tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74314110362258091492024-03-06T03:47:10.800-05:00Project Model UNJoin us on our journey to adopt children from China and Kazakhstan.Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-60612771693065398032013-04-24T20:18:00.001-04:002013-04-24T20:18:21.759-04:00Some recent photos of our cuties<br />
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Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-48188900927530148652012-09-14T22:44:00.000-04:002012-09-14T23:01:23.217-04:00ANYA<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
have been a very bad blogger thanks to facebook. Since we just celebrated one
year home, I thought it was about time to update the blog. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started writing posts about Anya over the
past year, but only snippets.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Forever
Family Day 8/14/11</strong></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
met Anya in a conference room of the Crowne Plaza in Nanchang on August 14. We
woke up Nikolai from his afternoon nap and asked if he wanted to come with us
to meet his baby sister. He said yes, so the five of us (with my parents) headed down to the
conference room. I told Nikolai that I would have to hold Anya some, and he
reached out to Chris to be carried (he ALWAYS wants me to carry him, so this
was very sweet). When we got to the conference room, most of the other
traveling families were already there and they told us our baby would be
arriving second. We were all just talking when suddenly the first baby came
in! Our guide jumped up and mumbled something about not receiving a call. A few
moments later a girl walked in carrying Anya. We walked up and the girl turned
around and was looking in a box. She pulled out a box of something and handed
it to Chris – I think – I couldn’t take my eyes off of Anya! She was wearing a
cute little yellow outfit with pale salmon colored socks. She had her name tag
tightly clutched in her hand. When they handed her to me, she stared right into
my eyes like she was trying to read my soul. We went back to our seat, and she
continued to stare at us. Nikolai was really excited and offered her a toy and
wanted to hold her. She didn’t cry, or smile – just stared. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>1
week home 8/31/12<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anya
is amazing! We are so in love. We are just starting to get to know her
personality, but it is fun to see the similarities and differences between her
and Nikolai. Like Nikolai, she really likes to get out and be around people and
see new things. Unlike Nikolai, she is a snuggler, who pushes her head into our
chest like she wants to meld with us. She gives big wet baby kisses – even
kissing Nikolai, which thoroughly disturbs him. She is also more reserved - at
least so far - and quietly smiles or giggles or complain-cries. The main time
she really cries is when she is in the car seat. She cannot understand why we
won’t pick her up!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>1
month home 9/20/12<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nikolai
is an extraordinary kid. I know all parents feel that way about their kids, but
he truly amazes us every day. September 6 was his first day back at daycare. It
was a rough morning – in part because he had been up a lot at night with bloody
noses. But apparently drop-off went well, especially after his friend Ben came
up to him to show off his batman shirt. It didn’t hurt that his Captain America
toy, who had been brought for Show and Share and lost the last day before going
to China, was back in his cubby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I
picked him up in the afternoon, as soon as he saw us he ran over and exclaimed
“Anya!! I missed you so much.” His teachers said all he talked about all day
was Anya. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>6
months home, 16 months old<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anya’s
words:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uh
oh<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Up<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mama<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dada<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kai
(Nikolai)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mo
(more)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boooo
(book)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boa
(ball)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cacker
(cracker)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pop<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pu
or ff – but not both at the same time (puffs)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Goggle
(bottle)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mik
(milk)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bye/
bye bye<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kank
ou (Thank you)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shakes
head no and yes<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Growls
for animals (all animals, even birds growl in her mind)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
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– 9/14/12<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anya
has really come out of her shell over the past year. She is still really
snuggly, and would prefer to be held almost all of the time. She is quite a
handful and full of herself. I have lost count of the number of words she says
and I think having a talkative big brother really helps her vocabulary. She pretty
much runs the house, often ordering us to “come on, sit down!” At the same
time, she imitates her big brother constantly and says and does just what he does.
She has only minimal tolerance for reading books, other than looking at the
word books with pictures. She loves dancing and coloring and singing. I think
she would live outside if she could, and taking her outside so far is enough to
head off tantrums. When she doesn’t get what she wants on occasion she will
scream at the top of her lungs! She can walk up the stairs, alternating feet if
she is holding your hand. Anya’s voice is so loud that even when she giggles
everyone turns to look. Her favorite food right now is steamed broccoli! She
has a particular smile that we call “Anya smile” that she will do on command
(as will Nikolai) Life is good! Tiring, but good. </span></span></div>
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Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-67292030340398160362011-07-29T22:46:00.002-04:002011-07-29T22:54:15.035-04:00Travel Approval!!!!!!!!<span style="font-family:arial;">TA! TA! TA!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We received TA today! We don't know when we will travel yet because we are waiting for Consulate Appointment, but the earliest dates our agency suggested have us leaving around the 8th, which is really soon!!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Today is our 16th wedding anniversary. This is the best anniversary present ever. And we beat the August 1st deadline. If TA had been issued on the 1st or later we would have been subject to new rules that require post placement reports for the next 5 years and various other requirements. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">No idea how buying tickets will go with only a week's notice, and I am a little unsure about spending the month of August in southern China. Good thing I like the heat ok. </span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-2141852690828910942011-06-30T20:11:00.002-04:002011-06-30T20:18:11.590-04:00Progress<span style="font-family:arial;">We are moving (rather quickly) towards travel. Since we are a Hague family we have many steps between referral and travel. Here is our progress so far:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Referral 6/1/2011</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I800 sent 6/6/2011</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I800 approved 6/20/2011</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Cabled 6/28/2011</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Cable letter 6/30/2011</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Article 5 - about 2 weeks</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">TA - about 2-4 weeks after Article 5</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Travel! - about 1-3 weeks after TA</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So if we follow the shortest estimate for timing, we could be in China in 5 weeks (around August 8). Most likely it will be 8/22 or so. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">We got updated information about little Anya, and she seems to be doing well!</span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-6563350075524563252011-06-20T23:36:00.002-04:002011-06-20T23:39:08.715-04:00Hope someone is holding our baby<span style="font-family:arial;">It is so hard to just wait to travel and not know anything about how Anya is doing. We don’t really even know if she is in an orphanage or foster care. Her paperwork says she is in the social welfare institute (SWI), but that would be really unusual for this SWI as most kids under 3 are in foster care.<br /><br />Her SWI is notorious for providing no information before or after adoption. They do not generally allow adoptive parents to visit. Many people with referrals from throughout China use various services to send care packages and get updated info and photos of their kids while they wait to travel. Several people in the June group have recently gotten wonderful updated photos. Anya’s SWI does not provide these updates to these types of services. So we have decided to send a more personalized care package on our own with no hope of an update (but we have not gotten it together yet). I’m planning to use my rusty Mandarin and hand-write a note to accompany the package. I hope they are not offended.<br /><br />Our agency may get an update right before we travel, but that is months from now and all the information we have is already 3 months old. I panic when I read about any trouble in China (currently - floods, riots, lead poisoning, bombings!).<br /><br />The Fuzhou yahoo group is reassuring at least. They state that the kids – whether in foster care or the SWI - are generally well cared for and healthy. Few to no cases of scabies have been reported. Several kids came home with giardia, though, so we will take precautions until we can get her tested (i.e., not let Nik and Anya take baths together and wash our hands a lot). Not all kids have it, though – especially if they are in foster care. There is a Half the Sky program at the SWI, but we don’t know if Anya is in it – probably not because I get the feeling that most kids in the HTS programs are SN.<br /><br />I learned about a person who can get updates and photos - primarily from the Fuzhou SWI. People who have used his service have gotten as many as 75 photos of their kids with the foster parents, the town, the SWI, the baby’s bed, etc! BUT, I have also heard that this person pays the SWI director and possibly the foster parents to obtain all the info. While that is an innocent payment, it makes me nervous and is probably technically a violation of Hague and possibly US immigration laws. We cannot give money to our future daughter’s current guardians until the adoption is final. But… 75 photos of our little baby and her life before joining our family! And others have used the service with no issues. Sigh… we will (probably) wait until after the adoption and then use his services to get photos of people and places that were important to her early life.