Family Update

Sigh...Where does time go?

We've had even more changes around here and life is so much busier that I don't have time for my blogs the way I used to.  I went back to work full time and am still trying to get a morning and afternoon routine together.  My mornings are extremely rushed getting Daniel on the bus on time and Tic-Tac to daycare 3 days a week, then over the mountain to work, all by 8:45.  Two days a week Troy now stays home with Tic-Tac since his back injury.  Troy is no longer working pending back surgery.  We have an appointment with the surgeon for a final consult before they schedule surgery December 10th.  I'm nervous the surgery is going to make Christmas a mess so I've already started ordering gifts so that we (or just me) are not out trying to get everything done while Troy is in the hospital.

Troy is an enormous help around the house doing the things he is able to do and the role reversals are suiting us for the moment.  Daniel is flourishing under his dad's care all the time, so much so that I've become second best and Daniel is always looking for his dad!!  I don't mind, I think it's actually a pretty natural progression and Troy assures me he was the same way when he was a kid and my husband ADORES his mother, so I'm enjoying the bit of freedom that comes with this as far as Daniel goes.  Don't worry, Daniel and I are getting plenty of one on one time together.  We're reading before bed "Mickey See the USA" a VERY OLD book my dad read with me as a child.  We just finished the Piratepedia and now Daniel and I know way more about pirates than we ever needed to know!!

Tic-Tac is also flourishing and coming into his own.  We're thanking God everyday that Tic-Tac remains with us.  We love him so.  Things are not always easy, but we know they are worth it even if Tic-Tac goes home. He's gained weight, learned many new skills and knows he's constantly loved and cared for.  We have some minor medical questions, and lots of developmental questions about him, but nothing we can't overcome or would prevent us from becoming permanent to him.  Oh how I wish I could share his story and get advice from all the great friends I have since all of us have dealt with so many different situations with how our children came to us.

We could really use prayers for all of us right now.  We've been juggling and making changes in the family with everything that has been going on.  Mostly we need prayers for Troy's back.  We were hoping for a much quicker surgery date but our hospital is way behind.  We're also hoping that after surgery he finally gets some relief and can eventually go back to work.

Other than those things, we're plugging along like any normal family, enjoying our weekends, playing outside, going to birthday parties and otherwise keeping ourselves entertained!

Oh yeah - the infamous first tooth finally came out thanks to the adult tooth that was almost all the way in as you can see!!

Ramblings of a Mother

Oh my, Oh my. It seems lately that while I have so many things to say about Daniel that I just can't seem to get them down into any kind of readable format. So today, if you don't mind, I'm going to ramble.

Daniel is growing. Fast. I mean super fast, as in his 3T's are going to barely make it through winter and I only have 3T summer clothes. I think the shorts will fit since he has the tiny waist, but the shirts are going to be way too short. His shoes are the same story. One pair every couple of months. At this rate, I'm afraid he's going to tower over me at the ripe old age of 8.

Speaking of ripe old age, Daniel told Troy and I that he was going to go to the store "by myself". I asked him how he was going to get there and I got the response of "I'm going to drive the truck". When I asked how he would reach the pedals he said "I'm just going to drive the truck." Well that settles it. I'm making a grocery list for him now (LOL!)

Are your 3 year olds back seat drivers? Mine sure is! As in constant "Green light Mommy, GO!" or my personal favorite "Stop sign Mommy...You didn't stop Mommy". I rolled people, I rolled and no one was coming, I swear!

"I can do it myself" is the newest phrase of the house. And let me tell you he can do just about anything if he puts his mind to it. I can't believe some of the things he can do! Did you know when he's in his "I can do it myself" mode that he CAN actually brush his teeth nicely or wash his hands properly on his own?! (I use the term properly loosely. I don't expect him to scrub his fingernails with a brush or anything – just overall cleanliness.)

Did you know that buying a child 14 new pairs of underwear to try to combat doing laundry every day or two motivates them to stop peeing in their underwear? We do still have an accident every couple of days, but suddenly Daniel is starting to stay dry ALL DAY!!!! But really, after we bought him 14 new pairs of underwear? I'm out of pants before I'm out of underwear now!!

We have follow ups on the 3rd of February to look at his kidney and bladder again. Please keep praying they keep healing. We're amazed by his healing already! Thank you Lord and all our prayer warriors!

Daniel is getting much better at playing actual games now like Whack A Mole, Matching games, etc. He used to be terrible at Whack A Mole and we would spend more time laughing than playing. Then two nights ago I sat on the floor for a round with Daniel and he clicked 2 moles and I took 2 moles and suddenly I found myself IN COMPETITION with a 3 year old. I'm not even sure I won. When did that happen?

Oh, he's starting to eat us out of house and home. He ate more than I did last weekend. As in 2 fried eggs with grits, bacon, toast with jelly, and a drink. When he asked for a second egg we happily obliged, but boy we were surprised when he cleaned his plate! Last night he ate salad. Really? Do 3 year olds like salad? He begged for lettuce so I chopped it into fine little squares, put ranch on it, mixed it up and he asked for thirds. I just never imagined!

