Long time, No Post

Here are some adorable pics from our Memorial Day jaunt to Saturna with Max and Family. We had a great time and the kids all had a blast. We made our first 'from scratch' cake and the kids all played super well. And also a pic of Nas at the park by Grandma's house- just because I love this shot- it was a beautiful day, she had a new dress she loved and all was right with the world. So adorable!

I know, I know, it has been forever since I posted. It is too bad because I want this to be a record of our first year together - something I can print and show the kids years from now and I am totally being lame about posting often enough for it to be relevant. I guess some posting is better than none - hopefully they will see it that way too!

Okay- what is new:

WE ARE MOVING. It is crazy but we have decided to finally make the move to Bellingham. We have been talking about moving up there for years- our family is there, Aaron grew up there, the houses are big and cheaper etc etc etc. Honestly I just have not been ready. But life being what it is some business opportunities came up that worked really well for us and that sealed the deal. I was already going up 2 days a week for a client and now have taken on a big new client that would mean I would be up 3-4 days each week. That is ALOT of time in the car. So, we are selling our house here and moving up there. Please hope or pray or whatever that we sell our house quickly and for a good price. People seem to be upbeat about it but in this crazy market you never never know what will happen. We have put alot of work into our house, spent a lot of money on structural updates etc and I know we will not break even but I would really really love to come close. Thankfully we have a ton of equity so will have enough for a down payment on a bigger place- as long as everything doesnt go terribly awry. So, fingers and toes crossed please.

The house is going on the market next week - just in time for us to head off to wausaukee so the agent has 10 whole days to show it clean and happy before kids and dog come home. If it could just sell in that 10 days my world would be so happy! We have been looking at places in the 'ham but have yet to see the perfect house. We have seen a couple that are really great but just not "perfect" and I would LOVE to find one we could stay in for several years. Now is the time for that.

We have been talking to the kids alot about it and hopefully they will be okay. It is scary to move and I know Sasha is worried he will be left behind. It is so sad to me. I tell him about 30 times a day that we are all moving together, all hist stuff is going, we are moving as a family, it is a good thing etc. But I am not sure he gets it. Ugh. Nas is more okay with it - on the surface....

Other than that things are all about the same. The kids are doing great for the most part. We have had some sleep problems with Sasha- he is waking up several times a night and needs to be comforted back to sleep. The good news is that this is taking less time - 10 minutes as opposed to 30 so as long as we can go back to sleep it is okay. Of course the frequency has increased to 3-4 times a night which is tiring but we will get through.

I think we have made a real progress in some areas- especially with Nas. She is much calmer at bedtime and that is great. She seems to be more comfortable with the idea of not being in charge. She is still definitely "willfull" at times but that is her testing us, which is to be expected.

Overall they are such a joy to us that it is great - they are so funny and cute together- I am so glad they have each other though at times, like when they fight, I want to throw my hands up and let them duke it out! I think that is probably normal too. :)

I am so excited for our upcoming trip to wausaukee. Of course it was booked months ago and we could have gone way cheaper if we had waited to book our tickets but you live and learn. And it is at a terrible time in terms of move, new client etc but the one thing I learned from Mom's death was you never ever postpone or cancel a vacation. We cancelled that trip to Italy 3 times and have given up on going now that we are parents. That is really too bad and life is short so forget doing something like that again!

That is all I have time for right now. Hope all is well with everyone!

SKB

potty, potty, where on earth is the potty?

Hi All-

Sorry it has been an age (again) but life is busy! Lets see what is new:

1) The pictures above are from Grandma's big Seder and from Easter morning when the Easter Bunny came. As you can see one event was civilized, with dresses and books and the other was a candy free for all lying back in Pajama's with eggs filled with jelly beans. I think this is probably just as it should be. :) 

2) Jane and I FINALLY went on our girl's night away this past weekend and it was soo soo soo fun. It was just what the doctor ordered- Mama was getting a tad cranky between too much work and too much of everything else and spending 26 hours shopping, spaaing and drinking expensive wine with my darling twin was just what I needed to recharge those batteries. Now if only we could find time every 6 months- that would be ideal. :) 

3) The kids are excited that it is finally warm out- we have been riding bikes alot and we opened up the sand table in the backyard. Mama forgot how much dirtier they get in the summer! It is hilarious to see them after they have been in the sand- I am not sure how they get it everywhere but they do! They are so cute and growing like weeds still - I literally think they grow every day. And Nas's hair is turning sort of red which is exciting because as many of you know red hair runs in my family in some blonde shades so I think it is fun that her hair is also turning a bit red. Sasha is still a blonde blonde just like I was when I was little and they both have cute new haircuts. 

