Birthday blog post for Olivia

So, today is Olivia's birthday. 8th birthday, in fact. It seems weird to me that I am old enough to have an 8 year old! Anyway, I am very excited for the opportunity I will have on April 11th to baptize Liv, crazy but awesome.

Anyway, I wanted to post some random memories and thoughts on my baby girl and talk about the fun dinner we had for her tonight.

I remember when Jaime first told me that she was pregnant. She called me at work (I was working part time at a Apple Reseller called Mad Mac) and said, "I hope you are ready to be a father". I definitely did not feel that I was as we had only been married for 9 months when she told me and we were so poor and had no health insurance. I remember Jaime being pregnant and always wearing the same gray sweater as we didn't have much extra for maternity clothes. I remember Jaime always telling me, "What are we going to do with a baby!?" I remember that Jaime thought the baby was a boy but I had a dream that it was a girl and I was able to speak with her in the dream. In my mind now, she looked like she does today at age 8 in my dream. I remember searching name books and having long discussions into the night on what to name our first child. I remember choosing Olivia Paige because we thought it was beautiful. I remember living in a one bedroom basement apartment and wondering where we would fit a baby. I remember how traumatizing it was to be present during her birth :) and having the doctor have me cut the umbilical cord. I remember loving Olivia the first time I saw her. I remember her being such a good baby. I remember feeding her food and having her kick her feet while sitting in her jumpy chair on the large kitchen counters we had in that tiny basement apartment. I remember how funny she was when she would kick her feet like an engine when we put her in the bath. I remember her crazy hair, she had the first faux-hawk and then had awesome pig tails. I remember her loving shows like Blues Clues and Maisy. I remember how cute she got as she started to toddle. I remember struggling with her as she began to go to nursery at church, trying to sneak out but that would make her so mad. We eventually just had to reason with her and explain that we would be back for her. I remember how her little personality started to really show as she would boss her uncles and her whole family around by making them stand where she wanted them to stand for no other reason than because that's what she wanted. I remember her absolutely hating the Birthday Song and crying every birthday when it was sung to her. I remember when she started at Challenger when she was 3 and witnessing her love of learning and being amazed by how smart she is. I remember her continuing her education in the 4 year old program at Learning Dynamics and being so proud as she started to learn how to read and write. I remember her going to Primary and being so proud when she was a sunbeam and her teacher told me she was the brightest in the class. I remember watching her as she became a big sister and how great she was with her little brother. I remember how helpful she always tried to be. I remember what a strange feeling it was as she started kindergarten and how much I missed her even though I was at work in the office all day. I remember her taking gymnastics classes at some crappy gym in American Fork and how cute she was doing her tumbling. I remember her starting dance and liking it but freaking out when they started to teach her how to sing and perform (she was terribly shy). I remember her starting first grade and being gone all day every day and missing her even more (I was home office by then and could legitimately miss her). It was a crazy thought to think that she spent more time away from me than with me on most days. I remember her being in dance last summer and only thinking it was OK but being fascinated by the karate studio that was next door. I remember taking her and her brother over to the karate studio to investigate classes for her brother but her asking if she could try as well (she will be getting her purple belt this month on the 27th). I remember asking her last month why she wanted to be baptized and what it meant and being blown away by the depth of her answers.

These are just a few of the memories I have of how amazing an experience it has been to be able to be father to Olivia during her first 8 years. She is such an incredible person and I am so excited to see what she does with her life. She is truly funny, beautiful, talented and smart and my life is better with her in it. What an honor that I have been asked to be her steward and father.

Anyway, enough mushy stuff. We had a great chance to begin our multi-day festivities tonight with a dinner at the Tucano's (Olivia's favorite restaurant) with Grandpa Paul and Rene. We had a great time and it was nice to be able to catch up. Paul has always been a positive influence in the life of my children and I am glad he is still involved.

It was funny to have Olivia be sung to in Portuguese. She gets embarrassed by that sort of thing as you can see in the picture below.

Anyway, Olivia said she had a great birthday and I was happy to help provide that for her. We will celebrate with my family on Friday, she will have her fancy birthday party with her friends on Saturday and then we will have Jaime's family over on Sunday for a large-scale party at our house. Let the festivities continue!

