Winter 2010/2011

Olivia's doing great in Pre-K so far. We were back at Kluge at UVA in December and Olivia has been diagnosed with ADHD due to her brain injury. So, she is on generic of Adderall and it's helping a lot at school! Her teacher is very impressed with her ability to focus more now and sit still, follow directions, etc. etc. So glad first med. we tried is working!
Madi is in the Small Impressions class at Daycare at our church and is doing great, as well. She is making little girl-friends and learning how to paint and color among other things!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas this year--girls are now 18 months and 4 1/2, hard to believe!
We have Olivia's surgery scheduled for April 25th at Roanoke Memorial to repair the same bone defect in her head...this time using a patient specific graft so it'll be permanent. We are also looking into a CIT program at UVA (contraint induced therapy) for Olivia maybe this summer or next, depending on our ability to pay, since insurance is not billed for this. Her new doctors and therapists think Olivia is a great candidate for it and it'll help her the most with using her right hand. Stay tuned for fundraising events this spring/summer to help us fund this!! :)

Summer Lovin'

It's a hot, hot summer in VA and we are still lovin' it! So far Olivia and Madi have been to Fairy Stone @ the lake, Splash Valley in Rke, few birthday parties (even rode a pony!), and enjoyed our pools in the back yard! Olivia is fearless, but doing so well with balance and climbing. Her dad and I are so proud of her every day. Daycare is going well, although she'll be starting preschool in the Fall in Rke City, right close to home. Madi is just growing like a weed and already weighs 21.5 lbs. I am so in love with my girls and thankful for all my blessings in my wonderful family! <3 Brian is my true love and the rock in the family. We stand together against the world! Love him.

update for June

Hi all, well, Olivia has grown into her 4 yr old shoes :) She "graduated" from Connect Threes in May and is ready for Preschool this fall. We've decided to enroll her in the Roanoke City REACH program for pre-k at Fishburn Elem. We meet with the teacher June 7th to go over goals for the upcoming year. Olivia has always been our miracle baby and she continues to impress us with her determination. I feel like this will be the best way to catch her speech up and work on OT while learning skills to prepare her for Kindergarden. We're excited to see how she does!

Madi is standing on her own and sidestepping around many toys (and people)...has cut her third tooth, first on top just this week!!! She's looking very tall for her age, just like Olivia was. Little miss also has a bit of a temper or impatient quality, we might say :) If she doesn't get her way, and right away, you will know it!

Currently, Olivia has pink eye (Madi's already had it twice this year) and bad sinus drainage and got put on Amoxicillin today. She's had a fever on and off since Sunday morning on the way back from Ohio. She's not eating well and seems to be dehydrated some. Please pray for our angel, she's staying home again tomorrow w/Nana... Madi has thrush for the 2nd time since April and appetite may be affected some, but not too bad.

Thanks for reading...

Madi's first tooth!

Last night her dad felt her gums again and there is a point on the bottom! Yay, maybe she'll be more happy now! Since last post our lives have been turned upside down. Water damage from the icemaker hose has us staying in an apt. for over a month now. they plan to have us back in the house by next weekend, finally. Olivia's bday party is this weekend, however, so we're having it at a nearby park! The apt we're in is the exact same one that Angie, Brian and I lived in back in 2001 when Brian first moved to VA :) It's nice that we have it, thanks to manager Angie, but it's been a challenge with sleeping, walking Dexie, no cable, etc. Dex even had us scared to death one night when he choked on a bone (won't do that again!!!)
Madi has had thrush, 2 colds, fevers, throwing up, all in the last month and finally cut her first tooth last night--milestones happening and i don't have access to their baby books b/c all our belongings are packed away in storage until the floors are down :( Trying to keep up with it all, pray it won't be long till we're back home!!!

appointments

Since the new year, Olivia and Maddie have both been their share of sick. Olivia had a few bad days with vomiting/fever/no appetite, due to sinus drainage and a viral infection. Maddie had more of the head congestion, now is coughing some, too. Other than that, Olivia had an appt. with Dr Apfel today after 4 months previous and gaps in her head are same size as before. She thinks the bone that's there is not defective, but just doesn't have something to attach to to grow and so we'll have to fill in the gaps again whether we do the same surgery as last time or we use a synthetic piece that would be patient specific, made just for Olivia. We're talking within a year or two, so no hurry. She is going to get more info from the supplier of the synthetic piece about options with children. So, we'll see her again in June, then October and be thinking about our options until then. We met with City of Salem schools last week and they want to do a full evaluation on Olivia to see what she may qualify for as far as therapies, etc. through the school system. She's doing well in her new Two Steps Up class, but we feel she's a little behind in speech and attention span. Daycare is going to try her again in the Connect Three's class March 1st. She went to the Curious George Live show last week and we've taken her to see Seasame Street Live and gone to an indoor carnival at the mall this winter. She's doing good in therapy, progressing--just slowly. Mrs. Robin has been having Olivia wear the sewed shirt during activity time daily for constraint therapy and Ms Jenny (OT) does the same for about 10 minutes a session. Olivia is more willing to use her right hand now, however it's still difficult for her to use it for many things. Assists well. Please pray for us and for olivia's head, God's will be done! His grace carries us through turmoil. We are blessed!

Thanksgiving/Christmas 09