Poor Ollie

I have so much to tell you about our holidays (do you mind hearing about our December all through January, because that's how it's going to be?) but I've been so preoccupied.  Here's the reason you haven't been hearing from me.

 Poor Oliver has not been doing well.  He's been having seizures (his fourth was yesterday) which have meant multiple trips to the ER, doctors visits, lots of tests, and lots of worry.

Today was the big test that we've been waiting for, the EEG, which will hopefully shed a little light on what's going on.

 I never thought I would want to see him this way, but it was a relief. We've been so worried about him and we've been feeling so helpless so this is one small thing that might lead to some help.

We should have the results from our neurologist within a week.  Best case senario would be that the seizures are just caused by breath-holding spells and nothing more complicated is going on.  When Ollie gets hurt or upset, he lets out a loud cry and then he stops breathing.  He basically suffocates until he passes out.  Usually he's just out for a moment, but sometimes, he has a seizure afterwards.  The breath-holding spells are scary, but the seizures are terrifying.  If his seizures are just caused by breath-holding spells, there is nothing that we can do, but most kids grow out of breath holding spells around the age of two so we're hoping that the EEG doesn't show anything else going on.

We had to sleep deprive Ollie for the EEG so it was a rough day at Casa Ford that we are all looking forward to putting behind us.  Poor Ollie was worn out.

The crazy part was that when Ollie was born, my friend Kristin, one of the other designer for Sycamore Street Press, was also in the same hospital with her newborn, Sullivan, so we got to hang out in the hospital together.  Sullivan was also at Children's Hospital today so we lectured the boys that they have got to stop meeting this way.

Here's hoping life gets better for both of these boys!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

and we are lucky enough to live by one of the most beautiful places to see Christmas lights in the world.  All of my Christmas decorations may be in storage, but it certainly feels like Christmas around here.  Actually, having the decorations in storage have been a good reminder that Christmas is not about things, but more about celebrating our savior and spending time together as a family.  We've been busy doing just that (ok, we've been involved in some of the fun, commercial side of Christmas too, but we'll talk about that later).

 Since we live so close to Temple Square, we decided to go see the Christmas lights there more than once.  We'll be visiting when my family all gets into town for Christmas, but why wait?  Our friends the Davids joined us, and it was such a nice relaxed evening.

 I loved watching the babies, Ruby and Ollie, in awe.  And even though I'm not sure how much Ollie really comprehends, I love watching Larry lean down and whisper explanations of Christmas and the nativity to Ollie.

 Have I mentioned that I'm desperately in love with that guy?  Because I am.

 Its amazing how there can be huge crowds at Temple Square, but it still feels so peaceful.

 I had no idea that if you head east of the temple, there are large nativities from around the world displayed (you learn things like that when you go places with the Davids)

 And the walkways by the nativities are all lined with amazing luminaries.

 Before I was a mom, I had no idea how much sharing moments like these with my boys would mean to me.

 As an added bonus, Creed was so tired that he fell asleep leaning on this trash can while we were all taking off our shoes at home so I guess the evening brought us all a little peace.

Coming to you live from a new location!

We survived the move and we couldn't be happier to be settling in a new apartment.  We've been busy unpacking and trying to find places to store things.  Our new home was built over a hundred years ago, but has recently been completely remodeled so everything is new.  It's charming, but it definitely has it's quirks, like the one and only bathroom, which only has a tub with a handheld shower.  It's beautiful, but it will take some getting used to.  You can tell how deep it is from these photos, but it's sort of like swimming in a pool.

 The boys love it, but I have to say a handheld shower is not my style.

 And I have yet to pick up the three shower curtains it requires.  Good thing we can still run over to the old apartment to shower right now.

And here's the part where I have to admit something weird about myself, I have a weird phobia of showering in new places. I seriously dread it.  I HATE hotel bathrooms no matter how luxurious they are.  I HATE figuring out how the drains work and working to find just the right temperature with knobs I'm not used to.  And thinking about who might have showered there before? Yikes!  Do any of you feel the same way?  There must be a name for my condition . . .

Even though this tub has just been reglazed and this house has been under construction for years so I don't have to fear who used it before, I still dreaded using this tub, but now that I've tried it out a few times, I have to admit, if you like taking baths, it's pretty amazing.  Do you think it will make my family members want to come stay with me?  Who wouldn't want to soak in there while listening to their favorite Pandora station?

Spotted and Hearted

Nothing makes a girl feel better than having a lot of supportive friends.  Thanks so much for all of your kind comments.  We're trying to tackle one thing at a time around here.  It looks like we will have both apartments for a month so we can take our time (although I don't want to, I just want to get the move over with so we can have some fun and focus on Christmas around here.)

Speaking of Christmas, if you're looking for some holiday cheer, fun things are popping up all over town.  If you follow the tradition of setting out your shoes for Sinterklaas and you want to really be authentic, you can pick up chocolate letters at the old Dutch store (or you can order them online if you don't live locally).

Even if you don't need chocolates, I love just stopping by to look for fun Dutch candies and chocolates for stocking stuffers.

And have you been to Costco lately?  Who can pass up a huge, fresh wreath like this for $15.00?  They also have fresh 25' garlands for $15.00, and if I had already moved, I couldn't have resisted them!  Hurry, the garland tends to go fast.

Oliver at 9 Months

Oliver is going to be considered a toddler instead of a baby in no time.  Can you believe how big he's getting? This happy little guy keeps things cheerful around here.

He's learning so much.  He's started to say "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma" when he wants me and "Da Da Da Da Da" when he wants Larry.

He stands on his own a lot more.  I think his record this week was about 15 seconds.

He still growls a lot and has startled quite a few people when we're out on the town.

Luckily, we took these pictures for he got really sick the next day.  He has croup and just lays and whimpers most of the day so I've been spending my time cuddling with him instead of packing because who can refuse this cute little face, especially when he makes the effort to crawl over to you and pull on your pant-leg so you'll pick him up?

Larry says he wants to remember how this month, when he comes home from work, Ollie grins and crawls to him as fast as he can.

He's also very busy exploring, and I love watching him get around which works out well since he often needs to be rescued.

He goes everywhere I go; voting, shopping, pre-school drop-offs . . . The life of a second child who goes along with our busy schedules.

Creed's been helping me introduce Ollie to life's simple pleasures, like swings.

Larry's also trying hard to introduce Ollie to the good things in life, like Ikea.

When Creed was this age, I was always so excited for him to move on to the next thing, but with Ollie I'm happy to let him take his time.  Too bad Ollie has different ideas and is growing up impossibly fast.