Officially Registered for School!

Hope is going to school this coming January. Am I scared-yes. She is excited but then again sometimes she says 'NO school'..we'll have to see. Noah will be across the hall from her, so I think that will help...gotta get her a Hello Kitty school bag;)

Counting down for Christmas...going to celebrate this season for everything the Lord has granted me-including his Son.


Amen

SANTA!

I peeeeeeeed Mom!

Yes Hope is pottying finally! Yeahh-Lord you're too good to me. It seemed almost impossible at one point with Hope and the potty. Though she is finally getting it, with a lot of positive attention and praise she delights in her accomplishment;)

She actually really likes the potty...she dislikes the toilet. She will be almost fully clean too...amazing!

I am finishing up school and will be entering the hospital come this January (God willing) and Hope will have to go to daycare..I wanted more than anything for her to be potty trained...and low and behold she is! I am worried about her in daycare..but I am happy for her at the same time...because I think she is sooo bright and would benefit from an early education...she often sings to herself holding an invisible microphone...thirteeeen, seventeen...twentyyyyyyyy!

We go away for a sneaky, mini vacation to Orlando Disney Resort...I'll snap some pics there...she's gotten so big, and her hair so long..she TALKS SOOOOO MUCH! Ughhhh...my husband wonders when she will button it..hehe. Mackenzie will be celebrating his 8th birthday...God bless him...my kids are growing up!

I have finals next week and will be able to finally take a real breather and enjoy this Christmas with the kids before the chaos starts with my RN training....sighh...wish me luck;)

Happy October!

Family get away...

We haven't been posting in a while..and haven't been taking many pictures, shame on me!

We are leaving this weekend on a little family get away before hubby goes off to Europe for some work:( I am always pretty tired around here with the four kids alone and school...but thank God I am managing. The kids are great though...they are maturing before my very eyes. I would love for Hope to start some dancing, but very little can be done with her not yet potty trained;( Again, shame on me. She started out great-but now completely refuses to potty outside of her diaper.

On a more positive note-her sentences and vocabulary are awesome, she says full sentences, catches on to games and songs effortlessly. She puts on her own shoes, and tries to dress herself-she is actually shoe obsessed to be honest...and I take them away from her as a consequence when she is not listening..which is often lol-Hope is quite stubborn!

She's a daddy's girl...and boy does Freddy look forward to coming home and seeing her run to him. She is very helpful to me..she is always wanting to help with the groceries its so cute. I colored my hair the other day to a red..don't ask...but anyway, she wanted to color her hair too, and of course that was not happening, but I didn't want her to get upset, so I put a pink, Hello Kitty-shampoo in her hair which made her smile..and then her and I waited 25 minutes;)

She is learning her ABC's and numbers..she enjoys playing Fish and has an excellent memory...too good if you ask me..

Hopefully we'll be back with some cute pics of the kids at the water park. See ya in a few!

Back to school...

Wooohoooooo.....school is next week! Cannot wait...love how I am naturally rising earlier in the am...back to my old schedule with 2 in school. I honeslty cannot wait till Noah and Hope are in school. It is so terrible for me to say that and complain, but I just cannot get anything done here with the kids at home..

In the mean time...look who likes to have her regular melt downs?

Are girls dramatic or what?

A BIG BLUE CHEEK!

EEEEEEEEEEK! Well Hope finally fell down..off the bed! I heard her cry after a nap (she usually wakes up grumpy) and with the kind of cry she let out this time I knew she had fallen...when I finally turned her around to take a look I was horrified to see a swollen purple/blue cheek...I was so scared that I took her to ER. Hope is a tough one, but she was hurt..we arrived att he ER at 5:30 pm and waited till midnight to be told that her mandible was fractured and that she needed surgery...I was shocked and so upset with myself and the staff that they had taken so long to explain this to us. It gets worse-they don't have the specialist there and we need to be transported to another hospital...we get transported and by this time we are all soooooooo tired...when we reach the other hospital, the specialist takes yet another CT scan of Hope (this is her 3rd CT scan and x ray later) they quickly tell us..that Hope has no fracture! What is going on? I know I prayed hard for Hope so that she wouldn't need surgery..and I was soo relieved! I could have stayed 2 days...if the outcome was going to be positive.

As for the other hospital and its craziness,...I have nothing too positive to say ( I was considering working there once..but not anymore!)


Sigghhhh..I figure I post this since this has been the biggest scare so far in Hope's life thus far. Praise GOD!



P.S. I can't wait till school starts..I am going out of my mind each day with every crazy thing that has happend over the summer! HeHe..I'm such a complainer!

