The Time Has Come...

I always knew the day would come when Natalie's hair would need to be cut; it's gotten to that point, and this makes me incredibly sad. I always said it would physically hurt me to have that beautiful hair cut, but I realize that it's just getting out of control at this point.

Natalie was born with quite a bit of hair for a baby born at least 12 weeks early. It was very dark and thick at the time.

Later, her hair started to grow out into beautiful curls and lightened to a dark blonde color. It was simply beautiful.
The longer it got, the more it straightened out on top, but the curls at the bottom remained.

It's the first thing people notice about Natalie. Her hair is, in a word, gorgeous. But these days, it's out of control. It's hard to manage, it gets stuck behind her when she's sitting and gets tangled. At over four years old, Natalie's hair has never been cut, or even trimmed. The little curls at the end of her hair have been there since she was born. She never lost any hair after birth.

Of course I'll save some of those curls, but the rest will go to Locks of Love. I can't think of a better thing than donating Natalie's hair to a sick child who really needs it. She has at least 10 inches to give and her hair will still be past her shoulders.
I know I'll cry like a baby, but I think it'll also be fun to have her hair a bit shorter so we can do some of the fun hairdos again. It often gets put in a ponytail because leaving it down results in hair in Natalie's mouth.

I haven't made a hair appointment yet, but I'm sure I will soon...and of course I will share all of this with you when it happens. Until then, have a Merry Christmas!!

A 4-Year-Old Beauty

October 22nd, 2010:

It's hard to explain just how important birthdays are for Natalie---and for all of us. Her real "birth" day was filled with anxiety:At one week, she had survived one major medical event, but was doing well:

At two weeks old, we thought Natalie was going to have a long, but relatively smoothe remainder of her ride in the NICU:

Her third week led us on the journey to Minneapolis. I remember sitting in the hospital thinking there was no way I could go back to Minot without Natalie; I wouldn't be able to enter our house again and see her nursery or touch her little clothes. I really didn't know if I could survive a day without her. In a couple of weeks, I'll blog about the days in Minneapolis and try to recount all that happened. That will be a good test of my memory!! :)

At four weeks, Natalie had survived what doctors told us she couldn't---a bacteria that did all it could to take her away from us. It had met its match with Miss Natalie B!

Four YEARS later, many things have changed, but we haven't forgotten just how important every day is with Natalie. It's a miracle that she's here. Every birthday is extra special---but the 364 days in between are pretty amazing, too! Happy Birthday, Natalie Beatrice Olson. We love you!

School is Cool.

Natalie's back in school! Thursday was her first day back. She did go to summer school, but summer school is much different. The focus during the summer is just to maintain the skills she learned during the school year. Now that she's back in school, she'll be challenged to learn new things.

Getting her hair braided--it's getting sooooo long!

We drove her to school the first day--normally she takes the bus. It was a bright, sunshiny day!

We had Natalie's wheelchair adjusted this summer, and now she fits perfectly in it. It's a really nice set of wheels!

Back in her classroom. Calvin was very interested in what was going on. He loved the classroom.

Natalie was wide-eyed and ready to go. Perry and I agreed that she knew exactly where she was---she was really happy!

Calvin scooted all around the room until Natalie's classmates showed up.

Natalie's chair at the table so she can sit at the same level with all of her classmates.

Nat's in the same classroom as last year with the same teacher, but some other things have changed. There are only four kids in the class this year, so her aide from last year, Tracy, is not needed. There are two other aides in the classroom who were there last year as well, so her new aide is Jeanne. We love Jeanne, too, but we will definitely miss Tracy! She was great with Natalie. If more kids are added to the class, they will try to get Tracy back. Anyway, if you're reading this Tracy, we miss you already!

New Diagnosis

After well over a thousand miles on the road, too many pit stops to count and eight episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse played over and over---we have returned to Minot with a new diagnosis for Natalie's seizures. It was all worth it.

What it comes down to is that Natalie has something called tonic seizures. She DOES NOT have infantile spasm seizures or continuous spikewave of sleep, as previously diagnosed.

Monday was a very long day, as I previously wrote about. It started with a short EEG, and we ended the day with a very long and productive consultation with Dr. Nickels and her resident doctor, Dr. Broomall. We are incredibly happy with Dr. Nickels -- she is fabulous and so friendly.

