Trying again...and again...and again....

In the spirit of the upcoming summer season, I've decided it's time, once again, to get serious about getting healthy.
I just finished watching the Biggest Loser Finale and was crying through most of it. Just seeing the difference in these contestants and the way their smiles have changed from when they started losing weight....
....made me want to be there
In a big way.
So, at the risk of failing...yet again...and doing in front of anyone reading this...again....I'm re-starting my diet blog.
I never got rid of it...just gave it a break for a while.
Okay, so it was a year.
Sheesh...I just think if I had stuck with it....where I could be right now.
But....I digress.
It's gotta be better to start over again...and again...and again...well you get the picture...than to never try again.
I know this is a cop-out, but I am starting after we get home from camping this Memorial weekend.
Not because I want to be able to eat everything possible....
Okay, maybe that is why.
But really I am hoping to use some quiet time in those few days to make some serious menu plans and snack idea lists.
I plan to make it a family affair.
I know Tyler wants to change some things before heading off to High School this fall....
And I know Jay could use some changes himself.
We all could.
Below is the button that will bring you to my healthy eating blog. I'll restart it on Tues. but you can check up on what I started last year.
I just did and I was surprised at how well I really was doing for those couple weeks.
I am determined to do better this year and stick with it.

P.S. I am eating a Hostess Ho Ho while I write this. Is that bad?

Baseball games

For the first time, Timmy decided to play baseball this spring. He has been playing on the school's team for about 2 mos. and really loves it.
At first, all I could think of is how it was just one more thing to have going on....but considering we aren't in the midst of any other sports right now, it's been pretty low key.
They've had several games and practices rained out, but all considered they've done pretty good.
They started tournament playoffs last week and have their last game tomorrow. It will be for 3rd place.....not bad.
Tim has really come a long way with his playing since the season began. Hitting still remains his biggest challenge, but he's getting better.
This past week he really stood out in the outfield. Three different innings came to an end because of him getting the 3rd out.
Once was with bases loaded and a fly ball to left field that Timmy caught, forcing the other team to waste their chance to bring in all those runners.
The second was a line drive straight for him that he lunged for and caught just before it hit the ground. Very exciting.
And thirdly, he stopped a ground ball and made a perfect throw to first base to get the guy out.
I was so happy with just one of those plays....but three...??
He was so excited and it was really good for him to have some moments like that. We've really enjoyed the season and are looking forward to him playing again next spring.

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Sunday Snapshot: Faces

A face can tell a thousand words.
A person can be perfectly quiet and yet, just by looking at their face, you can tell what they're thinking....
....how their feeling.
Livi's face continues to tell a story every day that we have her.
She can't tell us how she's feeling.....
....but we see it in her eyes
A perfect snapshot of her heart
From fear and uncertainty.....

To the beginning of trust......

From the confusion of not knowing what's happening to her.....

To healing and understanding......

....about the smiles of happiness that lay ahead.

Olivia talking

This is a video I caught of Olivia talking to me. Tanner was clearing the table after breakfast and took her milk cup from her spot. She was trying to tell me about it....like she was tattling on him. It was so cute, I had to get it on video.
She tries, but just can't seem to form the words.

Update

Today makes 9 days since Olivia had her lip surgery. It's amazing how well kids just bounce back and you'd never know she was even hurting.
She's been doing really well. Eating, talking up a storm(nothing new that we understand yet), and healing has all gone great. She seems to be having fun with her voice these days. She is always jibber-jabbering about something, even when she's just playing on her own...more than she ever did before. It's like she's having fun seeing what new sounds she can make now with her new lip. Very cute.
We had our check up with the surgeon yesterday morning who agreed that it looks great and is healing nicely. Much to my surprise, we even went ahead and got her next surgery for her palate scheduled. It will be on July 11th. That one will be a little more difficult for her as it is much more invasive than just the lip. That part I am not looking forward to...but it will be nice to get it done and start to get working on her speech.
Just when I thought we were good and all was well, we were at Timmy's baseball game last night and that bubble burst. The game was going long, almost 2 hours, and she was just fine the whole time. Playing and running around. Tanner sat her down and went about 2 feet in front of her to rolled a basketball to her. Just as it got to her, she looked down and WHAM....right in the mouth. I saw the whole thing and it happened in an instant. As soon as I picked her up, she was bleeding quite heavily from her incision under the middle part of her nose. CRAP! I quick went to one of the other moms for reinforcement to see if she had a tissue. She went digging and about 3 other moms quick handed me some. There was blood on my shirt, on her shirt, all over her mouth, nose, chin....everywhere. She was screaming and Tanner felt horrible.
Thankfully, the game was just ending so we were able to get home where I could get it cleaned up enough to see what really happened. I gave her a quick bath and tried to wash it as best as I could. It wasn't that it was terrible, but the skin at that part did open up and was bulging out some. I decided to call the nurse line at the hospital where she had it repaired. I just wasn't sure if they would need to stitch it again or not.
Long story short, she called our Dr. and he said they really wouldn't do anything at this point...just put come ice on it and try and bandage it down with antibiotic cream. We ended up getting some butterfly bandages and so hopefully it will come back into place and heal well. What a crazy night. All this in between Tim's game that went way over on time and then having to quick get home, change, bathe her, call Dr., and get back to school or Tyler's band concert. I swear, I think the phrase "when it rains, it pours" was invented for us.