<br /><br />And, in the meantime, please pray that our little girl is happy, healthy, and loved. </span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-14392647501979418192011-06-05T16:46:00.009-04:002011-06-05T18:40:11.449-04:00More Information<span style="font-family:arial;">We got a FedEx with two more pictures and a little more information. Everything is from March, so when she was about 4 months old. There is not a lot we can tell about her development based on a report at 4 months old. She was not rolling over or grasping at toys yet, but these are skills that develop around 3-4 months. And considering how bundled she probably was from the time she was born in November until the report in March, it is not surprising at all. She laughs out loud, recognizes familiar people, likes to be surrounded by activity, likes quiet, likes music, and sucks her fingers. "She makes noises at people and animals" - I wonder what animals she encounters? Her personality is described as, "introverted, cheerful, lively and active. She has an exuberant energy, but sometimes she is relatively irritable." I love the expression on her face in one of the new pictures - like "what the heck is going on." Nikolai made a similar expression when we took him outside for the first time. I find it interesting that they appear to have photoshopped out someone's arm from behind her in one picture. It's not like we would expect a 4-month old to be able to sit up on their own. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">These are the characters of her middle name</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Jing 4 (modest, chaste) Xiu 4 (beautiful, elegant)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:180%;">婧 </span><span style="font-size:180%;">秀</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Usually Chinese names have a meaning that goes beyond the exact translation of the two parts. I don't know if that is true for Anya's name, but we hope to have a Chinese speaker give us their interpretation of her name. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">These are the characters we would use for her first name (although a Chinese name would never have 4 characters plus a surname!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">An 1 (peaceful) Ya 3 (elegant, graceful, refined)</span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">安 雅</span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw-XI9aP-0R7vd8L2KLNDGwaK5k3fYTwg3Rudbeo_rCyuP7mIt19tX9iTssuFc2Kz5J-aCPLkMj8X1nzZqnBvT4fqYYprrjRWO8eaUaKQCk_jmGF9A7xd1V4jCL6Cg4KWzbzLZ4fv85Q/s1600/Anya2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614866899672563698" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 217px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw-XI9aP-0R7vd8L2KLNDGwaK5k3fYTwg3Rudbeo_rCyuP7mIt19tX9iTssuFc2Kz5J-aCPLkMj8X1nzZqnBvT4fqYYprrjRWO8eaUaKQCk_jmGF9A7xd1V4jCL6Cg4KWzbzLZ4fv85Q/s320/Anya2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgJ3Ew3_Smg2t7BoJaGvbDzNsm1VF7wGBDzWbfp6TtaeEPlbLe0P7MTNGOfP0HO9mbMK6VUuxw6EXUSkb2_Sz7pwuXLRD7TiF2kKJGPjjlJwSHTgpBxNLI4UkguT5lL2Sg03cYgK2060/s1600/Anya3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614866905781892130" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 216px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgJ3Ew3_Smg2t7BoJaGvbDzNsm1VF7wGBDzWbfp6TtaeEPlbLe0P7MTNGOfP0HO9mbMK6VUuxw6EXUSkb2_Sz7pwuXLRD7TiF2kKJGPjjlJwSHTgpBxNLI4UkguT5lL2Sg03cYgK2060/s320/Anya3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgJ3Ew3_Smg2t7BoJaGvbDzNsm1VF7wGBDzWbfp6TtaeEPlbLe0P7MTNGOfP0HO9mbMK6VUuxw6EXUSkb2_Sz7pwuXLRD7TiF2kKJGPjjlJwSHTgpBxNLI4UkguT5lL2Sg03cYgK2060/s1600/Anya3.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgJ3Ew3_Smg2t7BoJaGvbDzNsm1VF7wGBDzWbfp6TtaeEPlbLe0P7MTNGOfP0HO9mbMK6VUuxw6EXUSkb2_Sz7pwuXLRD7TiF2kKJGPjjlJwSHTgpBxNLI4UkguT5lL2Sg03cYgK2060/s1600/Anya3.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgJ3Ew3_Smg2t7BoJaGvbDzNsm1VF7wGBDzWbfp6TtaeEPlbLe0P7MTNGOfP0HO9mbMK6VUuxw6EXUSkb2_Sz7pwuXLRD7TiF2kKJGPjjlJwSHTgpBxNLI4UkguT5lL2Sg03cYgK2060/s1600/Anya3.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgJ3Ew3_Smg2t7BoJaGvbDzNsm1VF7wGBDzWbfp6TtaeEPlbLe0P7MTNGOfP0HO9mbMK6VUuxw6EXUSkb2_Sz7pwuXLRD7TiF2kKJGPjjlJwSHTgpBxNLI4UkguT5lL2Sg03cYgK2060/s1600/Anya3.jpg"></a>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-63026044423794609842011-06-02T22:30:00.002-04:002011-06-02T22:35:54.698-04:00Ge ge (big brother)<span style="font-family:arial;">Nikolai seems genuinely excited about his new sister. When I picked him up from daycare yesterday I gave him a picture and he first showed it to his best friend Kayleigh, then Mr. Jarrell, the teacher in his new class. Then he ran down the hall and into the 2s room and plowed through the group of kids standing around the craft project demonstration in order to show it to Ms. Nahid, his teacher for the last year or so. On the way to the bank to meet Chris to get a document notarized, Nikolai spouted off all the things he is going to teach “his baby”. He is going to teach her to talk, and to walk, and to climb, and to climb in his chair. And he’s going to do the monkey dance to make her laugh. When we got home, he saw the other copies of the one photo we had yesterday and said, “my baby sister! There’s more! They all match.” Yes, when you only have one photo – they all will match. I hope he really adjusts to being a big brother as well as he appears to be.</span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-51512959402898119112011-06-01T13:49:00.006-04:002011-06-01T15:12:50.652-04:00It's a Girl!<span style="font-family:arial;">We finally got the call! She's beautiful! I can't stop staring in her dark eyes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoTzpD39bpxLvCxGgljUV_OwFtjT8RqRViHYc__55DBa3EDPOXVhkV7EiNIVDkQTX8wSe3o83rdboMwCcReNOL27K2tvnv3kMFX5p-WemLtkD0AcvF_vpbd0thKBnyyq7r22VQGHPNC8/s1600/Crow6111001.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613311577658463122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 275px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoTzpD39bpxLvCxGgljUV_OwFtjT8RqRViHYc__55DBa3EDPOXVhkV7EiNIVDkQTX8wSe3o83rdboMwCcReNOL27K2tvnv3kMFX5p-WemLtkD0AcvF_vpbd0thKBnyyq7r22VQGHPNC8/s400/Crow6111001.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3WzzJW4deAEXzwfAEaycDJ_6aP27KpmjZMx0jW4xh15vGPqAktb6KPxrIHga8gnHg1TtpwlBhNA9ER-VhXmYvn7NXAq_08Gqk1rT7BNWKyD4qY9qni1DQ83xGxLFzRUQ6zWkQtff8pyU/s1600/Crow6111001.jpg"></a></p><br /><p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;">Anya JingXiu<br /></span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">DOB</span>:<span style="font-family:arial;"> November 17, 2010 (about 6 months</span>)<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Fuzhou SWI, Jiangxi Province</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Favorite toy: rattle</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Favorite activity: being held</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Healthy appetite, supposedly eating milk and rice formula, rice cereal, egg, and meat soup?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In March she was 25" long and weighed 13 lbs<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We will travel in about 11-15 weeks! </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;">I just plotted her measurements and if what they told us is accurate, she is about 50 percentile! Amazing.<br /><br /></p></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-9593628891932777932011-06-01T10:23:00.002-04:002011-06-01T10:29:32.872-04:00Waiting is making me crazy<span style="font-family:arial;">Why on earth do we get so much advanced notice? Is it just to ensure we are absolutely crazy by the time the call comes? Last night we got an email from our agency...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"We look forward to calling you about your match tomorrow! Have a nice evening."</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Have a nice evening? Not even a hint? Our agency will begin making calls at 9 am their time - so 11 am our time. It has been a long morning. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It was so much easier for Nikolai. I was at work and saw our coordinator was calling but assumed it was because they needed more paperwork or something. I answered the phone calmly, she spit out the brief info about our potential son and that was that. No stress!</span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-29110968611858123162011-05-30T11:28:00.005-04:002011-05-30T11:39:39.473-04:00We're In!!<div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">The cut-off is confirmed of June 30th!!!! Not only are we in, but the rest of June 2006 is being referred!! I am so happy for those included and for the morale boost for those behind us. Referral calls are happening in Europe today. The US should receive theirs tomorrow and hopefully our agency will call on Wednesday. It all seems so sudden (which I realize is ridiculous because we have been waiting more than 5 years). </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;">From RQ:</span></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLrGPq60Qy-49G9HznLAhlqX8V1eWEk3IM9O-AnAcDL8px7JSOhK7lR-kmaNZTcFvMQOBACOqswAdr8XUOdOcS2nhyphenhyphenGWGMb8o6w87YvRnN8pAcg3aPn6ihGVRCWBlLW-ZF-B9tXmEIBg/s1600/Referral+update+box.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612534146581596914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 174px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 166px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLrGPq60Qy-49G9HznLAhlqX8V1eWEk3IM9O-AnAcDL8px7JSOhK7lR-kmaNZTcFvMQOBACOqswAdr8XUOdOcS2nhyphenhyphenGWGMb8o6w87YvRnN8pAcg3aPn6ihGVRCWBlLW-ZF-B9tXmEIBg/s400/Referral+update+box.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://chinaadopttalk.com/">http://chinaadopttalk.com/</a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-64318457404860299382011-05-27T20:24:00.006-04:002011-05-27T20:32:02.026-04:00Wednesday?<span style="font-family:arial;">According to our agency, referrals have been mailed! Of course Monday is a holiday, so packages won't arrive until Tuesday. Our agency won't make calls that day, but waits to translate everything and makes calls the next day. SO we may know who our second child is on Wednesday! We still don't know what the cut-off is, so there is no guarantee we are in, but probably. The only cut-off rumor is for June 30th, which would be the largest batch in a couple years (4 times the size of last month)! So it is a little hard to believe, but it is being reported by multiple sources, so maybe. It would be nice for the rest of the Junies to be included together, and this would be a HUGE boost to everyone behind us. I hope we keep busy over the weekend. </span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-39290657124512113172011-04-29T23:19:00.000-04:002011-04-29T23:22:06.360-04:00Next??<span style="font-family:arial;">Referrals came out today. Congratulations to all the new families! Unfortunately this was the smallest batch in history, with a cut-off June 20th. If they had gotten through the 21st we would definitely be in next month. Now, I think we will be in, but it is not a guarantee. I was disappointed and sad about the cut-off and then saw the email from our agency letting us know we were not in this month. They have never contacted us before, and the fact that they felt they needed to let us know we were not in this month – as if there was a chance we could have been – made me panic. How can I be disappointed about a small cut-off and panicked about potentially being in in the near future at the same time? Brains are confusing. </span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-65740167915745065762011-04-02T10:30:00.012-04:002011-04-02T10:47:54.245-04:00Next, Next<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Yes – we are still adopting from China. After almost 5 years, I think we can safely say we “next next” and should finally see our second child’s face in late May or early June, and then travel probably at the end of August. At least we don’t have to worry about bringing any bulky winter clothes. When we went to Kazakhstan, it was in the 80s when we arrived and the low 40s when we left – that was hard to pack for. </span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Referrals came out yesterday and the cut-off was a tiny bit better than expected - June 15, 2006. Our LID is June 23, 2006. I think there is almost no chance that we could be in the next batch at the end of April (I predict a cut-off of June 21, although the 22 may sneak in there). There is also almost no chance that we WON’T be in the batch at the end of May! It feels very weird after the years of uncertainty and every month having to extend our estimate for referral another month (or another year) to actually know when we will get referral. In the back of my mind I keep worrying that something will happen – that maybe we were told the wrong LID or our dossier somehow fell behind a book case at some point over the past 5 years. Unfortunately things like that have happened, but they are always resolved. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Our new agency (after our first agency went out of business) will not provide any info the day referrals come out, but waits until they check and translate everything and makes calls the next day. This month, referrals arrived on a Friday, so people with our agency have to wait over the weekend to get any information – torture! It will be strange to actually know the day that we will get the call. I may have to take the day off work; how could I concentrate? I think I prefer how we got the call for Nikolai – we knew we were in the time range to receive information, but we had been in the range for months. Then out of the blue I got a call at work from our coordinator, who announced that they “had a little guy for us”! </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">I am trying not to hope for any particular “type” of referral, but it is hard because I do want a child as young as possible to limit the time they had to spend in an orphanage. I also would like a girl. But then again the referral photos of the toddlers are SO cute, and boys are great too. We’ll see what happens. We may have a heart attack if referred twins. I can’t comprehend even simple tasks with three young kids – like getting from the car into daycare. Twins are VERY unlikely, though. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Our house is totally not prepared for another child yet. The little one’s room is a mess and full of the clothes Nikolai has outgrown – in case we get another boy. We need to re-baby proof and figure out some system for toys that allows two development stages worth of toys to be out in our little living/play/TV/dining room (or perhaps we should use other parts of the house). I have no idea how to keep Nikolai’s toys with tiny pieces off of the floor. I guess we should try to teach him to pick up when he is done with things, but then that requires actually having space to put things away. My parents and Nikolai are coming to China with us! It will be essential to have my parents to help with Nikolai so that we can focus on the new child when needed and attend official paperwork things alone. We are not willing to go 3 weeks without bringing Nikolai. The only drawback is that my parents will also be jet-lagged when we get back. When we came home from Kazakhstan, my parents had filled our refrigerator with perishables and made a bunch of baby food. The first couple weeks home was crazy hard with Nikolai – I was SO tired, jet lagged, and sick. And I could not do anything without Nikolai clinging to my leg or wanting to be picked up, so I often went without lunch (except for the days our Kazakh neighbor brought me lunch!). Thinking back I find it hard to believe I couldn’t figure out a way to feed the baby and eat myself. I don’t know if it will be easier this time having experience as a parent. I should be a little less tired because we will have been in China for longer and had custody of our child longer. Then again this child may have a significantly harder time adjusting than Nikolai – who adjusted and attached easily. There have been discussions on Rumor Queen comparing the stress and fatigue associated with having a newborn to bringing home a newly adopted child. The consensus from those who have experienced both was that both are equally hard, but for very different reasons. </span></p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><p>We need to prepare a little bit more in advance than we did for Kazakhstan (admittedly we were given only one week’s notice to arrive in Kaz). We will NOT pack the day we leave again (even if we ALWAYS end up packing the day we leave – including doing so twice for our trips to Kaz). We plan to cook some things and freeze them (soup, casseroles, etc.) as well as preparing baby food (if appropriate). </p><br /><p>It has been so fun watching all of the other June bugs get their referrals over the past three months! While I don’t know any of them in person, having been in the online group together for 4-5 years makes them important to me. As someone else described it on Rumor Queen – every referral announcement is like seeing a niece or nephew for the first time. Every one of the babies/toddlers referred so far has been absolutely wonderful. The first group is getting ready to travel!</p><br /><p>Unfortunately China has just issued new rules regarding post placement reports – well, unfortunate for our family but probably good for kids overall. It used to be that you submitted a post placement report at 6 and 12 months and that was it (plus one more the first year to satisfy VA requirements). Now China wants reports at 1, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 60 months. It is not that big of a deal, but the 1 month one will be hard. In the past our social worker has required a month to <em>write</em> the report so she would have to come to our house the first week home. At least we really like our social worker. But who is to say she will be available still 5 years from now? Who knows if our agency will even still be around? </p><br /><p>We will be fingerprinted for the final time next week. Assuming we don’t get any requests for evidence from USCIS, we will soon after get approval to bring our next child to the US as a citizen. That is the most important outstanding adoption-related thing we need to do – at least for now.</span></span></p>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-26219792884637292722011-04-01T22:03:00.004-04:002011-04-01T22:08:20.764-04:00Nikolai<div><span style="font-family:arial;">I have been a bad blogger – thanks to Facebook. I just wanted to share some cute stories from the past 6 months or so. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Nikolai is a talker, and talks almost constantly. If he goes 10 minutes without saying something, invariably it means he has something in his mouth he wants to spit out (a vegetable he has tried, apple skin, etc.). If he is mad he will also get quiet. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">He pronounces almost everything perfectly, so when he doesn’t I think it is so cute. Instead of saying “don’t forget” he says “don’t have got”. He calls ninjas “injas”. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Nik: That car is in front of us (referring to the one behind us) </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Me: No, that car is behind us. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Nik: No! That car is in front of my back! </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Last fall, while trying to catch leaves as they fell from the trees last fall, Nikolai looked at me and seriously said, “we don’t have to catch leaves, we can just pick them up!” Yes, but… </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">After watching a Dora episode where they were trying to find wishing stars, Nikolai said he wanted a wish. I asked him what he would wish for, and he replied, “the moon.” So cute! </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Nik and I met Chris for dinner at church and stayed for the beginning of the youth drama rehearsal. While Chris was talking to the kids at the front of the room, Nikolai ran up and wanted to be picked up. Without Chris realizing, Nikolai started making funny faces to make the kids laugh. He LOVES to be the center of attention. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">The fact that he likes to be the center of attention makes pediatrician appointments easy. He loves everyone talking to and looking at him. At his 3-yr appointment, when the nurse was done checking his temperature, height, and weight, she started to walk out of the room. Nikolai called after her, saying “don’t have got my heart!” She responded that the doctor would do that, and Nikolai said, “but you’re a doctor.” After she clarified that she was a nurse, Nikolai told me “that doctor is a nurse!” When the actual doctor walked in the room, Nikolai immediately asked her to tell him a story. When she looked in his ears, she told him she saw a red bunny in one and a blue bunny in the other – just being silly. But at bed time Nikolai very seriously and with wide eyes told me, “the bunnies are still in there.” </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">A few days after the Christmas play at church, Nikolai declared, “my friend Patrick likes juice. He’s going to take all his friends’ juice.” Patrick played King Herod, and kept declaring loudly that he was the King of the Jews in the play. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">I asked Nikolai if he wanted a sibling, and he emphatically said “Yes!” I then asked if he knew what a sibling was, and he answered, “yes, a candy!” It is just like him to assume the best - that something he doesn’t know is the most wonderful thing he can think of. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Another example of this thinking – One evening Chris declared that dinner was ready. Nikolai jumped up, declaring “Yay! Yay! Hot dogs!” (We were not having hot dogs) </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">The other day he got up from the chair in the living room and headed towards the kitchen. Just before entering, he turned back to us, held up his hand and said very seriously "don't come." Nothing suspicious about that statement! He was after a marshmallow. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Chris got Nikolai a carnation for Valentine's day and he acted like it is his pet. We put it in a little vase, which he had to carry up to his room when he went to bed. He placed the vase on his book case, saying "awe, good night little fella." He carried the vase downstairs with him the next morning. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Early one morning while it was still dark out, I was lying in bed and heard Nikolai walk past. I said, “Nikolai what are you doing?” and he answered, “I’m just getting the stool.” He picked up the stool and brought it back to his room, put it against the dresser, climbed up, grabbed a paci from the bin, got down and climbed back in bed! I am beginning to feel obsolete. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5590801540734571378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 292px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjic0BD2otxUYtnXx5Cp9XiLISL-DkuSbTwlIQal__e-9b7_Qb7kNtyeudujWah6QSCUKQd6XSsDRDH1kxOxkT4STAzOhO4TKsXZclWK0sUFYzFfSbKWCp4D83NP7BpxHcW3lqn5XVp3YE/s400/DSC03136.jpg" border="0" /></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-25008790345122216542010-06-23T20:50:00.003-04:002010-06-23T21:13:00.225-04:00Fourth and FINAL LIDiversary<span style="font-family:arial;">Today is our fourth LIDiversary. It is hard to believe we began the process to adopt from China 4 years ago. Time sure flies. I love all the excitement in the June group on RQ, as we are now less than a year away from bringing our kids home. People have started getting their nurseries ready, although we now realize that it is likely that at least some of us will get boys so final decorations will have to wait. Some of the early Junies may see a picture of their baby 6 months from now!