Natalie and Dr. Nickels, post-EEG.

Becoming an advocate for your child's health is sometimes frustrating; sometimes you explain things that are happening and the doctor acts like it's nothing big, when you know it is. I don't think we know more than any doctor, but we DO know what is happening in Natalie's life better than anyone -- so having a doctor listen to those concerns and understand where we are coming from is refreshing. This is not to say that Dr. El-Zind doesn't listen to us, but I feel like the doctors at Mayo spend more time listening to us. Oh, how important that is!

On Tuesday, we checked Natalie into the hospital affiliated with Mayo Clinic -- St. Marys. Yes, that's St. Marys without an apostrophe. It really bugged me...I don't know why they do it that way. Apparently there's more than one St. Mary. If you know me at all, you know I have issues with improper usage of apostrophes. :)

The view from Natalie's room at St. Marys. It was beautiful!

Anyway, Natalie was first scheduled for an MRI so the doctors could get a complete look at her brain. This was terribly troubling to me because she had to undergo general anesthesia with a breathing tube. I don't know why I was so worried--she was at Mayo Clinic with the best of the best! Regardless, it was terribly frightening for me to watch her go to sleep; it brought back bad memories from the NICU of begging her to stay awake. The MRI took about an hour and we spent the same amount of time with her in recovery.

Soon after, she was hooked up once again for her 24-hour EEG. Four sets of hands worked very quickly and efficiently and got the electrodes, or leads, placed on Natalie's head. I think there are about 35 leads in all. They wrapped her head up to keep them in place---which is something they didn't do at MeritCare, and the nurses spent the whole night fixing the leads. This time, they stayed secure!

All wrapped up!

Daddy spent the night with Natalie in a very uncomfortable bed. (Sorry, Daddy!)

When it was all over with, Dr. Nickels learned all she needed to know about Natalie---at least for now. Natalie has very erratic brain waves all of the time because of the injury to her brain. That was not surprising to Dr. Nickels at all. Viewing the MRI is quite difficult. You realize that she has very little of her brain left, as the pseudomonas and sepsis made her so sick, she got very little oxygen to her brain at a critical time in her development. I know that's hard to hear---it is for me at least. The fact is, though, that Natalie is a bright, happy girl despite the fact that she has so very little brain. She shows us she is happy, sad, excited, etc. She has a big personality for a little girl.

The tonic seizures are just part of her development. We can treat the seizures---and we will continue to do so. We know when she is having tonic seizures because she throws her arms up in the air and her eyes flutter. These don't last for long, so that's a very good sign.

So, once again we are changing her medication regimen. Instead of giving her medicine two times a day, she will get her seizure medication three times a day. A plan has been laid out for changing that regimen if it doesn't work. In fact, we have a plan A, B and C. Natalie will continue to see Dr. El-Zind in Fargo as we work through these plans to find the right one. If none of the plans work, we will go back to Mayo Clinic to reevalute things.

In the meantime, Natalie is getting ready for another year of school! This Thursday will be her first REAL first day of school. Last year, she joined her classmates after she turned three. We're so excited--and we'll share pictures of that day with you later.

Wow---What a Week!

I can't believe it's already been a week since we left for Rochester. So much has happened since my last post on Monday. I have to collect all of my thoughts and start typing...but now is not the time to do that. I hope to sit down and get it done by tonight (fingers crossed). So, check back later!

Natalie Meets Dr. Nickels

Is today over with yet? It seems like it's lasted FOREVER! Don't get me wrong...it was a productive day...just very LONG.

It started out for Natalie and Perry at 5:00 a.m. We had to wake Natalie up a couple of hours earlier than normal so she would be sleepy for her first EEG. Thank goodness the clinic had an EEG hat to fit Natalie's little head. She's had three EEGs now where the techs have had to individually place each electrode to her head. By the end of this, she is usually screaming and crying. Her little pink hat fit perfectly today, and an hour later, we were out of the clinic. Unfortunately, Natalie didn't exhibit any of the seizure-type activity that we're used to seeing, but isn't that the way it always goes? :) It DID show something the neurologist was looking for---and I'll get to that in a bit.

