It has been so hard watching the coverage of Haiti, my heart breaks for everyone living this nightmare, especially for the children. Just wish there was more we could do.
God' Littlest Angels
www.glahaiti.org
Thanks to my amazing co-workers for all their donations of formula, children's and adults OTC meds, vitamins, toothpaste and toothbrushes. They are all on their way to GLA!!
Alek and Maks' day care will also be collecting supplies in conjunction with their "sister" nursing home. The supplies will be headed on a private plane to Haiti. If you are interested, email me at Kevkrishark@aol.com
Others:
www.jcics.org
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/
http://www.worldwidevillage.org/
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/index.cfm
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/
https://www.hopeforhaitinow.org/
Thank you.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Back to reality
After an amazing and relaxing vacation, we came back to the "cold" reality. It was definitely bitter cold when we returned from Bimini and we slowly adjusted getting back to real life. The kids were excited to go back to school and see their friends. Can't say I was excited to head back to work. I think my post vacation funk lasted about 2 weeks.
Before break Alek had received his very first report card and did really well. We are very proud of him. We always worried about his behavior since he does get silly and overly energetic at times, but with both classes he has been doing great. I think the positive reinforcement with earning tokens and tickets for prizes has made a huge difference. Not to mention the fact his teacher knows he is a kid who needs to wiggle and move and is fine with that because she realizes that helps certain kids focus. So as long as he is not disruptive it works. It has been a big relief knowing he is doing well in school both in academics and behavior, not to mention the fact he loves kindergarten.
Maks loves his class and his teachers. His new speech therapist is wonderful. I was very upset at the fact they were changing our therapist yet again, but this one promised there would be no further changes and she is great. Her communication with me is fantastic and the teachers at school are impressed with her and see a difference with Maks. He is now participating in singing alot more, he loves to sing and learn new songs. Before he would never sing with his class. So now, we are working on slowing him down when he tells a story and also working on his volume. He tends to be very loud. He also participates alot more in circle time and group activities. he tries hard with each new activity. Maks also knows how "work" the teachers. They crack up at some of his comments and compliments. He truly is a funny kid.
So we are back in the swing of things. Kevin returned to his basement project and it is pretty much done. The area behind the bar looks amazing. I am so impressed. he really does a great job with his home improvement projects. Hopefully we will have a party soon to officially re-open the bar!
Alek is back into skating and doing well. He really loves it. We also signed him up for baseball and Maks for soccer, both starting in April.
We took a trip down to the Please Touch Museum in Philly. The kids had a blast.
Their favorite sections were the construction area and the Alice in Wonderland (which still freaks me out--there is just something wrong with that Mad hatter!).
We've had a couple birthday parties and enjoyed some warmer days for outside play.
We also took Maks to his first Flyers game. We all went, of course since I was there, they lost. But the kids had fun, thankfully some of the chants and words they heard have not stuck with them! They were especially happy that mommy broke down and let them have cotton candy, which of course I regretted later, but what can you do?
We had a fun playdate with KeKe, Ry, Makenzie, and Little Man. The kiddos hadnt seen each other in awhile, so they had a blast.
So, we are back to reality, I am looking forward to the days when it stays warm, Alek is counting down the days until his birthday. Hard to believe our baby will be six.
Before break Alek had received his very first report card and did really well. We are very proud of him. We always worried about his behavior since he does get silly and overly energetic at times, but with both classes he has been doing great. I think the positive reinforcement with earning tokens and tickets for prizes has made a huge difference. Not to mention the fact his teacher knows he is a kid who needs to wiggle and move and is fine with that because she realizes that helps certain kids focus. So as long as he is not disruptive it works. It has been a big relief knowing he is doing well in school both in academics and behavior, not to mention the fact he loves kindergarten.
Maks loves his class and his teachers. His new speech therapist is wonderful. I was very upset at the fact they were changing our therapist yet again, but this one promised there would be no further changes and she is great. Her communication with me is fantastic and the teachers at school are impressed with her and see a difference with Maks. He is now participating in singing alot more, he loves to sing and learn new songs. Before he would never sing with his class. So now, we are working on slowing him down when he tells a story and also working on his volume. He tends to be very loud. He also participates alot more in circle time and group activities. he tries hard with each new activity. Maks also knows how "work" the teachers. They crack up at some of his comments and compliments. He truly is a funny kid.
