Olivia the Photographer

Can I take your picture?

Hey, quiet on the set!

Are we ready to shoot?

I love being on the other side of the camera.

Oooh, that was a good one.

I like this one!

Now the tedious task of photo editing. . .

Autumn

I caught her out on the couch like this. . .I don’t know if it means she’s feeling better or worse.  I’ve gotten three terbutalines down her and hoping for the best.  Olivia  hasn’t wanted her picture taken lately, but my cats have been more than willing. LOL.

Thursday, October 21, 2010 - Update

Autumn spent the day at the vet’s office.  She hasn’t been well for almost a month.  Autumn has bronchial asthma. . .more severe than we first thought.  Usually a steroid shot is enough to clear symptoms for at least 4-6 weeks.  The shot seemed to lessen the severity of it, but she is still having bronchial spasms, which sound like a sneeze/cough.  She is now on terbutaline in hopes to reduce inflammation of her bronchial tube.  Her problems seem to be seasonal as she had problems last fall as well.  Next fall, if we see a similar recurrence, Autumn will need to be on an inhaler.   That should be interesting.  :)  I wonder if my fall candles bother her as well. . .I know they bother some people with asthma.  Autumn is truly an amazing cat and companion and I’d pretty much do anything to help her.  Tobey on the other hand. . .just kidding.  :)  Tobey is a very sweet kitty, but he’s a handful.  He is ALL kitten and ALL boy.  LOL.  We are really having to “train” him, whereas Autumn just never did any ornery things.   

Other than that. . .not too much to talk about.  I’m grateful that it’s not Olivia dealing with asthma. . .what a scary thing! 

   

Stand still, Tobey, I want to take your picture.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - Update

I took a little trip down memory lane today.  After Olivia’s therapy, we went to eat at Cracker Barrel.  It’s Olivia’s favorite place to eat and she had been asking for it all week.  It just happens to be in the town that I grew up in.  So, after lunch I took her to the old park that I used to play at.  It hadn’t really changed much and although I enjoyed reminiscing, I think it left Olivia a bit underwhelmed. LOL.  We then went to the bigger park down by the swimming pool and they have a brand new jungle gym with about 5 slides. The only bad part of the day was that Olivia, at some point, took her glasses off and we had to search for them through the many fallen leaves.  She usually never takes them off without giving them to me, so I don’t know what came over her.  I didn’t think we were ever going to find them.  But, we did and we had fun and we enjoyed the gorgeous weather. 

In other news, my cat Autumn is still struggling with illness so she has another vet appointment tomorrow.  Poor thing has been miserable for over a month.  Hopefully, I’ll get some definite answers.  And. . .I’m still learning more and more about my diabetes.  Honestly, I’m really struggling with it.  I felt awful this afternoon. . .really exhausted and just not well.  I took my blood sugar 4 hours after I had eaten and it was still high!  I think I feel the worst when my blood sugar remains elevated for long periods of time. . at least that’s what I’m finding.  I just can’t seem to get a grip on this whole diabetic diet.  I can’t eat anything it seems without my blood sugar getting too high. . .kinda depressing.  Oh well, there are much worse things than diabetes. . .I just wish I could get to feeling better.  This little girl below deserves it.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - Update

This little rascal gave me a run for my money today.  She always does things when she is ready. . .not exactly in the correct order.  For example, I always tell people that she learned to walk before she could stand.  Well, now we are experiencing a lot of the things that I thought we “skipped,” like the terrible twos, for instance.  Just recently she has been able to open doors, unscrew lids, use her step stool to reach just about anything and jump from high heights. . . all of which open up new possibilities.  She has also somehow decided that it is now okay to color on the walls with crayon.  Needless to say, she was in time out twice today.  For the past year, we have had no problem getting her to stay in her toddler bed.  She couldn’t open doors, so what was the point of getting up, right?  Well, tonight. . .she got up five times before she finally went to sleep.

1st time:  She needed her rubber ducky from her bath to sleep with.

2nd time: She needed her musical caboose to sleep with.  (Yes, she sleeps with her Thomas trains.  LOL.)

3rd time: She heard a scary noise.

4th time:  Her blanket was being scary.  I could barely keep a straight face with this one.

5th time:  She had to go potty (but, she’d already gone in her diaper.  We spent 4+ hours just sitting on the potty today.) 

Five times she was up and she is usually a dream to put to bed.  Days like this you just have to laugh it off, pray tomorrow is better and hope your husband will make it home from work before midnight.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling. . .

We got to gymnastics a little early tonight, so we had some time to practice. While doing so, Olivia learned how to do a forward roll all by herself. In my day, they were somersaults. LOL. But whatever they're called. . .I'm overjoyed that Olivia has learned to do them. She also, for the first time, hung from the bars for more than 1 second. All in all, a great night at gymnastics except she would not, under any circumstances, ride the pulley (kind of like a zip line.) Poor thing wouldn't calm down until we told her that she didn't have to ride it tonight. But, I'm still proud of how far she's come and gymnastics has done wonders for her gross motor skills. Way to go, Olivia!