She is fine today...she's just black & blue now...still climbing and jumping around..

Seriously thinking...need your help!

Hope is trying to lift herself out of crib at times, and she fell once. I know she hates her crib sometimes because she hates restraint...but should I transition her to her big girl bed at 2 1/2? It would give me more space in her playroom, but she'd be everywhere....groannn. Dunno what to do? What are you guys doing with your lil babies?

More Snaps..

Meet the Gang this summer!

We're still around...

Kids are running around wild this summer...house is crazy with 4!

Hope is fabulous as usual and I really have to show the great snaps we have of her in blacknwhites...she is so gorgeous!
(I shouldn't be saying this about my own daughter-but hey, I can't helpt it!)


She is now trying to form phrases with us, and she even speaks spanish and understands well. She is taking out all her clothes these days and wanting to put all of it on and every shoe as well....she loves dress up and make up. She loves to massage daddy's back and feet..eyyyy...

She is always quite occupied with her brothers who spoil her rotten.

Her preferences in food have changed slightly, I catch her feeding the dog! She is not crazy about certain meats...she does love her eggs and fruits and veggies and tuna.

She lets me do her hair now and is very patient and proud once I am done. She always says 'Thank You'..which melts my heart everytime. Just a special little baby doll!

I thank God all the time for my kids, I know I am truly fortunate to have such a bunch, who are healthy and loving.

I hope everyone's summer is going great-the boys will start flag football in 2 weeks...Hope will probably start gymnastics in the fall with Noah.

We just got back from Washington D.C.

Flying with four kids is awful! Freddy had to fly out to Washington for work and decided to take us with him (go figure). Kids had a blast at the museums (can't say enough good things about this place). Weather was awesome...check out my latest Hopee pics. She's just getting perty!

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Happy Mother's Day to Me,
I failed chemistry with a 'D'
To prevent insanity, I made another blog,

You are welcome to read along my daily horror stories-if you want to feel better about your life;)

I just don't want to corrupt Hope's blog with my nonsense. A woman needs to let out steam and this is where I will be doing it for now on.


http://amommynurse.blogspot.com/



P.S. Our 10 year wedding anniversary is coming up and we are going on a 7 day cruise vacation, can't wait to get good pics of kids. My pics have been lagging...muah!

I love you & I'm a MAN

Mommy: I Love you Hopee

Hope: No, No...I LOVE UUUUUUUUU mow! (more)

Wow what a love! Noah says this 10x a day...so Hope has finally catched on and she's in to compete. She's very competitive with Noah and they drive eachother nuts, but they are insepaerable. I'm impressed with them both, more and more every day.

Her Newest thing is our absolute fav: Hope are you a mouse or a man? Hope says: No, no I'M A MAAAAAAAN!


Daddy's girl....we'll have to work on this....

EASTER DARLINGS

Well GUYS HAPPY EASTER!

THE LORD HAS RISEN JUST AS HE PROMISED!

Our little bunch have been busy...we got a puppy for Easter yeahhhh (not)....God has a sense of humour! He's a stray-it seems...he's always in the garbage can! We wait to see if someone claims him..but everyday that he is here is just making the kids smile with glee;)

Hope calls him WIDUR....which translates to RIDER......he's always running around.

We are planning a family cruise soon, before all the kids get out of school....I'm ending a grueling semseter and just need time with my babies. Hope you are well....you can see how much Hope Isabel has changed...she's just a flower of love!

The boys adore her, and she adores the boys.

Lots to be thankful for in this life.

Amen

xox

NYET!

Mommy-"Hope did you do poopoo in your diaper again?" Hope-"NYET!" LOL! Hilarious! She's never used that word before to say no...what a wisecracker girl we have! (we do continue to say certain words to her in Russian, french, italian, spanish) So she says some other foreign words also. When we ask her to do something and she's too entertained...she acknowledges us by saying "BL LA BLA".....boy has she picked up! I have not posted much lately...cause I am finishing up another semester and its hard studying with Hope, she demands a lot of attention (as girls do)..but she is just a delight! A show stealer.... We have found out that: Hope plays well with others and loves the company of other girls Hope is oh soooo kind! She wants to share her food with everyone...awww Hope says 'Mama' now instead of 'Mah'...she says Mama like 10times a minute.....ughhhhhh Hope is very persistant and knows what she wants! Hope likes movies and calls them 'moo moos' Hope drags mommy all over the house to get what she wants....eeeeek.. Hope loves the dog park, and loves animals of all sorts... Hope will probably be a great gymnast cause she climbs everything and isn't afraid of falling Hope loves clothes and shoes!! WOOHOOO... Hope loves her brothers and now has names for them...Frederick is 'Fra Fra' Noah is 'OWA' and Mackenzie is 'Z' Hope now plays with her dolls Hope loves her baths! Feww.. Hope loves to put on makeup with mommy... Hope tries to ride on the dog.....hmmm..oh ya...Hope colors all over the walls..alot!