So we are back in the swing of things. Kevin returned to his basement project and it is pretty much done. The area behind the bar looks amazing. I am so impressed. he really does a great job with his home improvement projects. Hopefully we will have a party soon to officially re-open the bar!
Alek is back into skating and doing well. He really loves it. We also signed him up for baseball and Maks for soccer, both starting in April.
We took a trip down to the Please Touch Museum in Philly. The kids had a blast.
Their favorite sections were the construction area and the Alice in Wonderland (which still freaks me out--there is just something wrong with that Mad hatter!).
We've had a couple birthday parties and enjoyed some warmer days for outside play.
We also took Maks to his first Flyers game. We all went, of course since I was there, they lost. But the kids had fun, thankfully some of the chants and words they heard have not stuck with them! They were especially happy that mommy broke down and let them have cotton candy, which of course I regretted later, but what can you do?
We had a fun playdate with KeKe, Ry, Makenzie, and Little Man. The kiddos hadnt seen each other in awhile, so they had a blast.
So, we are back to reality, I am looking forward to the days when it stays warm, Alek is counting down the days until his birthday. Hard to believe our baby will be six.
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| Make a Smilebox photobook |
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Decade in review
Borrowing the idea from Jenni! Great way to look back on our journey!
1999
-We’re gonna party like its 1999!
-Enjoying our married life in our little house in Harleysville with our yellow lab Corie Jayne.
Kevin and Jimmy built our patio.
-trip to visit our Ohio friends and take in a game at Jacobs field.
-Still working on the pregnancy thing, lots of doctors, lots of tests, no luck.
-Kevin started work at his current company.
2000
-Y2K-wondering what the fuss was all about
-Still working hard at getting pregnant and in mid January we are surprised with a positive—finally, see a heartbeat a couple times, all is good.
-enjoyed trip to Key West together for my nursing conference
- Devastated in April when we lose our little angel, later to find out it was a baby girl.
-Kevin built a fish pond in our yard and refinished the basement.
-Excited at arrival of our nephew Jake in May-lots of fun to have a baby around!
-First of many surgeries began in the summer to rid myself of this endometriosis.
-Enjoyed a great vacation in Myrtle Beach with the Harkins gang.
-Engagements: Joe and Niki, Mike and C
2001
-Still working on trying to build a family,
-Kitchen re-done, finished up basement.
-Had another surgery in March.
-Adopted Kaiser Magoo at 13 weeks, our goofy boxer/great dane mix.
-left the hospital and started work at GSK.
-Had a great trip to Dominican Republic with Mike, C, Jeff and Amy and celebrated my big 30.
-9/11 happened, nothing would ever be the same
-Mike and C got married at the shore, lots of fun!
-US went to war in Afghanistan
-My brother and Niki got married on a beautiful December day, 65 degrees, pretty strange for around here!
-still working at the family thing, lots of shots, lots of tests, lots of negatives and chemicals.
2002
-Moved onto IVF, signed consents, started the groundwork, but first another surgery.
-First IVF, failed.
-Replaced the roof on our house, had a patio door installed and our dining room painted and a new fence put in.
-Great vacation in Key West with Mike, C, and Steve, despite the hurricane rains! It eventually cleared up for or Duval crawl!
-Started back to school, MBA.
-FET done in Sept but no such luck.
-Gave Kevin trip to Outer Banks with the guys for their 35th bdays.
-Received promotion at work.
-Another FET done and another failure. Another surgery too.
-Celebrated our 5th anniversary in expensive cheesiness at Cesaers Pocono Palance, heart shaped hot tub and all!
2003
-February brought a blizzard, 20 inches of snow.
-Another sweet nephew born, Joe Jr.
-Another FET done and another negative.
- Iraq war started.
-Another surgery. Made plans to start another fresh IVF, heart not into it. Began looking at adoption options. Was getting excited about that. Tired and exhausted of being poked, proded, injected only to be devastated each month.
-2nd fresh IVF, only wound up with 5 embryos, transferred them all in one last hurrah. It failed.
-Sent in adoption application the next day. Decided on Republic of Georgia. Got dossier together and as it was ready to go in, Georgia closed.
-Rolled into agency’s Russian program. Got together dossier.
