Name That Caption

I can’t think of a clever caption for this one, but it cracks me up.  Maybe someone can come up with a clever idea?

Thursday, November 4, 2010 - Update

Every once in awhile, you capture those really cute and natural smiles.  :)  Olivia was watching Leapfrog’s “The Letter Factory” which is her new favorite.  It has Leapfrog Lily in it who is one of Olivia’s dearest friends.  She was thrilled to learn that Lily is actually in a movie.  And, have I told you how funny Olivia is?  She is one of those naturally funny people and is constantly cracking me up.  We went trick or treating at Ryan’s work last week and a lady had one of those bowls with the hand sticking out of it.  Well, it scared Olivia to death. . .so much that she is still talking about the scary hand.  In fact, she even made up a song about it called the Scary Hand Song.  She is constantly telling people (even strangers) about her Scary Hand Song and I have to hurry and give them the back story.  She’s just so funny.

Anyway, Olivia had an eye appointment on Monday that didn’t go all that well.  In addition to the 45+ minute wait for the appointment and 20+ more minutes in optical. . .we didn’t get quite the good news that we wanted.  Her change in lenses doesn’t seem to be improving her strabismus.  We are now adding the bifocal back in to see if that will help with the focusing.  Then, it’s on to a second surgery (she had her first at a year old.)  With some kids, even glasses and surgery cannot  improve strabismus.  I have even had someone, while discussing Olivia’s eye crossing, tell me, “You know, there’s a surgery for that.”  Unfortunately, there is no 100% cure.  A belief in that causes many people to think that parents like myself aren’t doing everything we can for our children.  They think, “Why aren’t they getting their eyes corrected?”  My main goal is to give her the best vision possible and that is what we’re working towards. 

More Leaf Party Pictures

Happy Halloween

Forget the broom. . .this witch surfs with the iPhone.

Ryan put out his Halloween props for the first time since 2006.  I think it was a lot more work than he remembered since it takes 7 hours to set it all  up.  Then, he has to turn around and take it all down. . .usually in the same night.  I doubt he does it again for a long time.   But, the neighbor kids (and their parents) really seemed to enjoy it.  I didn’t know if Olivia would be scared or not, but she wasn’t at all. . .probably because she saw daddy setting it all up.

Woah. . .easy now broom.

 

Olivia LOVED trick or treating this year!  We barely got finished at one house and she was running to the next. 

Decisions, decisions.

Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!

Annual Leaf Jumping Party

 

The whole crew

Olivia in the huge pile of leaves

Kaleb

Jump!

Alex

Family photo

The Kris Snyder Family

The Joel Glunt Family

Grandma and Grandpa

 

The kids getting ready to throw the leaves!

Katie

Aidan

Rebekah and Julia

The siblings. . .Ryan, Kim and Joel

The “Outlaws” 

Ryan’s flying leap

It’s all fun and games until you get leaves in your pants.

Friday, October 29, 2010 - Update

We’ve had a busy day today!  First, Olivia and I went trick or treating with Shelley and Izzy at the doctor’s office where Grandma Sailing works.  After eating lunch, we all headed to see Grandpa Sailing at work as well.  Later in the afternoon, Olivia and I headed to daddy’s work and trick or treated there as well.  We have a lot of candy. . .too much candy and it’s not even Halloween yet! 

Cutest little witch ever!

Trick or treating at Grandma’s work

Izzy and Olivia mapping out their next move. . .

Thursday, October 28, 2010 - Update

We had Olivia’s first ever parent/teacher conference tonight.  It went really well.  The changes we made have drastically improved Olivia’s outlook on school.  We knew it was going better, but it’s nice to hear it from them as well.  The changes that were made include:

1)Going to school an hour later.  It cuts her school day down to 2 hours instead of 3. 

2)Adding a second day of school.  She has been going twice a week for 2 hours instead of once a week for 3 hours.

3) Using a schedule book with pictures.  This way, she knows what is coming next.  Olivia likes to know the next two to three things that she’s going to be doing.  Ryan and I think it might have something to do with all the Dora that she watches. LOL. 

4) And most importantly. . . a lot of prayer.  We are so thrilled that she has been able to continue with school as it’s such a great experience for her.  School along with occupational therapy at Wesley and gymnastics have benefited her greatly.

And, a funny story before I go.  We were in the car on our way home tonight listening to a Veggie Tales Christmas CD.  Have you ever heard the song “Was He A Boy Like Me?”  I cannot listen to this song for some reason without crying.  I think I’ve listened to it about 20 times and each time I cry.  Tonight was no different.  After the song was over, I leaned over and told Ryan something about how I can’t believe I cried again.  Olivia saw me crying and said, “You don’t need to cry.  Be a big girl!  Silly baby.”  I hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time.  What a big girl she’s becoming!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - Update

This is how I’ve felt lately about blogging and about life in general.  I’m sure it’ll turn around soon. . . :)

Monday, October 25, 2010 - Update

Not too much going on. . .not much to blog about.   Olivia has been a bit under the weather and I’m not feeling too good either.  I did get her out to get her preschool picture taken today. . .10+ tries and I don’t think there’s a good one in the bunch.  Olivia did awesome and stood there like such a big girl, but she didn’t want to smile.  The one half-smile that we got has a big glare on her glasses, so we’ll see what we end up with.  Either way, it’s a memory. :) Not too long ago, she would have cried just from being in an unfamiliar situation.  I’m so proud of what a big girl she’s becoming!

We’ve been working a bit on potty training and we’ve had such little success that it’s actually becoming comical.  Olivia has it all down. . .she sits on the potty, tells me she’s done, claps for herself, flushes the toilet, washes her hands. . .except she’s missing the actual act of going potty.  You’d think we’d accidentally be successful at least once.  But, I do believe it’s completely up to her and one day she’ll decide she’s ready.  I’m honestly in no rush. . I don’t mind changing diapers.  She’s done everything else in her own time, I’m sure this will be the same.  And, one day we’ll have an exciting blog post about it!