Merry Christmas

Our weekend is jam packed with several family members to see, food to eat and presents to open. Just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy your family, friends and all of your many blessings. I know we will enjoy every second with Olivia and will have several pictures to post. We have so much to be thankful for and we hope you do too.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Scott, Stephanie, Olivia and Boston!

16 Months

Well, we have had one sick baby on our hand this past week, not to mention mom and dad. We are all tired, bored and sick of being sick. These colds and coughs will not go away. It snowed all day yesterday and I think the high today is like ten degrees so it is too cold to go outside. Christmas can't come soon enough because Olivia is so bored with all of her toys and this house.

During this past week, Olivia has discovered the TV. A few months ago I remember saying, "I wish she liked TV so she would just sit for 20 minutes." I take my comment back. She now loves the TV and knows when Micky Mouse Clubhouse comes one. She wakes up and goes into the living room saying, "mouse, mouse." AHHHHH!

In addition to her new found love of the TV, she has started saying more words. Mama and Dada are now Mom and Dad! I love it. She now says Boston instead of Bos, milk, nose, eyes, ice, dog, duck, cat, snack and nononono not stop. she still makes gibberish all of the time, but the words are starting to click and when they do I have a feeling she will be talking nonstop!

One more thing, she also has started walking up and down the steps instead of sliding on her bottom. She is just getting so big we can't believe it!

Dancing Queen

I have mentioned several times before that Olivia loves to dance. Over this Thanksgiving weekend uncle Mark caught her in action so check it out! We never get old watching her and I am serious when I say she could dance all day...she is our dancing queen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLlRpv1Fm3g

Just copy and paste the link to view!

Nobody said it was going to be easy!

Olivia is now fifteen months old weighing in at 24lbs and is 30" long! She is growing like a weed and constantly keeping Scott and I on our toes, especially this past month.

She started waking up at night again a few weeks back and at first I thought teeth because she wasn't fully awake and it was happening every couple of hours, then things got really bad and Scott and I became really frustrated. We felt like we had a newborn again. She was fine during the day and at daycare napped normally, but at night with us we just couldn't figure out what was going on. She would cry and cry and cry. We tried to let her cry it out, which made her more upset than I have ever seen her. We tried rocking, and then she wanted to play, at 3am! So we were like what is going on. She would go from being completely hysterical to fine and wanting to read books and do laundry. We became really frustrated after several nights of this and the lack of sleep was getting the best of us. I broke down and cried one night and said to Scott, I can't do this, we are not having anymore kids. The next day I reluctantly took her to daycare and broke down in front of the sitter (again no sleep took over me) and she told me to call the Doctor. I was trying so hard to do it on my own and not ask for help and not be the mom who calls her pediatrician over everything. That didn;t happen. I ended up calling and they got her in that day. When we got there I told the pediatrician if there is nothing wrong with her I am leaving her here because I don't know what to do!!!! I actually said that! She probably wanted to call CPS on the spot! In short, she had an ear infection:( Yup mother of the year right here made her little girl suffer for a week and then wanted to leave her at the Dr. After just two doses of antibiotic she slept through the night that night and things have been better since.

I just had to blog about it because Nobody said it was going to be easy and it is so TRUE. These are the moments that your family and friends who have children never tell you about because all of the wonderful things about kids take over these frustrating moments. How could we not want more kids when we see this face!

Mommy's Little Helper

Recently Olivia has taken up a new hobby, cleaning! I couldn't be more thrilled:) Just kidding, but really it is pretty cute. She loves to take a wipe and clean the windows, floor, her highchair tray, everything. She knows where the swiffer and broom are as well and likes to get those out and help me clean. She has even started putting her clothes back in the laundry basket!!!

Let's just hope this excitement for cleaning lasts through high school!

14 Months

Where is the time going? We are in mid October already and the days and weeks just keep passing by.

Olivia is continuing to be such a joy in our lives, and continuing to keep us on our toes:) She just wants to Go Go GO all of the time. Just when I think we have baby proofed enough, she finds a way to get into something else. I think she has or is currently going through a growth spurt because the other day and everyday since, I find her opening the pantry door and reaching for snacks. I will try to catch a picture of this, because it is so cute. She is talking up a storm, well babbling up a storm, getting pretty good at using a spoon by herself and still loves to dance, but has now added twirling in circles to her moves. She also loves to help me clean and cook now. She get's out pots and pans when I make dinner and then likes to use the swiffer when she see's me clean.




