October

Emma and I spent the first week of October in Ohio with family and had a wonderful time. Mommy was able to enjoy a (kid-free!) girls lunch out, Emma spent nearly every day playing with her cousins and was doted on by all her grandparents. We were even able to attend a family birthday party and fall outing to a local farm, events we normally have to miss out on. It was a blessing to be home while daddy was away!

Daddy's boat pulled in on October 9th, and we waited at the pier anxiously for him to disembark. Many plans and helicopters were flying over the base while we waited and Emma kept pointing to each one saying, "plane!" or "airplane noise!" or "copter!" Planes are her newest obsession these days. She also would yell "Daddy!" at every man who walked past us wearing a flight suit. I had to keep telling her, "No no honey. That's not daddy." But finally, daddy arrived and our reunion was sweet, as usual.

On October 11th, Emma attended the 3rd birthday party of a little girl named Regina, daugher of some friends we knew in Anacortes. The party was held at a place called Kangaroo Jac's, a kid mecca full of inflatable bouncy toys, slides, tunnels, etc. Emma stunned Chris and I as well as many bystanders with her fearlessness. She wanted to play and was not afraid to try even the tallest slides. She's so little that she looked like a missle being launched out of a cannon, but would shriek with glee after flying down each slide. At this same party last year, she had just gotten out of the hospital, was still catching every little bug and sickness, and had lost a great deal of weight. She also was still 100% tube-fed and I marveled at how much has changed in a year as I watched her sit at the table and eat pizza with all the other kids. She's happiest being around big groups of people and thrives when around other kids.

Just yesterday (the 22nd), Emma and I waited for an hour and a half at the dealer while having our car worked on. She ran all over the waiting room, approaching each person (she particularly loves old men - "grandpas" as she calls them) and saying, "up! up!" She wanted everyone in the room to hold her, read her the books I'd brought, watch her dance, etc. I'm not sure when to start instiling stranger anxiety into her, but she charmed and entertained the entire room.

What is Emma like these days? She's amazing. She speaks in 2-3 word sentences and is quite easy to understand. She loves airplanes, books, and going to the park. She's always loved to swing, but the slides are slowly becoming her favorite...both climbing UP and going down. She loves our dog and cat and has even started calling the kitty "stinky rat" like we do. Every day when Chris gets home from work, she runs to the front door yelling, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" She is discovering the joy of climbing and crawled up onto our higher-than-average couch unassisted for the first time yesterday. She is also DONE with crawling on the steps and is DETERMINED to walk up and down like a big girl (although still needs to hold onto something). She's full of life, loves people, and just this morning finally weighed in at over 20 pounds (20 lbs, 4.5 oz, to be exact). She is the joy of our lives.

Climbing UP the slide...one of Emma's favorite pastimes

Emma in the corn-filled covered wagon at Pigeon Roost Farm

Dinner with Mema and the cousins

Watching Dora before bedtime with Grandpa

Playing on the slide with cousin Elise

At Kangaroo Jac's - Emma was 0bsessed with driving the car

September

September was filled with a variety of small, but fun events. My parents visited during the last week of August and after seeing how much work was still left to finish on our house, my dad offered to stay and help. We were not about to say no.

Zack Tate, A friend of ours from Anacortes, spent his last 5 days before a 7-month deployment at our house. Because his family is still in Pensacola, FL and will remain there until he returns, Zack needed a place to crash during his last few days of freedom. He also helped with a few house projects. It was a real blessing to have so much help!

Our new windows finally arrived! After months and MONTHS of fighting with the window company (it's a LOOOOOOONG story), the windows that we ordered and paid for in June were finally installed. What a blessing to be able to open the windows and enjoy a breeze on nice days!

On September 11th, Emma returned to the feeding clinic for another weigh-in. This time, she'd only gained about half of what they were hoping for although she is still developing quite normally. Elaine told me that we could probably lose the feeding tube since it had been so long since we'd used it, but I said I would feel more comfortable with 1 more weigh-in. She gave me many ideas on how to add fat and calories to Emma's meals, and I have been faithfully following her instructions for fattening Emma up ever since. Our next appointment is November 19th and regardless of her gain, Chris and I feel quite comfortable moving forward with taking Emma's tube OUT OUT OUT. She is eating like a champ! We are done with that G tube!