<br /><br />I alternate between excitement and panic. We know so much more about adopting now than we did 4 years ago (ask us anything – about any program J). With that knowledge comes the realization that not everything always works out well or is easy. Nikolai transitioned and attached easily; he very quickly caught up developmentally, really largely before we even finished the bonding period in Kazakhstan. Overall he is fairly healthy, and he has always been a good eater. His attitude of “everything is fun until proven otherwise” certainly helps him. There were aspects of his baby house that were great, and are pretty uncommon in orphanages. He had a consistent group of caregivers who really enjoyed and interacted with the kids, and his playroom was bright with lots of toys.<br /><br />I remember everything about Nikolai’s adoption as easy, but looking back I can see that it was a process to get to the point we are at now. It is daunting to think about going through that process again – especially with a child who may have a significantly harder time attaching or have significant sensory issues. RQ did a good series of posts on sensory issues that can be read here <a href="http://chinaadopttalk.com/2010/01/12/different-kinds-of-sensory-issues/">http://chinaadopttalk.com/2010/01/12/different-kinds-of-sensory-issues/</a>. You can read her posts on attachment here <a href="http://chinaadopttalk.com/category/attachment/">http://chinaadopttalk.com/category/attachment/</a>.<br /><br />During our visitation period in Kazakhstan, the first week Nikolai sort of played next to us, the second week he laughed and was excited to see us, but it was not until the fourth week that he reached back for us when we returned him to his caregivers. In China, our child will be handed to us after what may have been a long bus ride with people they didn’t know without any further transition – rip-the-band aid-off style.<br /><br />After we came home, Nikolai was happy and engaging, and would cry for food or attention. But he did not seek us out for hugs and snuggling for some time. At the same time I realize I did not bond to him instantly either – not in the way we are bonded today where I think my heart would literally stop if I lost him. I found him adorable, but I was jet-lagged and sick and often just wanted a break. This is totally normal, and something we learned in adoptive parenting classes. It is especially important for people to keep in mind when bringing home a toddler or older child. When you suddenly have a stranger in your house who is grief-stricken and constantly raging or completely shut down, it is understandable that a strong bond is not felt immediately. Plus it is hard to shake a feeling of guilt when all your child wants is to go back to what is familiar to them. Fake it until it is real is the guidance always given.<br /><br />Health wise, it is easy to forget that Nikolai had what we and other Kazakh adoptive parents called “orphanage cough” for almost six months. The doctor thought it might have been RSV or something like that. He had many appointments to get blood drawn and other evaluations just to get a baseline for where he was health wise. It turned out that all of his vaccines had to be repeated and that he had been exposed to TB and needed antibiotics for 9 months. He was in the 10% for height and weight, and quickly shot up to 50% in less than six months. So, life in the baby house was not exactly perfect.<br /><br />I especially worry about how the China adoption will affect Nikolai. Before we had him, I would have said that we would be prepared to bring home a child and deal with anything, but now I am not so sure. I read posts of people who upon arriving in China find that their child has significant undisclosed needs and they are faced with a daunting choice of bringing them home when they feel utterly unprepared or coming home without a child. It would be SO much better if the orphanage/CCAA were honest in the paperwork. I always am relieved when I read that parents decided to continue, and heartbroken when they leave the child behind. But who knows how we would react in that situation? People often mention that there is no guarantee when giving birth that your child will not have significant issues and you can’t choose not to keep them. But adopting is not giving birth – and all adopted children have special needs that must be dealt with whether it be issues with speech, physical development, sensory, attachment, medical, or other issues; we are prepared to deal with these things. You can choose not to drink while you are pregnant, shouldn’t we be able to choose not to adopt a child with fetal alcohol syndrome if we don’t feel we can handle it?<br /><br />I think that there are few issues that would cause me to leave the child behind, and most of those issues (mental illness, RAD, FAS) are impossible to diagnose in the one day you are given to make a decision. A child suffering from grief and exhibiting post-institutional behaviors (e.g., head banging, rocking) may appear to be severely disabled or autistic. How do you know in such a short period of time? The truth is you don’t. You just jump in and hope for the best. Many people describe the feeling of being handed their child for the first time as panic, as they put it “what the hell did we just do.” While there are no guarantees that the child is not disabled, I am lucky to have read many parents’ honest accounts about those first few days. In one example, the family was handed a 22-month old who did not appear to be able to even sit up unassisted, made absolutely no sound, could not suck on a bottle (the openings of bottles in the orphanages are large enough that the liquid just pours out), and certainly could not eat solid food. To the parents’ complete surprise, on the fourth day the child stood up and walked around! Chris and I are going to try to come to an agreement about some of the more common medical issues that appear in the NSN program. Some, like spina bifida and deafness, scare us more than others, so we need to do some research.<br /><br />Of course the fact that I do remember everything as easy with Nikolai’s adoption should be reassuring. In rereading this post it sounds so discouraging. Now for the excitement part – yes, many things can go wrong, but in most cases everything ends up great. I know the first year or so may be hard, but you just take it one day (or one hour) at a time. Kids and parents make great strides in six months to a year. I have read only a few times out of the thousands of people adopting a second child that they had regretted it – and those times were only people whose children had severe RAD. I love having a sister, and want Nikolai to have a sibling. We are so excited about potentially having a baby in the house again (or at least young toddler). Nikolai keeps saying he wants a baby, and he doesn’t know that we are adopting yet (a year is too long for a 2-yr old to look forward to something). He will be a great big brother.<br /><br />_______________<br />*READOPTING: Several people have left comments on our blog requesting info on readopting in VA. I am SO sorry I haven’t checked the blog lately. If you still want templates leave a comment and be sure to include your email address – or you can get on the adoption in VA yahoo group, where several templates are stored.<br /><br />And now, what everyone wants to see – new pictures of our cutie!</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbneSU1qC5vIb3PJhw_YipONTuEFe_pbibZ6D4jAvsrdY94iJm-dKjjufAqM6jgby37Uwapx0-3bOFJGp533-Kxv7uCKdqhbjB0pe4BmWq5cO0p3bvStYN7zC1O3qBLTEk7sGZHVwoRRA/s1600/turtle.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486138779277716658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 284px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbneSU1qC5vIb3PJhw_YipONTuEFe_pbibZ6D4jAvsrdY94iJm-dKjjufAqM6jgby37Uwapx0-3bOFJGp533-Kxv7uCKdqhbjB0pe4BmWq5cO0p3bvStYN7zC1O3qBLTEk7sGZHVwoRRA/s400/turtle.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCC9qOv1Mn3pXrN9HDZs3L67OFtKbo959RJOqhHWIkTixFiZGNF_eg7T3JVpPTrJ_tsibdD6Vt5lhcTPMO7kG_kweaTJijSxFWbuv5gPlC2xjOMhpHkFAirDlT9a6cCGsFDgM-EeNRl0/s1600/pool3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486138777962510994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 292px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCC9qOv1Mn3pXrN9HDZs3L67OFtKbo959RJOqhHWIkTixFiZGNF_eg7T3JVpPTrJ_tsibdD6Vt5lhcTPMO7kG_kweaTJijSxFWbuv5gPlC2xjOMhpHkFAirDlT9a6cCGsFDgM-EeNRl0/s400/pool3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhaa6zWL9sNOd-bY0TB2tUzpSSFZSfppkJxu2cSfkOyJ0E7oAJfE4Fq99lr_ITtxJiWKvIMKmTOeR5IO6lh7RsMYDhEfap-NiGv1QdHHcMnHwzQ5kYdZ0h8h83GCxWSpmXUt7koMmzKM/s1600/luao.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486138767589540386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 278px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhaa6zWL9sNOd-bY0TB2tUzpSSFZSfppkJxu2cSfkOyJ0E7oAJfE4Fq99lr_ITtxJiWKvIMKmTOeR5IO6lh7RsMYDhEfap-NiGv1QdHHcMnHwzQ5kYdZ0h8h83GCxWSpmXUt7koMmzKM/s400/luao.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3DmA-aEHZKc62Eh9zwHC9BhqlJUUOKAsF1T9o3eQOF7236mj8IZGbA_ZkRKtF854ywBZad0b2XnNbmjLLMdkOBZQcMOjzBZEBevUSRHlKS-17_RSuWRCHrbaHNaV-xGU5Cm_MlxT6HY/s1600/on+slide.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486138758755978466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 297px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3DmA-aEHZKc62Eh9zwHC9BhqlJUUOKAsF1T9o3eQOF7236mj8IZGbA_ZkRKtF854ywBZad0b2XnNbmjLLMdkOBZQcMOjzBZEBevUSRHlKS-17_RSuWRCHrbaHNaV-xGU5Cm_MlxT6HY/s400/on+slide.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-57511292788159565942010-05-06T00:42:00.002-04:002010-05-06T00:44:54.735-04:00Late Night Musings<span style="font-family:arial;">Yes, I went out with the young archaeologists tonight. They aren’t even that young – late 20s and early 30s. We went out to eat at a seafood restaurant on the water and then to a karaoke bar just a bit down the street from the motel. We work hard and it was good to relax a little.<br /><br />I hate ticks.<br /><br />One of the crew members is a great singer and sang in choruses throughout school. She wanted to sing three karaoke songs. Of course the DJ gave preference to his friends, so her third song didn’t happen until after 11:30. It was cute – after I told her that I was fine and had half a beer and half a napkin left to doodle on, she told her friend, “it’s ok, she’s not mad or anything.” Of course it makes me feel old to be the one who may be “mad” about staying up late, but they are sweet and good archaeologists so I forgive them.<br /><br />Tomorrow I just have to monitor a backhoe and dig a 50-cm square hole 1.5 meters deep (or two). But I am sending the young ones to dig as many shovel tests as they can in an open field.<br /><br />Ticks are bad.<br /><br />How can anyone not want to be an anthropologist? There is nothing more interesting than watching people at a bar in a town you are not from on karaoke night.</span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-5980972988377720552010-02-24T23:00:00.003-05:002010-03-02T09:10:54.354-05:00Cute Things<span style="font-family:arial;">When we pull into my parking space in the evening, Nikolai now happily proclaims “we’re home!”<br /><br />Daycare has graham crackers for the kids on the way out the door. Nikolai eats his on the way home, biting them into various shapes such as cars, buses, lions, and kitty cats (or so he claims).<br /><br />I took him with me to the grocery store this evening just to pick up a few things. As soon we parked he started crying, saying “no shopping, no shopping cart.” I assured him we would not get a cart and he could either walk or be carried. I handed the first item to him to carry and then put in the basket. Then he wanted to carry the basket, so we got a separate one for him. He was SO cute carrying it through the store and putting things he wanted in it. I let him keep most things (a toy chick, a pear, blue berries) but the cookies, candy and lettuce had to go back and the bananas were too heavy so they ended up in my basket. This was definitely not a quick shopping stop, but still a fun outing.<br /><br />Driving home this evening I actually was able to figure out what song he was singing. He said “no! no more! No more!.. Doctor…jumping, jumping.” Can you figure it out? It’s the “no more monkeys jumping on the bed” song. Although he kept correcting me when I was singing; he said “no monkeys…doggies.” Maybe school sings it with doggies jumping on the bed? I doubt it, but who knows.