We are struggling with naps a little bit, but I think we are starting that transition from one nap to two so we will see. Her appetite has also slowed down a bit, but I know from talking to other mom's that this is normal at this stage because they get distracted so easily.

I think that it is for now. Cousin Evan had a sleep over last night so that was really fun, but I think Olivia wore him out:) We are looking forward to a busy weekend filled with the Nebraska/Texas game and then Vala's Pumpkin Patch on Sunday with friends.

Avery

I am posting to ask for prayer for my dear friend Amanda's, little girl Avery. She is just two months old and has just gotten out of major surgery to repair what they call, Biliary Atresia. She has set up a care page to keep everyone informed. www.carepages.com/carepages/averyspecialschroeder. Please keep Avery, Amanda and her family in your thoughts and prayers during these next few hours, weeks and months ahead.

No Pictures

I was flipping through my camera the other day trying to clear out some old pictures and I realized that we have no pictures of Olivia since her first birthday. That was almost two months ago! What kind of mother am I? At almost fourteen months it is impossible to catch Olivia standing still for even a moment and if I get the camera, she immediately comes after me and wants it! She loves cameras, phones,computers, Anything with buttons:)After some struggle I managed to get three pictures over the last few days so here they are.

13 Months

Today Olivia is thirteen months old! She is changing everyday and continuing to show us her personality. We are definitely now out of the "baby stage" as I have started packing away bottles, infant toys, burp cloths etc. This does make me sad, but this next phase we are in is so much fun and I know that someday we will be able to pull out the baby stuff again.

Olivia loves to be outside and explore. The other day at the sitter's she picked up a worm and thought it was the coolest thing! What!!!! So glad she was at the sitter's to do this:) She loves music and dancing. She dances all the time and often times in the car I see her bobbing her head to music. Cracks us up every time. She knows her toes and hair or head, we are not sure which one she points to. She continues to be a great eater, milk drinker and sleeper. We have started to see more and more tantrums from this little one when she doesn't get her way, and she certainly pushes the limit sometimes, but Scott and I are just trying to be diligent with discipline and teach her the best way we know how at this point.

We are just thankful for each day and that Olivia is such a happy and healthy little girl!

One Year check-up

Olivia recently had her one year check up and now weighs 21.5 lbs and is 30 inches long! Our little girl is getting so long. She is still average for weight and wearing 9 to 12 month clothes, but is creeping up there in height in the 75 percentile.

Poor little girl had to get three shots and a finger prick. She did great with the finger prick and really didn't even cry, but those shots....she has never cried so hard. They were for chicken pox, MMR and Hepatitis A and the nurse said they do burn. I felt awful for her, and she continued to whimper all the way home:(

A few weeks ago she cut her first molar on the top right side and is currently working on three more, two are really close. She is actually doing really well with them despite what some babies go through when the molars come in.

Other than that, she is just busy, and I mean busy all of the time. She is walking everywhere, loves sitting in our laps while reading her books and gives us kisses and hugs all of the time. Actually she gives everyone hugs. We love it!

Olivia's First Birthday

Here are some photos of Olivia's first birthday party! We had so much fun and she was spoiled rotten! Surprisingly, she didn't attack the cupcake, but picked off the frosting and ate that, while leaving the cake part behind. When it came to ice cream, she is like her mother and loved every single bite!

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate and for all of the fun gifts! Olivia is so loved!

Happy First Birthday Olivia!

Happy First Birthday to our little Olivia!

We can't believe that a year ago today we were saying, "You're a girl...what!!!!" You are such a blessing and we enjoy each and everyday with you! Your smile, laughter and strong personality light up our lives.

We look forward to many more special moments, milestones and birthdays!!!

We love you!

Mom, dad and Boston!

Breckenridge!

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. We had such a great time and Olivia did so well on her first BIG car ride. She was such a trooper the whole week and just loved all of the attention from the family. She kept busy on the stairs, talking, reading her books and trying to play with everyone's cell phones and uncle David's computer!

