Olivia & Mason

Mason and Olivia turned 1 today!! We had a small birthday party for them here at the house. The cakes were awesome, thank you Aunt Jonna! Here are some pictures to enjoy..

Olivia is doing so great. We are trying to get to Florida for her one year follow-up with Dr. Kays. It’s looking like it will be around the 8th of December….

We are very excited to see what he thinks of her progress, and just to see and thank him once again. I can’t tell you how much gratitude we have for Dr. Kays and his staff. He was the one doctor, out of many, who just over one year ago today spoke words of hope to us. Don’t get me wrong, there were very hard words to hear, such as “she is very very sick.” And the possibility that she may not make it. But, he promised he would “fight like hell to save her,” and that’s exactly what he did.

Doug and I were talking this past Wednesday night about where we were one year ago that day. I remember lying in the hospital bed, prepped and ready for surgery, nervousness and excitement in the air, and here came Dr. Kays. “Hmmm, I’m just not feeling it today..” were his words. You could only imagine how disappointed we were. Confused, impatient, disappointed, those are only a few words that described how we felt.  I don’t think anyone hardly said a word the rest of the time there at the hospital.  We were all so anxious to get the show on.  But not Dr. Kays.  He had a gut feeling that it wasn’t time, and that we probably needed one more dose of steroid.  I can’t ever recall a moment in time like when I just had to trust someone else’s gut instinct.  Especially when it came to the life of my daughter.  We’ll never know if those two days and the shot made the difference, but I have to believe that it did.  Olivia is here today, and she’s one year old!  In spite of the odds everyone else gave her.

Otherwise, Olivia has an appointment at the end of January to see about getting the g-tube out.  She has been eating everything by mouth and hasn’t really needed the tube for some time now.  We don’t know how the nissen plays into the mix, but we’re hoping it won’t prevent it from being taken out. 

Mason is doing excellent as well.  He is so close to walking.  We will walk in and find him standing in the middle of the room.  It’s exciting, but I know it will present it’s own set of challenges.  He has become quite the little bully, but Olivia can hold her own with him.  I really believe he has been the best thing for keeping Olivia on track with development.  By watching him, imitating him, and having to keep up or run away from him, she has really come a long way, and so much faster than we had imagined. 

Doug and I have really enoyed this past year with them.  I am absolutely loving being a mom (of two!)  I enjoy watching them learn, experiment, play and interact with each other, and just love them more than I ever thought was possible.  Happy Birthday Mason and Olivia!  We love you!!