-Went to Disney World with Jim, LaLa and the kids. Had a blast.
-Dossier went to Russia.
-Car died. Had to buy another one.
-Started work at Johnson and Johnson.
-Started house hunting.
-Friends home from Russia with Blake, from Kirov. The first Kirov cutie I would know, but not the last!
-Excitedly waiting for quick referral as we would told it would be.
2004
-Still waiting, now getting different stories from agency, but keeping the faith.
-Said good bye to Aunt Mil
-Said goodbye toNan. Sad they would never meet our little one, but knew they would be watching over us.
-More run around and changing stories from agency. Frustration started. Finding out things from state about our agency, upset,its now March and we are unsure what to do. Little did we know, somewhere in Kirov Russia a little boy in born.
-complete fiasco regarding a possible placement here with our agency, heartbreak. I lose it, spend weekend in bed,sick, hurt and angry, wondering if I will ever be a mom.
- Tif pulls me out of funk and tells me to just give her agency director a call. I did, first thing Brent ever said to me was that he would restore my faith in adoption. Yea right.
-re-do dossier, get everything I need together in 2 weeks and submit it to Adoption Options. back to the waiting game.
-We found a house, finally, one we both agreed on. Same street as our friend.
-Tif and her mom visit Philly, while on tour bus I get call our old house has sold for over asking price!
-June, finally got the call for a 3 month old baby boy in Kirov named Aleksandr. Kevin was at Phillies game with Jimmy, PopPop and Rols. Frantically got ahold of him. That night we saw our son for the first time, in a blurry out of focus picture, but to us, he was perfect.
- Alek’s future girlfriend, Keeley is born. It was wonderful to know we were going to be sharing this parenting adventure with close friends.
- moved into our new home and 2 weeks after that we were traveling half way across the world to meet our beautiful Aleksandr who was now 5 months old
-head home knowing we would be back in 2 weeks for court.
- August 16, 2004, Its official, Aleksandr Smith Harkins is our son, we are a family forever! JoJo and her friend flew into Moscow and were waiting for us to return. We had a wonderful stay in Moscow getting to know our little man and soon we were all on the plane to London where Granny and PopPop were waiting to meet their newest grandson. We overnighted there and headed back to Philly the next day. Waiting at the airport was the rest of the family. It was a homecoming I will never forget. Grammom and Poppy, Pop and Noni, LaLa, Krissy, Kait, T and Jakey and Joe and Niki all waiting for us and for Alek. We were finally mommy and daddy and we were home. Love introducing Alek to all the rest of family and friends, especially his great grandmom’s (Me-Me and Nana).
- rest of 2004 was filled with many firsts. Alek was christened, Godparents Jimmy and LaLa.Welcome home to Kelsey from Tver, Russia (Blake’s lil sister). Loved all our first holidays, Halloween (Little Skunk), Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Crawling, creeping, getting into everything.
-Another surgery for me
-started back to work in November, LaLa took care of Alek for us!
-Christmas was extra special, we were a family, finally and forever. Started our tradition of Grammom, Poppy, and Me-Me coming to our house xmas morning for presents and breakfasts.
2005
-Alek has surgery, tubes and a circumcision thrown in.
-Took his first steps on 2/6/06 while Tifany and Kelsey were visiting from CA.
-First birthday party (construction theme) was a blast.
-Lots more firsts: Easter, beach, Memorial Day party and parade at JoJo’s. Zoo, parks, aquariums, beaches , all were extra special because of Alek. went with Pop and Noni, Joe, Niki and Joseph to New Hampshire for Labor weekend.
-Alek started at Little Lambs
-Hosted what would be the first of our Thanksgiving dinners.
-Changed jobs to contract position at Merck.
-October 2005, little did we know a gorgeous red head was born in Murmansk, Russia.
-Alek and I went to visit Tif in San Diego, attended AO picnic and meet the staff in person and thank them!
2006
-Alek, Pop, Noni and myself went to DC for Father Frost party at Russian Embassy.
-Celebrated Granny and PopPop’s 50th wedding anniversary with a surprise party at William Penn Inn on 1/20/06, it was an amazing party!
-Cousin Aldo Jr born.
-February made decision to head back to Russia for a little sister for Alek. Re-signed with AO and started on the paperwork.
-God daughter Ryan born!
