Olivia's birthday

November 15th, Olivia turned 8. We had a modest celebration. Cupcakes for her 2nd grade class, tacos for dinner, ice cream cake at night, and new Heely’s from Marc and me. Her birthday also reminds me of her birth mother.
We know for sure she was found in front of the orphanage on November 21, 2003, and was estimated to be 7 days old. So the orphanage declared her birthday to be November 15th. I have wondered if that is the actual day she was born, but her actual birthday does not really matter. If it is days or weeks off, in the long run, it makes no difference. But her “finding day” is for sure. She was found in a basket with blankets and bottles of milk on the steps of the old location of the orphanage. A woman from the village found her and took her to the new location.

It hurts my heart to know her birth mother had to abandon her.
It hurts my heart that we will never know the name her birth mother gave her, only the name the orphanage gave her.
It hurts my heart that her birth mother is missing out on her beautiful laugh, her silly smile. That she will miss brushing her hair and watching her sleep.
It hurts my heart that her birth mother will never know the love Olivia has for dogs, and she will never see the special bond Olivia has with my mother.

But in the same breath I thank her.
Thank you for having the courage to give you daughter a better life.
Thank you for leaving your daughter at the orphanage, where you knew she would be found.
Thank you for leaving your daughter with blankets and milk so I could tell Olivia how much her birth mother loved her.
Thank you for giving her life, because with out you, I would not have found the love of mine.

MOMMY MAGIC

So it is spring break and I took off Monday and Tuesday to spend with Olivia. We were going to see the JB movie, but I did not realize it was no longer playing. Ok we can recover from this. So what can we do, mini golf, no she just did that with daddy. Chuck E Cheese, Hell to the No. Monkey Joe's, no boring to play alone. So what does she want? Disney. I told her we can go to Downtown Disney, walk around and have lunch. She says, "No I want to go on rides". REALLY! Ugh, the curse of living in Orlando (yes I am complaining) Nothing is cheap or easy. Then she wants the pool;not open yet. Then she hits me with it, "Ok, I want to go to Ma's early then". WHAT! You would rather spend time with my mother in her 1 bedroom apartment than shopping and lunch with me? I said SHOPPING. S H O P P I N G. Yes she would rather be with my mom and her cousins. So we spent the rest of the afternoon packing, and driving. I have lost my "Mommy Magic". :(