The Best Day EVER

December 1, 2012 will go down in my history book as an AMAZING day.  Why, you may ask?  Well, we had a jam packed day, with a little girl who is teething (6 year molars) and a million things could have gone wrong.  But nothing went wrong.  The day was, dare I say it, PERFECT.

So it started out with a 7 mile run.  Actually my least favorite part of the day, but definitely and accomplishment I was proud to cross off my list.

Next stop. . . Casa Mañana for a presentation of The Night Before Christmas.  It was pretty awesome! Juliana slept the through act but loved the second. And Liv was mesmerized the whole time.  I tried to take a picture of them once Juliana got into it, but she turned to look as soon as she saw the flash.

  This was Jingle the Elf.  This was Olivia's favorite Character!

 

 

Then after the show it was lunch at Chuy's.  Olivia had a hot mic today and had me laughing all day.  She had to go to the restroom after lunch for a "sit down" if you know what I mean.  So there we are, squeezed into a stall, when someone occupies the stall next to ours.  Yes, I have to go into the stall with her or she gets scared.  Also she likes to have really deep conversations in these stalls.  So said person next door apparently had a little gas.  So the first one got out and Liv started to quietly laugh.  As I'm pantomiming to her not to do that and that it's rude, the woman next door lets it rip and now I can't contain myself.  Both Olivia and I, squeezed into a tiny stall and only a few inches away from the guilty party, start laughing uncontrollably.  I couldn't even look at Olivia with out going into hysterics again. I know it was wrong, and that the poor lady was probably mortified, but I couldn't hold back.  I was so embarrassed. So we were forced to wait in the stall until she got out for fear of an awkward confrontation.

 

 

After that little "situation" we went for a walk for some fresh air. And what we got were smiles and giggles.

 

 She is looking so grown up!

 Ashley had joined for the show and lunch.  And after one last laugh with Juliana she headed home.

Liv hugging a tree. 

 

You would think the day would be over, but you would be wrong!  From here, we went to be in the Arlington Parade of Lights.  Juliana has had her AFO's made at Pediatric Orthotics and Prosthetics by Ms. Suzanne O'Connor for about 3 years now.  She has become a friend to us all and has been a big supporter at our Girl Power events. So we were more than excited when she asked us to join them on their float in the Arlington Parade of Lights.  We decided to go with a Mouse Ears theme.

 





 And just a little side note: It was 78 degrees yesterday.  We made them wear these cute snow flake sweaters, but they were sweating in them. 

 The float was for the Humane Society and it was a Wiener Dog inspired float call "Wiener Wonderland".  We got to meet several Wiener dogs.  This one was named Angel and she was Olivia's favorite.

 Juliana was not sure about them at first.

 Liv was in Love!

 This one was named Cherry, I believe.  She was the fluffiest.  And in this picture appears to have laser eyes.

 Juliana finally decided to give them a chance.  She loved them as well.

 This one was named Heidi.

 Juliana liked Heidi

 And here we are on the float.  It was just a perfect day.  And just another example of how grown up my girls are.  A couple of years ago, this would have been a total disaster for Juliana.  The sheer number of people would have been enough to overwhelm her.  Add to that the noise, lights and commotion.  She has never been one to throw a fit or yell or scream.  Her M.O. in any stressful or anxious situation has always been to shut down and go to sleep.  Not this time.  This time she was awake, and alert and waving with very little assistance from me!  She really enjoyed being there.  Liv of course had the pageant wave down and she also had a blast as expected.  Thank you Jesus for an awesome day I won't soon forget!

 And thank you to Suzanne and Sheree for sharing this amazing night with us!



Time to Trim the Tree

We finally got the tree out!  We love Christmas so we always like to get everything out as soon as possible so we have longer to enjoy everything.  So this weekend we got started.

 

 Of course we have to go through each ornament, one by one and tell the story of how we acquired it.

 I can't believe how much they have grown. This picture of live was from 2 years ago.

 For whatever reason, this was Juliana's favorite ornament this year.

 And this was a special ornament that says something really sappy about the honor of being your sister.  I thought it was so sweet that she paid such close attention to it.  She really does love her sister!

