Hopefully, that doesn't mean a second strabismus surgery is in the near future. I'm hoping to do something fun afterwards because I know how hard these exams are for her. Whatever we do, I'm sure I'll take lots of pictures because I can't seem to put my new camera down.

Almost Spring!

Happy Spring Break Everyone!

Sunday, March 14, 2010 - Update

Ryan and I went out and bought a new camera today. . .a Pentax digital SLR. We had some fun tonight trying to familiarize ourselves with it. We still have a lot to learn. Hopefully, there will be a lot of good pictures in the future. Here are just a few of my amazing family. . .

Super girl!

ROARRRR!

My sweet hubby

Me and my girl

My two favorite people in the world. . .

Can't forget Autumn. She was a part of the photo shoot as well.

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.

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - Update

Ready to roll. . .

Thursday, March 4, 2010 - Update

Olivia had a great time with Aunt Shelley today. I really appreciated it. . especially on such short notice. They even baked a cake together and Olivia enjoyed licking the beaters.

Olivia and Gus checking on the cake.

Surprise!

Last night, we got the most amazing surprise. I had just gotten out of the shower and I still had my hair in a towel when the doorbell rang. I didn't want to answer the door looking like that, so I asked Ryan to peek out the window and see who it was. He kinda laughed and said, "It's a van that looks like Joel and Laura's." We kinda laughed. Joel and Laura are the ones who moved to California. Ryan opened the door and there they were. . .Laura, Julia and Rebekah! I was in shock. They decided to come back home. Sadly, Joel is still working in CA where he will remain until he finds a job here. There are a lot of mixed emotions as there is still a lot of uncertainty in their lives. Please keep them in your thoughts and pray that Joel is able to return home soon.

Welcome home!!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - Update

I have had the hardest time trying to figure out what to write about lately. I think it's because of an anonymous comment that I got on the blog a few weeks ago. This person stated that I was ungrateful and complained all of the time. When you try to post daily, you're going to have a lot to talk about. . .good and bad. I've always tried to post very honestly and I guess it came back to bite me. Now, I'm very hesitant on what to write so as not to be called ungrateful. I know, I shouldn't let one little comment still bother me, but it goes against everything this blog is about. I want it to be uplifting, I want it to help people and share about one of God's great miracles. Has it been a tough 2 1/2 years? Yes. Do I wish I didn't have to go through all of it? Yes. Have I struggled emotionally and physically? Yes. If I could have, I would have taken my children's place. . .I would have traded their hospital stay for my own if only I was given the chance. If only. . . .

March for Babies

March for Babies 2009

Less than 50 days left until the 2010 March for Babies. The March of Dimes means a lot to me and this will be the Olivia and Logan team's third year. We've always made quite a showing which only proves how much support we've received from so many loving people. It would mean a lot to me to have you join our team and walk with us. Whether we know each other well or need to get to know each other better, I'd love to have you join. If you can't join, consider donating a few dollars to our team. The March of Dimes spends 76 percent of the money raised on research and programs that support the health of babies. Thanks to all of you for your love and support.