Another Month Gone By...

We are soon saying good-bye to the month of August..our kids are all in school and will soon all be a year older before we know it;( Fred's B Day is even coming up! Time just goes by so so fast...my daughter still feels so unreal and such a dream to us-God is too good.

Unfortunately, when days go by..some pain does resurface of loss..loss of our dear beloved Arturo, my uncle Arturo. I see him in my Hope and it just hurts sometimes that he isn't here to see her...see my dream finally to life. Sometimes life is just like that I guess...sometimes I am just selfish I guess. He's in a better place, but we're still here, we will still face more suffering in this world. I know God is teaching me and shaping me for his future, a future I look forward to also. It's hard to not look back though isn't it? Before we take those giant steps, we want to look back a few times more..to be certain that we are going the right way? Look back, to hold on some more to what once was...I was watching such a good movie with Freddy tonight, and after such a good church session on 1 Samual, young David's perseverence and strength and protection from GOD...I guess I just feel inspired tonight to say:

Persevere, persevere, fight, fight folks..its only one life, so it's worth it...it's worth tripping & falling before you try again..because, you will get there eventually, if you see it. I still have these desires some days, to think about more children, adopting more, saving more...I dunno, I guess I will wait for GOD's queu, he'll let me know...Just keep your prayers open for your neighbors...its one tough life, and there is just so much need these days. Pray for those who have no job, who have lost someone, who are ill or just struggling with life these days. It is so much easier if we care. God built us to care.

We were all supposed to have a good life...remember that.

good night xox.

Back to school!

Today we survived our first day..it was quite fun and went quite smoothly. The boys have been blessed this year with great teachers! I am so happy for them. Noah was quite upset though, because he really wants to be four already so he can go to school too;( It broke my heart...but he'll be in school before we know it! Noah has come down with bronchitis it seems..so I'll have to take him to the doctor tomorrow, and my head has been aching along with my sinus..hope, I'm not coming down with something as well...anyway, gonna go to sleep now..I need all the rest I can get, I have algebra tomorrow...eeeeeek!

What's Hope up to these Days???

*She shakes her head No (alot) and nods yes.

*She brings me a diaper for her changes

*She takes off her diaper herself first thing in the am..ugh

*She sticks her butt out when she does poopoo and wants to be changed

*she points a lot

*she claps her hands when she gets her way

*She is starting to bite her nails

*She stills pulls out her pigtails

*She loves shoes (anybody's shoes)

*She notices everything (hair color changes, makeup, new clothes, booboos, etc.

*She still likes to hit!

*She loves to call out to her 'MAMA'

*She's always stalking Dad!

*She's a climber!!

*She recently fell onto rocks..and is sporting a nasty scrape on her eyelid..ouch!

*She's doesn't want to eat much..cause she's teething.

*She wants to sleep in her brothers' room..awwwwwww.

*We often tell her 'NYET' its the only way she gets it..hehe.

Her speech has not picked up much, but she does do a lot of connective-babbling or singing at times hehe....so she's really wanting to talk, and I have a feeling that once it does come together..there won't be any problems...she's gonna be a talker;)

Also, we have been fortunate to connect with another set of PAP's who also adopted a little Kazak/Kygyz girl from Moscow, her name is 'Ava'..and it has been so much fun getting the girls together..how blessed are we? Hope now gets to grow up with another little girl like her;) Ava also has two older brothers who are just the sweetest....hmmmm who says GOD doesn't plan everything?

Good-Bye Summer..

I FAILED ALGEBRA!

Well, as you know school is just around the corner for all of us.. with yet, another semester of algebra for me 'ding ding' round 2! I took a final exam and FAILED IT! GROSS! What is wrong with me?...Just when I thought I was making peace with the subject and actually getting descent at it..I end up failing arggg..life's crazy! Funny thing is, that I don't really mind taking another math class. I told myself at the beginning, that taking it slow is better this time. I like learning, and learning from my errors is even better, as well as getting back up on the horse..and riding, riding it all out.

Anway, enough about me...I did start some back to school shopping for clothes-supplies, not yet...I'm excited for a new year, a new grade, tons of new experiences. I hope and pray for the best for Frederick(gr.3) and mackenzie(gr.1). It will be tough for both boys, as these grades can be challenging. I will get to get out more with Noah & Hope....wooooogh..that should be nice..I'm a tad tied down at the moment with 4 away from school...I choose not to go anywhere far with 4. We had/have some last few plans before school starts, like possibly attending our Adoption Agency Lighthouse's reunion in Michigan...I've always wanted to see Michigan, though we are not sure how this will go, because Nascar is being held there....so ???? Dunno.

I wanted to go to the museum with the boys and the zoo..now that its rained a bit and cooled down...I feel as though we did not do enough this summer;( I guess with the family adjustment and all...it wasn't easy. Even though the boys have clearly bonded to Hope and her to them...I wish I did more with them. Hey its never too late, perhaps its better once school starts, things will be less crowded, more schedules and on track-Anyway, I'm grumpy in the Florida summer heat & so is Hopee;)

P.S. Hopee now says 'Hi' to everyone in sight these days...lol. She just loves attention, and when we make fun of her crying..she sticks her tongue out at us! It's adorable. I really gotta catch her on video.

speaking of videos:We saw this epsiode on 'America's Funniest Videos' where they were asking children where babies come from...and so we thought of asking our kids to see what they'd say on video...Two of them said babies come from Mommy's tummies, and Noah, said they come from Russia, because that is where Hopee's from! FUNNY! There's a 3 year old for you;) He'll just give it you straight.

Question-Re-Adopt or Not?

This came up during the passport process..but I am just curious now-should we readopt Hope or not? The state of Florida does not require it..but will it be easier for school etc.?

What are your views or experiences?

any advice will be helpful-thank you:)

1st post placement completed...

I've posted these here before...her room now is just a lot messier now with 2 kitchens and pots & pans everywhere..I'll have to get a pic of her in her chef's hat & apron;) Its not so fancy..its just a very pink, fun room that we had so much fun creating (my hubby & I) together.




We did our first post placement with our Social Worker 'June'...it went smooth, yet it kind of sneaked up on us and so now we are racing around trying to get other stuff together, like photos and probably a courrier service to make sure it gets to Russia on time.

These post placements are very important to Russia, and it is important that we are prompt, so that future PAP's can adopt from Russia. I just wish I wasn't running around right now!

Hopefully the next one (in another 6 months) is more relaxed. Hope was her happy self today and was showing off for June. June was impressed with Hope's communication and interaction with the boys.

She also loved Hope's room;)


So, some advice is...make sure you call up your agency to prepare ahead of time for the first post placment..or you'll be like me right now....a chicken with no head. This kicked us in the butt to go ahead and do Hope's passport too...(no I didn't do it yet). Its not easy to think of everything and to run around now with four kids.


Mercy-please;)