Yawn

Well, “Y” Week is over. I had plans to use yellow yarn to decorate our “Y”, but I didn’t feel like buying it, so we went with different yellow mediums (crayon, paint, and glitter glue). He enjoyed using the materials all by himself.





He also colored a picture of Bert with a yo-yo.



Then he colored pictures where the characters were eating food that was “yummy”.





But, we mainly worked on other skills this week. I had an early math workbook that someone gave me. I found a sheet where he could count the trains and then circle the correct number. This really helped with both his counting and number recognition. He did really well with numbers 1-6 on the front. On the back he seemed to be a little overwhelmed with the amount of trains. He deemed them, “too many” to count.



We also read our library books together. One book that he “helped” me read was Dr. Seuss’s ABC Book. One area that I am going to focus on in the near future (although not in a weekly feature) is learning the lower case letters. This book shows both cases, which gave us a good start.

In unrelated news, I just want you to know that I’m still exercising. The other day Nicholas got excited when he saw me in my workout clothes (shorts and tank top, not underwear). He immediately stripped down to his underwear so he could exercise with me. He’s starting to perfect some of the moves. He does some good front kicks.

Even with the weather a little iffy on Friday, I still got to go to my weekly relaxation, I mean, acupuncture appointment. My body is responding well to the treatment and I can already see a bit of a difference. Now we’re testing out whether my body can handle going every 2-3weeks instead of every week. I’m going to miss the quiet time, but I’m thrilled that things are going as they should.

This week should be pretty eventful. Not only are we wrapping up the alphabet (I am doing virtual back flips), but we also have Nicholas’ first dentist appointment. He’s pretty excited to go because he knows they are giving him a toothbrush to take home. He knows there is a little more to it, but so far so good. Everybody at our dentist’s office is so excited to finally meet Nicholas. Since we have several family members that go there, they have had updates every few months, and have followed along on our roller coaster journey. Even the receptionist that called to remind me of his appointment declared her excitement. I hope Nicholas feels that welcoming spirit while he’s sitting in the examining chair.

Finally, the birthday countdown is winding down. With just a little over a week to go, we are gearing up for the big day. I can’t wait to watch his little face light up when it is time to blow out his candles. He’s been watching everyone else get their chance since he came home. Finally, it is all about him.

So, stay tuned. We should have plenty of pictures in the next week or two.

Nicholas' Mom

I was reading a blog the other day that really resonated home with me. Our joy in having Nicholas in our family is his birth family’s great loss. In an ideal world, all children would be raised by their biological parents. However, we live in a fallen world. A world of poverty, promiscuity, selfishness, drugs, etc. Some may argue, but I believe that God knew that Nicholas’ birthmother would be unable to care for him and his needs. God chose us to be his parents. We are forever grateful for his birthmother for giving him life. We will not forget her. We pray for her and her family.

This leads me to another topic, being Nicholas’ Mom. I have mentioned before that adoption is how Nicholas became a member of our family. We will celebrate and recognize the day he became our son. However, I really don’t want Nicholas to be the “adopted child” or to be labeled the “Adoptive Mom”. Evan and I are raising him. We are his parents and he is our son. While he has DNA that did not come from us, he already exhibits behavior and mannerisms that he has learned since he has been home that look pretty similar to one of us.

I don’t mind sharing our adoption journey with others, especially those that are interested in adoption or just generally care about Nicholas. I just don’t want to talk about it all the time. When I meet new people I don’t want to say, “This is my son Nicholas. We adopted him from Russia in July.” I just feel like I’m past the point of bringing it up to everyone I meet.

This blog was prompted by a play date I had earlier this week. One woman knew about Nicholas being adopted and the other one didn’t. I didn’t feel like saying anything, but it got brought up anyway. I’m not mad at anyone about it. I just walked away thinking, Will there be a day when I’m just Nicholas’ mom?

X

I was going to title my blog with three “X”s, as in “three strikes you’re out”, but I’m afraid it may have been misconstrued. Basically, as we get to the end of the alphabet my creativity level seems to have tanked. It’s not homeschool burnout, but alphabet burnout.

We did decorate our “X” to look like bones in an X-ray.





We also colored a picture of Telly with an X-ray (Are you noting the common theme?).



