Baby Mayan

My friend from law school asked me to post this message. Please keep Baby Mayan and her family in your thoughts and prayers!

Baby Mayan is three months old and is about to leave to Chicago to see a number of doctors and specialists. She has three health concerns that have been weighing on us (and her) and we are excited and nervous about getting them treated. What is wrong with baby Mayan? She has an orbital hemangioma (fancy name for a collection of blood vessels near her eye) that is growing fast. This mass is putting pressure on her eye, which has pushed it out of shape to such an extent that she cannot see very well. If we do not treat this soon there is the risk that she will never be able to see out of that eye. Therefore, we are taking her to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago to have it treated by their dermatology specialists. Please pray for her as this procedure involves a number of tests (some that need to be performed under anesthesia) and a brief hospitalization. As her mommy, I am nervous for her, but trusting that God will look after this precious little one.

On a less scary note, but still worrisome, Mayan has been having diarrhea since July 10th with no end in sight. She is going to be worked up by the gastroenterologists at Children's Memorial Hospital as well, to see if they can find a solution. I would LOVE to be able to feed her something that does not make her little tummy hurt and give her diarrhea. She is thriving... but very sad after meals and has terrible diapers. That can't be right. Also, Mayan squeaks. Yes. You heard that right. More technically speaking she has strider, and we are not sure if it is due to tracheomalacia or a laryngeal hemangioma. Because of this she is going to have to have some tests done to make sure her airway is clear. Not fun. Involves putting a scope down her nose and looking into her throat and down into her lungs. She had it done once before and I had to hold her during the procedure. Not looking forward to that again.

If you would be willing to pray for our sweet baby Mayan I know that our family would be SO grateful! I created a blog that will keep people up to date on what is going on with her as we travel and get treatment performed this month. The address is: http://mayansadventure.blogspot.com/

Because My Life Didn't End After I Said My Vows

I haven't blogged in forever. In the blogosphere enviroment, last October/November is forever (don't roll your eyes at my exaggeration). Lots has happened since I took the plunge and got married. A quick list of what has happened just to catch everyone up:

Matt and I went on our honeymoon to Riviera Maya in October. Our resort was fantastic and the food was fancy and we had a swim out room. Snorkeling in Mexico is on the list as one of the best days of my life, much to Matt's surprise who couldn't believe that I loved something like that so much (nor really could I since nature and I have never really seen eye to eye). We celebrated my 28th birthday there by fittingly dining on sushi and stirfry at the resort's Japanese restuarant. It was perfect and Matt planned it almost all on his own while traveling the entire summer for work (I think he was home maybe a total of two weeks before the week of our wedding).

As soon as we got back, I got started the name change process which still wakes me up in the middle of the night in terror. It sucks folks and sometimes I still sign the wrong last name but all in all I'm very happy to be Alicia Oliver Leonard. I dropped my middle name and subbed in my
maiden name because I just couldn't part with it (as sappy and pathetic as it may be, there's something about Oliver being in my name that makes me feel close to my dad) and I never liked my middle name (I mean Paulette is something out of a 50's movie...no offense to anyone whose name is Paulette, I'm sure you're lovely, it just didn't fit me). Note this confuses a lot of people but hell when didn't my name not confuse others? (My first name is spelled like Alicia, pronounced my Alyssa, and my whole life I've gotten used to responding to any variation that starts with the first two letters). No, it's not hyphenated and yes you can abandon your middle name, I promise. I've done everything but change my passport...which I need to do but have been dragging my feet because I don't want to take another passport photo. I'm attached to my old one, but I digress.

In November, we bought a Minature Schnauzer on impulse that we fell in love with, named her Cortana after a character in Halo, and became proud puppy parents. She's changed my world for the better and I didn't think it was possible to love a puppy as much as I love her (and yes, I'm sorry for teasing my friends with pets for constantly gushing about their dog and making fun of doggie daycare because Cortana goes at least once a week). She makes me optimistic and brave and I figured if I could get through potty training her truimphantly, I could do anything. Which leads me to what I decided to do in January.

In January, I quit my job as a prosecutor. Yes, I quit my job in the worst economy since the Great Depression and decided to chase a dream I didn't really know I had until one day I started talking to Matt about what maybe I could do someday. And then someday became today, and I decided that if I was ever going to try now was the time to do it, before I had kids or a mortgage that got in the way and while I had a husband who believed in me and had a steady job to help keep us afloat and if I failed...I failed but at least I tried right, right? Okay let me cut to chase because I know the suspense is killing you, I opened up my own law practice.

Alicia Oliver Leonard at Law, P.C. (it has a nice ring to it if I do say so myself) was born on March 15, 2010 after spending a couple months trying to figure out how to incorporate myself and watching bad daytime tv (Maury, I'm no longer interested in who the father is...you've done that show like 20 million times already...and yet I watch it if I'm flipping through the channels after getting sick of the ladies on The View fighting about the travesty of Shannon Doherty being eliminated on Dancing with Stars). I'm focusing on what I know, criminal law, and what I was always interested in during law school, family law. And I'm excited, and overwhelmed, and terrified, but at least someday, no matter what the outcome is, I'll be able to say that I never let fear, or anything else for that matter, stop me from chasing a dream . And I think that's something that will matter in ten years to me and really there are so few things I do in my daily life that will really matter later in my life.

So now it's April, and the weather is beautiful (but it could still snow, I do live in Illinois) and my days are filled with building my business, playing with Cortana, and hanging out with my husband when he's not working. I think you could say "And they lived happily ever after", even though there are still days that aren't happy, or perfect, or bearable, because life is about the journey and I think I'm on the right road.