Grace is three!!

Wow, time goes by fast. Our angel is now three! Her birthday is on March 11, so on the 6th we went to Indiana to have her birthday party with our families. It was a nice, small party, and Grace had a lot of fun. We had a Princess theme, so she dressed like Cinderella with her cousins and her male cousin had a sword and shield to be a knight. I made her a Cinderella cake, and used fondant icing to make the skirt. It turned out cute for my first one, but the cake itself didn't cook well, so I'm glad I made a smaller cake to go with it...unfortunately, the doll was too tall for the cake, so her legs got amputated. Grace doesn't seem to mind...

On her birthday we had school, and I took snacks and cake to celebrate. She had a lot of fun and enjoyed everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her.

As I was up in the attic, I found my Barbie collection I wanted to hand down to her. I also found my collection on Barbie clothes: ones from when my mom was a child, and ones from my Barbies. I brought them down, but the ones my mom had are hand-made and are falling apart. I decided as I read some blogs that I can use the clothes for a pattern and make new ones. So, I started with probablly the hardest one. I ripped all the seams out and used new material to make a dress. I didn't do so bad. I think I will enjoy picking out fabrics and making new clothes. The best think is I don't think I'll need more than a fat quarter to make any of them. A quarter of a yard is pretty cheap.

Progress

I can't believe how much Grace has changed in just the last couple of weeks. We noticed at Thanksgiving that she was really using a lot more words and increasing her vocabulary every day. However, since the new year, she's really amazed us. She is now using complete sentences. "I want to play with something else". Of course, her speech isn't quite that clear, but that's what she's saying. "I want to go to school, Mommy!"

She is also beginning to tell us when she has to go potty. This is a huge relief. Up until this point, I've been taking her to the bathroom every hour or so and that has kept her dry for several months. However, this week I've noticed that she's starting to tell me when she needs to go. The girl is a camel! She hasn't gone since about one in the afternoon, and she's still claiming she doesn't have to go...and she's been drinking lots of water, too!

Tomorrow (Monday, Feb. 8th) I register her for Preschool! I am so very excited about that. I am going to try to get her into the Community Center class. It's fairly inexpensive. It has two choices-twice a week (T and TH) or three times a week (MWF). I am hoping to get her in the MWF class. The following Monday she has her physical with the doctor to get all her documents filled out. She's never had a hearing or vision test, so this ought to be interesting. She will also need her vaccine form filled out. When we arrived with Grace, the Dr. decided to test her when she's 5 to see if she needs any re-dos on her vaccines. I wonder if he's just going to put the dates that Russia "claims" she had her vaccines. Of course, the records are all in Russian, and the translator only noted the vaccines given, not the date. We will have to assume they were actually given when they were needed. When she's 5 (starting Kindergarten) we'll know for sure if any actually took. Grace will be so excited to be in Preschool next year!

I am also looking forward to planning her third birthday party. Last year, we kept it really small with just our immediate family members present. This year, I think we'll do the same. On her birthday, we have Playschool, so I will take snacks and have a little "party" at school. We will also be celebrating a close friend's birthday (he'll be two) that weekend, and the only people I would have invited to Grace's party will be at his party, so we're combining parties. So, that just leaves our families. She's met my husband's extended family (aunts, cousins, second cousins...) but I have a HUGE family, and she's actually not met many of my cousins, aunts and uncles. A birthday party is no time to freak her out with all kinds of strangers. So, we're having a Princess party. Only problem is my nephew. I guess I'll buy him a plastic sword and let him be the king for the day. Oh, did I forget that we're having a princess party?

So, February and March are going to be busy. Today (Superbowl Sunday), my husband is off watching the game, so Grace and I are having a movie party. She gets to watch as many movies she wants, and we get to skip dinner and eat chips, cookies, and popcorn. Grace keeps bringing me cheetos and feeds them to me-even though I'm stuffed! She's having a great time, though, and each time she eats a cheeto she says "we're having a party!"

Starting a new year!

