Just Hangin' Out

Hubs' parents, Daddy B and Grandma, are here for a visit. The kiddos are having fun hanging out with them. AP has really attached herself to Daddy B, she even blew him an impromptu kiss yesterday. Tomorrow night his parents are going to babysit so hubs and I can go a date! We're going to go see Boompa's band play. It should be fun, that is if I can still walk. I am supposed to run a 15K in the morning...yikes!

...and just because she's so cute, here's my niece bouncing around... She'll be here next weekend for a visit. I can't wait to see how much she has grown.

Gotcha Day!

One year ago today, AP joined our family. We got up early that day and made the drive (C thought were driving through a zoo) from Bishkek to Tokmok.

When we walked in the main room of the orphanage, all the workers were busy. We were left to look around and we were drawn to AP immediately. She was laying in the big playpen with all of her little friends. She looked right up at us. One of the caregivers then went to her and pointed to her as if to ask "this one?". We agreed and took her in her arms and she has been with us ever since. She was so weak and tiny then. She was ten, almost eleven, months old. She weighed almost 15 pounds and couldn't sit up yet. She hated trying to sit up and even acted like it hurt. She was so used to laying down most of the time. Even then she was a little fighter. Her strong-willed personality showed through right from the very beginning. (this is a crazy pic of me, but it shows how tiny AP was)

This is my blog entry from 1 year ago today from the blog we kept while travelling.

"We are here and all accounted for! There is so much to say that I don't even know where to begin. Let's see...somewhere between Nashville and Chicago I developed pink eye! But, by divine intervention, our flight landed in the same terminal that housed the Univ of Chicago Med Ctr clinic. I was able to walk in, see a doc, confirm that I very much had pink eye, get meds, and move on. We made it just in time to board our flight to Istanbul. I knew that pink eye would more than likely spread through all of us and I didn't want to leave the US without eye drops. Anyway, the rest of our flights were smooth sailing. Turkish Air was really nice. They gave C a backpack full of little activities and we all got slippers and toiletries, much nicer than I expected. We met the the other family in Turkey. We all made it to our hotel in Bishkek at about 3 am on Sunday. Our trip to the orphanage was first, so we had to be at b'fast by 8. We slept (or pretended to) for about 3 hours, then we were up. We left at 9 to go to AP's orphanage. It was about an hour drive, not too bad. We passed so many animals along the way that C asked if we were at a zoo. We finally got to the orphanage and when we walked in the staff were distracted and we picked our girl out right away. She seemed so happy to see us, although we know now that she is just a happy baby. She also thinks that A is funny looking. All he has to do is look at her and she starts laughing. She is smaller than we expected, but most of the 9 month clothes are fitting. She is starting to grow hair. Basically, she is a beautiful little princess. She stays in bed throughout the night, but she woke up about on the hour. I think this is mostly b/c we don't have the best sleeping arrangements quite yet. C has been such a trooper! He is a great big brother. The hardest part for him has been adjusting to the time difference. I think he has told me that he was sleepy a million times. We are all sleepy. Right now both the angels are asleep, I hope they stay in sync like that. AP can crawl and is into everything. We almost lost our entire dinner last night when she decided she needed the tablecloth. Ok, I am rambling and paying by the minute to update everyone. We are all here and happy, kind of healthy. Did I mention that C got pink eye too? I'll try to update again soon."

Here we are 1 year later. We had a low key little party at our house tonight to celebrate her special day. Ironically, or sadly, I was wearing the same shirt today that I was wearing 1 year ago!

This is AP saying "TahDAh and jumping off the coffee table! We ordered a cake that said "Happy Gotcha Day AP". Hubs and I got her a little jewelry to celebrate. Our girl loves her bling!

Baba's To Go

Tonight we went to Boompa and Baba's house for dinner. However, within the first thirty minutes of arriving, Boompa starting feeling really bad, like flu bad. He worsened pretty quickly, so we hightailed it outta there. But not before Baba packed up some of the dinner she had cooked to take home with us. We were so hungry on the drive home and the food smelled soooooo good, but it was worth the wait.

Thanks Baba! Hope you feel better Boompa!

You turn your head for just a second...