The Big 2-5!

Guess who made it to 25 lbs?  Woohoo!  We’re getting there.  Maybe she’ll be 30 lbs by the time she goes to kindergarten.  LOL. 

Awww. . .

A few nights ago, Olivia gave me the camera and told me that she wanted to take a picture with daddy.  So, she snuggled up next to him and I snapped the picture.  I thought it turned out adorable. . .two of my favorite people. :)

Applejack Pumpkin Patch

Today, we headed to the Applejack Pumpkin Patch for the third year in a row.  The weather was beautiful, although a little hot for October at close to 90 degrees!  Because of that, we didn’t stay for too long, but long enough to make some fun memories and take some cute pictures!

Our little pumpkin

We ran into Olivia’s former Rainbows teacher, Sanda, and her daughter Emersyn.

Almost 3 feet!

Showing off the pumpkins she chose!  We didn’t even tell her to pick out a pumpkin for Logan. . .she just automatically chose two.

Friday, October 15, 2010 - Update

We’ve had a great day today.  This morning, Olivia and I went to my friend, Tamar’s house to see her two youngest children. . .Sophia (2 years) and Ana (2 months.)  Of course, halfway there I realized that I left my camera at home.  My iPhone pictures didn’t turn out very clear.  We had a great time.  Tamar and I (and her twin sister, Tiffany) have been friends since before I was Olivia’s age.  We’ve lost touch over the years which is such a shame. . .especially when she only lives across town.  It was a great visit and hopefully we’ll have another play date soon. 

Afterwards, we met daddy for lunch and did a little shopping before heading home.  We were so excited for Izzy and Shelley to come over this afternoon.  Shelley helped me put together Olivia’s BIG surprise from “Aunt” Pam.  Pam is my former boss and I’ve been friends with her family for almost 20 years.  It’s her Dora desk!!  Olivia was so excited about it and has wanted to sit and color in it all day.  Thank you so much for such a generous and thoughtful gift!  We love it! 

My Miracle

 

Somedays. . .I am still in awe of my little miracle.  Born at 23 weeks, 1 day. . .1 lb 1.5 oz. . .11.5 inches long.  We had to beg the doctors to resuscitate her because they don’t automatically until 24 weeks.  She was given a 90% chance of a major disability and a 30% survival rate.  We knew the odds were against us.  Did God spare her life because He took our sweet Logan?  In my despair, I’ve never forgotten what a miracle Olivia is.  I don’t know why I’ve chosen to write about this tonight.  I just often find myself amazed.  She has never had a breathing treatment since leaving the hospital when she was 105 days old.  She hasn’t needed supplemental oxygen since Dec 2007.  She hasn’t needed a feeding tube since they took her NG tube out in the hospital.  She did not have any brain bleeds. . .no brain bleeds for a 23 weeker is almost unheard of.  I’m 100% convinced that God healed her body. . .that He intervened and saved my baby girl.  It’s hard sometimes to believe that if He can do that. . .why is there suffering in the world?   Why couldn’t He have done the same for Logan and for all of the other innocent babies in the world. . .for other people suffering with illness and cancer and turmoil in their lives?  We prayed the same prayer for both of our children. . .why was one saved and not the other?  Some things I don’t believe we are meant to understand or rationalize and by trying to do so. . .we are pretending to know what God’s plan is.  And, we don’t know.  We won’t know until that day when we meet Him face to face.  The only thing we can hope for is peace and faith that God’s plan is sovereign over everything else.  I don’t know why I am writing these words tonight. . .maybe someone needs to hear them?  I was fully intending to write about Olivia’s day at school and how much better it’s going.  But, I went in a totally different direction.  It’s important to step back every once in awhile and realize the miracles we have in our lives.  They are all around us.   May God bless all of my family, friends and faithful readers.   I love you all!

More Pics

I finally managed to get my pictures off my camera.  Here are a few of Amanda’s boys:

Benjamin

Nathan

As you can tell in this picture. . .things are the same in Ohio as they are in Kansas.  They look just like my nephews!  I hope Amanda didn’t want to kill me when I let Jake play my DS.  Afterwards, he kept talking about how he now wants a DS.  :)

Now, I gotta go pick this little girl up from school.  Hopefully, it’s another successful day at school! 

Ohio Part II

Here I am with Nathan and  Jacob.  I stole this pic from Amanda’s blog.   I absolutely adored her boys.  All three of Amanda’s boys were super sweet.  I took a few pictures of them with my old camera (that has turned into “Olivia’s camera) and I couldn’t get the pictures off my camera.  It said file was corrupted or bad or something.  I’m pretty bummed about it and actually glad that I didn’t take more pictures.  While I was there, I was able to go to Jacob’s soccer game.  His team won their first game and Jacob scored his first goal!  Yay!  I seriously miss Amanda and her family!  We’re planning to someday meet in St. Louis (it’s halfway) and get both of our families together.  Olivia would have so much fun with her boys.  Amanda continually teaches me ways to become a better mother and Christian.  I am forever grateful for that.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - Update

Guess who had a great day at school today?  Not only was she excited to go to school, she didn’t even cry!  She loves P.E. and talks about it nonstop when she gets home.  I feel like this is a true answer to prayer.  And, I don’t feel my heart literally breaking every time I drop her off. 

