About Me

Hi! I'm Samantha. Most people call me Sam. I was born in Louisville, Kentucky. From there I moved to Tennessee until I was 16, and then Florida became home. I love being a mama, spending time with family, going to the beach, thrifting, crafting, all things Disney, Target, coffee, spring time, and reading.

 

I made this space to share Olivia's journey, but it's just been more of family sharing. One day, I'd like to pass it down to her so she can read about her younger days and then maybe continue sharing once she's old enough.

Dannie and I will be married 10 years this May. It's been so much fun doing life together. Life has changed since having a kiddo and for us probably more than others. But, we wouldn't change anything except maybe try to get in more time together. <3

Olivia was diagnosed with Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis at 10 months and our life changed after that. She's been on different immune suppressing meds since then. Some meds have worked better than other's and she's gone from almost being in medicated remission to being in the hospital. She's now 7 years old. She was diagnosed with Crohns when she was 5. It hasn't held her back one bit. We've had to add more infusions, but when you look at her you can't tell she gets infusions every 8 weeks. She has a huge personality and loves being the center of attention. She also loves animals, barbies, reading, and drawing. She also loves all things girly like her mama. She loves getting her nails painted and loves twirling in fancy dresses. 

Our daily routine

I've been struggling with this blog stuff lately. I have plenty of time (most of the time), but when I convince myself that I'm going to sit down and start typing, I find something else to do. I've been wanting to talk about what our daily routine has been here and what better time to do that than right now.

Olivia is currently sleeping, but she's due to wake up any minute. Anyway, Dannie and I haven't slept past 7:45 since Livi was hospitalized. I'm not complaining because I feel more productive when I get up early. We just wake up more tired. If I have plans during the day I usually try to pack everything and get it together the night before because it's tough getting it all together last minute. Is anyone a good last minute packer? I always forget something. 

We (usually Dannie if it's during the week) take Olivia's injection out of the fridge around 7:45-8:00 am so that it has time to get to room temperature. If it was still cold, it would hurt even worse than it already does for her. She usually watches Doc McStuffin's or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we wait. She gets her shot at 8:30. From there we make breakfast and get her other medications ready. Depending on how messy she gets during breakfast will depend on if she gets a morning bath or not. 

She is still taking TWO naps a day! Woo hoo! She's usually a little grump by 10:00-10:30, so we lay back down and she will nap for a bit. This usually gives me time to straighten up the house and shower if I need to. When she wakes up it's lunch time. If we have errands to run we will do that after lunch or before and just pick something up while we're out. 

Her second nap usually happens between 2:00-4:00 pm. If she doesn't get this nap the rest of the evening doesn't run too smoothly. I will usually either nap with her or continue to work on house stuff. I've been planning a weekly menu and have actually followed it this week. If we don't follow the menu we always spend tons of money eating out. Once dinner is over, we spend the rest of the evening playing with Livi and catching up on our shows. Dannie has been going to study at 9:00, so that's when I try to put Olivia to bed. Some nights it takes about 10 minutes and other nights it takes close to an hour. 

We don't do a lot during the week besides visit my mom or run errands. Eventually, I'd like to ask her Rheumatologist if she can take any kind of mommy + me classes. Our local gymnastics place offers a toddler tumbling class. I think she would enjoy that and it would give us something to do one day out of the week. Also, once school starts back here I want to take her to do some other stuff, but it should be less crowded then. We have tried to get Olivia to wear a mask that way we could do more stuff with her, but she is not a fan. We will have to keep working on that as she gets older. 

I'd like to hear what your routine is and what works for you. What do you do if your little one misses a nap?