Our Family

Easter Day

2011-04-25T12:04:00.008-07:00

Easter morning the kids had a quick look at their baskets before we had to leave for church.

Our Easter clothes...

Our friends have hosted us at their house for Easter for 8 years - I finally decided to brave it and host at our house. The Easter Bunny hid eggs while we were at church. When we got home the kids were chomping at the bit to hunt for the eggs! The Bunny was quite creative this year - using masking tape to hide eggs above window sills and under tables! :o) Here they are racing around the house - inside and out...

Happy Easter and Love to all...

Happy Easter!

2011-04-22T15:46:00.003-07:00

Feeding Ducks

2011-04-21T18:09:00.009-07:00

Nick had a Taekwondo test and I went to the store to help the Easter Bunny - so Mike and Emma went to a park to feed the ducks.

Here she is literally jumping with joy!

Here's the kids in their Sunday best...

Pastor Vera asked Nick to carry the cross on Palm Sunday - he was THRILLED!

Children's Museum

2011-04-15T08:56:00.014-07:00

I'm late getting these posted - we went to the Children's Museum a couple months ago and the kids had a blast.

Emma and Nick loved exploring on the fire engine...

Emma and I went exploring in the toddler area...

Then we painted...

But the biggest hit was the Bubble Room - we were all giggling!

Nick got inside a bubble!

Then the kids tried on tap shoes and did some dancing...

Then the kids did some pretend shopping...

Making Pizza

2011-04-03T09:23:00.002-07:00

Our little master chefs at work...

Emma's Valentine Show

2011-02-24T22:04:00.003-07:00

Emma's daycare put on a Valentine singing show. At first Emma was extremely shy and stood in front of the crowd of parents just sucking her thumb. Then she saw us in the crowd and started singing and dancing. She was adorable! :o)

Love to all...

Star Wars

2011-02-02T21:35:00.004-07:00

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Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T15:38:00.017-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We were so looking forward to Mike's Dad coming here for Christmas this year but Mother Nature played a nasty trick on us. A freak snowstorm in England closed Heathrow for several days and Granddad could not get here. We missed him terribly but tried to make the best of it with a video call to him on Christmas day.

Mike and I took vacation and we had a lot of fun with the kids. We went to see the Colorado Avalanche hockey game.

This was Emma's first year helping to decorate the Christmas tree - she figured out what to do after watching Nick put on one ornament!

Emma had a cold and was up most of the night. She asked Mike for oatmeal and in the short time it took to boil the water Emma finally fell asleep...

We had a photo shoot trying to get a nice photo for our Christmas card. Here's some of the photos...

We knew the photo shoot was over when Emma gave us this priceless pose... :o)

We had fun making (and eating) gingerbread houses and cookies

We went on the Georgetown Loop Santa Train. Emma actually sat on Santa's lap for the first time! Mr. and Mrs. Clause were a delight and we had a grand time singing carols and drinking hot chocolate.

Here's the kids Christmas morning

We went to see our friends John and Wendy perform in the Denver Concert band. Nicholas sat on Santa's lap again (and Emma wanted nothing to do with Santa!)

We did some painting...

We loaded the kids up and went to a mall in town. It was Emma's first time going to a shopping mall and she walked around with her mouth hanging open! :o) We went to Build-a-Bear and then we went to the kids play area where they worked off a lot of energy.

And last but not least - we went to see the Christmas lights at Hudson Gardens with friends.

Here's Emma on my Maw-Maw's rocking chair...

Merry Christmas and love to all...

Christmas Fun!

2010-12-19T13:22:00.007-07:00

We went to the Evergreen Holiday Walk and had a great time. We got to the Lake House just as Santa arrived. We listened to the choir from our church singing carols and watched Santa light the tree.

Then we followed a luminary lit path into the town. Each store had a different activity like bell ringing, a joke-telling elf, a choir, etc. It was a lot of fun!

Another evening we got dressed up to take photos for our Christmas card and then went to see Santa.

The fire department hosted Santa and had a huge bonfire with cookies and s'mores.

Emma was excited to see Santa - until we got there... Then she wanted NOTHING to do with him! :o) But we managed to get her close enough for a photo (as long as she sat on Dad's lap and NOT Santa's lap).

Snowball Fight!

2010-11-27T14:41:00.002-07:00

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Getting Ready...

2010-11-17T15:57:00.004-07:00

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Happy 2nd Birthday Emma!

2010-11-10T17:08:00.004-07:00

I cannot believe that Emma is 2 ! Where has the time gone? We had a small party for her this year with a couple friends. We had a giraffe theme this year. Here she is getting ready to blow out the candle.

Here's the cake that Mike and I made and decorated. We had a lot of fun decorating it!

Here's the birthday girl after eating her spaghetti

Emma wants to say Hi!

2010-10-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

2010-06-26T16:48:00.016-07:00

We celebrated Nicholas' birthday by going out to his choice of restaurant. He and Emma dined like a king and queen on french fries (and other stuff).

Then we came home and opened his cards and presents. He was very excited! :o)

He loved his presents and we're going to see how long it takes to get this 600+ piece Lego set together! :o)

The next weekend we hosted a sleep-over party for 5 of Nicholas' friends. They had a lot of fun playing on the playset that Mike assembled and they stayed up to 11pm. We had some very tired boys the next morning...

We've been quite busy since I last posted - here's a few of the things we've been doing...
Mike took Nicholas to a wildlife outdoor program. They both had a blast doing archery and fishing. Nicholas signed up for a contest - and won a fancy new fly rod and reel! Guess we've got a new fisherman in our family!

Nicholas' cub scout den had their crossing-over ceremony and Nicholas is now a Webelo.

We went to the open house at our local fire station. Nicholas loves going to this every year (he still wants to be either a fire fighter or an EMT).

For Father's Day we went to Heritage Square in Golden. They had a Corvette show and we enjoyed looking at all the cars.

Then we went on a bunch of rides and played mini-golf.

Emma got a lot of complements on her outfit.

Emma had a great time playing in puddles on the front deck. She was giggling the entire time.

Here's some random photos.

Love to all...

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-15T12:13:00.015-07:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

We're still busy and that's my excuse for not posting! :o) Here's some of what we've been up to:

Nicholas' Cub Scout den has been learning to whittle. His den leader wanted to show the boys what you could aspire to... They went to visit a guy that does chainsaw carvings. Rich actually used to be our next-door neighbor - so it was great to see him again! He cut off a two foot section of a log and got straight to work (in this photo you can see some of his other projects).

The eagle head started to take shape...

And here he is with the den and the eagle head he just finished.

It was so cool to watch him work! Thanks Rich!

Emma's personality is really coming out - and she is a lot of fun! Here she is crawling (and giggling) into Rosie's kennel.

Nicholas and I went to First Communion class at church. Pastor Vera did a fantastic job explaining to the kids and made sure the kids knew the seriousness and joyfulness of communion. Here's Nicholas and Pastor Vera on Mother's Day - which was Nicholas' first communion.

We finally smashed our confetti filled Easter eggs! Emma wasn't quite sure what we were doing - but had fun watching the confetti fall to the ground.

Nicholas has been learning to read music and to play the recorder. Every year his school holds the "Night of 500 Stars" event where the kids can display their art work and perform for everyone. Nicholas' class did a great job and played a few songs for us.

Nicholas has been playing flag football for a few weeks. He really likes it and his coach says that he is quite fast.

Here he is making a touchdown run - can you tell he's happy?! :o)

Emma is such a happy baby - here she is saying "night night" to Daddy and NeeNee (her name for Nicholas).

Emma's vocabulary continues to expand. She now calls our dog by her full name, Rosie. But the funny thing is that Mike, Nicholas and I now call Rosie - RoRo - because that was the way Emma used to say it!

Spring Break & Easter

2010-04-09T19:29:00.014-07:00

We took a couple days off work while Nicholas was on spring break from school and went down to Colorado Springs. The first day we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The best part is the giraffe exhibit, where there's an elevated walkway from which you can feed the giraffes. We purchased crackers and then we all took turns feeding them. It was an unusual experience and a lot of fun.

The zoo had the traditional zoo animals like lions, monkeys and elephants but also had "less traditional" mountain animals like wolves, grizzlies, moose, and mountain lions. We really enjoyed it and Mike and I had fun joking about NORAD listening to us quoting lines from the movie "War Games" ('Would you like to play a game?'). :o) I'm sure they've never heard that joke before... :o)

There was a fun play area and Nicholas and Emma ran around for a bit and it was Emma's first time down a big slide....she loved it!

The next day we went to the Ghost Town Museum. Which is a neat little place where they have taken actual old ghost town buildings and put them inside a huge building.

We went to the Flying W Ranch for dinner and a show. After dinner they had a scavenger hunt and Nicholas was picked to participate. He had to get a sock with a hole in it; a lipstick kiss on his cheek; and wear a woman's shoes. Then it was down to him and a lady - and for the final contest they had a bowl with 24 eggs - 23 raw eggs and one hard boiled egg. They had to smash one egg at a time until the hard boiled egg was found. They got through a bunch of eggs and then Nicholas' egg would not smash - he was the winner!

The next day we went to Garden of the Gods. Here's Nicholas by Balanced Rock.

Then we went swimming at the hotel. Emma loved it! Nicholas and Mike tossed a ball around in the water and had a great time too.

Easter morning the kids looked at their baskets and then we went to church.

Then we went to our friend's house for lunch. It's become a wonderful tradition that we look forward to each year. The Easter Bunny had hidden eggs all over their house and yard and the kids had a great time looking for them. Nicholas showed Emma how to hunt for the eggs and was a great big brother.

Happy Easter! Love to all...

Fun Times

2010-03-29T20:24:00.009-07:00

Here's a few photos from our weekend activities...!

We drove down to Bass Pro Shops as they were hosting a kids event. They had all kinds of fun things for Nicholas to do from fishing to the shooting gallery to painting lures. Nicholas had a ball and Emma had fun looking at all the stuffed animals (she called each one a bear - one of her favorite words!).

I made brownies and for the first time let Emma have a taste...please welcome the world's newest Chocoholic! :o)

Nicholas' cub scout den had their annual cake bake to raise money. Each family makes a fun cake and then sells it at the den meeting. We searched the web and found the directions for this cake - it's a bathtub with two yellow rubber duckies (peeps). The "water" is blue jell-o. We had a lot of fun making it and our cake sold quickly!

Here's some funny photos of Emma - she loves getting into everything and loves any form of technology....from phones to remotes (and she has accidentally called 911 - thank goodness the operator was very understanding!).

Emma loves to put on hats - but it's hard to get a photo of her - I loved this one of her running away from me (because I had the camera!).

Emma's favorite book is "Goodnight Moon". She will search for the book and bring it to me to read it to her. She gets so excited when we get to the page of the "cow jumping over the moon" - because she gets to "Mooooo" like a cow! She purses her lips and puts everything she's got into her moo. :o)

And - drum roll please - here is Nicholas in his brand new SOLID green belt!!! He passed his written test on his first try (his instructor had us prepare him that the odds were he would not pass his first time). He literally shocked the instructor and us! This is the first test (in Taekwondo or in school) that he's had to study a book full of material and then take a written test. We are so proud of him for working so hard. Way to go Nicholas!!

And congratulations to my cousin Jason and his wife Paige on the birth of their daughter, Ahlia Sidney. Welcome to the family Ahlia - we cannot wait to meet you!

Catch-up

2010-03-05T19:11:00.008-07:00

We are still here!! Everyday seems to fly by and I'm crawling into bed thinking..."doh, I forgot to post to the blog again"...

So - let's backup to February. Nicholas went to his school Valentine's dance. He had a lot of fun running around and joking with his friends. Toward the end of the dance the DJ had the kids gather in a circle and had a hip-hop dance-off. Nicholas of course competed! :o) He had a hip-hop dance class last summer and he remembered all his moves. Nicholas came in second place! He can really shake his groove thing (am I old or what?).

Nicholas has been going non-stop with Taekwondo. He had another competition and he did great. He got a huge trophy for third place poomse and first place in sparring.

This was the first competition where Nicholas has tried to break a board. Since he's only just starting this - they use a plastic board that is like two tight-fitting puzzle pieces. He had great form but didn't quite manage to break it...but he really tried his best!

Nicholas has also started testing to go from a stripped green belt to a solid green belt. The testing process is really quite hard when you go for solid as he has the same requirements that adults have. The physical part of the test was last Saturday - and took 3 hours!! Yes, THREE Hours of solid poomses; kicking; and over 400 jumping jacks! He was one tired boy when it finished but countless black-belts came up to us and said how impressed they were with Nicholas' form and his energy (tell us about his energy!). He's still studying for the written part of the test. We hope he'll be ready for that in another week or so.

Emma has the walking down pat now. I think she's actually getting ready to start running as she can do speed-walking now. Here she is with her Daddy's knit hat - she loves putting this on and giggling!

Emma has discovered that she LOVES ribs!! My Dad would have been so proud!

Emma is such a happy girl - and her vocabulary is starting to build. She catches us off guard by repeating a word we say. She loves to blow kisses!

Love to all...

Look Who's Walking !!

