Fall happenings

We attended the KD pumpkin party again this year. O looks forward to it!


Trinity's fall festival. She is Dorothy again this year.


Surprise s'mores on the hayride!


Horse rides with Mrs. Rhonda. She never even hesitated to get up there!


Hat making. I think this was her fav. And the cotton candy.


Pumpkin contest at school. We were going to make a ballerina. But I could not for the life of me figure out a way to make the tutu. So we decided on a princess. And Matt whipped up this "throne". As I was getting ready to write "princess Olivia" on it she yells, "no! It's Glinda!" So off to find a wand! Good thing we have multiple dress up sets around. She was so excited to take it to school this morning! I sure hope she at least gets a ribbon. :)








And I got her official champ photo from breakfast with champ. So glad she's no longer afraid!!


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Engagement party

I know people get tired of me saying it but it's so true. I do have the best of friends. They went above and beyond the call of duty for Matt and me. The decor, food and drinks were all PERFECT! We had a great time and thank everyone that came. Sadly I didn't take any pics. Emery sent me these two.





I wish I had a pic of the back yard. Think Pinterest. With lights and tables and candles. It was amazing! Emery, sheree, brittany, brittany and meg-we owe y'all!! Can't thank you enough! Love you all dearly and don't know what I'd do without you!

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Homecoming and pumpkin carving

Tech homecoming was so much fun. Until the game started. We started our day by finding our bricks on campus then on to breakfast with champ.


When I first asked o if she wanted to eat with him she flat out said no. I wasn't surprised in the least. She hates champ. Then she told me she'd try to. That was good enough for me so I signed us up! Then Friday night she smiled for a pic with him and my heart leaped for joy!


This was a great event! She got a professional picture with champ, played with some cheerleaders, got her face painted and enjoyed an awesome breakfast. For real. Some of the best grits I've ever had!


Then we had a tech history lesson.





And then visited the bookstore. If o ever tells you this is where champ lives just go with it. I was tired and it was the best I could come up with. :)


And the lodge before the parade.


We met up with friends for the parade.


After a couple hours of tailgating we tortured ourselves with the game. Poor guys. Maybe next year. So we killed time by stalking the homecoming queen. No, I don't know who she is but it doesn't matter! :)


Then we stalked champ. Again. This made 3 pics in 2 days! We have turned a corner!! She LOVES champ now. Loves. Him.


Today we carved pumpkins and are now relaxing while watching movies. O really tried once we scooped out the guts. She didn't like that part. But she was pretty good with the carving tool thingy. I cleaned it up and she loves them!





Happy fall!!

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Catch up

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever! Nothing real exciting over here. Just staying busy.

Last Friday I checked o out of school early bc we had family pics. She'd already eaten lunch so she chose dessert at Taco Bell.


Fall pretty.


Columbus Day. No school. Lance and Matt manhandled these two.


Sas-a-fras


Cheap entertainment. She did her toes too.


Picture day at school.


Rocking out to the 90s at the Dixie. This is creepy Wilson.





Cupcakes with princess Sophia. Belle showed up too!!














Homecoming pep rally.





Tech XXI's first public appearance. O witnessed history.


Tmrw is breakfast with champ, the parade, tailgating then the game. Whew! Fun times!!

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Heart update. The real deal.

We met the cardiologist from New Orleans today. He was our second opinion. He was GREAT! So good with o. Playing games with her and being silly. I liked him A LOT and am glad he's our "go to" if something ever happens to dr. King.


We had an EKG and then met him and dr king. Then he did the echo. He was able to get the perfect shot so we definitely aren't going to NOLA for any procedures. Praise.

He confirmed dr. King's diagnosis. I left our last appt pretty upbeat bc everything was working right. I can't say properly bc it's far from that. I left today with a better understanding of what we're dealing with and it's pretty serious. Basically no new news but some statistics that kinda scared me.

*50% chance she'll have a pacemaker by the time she's 20.
*possible heart transplant well into adulthood (age 50-60)

Or she could live to be 100 and never have any complications.


