We were so excited for the first of three Christmas celebrations!
Olivia’s cousin Izzy
We celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa Sailing’s house.
Olivia was excited to open presents.
So was Izzy.
Her Dora microphone was among her favorites.
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas Eve.
On this eve of Christmas Eve, I sit here amazed at my many blessings. I don’t know where I’d be in life without my husband by my side. Olivia is a joy and such a miracle in our lives. I’ve truly never met anyone who is as happy as she is and with such a zest for life. She inspires me every day. And, I have some of the best family and friends in the world. I know our sweet Logan is celebrating Christmas from heaven again this year and what a celebration that must be! From our blessed family to yours. . . have a very Merry Christmas!
I’ve learned a lot about potty training in the last two days. What has surprised me the most is the amount of bonding that takes place between the two of you. Maybe it’s because your entire schedule is blocked off and it’s just the two of you focused on each other. What an amazing two days it has been! We even snuggled up on the couch and took a nap. For those of you who know Olivia. . .you know that she’s not always a snuggler so it will be a very cherished memory. We’ve had some successes (dry diapers overnight and during nap, pee pee in the potty) and some setbacks, but I’m trying to make it a pleasant experience for both of us. Some might think Olivia is certainly old enough, but they don’t understand that developmentally, she’s still a bit behind. She struggles with the fine motor skills that would allow her to dress and undress by herself. She still does not have all the readiness signs of potty training. . .even though her age would suggest otherwise. But, she’s doing a fabulous job and I’m super proud of her. I don’t believe in forcing a child to be potty trained whenever society says they should be ready, but when they are truly ready. As a mother, I’m taking her cues and responding to them the best I can. She’s always done everything on her own timetable, after all. Great job today, Olivia! Mommy and daddy are so proud!
Olivia with Grandpa and Grandma Sailing (found this picture from Thanksgiving that I never posted.)
Well, after 6+ hours, I think we’re done potty training for the day. We had 3 accidents and no successes, but we’re not giving up. Olivia just wanted to take a nap, so I put her back in a diaper. Olivia seems sooo ready in some areas and not ready at all in others. I am exhausted. . .we went every 15 minutes from 8:30 – 12:30 and then every 20-30 minutes. I know it takes awhile for some kids and she’ll do it when she’s ready. This potty training stuff is hard!! And messy!
Here are some pictures of Olivia getting ready this morning.
She loves to brush her teeth. I don’t know how good of a job she does (so I still do it for her at night) but she brushes them multiple times throughout the day.
Today, I also curled Olivia’s hair for the first time. She looked so adorable.
And look at those beautiful teeth! LOL. Gorgeous!
Tomorrow, we are hitting the potty training pretty hard. Olivia refuses to wear diapers (insists on pull-ups) and will no longer lay down for a diaper change. She’s sooo ready. . .she just doesn’t quite know it yet. Wish us luck!!
I got this craft idea from Stacie’s blog. I am a sucker for anything that uses my child’s handprint, so I thought we’d try it today. First, trace and cut out your child’s shoe. Then, trace and cut out their hands.
Assemble the hands as antlers and the shoe as Rudolph’s face.
Here is where you can get creative. Olivia didn’t feel much like doing a craft today, so I took the easy route and added eyes and a pom pom nose.
Do NOT use a pom pom if that happens to be your cat’s favorite toy. LOL. My construction paper was a little flimsy, so I pasted it to a green sheet of paper.
I traced it in black marker and hung it on the fridge for all to see and to remember how big her hands and feet were!
And here’s my sweet girl hanging out at home today. Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
Today, was Olivia’s holiday party at preschool. Ryan and I were both able to attend. While it really wasn’t anything more than an extended snack time. . .we were glad that we went. It was really neat to see Olivia in an entirely different setting. . .it’s like she has this whole life that I don’t know much about. Many of the kids were calling her by name and telling her good-bye when we left. She has a lot of little friends! Olivia has the next two weeks off for Christmas vacation. I still can’t believe Christmas is next week. I did, however, finish my Christmas shopping today. Yay! Can’t wait until Christmas!
Olivia and I were drawing on the Magna Doodle today and for the first time. . .Olivia wrote her name. She left out the a at the end and added in some extra lines, but it’s there!! I am beyond proud because this is the first time she has even attempted it. Usually when we work on it, she just scribbles. At preschool, they are using the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, which Olivia seems to love. . .probably because there are songs that go with it. It’s based on the concept that every letter is made up of a big curve, little curve, big line or little line. Too bad it wasn’t on paper so that I could save it forever. I’m hoping to at least save it until daddy gets home from work.
I just had to brag on Olivia a bit tonight. She is doing so well in gymnastics. Because Olivia does not have much upper body strength, some things are really tough for her. Over the last 6 months, we have stuck with it and I am amazed at her progress. She is doing forward rolls, jumping into the pit, riding the pulley (it’s like a zip line), holding onto the bar for 20+ seconds and building confidence on the balance beam. She’s also doing great with things like listening, waiting in line, waiting her turn and sitting quietly. She has come a long way in all areas. Being born at 23 weeks. . .we didn’t know what physical limitations she might have. Never would I have dreamed she would be taking a gymnastics class. I’m just so proud of her and all that she has accomplished. Ryan and I made sure to talk about how proud we were of her on the ride home. . . .you know, so she could overhear.
