the Life of Olena

I think this picture is so darn cute! Jason took it today while we were at our 5 year well visit! This was quite the experience and my baby girl did a great job. First, this doctor is over 45 minutes from our home. I know it seems crazy but I was really picky about who we chose. I searched for 3 months and interviewed 5 doctors before choosing Dr. Caren. I also tried to keep in mind that at some point when we move we hope to relocate to that area, so I figured it would avoid having to change physicians later. Second, she is always running late, so I expected it. I had planned to actually arrive about 15 minutes late because we always sit in the waiting room for at least 40 minutes :( I messed up my timing block and we ended up 30 minutes early!!! That puts us there at 1:30 this afternoon...we didn't even see the doctor until 3:30!!! and we finally left at 4:30. For being there that long O did amazing and kept herself pretty busy. Jason and I were whining more than sh...

She is a freak about Little Einsteins . We rented the DVD from the Library for her and she was beside herself with excitement .

This is what she does a majority of the day to entertain herself. She makes the grandparents a nervous wreak, and it is even funnier watching other parents faces at the play scape . They are always nervous she is going to fall. She has great agility and remarkable balance! we just sit back and laugh as she entertains us.

I am so excited because I always try to post video from my camera and it never works, but I just discovered that the ones from Jason's Blackberry do!!! Yippy!! This is Olena singing Happy Birthday to her friend Lyra Kissack who also just turned 5!

I live in Michigan and never do I remember not having any snow by the end of January. This is WINTER Miss Mother Nature and we are suppose to have snow in Michigan in the winter and lots of it. All we want to do is go outside and build a snowman - go sledding - and have a snow ball fight! NO instead we will completely by pass spring, have a snow storm in April and it won't melt until June! You gotta love it here!

Amy - thank you! at least I know I am not a lone :) Sometimes it just feels real good to vent, I know it could be worse and that I am extremely lucky to have such a wonderful and healthy daughter. At times you just feel so lost. But I am learning as I go. She is not a typical preschooler in anyway, and there is not a single person in my family or close friends who have the same experiences as we do - so a lot of what Jason and I do is trial and error. We loose our cool sometimes, we yell when we know we shouldn't, and we sometimes expect things of her that I just know she cannot do or tolerate. But I pray, Jason and I always talk it out and I depend a lot on my adoption world of friends. On another note: how did dinner go tonight? we set a time limit of 40 minutes in that time she ate 2 bites of rice, 1 piece of pork chop, and 2 bites of veggies, and that was it. Jason and I kindly reminded her during the meal that she should be eating but we didn't force it and we kept...

I figured out a plan and all it took was a hot bath, in a dark relaxing setting. Here it is: She is good about snacking, however right now we keep snacks to a minimum due to the fact that she gives us such a hard time about eating meals. SO instead, I will now increase snacks - keeping them all to basic healthy things like fresh fruit and veggies. She eats eggs in the morning with no problem so we will keep that as is. For lunch and dinner we will keep the time to about 35 minutes. Good thing is that we always eat at the kitchen table and everyone who is home sits down and eats together, everyday. Now at meal time we will show her on the clock how long it will last. Once we hit that time, meal time is over and we all clean up and go about our day/night. I won't have to be too worried about her not getting want she needs nutrition wise if I am smart about the snacks and the quantity we give her throughout the day. At night, dinner will be the last thing she eats so I would ...

I don't have a lot of time to post right now but I figured while the steam was still hot and my mind was running I would use my 10 minutes to type it out and let myself vent. This is one of those parents moments when you wouldn't mind duct taping your wonderful child to the chair and make sure you don't forget the mouth... ok so I would NEVER in my life do that, but I will admit...just thinking about it, did make me feel better for a moment. Olena has a real issue when it comes to eating. Not even exaggerating, an average meal takes her about 45 minutes to finish and that is on a good day. Bad days, about an hour and a half. We never make it to 2 hours because I just won't put up with it for that long. She won't starve by breakfast. There are several reasons for this...1) from the second we say it is dinner time she is insisting she doesn't like what we are having. This is before she even knows what it is. There are very few things that I know she abs...

Still only 29lbs, but she is keeps growing taller and taller as of today she is 38.5 inches - so looking at the handy growth chart that those doctors love pulling out and showing you, she is not even in the 5 th percentile - she is about 1lb and 2inches shy. BUT looking the 95 th percentile she is the weight of a 2 year old and the height of a 3 year old. I don't worry about it. She is more active than any other kid I know and as long as she is healthy, active and has an appetite, I am satisfied. Besides she was just under 5lbs when she was born according to our medical records so I never really expected her to be Sasquatch.

Today was Olena's 5 th birthday. Hard to believe that she is 5! This year we kept it very simple and I have to admit it was surely one of my favorite - every year after the big hoopla party I have a stressed out kid, a dirty house, a headache and my wallet is a couple hundred dollars short. I took some time this year and really thought about it and decided that a day with just us and a very simple pleasures would be just perfect...and you know what, it was! We were lazy in the morning, went to the mall and played on the play scape, came home listened to music and read books, and played with toys. Last night I made a small cake and some tiny cupcakes which we had after dinner and I put up a few decorations to make it festive. This morning she got a few small presents - that honestly she could have cared less about ! and she got to stay up a little bit later tonight and we read her new Peter Pan book together. Now she sleeps! Good night little angel and Happy 5 th Birthday...

I change the theme of my blog and by golly I haven't a thought in my head for 2 days. :) Olena spent the night at my parents and I had such a great evening of doing nothing I kindly asked if she would be interested in keeping her a second night. I miss the little lady bug but on the other hand I have truly enjoyed the nothingness! Jason and I have both been just loafing around the house like "shouldn't we be doing something?" I sat in my favorite chair and stared out the window at the beautiful snow we just got and just day dreamed. That's all both of us have been doing for 2 days! I do look forward to the clean and refreshed state of mind tomorrow morning (after we get to sleep in!! HOORAY ) Tonight we did take a bit more advantage of the situation and went out to dinner at Applebees and then headed to Kmart for some light shopping. For the first time ever the two of use just wondered aimlessly around the store making several laps around all departmen...

I figured maybe a good way to start off would be to share a few things about me. Only child. Terrified of death. LOVE ice cream. I have the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Often unmotivated. Confused about religion. Pretty intelligent, yet could be MUCH smarter...brings me back to the unmotivated part. Overweight . Direct. A lot like my father. A lot like my mother too. I LOVE my dog, and I hate the idea he is getting older. I know I will be devastated when his time comes. I pray to have lots of kids, and I plan to ensure that they are all best of friends :) I always dreamed of being a figure skater. Fondest childhood memory is when my mom would decorate my room for Christmas. My favorite was when she would put little Christmas scenes between the window pane and the weather plastic using little glass figurines and fake snow. I often dream of tornadoes. I have blue/gray eyes. I believe in ghosts. I believe I have a true purpose in this life, and I hope to find it. Funny. (at le...

Well as you can see I have finally decided on the new road for the blog. I will start to journal not only our daily life, but my true random thoughts. I had always avoiding things like this in the past due to worrying about who I might insult, upset or offend but that is no longer the case. I am just some suburban housewife and my opinions and thoughts do not effect any of you directly so if you do not agree with something I say please try to remember this fact. I always welcome comments but please keep the fire range out of my blog. welcome to "My THOUGHTS OUT LOUD!" I hope you enjoy!