December 20, 2007

Michael's room is almost done so we are spending a lot of time at Menards lately. Caelia and Michael have discovered the Christmas aisle and are quite content to stay there. Caelia is now HO-HOing on command (she doesn't really have enough breath to get out HO-HO-HO!)and is trying to blend in next to the plastic Santas. I think of her as something of an elf anyway.

December 19, 2007

I've been thinking a lot about why we are adopting. I think this must be normal as we get closer to actually traveling. There are a lot of reasons. A companion for Caelia, a larger family, saving a child from a place that no person should ever go and even because its the right thing for us to do. All of those are part of it but my favorite reason is that I am so happy with my family, my kids, that I can't think of anything better than multiplying the size of my family.

We do get asked how we think Caelia and Michael will react to the new girls. Caelia's reaction should be something like this:

Lera is reportedly a little on the stocky side and a very tall girl. Caelia is pretty tall and definitely earns our name of "Chunky monkey" so Randy is predicting a clash of the titans occuring in our livingroom. I think they will eventually work out their plans for timesharing Daddy's lap.


Michael told me today that he will be glad when they get here for 2 reasons. One, he will have two more snuggle buddies and two, he has a new room in the basement to hide from them (in case they decide to band together and attack him). I wonder if he will let me hide there too?

Most of the time this is how I see him with Caelia. I keep trying to imagine him with two more... soon...

I can see! - December 14, 2007

We went shopping today. Caelia always manages to talk the bell ringers into letting her ring the bell. She loves every bell ringer she meets. She was particularly taken with the gentleman that she met today. Of course, she was equally taken with the stockboy that she tried to talk out of his telephone. She was full of smiles, so we braved the eye glass store without Daddy. Her glasses were in and Mom couldn't wait to see them on her.

When the eyewear technician put her glasses on, Caelia got this look of wonder as she stared into the mirror. She didn't touch them, didn't really budge while they adjusted them. Not until I put my head next to hers and she looked at both of us with glasses, did she move. She very carefully turned and looked at me and lifted her hands up to feel my face. I think her eyesight must have deteriorated quite a bit from the time they had said her eyesight was fine. She has since taken them off, every chance she gets, but I was told that this is normal until she decides that she likes being able to see.

We remarked early on that Lera looked startlingly like Caelia but with glasses and we were right. Check out the picture :) and then check the link on the side labeled "Our Girls". What do you think? I think she also looks alot like the famous Reece of Reece's Rainbow fame!

December 12, 2007

The annual Santa picture is done. Caelia LOVES Santa - always has. Michael is of the opinion that he is too old for Santa photos. He has been informed that until he is 13 he will be visiting Santa. This is our last year of Michael, Caelia and Santa. Next year, we hope to have Santa, Michael, Caelia, Lena and Lera. After that, in the interest to our son's dignity, we'll just have the girls in the pictures.

Our flight is booked for January 27th - arriving in Kyiv on the 28th with our appointment sometime on January 29th. We were going to stop over in Paris, but this way is quicker and Randy won't have to miss the extra day of work. He is trying to save some vacation days to spend with the girls when we get them home.

Winter is Here! - December 8, 2007

Okay, that is possibly the biggest understatement that could be said. At our house there is close to a foot of snow and our temperatures are hovering around the zero mark. We went out a couple of nights ago and had to unfreeze the doors on the van in order to get Caelia into her seat.

We do have HEAT in the bedrooms - thanks to our friend, Gary, who has been making sense of our duct work and putting it to rights. A little more drywall and some carpet and Michael will have his new room! I think I am more excited than he is.

I can't believe how quickly time is going. We have so much to do before we leave and it is making me so scatter-brained.

December 1, 2007

I was going to write about our weather, but that can wait until tomorrow when I have assessed the damage from our first "significant snow storm of the season".

I have great news! Lera and Lena are both still at the baby house, thanks to their excellent caregivers, and our Olena is WALKING!!!! She is now able to play with the other children. We are elated to hear this news. (In addition to down syndrome, Olena also has a heart condition has not been mobile until now.) I think that if this is not a sign that her health is better than we feared, I do believe that it is a sign that she is a very determined little girl.