While I Was Away

While I was away, Olivia kept pretty busy.  She was very well taken care of by daddy, grandma and grandpa, Aunt Kimmy and her cousins.  I think she probably handled my absence better than my cats did. ;)  Olivia got her nails painted, hair braided, went shopping, spent the night at grandma and grandpa’s, went to a parade, etc.  But, her welcome home hug told me that even though she had a great couple of days. . .she missed her mommy.  And, I missed her like crazy too.  Here are a few pictures of her at her very first parade!!

My Trip To Ohio

I don’t know where to begin to tell the story of my trip to Ohio.  I’m trying to mentally organize it into blog posts.  I think I’ll just start with an overview.  Like I mentioned before, Amanda’s mom called me a few weeks ago and asked if I would fly out to Ohio to surprise Amanda for her birthday.  Never before have I had such a great friend that I’ve never met in person.  Amanda has one of the biggest hearts in the world.  She has provided so much support to me over the past few years.  I had to take the opportunity to meet her and her beautiful family.

So, I took off Friday morning and was extremely nervous about flying.  I had never flown anywhere by myself before.  But, the most amazing thing happened.  God placed me in a seat next to a wonderful man named Warren.  Not only did he understand what it was like to have children in the NICU, but he was the father of boy/girl twins.  It was an emotional meeting because, as he said. . .he knows what I am missing out on by not being able to raise my twins together.  He also calmed my fears about flying, made sure I got my second boarding pass and directed me to my correct gate.  What a blessing.  It started my trip off on the right foot. 

Amanda’s mom and husband picked me up at the airport and I went back to Amanda’s parents’ house to await the surprise.  From the video, you can see that Amanda was very much surprised.  I had an amazing time and quite an adventure getting home.  I thought I would share a few pictures from last Friday.  A BIG thank you to Amanda and her family for making me feel so welcome.  You are all amazing!

Amanda and Me

Amanda with husband Rodney, Jake, Nate and Ben.  And, she is expecting her fourth in May. 

Me, Amanda’s mom, Becky, and Amanda. 

We had a hot dog roast on Friday night.  I hadn’t done that in a long time. 

I have to say that I’m very thankful to be home.  Like I said, I was supposed to come home Sunday night, but my flight got cancelled and all other flights out were booked.  So, Delta had to put me up in a hotel room last night and fly me out at 6 am this morning.  As stressful as it was, it was almost worth it because Olivia got to come with Ryan to pick me up this morning.  There is nothing like your child yelling, “Mommy!” and running into your arms.  She gave me the biggest, best hug. . .I didn’t ever want to put her down.  I missed her so much.  I wish I would have been able to take Olivia with me, but after the hassles of  air travel. . .I’m so thankful she wasn’t with me.  I have to say that I miss Amanda and her family as well.  It’s sad not knowing when I’ll get to see them all again.  What an amazing trip and one that I’ll always remember! 

The video

So, here’s the video of me and Amanda.  It’s hilarious!  I’m finally home.  I was supposed to be home last night, but didn’t get home til this morning.  That will be a long blog post in itself.  More to come later.  I want to spend some time with my family! 

In Ohio

Well, I haven't posted for a few days because I'm in Ohio. Many of you know my friend Amanda (or have read her many funny comments on my blog.) I met Amanda through my blog a few years ago and we have emailed and talked ever since, but have never met in person. A few weeks ago, her mom called me and asked if I wanted to fly to Ohio to surprise Amanda for her birthday. I thought about it and it sounded like a nice opportunity to get away and finally meet Amanda and her family. I will blog more about my adventures in Ohio, but I wanted to share the video of our first meeting. Her mom arranged a scavenger hunt with clues that led Amanda to a bedroom where I was waiting to surprise her. It is hilarious! I've had a great couple of days and will head back home tomorrow.

Thursday, October 7, 2010 - Update

I had a dentist appointment today. . usually I don’t have a problem going to the dentist, but when they were cleaning my teeth (scraping them, actually) I think they hit a nerve or something.  I about jumped out of my chair.  Yikes!  I’m glad that’s over.  Olivia seemed to have a great day at school today.  She didn’t cry when I dropped her off (for the second time in a row) and is talking more positively about school.  What a weight off my shoulders.  This afternoon, Olivia had fun with Grandma and Aunt Kimmy.  They enjoyed this beautiful weather by going to the park and out for ice cream.  Olivia had a great time!  Thank you, Aunt Kimmy, for getting some really cute pictures.