Family Time

This week was a great family week.  Omi and Opi came in on Sunday and Olivia was stuck to her like glue.  So they were supposed to babysit Baby Izzie this day, but unfortunately Baby Izzie had an ear infection and couldn't come.  Liv was devastated because she had put on her "babysitting clothes and everything!"  So instead they opened up a daycare which included all of her babies and stuffed animals, but NOT CASEY!  She was kicked out of daycare.  Then it was time for crochet lessons!

Juliana and I were at appointments all day and she was a trooper.  She had blood drawn that morning, an appointment for Botox injections she will be receiving next month and she had to get her AFO's adjusted.  She is such a tough cookie.  Just look at that smile!

Then the next day Baby Izzie was feeling a little better and she came over to play awhile.  She is a doll and Liv and Juj love her!

Then that night Aunt Melissa, David, Kayla and Ty came over.  Ty and Olivia LOVE each other so much and always have a blast together.  I love this picture so much because this is what it is like the entire time they are together.  Nothing but big huge belly busting laughter!

Juj had a great time as well.

And then finally it was Thanksgiving!  No traditional Thanksgiving meal for us.  No sir.  We went out to dinner.  Thank you TX Land and Cattle for a very delicious dinner!

Daddy and Juj

 Omi and Opi

 Ty and Olivia

 Melissa, Kayla and David

 Omi and Izzie

 And this is what Omi chose for her dinner.  They did offer a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but Omi, being the carnivore that she is chose the steak and potato.

 Opi went for the traditional

Then after dinner, Omi and I decided to brave the stores and went to Walmart.  I mean how bad could it be, right.  It was 8pm and the real sales weren't starting until 10pm.  Let's give it a shot.  BAD IDEA!  When will we learn.

Last Day of Horseback Riding

This was our last day of horseback riding for this season and we will be sad to say goodbye to our horse Peter Pan.  Just look at my girl go!  We have been coming to Spirit Horse for about 3 years now.  And let me tell you, when we started Juliana has almost no trunk control on the horse.  We had to fully support her on the horse which always felt like way more of a workout for us than her.  And here we are today, only providing very light support and she does the rest.  How far we've come!

 This is her instructor Crystal who we LOVE!

 Does she look proud or what?

Juliana's 1st School Program

Was a total FAIL!  I should have know, but I refuse to keep trying.  She was so excited about the event, smiles all afternoon when we talked about it.  Even as we headed to the school that night she was awake and excited.  Then we entered the gym where all the kids were waiting and the noise and sheer amount of kids started to stress her out a bit.  Then we saw a fully packed cafeteria - standing room only in fact and it was over. Couple that with the fact that it was HOT and here is what you get.

I finally put her out of her misery and she nuzzled in my neck and fell asleep for the duration.  The second we stepped outside, she was awake and smiling.  Oh well, maybe next year.

CDC 2012 Fun Run

This year's CDC Fun Run was a blast. 

Here is Team 1 running in the Wheels division of the race: Roger and Juliana!

And Team 2 - Marisa, Kristy, Olivia and Faith

 And they're off!  I have to say that a year really makes a difference.  I rememeber running this with Olivia last year.  She was 3 and a total wuss.  Granted she was only 3 years old, but she tired out before we hit the first 1/4 of a mile.  This year, a different story.  She was determined to win.  I had gotten up in the middle of the night with Juliana and Olivia rolled over and said, "Are you taking her out of here so I can get some good rest and win my race?"  Yes my dear.  Then she woke up in the morning and told me she needed pony tails today because in her words "Hair down, slows you down!"  All she talked about was how she was going to win that trophy.  I thought she has a fighting chance.  Although she has Roger and my genes (which don't include the running genes), she is one of the older kids in the class, and she is taller than them all, and she really wants to win this year.  They give out a trophy to the first place girl and boy of each class.  So she only has to be faster than the girls in her class.  Please Jesus, just this once, let her little legs carry her to that trophy she wants so badly.  Well, not so much.  Unfortunately she didn't even make top 3 of her class.  She was kind of bummed, but to told her how proud I was of her.  How much she grew in a year, that last year she cried the whole mile and this year not so much as a tear.  I really was so proud of her.

 Here is Juj catching up with her favorite Mrs. West.

 And here is Juliana and Roger, winning 1st place in the Wheels division.  Yes of course we were happy for them, but it was kind of like salt in Livi's already stinging wound.

 And this has to be one of my favorite pictures in a long time.  I took it.  Doesn't it remind you of the family portraits you took in the late 70's with your parents. It's like Roger with his 3 daughters.  Love it!