2010-01-29T18:48:00.008-07:00

Emma took her first two steps on Jan 15! The next day she increased it to three steps and she's been slowly increasing the steps until last night when she took about 14 steps then fell then got straight back up and took another 11 steps, fell got up and carried on doing this until bed time. We were all cheering and clapping for her and she thought that was the funniest thing!

She still prefers to crawl when she wants to get somewhere but she's quite happy to walk a bit now too.

Emma's vocabulary is really picking up too. Her favorite words are "Up" and "Lights" and she's learning "nose, ear, mouth and head"

Last Saturday Nicholas competed his car in his pack's Pinewood Derby race. Last year Mike did the majority of the work on the car. But this year it was all Nicholas! He did a great job and he won his den and came in third in the Pack!

Way to go Nicholas!!

Today, Mike and a friend went snowmobiling. Mike and Brian have been buying old junker snowmobiles and fixing them up...apparently we've got four now! They went out to Georgia Pass and had a great time. The snow was deep up there and when Mike slowed down the back end just sunk into the powder. He was able to get it out - but I've insisted that when I go with them that I want to go on a groomed trail! :o)

Happy New Year

2010-01-10T21:11:00.012-07:00

I guess I should start with Christmas since I'm so far behind posting! :o) We had a lovely Christmas. On Nicholas' last day before Christmas break his school had a tree sing and each class sang a holiday song. Here's Nicholas just before performing his jazzy song "Do You Know Blitzen?" (a really cute song that I've never heard before! Apparently Blitzen is a boogie woogie reindeer that boogies all day!):

Here's the kids with Pastor Vera - we love her - although Emma only wanted Mommy!

Pastor Vera asked Nicholas to light a candle for each of the seven readings at the 6pm service on Christmas Eve. Nicholas did a great job !

Emma slept in our room Christmas night because she had a head cold and we put her in her stoller to keep her head elevated. So - Emma woke up long before Nicholas Christmas morning. We ventured out to the Christmas tree and Emma was thrilled to see a kitchenette just like she plays with at our friends' house! That Santa is one smart guy! :o)

Santa brought Nicholas a Nintendo dsi and Nicholas was thrilled! He was a great big brother and helped Emma open her presents.

Emma got the cutest hat from our friends - she even kept it on her head long enough for some photos!

Emma is so close to walking. Her legs are strong enough to stand straight up but she just won't take those first steps. She's happy to stand up but as soon as she wants to move she goes down to crawl.

For New Year's eve we stayed home as Emma and I still had a cold. A friend had mentioned that her boyfriend's family has a tradition of making fondue for New Year. I thought that was so neat as I loved fondue when I was young. So we made a cheese fondue and a chocolate fondue. We had a blast and Nicholas absolutely loved dipping veggies and bread into the cheese and fruit and cake into the chocolate.
We may have started our own tradition this year!

This weekend we went to Boulder to the FRUA Grandfather Frost event. Here's Nicholas and his friend with Grandfather Frost and Snow Maiden.

Then the kids all went ice skating and had a great day! Mike and I stayed on the sidelines and talked with the parents - most of whom we know from Heritage Camp.

We wish you a happy and healthy 2010. May your heart be filled with love and peace.

Love to all...

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

2009-12-19T08:51:00.002-07:00

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Let's Go Caps!

2009-12-17T21:33:00.009-07:00

I've been a fan of the Washington Capitals hockey team for years. After we adopted Nicholas our friends Rob and Denise (and fellow Caps fans!) sent Nicholas a Caps jersey with Alexander Ovechkin's number on it. At the time Nicholas didn't speak much English so in our very limited Russian we pointed to the jersey and said "Ruskie" and let Nicholas watch a Caps game on TV. Nicholas was THRILLED! Since that day Nicholas has been fascinated with Ovechkin. So - this year we went to see them play against the Colorado Avalanche!

Our friends watched Emma for the evening and we drove down to Pepsi Center early enough to see the warm-ups. I took Nicholas down to the glass and Nicholas was screaming "I see Ovechkin!!" over and over! :o)

The horn blew and the Caps were leaving the ice to prepare for the game - then a Caps player flicked a puck over the glass and I caught it! I gave it to Nicholas and he was so excited (and I was too!).

We had a fantastic time at the game and the Caps won 6 to 1.

Mike caught a t-shirt that came parachuting down from the ceiling of the Pepsi Center!

Last weekend Nicholas had another Taekwondo competition. This one was different and the poomse events were broken into teams. Mike and I thought this was a great idea as Nicholas isn't in any team sports right now and he does need to learn about being a good team player. Nicholas' team got first place team poomse and he got first place for basics. Here's a photo of him getting one of his medals.

Love to all...

Santa and the Christmas Parade

2009-12-08T17:22:00.006-07:00

Last Saturday was our town's Christmas parade. Our small town is really growing... Our first year here the parade took about 15 minutes total and they actually turned the floats around and marched back a second time to make it longer! This year the parade was two hours long!

Nicholas and his Cub Scout den were in the parade and handed out candy to the kids (and one big kid named Mike).

The parade ended with Santa and Mrs. Claus on top of a firetruck. Later that evening we went back to visit with Santa. The fire department had a huge bonfire and hosted Santa. Nicholas spoke with Santa first and told him want he wanted most for Christmas (Nintendo DSi). Then I sat Emma on Santa's lap...and as soon as I let go she began to scream...

It wasn't what I had in mind for the photo for our Christmas cards... :o) We'll try just taking a photo at home to send out!

Ho Ho Ho!
Love to all...

Crossing the Pond...

2009-12-01T21:10:00.020-07:00

We made the big trip! We flew out of Denver to England to visit Mike's family. Nicholas and Emma were great on the 9 hour flight. I was really nervous how Emma would be on such a long flight - but she slept about 6 hours of the overnight flight.

It was the first time the grandparents have meet Emma and only the second time they've seen Nicholas (and the first time was coming home from Ukraine when Nicholas didn't speak English - so really it was like the first time for him as well).

On the first day the weather was a bit rainy so we drove around Bournemouth. We stopped at the beach and the guys all got out and walked the beach in the rain. Nicholas loved every minute of it!

We brought toys for Emma to play with - but she didn't want anything to do with them. Her favorite activity while in the UK was pulling the magnets off Granddad's refrigerator! By the end of the week I got her to put a couple back ON the fridge - but she immediately pulled them back off... :o)

The next day the sun came out and we went out to Bournemouth again and walked out on Bournemouth Pier.

Then we went on the carousel. Nicholas rode a horse and I held Emma in a sleigh. It was Emma's first carousel ride!

Mike's Dad had the magic touch with Emma. She was fussing one night and Granddad held her and within a few minutes she fell fast asleep.

The next day we went to Corfe Castle - Mike's favorite castle! The wind was fierce so we kept Emma out of the wind as much as possible and kept her by the outer walls then took turns exploring the castle ruins with Nicholas.

Nicholas really enjoyed learning about life inside a castle and was pretending to be Prince Caspian from the Narnia movie.

London calling...

Nicholas liked riding the car ferry from Corfe.

We went to Beaulieu to tour the car museum. Mike's Dad told us stories about the cars he worked on as a mechanic. We all really liked seeing the cars from the TV show Top Gear. Nicholas loved seeing the limos made from tiny cars.

One morning we drove up to Windsor and toured the castle. It was quite the contrast to touring the ruins of Corfe Castle! :o)

Here's Cub Scout Nicholas standing next to the statue of Lord Baden-Powell - the founder of the Boy Scouts.

Our last night we went out to the pub for dinner. We had a great time with you Grandmom and Granddad and we miss you!!

We spent our last day in London and went on a double decker bus tour. Unfortunately it poured down rain - but that didn't stop us from sitting on the upper deck! :o)

Big Ben at night...

Our last adventure was riding on the London Eye. We realized on this that Nicholas is afraid of heights...! He did well and mostly stayed on the bench in the middle of the pod - but did venture out a few times for a better look at the scenery.

The next morning we boarded a flight back to Denver. Nicholas did great on the flight again. Emma was a bit of a handful since it was a daytime flight and she didn't want to nap. We walked up and down the aisles for about 8 of the 9 hour flight. We were so happy to get home and go to bed! :o) Be it ever so humble - there's no place like home!

Love to all...

Emma's Birthday & Halloween

2009-11-09T20:22:00.008-07:00

On Emma's birthday we had dinner and then gathered on the floor to open all of her gifts!

It took a couple presents and help from her big brother before she realized there was a surprise hidden under all that wrapping paper! :o)

On Friday, Oct. 30 we went to Nicholas' school for the annual Halloween Parade. The kids dress up in their costumes and parade around the front of the school. After the parade we went in for his class party. Nicholas dressed as Indiana Jones.

We dressed Emma as a Genie from the old TV show "I Dream of Jeannie".

Then Friday night the school hosted Trunk or Treat. Since we live in a rural area and the houses are so far apart it makes it hard for the kids to go Trick or Treating. So - parents park in a huge circle and decorate their cars and the kids go from car to car - Trunk or Treat! We took the daughters of two friends and bundled Emma up too. Emma dressed as a Ladybug because it was a much warmer costume!

The kids had a great time and then we went to the school gym for a Barn Dance! I don't typically listen to bluegrass music but the band was really good and I think every foot in the place was tapping.

We all had a great time!
Then on Saturday we went out Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. We just went to friends houses so they could see the kids dressed up. Before we went out I heard a rustling and look who found the bag of Halloween candy by the door...

Just look at this 'who me?' face - and she didn't even get into the candy!

This past weekend we went into town to see our friends John and Wendy perform in the Denver Concert Band. They put on a great show both Nicholas and Emma really enjoyed hearing the music. Emma got restless after a couple songs though - she just cannot sit still anymore. She is certainly a toddler - she wants to keep moving.
Love to all...

First Party; First Word

2009-10-27T20:13:00.010-07:00

We celebrated Emma's birthday a few days early with a party this past Sunday. We invited a bunch of friends over to the house and we all had a lovely day. Here's Emma waiting for the party to get started

Here's the ladybug cupcakes that Mike and I made

Emma ate a good dinner and we all sang Happy Birthday to her. She was grabbing for the cupcake even before I could blow out the candle - how did she know this was a sweet?! :o)

At first she picked at the cupcake and was very lady-like...

Then she got a taste for the cake and tore into it! :o)

Emma said her first word - she's been saying Da Da and Ma Ma for a while now - but her first word other than that is.... Ro Ro - for Rosie. I guess that counts as her first word... ? She gets so excited when she sees Rosie. Emma seems to think that Rosie is her personal walking toy.

Here's a few photos that we took last weekend.

Love to all...

Going Mobile...Keep Me Moving

2009-10-12T19:25:00.008-07:00

Emma is now a professional crawler - going forward! She's got the hang of it and can go at a good speed. She usually crawls for a while then stops and takes a thumb break.

Nicholas has been really active - his Cub Scout troop went on their annual twilight hike. It was a cold evening and they enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies at the end.

Mike and Nicholas went to see the Cirque Du Soleil traveling show called Kooza that was here in Denver. It was a bit overwhelming for Nicholas at first. Sometimes we forget how little he's been exposed to and have to catch ourselves when we realize we've taken him out of his comfort zone. Mike said it was the clowns that freaked him out - and it took a few performances before Nicholas relaxed and enjoyed the show. Nicholas has talked non-stop since the show - so in the end he forgot about the clowns! :o)

Nicholas also went to his first amusement park. He and his good friend spent the day at Elich Gardens in Denver. Nicholas rode a lot more rides than I expected him to - but he did draw the line at any roller coasters. Maybe his cousin Kristen will have to take him on his first roller coaster ride! :o)

Emma now has 4 teeth - two on the top and two on the bottom. And I believe she's got more coming in as she's still chewing on everything. The poor little thing just isn't getting a break. I know these are just baby teeth - but I can foresee braces in her future - she's got the big gaps just like I do in her teeth.

And last but not least - here's Emma and Nicholas cheering for our undefeated Denver Broncos!

Rest in peace Misty... My brother's family lost their beautiful dog. She was such a happy, hairy, loving dog! She had a happy 17 years and she will be greatly missed.

Love to all...

Taekwondo Competition

2009-09-25T20:49:00.006-07:00

Last weekend Nicholas had another Taekwondo competition. Mike took him down to town and Emma and I stayed at home. Emma is so wiggly now I didn't think she would put up with many hours in high school stands. Nicholas did really well - he got first place in sparring and 5th place in his poomse.

Nicholas' teacher said he's doing so well that she wants him to test for his solid green belt next time (he's currently a green belt with a white stripe).

Emma and I played while the boys were in town. Then I dressed her in her baptism dress to try and get some nice photos. I'm afraid we didn't take many photos of her in her dress. I had a hard time as she's so wiggly I couldn't focus the camera and get her to look at me and smile! :o) I'm going to try again when Mike is home. Here is one that I liked.

Herds of elk have been in our neighborhood lately. The other night we all went outside to listen to the bull elks bugle. It's quite a sound. Nicholas was a little scared of the noise but when we explained it was a boy elk looking for a girlfriend - he then thought it was cool. :o) This is a video of a bugle if you've never heard it before (we did not take this video).

