A Night Out

Olivia had another night to play with Grandma.

Steve and I had a fancy dinner to go to on Friday evening so Grandma came over to take care of Olivia.

Olivia loves to play with her so they had a great time and she is always anxious for "Manning" (Grandma) to play. Olivia can say "Gamma"....when she wants to but she thinks it is funny to always call her Manning. I'm not even sure where she learned that but it happened over the summer so instead of asking for Grandpa and Grandma.....Olivia calls them "Pappa and Manning".

She is talking so much more now, except for out in public, and says a lot of small sentences which helps her to be a little more demanding all the time. She has to be reminded to say please now instead of just "Momma, sit down now!"

There is nothing to update on the potty training. The only time she uses it is when I time it right and have her sit there for a while. She loves the treats when she gets it right but not enough to tell me she has to use the potty chair. We keep trying though.

So far the school year has been very hectic with Jenny in Soccer and Volleyball and now Confirmation classes. Kyle is in football so every night there is something going on.

More updates to come.....

School "Daze"

Yea! I think most of you will agree, by the time Labor Day rolls around...even though we hate to see summer end....it is time for kids to get off the couch and back into school!!
Since Kyle and Jenny started back to school (in a daze) on Tuesday, that was officially Olivia's time to start learning again.....mainly the potty training. She can sing her ABC's, count past 10, knows her colors, etc. But I've held off on the potty training. We had worked on this during the summer and she actually went in the potty chair the first time (I have it documented) on July 23rd. Since then I haven't pushed the issue too much just because we were camping every couple weeks and doing a lot of running around this summer and never had a definite routine we could work on. Plus, it is totally my fault that I am holding back on the fact that she is growing up so fast. I think I'm trying to hang on to any baby stuff I can. She is talking more all the time and is such a character. Even though she clams up as soon as she is around anyone besides the four of us. I can't believe how much she changes and how fast she is changing.
Someone actually asked me this summer if I was planning on sending her to 3 year old preschool? My brain couldn't even grasp that. Then I realized a year from now she will be 3 years old!! Right now I'm just not ready to even think about all that.
Back to the potty training.....I know she knows what she is supposed to do so I pulled out some stickers and told her is she uses the potty chair she will get 2 stickers. She couldn't do it in the morning but we tried again after her nap and she used the potty chair!!! She was so excited not only to get the stickers but also pull out the big girl step stool, wash her hands and squirt out the soap!! We made a big deal about it all but later in the afternoon we were off on the timing again and didn't get there soon enough. Oh well, we will keep trying....

The top photo is a favorite one of mine and I have sent it in to the Adoptive Families magazine. They have a photo contest and if they choose our photo we could win prizes, have the photo on the cover or at least published in the magazine. There are a lot of better photographers out there and a lot of cute kids but we will wait and see if they like the one I sent in. I'll keep you posted on that.

Enjoy this new school year!!