The Littlest Tsarina

2011 in Photos

2012-01-02T09:25:00.016-06:00

Since I clearly do not have time to blog on a regular basis anymore, and I really miss documenting our family memories, I decided to sum up 2011 in photos. So I created a favorite photo for each month of 2011 (using picnik.com) followed by a collage of family photos.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and blessed 2012!

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Fall Break 2010 in Orlando

2011-01-16T23:32:00.009-06:00

So many parks, so much fun...

Lexi LOVED all the characters this year... her favorite was Goofy

Kissing Minnie's Nose

Park Hopping: on a shuttle bus on our way to Animal Kingdom.

We did Hollywood Studies, Animal Kingdom and Epcot all in one day. We mapped out our favorite rides and didn't miss a beat. Yes, we are Disney Pros like that! j/k Lexi and I enjoyed Beauty and Beast while Martin and the boys did the Rockin Roller Coaster. Everyone except Lexi loved the Kali River Raft ride. She did NOT like getting splashed even the tinniest bit. While the boys were on Mission to Space and Test Track, Lexi and I found all the characters, talked to Crush, and rode Finding Nemo.

Pirate's Dinner Adventure: Lexi and I cheered for the Princess while the boys enjoyed all the swashbuckling pirates. It was an interactive show and since we had front row seats, Martin was recruited to help defend the ship. Garrett was in a boat race. All the boys got to dress up with muskets. They ambushed the mean pirate and saved the princess! The food was good too!

We haven't been to SeaWorld in several years so everything was like new to us. Our condo in Orlando is right across the street from SeaWorld and we have watched the Kraken roller coaster from our balcony for years. Preston and Garrett were finally tall enough to ride it (several times) and all the boys loved Journey to Atlantis. Of course, Lexi loved the animals. Nolan got to shake fins with Seamore the SeaLion and Martin braved the splash zone with three boys at the Shamu Show.

Disney Quest: I think the boys could have stayed in there ALL DAY AND NIGHT! It is a video gamer's dream come true. Even I really enjoyed the interactive rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle raft ride. Lexi had fun in the arcade for little kids. She's a great air hockey player.

Note to self: never ride a simulated roller coaster ride created by Garrett.

On the monorail to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. They were so excited and there was so much to see that it was impossible to get them to smile and look at the camera. I gave up trying.

The Magic Kingdom is at its best during the special parties. We arrived at 4:00 pm and stayed until closing at Midnight. We rode all our favorite rides multiple times and left carrying huge bags of candy. In fact, the lines for candy were longer than for the rides. Liam was thrilled to finally get to ride Space Mountain.

Splash Mountain was so empty that when we got to the end of the ride, they told us we could stay on and go again. I got off because Martin was holding our place for the parade (with Lexi) and I didn't want to keep them waiting. But Nolan jumped over the seats to the front row and rode it all by himself. I still can't get over that my 8 year old wasn't afraid of going down that huge drop alone and in the dark. But not in the least. He. Loved. It! If the parade wasn't about to start I would have purchased his photo. Crazy kid!

Universal Studies Islands of Adventures: We had a blast there, but didn't manage our time wisely. We bought tickets for both parks, but only had time to ride two rides at Universal Studies. It closed early for their Scary Halloween party that night. But it was still a very fun day. I can't believe I let Preston talk me into riding the Incredible Hulk roller coaster with him. Oh. My. Goodness. It was the wildest thing I've ever experienced! My heart flutters just typing this.

Liam with ice-cream in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He wasn't tall enough to ride the main ride and since the line was over an hour, Liam, Lexi and I hung out for a while before going into the Castle to the baby swap room. It's hard to describe how amazing and realistic the ride is, but Martin and I were both a lovely shade of green afterward. It was brilliant, but I won't be signing up for broom riding lessons any time in the future.

While Martin, Preston and Garrett toured the Hogwarts castle (a.k.a. waited in line), we rode the Flight of Hippogriff. Liam sat in the front row by himself. Lexi and I were right behind him. For a girl who cries on rides like those silly little cars that go around in a circle at the fair.... she LOVED this roller coaster ride! Go figure! When the ride ended, there was a girl behind us who was crying. Lexi turned to her and said "That was AWESOME!" (We'll have to work on her empathy skills.)

What is the best thing about the Nickelodeon Resort?

Breakfast with Dora and Friends!

Garrett's Birthday Cupcake

Never too old (or too cool) for a hug from Boots!

I have videos of "Slime Time" by the (really nice) Nic pool. This is when a giant bucket of slime comes crashing down on anyone who dares to get in its path. The slime was really green water, but fun none-the-less.

Our family also got picked for a Slime Time Live show. Boy were we naive. What we thought was going to be a fair competition between two families was really fixed so the other team who actually paid big buck to get slimed (we paid nothing) would win no matter what. This was a hard lesson for our ultra competitive boys to learn, but now they understand that you can't always believe what you see on TV.

As a consolation prize, Preston got a whip cream pie. They gave him a choice of smashing in it his parent's face or his own. He choose to pie himself and did a 360 smash all around his head. I love that kid!!!!

Our room was super small and everything cost extra. Martin started calling it the "Nickle and Dime You Resort" instead of "Nickelodeon Resort" and the front desk would not let my sister's family visit us AT ALL even after their staff originally said it was okay (very rude indeed). So we'll probably never go back there, but it was fun for one day/night.

She's Three!

2010-10-22T14:04:00.011-05:00

I started this post in September of 2010 when my baby girl turned three years old. Better late than never, I guess.

Now, Lexi has been home for over two years and is still the sweetest bundle of energy. She has grown in so many ways. Her language has exploded and she talks non-stop. She dances and flips all over the house. Nothing can stand in her way when wants something. She definitely keeps us on our toes.

Sweet Princess, Alexis Katerina, you are loved beyond words. I thank God for you everyday!

Below are photos from Lexi's birthday party. She wanted a "Princess Mermaid" party. Other than that, her only request was her cake had to be all pink.

Cheese Dip and Cheetos - two of her favorite foods!

Nana brought the princess carousel pony rocking chair. Isn't it great!

#3 Pinata

I was looking for something more girly and pink, but Liam picked this number out. He was SO proud to show it to her that I couldn't say no.

Candy Grab!!! She knew exactly what to do!

The BEST birthday cakes are home-made. Our kids love creating their own cakes.

They may not be the most beautiful cakes, they sure make fun memories.

The bow on top was a music box that played Happy Birthday. Inside the box was a little prize for Lexi.

This is Lexi's BFF - Princess Jordan.

A spa fit for a Mermaid Princess and all her court.

Lexi also enjoyed playing in the fountains!

Present time!

Goodie Bag "Princess of Everything"

I had so much fun filling them with beaded necklaces, ring pops, princess silly bands, Disney Princes rings, and a mini lip gloss set (plus candy they collected from the pinata). Oh so very, very girly!

Close up of the oyster cookies from Family Fun mag. I forgot to put eyes on most of them, but the kids didn't notice. Lexi made the one with the pink pearl for herself.

This is how she spent most of her birthday... doing the Nestea Plunge!

My Beautiful Birthday Girl!

Look how much I've Grown!

2010-10-19T11:17:00.003-05:00

August 2009

August 2010

My little fishies!

2010-07-23T10:40:00.009-05:00

Lexi loves, loves, LOVES to swim. At least 100 times a day, we hear "Time to go swimmin? or "Wanna go swimmin wiff me?"

Here are a few videos of her swimming in the "little pool" as she calls it. She can also swim across the shallow end of the "big pool" if I am in the water with her. She jumps off the diving board (while telling me to "move back") and does cannon balls off the side. My favorite is her water ballet. We may have a future Olympic Synchronized Swimming competitor in our family. I can't get photos of that because I am always in the water with her, so you'll just have to trust me about how cute it is. The funny thing is that I don't know where she get her moves. She has never seen synchronized swimming or even gymnastics or ballet for that matter. But she can throw one leg in the air while floating on her back and then do a couple of twisting spins under water and come back up and do the splits over water. It's pretty amazing. Most of the time, she doesn't use a floatation devise, so I am her spotter. If I can get her to do it with her life jacket on, I'll try to video it. It's really cute -- especially when one of her brothers joins in!

These next videos crack me up because I just remembered that the boys were giving each other massages in the background. You can see Garrett working on Preston's feet and back. I should have put down the camera and got in line for that...

And one more...

And finally, to give equal billing to the boys, here is short clip from Nolan's birthday party. Nolan wanted to swim at night with the pool lights. As you can see, sometimes not all the boys take time to actually change into a swim suit. (They have been known to skinny-dip too, but that will NOT be filmed. Hehe! Thankfully, there are at least 10 acres between us and the neighbors.)

Looking for her Prince...

2010-07-22T14:12:00.014-05:00

Lexi found a frog in the pool filter...

So she gave it a kiss...

And another...

And then they jumped off into the sunset and lived "hoppily" ever after!

This little story played out today when I had my camera out by the pool. But apparently, it has happened quite often this summer.

According to Nolan, it is going to take Lexi a long time to find a boyfriend; and when she does, he'd better be a Prince.

When I asked why, he said, "Because she kisses frogs!"

2010-07-15T22:55:00.000-05:00

Before and After...

2010-06-29T00:12:00.003-05:00

June 2009

June 2010

My baby girl is growing up too fast!

More cruise photos...

2010-06-27T22:10:00.000-05:00

It was too hard to narrow them down, so any photo that was even slightly in focus I added. There are a few descriptions, but mostly, this post is just photos from our Carnival Cruise. They are in a random and somewhat reverse order.

We had a fantastic time! We drove to Florida and boarded the ship in Tampa. We cruised to the Grand Cayman island and Cozumel, Mexico. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. The food was out-of-this-world delicious.

I had heard that the C@mp C@rnival for kids was a great program, but on our ship it was terrible. It didn't really matter though because we loved hanging out with our kids the whole week.

My camera's auto focus and exposure abilities are not so great anymore. Perhaps I have dropped it a few too many times. I really need a new point and shoot camera that is both shock proof and water proof. Any suggestions?

Playing cards waiting to get off the ship.

Look at those sad faces because vacation is over - all but the 11 hour drive home.

Garrett bought a book that shows how to make towel animals.

He got pretty good at it. This is his sting ray mom and baby.

We discovered that "Margaritaville" in Grand Cayman has a water slide in the restaurant.

Very, very cool!

Garrett got to go on stage one night before the main show.

He was very proud of the metal he received.

This guy (in the white shirt) bicycled us all the way to meet our taxi in Cozumel.

Mini-golf on the Sports Deck was pretty windy.

Mayan Ruins. Aren't they amazing?

Nolan sitting on the Pirate Ship's plank in Grand Cayman.

He not only walked the plank, but he did a cannon ball off the top rails of the ship!

Captain Liam

Arrrg...

The mini drink umbrellas were a big hit.

Shark Boy vs. Dolphin Man

Dinner silliness

Beautiful Sunset

Preston chillaxing

Nothing says "vacation" like sandy toes...

Fun Water Park on the Riviera Deck

I simply love these curly locks

The Port in Tampa. We had a nice relaxing lunch and great visit with the Bellars. Then we noticed that no one was walking toward the ship anymore and our luggage was still in the car (in long term parking.) Can you say "panic"? But we were totally okay and made it on the ship with plenty of time to spare.

A few cruise photos

2010-06-21T23:55:00.005-05:00

More to come soon...

Gotta love all those Crocks!

2O1O Flood Photos

2010-05-04T15:45:00.017-05:00

The Springfield Greenway (at Legion Field)

Legion Field (this is Liam's baseball practice field)

The water came up over Highway 49 and covered the Fairgrounds all the way to the road going into Travis Price Park

This is the Schemerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville

Opry Mills Mall

Grand Old Opry

The General Jackson (behind Opry Mills Mall and Grand Old Opry)

Random picture of Nashville resident

Downtown Nashville

(you can see the Municipal Auditorium and the State Gov. buildings)

The Bicentennial Mall

Downtown Nashville (Riverfront Park and 1st Ave)

Downtown - corner of 1st Ave and Broadway

Lower Broadway

Bridgestone Arena was flooded because water was coming up through the drains

View of LP Field from 1st Ave

Inside LP Field

Tennessee Titans Practice facility (the Bubble)

This is one block away from my office in Metro Center.

Riverfront Drive in Clarksville

Two Rivers Mall in Clarksville

St. George Episcipal Church in Bellemeade

(beautiful church where Preston and Garrett have performed with Blair a few times)

A street in Belleview

This one made me laugh

I can't even imagine...

These next few photos look like post cards:

Landlocked

2010-05-03T12:34:00.001-05:00

Only in Country Music USA...

Should we start building an Ark?

2010-05-02T16:09:00.008-05:00

Wow, what a weekend! I have never seen so much rain. Ever.

At first I was grumbling about missing soccer and baseball games. But soon I realized how fortunate we are compared to what so many others are going through this weekend. They have literally lost everything. It's just so tragic.

Middle Tennessee is experiencing a major flood right now. In Downtown Nashville, the water levels are reaching the 500 year flood zone. On Saturday a portable school building floated down I-24 before breaking up. A BUILDING!

By Sunday, over 600 people had been rescued from their home by boat - and that's just the ones they have reached. Many more were still stranded. Bass Pro Shop at Opry Mills Mall has boats floating in the parking lot. Opryland Hotel had to evacuate 1500 people to a local high school. Southwest Airlines cancelled ALL flights into Nashville.

Roads within a few miles of my house were completely under water. Schools are closed.

Even my office is closed because the business center in Nashville where it is located was evacuated. We are beside the Cumberland River and the levee is leaking. My office has never closed in the almost 18 years I have worked there.

A friend posted on Facebook that her kids were kayaking in the back yard!!!

Lexi was supposed to go the IA clinic at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital tomorrow (just for a check-up), but the hospital was flooded too.

Our family is safe and dry. I am thankful that we live on a very large hill. Our nice little creek, however, was raging across the bottom of our driveway today. So while Lexi napped, the boys and I went on a little expedition this afternoon and hiked down to the part of the creek that is by the road.

Garrett said he felt like we were in the Rain Forest. Nolan said it was the greatest adventure ever!

The wooden foot bridge was washed off its foundation.
On the left, you can see all that remains of it.

This culvert usually has an 8 to 10 foot wall.

Martin and I took advantage of the boys' rained out sporting schedule and thoroughly cleaned the house this weekend. Plus, all my laundry is caught up! I guess there really is a silver lining in every cloud!

