As you saw in my last post, it feels like every time we turn around here lately there is another decision to make. Not the garden-variety 'what clothes to wear' or such (although, battling with Olivia about her clothes selection can be noteworthy!), but a decision that right now feels like it could make-or-break the plans and work we have been doing up to this point. I realize, somewhere in the back of my brain, that I will probably be able to look back and see that these were just decisions like any other, but for now they feel like they need to be made after thorough research and heart to heart talks with the hubby. So, we've gotten a bit of information spread around over Easter weekend, but in follow up to last week's montage of appointments and craziness, here's a run-down:

• We met with the school and after an hour and a half meeting have decided to re-evaluate Olivia early in several areas. We have had 3 recommendations in the past week (from 3 different people) to have her screened for PDD (explained in an earlier post; on the autism spectrum). I'm not sure what will come of that testing, but we are in the process of setting up the appointment. We are waiting for a form to be returned to us by Olivia's teacher. They said that the testing will take almost a month for all the observations that they want to do. They also said they would work to modify her current IEP for the remaining month or so of the school year. I will ask them about options for summer support since she has fallen behind. Which reminds me, I need to follow up since it's been a week now and I haven't heard anything....note to self. It was an interesting meeting. I felt like we were supported during the meeting and that her new teacher definitely agreed that her current IEP was not meeting the needs that Olivia has in the classroom. She said that she doesn't talk (hardly at all). The only time that she does talk is during sharing which Jason 'pre-teaches' for her so that she knows what to say and can practice it. This is very effective for Olivia.
  
• I've told many of you about the visit to see the lawyer. She had good advice, we are just putting that decision on 'hold' for a little bit so that we can sort through some of the other things that appear more pressing on our plate. We do have a will in place and while we realize it may not be the 'perfect' situation for Olivia, there are a lot of unknowns about her yet. So, it feels like any decision we make has the potential to back fire on us. Before we get our will in place we want to try and consolidate our accounts and figure out the best plan for saving money as well. I wish it were as easy as just reading some financial planning magazines/books (which I have read a variety of) and making a typical decision. There are so many factors involved that make it mind-boggling.
• The girls had their check-up this week. The check-ups came out well. Livi is exactly proportionate (big 5 year old in height and weight) and Josie is reasonably tall and leaner than we would expect but still within normal range.
  
• We hired our first babysitter for an evening out this week! Some of Jason's friends were in town from Chicago and we went out to eat with them and a group from Columbia. Jason's friends are just starting their families now so it's interesting to see how things shift. When we were first married, we all went out together and then after the girls were born, Jason went out by himself. It was nice to get to go out together again and catch up with everyone. The young lady who came to the house is the daughter of one of my co-workers. She is in college at MU. The girls had a great time and all 3 of our 'little ones' were well behaved. Great night out!

Hopefully, I can focus on Easter weekend in the next post. I think I'm out of space :)