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...

Baby Announcement Kaz Charities

 




Hi All,
As many other adoptive parents do, we left Kazakhstan with our boys in our arms wishing that we could take all of those sweet babies home with us. I felt that way when we brought Rinat home but this time the feeling was so much stronger. My heart just ached as I walked out the door with Aibek in my arms. With Rinat we just saw his Kaz friends in passing as we picked him up or dropped him off in his room for visitation. With Aibek we spent 4 hours a day in the same room with Aibek’s group mates. We got to know their favorite toys, their cries and their giggles. We saw them sick and sad with no one to hold them until they felt better, no one to kiss away their tears (but good gosh did I want to). I spent weeks trying my very hardest to get one little girl to laugh and finally succeeded only to leave a few days later and never see her again. We got to know a little bit about their life stories and why they would never know the love of a family- they had medical issues, there was mental illness in the family, there was a grandmother that visited once a year (yes, once still takes them out of the running for adoption). There are many reasons. But none of them make it OK for them to have that kind of life. I know that I can’t adopt them all, but if there is just one thing that I can do to just make one day of their lives better, I want to do it. If you would also like to help, please take a look at these very worthy organizations below. Buy one fewer Starbucks and instead use the money to help one little life. Maybe it will help one of ‘our’ little ones that we left behind.

www.twoheartsforhope.org
This organization was started by two adoptive moms and supports the orphans in Kaz wherever and however they see a need. They are working on a water filtration system for one baby house (aka orphanage), completed a new playground at another, trying to raise money to fix the windows at another, funded heart surgery for a sweet little girl in need, held a Nauryz (Persian new year) celebration at another place, will be building new beds at another… The list goes on. I am saving up money and hope to join the mission trip next year, wherever in Kaz needs help from Two Hearts.

www.spoonfoundation.org
Too many orphans around the world are lacking the nutrition that they need to support their growth both physically and cognitively. This organization is studying orphan, foster, and post adoption nutrition and are currently doing a study (I heard our sweet Aibek was in the program before he came home with us!) on the effects of vitamins on children in Kazakhstan. Watch the video, it will amaze you how much one little change in nutrition can change the life of a child. Make sure you have tissues nearby- it’s a weeper (with a happy ending for one sweet little girl).

www.jointcouncil.org
This organization supports and advocates for children all over the world and believes that every child deserves to grow up as part of a family. They are the voice for those who are too young to speak for themselves. They are amazing and I have been lucky enough to meet the director Tom DiFilipo I am in awe of his tireless dedication to the cause.


If you know of any other organizations that deserve a mention, please comment below and I will be sure to add them to my list. And please stop and take a moment today to realize how truly, amazingly lucky we all are to be surrounded by loving families, a bounty of food, shelter over our heads, and all of the opportunities that our lives have afforded us. I wish every person on earth could be as lucky.

Much love, -m



I Need to Blog More Often

Hi All!

Seriously, I do need to step up the blogging because our life is totally insane these days and I really feel like I am leaving so much out. I mean it. Sometimes I have to remind myself how crazy things have been since September. I wonder why I am tired and then I remember that in the last 6 months we have done a lot: We went to Kaz on a very stressful trip where we had no idea if we would come back empty handed or not. Then we came home for my sister-in-law’s wedding. Then we went back and spent a month. Then we came back and celebrated Christmas and New Years and got Rin back in the swing of school. Then I went back again and picked up our sweet little pumpkin. Then I came home, we got settled into family life, got to know our little Bekster, had some visitors. Then we bought a house….

Oh yeah- we closed on a new house last week.  Out in the ‘burbs no less.  It’s going to be a whole new way of life for us but we hope that it will be an easier one.  Just the difference in cost of living will make a huge difference.  We won’t move in for another month at least but I can start signing Rin up for camps (thank goodness- not another summer of trying to keep him entertained) and trying to figure out what to move and what to donate.  And I have been busy touring preschools for next year too.  So far, everyone that we have dealt with has been super nice and helpful so I am excited to get moving and Rin is excited to have a big basement to run around in again.