Ahhh Disneyland

This last weekend we went to Disneyland for Olivia's 8th birthday. (Surprising right?) I was so excited when we got there because, unlike Utah, spring had arrived in Cali. It was warm and sunny and all the flowers were in bloom! The whole park smelled like flowers! I was in heaven! It was also completely redecorated to fit their new theme "Celebrate Today". Not as good as "Year of a Million Dreams" in my opinion but still done as only Disney can do.

Thursday was our first day there and we didn't waste any time in getting to our favorite rides! First we did Big Thunder and then headed to the all new "It's a Small World". Chet was thrilled! (He hates that ride.) Half way through the ride it broke down! They turned all the lights on and the music off, and we sat there for about 20 minutes! When we were finally on our way we met up with Chet's former co-worker and his family. (The Yoachums) We had dinner with them and then did a few rides. Harris thought that their son Chase was pretty cool and decided that all the rides would be better if he got to do them with him. It was a great first day.

Chet suffering through Small World.

Waiting for Big Thunder.

Friday we got an early start and headed to the Carnation Cafe to have breakfast with our other friends the Adam's. After breakfast Chet headed to find Harris some cough medicine and Liv and I stayed and did rides with the Adams. We split up for lunch and headed to California Adventure so Chet and Liv could do the big rides. (Poor Chet gets tired of Disneyland and needs to get his adrenalin pumping to keep going.) Chet and Liv did Tower of Terror and Screamin' while Harris and I sat and enjoyed the sunshine. We met back up with the Adams in the evening to watch the parade and do more rides. Chet and Zel decided that they didn't need to watch the parade and left the women to go and do Screamin'. When we were finally exhausted we headed back to the hotel.

Liv and Chet on Screamin'.

Saturday we did Build-a-Bear for Livs birthday. They have some really fun and cute Disneyland exclusive things there that Liv and Harris got for their animals. When we were done building bears we went to Disneyland. It was a beautiful day! We decided that we should do Splash Mountain earlier rather than later because we wanted time to get dry. After we got soaked on the ride we headed to Main Street for a snack and some sunshine. We found a bench and just sat and enjoyed the sun and the scenery. It was wonderful!

Froggy and Clarissa.

Sunday we spilt up. Liv and I did Disneyland and Chet and Harris decided that it was warm enough to go swimming. It was nice to spend some alone time with Liv. Sunday was extremely busy. So we only did 1 ride! The other time we spent waiting to see Iridessa. (The fairy) We missed her however and ended up seeing Fawn again. It was ok though because Fawn is Livs favorite Fairy. (Thats who she wants to be when she works at Disneyland :)) When Chet and Harris were done swimming we got back together and had dinner and did rides until the fireworks. It was nice to have some alone time with Liv.

Me and Liv on Autopia.

Monday was our last day and so we did what we could with the short amount of time we had. It was a great last day.

Celine Dion

One Friday in November 2007 I was listening to Christmas music on the radio and heard a commercial that Celine Dion tickets were going on sale the next morning. I was so excited I immediately called Chet and told him to check it out. He said that he was on it so I didn't think about it again until the next afternoon. I was like CRAP hurry and log on and get some tickets!!! Alas, they were sold out. I was sad but was ok because I didn't think that Chet would actually let me go because number one; he hates Celine and number two; tickets were like $150 bucks a seat! I forgot about it until one night we were watching TV and there was a commercial for a TV concert that she was going to be doing. I felt a twinge of pain because I did really want to go! (my mom always promised that she would take me and my sisters.) The night that the TV show was on I made Chet watch it with me. I started crying halfway through the show. (I didn't get to go with my mom and now I didn't get to go with Chet!) As I was sitting there crying, Chet said I have an early birthday present for you so that you will stop crying. He pulled up the email confirmation of the Celine Dion tickets that he had bought!!! I was shocked. He had heard way before I did that she was coming and signed up for the fan club so that he could get the tickets early! He was going to get them before I even told him! So 14 months later we got to go. (the pictures don't do justice to how close we were!)


She is so pretty and her voice is unbelievable! She did 5 costume changes! Each one was more beautiful than the one before!
It was a 360 degree stage. I was so cool! Different parts would move if she was standing on them and the very center of the stage would raise when she was on it!
She ended the show with "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic". Not my favorite song but still AMAZING!

