A Life Update

I feel like a lot has happened since I last posted and I've been missing this space. Sometimes when I try to sit down and think about what to type I lose my train of thought. SO, that's why I've been gone for so long. Most of the time we are so consumed with what is going on with Olivia, we don't have time for anything else. Not saying that's a bad thing, because thats how we like it, but every once in awhile, we need a little break.

So, here goes. I'll start with the little things.

Olivia got a school room in August! I've been wanting to repaint my old craft room for awhile. But, we weren't sure what to turn it into. Once we decided that Olivia would be homeschooled, we knew that she would need a space for school work. So, that's what we did. I might do a post later on and let you know where we got everything. I really love how it turned out.

We continued taking weekly trips to the library. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it has been having a library card. Olivia's really enjoyed it and I've actually managed to read about 4-5 books this year myself.

We went to Disney and they had all of their halloween and fall decorations up. Some friends of ours that we met a few years back on social media were there so we got to meet them in person. That made it a special trip. 

A dentist trip, an eye appointment, and a cold that didn't cause a flare also happened in August. We found out that Olivia wasn't getting a good check-up at her current ophthalmologist, so we had to get a new referral to one in Gainesville. Not that she's shown any signs of uveitis, but she hasn't had a thorough check-up since she was diagnosed. 

In September she officially started pre-k work. We dressed her up as Fancy Nancy and she had a cute little tea party. She was on a low fiber diet that day, so we tried to make it fun. She had a procedure like a colonoscopy two days after, which she had to fast for and she rocked it. We were super proud of her! The results from that procedure showed inflammation in her colon, which is why we have been doing other tests for IBD. Cdiff also came back a few weeks after her procedure and she had to start another round of vancomycin. We could tell that she wasn't feeling well because she had a low grade fever along with it.

We finished up September with some sleepovers, school crafts, and swimming at granny's. When she gets older, she says that she wants to be an artist. 

The benefits of doing school work at home is that we can take it to the park. The weather was gorgeous! Livi hid about six rocks and found two. 

Olivia's monthly check-ups have all been good lately with Rheumatology. We saw her GI doctor and discussed more testing for IBD. She had genetic testing done for IBD at the end of October and we've been checking her stool every 2-3 weeks for cliff and the calprotectin levels (which measures the inflammation in her stool.) IF she ends up being diagnosed with IBD, they will have to adjust her meds and maybe add another biologic. We're pretty sad about that. So, we're hoping her levels have just been raised because of the cdiff.

We did A LOT of yard work at my mother-in-laws house. It took a few weeks to get it all done because of all the rain. Poor Livi got eaten alive by the mosquitos. October 12th was World Arthritis Day, so we celebrated by getting some blue added to Olivia's hair because that's what she requested. She wore her arthritis shirt and we made a new video to help spread awareness.

The toy bribes have been crazy lately.  Trips to Walmart, Dollar Tree, and Five Below in Gainesville. All to bribe her so that she will use the stool catcher (TMI, I know!) Apparently, we need to make a treat box so that we have them on hand and don't have to run out every time. Look at her dino collection! Who knew the Dollar tree had such a big selection!

Of course we made it to the McIntosh Festival this year. We mainly just go for the food. But, it's been a family tradition since we moved here. October is one of our favorite months because of Halloween. We probably watched every Halloween movie and colored every Disney halloween page there was. She painted a pumpkin at the library with cousins, we picked out fall and halloween books, and we made it to festival at the airport. Which she got to dress up for and loved it! 

Rapunzel, Let down your hair!

We also took some photos at the market, got to spend halloween with friends and family, and took another mega fun trip to Disney!

Disney days are the best days, especially with family.

We're looking forward to the holidays and I can't wait to share that with you. <3

October Festivities!

Here are some photos from our October adventures.

I just love the trees in Micanopy and McIntosh. It has to be one of my favorite parts of the town. We didn't end up purchasing anything at the festival in McIntosh except food and a Peppa Pig hairbow for Olivia. Lemonade, hot dogs, and fried pickles. It definitely wasn't a healthy day, but we had fun and the weather was beautiful.

The weekend after the McIntosh festival was the Micanopy one. The town there is even cuter and is filled with adorable little historic houses. Let's see..we stuffed our face with funnel cake, lemonade, gyro's, and arepas. I did purchase an old windowpane though for $20. I'll have to repaint it, but, I want to hang it in our living room.

Olivia had fun and enjoyed the family. She probably felt like she was at a dog zoo because so people take their dogs to the festival. She even saw goats and a pig :)

We usually take a big blanket to lay out under the trees so we can all eat together :)

I just love these two below. They were both rocking their arthritis shirts at the McIntosh festival. I made Olivia's shirt, but I ordered the Cure Arthritis one from for just $15. They also have some bracelets, some racing shirts, and a big pack that comes with a shirt, buttons, posters, bracelets, stickers, and a bumper sticker. That is the way to go to raise awareness :)

We love us some QUILTS! :)

We took Olivia to her first "Trunk or Treat" on the Friday before Halloween. She was adorable! She cracked us up because she was pretty confused at first about what to do. Once she realized she was having candy put into her bucket though she would walk up to the vendors on her own. She even said "Trick or treat" a few times before we got there, but she didn't say much once we were there. She was too busy checking out other kids, it was loud, and she was just excited they were giving her candy! Most of the candy wasn't toddler friendly, so she probably had one piece. We just wanted to see how she would do really. Isn't she the cutest little monkey?