Love to all...

Green Belt and Crawling

2009-09-13T14:26:00.009-07:00

Nicholas tested for his green belt in Taekwondo two weeks ago. His confidence really amazes us! I think Mike and I were more nervous for Nicholas than he was - and all we had to do was stand on the sidelines and watch! :o) Nicholas marched right in and did his warm-ups and poomses and he was crisp and sharp and I don't think I've seen anyone do the poomse better. We were impressed and apparently so were the 30 black belts who were watching him - he got his green belt!

We went to the world-famous....ok...Colorado-famous :o) Casa Bonita Restaurant! My blogging friend, Tami, took her kids there and it finally dawned on me that Nicholas would get a kick out of this restaurant. It's been described as a strange combination of Disney World and a Mexican restaurant. Nicholas had an absolute blast and Emma had fun people watching.

Emma still isn't crawling - well - she is crawling backwards but not forwards yet. She can actually go at a good clip backwards so we're quickly realizing how dangerous this crawling thing is going to be! :o) Mike has the baby gate at the top of the stairs installed and we're trying to remember to keep it closed. Just when I fuss at Nicholas for forgetting to latch the gate - then I forget to latch the gate... Mike also installed some padding around the fireplace as the slate hearth edge is so sharp. We've got plastic plugs in all the outlets and we're practicing making sure the floor is clear of anything she could put in her mouth.

This is a photo that I probably won't keep on the web site - because once Emma is old enough to be embarrassed about it then I'll pull it off. But in the mean time - this photo makes me laugh out loud! She loves Cheerios - if she had her way - her food groups would be: Cheerios, yogurt, and occasionally peas or bananas. Anyway - here's my little Sweet Pea gobbling up Cheerios so fast she misses her mouth!

And last but not least - here's my two kiddos dressed in their Sunday finest...

Emma's third tooth has broken through today. She already had two on the bottom and this is her first tooth on top.
Love to all...

Back to School !

2009-08-26T15:40:00.012-07:00

Monday was Nicholas' first day back to school! He was beyond excited! Although I'm not sure if it was the actual going-to-school part or the I-get-to-finally-wear-my-new-shoes part! :o) We did get him some way cool sneakers - they look like a police car and have "headlights" and the red, white, and blue siren lights - which all light up when he takes a step. Here he is with his 3rd grade teacher at the opening ceremony:

And here he is walking the red carpet into school. The theme this year was Happy Birthday - Nicholas' school is 20 years old.

We're really happy with the teacher - she has a positive attitude and she told us she specifically requested Nicholas. Nicholas is equally excited with her!
Here's Emma chomping at the bit - wanting to start school! :o)

Emma loves peas...

...and what goes better with peas - than a nice big helping of THUMB!

Emma is so close to beginning to crawl. She holds herself up on her hands but she just can't get her legs going forward. Right now she's pushing herself backwards. I think she'll be crawling in the next couple weeks...High Five, Emma!

And here is how we started the morning of the first day of school - with an uninvited visitor... He helped himself to a nice breakfast (corn cobs)

Mike scared the bear off - and it looked like the bear was trying to hide from Mike behind this tiny aspen tree....we see you Mr. Bear! :o)

The trash truck arrived just a couple minutes later and the bear ran off. What a way to start the day!

Renaissance Man

2009-08-15T16:02:00.010-07:00

Mike, Nicholas, John and Wendy went to the CO Renaissance Festival two weeks ago (Emma and I couldn't go as we were sick). The Renaissance Festival is held every year in Larkspur, CO and features jousting, various shows like sword swallowing, and the entire area is decorated with a renaissance feel. Most people dress up in period costume and just have a really good time! :o)

Nicholas and John dressed as pirates!

Nicholas did a couple activities:

When they stopped for lunch, apparently Nicholas was watching a guy dressed up as Capt. Jack Sparrow. Mike had just paid for lunch and Nicholas went up to the guy and challenged him to a duel! The guy dueled with Nicholas for quite a while and a crowd gathered to watch. :o) It constantly amazes us how outgoing Nicholas is! We both come from introverted families and it still shocks us to watch Nicholas be so extroverted! :o)

Nicholas had such a great time that when he got home he immediately wanted to write a thank you note to John and Wendy! Here's more photos from the day...

I've Got the Music in Me!

2009-08-09T15:30:00.004-07:00

REECA Camp

2009-07-30T18:52:00.014-07:00

Last weekend we went to REECA Heritage Camp (Russian/Eastern European/Central Asian Heritage Camp). This is our second year going to camp and I must say I think this year was even better than last year! The theme this year was 'Come Join the Circus' and the opening ceremony featured a circus performance including a trapeze act (one trapeze). And it opened with the reading of the Russian "Firebird" story.

Nicholas had various activites including learning to juggle; making a mask and other crafts; learning a couple tricks on the trapeze; and other REECA classes like Heart Talks (expressing adoption feelings via art).

Nicholas roller skated again at the Friday night social. He was given roller blades when his friend out-grew them. He did great skating!

Here's Nicholas and Emma at the closing ceremony.

We all had a really nice time. Nicholas made more friends this year - and Mike and I did as well. Mike and I took camp a bit easier as it was hard to go to the adult classes with an 8 month old....but that made it kind of nice as we got to relax and go swimming! And we learned a few things after last years camp - the main one being - bring a fan! :o) I'm certain we'll be going back again next year. I'm hoping more Ukraine families come!!

Here's some photos of Emma expressing her independence...! Here she is trying to feed herself. She got the spoon to her mouth and I thought she was going to get all the food in - then at the last second she turned the spoon upside down and the baby food slid right off. :o)

And here she is holding her cup - she loves to drink water!

The week before Nicholas had a dance class. He learned various types of dance - from Tap to Hip-Hop. He was really quite good!! His favorite was Hip-Hop and then Tap. We might look into signing up for more classes at another time.

And - last but not least - here's a few photos that were just too cute to not post! :o)

Love to all...

Vacation - Part 2 - Washington, DC

2009-07-12T16:52:00.015-07:00

We left Shenandoah and drove to DC on July 1. Nicholas kept saying how he'd never seen so many cars! :o)

Thursday I had to go in to work. My company moved to Fairfax, VA and I went in to see the new offices. We got the grand tour and the kids and Mike got to meet my co-workers but then I had to work the rest of the day. Mike took Nicholas and Emma into DC for a quick tour of the monuments. Here's Nicholas in front of the Korean War Memorial.

And in inside the Lincoln Monument

And in front of the very moving Vietnam Memorial

And the World War II Memorial

The next day we went to Arlington, VA to visit my Grammy and my Aunt Dolores and Aunt Dianne. It was so nice to see them all! Believe it or not - Grammy is 98 years old - she is as sharp as a tack and still quite spry with her walker!

Nicholas is so happy now that he's met my family! Now he finally knows the people he speaks with on the phone! :o) It's so hard to leave family. Nicholas kept telling me "don't cry Mom". We miss you all and love you so much!

After leaving Grammy's we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in DC. Of course - this is Mike and my favorite museum!

When we were in Shenandoah we went to see the "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" movie in the hopes Nicholas would be excited about spending a few days in museums. I've got to say - it worked! He was so excited when he saw Amelia Earhart's plane and the Wright Brother's plane (both were featured in the movie). And he was expecting to see a giant octopus in the Reflecting Pool! :o) I'd highly recommend this movie before traveling to DC with kids.

On July 4th we stayed at one of the hotels I work for in DC. And wow - did they treat us nicely! We actually had a room with a balcony that could see the Capitol and the Washington Monument. I wanted to stay in the room and watch the fireworks from there - but Mike and Nicholas would not have that! :o) So we ended up going down to the National Mall with everyone else.

Here we are in front of the White House. We didn't get to see the back side as the Obama's were having a BBQ for the 4th.

We then went to the American History Museum. Nicholas wanted to see Darth Vader's costume (since it was featured in the Night at the Museum move) but I'm afraid it wasn't there. I asked one of the guards and she said it was in storage. That was a bit of a shame - but Nicholas did get to see C3PO. They have finished restoring the American flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. It was nice to see the new display as the last time Mike and I were in DC it was being restored.

Here we are on the Mall - we got a great spot for watching the fireworks. We all played cards to pass the time.

Well we all played except Emma - she took a nice long nap.

The fireworks started at 9pm and were fantastic!

I know this photo isn't very good - but I just wanted to remember Emma - sound asleep even with all the bangs and pops of the fireworks!! Believe it or not - she slept through the entire show - and only woke at the end when everyone clapped!!

Here we are after the fireworks (and Emma woke up)

So - Emma - how did you like your very first vacation to the East Coast?

Vacation - Part 1 - Shenandoah Valley, VA

2009-07-08T20:12:00.012-07:00

We flew back east to see my side of the family! Emma and Nicholas were both great on the flight. Nicholas was busy watching cartoons and Emma slept 3 hours! We arrived in the beautiful Shenandoah valley late Saturday.

Then Sunday morning the kids were baptized. My cousin Emily had her daughter and three stepsons baptized and we joined them - it was so great to all be there celebrating together. It meant so much to me to have the kids baptized here because my family has been going to this church for generations. I'm sure my Mom and Maw-Maw would have been thrilled!

After the baptism the ladies at St. Paul hosted a luncheon and they out did themselves yet again! The food was wonderful and my cousin Andi made two beautiful and yummy cakes. Nicholas had a great time running around and playing with all his cousins!

In front of my brother's house is a beautiful old magnolia tree.

Ever since Nicholas heard that my brother has a convertible he has talked non-stop about it. Well - his wish finally came true - Uncle Scott took Nicholas out for a cruise with the top down! I bet that as soon as Nicholas can afford one - and can drive - he will have a convertible too! :o)

We went to Luray Caverns to tour the caves. There are no longer tour guides - instead you now get a headset and listen to the tour at your own pace.

Uncle Doug and Aunt Pat invited us over for a swim. Nicholas swam for a bit and then gave the diving board a try. Well - it wasn't a dive but a pure belly-flop! Everyone thought he'd be put off by that landing - but he got out and did belly-flop after belly-flop! It's a wonder his tummy was still there by the end of the night.

Scott took the kids fishing and Nicholas caught 6 fish! Here he is showing off one of them.

We went to Uncle Bryan and Aunt Bobbie's house for dinner. My cousin Lisa is a middle school band teacher and she showed Nicholas how to play the trumpet and the tuba! Nicholas did really well - Lisa said he's got the talent to play a brass instrument.

And here's Emma and her Daddy reading a bedtime story. Which of them looks the most sleepy do you think? :o)

We had a great time! Nicholas wants to know when we'll be going back again!

I'll post the second part of the trip another night (we went to DC to see my Grandmother and aunts and toured the museums and see the fireworks on the Mall).

Happy Birthday Nicholas!!

2009-06-25T19:30:00.012-07:00

June 18 was Nicholas' 10th birthday! Nicholas opened his presents after he got home from day care. We got him a new bike with gears! He loves it. He and Mike went out for a ride and Nicholas is now able to make it up the hills in our neighborhood. It's going to take a bit more practice with changing gears - but he did a great job!

After their bike ride we went out for dinner to celebrate Nicholas hitting double digits!

Friday was his party...and what a party! Nicholas wanted to have a sleep-over and Indiana Jones themed party. Well - Mike heard Indiana Jones and went crazy planning activities for the boys!! Mike, one neighbor, and I decorated Emma's room into the "Room of Doom" and we decorated the far corner of the yard into the "Forest of Fear".

When the boys arrived they had fun just playing and then we had dinner and then the adventure began! The boys found Dr. Jones' diary and had to find the "Trail of the Broken Tablet"... Mike was their helper and showed the boys how to use a compass to find the direction their way (based on the clues in Dr. Jones' diary).

The boys found the four pieces of the tablet and then had to find the "Rosetta Brick" :o) to decipher the hieroglyphics on the broken tablet.

This then eventually lead the boys to the Room of Doom...which Mike, one neighbor, and I decorated with brown paper crumbled to look like vines and spider webs and snakes (nothing was too scary - the snakes were purple and pink! :o) ).

In the room the boys had to find wooden blocks that spelled "Forest of Fear". The blocks were hidden in jello and wet noodles and pudding and other icky things!

When the boys went to the Forest of Fear they found their final idol - a pinata! :o) They had fun bashing it and collecting all the candy. Then we had cake and ice cream on the deck....followed by a movie and popcorn. It was a fun (and tiring!) night! :o)

I think Mike missed his calling...instead of being a programmer - he should have started a business planning kids parties!!

Here's Emma wearing one of the paper Indiana Jones hats and Nicholas wearing his Indiana Jones hat! I love this photo!

And ... here's Mike on Father's Day morning opening presents! Happy Father's Day!!

And last but not least....here's a couple of Emma.

Weekend at the Lake

2009-06-16T16:38:00.006-07:00

Nicholas' friend had his birthday party at a lake north of Ft. Collins this past weekend. We bought a life preserver for Nicholas as he doesn't know how to swim yet (we've got to work on that this summer!). Nicholas was tentative about walking into the water and it took some convincing that the preserver would keep him above water. Once he trusted it - he had a great time playing in the water....as you can see by the joy Mike caught in this photo...