Next up (about five hours later) was the consultation with Natalie's new neurologist, Dr. Kate Nickels. Once again, we told Natalie's story and explained our concerns about Natalie's seizure activity of late. We went over EVERYTHING! Dr. Nickels was amazing---and really did a good job of encouraging us about Natalie's progress thus far, as well as the outlook for her. She told us that Natalie's early morning EEG showed exactly what she expected to see of a child who has had large brain events. The good news is that there are many options out there for Natalie...and that we've just hit the tip of the iceberg when it comes to treating her seizures.

Tomorrow, Natalie has an MRI and another EEG. This time, the EEG will be more in depth as it will be a 24-hour video EEG. Natalie has had two of these before and they've been extremely beneficial. I'm hoping they'll just use a little electrode hat on her, but I'm guessing they will probably glue each electrode individually to her head. Yuck! I hope Natalie handles this better than she has in the past. Perry will stay with her at the hospital since Calvin still just can't make it through the night without me. He did a great job with Grandma Cheryl today, though, and allowed me to be away for both of Natalie's appointments.

After the MRI and EEG, we will have another consultation with Dr. Nickels (on Wednesday). When that is done, we'll be able to come home! I already feel like we've been gone forever.

Everyone was right--Mayo Clinic is an amazing place. We're lucky to have it so close by. Thank you for all of your prayers---keep 'em coming!

Are We There Yet?

Day three of our vacation/medical trip is over---and we haven't even been to Mayo Clinic yet! It was a long drive for the five of us, and I'm very happy we planned an overnight stay in Fargo (with my brother Greg and his wife Tahnee) on the way here. The kids were ready to be done on Friday night.

Last night, we spent the night in downtown Minneapolis. Calvin, Perry and I went to a Twins game, while Natalie stayed behind with Grandma Cheryl at the hotel. We learned that they have great handicapped seating areas, so I think next time, we'll bring her along. The game was great...Perry finally got to see his very first outdoor Major League Baseball game. It was very exciting and lived up to the hype! We were lucky that it didn't rain during the game; however, after the game, a big storm passed through downtown and we were stuck in the middle of it! We had to wait it out in the Target Center entryway. Yikes!

This morning, we packed up and headed off to the Minnesota Zoo. We're so used to Roosevelt Park Zoo, that this one seemed GIGANTIC! It was very nice, but the best part was that we got to meet up with some old friends...Natalie's nurse, Kate, and her NICU buddy, Carter and his family. We had a great time catching up with our friends, then we headed south to Rochester. We are VERY fortunate to be staying at a friend's (beautiful) house during the stay. Calvin is crawling all over the place these days, so the idea of him crawling around on a hotel floor isn't too appealing to me. We are about 15 minutes from the clinic and hospital, so Grandma Cheryl can stay back with Calvin and I can be with Natalie until Calvin needs me again.

We are very excited to see the doctors tomorrow and learn as much as we can about Natalie seizures. It's been a constant worry in our lives, so the more we understand about them and learn to control them, the better off we will ALL be. Natalie deserves only the best! :)

I will update you all again tomorrow as we learn more. For now, I'm one tired mama...and ready for BED!

(I'm sorry I can't include pictures...I don't have a way to get them from my camera to this computer until we get back home. I will add them at that time.)

What's it Like Raising a Special Needs Child?

Many of you have gotten to know Natalie over the years via CaringBridge; others have met Natalie in person and have seen what a beautiful little girl she is. These glimpses of her don't really tell the story of what it's like to raise her day-to-day.

I told Perry last night that I know Natalie has made me a better person, and maybe that's why she is the way she is. She's taught us all so much, and through her eyes I've seen glimpses of Heaven. If her story doesn't make you believe in miracles and the power of God, nothing will.

But the daily struggles can test our patience.

Natalie can't walk, crawl or talk. She can't see and often hangs her head. Going out in public, most people see her and say, "Oh, it looks like somebody fell asleep." No, she's blind, so she closes her eyes. It's a daily reminder of the fact that her sight is so low.

A "normal" three and a half year old would be running around playing or sitting down to watch a Disney movie. Natalie can't do these things, so it's our job to either hold her or keep her occupied at all times. Sometimes she'll sit by herself, but I try to do things with her at all times. This means things often just don't get done around here---and I've come to accept that.

Going out is another struggle, especially with a 9-month-old boy to bring along with us as well. If I'm by myself, I tend to just stay home and have others pick up the groceries or items we need at home.