My diabetes is getting the best of me. I feel tired and unwell most of the time. Because of that, I get so angry and down on myself. Fatigue in diabetes is caused by glucose being unable to enter the cells where it is converted into energy. Instead it hangs around in the bloodstream. It’s not just fatigue. . .it’s complete exhaustion. I’m to the point that I have to do something about it. So, it starts now. Olivia deserves a mother with more energy and zest for life. What am I going to do? I’ve come up with a plan.
1) Exercise, exercise, exercise. That’s hard to do when you’re tired, but I’m determined to make it a part of my routine. The best time to exercise is when Olivia is at preschool. So, I will start exercising on Tues/ Thurs mornings instead of doing housework or taking a nap. And, I’ll work up from that.
2) Eat more vegetables. Plain and simple.
3) Watch my carbs. No bread, no rice, no pasta, no potatoes, no sweets, no sugar (or at least limit these as much as possible.) This is tough because I crave carbs and they are everywhere! They, however, make my blood sugar soar too high. Bread affects me worse than a candy bar! And, I’ll continue to take my diabetes medication (side effects and all) and try to bump it up to my recommended dosage.
4) Reduce caffeine. I gave up pop when I was diagnosed with diabetes, but I rely on iced tea and Excedrin to get me by. These fast fixes are only harming me in the long run. Oh, and drink tons more water!!
5. Enter the Daily Challenge after being motivated by my friend, Kerry. Each day, I receive an email with that challenge for the day. Today’s challenge, for example, was to create an emergency snack kit for times when hunger strikes. In diabetes, this is so important because those are the times when I make unhealthy food choices. And, with diabetes, almost everything seems to be an unhealthy food choice. My kit contains nuts, string cheese, apples and baby carrots.
6. Try to get my doctor to set me up with a dietitian. I need major help with what I can and can’t eat.
7. Enlist those willing to help me. In any way you can. . .please encourage me to make these positive changes in my life. If you have an idea or something that would help me, please let me know. Thank you for listening and remember to hold me to my resolutions! I will not let diabetes win!
Sorry for the blurry picture. I grabbed Olivia’s camera to take a picture and she has it on some different settings. Too bad. . .it would have been a good picture.
You should hear this girl sing her Christmas carols!! She knows quite a few and requests the Christmas station every time we’re in the car. She also loves to read books. Every night, Ryan and I read her two books before bed. Afterwards, it’s Olivia’s turn to read them and it is hilarious to hear what she remembers from the books. Sometimes she mixes the books up and talks about raccoons in Green Eggs and Ham and basketballs in Bethlehem. It always makes us laugh. And, she’s received Book-It awards at preschool two months in a row by reading 20 different books/month. We have books coming out our ears around here. . .especially when you can order them so cheap from Scholastic Book Club at school. But, I’m so grateful that she has a love of reading. Music and books. . .that is what she asked Santa Claus for after all.
First time in her crib.
Three years ago today we were able to finally bring Olivia home from the hospital. She was 105 days old. It was such an emotional day. . .I’ll never forget it. Today, I asked Olivia how she wanted to celebrate it and she said she wanted to stay home. So, we made it a pajama day and even took an afternoon nap together. Oh, how I love my little girl.
Some of you know my good friends Tamar and Tiffany and their family. Growing up, the Teschke’s were like a second family to me. Tamar and Tiffany, who lived two houses down, were my best friends since before I was Olivia’s age. Their youngest sister, Libby, has a 9 month old little girl named Paxten. On Saturday, they found out that Paxten has leukemia. She has the B Cell form of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) the most common form of leukemia in children under the age of 20. I ask for your prayers for this precious family and the battle ahead. They do have a caringbridge page set up at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/paxtenpearson/mystory
Blake, Libby and Paxten
December 2007
December 2010
Some days I feel so overwhelmingly blessed. . .
Ryan’s employer hosted a Santa Party today and we were able to go and meet Santa! Olivia really warmed up to him and even told him what she wanted for Christmas. . .music and books. She also picked out a teddy bear that was made in the North Pole! We had a great time!
And here are just some pictures from a fun night hanging out at home.
Olivia with her two Gogums and her Lily. . .I think she’ll be taking these three to college! That’s how much she adores them.
Aye Aye Captain!
I just have nothing much to talk about lately. There isn’t a lot going on, I guess. So, pictures will have to suffice for now.
I did want to wish my sister-in-law Laura a very Happy Birthday today!! What an adventure the next year holds! Also my sister-in-law Kim and her family spent their first full day in their new house in Arkansas and we’ve been continually praying for them! Quite the adventure for them as well!
Well, I’ve been out of commission for a few days with an awful stomach bug. Today, I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and now I just hope Ryan and Olivia don’t get it. It pretty much spoiled my entire Thanksgiving weekend. We did manage to get a bit of shopping done and put up our Christmas decorations. Many thanks to my husband for holding down the fort while I was in bed. I think Olivia enjoyed the extra time with daddy. Olivia has been overjoyed with all of the Christmas stuff and was so excited to “build our Christmas tree.”
Olivia putting on her first ornament of the season.
Our Christmas Tree
Our stockings were hung by the chimney with care. . .
I think we have an ornament bandit in our midst.
Just a reminder of how little Olivia’s feet were at birth.
This year, we even decided to decorate the bathroom in gingerbread.
Many blessings to you from our family to yours!
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