4) We are still having some issues with Sasha at swim class. He is not terribly interested in getting in the pool without a parent and last week when Papa went alone he didnt venture in at all. This week we are back to 2 parents going and I am pretty sure I will get him in there but he may not be 100% thrilled about the idea. He just really prefers it if one of us goes in with him but the whole point of this class is for him to actually learn to swim, not to have him float around on Mama so it is important that he moves forward with it. Nas is doing well in her class- last week she floated all by herself and is working on kicking. :) 

Now the big issue (disclaimer: if you are not yet a parent this may be too graphic and TMI for you). 

Sasha is in the midst, still, of potty training. When we came home and he was 27 mos old he was trained, the baby home way- meaning they limited their liquid intake and 3 times a day they sat on potties for 45 minutes and went then or not at all or suffer the consequences, think training by fear. Once home when he realized nothing terrible would happen if he didnt stay dry he decided quickly to revert to being #1 not trained. He has ALWAYS been #2 trained- that goodness. We figured, okay, he is a boy and he is young, no problem and into pull ups he went. This worked well but as he aged we started talking about how he couldnt wear pull ups forever and we decided on his 3rd bday the pull ups would be history. he said he was okay with this and for the last couple months in pull ups he never even went in them during the day- at all. We thought he was sooo ready. We talked about it, read about it, sang a little song about it etc. So on his bday into big kid underoos he went. It has been both good and bad. This kid will stay dry for 3+ weeks and everything will be going swimmingly and we will think, well YAY, we are finally done and then all of a sudden (yesterday) he will have 3 accidents in one day. This has happened a couple different days since we have gone to underwear FT- multiple multiple accidents in one day. Thankfully all of his accidents are #1 accidents only - I would not know what to do if otherwise....It is so weird- he knows what to do, literally he will be completely trained for a month or so and then boom, all hell breaks loose. We talk about it and he says he doesnt know why he goes in his pants sometimes and doesnt know why it happens multiple times in one day and he doesnt feel bad about it in any way (though I have tried to make him understand it is not cool, he doesnt seem to care)- it is incredibly frustrating. A couple times he has even said he has to pee, gone into the bathroom and stood there and peed in his pants - so it isnt that he is getting distracted and doesnt realize he is peeing or something like that. Any ideas? And candy doesnt work for him - he could care less about that too. I am not sure if it is some sort of control thing or some sort of plea for more attention those days or what - we have tried everything- snuggles, talking, demanding he stop, pretending it was not a big deal, making a huge deal out of it- everything! Any advice? 

Happy Holidays!

Hi Everybody, 

So we are deep in the Passover/Easter season here. Today we are off to Mercer Island for a big big seder at Grandma and Grandpa's house. People have even flown in and it should be very fun. Then tomorrow the Easter Bunny will come (I have this on good authority) and we may go to church down at that nice Episcopalian church on First Hill that would be our church if we ever went enough to be officially affliated with a church--  as well- that plan is still up in the air due to some other commitments.

 

As many of you know we are a blended family and we are not exactely the most observant in any of our religions but it is good to expose the kids to everything and see what they like and so they can learn more about the various faiths that make up our family. 

Because they dont watch much TV the kids dont know about the Easter Bunny but I am pretty sure they will be psyched to get baskets tomorrow and I feel that it is important to also do that as it was always a big part of things in my family. I will always remember the Easters spent in Chicago at Bar and Bob's (my grandparents) where Bar individually wrapped jelly beans in 5 different types of tissue paper (each child only was able to find their own color/pattern of wrapping) and hid them all over their house. I am pretty sure the people that live there now are probably still finding petrified individually wrapped jelly beans! Talk about a lot of work for Bar- I dont have that kind of time but I can at least get a decent basket together for the kids. :) 

The kids started swimming class again this past week. It was pretty interetsing. They were in 2 different classes because Sasha had to be in the 3 yr old class while Nas was in the 4yr old section. This was hard on her- she was very worried about him and kept watching his class rather than paying attention to her teacher. Towards the very end of the class she seemed to relax a bit and listened more which was good. Though she did say she did not like it because they were not together. This is something we expected- they are very very close and it is time for them to develop a bit more independently so this is a good first step. Hopefully this week it will go more smoothly- she was pretty cranky about the whole thing and I would prefer to not go through that again. Sasha was nervous at first but the minute they pulled out the pool toys for his class he said, "see ya" and was off into the pool without a look back. This coming week Papa has informed me that perhaps it would be better for me NOT to meet them at the pool, that perhaps she was feeding off that and my anxiety over it all and he is probably right. So I guess I will just hear the story afterwards. 