Thankful

Two years ago today my mom passed away. I have had many emotions today; anger, sorrow, heartache, devastation, thoughtfulness, etc... However I don't want to focus on the negative. Although I am very sad today, I am also thankful. Yes, thankful. I am thankful for the 27 years of love and friendship and knowledge that she gave to me. She was the best mom and friend anyone could have asked for. I am grateful for the time that I did get with her. I have wonderful memories of a woman who still inspires me everyday. Thanks for everything Mom! Forever, forever!

I am also thankful for the 2 best sisters in the world! I know that I can call on them for anything and that they will be there for me no matter what! Thanks Jann and Linz! I love you guys.

I am thankful for good friends. For the good times I am able to have with them. (even if they are not a frequent as I would like.)Thanks for all the thoughts, notes and phone calls today they lifted my spirits!

I am also thankful for my loving husband, Chet. I don't know if I could have survived the last 2 years without him. He has been my rock, even when it meant putting his own grief aside. I am so blessed to have my best friend as my eternal companion. Always and forever Honnuh!

Most importantly I am thankful for the Savior. I know that through him I will get to see my mom again one day.

Draper Temple

Today we had the opportunity to go to the Draper Temple open house. It was amazing. The beauty and the spirit that are inside are breathtaking! It was especially neat because we took Olivia and Harris. It was neat to walk hand-in-hand with them and explain what the different rooms were for. I was especially touched when I walked into the Bride's Room holding Olivia's hand. I had the feeling that I would be doing this again someday. (I hate to say that because she is my baby girl!) When we got to the Celestial Room I had a strange feeling come over me. I felt my moms presence. (she died almost 2 years ago from ARDS) It wasn't necessarily that she was there in that room, but that she was close and in a "similar" place. I was a bit hesitant to feel that spirit because, honestly, my faith has wavered since she died. The other feeling that I got was that she was "working". I don't know why I got that impression but I did. It made me smile.
I just want to say that I am grateful for the work that goes on in the Temple, because I know that the work that goes on there will ensure that I will get to see my mom again someday.

Bye-Bye Retainer!

In June 2007 we had a family party at our house for Harris' birthday. The party had gone from inside to outside and some of the fam, including Olivia, decided to play some baseball. It was all fun and games until someone got hurt. That someone was Olivia. She was standing a little too close to cousin Trev and got whacked in the cheek by the baseball bat. At first we thought that she just got a good bump and bruise. It wasn't until a couple weeks later that we learned the extent of what happened. At first she just complained about a toothache. I didn't pay much attention to it because the pain just came and went. I thought that it was still hurting from the bump. A couple days later she woke up one morning and the whole left side of her face was swollen. So swollen that her eye was closed. I immediately called her doctor, Dr. Knorr. When we got to the doctors office he told me that she must have an abscessed tooth and I needed to take her to the dentist. Dr. Knorr called the dentist and they fit us in. When we got to the dentist they took a whole bunch of x-rays. When the dentist came into the room he asked us if Olivia had been hit in the face. We were like "no" and Liv was like "yes I was! Remember when Trevor hit me with the baseball bat?" What had happened was the bat had hit her so hard that it broke the roots of her tooth which in turn got infected. The infection spread through her face and had gotten so bad that she had to have antibiotic shots for a week! After the infection was gone they had to remove the tooth and put a retainer in so the teeth wouldn't move together. The dentist said that it would take about 5 years for the tooth to grow in. The other day however Livvy couldn't get the piece of "food" out of her retainer. So she asked me to help. To make a long story short it was a tooth, so I called the dentist, and today she got it taken out. The dentist told me that now I need to call an orthodontist so they can get started making room for molars and braces!

First Day of School

Today Harris started preschool at Learning Dynamics. I don't know how I feel about this. You see he is my baby, my last one, and if he is going to school I must be getting old! What am I going to do?! He will be gone 3 days a week for two and a half hours! I guess it will be good. I'll be able to do something without being interrupted by Harris wanting me to play with him. ("but I like to play with him", I say to myself.) I know that it will be a good break for him. Despite my efforts, he is growing up, and needs to have some extracurricular activities. So I will suck it up and watch him go.

Harris, however, was fine. He was a little shy, but his teacher took his hand and shooed us out the door. You should have seen his face when we got there to pick him up! It was priceless! Total relief that we were back. He said to us "my school is a long time, huh mommy?". I hope that he loves school like Olivia does. Loving to learn now will help him all through out his school years.

By-the-way, there aren't any pictures because Chet said it was weird to take pictures because he started school in the middle of the year. So I posted one of my favorite baby pictures of him.