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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
365 days ago exactly
I can hardly believe it was one year ago today that we met this darling little boy that would change our family forever!
Look at those eyes!!
The look on his face here made me want to pick him up, hide him in my coat and smuggle him right out of Baby Home #17! He looks sort of sad.
Last night I was looking back at my posts from last year while we were in Russia. There is a lot I didn't mention! I am going to recap some of it here so that I don't forget some of these stories. The day started out with a nice breakfast and we got ready for our driver to pick us up. My stomach wasn't feeling too well and I actually got a little sick before we left. I figured it was due to nerves. I told Daryle and he figured it must be nerves too. One reason I was nervous was that the night before Alla had been to see us and had told us all about Connor and showed us this little black and white photo of him with a bonnet on his head. He was only a few weeks old in the picture. We had this big conversation the night before about something that could possibly be wrong with him. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it worried us and scared us all night long. When Alla came that morning we were told, "OH! I had him mixed up with another child! He doesn't have that at all! No worries!" Ok, great, that doesn't change the fact that we lost sleep worrying about this! Oh well, water under the bridge at this point. So, off we all go with our driver and Alla to the Ministry of Education. My stomach still wasn't feeling too well and Daryle kept looking over at me. Now, the driving in Moscow is pretty crazy and getting carsick is nothing new to them. I think my face started turning green and Daryle kept asking me if I was ok, I kept insisting I was. I was willing it to go away. Well, needless to say, it didn't work and I started throwing up right there in the car! I was trying to catch it (gross, I know!) and then Alla saw me and said, "Oh no! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING!!" I was so embarrassed I didn't know what to say. I opened the door and finished. It was all over my sweater, pants, scarf, coat and boots. Alla asked me if I needed to change and I said I guess so. Then she said, "Well, it's too far and we will be late!! We can't be late for this appointment!" So I said that I would be fine, she said Ok. All I could think of was how totally embarrassed I was. I wasn't sure if it was the driving, something I ate or nerves. I think it was the combination of all three actually. So, we finally pull up to the Ministry of Education and we get out of the car. That is when I lost it and just broke down crying. I couldn't stop. Alla kindly took me to the ladies room where I could "wash up" a bit. We went in there together. This is when the funniest thing happened. She took out her brush and brushed her hair. She looked at me and said, "You need to say to yourself, I am zee most beautiful voman in zee verld!" I cracked up laughing, decided I totally liked this woman and I was able to get myself together. I went out and sat with Daryle while we waited to be called into the office. Then Alla came over to me with this tiny vial of something and gave it to me. I had no idea what it was. Daryle said, is it mouthwash? I asked Alla and she laughed and told me it was some perfume! Oh great, now I knew how smelly I was!!! AHHHH!! I sprayed some on and then we were called in. We were instructed to act like we knew nothing of this little boy who was to become our son. We answered some questions, were showed a picture and were asked if we wanted to meet him. "Of course!" we said with enthusiasm. So, off we went to go meet him. Fortunately, there was time to stop back home so that I could change. From then on I got the front seat.... on all 3 trips!!! Poor Anatoley, we were sure to give him an extra tip that day!
Here we were, we had just met out newest son! We fell in love with him from the moment they brought him to us. We could tell right away that he would be the perfect brother for Travis. It was evident early on that the two personalities would gel perfectly. We were relieved to have finally met him, to have fallen in love instantly and to be that much closer to bringing him home!
Look at those eyes!!
The look on his face here made me want to pick him up, hide him in my coat and smuggle him right out of Baby Home #17! He looks sort of sad.
