School Days

Today was Olivia's first day of school! Before I go into all the excitement of the first day I'll start with our IEP meeting last Friday.

We moved to North Carolina knowing that Olivia would receive the absolute best medical care available and we knew that the schools would not be as great. So far things have gone well. On Friday Olivia and I went to visit her school and have a quick meeting to revise her IEP reflecting that she would be attending school instead of being in a home-based educational program. I met the Speech therapist who will be working with Olivia twice a week as well as the Occupational therapist who has been working with Olivia since we moved to Fayetteville. She will continue to work with Olivia every other week. We did not meet the physical therapist but she reviewed Olivia's evaluations and will meet with her once a month. Olivia is able to easily navigate the physical environment so it was determined that she didn't require further physical therapy to support her educational goals. Olivia will continue to receive Speech, Physical, and Occupational therapy once a week at a private therapist outside of school. Olivia will be attending school 5 days a week from 8 to 2:15 each day in a special education pre-school program. We discussed bus transportation but at this point I decided to drive Olivia to and from school each day. We were able to tour Olivia's classroom and meet the teacher and other kids in her class. There are 9 other kids in Olivia's class. They all are adorable, I was so worried about Olivia fitting in. Each of the kids in her class seem to march to the beat of their own drum, just like Olivia. They all have their challenges but they are an adorable bunch.

Now onto today's festivities! I was a nervous wreck! I couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep at all and I'm glad Olivia seemed oblivious to my nerves! I started packing her lunch at 6am! She got fresh watermelon and a lunchable (her favorite).



Olivia was very excited to go to school, she was giggling all morning and squealed with excitement when we put her backpack on. Isn't she adorable!



We got to school and navigated the drop off traffic and made it to her classroom. I put Peter in the stroller because I was worried that he'd have a fit when he realized that he didn't get to stay. Olivia ran towards her classroom. She is in a self-contained classroom that has a separate entrance at the back of the school. There is a separate playground right off of her classroom. Olivia ran right to the door of her classroom.



I don't think the teacher knew what she was in for but I think that school will be such a positive experience for Olivia!


I am so glad that I have Peter to keep me company at home today. Although this little guy somehow managed to get ahold of a crayon during drop off this morning. I am pretty sure that Olivia gave it to him as he was in the stroller well out of reach.

The 18th Airborne Corps Ball

This past Friday Mike and I went to the 18th Airborne Corps Division Ball. I was absolutely dreading the ball, we'd just gotten back into town and there were at least 100 other things that I would rather do on my first Friday night at home in almost a month. We ended up having a nice time though. The highlight of the evening was a performance by the 82nd Airborne Chorus. They perform often around here but I've always missed it for one reason or another so this was my first time seeing them. They were amazing! I wasn't able to get up from our table and take a video but I did find this video of their performance on you tube. If you have time check it out!



Mike and I at the ball.



Mike and his new First Sergant.

Ridiculous Road Trip

Now that it's all over and we've all started to recover I can admit that my brilliant plan for a last minute road trip extravaganza was not so brilliant. We had a good time, it was great to see some of our family members but the driving all night long was not the best idea. Mike drive with me from Fayetteville to New Orleans, we left on Thursday around 3pm and arrived in New Orleans shortly before 3 am Friday morning. Mike and I took turns driving and sleeping. At one gas station stop Mike got some "energy drink" recommendations from a police officer. Apparently they had a long conversation about the merits of the different brands of "energy drinks" and the police officer recommended his favorite, the "5 hour energy shot." The energy shot worked surprisingly well and kept Mike wide awake for the promised 5 hours after which he crashed quickly and the jitters from the large dose of caffeine didn't prevent him from driving. Mike flew back to Fayetteville in time for work on Monday and the kids and I enjoyed New Orleans for a few days. I headed to Houston with the kids for the second leg of our trip. Mike flew to Houston in time to attend my Grandmother's 90th birthday party on Saturday night and then we started the drive back to Fayetteville in time for him to be at work on Monday. Mike and I were completely exhausted by all the driving but the kids were amazingly will behaved. They slept a lot and watched movies. There weren't any tears or tantrums and no car sickness!

The highlights from our trip to New Orleans include:

• A date night at La Crepe Nanou (a favorite of ours from college)
• The slip-and-slide with the Leiva Abuletos (grandparents)
• A great night out with some of my sorority sisters
• A chaotic visit with another sorority sister who just had a baby. Her baby was precious, my children were chaos.
• Dinner with my sister-in-law and my BEAUTIFUL nieces
• Cocktails and gossip with one of my best girl friends at her swanky apartment
• A trip with the Abuletos to the Audubon Zoo
  

On the drive from New Orleans to Houston we stopped to meet my sister and one of my nephews for lunch. After lunch we headed to a playground at a roadside rest stop. The kids had a great time playing and it was the perfect way to break up the drive. At the rest stop the kids were able to hold a baby alligator! Where else but Louisiana!? If you're ever driving through be sure and stop at the rest stop off I-10 in Jennings.

Highlights from the trip to Houston include:

• A day visiting my Grandmother


• Swimming in the pool with my parents


• A trip to IKEA


• Hanging out with my sister


• Dinner at Royers Round Top Cafe with the best Strawberry Rhubarb Pie I've ever tasted


• My Grandmother's 90th Birthday Party


• Meeting my new second cousin (Peter's Godmother's son)


• A trip to the new outlet mall with my mom for back-t0-school shopping

I wish I'd taken more pictures while we were in Texas. We had a blast and I'm so glad that we were able to spend some time with family this summer.

Home at Last

We are finally home from our massive road trip. I have so much to share but I have about a million things to do and no time to do it in. I'm knee deep in laundry as I try and unpack and organize things after having been away for 2 weeks. Olivia will be having surgery this week to remove her port so I'm trying to make arrangements for our 2 day trip to Duke and arrangements for Peter since he cannot be there during Olivia's surgery. School starts here on Wednesday but Olivia will be starting a little later, we will need to have another IEP meeting to coordinate all of the services that she'll be receiving at school. Mike has a lot going on at work and he's even busier because he's trying to catch up on things that he put off to help us drive home.

Speaking of the drive, I cannot believe that I convinced myself (and my husband) that driving the 1200 miles from Houston to Fayetteville in one day was a good idea. WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!! The kids were absolute angels, they were so well behaved and slept most of the trip but Mike and I are exhausted! We left Houston around 10 pm on Saturday night and arrived home around 6pm on Sunday evening. With the exception of breakfast at McDonald's and for bathroom and gas breaks we drove straight through, almost 19 hours in the car. I'm glad we're all home safely and it was wonderful to sleep in our own beds last night.

I have so much to share, I don't even know where to start. More later!