Hello Mr. President!

We had a wonderful time this past weekend....We all headed down to Wilmington for the annual North Carolina Bar Convention.....Bar as in lawyers, not the place where you can knock back a few :) They alternate locations each year and usually we just go to the Convention when it is in Asheville (because really, how can you resist a chance to stay at the Grove Park Inn?!) but this was a special year because my dad was sworn in as the 116th President of the NC Bar Association!

When Oliver first came home and still had his central line for his TPN, we thought that there was no way that the 3 of us would be able to go and celebrate Dad, but a little partof me hoped that it would be possible and of course when we found out a couple months ago that Oliver was getting his line removed, we were thrilled about that but also excited because that meant that we could leave Charlotte! So, it was amazing to be able to go down and spend time with family and hear nice things about Dad and see this wonderful honor. Friday night, K&L Gates had a dinner at the Bellamy Mansion in Dad's honor and then Saturday night was the main event - the formal dinner and swearing in. It was lots of fun and Dad did a great job! :)

Most of us....Owen had to leave dinner to put Oliver in bed (check out Jack's good-looking hair)

Oliver, Blake & Sarah

A caricature of Oliver from the Bar Convention (the scanner didn't get his whole head...)

Oliver's Army

It's time.....for raising $$!! We have formed a team for the Hopebuilders 5K taking place on Saturday, October 9, 2010. We are calling our team Oliver's Army and would love more team members and/or donations! We have a team goal of $500 but I really think we can surpass that and raise some serious cash.

Our efforts will help build hope for sick and injured kids in our community. We were fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of some amazing care for Oliver while he was in the NICU at Levine's for the first 2 months of his life. This is just one step that we can take to start "paying it forward". Oliver's Hirschsprung's Disease was diagnosed by the doctors in the NICU and the medical staff took such amazing care of him. Knowing that his nurses were there to watch over him allowed Owen and I to be able to leave him there everyday.....that was hard enough but it would have been 100 times harder if we weren't confident that he was being well cared for and loved on.

So, please support us, Oliver and Levine Children's Hospital by donating to Oliver's Army!

CLICK HERE!

You can search by team (Oliver's Army) and then click on a team member and click Sponsor Me! Any amount, small or large will help us to make an impact! Thank you in advance!

If you want to join our team, send me an email and I will send you directions and the password. Email me at lauraptaylor@gmail.com

Thanks everyone!

Oliver at 6 weeks old in the NICU at Levine Children's Hospital

Oliver at 6 months old in his exersaucer at home!

Owen's First Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Owen! He is such an amazing and loving father to Oliver! We are both lucky to have him in our lives!

We had a very nice Father's Day celebration today. Charles and Betty came down from Brevard and joined my family for brunch....it was delicious and was so nice that they were able to come down and spend some time with us!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, Owen, Charles and all the dads out there!

6 months old!

Whew, what a whirlwind weekend! Oliver turned 6 months old on Saturday.....and we celebrated by going to my friend's wedding in Hilton Head. Mom, Oliver and I headed down on Thursday and then my friend, Maggie, joined us on Friday. Liz and Steve had a beautiful wedding and they made a gorgeous bride and groom! It was hot as blazes so Oliver stayed inside for the most part (even though he's just a baby I think he is still going to be cursed with my sensitive skin!).....

Mom basically babysat Oliver all weekend since I had duties and needless to say, it wore her out! :) Oliver was great but it is always a little hard to adjust when you aren't in your own space.....plus, I had to do an ostomy bag change no less than 5 times between Thursday and Sunday night.....ugh. Typically it stays on for at a minimum, 24 hours and ideally for 2 days. But, that's just the way it goes sometimes.

The party continued when we got home and celebrated Jack's 23rd birthday Sunday night......and then on to Troy on Monday to take Grandmommy out for her 91st birthday. Dad, Mom, Oliver and I went to Troy and it was great because we also got to see Myrtle, Marilyn and Buddy!

Owen has been in Philadelphia for a week for training and has finally gotten home! Yay! We both missed him a lot! More to come after Owen's first Father's Day!

Oliver's Big Day!

Oliver was baptized today! Mom and Dad got us an engraved silver frame with his full name at the top and the date 6-6-10 at the bottom. It is funny because he was born 12-12-09....I guess double numbers have been working for him :) Anyway, Oliver did really well. At almost 6 months old he is a very sweet guy but he enjoys talking and squealing.....so I was hoping that he wouldn't do any of the latter during the church service but he was a very good boy. He was totally enthralled with the music and stared at the soloist the whole time he was singing. As it turns out, he was the only baby being baptized and that was kind of cool. Dr. Howell lit a candle during the baptism and Oliver got this gleam in his eye and lifted his hand to try to snatch the candle..... fortunately he wasn't close enough :) But he just smiled and looked around, generally taking it all in!

I have had some questions from some people about Oliver (and babies in general) being baptized and the fact that he isn't making a conscious decision to accept God...but his Baptism is about the free, unearnable grace of God. Infants don't believe yet, but we are all touched by God's grace before we even know it and can respond to it. Many churches practice infant baptism and the Methodist church is one of those. The fact is, God knows who you are before you know who He is; God loves you before you can say "yes" to His love; God remembers you when you forget Him; and it is only because God loves you that you have hope in your life. The holy water sprinkled on your head means you are forgiven; God loves you just the way you are; you belong to Him. And, Oliver has clearly belonged to God from the beginning. He has guided our family through some very difficult months and it is clear to me that God holds Oliver in the palm of His hand, and we are grateful for His love and guidance!

After the church service Mom and Dad had everyone over to their house for a celebratory lunch and it was delicious! They also got Oliver the cutest present. It is a Noah's Ark with stuffed animals in it! He'll love it.