We shopped, ate...A LOT, Kayaked on lake Dillion, which was beautiful, hung out with cousins, ate some more and just had a great time playing games, hot tubing and being lazy! We missed Mark, but got to see him one night and it was great spending some time with Aunt Rhonda and cousins Tyler and Evan.

It was a great vacation and we are sad that it is over, but all great things must come to an end! We can't wait to go back next summer!

Really We are Still Here!!!

I know that I am long overdue for a post, but this summer has been very busy to say the least. We are currently on a family vacation in Breckenridge, CO so I will try to update while Olivia is sleeping and not make this too long as there has been so much going on.

First, of course is Olivia. She is eleven and a half months already and I just about cry every time I think about her turning one, which is just around the corner:( She loves to go up and down the stairs and really could do it all day long. She goes up really well, but coming down she still needs some help and surprise she hates being helped and thinks she can do it all by herself. She has started to point at everything and talk and knows what to do when we sing patty cake. That I need to get on video. She knows bottle, Boston, dog, Papa, dada, mama, nana for banana, and night night! She has her top two teeth in and some others really close to coming through and she has even started taking several steps. She will be walking really soon!

Second, in the beginning of July we finally moved into our new house! We have been trying to get settled and unpack, but with several new steps for Olivia to enjoy that has been hard. Once we get back in town I want to get the last of the boxes unpacked and I really hope our new furniture comes soon! We are very excited to make our new house a home. We look forward to many great memories in our new place.

Third, an update on Evan. He has had a hard and wonderful summer at the same time. All was going according to plan with treatment, until about two weeks ago when he had fluid in his brain again and had to have another surgery. Poor little guy was pretty sick, but they put in a permanent shunt to keep the fluid from coming back and since then he has been doing much better. He has two weeks left of this first round of treatment and then they get to head back to NE for six weeks. He is very excited, but has enjoyed spending the summer with his family in the mountains. We got to spend some time with him just a few days ago and it was great to see him and hug him. He really is being so brave and strong it just amazes us all.

It has been such a busy summer and this vacation was much needed. I promise I will get better at posting now that the move is over and let's hope things slow down. Look for pictures of our family vacation soon!

Hectic

Life is so hectic right now that I can't even think straight. I recently took a new job, which I am excited about, but as you know the beginning of something new is always a bit stressful. On top of that we started packing the house and getting everything in place for our move the beginning of July. All of the little things are what stress me out, but if you ask my husband he would say everything stresses me out:)I just keep telling myself this is nothing compared to the move from Texas so chill out!

Olivia has started cruising around furniture and even took a few steps holding onto the laundry basket last night. It will just be a matter of time before she takes off and I am not ready! Her recent favorite things are to climb in and out of her toy box and the laundry basket. She loves Scott to pull her around in the laundry basket and thinks it is so fun. She recently has decided to babble up a storm. She is always trying to communicate now and it is so fun. What is not so fun is her mini tantrums that have been occurring much more frequent lately. If she doesn't get her way watch out. We are bit nervous about this.

Also a quick update on Evan. They have decided to enter him into a clinical trial out in Denver CO. He starts chemo and radiation on Monday and will be doing that for six weeks. Depending on how that goes he will get a little break and be able to come back to NE at the end of the summer and start school with his friends, which we are so hoping for. He has been so strong through this and we are just thankful for each and everyday. Keep up the prayers!

10 Months!

Happy ten months baby girl! We just can't believe how fast the time is going, but we are enjoying every minute of watching you grow and develop your strong personality.

Right now you are so busy. You are crawling everywhere, pulling yourself up on everything and have even stood with no support a few times. You always need a toy in each hand, even on the go and you love to play in the kitchen trying to open doors and get into things you shouldn't. You are such a good eater and like just about everything you have tried so far. You are not very fond of your sippy cup, but you are cutting your two front teeth right now so I think that is why. Your right upper tooth is almost through:)You love Boston, but can't understand why he doesn't love you back, some day he will! You have started to dance to music and love to be sang to at naptime and bedtime. You love going outside, taking walks and going to the park to swing.

You are such a happy, smiley and funny girl. You definitely let us know what you like, when you want something and certainly when you don't. Lately there have even been a few tantrums, yikes! Again, I think it is those teeth.