Finally, we made a “treasure hunt” for Nicholas. Basically, we made a map with “X” marking the spot. He had to follow the map to find the foam “X”. He actually loved this activity and played it by himself after we were done. Who knew my top-of-the-head idea would be such a hit?





In other news, Nicholas spent a couple of days this week enjoying some of his favorite things.

He enjoyed some ice cream as a special treat after Wednesday's Bible Study.





We also attended Elmo’s Birthday Party at Border’s this past weekend. Since Nicholas wants his own Elmo birthday party, I thought it would be fun to attend. It wasn’t quite what we expected. They did read three stories, have coloring for the kids, and a snack. While Nicholas didn’t seem to care about the stories, I do think the snack made the trip worth it for him. I do want everyone to know that he is finally sensing when his body is full. Tonight at dinner, he announced he was full without cleaning his plate. This is progress.





Back to the topic of Nicholas’ birthday . . . This week he learned that his birthday is March 9th (although he leaves off the “th”) and he is telling everyone. He is so excited about his birthday. Today at church he told a woman how he is going to be three, wants balloons, and to blow out his candles. Right now we have at least three occasions planned where he will be having cake (or some kind of dessert). He’s going to think every day is his birthday.

This week I noticed that he is on a great quest for knowledge. He must ask me several times a day, “What’s this?” When I tell him, he seems to be storing it in his memory bank. Sometimes it seems like he is quizzing me to see if I know it though. When it is something I know he knows, I turn the tables and ask him. He seems happy to answer. I guess he's just prepping us for all those future "Why?" questions.

He also is saying, “you’re welcome” and “excuse me” on his own more often. The other day he wanted to get to his toys, but had to walk by me. He said, “Excuse me, Mommy.” We’ve also learned about saying sorry when we do something that wasn’t on purpose. He’ll say, “Sorry, Mommy. It accident.” It’s really cute to hear.

Finally, he is really into copying the things we do. This can sometimes be eye-opening, but other times pretty funny. Tonight he thought it would be fun to pretend and blow my nose for me. Then he looked at it and said, “Gross.” We were just pretending, but I guess he wanted to get the full effect.

Well, we have a pretty busy week ahead of us. Yahoo for Y (Note the sarcasm)!

God Can Do Immeasurably More Than We Ask Or Imagine

Kelly’s Korner is a blog that I read on a regular basis. Today she is asking readers to link their blogs if they can minister to another person in some way. In fact, if you go to her blog you may find a blog with which you can relate. So, welcome any new readers from her site. This blog started as a way to announce our adoption of a child from Russia. After battling years of unexplained infertility, God clearly led us to adopt. He called us to do something completely outside of our plans and our comfort zones.

We completed all of our paperwork very quickly and were happy with a quick referral of a 13-month old little boy. With only two weeks to plan for our first trip, we were on our way to meet this child who would become our son. Our hearts melted when we met him and we couldn’t wait to come back for Trip 2 to bring him home in a couple of months. However, sometimes adoption is unpredictable and that’s just putting it mildly about what happened to us.

We would make our second trip five months later with the expectation that we would bring our son home. Due to paperwork issues, unrelated to us, we would be sent home after spending three weeks in Russia. We were told that we would return in a month or two, but that didn’t happen. For the next 8 months, God took me on a great spiritual journey where I learned to trust Him more than I ever have before.

Our son came home in July 2009. He is a great blessing to us and so worth the long wait. We continue to face trials, but know we have been blessed so much. God has continued to take care of us. My blog is about life with our son, but it is also about me growing and changing as a person and in my faith. Right now we are wondering what God has in store for us in many areas of our life, including #2. But, just as God brought our son to our family, we are learning that He’ll take care of the details.

I hope my blog is an encouragement to others. God can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

The Most Relaxing Day of the Week

Life is tiring with an active almost 3-year old. I have to constantly keep an eye on him. We also have a battle of the wills going on right now. I am happy to report that the last couple of days I have been able to discipline Nicholas firmly, but with little feeling in my voice. Sometimes I think that when a child is able to get a rise out of you, he considers it a victory. He/she got Mom/Dad out of control. If they keep pushing those buttons, then he/she will get his/her way.