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY FREDERICK JOHN!

My eldest is 9 today-GOD HAS BLESSED HIM!

Will post pics a lil later on;)

xox

She's a climber...

My daughter is so daring! Hope is constantly climbing things...I've had to pick up so many shattered vases, picture frames, plates etc. Because of her stubborn ways. She doesn't listen very well...no matter what her consequences have been (time out, sitting in a corner, put to bed). She is fearless...which reminds me a lot of my eldest son Frederick (the hardest one out of the bunch, thus far). She does these crazy things that are so dangerous! I am waiting to come home and find her on the rooftop! She now slides upside down and backwards on the slide, she rock climbs up the tree house, and spins herself in circles on the swings....I am so fearful at times with this little toddler girl! Hope this doesn't last long and is just a phase, she's going through..sigh. Her father is like this also...she's gonna be the only one who will want to 'bungy-jump' with him..(I'd never let her..hehe).



TOMORROW HOPE WILL BE HOME OFFICIALLY ONE YEAR!!!!

The Girl and Her Father....

SHE'S OBESSESSED WITH THIS MAN!

Back from Orlando!

Well, here is the deal-We went to Orlando mainly for the Lighthouse Reunion. We did not want to make this a Disney trip this time...although we should have, cause we spent a lot of money anyway! But it was fun, we splurged at the restaurants;)

The Reunion was super cool! Though, not many families could come;( Weather, costs, timing..I guess. It was kinda sweet though, because we were a small group there was a lot of intimate chat;) Hope, though was naughty! I wanted her on her best behavior...and she cried the whole time! She was super happy swimming with daddy-but outside of the pool-yikes! I've never see her carry on such a drama! I guess she was tired...it was a hot day luckily. I have limited photos, because of the lack of cooperation on Hope's part. As you can see Lorien (Lighthouse's director) is a very warm person, with four children of her own (super-beautiful children if I may add). Hope did not want to be held by her (I was embarressed). Luckily Lorien was understanding. The few familes that were there were awesome! We even met a family who just met their child in Russia, but has not brought him home yet-it was cool meeting them and just remembering how it felt to be in their shoes! Crazy how life is! Once upon a time, Freddy & I went to the Lighthouse Reunion to meet Lorien in person....and were lucky to meet her and the Lighthouse families with their Russian children. Now we are an IA family, talking to pre IA families ha! We IA familes, sure love to talk/share about our experience(s) with others, and we're probably addicted to blogs and more adoption stories to come. All, so so cool really. God is grand in all his ways and plans for us. Hope cannot be anymore like me than she already is! She's so real, and so mine! I was proud of her despite her naughtiness. We hope to attend, the big Reunion in Michigan, this August God willing. Lighthouse, isn't one of the 'big boy agencies', but they sure work hard, and they do care and love what they do, thus, giving 'big boy results' with the child you are blessed to take home. After you do bring home your child with LH, you are forever part of their family it seems;)

Mommy n Daddy took a little Get Away....

We just came back from Turks & Caicos.....totally spur of the moment because of Fred's job..and it was fantastic! I was only gone a day and a half...but it felt timeless;)

The kids missed us a bunch, especially Hope....she came running and screaming 'mama'! Such a great feeling!

We are planning our anniversary vacation, and will take our kids along this time....cannot wait...sometimes you forget that you need a vacation!

Tomorrow we leave for Orlando-can't wait!

FEBRUARY 11th

I'm so ditzy-and have been so busy...How could I forget that February 11th was officially one year ago that a judge in Moscow Russia granted us custody of Hope Isabel. It was a terrific day with laughter, tears and great people who wanted to see a child get a home.

We will be planning a trip to Orlando, to spend a day with our adoption agency 'Lighthouse'. So cool to get to see the director again, and all the other families and little precious babies from Russia. Its exciting!

Oh ya...p.s. Happy Valentine's Day Hopee Banana! (she's so confused)...

Hope's Second Post Placement Sent!

Weeef! Another one down and 2 more to go...then we can finally be done with all this paperwork!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE ISABEL!

The girl is officially 2 today, the very first time we get to be with her on her day of birth! What a Blessing! XOX

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE ISABEL!

The girl is officially 2 today, the very first time we get to be with her on her day of birth! What a Blessing! XOX

Look at Me, I'm About to be 2 Years Old!