Here's Emma watching all the kids run around...you could tell she wanted to be running with them!

Nicholas went tubing and had a great time! Of course Mike and I were telling stories about how my Dad would drive the boat at mach 2 to try and throw us off the tube. Nicholas had an easier time and easier driver!

Nicholas slept by the lake in a pup tent with his friend (Kelton's family were there with them in an RV). Mike and I stayed at a hotel in Ft. Collins. We wanted to take Emma into the pool to see how she like swimming. But the pool was just too cold - I didn't want to scare her! So I sat on the edge of the hot tub and we let her feet dangle into the water. She seemed to enjoy it - and really liked Mike rolling a ball on the water toward her. Here is Emma and her Daddy

Teeth - coming and going!

2009-06-09T16:22:00.011-07:00

We've had some beautiful weather - the sky was so wonderful we just had to take Emma outside for some photos. I'm certain Emma is going to be an outdoor girl. Whenever she gets upset all I have to do is walk her to a window or take her outside. She's instantly happy again!

Nicholas' last day of school was May 30. We joined him for the last day picnic lunch.

I'm afraid a thunderstorm moved in and we didn't get to spend much time outside - but moving inside allowed us to get some nice group photos of Nicholas and his friends. Here he is with his teacher.

I cannot believe the school year is over already. It seems like just yesterday we were out shopping for school supplies! Nicholas' teacher was really impressed with the progress he has made this year - both academically as well as socially.

We've had Nicholas in therapy and I think it really is helping. We've had quite a lot to deal with over the past few months. We did a bio family search and we recieved a very detailed report about Nicholas' bio family as well as photos of Nicholas as a baby and his bio Mom and Dad. We also broke the news to Nicholas that his bio Mom passed away. She died in 2007 and we assumed he already knew. But after the search he started asking questions that made us realize he didn't know (or had blanked it out). So - we sat down and told him. It was so hard and we all cried with him. Even Emma woke to see us crying and she started crying too. It really impressed Nicholas that Emma cared about his bio Mom and I think he really bonded with her that day. At church this past Sunday Pastor Vera said a special prayer for his bio Mom.

Nicholas has quite the busy June. The first week he was in soccer day camp. He learned a lot and we're hoping maybe we can start him on a team at some point. I just think we need to stop another activity before commiting to a new sport. He is starting to complain about going to Taekwondo and we're wondering if he will want to continue that much longer...

This week he is in softball day camp. When I signed him up for the camp I looked hard to see if it was co-ed and I couldn't find anything. Well - Mike took him this morning and sure enough - he's the only boy. At first he was a little embarrased but then seemed to eat it up so I think he'll be fine for the week. He came running in the house jabbering away about all he learned so I think it will still benefit him!

Next week he is in theatre day camp. I'm certain he will grow up to either be a stand-up comedian or an actor so I thought it might be best to hone his skills early! :o) He's really looking forward to this one. I had hoped there would be more weeks of this but there is only one camp for his grade level.

There have been quite a few events in the past two weeks. Nicholas lost another tooth. Not one with a crown this time - but he's still very excited!

And Emma had her first tooth come in! Here's an extreme close-up of the little thing. It is unbelievably sharp!

One Saturday I went out scrapbooking and Mike and Nicholas fed Emma that night. Mike had to take photos to show me what a great time they all had!! :o) You can see by Emma's smile she loved getting dirty!

I forgot to post that Emma rolled over! It happened May 9 and I'm afraid no one actually saw it... I had her on the changing table and she decided to surprise me with a splash when her diaper was off. I got her cleaned up and then put her on our bed. I turned around for just one minute to change the cover on the changing table and when I turned back around she was on her tummy! Way to go!

Late Mother's Day Tea

2009-05-25T19:47:00.009-07:00

Last weekend I decided I really wanted to go to the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse for Mother's Day. Apparently every other mother in Colorado also wanted to go there...they were booked solid all weekend. So - we went this weekend! Our friends John and Wendy first told us about the Tea House and we were so happy they could join us!

Here is the inside of the Tea House

As you can see it is beautiful!! Dushanbe, Tajikistan is a sister-city for Boulder and in 1987 Dushanbe's mayor decided to send a handcrafted tea house to celebrate the relationship. The ceiling and columns are hand carved and painted. Artisans spent years in Boulder reassembling and putting the finishing touches on the building.

We had a fantastic time and had a wonderful tea. Picking from the menu of teas took quite a while!

I think we'll be going back to sample the other teas and the plates of pastries and sandwiches were awesome!

There was a festival going on right outside the teahouse and Nicholas had a good time playing and then gave fencing a try. He looked a bit more like Luke Skywalker swinging a light saber than a fencer - but he had a really good try at it!

Circus Play; Cub Scouts, and Prunes...

2009-05-17T13:04:00.007-07:00

Nicholas was in the school play again this year. The play was about the Circus and he was in the band. He got to play a kazoo and he was thrilled! Mike made his top hat out of poster board and I made his vest out of an old t-shirt and gold braid.

Nicholas had his Cub Scout crossing over ceremony. He is now a bear cub. When the leader painted their cheeks they each got a new name. Nicholas' is "Young Deer".

Emma tried applesauce - her first fruit. She liked it so much she wanted to lick the jar! :o)

And here she is after trying prunes for the first time - quite a mess! She decided she wanted to suck her thumb after each spoonful - and got the prunes everywhere. But this is nothing compared to the mess in her diaper the next day...we won't be having prunes again unless she's backed-up...!

Here is Nicholas' new hair cut! We think he looks very handsome. He had decided he wanted to grow his hair long like a boy from his has Taekwondo class (the boy is in high school). We said we would try it - but wow - did it ever get messy looking. We finally convinced Nicholas to get a trim and he could tell the barber how he wanted it cut. I think he picked a winning cut!

Thanks everyone for you suggestions for tv shows for Nicholas. We've set up tivo to record many of them. I'm still looking for a tv show about a family though - I think it would really help Nicholas as he still needs to learn about the dynamics of family life. The concept of a family is still a bit new for him and it only recently dawned on me that watching a tv show about a "nice" family would help him. But I want a show where the kids respect the parents. Tami suggested Little House on the Prairie and we're going to give that a try. Please let me know if you think of any other family shows. I'd like something more "modern" if possible.

Any ideas?

2009-05-09T13:06:00.002-07:00

I'm asking for some suggestions....

For the first year our adoption social worker suggested that Nicholas not watch any tv to avoid the over-stimulation. Well - we didn't quite make NO tv but I must say we've done fairly well. He typically watches about an hour per week of tv shows and maybe one movie per week (if we have time for the movie). So - at most 3 hours per week. Well - now we're thinking we can start to expand that but we need help finding "nice" shows. He's been watching shows we tape from PBS but I think he's outgrowing those shows (Between the Lions, Reading Rainbow, etc). We've not allowed him to watch anything else because frankly I think the shows for kids are awful. Disney is targeting shows to tweens about high school and they talk about dating and I just don't think he needs to see all that yet! He comes home from school telling us about all the stuff the girls are talking about (kissing, boyfriends, etc) that they pick up from "High School Musical" and "Hannah Montana".

So - are there any tv shows out there that your kids watch? Here's what I'm looking for....basically something like the Brady Bunch. Where the kids RESPECT the parents and don't talk back. And the parents aren't made to look like idiots so the audience gets a laugh. I'm so tired of tv shows where (usually the Dad) is made to look like a bumbling idiot so the kid can point out all his flaws for a giggle.

So - are there any tv shows like this or should I just Tivo Brady Bunch?

6 Months

2009-05-02T13:41:00.007-07:00

I'm a few days late making this post....but my baby is now 6 months old! I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown by. She is such a wonderful and happy baby. She's been sleeping through the night for about 2 months now. I've been afraid to post that news as I thought I might jinx it! :o) She's discovered her toes and loves playing with them any chance she gets. In addition to her toes - she's advanced to eating green beans, peas, and carrots. It took a few times - but she finally seems to like the green beans (I was afraid she'd inherited Mike's genes on that one - Mike hates green beans).

On Emma's half year birthday we had a special treat - our first hummingbird of the season. Hummingbirds have a very special meaning for me. The spring before my Mom passed away she was fretting because she could not get any hummingbirds at their house in Richmond, VA. Mom had put out countless feeders, planted red flowers and was doing everything she could to attract the tiny birds. Mom then passed away. When Dad got home the feeders were buzzing with hummingbirds. He told me that Mom had sent them. So - every year I say a little thanks to Mom for sending the hummingbirds again.

Here's a photo that Mike took a couple years ago. Every year he spends hours trying to capture the quick little birds in a photo.

Happy Half-Birthday little Emma and thanks for sending the hummingbirds, Mom!

Quick one

2009-04-27T16:14:00.004-07:00

We got this t-shirt for Nicholas at Heathrow airport on the way home from Ukraine. I guess I can use the excuse that I was a new Mom because I bought the shirt way too big and it's taken a year of growing for it to finally fit (and actually it's probably still too big).

Here is Emma in her bouncy-exer-saucer. She has worked out how to get bouncing in it and she gets so excited! She starts kicking her feet and she reminds me of that classic scene of Charlie Chaplin making the bread rolls "dance" (I know the scene better with Johnny Depp in "Benny and Joon").

Nicholas' behavior is so much better than a few weeks ago. We went cold turkey on so many things that we're not sure what actually fixed the problem! The bullying has eased up at school (yea!), we cut out the medicine he was on for appetite stimulant, we cut his sugar intake, and we cut out any artificial colorings (mainly his fruit roll-ups). We're slowly introducing sugar back into his diet.

From Peas to Snowmobiles

2009-04-20T18:08:00.008-07:00

Emma had her first veggie Easter night. And since my nickname for her is Sweet Pea - it's only fitting her first veggie was peas. She seemed eager when I set them on her tray...

Her face after the first spoonful tells it all...

...but after the shock wore off then she seemed to like them.

On Friday and Saturday we got the total of all our winter snow in one storm! We got about 18 to 24 inches. Our electricity went out around 1pm Saturday afternoon and we gathered all the oil lamps and camping lanterns. We had drawn pitchers of water since our well pump is electric but instead we decided to make it more fun and melted snow for our soup and hot chocolate. :o) We just started playing the board game "Trouble" when the electrictiy came back on....we were all disappointed because we were having such a good time in the candle light. So - we turned off all the lights and still played in the dark! :o)

The next day the sun was out and the beautiful blue Colorado sky was incredible...

Nicholas and Mike went snowmobiling in the back yard...

Here's Emma in her Tulip Hat before church...

and Nicholas before church...

and here's Emma in her new sunglasses...Mike now calls her Elton John! :o)

and here's Nicholas doing his homework...and this might be a first - Nicholas smiling during homework...! :o)

Easter

2009-04-13T16:20:00.010-07:00

Happy Easter! We had a lovely day. We decorated some eggs the night before.

We had to wake Nicholas up early Easter morning as we were going to the early service. He came upstairs and had completely forgotten about the Bunny... He shouted "what's that?" when he finally saw his basket! :o) Here's Nicholas holding Emma - and I guess she likes her basket too - she's giving the thumbs up! :o)

This is my favorite photo of the day - Nicholas holding Emma in front of their Easter nests at our friend's house.

We had a great dinner at Arman and Donna's house. This is the 6th or 7th year we've gone to their house for Easter and every year is more fun than the last. We missed John and Wendy this year. The kids hunted eggs inside and outside and found all 18 dozen in about 20 minutes. We couldn't believe how quickly they found them!

And here's what the Easter bunny left for me...

Here's Emma in the new exer-saucer we got for her. She wore herself out playing and laid her head down - it was just too cute.

Spring Break

2009-04-11T17:54:00.004-07:00

For Nicholas' spring break from school we went to a far-off exotic city...not really...we drove down the road to Denver! But we had a really great time. Nicholas was so excited about staying in a hotel. Here's Nicholas and Emma on the bed:

I've been trying to get tickets to the Denver Mint for years. I always forget to book in advance and we end up not going...well...I finally remembered three months out and we got in. The Mint was a bit of a disappointment - they weren't running the presses the day we were there. The banks aren't asking for coins and when that happens then they shut down the machines at the Mint. So, we saw a bunch of machines sitting still and watched a video of what it looks like when they're running.... ugh... Such a shame after waiting so long to see them in action! Mike and I went to the Canadian Mint in Ottawa years ago - so we knew it would be cool - if they were pressing coins. We'll just have to go back another time. :o) The best part was at the end you exit via the old part of the building and there is a "cage" suspended from the ceiling where the guards would sit with their Tommy Machine guns during the early 1900s...there were Tiffany style chandeliers and it just looked really cool...like a stage set from an old movie.

Next we toured the Denver capitol building:

The Art Museum was neat - they have a ton of activities for kids. Nicholas' favorite was a wall where they project a photo of a piece of art that is covered up by squares. Then the kids have to jump on "bubbles" (projected bubbles on the floor) which "pop" when they jump on it. For each bubble that is popped then some of the squares go away. You keep doing this until the squares are all gone and the art work is reveled. It was very cool and we even enjoyed sitting there watching it! Best of all - Nicholas got rid of some energy (which I wasn't expecting to happen at an Art Museum! :o) )

We also went to the Auto show - Nicholas loved that - sitting in all the cars and getting to push all the buttons. And every convertible he saw he had to ask "is that like Uncle Scott's car?" He is so excited to see Uncle Scott's convertible!!