-Newest niece, Reilly born—surrounded now by beautiful little girls!
-Received promotion at work.
-Switched our request for girl to either gender
-Another surgery for me.
-August-sitting at work, got the call from Brent, little 10 month old boy, medical a little scarey, but ran home to meet with Kevin, look at the pics and talk to doc. Gorgeous little red head, always wanted a red head!!
-Alek and I flew to NH with Pop and Noni for Labor Day weekend.
-Trip one to Murmansk, Russia was in October, we met Maks on his 1st birthday, October 12th! Traveled with an amazing couple (Chris and Kelli) there to meet their little man, Jacob. So great to share the experience with them. Maks hospitalized in Murmansk on our last day, couldn’t see him, very stressful and sad. Thankful to Chris and Kelli for their support when we got that news. Returned home to wait for news and court date. Got word Maks was fine, resp infection cleared.
-Got court date, Thanksgiving in Russia! Sad to hear due to paperwork delays Chris and Kelli would be delayed, so much wanted to share the end of this journey with them! SO hard to leave Alek especially for Thanksgiving. Got to Murmansk with snow and only daylight from 10-3. Met new couple there, Stephanie and Warrren, adopted two more cuties to add to their large family—fun to share the experience with them!
-11/20/06 its official, Maks-Joseph Kirill Harkins is our son! Harkins Family of Four! Thanksgiving in Moscow! Home to waiting family at airport on 11/25, held both my boys in my arms together for the first time! They were truly brother from that moment on!
-Maks hospitalized soon after arriving home with bilateral pneumonia, RSV and asthma exacerbation.
-Recovered in time for a wonderful 1st Christmas together!
2007
-We took Alek to Father Frost party at Russian Embassy in DC,
-back work PT in February, then transitioned back to FT.
-Maks’ 1st Easter! Alek turned 3 with Buzz Lightyear party.
-Kevin turned 40, party at our house for him and Rachel.
-Maks christened, Godparents JoJo and Big Mike!
-Lots more firsts: 1st Mothers day with both boys! 1st Memorial Day party and parade at JoJo’s for Maks. -Aunt Natalie passes away after a long and inspiring battle with ovarian cancer.
-Aunt Winnie visits from Florida and meets kids for first time, fun to have all the “girls” together, Winnie, Meem, Mom and myself.
-Tif and Kelsey visit from CA.
-Alek has last PPR!
-Vacation in Nags Head with Mike, C, the girls and the C family (6 kids, 7 adults, one house).
- Jeff and Amy get married (finally), beautiful beach wedding!
-Labor Day weekend at Pop and Noni beach house.
- Celebrate Maks’ 2nd birthday and 1st year home with big party.
-Maks’ 1st Halloween (Alek was policeman, Maks the Hamburgler).
-Bathroom refinished, its gorgeous!
-Enjoyed extra special Thanksgiving here with our families, one year anniversary of Maks’ adoption day. -Did a one night cruise out of NYV with Tim and Rach with John Legend in concert-what a blast!
-Another fun Christmas!!
-Kevin and I celebrate 10 yr anniversary 12/27!
2008
-Kevin and I took trip to Marathon Key for anniversary trip, kids stayed with Grammom and Poppy. Record cold temps in Florida-go figure! Fun trip anyway!!!
- Maks started speech therapy.
-Al B. died suddenly in March, our hearts break for Beth and Mike. He was wonderful and fun and an amazing dad. He will never be forgotten.
-Mike and C announce baby #3 on the way!
-Had hysterectomy in May. Finally no more surgeries!
-Jim and Laurie celebrate 20yrs!!!
-kids involved in lots of activities during the year: swimming, soccer, biddy sports camp, gym classes, karate, piano.
-spent vacation at Pop and Noni’s beach house in Delaware
-Maks spent his 3rd bday in ER with croup and asthma flare.
-Makenzie born, another new girlfriend for Alek and Maks!
-Went to Riviera Maya, Mexico with Rach for girls long weekend. Hard to leave kids, but wonderfully relaxing!
2009
-Took Alek to first Flyers game, got to meet a player, got a puck and a broken stick
-Our CorieJayne died at almost 12 years of age, she was a great dog, the best! We miss her so much.
-Took family trip to Florida, did Magic Kingdom for one day then drove to Indian Rocks Beach for rest of week, took in Phillies Spring training game.
