Thursday, April 30, 2009

Congratulations Little Sister!!!!!!


I just wanted to say a little congratulations to my other little sister, Erica Moore, for getting second place for the "Best of the Best Nurse" in Warren County in the newspaper yesterday!!!! She has only been an RN for 1 year and she is already been voted "Best of the Best"... I have had several people I know here lately tell me how good she is at what she does, I guess this proves it!!! Congratulations little sister!! We are VERY proud of you!!! Love you bunches!!!!!
Here she is with her husband Ryan and Olivia... Woooo Hooooo!!!!!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Good News From the Doctors Yesterday.......

So yesterday, after Olivia had her tests run, the doctors told us that it should be a fairly simple surgery and that she should get to go home same day!!! Yay!!! When he ran the dye through her little sinus cavity (hole), it was very superficial!! He was worried that it might have run deep into her chest cavity or up into her neck and throat, but it didn't.... (There is still a slim chance it does, but the tests didn't show it if it does) Also, her renal ultrasound (kidney test), came back normal!! (Well, radiology still has to read them, but the lady who done it said it looks normal to her!) So, overall good news yesterday!!

By the way, for those of you who asked, Olivia has a branchial cleft anomaly. Okay, I will explain this best I can. It is a small pinhole in her chest just below her clavicle that is a congenital birth defect. (A sinus that didn't fully develop is how they explained it to me) She also has one just above her left ear, only the ear isn't giving us the problems, it is the one on her chest. When we first got Olivia, I thought she had what was a small little bump or pimple on her chest. Didn't pay much attention to it for a while because it was so tiny, you could barely see it. Then, every once in a while, I would go to pick up Olivia and she would have this terrrible stinky smell around her neck that I thought was sour milk running down her chin and on to her neck making her little neck stink... Then, one night I gave her a bath and got her out of the tub and was lotioning her up when I smelled that terrible stinky smell again and realized, "Okay, this is not milk!". Thus, here we are!!! The ear doesn't drain and smell, but they want to go ahead and remove it as well since she is going to be asleep anyway and before it can cause any problems...So, I hope this helps a little bit. Surgery is still scheduled for the 12th of May.... Oh, and the renal ultrasound (kidney) was done because a lot of times kids with these branchial cleft anomalies also have some kidney problems as well......A special thank you to all of you who prayed for us yesterday...

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Please keep our "Little Livie" in your prayers.....

Today we will be leaving at 5:00 a.m. to head to Knoxville for a round of tests.. Olivia has to have surgery on May 12th for a branchial cleft anomaly on her chest and just above her ear. I am dreading it... I am trying to act like it is no big deal to appear strong for her, but I am scared to death!!! Today we have to go and have a fistulagram and a renal ultrasound done... The fistulagram involves shooting dye through the little holes (sinus cavities that didn't fully develop) to see where they go so the surgeons know all details before the actual surgery begins.... The renal ultrasound is to check her kidney function because sometimes when kids have these anomalies, kidney problems are also involved!! Let's pray we don't have that problem... Like I said, I am scared to death!! But, the kidney ultrasound will relieve my worries of the China Milk scandal where a bunch of kids adopted from China have been found to have kidney issues from tampered milk... (If you don't know about that, you can Google it)... Anyway, please remember us in your prayers the next couple of weeks....I will keep everyone updated...

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Aunt Kayla......

Olivia spending time with her Aunt Kayla (my BABY sister) before Kayla leaves for Dallas, Texas for the summer for an internship for school... (She attends Maryville College) She is so brave,,, I would NEVER have done anything like that when I was 19... I am a CHICKEN!!! We are so proud of you and we are going to miss you bunches!!!!!




Sisterly love!!


Saturday, April 18, 2009

Beautiful Days.......

Here are some pictures of Olivia enjoying the beautiful day we had yesterday and enjoying the new sandbox her Pa made for her. She spent hours in that thing yesterday!!






Sand in her britches..... :-)





Wednesday, April 15, 2009

I made it into nursing school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


As you can see, I am sooooooo excited!!! I received my letter of acceptance into the Fall 2009 nursing program today. All the hard work has finally paid off! Now, I just hope I can make it through nursing school. There were 580 applicants this year and they chose 80. I am oh so happy!!! I think I will go do my happy dance now!!! Toodles!!!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Princess Breakfast at Church.....

So, last Saturday, our church had a princess party for all the little girls and it was a blast. All the girls really enjoyed it. A special thank you to Tonya Rogers and Mallory for letting us borrow your dress. It was perfect... Our little girl is growing up sooooo fast.....


Our beautiful princess....






So, I never had time to get together a princess outfit, so my sweet Olivia brought me her crown that her Nanni got her and told me she had a crown I could wear. So sweet!! I just love her....





Princess Olivia and her friend Princess Kalia.....



Olivia and Princess Anissa....



Olivia enjoying her princess pop....



Olivia dancing with Princess Jennifer.....




This is a picture of the table we sat at. All the tables were beautiful and the place was decorated up soooo good..



Ring around the roses, pocket full of posies.....



Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down!!!




Olivia and her friend Mike...



Easter Party for School....

Last Sunday, Olivia had to go to an Easter party at the Jungle Jym for her school. It was so much fun.. Here are some pics......






Olivia and her friend Beebee! (Tracy Mayfield's daughter). I snapped this picture just in time, because when Olivia turned around and seen how high she was, she freaked, froze and started crying and screaming. Bless it!!!




Now if you'll notice, Olivia didn't get many eggs. It wasn't because there wasn't plenty there, but because Olivia took her time and examined each and every egg before she put it in her basket. If she didn't like the looks of the egg, she dropped it back down on the ground for someone else to get! It was too funny. It was tearing her daddy all to pieces. He was saying "Hurry up Livie, hurry!!"


Olivia enjoying her Easter candy....






This is Olivia and Ryvin (Trechia Grissom's little boy)

So you are probably wondering where that pretty smile is in all these pictures, well when we got home from the party, Little Miss Olivia was running a fever of 101!!! We have been sick all week and found out just yesterday that she has pneumonia!! Poor girl.. I will be so glad when school is out and she is home with me and we are germ free for a while!!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Temporary post....

I have LOTS to blog about lately, but little time to do it so I thought I would post a couple of quick pics I took of Olivia before church this morning until I can find time later this week to do some posts. (Probably Friday at least) I hope everyone has a good week and stays well! (By the way, Olivia is sick yet again. I think it's the flu this time) :-(


By the way, Olivia's Aunt Jen and Jennie got Olivia this dress. Thanks girls! We love you.




Thursday, April 2, 2009

A Natural.......

A lady named Suki that goes to our church got Olivia a set of beginner chopsticks this weekend, so we decided to try them out at supper tonight and Olivia was a natural!! (Now, they were beginner chopsticks, so it was a bit easier), but she knew exactly what to do with those little sticks and she ate her pancakes and sausage with her chopsticks tonight!! (By the way, we had breakfast for supper tonight) Anyway, I did buy her some regular chopsticks in China, but I have been hesitant to pull them out thinking she was too young to use them. I think maybe I was incorrect!!! Thank you so, so much Suki!!!!