Finding her voice

Yesterday....

less than 48 hours after having her lip surgery....

and able to put both lips together for the first time in her life.....

Olivia called me mama.

Surgery Success

Yesterday, May 9th, was Olivia's surgery to repair her cleft lip. 
We arrived at the hospital at 11am for her 12:45 surgery. 
She was in by 12:30 and done by 1:45. 
They let me walk her in to the operating room and hold her while they put her to sleep.  I just assumed that she would struggle for a bit when they put the mask on her, but she didn't at all.  In fact, when the dr. came near her with it, she leaned forward and let him without one complaint.  They gave her some nitrus first to relax her as she layed against me, then the medicine to put her to sleep.  It happened very quickly at that point and they took her from me to lay her on the table.  That part was hard to watch.  It was hard to walk out of there and leave her looking so tiny on that big bed, and so vulnerable to what we were doing to her. 
Then we waited.....and prayed. 
It didn't take long for the first surgeon, who was putting tubes in her ears, to come out and say he was done.  This meant the next doctor was now starting on her lip.  It was strange to think about what she would look like when she was finished. 
When the surgery was done, we got to go into the recovery room.
On the way there, the nurse told us 3 things....
...that she was awake
...that she looked amazing
...and that she was "P.O'd" (that's "pissed off", in case you weren't sure)
Our first reaction was utter amazement. We could not get over how different she looked. It's just unbelievable what a difference an hour can make.
She reached for us right away and so I picked her up and started to rock her.
We stayed in recovery for about a half hour until let us go up to her room she would stay overnight in.
Once there, Jay held her for at least an hour as she went back and forth between being awake and upset and asleep. They had her on some morphine, so she was pretty out of it for a while.
By about 2 hours, post-op, she was really starting to look a little better. She just didn't look so foggy and she let me lay in bed with her and put on an Elmo movie, which she loved. She even laughed at one part...that was huge.
As the evening went on, she got more and more like herself.  She ate an entire plate of mac n' cheese, applesauce, and some yogurt.  That was great.  She even took some milk from a sippy cup....wrapping her whole mouth around it for the first time.  Very cool to see.
 Jason had to leave at about 5:15 to go to Tyler's National Junior Honor's Society Ceremony, but he came back afterwards with Cindy and the boys. They were so excited to see her. It was fun to see their faces as they saw her for the first time.
Tony said he was a little "freaked out"...and Tyler got light-headed and had to sit for a bit...but otherwise, it was all love. I think just the blood and all made them a little nervous.
She stayed close to Jay and I for a while, but ventured off the bed when her baby cousin Ben showed up with Pat and Lindsey. They brought her a Dora bath doll that flaps it's tail in the water. She will have a lot of fun with that.
The night went well. I was able to sleep on a pull out chair by her bed side. She slept good except when the nurse kept coming in to check her vitals every 2 hours. That woke both of us up, but luckily she would always fall back to sleep.
She was discharged by 10:15 this morning and has been noticeably happy to be home. She must have wondered what the heck was going on and where the heck we were. She looks even more amazing today as she did yesterday and I know it will only continue to get better and better as it heals. I'm so excited for her.

The morning of her surgery....

PLaying in the waiting room.....

Getting her blood pressure taken....

A bed was ready just for her....

More toys while we wait...

She got to pick out a scented chapstick....

We smelled all the different kinds before picking....

Picking out some new toys.....

Found one......

First post-op pictures.....

er

watching Elmo in bed.....

Her brothers come for a visit....

Playing with her new doll from Pat and Lindsey.....

Our first hospital family picture....