12/19/08 - HIVES, HIVES, EVERYWHERE!!!

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Poor little Ollie has been very ill since Thanksgiving. He came down with double ear infections, double pink eye, a fever, and a bad cold.

So the Dr. put him on antibiotics. But, after 2 weeks he still wasn't better. So they put him on stronger antibiotics. A week later, and a day after his birthday, he woke up with hives all over him. It was so scary looking. We thought he had the measles or fifth's disease. But, we rushed him to the Dr. and they just told us it was hives. It's possible that it's a reaction to the antibiotics. But, it's also possible that it's totally non-related. They just couldn't tell us.

The poor boy was miserable and itchy. And his fever came back in a big way. He couldn't sleep so Daddy and I took turns rocking him and trying to soothe him. No fun at all. But, after some Benadryl, he is slowly looking better.

12/18/08 - OLIVER TURNS 2!

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My baby boy is 2 today. How did this happen? It seems like yesterday he was just a newborn baby. Time flies.

Oliver loves rocket ships so John made him a rocket ship cake. It was a nice surprise for him. But the biggest birthday surprise was the many more inches of snow we got. Oliver went out in it briefly with Daddy in the morning but then spent the rest of the day playing inside.

Due to the snow, we had no guests at his party except us. But he's too young to know that he missed out on having folks there.

He loved the piggy bank he got and the new stool with his name on it. Thanks Mary Ann and David for the stool! We are told to expect more packages soon after the snow lets up. It will be an extended birthday for Ollie!

12/17/08 - SNOW ADVENTURES

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Today there was snow and lots of it. Ollie is more reluctant in the snow than his bigger brother these days and is particularly hesitant around the scary snowman in the front yard.

But, he agreed to suit up and play in the backyard. He looked like the "I can't put my arms down" kid in "A Christmas Story" and actually toppled over a few times and was unable to get up without assistance. But, he still enjoyed trying to put snow in a bucket and kick a big beach ball around the back yard. Today is his last day of being a 1 year old! My little boy is growing up!!!

11/20/08 - IF I CAN MAKE IT THROUGH 2!

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I've heard concerns from friends and family about why there are no blog entries lately. My explanation? These boys are keeping me so exhausted and busy that I hardly have time to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. And many days I think I am one small tweak away from the funny farm.

You know, it's odd to me that when people first have a newborn everyone flocks to their aid with home cooked meals and helping hands. But honestly, life with a newborn is really quite easy in my opinion. They just sleep, eat, and poop. There are no temper tantrums. There is no tattling. They aren't mobile and trying to stand on the highest piece of furniture to take a swan dive. They aren't sticking raisins in the DVD player or feeding the dog an entire box of crayons. They aren't hitting their brother. They aren't trying to test the waters to see who's in charge. Nope. A newborn is easy.

The real time when people should flock to your aid is when you have a 2 year old. They don't call them the terrible twos for nothing. So, instead of "Awe...you have a newborn in the house. Are you okay? Are you getting any rest?" they should say "Oh my...you have a 2 year old. Are you losing your mind? Are you wiped out from dragging your kid in and out of time-out? Is your brain melting from the constant tantruming because they refuse to share their toys?" Yes, this is the time when help and prayer is needed. Truly, if I can just make it through until Ollie is 3 there might be hope for me. Right now, I'm just proud that I kept everyone alive for another day.

Anyway, here is a picture of Oliver (the "almost 2" year old tyrant) who dragged me out into the rain and cold to kick a ball around but then just ended up trying to pluck all of Daddy's plants and things and then escape down the sidewalk. Ah...the joys of motherhood.

10/27/08 - PERFECT BLUE SKIES AT PIONEER PARK

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Hallelujah...there is still sun in the sky!!! It was cold and damp but I bundled up the boys and we headed out to Pioneer park to play. We actually were the only kids there at 10:00 AM. I guess other people didn't want to let there kids get wet and icky in the cold air. But sunshine will soon be disappearing for many months so we had to take advantage of it.

The leaves on the trees were just beautiful. They were varying colors of red, orange, and yellow. I love this time of year.

Ollie and Orion had fun playing in the sand volleyball court, riding on the little crank train thingy (although Mommy got tired of turning it and turning it), and chasing each other in the tunnel.

We returned with sand and dirt everywhere but happily exhausted. Now Orion is at school while Ollie naps. Time to get something productive accomplished.

10/21/08 - BAXTER AND OLLIE

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Today Oliver woke up early from his nap and there was actually sunshine outside so we went out into the back yard to play with Baxter.

Here's the routine. Baxter sits at my feet while I hold the frisbee. Then I say "Ready, Set..." and Ollie hollers "Go!"(although it sounds like "Doe") and the frisbee is tossed and Baxter takes off. Then Ollie giggles while Baxter runs around the yard and then he waits for his turn to shout out the final command again.

Ollie also loves the sandbox but we have had so much rain recently that it was all wet and icky. It didn't stop him though. He dug around and had sand stuck to him everywhere. Then shortly after, the school bus arrived with Orion so we brushed everyone off and headed back indoors.