Aside from house business, we have just been busy with our every day life.  There have been a whole lot of firsts in our little guy’s life and it is so fun to see everything with new eyes again.  There have been first popsicles and milkshakes, first trips to the zoo and aquarium, first parks and playdates.  One of the big important firsts was Mr Big Stuff’s first haircut.  Rinat was really really worried that Bek was going to be scared and that he might cry.  We went to our local barber shop- you know, the old school kind with cracked leather chairs and a drawer full of lollipops- where Peter and Rin have ‘boy day’ once a month.  Rin climbed up as usual but the poor barber who was trying to cut his hair found it difficult because he spent the entire time with his head swiveled to the side to watch Bek.  But our brave little guy sat on my lap for the whole time and didn’t say a word.  I couldn’t believe how much they cut off- a couple inches probably.  No more mullet and now my little baby is officially a boy.  No one will mistake him for a girl any more.  And speaking of big firsts, he has also taken a couple of steps here and there.  It seems mostly to be to get to wherever Rinat is.  I do sort of wish it were toward his Mama, but I can’t get jealous.  He ADORES his brother.  Many people have commented that he just can’t take his eyes off his brother and it is 100% true.  He is Rinat obsessed.  But he obviously loves me and Peter too since we are now the recipients of the sloppiest, drooliest kisses every morning when Peter gets him and tosses him into our bed at 6:30 for a few minutes while we try to pry our eyes open.  And we also have had a not so fun first- we headed to the doctor for his first round of shots and I certainly hope he will not be looking at his brother as a role model in that regard.  

 I just want to get this down on virtual paper so that I can torture Rin with it later in life.  Let me start by saying that I adore my son.  I love his spunk and the fact that he is the anti me.  I was a shy kid growing up.  I remember peeing my pants in first grade because I was too afraid to raise my hand and ask if I could go to the bathroom.  Rin is soooo opposite of that.  He has an opinion and it is right on out there for the world to hear whether we want to or not.  So here's a snippet from my life that might make you laugh.  We scheduled Rin and Bek's doctor appointments together the other day.  I knew Bek would have some shots and I figured Rin might too so I prepared myself for it.  It started off with the nurse coming into the room and Rin blurting out "I don't want shots."  Just wanted to get it on record I guess.  Then all is good until the doctor wants to look at his wiener and he says 'no!' and crawls under the exam table.  Doc says no prob as long as I don't think there are any issues.  Nope, no issues as far as I know so we move on to Bek's appt.  All is well (he's only 5% height and 15% weight which I didn't expect- how much is he supposed to weigh I wonder).  Then the doc leaves and Rin wants to know why we are waiting around.  And waiting and waiting and waiting and Bek is crying and crying because he's hungry and Rinat starts to think that there's something up (there is) and wants to know why the nurse needs to come back in after we tell him that's what we are waiting for.  And she finally does with a tray FULL of shots.  "Are those for Bek?" Rin asks.  "Bek is getting shots," I respond (which is not a lie). So I hold him in my lap and hold his chunky little arms and he gets get three and starts wailing on the third one which the nurse had warned me would hurt. I give him some loves and then I hand him over to Peter.  Rin sees that there are still three syringes on the tray and goes running into the corner "No!  No!  NOOOOOO!!!!" For anyone who has never heard the volume level that Rinat is capable of, let me just tell you that it is above and beyond any noise that should be made by a child of only 4.  This boy can scream.  I explain that it'll just take a minute and then she'll be done and he starts screaming at the absolute top of his lungs (yup, the Kazakh war cry) and starts kicking his legs as I try to pull him pants down so they can shoot him in the thigh.  I am trying to hold him still with one hand and pull the pants down with the other which is not working so then I lay him down on the bench and try to pull them down and he screams and screams and SCREAMS like someone is trying to kill him, his legs as far apart as he can get them and his hands holding the pants as tight as he can to keep them on.  I am embarrassed and keep apologizing, the nurse is laughing, finally I start laughing at the ridiculousness of it.  Rin gets pissed off that we are laughing.  Finally Peter hands Bek over to the nurse and I hold Rin’s hands and Peter pulls down the pants and he is flailing around and screaming as loudly as he can.  I finally wrestle him onto my lap and the nurse does the shots as he screams and screams and screams some more.  It was horrible.  Absolutely completely horrible.  He calms down and we finally leave the exam room.  Every single nurse's head turns our way as we exit which is, of course, humiliating.  Absolutely humiliating.  And as we exit the building, it's like a switch has flipped and the holy terror is once again smiling and happy.  I, however, am a mess.  I am embarrassed and still sweating from trying to basically wrestle a wild animal to the ground.  And the kicker?  We go back in two months for more- 2 for Rin and 3 for Bek.  Kill me now.  We’re doing separate appointments next time.  And I don’t know, bribe him or something.  Any suggestions?  This photo is his payback until I think of something better.  According to him, this is the 'straw king.'  And just so you know, he's wearing my espadrilles too.  Take THAT, Rin!