This Is Our Truth!

2010-04-15T12:51:00.008-05:00

This photo of Lexi was taken on a very special day. It was the day she had been a member of our family longer than she was an orphan.

In Russia, she lived in an institution with 99 other children and very few caregivers to meet only her basic needs. She was treated well, but not really special or favored in any way.

In our family, she has a Mommy, Daddy, four big brothers, a big sister, a niece, a Nana and Grandma, aunts, uncles, twelve cousins, two puppies and five cats, (plus our wonderful church family) who all love her very much. Martin and I would go to the moon and back to meet her needs.

We didn't go to Russia to rescue an orphan. We went there to bring home our daughter. And she has blessed our family beyond words.

Her smile lights up the room! She is full of life, love and joy!

Our adoption story is about a match made in Heaven!

It all started back in 1992, when Martin and I first started dating. I don't remember exactly how the conversation came up, but we were discussing how horrible it was that baby girls in China were being abandoned simply because they were not boys. We both agreed that we wanted to adopt a little girl from China... someday. Five years later, as we planned our wedding we still talked about adopting from China. What we didn't know back then was that as soon as we were married God had four boys (within five years) planned for us first. I must admit, there were days when I thought my dream of having a daughter was lost forever.

When our youngest son was just about to turn three years old, our good friends were in China with their two sons getting ready to bring home their daughter. We followed their adoption journey vicariously through photos and emails. It was March 2007 and that's when Martin said, "It's now or never. If we are ever going to adopt, NOW is the time!" Little did he know that I had already contacted an adoption agency that same week and discovered that we no longer qualified for China -- too old, too many children in the home already, etc. So we switched gears and started researching countries and gathering tons of information on both domestic and international adoption. Russia had not even been on my radar, but after sorting through all the materials, we discovered it was definitely the best fit.

As soon as we signed with the first agency in April 2007, Russian adoptions were coming to a screeching halt while adoption agencies around the world awaited a new reaccreditation certificate (now called "Permits") from Russia's Ministry of Education. Because of this I took my time preparing our home study paperwork. But toward the end of the summer 2007, I began to have doubts about whether or not we were with the right agency. Wait times for girls between the ages of 2 and 5 grew from "12 months start to finish" to "18 to 24 months from dossier submission". On September 18th, 2007 I blogged about my concerns. But something wonderful also happened that very day... a sweet little girl was born in a Siberian hospital. She was a few weeks early and only weighed 5.6 pounds, but she was PERFECT in every way!

In November 2007, we switched agencies and completed our dossier by February 2008. Then the real wait for a referral began. In June 2008, we finally received THE CALL! Imagine our surprise when we were informed that we had been matched with a b.a.b.y. When our director told me her birthday was September 2007, it took me a moment to realize that she was only seven months old. We were expecting a little girl between 2 and 4 years old. Martin and I discussed it for about 30 seconds before saying "Yes!"

We received three photos of our soon-to-be daughter on the day after Father's Day. What a great Father's Day gift! This is what we saw:

We couldn't wait to get on a plane to meet her, but wait we did. We didn't get to travel on Trip One until the end of July. In the meantime, our first set of VISAs expired and we had to pay for new ones. Ouch!

On July 31, 2008, we finally met our little Lexi. She was tiny, quiet and very serious. We could not get her to smile or show any emotion. She was not interested in toys. All she wanted to do was sit in our lap and be held. She drank water from a tin cup. My heart was both elated and broken at the same time. We got to visit her for two hours each morning and afternoon for three days. Every time we had to hand her back to the caregivers was harder than the last. Leaving her there after our last visit was one of the most difficult moments of my life.

Four long months later, in November 2008, we finally received a court date. We left Nashville the Saturday after Thanksgiving and arrived in the very cold and snowy Novokuznetsk, Russia. In case you were wondering, Siberian winters are beyond cold. The weather is downright frigid. We discovered first hand that -40 degrees is the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. And that's actual temperature, not including the wind chill factor. Yet our hotel room was so hot we had to sleep with the windows cracked open.

Our days in Novokuznetsk were a whirl-wind. We did our in-country medical exams and then got to visit Lexi one more time. Court was the next day in Kemerovo, a three hour drive each way across the frozen tundra going way too fast for the icy road conditions. Finally, on December 3, 2008, we walked out of Baby Home #1 carrying our daughter. She was 14 months old. As soon as we got her back to our hotel room and started peeling off her snow suit, Lexi started to smile. Then she started to giggle! It was like somehow she knew. She knew that her mom and dad had come to take her home forever. I fell to my knees and thanked God for being so good to us. We introduced her to our anxiously awaiting family and friends back home with this scrapbook from Smilebox.com. It still brings happy tears to my eyes!

She was an angel on the four hour flight to Moscow. A sweet Russian lady seated across the aisle played finger games with her and kept smiling at us. She sang her a Russian lullaby. Another lady offered us her seat on the bus at the airport. I found the people of Russia to be most kind and gracious.

As we were flying back to Moscow from Novokuznetsk, a family friend was escorting our boys from Nashville to Moscow. We met at the Moscow Marriott for a joyous family reunion. The boys were crazy about their little sister. It felt wonderful to have my whole family together at last. We all explored Red Square and Old Arbat Street. We ice-skated in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. We had wonderful meals and some not-so-wonderful meals. And even with five kids in tow, we never went to McDonalds. The city was decorated with enormous Christmas / New Year's trees every where. It was both beautiful and magical.

We arrived home a week later to a crowd of cheering friends at the airport. My mom had cleaned our home and stocked the pantry and refrigerator. It was a surreal feeling to see our baby girl sitting in our living room floor playing with an Elmo toy. But we have never looked back for even a moment. Despite what she may have missed in her first year of life, Lexi is the sweetest child and so loving and affectionate. Her attachment and bonding started from day one. There were a few issues we had to work through and some institutional behaviors that subsided over time. But overall, I can't imagine how we could have had a smoother transition.

For every delay, every piece of paperwork, every frustration, every penny pinched, every worry, every heartache, and every gray hair on my head... I say she's worth it! Lexi is worth all that and soooo much more! Oh, how we love that girl!

We Are The Truth

2010-04-12T13:06:00.001-05:00

From JCICS:

"A Campaign and Call to Action

The outrageous treatment of Artyem by his adoptive family has rightfully resulted in outrage by the Governments of Russia and the United States and all who care about children. The tragedy has cast a light on intercountry adoption that says it is not safe, the system failed and adopted children cause insurmountable problems. The heartbreak of Artyem Saviliev’s abandonment has once again elevated a singular incident to a level which may result in the suspension of intercountry adoption. Suspending adoption, even temporarily, will only cause thousands of children to suffer the debilitating effects of life in an orphanage.

You, the community of adoptees, adoptive parents, adoptive grandparents, child welfare professionals and child advocates know that the outrageous and indefensible actions of one parent are not indicative of how children are treated by adoptive families. You know that families who encounter difficulties do not simply abandon their child. You know that help is available, that solutions are found and that families can thrive. And you know that suspending adoption does not protect children but only subjects them to the depravity of an institution…and an entire life without a family.

You, the adoption community know the truth. You live the truth. You are the truth.

Join our campaign to bring the truth to light and help children in need find a permanent and safe family.

We Are The Truth – an adoption blogger day:

To ensure the world knows about every successful adoption, on Thursday, April 15, 2010 blog about your adoption or the adoption of someone you know. It doesn’t matter if your adoption is with Russia, domestic or otherwise international. Let the world know your truth!"

Stay Tuned for our TRUTH!

Ready for the Hunt

2010-04-01T10:34:00.006-05:00

Lexi couldn't wait to get to Preschool today. I wanted to take some photos of her on this beautiful morning, but after the first cheesy pose, she was done. I kept following her around with the camera instead of loading into the car so she decided it might be faster to pedal her way to school. You see her class is having an Easter Party today and she is all about parties - especially ones with lots of candy. She helped me stuff twelve eggs to contribute to the traditional egg hunt. I was very proud how my little chocolate fiend used her slowly emerging self-control skills to NOT eat all the chocolate before we got to school.

Oh, such a cheesy smile!

I just love her cute little top.

It's one of the few articles of clothing that she hasn't out-grown in a month.

Last year it was a dress!

April 2, 2009

Buttercup Brook

2010-03-25T23:59:00.005-05:00

This is the time of year that I am reminded of why living in the country is so nice. My favorite flower is in full bloom and they are everywhere on our property! And the best thing is I don't need a green thumb to make them so gorgeous and they have zero maintenance. I only wish they would last longer than just a few weeks. I simply love having fresh flowers in my house. And we have soooo much fun taking wagon rides down to the flowers, picking bouquets for teachers, and playing hide and seek in them. Lexi yells "B-cups!" every time we go down the driveway. And "yellow" has become her new favorite color.

The boys' favorite thing is to pick the top of a flower and then race them down the creek. They compete to see whose flower can float down the creek the fastest while avoiding all the obstacles, dams and boobie-traps they have built. There was even one part of the creek called "Pirate's Doom" (or something like that) where the boys threw rocks trying to sink each other's flower. Jeez, that's boys for you. I'll bet someday (hopefully in the distant future) they'll be picking bouquets for girlfriends instead of chopping the heads off and sending them sailing down the creek.

A friend recently drove by our house and decided to name our land "Buttercup Brook". I think the name just might stick!

"Buttercup Brook"

The creek is just behind the tree line

Picking flowers for their teachers

I finally remembered that I have a Blog!

2010-03-24T13:55:00.001-05:00

Now if I can just find more time in the day to keep it updated!

Liam at his first Fiddle Competition

He walked right out on the stage and played "Boil the Cabbage Down"

without missing a note. He was competing against kids up to age 10 most of whom who were extremely good. But I was so proud of him for doing his best!

As soon as the Pee Wee fiddle competition was over, I had to run Liam home for baseball practice and pick up Garrett for his competition. Nolan and Lexi came with me while Martin took Preston and Liam to baseball. Lexi loved the music and was dancing through the halls and tried to dance onto the stage. Nolan, on the other hand, passed an old-timers band rehearsing outside and whispered to me, "I don't think they will place very high." Considering that his fiddle playing days only lasted about 3 months, I don't think he is a huge fan of Bluegrass.

Garrett can clean up pretty good sometimes too!

He placed third in his category.

His prize money was burning a hole in his pocket so we had to hit Toys-r-u$ on the way home.

More snow?

2010-02-24T11:26:00.003-06:00

I was going to post about how this was the first day since early January that there was not even a trace of snow in our yard. But.... it's snowing again.

We have had a very cold and snowy winter here in the South. I have tons of photos and videos of the kids sledding, building snow forts, our snowman, and eating yummy snow cream. But it may have finally lost its appeal (except the getting out of school part.) During the last snow fall only Nolan and Liam even went outside. Lexi is not a fan of the snow at all this year. Looks like we got her out of Siberia just in the nick of time. We are all ready for Spring!

I really want to do a bunch of catch-up posts. January and February have been busy and fun. Hopefully, I'll find more time soon.

For a sneak peak of Lexi's "Puppy Love", check out this blog.

Puppies (and a long story)

2010-01-29T22:15:00.012-06:00

I would like to formally introduce our new puppies.

But first, I have to say that Lexi is the biggest animal-loving child I've ever known. She is my little helper when it comes to feeding, grooming, playing, and cleaning up after all our pets. She loves our cats too, but they don't always appreciate her hugs and kisses. The puppies, however, are both so playful and tons of fun. They are fast becoming best friends!

Weighing in at 3.0 pounds, this cute little guy is JoJo.
He is sweet, calm, and very snugly.

Weighing in at a whopping 3.5 pounds is Stroodles.

She is a week older and very energetic.

She tends to boss JoJo around at bit, but is just as sweet.

The boys decided on names right away and they stuck before I had a chance to make suggestions.

If you are a long time follower of this blog, you may be wondering where our beloved WookiEwok is these days.

Well, it's a long story, but he is living at my mom's house.

We got Wookie in May 2008 and he was the best dog in the world until Lexi came home in December. I was so busy looking for signs of attachment or orphanage issues with Lexi and making sure that Liam didn't have a hard time losing baby status that it never occurred to me that the "real" baby in our home (i.e. Wookie) was the one having trouble adjusting. He was very sweet with Lexi so that wasn't the problem.

We were gone for two weeks and came home with a baby that needed lots of attention. We rocked his world and didn't even know it.

What happened is that he went from being reliably house trained to deliberately pooing in the house. He was sneaky about it at first, but then it became outright defiance. His favorite spots were on the master bathroom rug (usually while I was showering) and the playroom carpet. Then, he started this thing where I would take him out the front door to do his business and as soon as I turned my head, he ran around to the back door, entered the house through the pet door, ran to the playroom carpet, proceeded to poo, and then came running back to find me looking all like "What, I didn't do anything wrong?" The little stinker.

Once I discovered what he was doing, I would only take him out with a lease. That didn't stop him. So we tried crating him most of the day and bringing him out hourly to go poo. He refused to relieve himself outside and would even poo inside his crate. This went on for over a month. Changing Lexi's poopy diapers were bad enough. I didn't need more poo to deal with and was ready to pull my hair out over the whole ordeal.

So I took him over to my mom's house last February for a little "respite" care. She had kept him for us while we were in Russia and going to her house was like a doggy vacation. I knew he would be happy and well cared for, but what I didn't count on was her ~~stealing~~ falling in love with him and not wanting to give him back. She still says he loves her best. Grrrrr. ~~She certainly wouldn't have threatened to sue me for custody or anything.~~ The boys begged me all Summer to bring Wookie home. It was hard to explain that it was not going to be so simple. They got to play with Wookie again at the pet show in the Robertson County fair. He even won Best of Show with Preston. The begging continued into the Fall and the first item on any of the kids' Christmas list was a new puppy (if not Wookie).

Then, in November, I ran into Wookie's breeders at a Chili Supper for Preston and Garrett's school. They told me that Wookie's mom and dad were expecting puppies any day and offered us the first pick of the litter. They also said the puppies should be ready by Christmas Eve. That's when I decided to surprise the kids. I must add that I offered to let my mom have 1st pick of the litter if she would give us back Wookie, but she didn't go for it.

A few days before Thanksgiving I took my mom, my sister, my nephew and nieces to pick out our newest family member. I really wanted a girl this time (not sure why). There were two litters to choose from. The other litter shared Wookie's dad too. The only girl out of two entire litters was a little black one. But I also adored the tiny little light cream one that was Wookie's brother. Oh, they were sooooooooooo cute and it was sooooooooooo hard to choose.