Chris left for a month at sea on September 16th. I decided that it would be a perfect time for Emma and I to return to Ohio and take advantage of the waning time that we have to live within driving distance of our families. But before we could leave, we had to show up for Emma's appointment with CHKD's NICU follow-up clinic on September 25th, an appointment that we had to wait 6 months for. The appointment was nearly 2 hours long, but Emma passed all her developmental tests with flying colors! She even surprised me by doing a few things that I didn't think she could do! When the testing was over and the neonatologist came in to see her, he declared that she'd tested so well he didn't see a need for continued follow-up. We were officially discharged that afternoon, and Emma received a onesie and baseball cap as a little graduation present! Another incredible milestone for her and reason for Chris and I to praise God! We left for Ohio the next morning and Emma (and our dog) were angels during the looooong 12-hour drive.

Stay tuned for October...

Emma discovered mommy's old sunglasses.

She walked around the house saying, "Cool, cool." all morning!

Playing in the Children's Garden at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Our past 3 months...starting with August

Hello all! Has it really been 3 months since I've blogged? How in the world did that happen? My sincerest apologies. There's much to tell, but since I'm trying to avoid writing the world's longest blog entry, I've decided to fill y'all in via a series of shorter blogs. Pretend it's actually the month I'm blogging about and you'll be reading the blog entries I should have been writing all along...

August - two major events occurred that are worth blogging about. First, on August 14th, Emma's 18-month birthday, Emma "graduated" from the Virginia Beach Early Intervention program, the program that provided her with physical therapy services for the past 12 months. Although she had no idea what was going on, it was a really special day for Chris and I. The EI program holds a "graduation" ceremony each August for the kids who are being discharged and their families. This year's ceremony was held at 3:30PM at a church out near the oceanfront. The ladies who led the music at the EI-sponsored music classes led the kiddos in some silly songs and a few speakers spoke, doing a good job of keeping their comments brief since many members of the audience were under the age of 3. Afterwards, the mayor of Virginia Beach took a picture with each family and gave all the "graduates" a signed copy of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" When it was our turn to meet her, she chatted with Emma then turned to us and said, "You guys are doing a great job with her." It was really special. We said goodbye to Debbie, Emma's case worker, and a few other families we'd met along the way. Chris decided to take all of us out for Italian food to celebrate, and we finished the evening with some family time on the beach. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day and we were so happy for and proud of our little peanut.



Emma strolling along the beach with daddy




Mommy and Emma




My favorite picture of our family this year!


The second August event worth mentioning is that CHKD (Norfolk's Children's Hospital) invited our family to be a "featured" family in this December's radiothon. As a result, I was asked to come to a local radio station's studio on August 19th to make a recording of Emma's story that was a bit more in-depth than the 30 seconds were given during June's tel-a-thon. When I got up that morning, I knew it would be a big day. For me, shairng Emma's story is cathartic - I feel as though talking it through provides healing to my heart, little by little. Emma and I arrived at the radio station on time and met Joy, a member of CHKD's PR department, in the lobby. Eventually, the DJ came and introduced himself to me, telling me a bit more about the protocol for making the recording. He concluded by saying, "...and if you start to cry at any time, just go with it. It's not a problem. It brings some realness and emotion into the story for the listeners." My main focus was on trying to share the story in its entirety without being too wordy, yet without leaving out any relevant details. AND...if an opporutnity arose, I was hoping to say a few words about our faith and how we feel God has worked in Emma's life. People will let you say anything when you're sharing about a sick child, so I didn't want to miss an opportunity the Lord might be providing! It would not have gone better. As I was sharing, I felt distinctly as though my words were being blessed. The DJ was in awe of certain things that I shared and kept asking for more clarification. I managed to avoid crying until the very end, when I was reading a quote I found on a blog written by another mom whose daughter also had feeding issues. Nothing I've read more accurately describes what it's like to finally see your child begin to eat, and I cried when I read it. When I finished, the DJ was wiping his own tears away. Afterwards, Joy promised me that we would be given a copy of the final recording, and that it would be available to listen to online during the radiothon December 10th - 13th. When I find out more details, I will let all of you know how you can hear it for yourselves, if interested. Stay tuned!

And that's it for August!

Summer Va-ca

We just returned from a week-long vacation at the cottage in northern Ohio and we all had a FABULOUS time. Here are just a few pictures from a wonderful week of fun...



