What A Great Night!!

Oliver's Olive Tree

We celebrated Oliver last night at the Olive Branch Celebration and it was a blast!!! Our friends Joe and Amanda got the whole event together with great music and food and we appreciate all of their work so much!! All of the volunteers were amazing and put so much love and energy into making the night so special for our family. John and I went home last night and all we could really say was, WOW! We are so blessed to have so many people in our lives with such caring hearts. Thank You Everybody. Each and every single one of you are so special to us. Thank You for helping us celebrate Oliver. Words cannot express what having you all there last night meant to us. Oliver had an eye appointment yesterday morning before the celebration and only took an hour nap. I was worried that he was going to have a rough night. He knew that he was surrounded with love and also enjoyed the dinner music and the Peder Eide concert. We all enjoyed the fantastic music and the kids were all dancing up a storm.


Peder Eide snuggling Oliver. Oliver LOVED his music. He was calm and totally digging it. Oliver has always been calmed by music, this was the perfect night. Thank You Peder Eide.


Here is the group of people who helped us celebrate, it was packed house!


Great group of volunteers who realy worked hard!


Joe Johnson who hosted the event snuggling Oliver. Clearly, Oliver was very comfortable.


During dinner we were able to enjoy these gifted musicians.


Peder Eide performing and the kids dancing up a storm.


Grandpa Dave holding Oliver and good friends Ryan and Julie visiting with Oliver =)


Not only the young kids were dancing, the old..er kids were dancing too!


Adina REALLY enjoyed the night, especially dancing with friends and family.



Thank you Joe and Amanda for everything, you both have so many gifts and talents and we are blessed to have you as our friends. Thank You Peder for your fantastic music. Also, thank you for being so caring and loving. We were all touched by the night and it will forever impact our family.
Thank You Everybody.

Olive Branch Celebration

Just wanted to remind everybody of Oliver's big celebration on the the 28th. It is called "Olive Branch Celebration" because Oliver means Olive Branch. We cannot take credit for that clever idea. That was our friends Joe and Amanda. We continue to be amazed at how blessed we are with loving friends and family! It is the only way we have made it through this crazy year! Let us know if you need tickets.
Oliver seems to be doing okay after his seizure. We are pretty sure that he has had at least one more since the first we noticed. We are keeping our fingers crossed that there is not a lot of abnormal activity on the EEG.

New Bed

Adina has a favorite new place to sleep. A few nights ago I went in to make sure she was really asleep and not playing with toys, which is very normal. I had a few seconds of fright until I looked in here...



She was in her Dora tent and now always falls asleep in there. We have to carefully lift the play hut up and sneak her into bed. As long as she is asleep we are okay with it =)

Kite Runners

At play group on Tuesday the kids thought chasing a kite was the best game ever! It was so cute and also a great way to get them all tired out for nap time!
Here are the little Kite Runners, Adina is in the yellow hat.




And after a long morning of chasing kites, time for a hug from her pal Wyatt! They are so cute, they always greet by running towards each other and hugging.

Bummer

As I was holding Oliver last night we had a bummer moment. He had just fallen asleep in my arms and I noticed the chair was shaking. I thought it was an earthquake at first until I looked at Oliver and it was he who was shaking. I knew it, but we called the neurologist this a.m. and he was pretty sure it was a seizure. Oliver is very high risk for seizures, we knew this, but it still sucks. Oliver has been very irritable this week and not eating or sleeping well. Although after his seizure last night he slept all night. It takes a lot of energy out of his little body.
May 1st we will have another EEG, also Oliver's birthday. Sorry Buddy, horrible Birthday present. Hopefully these do not occur too often, not at all would be perfect, but now we are on the lookout. Until then we are enjoying the weather. Oliver now loves the stroller!! It is great!

Here is another poem I ran across today that I would love to share.

I AM THE CHILD
I am the child who cannot talk. You often pity me, I see it in your eyes.
You wonder how much I am aware of -- I see that as well. I am aware of much
-- whether you are happy or sad or fearful, patient or impatient, full of
love and desire, or if you are just doing your duty by me. I marvel at
your frustration, knowing mine to be far greater, for I cannot express myself
or my needs as you do.
You cannot conceive my isolation, so complete it is at times. I do not
gift you with clever conversation, cute remarks to be laughed over and
repeated. I do not give you answers to your everyday questions, responses
over my well-being, sharing my needs, or comments about the world about me. I do
not give you rewards as defined by the world's standards -- great strides in
development that you can credit yourself; I do not give you understanding
as you know it.
What I give you is so much more valuable -- I give you instead opportunities. Opportunities to discover the depth of your character, not mine; the depth of your love, your commitment, your patience, your abilities; the opportunity to explore your spirit more deeply than you imagined possible.
I drive you further than you would ever go on your own, working harder, seeking
answers to your many questions with no answers. I am the child who cannot talk.
I am the child who cannot walk. The world seems to pass me by. You see the
longing in my eyes to get out of this chair, to run and play like other
children. There is much you take for granted. I want the toys on the shelf,
I need to go to the bathroom, oh I've dropped my fork again. I am dependant
on you in these ways. My gift to you is to make you more aware of your
great fortune, your healthy back and legs, your ability to do for yourself.
Sometimes people appear not to notice me; I always notice them. I feel not
so much envy as desire, desire to stand upright, to put one foot in front of
the other, to be independent. I give you awareness. I am the child who cannot
walk. I am the child who is mentally impaired. I don't learn easily, if you
judge me by the world's measuring stick, what I do know is infinite joy in
simple things. I am not burdened as you are with the strifes and conflicts
of a more complicated life. My gift to you is to grant you the freedom to enjoy
things as a child, to teach you how much your arms around me mean, to give you love. I give you the gift of simplicity. I am the child who is mentally impaired.
I am the disabled child. I am your teacher. If you allow me, I will teach you what is really important in life. I will give you and teach you unconditional love. I gift you with my innocent trust, my dependency upon you. I teach you about how precious this life is and about not taking things for granted. I teach you about forgetting your own needs and desires and dreams. I teach you giving. Most of all I teach you hope and faith. I am the disabled child.

Author Unknown

Oliver's Day

Some very dear friends of our's, Joe and Amanda are organizing (along with the help of Luther Sem) a benefit on Oliver's behalf. We are SO greatful for Joe and Amanda. They have helped in so many ways already! For example, on many occasions we would come home from Oliver's numerous doctor appointments and there they would be with a full meal made for us so we would not have to worry about it, and let me tell ya, Amanda can cook! Besides having two kids she runs her own little catering business on the side.
Anway, many have been asking about it and here is the news. Oliver's benefit will be April 28th, 6:30, at St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church by Luther seminary. The tickets are 25 dollars each and this includes a meal (prepared by Amanda herself), and a concert performed by Peder Eide. I know that this is an extremely busy time of the year, but for those who are wondering, here it is =) It will be just a few days before Oliver's first birthday as well! I am really excited to just have fun and celebrate our perfect little guy.
He is doing very well with his cute little button. I will take a picture of it soon to show the before and after! He is happier with it, we think. There is no longer a long tube that hangs down to poke his little tummy.
Have a Happy Easter everyone!

Button

Oliver had his little surgery yesterday and it went great! Oliver took everything well, even not being able to eat all morning while we waited for surgery. The anesthesiologist commented on Oliver's ability to cry. We are so used to it that we forget to warn people. He is now rid of his long G-tube and has what they call a Mickey Button. It is just a little disc that sticks out and we can connect and disconnect the tube when we are done. It is fantastic!!!