Life has been crazy, busy, stressful, and wonderful in the past few weeks. So much so, that I haven't had time to write about what our family has been doing. Instead of doing 10 little posts to catch up, here is one big one with the dealings of the Montero Family. (WARNING: Very Long Post!)
The end of February brought an annual eye doctor appointment for Olivia and me. I have horrible eye sight and have worn glasses or contacts since the 3rd grade (8 or 9 years old). So I have always had to take regular visits with an eye specialist to make sure that I can properly see. To add Olivia to our insurance for eye care was very minimal so I've been taking her in for the past 2 years. To no surprise, Olivia is farsighted and most likely will need glasses once she starts reading. I probably haven't mentioned that she is starting to sound out words and will be reading in no time. I'm sure at our next visit it will result in her picking out a pair of reading glasses. As for me, I am tired of suffering with horrible dry eyes (from the contacts) that I am wearing glasses more and more. I picked out a really cute frame.
Olivia is fascinated with how the human body works. She is constantly asking questions, observing and making comments. At a play date early in the month, she was running around the house with her friend trying to escape the monster "Lucy". Lucy didn't mind being the monster, she wants to be one of the big girls so bad that she is willing to take this role in order to run with them. While running, Olivia bumped her head on the doorway and cried a little. Once she was calmed down she broke out into heavy sobs. I asked what was wrong and she replied, "My brain is now ruined!" I couldn't help laughing but preceded to have a teaching moment about the function of our skulls. Since then, she often will draw a brain on people as she colors.
With her fascination of the body, Olivia has decided she wants to be a doctor. What type depends on the day. Some days it's a bone doctor, a mama doctor that helps deliver babies and most recently a heart doctor. I am more than happy to encourage this desire of hers! Although hopefully she will not be so squeamish around blood. I like doctor type shows and on one occasion Olivia came in while I was watching an episode. She watched just for a moment and then literally turned green. In a panic she tells me, "I'm going to throw up!" She runs to the bathroom and thankfully was able to calm her stomach down. She headed back downstairs telling that she only likes to watch "little girl shows."
On March 5th, we purchased a new mattress set for Olivia. It was finally time to move her out of the toddler bed and into a twin size bed considering how tall she is. I recently came across a medical record for myself at my 5 year Kindergarten appointment. My nearly 4 year old is taller than what I was when I entered Kindergarten! She is as tall as a 5 or 6 year old! The mattress purchasing process was a stressful joke. We purchased it on Saturday knowing they didn't have one in stock but would have it in on Monday. It wasn't there Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday we were closing on our house refinance (another joke!) and called ahead to see if the mattress had arrived. It wasn't in yet but was told it was on the way. After an hour drive to Salt Lake, I stopped at the store to purchase some sheets for the new bed. I inquired if it arrived and was told it had. I made arrangements for Ed to pick it up in a few hours after the mortgage closing. He went to pick it up and was informed it wasn't there. Either they sold it (after we paid for it in full) or it was never received. Being told that there was one at another store location, Ed drove down to pick it up. I met him at home only to realize that the mattress he picked up was not the mattress I purchased! I spent 6 hours on Thursday trying to figure out where my mattress was. On Friday, Ed packed the wrong mattress up to return it and picked up the correct mattress. A week to get a mattress was horrible. To top it off, Olivia's poor room was in shambles waiting for her new bed. I still want to find some nice bedding, but I will wait until a few things are a little more certain in our lives.
Cute and the not-so-cute things Olivia says:
- She often refers to me as "Mama Oso" (Mother Bear in Spanish), Lucy as Bebe Oso, and Ed as Papa Oso. Yep, we've become the three bears! I tried to call Olivia Niña Oso but she tells me that she's not a bear. Her Spanish is coming along at great speeds. Her native Spanish speaking grandparents can actually tell what she is saying!
- I made homemade Chicken Enchiladas for dinner one night. Olivia has become an extremely picky eater in the last few months. She looks at her plate of food and says, "This taste like crap!" Ed and I can not figure where she picked this one up at but hopefully have put a stop to it.
- Out of the blue one day Olivia came up to me and told me, "You're the best mom in the whole world!" Hearing that certainly makes my day. I tell her that she is the best big sister in the whole world!
