Hello Everyone! Today is Sat., June 27, 2009. Wow, has it been a month since our last update? Life just takes you by the hand sometimes . . . Everyone here is doing well. Summer time is a wonderful time! Both girls are so happy to just play, swim, and eat ice cream everyday! Olivia is a riot these days! She is such a little prissy pot. When she does not want to do something she will flip her head to the side and say "I'm mad, I'm running away" - by the end of the day she has "ran away" 7 or 8 times. We redecorated her room last week - no more nursery. She wanted a bright pink, big-girl room. She also got a beautiful white sleigh bed that she now looks so tiny in. We are so very glad to be able to watch her grow into a little girl from babyhood. She and Maddie are such good little swimmers. We have a pool and both girls love to get in and just go all over the place. Maddie just recently started going under and doing really well with that. Olivia likes to jump in from the ladder and go under then come up and tell me " I do it again!" It kinda worried me the first couple of times she went under, because I was concerned with her lungs - since not even a year ago she was still aspirating and still having frequent lung issues. We still monitor her very closely, but it's amazing how much she has changed since last summer. She is still seeing her many specialists, but thankfully it's now on a "maintenance" basis. We actually saw her audiologist this past Thurs., which in the past we have had wonderful experiences with, well, this time was not. I am not sure why but our provider made some comments that I found to be very insensitive and really out of place. I was so taken aback by the comments that I wasn't even sure what to say (if you know me well, you know I am usu sally never at a loss for words). I am generally really good at letting things roll off of my back and keeping it together, but this really upset me and it was all I could do not to cry on the ride home. Long story short, we will have to go back for a repeat test since Olivia wouldn't fully cooperate - they were asking her to do things that were not entirely age appropriate. Next week we will see her neuro-developmental behavioral psychologist - what a mouthful, huh?! She will test Olivia periodically to evaluate how much or how little the radiation has affected her cognition and development. This particular visit will take upwards of 3 hours. Her next MRI will be in August - yuck!
All in all though, we certainly cannot complain. I thank God everyday that we are in the place we are. We are just enjoying our summer and being together as a family. Fall will bring so many new experiences for both kids. We are very excited for them. We feel really blessed and loved. I hope that you will continue to check-in on Olivia and leave her a little message from time to time. Please also continue to pray for her total earthly healing. We need a cure. May God bless you richly.