Speaking of imagining things, Daniel imagination has taken off. You might have read on Facebook the other day that Daniel had Troy and I really laughing because he ran in our room and said "Mommy, there's a dragon in the house. I have to get it with my sword." Then looks from me to Troy and back and says "Where is my sword?" He also pretend speaks between his trains. It's so cute because he'll say something like '"Please move out of my way Diesel," said Rusty'. He always includes whoever said it in his conversation. I think that comes from reading so much (says Mommy).

As for reading, we picked up a book with CD while we were on the Polar Express. It dings when you turn the page and it took one page turn for Daniel to figure that out. He LOVES listening to a book on CD now! We only have the one, because I still like to read to him, but he's good at telling me when he wants to read with the CD and when he wants me to read, which is still always before bedtime!

Well, I've rambled enough. While I could probably come up with more, that's all I've got time for today! And here's the star of the blog himself...

Ahhhhh...the Sound of.....

Silence!!

That's what I'm listening to today.

Yup - Troy and Daniel headed off to Granny and Grandpa's for the night to put up tree stands for hunting season today and then Troy to hunt tomorrow while Granny and Grandpa spoil Daniel all day!!

As a matter of fact Daniel told me this morning that he would be "doing guy stuff today" and that I "was a girl and could not go".

Gees, I got the point already!!

At any rate - I'm doing just fine. I already watched a movie I bought LAST summer and hadn't had time to watch and am getting ready to spread out all my scrapbooking supplies and try to start on the year 2008! I keep telling myself I'm not that far behind!!

In other news - there isn't any. We have tried to enjoy every last moment of warm weather and are looking forward to fall and all the holidays coming up.

Daniel's growing by leaps and bounds and I'm proud to say that it appears he is officially wearing 3T pants!!! His 2T's are just too short (as you'll see in the photos) and the 3T's while big in the waist still are actually hanging on without falling off.

Nothing else exciting going on!!

Another Busy Weekend and a Small Progress Report

Troy had a few days off this past weekend and we were able to enjoy four days together with Daniel.

Friday with my mom's help we planted eight tomato plants, lots of green beans (Daniel's favorite), onions and lettuce. I also planted 16 dianthus plants in my walkway garden to the front porch. I am trying to cover a long area and am slowly adding in each year, plus the plants come back up every year and bush out. It's my favorite flower and the only one I've found I can grow!

Sunday we went to Discoveroo, a family music festival, which is put on by the Virginia Discovery Museum. I won a family pass for 5 tickets so we took my sister in law, Amber and my nephew, Parker and made my brother in law Stephen pay his way! There were bands, tables with crafts, drawings, and a man on stilts, among other things.

The funniest part of the day was watching Daniel with the man on stilts. While my nephew Parker was the least bit perturbed by this abnormally tall man, Daniel hung back quite a bit, eyeing him. At one point all the children were running in between his legs, like going through a tunnel, and Daniel just kept hanging back. Before I go on you have to know that my son is fearless, (or was), then finally he got the nerve up. I wish I had the video camera because once his mind was made up, he took off, kicking in turbo speeds, went under the stilt walkers legs, and then kept right on going, never looking back. Troy and I were in stitches!! At any rate, the boys had the best time and so did we watching them!

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I wanted to also give everyone a small update on Daniel's developmental progress. This will be short, but I wanted to list some things for myself as well as others.

Eating: Still doesn't eat much meat, will drink very small quantities of milk, doesn't think we should have meal time, especially when playing motorcycles or watching Elmo, stuck at 31 pounds.

Sleeping: Great – still needs a nap. He may not think so, but if not, somewhere between 4 and 6, in the words of Becky his evil twin arrives. He won't let us rock him completely to sleep anymore, but instead insists we come back to check on him after a few minutes and then waits for us. Is also trying the whole, "I need some juice" or "I need to go pee", stuff to avoid bedtime. Are they supposed to start that already?!

Speech: Daniel puts together paragraphs for us now, including very long sentences. We can hold a pretty normal conversation with him and he is now playing with his toys and having them talk, etc. Great imagination!

Attachment: Great! He does think it's okay to talk to strangers but he doesn't touch them and stays back far enough to keep an eye on us. The moment they make a move for him he bolts to us. Before you panic – we are standing very close by. For example – in the home store the other day he was about 5 feet in front of Troy and I and a lady came to the aisle and Daniel said to her that he was wearing a hat and she made to look at his hat closer and he bolted for me. A second example was after the Discoveroo event and he went walking a few feet ahead. Eventually he was walking with a group of teenagers not realizing it and suddenly he looked up and very quickly returned to my side. Again I was only feet behind him. Each time we explain that he needs to stay with Mommy and Papa and in our sight. Also, we always hold hands in streets and parking lots. Occasionally, like on these two occasions, there weren't many people around and we were within arms reach, so we let him explore his independence a little. We will however continue to work on the fact that not all strangers should be spoken to, especially if Mommy and Papa are not in sight.