I can't believe it's already 2010! Where does the time go?
I don't know how many people read this blog, but I would like to take a moment to write about some families that need our prayers. First in my thoughts is K. K adopted a daughter from Russia a couple of years ago. She found out that her daughter has a sister, and has been trying since to adopt the sister. Needless to say, the agency couldn't help her, and a private adoption wasn't fast enough. The sister is now too old to come to the States as an orphan. They tried getting her hear on a student visa, but the Embassy in Moscow denied her visa because she would have no reason to go back. (no home, no family)
Second in my thoughs are a family I just read about. These women both used the same agency we used, and I am just sick that these cases had to happen. This adoption was in Pakistan, and it too failed. Turns out (long story short) that the girl had been trafficked and the Embassy found that the documents were forged. She returned home childless-and the agency refuses to refund her money or to help her untangle this web. Please pray for these families!

Grace is doing very well. She absolutely loves Playschool, and I am looking forward to registering her for Preschool. She will be three in a few short weeks. I am excited about planning a party-decorations, cake, etc...She continues to learn at an amazing pace. She now knows all her letters and is showing an interest in learning the sound each letter makes. She is also almost done with potty training. She will not tell us if she has to go potty, but I make sure she goes throughout the day, and if we forget, she starts to cry when she starts to go in her pants. She has now learned to "stop and wait" until she gets to the potty. Number two is similar. I try to get her to the potty when I know she needs to go. However, sometimes it's a "surprise" later in the day. Same thing now-my husband reported today that she started to cry and said "potty" and when he got her upstairs he found that she was just starting to go and was able to get her on the potty...she had been holding it until she got there. Progress! By September she needs to be completely trained-including being able to pull her pants up and down by herself. We're working on it.
No other news, really. It's been cold so we've been staying in. Can't wait for Spring!
Again, please keep the above families in your prayers (or thoughts!). It grieves me that they used the same agency we did. We had such a hard journey-but it's nothing compared to what they are going through!

Christmas 2009

Ok, so these were uploaded out of order, so you'll have to forgive the confusion. This photo was taken on Sunday, December 27th. We are going to try to take a family photo on Christmas each year. She was dressed up for church earlier in the day, but she went out to play in the snow, so we put her in jeans and sweatshirt. Anyway, this was the best of the bunch...cheesy smile and all.

We have a great picture from last year. Last year on Christmas, it was so cold the driveway iced over. We took the kids out and pulled them on sleds. We have this great picture of Daddy holding Grace. She is so bundled up you can only see her eyes. This year, I made sure we got a picture of me holding Grace in the snow as well. it was a great day, and Grace said "Having fun" while she was out playing. She had a blast!

Daddy holding Grace.

Grace was running through the snow and telling me she was having fun. She loves playing in the snow. The only thing that could have topped this is if the snow were good enough to make a snowman!

On Saturday, December 26 we went to my mom's house to celebrate Christmas. I loved that Christmas was on a Friday this year. Usually my husband has to work the day after Christmas, so this year was really nice because we got to spend the whole day with my mom instead of just an hour or so. We had a lot of fun-and argued about Cabbage Patch Kids!

Grace doesn't know Uncle Ray (my brother) that well, so I was really surprised when she let him hold her and read a book to her. Her cousin Raymond looks too!

Raymond and Grace. Since we don't see my brother and his family a lot, she doesn't know them very well. They'll just have to come up this way more often to see us!

Nanna reading a book to Grace.

Her little Christmas light necklace. The necklace lights up. You can't see it on the picture, though, because the flash cancels out the lights. She loved the necklace, though.

This was on Friday, Christmas Day. Her Aunt Sarah gave her Cinderella slippers for Christmas. I could never keep slippers on her feet, which is important because we have wood floors and down in the basement it's cold in the winter. This solved the problem! She loves her slippers!

Nana bought her a "My First Piggy Bank". The bank has coins that the pig counts as you put them in. It also sings. All weekend, all Grace could talk about was "my pig". Unfortunately, we had to put the pig (and all her other gifts) away because one of her cousins tends to hide things that she likes, and she took Grace's pig away first thing. Grace had a second Christmas when we got home and started unpacking everything!

