Merry Christmas!

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

In the past 24 hours, Daddy Jeff has been diagnosed with bronchitis, and Graham and I have been diagnosed with pneumonia. Amelia is the only healthy one in the house but she did take her turn with pneumonia just two weeks ago so it's not like she has been completely spared either. So, for Christmas, we'd love the respiratory gods to please be kind to our family and allow us to be healthy enough to enjoy an inhaler, nebulizer, codeine, wheezing, and coughing free Christmas. Thank you in advance for your help.

Love,
The Olson Family

Winter Adventure

We're always up for an adventure, so yesterday we headed off on a winter adventure! As if we weren't already buried by enough snow and the temperatures weren't quite cold enough for, we headed 3 hours north to Duluth! We arrived in Duluth early yesterday afternoon and we were pleasantly surprised that we only had to make one quick bathroom stop for our newly potty trained princess! Our first stop was a visit with Santa. Last year Amelia was terrified so we didn't know what to expect. Amelia proceeded with GREAT caution, but followed Graham onto Santa's lap without shedding a tear. Graham was extremely excited to tell Santa he wanted Iron Man toys and a zip line (he's going to be sorely disappointed in Christmas morning!) and when Santa asked Amelia what she wanted I wasn't surprised that she didn't want to answer. Chatty Big Brother Graham took care of that though and told Santa that Amelia wants a new pair of princess shoes.


After our Santa visit, we boarded a train for a short ride to one of the most extensive holiday lights displays imaginable. Graham was convinced the train was headed for the North Pole so we went with it. I didn't have the heart to disappoint him and children only believe in this sort of magic for so long, right? As amazing as the lights were, it was hard to ignore the freezing cold temperatures and wind blowing off of Lake Superior! Let's just say I was thankful when the sensation to my toes returned a few hours later! We ended our evening back at the hotel, which with toddlers always adds to the adventure. There is something about those standard rooms that brings out super, high energy levels from Graham and Amelia!

Lucky

At the end of what was a very stressful week, I'm reminded of just how lucky I am. How could I not smile with these two in my life?

Christmas Concert

This morning was a milestone event for our family....our very first, of what will be many, Christmas concert! Graham marched in with confidence, waved to us, then took his place right in the front. He knew all the words and hand motions to his songs. The program was so cute and we were so proud of him! Graham had the audience laughing because at the end of every single song, he took a very deep, dramatic bow! This type of milestone makes me feel sentimental-how is Graham old enough to be taking part in such a concert? It seems like just yesterday we brought home our chubby cheeked little guy from Korea. Now today, he's a confident big preschool student who loves learning and looks forward to attending school. What's even crazier than Graham being old enough to take party in such a concert is that next year, Amelia will also be a part of this. We'll have two kids singing for us-WOW!

Graham was singing his heart out!

Miles came and thanks to Mickey on the ipod, he was able to sit through the entire thing! :)

Right after the concert Graham found Amelia and put his arm around her

Enjoying a cookie treat in Graham's classroom

Two Years Ago

Exactly two years ago, I woke up in the morning as the proud Mommy of one happy little guy. Exactly two years ago I went to sleep the proud Mommy of two beautiful children. It's amazing how one little afternoon phone call changed our world.....December 12, 2008 was the first day we saw Amelia's sweet little face.


Amelia and I today, December 12, 2010 on the way to my Mom's annual Holiday tea. I am so thankful to be able to call Amelia my daughter!

Messages from Santa

Santa was kind enough to send both Graham and Amelia a personalized message! In case any other Mommy's or Daddy's want to request the same thing from Santa, here are the links so you can check them out!

Graham's message:
http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/4ajhl2luGjmfouLAokEyiA

Amelia's message:
http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/g1i1c7d7nUgNy9_WoM9GRQ

Sick

Amelia and Graham both came home from Florida with colds. Graham has continued to get better every day and is clearly at the end of his illness. Amelia on the other hand has gotten worse. When I went to wake her up this morning I found a very lethargic little girl who just wanted to be held. I brought her to the pediatrician and I'm so glad I did since a chest x-ray was able to diagnose her with pneumonia. Poor thing! She's already had her first dose of antibiotics and she'll also be getting a big dose of "whatever she wants" from her Mama. So, I'm guessing our next few days are going to be filled with episodes of Dora, sippy cups full of apple juice, and goldfish crackers.

Long time no blog!

It's been a while....I know. We're as busy as ever, still taking just as many pictures as ever, I just don't feel like I have as much time as I used to, so blogging as fallen by the wayside. But, I do have a fun update today! While our part of the country got dumped on with close to a foot of snow last week, we were only hearing about it on the news and getting updates from friends because we were on the beach in Florida! We, along with cousin Miles and his family, and my parents, headed south to visit my own Grandparents, Graham, Amelia, and Miles' GREAT Grandparents. Although we did fly home with two sick kids, we had a great time as a family and the gorgeous weather didn't hurt a bit!

Amelia didn't understand why "Baby" couldn't have her own seat on the plane

The three great grandkids with their Great Grandparents

Graham and Amelia were very amused by the large mirror at their Great Grandparents house

Graham thought it was so funny to be buried in the sand

Amelia LOVES the beach

These two are such good buddies

It was very difficult to get a picture of Graham on the beach because he was always in motion!

All of us on the beach. Last time we were on the beach, we were posing for a picture to go along with our home study so we could start the adoption process for Amelia. That picture is on the right side of the blog

Just having fun

I'm kind of in love with her ruffled suit :)

These two actually thought we were going to let them sleep in the same bed together....riiiiiiight because they would have actually gone to sleep?!?

Luggage cart rides!

Grandpa drives the cart really fast!