This Morning: Daniel decided he didn't like the shirt I picked out for him to wear. He's never cared before but he ended up going to school in the blue pants I put on him and then he chose a bright orange shirt. I wonder if this is the first of many very interesting outfits!

I suppose that's about it. Hope every one is having a great week! I'll leave you with photos from the festival of Daniel and Parker. Pay particular attention to Daniel's distance from the man on stilts!

Lazy Winter Days

First of all, thank you so much for all your comments and prayers on my last post. We received our next appointments and they aren't until April 15th, so I am thankful for the break. April 15th is our one year anniversary of our positive court decision to adopt Daniel! We consider it our "Family Day" even though we weren't able to pick Daniel up until the following morning. We joked that Daniel spent his first night away from home! Spending the day in the hospital wasn't exactly what I had in mind for that day, but that's alright!!

So, lately we've had some nasty weather and I haven't been feeling the greatest and Daniel has been a little bored. So here is a post from him.

Hey everyone...it's been really boring around here, so I wanted to show you what I do to pass the time.

First I check on the dogs. I can't believe they are being good...for the moment. Mommy rushed for the camera just to prove that the dogs really do use the dog beds and not the chair, the bed, etc. I laughed because we all know where they really sleep...

Next, I had mommy build me a fortess. She sets it up real nice next to the table and then gives me a juice box and a neat pad thing I can write on and then erase what I just wrote. I keep trying to write on myself, but nothing happens. What's up with that?!

I've figured out that if you take a riding toy and set a ball on top the seat and then sit on the ball that your feet barely touch the floor. Hence the riding toy has now become a motorcylce. Mommy laughs everytime I zoom by and yell "motorcycle"!

Playdoh is really cool too. The Octopus is a little hard to do so Mommy sits and reads and helps me push the hat down to make disgusting turtles and other weird creatures. I always yell "eeewwww" when the stuff squishes out.

Lastly, I take good long naps. Can't you tell by my hairdo. Mommy said she was leaving it that way all day and that I must have slept so good on one side then flipped over for the rest of my nap. I still can't figure out what's so funny!!

I love lazy winter days!

The Elmo Slippers

Happy (really belated) New Year to everyone. Things have been a bit crazy here lately and I haven't found the time to blog or spend very much time on the computer. We had a nice New Year's eve - I was in bed at 10:30 and Troy managed to wake me for the ball drop. Daniel was sound asleep. Welcome to parenthood in our house!

Since it's been getting colder we've noticed that even with socks on, Daniel's little feet get cold on our wood floors. So we made the trek to Wal-Mart and found a pair of Elmo slippers. He was really excited about them in the store, but I wasn't sure if he would really keep them on at the house. Daniel's been a big help with undressing himself lately and he LOVES to take his shoes and socks off at the most inopportune times (in the shopping cart etc.) I was hopeful the slippers would stay on in the house.

Well, not only do they stay on in the house, but they stay on during naptime and during the night. This is a feat not even the socks could manage!

So without further ado...the Elmo slippers...

P.S. I am going to be catching up on blogs soon, I haven't forgotten everyone out there!!!

Thanksgiving and More

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving. The three of us headed over, armed with a green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and bread, to my older sister's house, where we enjoyed dinner with her and her husband and their new son. Eli slept long enough to allow us to eat which was a real treat, especially for my sister.


Silly me - I didn't take a single picture. Part of me is thinking how in the world did I not take a photo of Daniel's first Thanksgiving and the other part of me is thinking that I usually don't take Thanksgiving pictures anyway so it's no big deal. I think Daniel was glad to have a break from the camera at least. He even got out his play camera we bought while in Russia and actually played with it telling me to say "cheese"! I think he's figured out he can boss me around when he has a camera in hand. After all, how can I not say cheese, if I expect him to all the time!?!

Speaking of photos, Daniel's daycare did holiday photos a couple of weeks ago and I am looking forward to receving the proofs back from those. One thing we haven't done is have any professional pictures done since we have been home. I felt bad about it until my mother put in her two cents and made me realize that who needed the professional photos when I had about two thousand (and that's no exaggeration!) photos sitting in piles to be scrapbooked in our guest bedroom!

We haven't started decorating for Christmas yet. We have a couple of birthdays to get through first. Once those are over, we'll break out the Christmas tree and other decorations. I have started reading Daniel some books about the birth of Jesus because I want him to understand that we aren't celebrating Christmas for presents and Santa, but for the birthday of Jesus. My mom gave me a pop out book that is the song to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" which I can sing to and show Daniel the photos. The last photo is of Jesus in the manger with angels above and the animals around Him. Just yesterday when I was getting ready for work, Daniel ran into my bedroom and showed me "Baby Jesus" in the manger. It made my day! Don't worry - we'll still be introducing Daniel to Santa this year and I'm sure Santa will be visiting our house!

Lastly, Troy could use some prayers. He got a severe ear infection about a week ago and had to go to ER Sunday night. His eardrum actually ruptured and the doctors are not sure that he will regain the hearing in his ear back. Sometimes the eardrum can heal spontaneously and other times, not at all. So far, he's not having any luck and is experiencing a ringing in his ear constantly, which is keeping him up at night and is very uncomfortable. We are hoping this pass and that he will able to hear out of the one ear again soon.