I think Nicholas behaves best when he sees that we mean business by following through with the consequences we tell him will happen. For instance, we had a playdate at McDonald’s today. Nicholas was playing out of my view. I told him that he needed to play where I could see him. He did his “Yes, Mommy. Sorry, Mommy. Please forgive me, Mommy” in his sing-songy voice where you know he doesn’t truly mean it. He waited until I sat down and made eye contact with me. Then he took off running back to where I just told him he was not to play. I caught up to him and told him calmly, but firmly that if he disobeyed me one more time, we would go home. And, I meant it. It would be a bummer for me, but Nicholas needs to know that he isn’t in charge. He must have realized that I would follow through because he slowly walked to that point, but changed his mind quickly and went to play in the “safe zone”.

I’m not saying he always makes wise decisions. Sometimes Evan and I wonder why he continues to disobey over the same things when he knows the consequences. But, when he does obey, it gives me a little reassurance that I can do this parenting thing.

That leads me to my most relaxing day of the week. That would be Fridays right now. Life has been full of trials in the last five or six years. We’ve had infertility, a difficult adoption, and unemployment thrown at us. Being a Type A personality, I don’t always handle stress the way I should. I’m not always best at giving it to God. I want to fix everything. I want to figure everything out. Well, that can mess you up physically. It leaves me more tired and feeling generally “out of whack”. So, my grandma offered to take me to her acupuncturist.

Some people may be familiar with the benefits of an acupuncturist. They can help you with pain and also regulating the whole body. I was a little hesitant at first. I’m not a big fan of needles. But, I decided that after the beginning of the year, I would give it a try. I’m glad I did. I have had four treatments (my fifth tomorrow) and I think I can start to feel some changes. It is supposed to help with serotonin levels. Coupled with my exercising (which I resumed after a brief hiatus due to poor excuses, such as not wanting to exercise in glasses) I’m starting to feel better.

The only area I need to work on is really not my fault. I need to make sure I’m having a good night’s sleep. Nicholas goes in spurts. He’ll be good for several days and not wake up during the middle of the night. Then, he has a few bad days where he wakes up, but doesn’t allow himself to fall back to sleep. We end up getting broken sleep, which seems to throw our routine off. We started some creative discipline tonight, so we’ll see how that works.

But, my point is that parenting is hard, especially when your child is in a battle of the wills. That is when I came to realize that forty five minutes once a week of lying on a bed with needles strategically placed on my body (which do not hurt, by the way) is the most relaxing time of my week. TGIF now has a whole new meaning.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

“W” week was full of winter snow. Nicholas loves the snow and doesn’t mind the cold. Thanks to our friend, the Snow Plow (he really likes it now) we have a giant hill of snow outside our front window. Evan turned it into a slide and he and Nicholas loved sliding down it.





In regards to “school”, we decorated our “W” this week with wagon wheel pasta. I had to convince Nicholas that he shouldn’t eat it because it wasn’t cooked. I made it up to him by making it for dinner a couple of nights later.





We also colored a picture of Grover with a watermelon.



We had a white snack of powered donuts and milk.



We also worked on his counting skills by gluing the correct amount of wagon wheels onto the note cards that were numbered 1-10. I got that idea off of another blog. Kids Nicholas’ age often know how to count aloud, but do not always count objects accurately. I know this is true of Nicholas.





Finally, we went to the library again this week. Now that we’ve been there a few times, he knows the routine. This week he worked on sharing the trains at the train table. I’m trying to teach him to ask, “May I please have a train?” when someone else has all of them. It doesn’t quite come out that way, but he’s working hard to be understood. I think I enjoy the time at the library as much as he does. I found a couple of books in the Children’s reference section to check out for myself. I like to learn and sometimes I just want the information in a more simplified form.

Nicholas also celebrated his first Valentine’s Day. Saturday we took him out for a donut and it appeared that he enjoyed himself. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.





Then, he woke up on Sunday morning with a small gift from us. We got him a heart-shaped Mickey Mouse cookie, coloring book, and Hot Wheel car. The cookie seemed to be the biggest hit. Go figure. Evan and I decided not to spend much on each other. I’m kind of low-maintenance. I asked for a Cadbury Egg. I know it’s not Easter yet, but I saw them in some of the stores, and that’s what I wanted.