Well the dog is barking, the kids need a snack and we are all still in our PJ's so gotta go. 

SKB

Sunny Day, washing the cares away....

Here are some cute pics from the beach and yard yesterday- an abnormally warm and sunny day here in Seattle. Snow on Weds, 70 and sunny on Sunday- crazy town! 

So I have the theme song from Sesame Street in my head. The kids have "discovered" Elmo - and now instead of Caillou they like to pick Sesame Street about 1/2 the time for their TV hour. They watch one show a day usually, usually when mommy gets home from the office and needs to make dinner while papa deals with stuff around the house (I know, bad, but umm, hello you try to make dinner with 2 toddlers buzzing around or skimishing constantly- it is hard). So there has been a fair amount of Elmo in our world this week and now that it is finally sunny I really have the theme in my head. 

Things are good, lots of stuff going on. Gymnastics class is still going strong and now this Weds we are adding swimming (the next in the series of classes) to the schedule. I know it isnt much to have 2 activities, especially while they are still not in school, but I dont want to over schedule them too much! I think this will be fine though - dance class has ended and we did not "re-upp" there. 

I am a bit bitter having received our ridiculous tax bill though. We were unable to take any of the adoption credit because we sold stock to fund the adoption, which made our "earned income" too high for the credit. The result is a ridiculous tax bill based on Capital Gains. Yuck and Ugh. Oh well, at least I sold the stock before the fall so that is good I guess. And apparently as long as we do our WA State re-adoption this year- which we are planning on doing but simply never got around to in 2008, we can claim the full credit next time around, which is good. But still painful to see all those numbers add up and think about the size of the bill. I need the sunny day to wash away those cares! 

My sister Brooks is coming to town this week which should be fun and I am very interested to see how the kids react to her. They haven't seen any pregnant people really (not in person, just on the street or whatever so who knows what they think of them). Anyway, they think all babies come from baby homes apparently- or so they told me. I havent actually disavowed them of this notion- I was waiting until I had to because I am a chicken when it comes to the 'adoption' talk stuff but I am pretty sure they will say something to Brooks because last time they saw her she was not noticably pregnant so they have no idea and here she will show up VERY pregnant so....We shall see! 

The 12 days of Sasha's birthday continues

Hi All, 

The long extravaganza that is Sasha's birthday celebration continues. Here are a couple pictures of him in his PJ's and one of his sister's hats the morning of his party- we were talking about how everyone was coming over just for his birthday and this was his reaction. This past Saturday was his family party. We had 21 people over to our house for brunch. It was a lot of work but fun. We had not entertained on that scale since we have been home (usually when we entertain we try to keep dinner numbers to 10 so it is civilized and because that is where I like it) and I had forgotten how much work it is to feed 21 people in the way I like to do it. Also, with two kiddos you do not have as much time for prep and set up- that is for sure! But it all worked out, Aaron really helped in the kitchen the night before after the kids went to bed so we had alot of the prework done by midnight and then I was up at 6am to get the rest of the stuff cooking etc. Everyone had a great time and lots of food, laughter, presents. And, Poppy Nick showed up after all! He was alone because Elizabeth chose not to attend but I was very glad he was able to make it because it means a lot to me and to the kids because they love him lots. 

Also, Saturday was the third anniversary of my Mom's aneuroysm. I cant believe it has been 3 years and I still miss her this much. The limbo time (the horrid 32 days between March 28-April 30th 2006 while she was in a coma and then slipping away is harder still for me because I was there every day, all day and I think about it way way too often even now) but I need to remember that she was off in spirit searching for our children then and she found them because Sasha was born during that time. 

I made a small toast to her at the party but got a little choked up but I know she would have been happy to have been there and that she was there in spirit so that helped. 

On to happier things: 

It is so fun to see our kids play with their cousins now that they are less shy- they all get along well and hopefully that will continue. Now that Nas is the oldest grandchild we will see how it develops over time- I remember getting into ALOT of mischief with my cousins when I was a teenager, wonder if the same will happen..... 

Tomorrow is Sasha's actual birthday- which will be very very low key, just regular dinner (maybe a cake for dessert, though we are still munching through the baby cupcakes we had for the brunch) and a couple presents from us. I think we are all birthday fatigued at this point. 

