I don't know if you can see it or not - but Kristina's latest trend is hanging a necklace from her ponytail on her head. You should see the expression she has when she puts it on - she feels SO beautiful! And beautiful she certainly is.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The latest trend
I don't know if you can see it or not - but Kristina's latest trend is hanging a necklace from her ponytail on her head. You should see the expression she has when she puts it on - she feels SO beautiful! And beautiful she certainly is.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Warming up
The weather has been warmer, which means that the kids can be outside! Kristina & Anna frequently go out to play on the swingset. It does my heart good to see Anna bonding with her little sister. They play together a lot more now. Kristina wants desperately to do anything and everything that Anna is doing. She'll ask for Anna during the day (while she's at school) and is so excited when we pick her up after school. They have a special relationship that I hope will only grow as time goes on.
Keith is still obsessed with doors - opening them and swinging them open and shut. Lately he has focused his time on the kitchen cabinets, one cabinet in particular. Now he is lifting himself up into the cabinet and closing the door. You can imagine my panic the first time he did this - when I couldn't see him ANYWHERE in the house, only to discover him open up the cabinet door.
Kristina loves the signing times videos. She comes to me with signs that I didn't learn from the videos, especially the individual letters. Her favorite letter to sign is "a."
Keith has been initiating activity with me more lately. He will scoot over to me, pull himself up to standing and begin playing with me. It's very fun and nearly impossible to resist him when he's in a playful mood.
Kristina is still my snugglebug. If I lay down on the couch or on the bed, she snuggles right up to me, sucks on two of her fingers and loves on me. She is a little angel, sent by God to show His love for me. I am certain of that.
Keith is still obsessed with doors - opening them and swinging them open and shut. Lately he has focused his time on the kitchen cabinets, one cabinet in particular. Now he is lifting himself up into the cabinet and closing the door. You can imagine my panic the first time he did this - when I couldn't see him ANYWHERE in the house, only to discover him open up the cabinet door.
Kristina loves the signing times videos. She comes to me with signs that I didn't learn from the videos, especially the individual letters. Her favorite letter to sign is "a."
Keith has been initiating activity with me more lately. He will scoot over to me, pull himself up to standing and begin playing with me. It's very fun and nearly impossible to resist him when he's in a playful mood.
Kristina is still my snugglebug. If I lay down on the couch or on the bed, she snuggles right up to me, sucks on two of her fingers and loves on me. She is a little angel, sent by God to show His love for me. I am certain of that.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Lemonade Award
Hooray! Many thanks to Diana for this award, especially since she offers me so much "lemonade" from her own life!
Here are the rules...
1. Copy the above logo and put it on blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show attitude and/or gratitude (Those who add sweetness to life and/or inspire you by making lemonade.)
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on a post.
5. Nominate your favorites and link to this blog.
From the Trenches of Motherhood - Valerie is my lifesaver! She introduced us to Keith and helped me through the entire process of the adoption. (I'm so amazed at how much you remembered after a year!) She is busy with her family of 5 kids under the age of 4 and she is always making lemonade and freely shares it with everyone.
Smiling All The Way Back - Christine is a huge example of spreading the love she has for all her kids. I'm very impressed with her happy outlook on life and her desire to share her blessings with others less fortunate.
Our adoption journey and beyond! - Courtney is on her second journey to Ukraine to adopt two beautiful little girls! She works hard and tries to see the positive outlook when things are tough. She mades some tasty lemonade.
Sarahbear - My childhood friend, Sarah! She is a single woman who volunteered to be the guardian of her two adorable nieces, because their mom couldn't do it. She's also a social worker who works hard to help other children find their forever family while she balances becoming a mom without a husband to help! You're an inspiration, Sarah!
MRS. OKLAHOMA COUNTY HEATHER ROUBA - Heather is an advocate of helping children who come from divorced parents. Through her title she is striving to help these precious children through this rising epidemic of divorce. I support her for taking a stand to help children and for making a powerful noise in her community.
Hidden Treasures - Karen went to Ukraine shortly before we did. In fact, she carried our precious dossier to the SDA for us! She is an amazing mom to her 5 kids and her two newly adopted DS Ukrainian daughters! Her drive to keep going to stay on top of everything is amazing. She has no doubt found treasure in her family.
Jones Family - Resa is a huge example of me of how to continue onward when tragedy strikes and how adoption can be sweet, indeed. Her blog is a breath of fresh air and you can see lemonade in every post.
Seedpod Books and Art - Jessica is an amazing example of how to juggle 5 kids while doing homeschooling, music, arts, and crafts! She has taught me how to not sweat the little things and how to encourage teaching my children life-skills while they're young.
Cornish Adoption Journey - Meredith works hard to help others go through Ukrainian adoptions. She is a wealth of knowledge and helps us stay connected with other adoptive families. She brings lemonade to families and those precious Ukrainian angels.