10/8/08 - EARLY TERRIBLE TWOS?

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It used to be that Oliver was our easy one. And maybe that's because Orion was and has always been a bit complex. But recently it seems like roles have changed.

Orion seems much more manageable, predictable, and tolerant of things he once did not tolerate. He's definitely made some leaps and bounds in the past year.

And Ollie, a typical child, is now reaching his "terrible twos". He's trying to exert more independence but he doesn't have the physical and verbal skills to do all that he comes up with in his head. So, he gets frustrated. That I don't mind as much.

What I do have a struggle dealing with is the tantrums when the answer is "no" to something he wants. Recently the battle has been Playdo. We finally let him play with it hoping that he was past the stage of eating it. He does fine for a while and then he suddenly tries to eat a chunk. We find him with red or green stuff oozing out of his mouth. The evidence. We tell him no. We tell him not to eat it. He understands...we are certain. But he waits until we aren't looking and does it again. So we take it away and this is when the tantrum happens. And he can throw a big, long, drawn out tantrum. So, we've been doing lots of time outs. But time out doesn't work well in public and his tantrums often continue there for other reasons.

I wake up these days dreading the endless tantrums we will all endure from Oliver. Yes, that's right...our sweet little Oliver is passing through a not-so-sweet stage. I tell myself, "this too shall pass".

Here are pictures from today of him playing outside. He refused a nap and was intolerable inside so since the sun was shining we went outside to pass the time. Lord help me when the sun stops shining for the long, dark winter we always have in the Northwest.

9/23/08 - BINKY FREE AND NT

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Well, there are two good things to announce recently about Oliver. First, he finally broke the binky (pacifier) habit. It was a tough few days when it came to napping and sleeping but he eventually got used to soothing himself back to sleep by just sucking on his blanket. Now he talks a lot more without that plug in his mouth constantly. But, the downside is that he puts everything that he shouldn't in his mouth so you have to watch him constantly.

The other announcement is that the school district evaluated Ollie and it turns out he is NT. For those of you who don't know what that means, it's a term used in the autism community that stands for Neurotypical. That means he is developing normally.

Two ladies came by and evaluated him. It was the exact same testing they did on Orion about 3 years ago so it was a strange deja vu for me. But it was also evident how completely different my two boys are. Ollie was very engaged with the ladies and talked a lot. He transitioned from one activity to the next with no problems. But when it came to doing shape puzzles he was truly puzzled. I can remember that Orion whized through the shape puzzles with flying colors at age 2. Orion also counted items much better and recognized more words and letters in books.

I was concerned before they told me the results. But apparently, Ollie is exactly where he should be developmentally. I guess kids on the autism spectrum tend to be super smart with the visual piece and numbers and letters. That explains Orion's results. But they tend to struggle with transitioning, verbal, and social. Those were Ollie's strong points.

So, our kids are very different and it's a good thing. God is shaping us through raising these amazingly wonderful boys.

9/9/08 - PERSONALITY PROFILE

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I'm just posting because I took a picture of Oliver today that I really like. But here is a general update on my little cutie pie.

He's almost 21 months old now and he's got his own little personality. Mostly, he's just so sweet. He is curious. He is a climber and gets into things quickly. You have to be on high alert around him or he will get into trouble.

Here is a list of things he loves...

• balls (totally obsessed)
• balloons
• berry picking and eating blueberries (he calls them "blue-eees")
  
• airplanes (he says "bye, bye eh-pwane" and does the peanut butter, parade wave)
• chocolate pudding ("pu-ing, pu-ing, PU-ING" over and over again)
• independence (he wants to do everything himself and often can)
• baths
• slides (he calls "lide")
• swings (he calls "wing")
• his big brother Orion (he calls him "O-wine" and really looks up to him and enjoys playing with him)
• threading things between his toes (loves this. when he falls and hurts himself we do this to sooth him)
• blanky, lamby, and binky (trying to cut back on the binky though)
• peek-a-boo
• pop-up books
• silky tags on anything (blankets, clothing, curtains)
  

Ollie is usually very well behaved unless he is sick, teething, or overtired. I must say that we absolutely love this kid. We love when he tips his head back and squints his eyes and grins from ear to ear and says "fu-eee" (that's his way of saying you're funny). He's just so adorable and amazing and we feel so blessed to have been chosen by God to be his parents.

8/22/08 - A DAY WITH THE AMISH

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Today we met up with Grandpa George and the family and went to Ethridge, TN. There is an Amish community there that John and his Dad grew up around. We went to a produce auction in an open air barn. Local Amish farmers hauled their produce to the barn in their wagons and buggies. They would drive their wagons through the middle of the barn and people would bid on the crops as they moved through. The boys were excited to see the draft horses and all the different types of vegetables.

We then drove out into the farming community and stopped to buy corn, tomatoes and okra from the farms. We brought it all back to our cabin and roasted corn over the fire. Uncle Matt and John made the classic Alabama dish: fried green tomatoes. Great food and fun with the family.

Here are pictures of Oliver, Orion and Grandpa checking out the Amish buggies.