A Sesame Street Party!

Today, I had a Sesame Street Birthday Party.  It was so much fun!

Here is my birthday cake with all of my favorite characters! 

 

I was so excited that today was the day. . .my party!

A party isn’t complete without birthday hats.

Elmo and my Great Great Aunt Mary

Elmo also posed with my Grandma Sailing

and my Grandpa Sailing. 

My mom, the mastermind, with her Big Bird hat.

Silly Julia

Finally, it was time to open presents!

Look at all of those presents!

Katie and Elmo

 

I had so many presents to open, some people fell asleep!  :)

Better hurry up!

My cousin, Izzy, wore an I Love Olivia outfit.  I felt like a superstar with everyone making such a big fuss over me.

Finally, it was time for cake. . .my other favorite part about birthdays! 

I blew out the candle before everyone was finished singing. . .oops.

  

I sang along with everyone else.  It’s one of my favorite songs!

The cake was delicious!

Later, we played “Stick The Nose On Elmo.”  Here is my cousin, Katie, who was the winner!  Mom and dad couldn’t find a blindfold that worked, so they stuck a bag over everyone’s heads.  Silly.

I was so excited to try out my new tricycle.  I’ll get the hang of it.

After a nap, I am enjoying my new dollhouse and daddy is putting together my train set.  Thank you, everyone, for making my third birthday so special.  I love you all!

A Year In Review

Some people had trouble viewing the video on YouTube, so I reposted it here. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Tomorrow, August 27th, my baby girl is turning 3!  I put together a short slideshow of this past year.  Click the link below to view it. Enjoy! 

Olivia is Three!

Last year, I put together a short slideshow of Olivia as well.  I cried the entire time because I felt so guilty not making one for Logan. . .it’s his birthday too.  So, THIS year, I made his slideshow first (but, you don’t get to view that until next month.)  Then, I didn’t feel as awful knowing I’d devoted my time to him as well.  I struggle on this day. . .I think I always will.  I am torn between making the day happy and joyful for Olivia, but also remembering Logan.  Each year, I say, “I’m not going to cry,” but I still do.  I cry for Logan.  I cry because I’m crying and I shouldn’t cry for my daughter’s sake.  It’s her special day!  I thought maybe this year it would be easier, but it isn’t.  It’s really tough.

No Words. . .

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - Update

Guess what Grandma and Grandpa Glunt brought over for me on Sunday!  Do you know what it is?

My new slide!

Weeee

eeeeee

eeeeeee

eeeeeee!

That was fun!  Now, let’s do it again!

Olivia’s IEP Meeting

This morning we had Olivia’s IEP meeting and it went very well.  Everything they observed was spot on to what we see in Olivia on a day to day basis.  She does not qualify for speech as she is age appropriate in all areas.  We’ve always known her to be a very good communicator. . .even when setting off the alarms in the NICU when she was unhappy.  She also scored very well as far as her intelligence and what she knows.  She will go to preschool one half day a week (I can handle that) and receive OT and PT services.  She was actually farthest behind in self help skills (dressing, undressing, etc.) and ball handling. . .putting her at about 24 months.  Her gross motor skills are actually farther behind than I thought, although that explains our experiences in gymnastics.  She enjoys it, but it’s really tough for her.  They also observed something that we see a lot. . .she can sit at a table and pay attention very well, but when she is in a large area with different stimuli, she gets very distracted.  That also explains the problems that we have in gymnastics.  Can you tell gymnastics is tough on me too?  Most children take gymnastics because they have a natural propensity towards it.  Olivia is in gymnastics to learn those skills because they are difficult for her and I feel that kind of sets us apart.  We’re trying really hard to stick with it.  I do think they teach a lot of skills that would help Olivia.

Anyway, in most areas she is around 30 months, so about 6 months behind.  For a 23 weeker, the fact that she didn’t qualify in some areas is astounding.  She has come farther than we could have ever dreamed and we are so proud of her.  She starts school next Tuesday!

Monday, August 23, 2010 - Update

Last week, Olivia was evaluated by the school district.  She loses her services through Rainbows at 3 years old at which time they are picked up by the school.  She has to go through a qualification process, however, to determine whether she is eligible based on if/how far she is behind developmentally.   She did amazing and we joked that she was going to disqualify herself.   I was so proud of the things that she has worked so hard to do.  Tomorrow morning, we have her IEP meeting to discuss the results and the areas that she needs more assistance in.  I believe she will qualify for OT and PT, but I don’t think she’s too far behind in speech.   I’m really nervous.  If she qualifies, she will go to preschool and I’m just not ready to send her to preschool.  It’s very important to us, however, to give Olivia the assistance necessary to allow her to accomplish anything in life.  I want to grant her every opportunity to catch up in areas that are difficult for her.  Hopefully, preschool will allow her to do that.  I’m praying that we see eye to eye with what the school recommends for her.  But, it will be really really hard to send my baby to school.