Sometimes Natalie is happy as can be; other times she is irritable and we don't know what to do for her. We're constantly worried about seizure activity. Two times a day, everyday, we give her three different medications. A simple cold virus that causes sniffles and sneezes for Calvin sends Natalie to the hospital with RSV. A cold can last two to four weeks.

Bath time is growing more and more difficult as she gets older and longer. Feeding is problematic at best. She is slowly learning to take spoon feedings, but she still relies mainly on bottles.

Then there are the doctor trips. While many people use their vacation time to go on family vacations, Perry uses most of his time to go to Fargo or Minneapolis so Natalie can see her neurologist, physiatrist, etc. We've spent so much time in hospital or clinic waiting rooms. We've told Natalie's story so many times and gone through her history with nurses. We've learned how to become advocates for her in the doctor's office and insist upon the best care possible.

But what about the future? It seems we focus on the day-to-day so much that we often forget about what Natalie's life will be like 20 years from now. Who will be there for her when we can't be? How can we make sure she has the best care possible? When she gets too big for me to hold her and bathe her, what will we do?

I prefer to look at things in a different way. Calvin will grow up and one day leave our home; I won't ever have to say goodbye to Natalie. She'll be with me forever. Calvin will soon learn how to talk; Natalie snuggles and smiles and tells us she loves us in different ways. Calvin is learning how to walk and will soon run away from us; Natalie thinks the best place in the world is with her head on Daddy's chest.

With all of the struggles of everyday life with Natalie---I wouldn't give it up for ANTYHING. I'm so lucky to be her mommy. I tell you all of this because I wouldn't have known this without her. She teaches me patience that I never knew I could have. I love her with all of my heart. My cup runneth over. I've cried a river for her, but have learned how to stay strong when things are at their worst. I've prayed to God for everything from saving her life to helping her sleep through the night without seizures. Her life is precious.

I tell you all of this not to complain about how difficult our lives are. Often, I blog about the milestones and big accomplishments in Natalie's life, but that doesn't paint a complete pictures of what our days are like. I don't pity myself one bit---in fact, I only wish others could experience how incredible it is to raise a special needs child.

A voice says, "Cry out!"
I answer, "What shall I cry out?"
"All mankind is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the world of our God stands forever."

Isaiah 40: 6-8

A New Plan of Attack

(Caution: This is a long blog entry!)

Where to begin, where to begin? Well, I guess it all began soon after Natalie was born three and a half (now almost four) years ago. Bleeding in her brain almost took her life---but she survived! Two weeks later, a battle against a severe case of pneumonia had Natalie's fragile body teetering between life and death---but once again, she survived! That second medical event is the one most doctors would agree did the lion's share of damage to Natalie's brain.

As you well know, she has cerebral palsy---but more importantly, she has frequent seizures. She's been struggling with these (we figure) since soon after she arrived home from the hospital. At first, we didn't know what was wrong with her. She was angry all the time---we spent hours bouncing her, swinging her, anything to make her happy. Needless to say, after a rollercoaster ride in the NICU, we were looking forward to bringing her home, and were disappointed that life was often just as difficult at home as it was in the hospital.

We were frustrated, tired, and at our wits' end. Most of all, we were sad for Natalie that she couldn't be happy! We also noticed that Natalie seemed to be making less and less eye contact. We have photo documentation of how she used to look at us. Grandpa had also taught her how to smack her lips, but the ability to do that seemed to be gone.

Then one day my sister-in-law Brittany mentioned something about petit mal seizures. She noticed (as did we) that Natalie would "space out" for periods of time. We had an EEG performed on Natalie, which confirmed that she was having seizures, although not petit mal seizures...instead, it was something called infantile spasm seizures. It was time to take Natalie to a neurologist, and that's when we met Dr. Samira El-Zind at MeritCare in Fargo.

Natalie was put on a medication called Keppra. It was like the magic drug. Natalie's demeanor changed overnight. She was happy again. At times, we could even get her to laugh a bit. We were so happy because we thought this was the answer to her problems. Unfortunately, the brain is always changing, and soon, Natalie's seizure activity would change.

The one thing Natalie had never done up until last summer was sleep through the night. I had gotten used to the fact that she would always wake up two to three times a night. I always figured that it was just a side effect of her inactivity during the day. Then, we started to notice that after naps, Natalie would wake up and spend the next half hour making jerky movements.

