Say hello to the 3 year old Olena.....
My little angel is growing up so fast. My hearts just melts when I think about the fact that she is already 3! Where has the time gone?? It is honestly a little weird because your mind knows she has only been around for a year so it seems like we should be celebrating her 1st year birthday, not 3rd! This year wasn't hard though. I remember last year feeling sorry for myself because of everything I had missed in her life, blah blah blah! I can be such a whiner sometimes! LOL :) but this year was a lot of fun. She has mastered the idea of presents, and loves them, just like her mommy! and she enjoys birthdays very much. When we starting singing to her she was so excited. We just had a very small party with the grandparents and aunts. Nothing fancy, some lunch, cake and ice cream. She had a great time and was very happy with all of the birthday fussing going on around her. She is such a ham!
I myself have been busy with some late winter cleaning...or maybe I should say early spring cleaning! O stayed at my parents house on Friday until her party on Sunday (which was a surprise for her to come home too) so I took advantage and got a ton of stuff done. I brought the outdoor garbage cans in, and stuffed them. I went through the closets, the drawers, my storage in the basement and just cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. I ended up with a can full of "garbage" and about 5 bags of stuff for the goodwill. I even went through all of her clothes, and managed to fill 2 totes with clothes that are now too small. In my ventures, I even found a huge tote with stuff that fits her now! which was a huge surprise. I had completely forgotten about it. When we had a shower last January, I received unbelievable amount of clothes, but a majority of them were 24 months. Which she is just now barely fitting into. I washed everything on hot and dried them on HIGH so that they would shrink. I would say about half of them fit now, but in a few months she should be able to wear them all. In pants she needs a 2T for the length but the waist is way too big so we have settled with the shrunken 24months, with a belt pulled really tight :) Her shirts on the other hand, we just jumped from a 18 - 24 mons to a 2T - 3T because she has a very long torso. Shirts any smaller show her mid drift so we had to step it up a size.
I myself have been busy with some late winter cleaning...or maybe I should say early spring cleaning! O stayed at my parents house on Friday until her party on Sunday (which was a surprise for her to come home too) so I took advantage and got a ton of stuff done. I brought the outdoor garbage cans in, and stuffed them. I went through the closets, the drawers, my storage in the basement and just cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. I ended up with a can full of "garbage" and about 5 bags of stuff for the goodwill. I even went through all of her clothes, and managed to fill 2 totes with clothes that are now too small. In my ventures, I even found a huge tote with stuff that fits her now! which was a huge surprise. I had completely forgotten about it. When we had a shower last January, I received unbelievable amount of clothes, but a majority of them were 24 months. Which she is just now barely fitting into. I washed everything on hot and dried them on HIGH so that they would shrink. I would say about half of them fit now, but in a few months she should be able to wear them all. In pants she needs a 2T for the length but the waist is way too big so we have settled with the shrunken 24months, with a belt pulled really tight :) Her shirts on the other hand, we just jumped from a 18 - 24 mons to a 2T - 3T because she has a very long torso. Shirts any smaller show her mid drift so we had to step it up a size.
Next week is her 3 year well visit at the doctors so I will let you know how much she has grown since her very first visit from January last year.
I have been reading all of the blogs of the families who are currently in Ukraine and it has been eating me up inside. I want to go back and do it all again so badly! the Johnson's (who are in my side bar) had their appointment yesterday but due to a mishap, they will be returning tomorrow for another referral. Be sure to check out their story! also be sure to say a quick prayer for them as well as several others who are currently in country. I know of a few families who are there now, and having problems for one reason or another, so the more prayers, the better.
I am not sure how many of you have looked at the original blog lately, but I updated the title for my slide show. I came across someones site the other day, and read that every 18 seconds a child becomes an orphan. After reading this, and seeing a slide show that they presented I was bawling my eyes out. More families need to adopt. That is the bottom line. No child should be without a family! Spread the word, mention our blog, mention adoption, just put the idea in one person's head. That is one more child saved. I would much rather read something that says every 18 seconds a family adopts! Now that would bring a smile to my face.
On to happier thoughts...we have a fun filled 2008 ahead of us, and now that spring is hopefully around the corner I am getting really excited. We have a "reunion" of sorts planned for the spring with the Kissack's and hopefully the White's too and this by far is one of the most exciting things I am looking forward to. To see these 3 girls together again, and spending some time with their families will be amazing. Though we all somewhat bonded while in Ukraine, we have all built a much stronger relationship since being home so this is going to be a very bittersweet reunion. Hey, the girls are "sisters" right?? Being back with the family will be a lot of fun! and I can't wait.
I will also be undergoing surgery very soon. Believe it or not, this is a good thing. I have suffered with some medical issues over the past few years, and because of it I have managed to gain some extra baggage - when I had plenty to begin with! so this is going to really help me get back on track and get to the point where I am happy and healthy again! This is why I am so torn about extending our family right now. It is something that I really have an itch to do, but 2008 is all about getting better, and getting healthy. I need to take the time to worry about myself right now, so that years down the road, I am still around to help raise this family of mine. Wish me luck!
Olena is just about 100% potty trained. She ended up with a yeast infection this week, and she hurt her "privates" jumping off of her toy box with a stick horse between her legs (OUCH!!) so this put a little road block in the way because now she does not want to pee, because it burns. Because of this, she has had quite a few accidents over the past few days. She tries to hold it for so long, the time comes when it just has to come out! We are finally at the point where we can go on outings in her big girl pants, and even nap. But night time still requires a pull up. She drinks a full glass of milk every night before going to bed, so until I can break that habit - or get her use to waking up to go to the bathroom, we are going to have trouble with the night time routine. She also IS NOT a good morning person. She is so crabby, your not allowed to talk to her, and sometimes not even look at her. She climbs in my bed, covers up, drinks her coco (chocolate milk) and watches Wiggles, Higgly Town, and Tigger and Pooh - once that is done, she is up and happy as a jay bird, full of hugs and kisses - but before then - watch out! this has made going potty in the morning a difficult task. It usually ends in a screaming battle, and she ends up getting a spank and standing in the corner! I myself am not much of a morning person either so the idea of starting at 7am with a screaming toddler, who will fight me tooth and nail, just doesn't appeal to me! I never thought potty training this would this big of an ordeal. The little turd, still won't go on her own either - she has to be told to go, or she just won't! I asked her the other day what she was going to do when she goes to school. I said "Lana, is mommy going to have to call the school and have the teacher tell you to go potty? your going to look like a baby, not a big girl" she looked right at me with a serious face and said "Yep mommy, call Lana's skoo - NO POTTY!" guess she set me straight!
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