-Kaiser died soon after being diagnosed with an unknown cancer. He was a great and goofy dog, a big lap dog, hard to believe both our fur babies are gone.
-Maks has dental surgery.
-Jeff and Amy welcome home Little Man from Kirov, another Kirov cutie home to his forever family!
-Alek playing T-ball, gets to parade around Citizens Bank Park before the Phillies game (his 1st one), I get to tag along!
-Took Maks to his first Phillies game, we all went for Father’s Day
-Long weekend to South Beach with Tim and Rach, in July—very hot!
-Nags Head, this time with 4 families (8 adults, 12 kids, one house!)
-Labor Day in Bowers with Pop and Noni.
-Alek started kindergarten!!
-Alek and Maks both playing soccer
-PopPop H passed away peacefully on October 7th and was remembered in a beautiful service on October 12th. He is deeply missed.
-I participated in Breast Cancer 3Day with my team The RackPack, though due to cold rain, it was a 1 day, but our teamed walked on our own all 3 days, for 40 miles and raised over 25k.
-Alek had 3rd set of tubes placed and his adenoids out
-Enjoyed our Thanksgiving and Christmas though it was hard and not the same without PopPop
-Trip to Bimini with Tim, Rach and their kids 12/26-1/2, great escape and a good way to end the decade and begin a new one.
An amazing decade it has been for our family, ups and downs, but many blessings! Can’t wait to see what the next decade in our journey holds!
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein
1999
-We’re gonna party like its 1999!
-Enjoying our married life in our little house in Harleysville with our yellow lab Corie Jayne.
Kevin and Jimmy built our patio.
-trip to visit our Ohio friends and take in a game at Jacobs field.
-Still working on the pregnancy thing, lots of doctors, lots of tests, no luck.
-Kevin started work at his current company.
2000
-Y2K-wondering what the fuss was all about
-Still working hard at getting pregnant and in mid January we are surprised with a positive—finally, see a heartbeat a couple times, all is good.
-enjoyed trip to Key West together for my nursing conference
- Devastated in April when we lose our little angel, later to find out it was a baby girl.
-Kevin built a fish pond in our yard and refinished the basement.
-Excited at arrival of our nephew Jake in May-lots of fun to have a baby around!
-First of many surgeries began in the summer to rid myself of this endometriosis.
-Enjoyed a great vacation in Myrtle Beach with the Harkins gang.
-Engagements: Joe and Niki, Mike and C
2001
-Still working on trying to build a family,
-Kitchen re-done, finished up basement.
-Had another surgery in March.
-Adopted Kaiser Magoo at 13 weeks, our goofy boxer/great dane mix.
-left the hospital and started work at GSK.
-Had a great trip to Dominican Republic with Mike, C, Jeff and Amy and celebrated my big 30.
-9/11 happened, nothing would ever be the same
-Mike and C got married at the shore, lots of fun!
-US went to war in Afghanistan
-My brother and Niki got married on a beautiful December day, 65 degrees, pretty strange for around here!
-still working at the family thing, lots of shots, lots of tests, lots of negatives and chemicals.
2002
-Moved onto IVF, signed consents, started the groundwork, but first another surgery.
-First IVF, failed.
-Replaced the roof on our house, had a patio door installed and our dining room painted and a new fence put in.
-Great vacation in Key West with Mike, C, and Steve, despite the hurricane rains! It eventually cleared up for or Duval crawl!
-Started back to school, MBA.
-FET done in Sept but no such luck.
-Gave Kevin trip to Outer Banks with the guys for their 35th bdays.
-Received promotion at work.
-Another FET done and another failure. Another surgery too.
-Celebrated our 5th anniversary in expensive cheesiness at Cesaers Pocono Palance, heart shaped hot tub and all!
2003
-February brought a blizzard, 20 inches of snow.
-Another sweet nephew born, Joe Jr.
-Another FET done and another negative.
- Iraq war started.
-Another surgery. Made plans to start another fresh IVF, heart not into it. Began looking at adoption options. Was getting excited about that. Tired and exhausted of being poked, proded, injected only to be devastated each month.
-2nd fresh IVF, only wound up with 5 embryos, transferred them all in one last hurrah. It failed.