We all had a really nice time! Out of all these neat things to do - Nicholas' most favorite thing was riding the free buses that go up and down the 16th Street Mall.... Kids!! :o)

First Meal

2009-04-01T13:56:00.007-07:00

March 23 was Emma's first meal! She had very runny rice cereal and she really seemed to enjoy it - although not nearly as much as the three of us! :o) We all took turns feeding Emma and she got the hang of it and was opening her mouth as wide as possible - just like a little bird wanting more! This first photo just makes me smile...

Emma loves her big brother!

Do you want me to smile for the camera or eat?! :o)

All smiles - I can see each of our parents in her face.

Chilling on the couch with her feet up!

Hot Dog Cake & Farm Day

2009-03-22T12:54:00.006-07:00

Nicholas and Mike had to make a cake for the annual Cake Bake for the Boy Scouts. The boys make a cake and then at the Pack meeting they have a silent auction to raise money. Mike and Nicholas searched the web for an easy and fun idea....and they found a great one...a Hot Dog Cake! It was really quite easy to make. We made a box cake mix and poured the batter into a loaf pan. Then cut off the sides and cut out the middle to make it look like a bun. We used Twinkies for the "hot dog" and played with mixing icing to get that pinky-brown color of a hot dog.

Then some red and yellow icing for the "ketsup" and "mustard" and green gummy dots for the "relish". We cut up the left-over cake for "french fries" and we had a master piece! :o)

Last weekend we went to the White Fence Farm for lunch. It's a neat little farm - in the middle of town! Nicholas got to feed the sheep and goats.

Then he got some practice "driving" the tractor - he's getting ready to visit Uncle Scott and Great Uncle Doug! :o)

Emma had a ball looking at everything from the comfy seat of the Baby Bjorn...she loves this thing! But as Mike says - who wouldn't love being carried around everywhere?! :o)

Miss France and Mr. England

2009-03-14T09:12:00.008-07:00

Our friend's daughter picked out this outfit for Emma and gave it to me at my baby shower. Almost every time I see my friend's daughter she asks if Emma can wear the outfit she got her....and she finally can!! Here it is - it is just too cute on her. She looks like a little French girl with her beret. And it just happened that Nicholas was wearing his favorite soccer shirt from his Great Aunt in England...so here are Miss France and Mr. England!

Nicholas lost a tooth too - it was one of his crowned teeth - only one crown left now!!

Another photo of Emma - it's starting to get harder to get photos of her - she's figuring out that little silver box makes bright flashes of light in her face - and she doesn't like that!! :o)

We are still working on Nicholas' behavior. Things were slightly better at the end of this week. We've still got a ways to go - but we are being firm and doing our best to stay consistent.

Love to all...

Tough Couple Weeks

2009-03-05T17:50:00.002-07:00

Sorry I've not posted we've had a tough couple weeks. Nicholas has been acting up and really testing boundaries and showing behaviors that are unacceptable. We've been working with Nicholas and we are hopeful we've seen the last of this type of behavior.

Nicholas is being bullied at school and his pediatrician calls his behavior "redirected anger". This week the bully has been leaving Nicholas alone since Mike spoke with the kid and his parents had a conference with the school principal.

Emma had her four month check-up. Turns out she is not teething - all the drool is her body getting ready for solid food! She's not started grabbing for food off our plates so we're going to wait a little longer before trying cereal. But we will have the camera ready for plenty of photos! :o)

Our water heater broke two days ago. I had been talking with my brother about water heaters since he just had his replaced....and wouldn't you know it...a couple weeks later ours is leaking. The guy is here right now and since we had a double vented water heater the guy recommend a tankless heater for us. So - that's what we're getting. It will be nice to have some storage room in the tiny furnace room now. :o) This morning Mike and I took very cold showers....reminded us of our apartment in Donetsk, Ukraine!

Love to all...

Test

2009-03-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

I'm just making a quick entry as our postings are not displaying properly. I'm hoping an entry will help. I'll make a real post later!

Boy Scout Chef

2009-02-22T17:58:00.006-07:00

This week Nicholas had to plan, shop for, make, and clean up a meal for Boy Scouts. He had a play date with a friend from Boy Scouts so we thought they could both make the meal. They made Teriyaki Burgers, salad, and homemade baked fries. The boys had a great time cooking and I got a nice break! Since Mike was helping the boys and doing all the chopping - he worked really hard. But it was worth it - the dinner was great!

I think Emma might be started to teethe...she has started drooling like crazy and everything she picks up goes straight into her mouth. Wish us luck!! Hopefully it will be easy on her and us!!

Emma's Photo Shoot

2009-02-15T13:51:00.010-07:00

I dressed Emma up in an outfit she got for Christmas and she started "posing" for me! I couldn't resist and I started snapping pics. Here's a few:

And here she is enjoying her swing:

Emma has discovered her thumb!! We are hoping that we'll be able to ween her off the pacifier now. She's so funny as she is so noisy when she has it in her mouth - I don't think she'll be able to fall asleep with it in her mouth because there's no way anyone could sleep through that noise! :o)

And here she is learning to sit up. She hasn't completely mastered keeping her head straight - but she sat in the chair for at least 3 minutes.

Nicholas went skiing this past Friday! He had been snowboarding one time before and really liked it - but wanted to try skiing this time. He went with his school and was doing really well but had a fall and landed on his wrist. I got a call from one of the chaperons and Nicholas had been taken off the slope (the bunny slope) on a sled! I spoke with Nicholas who sounded fine but a little scared. The paramedic said she thought he would be fine but to keep an eye on it for any swelling. When Nicholas got off the bus and got a hug then he was fine and laughing and telling me about the trip.

The Past Two Weeks...

2009-02-07T21:06:00.009-07:00

Here's Nicholas getting Emma to laugh. She really gets a kick out of all the faces he makes for her.

Close-up of our happy little girl!

Two weeks ago Nicholas tested for his orange belt in Taekwondo. He did really well at his poomse and the following Thursday during class his teacher presented him with his orange belt! Nicholas was grinning from ear to ear the rest of class. We went out to dinner after class to celebrate.

This past Friday Nicholas' class had their annual Winter Fest. I went with Nicholas last year and had a great time watching his class compete in "Olympic Winter Events". This year was very different...after a week of temps in the 50s there was no snow left... So they just ice skated on the pond the entire day. And even that ended an hour early when a new crack formed in the ice. It was a nice day - but hopefully next year will be cold so they can have their fun events.

Here's Emma hanging out with Rosie... Emma is wearing her very first pair of jeans (overalls) and holding her very first teddy bear.

Here's Mike holding Emma and trying to get her to stand.

Friday after Winter Fest, Nicholas' school had their annual Valentine's Dance. I took Nicholas and Emma to their first dance. It was actually a lot of fun! Emma slept through the entire thing - even with the music and all the kids screaming. Nicholas asked a girl to dance and had his very first slow dance. I must say that I'm a bit worried at how easily he asked her....I'm very afraid for the teen years... :o)

Nicholas also competed in a break-dancing contest. He did really well and got a bunch of cheers. The winner was a little girl from the kindergarten class. She was so adorable doing her break-dancing.

One funny thing - the DJ played Michael Jackson's Thriller...the kids just carried on dancing but as I looked around the room the majority of parents were doing the "zombie hands" and dancing....it was too funny seeing the generation gap. :o)

Pinewood Derby

2009-01-27T17:41:00.013-07:00

It's been months in the making. Sawing, sanding, priming, sanding again, painting, adding stickers and clear coat. Mike and Nicholas have had some good Father/Son bonding time making their car for the Boy Scout pinewood derby race. And if you know Mike - you know how seriously he took this. He had books with secret tips and did web searches and bought special tools and even a really nice scale to weigh the car... :o)

The race was this past Saturday. Their Den had bought a new fancy track with a digital timer. After countless races (each car had to race in each of the three tracks to get a combined time)...guess who won? Nicholas!!! His car was so fast that the Den Leader is actually going to ask if his car can advance to the next level of races! Here is Nicholas with his medal for winning the Wolves and trophy for winning over all. (and doesn't the pack leader look a bit like Richard?!)

On Sunday we went with our friends up to Breckenridge to see the International
Snow Sculpture Championships. The sculptures were incredible! We didn't have very nice weather so the pictures don't do the sculptures justice...but here's the photos anyway! :o)

Here's the winner - Canada

Second place - China

One cold family...

Nicholas playing on one of the sculptures

And finally a photo of Emma during all of this - stuck in her car seat! :o)

Grandfather Frost

2009-01-17T08:19:00.014-07:00

Last Sunday we went to a local FRUA event. Moscow Nights performed and they were great! The troop is comprised of young Russian singers, dancers and muscians.

There was a lot of audience interaction - and Nicholas was pulled up on stage to play the spoons! After some instruction - he was banging away.

After the performance we had tea and cookies and then Grandfather Frost and Snow Maiden arrived! Nicholas spoke with Grandfather Frost in English. His Ukrainian is just too rusty. Mike responded for Nicholas to a couple of Ukrainan phrases like - "What is your name"

We had a really fun time at this event!!

Here's a couple photos of Emma. She's really starting to discover her world. She is now reaching out to touch objects and focusing on things around her. Here she is studying a stuffed lion.

And here is our little Giggle Monster...

Putting away the decorations

2009-01-08T18:36:00.003-07:00

We had to take a couple more photos before putting away the Christmas decorations. I'm hoping we remember next year to take another photo of the kids under the stockings. I always dread taking down Christmas decorations as the house just looks so empty without them.

Here's my favorite outfit for Emma. I bought a box of clothes from a neighbor at a yard sale. The clothes had belonged to her now 30 year old daughter. I just love the clothes as they look like outfits my Mom dressed me in when I was little. This sweater makes Emma look like a little pixie.

We finally bought a mobile for Emma's crib. It's really cool as it has multiple motion and Emma gets such a kick out of it. Here she is enjoying it.

Emma is finally used to getting a bath. The first month of baths were tough as she would scream the entire time. Thankfully she is better now - I don't think she enjoys them - but at least she doesn't scream the entire time now! :o)

This Sunday we're going to a Father Frost celebration with the local FRUA chapter. We're really looking forward to it - I'll post photos after the event.

Love to all...

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T14:35:00.015-07:00

We send our love and best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy 2009!!

I'm going to play photo catch-up...

Nicholas did really well at his second Taekwondo competition on Dec. 13. He won two medals for sparring. Is it just me - or does Nicholas look like a teenager in this photo?!

Here's the kids in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Nicholas was chomping at the bit to open his first Christmas present! Emma was just bouncing in her chair.

Here is Nicholas over-the-moon after opening the present that he had asked Santa for...a red robot.

Here's Nicholas holding Emma

Some photos of Emma smiling. They just don't do justice to how cute her smile is though...

And here is her "Mr. Magoo" expression that makes me laugh...

For New Year's Eve we picked up Nicholas at Taekwondo camp and went to the Stapleton city center to see the lights. They have thousands of lights hooked up to music and it was a really good show. Then we went for dinner at the restaurant in the Bass Pro Shop. After dinner we drove around downtown Denver to see the lights on the buildings. There were fireworks at 9pm but we decided to head home as Emma had had enough! We had a good time and talked about our anniversary - it was one year ago on New Years Eve that we landed in Denver with our new son and we talked about all our family has been through this year!

And finally - here we are two minutes before midnight - watching the ball drop in Times Square on TV (it's a tape delay for our time zone). Nicholas took a couple naps but still I was surprised that he managed to see midnight!

Merry Christmas! A little late...

2008-12-28T20:00:00.006-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. This was a Christmas of firsts for us - our very first Christmas at home (we're normally visiting family back East or in England - or in Ukraine! :o). This was our first Christmas with TWO kids. That was a lot of fun!

Nicholas has been so excited for Christmas. Mike and I were laughing Christmas morning as Nicholas opened presents the way a little boy should - ripping the wrapping paper into millions of pieces to get inside. Of course Emma had no idea what was going on but she sat in her bouncy seat and watched all the excitement. Our good friends Mark and Dawn and Dawn's Mom came over Christmas Day for lunch. We took a stab at a traditional British lunch. I'm afraid our Yorkshire Pudding did not come out again. We have such a hard time as getting anything to rise correctly at 8,500 feet above sea level is not easy...! But the rest of the meal came out great - roast beef, roasted potatoes and parsnips and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. We've not pulled the photos off the camera yet - I'll post the Christmas photos as soon as I can.

I'm so sorry I've not been keeping up with the blog - but I swear since Emma was born the days are only 5 hours long - at least that's how it feels to Mike and I! :o) I just don't know where the day goes. We are feeding Emma every three hours and it just feels like one long meal. Emma is down to only two overnight feedings - but still Mike and I are so sleep deprived.

I'm afraid I go back to work tomorrow. No offense to any work friends - but I'm really dreading it. I can't imagine not seeing Emma all day. It's going to be hard but I'm the one who has health insurance so I have to continue to work.

