High School Friends

Recently I got together with a couple of my dear friends from junior high/high school. We don't get to see each other that often, however when we do we pick up exactly where we left off. Most of the time we laughed thinking back to the silly things we did, the crazy things we wore and the absurd things we thought we needed to stress about. We are so blessed to be where we are today and to have the incredible families that we have to love. Thanks for the memories girls!

Back to School

Oliver finally went back to school on Friday for the first time since September 21st. We were so excited for him. He loves his school, friends, teachers and therapists that are so wonderful to him. Oliver is now required to have an oxygen tank with him at all times in case of an emergency. The buses are required to have a bracket installed to house his oxygen canister. So, in the meantime Simon and I need to take him to and from school. I was teaching on Friday so Simon took him to school. He said that Ollie was so happy to be there. He was extremely giddy and full of smiles! I loved hearing this! When he came home he was beat! His episodes wear him out and after being out for so long I think he was pretty wiped out from the day. He is a trooper though. I know he will jump right back into his routine as best he can. He has his Papa's determination! Go Ollie!

Elle

I ran across this picture of one of my twins today. She must have been around 10 months old and she was wearing Papa's "Ollie Power" cap. It warmed my heart...

Oliver's Home!

Oliver came home on Monday night from CHOC! We still do not have any answers but we are going to try some new medications in an attempt to decrease/end these episodes. They sent us with a couple bottles of oxygen for the ride home in case of an emergency. When we arrived home Oliver's siblings were ecstatic! About an hour later a medical truck pulled up with a large oxygen machine for Oliver's room and about 12 extra portable bottle's of oxygen for us to have on hand at all times. They want us to have it with us wherever we go in case of an emergency. All of this was a bit overwhelming to us, especially his siblings. However, we know it is just a new chapter in our lives that has begun.

-New life lessons to be learned-

The following morning Oliver and I woke up to a loud helicopter overhead! I remembered it was the day that Santa was coming to Andersen school with Mrs. Claus in the NBPD helicopter. They come every year to our elementary school and land on our field. They visit all of the kids and pass out candy canes to everyone. I think the teachers and parents love this tradition as much as the kids! Oliver and I took our first walk since being out of CHOC up to Andersen and saw Santa and Mrs. Claus getting ready to walk back to the helicopter. My good friend Cathy saw us and pointed us out to them and they walked back to us immediately. They graciously greeted Oliver and even sat on the ground with him as he could not stand any longer. My heart melted! They spent a good amount of time with him and then they said their good byes and flew away! Oh Santa...We believe!

God is Good!

Southern California Sledding!

My kids love the beach. We are extremely spoiled by our California weather. However, one thing my kids would love to experience more of is the snow. In our neighborhood we have a little tradition that we do every year after Halloween. It is Hay Sledding! The kids/parents gather the leftover hay from Halloween and scatter it on a small hill on our greenbelt. Then, everyone brings their own pieces of cardboard, bodyboards or actual sleds and hay slides down the hill. The kids love it! The kids dress up in warm winter clothing and the parents bring hot chocolate. Everyone has a great time. This is Southern California's version of snow sledding!

The Little Mermaid!

My twin daughters were in a play last week. It was The Little Mermaid! By chance the auditions occurred just about the same time Oliver was admitted into CHOC and we unknowingly began our 7 week stay in the hospital. My good friend Patty took them to the audition and wouldn't you know it Ava got Ariel and Elle got Scuttle the bird! They practiced for 7 weeks every Thursday after school with all of their friends and their teacher Mr. Matt. They loved it but I had been through a play with them before knew how much work it takes to get them to memorize their lines let alone sing a solo! I sat in the hospital and just imagined them at play practice and cringed to myself. Fortunately, I am blessed with amazing family and friends who jumped in to help them memorize lines and learn the songs. We went to the play on Thursday night and I thought they were PERFECT! Ava was great. She was The Little Mermaid with quite some rhythm! I don't know where that came from. It was pretty funny. Elle was a darling bird. She knew all of her lines and I loved watching them on stage together. They can't wait for the next one.

Halloween

First, Oliver was released from CHLA on October 30th. They were basically "stumped." They have run every test they can think of on him and have are still left with no answers. So they sent him home with us while he continues to have his episodes every 3 minutes. It is very scary to watch him as he still turns blue and loses control of his muscles. He has to be watched at all times. We have had a few conference calls with his doctors and are waiting to hear what our next step is. They are considering medications or more invasive testing. Until then all we can do is pray.

Our other kids are great. I can't believe I managed to pull together Halloween costumes for them! Here are 3 out of the 4. My 10 year old left to get ready at a friends house and took his costume off before he came home. :( He was pretty funny looking He was a big inflatable sumo wrestler with a wig to top it off!