Message from Santa

Santa's message from Portable North Pole came a little late this year.  Like literally on December 24th.  Hey Santa's a busy man this time of year.  Here is Juliana listening to her message.  She was happy to hear she made the good list but he told her to work really hard at school.

 

 Here is Liv anxiously waiting to hear her message.  He told her it was pretty close, but she barely made the good list this year.  He told her to try harder next year blah blah blah blah.  To which she responded "Woo Hoo!  I'm on the good list and he's on his way. So now it doesn't matter if I'm a bad girl tonight because he's already on his way with my toys!"  And so it starts . . . . .

This Magic Moment

Let's just say we are going through a bit of a rough patch. We were doing so well for awhile until we weren't doing so well. Juliana caught a terrible stomach virus last week. The first day of it was a nightmare. It lasted only a few days but ever since she just hasn't been herself. Now we've had a lot going on these two weeks (in addition to getting sick, she has new arm braces she's supposed to sleep in, she had Botox injections in three separate muscles and we think she may be having absence seizures again). Roll all that up and you've kind of got a mess. You have a kid that is happy one second and a wreck the next. And a kid that is not sleeping well. So saying all of that, this afternoon I asked her if she wanted to helpmeet make chicken salad or watch Mickey Mouse. I was shocked she picked make chicken salad. She helped me chop celery, she scooped chicken in the bowl, she scooped mayo and sprinkled seasoning. She was there! She was engaged and alert. It was a "magic moment". One that I am grateful for. Hope we get over this little rough patch soon and I get my girl back..

From Our Guest Blogger Roger

Guest Blogger Roger -Had the pleasure today to check in on my little peanut. Here she is working hard in school with her AMAZING Aide, Ms. Bustos. I cannot even begin to tell you what a wonderful team her teacher Ms. Miller and Ms. Bustos are. They work so hard every day helping Juliana learn. Kristy and I are so thankful to have such an incredible team giving our Juliana a chance; a chance to learn, a chance to make friends, and an opportunity to move beyond Rett Syndrome! These ladies work hard every day, not just for Juju but for all our kids. Thank you Ms. Miller and Ms. Bustos for making a difference!

And a note to her fabulous team.  If you only knew how many people adore Juliana and LOVE hearing this kind of news.  Here are just a few comments from the facebook post that Roger did:

Stefanie Gutierrez, Manny O Gutierrez, Cassandra Clifford and 19 others like this.

Emilie Morneau Rabke These pictures made me smile!!!! How awesome and she looks like she is enjoying every minute of it!!!!

Julie Garcia Was having a downer day. Thanks for the upper! Love that Juju!

Kelly Butler Love this picture SO much!!

Laura Monteleone Thank you ms. Miller and Ms. Bustos!!! Great job Juju!!!

Tina Walton Love to see her attention to detail....she's engaged!!! Lovin' it!

Lindsay Smith Loucks Love it!!! So thankful for great teachers! Look at juju go!

Becky Warren Ashley You can tell how much she enjoys it! That is awesome

 

And this was just an hour after Roger posted it.  Trust me when I tell you there will be many more.  Thank you Lively Team!  From a very grateful family.  It truly means the world to us!

 

Princess Party

Olivia's school held a fundraiser a few months ago and one of the silent auction items was a Princess Party hosted by the school for 15 girlfriends.  We unfortunately did not win this prize, but fortunately Olivia was invited to it.  First she was so excited because she was going get to go to school and see her teachers on an "S" day (it was on a Sunday) and second because you get to get all dressed up and fancy.  She chose her Cinderella dress for the occasion.

   

 

This was one of her Princess Poses.  You can't tell from the picture but I actually curled her hair.  You may not be able to tell because the only curling iron I own is about 25 years old and it only ever got luke warm which was great for curling a four year olds hair.  Olivia didn't mind.  She loved the pampering.

And yes friends, I let her wear make up.  This was by far her favorite part.  We used a little eye shadow, some blush and of course the lip stick.

So they transformed the gym into this incredible fancy party.  Complete with a manicure table, make up table, fancy desserts like chocolate covered strawberries and fancy cupcakes, fancy "tea" and even a fashion show runway.  It was so cute!

And the Award for Best Actress Goes to. . .

This is a short video clip of Olivia's CDC Christmas Program.  And yes, this year since she is an upper class man, she did get a line!  Check it out!  She is Elf #1

Here is our little Elf with Mrs. Devore

 On her way on stage

 Loving the spot light

 Liv with Faith and Even the toy soldier

 Liv and RonKay

Texas U Can Paint - Date Night

We decided to do a Painting Double date with Linda and her husband Jen (sorry Efrain)!  It was so much fun!

 

 Here is what it looked like in the beginning stages

 And here is the finished product!

Believe

Juliana would like for you to Believe in a Cure for Rett Syndrome! 

We are so close and Juliana is waiting for it!