My blog buddy, MamaPoRuski, tagged me ( a long time ago - sorry I'm just getting to it!!) to post the fourth photo from the fourth folder in my photo directory. I've seen others do this and the photos are always so cute or funny - ours is kind of silly - it's a photo of our traveling pig in Amsterdam! Piggy in Dam Square before we went to see Mike's friend, PJ, get married... So - now I get to tag two friends to do the same thing - post the fourth photo from the fourth folder in your Photos directory...and I tag my cousins Paige and Andi!

Prayers to my Aunt Dianne - there was a fire in the apartment next door and the smoke damage to her apartment was so bad that she cannot return until the apartment is rebuilt.

Nicholas is off school until Jan. 6. He's going to Taekwondo camp Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week. His instructor said it would really help him as he'll be testing for his orange belt in January.

Merry Christmas to everyone and prayers for a happy and healthy 2009.

All along the Rockies you can feel it in the air
From Telluride to Boulder down below
The closest thing to Heaven on this planet anywhere
Is a quiet Christmas morning in the Colorado snow
-Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

What we've been up to

2008-12-08T15:29:00.013-07:00

For Mike's birthday we went out for lunch to a British pub and then Nicholas went ice skating. It's only the second time that he's been skating but by the end of the night he was doing really well.

Mike has hung a ton of Christmas lights on the house and I've been decorating the inside. We got our Christmas tree today and hopefully we'll get to decorate it tonight. I just love pulling out my ornaments and remembering when I got each one. I have a hodge-podge of ornaments that I've picked up when I travel.

We went to have a photo taken with Santa. Nicholas took a great photo - but Emma was a bit upset. She had been asleep the entire drive down the hill and we woke her a few minutes before meeting Santa. We did learn we've got a lot to teach Nicholas... Santa asked him if he could name all the reindeer. Nicholas said no and looked at Santa completely confused. Santa then asked if he knew what type of animals pulled Santa's sleigh. Nicholas said "Yes - ELK !". He is a true Colorado boy! :o) We need to teach him about reindeer though...

Last weekend Nicholas' boy scout den was in the Christmas parade. Mike and Nicholas helped decorate the float and then Nicholas walked behind it so he could pass out candy to the kids watching the parade. He had a great time!

After the parade Nicholas went to his first sleep-over party. I think he was a little nervous and we kept telling him how much fun he would have - but if he wanted to call us or come home he should. The phone rang at 11pm and we thought we'd be picking him up...but...it was Nicholas calling to tell us what a great time he was having! Then on Sunday he went with one friend to the Broncos game. Wow - and our adoption classes told us to avoid over-stimulation for the first year... Thank goodness we are nearing our first year anniversary! :o) Mike and I laughed that we've still not been to a Broncos game. Nicholas has been in CO for one year and he gets to go to a game....so we figured Emma would be going next week...! ;o)

I've had fun watching Emma's changing expressions. One afternoon I just sat with her and took a million photos until she got tired (and I even took some of her getting grumpy with me!.

This past weekend Emma had her first real smile. I've not been able to get it on camera yet - but I'll keep trying!!

Congratulations to my cousins Emily and John on the birth of their daughter, Mary Ruth!! She is precious and was born with the most beautiful long hair!

And congratulations to Mike....last night he started the snowmobile that he's been re-building for over a year. He bought two snowmobiles for next to nothing and got the first one working in no time. The second one needed a complete new engine rebuild, new handlebars, new fuel line, total rewiring, and I'm sure other things replaced. Basically he's got a brand new snowmobile now! :o)

Who do I look like?

2008-11-21T13:49:00.005-07:00

It's really hard to say as Emma seems to change a little bit each day. So far we think she has Mike's Dad's chin; my nose; my Dad's forehead (especially when she wrinkles it up - she looks just like my Dad!).

She does some great impressions - when she is feeding she alternates between Popeye - she pulls her mouth to one side and the closes one eye...she looks just like Popeye! :o) And then she stretches out her neck (she's really building up her neck muscles now) and I can't believe how far she can stretch it - she looks like ET! :o) I'm afraid I don't have photos of those as she usually only does it while nursing - and I don't want any photos taken then!

Here she is after her first bath - squeaky clean and all cried out.

Sunday is Mike's birthday - and believe it or not the one year anniversary of when we flew out of Denver headed for Ukraine! I cannot believe it's been a year.

Happy Birthday Mikeee!

You're the best friend
that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
You're my best friend
--Queen

Late Halloween post...

2008-11-14T20:26:00.010-07:00

Here's Nicholas at the Trunk or Treat. He's a handsome Anakin Skywalker!

Nicholas didn't know what to expect when we told him the inside of a pumpkin was gooey... He was a bit grossed-out at first but then he embraced the goo - and dug it all out.

Here is his very first pumpkin!!

Pumpkin Nicholas

Nicholas and Emma beside their first Halloween pumpkin.

Emma propped up next to her first pumpkin. It took us a while to get her to stay sitting up for this photo! :o)

Introducing....

2008-11-03T12:29:00.011-07:00

Emma!

Let me start at the beginning...

On Tuesday, Oct. 28 we took Nicholas to Taekwondo as we do every Tuesday and Thursday. After Taekwondo, Mike and Nicholas dropped me off at the hairdressers. I was trying a new stylist at the recommendation of a friend. I got a new hairdo and during the cut I told her all about the pregnancy and how I was due in one week and how I thought about canceling the hair appointment just in case I went early. She told me that I needed to have the baby that night as my hair was done and it would look good for the photos! :o) Well - apparently I take all advice very seriously - as when I got up to pay I suddenly felt a rush of water down my leg. I literally ran (and I've not run for about 9 months!) to the restroom and quickly realized my water had just broken. I didn't know what to do - so I sat in the bathroom for what seemed like forever as I didn't know how to get to the front of the salon without making a huge mess. Finally I just ran to the front and told the stylist I needed to go to the hospital. She just stared at me in disbelief with a huge smile on her face. I then realized that it was 7:00 and Mike and Nicholas had just arrived to pick me up. Mike knew something was wrong and when I told him - he turned white as a ghost.

We called our neighbor who was to watch Nicholas and headed back to the house to pick up the suitcases and to drop off Nicholas. We called the doctor and gave Nicholas dinner. Then I honestly don't know what happened - but somehow we managed to kill an hour and we'd still not left for the hospital....which is another hour drive away.

We dropped off Nicholas and I'm afraid he really picked up on our fear/adrenaline/high emotions and he was looking very worried when we backed out of Mark and Dawn's driveway.

We got to the hospital an hour later. I was still zero centimeters dilated and only having very mild contractions. So - the walking of the hallways began... I can't tell you how many times we walked up and down and round and round the hospital. Mike was back to his normal self by this time and was trying to keep me laughing. He had me doing the Monty Python silly walks and I'm afraid to say there is even video of this - me very pregnant - in a hospital gown imitating John Clesse...can you imagine... :o)

Well - after 12 hours of walking, squatting, and every position imaginable - the pitocin finally started doing it's thing I was started dilating. But it took another 6 hours before I was finally at the magic 10cm. At 1pm I started pushing and little Emma was born at 3:22pm.

She decided to enter the world "sunny-side-up" - which sounds so cute...but it was not quite that cute when I was pushing. She came out with her face up and I had to push the entire top of her head through (instead of the typical crown of the head first). She did a number on me and I needed 33 stitches to fix everything. I'm afraid I gave her quite a bruise on the top of her head as I apparently kept pushing her into my pelvic bone. I have to wonder if this is the same thing that my Mom experienced as I always remember her saying that my brother did quite a number on her.

The nurses the did the Agpar test and Emma scored a 9 out of 10. She had such a healthy pink color and the nurses were all so impressed. :o)

The next night Mike went home to take Nicholas to Trunk-or-Treat. The houses are too far apart here for kids to go Trick-or-Treating so the school arranges for parents to park at the school in a huge circle. The parents decorate their car trunks with Halloween decorations and the kids go from car to car to collect candy. Nicholas dressed up as Anakin Skywalker (he takes after his Dad and is a huge Star Wars fan) and he and our neighbor's daughter had a blast. They then drove to the hospital and Nicholas got to meet Emma for the first time. That explains his outfit in our first family photo (below) - we don't normally dress Nicholas like that! :o)

We've been working on breast feeding. Emma and I have finally figured out the proper latch technique.

Mike and I are quickly becoming experts at changing diapers!

Mike took Nicholas out to a few neighbor's houses Halloween night. Then last night we carved Nicholas' first jack-o-lantern. He really liked it - but wasn't too sure about scooping out the goop from the pumpkin. We've got some cute photos of that so I'll post those as soon as we get them off the camera.

If you make a comment to the blog or if we talk to you on the phone - I do have a favor to ask. Can you please make a huge deal of Nicholas being a great Big Brother? He's having a few bouts of feeling down in the dumps and I think he needs to hear from others about how great it is to have a little sister. OK Scott - maybe you shouldn't tell him the truth about having me for a little sister... ;o) Several people have already emailed me and they said great things about Nicholas in his big brother role - and I really appreciate that!! I've read every comment to him and it has made him really proud. If you have any advice or tips for helping him get over this hump - we'd really appreciate them. We've been playing up how important his role is as big brother and being a leader and how he can teach Emma things.

Love to all...

Our Little Family!

2008-11-01T22:32:00.002-07:00

Here is our first family photo! Emma was born Oct. 29 at 3:22pm. 7lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long. She is adorable and we are all so very happy. I'll post details of everything tomorrow - just wanted to share the news tonight! :o) Thanks everyone for checking on us!

Love to all...

Going to the hospital

2008-10-28T18:45:00.001-07:00

Water broke - we're going right now...

No news yet...

2008-10-27T14:09:00.006-07:00

A couple family members thought I'd pop this past weekend....but no news yet... I'm still having a few minor contractions but nothing worth calling the doctor over. My next appointment is Wednesday afternoon. I've had a couple "nesting" moments - I even cleaned out the closet in our bedroom and made room for my scrapbooking supplies. I thought that was "the" sign - but I guess I need to get the urge to clean something bigger. If I suddenly start cleaning the garage then I'm sure I'll go into labor! :o)

Our neighbor hung the French doors between my office and the nursery. They look really good - the wood just needs to be stained. I think we'll wait until I'm on maternity leave otherwise baby and I'll be sitting in the fumes all day while at work.

Thanks for checking on us!!

Catch up!

2008-10-20T20:17:00.013-07:00

I'm going to try to catch up on the past two weeks.

We finished the nursery! We still need to have the French doors installed between the nursery and the office - but the rest of it is done and I like the way it came out. There are ladybugs buzzing all around the room. We sure hope the sonogram tech was right and it's a girl!! :o)

Last weekend Nicholas had his Sibling class. We went to the hospital and he watched a video about being a good big brother and how to properly hold a baby. They discussed possible feelings of being "left out" when Mom and Dad get busy with the baby. It was a pretty good class and sure got him excited for the baby to arrive!

I packed a suitcase for the hospital and left it by the front door. It took a few days and then Nicholas finally told me he was worried about me leaving. I explained that it's only for two days and he will get to come visit me in the hospital and meet his new sister. That got him feeling better - but it wasn't until we packed a bag for him (if I go in the middle of he night we'll be taking him to our neighbor's house) that he felt relaxed again!

This weekend we went to the fire station for their open house. Nicholas wants to be either a fireman or a paramedic when he grows up - so he was in heaven!

He got to dress up in fireman gear and run an obstacle course which ended with spraying a hose to put out a pretend fire. He got such a kick out it!! Nicholas and Mike then climbed up in the fire truck driver seat and honestly - I'm not sure if Nicholas or Mike enjoyed it more! :o)

The firefighters gave two demos. They set two rooms on fire to show the difference between a room with a sprinkler system installed and a room without a sprinkler. The difference was quite amazing. How quickly the bedroom without a sprinkler was completely engulfed in flames was sobering.

For the second demo they had driven a monster truck on top of a mini SUV so that they crushed the driver door closed. They brought out the jaws of life and demoed how they use the pry bar to start separating the door and then the hydraulic spreader to get to the Nader pin in the door. Then they use the hydraulic cutter to cut the pin so the door could be opened. It was amazing to watch but I pray none of us ever need that tool!

After we had lunch at the firehouse we headed down into town to a fall festival. Mike, Nicholas, and Ashley made their way through the corn maze.

I sat that out as my ankles were already a swollen mess!

Then we went to the pumpkin patch and found our great pumpkins.

It was a really fun day!

I had a few false labor contractions today. It was enough to get me scared and to get Mike staring at me - like the baby was going to pop out of my tummy just like the scene from the movie Alien! I laid down for a few minutes and the contractions eased off so I guess my body is just trying to get ready for the big day.

We'll try to post photos here as soon as we can of Baby Bump!

Love to all..

