The weather outside is frightful.




After at least 6 inches of snow here in Eastern Iowa, we are ready to break out the snow pants and boots and start celebrating this wonderful time of year!

We've also hung our ornaments on the tree and decked the halls for Christmas!





Olivia has definitely been in the holiday spirit this year. We are all so excited for Christmas. We've watched “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” nearly every night. Shes even gone to see the light display a dozen times. Olivia also likes for us to tell her about Santa coming on Christmas Eve. She can't wait to bake him some cookies and set out an apple for Rudolph. This will probably be the first Christmas she has any memory of, which makes it even more special.









Thomas has been growing up on us. He's now smiling and cooing quite a bit. He's also found his voice and will let you know if he doesn't like something. He seems to like it when Olivia runs over and makes him laugh. They are really good together. Although sometimes I have to remind Olivia not to squeeze him quite so hard. Ha ha! He's a big boy (now over 14 pounds at 6 weeks), so I don't have to worry about him too much!


Sissy making him laugh




I know this one is blurry, but it was too cute not to show you!



Last weekend Steve celebrated his 30th Birthday. We took a trip to Minneapolis to stay in a hotel and watch The Vikings play on Sunday. As most of you know, Minneapolis got over 17 inches of snow. Needless to say, the trip there was treacherous! We made it there a few hours longer than it usually takes, but we made it. We checked into the Hilton and went to get some supper. Unfortunately there restaurant was short on staff with the weather, so they only had a few things on the menu and a 2 hour wait. So, we decided to venture through the downtown sky way. We stumbled upon a cozy, fancy little place called Ruth's Chris' Steakhouse. It was delicious! When we got back to the hotel we discovered the game had been postponed. We bummed a bit, but headed to The Mall of America the next day so our trip wasn't a total loss. Before we left, we heard the metrodome had collapsed and drove by to check it out. What a crazy weekend! A birthday I'm sure Steve won't soon forget!


The view from our room on the 17th floor. It was magical to see the snow falling from around the sky scrapers.

This Friday we start our rounds of Christmas parties. Olivia can't wait to play with her cousins and open presents. We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

Things have been pretty fast-paced around here the past three weeks as I'm sure it has in your homes as well. A couple of weeks ago Olivia and I were honored to attend the Go Red For Women Luncheon in Iowa City. We were able to go two years ago and had a wonderful time.


Olivia right as were walking in






Olivia and her best bud and fellow heart friend, Ellie









Olivia and Thomas have spent some quality time getting to know each other the past 3 weeks. She's constantly wanting to hug him or hold him now, which has been great! The other day she ran over to him, gave him a squeeze and said, “I love my baby brother. He's the best Thomas in the whole entire world!” I thought that was just the cutest thing! She has been such a great big sister. She's really growing up a lot right now. Miss Livi-Pie has even insisted she take her meds by herself now. I supervise and try to make sure she doesn't spill a drop, but she's been pretty good about it.



Thomas is growing like a weed. He has already gained almost four pounds since we came home from the hospital. The other day he was 11 pounds 15 ½ ounces without a diaper or clothes!!! Wow, a 12 pound 4 week old! He has also been very interested in his surroundings. He's even started to bat at some of his toys.











We've also spent some time getting ready for the holidays. Would you believe I am now officially done with my Christmas shopping? I know...Usually I'm not this good, but I started back in September. I knew I wouldn't have as much time to go out and shop this fall so I wanted to make sure I got done all that I could. It's hard to believe the holidays are just around the corner. I've been so preoccupied with my little ones it kind of snuck up on me! This is such a wonderful time of year. I can't wait to put up our decorations. There's something those lights and garland do to the atmosphere. It really makes a person all warm and fuzzy inside!

This holiday season makes us appreciate all that we have and how truly blessed we are. Tomorrow we will celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time as a family of four. We will be able to spend time with our families and enjoy one anothers company. We have so much to be thankful for.