I mean seriously, look at those cute little faces.

And the puppies are pretty cute too! Ha Ha - couldn't resist!

So, I decided to get both!

It turns out (so far anyway) that my indecision was actually a very good thing. These two are best buddies. They sleep and play together and then sleep and play and sleep some more. They never whine or cry at night. They are both doing well with the house-training thing. They are awesome when the weather is nice. Not so much when it's cold and snowy.

In order to keep the Christmas surprise, my mom picked the puppies up for me on Christmas Eve and brought them over on Christmas morning. With all the excitement that day, Liam and Nolan still think Nana gave them the puppies for Christmas....and that's okay, it smooths over the whole "Nana took Wookie and won't give him back".

My blog friend, Jen, asked how we can handle puppies with five kids. The answer is it was kind of hard at first because they were very much like newborn babies. We had to teach Lexi to be gentle and how to hold and carry them. (She thought she could carry them around by the neck like she does with her baby dolls, but we didn't let her.) It took several days, but now she is great with them. We still watch her very closely with them. I'll be the first to admit that taking puppies outside fifty times day and night can be a real pain. BUT, they are worth all the trouble. The boys take turns on potty duty when they are home from school and, like I said earlier, Lexi is my biggest helper. She constantly reminds me to take them out and feed them. ;0) They sleep in a crate together at night and seem to really enjoy their home. We won't give them full run of the house until they are completely ready.

We all LOVE "Puppy Playtime!"

The King is Exhausted

2010-01-10T20:58:00.004-06:00

So tonight Nolan was singing a Twila Paris song he heard during the worship service at church this morning. He was singing, "He is exhausted, the King is exhausted on high..."

Preston corrected him saying, "Exalted, the word is EXALTED!"

Seeing this as a great teaching moment, I proceeded to explain the meaning of "exalted" as opposed to "exhausted". For example, "noble, honored, prestigious, superior, grand, uplifted, etc."

Nolan, with a little giggle said, "Oh, I thought God was exhausted because, you know, it was the seventh day!"

We were all laughing so hard at that point that the teaching moment was over.

Kids... you gotta love 'em!

I think he has me beat when it comes to mixing up lyrics. When I was a kid, I used to totally butcher the 1977 Kenny Rogers song:

"You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille...with four ~~hungry~~ HUNDRED children and a crop in the field..."

What song lyrics did YOU misunderstand as a child????

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:22:00.015-06:00

I'm looking forward to seeing what 2010

has in store for us!

We had a nice quiet family dinner at home and then spent the rest of the evening playing games and just hanging out with each other. We always watch the ball drop in New York and yell Happy New Year while toasting our sparkling grape juice and popping confetti. That was as far as Lexi and I made it this year, but Martin and the boys all stayed up until the guitar dropped in Nashvegas!

Confetti on the head seems to have become somewhat of a tradition at our house:

New Year's Eve 2007 - 2009 (Blogger won't let me label the photos)

What a difference a year makes in the life of a child! Lexi has grown in so many ways this year. She is no longer the tiny baby that came into our lives last Christmas, unable to walk or talk and hesitant to even cry. Today she has a vibrant personality, is full of smiles, hugs and kisses, and is probably the loudest child in our home. She is determined, sweet, funny and has finally discovered baby dolls, hair bows, and playing dress-up -- although she would still rather play cars or football with her brothers. She climbs, runs, flips, and talks up a storm even if we don't always understand her. If you don't acknowledge her when she is talking she will get louder and louder until she has your full attention. She does NOT like being told no, would rather eat chocolate all day, everyday, and had a major melt-down this morning because there were no more presents to unwrap. But then again, she is all two!

A year later, she will now ask to be my baby when she wants to be held and rocked in my arms. This only started a few months ago. Before that, she would allow me to rock her occasionally (usually she was too busy), but she seemed uncomfortable and unable to fully relax. Now, she loves it and asks for more. She is very good at taking turns and keeping everyone in their place. She can be a bit bossy. Her transition into our family was seamless. Looking back, I can see the progress she has made, the troubles we had (and have) and the adjustments we all needed to make, but each moment in time felt normal, not like we were trying to overcome something. I prepared for the worst possible scenario and was blessed with the best. I am certain that in 2010, Lexi will continue to blossom with all the love showered upon her by Martin and me and all her big brothers. 2009 was a year of many changes for our family. It had its ups and downs, but overall, I'll chalk it up as being a very good year. I can't wait to see what 2010 will bring.

These are a few of their favorite things

2009-12-29T17:46:00.003-06:00

For Nolan, it would be his Tampa Bay Bucs jersey. Preston and Garrett have been playing Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 on the Wii and The Sims 3 Community PC game pretty much non-stop. Liam loves all his Hot Wheels sets.

And as for Lexi... there is the Talking Spring Horse from Nana that comes in a close 2nd... but her favorite by far would be our new puppies!

Much more about these little cuties coming soon...

Santa's been here!

2009-12-29T16:48:00.000-06:00

Getting Ready for Christmas

2009-12-29T16:21:00.003-06:00

The Christmas Tree was full of watermelon flavor candy canes. We wondered how Lexi was able to reach them.

It soon became evident.

Here she is pointing to a new ornament that my sister sent me. It has almost all the grandchildren and Nana (my mom) and was taken at Thanksgiving this year. It's very precious.

I love this photo with her Russian Bear. She loves him so much.

We spent Christmas Eve-Eve making Sugar cookies...

Nolan discovered that if you put too much sugar and too many sprinkles on a cookie, the dough will not cook all the way through. I tried to tell him, but this was a lesson he had to learn for himself.

The kids could hardly wait for the cookies to come out of the oven!

They may not be as beautiful as Martha Stewart's cookies, but they still tasted great and the kids had fun making them.

That's all that really matters, right?

Lexi couldn't wait to eat with everyone else. She insisted on sampling everything first and then enjoyed sitting at the bar with the big boys.

We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with Martin's side of the family: Michael, Elaine and Grandma. Grandma and Elaine (a.k.a. Auntie Bunner) catered. Chicken, broccoli, Syrian Rice, Brownies and Pumpkin Pie. Yum! Almost everyone in the photos have their mouths full. Sorry. I may not be the best photographer, but at least I got proof that everyone enjoyed the great meal. ☺

Blogger Upgrade -- Update

2009-12-27T19:18:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I figured out how to get back the old way of editing posts. I went to Customize - Global Settings - Select Post Editor. There is a choice between "Updated" or "Old Editor" and a third choice that is not applicable. I choose Old Editor and saved changes. Whew, thank goodness!

There were some nice features to the updated editor. For example, the strike through feature is on the tool bar. You can upload photos faster and once they are in your post, placing your mouse over the photo will give you the option of making that photo small, medium, large or extra large and you can select left, center or right. BUT... moving those photos around is NOT EASIER and I will go so far as to say it is MUCH HARDER. Spell check was removed from the tool bar, heaven forbid. But the worst thing was that blogger stopped notifying me email when someone left a comment. So all that may be user problem, (i.e. me) but I did not find the updated editor to be user-friendly at all.

I discovered that it is pretty simple to move photos around in the old editor by simply going into edit Html mode and using cut and paste. For our next blog, I will be looking around for a new blog editor. Anyone have a favorite to recommend???

Edited: BooHoo. Blogger is still not sending me emails with comments. What have I done wrong?

Blogger upgrade is bringing me down

2009-12-24T00:36:00.001-06:00

To my fellow Blogspot friends:

Help! I was playing with blogger the other day and came across an option for an upgrade that would provide more editing options, more HTML options, and it promised to make moving photos around in a post much easier. I clicked it and the upgrade was automatic. Now, I wish I could go back. The upgrade no longer has spell check and the Comment Notification Email does not work anymore. Anyone else had a problem with this and do you know how to fix it?

Thanks, Kim

All I want for Christmas is...

2009-12-24T00:20:00.000-06:00

...a puppy, my daddy, and my mommy. That was the Christmas wish list Lexi prepared at preschool. (Notice who gets top billing - I sure hope Santa is able to work some magic there.) But even if I am third on her list, I think my heart swelled bigger than the Grinch's when I read it.

I got my best Christmas present ever last year and it was a gift from God that keeps on giving. I just love my sweet girl. I've mentioned before how much Liam loves his sister, but all her brothers continue to adore her. Nolan told me yesterday that last year was his most special Christmas because that's when we got Lexi.

Preston had a writing assessment at school on December 2 -- Lexi's "Gotcha Day". He didn't know what the question prompt would be and he was nervous about having to write five paragraphs on a subject with which he may be unfamiliar. When I picked him from school that afternoon, I asked him about the writing assessment. Preston said, "Oh, it was really easy. The question was 'What was your best Christmas present?' I could have written even more, but almost ran out of time during my conclusion." So, I asked him what he said and he looked at me as if I should already know. He said, "Of course, I wrote all about going to Russia to bring Lexi home!" He didn't even realize that was the very day we were celebrating our first year together. I could have cried right there in the car trying to drive everyone home from school. I am going to ask his teacher for a copy.

Another quick story about how much her brothers love their little sister and she loves them: Yesterday, Garrett was out of school early so he went with me to pick up Lexi. He was so excited to get her. She was playing in the big playroom when we arrived so he asked if he could be the first person she saw. I said sure, and then stood behind the door while he went in. He called her name and held out his arms for a hug. As soon as she saw him, she stopped in her tracks and starting shaking with excitement before running to him. He told me later that there is no better feeling in the world than seeing how happy she was to see him.

I am thankful beyond words to have children who love each other so much. Sure there is fighting and crying and tattling and all the other normal kid stuff, but they really are each others' best friends. And that is a true blessing. Tomorrow night on Christmas Eve, they will all climb in Preston's bed and sleep together. It's a tradition they have doing for as long as Liam has been out of his crib. On Christmas morning Martin and I will find all their smiling faces gathered together waiting for us.

Here are a few photos from Lexi's preschool event called "Christmas Around the World". Lexi's teacher choose Russia in honor of Lexi. She came dressed as the Russian Snow Maiden.

She loved spinning around in her dress and pink boots. She is carrying her favorite bear, Mishka, that she got in Russia. The front desk at the Moscow Marriott gave it to her and she has slept with him every night and every nap since. Heaven forbid we ever lose this bear. (But we have one back-up just in case.)

Her classroom displayed many of the items we purchased in Russia

The Christmas tree is decorated with Russian Doll ornaments. We are saving them and plan to give Lexi one new ornament each year, but I put them all on this tree to show them off for her school program.

Lexi checking out the ornaments on our tree. It is pretty sparse this year because we didn't use very many of our breakable ornaments. Hopefully, by next Christmas that won't be a problem anymore.

I think this pose means she is DONE with the camera!

So, I took one last photo of silly Nolan trying on his stocking!

Christmas Card Photos ***edited

2009-12-20T14:55:00.014-06:00

Edit: My mom just informed me that I didn't sign her Christmas card. Oops! Good thing she recognized her grandchildren. I wonder which other cards didn't get signed. Guess that's what happens when you try to multi-task one too many things. ☺

I ~~finally~~ made a new header for my blog! Of course, it will be out of season in just a few days. Oh well. It's a start. I made that photo in my attempt to get our Christmas cards out. Despite my best efforts and ~~demands, pleading, begging, jumping up and down, and standing on my head,~~ calm and gentle reminders for the kids sit still, all look at the camera at the same time, stop sticking out tongues (Lexi), no goofy faces, no rabbit ears over your brother's head, and by all means, please just smile.... I couldn't get one decent photo.

So I made a photo collage that is now my blog header. It's really cute, but unfortunately, when I printed it as a 4 x 6 photo, the faces were all too small. Sigh.

Then, out of the blue, without prompting, I happen to notice that all my kids were playing (nicely, I might add) in a red plastic boat. And they were all happy. So I whipped out my ever-handy camera and snapped one shot. Lo and behold, it worked! It's not perfect by any means. Nolan's head looks huge, the boys are not dressed in nice Christmasy sweaters, and I didn't like the background, so it took some time to crop all that out. But, hey, beggars can't be choosy.

At least Lexi is wearing her Russian Snow Maiden costume.

Starting January 1st, I will be saving up for next year's photo and will let the professionals work their magic! I'm done.

I didn't think I would get photos of Preston and Garrett with Santa this year. Thankfully, he paid a visit to their school for me. Did you know that it is not considered cool for a 6th grader to sit in Santa's lap? Good thing Preston is a good sport!

I think Santa lost one of his little elves!

Lexi at the N@shville Symph0ny waiting for the NSO children's Christmas concert to begin.

There was an animated cow in the lobby named "Moosy". Lexi loved her.

Nolan and Liam thought it was a bit silly.

After the concert, Preston and Garrett were in a quick group shot of the Boy Choir and Concert Choir outside the Schermerh0rn Symph0ny Center

The performance was wonderful, but I know all the boys are glad to get a break until the next symphony concert series in February.

Home for the Holidays - NSO

2009-12-12T21:43:00.005-06:00

On Thursday night, Preston and Garrett, along with the Blair Boy Choir and Concert Choir, performed with the Nashville Symph0ny 0rchestra for the Home for the Holidays concert. The music was wonderful and the singing was heavenly! Martin and I had balcony seats that were right above the stage where the choir was seated. It was our Date Night and really helped put me in the Christmas spirit!

Then, on Friday night, Preston and Garrett performed in Blair's Winter Concert. Last year, we had been home from Russia with Lexi for ONE DAY when they sang in this concert. It was the first time I dressed Lexi up in a party dress and got to show her off. Unfortunately, she was not interested in the music or sitting quietly at all, so we spent most of the time in the stair well and walking around the lobby. This year was so much better. She listened to about 75% of the concert while sitting in my lap and seemed to be in awe of the music. After every song she clapped the loudest and yelled "More!" while signing the word for more. It was very sweet and I was happy to not have to sit in the stair well again.

Lexi tried sitting in her own seat, but she's not quite heavy enough to keep it from folding her in 1/2. She got a big kick out of that! But, since it was a full house, I decided she was better off in my lap anyway. The funny thing was that she kept shaking her finger at the seats and saying "No, no, no, seat. No eat Lexi!"

Here are a bunch of photos from the past two nights.