-Sent in adoption application the next day. Decided on Republic of Georgia. Got dossier together and as it was ready to go in, Georgia closed.
-Rolled into agency’s Russian program. Got together dossier.
-Went to Disney World with Jim, LaLa and the kids. Had a blast.
-Dossier went to Russia.
-Car died. Had to buy another one.
-Started work at Johnson and Johnson.
-Started house hunting.
-Friends home from Russia with Blake, from Kirov. The first Kirov cutie I would know, but not the last!
-Excitedly waiting for quick referral as we would told it would be.
2004
-Still waiting, now getting different stories from agency, but keeping the faith.
-Said good bye to Aunt Mil
-Said goodbye toNan. Sad they would never meet our little one, but knew they would be watching over us.
-More run around and changing stories from agency. Frustration started. Finding out things from state about our agency, upset,its now March and we are unsure what to do. Little did we know, somewhere in Kirov Russia a little boy in born.
-complete fiasco regarding a possible placement here with our agency, heartbreak. I lose it, spend weekend in bed,sick, hurt and angry, wondering if I will ever be a mom.
- Tif pulls me out of funk and tells me to just give her agency director a call. I did, first thing Brent ever said to me was that he would restore my faith in adoption. Yea right.
-re-do dossier, get everything I need together in 2 weeks and submit it to Adoption Options. back to the waiting game.
-We found a house, finally, one we both agreed on. Same street as our friend.
-Tif and her mom visit Philly, while on tour bus I get call our old house has sold for over asking price!
-June, finally got the call for a 3 month old baby boy in Kirov named Aleksandr. Kevin was at Phillies game with Jimmy, PopPop and Rols. Frantically got ahold of him. That night we saw our son for the first time, in a blurry out of focus picture, but to us, he was perfect.
- Alek’s future girlfriend, Keeley is born. It was wonderful to know we were going to be sharing this parenting adventure with close friends.
- moved into our new home and 2 weeks after that we were traveling half way across the world to meet our beautiful Aleksandr who was now 5 months old
-head home knowing we would be back in 2 weeks for court.
- August 16, 2004, Its official, Aleksandr Smith Harkins is our son, we are a family forever! JoJo and her friend flew into Moscow and were waiting for us to return. We had a wonderful stay in Moscow getting to know our little man and soon we were all on the plane to London where Granny and PopPop were waiting to meet their newest grandson. We overnighted there and headed back to Philly the next day. Waiting at the airport was the rest of the family. It was a homecoming I will never forget. Grammom and Poppy, Pop and Noni, LaLa, Krissy, Kait, T and Jakey and Joe and Niki all waiting for us and for Alek. We were finally mommy and daddy and we were home. Love introducing Alek to all the rest of family and friends, especially his great grandmom’s (Me-Me and Nana).
- rest of 2004 was filled with many firsts. Alek was christened, Godparents Jimmy and LaLa.Welcome home to Kelsey from Tver, Russia (Blake’s lil sister). Loved all our first holidays, Halloween (Little Skunk), Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Crawling, creeping, getting into everything.
-Another surgery for me
-started back to work in November, LaLa took care of Alek for us!
-Christmas was extra special, we were a family, finally and forever. Started our tradition of Grammom, Poppy, and Me-Me coming to our house xmas morning for presents and breakfasts.
2005
-Alek has surgery, tubes and a circumcision thrown in.
-Took his first steps on 2/6/06 while Tifany and Kelsey were visiting from CA.
-First birthday party (construction theme) was a blast.
-Lots more firsts: Easter, beach, Memorial Day party and parade at JoJo’s. Zoo, parks, aquariums, beaches , all were extra special because of Alek. went with Pop and Noni, Joe, Niki and Joseph to New Hampshire for Labor weekend.
-Alek started at Little Lambs
-Hosted what would be the first of our Thanksgiving dinners.
-Changed jobs to contract position at Merck.
-October 2005, little did we know a gorgeous red head was born in Murmansk, Russia.
-Alek and I went to visit Tif in San Diego, attended AO picnic and meet the staff in person and thank them!
2006
-Alek, Pop, Noni and myself went to DC for Father Frost party at Russian Embassy.
-Celebrated Granny and PopPop’s 50th wedding anniversary with a surprise party at William Penn Inn on 1/20/06, it was an amazing party!
