SEVEN MONTH UPDATE

little olive bug turned 7 months old yesterday, it made me realize that in 5 short months we'll have a one year old on our hands!! we love our little babe more and more as the days go by.  she brings such a sweet spirit into our home, she is such a blessing!

her personality is really starting to shine through!! olive is such a happy baby A LOT of the time.  there are a few moments through out the day where we catch a glimpse of her attitude. :)

she is still loving her baby food- and gets jealous when she see's us eating.  she loves to drink out of "big girl" cups & loveees water!

olive can sit up by herself now and has been able to for a while.  about a week before christmas she started pushing herself up onto her knees like she was ready to go somewhere.  and on christmas day, she started rocking back and forth on her knees.  now- it's just a matter of time before she is crawling.  she tries so hard and gets so frustrated.  she scoots herself backwards and sometimes can go forward without moving her arms.  i love watching her learn.

about a week (or two) after thanksgiving, olive got the croup really bad.  we thought she just had a little cold and bam! it hit like a ton of bricks in the middle of the night.  it was pretty scary!  we had olive sleeping in our room on a blow up mattress the entire time she was sick! and of course- this was the first time our little babe has been sick.

she is all smiles, all of the time.  she loves to laugh, scream and tell lots and lots of stories.  she loves to play with toys!

she is in a cuddling stage right now and we love it! she even likes to cuddle with her daddy! and you can tell he is in heaven! she loves to cuddle right up next to him at night and fall asleep.  it's adorbs!

we are so excited for 2014 and to see all the exciting things the new year will bring us!!

merry christmas 2013!!

trials

i have been wanting to write about this for quite some time now, but have had a hard time finding the time to actually sit down and write.  about 4 (maybe five) months ago i started having some real horrible stomach problems, which i thought was just a nasty stomach flu... that lasted for a while.  when it had lasted longer than two weeks i was kind of concerned but again, never really thought anything of it. i figured i would wait it out to see if it continued.  about a month passed, and i still was having these stomach issues.  at this point i was just frustrated.  frustrated at the fact that i couldn't figure out what was causing these problems.  i kept telling myself- call the doctor and schedule an appointment.  but when you have a 4-5 month old keeping you busy all day, every day it just slips your mind (quite often).  but after two MONTHS straight of having these horrible stomach problems every single day, i decided TO CALL MY DOCTOR!

i scheduled an appointment and met with my doctor.  and explained what was going on and the symptoms i was having.  she had noticed that i had lost 45 pounds within two months- which was concerning to her, although most of it was baby weight.  she wanted to look into it further.  i had lots of blood drawn and tests done.  about a week later, i got a phone call from my doctor letting me know that i was diagnosed with irritable bowl disease.  nasty right? and that she wanted me to schedule an appointment with a specialist right away!! so i did.

and then the fun part began. i met with a gastroenterologist who told me that he wanted me to have a colonoscopy so they could figure out exactly what was causing these stomach issues so we could get it taken care.  we scheduled the colonoscopy at LDS hospital about a week later.  if you've ever had a colonoscopy you know that the procedure really is not bad at all- it's the prep the night before that is horrible.  and i mean horrible.  the drink is so AWFUL. really though.  it's so bad! it made me throw up. i told dave, i would rather have a thousand babies then drink that nasty drink again! the procedure went smoothly and we briefly found out what the doctor saw but he wanted to test it a little more.  two weeks later i got my results- i had ulcerates in my colon!  my doctor proceeded to tell me that there are medications to take that would help with the symptoms. 

then, about one or two months ago (i'm horrible with time frames) my mom went in for her yearly mammogram and they found a lump in her thyroid.  they wanted to do some blood work to see if it was cancerous or not. seriously they were SO slow about this whole process.  it felt like it took a month just to do the tests and get the results back.  she got that dreaded phone called that yes, it was cancerous and that she would need to have it removed.  

last tuesday, she went in for her surgery.  the plans were to take out both sides of her thyroid so that if anything were to happen in the future she wouldn't have to go through it again.  smart, right.  the surgery went SO well.  (long, but everything was in our favor) the doctor came out to tell us that the lump was in fact, NOT cancerous so they only took out one side of her thyroid.  she was able to go home that night.  