Grace posing with her cousins. From left to right: Monique (8), Kiyana (7), Sarina (5 weeks) (all sisters) and Grace (2)

Grace loves to hold Sarina. I don't know how I got this, but little Sarina smiled for a split second, and I was able to capture it.

On Thursday, December 24, we celebrated Christmas at home so we didn't have to take all her gifts with us to Indiana. Here she is opening her stocking. She received some tights, a coloring book, and some sweets.

A few months ago, I found this Little People barn at a second-hand sale. I paid $3.50 for the big barn and two smaller barns-with two chickens a a few accessories like people. I called Fisher Price and ordered extra animals. I kept this all hidden until Christmas. It's her favorite gift. She is always playing with it and has already told me there is a "mommy goat, mommy horse, daddy horse, and baby horse".

Standing in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Not all the gifts were hers; most went to Indiana. We took it easy this year-taking advantage of the fact that she's too young to understand. We also knew she'd be getting things from grandparents and such.

My father in England sent us some money to buy gifts for her. She has the Tag Jr. reader. We bought her some books to go along with it. We bought an Elmo book, and a Curious George book.

My friend Natasha in England sent her a book and this Jack-In-The-Box. Grace loves it!

Here she is in front of "her" tree. It's a little tree that I decorated "Russian" style. A friend of ours are missionaries in Russia (well, were...they had to come home because of VISA issues). She told us that Russians usually decorate their trees with white, silver and royal blue decorations. So, that's what I did. I also went to some Russian web sites and ordered a few Russian ornaments. On Jan. 7 (which is Orthodox Christmas), we will let her open her gifts from Father Frost and the Snowmaiden (I purchased some little Russian dolls off the internet). I think I'll make this a tradition each year. Each year she will get another ornamtent to hang on her tree, and a Russian gift or two.

All in all, I think we had a great Christmas. There were a few arguements, but that's probably normal. We are happy to be home, however, and we look forward to the start of 2010. Grace has come a long way since last year. Even in the last few weeks her language has exploded. She has been using sentences, telling me her feelings, and communicating a lot more. Since the last time I posted, she's learned to recognize more of her letters. Today I went up in the attic and brought down a bunch of toys. I used to be a nanny, and for the little girl I used to watch I bought a whole bunch of educational stuff. Her mother didn't exactly demand that all her toys be educational, but she did push education a lot. I had to care for J in my home for a few months while their house was being worked on, so we needed toys to play with. Anyway, I went to the attic and there was a jackpot of things that I can use with Grace. Since she's learning the alphabet, I thought I'd teach her the sounds. She has the refrigerator magnets from Leap Frog, so she's learning the sounds from there. Melissa and Doug also make a puzzle set. One side has the letter and the other side has a picture representing the sound the letter makes. For example, H has a picture of a horse. It showes the capital letter and the lowercase letter-which is what I like. There was also a three-letter Leap Frog refrigerator magnet that helps children learn how to make words. Since Grace loves letters, I'd figure I'd let her play with it. I know she's too young to understand how to make words, but for right now, she'll just like to put the letters in. There's more which I won't bore you with the details, but I think that instead of going shopping for her birthday, I'll just go back up into the attic and bring some things down from there. There's stuff I bought Grace for Christmas only to realize that I already had it up in the attic-obviously forgotten!

I hope everyone has a great New Year!

Helping mommy make cookies. This was the first time I had let her "help" me with cooking something, and she did a really good job! I was really impressed with my patience and with her enthusiasm!

This year I gave her her own tree. I decorated it with white, silver, and royal blue ornaments (I was told that's how trees are decorated in Russia). I also let her decorate it with handmade ornaments (also a Russian tradition) and I purchased a couple Russian Christmas ornaments from a Russian store online. Here she is putting the "Snowmaiden" ornament on the tree. The Snowmaiden travels with Father Christmas to distribute gifts.

