Met Two Years Ago and ReAdoption Complete!

Wow - I missed some important dates this year. Of course it didn't help that this week both Daniel and I got the stomach flu within about 4 hours of each other. And so ends my debate on whether or not to keep the monitor on in his bedroom. I'm glad I did. Even though the sounds weren't pleasant, I was woken from sleep and managed to lunge into his room and rescue the floor from disaster. Only the bed had to be stripped. Then 4 hours later I was up and sick as a dog. We made it - hopefully safe for a couple of years!!

I digress - On February 22, 2008, we received the call that would change our lives forever for the better. On March 8, 2008, we left, giddy with excitement, on a pretty amazing trip and on March 11, 2008, we met our son!! I can't believe it's been two years since we first laid eyes on him. It's also important to point out that he's been home longer now than anywhere else!! It feels like forever at this point and at times I almost feel like the process never took place.

I been thinking a lot about that.

Of course we'll never forget his roots and certainly he will grow up understanding where he is from and how he came to us - he'll tell you he was born in Russia if you ask him - but we're at the point where it just isn't something we spend a lot of time on now. I don't introduce as being adopted, I don't tell everyone we meet he is adopted and sometimes if someone comments how much he looks like Troy (that we don't know) we just smile and nod and don't bother explaining how impossible that is. It feels good to move beyond all that because for a while I felt a bit stuck, almost like I had to correct everyone. We do have a sweet adoption book that we read occasionally, and we work on Russia words and if we hear the word Russia we cheer, but as a family we're moving beyond and just enjoying life.

And life has been busy! I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated! We're actively invloved in our Playgroup and this month we're supporting Soles 4 Souls. We can specify where we want the shoes we collect to go so the warm weather shoes are heading to Ethiopia where Daniel's friend Mari is from and the winter shoes will be heading to Russia! We've also recently joined a new orphan ministry at a local church and we are excited to see where it leads us!

We did petition the courts last year (as in October, I think) for Daniel's Re-adoption and finally in December after a mild panic when I called to check on the final order and the secretary told me there was an issue with the paperwork - there wasn't - it just wasn't signed yet and instead of telling me that she said there was an issue that she couldn't tell me about and then 5 days later the order was signed, sealed and delivered to our door - the re-adoption was complete - we did it all on our own for less than $75.00! And the best part - we just finally received Daniel's Virginia Certificate of Foreign Birth! YAY!

That being done I filed a form to USCIS for the return of original documents from the embassy packet we handed in to the airport officials, in the hopes of possibly receiving a piece of anything that we didn't already have, but we only received an extra original of the court decree. I was hoping for more information, but I've heard it's spotty what you get back at best, but I figured it was worth a try!

At this point we have our 2 year post placement visit on the 26th of this month and then one more next year and we can finally put the crate of paperwork away. I told Troy we're going to have to rent a small warehouse space for the crate. I'll be glad when the paperwork chase is completely over.

That being said, while we had and still have every intention to adopt again, for now it is on the back burner. We have decided just to sit back and enjoy Daniel for a while. We're clearing his medical slowly (still with follow ups and we still have another large test to do) but the doctor has hopes of releasing him within a year or two to regular checkups. We feel as if we need to fully walk this road before looking toward another especially since we've realized that we may be open to the same type of issue in the future (although we're hazy on the degree at the moment).

The best news - DANIEL IS FINALLY POTTY TRAINED!! We've gone 6 days with no accidents - not even a spot in his underwear. Remember we were initially told he would most likely have to have a permanent catheter so we're just amazed, relieved and so thankful to God for this miracle!! And my washing machine thanks Daniel too!

Daniel's doing great. He changes every day. Each day it's something new. Some new funny phrase, some new word, some new question. He's been questioning me a lot lately about whether or not I have to go to work and if I can take days off (I only work 3!) He also expressed a fear that I may not pick him up one day and I believe this was not related to his past but his age so we quickly squelched that fear.

He's a loving child, a kind child, a sharing child, he's stubborn, hard headed, silly, a little crazy (he gets that from us) and a genuine joy.

We're so thankful for him and we're so happy he's ours forever!!

I think that's where we are right now!

What Do You Do When You've Weathered a Ton of Snow and Have a Bored Toddler? (Picture Post)

Why you pretend it's spring and replant the 9 baby aloe plants that have appeared in your 1 aloe plan pot.

You build things with Legos.

You grab a silly sleeping bag and cuddle on the couch for a movie.

You go to Playgroup (it was PJ day) and watch as your parents try to get all three of you to smile at once knowing full well it just isn't going to happen...and don't you just love the boots? They are about 3 sizes too big for him and he INSISTS on wearing them everywhere!! Whatever makes him happy!!

