A Perfect Day

Hi all-

Have you ever had one of those days that you are sort of dreading but it actually turns out BETTER than you thought it would? We have been busy with moving, people in town, babysitter drama, Peter working non-stop, and just our everyday insanity and I was just plain worn out. So we get to this weekend and the flurry of busy-ness, reached its crescendo. We met up with one set of people here, another there, housekeepers in the house so baby gets no nap, have to get ready for wedding events and meet the new babysitter who I have to give a diaper changing lesson to (not instilling a ton of confidence)… you know how it goes. Well, we get to Sunday and I will admit I was a little stressed out about the day (and maybe a tad big hung over too, or maybe just tired). I foresaw lots of run here, run there, missed naps, cranky kids. It started when we were up and going at 5:45 with our darling baby boy. He is not one to go back to sleep once he’s up so we were up and at ‘em early. Then Peter was off to work and the boys and I met GigiMar for brunch up the street and Kate/Jason/Matt joined us too which was an unexpected bonus. Rin got to eat unlimited amounts of maple syrup from his grandma and Bek lots to meet some of their LBurg friends. Then we ran back to the house with the stroller in hyperdash mode for a diaper change and to grab some things and headed out to a birthday party across town for one of Rin’s friends from school. I was a little unsure of how my sweet eldest would be due to the amounts of sugar coursing through his system but he was fairly well behaved. It was tons of fun. And it’s amazing how different Bek is turning out to be. He seems to be feeling more safe and although he is still way more clingy than Rin ever was, he finally ventures off on his own at the playground amidst all of the kids. It’s taken a while to get to this point.
But the best part of the party was post cake (which Rin didn’t even eat because he was sugar-ed out). My friend, Sohaer, and I were talking while our boys (BFFs at school) played in the field. Next thing I know, I see them systematically running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth across the field. I look closer and see that they are running through a puddle. A really big puddle. Oh well, their shoes can get wet, no biggie. So we keep talking and I see them out of the corner of my eye and overhear that they are pretending to be dinosaurs hiding behind a tree at the edge of the field. They disappear from view for a few minutes so we sort of walk around the corner to see THIS

 


HOLY SMOKES

All I can do is laugh. I mean, they are too far gone to even attempt to keep them clean and dry. So we go with it. They look up at us, we look at each other, shrug our shoulders, and say ‘Go ahead and play”. And they took us at our word. They knew that this was no ordinary playdate. This playdate was special. And they made the most of it. These two beautiful boys played their hardest and made the most of the hour that they spent wallowing in the mud like pigs. They jumped, they rolled, they gave each other ‘mud hugs’ and splashed to their hearts content. They were in heaven. And when the time came that every single person had left to go home and little Aibek started to show the signs of missed nap #2, we had them strip down to their underwear, washed them off at the water fountain, wrapped them in a blanket, and strapped them into the car with huge smiles on their little angelic faces.

Then, because our landlord was showing our house, off we went out to new house 30m minutes away to meet up with Peter who was done with work. But it really didn’t matter how far it was because the kids were asleep in the backseat in 2. As a matter of fact, they were so out that when we got there, I quietly scooped Bek up and into a pack&play for nap in his new room. And I had to literally shake Rinat awake. Then he spent a good 30 minutes lying on the floor in the living room trying to wake up. It’s amazing how completely a puddle bath will wear you out. When he was somewhat coherent, we let Rin christen our new fancy bathtub. He love love loved the jets and didn’t want to get out. The water, after we drained it, left a ring of dirt. Not surprising.

After naptime when we were still hanging out at the house it started pouring rain and Rin said “Oh my gosh, there’s a waterfall in the backyard! Can Arman and I go play in it?” Um no. But maybe another time. I'm glad that we have a sometimes creek back there.  I'm hoping for tadpoles next spring. 

We ordered pizza which we ate out of the box on the kitchen floor and I got really excited to move. It’s peaceful out there. The kids can run around.  I don't have to worry about them being run over by a bus or screamed at by the neighborhood homeless person.  I think it'll be a good place for us.  And most importantly for the kids. 

Then the day and the kids slowly wound down and we headed back into DC. On the way home, there was the kind of rainbow that only comes along every few years.  It stretched from one side of the highway all the way across to the other the entire ride home. I told Rin about the leprechaun at the end with the pot of gold which he, of course, took as truth but he’s no dummy. He was a little suspicious. But he also loves to pretend so he let it roll and just asked a million questions about it. He is question crazy these days. And I wouldnt’ have it any other way. To me, questions mean curiosity and curiosity leads to a love to learning about the world. It’s the greatest gift that I could have passed along to him. All in all, it was a good day. Just one perfect day in our almost perfect life.

And other than that, the last weeks at our old house were spent playing, laughing, and packing packing packing. Oh and there were a few Spring puddles to jump in along the way.

Go jump in a puddle.

Love to all, -m

BTW- that second photo is a of Bek taking a snooze with his little bum stuck straight up in the air.  I have been told that I did the same when I was a baby.  Guess it runs in the family ;)

I Never Wrote about Easter!

Hi all-

I can’t believe that I completely and totally forgot to write about Easter and Beks’ first road trip.  What is wrong with me?  Oh yeah, we adopted a baby and bought a house in the last few months.  I knew there was something.  In any case, I didn’t want to let the weekend pass me by so here’s the deet’s about Bek’s first Easter with us.  Well, mostly just photos.  But don’t photos tell most of the story anyway? 