We packed up the van and made another trip to Fargo for a 24-hour video EEG. This time, we found that she suffered from something called "continuous spike wave of sleep." What this meant was that she was seizuring continually during her sleep, although her body wasn't moving. After too many seizures, her body would jolt her awake and she would suffer through the jerking motion. Eventually the seizures would calm down and she would go back to sleep. That's when we started her on clonazepam. The first night she had it, she slept so well that her daddy woke her up---he was worried that something was wrong! The next night, she slept through the night! It was INCREDIBLE! Natalie was getting a full night of good sleep---and so were we.

But once again, we feel like Natalie's seizures are getting worse. It's just a general sense this time that things are getting worse. So now, even though we really like Dr. El-Zind, we are trying something different. In two weeks, we will make a trip to Mayo Clinic, where we'll see what a new team of doctors has to say about Natalie's brain. What we really want is a second opinion...a fresh view of what's going on. We don't know what the future holds for Miss Natalie, but we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to make sure her brain is able to function as well as it can so she can learn and grow to be the girl she is supposed to be. She's scheduled for at least three days of appointments, but it may end up being more. We are really looking forward to this and hope it will be the start of something really good for Natalie. Of course, I will keep you up-to-date while we're on the trip. If you can, please keep Natalie in your prayers.

Please pray that:
1. The doctors are able to understand what is going on Natalie's brain.
2. Any solution to Natalie's seizures will be safe for her.
3. Natalie will be comfortable and happy during the testing---and that she doesn't get scared!
4. We have a safe trip!
5. This will be a productive trip for Natalie.

Thank you so much. We certainly know how powerful prayer is in our lives. We appreciate every single one!

Below are some pictures of Natalie. The last picture was taken at the zoo last week---next to the bears! Sorry I was so long-winded this time. It's hard to condense her seizure history into a short blog!

New Lake, New Memories

For those of you who have followed Natalie and our family on different blogs or Web sites, you know that each year we spend one week at a lake in Minnesota. For a very long time, that lake has been Potato Lake, just north of Park Rapids...and more specifically, Sunset Lodge on Potato Lake. It's been a family tradition for over 50 years. Last year, as we packed our stuff into Cabin 2 at Sunset Lodge, we learned it would, in fact, be our last at the resort, as it was being sold. It was a sad goodbye for the family. Perry and his siblings spent a lot of time on that lake, learning to water ski, playing on the floating dock and making memories with friends. I was really hoping our kids could grow up and make memories there as well, but there are some things you just don't have control over---and that was sadly one of them. So last year, during a miserably cold and windy week at the lake, we searched for a new resort, always knowing that deep down, it wouldn't measure up in our hearts to good ol' Sunset Lodge. (below) What we did find was a resort just one lake away--on Eagle Lake, called Eagle Beach Resort. It had all the charm of Sunset Lodge, minus the years of memories. It even had a pool! So, ready to make new memories, we headed out at the end of June. It surely wasn't the same, but a week at the lake is all about spending time with family and enjoying life away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday world. It's so refreshing---and best of all, it's Natalie's favorite place to be!! It was a week full of fun---and here are a few pictures (of the thousands taken). :)

A peaceful night on Eagle Lake---our first night there.

Natalie loves to sit on the beach and listen to all of the "lake sounds." We love listening for loons!

A ride in the boat---Natalie loves to have the wind in her face! She lays her head back and smiles. It's so sweet!

Taking a nap in the cabin. It's tough work being on vacation! :)

The view from our cabin onto Eagle Lake. I wish I could wake up to that every day.Daddy is a great water skiier. He only does it for one week a year, but he always does really well!

Another shot of us on the beach. It was a beautiful night!

This is outside of one of our favorite spots in the area---The Logging Camp. It's a great place for breakfast, and when you're done, you walk out to the Potato River and feed the fishies...or as cousin Meredith calls them, "sishies." It's a beautiful setting and it was a beautiful morning for pictures.

Natalie loves to have Grandpa all to herself!Natalie spent some time in the pool. It was great having a pool, because on the cooler days, it was nice and hot at the pool. The kids loved it! Feeding the fishies!

We can't wait for next year's trip. It's the best medicine for Natalie!! :)

RECOVERING FROM VACATION...

