Day 1 Pool Party

So today was the first day of Olivia's pre-Transplant work-up. The pre-Transplant work-up process is scheduled to last about 2 weeks. For Olivia it will consist of a series of tests to make sure that she's healthy before they begin the transplant process. The work-up process also includes lots of scheduled meetings for Mike and I to attend so we can learn more about the transplant process, available resources, etc. Today was a short day. They collected bodily fluids (blood, nasal secretions, stool) and we meet with the Nurse Coordinator in charge of the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (PBMT) Program. I don't remember if I've mentioned her before but for the purposes of our blog I'll nickname her "Lady J" and she is absolutely fantastic! She is so patient, understanding and approchable. She's made this entire process much easier!

To celebrate the end of our first day (and also just because it's hot here) we went to the pool here in our apartment complex again. We all had a blast, and Olivia is starting to swim by herself. Just as we were walking out of our apartment to head to the pool Mike decided to grab the camera and I'm so glad he did! We got these great pics and a video of Olivia swimming by herself for the first time!

Peter and our new digs

We are very happily settling into our little apartment here. It is so nice to unpack and relax! We had a very relaxed Father's Day. I cooked breakfast (which was really exciting because it's been at least 2 weeks since I've been able to do that). We found a really beautiful catholic church here and got to go to mass together. Both kids took really long, peaceful naps and then we enjoyed the pool in our apartment complex. It is really starting to hit us that very shortly Peter will be going to stay with my parents for a while. Of course we know that this is the best thing for all of us, we are so lucky that our parents can help us as much as they are, but I've been crying about it all day. Every time I think about it I just get all emotional. Mike has started to jokingly refer to our separation from Peter as his "mini-deployment", he's going on a training mission. At first I hated the term but now it's growing on me. As promised here are a few pictures of our new digs, Peter is showcasing the apartment as well as his new skills. He has finally started crawling and has now progressed to some type of modified crawl/walking thing. He starts on all fours but then straightens his legs and walks on his feet while moving his hands forward. It's adorable! He's also pulling up on things and standing! The Kitchen The Porch Yes that's my son, in a suitcase. I got a little over excited during our pre-move garage sale that I sold the pack-and-play. Peter seems to really enjoy his suitcase bed. Boys are dirty. How is it that he can get completely filthy in a matter of seconds!?!

Road Trippin'

We've trucked our way across the country to North Carolina. It was difficult to travel with an almost 3 year old and a 7 month old but things went well for the most part. We definitely had a chance to break in the new car and we love that it gets two times better gas milage than the durango. We are so thankful that we didn’t have to drive two cars across the country! Here are just a few pictures from our trip. We’ve drove through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia (again), Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia on our way to North Carolina. We stopped off for a lunch break in Spokane, WA and saw Gonzaga University. Since Mike and I met in college at a Jesuit university we're always interested to see other Jesuit colleges. They also have yheir own "iggy" (statue of St. Ignatious of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus) but we could not find a "touchdown Jesus" so Mike and Olivia demonstrated their own version.

One of the highlights from the trip has been Mount Rushmore. Neither Mike nor I had ever seen it before and it’s absolutely breathtaking. It is just so big! I like to think of myself as a “big picture” person but it just amazes me that someone can think artistically about something so large. We’re so glad that we had the opportunity to stop and check it out. Another trip highlight was our stop in Chicago. Unfortunately we really got to experience why they call Chicago the “windy city,” the weather was miserable. We stayed at a hotel right on the Chicago river and we were able to check out Navy Pier, and the Magnificent Mile. We went to Build-a-Bear where Olivia chose to make a stuffed Monkey, she named it “George”, and dressed it in a pink sparkly “Chicago” t-shirt. She seems to be having a bit of a love/hate relationship with her cross-dressing friend George. Sometimes she loves him and cuddles with them but then apparently George gets out of line and Olivia yells “no, no” and then throws him across the car. We figure she’s taking out some of her frustration about being in the car on poor George. Another highlight was a brief stop over in Washington D.C. We got to spend some time with Mike’s brother, Ricky who is a detective with the Washington D.C. Police Department. We saw Ricky’s house for the first time and Ricky got to meet Peter in person for the first time.