Tomorrow is also the one year anniversary of when we received our referral. Yes, we got our referral on Sasha's second birthday. We had been up at Jane's condo at Mt Baker for a long weekend to celebrate Aaron's birthday- never thinking that we could possibly be missing anything up there in land of no cell phones and as we drove down the mountain our phones started ringing the second we hit range- our coordinator had been trying to track us down for hours and hours and was beside herself. See, we had been told 12-18 months for a referral of healthy siblings so we didnt bother to keep the agency posted as to whereabouts or anything like that, we didnt sit by the phone etc etc etc- it had only been 4 months (and barely that) since we turned in our dossier- we had no inkling we could possibly get a referral that fast. Anyway, it was a crazy day filled with calls to IA docs, emails sent to phones with pictures of the kids, talks about flights, visas etc and we ended up leaving 12 days later to go meet the babies! I remember so clearly having to pull over on the side of Hannigan road because I couldnt drive and listen to Jaimie tell us about the kids, sitting there on the highway and then getting pics texted to my phone because we were still 2 hours from home and I could not wait that long. Oh, it was a very very emotional day. I was so excited, scared, amped up, nervous, scared, happy, scared - you get the idea. I had not emotionally prepared for a referral at all- it blind sided us - so there was alot to get through in the 12 days before we left. :) 

And poor Aaron, his birthday is April 1 -- one day after Sasha's and I can tell you he isnt getting a party at all. And last year he lost out to getting ready to go to Russia.  I feel bad, he is a good husband etc but I told him forget it- maybe next year. Turning 34 isnt such a big deal, he says he is fine with it and hopefully that is true because there is no suprise party in the works. Between work and doing all the Sasha parties I just have had no time for anything of that nature. Poor Papa! 

More later, 

SKB

Sasha's Friend Party

Here is one super adorable shot of Sasha the other night and then there are some cute pics from Sasha's "friend" birthday at the Little Gym. This was the party that was co-hosted by Kate and Christopher and we celebrated Sasha and Esme's birthdays together. It was super fun! Sasha does look a little overwhelmed at cake time but overall he had a great time. 

More Later, 

SKB

The Dreaded "Talk"

Well, it finally happened - we had the first of many (I am sure) talks about the biological family today... Here is what went down. Nas has apparently been mentioning to Aaron recently that it is not "fair" that we hold baby Will. She said Will has Totya (Aunt) Jane and so we should not hold him. This is VERY typical - she is jealous. So Aaron mentions this to me at breakfast today after the kids have left the table to go play. We are discussing this and she is listening from where she and Sasha are playing in the living room. I get up to go downstairs to do my hair and when I come up the kids both come up to me and say "it isnt fair, dont hold Will". 

Now, I have not held Will in over a week - when I did very very briefly at his birthday party. But there have been a lot of birthdays and Sasha's is coming up so it is not suprising this is coming up now. I said, okay, lets all sit down and talk. They said they wanted to all get in our bed and talk there so we did. Nas started off that it wasnt fair that Will had Jane so didnt need me. I agreed that WIll belonged to Jane and Jane belonged to Will, just like she and Sasha were my babies and I belonged only to them. This seemed to placate her a bit. Then I asked her if she was mad that she and sasha were not here when they were babies and she said, "YES!" (I was pretty sure that was what was really wrong anyway) and so I said I was sad too that they hadnt been but that they had been born in another lady's tummy- the tummy lady (I just cannot use the term birth mother- I just cant) and that she loved them very much but was not their real mother so she had to take them to the baby home so their mama and papa could find them, because we wouldnt be able to find them anywhere else. I have no idea if this is the right thing to say but I have been reading about this and it seemed plausible so I went with it. I explained that we had a whole team out searching for them (plays off a book we read where something similar happens) and as soon as they found them we flew as fast as we could to come get them. We were also sorry we didnt find them as tiny babies but we love them so much that it is okay because we are all home and safe now. Then we talked about how far we went for them, Papa pulled out the atlas and we looked at Russia and Novo and Seattle and they got bored so we looked at baby home pictures (which they love to do) and they were happy and took off to play. 

Now I am sure this is the first of many many conversations about this- I guess it is good it is finally coming out but it is hard, all around. 