<br /><br />He has started memorizing parts of the books we read at night, and now “reads” them to us.<br /><br />When we eat together, if I finish something, Nikolai will kindly ask “do you want more?”<br />Daycare has been working on opposites (up/down, big/small, left/right). All of a sudden he suddenly ‘gets’ big and small. He correctly identified the baby bears as small bears and the mama as a big bear. He got it right with his rock collection tonight too! It is amazing to watch him learn new things every day.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">He plays air guitar, violin, mandolin, and piano.</span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-79943935773761286162010-02-05T23:01:00.005-05:002010-02-05T23:59:49.777-05:00Nikolai is 2!!!!<div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">Nikolai's birthday was Thursday. Due to the forcast for two feet of snow today and tomorrow (oh my), Chris's mom and my parents came down on short notice for a party. Nikolai had fun, and enjoyed the sports theme, with lots of footballs, soccor balls, etc. We had to relight the candles and sing to him twice. I did not finish his cake in time for the party, so we had little cakes from the store - which Nik assumed were his alone. When we did not produce a fork fast enough, he just leaned over and took a bite! We got his cake done, and sang to him again today. </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434989106693699506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 306px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvhK5aQvWnmqupfgsM9v8g4a5tQJAKR5wgDxgyPn5jcehGi5BA6xnAqZ0b5KiViVOgKhQWGMBpxkL2-uh3fpQIjYYCiuHsR4zhLunsFUo9Nt-HKNVKCl5Q5ViP-ehLlZzRmbwSmRmuOo/s400/DSC01185.JPG" border="0" /></span></div><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434989114828876274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 285px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtY3Fm6vXzwXHlk0engLe_KobBklFCCFumu9-sRsZ1jR4GWb8XMuMofLidbxev0dM6D2ARUt63aKnGW40x1jCo6SBGbEgjjF-PNcTakbsHCZ9jchz4kiHHR6uagAA2LyudSZRBaIQnZA/s400/DSC01157.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434989107638485954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 289px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBalNt3AVrBtCgQgtxWzt4m03WMJxe-6vV18PhrrE6GtHm5mw5Fthed5HAHcjCl2KF1xJyS93MRMWWgHZuI9TOdGhjfpCdV7ohIlnq9vmSgZyj9AF3NEOGuDxMhicj4RzI_ktCf3HV9co/s400/DSC01162.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center">Yummy!<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyG89KB0Q7ujUp3uPh0hEjr5nHjTYMcVuzQ8ihnaJ_UqVOP5TKKswyyqM6KBJEcsHxLeYOF6UPg1eTyPN5xcQpyHDXyXca2oteYogTBrf7ekUAL_7sf7vZmqvostZEgQXl1Pa3SLjAbI/s1600-h/DSC01161.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434989120499493186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 299px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyG89KB0Q7ujUp3uPh0hEjr5nHjTYMcVuzQ8ihnaJ_UqVOP5TKKswyyqM6KBJEcsHxLeYOF6UPg1eTyPN5xcQpyHDXyXca2oteYogTBrf7ekUAL_7sf7vZmqvostZEgQXl1Pa3SLjAbI/s400/DSC01161.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a> What? Nothing to see here.<br /></p>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-31727803158962700812010-01-26T22:26:00.003-05:002010-01-26T22:52:07.232-05:00797I<span style="font-family:arial;"> lifted this from Mary on Rumor Queen. I thought it was really funny:<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">"Surprise Paper Pregnancy"<br /><br />Wife: Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.<br />Husband: What is it?<br />W: Well, I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. I went to the mailbox today and, well, we got a 797.<br />H: A what?!? A 797? As in, we’re going to have another baby?!?<br />W: It looks that way.<br />H: But how? We’ve been so careful! I put away all the blank I-800A forms. Didn’t you hide our homestudy update?<br />W: Of course I did, but don’t forget, there was that one night?<br />H: What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night, But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn’t print clearly. I didn’t even use ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun. (giggles). It was, wasn’t it?<br />W: I’ll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints taken.<br />H: So now we’ve got our 797, eh? But that doesn’t always mean you’ll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn’t you see the agency or something, make sure everything’s okay?<br />W: I already did.<br />H: And?<br />W: I’m five documents along.<br />H: Five documents! And they’re all notarized, certified and authenticated okay?<br />W: Just great. There was one small scare when the agency couldn’t see the Notary’s middle initial but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass. Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay?<br />H: I’m feeling fine. As long as I know you’re happy about this.<br />W: Happy? I’m thrilled! It’s always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I’m happy.</span><br /><br />And yes, we got our 797 for China. We are officially approved for one or two kids, either gender, up to 36 months, non special needs or mild to moderate special needs. That should cover all potential variations of our referral. Of course when I had hoped USCIS would actually drag its feet, they decided to be ultra efficient and we got our approval in 35 days – which is among the shortest time recorded in the past year for people who have submitted their stats on RQ. Our approval expires in April 2011. I think we will get referral some time between January and April 2011, so we will probably have to file for an extension since the 797 must be valid for 3 months after referral. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Nikolai is going to be a good big brother. This weekend we ended up watching a 13-month old during the choir concert at church since both parents are in the choir. Nikolai was so cute with him. When the concert started, Nikolai kept pointing to the choir and asking the baby if he saw the singing. When the baby flicked a few cheerios on the floor, Nikolai picked them up. I thought he was going to eat them, but instead he put them back on the baby's tray and wagged his finger saying "no throw." Nikolai also gently scolded the baby for "throwing" his sippy cup - of course Nik did not seem to see the correlation as <em>he</em> threw his toys on the floor. Nikolai shared his toys with the baby, sweetly saying "here you go." So CCAA - you see we are ready NOW. </span>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-77235786895310624752010-01-23T21:21:00.002-05:002010-01-23T23:03:09.720-05:00Christmas +<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0z-4aatIm6Ek_CcXagC-YUtGTSHaRMayK2PyYRk6E1nmcpfurplHhSQ4rA2sKX2u0tJftSZw32zRO7ldTSiLxFYPcbvr7O5AUJVMh5gtc-mPesgK6lkGvaMrt_BryTRCfOfC92IbKLc/s1600-h/DSC00815.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430151899022915314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 286px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0z-4aatIm6Ek_CcXagC-YUtGTSHaRMayK2PyYRk6E1nmcpfurplHhSQ4rA2sKX2u0tJftSZw32zRO7ldTSiLxFYPcbvr7O5AUJVMh5gtc-mPesgK6lkGvaMrt_BryTRCfOfC92IbKLc/s400/DSC00815.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4ncogzTqVlrYg3ZOGAGM4RVizKopQf0jnes193ZEyzt5rI9an3vvWEHtH0U6ic37_-gNKaNdDUBVvTYby1KPPcgyseFkzMAHilcaBoFdtAjewBmiWAtWFwPTWD1j3dh7A5czsnDTNz4/s1600-h/DSC00896.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430151892795259842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4ncogzTqVlrYg3ZOGAGM4RVizKopQf0jnes193ZEyzt5rI9an3vvWEHtH0U6ic37_-gNKaNdDUBVvTYby1KPPcgyseFkzMAHilcaBoFdtAjewBmiWAtWFwPTWD1j3dh7A5czsnDTNz4/s400/DSC00896.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEV4Hc6wk731hF_cJN_qVuaZ2EY5scJvi46IOsMZ5F0dMLsZDin8_Qb7QmaU4-8HsFZZKCAvpJ6nz8hTf73Ectn1iBRnxtinqhJUTI2xbf7GQRcic-tTnb1AdhZTZ8j6NQAavJMqXoPk/s1600-h/DSC00954.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430151880940166882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 298px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEV4Hc6wk731hF_cJN_qVuaZ2EY5scJvi46IOsMZ5F0dMLsZDin8_Qb7QmaU4-8HsFZZKCAvpJ6nz8hTf73Ectn1iBRnxtinqhJUTI2xbf7GQRcic-tTnb1AdhZTZ8j6NQAavJMqXoPk/s400/DSC00954.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOxEILMHCfaFn3UkvtMIDV8X-0loubj3weLPoG8p2pG7S3PyYoiJKAkeZYnWb8Zgo3d-7_nVaT2YsG31YTIuSycW3qKOwwQt2qbz4btqv7F0lCwgj9nrvX2ETlMPBCNtPn6h0109x6eY/s1600-h/DSC00928.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430151876830929490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOxEILMHCfaFn3UkvtMIDV8X-0loubj3weLPoG8p2pG7S3PyYoiJKAkeZYnWb8Zgo3d-7_nVaT2YsG31YTIuSycW3qKOwwQt2qbz4btqv7F0lCwgj9nrvX2ETlMPBCNtPn6h0109x6eY/s400/DSC00928.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_xjrVHQRhHL6gsqB3QDVDZ9_8EkK0AHk9Z9M4iM5SEAgLm8MjaAmfCguYYQsPCDTGPgUPpfDdNDBj_W1j6nvA8RHLo8JtN7aCdJFedhqhimUViHl-xHZEiFthWIXJc-iP25URBaMaNQ/s1600-h/DSC00967.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430151871999523186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 293px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_xjrVHQRhHL6gsqB3QDVDZ9_8EkK0AHk9Z9M4iM5SEAgLm8MjaAmfCguYYQsPCDTGPgUPpfDdNDBj_W1j6nvA8RHLo8JtN7aCdJFedhqhimUViHl-xHZEiFthWIXJc-iP25URBaMaNQ/s400/DSC00967.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Christmas was a lot of fun. We had Christmas morning at home with both sets of grandparents. Then a few days later my sister and her family came into town. Nikolai was really good – he loved opening presents, but understood that many of them were not for him. He really likes all of his new toys; we are trying to figure out how to manage all of the pieces, though. It is fun to see how imaginative he is when he plays now. He is so cute with his stuffed animals – and new Mr. Potato head. He acts like they are real. He will lay them down and say “night night”, ask “do you need help?” when putting on their sunglasses or having them turn the light off or on, and put them in a chair, walk a few steps away, and turn back and strenuously says “sit!”.<br /><br />Nik has started talking in complete sentences! He has moved into the 2-year old/discovery preschool class almost full-time and seems to really enjoy it. I don’t think he can officially move until he is actually two, though. One of the morning teachers teaches him Spanish, and actually pulled him into the room after the Spanish classes’ performance at the “Winter Gala” to show him off. I kind of think they are angling to get us to sign him up for the Spanish enrichment class. I have no problem with him picking up as much of any language as possible, but I am not ready to pay for Spanish class for a 2-year old!<br /><br />He just learned almost all of his colors. It happened in one day – we sent him to daycare knowing yellow, black, and pink – and he came home knowing all the rest. I am not sure if he just learned them or just decided to identify them correctly. He thinks it is hilarious to answer incorrectly.<br /><br />Nikolai is generally still a really happy and easy going kid. But clearly there is a switch somewhere in that little brain that has alerted him that he is about to be 2. He will yell and throw things across the room for the most minor thing – like if I give him the wrong spoon, or if I try to help, or if I don’t help quick enough, etc.</span> </div></div></div></div></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-7823179906085510552009-12-24T11:29:00.004-05:002009-12-24T11:39:13.928-05:00Catching Up<div><div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">The week after Thanksgiving my Grandmother passed away, so Nikolai and I got on a plane and headed back to Michigan. It is always hard to lose someone, but it was nice to see all of my mom’s family and to visit my sister again. Nikolai now really knows his aunt, uncle and cousins; he will still occasionally name them all (including Cocoa and Sebring) and then sadly say “bye bye”. The day after the funeral we went to Grandma’s house and the whole family went through her house and chose things we would like. It brought back a lot of great memories about Grandma and Don. Some of my favorite memories include playing spoons, raiding the pantry for home-made pickles, fishing, looking at the polished rocks Don was working with (we always got to keep one!), and just laughing a lot. The smell of bacon in the morning still reminds me of vacation. Chris still talks about the first time he met Grandma and Don and one of the first time he met my family in general. He came up to watch a skating competition my sister was in and we all met at a restaurant, where Grandma and Don proceeded to start a mini food fight!