When in DOUBT, ALWAYS get a SECOND Opinion

Once both of my daughters turned two years old, I started taking them for annual eye exams.  They have both seen the same optometrist every single year.  With every annual exam, I have been told that their vision is great! 
For the past two years, Isabella has really been struggling with reading in school.  Having doubts about seeing the same optometrist for an annual exam just before school was to start, I called and switched to a brand new optometrist.
When in doubt, always get a second opinion!  AND I am glad I did.  When I took Isabella in to get her eye exam, the optometrist looked at me and said "No one ever told you there was anything wrong with her eyes?"  I explained to him that they are diligent about getting all annual exams and he was absolutely shocked when I told him NO, no one ever told me there was anything wrong with her eyes.
He went on to explain that when Isabella tries to read a sentence to completion, she can't because her eyes cross.  BINGO!  There was a big piece of the missing puzzle as to WHY she is struggling with reading.  She now has to wear glasses all the time and hopefully, over time her eyes will correct themselves. 
Wearing eyeglasses everyday has been an adjustment for Isabella, as she is trying to get used to them.  Within 24 hours of receiving them, she came home from school and they were completely broken.  When she was outside for recess, she took them off and laid them on the ground to take take her sweatshirt off and someone ran over them.  Back to store I went with the glasses and they couldn't be fixed, so they had to order a new pair for her.
She absolutely LOVES wearing glasses and we have already noticed an improvement in her reading!  That is GREAT NEWS!  Keep up the good work Isabella, and keep taking care of those beautiful glasses.

Painting with her NEW glasses

She looks so studious!

The broken glasses

Revealing What's Inside Isabella's 9th Birthday Cake!

Isabella's 9th Birthday

On Labor Day, we had planned her family birthday party and a special cake.  Right now, Isabella is really into unicorns.  Why wouldn't a little girl love something so MAGICAL?   And rainbows.  Isabella LOVES rainbows.  I contacted my cousin to see if she could make the cake, however she was out of town so I contacted a local bakery.  I found a couple of pictures of a unicorn cake that was rainbow inside and emailed it over AND to my surprise, they said they could MAKE IT.  MAGICAL!!  We were excited to surprise her with a magical cake and to celebrate alongside her beloved grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Isabella is a sweet little girl who loves spending time with her family and it means the world to her.  I think it means more to her than receiving presents.  The unfortunate happened on the day of her family party.  Her sister Giselle woke up with a dry cough and just seemed off.  At 10 a.m., I took her to immediate care, where we learned she had bronchitis.  There went the idea of having a family celebration.  Isabella had spent two hours making homemade cards that said I LOVE YOU for every family member coming to the party.  How on earth was I going to break the news to Isabella?  Well, after returning home from immediate care with sick Giselle and getting pulled over by the police, (an angel was looking out for me because I did not get a speeding ticket.) I broke the news to Isabella.  At that moment, both Isabella and Giselle started crying.  They were SO UPSET that they couldn't see everyone!  It was at that moment, I felt like someone ripped the heart out of my chest.  I was feeling heartbroken for both girls and I wanted to take their pain and feelings of sadness away.  So we tried to ease the sadness with a trip to McDonald's that included happy meals and ice cream.  Then, we stopped and got some paint, paint brushes and figurines to paint.  And we painted together.

And on her actual birthday, we did the best we could to make up for a celebration that didn't happen on Labor Day.  The day started out with Dunkin Donuts from Daddy with a special birthday message.  At school, her teacher and classmates celebrated with her by singing Happy Birthday and giving her a certificate.  When she got off the school bus, I greeted her with nine Happy Birthday balloons!  Then, we all went out to an early dinner at her favorite restaurant, Joy of Thai, where she had chicken fried rice.  When we came home, she wanted to open presents first before cake.  She was excited to get unicorn pajamas and a Hatchimal.  What is a Hatchimal?  It's a bird inside an egg and you have to take care of the egg until the bird hatches.  You have to put it to sleep, rock it, talk to it.  You get the idea.....

She LOVES Chicken Fried Rice!!

And THEN, there was cake.  A unicorn, rainbow cake!  She was super excited about that cake.  I will post a couple of videos after this blog is published.

The MAGICAL Unicorn Cake

Isabella LOVES Baxter SOOOOO Much!!

What I learned over the past couple of days, is that Isabella and Giselle are more resilient than I thought.  They bounced right back.  Just like that.

All in all, Isabella was smiling all day and felt super loved yesterday from all of the phone calls, text messages and gifts.  Thank you all for making her birthday special!!