She's getting in the Christmas spirit. She recognizes pictures of St. Nick. We are talking about St. Nick rather than Santa. She will recieve one gift from St. Nick, and next year we'll start talking about the story of St. Nick. We are also teaching her about Jesus' birthday. We've heard "Happy Birthday, Jesus" on the Moody radio station, and I try to sing it every once in a while.

The Christmas tree at the Brookfield zoo during Holiday Lights

Frosty gets a hug at Brookfield Zoo.

Well, it's been a while. I think I need to post more often! Grace has changed so fast! Since she started Playschool in the fall, she's learned all her colors. She's actually very good at it. I've also started letting her watch "Super Why" on channel 11. She actually loves watching it, and I've noticed that she can recognize about 20 of the letters. A,B,C,D,E,F,G,I,L,M,N,O,P,Q,S,T,U,V,W. Ok, so about 19. We actually aren't trying to teach her the letters. We have the refrigerator magnets with the Leapfrog thing she uses while I'm in the kitchen. She is also starting to get an interest in shapes and numbers. She knows circle, heart, and triangle-and she will point out the number two and say "number two". Her vocabulary is growing-but her speech and pronunciation are just a tad behind. We're not worried, however, because she is doing an amazing job catching up.

This year we will celebrate Christmas twice. We will celebrate on Dec. 25 with all our family and all. Also, on January 7 is when Russians celebrate Christmas. We will have a small celebration here at home. After Dec. 25, I will change the table linens to reflect Russian traditions. White table cloth to represent Jesus' swaddling clothes, a white candle to represent that Jesus is the Light of the World, some hay (although it won't be real) to represent the manger, and on Jan 7 bread to show that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Grace has her little tree in the family room that is decorated with Russian Christmas colors, and with a couple Russian ornaments I bought from an on-line Russian store (each year I'll add to the collection). She will have a couple gifts (not many) that she will open. I bought her two collector's dolls from the Russian store. One is a doll of the Snowmaiden and one is a doll in traditional Russian dress. Nothing really fancy-just a small celebration.

We are so looking forward to Christmas this year. She's going to be a lot more interested in opening gifts, and she's going to love being with our families. Also, since Christmas is over a weekend, we have a lot more time to spend with our families and won't be so rushed and crazy.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Everyone! I'll post pictures of Grace on Christmas later!

Where has the time gone?

Proud Aunt Dea holding baby Sarina minutes old!

"Nana and GiGi (short for Great Grandma) with Grace

This pumpkin was about 1100 pounds!

Wow. I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted! We had a fantastic Halloween. We went to Indiana and spent Halloween with our families. On Friday we went to go visit my mom and then later we visited my husband's grandfather at the nursing home. He fell a few months ago and broke his hip. The healing is going very slow. He's 96 years old.

Anyway, Grace had a blast at the nursing home. My mother-in-law would say "Grace, come here and say Happy Halloween!". Grace would run to the door and say "There's another Grammy! Happy Halloween!" Every time she would see a woman, she would say "Another Grammy!" She was dressed as a Care Bear.

On November 19 my Sister-in-law had her baby girl Sarina Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards). The baby is doing well, but she has a sensitive stomach, so she requires a special formula. We are hoping she will be able to come home tomorrow so she is home for Thanksgiving, but it depends on how she's eating and if she can keep this formula down.

This Thanksgiving will be a little better than the other years. I will go out on Wednesday with Grace. It's always easier to travel with her earlier in the day. We will stop to visit my mom. Thanksgiving day we have lunch at my MIL's and then we go to my mom's for dinner. I usually stay the night and come home on Friday. I haven't decided whether I will do any shopping on Black Friday or not. We don't need any Christmas gifts, so I don't know. We do have to get back to the house sometime on Friday. I am doing a trial group for a new cat litter. I have to use the litter for two weeks, and each day I have to log in and tell the panel what I think of the litter. I have to make sure the litter boxes are clean so the cats will use this new litter. Either we have to rush home on Friday, or perhaps I'll put another litter box out so that we don't have to come back until Friday night or even Saturday. I haven't decided yet.