Today we put you in your new car seat so no more infant carrier. Your mom and dad are sad about that, but you are getting so long and heavy that it was time. Plus you were fighting us every time we put you in there.

We love you so much and are just in awe of what a blessing you are.

Pool Time

On Memorial Day we took Olivia to the pool for the first time. At first she was a little unsure about the water and it was a bit cold, but once I put her in the baby pool where she could stand and hold onto the side and splash, she loved it. I should have known, "Miss Independent." I look forward to many more visits to the pool as she becomes more comfortable with the water!

Good News!

Evan is off the ventilator, awake and eating jello! Such great news after a few long days. He woke up and said, "musta took a long nap." Love that little kid! Go to the site and read more as there are a few other updates! www.caringbridge.org/visit/evansharp

Thanks again for all of your prayers and well wishes for Evan and our family. It is amazing to see the good in people, we don't see it enough!

God's Grace

I can't believe it is only Tuesday! We have been through so much in the last two days that it feels like a week has gone by already. Many of you have probably been to the caringbridge site for Evan, but here is an update as well.

During Evan's surgery yesterday they did confirm that he had a malignant tumor. He unfortunately has a very aggressive form of cancer, but they were able to remove about 70% of the tumor, which was much more than expected. He got through the surgery like the strong little boy that he is and we were able to see him for a quick minute in the PICU. He gave us a thumbs up and moved his left toes and tried to squeeze his dad's hand. He might have some paralysis on the left side so this is why I mention this. The plan is to get him strong and then start chemotherapy in about two weeks.

This afternoon they did another CT scan and it showed a blood clot and some fluid building up in his brain. Something we knew could happen. By the Grace of God and all of the amazing prayers from family and friends, Evan was able to be rushed to surgery right at that moment to release the pressure building up in his brain and the clot. He is stable, but in critical condition and will be on a ventilator tonight and possibly through tomorrow as well.

He is proving to be the strong boy that we know he is and thanks to everyone who has emailed, sent texts or called me and my family today sending their prayers. It will continue to be tough, but we are so hopeful and blessed to be together as a family during this time. Please just keep praying for Evan and all of us to be strong!

And just like that....

It's funny how life works. We get so caught up in the day-to-day things that sometimes, or often times we take for granted the simple things in life. Last Thursday was a perfect example of this as the day was hectic like any other and I was just going through the motions of daily living. And just like that it all came crashing down as I returned a phone call to my dad.

I was on my way to pick up Olivia from the sitter's when he told me he had some bad news. What he told me was nothing that I could ever be prepared to hear. My nine year old sweet cousin, Evan has a malignant brain tumor. I made him repeat it because I was sure I did not hear him correctly, but I did. "Evan has brain cancer" he said. I can't even explain all of the emotions that were and still are going through my head. I just cried.

Evan is such a vibrant, funny, outgoing and loving little boy. He is sweet, sensitive and just loves life. He is the kind of kid that makes ten new friends everyday!

Evan will be having a 4 to 6 hour surgery on Monday at Children's hospital here in Omaha to hopefully remove the brain tumor. We do not know at this point what his treatment plan looks like and we will know more on Monday. Most likely he will need radiation, chemo or both.

I just ask that you pray for Evan, his two brothers and my aunt and uncle. Pray for our whole family that we all keep faith through this difficult time and try to understand God's Plan.

My aunt and uncle have set-up a blog that you can follow and I will certainly be updating as well. They are also asking that you keep this verse in your prayers. Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evansharp

Hot or Out?

Recently Olivia has been saying either, "Hot" or "Out." We think it sounds more like "Hot," and if we say it she usually repeats it right back. We are pretty sure that she has been mimicking Ella at the sitter's because Ella always stands by the door and says, "out" for outside. Either way Olivia is trying to say something and there is a definite "t" sound!

I am going with "hot" and I made sure to mark it the baby book:)

Finally!!!

Congratulations to my cousin Cassie and her husband Randy on the arrival of William Ryder! He finally arrived yesterday evening after being very stubborn. Her due date was May 3rd, yikes! William weighed 8lbs 3oz and everyone is doing well! We love you and are so excited to see more pictures and meet him!!!!