Red Bow Ties for the Christmas Concert

Click the photo and the green arrows will show you Preston and Garrett

They were right in front of the drum section

Garrett looks so thrilled doesn't he? I couldn't resist putting a top hat on him!

2008 in Pink / 2009 in Purple

Oh, how she has grown!

She was such a baby last year. Now her favorite words are "I do wit!"

Still the little monkey, even in her pretty dress!

A collage of the seat folding Lexi in half - she is very flexible.

One Year Ago Tonight...

2009-12-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

...the Abraham family all arrived home after a long, quiet, sleepy, flight from Moscow, Russia, through Chicago O'Hara where Lexi's feet first touched US soil, all the way to the Nashville Airport where so many of our friends were patiently waiting with "Welcome Home" signs and cheering us on!

We were exhausted, but it was all so exciting and such a whirlwind of hugs, tears, and laughter. I'm not even sure who took this photo with my camera, but if I had to guess, it was our wonderful friend, Pam, who escorted our boys to Moscow and stayed there with us for a week. She surprised us by calling home and letting our friends know what time our flight was arriving in Nashville so they could all be there -- even though it was nearly 10:00 pm on a Wednesday night. She even convinced me to change Lexi into her cute clothes for the big reveal. I was seriously so tired that I was going to leave her in the pjs she wore on the plane. (Not that it really mattered but it sure makes for cuter photos.) Pam insisted that "Lexi will only have ONE first time home in America so do it up right!" I knew Pam had been on the phone at lot in Chicago, but I thought she was just calling her family. I had no idea!

Pam, if you are reading this, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Not just for letting people know when to come to the airport, but for EVERY THING you did for us in Moscow and as we flew home together. All your help with the boys and our new baby girl made everything seem so easy. I'll never forget our walks to the grocery store at 6:00 am in the cold dark Moscow rain with us trying so hard to blend in and do ruble conversions in our heads; or the long walk to Red Square and back; or our stroll down Arbat Street to the Hard Rock Cafe and Star Bucks. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY HERO !

Hello, America!

Lexi playing in our living room for the 1st time on December 10, 2008.

And here she is today...

Just because she is so stinking cute

2009-12-09T01:11:00.001-06:00

I'm honored!

2009-12-05T18:24:00.004-06:00

So I know it's been a while since I was tagged, but nevertheless, I am honored to have received a Blog Award! My friend, Jackie, over at Life in the Fish Bowl, tagged me with the "Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Award." Jackie is not only an awesome homeschooling, blogging, remodeling, recipes and money-saving tips sharer, God loving, organizing, Jr. Pro football Super-Bowling team mom to two exceptionally cute and smart Lego robot-building boys, but Jackie and her King Fish also brought their third precious son home from Russia nearly a year ago too. She is one of my most faithful blog readers and always leaves comments that brighten my day. Thank you, Jackie!

Now I am to list 10 random things about myself:

1) One the things that I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving is that I finally have enough pink and purple in my laundry to wash a load every few days. Silly, I know, but I waited a long time for those girly colors so I am enjoying every minute of it.

2) When I was in the 4th grade, I showed my first heifer in the livestock show at the TN State Fair. Her name was "Deborah". She was in heat the day of the show. I didn't know what that meant at the time. She went crazy in the ring and dragged me in circles, but I never let go. Deborah placed dead last in her class, but I won the showmanship award. I think the judges felt sorry for me.

3) I have worked for my current employer for over 17 years. I started working for my company the same week I started law school in 1992.

4) I don't like to talk on the phone very much, but could talk to my friends for hours face-to-face. This tends to drive my boys and husband a little crazy when they are trying to get me to leave somewhere like church.

5) I have had my Blackberry/cell phone for a almost year now and still don't know how to use all its features. I can actually answer the phone and retrieve voice-mails, but that took nearly 6 months. Who has time to read a manual that is thicker than "War and Peace"?

6) I read all the Twilight books and enjoyed them.

7) In the 8th grade, I broke my leg pole vaulting in some friends' front yard. Being the typical smart teenager (NOT), we weren't using the mat...it was in the back yard.

8) In college, I was in the Tri-Delt sorority. Delta, Delta, Delta, 3 times better!!!

9) Christmas is my all-time favorite time of the year. I start decorating in November. Christmas Pageants, Recitals, cute clothes, and the music are all wonderful, but what I enjoy most is our Advent Calender family tradition. I love read the Christmas story in Mathew and Luke to my children every night in December and listening to them read their Bibles to me now. It just makes my heart flutter!

10) I have reached an age where I can't remember how old I am anymore. When someone asks my age (friends, not total strangers), I have to start doing the math in my head... let's see, I was 30 when I got married... 31 when my oldest son was born... this is 2009.... that would make me...

There you have it. 10 random facts about me. I am supposed to pass this award on, but I'm just not good at that sort of thing so, sadly, my blog will be a dead end. But if you are looking for some blogs to read, please check out my side bar. There are sooooo many good ones listed you'll be reading all night!

Christmas on the Square

2009-12-05T12:17:00.004-06:00

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, Garrett performed at our small town's Christmas on the Square. He sang a blue-grass version of "Away in a Manger". Lexi and Nana went with us to enjoy the festivities that beautiful November day. The rest of the boys decided to hang out at home.

Lexi may like to dress up like Santa's helper, but she is not the Jolly Old Elf's biggest fan.

I just LOVE the photo below.

Lexi was watching the little cloggers so intently, I had to hold her back from running out there to join them with her own version of dancing (which includes a lot of jumping around and rolling on the ground. LOL!)

People ask me all the time if I curl her hair. Nope, these curly locks are all natural.

I sure hope they stick around for a long time!

One Year!

2009-12-02T11:32:00.005-06:00

Wow, it's amazing how quickly our first year with Lexi has past! It seemed like time dragged on forever when we were waiting for her. She is such a sweet girl and all our lives have been greatly enriched by her presence. She adores her brothers who, of course, love her soooo much in return. She is everything I ever dreamed a daughter could be... and so much more!

Life with five active kids is insanely busy and as a result, my blog time has suffered. However, I am working on videos of Trips One and Two. There are details that I never want to forget. My goal to have them ready before Christmas. (Hey, I hear you laughing... but isn't setting goals the first step to actually accomplishing them?) There is so much I that need to update, but for now a few photos of Lexi on her ONE YEAR FAMILY DAY will have to suffice!

She really wanted to wear Liam's old T-Santasaurus sweat shirt, so I had to do some serious scrambling to figure out a way to girly it up!

I hate that this photo is so washed-out/over-exposed, because it shows off the awesome smile that Lexi blesses us with everyday.

~~Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera this Christmas!~~

You can see just how much she has grown over the past year by looking at the photos on the Right Side Bar. It's hard to remember how tiny she was last year. Lexi is in the 50% range for both height and weight. She is right on target developmentally and even has advanced gross motor skills. Her speech has exploded this month and even family and friends can understand her now. She still uses the sign language we taught her last year, but now she will say the word at the same time. And, drum roll please.... she is almost potty trained. Her preschool teacher has even asked us to send her to school in panties. Oh, my heart be still! I just love this girl!

More to come soon......

11 Months

2009-11-02T09:57:00.006-06:00

Fall colors are at their peak in our yard and Lexi has been with us for eleven months now. I can't believe that our one year Family Day anniversary is coming soon! She has grown so much in so many ways. She's a little ball of fire with the sweetest disposition! The other day, Liam asked me if I wanted Lexi to grow up. I told him that as much as I love Lexi as she is now, I am excited to see her become a big girl. To that Liam said, "But, I don't want her to ever grow up because she is the cutest baby I know." I thought that was just too sweet, especially from Liam who was the 'baby" of the family before Lexi.

Liam is full of interesting observations though. He was hanging out by my computer with me recently while I was scanning through a few of my favorite blogs and clicking on all the photos. After a few minutes, Liam said that he is beginning to think Russian children are the most beautiful in the whole world. I certainly can't argue with that!

Lexi's 2 year check-up is this week. I've had to reschedule it a few times due to illness. Not hers, thankfully, but everyone else in our house. We were fighting the H1N1 Flu (all except Lexi and Martin) one at a time. That was no fun, but (knock on wood) we are all well now. Anyway, I can't wait to see how much taller she is now and where she falls on the growth charts.

Ready for school this morning. Her new backpack is almost as big as she is.

I love the reflection in the glass doors of our trees and the beautiful blue sky we've been blessed with today.

She couldn't resist a quick little bike ride before loading up!

Time to invest in some cute bows... Lexi's hair has a mind of its own!

Breaking News!

2009-10-20T07:24:00.007-05:00

Lexi will now (albeit reluctantly) wear a bow in her hair without yanking it out within the first 5 seconds! She set a new record on Sunday by wearing a small purple bow for 5 hours straight! Whoohoooo!!!

And check out the shoes! Yep, that's right. See ya next summer Pink Crocks!

Thanks to everyone for sending me suggestions about how to handle Lexi's obsession with her pink Crocks. When it seemed like nothing would ever work, I decided to videotape her reaction to putting on a different pair of shoes (so I could hopefully laugh at it someday). Well wouldn't you know that with the camera rolling as soon as I offered her these cute brown shoes with the little pink flower, she stuck her foot in the air as if there had never been a problem. The little stinker! We did have one relapse while on vacation last week, but it was short lived. So the shoe crisis is over.... for now.

Lexi's 2nd Birthday; 1st Party

2009-10-19T12:13:00.013-05:00

I really wanted to throw a huge birthday bash for our sweet girl this year. This was her first birthday since being home with us and visions of girly themed party favors danced through my head... ballerinas, princesses, castles, Hello Kitties, tea parties, pink, pink and more pink. But in my heart of hearts, with everything I have read about attachment and Adoption Parenting within the first year home, I was concerned about overwhelming our birthday girl.

So we went the quiet family party route with scrumptious cupcakes and a pretty party dress! As it turned out, Lexi loved all the attention, was a pro at opening presents, blowing out candles, and diving into her pink cupcake face first. So look out next September, there will be a pinkalicious party going on at the Abraham house!!!

She is LOVING the pink cupcake!

The Birthday Girl - Two Years Old!

Born to ride!

She loves her Tinkerbell purse from Auntie Bunner and Uncle Michael

She also got a puzzle that makes animals sounds and a talking tea pot from Nana.

This is the ice-cream stacking toy that helped teach Lexi her colors.

Nolan enjoyed it too!

Nana joined Lexi for a little birthday party at school.

It was so cute seeing all her classmates in those silly birthday hats.

This was Lexi on her first birthday.

We sure were missing her and, at that point, we had no idea when we would get to see her again. We made cupcakes and sang happy birthday to her photo here in TN. The ceramic angel in this photo is a keepsake from my grandmother's house. It winds up to play the Happy Birthday song - and has been a tradition for as long as I can remember.

Since I couldn't post a photo of Lexi's cute little face online (because our adoption was not final yet), I also included a Russian chocolate bar in her birthday photo. The little girl on wrapper looked so much like Lexi's photos from Trip One. I'll have to post the comparison photos so you can see what I'm talking about. Oh, and the chocolate was delish!

I doubt they had any sort of celebration at the orphanage, but a caregiver was kind enough to dress her up take these photos with the disposable camera we left. For that, I am very grateful.

This year Lexi's birthday was a joyous occasion and each year is only going to get better! We love you Baby Girl!

10 Months

2009-10-02T07:35:00.005-05:00

Has it really been a month since my last post? Wowzer, I have some catching up to do! One consequence of the kids going to school is that I have to drag myself out of bed at 5:45 am each morning... which means that I must actually go to bed at a decent hour... which has really cut into my late night blogging time.

Lexi's 10th month with us is going to be an exciting one. She became a Terrific Two on September 18th! She loves to watch her brothers play soccer and runs up and down the field sidelines cheering, "Go, Go, Go!" She has figured that running ON the field will quickly result in being buckled into her stroller. She also loves watching Titans and Vols football on TV. I hope to get to take her to a Titans game live this season. We have a big surprise planned in a couple of weeks too!

She enjoys her little "school" and I should do a entire post on that alone. A few other updates include:

Personality: Sparkling, bubbly, almost always happy, affectionate, observant, high energy

Speech: Still not talking as much as I think she should, but she does have too many words to count. She doesn't use sign language anymore because she says all the words she used to sign. This makes me wish I had taught her more signs. She gets frustrated when we can't understand what she wants us to do. Her brothers have done an amazing job at getting her to say new words and pronounce them correctly. Some words have evolved too, like "puppies" are now "dogs" and "kitty cats" are just "cats" unless they are baby kitties. Sometimes she surprises me like when she called out "apples" in the produce section of the grocery store or when she called the deer in our front yard "cows". She may need some speech therapy in the near future. She certainly wants to talk and sometimes just makes up silly words.

Eating: She had become very picky over the summer, but then her school has been able to get her to eat just about anything for lunch or snack, which thankfully has spilled over to home. She could eat her weight in cheese, yogurt, grits or oatmeal. She also started to like cereal with milk. She'll eat most green vegetables and potatoes, but still doesn't like meat in any form or fashion. If I want to get her to eat some meat like chicken, turkey, or beef, I have to finely chop it up and mix it into mashed potatoes. I think it may be the texture because she doesn't seem to have a problem with the actual taste. Or it could be that she is "two". How does a mom know these things? She ate an entire bowl of New England Clam Chowder last night. Go figure!

Sleeping: This has never been an issue for Lexi. She goes right to bed at 8:00 pm every night and sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 am. She would sleep in until 8:00 if we were quieter about getting the boys ready for school. Every night before bed, she MUST have hugs and kisses from everyone in the house, which we are more than happy to give. She still sleeps in our room, next to my side of the bed. She has started climbing out of bed in the mornings all by herself. Her room is so far from our room that I am going to just move her toddler bed to our room and pack up of the little crib she has been sleeping in since she came home last December. At school, she sleeps on a cot and stays put during nap time, so I am hoping that will hold true at home too.

Motor Skills: Lexi can jump with both feet off the ground, stand on one leg like a pelican, run like the wind, she tries to peddle a trike, she can do forward rolls, swim across the spa tub, climb the rock wall on the play set, hang upside down on monkey bars, and so much more. And she is still the most flexible child I've ever met. I really see gymnastics in her future.