...WILL POST AGAIN SOON! PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR PICTURES FROM THE LAKE!

Horsin' Around

Natalie's back in the saddle again---for summer physical therapy! She started hippotherapy last summer, and she loved it so much, we knew she HAD to try it again this summer. Her beautiful horse, Lucy, takes her around the arena with the help of physical therapist, Nancy. We haven't seen Nancy since Natalie started school, so it's nice to spend time with her again. She is a big believer in the therapeutic benefits of horseriding for kiddos like Natalie.

Here she is, leaving the barn on her horse, Lucy:

She has great posture when sitting on the horse!

They do fun little games each time around the track. She doesn't stop smiling the whole time! I love my girl!

Here are some pictures from her first time back at horse therapy. Note the adorable shirt made by Auntie Carolyn---with horses all over it! So cute...

Calvin loves to watch his big sister ride the horsey...

...but it can be very tiring!!! :)

Speaking of tiring...the morning spent at school is exhausting for Natalie. She comes home a little after noon and is ready to nap with Daddy. I love getting pictures of the two of them sleeping together. It's so sweet!

We are getting ready for our week-long vacation in Minnesota. It looks as though the weather will be much better than last year...YAY! A week spent outside by the lake is just what the doctor ordered for Natalie. Expect many more pictures in the weeks to come. Thanks for stopping by!!

Natalie's First School Year Comes to an End

Natalie has finished her first year of preschool---where does the time go? Here is a look at her classroom and her absolutely adorable little friends. What a fun classroom---we can't wait to get back there in August. Until then, Natalie is attending summer school three days a week until the end of July. The school days are just a bit longer, but the school time isn't as structured as it is during the regular school year. She doesn't get as much therapy---they are just focused on maintaining her skills from the regular school year.



Natalie did lots of fun things during the school day, and I know she enjoys every minute that she is there. It's good on so many levels...good that she is learning new skills, making new friends, going to new places and having new experiences. Here she is playing with one of her "sound puzzles."

This is Natalie's aide, Tracy. We LOVE her! She is so kind and caring and takes such good care of our little girl. It takes special people to do the work they do in the classroom with these little kiddos---and Tracy is one of the best. Isn't she beautiful?? :) We will see her again in August, as she will be Natalie's aide again next year.

Natalie is becoming much more accepting of normal foods, although she still doesn't exclusively spoon feed. She has learned lots of new great skills in school this year, and now she is doing a good job of eating pudding, graham crackers and some other foods. I would love to get her away from the bottle in the next year. That would be wonderful! :)
We have a date set for Mayo Clinic--it's August 16th. Natalie will see a neurologist there, but I'm not sure who else she is scheduled to see at this point. We are anticipating a letter in the mail tomorrow to explain what is planned for her. We are really excited to meet a new neurologist who can get a fresh take on what's going on in Natalie's head. I'll have much more on that later.


Tomorrow is also a big day for Natalie---she gets to ride her favorite horse, Lucy, again! It's the hippotherapy program that she took part in last year. I'm excited to see what she thinks of it this year. We haven't seen her physical therapist, Nancy, since Natalie started school. We're looking forward to seeing her again as well. I will hopefully have pictures for you tomorrow!


This is a photo from last year:

Welcome to Natalie's New Website!

I feel like I'm leaving behind a best friend by jumping from CaringBridge to Blogger. As wonderful as Caringbridge was for us during those first few months of Natalie's life, a lot has changed technology-wise since 2006.

Unfortunately, Caringbridge is not a great place to share pictures and to customize a page, so this is where I will now post any updates for Miss Natalie B. I will be able to share more pictures with you because it's so much easier to upload photos here. You can become a follower of Natalie's Web site, just as you could on Caringbridge. I really hope you will continue to follow Natalie! There are many things happening for her in the near future. If you have any questions---let me know!

Of course, I will try to get as many updates on here as possible, but remember that things are busy around this household, so I'm not always great at doing things in a timely fashion! :)

Rest assured, ALL of the entries left at Natalie's OLD Web site will be printed and kept in her baby book (or at least with it!). We love hearing from all of you, so continue to comment on her progress.

This is a new beginning for Natalie and her amazing story and journey through life. We hope you will follow along with us on this crazy ride!!