We started out in LBurg where Kate was in town for someone's wedding.  We figured it might be a good time for a trip down for her to meet Little Man #2.  So we drove down at the last minute and hung with GigiMar and got a visit from the Easter Bunny who brought Rin a pirate outfit (could you tell?).

 

Then we were off to RNoke to see Peter's Dad and Nancy.  After many Rin-sponsored egg hunts in the back yard we headed off to the park and fire station.  At first Rin was absolutely terrified of the fire station and refused to set foot in but I found a police motorcycle out back that he was so excited about that he forgot to be scared.  And then he was in total fire station heaven.  Sometimes people are so nice- especially the big burly ones. They are all softies underneath. 



It was a good holiday and our little Bekers seems to be fitting in just wonderfully.  He's a good traveler and pretty adaptable which is a good thing since our lives require it these days.  And most of all, we are fitting together as a family and genuinely enjoying our time together and with all of our extended family.  I am hoping for many many more wonderful times together- hunting eggs, driving fire trucks, or just making Playdoh animals.  As long as we're together life is good.

Love to all and more backlogged posts soon.

-m  

It's a Small Small World

Alright everyone- sing it with me. “It’s a small world aaafter aaall…It's a small world aaafter aaall…It’s a small world aaafter aaall…It’s a smaaall smaaall wooorld”  Is it stuck in your head now?  Me too.  As a matter of fact, it’s been stuck in my head for the last week.  After a calm and wonderful Memorial Day weekend that we spent at the lake house (I’ll write about that trip later), we were home for one day and then hopped a plane for Florida.  Destination  Kazapalooza- with a stopover at Disney on the way.  After an exhausting plane trip with a just-learned-to-walk toddler, we checked into our hotel and hung out for the afternoon.  The next morning we got up and headed straight to the land of Mickey where we somehow lucked out and got into the Disney castle's breakfast with the princesses.  At first Rin wasn't so into meeting the characters but once they informed him he was getting a sword, he was all in.  We met them all- Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Ariel... all of them.   

Then it was off to enjoy the rides.  I love Rin's face on the spinning teacups.  Can you tell he's having an absolute blast? 

The Snow White ride didn't go over so well.  Rin said it was too scary.  For all of his fearlessness, he's still a little boy.

We stayed the whole day long riding rides and wandering around marveling at the pure Disney-ness of it all.  We met up with our friends Diane/Ceira/Tienna in the morning (the ones in Karaganda with us in 2010) and our friends Meagan/Tony/Taylor (part of the Astana 2007 crew) in the afternoon.  We stayed ALL DAY LONG and closed out the day watching the electric parade and fireworks before heading home at 10:00 at night.  The boys were troopers despite being completely exhausted.  They fell into bed and slept past 8 the next morning. 

And while we were in Orlando, we also spent some time chillaxing by the pool.  It was Bek's first pool experience so I had to get it on film.  He did pretty well and seems to like the water. 

And then it was off to the sunny beaches of St Pete and the wonderful people who have adopted from Kaz. Let me tell you that there is nothing like getting together with people who really get you like these people do.  There was no 'look at baby, look at parents, look at baby with quizzical look on face followed by well meaning but sometimes annoying questions'.  It was just "Oh my gosh, he's absolutely ADORABLE!" from everyone that we saw. 

Another first for our littlest one- the ocean.  He's a little texture wary and wasn't super fond of the sand.  As matter of fact, it pretty much just led to tears and pure misery when he discovered that it was actually STUCK TO HIS HAND (Aagh!!! Get it off!!!)  Then we took him to the water and that went over much better.

But you can tell from his face here that he was still a little unsure.  But check out Rin's face.  There's no place he'd rather be than sitting in the sand as the waves roll in.

And, being the constant daredevil, Rin faced the mighty blow-up slide and won.  Well, most of the rides anyway.  This one not so much since Daddy decided to take Ciera down instead of him. 

And there was a very rushed but nonetheless wonderful dinner with our dear friends from Astana.  I swear these kids are almost closer than cousins.  There's none of that awkward getting to re-know you time, it's just straight back into play mode.  With us adults too.  I don't really know how to describe it exactly.  They are just sort of like extended family.  We have shared with them things that we have not with our own families even.  There's something about experiencing what we did together that outdoes any kind of description that we could give.  You just have to have lived it right along with us.  And they did.  And I am hoping that these children know and enjoy each other their entire lives.  There knew each other before we knew any of them after all and there's just nothing that can replace that.  My friend,, Jila, was telling me that she always remembers Rinat being in the high chair next to her daugher, Kiana, at the baby house before we had even met him.  Sometimes I forget that there was a time that we didn't know him but I am glad that he was surrounded by his little friends and that we can keep up with some of them forever.  We are so lucky.

And post dinner was the pirate show.  And if there is one thing that this little man is passionate about, it's pirates and he was so excited to meet a real life Red Beard. 

And of course he had to load up on pirate paraphernalia and get in character. 

He even refused to take it off for the photo with our good friends from Karaganda.  Oh well, he is who he is stubbornness and all.  Or should I just call it excitement?

And as the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico, our weekend was almost over.  Our beautiful friends, old and new, scattered to spend the last few precious moments on their own.  The next morning we met up and said goodbye to everyone, got a little more beach time, and it was back home.  When I was downloading the photos I realized that as excited as I was about the weekend I really hadn't taken that many.  What can I say?  I guess I was just having too much fun. 

And isn't it a truly small world?  Five years ago, I didn't even know where Kazakhstan was and there we were in Florida celebrating a place from across the world with people from all over the US and Canada.  It's a small small world.  And we are all the better for it.  

Love to all,
-m
Next up- our big move.  Two days and counting...