Busy Weekend

2008-10-06T12:25:00.006-07:00

Friday after school Nicholas learned to ride his bike! We've had a couple practice sessions with him but previously he had not mastered the balance needed to ride. I don't know what was different Friday night - but after 2 or 3 falls - he was up and stayed up the rest of the night! Maybe it was peer pressure as there were four other kids out riding their bikes. Anyway - we are now having a hard time getting him to do anything but ride his bike! :o) Mike is borrowing our friend's mountain bike and he and Nicholas went around the block together with all the neighborhood kids. They had a lot of fun although Nicholas hasn't quite mastered riding up hill yet - and our neighborhood is nothing but hills. That will come as his leg muscles get stronger.

Saturday Nicholas went fishing with our neighbor so we could go down into town and buy the rest of the baby items on our registry. Oh my goodness - surely with all the money we spent we brought the USA economy back to life!! I cannot believe how much babies cost - and is all this stuff really necessary?!? :o) Hopefully it will make things easier!

Sunday we tried our first babysitter for Nicholas. A girl who volunteers at the elementary school with her Mom came up to me last year and said she would love to start babysitting Nicholas. I spoke with her Mom who felt she was ready and still sat on the idea for many months! We decided to give it a try and it worked out great. She sat Nicholas while we went to the Baby Care class at the hospital. Nicholas just loves her (and I think he might have a little crush on her to be honest - as he put gel in his hair and asked to wear his white button down shirt...).

The Baby Care class was good - we got to learn about bathing a baby and changing diapers and how to properly take their temperature and all that sort of stuff. Along with graphic photos of what to look for in their poop for signs of illness....ick! :o) I guess we'll get used to all this eventually!

A friend sent this joke to me today....

Life boils down to 2 questions....

Should I get a dog?

Or have a kid?

Since we've got a kid and a dog - I guess this explains why our house is always a mess! :o)

Love to all...

Baby Shower!

2008-09-29T18:55:00.008-07:00

Sunday my friends had a brunch baby shower for me! I've got some of the nicest friends in the world! Mary and Dawn made my favorite food - French Toast - (two types!) and countless other yummy dishes. The brunch was great - although I didn't get to enjoy the mimosas... But it will only be another half year (after breast feeding) and I can toast with a mimosa too! :o)

Here is the adorable cake - there were ladybugs everywhere!

The lovely hosts - Dawn and Mary and a huge pregnant lady in the middle! :o)

Thanks so much to all my friends for their support and all the wonderful gifts for the baby and especially to Dawn and Mary for going to so much trouble organizing this fantastic shower!

102

2008-09-21T12:38:00.003-07:00

Friday Nicholas came home his normal happy self. But by Friday night - he was bundled up on the sofa and looking a bit grumpy. We took his temperature and were shocked - 102 degrees. We got him some Tylenol and OJ and sent him to bed.

Saturday he was still hot - 99 - but a bit more energetic. Then the temperature came back and Sunday morning he was back up at 102 and said his throat was so sore. We called the Dr. and were afraid it was strep. One neighbor is a nurse and she had just told Mike yesterday that strep was going around.

He had his first throat culture and thankfully it came back negative. Dr. thinks it's just a cold so we just have to wait it out.

It's really hard seeing him so grumpy. He is such a happy little boy it's quite a shock to see him sitting on the couch with a sad/grumpy expression. It's just something we're not used to seeing!

Saturday was our Childbirth Preparation class. I had to go on my own so Mike could stay home with Nicholas. Our neighbor was orignally going to watch him all day - but we didn't want our neighbor's daughter catching his cold. The class was good - a bit scary - but good! :o) The nurse teaching the class was quite animated and seemed to enjoy demonstrating contraction pains! :o) She took us on a tour of the hospital - but we need to go back so Mike can see the tour. I have a feeling I'm going to have other things on my mind and will forget to tell him where the ice chip machine is and the bathrooms and cafeteria are located! :o)

And the medal goes to....

2008-09-17T18:53:00.009-07:00

Nicholas!!!

Nicholas got first place in the Sparring competition and also first place in the First Point competition. That earned him two medals - which look way cool - just like Olympic medals! I'm afraid he froze a bit doing his poomse. He came in 4th place out of 5 but he did try really hard to recover after forgetting the first few moves and he finished it - which we think is awesome! He certainly did better than I would have. He had to explain his poomse and then perform it in front of 5 black belts - and of course the entire audience! Wow - I would have just turned and run out of the school gym!

Friday and Saturday we had our yard sale. We made almost $300 which isn't too shabby! But the best part is we got rid of a ton of stuff that was cluttering up our house and garage. Best of all - Baby Bump's room is cleared out! I still have a few clothes in the closet that I'm going to box up - but he main portion of it is clear.

Our neighbor is going to come over this week to paint the walls a very very light sage green. Then another neighbor is going to install frosted glass doors in the bedroom. I don't know if I can describe this room - but it has a funny layout. When you walk thru the door to the bedroom there is a proper shaped room. On the back wall there is an opening to a second "room" where I currently have my office setup for work. So, another neighbor is going to install frosted French doors in the opening between the two rooms so that the baby doesn't get in all that computer equipment. I think it will look good - and the frosted glass will allow the sunlight to shine through but she won't have to see the office.

Tonight Nicholas went on his first hike with the Boy Scouts. It was a three mile hike and it sounds like he had a really good time!

I had my 33.5 week doctor appointment tonight. Everything is going fine although I'm retaining quite a bit of water. The doctor keeps telling me I need to rest more and put my feet up....it's just finding the time to do that! :o)

We asked Nicholas what he thought of the Baby Bump Name poll. He gave us a new option for the poll - he thinks Baby Bump should be named......Funky Chicken!! :o) Somehow I don't see that happening - but it might be a new nickname for her!

Running to Stand Still

2008-09-07T13:08:00.003-07:00

I've gotten so far behind on blogging - I'm sorry. So much has happened and I'm not even sure where to begin.

Nicholas has joined the Cub Scouts. His first den meeting is tomorrow after school. He's really excited about it and especially excited that his best friend is already in the Scouts. I'm working on getting all the patches and numbers on his uniform today...but as you can see I'm delaying that and blogging instead... :o)

Next Saturday is Nicholas' first Taekwondo competition. He'll compete in sparing and forms. We bought him all the gear for sparing and he really enjoys doing it. But - in class they spar using very light punches. I'm not sure how he'll feel after a real sparing match... He is learning his second poomse so he'll use the white belt poomse during the competition since he's not fully learned the yellow belt ones.

We're shipping a box of goodies off to Nicholas' orphanage in Ukraine. When we were there we asked if there was anything they needed. Their only request was swimsuits and flip flops for when they go to the ocean. We've been collecting swimsuits and now have a large box full. Nicholas picked out a bunch of Matchbox cars and toys to send to his friends. And of course there are a million photos of Nicholas too! :o) I work with a wonderful lady originally from Azerbaijan, who translated a letter from us into Russian. So we should get the box in the mail Monday morning. I'm afraid we missed their vacation to the ocean this year - but hopefully they will come in handy next summer.

We've officially adopted Nicholas again! Our social worker said it would be a good idea to re-adopt Nicholas in Colorado so that he has a USA birth certificate. Ukraine is one of the few countries that gives parents an official birth certificate listing us as the parents - so really we did not need to re-adopt. But she pointed out that Nicholas will have an easier time showing a USA birth certificate instead of a Ukrainian one with English translation attached.

We also got his USA passport. I really delayed applying for that - for no particular reason - just laziness really. But we've got it and all the paperwork is done until December when we need to do his one year home report for Ukraine.

Friday and Saturday next week we are having our annual yard sale. Our neighbors all get together and bring all of our junk...err...priceless treasures to one yard. We're trying to clear out the guest bedroom and closet so that we can turn it into the nursery. You would not believe how many clothes Mike and I have for the sale...

I bought a really cute crib set from ebay - it's sage green with red ladybugs. It was brand new and I got it for a steal. I'm hoping our neighbor will come over and paint the room a very light sage green. We're borrowing a crib and changing table from a friend and I already had a dresser in that room. I bought some pictures that I've framed of drawings of a ladybug, butterfly, bumble bee, and lightening bug. I'll take a photo once the room is all together (hopefully before Baby Bump is born...!).

Baby Bump is doing great. Although she is keeping me awake at night. She gets to moving around at 2 or 3am and once I'm awake then I have a hard time getting comfortable enough to go back to sleep. So I'm sleeping from 10pm to 2am and then just lying there thinking of things to do the next day. I've read it's nature's way of getting you ready for the midnight feedings. I just wish nature could have waited another month or so before starting to prepare me... ;o)

Way to go Nicholas!

2008-08-19T18:56:00.006-07:00

Last Saturday morning we got up early and drove down to Golden for Nicholas' Taekwondo test. He did his poomse, chongi, kicks and punches and four directional punch in front of about 25 or 30 black belts. I honestly don't know how he wasn't nervous but he wasn't! He did great and we had to wait until Tuesday to find out if he advanced to Yellow Belt.

Tonight we turned up to class and his teacher started the class on their jumping jacks so we thought maybe he wouldn't get the belt tonight. After they warmed up she called Nicholas to the front of the class and pulled a yellow belt out of her uniform. Nicholas was grinning from ear to ear!! I think he smiled the rest of class - he was so proud!

Monday was Nicholas' first day back to school. We turned up early and the kids lined up with their teachers and all marched into the school.....crossing a red carpet!! The theme this year is Building Your Education and all the teachers had on hard hats and the front of the school was decorated like a construction zone. It was really cute and got the kids excited to learn.

We met Nicholas' teacher last Friday and I think she will be a good fit for him. I don't think she'll put up with his classroom clown antics that he can sometimes get into. And that is a very good thing!

A rose by any other name...

2008-08-14T11:39:00.004-07:00

Mike and I have been struggling with a name for Baby Bump. We've got a poll listed to the right of this post so you can vote on the names we like at this point in time. Of course - ask me again in an hour and I'll give you a completely different set of names! :o) So please don't be offended if the name you vote for is not on the next poll! The first two names are pronounced the same - just spelled differently.

Long Way Round

2008-08-05T08:51:00.008-07:00

I've always gotten a kick out of seeing a place I've visited in photos or on TV or in movies. I don't know why but it's a little thrill to see somewhere that I have been or to see a program about my hometown.

So, we set up the Tivo to record anything with the keyword Ukraine after we got home from the adoption. We've had several programs record - from a show about USSR's worst serial killer to a program about the underground bunkers built by Stalin which were then used to defend Kiev in a last stand against the Nazi's invasion during WWII.

All of the shows have been interesting...but then the other day Tivo recorded a program called "Long Way Round". It's a 2004 documentary of Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman as they ride their motorcycles around the world. The episode that Tivo recorded showed them traveling through Ukraine. It was a really good program and both Mike and I enjoyed seeing them experience Ukraine's red tape, getting stopped by police for speeding (which we laughed at so hard as our driver was stopped 3 times!), and of course the exuberant people! I must admit I didn't know much about Ewan McGregor - but he seems like a nice guy with a great sense of humor.

They visit Kiev and work with Unicef to help the children effected by Chernobyl and then travel to the southeast and spend a few days in Volgograd and get to tour one of the many coal mines.

If you get a chance to catch this episode (or we may watch the entire series someday) it's worth the time!

Fun Times

2008-07-30T08:00:00.027-07:00

Last weekend was a fun weekend at REECA Camp! The camp was held at YMCA's Snow Mountain Ranch - which I think we will be adding as a future family vacation trip possibility (outside of REECA Camp).

The weekend started off with the opening ceremony which consisted of a reading of the Russian children's fairy tail, "The Firebird" and a Russian and Ukrainian traditional welcoming of bread and salt was passed out.

The camp is basically run by the parents and each parent is assigned a task for camp. We were assigned lunch grill duty and right after the opening ceremony we went off to grill several hundred hot dogs and sausages. The kids met their new groups (by school grade) and camp counselors and had fun playing games and doing crafts. After a full day we met for swimming and then went to dinner.

That evening there was a roller skating party. Mike and Nicholas put on all the protective gear possible and went out on the floor. Nicholas had quite a few falls but he absolutely loved it. He was really getting the hang of it by the end of the night.

On Saturday Mike and I went to a Russian cooking class. Svetlana showed us a few dishes including borscht, a potato and sauerkraut salad, a fruit compote drink, and carrot salad. Svetlana was a hoot and had us laughing through the entire class. She reminded us of a lot of the people we met in Ukraine – so full of life.

In the afternoon, I went to a class to learn how to dye Pysanky eggs and Mike went to three classes: Russian Art, FAS, and Understanding Attachment. I know I should have gone to those classes as well – but I wanted to learn to make Pysanky eggs! :o) I really enjoyed making the egg - although I've realized just how shaky my hands are! Trying to put the wax on in a straight line must take years of practice. The artist who taught the class lives just down the road from us in Conifer so I hope I can ask him for advise if I try another egg.

Nicholas’ group played in the REECA village – little houses decorated as a Russian town and then had dancing – where he learned a Ukrainian dance and then martial arts class.

For lunch Mike and I cooked countless chicken thighs and legs….I’ve never seen so much chicken and I hope to never again. Thank goodness I’m past the first trimester of pregnancy as I don’t think I could have stomached seeing that much raw chicken a couple months ago…! :o)

That evening was the closing ceremony and it was great. They had a Romanian dance ensemble called Hora Romaneasca from Boulder and a singer from Ukraine. They put on quite the show! The dance troop and singer then brought up each group of kids and they showed us the dances they had learned in class earlier in the day.