Last night I was looking back at my posts from last year while we were in Russia. There is a lot I didn't mention! I am going to recap some of it here so that I don't forget some of these stories. The day started out with a nice breakfast and we got ready for our driver to pick us up. My stomach wasn't feeling too well and I actually got a little sick before we left. I figured it was due to nerves. I told Daryle and he figured it must be nerves too. One reason I was nervous was that the night before Alla had been to see us and had told us all about Connor and showed us this little black and white photo of him with a bonnet on his head. He was only a few weeks old in the picture. We had this big conversation the night before about something that could possibly be wrong with him. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it worried us and scared us all night long. When Alla came that morning we were told, "OH! I had him mixed up with another child! He doesn't have that at all! No worries!" Ok, great, that doesn't change the fact that we lost sleep worrying about this! Oh well, water under the bridge at this point. So, off we all go with our driver and Alla to the Ministry of Education. My stomach still wasn't feeling too well and Daryle kept looking over at me. Now, the driving in Moscow is pretty crazy and getting carsick is nothing new to them. I think my face started turning green and Daryle kept asking me if I was ok, I kept insisting I was. I was willing it to go away. Well, needless to say, it didn't work and I started throwing up right there in the car! I was trying to catch it (gross, I know!) and then Alla saw me and said, "Oh no! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING!!" I was so embarrassed I didn't know what to say. I opened the door and finished. It was all over my sweater, pants, scarf, coat and boots. Alla asked me if I needed to change and I said I guess so. Then she said, "Well, it's too far and we will be late!! We can't be late for this appointment!" So I said that I would be fine, she said Ok. All I could think of was how totally embarrassed I was. I wasn't sure if it was the driving, something I ate or nerves. I think it was the combination of all three actually. So, we finally pull up to the Ministry of Education and we get out of the car. That is when I lost it and just broke down crying. I couldn't stop. Alla kindly took me to the ladies room where I could "wash up" a bit. We went in there together. This is when the funniest thing happened. She took out her brush and brushed her hair. She looked at me and said, "You need to say to yourself, I am zee most beautiful voman in zee verld!" I cracked up laughing, decided I totally liked this woman and I was able to get myself together. I went out and sat with Daryle while we waited to be called into the office. Then Alla came over to me with this tiny vial of something and gave it to me. I had no idea what it was. Daryle said, is it mouthwash? I asked Alla and she laughed and told me it was some perfume! Oh great, now I knew how smelly I was!!! AHHHH!! I sprayed some on and then we were called in. We were instructed to act like we knew nothing of this little boy who was to become our son. We answered some questions, were showed a picture and were asked if we wanted to meet him. "Of course!" we said with enthusiasm. So, off we went to go meet him. Fortunately, there was time to stop back home so that I could change. From then on I got the front seat.... on all 3 trips!!! Poor Anatoley, we were sure to give him an extra tip that day!
Here we were, we had just met out newest son! We fell in love with him from the moment they brought him to us. We could tell right away that he would be the perfect brother for Travis. It was evident early on that the two personalities would gel perfectly. We were relieved to have finally met him, to have fallen in love instantly and to be that much closer to bringing him home!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Has It Been A Year Already??
I was looking at the calendar today and suddenly realized that just one year ago Daryle and I left for Russia on a wing and a prayer, literally! We had lost our original referral just two weeks prior to leaving and went on this trip completely "blind". I can remember feeling a sense of peace about the whole thing, I just knew we were going to meet our child. Then I would feel weird for feeling that way and would think that maybe I should be more scared. What if we went on this trip and didn't meet our child? Then I would think, no, of course we are going to meet him or her. It was a crazy mental battle all the way there. I figured it would be fun to go down memory lane this week and post about what we did each day a year ago this week. For us this is the whole "labor and delivery" story! Enjoy!
Here was Daryle on the plane leaving from Atlanta to Moscow. We couldn't believe we were finally headed back to Russia to meet another child of ours.
This was how we spent the entire first day at Svetlana's apartment. We waited all day to hear from our coordinator. It was very quiet and was actually a good day to just rest up since we were a bit jet lagged. Daryle enjoyed cuddling up with her dog Tyson.
We enjoyed this nice view out the window of our room. We were too scared to leave the apartment since we didn't really know where we were at this point. Thank goodness the following day we became braver!
This was her front door, it was so welcoming! The doors over there are different. It was padded and the locks are very different to work. She actually gave us both a lesson and made us show her we could figure it out before we went to bed that night! You can even see the white chalk marks she made by the lock as a "cheat sheet" for us.
More of our room, pardon the sloppiness!
It is so strange sometimes when I reflect back on our adoption of Connor, it was such a different experience for us. With Travis we went through such emotional turmoil that it literally took me 3 years to recover from the craziness. (Those of you who know me that this is NOT an exaggeration at all! Seriously.) Every day I would think to myself, "I remember last year/2 years ago/3 years ago right now that &*$## judge was doing this and that..." (you get the picture). However, with Connor it was completely different. We didn't carry his picture around with us for 10 long months before meeting him. We found out about him one night and met him the next day. While we waited for court we had tons of pictures and short videos to get us through and the wait was only about 2 months. It wasn't until earlier today that I realized we were over there one year ago today. With Travis' adoption it was all consuming for us. With Connor it was all so surreal. Now I have a hard time remembering what life was like "before Connor", it feels like he has been here forever. He was without a doubt the missing person from our family. Today we did our second post placement report that will be sent to Russia. It is amazing to me that God has entrusted these two boys to our care, and the manner in which they each came to us amazes and humbles me each and every day.