It is also hard because they obviously compare themselves to the other kids in the family and we just had this super fun big party at Poppy Nick's for Will's birthday and now we are not doing something similar for Sasha- Elizabeth is against it for reasons unknown and not understood by me. And now Pop isnt even coming to his birthday party (because of Elizabeth and her schedule and desire not to attend apparently)- so I am really concerned that my children will feel extra slighted, which is worse than the sting of the slight I already feel regarding this issue- which they don't know about at all. We will have a party at our house and it will be great and I hope Sasha sees that it is even better to be surrounded by those that love you whole heartedly but it sucks all around and has definietley strained things between my dad and I. I know HE loves Sasha but it is sometimes hard for him to make the right choices regarding situations like this- this is why it was so great when Mom was around, she acted as an appropriate social compass and made him slow down and realize what was really important, like grandchildren. 

They say that alot of adoption issues come up around birthdays so this is not a surprise but we shall see where it goes. Nas obviously thinks about this alot and Sasha takes his cues from her - so it could be an interesting month! 

Laid low by colds and snow

Here are some cute pics from Will's 1st birthday last week. It was a great party and here we have Sasha, Nas (as she would now like to be called, aka Ana, aka Nastia aka Anastasia) Harley and MJ sitting on the steps - MJ and Harley are in pajamas because they have to drive home late- our kids are still in regular clothes because we stayed at Poppy Nick's house that night. :) 

Today we are having a "quiet" day at home. We all have a terrible cold and we decided that as it is Sunday and we are all sick it would be best to call it good, stay in our PJ's and hang out. And it is snowing again. The kids are not used to such a do nothing day and it may be starting to get to them- we shall see if it lasts all day. They do like being in their PJ's at 11:45 in the morning. 

The next couple weekends are all about Sasha's bday- next weekend is his "friend party" with all of his little buddies at the Little Gym. We are actually doing a c0-party with Kate and Christopher as their daughter Esme (one of Sasha's best friends) is also 3 this week and we decided it would be totally fine to kill two birds with one stone on this as the same 12 kids would be invited to both parties. Hopefully it will be fun for all. Then the following weekend is his "family party". This should be held at Pop's - just like MJ's and Will's parties were (Nas missed out because we were in Mexico) and Harley missed out for other reasons that are similar to why Sasha is being left out in the cold on this issue --  Elizabeth is simply not into it and feels strongly that as it is not her tradition it is not worthy of continuing..... So we will be holding it here. I have very mixed feelings about this that I do not need to go into here on a public blog but I can say that I am very disappointed that we will not be having Sasha's party at Poppy Nicks- it is by far better suited to this sort of thing than our house is and it would be nice to have it there but c'est la vie I guess. And I really like the tradition of having all of the kids' parties there and I know if Mom was still alive it would be awesome and totally be something we could look back with fondness for years to come but I guess people do what they gotta do and it is what it is. 

Anyway, it will be great and hopefully 30 people for brunch will fit in our house! I am excited to celebrate Sasha's first birthday here and nothing will get in the way of making it fabulous for him. He is turning 3 and is going to be a big boy now! He is very excited and so am I. 

Other than that nothing new to report- I really am going to try to blog more- it is good for me. Now off to the homeopathic pharmacy to try to find something to help Sasha. While Nas can take a low dose antihistamine to help with her terribly runny nose we have found that Sasha does NOT react well to antihistamine at all- he does not do well so I want to find something else that may work as he is a little miserable with this cold. Wish me luck. 

SKB

A night to remember

Hi Everyone- 

I know it has been a zillion years since my last post. I keep trying to post and then get sidetracked. Here are some cute recent pics of the kiddos. Check out how in love Sasha is with Aga- thank goodness those days of being scared of the doggie are over! The rest are just from various days outside in the yard and at the park. 

Here is what is new:

-We are all booked to go to wausaukee in late June and I cannot wait! I am soo excited for the kids to see wausaukee, spend time there, meet all the cousins etc. For those of you who are like "what is she talking about" wausaukee is a place that is very special to me where we have had a cabin for 4 generations. Plus it is where 'grand-nanny' Jaimie lives so that is always a reason to go in and of itself. The kids cannot wait to see her again! It is back in Wisconsin so we dont get there as often as we would like but it is always fun and family filled. I cannot wait- now if I can just convince Jane and Will to go with us it would be perfect!

-Wanted to give a shout out to Joni who is finally safely home with her darling son, Kirill, who is from the same BH our kids are from. We cant wait to meet him soon and hear they are settling in well over in Green Lake. 

-The kids are doing very well- have just been growing like weeds recently - new clothes every couple of weeks to handle it! They are smart and funny and cute. They keep us going from dawn to dusk too- they have a lot of energy and we are happy. tired, but happy.

