We're doing something right

I'm sure that every parent worries that they're teaching their child the right things. Olivia already spends so much time away from both of us while she's at school, we worry that the lessons that we work so hard to teach her at home are forgotten the second she leaves the house. I know that this will be a constant issue as Olivia gets older and is susceptible to more outside influences and more peer pressure BUT in the mean time we know we're on the right track....

In addition to her weekly one-on-one sessions with her speech therapist Olivia also has a speech teacher come to her classroom for an hour and a half each week to work with her. Mike and I look forward to reading the reports from these sessions every Wednesday night. Tonight's report included proof that we are indeed on the right track. Olivia's favorite words are please and thank you! Olivia's teacher also wrote about how during their session Olivia saw that one of the other girls in her class was sad. Olivia got up and went over to sit by her friend and rub her back till she felt better. Granted Olivia left her speech teacher mid-sentence to go attend to her friend (I'm sure there will be plenty of time later for discussions about priorities and focus) but she saw that someone was sad and went to comfort them. Olivia is indeed learning the lessons of kindness and compassion at home and she doesn't forget them the second she leaves the house! We're doing something right!

Ready for the weekend

I can't believe that this was only a 4 day work week! I'm so ready for the weekend! I can definitely tell that I've hit the 3rd trimester because I'm exhausted again. Is it wrong to want to go to bed with Olivia at 7:30 each night? I've had such a depressing week I decided to make a pro/con list of the events of this week to cheer myself up....

Cons

• Hurricane Gustav--created panic among friends and family members and most of New Orleans is still without power
• I fell asleep at 6:30 pm on Wednesday night (I woke up briefly to tell Olivia goodnight but then went right back to sleep)
• I've reached the point in my pregnancy when people cannot help themselves from touching my belly
• I've also reached the point in my pregnancy when I am having to wake up at least 3 times a night to use the bathroom
• My poor husband had to work until 1:30 am on Thursday night
• Overall I've had a terrible week at work--this week was the first week of classes on campus and Homecoming is only 3 weeks away!

Pros

• This was only a 4 day work week and today is FRIDAY!
• Olivia is doing really well in speech and is now putting 2 and 3 words together to make sentences
• All of our friends and family members seem to have survived Hurricane Gustav safe and sound
• The new season of The View started (I tivo the view and watch it when I'm folding laundry)
• Baby Leiva is moving around and we're all looking forward to finally meeting the new baby, only 9 more weeks to go!
• I got a new cell phone and I am finally well on the way to figuring out how it works
• I tried a new recipe this week and Mike and Olivia love it: Chicken and Spinach Casserole (courtesy of Paula Dean)

Is it really over....

I don't know about you but I'm absolutely dreading the end of this long weekend. Even though the weather this weekend wasn't fantastic it was such a great, relaxing weekend. We debated back and forth about going somewhere over the long weekend. Mike and I both know it's getting to the point where I won't be able to be in the car (or a plane for that matter) for a long period of time. In the end I think that we decided not to go anywhere by default. Neither one of us was up for planning anything and I don't think we realized how much we needed a relaxing weekend at home. We enjoyed going to the park and walking around our neighborhood with Olivia. We did a lot of laundry and Olivia discovered her new favorite game--riding around in a laundry basket. At first it was harmless fun and Olivia had a blast as Mike and I took turns "driving" her around the house. We realized it had gotten a little out of hand when I found Olivia had dumped an entire laundry basket full of freshly laundered and FOLDED laundry over so that she could climb into the laundry basket. But then again, who can you blame, after all we really did initiate the new game. We also spent some time rediscovering our back yard. Early in spring we planted some roses that have FINALLY started to bloom. I'd completely given up on them so it was a really nice surprise to see one blooming.

At least this week will only be a 4 day work week so that's something to look forward to! Only 4 more workdays till another weekend.

Hurricane Gustav

I can't believe how similar this all is to Labor Day weekend 3 years ago with Hurricane Katrina but then again it's all completely different. When Hurricane Katrina hit Mike's parents were visiting Ricky in Washington D.C. and my parents were living in Lafayette. Evacuating was a foreign concept to many people living in New Orleans and so many of our friends and family either didn't evacuate or waited until the last possible minute to do so. Mike's parents house was virtually destroyed as were so many of the other things that I grew to know and love about New Orleans.

This time around it's impossible not to remember the uncertainty of Hurricane Katrina but at the same time things are completely different. Mike's parents have already evacuated and are safe in Georgia. My sister and her family evacuated to Arkansas. We don't know where so many other friends and family members are but this time I'm sure they've left the city. This time it seems like people are really preparing for the worst and expecting it whereas with Katrina they prepared for the best and expected the best. Who is to know what will happen but we're definitely glued to The Weather Channel around here!