Nicholas is starting to learn the names of the stores we go to on a regular basis. He told me that Target is fun. I have to agree. I saved over $17.00 with coupons there on Saturday, which made it both fun and economical. Is my cheapness starting to creep out again?

I do have an eye update. I am allowed to wear contacts. I was allowed to wear them as of Saturday, but only for 8-10 hours. I actually was more cautious and only wore them in the morning the first day. I am happy to have them back. People that are not regular contact wearers do not truly know how hard it is to be told you cannot wear them.

Well, we have another busy week ahead. Stay tuned to see how I deal with the letter “X”.

Kristin

E-I-E-I-O!

Today I scheduled Nicholas’ 3-year checkup appointment. I can’t believe his birthday is in less than a month. We are happy to have found a pediatrician five minutes away from our house. We were previously using one at the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic that specialized in International Adoptions. That was just too far for us to drive to all the time. Since Nicholas has no physical or developmental delays, I took the recommendation of a friend, and found him someone closer, but still in the Cleveland Clinic network. I can’t wait to see how much he’s grown since he’s been home.

“All aboard!” is a phrase that Nicholas has been saying a lot. Dinosaur Train on PBS is where he picked it up. I’m slowly less embarrassed in public with him now. He is a very vocal child, who only is quiet when he is tired. As we walked through Dillard’s yesterday, he loudly proclaimed, “All aboard!” to anyone who would listen.

He has also been telling me about a horse at the "big church" lately. I had never seen one at either church we attend (Wednesdays is a bigger building, but he still calls both “big church”). Yesterday he finally showed me what he was talking about. If it were a snake (or a real horse) it would have bit me. It reminded me of a horse I had as a child. Nicholas loved riding on it! This is a big deal since he didn’t even like riding on a regular rocking horse when he first came home.





Nicholas is beginning to “read” books. We can hear him reciting his favorites during nap/rest time. There is one book that he can actually read some of the lines because of all the alphabet lessons we’ve had. He likes the story, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” because he can read “E-I-E-I-O”. It’s really cute to watch him as he waits for his turn. I tried to record a video, but he likes to make it difficult for me. It took a couple of takes because he either would not speak, or was being a ham. I’m posting the one with Evan because he was too quiet in the other good take.



Finally, we have Nicholas reading another favorite that he got for Christmas. He is trying to say, “Bluebird, bluebird, what do you see?” Then he counts the birds on each page, up to five. We just love the way he says “bluebird” right now.



We’re just finishing up “W” week, so look for that post in a couple of days.

Kristin

Thank Goodness for Velcro

We decorated our “V” with Velcro. I could have done vegetables, Valentines, violins, etc, but I was trying to think outside of the box. Also, Nicholas got a new pair of shoes and they actually had a Velcro pair in his size. Now he can put his own shoes on with absolutely no help (unless they are on the wrong feet). So, we love Velcro here.





He also colored a picture of Grover with a violin.




It was his idea to trace his hand.

Nicholas helped his daddy vacuum.




He has been sporting a cheesy smile a lot lately.

We worked on some new skills. We glued the numbers in order inside of the valentine heart.





We had valentine hearts of different sizes, and we tried to put them in order from smallest to biggest.



We also matched the valentine heart with the number to the valentine with that amount of hearts in it.



Finally, we made a few Valentine’s Day cards.





I realize that “V” would be better for next week, but we just want to get the alphabet done. I know some people who do the “Letter of the Week” do not go in order, so they can do “V” on Valentine’s Day or “T” on Thanksgiving. If you are interested in doing this with your child, my best advice is to do it the way you are comfortable. Just make it fun and with very little pressure.

On another note, let’s talk about Nicholas and the finger sucking. My cousin e-mailed me with a solution that had worked for her nieces – bitter tasting nail polish. I was excited about the idea because I had used it in the past for my own nail biting habit and remembered how awful it tasted. I ordered it online and was so excited when it finally arrived the other day.

Well, our darling Nicholas is immune to it. Sure, I heard some moaning and groaning the first night, but it did not stop him from sucking his fingers. I had read the reviews that said it really stays on your fingers. Sometimes when people eat, they can still taste it. Others recommended putting it on just the tips of their children’s fingers, so they did not gag.