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We’ve driven over 3000 miles and we’re very happy to get settled in Durham for a bit. A wonderful woman at Duke Medical Center helped us find arrangements close to the hospital. We’ll be staying in a spacious 2 bedroom apartment until Olivia is admitted to the hospital. I’ll post pictures of our new digs soon.


Unfortunately it rained the ENTIRE time we were in Chicago. Olivia and Peter were both nice and dry in the stroller but Mike and I were drenched.



The city of Chicago actually presented their proposal to host the 2012 Olympic Games while we were in the city so it was neat to see all the preparations and excitement about the posibility of hosting the games.

We'll miss you Washington

For the most part we have really enjoyed our time in Washington state. We’ve been in Washington for almost two years. In many ways we can’t believe that we’ve been here that long, but in other ways so much has changed since we arrived in Washington we can’t believe that it’s only been 2 years!

When Mike was at the career course a couple of years ago we were told that he would be deploying immediately to a MiTT team in Iraq. We prepared for another deployment and prayed that we accept God’s plan for our family. Right before Mike’s graduation we learned that he wasn’t going to a MiTT team after all and instead he would be able to choose between Ft. Campbell, KY and Ft. Lewis, WA. We prayed that God guide us in our decision and we settled on Ft. Lewis. We drove cross country with Olivia who had just turned a year old. We have since learned that Ft. Lewis is one of the two best places in the Army to be stationed if you have a child with special needs. We believe that a big part of the reason Olivia was diagnosed early is because of some of the outstanding doctors we’ve worked with at Ft. Lewis. All things considered our time here at Fort Lewis has been very busy. Mike’s former unit had a very fast-paced training tempo so he was in the field very often. All things considered we have really enjoyed our time here in Washington so here’s the top ten things we’ll miss:

1. The Pacific Northwest is Beautiful! When the weather is nice then it is gorgeous, you get the best of both worlds, the mountains and the ocean, all right there!

2. Being close to Canada. We were able to take several weekend trips to Canada and even Olivia and Peter are international travelers.

3. Our neighborhood. We lived just a few miles from Ft. Lewis, Mike often rode his bicycle or jogged into work so it was very convenient for him. I loved that there were several parks within walking distance of our house and miles of trails in and around the neighborhood. I loved the Starbucks and the little public library right at the front of our neighborhood.

4. Seattle. We loved that we were so close to a big city with all the amenities that a big city has to offer. My absolute favorite would be the Pacific Northwest Ballet while Mike’s was Pike Place Market.

5. The seafood. We both grew up along the gulf coast so we’re no strangers to seafood but seafood in the Northwest is different. Mike especially loves all the fresh salmon.

6. The Microbrews.

7. Healthy lifestyles. I love that organic, healthy ingredients are always readily available. People are active and enjoy being outdoors so there are tons of things to do. In the few days since we’ve left we realize how much we appreciated that people in and around Washington don’t seem to smoke. Maybe it’s illegal to smoke in public places but you don’t realize how much you appreciate something like that till it’s gone.

8. The Coffee Shacks. Starbucks are more common than gas stations in the area but I also loved the little drive-up coffee shacks that are literally on every corner. These little shacks are usually no bigger than a child’s playhouse with a drive-up window. They serve tasty coffee concoctions and are cheaper than Starbucks. Some of them have themes (i.e. servers wear bikinis) and some have great customer promotions (i.e. punch cards, buy 5 get 6th free), most of them had a daily $1.50 special and you can’t beat a large moca for $1.50!

9. A few of our favorite places: Olympia Farmer’s Market, Pullalyaup Fair, Point Defiance Zoo and Park, Charlie’s Safari, Nordstroms, Target (after Ft. Sill you can never take the existence of Target for granted), The Lobster Shop.

10. Our new friends! We will miss you and the Army is a small world, who knows when we might meet up again….We’ll be thinking of you during the upcoming deployment.