Enjoy the pics of Grace on Halloween and our family picture taken at church for our new directory. I think they turned out GREAT!

One Year on Tuesday

Gottcha Day October 13, 2008 Daddy, Dr. Ludmilla from Prokopyevsk Baby House Mommy, and Grace!

Grace at Johansens Farm petting a chick.

Grace at Johansens Farm

One year ago on October 13, Brian and I stood nervously in front of a judge in Kemerovo waiting for her to give her answer. Obviously, she granted us our petition to adopt! A few hours later (after going to the vital records office to get the birth certificate and adoption decree, and the post office for her passport) we were on our way to the orphanage! That three hours in the van was so hard! The translator tried to keep us busy by talking to us, but all we wanted to do was stare numbly out the window with anticipation!

When we arrived, the care takers were finishing up her dinner (it was close to five or so). We spent those few minutes talking to the directress about what had happened while we were gone and asking any last-minute questions. I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I saw a caretaker in the outer office holding Grace, waiting to be summoned in. I didn't want to freak her out by making a big deal, so I forced myself to continue on to the bathroom. When I got back, the children were in the room. Grace was sitting on Brian's lap, both of them looking VERY confused! The minute I walked in the room, Grace looked at me, held out her hands, and started crying! Now, I would like to believe that she recognized me and knew I would comfort her. However, It was more likely that she saw that I was a "woman" and wanted to escape from this "weird creature with hair on his face!". We were urged to quickly change their clothes and get them bundled up. We didn't have any time to cuddle them or get them comfortable with us. Change their clothes and go!

Grace was very quiet in the van. There are no car seats, and there wouldn't have been any room for on in the small van. I took a bottle out and filled it with some juice we had brought from our hotel room. While we were riding in the van, I gave her the juice. She not only drank it all...she fell asleep in my lap! She slept the entire way back to the hotel...a three hour ride!

When we arrived back at the hotel, the ladies were all in the hallway waiting for us. As soon as we walked in, they were oohhing and ahhhing over the children. They both started talking excitedly, first poining at Grace's nose and then at Brian. The translator said that they were saying that she looks like him. We got her upstairs and then gave her a really quick bath/shower. There wasn't a "tub" in there, so we sat her in the shower. The shower detached and we were able to wet a washcloth with it. We needed to bathe her because she smelled dirty. She hated the shower. We quickly dressed her in her pajamas and I spent a few minutes with her before putting her to bed in her crib. She fell right to sleep after rocking herself back and forth for a few minutes.

That was the day we had dreamed about.

Today, she is a happy, healthy (well, ok...right now she has a stuffy nose, but otherwise...) normal toddler! Most people cannot tell that she was adopted as she has caught up almost completely to where she needs to be. Most assume she was born premature (which she was...).

Right now she likes Elmo, Veggie Tales, Super Why and "the letter game" (Wheel of Fortune). She loves her Playschool class and the gymnastics class she is in. She is learning her colors, and a few letters. She is almost potty trained. She will tell me when she has to go, but I am still the one who initiates the potty. She still has trouble with the poo. I have learned that if I make her sit on the potty shortly after breakfast, I can usually catch her before she goes in her pants. The only problem is that sometimes she has one after lunch, and today she had one before dinner (it was more a result of the extra mucus...) She is wearing big girl undies, though, because she gets infections from regular diapers.

She loves to eat, but she is going through a very picky stage right now, she only has a few foods that are her faborites. However, she is getting a little more adventurous. I can usually coax her into eating dinner by offering her crackers to eat with her meal (a bite of food and a bite of cracker).

Her weight and size are still on the small size. She is wearing size 2T tops, but her bottoms are 18 month only because she needs the length. I have to take the waists in, which is difficult to do on jeans.

Over all, she is doing great, and I can't believe a whole year has gone by! We have watched her go from a very shy, quiet, baby-like girl to a talkative, loud (oh, so loud) normal toddler who loves to put mommy and daddy's shoes on! We are so proud of our little angel.