Our focus is to catch the heart block before it happens. We will continue semi-annual appts with EKGs and echos at each appt instead of just once a year. She will wear a holter monitor once or twice a year (basically a 24 hour EKG). We will watch for extreme fatigue, headaches, nightmares and fainting. Fainting is the last straw. I told the dr I wanted it caught and a pacemaker put in before she faints. He agreed and that's our common goal!

Her condition is rare. Basically the blue blood is still going to the lungs and the red blood is still going to the body. But the weaker side of the heart is pumping to the body and the stronger side to the lungs. It's supposed to be the other way around. Since the weaker side is basically working overload it could (COULD not will) eventually give out requiring the transplant. The switched arteries cause the heart block. That's a not very fancy word for irregular rhythm. That's where the pacemaker will come in.


I don't think "no news is good news" applies here. We really didn't get any news but I guess it just sunk in more. I've never been a paranoid parent and I don't want to be. But I'm finding myself watching her closer and comparing her activity level to her friends. I'm telling her to rest more often. And the other morning when she told me her head hurt I nearly drove right on past the exit for her school and headed for dr. King's office. Thank goodness I talked some sense back into myself!

As she transitions into adulthood her "case" will be transferred to a special unit at ochners made up of pediatric and adult cardiologists. She'll have one of each. The pediatric bc he's trained in congenital defects and the adult to address any issues that arise (how will pregnancy effect her heart, etc.) They will work together to address her needs instead of just throwing us to the wolves and telling us to find a cardiologist. This is a relatively new "thing" in the medical community and there aren't many in the USA. I'm so very thankful there's one just 5 hours from us; assuming o stays close when she goes to college!!

So we just continue doing what we've been doing with a tad more caution. We go back next month for the 6 month check up. Thanks again for the prayers!!

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Dallas trip

Back early summer I found out that the lion king would be in Dallas. I first saw it on Broadway in high school and have never forgotten it. It is AMAZING. So when I saw it was going to be in Dallas I called Matt and told him to make sure he was off this weekend and I stalked ticketmaster and got tickets. This was opening weekend so I knew it'd be packed. I could only get balcony seats and if you've ever seen it then you know why it's important to get orchestra but we made due.

We left yesterday morning and made a day of it. I'd never been to the Texas state fair and you get in free with the lion king tickets so we went abt 3 hours early to see what it was all about. We saw big tex, ate some Texas nachos, watched football, looked at cars, rode the sky way and stopped by a first aid tent for o's blisters. The nurse (Matt) scored her some band aids and all was right in the world again.


Above: o's first ride on public transportation. She loved it and was sad we couldn't do it again today! For future reference, the DART is great!


On the sky way!





Standing in tony romo's steps and palming his ball.


Finally time for the show!


I think we'll be going back in march for this one.


Or maybe February for this one? This could become an expensive habit.


In our seats. Skittles for supper. Don't judge.


The best we could get of her in front of the stage.


The show did not disappoint. And o stayed awake the whole time. It wasn't over until abt 10:30. She clapped like crazy between scenes. Sang along. Laughed. At the end I asked her what her fav part was. She responded, all of it! On the DART ride back to the hotel the older lady sitting next to her asked her and the answer was the same. With a huge grin. :) but we did agree that rafiki was the best. O called the show "wild". Lol!


This morning we headed out to grapevine for lunch at rainforest cafe and then to the galleria to ice skate. The skating was her prize for having all super stamps every day since school has started. She's really been looking forward to it and telling me every day that she was good so she could ice skate!














I hadn't ice skated in abt 18 years. Matt had never done it. And o is 4. This had disaster written all over it. But it went well. She got quicker with each lap. I was able to stay in front for photos and Matt didn't fall! As soon as I put on the skates and stood up it all came back to me. Not that I was ever good (we only did it abt once a year growing up) but I can actually skate. Not just slip and slide! Lol! But I'm definitely not fast!!!








It was such a fun, quick trip. And I can't wait to do more fun weekend trips with her!!

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