9 MONTHS!

We just got back from Olivia's nine month well visit and our little girl is just growing like a weed. She is 28 inches long and weighs 19lbs, 7oz yikes! She certainly loves to eat so this is no surprise. She is healthy and strong and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful, funny, beautiful and very independent baby girl.

My brother David was home this past weekend and it was so great to see him and spend some time with the family while he was in town. My sister is in a great show at the Omaha Community playhouse called, Awesome 80's Prom so we all went to see that and I recommend going to the show because it is hilarious and very interactive. It runs the whole month of May so check it out.

We also recently put an offer in on a home and close the beginning of July! We are so excited and can't wait to move into a bigger house and celebrate Olivia's first birthday with more space, yay!

Here are some recent pictures!

Here's what's new with us, well mostly Olivia!

-She is now waving and clapping! We always say, "yay" while she claps and she just smiles, so cute!

-We had to lower her crib again to the lowest setting because she was already trying to find a way out!

-We took Olivia to the zoo for the first time yesterday and we all had a blast. We have not been in years and there are so many new things. We bought a year membership so I am sure we will make several trips. She loved the aquarium and just being outside looking at all of the people!

-She now thinks that it is fun to spit all of her food out when she eats! We can't decide if this is her way of saying she does not like her vegetables anymore or if she is just playing. Either way it makes meal time longer and very messy, but we just laugh! I also think she is ready to start eating more finger foods so that could be part of it. She just wants to be so independent. Her nine month check up is just a few weeks away so I am sure we will be starting more foods after that!

-We took another day to look at houses and found one that we really like, but we just don't know. We have been going back and forth on a few things and I guess we are just waiting for a sign to either go forward with this one or be a little more patient since it is still kind of early, hmmmm???

-I am loving my new part-time schedule and feel so blessed to have this extra time with Olivia!

8 MONTHS!!!!!

Can it really be that our little girl is already eights months old!!! We are having more fun than ever with Olivia these days and she is certainly keeping us on our toes each and every minute! We love you so very much and are in amazement by how much you have blessed our lives!!!

Here are some picture from her first Easter!

Busy Girl!

It has been a crazy past few weeks and not too much is going on, but I will take a minute to update since it has been awhile.

We finally have some warm weather and I officially think all of the snow is gone, yay! We have been taking Olivia on some afternoon and evening walks and she loves them! I think the other day it got above 80 degrees and I even had her in short sleeves. She is busier than ever and just goes nonstop all day. She crawls everywhere and is pulling herself up on furniture now. We caught her standing in her crib one night about a week ago. May I remind you that she just started crawling a few weeks ago...yikes! Our little girl has no fear. She is so determined and absolutely will find a way to get to something she wants. It just blows my mind how she knows exactly what she can't have. She has so many toys, but none of them are as cool as the remote controls, cell phone, Boston's food or shoes. She recently started spitting as well and thinks that is funny, which sometimes it is.

We started the house hunt today and it was fun, but exhausting. We didn't find "The one," but it was the first time actually looking with our realtor. I am optimistic that we will find something!

We are looking forward to Easter tomorrow and of course I can't wait to get Olivia all dressed up. I think we might actually have a nice day tomorrow so it should be fun to spend some time with family and eat some good food!

That's it for now!

IT ALL WORKS OUT!

Here is a quick update on what has been going on this week!

It finally clicked and Olivia is now crawling! She saw Boston's bowl of food across the room and she was determined to get so she did! Now she is crawling everywhere and even pulling herself up a bit on her toy bin....yikes!

On the downside, she has been spitting quite often again, and we have tried to figure out why, but after talking with the Dr. she has to be back on Prilosec. Her reflux, if that is what she truely has, went away for awhile, and I thought we were in the clear, but I guess not! Hopefully it get's better with the medicine!

The biggest change this week came on Friday and ties in with my last post. I had a meeting on Friday afternoon and was told that all staff needed to cut their hours to part time because things have been so slow and financially difficult. I was stunned and really did not know what to make of the situation. As we know this is what I have been wanting, but it is under sad circumstances. I work for a really small company and I want it to be successful, so I feel bad that the growth of the company is somewhat on hold. I was told that it is temporary, but with no exact time frame.

It is really strange how this is a mixed blessing. I will now get to spend more time with Olivia during the week, but now as we are looking at our budget and really wanting to buy a house, it might not happen and that is somewhat stressful. But as I have recently learned, it all works out in the end!