More Cowbell - No Cool Story's blog makes me laugh when I'm feeling overwhelmed with the stress and lemons of life. When I laugh, I'm happy. When I'm happy, it's easier to make lemonade. Everyone wins! Thanks for the laughs, No Cool Story!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Cute kids = cute videos
Here are some videos from the past couple of days. Also, we took some family pictures!
Keith having fun in his high chair.
Kristina showing off some moves outside on the swingset.
Keith's first time swinging - loving it.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Another sibling?
Tyler was reading some of our papers from the adoption today and found the parental termination rights for Keith's mom. Apparantly, 2 years after Keith was born, his mom had another child (a boy, we think). I'm amazed that we never heard anything about this while we were there. I wonder where that child is? Orphanage? With the mom? Already adopted? We're hoping to find out more information, if it's possible. Anyone else experience this?
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Kristina's first day of pre-k
Talk about pure excitement! Kristina was thrilled about going to school today. Or, at least, she knew that SOMETHING exciting was going on and she was excited about it. She got on the bus without any problems and came home with a note saying that she had a great first day! Here are some pictures of my beautiful little schoolgirl, Kristina:
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Pre-school
Keith had his OT and PT evaluation for in-home pre-school services this morning. He wasn't near as excited about it as Kristina was and fussed whenever the instructors wanted him to do ANYTHING that differed from his agenda. They had him use a walker and he walked 10 steps all by himself! That's my boy! He will receive 1-2 hours per week from the school. I'm looking forward to the progress that he will make and is already making.
Kristina will begin pre-school this week. She is going to go 3x each week for 2 1/2 hours per day. She doesn't know/understand it yet - but has absolutely LOVED going for her evaluations at the school and didn't want to leave. I am hopeful that she will find me as much fun after going to school and coloring all day!
Kristina will begin pre-school this week. She is going to go 3x each week for 2 1/2 hours per day. She doesn't know/understand it yet - but has absolutely LOVED going for her evaluations at the school and didn't want to leave. I am hopeful that she will find me as much fun after going to school and coloring all day!
Monday, March 9, 2009
My pirate boy
Keith has been eye patching for 2 hours a day. He does really well with it - but I'm pretty sure it's because he wears glasses over the patch. He has also been pulling himself up to stand a lot. He used to be afraid of standing up, in that he couldn't figure out how to sit down. This is no longer a problem. :o)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Let her eat ice cream?
At a recent trip to Chick-fila, I took some video of Kristina eating ice cream. Enjoy her facial expressions. Priceless.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Random stuff
The last time I took Kristina to gymnastics she bit a sweet little girl on the arm. Hard. You could see the teeth marks. *sigh*
Keith is initiating more contact with me. He will scoot up to me and have this look on his face, like "please pick me up and snuggle me." I can't resist it. Who could?
Kristina has a fascination of being naked. I find her often with her clothes off. Yesterday she stripped down and even took off her diaper, which, at the time, was full of poop.
Keith is definitely a boy, (not that that was in question or anything), as he loves loud noises. Our dog, Maggie, and cat, Jasper, like to play together often. Keith especially enjoys it when they squabble LOUDLY. Keith also loves to be present when I am blow drying my hair. He loves the vacuum cleaner when it's turned on. He loves the loud garage door opening and closing, you get the idea.
Kristina loves to be doing whatever Anna is doing. This can be good and bad. It depends on if Anna is sharing "the" toy or not. We're working on it, yet I'm not too eager to solve every problem as I think it's important that they learn how to work together.
Whenever I say we're going "bye bye", Keith scoots to the door. He definitely understands that phrase.
Several times a day, Kristina will approach me and snuggle up with me and give me lots of kisses and hugs. When I fix my hair and make-up she will say "Mama pretty!" And lately if she catches me using the restroom, she will say "Mama, good job!" and give me a huge THUMBS UP! You have to love her enthusiasm, even if it's while you're on the potty. :o)
Keith is initiating more contact with me. He will scoot up to me and have this look on his face, like "please pick me up and snuggle me." I can't resist it. Who could?
Kristina has a fascination of being naked. I find her often with her clothes off. Yesterday she stripped down and even took off her diaper, which, at the time, was full of poop.
Keith is definitely a boy, (not that that was in question or anything), as he loves loud noises. Our dog, Maggie, and cat, Jasper, like to play together often. Keith especially enjoys it when they squabble LOUDLY. Keith also loves to be present when I am blow drying my hair. He loves the vacuum cleaner when it's turned on. He loves the loud garage door opening and closing, you get the idea.
Kristina loves to be doing whatever Anna is doing. This can be good and bad. It depends on if Anna is sharing "the" toy or not. We're working on it, yet I'm not too eager to solve every problem as I think it's important that they learn how to work together.
Whenever I say we're going "bye bye", Keith scoots to the door. He definitely understands that phrase.
Several times a day, Kristina will approach me and snuggle up with me and give me lots of kisses and hugs. When I fix my hair and make-up she will say "Mama pretty!" And lately if she catches me using the restroom, she will say "Mama, good job!" and give me a huge THUMBS UP! You have to love her enthusiasm, even if it's while you're on the potty. :o)
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