Lucy has really grown up over the past month. Now 16 months old and FINALLY sleeping through the night. I don't know what it is, but one day it happened. She started taking really good naps and sleeping all night. I am finally able to catch up on many months of sleep and Lucy has been such a happier child. She acts like she is one of the big girls and tries to hard to play with Olivia. Olivia and Lucy get along so well right now. I love when Olivia tells me that she loves Lucy and loves playing with Lucy.
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| Lucy wearing her hair back in pig-tails for the first time. She looks so grown up! |
Lucy is talking more and more. She repeats practically anything you tell her and often will repeat it back. Her favorite new words right now are: glasses, dancer, and princess.
On March 12th, after Olivia's Birthday party, Lucy went to the package of baby wipes we brought out to wipe up hands after cake and ice. She pulled out a wipe and tried to wipe herself (over her clothes). I got up to put the wipes away and she runs into the bathroom and lifts the toilet lid. I think to myself that if she wants to sit on the potty, fine by me. I bring out the small training potty and sit her on it. To my surprise she makes a bowel movement in the potty! She was so proud of herself! Now the question is do I start to toilet train my 16 month old?
After Olivia's party we went out for dinner. We asked Olivia what she wanted to eat for her Birthday dinner and told us she wanted hot dogs. We went to Arctic Circle (a local fast food restaurant) so she could have her hot dog and let the girls play on the indoor playground. We don't do this often. I hate to think about all the germs on those things. Lucy has never really played on a playground or gone down a slide. Her small stature (she is still wearing the clothes that Olivia wore at 9 - 12 months) certainly did not keep her away. Once she saw Olivia head off to play, Lucy was right by her side. Lucy is not afraid of anything and was quick to find out what she could do. She had a great time and was able to figure out how to do everything offered to her, including the large tube slide which she loved to go down on her stomach head first! How I wished I had a camera on me!
On March 3rd, Ed received an email saying that he passed a really hard test. We haven't told many people about this, but the word is getting around and might as well make it official. This test would lead to a job that we have been discussing for the past 9 years. This job is reason Ed got his degree in Political Science and Economics. We honestly forgot about it until last summer while Ed was working in Wyoming and Nevada for 9 weeks. Anyway, this test is the first step in a very LONG process for him to become a Foreign Service Officer. That means he would be a diplomat working for the US State Department. If he passes and is offered a job we would be living all over the world as he works at different embassies. We've really put a lot of thought into this. We spent months studying it out. We fasted, prayed and went to the temple with the answer that this is right path for us. Ed studied for 6 months for the FSOT (Foreign Service Officer Test) and we were ecstatic to find out he passed. So now on for the next step. He has to write 6 mini essays about himself. Easy right? These have to be about him giving an example of certain things he's done and give a name and phone number of someone who could verify it. We'll find out the end of May if he moves onto the next step. (I have been writing for a little about the process and our thoughts but haven't published them to the blog. If you're interested, just click on the label 'Foreign Service'.)
On March 8th, the girls were invited over to a neighbor's house for a Seussapalooza, a fun celebration for Dr. Seuss's Birthday. There were plenty of stories, making Cat in the Hat hats, painting with toes and finally eating Green Eggs and Ham which Olivia refused to try.
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| Olivia with her Cat in the Hat hat. |
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| Lucy was busy playing with the neighbors dog. She LOVES dogs! |
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| Painting with feet. Olivia had a great time! |
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| Helping to whisk the eggs for the Green Eggs and Ham. |
Ed and I finally finished drawing up our legal documents in case something happens to us. I made a comment at the Attorney's office earlier in the week that this sort of thing makes me happy. Ed said that only I would find it to be like that. It's a comfort to know that if something happens to us that my children will be cared for. We did our Last Will and Testament (Pour Over Wills), Living Will, Health Care Power of Attorney, General Power of Attorney, Living Trust and some deeds.
And finally a milestone for myself. I finally was able to depart with the LARGE trash bag full of breast milk that I had pumped for Lucy when she was a baby. This bag represents about 3 months of pumping before I realized that she would not take a bottle from me. I have finally weaned Lucy (yay!) and finally took the trash bag out of the deep freezer. The milk hasn't been good for months, if not a year. But there was something about parting with it that I struggled with. When I finally placed it in the trash can outside, I cried a little. It was such a stressful time for me that was finally coming to an end.