Time Flies

Six months ago today we were nervously getting dressed for court in a hotel room in Izhevsk, Russia. We had gone over our speeches about a million times. We could barely eat our breakfast and we had even practiced our speeches in the little café while we tried to eat.

We were escorted to the Russian court and ushered into a bland room with small benches for us to sit on and small tables for the orphanage director, the social worker, the prosecutor, the clerk, and podium for the Judge.

I spoke first talking about our family, our home, our finances, and everything in between. Troy spoke about our jobs, our hobbies, our lives. We were asked many questions. Troy was so quiet and nervous that they had to keep asking him to speak up. Finally in answer to one of the Judge’s questions, Troy simply said “Because we love him.”

After four hours, we were finally announced Daniel’s parents. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the smile plastered on my face. It was one of those you just can’t wipe away and the kind that hurt because you can’t stretch it any farther. I remember looking at the social worker and orphanage director, who we really, really liked, and seeing their big smiles also.

What a day. What a change to our lives and the life of a little boy from Russia. I think that day will always be one of the most remembered and one of the best days of our lives. Daniel is a true joy. He makes us laugh, his personality fits right in with our family. There have been tears and frustration too, but the smiles and laughter far outweigh them.

As an update on attachment I thought I would list a few things that have happened recently.

1. At the library I was sitting counting his jumps on the trampoline when he got off and started toward a table with play-doh. Halfway across the room, he stops suddenly turning, so fast he falls. He gets right up, finds my eyes, and says “Come on, Mama”.

2. We had guests for lunch a couple of weekends ago including his beloved Granny and Grandpa and Troy’s boss. When he was done, he fussed to be out of his chair so I picked him up and sat him in my lap facing away from the company holding him on my shoulder. He actually stayed in that position, laying his head down for a few minutes, letting me hold him, without feeling the need to turn around and be in the middle of the conversation.

3. Daniel and I went to Burger King and after he finished his lunch, instead of the normal, crawl under the table back and forth and see what everyone else was into, he sat down and put his head on my arm and let me hold him against my side while I finished eating.

The last two things are not only good attachment signs since he feels comfortable and secure but they are showing us that Daniel is not as overwhelmed anymore as he initially was when we would take him out. He’s becoming quite the little shopping companion for me (must to Troy’s chagrin) and I love it!!

So without further ado – These are photos I have posted before, but I think they show the real changes we have seen. Here is Daniel six months ago and then today!

Quick Update and Weekend Plans!

Daniel's been doing great at the new daycare!! He went right in the first two mornings and even had a little girl who stood by him when I left the first day. He did not nap on day one, but laid quietly. Day two he napped like a champ! He even blew his teacher a kiss when I picked him up. Both days he was very happy to see me when I picked him up and boy was he tired. He almost fell asleep eating his dinner on day one! This morning was a tad different. The weather here has changed due to the storm coming in and I can't help but think that is part of it. When we walked in there were 4 other children fussing - all boys. The last two mornings there had not been a single fuss when I walked in. Daniel looked at them gave me a hug then said "Home, Mama, Home". I wanted to take him home, but the teacher came right over and picked him up and of course he did the usual "Mama, Mama" and point at me, but then she took him to some toys and even though he was still crying I was able to leave. I'll be the silver blur on the road driving a thousand miles an hour this afternoon to pick him up. Today is also the day I get to check Daniel's artwork folder! Since I dropped him off Tuesday morning I have been wanting to check this folder. The teacher told me to check it every Thursday before we leave as it will have the work from the week. Can I check it anytime I want - you betcha, but since they sometimes hang things for the week she said my best bet was to wait until his last day there each week. I am just anxious to have my first artwork (outside of what we do at home)!! I can't wait to plaster more on our refrigerator!

In other news - we are going to the beach this weekend!! Now, we know there is a storm coming, but we are going anyway. Troy has been working down in Hampton so Daniel and I are driving up tomorrow morning after Chat and Play at the library and spending a couple of nights. We hope to be able to at least walk on the beach with Daniel and we also plan to go to the aquarium there and maybe a few other places. This will be Daniel's first trip away from home overnight since we've returned from Russia. I can't wait - we all need to relax and enjoy each other this weekend.

Hopefully some fun pictures Monday!!

Chat 'n Play at the Library and Progress Report (long)

Today we went to our first Chat 'n Play at the local library. This is something, along with Mother Goose Time, that I have been wanting to do for some time. The programs just started back up since school is back in session so today was our first day. I wasn't sure what to expect so off we went. I was pleasantly surprised by the room we had to play in. There was a mat with lots of soft shapes to build things with, a tunnel to crawl through, cushions to tumble on, books and a rocking chair, a trampoline with handles for the child to hold on to, blankets with toys, tables set up with puzzles, ink stamps and paper, and my personal favorite, shaving cream. What a great idea. We smeared shaving cream on the table and used popsicle sticks to draw in it, and of course our fingers too!! It was loads of fun. Daniel played with several children and I got to talk to several moms and just be a regular mom myself. With me being the fabulous mother I am, I forgot my camera so at the end of the post you'll just have to settle for pictures from the other day!!