Here was Daryle on the plane leaving from Atlanta to Moscow. We couldn't believe we were finally headed back to Russia to meet another child of ours.
This was how we spent the entire first day at Svetlana's apartment. We waited all day to hear from our coordinator. It was very quiet and was actually a good day to just rest up since we were a bit jet lagged. Daryle enjoyed cuddling up with her dog Tyson.
We enjoyed this nice view out the window of our room. We were too scared to leave the apartment since we didn't really know where we were at this point. Thank goodness the following day we became braver!
This was her front door, it was so welcoming! The doors over there are different. It was padded and the locks are very different to work. She actually gave us both a lesson and made us show her we could figure it out before we went to bed that night! You can even see the white chalk marks she made by the lock as a "cheat sheet" for us.
More of our room, pardon the sloppiness! It is so strange sometimes when I reflect back on our adoption of Connor, it was such a different experience for us. With Travis we went through such emotional turmoil that it literally took me 3 years to recover from the craziness. (Those of you who know me that this is NOT an exaggeration at all! Seriously.) Every day I would think to myself, "I remember last year/2 years ago/3 years ago right now that &*$## judge was doing this and that..." (you get the picture). However, with Connor it was completely different. We didn't carry his picture around with us for 10 long months before meeting him. We found out about him one night and met him the next day. While we waited for court we had tons of pictures and short videos to get us through and the wait was only about 2 months. It wasn't until earlier today that I realized we were over there one year ago today. With Travis' adoption it was all consuming for us. With Connor it was all so surreal. Now I have a hard time remembering what life was like "before Connor", it feels like he has been here forever. He was without a doubt the missing person from our family. Today we did our second post placement report that will be sent to Russia. It is amazing to me that God has entrusted these two boys to our care, and the manner in which they each came to us amazes and humbles me each and every day. Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
This was Connor's first St. Patrick's Day. I love this day, it is so much fun to wear green and celebrate being part Irish. I remember growing up my dad would wear this giant button that said something about being Irish for a day and it had a big mug of beer on the front. It used to sit on his dresser all year long just waiting for March 17 to roll around. My brother and I would tease him about not being Irish, since he is German. However, my mom is part Irish so of course that meant my brother and I were officially Irish too. My poor dad was the only one "left out" so to speak! Well, fast forward to my life now and I am the only one who is Irish in my little family so I must carry on the Irish traditions. I am a little obsessed with making sure we all have something green to wear each year, and now the leprechauns come to our house and leave little goodies around. They also turn our milk green! YIKES! To top it off, I surprised myself a couple of months ago when I realized that we gave our boys Irish names, so I guess even though they are Russian I sort of passed on some of my Irish heritage to them both in an indirect way. Funny how those things work out, isn't it?All year long I work hard to get the "perfect pictures" for the yearly calendar for the grandparents and uncles. Today did not go as planned. I am going to do some serious cutting and pasting for next year's March page. Connor was not having any part of it today! Of course in the best picture they weren't dressed yet so they were not wearing green!
This was Connor enjoying his Lucky Charms that the leprechauns left him. Do you see the cereal actually sticking to his face?
This was my attempt to get a picture of Travis... you can tell Connor was already in action with his hand getting in the way!
Here he was, this is how most of the pictures were turning out. Oh well, memories, right?
This one just cracks me up! Travis was being so patient with a very upset toddler. ( I am dreading the terrible two's that will be upon us this summer! I better stock up on the wine and margarita mix...)
These glasses make Travis look like a deranged leprechaun! lol
Finally, I just held out my hand and hoped for the best. Not too bad! Of course Connor looks the best and is smiling like nothing was ever wrong. Let me see now, oh that's right, he is in mom's lap, right where he likes it!! LOL Let's hope and pray that the Easter photo shoot goes much better than this, the calendar is supposed to be of the kids, not me!
Happy St. Paddy's Day to you all! Cheers!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sometimes boys just need to be boys
I am so excited we have finally reached Spring Break! The boys are both growing and getting so big right before our very eyes. Sometimes I just wish we could freeze time and at other times I find myself of dreaming about things we can do when Connor gets "a little bit older". Right now Travis has learned how to read and he is doing quite well. However, I think a certain younger brother may be right on his heels, even though he is 5 years younger!
He still loves to wear his heart glasses from Valentine's Day!
He even puts books back on the shelf when he chooses a new book. (A mother and teacher's dream child!)