Shoes: This is our biggest challenge bar none. She will only, and I mean ONLY, wear those %@!$ (sorry) pink Mary Jane Crocks. It is getting harder and harder to squeeze her foot in them and it's getting colder outside, and they do not match any of her Fall wardrobe. But to even suggest another pair of shoes results in a full-blown, screaming, crying, rolling on the floor, throw the other pair of shoes across the room, temper tantrum. I only have found one pair of shoes that she will even allow to grace her shoe drawer. But she doesn't want to actually wear them. The one time I managed to wrangle them on her, she walked around the house picking her feet up like a cat wearing socks, crying her eyes out too. Any suggestions out there? Please? Pretty Please?

Misc.: Lexi loves band aides and bugs loves her. Because she is so active and enjoys being outside so much, there is no shortage of bug bites or boo boos to keep up with her bandaide obsession. The current favorite is Hello Kitty, but any type will do, including race cars, soccer balls, Sponge Bob, or just plain old boring brown ones.

She knows all her colors and can say the word for each color pretty clearly. She adores babies and is showing more interest in playing with her dolls. She can count to five, but sometimes skips number four. She can tell you that she is "2" and tries to hold up two fingers. She must have her purse every time she leaves the house. Her favorite finger games are "Where is Thumbkin?" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider". She likes Elmo and Mickey Mouse.

As usual, there is so much more that I could say about our sweet girl, but alas, my blogging time has come to an end. In just two more months, we will celebrate our one year Family Day! After the one year mark, I will be closing this blog and creating a new family blog. Although I have always included the entire family in this blog, it's purpose was to record memories about our journey to Russia for our daughter. For any readers who are just starting the process or are right in the middle of the seemingly never-ending waiting, I just want to remind you that once your child is home, time will go so quickly and all the paperwork and waiting will become a distant memory. Did that even happen? Hasn't Lexi just always been with us from day one? Seriously!

Adoption was just one chapter of our family's life book. The new blog will pick up with the next chapter right where this blog leaves off. I sincerely hope to be able to keep it updated more regularly. I need to figure out how to make it look all cool and trendy and I should probably have a contest for a new name. Hmmm, I'll give that some thought and maybe put up a poll or something.

If any of the "Littlest Tsarina" readers would like to leave a special message for Lexi or the rest of us, I'd really appreciate it. You have until December 10th and then I am going to send this blog to the printer. The new blog will roll out by the New Year!

Happy Fall Ya'll

9 Months

2009-09-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

Lexi has been with us for 9 months! She is more delightful everyday! When she first came home last December, lots of people asked me if I was enjoying finally having a girl. I said it was fun playing dress up with her, but truth be known, having spent the first 14 months of her life in an orphanage, Lexi was still very much like a 6-9 month old b.a.b.y. She wasn't walking or talking, ate mostly baby food, could care less about dolls or anything girly, and she generally didn't have an opinion about anything. Except for changing her diapers and remembering which way to wipe, it wasn't much different from taking care of my boys when they were babies.

Well, I can tell you now ALL that has changed. And, YES, we are unequivocally having fun with our little girl. And, just for the record, I think boys are easier. Lexi is talking up a storm, loves hugs and kisses (insists on them), loves babies of all shapes and sizes (even more so if they have four legs), loves shoes, clothes, purses, princesses, crowns, etc., and she has very strong opinions about everything!

Who knew girls could be so full of drama?

Okay, besides my brother and sisters (with my 11 nieces).

Just when I think I it can't get any better, it miraculously does.

We all thank God for her everyday!

Our Princess

2009-08-24T12:19:00.005-05:00

I don't even have words to describe how much I love these photos of our Lexi. Bloodworth Photography did an amazing job! Lexi had so much fun twirling around in her long dress and then pushing the teddy bears around in the old fashion stroller. She was such a little whirlwind in the studio, so it is even more amazing how well the photographer was able to capture her sweet expressions.

Thanks, Bryan, for letting me share a few of these beautiful photos on my blog.

Tot's Day Thursday is phenomenal. We'll definitely be back!

You can see more of Byran's work on the Bloodworth Photography Facebook page.

Favorite Foto Friday

2009-08-21T14:07:00.003-05:00

Nolan being very silly with a cherry tomato.

We needed a little comic relief this week!

Wall of Fame

2009-08-14T23:24:00.006-05:00

My grandparents had a "Wall of Fame". It was in the front hall of their old house. My grandmother framed photos of the five grandchildren (my brother, three sisters and myself) at ages 1, Kindergarten, High School Senior, and College Senior. There was a such a sense of accomplishment when you got to add your next photo to the wall. (I'm sure a few family members were wondering if my college photo would ever make it to the wall.)

Martin and I loved the idea and decided to do the same thing for our kids. We started with Preston by framing his birth announcement along with his 3 month old photo. At that time, we had no idea that we would eventually have five kids, but whenever Micheal's would have a sale on frames, we stocked up on the same frame so we could complete our own family's Wall of Fame. We now have enough frames in storage for all five kiddos until they are married.

Martin also does all of our custom framing... saves a lot of money, but we have to wait until he has time. Yeah, that long. Nolan finally convinced Martin that it was about time for his Kindergarten Graduation photo to make it up. So while he was working on Nolan's frame, Martin finally found a few spare minutes to frame Lexi's first photo for the Wall of Fame. They were both very proud to see their smiling faces on the Wall of Fame!

I love that we finally got to use the pink background mat. Lexi's announcement includes her birth and adoption information. (In case you are wondering...) We never actually mailed the announcements because we were already overwhelmed by the generosity and support of our friends and family surrounding Lexi's arrival home. My church hosted a baby shower just 2 weeks later. I didn't want to send out announcements and have people feel like they needed to send another gift. We were feeling so tremendously blessed! And still are.

Since we do not have any photos of Lexi at 3 months old (to match the boys) Martin and I debated about which photo to use: (a) her referral photo which is the youngest photo we have at 7 months; (b) a photo from last summer when we met her at 10 months; (c) the professional Christmas photos taken after she had been home a couple of weeks; or (d) her Celebrating Adoption photo taken when she had been home for 3 months. We went with option (d) because we like the connection with the boys -- all the photos are of our kids when they had been with us (by birth or adoption) for 3 months. ~~The fact that her red Christmas dress clashed with the pink mat had nothing to do with it.~~ ;0)

So there it, in all its glory, the Abraham Hall of Fame! It's exciting to watch our Wall of Fame grow, but at the same time, it's sad that my babies are growing up so fast. Time flies when you are having fun and loving life!

They are a bit crooked in this photo, but I promise they are level in real life.

The photos include "3 month plus Birth/Adoption Announcement" and "Kindergarten Graduation with program". Next, will be "High School Senior" and then "College Senior". Our ceilings are high enough that we could do "Wedding" after that, but you'd have to strain your neck to see them and I'm sure Martin and I will be too old to climb up a latter by then.

P.S. I just had new professional photos taken of Lexi this week and they turned out phenomenal. She had so much fun and the photographer really captured her vibrant personality. I can't wait until they are ready!

More photos from this week last year...

2009-08-02T20:07:00.001-05:00

We were not allowed (by Russian law) to post these photos last year. But I want to include them in our blog about Lexi's adoption because they are precious to me -- even if Lexi looks so sad in most of them.

We didn't know at the time how full of life she would be one year later. What we DID know was that she responded positively to all the attention we gave her during our short time together. We held her so much during our twice a day visits that one of her caregivers told us that she cried to be held all night after we left each day. While that was hard for a mother's heart to hear, it also gave me hope that she was going to be just fine as soon as we got her home.

Oh, it was so hard to leave her that last day.

Here she is on our last visit with her. She was not going to let her photo album go. The picture showing is of her brothers, although at the time, she was more interested in the little doggie.

I guess that was our first clue she would be such an animal lover!

It's too bad that the photo of the three of is blurry, but my camera's focus was acting up. I got a new one as soon as we got home.

At ten months old, she could sit up well, but had no interest in standing up. In fact, she was quite unhappy about it.

Her clothes were size 3-6 months and her shoes were size 2. She was dressed in the two outfits you see in these photos. They just alternated them over the three days of visits.

Much to my delight, she went right for the pink and purple stacking cups.

On the other hand, being perfectly honest, the sad, far-away stare she got sometimes really worried me.

]

The beginnings of her precious curly locks...

The lack of muscle tone in her legs and her prominent forehead led our IA Dr. to think she may have Rickets. He recommended Vitamin D infant drops. We passed that information along to her Baby Home nurse and offered to purchase enough drops for her entire group. They assured us that they had all the medicines they needed and that they would take good care of her. We don't know for sure if the baby home doctor or nurse ever gave her any Vitamin D supplements, but there was an amazing difference in her look when we picked her up four months later. So I really think they did.

She was tiny, yet chubby. Snuggling, yet distant.

We took a huge leap of faith.

Words can't express how thankful I am that we followed our hearts and said "YES" to that little baby girl we met in Novokuznetsk, Russia!

8 Months

2009-08-02T11:31:00.000-05:00

Today marks 8 months since Lexi joined our family. So it was very fitting that we enjoyed a fun-filled day with family. Auntie Bunner and Uncle Michael from Atlanta took us all to dinner last night and then joined us for church this morning. Afterwards, we all hung out around the pool and swam, threw (or dodged) water balloons, blew lots and lots of bubbles, and munched on burgers and hot dogs. (Can't forget to mention the delicious home grown tomatoes!) Ashlae and Adyson came over too and the girls had a blast running around and giggling.

Later we played a couple of rounds of Family Feud and just sat around and talked. It was really nice.

It's time for another update about all the new things Lexi is doing and saying. She amazes us everyday. Hopefully I'll get that update posted soon. The only dilemma I'm having is finding shoes for her. If you have noticed that in all her photos this entire summer, she is either barefoot or wearing pink Crocks. That's because that is all I can get on her feet. I am tired of wasting money trying different sizes and styles that might suit her liking. She is either very picky, or I haven't found the right kind of shoe, or she just doesn't like to wear shoes or all of the above. Yet, she insists the rest of the family all wear our shoes and she loves her Crocks. It's okay most of the time, but today I wanted to put a beautiful yellow smocked dress on her for church only to remember that she had no shoes to go with it. The dress was much too fancy for Crocks (and this is coming from someone with no fashion sense at all.) So wish me luck in the shoe department when TN is having tax free days next week!

Here are a few photos from our weekend:

Now that I look at these photos again, I noticed that I must have been in a yellow mood for Lexi this weekend.

One year ago today...

2009-07-31T20:00:00.002-05:00

...we met the daughter of our dreams. She was so quiet and sweet. She was a little snuggle bug. She wasn't scared of us at all and, in fact, she was curious about our faces. She kept staring at both Martin and me as if she were soaking in every detail. She didn't want to play with toys, or try to stand or crawl. She didn't care about bubbles and wasn't too keen on being photographed. She just simply wanted to be held. So that's exactly what we did. She wanted both of us in her sight at all times. If Martin stood up to stretch his legs, her face would start to pout like she was going to cry until he was right back beside us.

Her fair skin was so sensitive to the pesky Russian mosquitoes. (We've recently discovered her skin reacts just as bad with American mosquito bites.) She was covered in bug bites from where the baby home left the windows open while the children slept. In Russia, it is very common to put a green anti-itch cream on each bite. When they brought her to us on the 2nd visit, I couldn't help but think about that Dr. Seuss character from "Put me in the Zoo".

We had such nice weather in Novokuznetsk that all of our visits were outside. It was quite warm actually. One of my favorite memories was when the care givers brought out drinks for the babies. They didn't bring bottles or sippy cups. No, they brought out a big tray full of tin cups and a pitcher of water. They let us give Lexi a drink and instructed us by had signals to hold a napkin under her chin while she drank. She didn't miss a drop.

Here are some of my favorite photos from those first few visits:

In the Director's office when they had just brought her to us. She obviously wasn't used to the camera's flash. This was the first moment I held her in my arms.

Those lovely green dots...

Drinking water from a tin cup.

Route 44

2009-07-28T00:23:00.004-05:00

Someone stole my Sonic Route 44 Cherry Limeade. And she wasn't about to give it back!

VBS 2009

2009-07-27T23:29:00.002-05:00

We had a fun times at VBS last week. Lexi really enjoyed the all the music and dancing. Since her brothers were part of the VBS singers, she had to stay for all the practices. So when it was time to perform for the huge crowd of VBSers in the audience, she thought she was supposed to be on stage too. Martin and I both tried holding her back, but as soon as the music started, she squirmed out of our laps, ran to the stage, and positioned herself right in the middle of all her brothers. I got a few videos of her dancing and trying to the do the sign language motions.

My only regret is that I didn't get a good video of her doing the Cupid Shuffle at the end of each night!

This next video I had to cut a bit short because Lexi didn't really care for the mosh pit part... Don't worry, she ran right back up for the next song!

The Littlest Dare Devil

2009-07-15T21:24:00.003-05:00

Perhaps she trusts us so much that she has no fear of getting hurt when she is with us. Perhaps she is simply wired to be an adrenalin junky. I have scoured my adoption books on attachment and/or sensory disorders to see if excessive thrill-seeking is a symptom of something I need to be concerned about. I haven't found anything, so if there are any expects out there that care to comment, please do. But for now, I'm going with the theory that the girl just wants to have fun!

The thing is, Lexi is fearless around water... a far cry from the first month or so where she screamed at the thought of taking a bath. It was months before she would get into the bath tub without me holding her in my lap. Now she enjoys it so much she cries when it is time to get out.

She also climbs on everything and the height does not seem to bother her in the least. She can scale up any surface, even in a dress. It's as if she is half gecko with tiny little suction cups on her hands and feet. I wouldn't be surprised to find her crawling over the ceiling.

And she likes to go fast. Whether it is spinning in an office chair with her brother, rolling across the lawn in her wagon, or flying down the spiral slide on the playground, the faster she goes, the bigger she smiles and louder she squeals.

When you put those elements together, this is what you get:

It all started in Jamaica at the baby slide pool. Garrett wanted to send her down the slide on the first day. I said, "No, let's take it slow and give her time to get used to it." At that point, Lexi watched her brothers slide down ONE time and she was ready to go!

Notice how excited she gets when she splashes over Nolan. Yep, that's our girl:

Next, came the larger slide in the main pool. I honestly didn't think she would actually do it. When we were here before, I had to beg Liam to do this slide on the last day of our vacation (when he was three years old). At 20 months old, Lexi never even hesitated. We had to practically drag her away.

When I watched this video, I figured out how my camera lens got wet. I was so afraid she was going to hit Nolan, I forgot to cover it before splash down.