As for progress I thought I would try to list out some areas of improvement.

Attachment:

Just today at the library Daniel fell backwards on the mats where we were all sitting and right into another mother's lap. She instantly put her arms around him and swung him side to side being playful and he started arching his back pointing at me going, "Mama, Mama". They all thought it was sweet (and so did I), but also secretly I was cheering him for only wanting me. He also backs away from other women now when they want to hold him unless he knows them (family).

Speech:

"Fantastic" is his new favorite word and mine. He is starting to initiate conversation now for basic needs and to tell me something he sees. He still doesn't understand the concept of answering a question (just repeats the last few words I say), but we are working on it. Just today I pointed at something and said "How about that?" to which he repeated the same words perfectly! We also taught him how to ask for help with something by saying "help, please" instead of crying when he wanted something. Now he'll run around the house saying "help, please, help please." It's pretty amusing!! We are still working on colors and numbers but we think he's come a long way.

Potty Training:

We've just started and so far we are not getting anywhere very fast. He will go when we put him on the potty to which he gets an M&M, a sticker to put on his chart and he gets to (are you ready for this) flush the toilet. Flushing the toilet is great incentive. Of course the M&M seems more important because when I ask him if needs to go potty he instantly says "M&M?" Wish us luck!

Sleeping:

Still a good sleeper although we're figuring a few things out. The biggest thing is he hates to be woken up. Talk about not a morning person!! I only wake him up on the days I have to go to work and even then I try to bang around and make alot of noise so he'll technically wake up on his own. He likes to wake up and play then he's ready to get up. If he isn't totally awake and done playing when I go in there, he pretty much gives me the evil eye and crys when I take him out of the crib. I guess it's too bad for me, who is a total morning person!! His naps are getting shorter but still decent. I usually have a couple of hours to get a few things done in the afternoon.

Eating:

Hmmmm....this goes back and forth. Since trying the tea with milk I've been able to transition him to just milk at mealtime and he drinks it!! Although he drinks it slower than juice it still goes down and he tends to eat a little better. We still have days where he decides he doesn't like anything. We're also having days where he just wants to play with his food. I don't mind a bit of playing but lately he's been banging his fork alot and squishing his food up. Yuck!! Table manners are cinsidered an ongoing learning process and of course he is only 2!

So there it is! The update I've been wanting to post for a while but just had not gotten to it!
The pictures below are of Daniel on our new play toy that I picked up a yard sale for a whopping $10.00~~I was so excited to find it and couldn't believe the price when I saw it. I even had to go home, get Troys truck, go back load it up, tie it down, get it home, spray it off and then I put it back together again all by myself!! I don't think before becoming amom that I could have done all that!! It was worth all $10.00 and then some!!

Learning Safety and Colors

This week starts my first part time week at work! We didn't make it to Mother Goose time at the library today as we had other things to do, but hopefully next week. I'm already enjoying the extra time with Daniel.

Last week I talked with Becky whose little boy Andrew has already learned his colors. I asked her how she taught them to him and she said they used little cars. I've tried books on colors with Daniel and crayons but haven't had any luck. So today I pulled out 5 cars in the colors red, yellow, blue, black and gold. We went over the colors and I asked him to pick up a certain color car. It took him a few tries, but he got it! Then after we were all done, I sat down on the sofa and he picked up a car and ran over to me saying "Gold, Gold!" and sure enough it was the gold car!! I was so excited! Thanks Becky for the great tip!! Here he is holding up the colored cars for me!!

Also, on a funny note - Troy thought it would be hysterical to put a pair of goggles on Daniel and have him ride his riding toys. He said it was all in the name of safety. Poor kid - he'll do anything for his Papa.

Keeping It Small

I can’t even believe Daniel has only been with us for a little over two months. It feels like he’s been with us since day one. I can’t imagine life without him now. At the same time, it feels like just yesterday we left Russia with a squirming child on an eleven hour flight. What were we thinking?!

I looked through pictures from our second trip to Russia a few nights ago and it really surprises me that in a way it all seems like a distant memory. I have this odd feeling that it is almost like we never even went to Russia. I think it’s because I realized that no one will ever really know what it was like for us except for those who have been through it themselves. I also realized that I never really wrote much on my blog about our visits to the orphanage on trip one or on trip two and the circumstances we went through there. For example no one knows (except family) that Daniel was held in a hospital for the month between trips as on trip one when we said goodbye to him we said goodbye at the hospital where we were lucky enough to accompany him and a caregiver so he could have his routine check up done. Then there was a chicken pox outbreak at the orphanage before his return so they moved him to another children’s hospital so he would not get the chicken pox and be unable to travel to the US. Most think we picked him up from the orphanage on what some call “Gotcha Day” but instead we went the children’s hospital. I didn’t write much about court or why it lasted four hours or anything else for that matter. I did send more detailed emails home of course along the way, but mostly I kept a lot of what went on just between Troy and I. To remedy that, I’m hoping to write a newsletter to our family and friends this year of a more detailed account of our trip so they can feel more involved in the process and maybe understand more our time there. I find it hard to express the feelings we went through in Russia so it will take some time. Words just don’t seem adequate.