We enjoyed some Donato's, our favorite pizza in the whole world, on the way to the cottage.




Uncle Jeff, aka "the Pied Piper," reads Elmo to the nieces and nephew




Emma and daddy having a moment




Splashin' in the sink! Emma LOOOOOOOOVEs baths.




Daddy with his biggest catch of the week




Daddy and Emma playing in the pool




Emma and cousin Katie playing cars.

O Happy Day!

Have you ever felt so happy you thought you could cry? Have you ever experienced so much joy that you have absolutely no idea what to do with yourself? Joy that makes all emotional expressions (singing, shouting, dancing, crying, laughing, etc) seem too small? Like you can't pick just one but even the combo of them all just isn't expressive enough?

Today is a day like that for me.

This morning I took Emma to see Elaine, the pediatric nurse practitioner at the feeding clinic, for her quarterly checkup. The feeding clinic is part of the rehab program at CHKD (the local children's hospital) and is comprised of the rehab docs who supervise all of the therapists employed by the hospital - occupational, speech, and physical. Basically, kids with deficits in one or a combo of any of these areas requiring therapy are all funneled through the rehab clinic. The speech therapists in the feeding program are just one of many areas they oversee. Each time she visits the feeding clinic, Elaine watches Emma eat, asks me lots of questions, assesses her development, and performs a complete physical exam.

Emma's speech therapists pulled some strings and got her in to see Elaine last September, when her eating (or lack thereof) was at its worst and her reflux was at its peak. Since then, she has seen Elaine consistently every 3 months. Each time an appointment with Elaine looms on the horizon, I find myself increasingly nervous as the day approaches. In Emma's early days, fears not only that her development would be found "abnormal" but also that some other huge (and unforseen by me) problem would be discovered plagued me night and day. And if anyone would catch it, Elaine would. Completely professional, thorough, and extremely attentive to detail, Elaine's examinations are more complete than anyone else's. She has impressed (and frightened) me more than any other doctor Emma has seen simply because her assessment, in my mind, is the one that really matters. To me, Elaine's definition of "normal" - both in the amount of calories Emma should be eating as well as the amount of weight she should be gaining - has seemed like a near-impossible goal to achieve.

Turns out I was wrong.

She did it! She did it! Emma did it! Even though we've used the tube very sparingly over past 2 months, Emma has gained an appropriate amount of weight (approximately 7 grams a day - woo-hoo!). And her eating, which has gotten exponentially better since our last visit in April, really impressed Elaine. Not only does Emma eat a wide variety of table foods, she has mastered all the skills necessary to be a sucessful eater (tongue lateralization, anticipatory opening of the mouth, suck/swallow/breathe coordination and a littany of other technical skills I won't bore you with). Elaine was most impressed by our big girl and didn't even say a word about my not forcing Emma to drink Pediasure, a battle for which I was armed and ready to fight! And on top of all that, Emma passed her developmental exam with FLYING colors. She stacks blocks, puts things into containers, tries feeding herself with a spoon and walks around like it's her job. In every area but speech, Emma is now "normal" or "age-appropriate." Her speech, as I mentioned in an earlier post, was labeled "advanced." Emma speaks better than many 2-year-olds! Elaine actually called her the rehab program's "poster child" - MY child who a year ago screamed at the mere sight of a bottle filled with milk!

So what comes next? All that remains for Emma to lose her G tube is for her to demonstrate a good weight gain over the next 2-3 months without our having to resort to the tube for calories or hydration (our last "issue"). Therefore, Chris and I would really appreciate your prayers that Emma's willingness to drink more fluids would increase each day. While she is more than capable of downing a sippy cup full of milk, she's just not that into it. If Emma drinks 12 oz of anything in a day, she's having a VERY good day. Elaine told me that in the meantime, I should offer Emma as many "liquid" foods (pudding, yogurt, applesauce) as possible in an attempt to keep her hydrated without resorting to the tube. Emma's "proving time" begins today.

In the meantime, I think I'll go shout. Or jump up and down. Or cry like a baby, pretend that I'm a ballerina, bang on the piano, or sing Carrie Underwood's "So Small" at the top of my lungs. Oh - and DEFINITELY need to work on perfecting my happy dance. I'm pulling it out more and more these days!!!

