Day 97 of 365 Days of Being Thankful

       Today I am thankful for old photos Olivia found on Renee's old Apple computer. The pictures were from the first summer we had Olivia. I had signs on everything around the house so that she saw the words as we said them.  There is a sign above the fireplace and a sign below the television.  She had short hair and a turned in/crossed eye and she was skinny as could be but she still looked so beautiful.  Olivia was so full of joy and loved everything and everyone!  Looking back at the pictures and remembering each event was so heartwarming and was so much fun!

        Olivia was the sweetest child on the planet when she first came to America! She loved to do anything  and everything we wanted to do! She loved to help, shop, and clean with me. Some days after I worked all day,  and did crafts with her, and Dan swam with her,  and we had dinner and cleaned up, she would say to me..."Vat we do now , mommy?" I said, we already did and did and now I am going to sit my butt down and read or watch TV! I told Dan that we needed a sister Olivia's age range so we planned to adopt a second girl. Olivia was funny, outgoing, and adorable. She had a left eye that turned in that we eventually fixed with glasses. I loved that little turned in/wandering eye. We tried patching but she would always peel up the side of the patch.  Olivia loved being part of a family.  She loved doing any activity and going anywhere with any of us. She went to Bible School and would be so excited on Wed. nights because it was Bible school night! She went camping with Dan and on road trips with him.  She actually still does road trips with him.  She  still loves to drive around Philly with Dan. She loved every part of being here until she became a teenager and we became uncool! She just adored my friends Linda, Nancy and Jackie. She would tell me that they were her friends too.  They brought her so many gifts when we adopted her.  The first night Olivia was in America,  Nancy brought her the game of Twister, and we all played the game!  Olivia still talks about that.  Whenever I went out with them, she wanted to go. One day Nancy accidentally called or emailed Olivia about going out to eat, the message was intended for me! Olivia  came running down the steps yelling "see, I told you they were my friends too!" They were so nice and we all went to a pizza place to eat!

Olivia and Kat

I think public school ruined her personality.  Kids can be so mean. Kids in orphanages are very sweet.  They almost become parents to each  other.  Everyone is accepted, there are no groups or cliques or exclusions.  Olivia didn't understand cliques when she first came to the U.S. She didn't understand why she wasn't supposed to let everyone play. She became friendly with two mean girls who were quite popular.  They weren't really that nice to her or to each other. They taught her to exclude people and talk about other girls so I had to work on her to ignore their demands.  They told her that she wouldn't be "popular" if she let everyone play. I told her that was just mean and it was better to be a nice person than a popular person. Eventually she became friendly with nicer girls.

We went to the beach the first summer she was adopted. The water was freezing but Olivia didn't care!! Poor Dan went in with her! We have an in ground pool in our backyard.  At the time, we didn't have a heater.  Olivia would call Dan everyday at  4pm and say svim Daddy svim? Olivia couldn't pronounce her w sound right away.  She knew he would go in the cold water with her and I wouldn't! Now we have a heater! I usually only go in the pool in July when it is in the nineties! I hate cold water.

July 2007

 When they become teenagers, we just become stupider and stupider and we know NOTHING! Those younger years are the years we really have fun with our kids because I guess we weren't too stupid then!

 

 July 4, 2007    
         Olivia LOVED the parade because most of the floats threw out candy!! She couldn't speak much English at the time but she understood Happy Birthday America! Notice the necklaces, and sunglasses? She always accessorized her outfits!

Olivia was always a fashionista!

She always wore jewelry and painted her toe nails. Every outfit that Olivia first chose was sparkly, and usually pink or purple.  My niece Erica bought her strappy, sparkly, green shoes with a small heel.  Olivia wore the shoes so much that she wore them out! She was so excited to have a pair of heels! In Ukraine, all of the adult woman wear high heel shoes and high heel boots! Her shoe size was a 4 at the time and these were size 4. I didn't even know they made size 4 shoes with heels, the heels were very small.

The sparkly green heels with the painted toenails!!

July 4th parade 2007

 

 

        Work on the GLAM ROOM continues. Olivia spray painted the white wicker chest a glossy white, she sprayed the drawers turquoise, I think it will look fabulous when she puts the drawers in!  Last night Olivia and I glittered and beaded glass jars and vases for the GLAM ROOM.  I glittered the bottom half of the vase and Olivia beaded the side corners. It looks so much better with the beads on it.

         My kitchen will be glittery for months.  I made much more of a mess than Olivia made.  I had glitter all over everything!  Even though I swept and ran the Roomba on the floor a few times, the floor still sparkles! I'll run the Roomba again when we go to bed. A mess is worth the fun we had!  My cat is fascinated with the Roomba.  He follows it from room to room! He always wants to be above it, higher than the Roomba.  He is up on a counter or a couch when he is near it! If he is outside and sees the Roomba running through the patio doors, he wants to come in and follow it around.