While C and I were studying his verse for Awana tonight, this is how AP decided to make use of her time. There were Q-Tips EVERYWHERE. She did help clean them up, though, so I couldn't be too mad.

For the Cutie Patootie Outfit

Worthy of Both Blogs

I ran TEN miles today! Thanks K for pushing me :)

Not Just An Illusion

We went to see a Christian illusionist at church tonight. It was actually really cool. He even explained most of his tricks b/c he was big on us knowing that these things are just that...illusions, and that there is no real magic. A lot of his illusions incoprporated Biblical principles. We brought C in for the illusions (there was childcare and C had dinner with his friends) and he was really into it. He got called on stage to help out with one illusion involving ropes. The illusionist asked C to stretch out the rope, I guess to prove that it was real. He went on to tell the audience a story and C interrupted and said "I'm tired" really loud, the whole audience laughed at him. Then at another point the illusionist said to C "I assume you always obey your parents". C was quiet then looked at me and said really loud "but I don't, Mom." Again everyone laughed. It was really cute and I wish I had had my camera or video recorder.

Tonight we started reading a Read Along Bible that the kiddo's paternal great grandmother gave them. I think it will be really neat to read a chapter a night until we have read the whole Bible.

My Valentines

When did Valentines Day become the next Christmas Eve? I'm not complaining, I'm just saying my kiddos were gifted today like it was Christmas. Thanks to Uncle, Nanna, Boompa and Baba for all the cool gifts.

balloons from uncle

There was a slight battle over the packing peanuts from Nanna

Until C found a bag of chocolate and started dancing and singing "Oh yeah, oh yeah".

C listening to a musical card from Nanna, AP later took this card and ran, she liked it better than hers , it sang "who let the dogs out"

Hubs and I divided up our V-day shopping. I bought presents for my little man...

and he bought gifts for his little princess.

Stampin His Heart Out

C and I made his Valentines for his friends tonight. C is a very meticulous stamper. He pushed down so hard I thought the table might cave in, even after I repeatedly told him he didn't have to push that hard. They turned out great. His friends may not appreciate his hard work, but his Mommy sure does!

Success on Accident

Guess who did some business in her potty tonight?

Seven!

My friend J and I made it seven miles (running) this morning! We did walk up a few of the big hills, but not very far. Yay! Hubs met one of his friends at the crack of dawn and ran five!

America's Newest and Cutest Citizen

We went to court this morning for AP's re-adoption. Her adoption was final in Kyrg, but to become a citizen due to the type of visa she entered the US on she had to be re-adopted in TN. We were surprised that there were actually 3 families in our small county courthouse for adoptions this morning. It was pretty much a non-event, our attorney just had us verify our adoption process and affirm that we knew AP was our responsibility forever. The judge asked C if he wanted him to make her his sister and C said yes. He was a really nice judge, he posed for pics and asked us to send him one. Bye bye green card (even though it's not really green)!

Another Fun Date with C

Saturday, C and I started out the day by going to see a play. We went to see The 3 Little Pigs at the Belcourt Theatre in a historic part of Nashville. We went with one of C's little girlfriends and her mother. The kiddos were really into the play. They huffed and puffed and help blow houses down. There was adult humor in the play, too, which kept us moms entertained. The Big Bad Wolf actually owned a mortgage company and was taking the straw and stick houses back b/c one owed a balloon payment and the other had an ARM mortgage and couldn't pay up!

After the play we walked around the village area. We walked to a little pizza place and enjoyed a 5 cheese artichoke pizza. Guess who saw his shadow on Groundhog Day?

They couldn't believe that their shadows were chasing them! After lunch we browsed a little used bookstore. I stumbled upon a great find for C. This is an Eloise childrens book. She visits Russia and tours several museums, theaters, restaurants, and other sites. There are many Russian words and it even mentioned the tiny town that C's orphanage is in!

After the bookstore and a quick run in the bakery for a cookie, we walked to Dragon Park, named after the tiled mosaic huge dragons in the center.

It was a very fun date with my little man and our friends. C was soooo tired when we got home. Then yesterday we went to a Superbowl party with friends from church. Check out how cute these are...I made them for the party.

They are cupcakes! I can't take credit for the idea, though. I saw it on another adoptive mama's blog. Who knew you could bake ice cream cones?