Life with The Leivas

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Baby Update

So the update is that there isn't an update. Mike's parents got here this past Thursday and we've spent the weekend showing them around the area and watching them get to know Olivia. Unless something happens before then it is looking like Tuesday is the big day! We can't wait to finally meet the newest member of our family!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Elections-West Coast Style

So last night's election night was our first one spent on the west coast. Throughout the election season we've been able to experience the best that the politically active northwest has to offer so we were looking forward to settling in for a long night of watching all the election coverage. Last night we got Olivia into bed around 7:30 and ordered pizza so we could veg out in front of the tv, watching the coverage. We had just settled in with our pizza and drinks (virgin mojito for me), we were happily channel surfing between the major networks, starting to get excited about the hours of fun ahead only to discover that right around 8pm our time, it was over. That's it, no more fun, no more diagrams of red and blue states or television anchors excitedly debating split states. The polls had barely closed here and a winner was announced. It's not that we're not excited about having a new president but seriously, it was over already! We miss the east coast, the election parties, the sitting glued to the tv for hours watching television anchors with their fancy diagrams. It must be very disappointing to live in Hawaii, you're half way through the work day and the whole thing is over.....

Monday, November 3, 2008

I seriously cannot stop

This past weekend in addition to celebrating Halloween we continued our mission to organize the house. Mike is being such an understanding husband, I know that I am driving him absolutely crazy. He keeps trying to get me to rest and I keep finding random projects that I have to do. Over the weekend I ....

Re-arranged the living room furniture again
Took everything out of the kitchen cabinets and then put it back in the cabinets but this time it's much more organized
Washed 5 loads of laundry (we actually did have this much laundry, I didn't just wash clothes that were already clean, that really would be crazy and laundry isn't my favorite chore)
Took all the books off the bookshelves so that I could make sure the shelves were really clean before replacing all the books
Took everything out of the linen closet in the master bathroom, refolded and reorganized, and replaced it

I think I even inspired Mike to do a little nesting himself. He went through all of his army gear that had been stored in the garage and moved it to the closet in the guest bedroom. Now both cars fit in the garage!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Halloween Fun

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween! Here are some pictures of the Halloween activities we've participated in over the last week....the Fall Festival at Olivia's school, decorating and carving pumpkins, decorating halloween cookies and trick or treating.

I've uploaded some of the other fun Halloween pictures to shutterfly so if you're interested in seeing more Halloween fun check out this link:

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1AcNWTRm5ZsWHf

MPS/Sanfilippo Syndrome

In October, 2008 Olivia was disgnosed with MPS III or Sanfilippo Syndrome, type B. MPS stands for: Mucopolysaccharidoses. It is a genetic lysosomal storage disease (LSD) caused by the body's inability to produce specific enzymes. Normally, the body uses enzymes to break down and recycle materials in cells. In individuals with MPS and related diseases, the missing or insufficient enzyme prevents the proper recycling process, resulting in the storage of materials in virtually every cell of the body. As a result, cells do not perform properly and may cause progressive damage throughout the body, including the heart, bones, joints, respiratory system and central nervous system. While the disease may not be apparent at birth, signs and symptoms develop with age as more cells become damaged by the accumulation of cell materials.

Babies and young children with Sanfilippo Syndrome appear normal, but symptoms begin to appear with age as more and GAGs build up in the cells of the body. There are 3 stages to the disease. Stage 1 the child begins to lag behind peers and begins to display difficult behaviors. Stage 2 the child losing his/her language, becomes hyperactive, chews on everything, and has sleeping difficulties. Stage 3 the child slows down, becomes dependant for all mobility and loses the ability to chew/swallow. There is no treatment or cure for Sanfilippo. Life expectancy varies.