Lastly, you make balloon swords and proceed to battle with the swords even when you know no one could possibly win! (Thanks Granny for the balloon making stuff for Valentine's Day - Great Idea!)

Bath or Shower Debate (and Another Question to Debate)

Bath time used to be so much fun! I'll never forget repeating over and over "Scoop and Dump" in Russia using a little fish to scoop water and dump it back into the bathtub. And I'll definantly never forget when Daniel scooped water himself and quietly said "Scoop", "Dump". I was so stinkin' excited I probably called my mom, Tro's mom, my sisters, you get the point!

But lately, bath time hasn't been as much fun. We're constantly battling the water outside the tub - (and yes we've tried a clear curtain - Daniel won't have anything to do with a curtain in the bathtub). We've also dealt with him drinking bath water right in front of us even though I've told him a thousand times it's dirty, it's yucky, it has soap in it, etc. I've lost 2 full bottles of body shampoo to Daniel and the tub and then two days ago I left the bathroom to grab his PJs and by the time I got back in (as in 5 seconds later) he was hanging on the outside of the tub with just his feet.

At Christmas we asked for several new bath toys and received several including great markers for the tub and that curtailed things for about a month, but we're back to square one.

Well, after a particularly soaking bath time last week. I declared the bath tub off limits. No more baths, only showers. We've tried showers before, but they never went over well.

Well, three days ago I put Daniel in a shower after a minor meltdown and guess what? He liked it.

And guess what? The bathroom floor and walls stayed dry.

And guess what? I was more soaked than ever, but it's easier to change clothes than clean up a soaked bathroom.

And tonight - I only got a sleeve wet!

Daniel wasn't happy when I turned the shower off, but he'll learn. We'll be saving baths for special occassions - like when Granny's here!!

Lastly - here's a silly question - at what age did you remove the baby monitor from your child's bedroom? Daniel gets up on his own in the morning and comes directly to our room. He doesn't wake up in the middle of the night and cry out (knock on wood) and the last time he was sick he ran in my room and got me immediately.

While I certainly don't mind sleeping with the monitor on in our room, I was just curious. I fell asleep a few nights ago and forgot to turn it on and I was horrified with myself. I ran into his room only to find him sleeping away angelically and it got me thinking.

Oh and by the way the location of his room is across the living area off a small hallway, so our rooms aren't side by side.

Thoughts??

So much snow....

Yikes - and here I am feeling bad for the mailman!!

Snow, Snow and More Snow & Small Medical Update

What a terrible winter we're having. I'm not a big snow person so on top of the 2 plus feet we had a few weeks ago, two nights ago we had 7 inches and this weekend we're expecting more than a foot, and in some places they are saying between 2 and 4 feet. Oh help me.


We've all been sick lately too. I had Daniel to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and we ended up having chest xrays done again since he had pneumonia last year. Thankfully it hadn't gone that far this time and an antibiotic and neb treatments cleared him right up. Then I got sick and so did Troy. We've done rounds of antibiotics but are both still struggling.


I NEED summer!! Darn groundhog!


Other than that not much has been happening, thanks to the weather. Daniel and I continue to go to the library once or twice a week. He's become quite the little helper with cooking lately too. He helped me "decorate" homemade pizza's the other night and he loves to help shred potatoes, use the mixer, put cookies on the cookie sheet and stir anything on the stove. I gave up trying to keep him away from the stove because he wanted to help so much. Instead we had a long talk about how not to hurt yourself and so far so good. Of course he can nly be up to the stove when I am standing right there and we use about five oven mitts to block any burns!


Wednesday we had a follow up ultrasound and visit with the urologist. Things remain consistant and for now that is good. Everything looks about the same and they are still putting off any invasive procedures since Daniel is still potty training and they don't want to set him back. We speak a little more long term and the doctor did think that down the line he would be able to discharge Daniel at which point we would continue to see his pediatrician for blood pressure check ups and urine samples to monitor the kidney etc. I liked talking about Daniel being discharged!! It appears we will go back again in 3 months for another ultrasound.

I'll try to post some pictures later. Haven't taken too many lately (shocker!) since weve been dealing with the weather and the sickness. Hopefully we'll be back on track soon!!

Crib and Stroller Recalls

Recently there have been 2 recalls - 1 for cribs and 1 for strollers.

Guess what - we had BOTH.

The first is for the Graco strollers - Alano, Spree and Passage style. It has to do with the canopy. You can read more about it on Classy Mommy's blog here. I simply had to call and request a repair kit. While we don't use the canopy, we may in the future at some point, or at least I would feel more comfortable selling it/donating it down the road when we decide we no longer need it.

The second is for Dorel cribs. You can read more information about this on Classy Mommy's blog here. We bought the crib with no moving parts, but apparently there can still be problems.

Please check both your cribs and strollers. Let's keep our precious children safe.

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...