Olivia turned seven on Friday, and we celebrated in Nebraska with a pajama party. I’ll share photos soon—here’s a sneak peek.
Happy birthday, sweet Livie Lou!
Archive for the ‘Olivia’ Category
18 Nov
WORDS.
One of my favorite blogs is known for occasionally submitting “WORDS” in place of actual commentary, as if real sentences can’t do justice to the ridiculousness of the situation. It’s likely an overreaction to do so here as I outline the past couple of weeks, but it’s tempting. If nothing else, it might explain my delay in writing.
Ava had her tonsils out nearly two weeks ago. A couple of days prior to her scheduled surgery, our ENT recommended a third set of tubes for Olivia, who had straight up failed a hearing test at school. The scheduling nurse suggested we bring them into the surgery center on the same day. At first I was reluctant, but in the end, it was hard to argue with the efficiency a joint recuperation created.
Both surgeries went well, and it wasn’t truly stressful until the girls were in recovery. (These were the fourth and fifth surgeries we’ve had as a family with this doctor, and so we knew we were in good hands.) But, it felt worrisome as Bryan and I bounced between post-op rooms, each of us catching only half of the instructions imperative for our patients.
Olivia, who initially–and quite literally–protested surgery, woke with no discomfort and a smile on her face, thanks to a renewed ability to hear. Ava, on the other hand, struggled through strong pain medicine, and resisted the very things that would ease her transition from hospital to home.
Ava continued to do the same (as she’s known to do) for days on end. She would occasionally yield, allowing us to give her pain medication and popsicles without protest. In my experience, there’s nothing more frustrating than seeing a child in tremendous pain decline obvious remedies. WORDS.
But, the week progressed, and both girls were the beneficiary of incredible generosity: visits, calls, cards, gifts, homemade soup, balloons and even ice cream treats. These helped pass the time, and we were so appreciative of our parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and neighbors.
Ava finally returned to school Monday, after 10 days of recovery. She’s nowhere near 100 percent, and I’m surprised she’s made it two full days. But, it seems she’s on the mend, and we are hopeful she will experience far fewer illnesses in the coming year.
This fall has felt like a challenge for more than a handful of reasons, but if nothing else, we know we are fortunate to have tremendous support. Thank you!!
29 Oct
Olivia fix
My mom may have given the kids undo credit in her comment on the post below. Here’s why the kids were really raking leaves at Gramma and Grampa Great’s this weekend…
6 Oct
Overheard: Livie Love
Aunt Katie, to Ava, who had just admitted to watching all of the vlogs created by a boy in her class: “Why did you watch those? Do you have a crush on this kid? Are you old enough to have crushes?”
Ava: “No.”
Livie: “I have a crush.”
Everyone: “What?! Who?”
Livie: “Nathan.”
Rebecca: “Cooper’s going to be devastated.”
Livie: “COOPER is my arch enemy. I said ARCH.”
Katie: “Why do you like Nathan?”
Livie: “Because he looks good.”
30 Sep
Smith family fix
The kids and I met Tom and Katie downtown for the KU homecoming parade Friday night. Up next, we have plans to see a home game (I hope!).
22 Sep
Weekend update
Last week was A Challenge. It would have been a comedy of errors, if not the for the tragedy that made its way in midweek. While we nursed sad hearts, life around us went on–though perhaps not as we’d have preferred.
The hermit crab died on Sunday, Ava spent the first part of the week with strep, then Owen came down with a virus that took up residence in his trachea. We had more than one middle-of-the-night discussion about ER visits due to breathing issues, and an acute lack of sleep to make it a little more difficult to deal with everything at hand.
I’m not entirely sure what happened with the crab—a few weeks ago, she seemed to want to change shells, but wouldn’t commit to the extra we had tucked into her substrate. I bought three additional shells in varying sizes, but by early the next week, she’d stopped burrowing. When I told Olivia that she didn’t make it, she was devastated, upping the Smith family pet body count to six (a guppy from Girl Scouts, four county fair goldfish, and now the crab). She looked at me accusatorially and said, “How is the CAT, Mom? Is SHE okay?” Ava handled it a bit better, noting that she’d been doing research on chinchillas.
Ava’s illness–the third one related to her tonsils in as many months–netted her an appointment with an ENT. Next week, they’ll evaluate her for a tonsillectomy. She’s thrilled; she’s heard you’re only allowed ice cream and popsicles for days. She didn’t miss any school, though only because classes weren’t held on Monday. By Friday, she was glad to attend the KU volleyball game with me and and her friend Sophia. Come that Friday morning, Owen was perhaps the sickest he’s ever been, and his swollen trachea made it hard for him to breathe. One strong dose of steroids and a lot of ibuprofen helped substantially, and by Saturday morning, he was feeling much better. While I had to miss a substantial part of a very busy work week, I will admit that the downtime spent holding a sweet baby made it a bit less stressful.
Ava and Olivia marched in the KU Band Day parade on Saturday morning with their Girl Scout troops, but the rest of the weekend was blessedly quiet aside from some yard work and errands. Given the work missed last week, I sent my event coordinator in my place to our Texas events, which start today. I was disappointed not to travel, but it seemed to make more sense to stay at home. We will head to Nebraska on Wednesday for Thursday services. Despite the circumstances, I’m very much looking forward to seeing our families.
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