<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">_________________________________________________________</span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><p><br />Nikolai amazes us every day. He is so cute and silly! The other evening he pulled a yogurt out of the fridge and carried it around while I got the rest of his dinner ready. A few minutes later I asked him where the yogurt was, and he said “where go?” I asked again, “where did the yogurt go?” Nikolai suggested “fridge?” (not likely – he cannot open the door). I found the yogurt inside the seat of his ride-on truck. When I pulled it out, Nikolai declared “oh yogurt” in the tone as if he was saying “silly yogurt”.<br /><br />He calls Santa Clause “binga ball” (jingle bells) and his Frosty the Snowman musical card “happy face card” since the song says Frosty was a “jolly happy soul”. He loves to dance and sing.<br /><br />Current cute phrases: careful!; where are you?; let’s go!; (I) did it!; come ere (here) let’s play; this way; whoa big truck<br /><br />He asked to poop on the potty, and actually did! He often asks to pee on the potty, but has never actually gone. I think perhaps he asks when it is already too late. At least he seems to be starting to become aware, not that we have any intentions of potty training in the near future.<br />________________________________________________________<br /></p><p>SNOW! We got about 2 feet of snow. Shoveling off the sidewalk and around the cars reminded me how many muscles I have lost since I have transitioned from mostly fieldwork to mostly office work. Nikolai has no interest in playing in the snow, but admittedly it is nearly above his head. He loves to eat it though. Although lately he has been asking to go “outside snow” a lot, so I think the snow is starting to grow on him – or perhaps he just likes to wear his hat and gloves.<br /><br />Now on to Christmas!</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418842211490704178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Lf2QBh9KLSWsWfgMaOLir0mkbwdkwUPIYss7V26q9cZqR6vX-hvJHU619FyraKqJAtsX1BDz9bW8FGI9-TNA8RL-lBkYcQVcAbKpO9jF8Npw3DW965KY0ouyENNmRJsYwRCUtA1Klng/s400/DSC00885.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418842223946304322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5BNJ0GsyZ_AoH-kYDPW5epg50JG0S1-rBfIqhlFiYsXKSAAuXect0dlEqbjAbQx9W6q0qnnOFfiNID29wsTf6k7-DyyirVkcL9MBjjoLO8EOH2QRL909RH9XVTe5cQvmDOzNsSVJzn0/s400/DSC00845.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418842218588550626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0B-OO5qzT9ZxEzQV47R7NpLEIF9sQ3iw4j9810ngAxs1seDfY1zwWAPOqITiZ_wsau7IAcJKzvaMrANJhqb_8AUQkg_eGUMFqd_E6W5yDqRmWROhybwkbenuR_KJFixIXLpiEKRxbJhA/s400/new2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418842199215322354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZRbtAo3vIb0J3KplWcWtqpJ5A4oWypTvpwH4IZMrOpbwbUmWbs6P5G3yHeNeQX2cnCF5gIfn91MGAQqg1VtE6mjGa9yPpbEyghZyWpDsUNnHz44KPLNcE9lN_sSuBGpqKDrghdEsUaA/s400/DSC00869.JPG" border="0" /> <p></p><p></span></p></div></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-28826863640259737762009-12-02T23:39:00.005-05:002009-12-02T23:53:38.288-05:00We are Very Thankful<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmGyCe6Khpju51Ymm4lOe-7TNc_qYXVvv-vJOtyK2SjoVFzO4eyMTbYgB9vxJ0vx61RQezFCJT4XIHnbvRYlg0krNwfWIPu5nm2I-YmLA25YbKLWSOoDzHEzWtDXeZrYfPidvCCXXxzI/s1600-h/dinner.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410866347148781378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmGyCe6Khpju51Ymm4lOe-7TNc_qYXVvv-vJOtyK2SjoVFzO4eyMTbYgB9vxJ0vx61RQezFCJT4XIHnbvRYlg0krNwfWIPu5nm2I-YmLA25YbKLWSOoDzHEzWtDXeZrYfPidvCCXXxzI/s400/dinner.jpg" border="0" /></a> Happy Thanksgiving<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbX9daHgH5Rcm3__cVperKWB6RndImVTrPQ8ymk3tPAYjxq0pGSv_9joBfJHayqNWShM15BNJzgPFXgQU_mS8JZDNe98SAqVlmdVPxGNvEEy03AtqK4ySR1tGkok7uck_PLv1cWuXiqr8/s1600-h/Nana+lap.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410866343275229330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 299px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbX9daHgH5Rcm3__cVperKWB6RndImVTrPQ8ymk3tPAYjxq0pGSv_9joBfJHayqNWShM15BNJzgPFXgQU_mS8JZDNe98SAqVlmdVPxGNvEEy03AtqK4ySR1tGkok7uck_PLv1cWuXiqr8/s400/Nana+lap.jpg" border="0" /></a> Sharing Nana's Lap<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthrKQC0LjsODqdgwt1KXFOU_Thxg4PF-vVaRJ0igbbrjWjRu2C4HDoeAJtXzcTjl28-C41RosseW126pABkJzN4bjvh8NF-gY3hk5u-jd4nCBT_QOspgd6jKDLflpZox1UHmttExDt18/s1600-h/drum.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410866333826921394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 262px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthrKQC0LjsODqdgwt1KXFOU_Thxg4PF-vVaRJ0igbbrjWjRu2C4HDoeAJtXzcTjl28-C41RosseW126pABkJzN4bjvh8NF-gY3hk5u-jd4nCBT_QOspgd6jKDLflpZox1UHmttExDt18/s400/drum.jpg" border="0" /></a> Drumming at Jungle Java<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcZQKaYGEH1nPeGiZkXWrD9gNS6pZR-IhUld7GJuauHNYUgvjdrySPFldK_lHW61yF2-VXN18OWOjM9RkPTBg8fisU95qJya6Zp36-wkGcfExqrOnFZelpEJLsB-bjLS8-kmDDV8Av5A/s1600-h/turkey1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410866320872310594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcZQKaYGEH1nPeGiZkXWrD9gNS6pZR-IhUld7GJuauHNYUgvjdrySPFldK_lHW61yF2-VXN18OWOjM9RkPTBg8fisU95qJya6Zp36-wkGcfExqrOnFZelpEJLsB-bjLS8-kmDDV8Av5A/s400/turkey1.jpg" border="0" /></a> Mom and Jen trying to flip the turkey AFTER it was put in a bag to marinate<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLewJzIPoxkWTYTMjX9dBvwRl0LSJa2XYU6QwcXZG-yk6X81L4ZcYTz3JtbWqBoQpCexvMiuAPBG197pHvvIU-rqHGXgRBSyPERlbQ4W4iARRIVEmxyC8ijnxAcqD5YcXGTG7BvMEGs4/s1600-h/breakfast2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410866316028559618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLewJzIPoxkWTYTMjX9dBvwRl0LSJa2XYU6QwcXZG-yk6X81L4ZcYTz3JtbWqBoQpCexvMiuAPBG197pHvvIU-rqHGXgRBSyPERlbQ4W4iARRIVEmxyC8ijnxAcqD5YcXGTG7BvMEGs4/s400/breakfast2.jpg" border="0" /></a> Sweedish pancake breakfast<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410867581744233314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ifG831I2v23QXt3FBp0IvFk-ZSHKb2v7aBaTZYWaMni1zel1tkKe6Ekotk4hDX0-MqS7tPlV-84tC6ouiJv_LzD3uX2o8xszIqCCwlJU_AsrcEQ5BgEKaFvPDPmTckBU59qilb8Q91w/s400/Ryan+and+Nik.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410867570143568738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 284px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkh7jIvJgWi5SI-D7aUBFLpqIzQgdxf-lDyZHHzOR62zUoLMUZUvuIi9z_hghbdN-hkFhcoBYOsZ1g2RB1-7beHSN9lt19lrR6EA-u-xXJhLH6uV2JeK529IwTLs7-9U6DXoUBl4m3EkM/s400/park2.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410867565797535170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 284px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikAu6I1BVahQGIJ21j9kc52V98uKR55GwCNGRba9PUQzfNHLsEl3YSOxNZXuW68hRCotgudbRQ8CcZQ4Lz2qnFZgcj6OsKGQVYQY1jkNMVZvmSXuu6HjBEMLVrFK99LSpQes4NMUS6jhg/s400/alex+cat.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">We drove to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving weekend with my sister and her family. My parents, Ron’s mom, and Ron’s brother and his family all came too. Ron’s brother has a daughter just three days younger than Nikolai. They were really cute together, especially leaning in at dinner to smile at each other down the length of the table. Nikolai sounded a bit like a broken record, though, constantly saying “mine”. He gathered his and a few of Ryan’s footballs and guarded them. While Bella does not say a lot, it was clear she got the “mine” idea as at one time she got a hold of one of the footballs and paraded around waving it above her head. Kids are SO funny. Nikolai was especially disturbed to discover he has to share his Nana and Pop with his cousins. We heard a lot of “My Nana!” “My Pop!” “My football!” “My Dada” “My ice”… you get the picture. By the end of the weekend he was ok if my niece or nephew sat on my parent’s laps, and even shared my lap with Alexis at one point.<br /><br />Friday we went to Jungle Java – a coffee house with a huge indoor play area for kids. Nikolai had so much fun, especially once he abandoned the under 3 playground and headed to the big kids’ climbing area. Of course I had to go with, which was fun and great exercise. He (and I) was exhausted by the end.<br /><br />I think everyone had lot of fun. I was so impressed with all of the kids – no one had any real meltdowns and everyone had fun playing together. Nikolai even learned to take turns. And the adults got to play a lot of cards and watch movies.<br /><br /><strong><em>Adoption News:</em></strong><br />We received Nikolai’s Certificate of Citizenship!!! It only took 12 months, three in-person meetings with USCIS officers, and the involvement of our Senator. It made me laugh, though, when we finally got the certificate it had Nik’s original visa photo despite our having to provide new passport photos and a full N-600 application (luckily without fee!). So USCIS had the info just sitting there for 12 months and no one thought to hit print??<br /><br />No good news from China. While referrals came out today and finally all of March 2006 LIDs have been matched (with adorable babies!), no referrals were sent in September or November. In September there was a big holiday and in November a new director of CCAA was appointed (first time in about 7 years) so there were reasons for the delays and hopefully it will NOT become a pattern to send referrals every other month. Still, since we had been thinking we would get referral at the end of 2010, skipping two months pushes us into 2011.<br /><br />The atmosphere in the China adoption world is all doom and gloom, with rumors that the NSN program will close and no one beyond April 2006 will even get referral, or that May 2006 will wait an additional 2 years. I am worried about the increased time between referrals, but otherwise do not buy into the horrendous predictions. I really think all of April, May and early June 2006 LIDs will get referral next year. I really feel for those with 2007 LIDs, though, who have already waited 2+ years and probably have 4+ years to go.</span> </div></div></div></div></div></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-70633292203076871332009-10-31T23:42:00.004-04:002009-10-31T23:51:41.145-04:00Happy Halloween<div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, except that Chris’s dad died on Halloween. We miss him a lot. I am sure he would have been a great grandpa, and is watching Nikolai grow up from heaven.<br /><br />Earlier in the week we carved our jack-o-lantern. I did not want to wait till Halloween to roast the seeds – yummy. Nikolai helped take the guts out the pumpkin. Luckily we planned ahead and he just wore a diaper. By the end he had a thin layer of pumpkin over most of him – to the point that he was too slippery to stand up, and I had to pick him up to get rinsed off. It is amazing how willing he was to dive right into the pumpkin, especially since I have read about so many adopted kids with sensory issues.<br /><br />Nikolai was a lizard for Halloween. His costume was supposed to be a dragon, but he said he was a “zhizhard”. He wore his costume at daycare for part of the day yesterday for a parade. When I picked him up he was still wearing his lizard shoes. He likes to wear them around the house in general.