For the Love of Ivey

Last weekend Ivey, through the eyes, ears, lungs and legs of her brothers, completed another R.A.C.E Rome triathlon, this one to benefit the Open Door Home.   Am I proud of them?  Absolutely.   I am proud that Ivey has found a stable spot in her life.  That spot is something deep inside her.    As for the boys, I am proud of their hard work and finishing each race - for their own perseverence.  Ivey is merely the cherry on top.   As a spectator, it is interesting to hear different comments as the three of them move through the race.   Yes, they are amazing.  But to me they are amazing because they are my babies.   BUT.  The boys pulling Ivey through the race, for me, not so amazing.   They do with her because they love her and they know no other way.   Literally, they don't know or remember a life without her.   A "typical" life I know.  Matt knows.  As for the boy...

"Sometimes being a BROTHER is better than being a SUPERHERO ." This summer our rep for Ivey's IVig infusions called to ask permission to nominate Ivey and her brothers with an organization called " TinySuperHeroes ".  The children nominated for this organization all have special needs and the organization makes and sends superhero capes to the children. In this case, Britni asked to nominate Ivey and the boys because Ivey is our superhero and the boys are her superheros .   The boys were so excited to get a cape too. They are getting older but there are somethings that can never be outgrown. Sometimes it is the simple things that mean the most and say the most to the boys. Simply, it is the same thing we seek for Ivey, inclusion .  Someone thought of them, someone realized their value and most importantly someone saw the magnitude of living this special life as well.   They are the unsung heroes.  They are easily overlooked in the presence of Ivey....

Top Sail, North Carolina (Camp Lejeune) with Taylor and Craig.   Frightening amount of huge shark teeth on that beach. St. Simons with the Griffeths'.   This is a handy-dandy gift from Santa.  She fits weight wise but she is so long.  But, good workout for the daddy.  I apologized to her in advance for the crazy hair.  I put sunscreen everywhere, so those curls get a little messy.  Snuggling with the brother.  (She is almost as long as he is.)  Standing in the stander with her new back brace.  Loves it!  Birthday party for our Ava. (Ava is the one in the construction gear.  All girl, but note she is the only girl besides Ivey, so she's just one of the guys. )  Again, St. Simons with the Griffeths'.  Godparents are the bestests!  (I know that's grammatically incorrect.)  Griffeths' amazing dog.  Would not leave her side the entire time.  And lots and lots and...

A view from Matt's rearview mirror as he is taking Ivey to school.  Obviously, she's more than figured out this peek-a-boo thing.  Love me some Ivey-lou-who. If it weren't for her shoes, she might have pulled this off.

I'm not sure where to even start.  Summer is winding up, a great summer that is, and a first in many years that has been low-key yet busy all at the same time.  This summer only one trip was made to a Atlanta for a doc visit, one trip to Scottish Rite's ER and one trip to Ivey's local pediatrician.  If you know Ivey, normally all that can happen in one week, one day even.  But this post isn't about Ivey.   It really is funny how paths cross.  Several years ago this sweet girl attending Berry College came into our lives just to observe "life" with a special needs child and somehow we wound up here with her permanently part of our lives .  We have received a piece of life from her that, I must admit, will not come in the same form with Ivey.  From watching her graduate college, live a summer with us, travel to Utah for grad school and become a wife all the way to the basic daily routines of life, she has become a vital piece of our family. ...

It is amazing the things we take for granted.  For me, and Matt, sleep was something we took for granted right up until the moment our sweet girl jumped into our lives. So it has been 7 1/2 years since we officially slept, real sleep. When you do without for a couple of nights, normally, you know you need it.  You get grumpy.  Complain.  Make sure you get to bed early at the first chance you get.  All better. This has been our first chance in years......years. It's amazing that the world really has started spinning slower.  Really.  time is s.l.o.w.i.n.g down. We smile more..... at each other. Our house is ours again.  We go to bed.  When we want to. We wake up...after 6:00 am. We miss our nurses.  Tremendously.  But we love our home. We were married just shy of five years before the sleep deprivation, only if you consider the two boys born before Ivey, then technically we were sleep deprived long before Ivey.  ...