Olivia’s 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated Olivia’s 4th birthday party today with a Lily (frog theme) party.  My friend, Angie, made Olivia’s adorable cake that even had Lily on top.  When Olivia first saw it, she exclaimed, “My birthday cake!  My beautiful birthday cake!” 

Olivia was eagerly anticipating her guests to arrive!

Playing in the play room

Presents!

One of her favorite cards meowed “Happy Birthday!”

Olivia’s friend, Madison.

Olivia’s cousin, Izzy

The birthday girl!

She blew out her candles like a pro!

Olivia’s grandma made clothes for her Lily doll.  They are adorable!

She is really enjoying her stick horse.  She has wanted one for a long time. 

What a great party!  We enjoyed seeing everyone and to be able to share this day with Olivia was magical.  Four years ago, I couldn’t envision where we would be on this day.  Olivia continues to thrive and jump every hurdle in front of her.  We love you, Olivia!!

Happy Birthday Olivia

I can’t believe that tomorrow my baby girl is going to be 4 years old.  I honestly can’t think about it without tears in my eyes.  I can’t believe how far she has come and I’m so proud of her.  She was born with all of the odds against her and she continues to fight harder than anyone I’ve ever met.  She’s truly a miracle and to be her mother is such an honor.  Thank you, Olivia, for giving my life such meaning and hope and love.  I love you!

08-2007 At birth

08-2008 – One year old (Giraffe party)

08-2009 – Two years old (The Ants Go Marching/Picnic Party)

08-2010 – Three years old (Sesame Street Party)

Of course, tomorrow is also someone else’s special day. . .my handsome son, Logan.  Oh, how I wish I could have spent the last four years with you!  I wonder what you would look like, what you would be like.  You would have been a wonderful brother and son.  We miss you and we love you so much.  You will forever be a part of all of our lives.

Logan William Glunt 08-27-2007 to 09-28-2007

Caillou

My daughter is crazy about Caillou!  I mean, I have never before seen a show have so much influence over her.  She relates to Caillou more than any other character.  I have sort of a love/hate relationship with him.  Olivia was never afraid of shadows in her room or thought monsters were chasing her until she saw “Caillou’s Bad Dream.”  On the other hand, she now LOVES apples like Caillou and is begging to go apple picking at an apple orchard just like Caillou.  The other day, she fell and scraped up her knee.  The first thing she said was, “I crash landed just like Caillou!”  Then, she made me re-enact the scenes in “Caillou The Patient” down to the smallest detail.  I even had to tell her, “It’s gonna be sore for awhile.”  Now, she wants to have the flu just like Caillou and I’m trying to convince her that she really doesn’t.  What a crazy girl. . .crazy about Caillou!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

As a child I had a miniature box that I loved.  My mom gave it back to me a few months ago.  I knew Olivia would love it, but I just wasn’t sure where to put it.  I finally put it up this week because Olivia has so many “little things” that we just can’t keep track of them all.  She adores it and so do I because now I feel like everything has a place. 

***A repairman came and fixed our washing machine today.  We’re not really sure what happened, but it seemed something must have gotten caught on the side of the drum.  You’d think I would have noticed something caught when I pulled the clothes out or we would have found something still there.  But, we didn’t.  Very odd.  These new washing machines are a lot more temperamental than they used to be.  It seems to be working fine now and I’m glad to have my washing machine back.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Wow, what a day. . .I was getting ready when Olivia came in and told me that something smelled bad.  I went out into the living room and smelled smoke for the second time this week.  My first thought was, “I haven’t run my dishwasher today!”  Then I noticed that the smell was coming from our laundry room.  I opened up the washing machine (after a just completed cycle) and smoke came billowing out with an awful burnt smell.  Seriously?  Are you kidding me?  After the dishwasher incident?  I called Home Depot where we purchased our washing machine just over a year ago.  I spent ALL afternoon on the phone trying to get things sorted out.  At first I learned that it only had a one year warranty. . .that expired in June.  Then, the guy from Home Depot called me back to tell me that we had indeed purchased the extended warranty.  We hardly ever purchase extended warranties, so that was quite a blessing.  Home Depot was awesome about the whole thing.  Now, at the moment I don’t think too highly of our LG washing machine.  Thankfully, a service technician will be out tomorrow to take a look at it.  I’ll let you know what in the world happened.  Let’s just hope that we don’t have to purchase other appliances any time soon. Next time I’m just going to find the one with the WORST reviews and buy that one.  I think we’d have better luck going that route.  Sheesh. . .

Sunday, August 21, 2011

I am truly blessed to have a best friend (since 8th grade) who has a daughter around the same age as Olivia.  I’m even more blessed because they have become quite the little friends.  We’ve been able to do quite a bit together this summer with plans to do even more in the coming years. 

And, I’ll finally admit to this. . .Madison has a nickname for me. . .she calls me. . .Gunk.  I don’t know why, but it’s always “Gunk, come here! Look at this, Gunk!”  As unappealing as the name is, it makes me laugh every time I think about it.  I mean, seriously, it’s like the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!  What a story that will be to tell her when she gets older!  Let’s just hope the name doesn’t stick.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

We’ve had quite a lot , ing on lately.  Today, we went to Izzy’s surprise 4th birthday party.  She said she wanted a surprise party, so they told her no one was going to be able to come to her party. Then they opened the garage door and we all yelled, “Surprise!”  It was a great party and we had a lot of fun.  If only my husband would have been able to attend.  He worked until 1 am this morning and then all day today. 

