Justin Hits the Big Leagues

Scott took Justin to his very first Dodger game last week. Thanks so much to the Bastions for the incredible tickets!

Justin had a great time! He ate an entire Dodger Dog (complete with ketchup, mustard, relish and onions) and made it through 10 innings. Better than most of the Dodger crowd, right Surrell?

I'm not too sure how much baseball he actually saw, as the little spy spent most of his time people watching through Scott's binoculars.

Isn't a kid's first ball game one of those unforgetable experiences? It may be even more special for a kid's Papa :)

(Poor) Lexi's Timeout

OK folks, I know Lexi has her own little fan club out there. (You know who you are... Stacy.) So this "time out" video will certainly garner Lexi some serious sympathy and most likely find my inbox full of mean mommy hate mail!

Let me set the scene. It's naptime. So our daily pre-nap routine begins. I send Natalie and Lexi upstairs to use the bathroom. I follow a couple of minutes behind. Natalie is finishing up in the bathroom and Lexi is already picking out the book she wants me to read. I'm certain Lexi hasn't used the bathroom yet, but still I ask:

Lexi? Did you go potty?
Yes.
(Of course, Natalie is chiming in from her toilet throne, No she didn't!)
Lexi? Did you go potty?
Yes.

Well, now she's lied, so I tell her to give me the baby she's holding and she has a time out.

Her cries for the baby were so desperate and pathetic. What was a mom to do... but video tape it?! I know. Big meany.






While I had the camera out, I decided to capture a little more. In our family, time out concludes with the child telling us why they had time out and apologizing. We talk about a better choice for next time and end with hugs and kisses. Generally, it works well.

You'll notice that when I ask Lexi the all important question, WHY did you get a timeout?... her answer, initially, isn't so much about the lying. And when she apologizes? I'm sorry because you takeuh my baby?! Although this happened several months ago, the phrase "Because you takeuh my baby" has become a bit of a family joke.






Go ahead. Altogether now. Poor Lexi!

In retrospect...
I guess I kind of set her up.
I knew she hadn't gone to the bathroom. I should have just said, OK Lex. Your turn to go potty.

The authors of every adoption book I've ever read will most certainly be marking me down. And I don't even want to see my score from the Russian judge.

Yup. Live and learn, folks.

Another First... Mother's Day

Mother's Day was good.

Got to sleep in a little.

Scott took care of all the morning stuff with the kids.

Well, I was still on hair duty. It was between pony tails when Natalie posed this question:

If today is Mother's Day... and if Papa has his special day coming soon.... when is it going to be Kid's Day?

I chuckled. Isn't every day Kid's Day? It wasn't really the response she was looking for.

After church we had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. Then Scott gave me the most wonderful gift. He made a dvd with music, pictures, and video of me and the kids. There was footage from Russia that I had never watched. Moments I had forgotten. There are scenes from the day we left the orphanages behind. Then lots of special moments up to the present. It was such a surprise!

Since I'm not sure if Scott and I will be able to complete a full conversation anytime in the next 24 hours (years... whatever)... I thought I'd let him know how amazing he is right here.

Scott,

I'll never know how you found the time to do it! (Remember, I've lived through a few imovie sagas with you!) But I love this dvd and how it captures how far we've come in such a short time. I'll treasure it always.

Thank you for loving me and supporting me as I continue to learn this new role. Thank you for lightening my load whenever you can... for talking me down from my emotional ledges... for doing the dishes (seriously people. every night.)... for making me laugh... for praying for me... and loving me unconditionally.

For me, the most fulfilling moments of motherhood come when I raise my eyes above those 3 little heads and meet your gaze. You smile at me. (I think sometimes you might even be trying to say something, but it's usually too loud in our house hear it.)

Most importantly, we know we're in this together... and always will be.

I love you.

Farsi i Capelli

Doing hair.
One of the (many) parts of mommyhood I didn't consider much before I had children.

When it's Lexi's turn, I call her into the bathroom. Her response, almost every time is

"Mama? You makuh my hair?"

Yes Lex. Time to makuh your hair.

Somehow, most of her verbs have an "uh" on the end. Justin and Natalie did the same thing when they were picking up English.

Justin added that "uh" to just about everything! I started to suspect a little Italian streak running through my Russian babies!

Lookuh Mama! That'suh parkuh!

A parkuh. You know, with slides and swings. A parkuh. Where you bring your parka in case it gets chilly.

Um. Where was I?
Oh yeah. Hair.

Bless Natalie. She is so patient when I makuh her hair. I think back to the giant bows she wore in the orphanage. I wonder how long it took to get those things in?



Today, I tortured her with some fancy french braids (fancy for me, at least). When I was finally finished, she ran downstairs to show her brother.

Look Justin! Mama gave me some upside down french fry braids!

In case you were wondering... this is an upside down french fry braid.

Oh..... and farsi i capelli?

In Italian... do my hair.

Couldn't find the translation for makuh my hair :)

Happy Birthday Great Grandpa Al!

Happy Easter

Easter. Another first for the children.

Every holiday brings something new. It's been so special to share these "first" moments with the kids.

Easter was extra special. Dying Easter eggs, hunting them down, spending time with family, the candy, the candy, the candy. I loved watching the anticipation on their faces as they popped open each plastic egg.

What makes my heart the happiest though? My kids know that we celebrate Easter because of Jesus.

We spread out on the kitchen floor to dye our eggs. I think we only had a couple of casualties along the way.
Eggs, that is. Not kids.




Easter morning. Just home from church.





In the afternoon we headed over to Baba and Grandpa's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Thank goodness we finally have kids... doing an egg hunt every year with a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings was getting to be a bit ridiculous. (Okay, maybe I'll miss it a little. For the record, I think Auntie Shannon remains the reigning champion.)

Much to Justin's delight, the Easter Bunny brough him a kite. Later in the afternoon, we headed to a nearby school to try it out.

Here's a conversation I had with Justin about this picture he drew.

Justin: This is a big cross.... Jesus died on the cross.
Me: Do you know why Jesus died on the cross?
Justin: He took away all of our sins.
Me: That's right. Tell me about this person (to the left of cross)
Justin: That's God. He's sad because his son died. After 3 days Jesus came back alive.... Now I'm going to draw a soldier and the tomb.

***sigh***

I am so grateful my children are home.

But, once again, my mind goes back to those little faces we left behind in the orphanage. To the future that may be awaiting them. Will someone tell those precious children about how much Jesus loves them?