To top it off, Lexi also went down the 150 foot water slide too, laughing the entire way. However, my wonderful husband was manning the video camera that day and got a little too much (i.e. any) footage of yours truly. That video will not be appearing on the blog.

The first day home from Jamaica, Lexi went straight to the spa, walked around to the spill over, and slid right into the pool.

She will also jump in from anywhere. We have to keep a very close eye on her at ALL times. The spa is like her very own baby pool.

After seeing her brothers jumping off the diving board, she had to give that a try too. Once she was about to jump off the board to me and the boys started singing a VBS song. She started dancing while standing at the end of the board and nearly fell off. I am amazed at how she was able to keep her balance and still jumped right in.

I still laugh every time I play this next video. Lexi discovered ice cream in Jamaica. Oh, she had tasted it before, but we had never given her an entire cone or bowl. Well, this was an all-inclusive resort and we were on vacation after all. So the nannys brought her a big bowl of chocolate ice-cream. She was torn between wanting to slide and wanting to eat her frozen treat. She would walk toward the slide steps and then decide to come back to get another bite. She went back and forth about 6 times, but I didn't think to turn on the video camera until the end. If I had gotten it all, it would definitely have gone to America's Funniest Videos.

Summer Fun

2009-07-15T16:36:00.003-05:00

I have written and deleted a couple of posts this week, mainly because I was rambling on and on about nothing really important. So then I decided to just to upload some photos and videos. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy them more than my ramblings. Here are photos of some summer fun in the pool. The next post will have videos of our Littlest ~~Tsarina~~ Daredevil!

Nolan and Liam made the slide into a car wash. They are driving their cars down the slide and into the pool. You may need to click on the photo to see this little detail.

I didn't plan on dressing Liam and Lexi alike on this day. Liam's suit is several years old. This is Lexi's only 2 piece; more convenient for swim diaper changes. She has the same issue with the warm water in the spa as she does in the bath tub. Need I say more?

Lexi loves her Liam and wants to do everything just like he does. She watches very closely for a few minutes and then imitates him.

This new life jacket is the best children's life jacket I have ever found. And we've been through every make and model of water safety devices known to man. It keeps her head and arms above water with her balance facing forward. (Traditional jackets were tipping her over backwards.) Plus, the fact that it is a kitty-cat makes it even better.

I highly recommend it!

The spill over spa is Lexi's personal water slide to the big pool.

With her kitty-cat life jacket on, she will swim to the steps, walk back to the spa, and go down the spill over again and again.

Squash Recipe Anyone?

2009-07-13T06:38:00.003-05:00

Wanted: an easy, kid-friendly, squash recipe. Bonus if it involves cheese.

Seriously, who knew 3 little seeds could produce so much squash?

Now, if the rest of these tomatoes would hurry up and turn red, I know exactly what to do with them!

4th of July!

2009-07-08T22:32:00.011-05:00

Hopefully everyone enjoyed celebrating America's birthday this year. I know our family had a renewed spark of patriotism this 4th of July. Traveling abroad reminded us that America is the GREATEST country in the world and we are all very proud to be Americans!

Here is one of America's newest citizens:

We were supposed to go on our annual camping trip over the weekend holiday with four other families, but the trip had to be post-poned because one family needed to be with grandparents that had been hospitalized. The camping trip just wouldn't be the same without them so we didn't go. It's just as well considering all the rain that came. Plus, Garrett was performing at the Smithville's Fiddlers' Jamboree all day on the 3rd. The weather was perfect that day. He did great in all his events. His dance team was in the finals, but they didn't win. Bummer. It ended up being a looong day! The festival was fun, but I didn't like being away from Nolan on his birthday. The night before, I told Nolan that when he woke up in the morning, he would be seven, but that I wouldn't be home on his birthday. He said, "I know mom, you'll be out shopping for my present!"

Lexi really enjoyed herself at the festival. She loves being outside, loves music, loves riding in her stroller, and loves lots of one on one time with me. She was in her element and was a real trooper from the time I pulled her out of bed at 6:00 am until when we arrived at back home at 1:00 a.m. My brother, sister in law, and beautiful nieces came to see us in Smithville. Nana was with us too. It was kinda nice all hanging out under a big tree on a blanket, listening to live music, with funnel cakes and fresh squeezed lemonade. They got to hear Garrett's gospel song and see his dance team. Aunt Cori also took photos with her really nice camera so I am looking forward to seeing those!

On Saturday, we threw a last minute birthday party for Nolan. It was a swim party and fortunately we finished swimming and eating just before a big storm rolled in. We did cake, cupcakes, and presents inside. Nolan picked out his own candles this year. He wanted a number 7, but also wanted to blow out seven individual candles. He chose a pack of red and blue little candles and didn't notice that they were trick candles. I didn't say anything either. It was so funny watching him trying to blow out his candles over and over again. Let's just say that it's a good thing he had a personal cake because I don't think anyone would want a piece of it after ~~all the spit~~ the way he was huffing and puffing out those candles. I think Nolan's favorite part of his party was the water balloon battle, but his new bike was a close 2nd!

Sunday our church had a huge BBQ Ribs cookout and fireworks show. It was dreary most of the day, but thankfully the rain held off during the fireworks. We found a fireworks stand still open after church and the boys had a field day in the driveway with their crazy assortment of firecrackers, spinners, smoke bombs, fountains, trucks, fighter jets, tanks, poppers, sparklers, etc. all purchased at rock bottom clearance prices. Lexi wanted to be right in the middle of the action, but I thought she would be safer watching from the kitchen window. The loud pops didn't scare her a bit.

On Monday night, we had a mini family reunion at our house. My three sisters and most of their kids came over for a cook out. The weather was perfect and I had tons of fun swimming with my nieces. They are all growing up so fast. My nephew (the ONLY other male grandchild besides my boys) and one of my nieces just graduated from high school and leave for college in September. Two nieces are currently in college. Another one graduates high school next year. Two more nieces will be high school in the fall. How could that be possible? The coolest part of the night was after dark when we got to see a bunch of shooting stars. There must have been a meteor shower or something. Our necks hurt from staring up at the sky so long, LOL!

Here is a collection of photos from our long weekend:

At Smithville Jamboree

Pool Party

Lots and lots of fireworks!

Water balloons and watermelon

Lexi and Liam during the fireworks show

Family cook out

Lexi surrounded by brothers and cousins. She is sitting in cousin Mason's lap. I need to give a shout out to Mason. She is one of my, oh, I don't know, say around five or six avid blog followers. Hey Mason!!! Tell everyone hello! Hope to you see you and your family again real soon!!!

7 Months

2009-07-06T20:51:00.007-05:00

For our 7 month anniversary, Nana and I took all the kids to the Nashville Zoo. Here we are at the top of the bird Avery.

Okay, truth be known, that was a total coincidence.

Actually, July 2nd came and went without anyone even remembering what a special day it was. Instead of kicking myself ~~over my scatter brain, absent-mindedness~~ for forgetting to post about how time flies and all the happiness Lexi brings us, etc., etc., the more I think about it, maybe it was actually a good thing.

It means that adoption is no longer forefront in my mind. It's as if Lexi has always been an Abraham. She is just part of our gang. She is special in her own unique way just as all my boys are special. She's special because she is a girl with four big brothers who adore her. The fact that she was born in Russia, and that long and difficult road to bring her home, is no big deal anymore.

That's not to say we won't still celebrate milestones and anniversaries. Of course we will. And we will always be proud of and celebrate her heritage. But I think it's neat how we have been slowing progressing from being an adoptive family into just an ordinary, crazy busy, fun-loving family who just so happened to travel to Russia for their daughter.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it! At least I took lots of photos of Lexi that day...

These pics are not the best quality, but I love them anyway. Lexi is losing her "babyish" look and has become quite the active toddler. She really enjoyed the mat play area at the Zoo's Jungle Gym.

She also really enjoyed all the fish, spiders, snakes, turtles and frogs in the Aquarium.

My little firecracker turns 7

2009-07-03T01:37:00.001-05:00

Trust me, there is never a dull moment with Nolan around.

He is our surfer dude, fearless dare devil, non-competitive, laid back, independent, brilliant child with a heart of gold.

Nolan always knows how to make us laugh.

He has taken many a year off my life (and that of several babysitters) with his crazy antics.

Oh, the stories I have on him....

Happy Birthday, Nolan! We love you, dude!

Shoes

2009-06-27T09:25:00.004-05:00

So she is no Imelda Marco, but the girl has more shoes than all her brothers put together.

We have a system for shoes in our house. The "shoe bench" Miss Lexi is sitting on next to her display of fancy footwear has four drawers - one for each brother. As soon as the boys enter the house, their shoes MUST go in their shoe drawer. Shoes caught outside of their respective drawer may result in a loss of privileges for said shoe's owner. This has eliminated the inevitable "I can't find my shoes!" that we heard daily prior to implementing this system three or four years ago. Anyone ever been late because your kid lost a shoe? You need a shoe bench!

We are trying to find a matching bench for Lexi. All the shoes in these photos are not always on top of the bench. Mainly, because most of them do not fit her anymore. Not even the ones that still have tags on them. Sigh.

With all these shoes, guess how many pairs still fit?

Wait for it....

Yep, that's right. Poor Lexi only has one pair of shoes that still fit her piggys.

[Thank you Aunt Cori for passing these darling Crocks down to Lexi. She LOVES them!]

[Nana, this is NOT a hint to go out and replenish her shoe supply.]

Seriously, though, Lexi won't go shoeless. We are blessed to have so many generous friends and family that have donated girls' clothes and shoes to us. She still has a few pairs of sandals that she hasn't grown into yet. I'm sure it won't be long at the rate she is growing.

Since I love "before and after" photos. Here is another example of how much our baby girl has grown in the last six months. She wore the little black patent leather Mary Janes to Preston and Garrett's Blair Christmas concert. She had been home for two days. Look how tiny they are compared to her current Mary Jane Crocks.

Oh, gotta run! Someone just told me she wants to go swim. Well, not in so many words, but do you get the picture?

She stripped down to her diaper and tried to put on her swimsuit.

Good thing she doesn't need shoes to swim!

Father's Day - What a difference a year makes!

2009-06-21T13:17:00.010-05:00

Father's Day 2008

These three photos were taken of our daughter on Father's Day last year and emailed to us the next day. We already knew we wanted to go meet her and had our Visas in hand and were booking our plane tickets for Trip One.

But we had not seen any photos of her. (There is more to the story that I haven't talked about on this blog yet.) I vividly remember checking my email fifty times that morning anxiously awaiting more information from our agency.

Then, there they were -- like a little Father's day gift from Russia.

Father's Day 2009

The following photos were taken today. Wowzer, what a difference!

2008 -2009

Yes, it really is the same child.

Our little girl LOVES her daddy too!

Happy Father's Day, Martin, from the whole gang!

Favorite Foto Friday

2009-06-20T01:22:00.008-05:00

So I'm bit late for FFF, but here are some of my favorite vacation photos:

The Abraham Fabulous Five

These are some of the amazing sunsets we were treated to each night. The photo with Martin and me is foggy because my camera got wet that day filming Lexi going down water slides by herself. Oops!

Future Swim-suit model? (I hope not!)

On top of the 150 foot water slide

Garrett holding a red snapper (or so I was told). As usual, he immediately buddied up with a group of boys and they had a blast playing games and fishing all week. There was also a couple of cute little (giggly) girls who would hang out under our balcony and ask me when Garrett was coming out again.

Mmmmmm... Lexi loves Ice Cream!

One of the nice little coves.

SCUBA diving, glass bottom boats, and kayaking - all bit hits

Another favorite past time of Lexi's. Clearly, we need to upgrade our current hammock.

Liam being silly with a craft during dinner on the beach.

Two very cheesy smiles!

The Franklyn D. Resort in Runaway Bay

2009-06-19T23:03:00.006-05:00

After spending ten days in paradise, I'll admit it is kind of nice to be back home and enjoying our slower summer routines. As wonderful as our vacation in the Caribbean was - and it was WONDERFUL - we needed nearly a week to rest up from all the fun. We love to travel and rarely go to the same place twice (except Disney), but the kids begged to go back to the FDR resort in Jamaica. We had such an amazing time there 2 years ago, I was worried that we might be disappointed this time. You know how you can build something up in your mind and then reality doesn't compare? Not so with FDR! It was even better in 2009!

We asked for the same room again because it has two awesome balconies, one with an amazing view of the beach and ocean, the other overlooked the pools. The 2 bedroom townhouse "room" was spacious and comfortable and had beds for all five of our kids. The beach on the resort was nice and swept daily by the lifeguards. The “cove” makes it easy for small children to play and they supply all the sand toys you kids could ever want - no need to pack any toys. You can also just walk through the gate to the beach next door for some amazing right-off-the-beach snorkeling. They have three pools with varying size slides. There is something for all ages.

And that goes for the food too. There is a grill open from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm and a kid's buffet every night at 5:30 pm. The main restaurant is on the pier and it was so relaxing to eat fresh grilled fish (as part of our five course meal) with the sound of the ocean waves hitting against the rocks and beautiful music playing. Did I mention this place was all-inclusive? That's the only way to go! After eating three huge meals a day for the past 10 days, all outside under huge cottonwood trees or on the pier, with fresh smoothies at our beck and call, and ice-cream whenever the whim hit us, it almost felt strange to sit down at our boring 'ol dining room table again. When the boys starting asking for different meals and asking me to get "this" and get "that" for them, I had to remind them, we ain't in Jamaica no more fellows! Ya Mon!

I really think the entertainment and staff are the best features of FDR. They are truly phenomenal and treated my children like family. By the first day, most of the staff already knew all our kids names. They played with them constantly - whether it was Jenga by the pool, tennis, hockey, soccer, volleyball, kayak rides, slide competitions, fishing, you name it - they always had time for them, and made my children want to move to Jamaica. They entertained Martin and I as well, with competitive games of volleyball and dominos and fun (albeit corny) games like Bingo and Ring Toss. It's these people (Curtis, Kervin, Kevin, Daniel, Sabrina, Tameka), along with the rest of the staff that make the resort so special. The nightly entertainment was great with Limbo lessons, talent shows, fire-eaters and Jamaican dancers. There was also dinner on the beach one night and a Mini-Miss/Little-Miss FDR Fashion Show.