Our daily schedule is getting better since I’ve gone back to work. It was hard the first couple of weeks to get everything just right and we’re actually still working on it. We’ve overcome the “I’m starving” issue we had when I would pick him up in the evenings and then listen to crying while I frantically tried to cook dinner. I’ve finally found an afternoon snack that seems to hold him over ---- a cereal bar. Applesauce just wasn’t cutting it! That only took a few days. We’ve also overcome the “don’t wake me up in the morning, I want to wake up on my own” issue in which when I would try to get him up in the morning he would crawl as far away as possible and lay back down and squeeze his eyes shut and then when I would pick him up and start dressing him he would whine the whole time. Now I simply pick him up and make a big production of yawning and stretching and helping him stretch in my arms every which way and morning hugs and morning kisses and so on and so forth. It’s amazing what a silly song will do for a child and what they will do for a silly song!!

Last week I got my first big cry and “please don’t leave me today mama” whine from Daniel when I dropped him off one morning. I was so sad to leave as the sitter had to pick him up crying and take him to another room so I could get out the door, but at the same time all I could think was “He really loves me, he really, really does!!!” I know, silly me!!

Lately we’ve been working on Daniel’s name with him. He knows who he is and he answers to Daniel, but we want him to be able to tell someone else his name. We’re only working on the first name right now but finally just yesterday in the car I asked him, “What’s your name?” fully expecting to get a grunt back. Instead he said “Aniel” Close enough. I about drove off the road clapping and carrying on!! Just kidding – I promise I didn’t even go over any lines!! But I did clap and carry on!!

Lastly meal time has gone from being wonderful to being well...not so wonderful. We never bought a highchair for Daniel and instead used a portable booster seat that strapped to one of our chairs. Daniel started out as a champion eater but has now become ancy in his chair, tries to kick away from the table, bend his spoons in half (soft plastic) tear his bib off, smear his food, move it around on his plate and even throw it once or twice. After thinking about this and talking with several people, I decided we did need a highchair after all and that I needed to cut back on the food available on his plate at any given time.

You see, I’ve been so worried about giving him enough to eat and making sure he knew he could have plenty that I think I was actually overloading his plate and therefore his giving him too much to handle. It was just way too exciting for him to see all that food. So yesterday I started off with our old breakfast of the champs –oatmeal with raspberry yogurt mixed in. That was it, no extras and guess what-he ate nicely and he ate all of it! Then last night I made him chicken nuggets and macaroni salad with veges mixed in and instead of giving him a bunch I started him with only two nuggets and a very, very small portion of macaroni salad. At first he looked at his plate like, “Hey, wait a minute. Are you cutting me off?” Then he ate every last bit so nicely and when I asked if he wanted more, he said, “more” and I gave him two more nuggets and another tiny amount of macaroni salad. That went down nicely too. Then he banged his spoon on his plate, so I just took everything away quietly and on we went with our night. Mealtime was great!!

This morning he sat in the highchair for the very first time and although he tried to kick the footrest, see his feet over the edge of the tray and of course try to take the tray off, he ate nicely again with small portions. The highchair also forces him to sit up straight, instead of slouching way down and so he spilled less and the morning was pleasant!!

We’re figuring things out slowly, but surely!!

I’ll leave you with some pictures of Daniel playing tug of war with his favorite doggie, Ruby or as he says “Ruuuuuuuuuuubeeeeeeeee”. And yes – we let our dogs on one of our couches – what can we say – we’re suckers!!

Back to Work

Wow - Yesterday was a tough day. I went back to work. I can't even believe that six weeks have passed since we have been home. On one side of the token I felt great. I had lots of adult conversation, did adult work, and even (gasp!) kindof enjoyed myself. On the other side of the token, I felt a little lost without my little shadow who I love so much. There was no "Hop on Board the Animal Train" music in the background which I always cringe to everytime I hear it start up at the house for the five thousandth time. Now I think I might have to take a moment and burst in to song...okay I feel better now!!

I called our sitter at lunch time and Daniel was doing so-so. Apparently he was refusing to take a nap by crying (very, very loudly) and he had had an earlier crying jag. I offered to leave and pick him, but our sitter said she could handle it and I didn't hear back. A small part of me wanted her to say "Yes, come get him" so I could rush out and pick up my baby, but the other part of me knows that I have to let him grow up and get used to other places and people. It's just hard. I know many of you out there understand.

When I picked him up he was fine. She said he fell asleep and slept for two hours and woke up happy. He ran to me when I showed up then he wanted to get back down and play. This morning he waved to the sitter when I said I had to leave but she took his hand and showed him the doggies and all was well. I actually think today was harder than yesterday!!