I'm thankful for Olivia. She's such an amazing little girl who has taught our family so much. Through those dark and desperate times she showed us the importance of faith and holding each other close. She taught us about friendship, hope, love, and generosity. If it wasn't for Olivia we wouldn't have been able too see and appreciate all the small things in life.





When Thomas was born our eyes were opened to what Olivia truly went through. We knew she had endured so much, but once you go through the process of having a baby without complications it makes you realize just how different it is. I was able to hold Thomas the minute he was born. With Olivia we weren't able to hold her for the first time until she was 4 days old...the night before her first open-heart surgery. In fact, I told Steve the other night, I could probably count the amount of times I held Olivia on one hand when she was Thomas' age. I can't even count how many times I've held Thomas. Olivia was very fragile for a very long time. She was on paralysis medication until she was Thomas' age. She couldn't move or even open her eyes to look at me. She was helpless. Now, she's a thriving three year old. Looking at Olivia you would only see a sweet, smart, beautiful little girl. Not a poor innocent child who fought so hard to survive.





I'm also thankful for Thomas. The Lord definitely blessed us with a happy, hungry, little man. He's a lot like his Mama...laid back! It's so nice to have him home and be able to enjoy our time together as a family. He's started making these adorable little coo's here lately and has even given up a few smiles!






I'm thankful for Steven. Not only is he an adoring husband, but a wonderful father. He stands by his family and protects us through thick and thin. He's always been my rock in the storm. He's here to fix the dishwasher, carry in the groceries, read to the kids, listen to me when I need him to, and tuck Olivia in at night. His list of honey do's never ends, yet he still shows up for 'work' with a smile.

I'm also thankful for my parents and Steve's. I couldn't ask for better people to help us raise our children. They're always here when we need them, no matter what the problem may be.

And we can't forget our church family and friends. They've kept us afloat through our journey and we wouldn't have been able to make it without them. I'm so thankful to have such caring, generous, and kind people surrounding our family.

May you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

1 week

This first week has flown by, it's hard to believe Mr. Thomas is already 8 days old. During this first week he got to experience Halloween. Him and Livi dressed up as Mickey & Minnie. Daddy took Olivia out trick-or-treating and Thomas and I held down the fort.


Mickey & Minnie


Olivia, Big Mickey, & Lil Mickey


Pluto (Aunt Bree) & Minnie


Thomas also had his first check-up on Tues. At 5 days old he weighed 9lb 5 oz, which is over a pound heavier than his birth weight! Dr. Rick was surprised and excited. We spent some time talking about the normal newborn things, since this is new to us. Olivia wasn't released from the hospital until she was 41 days old, so things are definitely different this time. I told him being the slightly paranoid heart mom I am, I went ahead and used Olivia's SAT monitor to check Thomas. I figured since they didn't do it in the hospital (since the prenatal echo was fine and they didn't hear a murmur after he was born) I'd do it. I told him I was getting 93% and wondered if that was "normal" for a newborn. He said it wasn't, but he didn't think it was a true reading. Dr. Rick felt the monitor wasn't picking up correctly or the probe wasn't right for Thomas. He smiled and told me to relax. He said I'm a good mom and to trust my instincts, but Thomas is perfect and to enjoy it. He laughed and told me a healthy baby doesn't need spot checks and not to do it again or I'll drive myself crazy! Dr. Rick also said he didn't need to see us for 2 whole months! Wow...

Olivia has been doing fairly well with sharing the spotlight. She still wants the attention, but she's been a big help. The other day Grandma watched Thomas and Olivia and I had a girls day. We just spent a couple of hours doing what she wanted to do.



Thomas pretty much sleeps all day. He eats anywhere from 2-4 oz every couple of hours and goes back to sleep. At night he wakes up every 2 hours and other times he will sleep for 3 or 4. He's pretty laid back and overall a really good baby!

Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, cards, and gifts. We love you guys! I will leave you with some of Thomas' 1 week pics!