<br /><br />We took Nikolai trick-or-treating after dinner. We went to the neighbors we know – as well as anyone right around them who had their lights on and main door open. Nikolai caught on real quick. He walked right up to the doors, grabbed a piece of candy (or two) and put them in his pumpkin. He was so used to the process that each time we came home he grabbed a few from our candy bowl and put them in his pumpkin as well. He was a little freaked out once we started encountering more kids dressed up – especially the ones with scary costumes. He got tired pretty quickly and we did not make it even to all the houses where we know people – which is probably for the best candy wise. I think he had fun, though.<br /><br />We came home and dumped out his pumpkin to see what he got. We then shared some kitkats in honor of the giant kitkats we had last Halloween on our last day in Kazakhstan. Nikolai had his first (to my knowledge) lollipop, which turned his whole mouth and chin blue. He was really tired and it was bed time, so I put his candy up on the table to get him ready for bed. You would have thought we took his most prized possession – he looked SO sad and cried hard, saying “my chocolate”. Luckily he calmed down quick once he went upstairs and fell sound asleep. </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7Xz-7mtqcfurKtHbl7UkDcj73p2gfQ2hKYVzAHkrEudM8M-EMYdlEthDWRhaNrMkQWQKqXlFVSaQi972-6-ItkuqQ5EHJFObPYTY5nui-TCoosNFNXIu9CQYIHfL5mSZLn17IWCQD4g/s1600-h/halloween09.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976850798386402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 312px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7Xz-7mtqcfurKtHbl7UkDcj73p2gfQ2hKYVzAHkrEudM8M-EMYdlEthDWRhaNrMkQWQKqXlFVSaQi972-6-ItkuqQ5EHJFObPYTY5nui-TCoosNFNXIu9CQYIHfL5mSZLn17IWCQD4g/s400/halloween09.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Mama! Look!</span> </div><div align="center"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7GCZXnWWmsnHoKB7EuPiCRunRZMN26rjw-6E41G7kZ-YNndMbLmsa3N7Tj_aFcUvvTPfL0FTPdFa8BKFkAbC4s15LFJz35KfwTvXxbcxCUsbNtOD29hvsgZDQcRmB2PuSw993YoRLNc/s1600-h/H+pumpkin+09.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976844114915234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 335px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7GCZXnWWmsnHoKB7EuPiCRunRZMN26rjw-6E41G7kZ-YNndMbLmsa3N7Tj_aFcUvvTPfL0FTPdFa8BKFkAbC4s15LFJz35KfwTvXxbcxCUsbNtOD29hvsgZDQcRmB2PuSw993YoRLNc/s400/H+pumpkin+09.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> The requisite tasting of the pumpkin top</span><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtYtCDltUOOv-yyrUHv_bB8AMgJcpG0SUoeVJCIz-FQXyr29vk5oSva7lZEy9uwqSuNi0BJpx7Oj1esDLhnj-I0hmpCGAHApWv7LuyVJxXttoyObJpyYWEmmrM457TDVk_yXafyfFEZY/s1600-h/H+pumpkin+09+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976838968863474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 296px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtYtCDltUOOv-yyrUHv_bB8AMgJcpG0SUoeVJCIz-FQXyr29vk5oSva7lZEy9uwqSuNi0BJpx7Oj1esDLhnj-I0hmpCGAHApWv7LuyVJxXttoyObJpyYWEmmrM457TDVk_yXafyfFEZY/s400/H+pumpkin+09+2.jpg" border="0" /></a> What's in there?<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoQRfUhsAz2hlNMMJd437foTwg3hIhe_LmnF7MUizccGuUKUXVM9Yjr6RbH1a02mlT8zHkWtvpdZyKS_wQZlH3i6X0gLXH80ggbZLzeort0Fw8tdNHNZp8QXyttLyWdfQ2Vs4wEGVMhw/s1600-h/H+pumpkin+09+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976296210266866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoQRfUhsAz2hlNMMJd437foTwg3hIhe_LmnF7MUizccGuUKUXVM9Yjr6RbH1a02mlT8zHkWtvpdZyKS_wQZlH3i6X0gLXH80ggbZLzeort0Fw8tdNHNZp8QXyttLyWdfQ2Vs4wEGVMhw/s400/H+pumpkin+09+3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8G5UlCpLdMPPLLIDovxwQl87bDWOIIhmX_anjAvS93F_3uof3JGcOduKQZA94LPuL7vQ-28hlIKlyYCPGW4arIR3A9I0Q4_yBjPWU7U8EM91h5GLkxCru_3-gFZ_08gCuCGv9BERzJU/s1600-h/halloween09+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976292339342674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 256px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8G5UlCpLdMPPLLIDovxwQl87bDWOIIhmX_anjAvS93F_3uof3JGcOduKQZA94LPuL7vQ-28hlIKlyYCPGW4arIR3A9I0Q4_yBjPWU7U8EM91h5GLkxCru_3-gFZ_08gCuCGv9BERzJU/s400/halloween09+2.jpg" border="0" /></a> Trying on his costume<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkpcVKUuOld6LyPI18x32Z6iINTeT4xtnEY_zRhyphenhyphen6XP_xVpv4_XTWOWtga6DXI0drL1Ba2rqKr0cXSxj5iRGZ3spIK0gjT0OdBhIYXAogQLjQwOA86TJR3Uhm_i4Nq6rhDh0spyZReHI/s1600-h/halloween09+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976287510862962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkpcVKUuOld6LyPI18x32Z6iINTeT4xtnEY_zRhyphenhyphen6XP_xVpv4_XTWOWtga6DXI0drL1Ba2rqKr0cXSxj5iRGZ3spIK0gjT0OdBhIYXAogQLjQwOA86TJR3Uhm_i4Nq6rhDh0spyZReHI/s400/halloween09+5.jpg" border="0" /></a> Here we go!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqWo_A0LssTjCCFc57qEfwVGCHjur5UVYq-Tjv72jaJ63skBQhxAqxtXe2f0bxtSPGmVxiJfGT3ChM2hNCU1hCeBonzYDt60d8A4RKN0ke7S1WZT4CUv7FqbsM67HTTFP9zHCZCBVcbc/s1600-h/halloween09+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976283260114322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqWo_A0LssTjCCFc57qEfwVGCHjur5UVYq-Tjv72jaJ63skBQhxAqxtXe2f0bxtSPGmVxiJfGT3ChM2hNCU1hCeBonzYDt60d8A4RKN0ke7S1WZT4CUv7FqbsM67HTTFP9zHCZCBVcbc/s400/halloween09+4.jpg" border="0" /></a> Adding the candy from our house to his pumpkin<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAm-WhhEDprlBLrU0oDdghWtTBmfSNx7orqtLOKhpVAumnZpjQY3Z5LAgE7oMTfPD-IjSifZE466ivzQIOYKhXBu6mViIhyphenhyphentelJqJ1xF920jxj-zJYIX_3N4QQPEPnqUR5SHRBS4Bqf-4/s1600-h/H+candy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398976278565244306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 278px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAm-WhhEDprlBLrU0oDdghWtTBmfSNx7orqtLOKhpVAumnZpjQY3Z5LAgE7oMTfPD-IjSifZE466ivzQIOYKhXBu6mViIhyphenhyphentelJqJ1xF920jxj-zJYIX_3N4QQPEPnqUR5SHRBS4Bqf-4/s400/H+candy.jpg" border="0" /></a> Chocolate! <div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-45420167386894124502009-10-27T22:02:00.003-04:002009-10-28T23:23:42.011-04:00Forever Family Day<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZitpZvCTCsA767kEYqfOjtVIWhppJI2mjXqnT1jBUTKn-d8nHvdjUREn1qowPibBGiTcCrHUcQlI_ILACe94OXVsgak2c-RsZK6vyaN23i3jQwexonbUlHSz0KBjRCHjdbq0ZzUoSmI/s1600-h/football.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397857047388742738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 272px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZitpZvCTCsA767kEYqfOjtVIWhppJI2mjXqnT1jBUTKn-d8nHvdjUREn1qowPibBGiTcCrHUcQlI_ILACe94OXVsgak2c-RsZK6vyaN23i3jQwexonbUlHSz0KBjRCHjdbq0ZzUoSmI/s400/football.jpg" border="0" /></a>Yay Football! </div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXPCqxP2o-k3IHUfkxiDievqSSMGS4biQ6ELn9mCuHwYR1-2NpT7y6nV90A0okWEty_WnL64mVAri_Bsxe1yUYW0XVBeQIgaN2Zacbstjhoom-LcbnxPodghMxFEl7tBIcbZwtoZxiOA/s1600-h/Assorti.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397857039360516066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXPCqxP2o-k3IHUfkxiDievqSSMGS4biQ6ELn9mCuHwYR1-2NpT7y6nV90A0okWEty_WnL64mVAri_Bsxe1yUYW0XVBeQIgaN2Zacbstjhoom-LcbnxPodghMxFEl7tBIcbZwtoZxiOA/s400/Assorti.jpg" border="0" /></a> More Borscht Please<br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">One year ago today we arrived in Astana after an 18+ hour trip, drove to the baby house, and were finally handed our son to be part of our family forever. Nikolai’s favorite care giver dressed him for the last time, reviewed the outer clothes we planned to put on him to keep him warm for the last time, and kissed him good bye. We then headed back to the airport and to Almaty.<br /><br />This past year has been more amazing than we could have dreamed. We have been blessed with the cutest, silliest little boy in the world. He is currently obsessed with football. This morning at 6:30 am, he greeted me with: “morning mama; watch football?” Apparently he had his morning milk sitting on Chris’s lap watching Sports Center. He likes to play football too, but unfortunately seems to be emulating Jason Campbell. He wildly throws the ball, and then spins and falls down. Anything exciting gets a “Yay football!” sort of the same way that any music he likes is described as “drum!” I played the <em>Happy Adoption Day </em>song by John McCuteon in the car on the way home from daycare, but Nikolai barely tolerated it before requesting his current favorite song – a Laurie Berkner song called <em>Song in My Tummy</em> that he calls “La La”. We usually listen to that song at least three times on the way home.<br /><br />We went out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate because Chris knew he had drama rehearsal with the youth tonight. We finally ate at the new Kazakh restaurant in Arlington – Café Assorti. It was SO good, had a great atmosphere, and was totally kid friendly at the same time. The food leaned more towards the Russian rather than Kazakh side of the cuisine. I could smell the dill when we walked in, and had four different Pirozhki – cabbage was the best (as usual). Chris had pelmeni, and Nikolai had chicken blinchiki. Chris and I also ordered borscht, and Nikolai ate a lot of it. I think it was more vegetables than he has eaten in months. It was really fun to see Kazakh people too. I do not think the people we met who worked there were necessarily Kazakh, but there were several tables of people who were. They clearly were a little amused to see a little Kazakh with us, too.</span></div></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7431411036225809149.post-17448782918712210602009-10-14T23:16:00.008-04:002009-10-15T00:11:19.812-04:00VACATION<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE5I6clHx7uSkwtd4Ip6ga7wRcs_Zge66Z0XVmEcUisW3Es0z_CmFTwxTT5fj5apoRkxXipnFc5CEfFjNH4BczIOXWOzfRUDKjX-b8rpuVRY9uCE2xNlrLHivlxZEQ7n7XscvtHhUkbM/s1600-h/DSC00162.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392670891031287378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 288px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE5I6clHx7uSkwtd4Ip6ga7wRcs_Zge66Z0XVmEcUisW3Es0z_CmFTwxTT5fj5apoRkxXipnFc5CEfFjNH4BczIOXWOzfRUDKjX-b8rpuVRY9uCE2xNlrLHivlxZEQ7n7XscvtHhUkbM/s400/DSC00162.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family:arial;">We just got back from 11 days of vacation in the southwest. We flew to Phoenix and then starting driving, eventually making our way to Denver to fly home. This was definitely a test of Nikolai’s resilience. While he was tired by the end, he did great! We had been so worried Nikolai would get sick before the trip, but he was fine – and Chris and I were sick. Oh well… we still enjoyed ourselves. Chris had never been to that part of the country before, so we spent a lot of time just observing the scenery. It is hard to be back at work, but nice to sleep in our own beds and be back in a more humid climate. I feel like we were gone so long, I was a bit surprised to see that they have not finished repaving the beltway and the same 10 or so songs are still being played on the radio.</span><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Prescott, AZ</strong><br /></span><br />The drive from Phoenix to Prescott was amazing. Unlike in the east where if you go way up, you then go way down, we went up a big incline and then leveled off! We traveled from an area of saguaro cactus up to a rocky landscape of scrub brush and mesas.<br /><br />We went to Prescott for a friend’s wedding. Kirsten and I worked together nearly 10 years ago and she is still an architectural historian with my company – in the Phoenix office. Prescott was cute, but definitely outfitted for tourists. Much of the town, including our hotel (which is on the National Register of Historic Places), dates to the late 19th to early 20th century. The wedding was outside and it was a little difficult to hear, especially after a low, small airplane flew overhead and Nikolai repeatedly exclaimed “airplane! airplane! one more?” The reception was beautiful. I wish I had not been sick.