On a more upbeat note, we had a great Memorial Day weekend. We played in the kiddy pool and had so much fun. We also had a family cookout. It was so nice! Pool pictures below. I only developed about 300 pictures because they were all so cute!! We also had a gigantic yard sale this past weekend. Many family and friends of the family had donated items to us while we were in the process of the adoption. We just weren't ever able to get the sale together before we received our referral and went on our whirlwind trips to Russia!! Technically you could call it a post-adoption fundraiser!! Troy's parents came down to watch Daniel (at our house) and my mom and Aunt Sarah and Troy's sister all came to help out over the course of two days. It was so much fun. We sold a bunch of stuff and donated the rest. Granny (Troy's mom) wore out Daniel to the point of which when I would take him for his nap he would cry for all of oh say five seconds and then roll his eyes in his head and start snoring!! It was rather funny!! On Saturday, he even got to play with his cousin Parker who is just a bit older and they had a blast.

So all in all things are moving along smoothly. We aren't perfect and don't claim that every day is full of roses and sunshine. But every day there are smiles and laughter and love. Couldn't ask for more!

Another Week Gone By

This past week was a very busy week for our little guy and I am hoping this week is a little quieter. As you already know we had our International Adoption Clinic visit which went very well (as did the Burger King stop afterwards!). We also made our first ever big grocery store expedition. Papa went along for this one. We have run in to the store before but this was one of those the cuboards are bare, need to shop desparately moments and it took a little over an hour. Daniel was so good. He sat in the cart and his Papa pushed him all over the place while Mama threw things into the cart. We were so pleased with how he did.

We also found out that our boy will eat almost anything. And I do mean anything!! He was fussing at me in the kitchen the other night while I was making salad for Troy and I so I gave him a piece of the dill pickle I was cutting thinking he would take one bite and spit it back out. Troy and I stood there waiting for the funny face we expected and instead we got a hand stuck out for more. He loves dill pickles!! He definitely gets that from me!!

One of the most endearing moments of the week was when I was rocking him to sleep for his nap. He had his head on my shoulder and all the sudden he leaned up to look at me and patted my face softly and said "Mama" and then gave me the best ever lip kiss. All this out of the blue with no asking and I just about cried in the chair. It was truly the most sweetest thing!!

We had a nice Mother's Day as Troy got up and made breakfast for all of us. Then we headed to my sister-in-law, Amber's house and had a play date with Daniel's cousin, Parker. They had so much fun and also a lesson in sharing. We think they did pretty well. Amber took some great pictures, which I'll pass on once I get them!! We even have an adorable one of Daniel sitting in his Uncle Stephen's lap and Parker sitting in his Uncle Troy's lap helping them play Wii together!!

Here are two of our funnier moments this week!

Can we say I'm cute?!?!

Can we say future plumber?!?!

D's first BBQ!

This weekend my sister had us over for a BBQ. She made ribs, steaks, hamburgers, deviled eggs, potato salad, mac and cheese, dessert, you name it, she had it. Afterwards we went outside and played tether ball (an old elementary school favorite) and checked out the lawn mowers. D is such a little man. He loves machinery, tools, anything that he can take apart and put back together again, and any kind of buckle, snap, zipper, button, etc. He thought the mowers were great fun!!

We have been doing pretty well. Our routine is settling down already. D slept last night from 8:30 om to 7:30 am this morning. Troy and I thought we had dies and gone to heaven. In fact at 5 am I got up to make sure he was breathing since I couldn't hear him through the monitor!!

I took him for a walk in his stroller the other day with a neighbor and her little one and he really enjoyed it. He will even wear his little fisherman hat which is good since he is so fair. He actually fell asleep on the ride. He will also now ride in the car seat and won't fight the straps anymore. Originally he would try to get up out of the seat and be so mad when he couldn't. He's so funny because the first few rides we took I rode in the back with him and he did okay, then I started riding in the passenger seat and the first time I drove him somewhere he looked so concerned the whole time, just staring at me like, "Mom, you shouldn't be driving this contraption!" At least now he rides nicely and usually will fall asleep if it's close to nap time or bed time.

Several people have also asked us how the animal introduction has gone as we have 3 dogs and 2 cats. Lucky for us, D loves animals!!! He loves to pet our cat and has only seen the other cat once I think (she's the smart one!) He loves to pet the dogs also, but we are careful with them. They all seem to be doing okay though and the words "gentle" and "be easy" are staples in our house.

D also now gives a high five, puts out his cheek when you ask for kisses, gave his first lip kiss to his mama yesterday and can blow dandelions off their stems now!! He also has started babbling up a storm and repeats just about anything you say. He'll even imitate pitches in your voice. If I say something he'll repeat it. Then if I say it in a higher octave, he will too. It's so funny. He also makes a great horse "neigh" sound that he'll only do for me and it cracks me up everytime!!

I'll leave you with some pictures of this past weekend!! Enjoy!

Checking out the view:

P.S. - Everything can be a hat!

P.S.S. Mom says this is the real hat!

Finished...I Think!