-Last night was our first night away from the kids. We have been remiss on the whole mommy and daddy time thing since we got home (3 dates total) and we had been feeling like it would be great to be able to actually spend some time together - as someone wise pointed out to me recently "parenting is a marathon, not a dash. So dont act like it is a dash - make sure everyone in the family is taken care of." We were not doing that part very well at all.  So we made a plan to combine a business dinner I had an hour away with a night at a nice hotel there. Beth -- our best friend, Sasha's godmother, resident psychologist, awesome chick who sees the kids once or twice a week as it is (because she spends a lot of time here having dinner etc) agreed to stay with the kids. They were awesome for her. We were SO nervous and I was feeling serious mommy guilt about the whole thing but it worked out just fine. We had a blast, stayed out WAY too late but had a chance to really talk and giggle and hang out and the kids and Beth had a fun slumber party here. We came back EARLY this morning so Beth could catch a train and the kids have been slightly more needy than yesterday but nothing terrible at all. I am really glad we did it and hope we get to do that at least once a year (maybe twice!) if possible. We shall see. :) 

Super Mommy!

Hi-

So this is a totally self congratualtory blog post. Bear with me. 

Aaron has been a trooper these many months- diving right into the role of stay at home dad and doing an awesome job with the kiddos. But everyone needs a break. So, yesterday we waved goodbye to Papa and off he went for a couple days and nights of relaxation and snow boarding up at Mount Baker. Thanks Jane for letting us borrow your condo!!!

So, I am playing 'single mommy' for a couple days. Now, lets be honest. I have help- Anya, our trusty PT nanny was here this morning (as she would have been anyway so Aaron can get a break), we are going to dinner at a friend's house tonight and Beth and I are going to take the kids to the park tomorrow. So, it is not me and the kids on a desert island fending for ourselves or anything. But it is the first time Papa has been gone overnight since we got home. I have had a few quick business trips and he has been a trooper through those (with Anya's help too) but this was a big step all around. It is going very well. The kids were so cute when he left - blowing kisses and telling him to be careful on the mountain. 

Last night went well - totally normal night with Mama- we made dinner and just did our normal night time routine, only difference was it was all me and not the two of us. It went well- a bit of weepiness from Sasha when it was time to go to sleep since Papa wasnt there to rock him but he got over it really quickly. Of course we had another night of in and out of our bedroom and he woke up at an ungodly hour (5am) and would not go to back sleep but that is pretty much par for the course- except the early wake up- that was new.... Today they have been great and are currently napping- which is a miracle as several days this past week have been decidely nap free due to babies' refusals to nap. Lets just hope it all continues to go well with no major melt downs and we will be all happy to see Papa relaxed and rejuvanated tomorrow night. 

Things have been going well other than that- just really normal. We had a good Valentine's day- made cookies for Papa and had a quiet family night at home. President's day weekend was also extremely low key- no trips or anything. We continue to find our stride as a family and the kids are just more funny and adorable every day. Sasha is most definitely 2 at the moment and Ana is testing us with "No" alot recently but it is all very normal kid stuff. We are very lucky and blessed with our two little munchkins. 

We are still looking at preschools for Fall and I will keep you posted on that when we decide - do we go expensive, close and montessori or less expensive, not as close but still within 10 minutes and 'general' curriculum? Any ideas? 

I am so concerned about the state of IA these days in general though- things seem to be getting really crazy with the process and I just hope that all the families currently in process are sped through quickly and safely. It makes me grateful every day that our kids are home with us and I just want everyone to have their babies home too!

Here are some cute pics- just because. A couple from Valentine's - note Ana has decided to wear her Cinderella dress to dinner and Sasha thinks frosted cookies he helped make are the best thing ever and then one from post haircut Ana. :) 

SKB

Snowing, Again!

Hi Everybody-

It is snowing, again. It isnt sticking at all so it is really just a nuisance at this point! The kids are excited it is snowing but the whole not sticking thing seems to have them down on it too. Here are some cute recent pics for you to enjoy. 