The birthday girl!!

KitchenAid

Today, Stacie and Madison came over and we were all happily playing in the basement.  I then came upstairs to a smoke filled room that smelled of burning plastic.  Let me back up a bit.

Last weekend, we purchased a new dishwasher.  Our old one only worked about every 4th time and when it did work, the dishes weren’t always the cleanest.  So, we did our online research, went to three different places and felt we made an educated choice with KitchenAid.  We wanted one that was middle of the road and this one was priced right with rave reviews.  It was installed on Monday. 

We pinpointed the smell to the dishwasher and honestly I was afraid to open it with visions of flames escaping every which way.  But, we did and found that a knife had fallen down onto the heating element and was literally sizzling to the point of almost being on fire!

Here is what is left of the knife.  That is the blade on top.  For one, I didn’t realize that some dishwashers have an exposed heating element and others don’t.  I personally think all of them should be unexposed.  It’s a major fire hazard.  I can’t tell you how many times Olivia’s sippy cup lids have fallen to the bottom of our old dishwasher.  And, I didn’t realize that heat dry is the default option and you actually have to turn it off for auto dry.  I’m terrified that I’m accidentally going to have it on heat dry and something is going to fall to the bottom.   

Now, we’ve got this mess to deal with, the smell to get rid of and I’m a very unhappy customer who was told, “To be more careful from now on when loading my silverware.” 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Here are two things that have made me smile this week.

Olivia’s drawings.  She has started drawing more and more objects and I LOVE to see them.  This is a self portrait.  I love that girl!!!

A sweet, cuddly kitten.  Kelsey is a total sweetheart.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Olivia and I. . .we had quite the sweet moments today.  You see, she has never been able to watch an actual movie. .they don’t hold her interest for that long.  We watch TV episodes of Caillou, Olivia, etc that last 15 minutes or so.  Well, today I got out Fox and The Hound. . one of my favorite movies when I was little and thought we’d try to watch it.  To my surprise. . .she watched the whole thing (the whole hour and a half of it!)  And, she loved it and asked questions about it and got excited and sad and scared.  That movie has always made me cry, but today I cried because I got to share it with her.  I just can’t describe the amazing feeling.  Then, later, she didn’t want to go to bed because she wanted to cuddle with me.  (She normally isn’t a big cuddler.)  So, I soaked that all up.  We talked a bit about our movie and how Tod and Copper were the best of friends.  I asked her who her best friend was and she said, “Mommy is my best friend.”  And my heart just melted.  What an amazing day!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Olivia was hilarious today! Here she is preparing a picnic lunch for Tobey and me.  She used garden flags as placemats.  Tobey is such a good sport. . .he actually played along and sat by his dishes. 

We cleaned the house A LOT today, including the front closet full of winter gear.  She walked around with a hat, gloves and boots for awhile today.  Of course, then she made me wear a stocking cap as well.  So, yes, I was cleaning my bathroom in August in a stocking cap. 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Since the weather is finally bearable, we went to the zoo today and renewed our membership that expired in June.  It’s just been too hot to go all summer. 

Daddy and Olivia in the jungle

On a mission to go see the zebras.

Being silly

Being silly again

Olivia and her new pet parrot.  Yes, for once we let her buy something in the gift shop.  LOL.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Yeah, so I’ve been neglecting my blog lately.  Things have been going well.  I’ve been trying to get Olivia to play board games.  We’ve tried Memory for a long time, but she can’t resist the urge to mess up all the cards when they’re in their nice straight rows.  So, we got out Let’s Go Fishing.  She loved the game, but loved the little fishies more (and of course had to sleep with them for several nights.)  Then, we tried Candyland.  She had to be the red gingerbread man, but only wanted to land on the red squares because they had to “match.”  So, we tried Hi Ho Cherry-O and she made up all kinds of games to play with her cherries. . .everything except the actual game.  And, she carries her cherries around in their little buckets all day.  She always keeps a smile on my face, that’s for sure. 

I’m gearing up for her 4th birthday party.  We are having a Lily party (frog theme.) Now, I’m kinda kicking myself because she has turned into a Caillou nut!  I mean, I think it is her favorite show ever!!  Most shows don’t always hold her attention, but she could watch Caillou all day if I let her.  Regardless of the theme, she’ll enjoy it.  It has really been fun because this is the first year that she truly understands birthdays and knows hers is coming up soon!  She’s going to be so excited!

The Children’s Garden

We’ve really enjoyed having my nieces over these last two days.  Today, we all went to see the new Children’s Garden at Botanica.  Wow, is all that I can say.  Many places try to construct a true child wonderland, but few succeed.  Botanica has succeeded.  It was amazing!

Julia, Olivia and Rebekah in the party barn.  I was determined to get their picture in front of the cows, but Olivia was having none of it.  So, this is the best that I got.

Playing in the kitchen at “Grandma’s House.”

Julia and Izzy playing in the kitchen.

Julia the butterfly

Olivia sitting on a ladybug.

Rebekah

Playing at the rain table.  You poured rocks in and it sounded like rain.

Painting the rock cave

The awesome tree house

Izzy and Olivia playing at Ant Hill. 

But, if you go. . .prepare to get REALLY wet and messy!