1 week

This first week has flown by, it's hard to believe Mr. Thomas is already 8 days old. During this first week he got to experience Halloween. Him and Livi dressed up as Mickey & Minnie. Daddy took Olivia out trick-or-treating and Thomas and I held down the fort.


Mickey & Minnie


Olivia, Big Mickey, & Lil Mickey


Pluto (Aunt Bree) & Minnie


Thomas also had his first check-up on Tues. At 5 days old he weighed 9lb 5 oz, which is over a pound heavier than his birth weight! Dr. Rick was surprised and excited. We spent some time talking about the normal newborn things, since this is new to us. Olivia wasn't released from the hospital until she was 41 days old, so things are definitely different this time. I told him being the slightly paranoid heart mom I am, I went ahead and used Olivia's SAT monitor to check Thomas. I figured since they didn't do it in the hospital (since the prenatal echo was fine and they didn't hear a murmur after he was born) I'd do it. I told him I was getting 93% and wondered if that was "normal" for a newborn. He said it wasn't, but he didn't think it was a true reading. Dr. Rick felt the monitor wasn't picking up correctly or the probe wasn't right for Thomas. He smiled and told me to relax. He said I'm a good mom and to trust my instincts, but Thomas is perfect and to enjoy it. He laughed and told me a healthy baby doesn't need spot checks and not to do it again or I'll drive myself crazy! Dr. Rick also said he didn't need to see us for 2 whole months! Wow...

Olivia has been doing fairly well with sharing the spotlight. She still wants the attention, but she's been a big help. The other day Grandma watched Thomas and Olivia and I had a girls day. We just spent a couple of hours doing what she wanted to do.



Thomas pretty much sleeps all day. He eats anywhere from 2-4 oz every couple of hours and goes back to sleep. At night he wakes up every 2 hours and other times he will sleep for 3 or 4. He's pretty laid back and overall a really good baby!

Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, cards, and gifts. We love you guys! I will leave you with some of Thomas' 1 week pics!

Last minute things...

Well, still no baby at The Spencer household. I think we're all getting a little anxious for Baby Spencer to arrive. Technically, I'm really not due until tomorrow. However, with GD the doctors, myself, and pretty much everybody expected him to come early. So, needless to say, the past few weeks have been brutal. To make matters worse, I went to the High-Risk OB on Monday and they discovered I've made zero progress from two weeks ago. Yea....Really. I had fantasized about walking in, getting checked and having them surprisingly tell me, “Wow, you are almost 5 cm dilated, let's go ahead and admit you.” No such luck. Also, my doctor really isn't in favor of inducing me. He went ahead and scheduled an induction for next Thursday at 41 weeks, but said he strongly felt I would go into labor on my own before than. I told him I strongly hoped so...



To keep my sanity, I've been making others follow me around and help me do things. Tonight
Steve and I went to Walmart to pick up some last minute items. However, they didn't have everything I wanted (like a small fan, which means my list is not complete; this obviously is not acceptable to me right now). So, we will have to make another trip sometime soon...Very soon.

Aunt Lisa was kind enough to invite Gram, Livi, and myself with her to Bloomsbury Farm last week. We had never been there and enjoyed every minute of it. Livi actually lasted for 5 hours, that's as long as Adventureland!





































A few nights ago I had Steve lug the pumpkins inside so we could carve them. Livi had a lot of fun with this. Her OT, Melissa, bought her a Ms Potato Head Princess kit for her pumpkin. She loved putting that together. She was also quite fascinated with the 'pumpkin guts' and kept wanting to eat them. Finally, we let her try a bite...I think she'd agree they look much cooler than they taste. Haha!







Well, hopefully the next time I write will be a quick post about the arrival of Baby Spencer. Wish me luck, send up some prayers...and some hope that tomorrow could still be the day (Oh, please, oh please, oh please)!

Oh, and GO VIKES!