friday, my mom was able to go back up to her doctor's office in layton to get the tube removed from her neck that was draining all the blood and junk.  she was doing so well and recovering quickly.  she got back home from her appointment and received a phone call from her doctors office telling her that they needed her to come back right now.  right then, she knew that what they had to tell her probably wasn't going to be good news. for some reason they had made a mistake, and the lump WAS cancerous and that she would need to get the other side removed as well.  but not only that, she would need radiation. 

our family has gone through so many challenges throughout the last 5+ years. and i wonder HOW MANY MORE are we going to have to go through?! i was praying so hard that everything would go well and that my mom wouldn't need radiation and that it wasn't the cancer that could spread.  i was so relieved when the doctor came out the first time and gave us the good news!!! when my mom called to let me know she would need the other side removed AND radiation, i was so disappointed.

every single one of my church meetings on sunday i needed.  it really brought to my attention (once again), that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us.  we need to and are supposed to go through the trails and challenges that we are faced with to become the person we are meant to be.  what we go through in this life on earth is not even close to what Christ went through to suffer for our sins.  a girl in relief society made a comment that i absolutely loved.  she said that we all feel down, and we all go through struggles in life- we can pray and ask for Gods help as many times as we want.  but the times that our prayers will truly be answered is when we open our hearts completely to him- let down all the walls around your heart.  and let him in.  then will we truly feel and see his love and comfort.

today, my mom went in for her second surgery. the surgery went well once again.  they were able to remove all of the cancer.  just waiting for the results to come back on a few things.  my mom was much more alert but seemed to be in so much more pain than the last surgery.  she has to stay the night but we are hoping she will be doing well enough to be able to come home tomorrow, so that she can be home on christmas eve & christmas.

fotofly santa

i took olive to fotofly santa today. back in july when we took her for her 2 month pictures we were given a 50% off coupon for the fotofly santa... so we figured, why not? i think that it's so fun that they have the parents dress up as santa claus. olive thought it was the funniest thing that i was wearing that costume, especially the beard. i love how they turned out so i had to share!!

6 month check up + Santa Claus

weight: 14 pounds 4 ounces (20th percentile)

height: 27 inches long (90th percentile)

head: 16.5 inches

shots: 4 + 1 oral :( poor baby.

teeth: none, yet.  doc says her bottom gums look like teeth are comin'

clothes: still wearing 3 months clothing... except with her super long legs she is wearing 6 month pants occasionally.

other: we love our doctor so much! if you go to Grow Up Great Pediatrics in bountiful- you have to see dr. tew.  he's the best.  doc said that olive is beautiful and healthy! she is progressing at the rate she is supposed to. she can sit up pretty well now... for a few + seconds without tipping over.  i know she'll have it in no time. i know i say this every time, but i love watching her grow and learn new things!

we went to our ward christmas party the other night.  i heard santa was going to be there so i made it a priority to go.  it was olive's first time meeting santa and she didn't even cry!! all she wanted to do was pull his beard right off ;)

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas..

although this crummy weather seems to put a huge damper on my mood- i absolutely love this time of year.  the holidays seriously make me SO happy.  my husband is the complete opposite. (how funny, right?) i had to really contain myself not to put up any sort of christmas decoration until the day after thanksgiving.. i succeeded. olive loves the christmas tree, with all the lights and ornaments. after today, it really is beginning to look a lot like christmas.  at our house up on the hill we have about a foot + of snow. and it's still coming down. i hate driving in it, but it just adds the finishing touches to the holiday season.  some of my favorite things this holiday season are.....

+decorations
+holiday smells
+christmas tree & lights
+holiday moods
+snow on christmas day
+christmas music
+parties galore!
+family
+the feeling on christmas morning
+my baby's first christmas & second as a married couple
+the lights at temple square
+christmas count downs

a little family photo sesh

my mom took us kids and our families to get our pictures taken this weekend, and i am so happy with how they turned out.  all of olive's pictures turned out perfect and everybody there was drooling over her. speaking of family photos... i entered to win a free family session with emmylowephoto- and I WON!! we can't wait!