~Happy Birthday~

Happy 14th Birthday Payton!

"Heaven blew every trumpet

and played every horn

on the wonderful, marvelous

night you were born."

~On the Night You Were Born, by Nancy Tillman

I love you so much Payton-you are a reason to celebrate! Love, Mom

For you are fearfully and wonderfully made...

Psalm 139

Firsts...

~ pony tails ~

~ giggles ~

~ teeth ... and taste of cereal ~

~ saucer ride ~

~ sounds ~

Dear Lord,

Thank you for giving us these cherished firsts! Thank you for continuing to amaze us with your provision - physically and emotionally. ~Amen

The Latest Happenings

I always have the best intentions of staying current with the blogging, but late at night when I think "I should post a new blog...it has been a while", Mr. Sandman visits, and before I know it, I am being tapped on my forehead by little fingers informing me of an empty, rumbling tummy. So this will be a post of updates and pics from the past month.

Lauren went to her first Homecoming this year. She looked beautiful, and had a fabulous time. I can't help but ask myself - how in the world can I have a child that is a freshman in high school?

My parents came to visit over Fall Break. We had a great time visiting, playing, and eating. Olivia got to meet Nanny and Bumpa for the first time. She was actually very smiley for them, although one can't tell by looking at the picture!

This past week, Colorado was hit with an October winter storm. At our house, we got over 2 feet of snow! The kids had 3 snow days off from school, and had a great time building a snow fort in the front yard. Yesterday, the sun was shining and the temp was above 50 degrees. I am not going to complain about the sun, but now our yard is a big muddy mess.

Olivia is still in the hospital, but is scheduled to come home around November 16th. Not much has changed with her health. She had a second heart cath 2 weeks ago, and some of her pulmonary veins had restenosed. The doctor was able to dilate them again, and is very pleased with the results. Since her hospitalization in September, Liv had lost some of her developmental milestones. The doctors have been concerned that she has some developmental delays due to her lack of oxygen and sedation, but she is proving them all wrong. She is back rolling and reaching for her toys. Praise God!!! We are so anxious to bring her home...November 16th can't come fast enough!

Olivia

On September 11th, Olivia was admitted into The Children's Hospital in Denver. Although initially thought to have an infection of some kind, we learned that she was overloaded with fluids and was struggling to blow off the CO2 in her lungs causing her to be in respiratory distress. About two weeks ago, an echocardiogram was taken of Liv's heart, and the cardiologist noticed a narrowing of some of her main vessels. This past Friday, Liv underwent a cardiac catheterization to look at her heart and vessels. So sadly we heard something we didn't ever want to hear. Olivia has a rare cardiac condition called Pulmonary Vein Stenosis. It is a condition in which her pulmonary veins, which carry oxygenated blood from her lungs to her heart, have an abnormal growth of cells which are obstructing the blood flow. While the cardiologist was able to dilate her veins a little, the cells will continue to regrow and continue blocking her bloodflow. The cardiologist said that the cell recurrence is typically very aggressive, and that there is no cure. Liv's prognosis is not good.

We are praying and preparing for Olivia to come home in the next couple weeks. We are so excited for that day to come.

Our situation is difficult because we have no legal say in Olivia's medical care, or any planning for her future. These important medical decisions will be made by either her biological mother, whose rights have not yet been terminated, or by the Department of Human Services.

These are our prayers. That Olivia will be kept comfortable, and that whatever time we have left with her will be filled with happiness and joy. That our family will lean on God, and not lose sight of the many blessings He has given to us. We pray for Shon and Cory, Liv's biological brothers, who will suffer yet another loss in their young lives. Prayer for Shon, Cory, and Liv's bio mom, who too, will suffer another loss. We pray for Lauren, Payton, Maggie, and Faith and that they will feel God's arms of love surrounding them, and that they will not be afraid to love others.

We are praying for a miracle, but realize that our plans are not always Gods. Thank you for your prayers throughout this amazing time in our lives. We thank God for you!

~ life ~ love ~ family ~

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:13-16

It has been four weeks since my last post, and so much has happened. On July 30th, Jon and I took Shon and Cory to meet their baby sister for the first time. Cory thought Olivia was his "baby", and could not give her enough kisses. Shon, on the other hand was very anxious and afraid to get close to her. He was completely content to sit on the stool and watch the activity in the NICU.

On August 3rd, Olivia had a G-button feeding tube put into her stomach. She has always been a great eater, but since her trach, she has not had the stamina to finish her bottles. In order for her to continue to grow and thrive, she needed the GB tube to give her the remaining formula that she doesn't finish.

On Friday August 14th, after almost 6 months, we finally got to bring Olivia home. It was a very exciting and anxious day. We arrived at the hospital at noon, signed discharge paperwork, put Olivia in her carseat, loaded the van with more medical equipment than I can describe, tearfully said goodbye to the amazing doctors and nurses at St. Joseph's NICU, and headed home with our fragile little one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am in awe of little Liv who was only 1 lb. 9 oz. at birth, but is now 11 lbs. 9 oz. I watch her as she sleeps and as she is loved and played with by my husband and kids. I truly believe that she is a little miracle and God has great things planned for her. I thank God that He has blessed us with her life.

furlough

As evidenced by the last time I posted, I have decided to take a small bit of time off from my blog. I feel that there is a lot going on in my life right now, and to be perfectly honest-I have a serious case of writer's block. I started my blog as a journal, and it is my desire that it will never be just empty words. I am hoping to begin blogging again in the next week, when I have had time to reflect on all the happenings in my life. So until then...

tired

tired- drained of strength and energy : fatigued often to the point of exhaustion (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)


This describes me today. I am exhausted. I am tired of packing, moving, and cleaning. I look forward to getting settled into our new house, but really, I am looking forward to my head hitting the pillow...in about 5 minutes.