Still Struggling.

A few months back I did a post about the balancing act of being a new mom and a working mom at that. For awhile I couldn't seem to satisfy myself with my decisions on a daily basis and was questioning everything that I was doing. Then things got better and I gave myself a break and realized I couldn't do and be everything to everyone all of the time. I have accepted that I will constantly have clutter around the house and the laundry will have to wait till the weekend at best. But, and this is a strong but, I still feel conflicted, and more so lately about my true happiness about doing it all.

I find myself with that pit in my stomach on Sunday nights because for the next five days I am going to miss Olivia. I miss her more than ever when I am at work, and I just feel like I have taken five steps back on the emotional mom scale. Yes, the first few weeks back at work, were hard, but I seriously miss her more now. And, yes work is unusually stressful right now so that could play a part, but I can feel myself losing motivation. On Monday I am already thinking about Friday and it really has never been that way.

The bottom line is that I want to be home more with Olivia, but financially I can't be home right now. It just isn't in the cards and my wonderful husband is doing everything he can to make it happen some day. I need to find a way to just be happy with my current situation and get through it. I know several mom's are going through the same thing, I just thought by now I would be feeling better and I really don't.

7 Months!

Today Olivia is seven months old! I remember bringing her home on August 6th so vividly and here we are in March. The months are flying by and she is changing so much! She has her two bottom teeth, is very close to crawling, has recently realized that Boston is someone to play with and she continues to let us know when she is and is not happy!She has a very strong personality. I am afraid that soon, she will not want to cuddle with me and the days of just holding her are over. I am starting to realize why my mom had four of us!

February was a rough month. Once we got back from Houston her bottom teeth started to come through so she was really cranky and then got a cold. Either from the teething or the trip, who knows. So we had a few rough days with that and then about a week later she got the flu, which was horrible and so scary for us. We had several sleepless nights and she could not keep anything in her little system. We felt so bad for her and it was really tough on Scott and I. When your little one is sick it is the hardest thing, especially when you work! We were both mentally and physically exhausted. The good news is that she is much better now and we are once again, trying to get back into a routine!

Spring can't get here fast enough as we are in need of some warm, sunny weather!!!

Toes

From the moment Olivia realized she could grab things, she went straight for her toes and they have been her favorite toy ever since! She loves her toes! She loves them so much that she recently started putting them in her mouth and sucking on them! I know gross, but it is also hilarious and why we take a bath every night!!!

Six Months!

We have been so busy lately that I never got a chance to post a six month update on Olivia and she has had several big events lately!

Just last week we took our first plane trip to Houston to see David and Kim! Scott couldn't come along because of basketball, but I had wonderful help thanks to my mom, dad and sister! It was interesting going through security with a baby, baby bag, stroller, infant seat and my things, phew!!! Everybody was patient though and Olivia did great and even managed to take a nice nap through a pretty bumpy ride as we approached Houston thanks to some rain!

We had a great trip, full of shopping, way to much eating( I got my Chick-fil-A!!!) and just spending time with David and Kim and checking out their neighborhood! David played the guitar for Olivia and she loved it! I hope he writes a song for her sometime:)

On Tuesday Olivia had her six month well baby visit. She weighs 16lbs and is 26inches long. She is in the 51% for weight and 59% for height! She is growing like a weed, but we know she will be tall! She had to get a few shots that day, but she did great and then that night her first tooth started to come through! She has been teething for several weeks now and I new it would happen any day. I stuck my finger on the bottom of her gum and sure enough it was sharp! I was so excited!!!

She is also sitting up on her own now, which she has been doing for about a week and a half now! If she falls over, she will go to her stomach and then push herself up. I think she will be crawling soon, yikes!

We also started green beans this week and so far she loves them. Actually, Olivia likes to eat so much that I will be surprised if we come across something she won't take from a spoon! She just thinks it is so fun to eat like a big girl! Next up, PEAS....hmmm????

One last thing, Congratulations to Emily who was blessed with the birth of her baby boy Ryan on February 6th and to Molly who welcomed her little girl this morning. Last I heard they were still deciding on the name!

Here are some pictures that we took right before Olivia turned six months!!!!