The first is the kiddos at the child's play area at Bellevue Square. Okay, so note to parents- do NOT take your kids to the child's play area at Bellevue Square on a Sunday afternoon when it is sort of yucky outside. It was chaos, uncontrolled chaos. Children everywhere, jumping on things, each other, running, falling, crazy crazy crazy. I am pretty sure Mama aged at least 5 years in 20 minutes. But we had to go bed shopping- we are over the whole Queen size bed thing now that Sasha has decided he vastly prefers our bed every night starting at around 2am (he is a kicker!) so we all went together to look at King size beds. The kids were great about it and patient and while we have picked our dream bed we have not yet made the financial commitment to a fancy, super nice new sleeping arrangement. Hopefully soon. Sasha will love it! :) 

Anyway, they were good so we said we would take them to playland and apparently so did every other parent in the free world. I wish I had video - I have never seen anything like it.The kids LOVED it. But for you grown ups -- Imagine a lord of the flies scenario, in an enclosed space, with parents hovering to make sure their kid was absolutely first or not pushed out of the way or whatever. Seventh circle of hell time for me. So we survived and then off to have a snack and go home. 

The pic of Ana posing is right before we went for a new haircut- she was excited to get it trimmed now that she is 'growing it out'. I am glad the horrid mullet from the baby home is finally gone and cannot wait for it to be longer. I will post a pic of post haircut cuteness next time. I want to braid it and put bows and barrettes and stuff in it and right now it is pretty fine and still a wee bit short for that. Soon, soon, soon. 

The pic of Sasha posing is at the FRUA event we went to Saturday. It was fun but maybe a bit strange. We had not been to a FRUA event (for those of you not deep into IA, this is great group of parents who are all involved with Russian adoption that has been very helpful to us- especially the online community, and they have community events from time to time so you can hang with other adoptive families, which is great) with the kids since we were first home (and that one they were way too new and freaked to understand) but it was good we went. Ana was especially excited to meet kids who also came from baby homes and both seemed to really like the idea that all the families there were "made in the same way our family was made". But the strange part was all the people asking them which one they were from etc etc etc. They are pretty shy in general and some of the other kids were not at all and came right up to them and started talking away and asking a million questions one right after the other so it was pretty funny. But as you can see from the above pic they did eventually warm up and played with all the dress up stuff. One little girl told Sasha that he couldn't wear a tiara because he was a boy and he just laughed at her and put 2 on his head. I love him! I told her he could wear whatever he darn well pleased - so we are probably labeled as the wacky family now but c'est la vie. 

Anyway, so a super busy weekend was had overall as I had to work much of Sunday and now we are into a semi- busy week. I was out of town yesterday and that created a cranky girl at bedtime- she dislikes it when she wakes up and I am not there but I pointed out I made it home in time for milk snuggles so that somewhat mollified her- I need to figure out how to better explain the whole mommy works so you can eat/play/live etc thing. She doesnt seem to have a firm grasp on that concept quite yet.....

We have our second preschool interview on Thursday- this one is a bit farther away but less expensive and also Montessori- so we shall see. I think Aaron really liked the one we went to last week that is blocks from home but man, that is A LOT to pay for 1/2 day preschool so I need to mull it over and work the numbers and in the interim we are looking at lots of options. 

Thats all for now!

SKB

Pics - just because...

these are some cute shots taken in the last couple days. 

Ana looking ever so serious as she decides what to color next, Sasha with the giant Mishka (teddy) at the dentist office and Ana this morning. Sasha and Papa were still asleep and Mama was getting some work done so she decided to read quietly. I caught her on the couch in this pose and thought it was too cute and took a quick shot. Adorable!

Things are going well, the kids had their first dentist appointment yesterday and after full check ups and yucky flouride treatments it was determined that they have no cavities! This is absolutely amazing considering the dental care in the baby home and we are super happy (especially because dentists are not covered by our insurance) and the kids did so well- no tears at all! 

Other than that we are just chugging along- this weekend Mama and Papa are going to an auction/dinner and the kiddos are going to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa. This will definitely be the longest we have left them for and the first time they will (maybe) fall asleep without us there as we probably wont get back until pretty late in the evening so fingers crossed. :) 

More later. 

SKB

Sasha's Surgery and other random January happenings

Hi All-

So Sasha's surgery was last week. It went really well. I will try to post some cute post op pics but my laptop died so I am rolling a new one and need to get all the pics together on this one so I can post them... 

Anyway, he was a total trooper. At first he was really not sure at all- very nervous and scared but the doctors gave him some sort of 'giggle juice' and he went to town, drunk as a skunk and giggly as all get out. He basically skipped to the OR after that. The surgeries went well - about 1 hour total in surgery and then 3 hours in recovery before we could see him. That was the hard part- waiting to see him! We had a great private room though and had brought all sorts of things from home- his blankie, teddies etc and we set the room all up for his arrival. He was pretty out of it and upset all night but he survived with Papa by his side. I went home and stayed with Ana because she wasnt able to sleep with someone else- which was totally fine. She did great with her first 'alone' babysitting with first Anya and then Beth. She was an angel.  