OK and here are some cute ones of him too.

But I can’t talk too badly about my eldest.  Because it seems that the honeymoon period continues.  Aside from a short stint of jealously (I think it must’ve been that) when my mom was in town, he gets the award for the best big brother ever.  He lets us know when Bek wakes in the morning, when he needs a tissue, makes sure the basement door is closed so he won’t fall down the stairs, that he doesn’t put stuff in his mouth to choke on, tells him ‘maladietz!’ (good boy in Russian) when he pushes the walker across the room, makes sure Daddy doesn’t let the stroller roll away when we’re at the zoo, is upset when I don’t have Bek with me when I pick him up from school, wants to play his music box for him at night, shares with him, loves on him and just generally adores him all around.  As do we all.

Little Beks is developing quite a personality too. He is no longer the quiet little guy we met way back in October. He spends most of the day yelling “DADADADADADADADADADA” at the top of his lungs and crawling around like a he just downed a 40 ounce of Mountain Dew. One of the funniest things is that he is starting to understand the world a little better now. He does things like look at me and shake his head ‘no’ as he reaches toward my computer or coffee cup- it’s the cutest little head shake I’ve ever seen. He knows not to mess with Mama’s stuff. And he finally realized that when he cries, I pick him up. It makes for a whole lot more crying but oh the cuddles I get. They make me almost look forward to him getting a little bump. And when I am not holding his plump little body in my arms, he is usually planted squarely between my feet, little hands pulling himself up my pant legs and face planted between my knees. And any time I sit down on the floor, he somehow manages to back his little self up into my lap. I’m not complaining at all. And strangely neither is Rinat. I am really very impressed at how well he has taken to his brother. I was worried that I had shown Rinat too much attention, too much love, and that he would feel replaced but that couldn’t be farther than the truth. He knows he is loved. As a matter of fact, at dinner tonight he told me “Mommy, I am going to make a list of all of the people who love me.” And he paused for a few seconds. “It’s going to be a whole lot of people. I’m gonna have to staple it.” I couldn’t ask for anything more than for my boys to feel like their lives are so filled with love that it won’t even fit on one page.

 

I hope you all feel so loved. If you make a list of your own, be sure to add my name to it! Much love, -m

ps- I can't get enough of that big boy haircut!  And, yes, I cried on the way home from the barber shop.  Big suprise.

Busy Busy

Hi All!


We have been busy with a capital B. Can you tell our sweet baby is tuckered out? Not only are we having an absolute blast with the newest member of our little family but we have been looking for a new place for our brood to roost for a while. Just last week we found a house that we both like and also can afford which is a hard thing to do around here. Sadly, we just can no longer afford to live in the actual District of Columbia and so off we go to the ‘burbs. I never ever thought it would happen but we’ll give it a go and see if we like it out there. We found a cute little house that is big enough to house us for the foreseeable future AND we can now afford to go on vacation every once in a while and, dare I even mention it, adopt one more time if we decide to. I told Peter when we got home from Kaz that I wasn’t even going to mention it for a year and then we would revisit the idea but buying a house made it necessary to chat about it now. So if we decide to adopt again, great. And if not, then we’ll have some cash free to do something else with. I have always wanted to go on safari…

But things are going amazingly well with the little man.  Aibek is the easiest baby ever.  Truly a piece of cake.  I know there will be something we’ll have to deal with down the road but so far no major issues aside from the Giardia (yes, he did have it).  And he and Rinat continue to be completely amazing together.  I mean, they absolutely adore each other and there is not one single day that I don’t feel lucky to have them together.  Just today we were in the little market below Rin’s school and I put Bek on the floor so I could use both hands to get Rin a slushy without spilling and he was just holding onto him and talking to him in the cutest little voice making sure he was safe and didn’t crawl off or get stepped on by anyone and this woman just stopped and stared and you could just tell she was melting and she said “Oh, that is so sweet!”  And when I commented that Rinat was an absolutely amazing big brother, she practically went into conniptions telling me how sweet they are together and great it was that they love each other so much.  People are really nice.  The other day I was shopping with Bek and the Asian girl ringing me up commented that he was super cute and that he looked a lot like her baby pictures and asked if he was adopted from Korea like her.  I told her that he was actually from Kaz and blahblahblah we were chatting away.  Someone behind me in line overheard and had to come and take a look at him and they started asking questions, then someone else overheard and came up to see his cute chubby cheeks, and before I knew it there was a crowd of literally 10 people who were oohing and aawing over my sweet little guy.  I don’t know what it is about him but everywhere I go strangers comment on how cute he is and how they just love the big cheeks and I have had lots of people call him a little Buddha.  I couldn’t agree more.  He’s adorable.  I just want to give him big kisses on those chubby cheeks and squeeze him so tight he explodes.  I can’t get over how cute he is.  And of course Rin's no shlump either.  I would kill for his cheekbones.  And I love how snuggly he is these days.  I'm sure it's partly due to someone else occupying my lap lately but I'm sure not complaining. 