Sunday was a short day – there were field events in the morning for the kids which included relay races and hula-hooping and of course you cannot have camp with out a good old-fashioned water balloon fight!

We really had a good time at camp. Mike and I were so worn out at the end of the day – I’m going to request that we not be on grill duty next year! :o) For those of you thinking of coming to camp next year – I would highly recommend it. The majority of the families we met had adopted from Russia. I heard there were only 4 families who had adopted from Ukraine. So our experiences were a bit different from the majority of the families since many had adopted their children as infants. But it was still a very neat experience to be among so many families who had also adopted and just knew what we were talking about when we shared parenting experiences.

I think if you are out of state it would be a once every few years type of a trip. But since we are so close we are hoping to make it a yearly event for our family. I think next year will be a very different experience as we’ll be chasing after an 8-month old! :o)

Heritage Camp

2008-07-18T05:02:00.003-07:00

Next weekend we are off to Winter Park, CO for Russian/Eastern European Heritage Camp. I originally thought this was just a Colorado family camp - but I got our registration back and now realize it is open to all USA families. Are any other Ukie families who read this blog going? Next year I'll try to post the link earlier and hopefully we can meet some of you! There are separate camps for each country/area so this is not just for EE adoptions.

We are all really excited about the camp - Nicholas will have a bunch of activities from learning traditional UA dances and songs to swimming and other camp activities. While the kids are off having their fun, the parents have parenting an adopted child classes and also fun classes like learning to create pysanky eggs. I'll post photos when we get back.

Meet the Cousins

2008-07-09T17:12:00.005-07:00

My brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces made the big flight out west! Nicholas was so excited to meet his cousins and I think they were equally excited to meet him. We had a great time together and the six days passed way too quickly. We don't like to just sit around so we took them all over CO. We went to Tiny Town, did some gold panning, saw a bunch of butterflies, drove the very scary road up Mt. Evans, made a quick trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, played Wii, and Scott and Kristen rocked out with Rock Band. It was a lot of fun and when I got back from the airport yesterday Nicholas wanted to know when they would come out again. Not soon enough was my answer. We miss you guys...the house is just too quiet now!

The baby has really started kicking - I saw my belly do a little dance this afternoon. I'm not sure what she was doing - but it looked like kick boxing!

Nicholas went back to day-care today. After getting a bunch of hugs he joined in on the morning activity - drawing a castle and writing about what you would do if you lived in a castle. Apparently all the other kids wrote about what they would buy. Nicholas wrote that if he lived in a castle he would help Mom cook and help Dad fix snowmobiles and he would play with Rosie...! I thought that was so cute!

Clots are Gone!

2008-06-30T19:14:00.001-07:00

Mike's ultrasound on Friday revealed very good news - the huge clot in his leg has dissolved! Mike spoke with the Doctor today and she was pleased with his progress. He will continue the blood thinners for at least two more months and then he will go back to see about further tests. But, as we've read, he will need to be continually aware that he has had DVT and could possibly get it again. Mike and I are both convinced it came from the nerve block after his surgery as his leg was completely numb for 36 hours (he could not even wiggle his toes).

Sonogram Results!

2008-06-24T20:12:00.003-07:00

Yesterday Mike and I went to my doctor for a sonogram. Everything is looking ok and the baby was quite active! The doctor didn't think she would be able to tell if it was a boy or girl as it's legs were tightly closed on the first pass. But - after the doctor had taken all the needed measurements and checked out all the bones and vital organs - she went back and was pretty sure she got a good look. She is almost sure it's a girl!! My due date is still Nov. 3.

We weren't sure how Nicholas would react as he had told us he wanted a little brother. But when I told him the baby in my tummy is a girl - he got so excited and gave me a huge hug. He is very excited!

We are struggling with what to do for bedroom arrangements as our house is really set up for an older family - the master bedroom is on the main level and the two bedrooms are downstairs. We asked Nicholas for his ideas for where the baby should sleep - and he responded that the baby will cry - so she should sleep outside! :o) We'll have to see how desperate I get for sleep before that topic comes up again!

Ahoy Matey!

2008-06-23T20:07:00.005-07:00

On Saturday morning we got up early and turned the backyard into a Pirate Cove. We hung a Pirate flag, plenty of pirate balloons and even a 6 foot tall inflatable pirate with a parrot on his shoulder! Nicholas' friends turned up at 2pm and they had a blast playing with foam swords and hunting treasure.

Mike created a map of our yard and put 7 pieces of a puzzle in various hiding places. The kids were broken up into two teams and off they went. The first team found all 7 pieces and were given the missing part of the map. They quickly found the treasure chest behind a "v" shaped aspen tree....but they could not open it. They needed team 2 to find the key!

The second team found the key nailed to an aspen tree and quickly ran to find the first team with the treasure box. They opened it and found their goodie bags. The kids were tickled and had a ton of fun doing the treasure hunt.

Nicholas' Birthday

2008-06-19T13:07:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was Nicholas' birthday! He woke up singing happy birthday to himself and I think finished the day the same way. :o) Mike drove him to day care this morning and took in 2 dozen cupcakes for his classmates. We picked him up after work and went to one of his favorite restaurants, Chili's. The Mom of one of his friends from Taekwondo works there and when she found out it was his birthday - gathered all the Chili's employees and they all sang happy birthday. I think it's the first time I've ever seen Nicholas blush!! He was overwhelmed but I could tell he did enjoy it too. They brought him a chocolate shake with chocolate sprinkles on top and he was thrilled!

We got home and Nicholas opened his presents. As you can see from the photo there were quite a lot to open!

We are having a pirate themed birthday party for him and his friends this Saturday. Mike is working on a treasure map for the hidden treasure and I'm making bandanas and sashes for the kids to put their styrofoam pirate swords in! I hope they all have a good time.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-17T18:45:00.006-07:00

For Mike's first Father's Day we took a little trip to the Evergreen Rodeo! Nicholas wasn't sure what to make of the rodeo at first - I don't think he's ever seen such events before. At the start we asked if he'd ever want to ride a horse - "NO!" was his reply. But by the end of the day he was warming up to the idea! :o) We may have to start out on a pony - but he was quite impressed whenever a horse would gallop by at top speed.

At the end of the day Nicholas wanted to know when "Kids Day" was - since we recently celebrated Mother's Day and just celebrated Father's Day.... We just laughed and told him that every day is Kid's Day.

I have happy news and sad news. First the happy news - Congratulations to my dear friend Michele and Mike on the birth of their daughter, Amanda Brooke!! We are so happy for you guys - she is a beautiful girl with a full head of hair!!

Now for the sad news - my heart is hurting tonight for my best friend, Sharon. She lost her father to cancer tonight. I've known Mr. Springer since I was 5 years old - he was a kind and loving father and a quiet giant. May you rest in peace now that you are free of pain. All my love to Sharon, Mrs. Springer and the rest of the Springer Clan.

Last Day of First Grade

2008-06-01T18:28:00.007-07:00

Friday was Nicholas' last day of first grade. The school had a lunch time picnic and it was a lot of fun. We got a bunch of phone numbers from his friends so we can set up play dates this summer. Above is a photo with Nicholas and his teacher.

On Monday Nicholas will start full-time day care. It sounds like a really good program and they have a ton of field trips planned - including one on the first day to Hammonds Candy Factory! The factory has been around for a while and we've even seen it on the Food Network before - so it's somewhat famous. I've been meaning to go there but we just haven't made it - so Nicholas will get to see it before we do. :o)

Today we made a little trip to Bailey to go to the Coney Island Hot Dog stand. It's a famous landmark in our area and we've not been to it since it moved from Aspen Park. The new owners did a great job renovating the hot dog! It's looking much better from the last time we saw it. Of course, Nicholas' favorite food is hot dogs and he was so tickled when we saw the huge hot dog! We ate a dog by the river and had a nice day out in the sun.

Love to all...

Another one gone...

2008-05-28T19:53:00.004-07:00

Another tooth bites the dust.. Nicholas has had a tough few days. He had a bad tooth ache and the next morning woke with a swollen cheek. It wasn't just swollen - it was like he was holding a full-sized balloon in his mouth. We got him in to see the doctor who thought it was an abscess which had allowed infection to go into the sinus cavity. He put Nicholas on an antibiotic and told us to get him to the dentist.

This morning I took Nicholas down to Children's Hospital and we were on the emergency wait list for a couple hours. We were called back and the dentist took one look and said the tooth should come out. Goodness - the shock didn't even set in before she had the laughing gas on him and the tooth was extracted! Nicholas handled it like a champ. The dentist thinks that the rot had started into the root and the dentist who added the crown did not see it.

On the way home Nicholas was already feeling better but I was still in shock! Then the thought that we're still making payments on the crown of the now extracted tooth set in...

I kept Nicholas out of school for the rest of the day. He wasn't doing much at school anyway as this is their last week and their final days have consisted of movie days and field days.

Mike went to the internal medicine doctor and he will have an ultrasound mid-June to see how the blood clot is breaking up.

I heard from my doctor about my blood work and all is looking fine! I've got a sonogram photo of Baby Bump to post once I sit down and scan it in.

Love to all...

First Jam Session

2008-05-19T14:13:00.009-07:00

On Saturday we went to a surprise birthday party for our neighbor Rob. Nicholas was very excited about hiding on the stairs and jumping out to yell "happy birthday".

Rob is a mechanic by trade but a musician at heart. He and his buddies played the better part of the day and we had a great time sitting on the deck listening to them play and sing. We knew Rob's brother, Rein, played harmonica so we had Nicholas bring his to get some tips. Nicholas joined in on a few songs and got a kick out of jamming with the big boys! :o)

We've got the best neighbors we could ever imagine. I've heard that a good neighbor is hard to find - but somehow we lucked-out and managed to find a street full of 'em.

On Sunday Nicholas' best friend, John, came over for a play date. They played for a few hours and were both crushed when John's Mom arrived to take him to baseball practice. We will certainly have to schedule more regular play times for the boys.

Mike has an appointment next week at the internal medicine doctor. We are hoping she'll order a CAT scan or something so we can determine if the clots have broken up yet. We're also hoping to find out how long Mike will need to be on blood thinners.

I've got another sonogram this Friday. Hopefully all continues to go well with Baby Bump.

Love to all...

My First Mother's Day

2008-05-12T16:03:00.003-07:00

We went to the Denver Aquarium for Mother's day! Mike and I had not been before and we had as much fun as Nicholas did. We told Nicholas we were going to "look at fish" and I think he thought we were going to Bass Pro Shops again - but he was in for a treat. He was bouncing up and down from the first moment when he saw the big shark walking around outside. :o)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

On Saturday we went round to a neighbor's house and they had a Pirate Party! It wasn't a birthday party - it was just a party! :o) They had hidden treasure in their yard and gave the kids maps to hunt for it. They had eye patches and blow-up swords. Nicholas had a blast! The eye patch in the photo above is from the party.

Mysterious Ways

2008-05-03T17:48:00.008-07:00

Many months ago, when we first started working with our social worker to have our homestudy written for our adoption, we decided we'd like to adopt two children. That was put in our homestudy and not that long after - we traveled to Ukraine. Our appointment at the SDA in Ukraine did not go quite as we expected - we were shown files for single children - only one brother/sister file was presented to us. We were disappointed - but as you know - accepted the referral to see a boy who became our son, Nicholas.

Well - there was another plan for our family which was not revealed to us until we got back to the USA! You've probably already guessed - I'm pregnant!! :o) I just started my second trimester. My most recent doctor appointment was Friday and the doctor used a sonogram to listen to the baby's heart beat. It took a while to find the baby as she kept hearing my heart - but she found it and the baby's heart was beating strong!

We told Nicholas about the baby two months ago. I had morning sickness so bad and he was so concerned why I kept vomiting... And I was reading a book on pregnancy and it recommended telling older children before telling other friends or family. So, we sat him down and told him. He was so excited!! He's still a little fuzzy on why the baby will not be here until Nov. 3. :o)

I've changed the title of this blog from Our Adoption to Our Family - because we've finished the adoption part and we are now a family!

Jungle Party Tonight!

2008-05-02T11:33:00.006-07:00

On Thursday, the K through 2 graders put on a singing program in the school gym. Each class was assigned a different animal and Nicholas' class was assigned either parrots or lizards. I was stumped at how to make a costume! Then Mike said to me - we need 2 sheets of green poster board and a black pen and some tape... So off we went to the store and before I knew it - Mike had created two excellent lizard heads (one for Nicholas and one for our friend's daughter).

Mike was in Kansas City so he didn't get to see the program - but I've posted some photos. The kids were great - there were all kinds of bugs and monkeys and lions on stage. The kindergarten kids were blue kangaroos and had a special song. The 1st and 2nd graders sang 4 songs and had a dance for each song - you can tell they put a lot of time and practice preparing for the program! Nicholas is still singing the songs. I don't think I've blogged about how much he loves...LOVES..to sing in the shower. He sings so loudly I can even hear him when I'm outside with Rosie! :o)