From beginning to end, the service was perfection and the staff's personalities were warm, engaging, and fun. We love how they learned our names and our drinks the very first day and always served up a smile even when Garrett was ordering his 50th grill cheese sandwich and Nolan was ordering his 38th (virgin) Strawberry Daiquiri. You would have thought Lexi was royalty they way she was catered to by everyone. She was appropriately shy, stuck close by my side most of the time, and ran to me with the biggest smile as soon as she saw me coming to get her from the play area, but that didn't stop her from being completely spoiled by all the staff.

We had two vacation nannys, one for the boys and one just for Lexi. They were both very nice and so good with the kids. They helped keep everyone covered up in sunscreen and not one of us got the slightest sunburn this year. Yeah! The nannys helped with arts and crafts, pushed Lexi in the swing for as long as she wanted, made sure they were all feed and had fresh towels every time they got out of the water. They also cleaned our rooms and stocked the refrigerator with drinks and goodies everyday. Lexi's nanny stayed in the room with her while she napped every afternoon so I could spend time with Martin, the boys, get a pedicure, or just relax by the pool reading a mindless magazine (without feeling the slightest bit guilty). Martin and I even got have dinner with each other at the adult only restaurants three times. WhooHooo!!!

The scuba diving was great too. Preston got his Padi certification and he and Martin went on several 40 - 50 foot dives. He found a beautiful conk shell and the staff cleaned it up for him to bring home. We also climbed Dunns River Falls again and went to Dolphin Cove for the 1st time.

I read a recent review by another mom that called FDR "...the best place on Earth". That very well may be true, but I think the best thing she said was: "No, it’s not a five-star resort, but when you have three children who have just had the best vacation of their life and you feel the same, why would you want a stuffy, impersonal, five-star resort? If you are one of those people who won’t be happy unless you’re surrounded by opulence, this is not the place for you and, to be honest, I’d rather you didn’t go because you’d ruin my vacation. If you want your kids to have the time of their life, meet amazing people, and enjoy every second of your vacation, you definitely want to go to Franklyn D."

I'll post more photos soon. I only took 435 photos (and videos) so I'm sure it won't be hard to narrow them to say... the best ten or so.

I will also have a word of advice for fellow APs thinking about traveling to Jamaica using your child's Russian passport. For now, I'll just say life is always an adventure with us!

6 Months

2009-06-02T00:50:00.004-05:00

I can hardly believe it has been six months since Miss Alexis Katerina became an Abraham. Even more amazing is that it has almost been a year since we first got a glimpse of her sweet face. We knew all along adoption would be a good thing for us, it was after all completely a "God Thing". But we seriously had no idea how much our precious Lexi would enrich all our lives. We have been truly blessed!

Everyday is not sunshine and roses. I don't want potential adoptive parents or anyone else to get the wrong idea from reading our blog. The difficult days come right along with the good days. Adjusting to new family dynamics can be hard on everyone. Lexi is a typical head strong toddler who cries when she doesn't get her way. Whines when she is tired. Gets into things she shouldn't and then runs away when you tell her to stop. She does not respond to the word "No" very well. She tries to monopolize my time and especially my lap. I am constantly over analyzing everything she does to determine if it is normal toddler behavior or if is post-institutionalized behavior. Should I worry? Start interventions? What if... [fill in the blank]...? But my heart tells me that she is dong just fine.

There is no such thing as a perfect child, but, all I can say is: Wow, she sure is perfect for us!

Here is Lexi's 6 month progress report:

~ 8:00 - 8:30 am she wakes up ready to take on the world. She is still sleeping in our bedroom. She sleeps very soundly and doesn't cry out for us at night, but her room just seems so far away. I like having her next to our bed so we are the first thing she sees in the morning (and vice-verse). When she wakes from her naps, she will stand up and call out "Mooooom meeeee" until I come get her out of bed. She takes two naps on most days and goes to bed with no hesitation at 8:30 pm.

~ I'm not sure when I became "mommy" instead of "momma" like she used to call me, or "mom" like the boys call me. But it is very cute how she says it. However, for some reason, she has started calling Martin, "MaMa" instead of "DaDa". He corrects her every time and she just grins. I am beginning to think she is just teasing him. She's silly that way.

~ She still has a healthy appetite and eats a variety of foods. She really doesn't like a lot of meats unless it is finely chopped or sliced very thin. She has mastered the spoon and fork and rarely spills a drop. As I mentioned before, she is a very silly girl. The other night at dinner, she kept putting spaghetti noodles on her head and then grinning at us. The boys got a big laugh out of that which only encouraged her more. When she is finished with her yogurt, it becomes hair gel. She cracks herself up, plus she knows it is a sure fire way to get to take a bath!

~ We took away the bottle at around 18 months because she really didn’t need it anymore. She never even asked for it once. She drinks everything from a sippy cup. In fact, now when she is thirsty, she'll insist that we follow her to the kitchen where she opens the refrigerator door and points to exactly what she would like to drink. Her choices are milk, pink milk, SunnyD, or water.

~ Bath time is still a favorite and, yes, there have been a few potty “incidents” in the tub recently (The boys refer to it as 'floaters" or "turtles".) You'd think I would learn already. But by the time I see the familiar expression on her face, it is too late. There must be some connection to warm water. (At least now I know a trick for potty training her to go #2 in a few months.) I usually bath her after her morning constitution, but sometimes we have places to go and can't always wait. I hesitate to even discuss this topic here, but hey that's our reality. Since it is probably the worst thing I have to deal with, I think we are doing exceptionally well.

~ She loves the swimming pool, especially the hot tub/ spa (which stays luke-warm) because it is like her own little baby pool. She will float around in a inflatable fish or with arm floaties. She likes to walk around the rim of the spa. She enjoys playing Ring Around The Rosie and thinks it is fun to go under water when "we all fall down". But there will be no relaxing for mom by the pool this summer. She is a busy body, in and out, in and out, in and out, big pool, spa, big pool, spa, in and out... you get the the picture. The fountains are also a great source of entertainment for her!

~ She still loves to sit in our laps and read books. She will follow along and make animal sounds and point to them. She must turn the pages herself. Most every animal she sees is still a kitty cat, but more and more lately she will moo at the cow and bark at the dog photos. I've even heard an oink or two.

~ She still loves to climb and is very good at it. We have to really watch her close. She has almost mastered the climbing wall on our playset. Slides, swings, gliders... the faster the better! She can run fast, jump high, kick and throw balls, and dance in circles. She is very comfortable playing with her brothers for as long as they are willing to entertain her. She gets a little clingy at church because I teach Sunday School every other month while she goes to the nursery. The nursery workers say she always has a good time playing and stops crying as soon as I am out of sight. It is still hard to leave her though.

~ She is very affectionate and will give hugs and kisses to Mom, Dad, her brothers and dogs. Yes, I said dogs. For everyone else, she will gladly blow kisses. She definitely holds on tight when I carry her. She's like a little Quala bear. In fact, when she is not ready to be put down, she will hold up feet up in the air like a gymnast. She must have some very strong stomach muscles.

~ While she understands EVERYTHING we say, she does not talk a lot. ~~Unless, you include "Whinese".~~ She babbles and sings in the car and will occasionally use the few sign language motions we taught her. We have not seen as much progress in her speaking skills as we have in everything else. I am not too worried about it though. Garrett was speaking in complete sentences at 18 months while Nolan didn't speak at all until he was almost three years old. Both Preston and Liam benefited from a few months of Speech Therapy and that may be in Lexi's future too. It's really too early to tell. For now, if she wants something, she will take our hand and show us.

~ She goes through phases with the tantrums. I have noticed that this coincides with her being over-tired or wanting to play outside when we really need to be inside. The girl loves to go. If she sees anyone putting on shoes to go somewhere, she immediately grabs her shoes and brings them to me. Nothing makes her happier than getting to go somewhere... anywhere. ~~Well, except maybe ice-cream.~~

~ She has grown by leaps and bounds, but seems to be slowing down somewhat. When we picked her up from the Baby Home in Novokuznetsk, she was wearing 6-9 months clothes with room to grow. Today, she is wearing 24 months to 2T. She went from size 3 shoes to size 5 1/2 or 6. Her hair has grown too, but sometimes it is hard to tell because the longer it grows the tighter it curls. When it is wet, it hangs down to her shoulders.

~ Her brothers still adore her and get very excited about every little thing she does. Garrett said he thinks Lexi enjoys being adored. Liam recently told me; "Mom, Lexi may not be the cutest baby girl in the whole wide world. But, she is to me!" I agree!

Hey ya'll, how 'bout sashayin on over for a little square dancing?

2009-05-31T15:56:00.015-05:00

If you came here looking for some more cute photos of our little Russian Princess or to just read about how she is doing, please come back in a couple of days. Lexi's "6 months" post is coming up on Tuesday.

Well, okay, here is just one from the baseball park this afternoon:

This post is mainly about Garrett, my multi-talented 9 year old son. My athletic, sports enthusiast, vocalist, and dancer with a heart of gold. Garrett and Preston arrived home from 4-H camp on Friday afternoon. They both had a blast, but were completely and totally worn out. Later that evening, Garrett had to go rehearse for his recital on Saturday. Then, he had to get up early Saturday morning and attend Nolan and Liam's ball game with us at 8:30 a.m. He was a real trooper through it all. But, I am most proud of Garrett for two things that happened at camp.

First, I sent the boys with a relatively small amount of spending money. I figured they get three square meals a day, plus Wednesday is free craft day, and they get a t-shirt, so there was no need to take a lot of money for buying a bunch of ~~junk food~~ snacks at the canteen everyday. This year, the camp introduced a new craft that's kind of like a build-a-bear. Garrett spent almost half his money (plus $2.00 from Preston) buying a bear to make for Lexi. He couldn't wait to surprise her with it as soon as he got home. She hugged it and wouldn't let go of it for the rest of the day. When Garrett saw how much she loves her new bear, he said it was worth every penny.

The other nice thing he did while at camp was help out a fellow camper in need. There was this kid from another county that Garrett didn't know who had all his money stolen. So Garrett voluntarily used his own money to buy him a large suicide. He also helped him report the thief to the camp counselors and recover all the stolen money. Garrett was awarded with Certificate of Service and received a service bead. How cool is that? Now, if I could only get him to be nicer to Nolan.

Okay, back to the title of this post:

Did you know that the Square Dance is Tennessee's state dance?

Here is a video from Garrett's recital last night. It was almost the last act of the evening so I was able to sneak down to the front row and get this footage. I was afraid to video any of his solos because (even though I bought the DVD) last year this Barney Fife security guard practically threatened to throw my mom and me in jail if I so much as took my camera out of my purse. Thankfully, he wasn't there this year. Being on the front row and looking up at the stage, the lights are really bright. You can't see anyone's face, but you should be able to quickly locate Garrett. He is the ~~boy with the longest hair~~ youngest boy.

And while we're on the subject of Garrett's performances, here is a song from his piano recital last weekend. He is playing "Mission Impossible" on the organ, but you can only see the tip top of his head (or maybe that is his instructor's head.) Anyway, there is nothing to see, but since I don't know how to do audio only, this video will have to suffice. ~~Of course, now I going to have find time to give Preston equal billing and post his Star Wars song. It was really good too.~~

And finally, here is a 3 second video of Garrett's back flip off our diving board. It's never a dull moment around here. He actually did a back one and 1/2 right after I video-taped this one, but he pulled a muscle in his back and, therefore, is not allowed to do that anymore unless he is on a board that has a little spring in it.

Sooo okaaaaay, that was the wrong video. THAT was Liam learning to go down the water slide while Nolan loudly cheered him on from the top. But, since it took an incredibly long time for THAT video to upload, I can't bear to delete it. I'll just leave it here and go back to using youtube.

Now, THIS is Garrett's back flip:

Peter Pan!

2009-05-28T22:32:00.006-05:00

The CHET K-3rd grade drama class teamed up with the 4th-6th grade drama class and they presented an awesome production of Peter Pan. The costumes were great, everyone remembered their lines perfectly, and they had lots of fun. CHET only meets on Tuesdays, so their practice time was limited to one hour a week for about 8-10 weeks. This proud mom thinks it twas certainly worth the price of admission ~~which was free BTW~~.

I had to be down in front of the stage in case anyone needed me to feed them a line (not necessary) and also to help with props and scene changes. Thankfully, I gave my camera to Garrett who took most of the photos in this video from the balcony. Without further adieu, prepare to sit back and enjoy. The whole video is about 5 minutes.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Girly Girl? I think not!

2009-05-27T01:38:00.004-05:00

Don't let this sweet smiling face fool you. Ms. Lexi is not a girly-girl.

She is a tom-girl through and through.

I present you with:

Exhibit A

Are these the knees of a princess?

and Exhibit B

It's gotta be tough trying to keep up with four brothers...

but she is determined to do everything they can do and more.

And these photos were taken after her bath, after all the dirt and grime were washed clean.

But she can still play the Diva role too.

She is Fearless & Bold and Sweet & Sassy

All at the same time, if that is possible.

This should be a really fun summer!

Photo collages for previous post

2009-05-27T00:49:00.003-05:00

Graduation Party

Recital

Dentist and Chuckie-Cheese's

Baseball

Field Day

Peter Pan Play

Tennessee Titans!

School is out for the summer!

2009-05-26T20:59:00.007-05:00

Is May over yet? This is always our busiest month with all the year-end school activities, field days, graduations, soccer, baseball, recitals, etc., etc., etc. A better title for this post is probably "My crazy May".

Let's see...

DENTIST: Lexi had her first visit to the dentist and her teeth and gums are great so far. She did so well and since all the boys were cavity free, we celebrated with a trip to Chuckie-Cheese which just happens to be two blocks away from the dentist.

Funny story: You may not believe this, but whenever I take all five kids somewhere, I am notoriously late. I don't mean to be, but it is hard getting five kids out the door on time. Well, this time I was determined NOT to be late. We left an hour early because the dentist is 45 minutes away. As luck would have it, we got stuck behind a traffic accident right in front of the dentist office and the police were not letting cars through. I called the office to let them know that we were trying to get there, but might be late after all. The receptionist kept asking me my kids names and seemed confused, but finally said, "Okay, I'll let the dentist know." When we finally got there, another receptionist looked us up on the computer. Then she told me that our appointment was actually on Monday. We showed up on Friday. So we were not late at all, we were actually three days early. Can I tell you how much I LOVE our dentist? He worked all FIVE kids in and did not make us go home and come back on Monday. Now, that's customer service!