Our fabulous friends also had a welcome home Aibek party that was tons of fun.  He’s still a little skittish with strangers (a totally foreign thing to me since Rin is outgoing sometimes to a fault) and I thought he might be a little overwhelmed by it all but he did pretty OK.  At the end of the night it was Rin who we had to drag out of there crying because we had overstayed by at least an hour past bedtime.  But Bek was unfazed as always.  He’s easy.  But he has been rapidly moving out of his calm and quiet phase and into the crazy maniac and constant blabbering phase.  And I couldn’t be happier about it.  He has been crawling around like a maniac.  Sometime he does what Rin likes to call the polar bear crawl where he walks on his hands and feet with his butt stuck up in the air.  And he absolutely loves standing up and getting his balance before he lets go and falls to the floor laughing and laughing.  It’s been paying off too because just the other day I was having him practice standing and letting go and rather than just falling down with a laugh, this time he took a step toward me before falling face first into my lap.  I honestly can’t believe that just 4 months ago he couldn’t even sit up.  It’s crazy.  And he was basically mute until probably December when he started out with “dadadada” before we had to leave him to come home and wait out the paperwork.  And just the other day as I was taking him up to bath, he waved and said “byebye” to Rin. I cried (of course, what’s new).  That’s a big first.  And we’ve heard something that sounds like ‘all done’ although you would never guess that would be one of his first words with the size of his fat rolls.  And he says a lot of ‘rahrah’ which I have decided means he is talking about Rinat.  That’s what I told Rin anyway and it always puts a smile on his face when Bek says it.  And I know he understands a lot.  Like when he’s in the bath and I tell him to sit down.  He just smiles and laughs and splashes back down.  Little stinker.  I swear Rinat does not help the situation.  Whenever I say “That’s not funny, Bek.”  Rin yells back from downstairs “Yes it is!”  They are going to be T-R-O-U-B-L-E when they get older.        

      

Rin decided one day that we needed to celebrate Bek’s BDay since he wasn’t actually here with us for the big day.  So off we went to Giant to pick up not one but two cakes.  One for little BekMan to destroy and one for us.  Except that Bek didn’t really destroy his.  He didn’t actually want to touch it at all.  Rin had to literally take his little hand and shove it into the frosting and then stick it into Bek’s mouth for him to get the gist of it.  But then he was hooked.  The boy likes cake.  You know, his tastes are nothing like I thought they would be.  Rin ate literally anything that we put in front of him until he hit probably 2 or so.  But Bek?  Not so much.  I will offer him, say, a bite of carrot, broccoli, corn, potato, banana, pear, peach or whatever and he will let my hand get within centimeters of his little lips and he will then dramatically whip his head to the side in a frantic bid to make sure not one tiny bit of it touches him.  It’s so frustrating.  I mean, it took Rin many many tries to like some of the foods that are his favorite now.  But Bek won’t even touch them.  Not even put them in and spit them out if it doesn’t suit.  Oh well, he’ll learn eventually that man cannot live on meat and bread alone.  And really, it’s not like he’s starving to death or anything, right?  I mean, he has baby boobs for gosh sakes.   

Spring has sprung around here and the weather is warm.  And for us that of course means it's time to spend a whole lotta time outside.  The park, the zoo, picnics, and lots of backyard time.  When the crocuses start sending up their little shoots and I spy those gorgeous deep purple blooms, it's off with the boots and on with the outdoors.  Spring is here.

And have I mentioned Rin's obsession with dinosaurs?  Yup, it's official.  He's nuts for dinos.  And he is finally starting to draw some photos that actually look like something besides just a bunch of squiggles or a happy face.  Here's his dinosaur book that he made.  He told me I could rip it apart to copy and put it here for everyone to see.  So enjoy.

Happy Spring everyone!  Love to all, -m