I can’t believe I am typing this post today, getting ready to add pictures of our son’s bedroom. When I woke up this morning I realized that this is the last full day in our home as just Troy and I (and five animals!) Our next full day here will consist of waking up and then hugging our son good morning.

Before I post pictures of the baby room, I have to tell you that it’s been done and then done again about 6 times since yesterday! I would walk out thinking it was perfect and then 10 minutes later go back in, move some things around and then think it was perfect again. Troy just laughs because he knows I’ll be in there again today moving things. He says it won’t be perfect until we’re on the way to the airport and I can’t change anything else!

Without further ado….

I can’t wait to leave tomorrow. We’ll be seeing our son in just a few days and facing a judge on the 15th to ask for the honor of being a certain little boy’s parents, who we already consider our son and have since the moment we saw him. Please pray for us and for the judge over the next week.

Here we come!!

Prayers Answered

Just a quick note to say that our prayers were answered! Thanks so much for sending more up for us! We now have all of our paperwork in hand and apostilled (thanks to my darling husband) and we are ready to fly. Now if only we could leave early!!!!!!!!!!

This weekend will consist of finishing the bathroom and baby room, getting together copies of the thousands of documents we have already sent to Russia (I really think there are a thousand!) and packing.

Oh - and how about another baby shower - Yes - I'm being spoiled again!! It's a Shelter Shower from the SPCA!! I told them no surprise pets!!

Paperwork, Packing, Cleaning and a Prayer Request

The title pretty much sums up what’s going on in our house! We have been fortunate in that all of our paperwork is nearly done. We are only missing one form and I would love it if those of you reading would send up a prayer for us-that the form we need will be received. God will know exactly which form that is!! Of course I am trying not to panic – hence the new Bible verse on the sidebar. It is very appropriate. We are so worried about not getting this document in the next day or two as we had planned to apostille everything on Monday as it is really our last opportunity to have it done before we leave. Otherwise my family will be on the lookout for it after we leave, but I would rather have it with us, in our own hands. I'm sure God is listening!

As for the packing – well – not so much. We did sort clothes for our little guy, but are finding ourselves re-evaluating everything! Hopefully this weekend we’ll sort that out. We’ve been putting things in our guest bedroom as we go if we think we might like it to travel with us. Seems to be working although there’s no way it’s all going in a couple of suitcases and carry ons.

Cleaning is a whole other ball game. Tonight we hope to finish redecorating the bathroom for our little guy. Troy’s sister Amber did most of the set up of the new shower curtain, rugs, towels etc. Last night I mounted the frog toy holder and tonight we finish up. I’ll post pictures of that and the baby’s room soon too.

In other news – go over and congratulate Slade and Wendy who received their court date!!

Also – Michael and Carrie, Randy and Susan, and Russ and Ana who have all just recently passed through court with flying colors and are proud new parents!! Congratulations!!

We Got Our Court Date!!

We are completely in shock, but we just found out we got our court date already!! It’s April 15th and it can’t come soon enough!! Please say some prayers as we have to redo our police clearances and they take a minimum of two weeks. I have called the Virginia State Police and am working with a lady who seems to think we can have it back in time.

We should get official travel dates tomorrow!! I can’t believe it. We are again over the moon at seeing our angel again so quickly.

As to our surprise shower, my sister left me this comment on our last post:

"shower rsvp's are good, especially you out of towners!!!....RAE YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Uhhhh, what in the world does she have planned? As Becky mentioned to me, it’s starting to sound like a Bachelorette Party!! With her...somehow I wouldn’t be surprised!! I’ll keep you posted if I get any hints!

We're Home

We made it home safe and sound on Saturday. We were very tired and very happy to see my mom, my older sister, her husband and my younger sister all waiting to pick us up at the airport. By the time we arrived home, I was all talked out and extremely tired as we had been up over 24 hours. It has taken a couple of days but Troy and I think we are back on schedule and are both back at work today.

It’s funny but today has been the hardest as we get back in to the swing of things and feel almost like nothing has changed. Of course we know our whole lives have changed and our minds and hearts are still back in Russia, but going back to work and doing the every day things there really feels odd.

We just can’t believe we have a little one and that we left him halfway around the world. Our court date can’t come quick enough. Our coordinator called us yesterday to check on us and see how we liked Russia and Troy kept asking in the background if we had a court date. I finally asked her and told her Troy was being insistent that I ask and she laughed and said “not yet”! But hopefully soon.

We went into the nursery last night and just stared at it for a while. We still have a lot to do but mostly in the way of sorting through clothes that will fit him and then after our baby shower putting the bed set together etc. My older sister is planning a baby shower on the 29th of this month and it is top secret. I have no idea where it is, what it’s going to be like etc. I just know that it is evening time (8-10 pm) and that it is going to be exciting. With my sister – who knows except I do know it will be exciting. She said it is not traditional and now I’m wondering just what kind of excitement she is talking about!! I’m not even allowed to see an invitation until after the fact and then I can have one for our memory book!!

Please keep us in your prayers that we will get that court date as soon as possible and be able to bring our little one home soon.