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Traveling with a 20-month old was an interesting experience. Nikolai had a different focus than us, which was a bit frustrating at times, but mostly amusing and forced us to look at things in a new way. This was particularly noticeable on the brief hike we took at a lake outside of Prescott. Much of the path was paved with rocks and boulders. Nikolai would stand on a rock, count 1, 2, 3 and jump off. He would take a few steps and then excitedly climb onto the next rock and start again. Meanwhile Chris and I are looking at the ½-mile of rocks ahead of us wondering if we will ever reach the top. We intended to do the entire mile or so hike, but a 50-mile an hour cold wind led us to cut our walk short.<br /><br />Since I was not feeling well at all at that point in the trip, I went to bed at the same time as Nikolai and Chris went out exploring. He came upon a folk music festival – which is funny since Chris is currently obsessed with perfecting his banjo and mandolin playing in order to participate in our local bluegrass jam sessions. Who would have thought we would find folk music – including some bluegrass – in Arizona!</span><br /></div></span><div><div><div><div><div><br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392662576941692130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 266px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxBIEb21SMgSv-p-P1NCYkgfouS9Sdl2orH9Asq8TWWtQWaTVvsA0N8iHHkvoKxyWQ5TwHIBzrkhBp3VJfwICOU6nTA-FAlQY1u_IGyoEz3mHaNtCe5bFIxJva_ws1l6AX32U7DYv2tQ/s400/DSC00014.jpg" border="0" /></div></div><div align="center">Ready for the wedding</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392662597909842978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQv_bCzaLhtoIlZ4DDyPkTnDpxRXPo13qkPmOudsthgWl5Yqbq9-lBocPp2wEYdd4EA_d9F1DLhdThlawWvjKIizQBQD5OoNL_rjZTtyN3n4zK4rtmGL_AI6ALg0YGkTI7vU7fiXoFKy0/s400/DSC00043.jpg" border="0" /> The entrance to our hotel in Prescott<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9vn2b03V_JhtvYp_NzgnmkAp40XriVp4uBrDxKsI2QVl5Fo7wKChGHmrMY2haoOZ57BC9NLvOGmuXIKHRor5-RyYSuv3hJUUvKDqQrrrqgA62yykxQzV1gR264mXtkBYiKCYz7sSQCg/s1600-h/DSC00040.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392662589542395538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9vn2b03V_JhtvYp_NzgnmkAp40XriVp4uBrDxKsI2QVl5Fo7wKChGHmrMY2haoOZ57BC9NLvOGmuXIKHRor5-RyYSuv3hJUUvKDqQrrrqgA62yykxQzV1gR264mXtkBYiKCYz7sSQCg/s400/DSC00040.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div>1, 2, 3 Jump!<br /><div></div></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></span> </div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Grand Canyon, AZ</span></strong><br /><br />Prescott is only 80 miles from the Grand Canyon, so we could not pass up the opportunity to visit briefly. We managed to get a reservation at one of the hotels in the national park, and had a great room just a short walk to the rim. Having always visited national parks as a kid via tent camping, it was interesting to stay in a hotel instead. When the temperature dropped to 20 degrees overnight, we were especially glad not to be in a tent – I sure hope my parents are staying warm. They are on a 6-week camping trip in UT, CO, AZ, and NM. The weather was really nice once the sun was fully up.<br /><br />The Grand Canyon is perhaps the easiest park to visit with a baby. The rim trail running the length of the park is paved, so we took a 3.5-mile walk pushing Nikolai in a stroller. We took the free shuttle back to our hotel – not exactly roughing it. I think the canyon itself was lost on Nik, but he really enjoyed carrying rocks, occasionally throwing rocks, and watching the people and dogs walking by. Despite this rather settled/populated experience of the national park, we managed to see some wildlife, including several mule deer, elk, little lizards, and a squirrel (well, the squirrel hopped up on the wall and begged for food, so not exactly “wild” but still cute). </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />There was a full moon that night to guide us back along the rim trail from dinner at a different hotel. The views of the canyon lit by the moon were breathtaking. We did not encounter anyone else on the trail that night, so it was just the two of us pushing a stroller through the woods along the rim of the canyon by moonlight. I think Nikolai may be starting to realize what a crazy family he is a part of. </span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392667153046665586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrfc7zeEnVxnyXeorYCOxwaOBWEE-sLY3LHhXBCiMj_x7JkJbPZxI1uyzHD2GA-KMmv5RjpwsrP9ZsBLTQW5pM6_NMt_jPH5Rmh2if5stm58cb3PHmfi0sZvKanLFa7hLJxko8dirByk/s400/DSC00095.jpg" border="0" /></div><div></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392667207069645442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 342px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4QBxFjnS_dgu4xYZIwDAVh2AkD4JGtAS8HUcCTo-IwNixdJWW1zgxoL0RpA8nHI_EjRPJbV-zfPNErUFYjsQSMydfbpFSEDouKqp-d3XV1GYp66Xo4nHh0Ssl3AFPV0MUjCEaJitTnE/s400/DSC00158.jpg" border="0" /> </div><div>A common activity on the trip - collecting a rock</div><div></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></span> </div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></span> </div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Los Lunas/ Albuquerque, NM</span></strong><br /><br />Next we drove 6 hours to my aunt and uncle’s house in NM. The drive was beautiful – especially the part just south of the canyon through a ponderosa pine forest and the first part of NM through Navajo lands. It was strange to be on so many roads where we did not see another car.<br /><br />It was so much fun staying with my aunt and uncle. They are fun, generous, loving people. Tom and Dorene have two sheep, a cow, two dogs, a cat, two goats, three rats, a bearded dragon, chickens, a duck and probably other critters. Nikolai loved being able to wake up in the morning and visit the sheep. One of the new words he learned on the trip was lizard, which he says so cute – like zhizhard. He especially had fun driving the golf cart with Dorene’s dad. </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />We originally planned to get up early and drive to Albuquerque for a 7 am hot air balloon launch, but the balloons did not fly due to rain and a thunderstorm. So we went out to breakfast and then walked around the old town part of Albuquerque perusing the various stores. There are some amazing American Indian artists in the region who make beautiful (and expensive) jewelry and ceramics. Many of the stores had large drums for sale or holding up tables, etc. Nikolai was in heaven getting to beat on so many drums. We bought him a little toy drum supposedly made at the Cochiti Pueblo, which includes several well-known drum makers to the point that the seal of the Cochiti Pueblo is a drum.</span></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392662548396319634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT02atwPDoXdf2BWqZlT1UIARPazgDo2NPwsk5XmnjDSYwdMDiqqvehhmFBzVRqoXWhi9vw2_ufe7vUSDjfrgpd7XzLztvudnLCR155zxU5Qk-xVCIBrSybpMxqBHCSdOadIEYAtsU3gA/s400/DSC00104.jpg" border="0" /> Being silly at the balloon museum<br /><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLXlG_AhXcdnJKoBIy1NwhdIKKFMRbLthfbvV5LQYogjfkJcJWcSC0IsW8vcvTlzl-Ih8fMJHJykC__taWXjQAfSpb9km3-uCa48N3CWzDncreD4n-P_M0SBDJBDgokm4Wt1jyMwREpE/s1600-h/DSC00111.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392662561820660834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLXlG_AhXcdnJKoBIy1NwhdIKKFMRbLthfbvV5LQYogjfkJcJWcSC0IsW8vcvTlzl-Ih8fMJHJykC__taWXjQAfSpb9km3-uCa48N3CWzDncreD4n-P_M0SBDJBDgokm4Wt1jyMwREpE/s400/DSC00111.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div>Golf Cart!<br /></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392667165449367554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 291px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi628gyA0i-a5ncKq3anZqU3lEugFSHhVs4lrd45s3VMtvysusJnxfvnLTUbnxwmIf83diHT-qgbmJGz7qkzjcB3mnGoGaC1ko2Xn8UGvZWivP1P6pHVWxLj1r9XAS5frv929Fs9H_S35c/s400/DSC00107.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>Albuquerque<br /></div><div></div><div></div></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></span> </div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Canon City, CO</span></strong><br /><br />Finally we drove about 5 hours to Canon City to visit our good friends who just moved from MD to CO. We arrived after dinner time, but Nikolai was so excited to see his friend Tyler he ended up staying up late. He kept giggling uncontrollably at everything Tyler did. We realized that most of the vacation Nik had been happy, but it takes other kids’ craziness to really make him laugh. We stayed four nights and by the end Tyler and Nikolai were actually starting to get on each other’s nerves, especially in the back of the car when one had something the other wanted. It was so funny to listen to them – sort of a preview of what to expect once we bring home our child from China.<br /><br />Unfortunately Canon City experienced a cold spell with record lows while we were there; we visited the local Goodwill to buy a snow suit for Nikolai. Cacti coated with ice are pretty. The first day’s weather was not bad once the sun came out in the afternoon, so we visited the Royal Gorge. The gorge has the tallest suspension bridge in the world, which we walked and drove over. There is also an incline railroad that we took to the base of the gorge. On the coldest day we went to the local history and dinosaur museums, and then had dinner at Jen’s parents’ house. Jen’s dad is a geologist who now runs the dinosaur museum; he had a great rock collection I enjoyed looking at. The final day we stayed inside most of the day, but went for a brief walk in the afternoon once the clouds broke up some.</span><br /></div><div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392667179067220050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 286px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcN7ghPUMa8WucR45EktHDzg4cWc2VEDswGe4l4YFg_gB8NsFwHTzhAm540lIuM3w3RcARFWouXUKfHPJ5E8mBAiNTS9aB2raBL73o1OWWtdnylhp3C6skQ_VtlwCpmq9o-n82gZPh5O0/s400/DSC00132.jpg" border="0" /> Welcome to Colorado</div><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392669562802193394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UsYY68FoKNLDuGic08IFZRk5F20yvaSl4p1Y4rcYWjNVpwKypaWnUvNR3u6iEudbDJoKp9h3GGFbqVW_T-sL1SXftAARq7QHf2jqVuUraABIIYKIbUXtqO-s2u7KWHn9RY__yb1EvwY/s400/DSC00177.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>Icy Cactus<br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392667190921336050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxjqcv3jv9g_34fg-Br8yJnh3bbHvdXlEjhdBewiFYft3BBSlMWsECkuwpaZ8IH8Kca98dwBrRrcGsLHDZdvIGOuCvfPO2SKFk1UfO1pgDrXZxlFLc9Wh2mdX4_TVaL9ODE50v60-ePs/s400/DSC00153.jpg" border="0" /> Royal Gorge<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392669555975314418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 302px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDyOksN5ubKfAVZtvtmLvnSIqRE6QE7RlwMeBa7pwEmtEDXcvK1nUgtCeBFASblJ1doCSJdI4_OjUOncca9P5gjfGtuPrQvg10kCC-1xpGnuDMPWvz2cfHkKvb3WQv0RQUdUT8zJaoh0/s400/DSC00175.jpg" border="0" />Uncovering dinosaurs at the museum<br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392669520187041394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 276px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQfed_gq3DTznG7QKGzg8vGFfSzS-6EYC3dp8cV26dCjub6NyZWHCRzoH3JLr6SBrbWWsGAvVfMXZztwdm9pft2SMNr_MIab0iHRgv3XleJcyi29sfqpoOFhtaCpK1JYDuUch0rUiN7Bo/s400/DSC00195.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>All bundled </div><div><br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392669530351960242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35qmRqI7IWxQbuossIEphPys4mELkN_mrch_hr9n21EbCd953jzGiUX0zUQwj2aZCrMDhEts5MXCtLm1yWbHVGEwEIvnjL5FlXBBk0hPr50l9C3OG7YITwiTni1-HjZUy_Ol1fg6aSrM/s400/DSC00205.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392669540050122274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWfPV7j3u0WDcW5posvG4XZFmQDul39hhdd2LSDUP1OqzU-KmlYZxy_lx-spSucdH55nOZKdyzjA6lqNYGEWN3U4isJYEIv18_IzZuD97lgbKX3qyOfglYyiLmhkaqZ0gwLBrznm5508/s400/DSC00193.jpg" border="0" /> Ooh. Pretty<br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Chris and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08678075128652684094noreply@blogger.com1