Since I still have a problem with nail biting, I decided to give it a try too. What kind of mother would put her child through that torture if she couldn’t handle it herself? So why is it that Nicholas happily sucks his fingers with that disgusting stuff all over his nails, and I’m dying every time my fingers come near my lips? I can taste it in my mouth as I type. Nothing tastes good. I have a feeling that the only way he is going to stop sucking his fingers is if he decides that he wants to stop. I, on the other hand, may finally kick my bad habit after 30 years.

Kristin

It Doesn’t Pay to Be Cheap

The last couple of days have been “fun”. We had a ton of snow last night (I’ve heard anywhere from six inches to a foot). The snow plow that usually wakes Nicholas up didn’t bother to show up until hours after several people had attempted to leave their homes. Evan saw at least three or four cars have trouble leaving their driveways. Needless to say, we didn’t go anywhere today. That was fine for today since I wasn't in the mood to leave the house, which leads me to the story about my cheapness (or frugal behavior).

I have said before that I’m not a big fan of spending money. If we don’t need it, then I see no need to buy it, even if I really want it. Sometimes I splurge, but these are usually low-cost purchases. I pretty much squeak when I walk.

I am a contact wearer. I don’t like glasses and very few people have ever seen me in my glasses in the last two decades. I only wear them for about an hour at night and from the bedroom to the bathroom in the morning. That’s it! So, buying glasses with the correct prescription hasn’t been a high priority. In fact, I’m not exactly sure when I bought my last pair of glasses. Wait! Yes, I do. It was yesterday.

Contact wearers are supposed to change their contacts every two weeks. It is not healthy for your eyes to wear them longer than that time period. Contact wearers are supposed to have times where they don’t wear contacts to let their eyes breathe. To save money, I extended the life of my contacts. To save money, I never cared about buying new glasses.

Too much contact wear (with the same contacts) = eye infection = new glasses, prescription eye drops, 2 eye doctor office visits and no contacts for at least a week!

At this time, I have spent only $100 less than it would cost to have worn my contacts for only two weeks and changed them regularly. I’m not even sure if my insurance company will cover my eye doctor visits. I’ve paid the co-pay, but we’ll see if a bill comes in the mail. So, all that I did to save money cost me in the end.

Lesson learned: It doesn’t pay to be cheap!

Kristin

Seven Months

Going to Russia seems like a distant memory at times. Nicholas continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Of course, I don’t mean just physically. Although, he just went up another shoe size again! He has new phrases every week. The other day he called my sister by her full name to get her attention. Today at the library he was walking away and wasn’t listening so, I managed to get a hold of his coat to stop him. He looked at me and said, “Leave Nicholas’ coat alone. This coat is Nicholas’.” He pointed to his own coat. Then he pointed to mine. “This coat is Mommy’s.” It’s hard not to laugh when you’re trying to teach him that he needs to stay put.

He has also expanded his palate and loves all American food. Every Wednesday we go to the mall food court after Bible study and have chicken nuggets. We changed it up this past week and he had a cheeseburger, which is something he didn’t like just a few months ago. He ate every bite! It’s funny because he hates condiments, but ate them in the cheeseburger because he didn’t know that they were there.

I’ve mentioned before that Nicholas is excited about his third birthday. Well, he now believes that every “3” he sees is about him. “3! Nicholas’ birthday coming soon!” is what I hear several times a day. He saw the weather report and it was 3 degrees with the wind chill. That was about his birthday. We were at the grocery store and the Checkout Lane #3 was also about his birthday. I really hope he enjoys his day. Too bad we still have a little over a month left to wait.

But, even better than being three is when he turns 5! One day he mentioned to me that he wanted a piece of gum. I told him that he needed to be bigger. Then I threw out a number – 5! So, whenever I tell him that he has to wait until he’s bigger, he just assumes I mean when he turns five. I think that even includes driving our car.

It’s easy to want to see him be three or even five because he’ll be able to do so much more. However, I think I often struggle with wishing my life away. “If only I had . . .” or “If only we could . . . .” I think it is important to really enjoy the place we are in right now. I’ve done too many “what-ifs” and wasted a lot of precious time thinking ahead. It’s not something I’ve mastered yet, but it’s what I know I need to do.

I had better go now. Nicholas is dancing in the other room and I don’t want miss out on it!

Kristin