As you can see, Connor LOVES books! He turns the pages, looks at the pictures and names things. Sometimes Travis will read to him, it is really quite cute. It is so nice seeing them be able to actually do things together and have fun at the same time.
He still loves to wear his heart glasses from Valentine's Day!
He even puts books back on the shelf when he chooses a new book. (A mother and teacher's dream child!)
As you can see, Connor LOVES books! He turns the pages, looks at the pictures and names things. Sometimes Travis will read to him, it is really quite cute. It is so nice seeing them be able to actually do things together and have fun at the same time.Yesterday if the "Mother of the Year" committee had made its rounds I am sure I would have been on the list of "How could you let your children do THAT?" list. Oh well. I protested at first, and then I gave in. They were laughing and having so much fun, how could I stop them? So I just decided to watch them and let them be boys. You might be wondering what I was actually letting them do. Here it is:
Yes, they were listening to music from Sesame Street and jumping off of the coffee table. Connor was so cute with his hair going straight up in the air! He is so funny! As you can see, Travis had a pretty good time as well. I am sure he figured he had better enjoy this because normally mom would NEVER allow this! lol They had a good time and nobody got hurt. Phew!
Yes, they were listening to music from Sesame Street and jumping off of the coffee table. Connor was so cute with his hair going straight up in the air! He is so funny! As you can see, Travis had a pretty good time as well. I am sure he figured he had better enjoy this because normally mom would NEVER allow this! lol They had a good time and nobody got hurt. Phew!That's about it for now. I am looking forward to spending the next two weeks with my boys. How can I resist these two adorable faces?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
New Look
So, how do you like the new look? I am not sure, I will continue to play around with it. Right now my eyes feel like they are going to pop right out of my head. Any advice or suggestions are welcome! I like blogs that are easy to read. Like everything, this is a work in progress.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
5 more days...
We only need to get through the first 5 days of the work week and then we are off for 2 weeks!! I am so looking forward to it, so is Travis. Connor has no idea, but he will enjoy it once he figures out he can sleep in and play in his pj's in the mornings! I just need to get my report cards done tomorrow and then it should be smooth sailing.
I can hardly believe that Travis will be turning 7 at the end of the month. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was sitting at my kitchen table in my house in Memphis crying because we still hadn't received "the call" to go get him and we would be missing his very first birthday. I remember being so very sad on that day. However, now that we have had 5 birthdays since then I think we have more than made up for missing the first one! LOL Last year Travis got a little bit "cheated" out of his birthday because Daryle and I were on our first trip to meet Connor. We got back to town the night before his birthday and then we blinked and Easter was here. So, this year I promised him he could have a birthday party. He decided he wants to have it at the bowling alley. Last Monday, on March 1, he announced to his ENTIRE CLASS that he was having a party at the bowling alley. I could have died! That was NOT what I had in mind!! I am not inviting 24+ kids to the bowling alley for goodness sakes. Finally, tonight we had a talk and we have narrowed the list down to 7 boys from school and then our usual guests (people that I know will come, or at least will RSVP in a timely manner!). I think I am safe now, and we should not have more than the limit of 12. Phew. I must say I was having a heart attack for a minute there! It didn't help that Travis brought down his friend to my room after school. They had their arms around each other's shoulders and this boy gave me a thumbs up and said enthusiastically, "I'm SO in for this party!" Good thing he was already on the list.
I can hardly believe that Travis will be turning 7 at the end of the month. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was sitting at my kitchen table in my house in Memphis crying because we still hadn't received "the call" to go get him and we would be missing his very first birthday. I remember being so very sad on that day. However, now that we have had 5 birthdays since then I think we have more than made up for missing the first one! LOL Last year Travis got a little bit "cheated" out of his birthday because Daryle and I were on our first trip to meet Connor. We got back to town the night before his birthday and then we blinked and Easter was here. So, this year I promised him he could have a birthday party. He decided he wants to have it at the bowling alley. Last Monday, on March 1, he announced to his ENTIRE CLASS that he was having a party at the bowling alley. I could have died! That was NOT what I had in mind!! I am not inviting 24+ kids to the bowling alley for goodness sakes. Finally, tonight we had a talk and we have narrowed the list down to 7 boys from school and then our usual guests (people that I know will come, or at least will RSVP in a timely manner!). I think I am safe now, and we should not have more than the limit of 12. Phew. I must say I was having a heart attack for a minute there! It didn't help that Travis brought down his friend to my room after school. They had their arms around each other's shoulders and this boy gave me a thumbs up and said enthusiastically, "I'm SO in for this party!" Good thing he was already on the list.
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