The Dentist

Olivia made her first trip to the dentist yesterday.  It was a huge success, much to my surprise.

{In the waiting room -- Kitty had to make the trip with us}

They let her take a ride in the chair, showed her all of their tools, counted her teeth and even let her pick out a toy from their toy closet.

{Taking a ride in the chair with Kitty}

{Checking out the light}

{Learning about the tools}

{Dr. Jackson showing Olivia his cool glasses}

{Dr. Jackson counting Olivia's teeth.  All 20 were in there except if you ask Olivia, she only has 5}

{It's all over and we are still all smiles}

The most exciting part of the whole trip was the new tooth brush and toothpaste that they gave her.  Girlfriend was so excited to brush her teeth with the new gear!

The Eye Doctor

Finn made his first trip to the eye doctor this week. He has had some issues with his tears not draining properly so Dr. Moen referred us to Eye Surgeons Associates.

The Dr. was great with Finn.  It was amazing to see how they worked so efficiently with such little patients.  Finn didn't move an inch the entire time we were there and cooperated with everything he was asked to do.  If any of you know Finn, that's not like him at all.

Livy was also great at the doctor.  We had a talk the night before about how Finn was going to be really scared and how she was going to have to help me while we were there.  She was so sweet to Finn.  She stayed real close to him the entire time and kept whispering in his little ear "It's okay Finny, your sissy is right here".  That must have comforted him as he didn't cry at all.

The outcome: farsightedness in both eyes, one worse than the other.  We will have to watch this as it might cause some lazy eye issues in the future and a constricted tear duct.  We have to make a trip back for this after the winter is over to see if it is being caused by the cold weather or if it something that they will have to fix for him.

Cool shades, huh?

Weekend Recap

It’s been a whirlwind week for us.  So much of a whirlwind that I am finally getting around to posting our weekend recap just as the new weekend starts.

Last weekend was a long three day weekend for Scott.  I was able to enjoy a nice five day weekend.  Oh the joys of working part time.

We tried to fit in as much as we could, get out of the house as often as possible.  On Saturday I took Olivia to our annual Moline boy’s basketball game with Papa.   She really enjoys going to those games.  Olivia actually watched most of the game this time.  She even enjoyed watching the cheerleaders.  However, I think her favorite part was the popcorn, hotdog, nachos and pop.  That may have been momma’s favorite part too.

On Sunday we took the kids to Monkey Joes to burn off some of their energy.  We met up with Olivia’s favorite friend Lily and her siblings.  Olivia wasn’t too fond of the big slides and jump houses, but warmed up towards the end.  She would have enjoyed staying in the little three year old bounce house that she could run and jump around in the entire time.  Finn on the other hand, he is going to be our little daredevil.  Finn wouldn’t stay in the bounce house that Olivia loved so much so we decided to take him down one of the larger slides in our laps.  He loved the first ride so much; he had the biggest grin on his face as dad took him down!  Scott and I took turns (aka – fought over) who got to go down next, I guess “big kids” like bounce houses too.  Finn would giggle the entire way up the ladder and laughed as we flew down the slide.

On Monday Olivia and I had a Mommy-Daughter day.  Liv was so excited.  We went shopping and out to lunch.  Olivia loves her new purple light up shoes and the Valentine’s Day outfit that she picked out all on her own.  Having lunch with Olivia made me realize that she is growing up way too fast.  We sat across from each other at the table and the conversation flowed the entire time.  It was just like I was sitting across from my best friend.  She is so animated and funny.  I can’t wait until our next Mommy-Daughter day

Poor little Finn didn’t understand that he couldn’t come with.  I felt so bad when, all by himself, he got his shoes out of the closet and brought them over to me to put on his little feet after I was finished putting Olivia’s on.  His big brown eyes looked so sad when I told him it was just the girls.

In other Finn news, we moved him to a big boy chair at the dinner table.  He loves his freedom and is starting to get the hang of using a fork.  Last night he dumped everything off his plate, in true Finn fashion of course, then proceeded to put the items one by one back on his plate to eat.  Apparently he knows that you can’t eat directly off the table.

Introducing Jose

We've been working on a nickname for Finn for quite some time now.  He has the usuals: Finn, Finny,  Meatball, Ramrod and Bruiser but none of them have stuck.

Over Christmas Gramma Judy told Finn "No way Jose".  At last, his nickname was born.  We didn't realize it right away, though.  On the way home Olivia asked us why Jose was in the car with us.  We quickly learned that Olivia would be calling Finn "Jose" as a nickname for a long time in the future.

Aren't they the cutest?

Talk About Incentive

I have a bad case of cabin fever!!  I mean bad.  I am already pricing out vacations for this summer.

I don't know if this is incentive for me or for Olivia, but today we told her that once she gets over wearing a diaper at night we will go on vacation.

Today she woke up from her nap in undies and promptly told us that she didn't go peeps in her bed and that she wanted to go on vacation.  Oh Olivia.

{Olivia eating a s'more this summer at Gramma Judy's house}

Happy Birthday Girls

We celebrated Emmie's 4th birthday and Olivia's 3rd birthday this weekend.  The party was Minion themed.  The girls both love the Decpicable Me movies so we thought it was appropriate.

Gramma and Papa VanVooren were the only ones where were able to help the girls celebrate.  Unfortunately Auntie Abbie couldn't make it because of the ice storm in Omaha.  This caused some confusion with Momo who thought the party was then going to be cancelled.  Papa had to drive all the way into town to make sure she was okay because she wasn't answering her phone.  She was fine, just taking a nap.

Olivia in her new chair:

Finn sealing Olivia's new chair.  He's proud of his moves:

Opening gifts:

A new bunny rabbit:

Since the theme of the party was Despicable Me I decided I would make a Minion cake.  It went over well to say the least.

Finn waiting for his cake:

Finally they gave me cake.  Now I have to double fist it:

Yes, there was ice cream too:

What I don't get any ice cream:

Is there really such a thing as taking too big of a bite?  Not according to Olivia:

Emmie was a fan of the frosting:

So was Finny:

Good Morning

Scott and I have finally returned to work after a much needed two week break and the kids have gone back to school.  Our washer, dryer and dishwasher are taking full advantage of the break; they have been on overload since we have been home.

Olivia was excited to go back and see all of her friends; Finn couldn’t have cared less as long as they have food there.  Both of the kids were moved to new rooms, Olivia is now in the three year old room and Finn is in the 15 month – 2 year old room.  I can’t believe I no longer have anyone in the infant room {insert tears here}.  They both took the move well.  Some of Olivia’s friends made the move with her so it wasn’t so scary.  Finn gets to sleep in a big boy cot at nap time, which should be interesting for them once he realizes he can get out of it whenever he wants.

Anyhow, not much else has been going on around here, we are just trying to stay warm so not too many pictures. 

This picture is of breakfast the other morning.  Finn is learning how to streamline his eating operations.  He removed the middleman (his hands) and went straight to eating off his tray nose first.  We can no longer skip baths in the morning!