The Story of Riley and Julia

It has been a long while since I last "blogged." I'm not one to share my story to the world, as I'm not too keen on it being posted all over the internet. But, I was told by a friend of mine that blogging will help me remember all the milestones my little girl will make over the first few months and years of her life - so here I go, Rachel:)

The month of February was a very difficult one for the Scott family. Work schedules were horrendous between Riley and I; I guess you can say we finally started working the "normal work hours" we were making prior to Olivia coming into our lives. I am in Residency (Emergency Medicine) and I was doing a rotation in the Trauma ICU. My weeks averaged 90 hours or so (yes there is an 80 hour work week max, but I live 45 min from the hospital, and I took a 6 day vacation, so I didn't count that. And, oh yeah, we had record breaking snow in Baltimore last month which kept me at the hospital an extra 2 days!) Anyway, God brought a wonderful woman into our lives - my cousin, Nicole - who came out to be our nanny and watch Olivia for us. She is a life saver. And, not to mention, Olivia loves her. They bonded so well.

Well, the last weekend of February brought some difficult times. Nicole fainted. She had been experiencing increasing headaches and blurry vision since coming out in early January. She was taking online courses to start her education toward nursing school and the headaches got worse with reading. It all came to head on Monday, March 1st, when she fainted after experiencing a terrible headache. Nicole's mom, my aunt, flew out to Baltimore to be with her and help watch our daughter the next day. Eventually, after starting a workup in the Baltimore area, nothing was coming to a head. She fainted again on March 5 and went home back to Kansas the next day for further tests. Since, she has been feeling better, however, there is no answer yet and that worries her mom and us, as she needs to be healthy to take care of herself and Olivia. So currently we are searching for a new nanny - possibly, for a plan B in case we need it. Anyway, it was a difficult last few weeks, and we topped it off with a spectacular event last week (that's a joke!)

5 days ago, Olivia and I were involved in a serious car accident. But, God is good! The outcome could have been way worse. Olivia, I and the other driver all escaped without even a scrape or a bruise. Olivia and I were running an errand to buy a friend a gift for her new baby boy. We had just merged from I-83 to I-695 when I suddenly felt a nudge on my driver's door. I quickly lost control of my car, making a sharp 90 degree turn to the left ending up perpendicular to oncoming traffic and getting pushed across the 5 lane highway to the median (from the 2nd to the right lane.) What had happened was I was in the blindspot of a semi (up on his right on the cabin by his front tires.) He was switching lanes, unbeknownst to me, and pushed me on my drivers side, causing me to lose control to which I then ended up in front of him perpendicular to the semi and he pushed my car across the highway all the way to the median. Olivia began to scream and cry and I was scared as I stared at the grill of a semi outside my driver's side window waiting for the big truck to roll over top of my car. Somehow, in between what seemed like forever, we came to a stop at the median. I kicked my door open to get back to Olivia.

People stopped in many directions, to avoid a bigger collision, but then everyone went on their merry way and I, the semi truck driver and Olivia along with the State Trooper ironed out everything. We continued on our way as the state trooper dropped us off at a nearby Starbucks to hitch a cab back to our house. (Although we were only 10 minutes from home, it was against the rules for the state trooper to take us home - don't ask why.) Riley was called immediately after the accident, and he caught the next train home to spend the rest of the day with his girls, as we realize, he almost lost.

Although my car is totaled, Olivia and I are safe and healthy. God is an awesome God. That was my closest near-death experience I have ever come to. It really opens your eyes to what is important in your life. In those moments that I stared at the grill of the semi, many thoughts went rushing through my head, but, amazingly, I wasn't all that freightened. I can't say I felt peace, but I wasn't all that freightened. Looking back on it, and what could have happened made me reexamine my life. I realized how selfish I am, and how much of a control freak I like to be over my life. I realized that this life is but a moment, and we choose how we live it. I chose that day to choose God, not my self-serving ambitions. I chose my family, not my career. I went to church Thursday and Friday and got on my knees asking for forgivness for all those times I had wronged Him. And today, I am a changed woman. I am not completely free of my sins, but I keep every day, every moment, trying to lay down my selfish desires to choose Christ, not myself. God is amazing, and His grace is humbling.

Anyway, now on to why this blog is even here... Olivia has grown up so much over the past month and a half. February 1, my first day in the ICU, Olivia rolled for the first time from her stomach to her back. Nicole witnessed it, and I hurried home to watch my little girl's first olympic feat. It was a perfect 10. On Feb 21, one day before her 4th month birthday, Olivia rolled from her back to her front. I and Daddy were both there to witness this amazing milestone. We had a great time as she rolled, every time we placed her on her back. She still is infatuated with her rolling from back to front, and has refused to roll from her front to her back until yesterday when she rolled twice in a row - two full turns. I guess soon she'll be rolling across the room.

Just in the last two weeks, Olivia found her hands. She loves staring up at them, realizing she can grab things and put them in her mouth. She loves her mommy's and daddy's fingers, and especially mommy's hair. She also drools all over, but she is not teething yet, just making her mark all over her clothes.

And oh, she started rice cereal at 4 months, but due to everything going on in our lives, we really didn't start being consistent with it until the last few days. Today, on day #3, she is now opening her mouth to receive the cereal! She is so amazing! Everyday she grows just a little more. What a miracle to watch grow!

Today we got her first Easter photos. Olivia is so radiant and beautiful. Every photo captured her bright blue eyes and big smile. She has grown so much. In just one week she will be 5 months. I know everyone says cherish every moment, because they grow up so fast, well, yes, they are right! I don't know where the time has gone. Soon she'll be walking/running away from me and off to Kindergarten. I don't want to miss a moment of her. God has blessed me so much with her life. As Riley was saying the other day, our love for our daughter is so selfless, so pure, nothing like we've every felt for anyone. And to think how God loves us so much more than that because he loves perfectly, He is Love. Again, what a glorious and beautiful God we serve!

Ok, I really need to get to sleep. Riley just got home. He was trying to put her to sleep, but I wonder if she had a little reflux or gas as she was not wanting to calm down. So I sang her one of her two favorite songs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (the other is The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson, that's another story) and rocked her to sleep in my arms. The touch of a mother is so special. I love her so much.

As it's late, we'll update the photos later. Have a good night sleep!

Love,
Julia