BLAIR SPRING CONCERT: The final performance of the year. Preston and Garrett looked handsome in their tuxedos. They all sang so beautifully. Garrett has grown so much this school year that his tuxedo pants looked like he was expecting a flood. I'm sure only his mom and Nana noticed.

CHET DRAMA: ("Center for Home school Enrichment Tutorial") Nolan and Liam were in a k-3 production of Peter Pan. Liam was actually too young for the class but since I volunteered to be the drama teacher's helper they let me enroll him this year. Liam was the cutest little pirate there ever was and Nolan was a Lost Boy (hmmm, do you think he was typecast for that part?) They all did a fantastic job. I am putting together a video of the play, but am waiting for a few more photos from one of the mermaid's mom.

CHET FIELD DAY: Very fun - need I say more? This was my third year to organise Field Day for CHET (fifth year organizing field days for our home school groups) and each time it gets better and easier. This year there were races, inflatable obstacle courses, a bounce house, snow cones, and popcorn. The weather was absolutely perfect! A great time was had by all.

SPORTS: The past two Saturdays Preston and Garrett played four soccer games. There were so many rain out games, they had to make them up sometime. To complicate matters further, Nolan and Liam were also playing baseball across town. Soccer is over, but baseball continues a few more weeks.

Here is a glimpse at how crazy this is - last Saturday, Preston's 1st game started at 8:00 am. Martin took him and they were home by 9:45. Then, Preston and Garrett had to be back at the soccer field by 10:30 for an 11:00 am game. Martin took them while I got Nolan and Liam ready for their baseball game at 12:00. Plus, it was Nolan's game to bring snacks for the whole team. And my car was on empty. We got to the game just as Preston and Garrett start playing (on different fields, of course.) I got Lexi and the stroller out and meet up with my mom. Martin was watching Garrett's game while I watched Preston's game. Garrett had another game at 4:00 that I would get to watch.

At half-time, Martin loaded up Nolan and Liam to go to the baseball field, about a 15 minute drive. As he was carrying all their gear to his truck, I looked down at Nolan and Liam's feet and they were wearing Crocks. Ugh!!! There was no time for Martin to go home and still make the baseball game in time. So, I left Lexi with my mom at the soccer game while Preston and Garrett were playing, sent Martin to the baseball field with Nolan and Liam (praying the previous games went into overtime), and then headed to our house to pick up cleats. I arrived at the baseball field with cleats in hand just as the game started. Whew! Nolan was the 2nd batter. I barely had time to lace up his cleats before they threw a batting helmet on him and sent him out. Nolan walks up to home plate and low and behold, he hits a home run!

I ran back to the dug out to give him a high five before heading back to the soccer field to pick up Preston, Garrett, Lexi and my mom. We go back to the baseball game and watched the last half before heading home to meet my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces. At the house, the kids swim for an hour and then we went to watch Garrett play in the championship soccer game. The game ended at 5:15, followed by a pizza party and award ceremony (Garrett was awarded "Best All-Around" player) and then we had to run home again to get ready for piano and voice recital at 6:30. I am tired just typing all that.

PIANO: Preston and Garrett's piano recital went well. It was the back-up for recitals because the original date was the same day as Nolan and Liam's Peter Pan play. The nice thing about that was there were only six students. Preston played the theme from "Star Wars" and sang a solo from the musical "Oliver!". Garrett played an Indian song on the piano and "Mission Impossible" on the organ. Garrett takes voice from a different teacher and that recital is next Saturday.

GRADUATION: My niece, Margaret, graduated from high school on Sunday. We all went to her party at my sister's house in Green Hills. The kids had a blast playing in her beautiful home. They were running up and down the marble stair case and racing each other up and down the elevator. Lexi got to play with her cousins and Aunts and Uncles, several of whom she hasn't seen since Christmas. She warmed up to them all pretty quickly this time. Lexi especially loved the dogs and cats at my sister's house. She gave them all hugs and kisses.

My nephew graduates from high school next Monday, but they live in Lakeland, Fl which is about a 10 hour drive. I told Martin and the boys that Lexi and I might just hop in the car and drive down for the day and come back the next. The boys declared that there would be no driving anywhere near Orlando, FL without them. I told them they wouldn't want to be in the car for that long of a drive and they promptly reminded me that they flew all the way to Moscow without complaining. So, those travel plans are still very much up in the air and will depend on how busy my work schedule is next week. Mason if you are reading this, please tell your mom and Jordan that we really want to be there for graduation. If there is any way to make it work....

4-H CAMP: Preston and Garrett boarded a bus for 4-H camp on Monday morning. They have both been looking soooo forward to this week. It was hard watching that bus pull away, but just knowing they had each other made it much easier than last year. Nolan and Liam miss them as much as I do and have already been asking how much longer until their brothers come home. The weather has been mostly okay with pop-up rain showers everyday and night. I'm sure it won't spoil the fun!

MISCELLANEOUS: The Tennessee Titans bus came to our local Kroger a few weeks ago. T-Rac was a big hit and he signed the boys' hats, shirts and arms. Michael Griffin signed autographs too, but thankfully he only wrote his name on the team photo. I must say that Lexi was total cuteness in her Titans cheerleader uniform.

We have one more recital to go. Main Stage Idol is coming up on Saturday night. Garrett is clogging, square dancing, and singing two solos, one Blue Grass and one Gospel. I hope he doesn't forget everything he knows at 4-H camp this week. Liam will be playing the fiddle. He took over where Nolan left off last year. Nolan decided the fiddle was not his thing right after recital last year, but that's okay because Liam is loving it! Lexi loves watching the big kids clog. Now when she dances, she throws her foot up and down like she's doing a double step. Too cute.

Okay, now I am ready for a vacation. I think I hear Jamaica calling my name!

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-11T11:29:00.006-05:00

This was an extra special Mother's Day for me. It was also our twelve year anniversary! I have been working on another post about that beautiful day in May 1997 when I married my best friend as well as each day I became a new mother. It's long and has lots of photos. I may need to break it up. Time is short... Hopefully, it will be ready soon.

In the meantime, here is how Lexi celebrated her first Mother's Day with us yesterday:

If you see a KITTEN...

2009-05-03T03:05:00.004-05:00

This is Preston reading Lexi's favorite book entitled, "If you see a KITTEN" by John Butler. She loves this book and must read it at least ten times a day. In fact, she has loved it a bit too hard and a couple of pages toward the end are missing, as will Liam will point out.

She always hugs the kitten page and whacks the porcupine and spider. This time she tries to hug the gator too. (Hmmmm, better not go to Gatorland in Florida anytime soon.) She'll say "ooooooooh" for the peacock and "shhhh" for the dozing doormouse. Usually, she says "yuck!" at the slugs and holds her nose while saying "pee yew" at the pig. That's not real clear on this video, but it's still fun.

5 Months

2009-05-02T12:46:00.001-05:00

Our dear, sweet Lexi has been with us for five months now. She continues to brighten our home with her smile. The sound of her giggles are contagious. She is 19 months old and a bundle of energy. She loves being the center of attention, especially with her brothers. She gives the sweetest spontaneous hugs and kisses. If she gets hurt or frightened, she will wrap her arms around my neck and bury her head under my chin. She loves to be rocked, spun, tickled, chased, tossed, flipped, kissed, and snuggled. She is a girl who knows what she wants and does not like to be told no. She has been testing her boundaries big time and trying to see just how far her cuteness is going to get her around here. Her favorite place is outside. She loves all her shoes and everyone else's too. She sits in our laps to read books one minute and is climbing over our heads the next. She hasn't met an animal yet that she didn't love, but baby kittens are her favorite by far. She is appropriately shy around other adults. She is a daddy's girl. She will happily share her food, but not Mom's lap. She doesn't talk a lot, but knows how to get her point across. She seems to understand everything we say. She is a great traveler. She is just as comfortable at the soccer and baseball fields as she is at home. She always picks the colors pink and purple first. She'll get on floor and drive toy cars and throw balls around the house. She is very coordinated, can run fast, and kick a ball. She has mastered walking up and down stairs and can maneuver over and around the toys littering our living room floor without batting an eye. She can be so silly and has the greatest facial expressions. She can clean out a drawer or clear a pantry shelf in the blink of an eye. She has deep conversations with the phone pressed to her ear, even if we don't know what she is saying. She especially loves to *help* fold towels and then play in the empty basket. Oh, what did we ever do without her five months ago?

Was that paragraph long enough for you?

Since I've been such a slacker about updating my blog, I almost forgot to get photos of Lexi today. These were taken this evening right after her bath. She is wearing her nightgown and ready to head off to beddy-bye.

I love this photo because it shows off her long lashes.

Her hair seems to get lighter everytime I wash it. At this rate, she may be a little blondie by the end of summer.

This is Lexi's mischievous look.

It's like she is saying, "I know you just said 'no', but I'm going to do it anyway. Aren't I cute?"

Liam's 1st Home Run and Hind Catcher Follies

2009-04-17T23:21:00.007-05:00

This is Liam's first year to play baseball. He is having so much fun and has a great attitude even when he strikes out or gets thrown out at first ~~because he doesn't run very fast~~ . He got the game ball last Saturday because his first big hit knocked in the winning runs. Last night, he hit a home run. Of course, in the 4-6 year old league, a home run means that the other team's kids were throwing the ball around the field like crazy. But still... it was very exciting!

My video skills are still sadly lacking but at least this video is way better than the video of Garrett's home run in THIS post. Once I saw Liam round third and head toward home and I realized that he was about to get a home run, I totally forgot about focusing the camera on him and almost missed his slide into home plate. It was a very close call, but he did it! Yeah for Liam!

P.S. This time, it is not me screaming like a banshee on the video. It was the grandmother sitting next to me. Okay, maybe that was me screaming just a little bit at the end.

This is a funny video of Liam playing catcher. With the protective equipment being almost bigger than he is, it's a little hard to find the ball sometimes.

Gotta run now, we're headed back to the ball park and soccer field!

How I spent my morning

2009-04-15T13:54:00.006-05:00

Instead of doing a much needed after holiday house cleaning, Lexi and I had fun with Easter toys.

In this video, she decided to sit in my lap to watch the bunny. She finally gets brave enough to go give him a kiss at the end. (Sorry I'm always giggling in our videos, but my kids crack me up. I guess I'm easily entertained too!) After a few times, she was dancing in circles with him and the bunny ears kept whacking her in the head. I was laughing too hard to get that on video!

This last video shows how quickly she can turn her tantrums on and off. A little background info: The teddy bear in the video is her "Mishka". The staff at the Marriott Grand in Moscow gave it to her and it has become her lovey. She sleeps with him and carries him everywhere. He always cheers her up when her brothers get to go somewhere without her. So in the video when I didn't pick her up, and she didn't want to dance, she falls to the floor for a little tantrum. Thankfully, Mishka was right there and her tears quickly turn off and she is giggling again. We're pretty lucky that this is about as bad as it gets in the tantrum department - at least until she turns 2!

She's just so sweet that I had to stop the video at that point to give her a big hug.

More Easter Photos

2009-04-13T21:53:00.012-05:00

I wanted to show off Lexi in her own 1st Easter post, but I couldn't completely leave the boys out. They had fun coloring eggs and then taking them outside for the traditional egg races. Lexi was conveniently napping during egg coloring time. Maybe she'll be ready for that next year.

The weather on Sunday was perfect -- sunny and warm. We all went to church together and enjoyed a wonderful service. Then the boys got to see eight members (including several of their friends) get baptized. Our little start-up church that meets in a skating rink and bowling alley welcomed over 400 people for our Easter celebration on Saturday and over 300 on Sunday morning! And all God's people said "Amen!"

We had family gather at our house for a mid-afternoon lunch. It was so nice to just hang out around the kitchen table and catch-up with everyone. We get so busy with our hectic every day activities that it is a rare treat to be able to sit back with a cup of joe, kick off your shoes, and just enjoy the company (in between diaper changes and refereeing the boys' periodic disagreements, of course.) I think Martin even snuck in an afternoon nap on the sofa.

There was only one melt down the whole day. During the egg races, Liam accidentally stepped on Preston's "favorite" blue egg. Preston was visibly upset, but tried not to say anything because he didn't want to hurt Liam's feelings. Garrett decided to avenge Preston's smashed egg by taking Liam's "favorite" green egg and cracking the shell on the sidewalk. Liam was soooo upset. Garrett promptly apologised. But Liam, not feeling well to be begin with, whined for an hour about how his offense was an accident, but what Garrett did was on purpose. I finally had to boil another egg and die it green to replace the ruined one. (It took two tries to get the right color.) Normally, I would not indulge such whininess, but I knew Liam didn't feel good (my first clue was when he was too tired to get out of bed to see his Easter basket.) He just couldn't let it go and I didn't want Easter 2009 to be remembered by Liam as the year Garrett broke his egg on purpose. I think what got me was when I explained to him about how the Bible tells us we are supposed to forgive others when they wrong us. And Liam said, with tears rolling down his cheeks, "I forgave him, but I'm still sad." Thankfully, Liam was asleep by 6:30 pm Sunday night and woke up this morning back to his happy self!

I can't believe I didn't take a photo of all five kids together this year. Maybe I can Photoshop one together in my spare time.... on second thought, who has spare time with five kids?

A little egg racing action video. It doesn't take much to entertain them. ;0)

Lexi's First Easter!

2009-04-13T13:12:00.010-05:00

Looking for eggs!

Her new favorite word: "Bubbles!"

She is starting to show a little interest in baby dolls. But she still favors stuffed animals.

Just checking to see if anything is in there. Lexi picked up quick on the concept that where there are eggs... there is candy!

She had to give Midnight a little loving before church

A few photos while waiting for Grandma, Uncle Michael, Auntie Bunner and the Honey Baked Ham to arrive!

This bench is old and rickety, since it sat on my granny's front porch for at least 40 years. Now it sits on ours and Lexi thinks it is just her size.

Lexi's Easter dress is pretty, but it was actually my 2nd choice. I bought this one on clearance last year right after Easter -- before we even had a referral.

Remember the Not Me! Monday post when I talked about NOT wrecking my car and then continuing on to Belks to buy Lexi a precious Easter Dress? Well... I lost that dress somewhere in my ~~messy,~~ ~~cluttered,~~ ~~disorganized,~~ ~~too big of a~~ house.

Has anyone else ever done that? ~~Don't answer.~~

Who needs baskets of eggs when there are baby kitty-cats?

This one is my favorite!

I just love little girl shoes! Do you think these would look silly in size 7 1/2?

Happy Easter Everyone!