Our new "family"

After the excitement of Chris' promotion on Wednesday, we thought we'd had a big day. But it was only half over. That evening around 6, Chris received a phone call from his detailer in Tennessee, the person who decides when and where he will be going next. We had already been informed that Chris had been selected to return to Whidbey Island as a squadron Department Head, but did not know when we would be moving or which squadron he would be joining. Chris' detailer told us Wednesday night that he was "penciled in" to join the Black Ravens of VAQ-135 and that we would be returning to our beloved northwest in January. Things now feel more "official" and we are so thrilled!


In addition to Chris' knowledge that he will be flying once more and my joy at knowing we will be returning to Anacortes, Chris had a few extra reasons to be excited about these orders. First, the Black Ravens deploy and serve aboard the USS Nimitz, a carrier that is based on the west coast. This means that he will be much more likely to have port calls in the far east (where he's never been) than in Europe (where he's already been multiple times). He was hoping for this. Second and most surprising, he discovered that the Black Ravens are one of the earliest squadrons to "transition" away from their current jet, the EA-6B Prowler, to the new EA-18G Growler. This transition will most likely be taking place while he is in the squadron and he is very happy about the prospect of getting some flight hours in this new jet. Although Chris did not specifically ask to join a squadron that would be transitioning, he'd always mentioned that it would be fun to fly the new jet, so I have been praying that God would send Chris to the best squadron for him. Finally, one of Chris' current bosses used to be a Black Raven, so he is looking forward to letting him know that he too will be joining the Ravens. We hope this new "family" will be a good fit for ours!


For more information:

VAQ-135: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAQ-135

EA-6B Prowler: http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/ea-6b_prowler.htm

EA-18G Growler: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA-18G_Growler




Goodbye Prowler.




Hello Growler!

A JO No More

Before the ceremony. The 2 silver bars on Chris' collar signify his rank of Lieutenant.

Today is another special day in the Lovelace household. Today Chris threw off the shackles of "junior-officerdom" and became an O-4 (known as a Lieutenant Commander). For those of you unfamiliar with our Navy world, allow me to clarify. In the Navy, authority is given and jobs are doled out according to rank. The lowest ranking officers are O-1 's (called Ensigns) and the highest ranking officer is an O-10 (Admiral - the Chief of Naval Operations). Junior officers are officers with the rank of O-1, O-2 and O-3 (called Ensign, Lieutenant jr. grade, and Lieutenant). For more information, check this out: www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/officers.html

Now, I'm no Navy expert, but here's what I understand to be true: Most people who are only serving their time because they had college paid for or who join the Navy and decide it's not for them get out as junior officers. I have been told that it is fairly easy to progress through the ranks of junior-officerdom meaning that unless you screw up and do something really stupid, you're going to get promoted from an Ensign to a Lieutenant jr. grade to a Lieutenant. You'd have to work pretty hard NOT to received these increases in rank.

Now here's the part where I do some shameless bragging and embarass my modest and wonderful husband. Becoming an O-4 (Lieutenant Commander) is the first rank promotion that is merit-based, a promotion given only to those who have earned it. Not everyone who hopes to become a LCDR is given this promotion. This means not only that Chris has done his job well thus far, but also that others have noticed. Becoming a Lieutenant Commander means Chris leaves the crazy fun fraternity of being a junior officer (JO) and actually gets to be called "sir" on occasion. It is an increase in rank, an increase in pay, and most importantly an increase in responsibility. And we couldn't be more proud of him.

So to celebrate, Emma and I got all dolled up this morning and met daddy for lunch at the Officer's Club on base. Afterwards, we went to his office where Emma entertained everyone (by toddling around the building yelling, "Going! Going! Going!") while we waited for the Admiral to return. Most of the people he works with gathered around to watch Chris and co-worker Rich get sworn in as Lieutenant Commanders. And I had the honor of pinning his new rank insignia on his uniform. It was a very exciting day and we praise God for blessing Chris's efforts at work!


The Admiral swears Chris in.



The Admiral and I pin on Chris's new rank while Emma looks a little drunk.



Admiral Cullom says a few words. Check out all those medals!



After the ceremony, Chris signs papers to make everything "official."



Congratulations for daddy while Emma flirts with the Admiral.



After the ceremony. The gold oak leaf on Chris' collar signifies his new rank of Lieutenant Commander.