The next day we went and picked up Sasha and Papa and we were all happy to get the heck out of there. His recovery has been pretty seamless- he did have pain the first few days but was pretty much himself the whole time, just a bit cranky. I think the 'pika' surgery was harder on him (and Papa) than the tonsils for sure. But the drs said we had to do it and he is happy that his pika looks like Papa's and baby Will's and baby Harley's now- he is very into being like the babies in the family... Right now he is running around in his new Frog boots (they look like frogs) and pretending to be a frog dinosaur so I would say he is better. :) 

Both kids have some jealousy of the babies that are around- Ana even told us she was "mad it took so long for us to find them" which was sad but pretty cute. It started a good conversation anyway about how we had been searching for them for a long time and that we were so happy when we found them and came as fast as we could. She seemed to get that. She really likes talking about the baby home and what it was like and what is different here and how this place is better because it is a home and she found her mama and papa etc. Supposedly this is all good in terms of attachment so we help by showing pics of the BH etc. I am not 100% on if this is the right plan. Sasha seems to care less about the past- he seems to have forgotten most of it but maybe he is just too young. He is also less sensitive in general than Ana so it may be that. 

Also, we had our first post placement (6 months) the other day and that went well. The kids were nice to the lady and other than showing off for her (which they do for new people sometimes) it was just fine. They were upset after it was over because Ana was worried the lady was coming to talk about sending them away but once we got that all cleared up we were all fine and happy again. I wish she wasnt so worried about stuff like that but I guess it is normal and a phase. 

Other than that we have had a relatively quiet January. Lots of indoor play due to rain and surgery and cold but the last couple days have been nice. My laptop dying has been big in my world but I am mostly over it. 

Other milestones this month: 

-Sasha learned to ride his tricycle. He had been having pedaling issues and they are over- he is speed demon. 

-Ana is staying dry through the night (99%). We are planning to move her to no pull ups at night very soon. This is exciting on many levels. 

-Sasha is also staying dry most of the days so he is going from pull ups all the time to underwear FT! This is sort of less of a big deal as he is pretty dry all the time so the pull ups are not a big deal really but still it is exciting!

-The kids survived their first babysitting and survived. And Mama and Papa got to have dinner together for the first time since we came home. We had Anya over and the kids were great- they got to watch Calliou and stay up till 8:30 when we came home and it was great all around. Apparently they were good and we got 3 whole hours to just talk to each other and be together which was amazing and so very very needed. Six months is a LONG time to never ever be alone for a meal together. We need to plan 2 of these a month I think! Now our plan is to get them more comfortable with more than just Anya or Beth- we cant just have 2 people we rely on constantly, that is not a feasible long term plan but for now it is awesome. 

That is enough for now, I will try to post soon. :) 

SKB

Happy New Year!

Hi Everyone-

It is officially a new year - YAY! I have high hopes for 2009 and lets all just believe and hope really hard that with some hard work, a lot of luck and some better government we can turn this recession around and everyone can be prosperous again!

Anyway, we are back from our Whistler adventures. Above are a couple pics for you...Aaron rallied on the 27th and we made it up there just fine. It was sooo nice to see Demian and get to spend time with him- we see each other far to rarely and so it was really great to spend time together. He and the kids got along super well too so that is good. Hopefully we will see him soon in Careyes!

The kids just loved the snow and especially the horse drawn sleigh ride we went on- definietly the high light of our time up there. They think Poppy Nick's chalet is nice too but were bummed that the hot tub was broken (oh yes, they are so my kids, very high standards). But they really liked the home theatre and watching Kung Fu Panda in surround sound with a giant screen is an experience. Now if only they got Caillou in Canada....

The trip back was hellish. 2 hour wait at the border, long drive in general, tired cranky parents, kids and dog. Ugh. We survived though and are getting back in the swing. Today was my first day back at the office in over a week and the kids were none too thrilled but they understand -i think....

Anyway, I am super stressed about Sasha's upcoming surgery- i cant believe it is on Monday! That is too soon!!! Grandma Marta and Beth are both coming in to help with entertaining Ana so we can both go to the hospital and I am nervous she will be a total handful too but mostly worried about my baby Sasha. Positive thoughts please. I know this is supposedly not a big deal surgery but I am sorry - any surgery where they put you under and you have to spend the night is a big deal- especially when you are my baby!

Gotta go - the kids need to sleep and are fighting it out a bit this evening!

SKB