More Pics

Olivia’s Pictures

As you know, last week Uncle Joel took some pictures of Olivia and we got them back today.  They are precious!  I thought I would share a few of them throughout the week, leading up to her birthday.  Enjoy!

Izzy’s Birthday Party

We celebrated my niece’s 3rd birthday party today.  It was a Snow White party and absolutely adorable!  Snow White is nothing compared to Princess Izzy!  We were honored to be a part of the celebration and had a wonderful afternoon!

Her Bitty Baby even had a dress to match!  We hope you had a wonderful birthday, Izzy!

Happy Birthday, Izzy!

The first time Olivia and Izzy met. . .and Olivia cried!  Can you believe that, Izzy?

They are the best of friends today!  Izzy has really become someone that Olivia looks up to, laughs with, plays with and loves.  Growing up without her twin, I feel so blessed that she has Izzy to share her life’s adventures with. 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Izzy! We hope you have a great day tomorrow!   We love you!

Dermatologist Appt

We had a dermatologist appointment today to address a few concerns that we have with Olivia.  Olivia was terrified and screamed the entire time (and that’s after bringing daddy for backup.)  She has awful “white coat anxiety” and freaks out if a place even resembles a doctor’s office.  This doctor didn’t even touch her.   Anyway, we learned that they are not going to do anything about Olivia’s keloid cyst/scar on her neck even though it is growing in size.  This is the result of scar tissue from her central line that she had in the NICU.  It is not painful nor is it currently bothering her.  At this age, it would be a major surgery because they would have to put her out.  She also has two moles that will need to be removed at some point, but we will just keep observing them for now.  We don’t know how her scarring (from the NICU leads) will affect her as she grows and develops, but hopefully she’s left with minimal injury and scarring.  I hope the “battle scars” that remain are worn proudly as a testament to everything she went through and what a tough girl she is!!   So, we go back in a year and hopefully by then, she is better able to handle doctor visits.  I finally made her go down for a nap because the poor thing has been a mess ever since her appointment.  Please continue to pray for the healing of Olivia’s skin. 

I’m Blue. . .da ba dee da ba dye.

Monday, August 16, 2010 - Update

I hope all of the kiddos and the teachers had a wonderful first day of school.  Most of the schools in our area started back to school today.  As a child, I never had a “good first day of school.”  I was a very anxious child.  Nowadays, children as anxious as me are usually on a medication.  I was THAT anxious.  I just remember never wanting to leave home or be away from my mom. . .especially on stormy days.  I would fake a stomach ache so that my mom had to come and get me. . .although usually the storm had passed by then.  In kindergarten, I lied to my teacher and told her I made this construction paper black cat when I really didn’t.  I worried about that for the rest of the year. . .ya know, maybe she would have all of us bring them back and I wouldn’t have one.  It looked really hard to do and I didn’t want to do that center.  I finally confessed to my mom about my lie when I was probably in the 3rd grade.  It seems so silly now.  That anxiety was with me through most of my schooling, but I like to think I am better able to handle it now.  I mean, I’ve been through about the most stressful times that I can imagine and I’m still standing.  :) I don’t see much of that anxiety in Olivia (except at the eye doctor, maybe.)  She loves being in social settings and is usually pushing me out the door so that she can go play.  I think she will be a child who loves school and has many “good first days.”  Thankfully, we have 3 years before I have to worry think about that.  

Me as a child in a flower girl dress.

Can’t end the post without showing a picture of Olivia in her pretty dress. 

Picture, Picture.

Olivia is maturing right before my eyes.  I can tell that her attention span is increasing (especially when she could probably watch Dora all day if I let her.)  She is following directions better as well.  Every year, Ryan’s brother takes back to school pictures of his girls.  Since he has his photography equipment set up, we have started crashing the party to get some pics of Olivia since it also coincides with her birthday month.  Today, we did just that and Olivia did awesome.  She listened to what she was supposed to do and stood (and even posed) to get her picture taken.  Up until recently, she would not have stood still.  I was a beaming mother!!  And, the pictures are going to be awesome!  Not only is Joel a fantastic photographer, but Olivia is a pretty good subject as well!  And I’m a complete sucker for pigtails. . .put bows in them and. . .wow!  :)  Thanks again, Uncle Joel!