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Showing posts from July, 2006
Holland Here I Come I have the writing by Emily Kingsley hanging on my refrigerator door. If you are a parent of a special needs child, you know the writing I am speaking of. I read it daily as I open the refrigerator door umpteen times. I have come to regard "Welcome To Holland" as our Mission Statement as proud new parents of a special baby girl. If you are not a special needs parent, you probably have no idea what I am speaking of. I invite you to my refrigerator door. My first encounter with "Welcome To Holland" came from a friend here in Rome (whom is also located in Holland)....since then, I have imagined myself in an airport, boarding a plane to Italy, taking off, getting nervous at the sight of the ground disappearing, watching the ground get closer, then hearing the stewardess say over the intercom, "We are now approaching Holland" and as stewardesses often do.....she starts to describe the weather/temp/and view of Holland - I watch Holland from
The World Through Ivey's Eyes........ I have been sitting and staring at the computer for about 30 minutes now. I can't quite figure out how to start this update. Today has been a day where we have gone through the motions and feel like we are temporarily substituting for the people who are really living this life. Does that make sense? Matt and I drove Ivey to Atl. again today. However, today we met with the Ocularist, he is not at Scottish Rite, but located off of Howell Mill Road. After another night of absolutely no sleep, I have decided I should probably let others in and give them/you the opportunity to walk with us through all of "this". Ivey is now in the process of preparing the space where her eyes should be for prosthetic eyes. She is wearing enamel conformers in her eyes to help stretch the lids to allow for the synthetic eyes to fit into the socket space. Filling the space where her eyes should be will help encourage the sockets to grow and have a more no
Matt and I wanted to share one of our favorite moments with all of you. This picture was taken as Ivey arrived home from the hospital. (That is a bow in her hair!) Many of you have heard the story of Knox telling us that he was going to have a baby sister-Matt and I did not know that we were already pregnant with Ivey. He was so excited that his baby sister was finally home. Walker, on-the-other-hand, had no idea that he had a baby sister-until this moment. They are both very observant little boys. Knox informed me one day in the hospital that he was going to tell the doctor that Ivey needed another hole in her nose. (So it is okay to look and ask questions. We will all make since of this in our own way.) Knox and Walker love Ivey very much and they tell her so constantly. Walker loves to peek into her crib. If we are holding Ivey and she is in kissing range, he loves to kiss her. I am sharing this to let you all know that Ivey brings happiness to the boys. Knox and Walker do not kn
Special thanks to everyone who has prepared a meal, dropped off a casserole or sent a gift certificate to the Sirmans Family. Gwen has said repeatedly how much she appreciates the meals. We originally scheduled meals through the end of July. We would like to continue to provide hot meals on M,W,F as well as freezer ready casseroles as long as it is helpful to Gwen. If you would like to provide a meal please contact Miranda Styles at mirandastyles@comcast.net . Thanks so much for your love and support!
Hi Everyone-We did travel back to Scottish Rite today to see the pediatric opthamologist, Dr. Pollard. He did confirm what we already know, that Ivey will never have sight. Now we will move on to the next step, but we are not sure of the time frame. Ivey will be able to go through steps to prepare her eyes to eventually have prosthetic eyes... Tomorrow Ivey will travel back to Scottish Rite to visit the Cranio/facial clinic. As difficult as this is, we are still enjoying our new baby girl. She is wonderful and becoming more content as the days go by. We, family and friends, have started to find a new "normal". We are adjusting to having a nurse in the house to care for Ivey during the nights. I have been very lucky to have my parents here to help with almost anything and everything. For all the heartbreak we are feeling, there is just as much happiness. We have taken on Sundays to be our family day where Knox, Walker and Ivey enjoy our unlimited, undestracted attention. We a