-Cousin Aldo Jr born.
-February made decision to head back to Russia for a little sister for Alek. Re-signed with AO and started on the paperwork.
-God daughter Ryan born!
-Newest niece, Reilly born—surrounded now by beautiful little girls!
-Received promotion at work.
-Switched our request for girl to either gender
-Another surgery for me.
-August-sitting at work, got the call from Brent, little 10 month old boy, medical a little scarey, but ran home to meet with Kevin, look at the pics and talk to doc. Gorgeous little red head, always wanted a red head!!
-Alek and I flew to NH with Pop and Noni for Labor Day weekend.
-Trip one to Murmansk, Russia was in October, we met Maks on his 1st birthday, October 12th! Traveled with an amazing couple (Chris and Kelli) there to meet their little man, Jacob. So great to share the experience with them. Maks hospitalized in Murmansk on our last day, couldn’t see him, very stressful and sad. Thankful to Chris and Kelli for their support when we got that news. Returned home to wait for news and court date. Got word Maks was fine, resp infection cleared.
-Got court date, Thanksgiving in Russia! Sad to hear due to paperwork delays Chris and Kelli would be delayed, so much wanted to share the end of this journey with them! SO hard to leave Alek especially for Thanksgiving. Got to Murmansk with snow and only daylight from 10-3. Met new couple there, Stephanie and Warrren, adopted two more cuties to add to their large family—fun to share the experience with them!
-11/20/06 its official, Maks-Joseph Kirill Harkins is our son! Harkins Family of Four! Thanksgiving in Moscow! Home to waiting family at airport on 11/25, held both my boys in my arms together for the first time! They were truly brother from that moment on!
-Maks hospitalized soon after arriving home with bilateral pneumonia, RSV and asthma exacerbation.
-Recovered in time for a wonderful 1st Christmas together!
2007
-We took Alek to Father Frost party at Russian Embassy in DC,
-back work PT in February, then transitioned back to FT.
-Maks’ 1st Easter! Alek turned 3 with Buzz Lightyear party.
-Kevin turned 40, party at our house for him and Rachel.
-Maks christened, Godparents JoJo and Big Mike!
-Lots more firsts: 1st Mothers day with both boys! 1st Memorial Day party and parade at JoJo’s for Maks. -Aunt Natalie passes away after a long and inspiring battle with ovarian cancer.
-Aunt Winnie visits from Florida and meets kids for first time, fun to have all the “girls” together, Winnie, Meem, Mom and myself.
-Tif and Kelsey visit from CA.
-Alek has last PPR!
-Vacation in Nags Head with Mike, C, the girls and the C family (6 kids, 7 adults, one house).
- Jeff and Amy get married (finally), beautiful beach wedding!
-Labor Day weekend at Pop and Noni beach house.
- Celebrate Maks’ 2nd birthday and 1st year home with big party.
-Maks’ 1st Halloween (Alek was policeman, Maks the Hamburgler).
-Bathroom refinished, its gorgeous!
-Enjoyed extra special Thanksgiving here with our families, one year anniversary of Maks’ adoption day. -Did a one night cruise out of NYV with Tim and Rach with John Legend in concert-what a blast!
-Another fun Christmas!!
-Kevin and I celebrate 10 yr anniversary 12/27!
2008
-Kevin and I took trip to Marathon Key for anniversary trip, kids stayed with Grammom and Poppy. Record cold temps in Florida-go figure! Fun trip anyway!!!
- Maks started speech therapy.
-Al B. died suddenly in March, our hearts break for Beth and Mike. He was wonderful and fun and an amazing dad. He will never be forgotten.
-Mike and C announce baby #3 on the way!
-Had hysterectomy in May. Finally no more surgeries!
-Jim and Laurie celebrate 20yrs!!!
-kids involved in lots of activities during the year: swimming, soccer, biddy sports camp, gym classes, karate, piano.
-spent vacation at Pop and Noni’s beach house in Delaware
-Maks spent his 3rd bday in ER with croup and asthma flare.
-Makenzie born, another new girlfriend for Alek and Maks!
-Went to Riviera Maya, Mexico with Rach for girls long weekend. Hard to leave kids, but wonderfully relaxing!
2009
-Took Alek to first Flyers game, got to meet a player, got a puck and a broken stick
-Our CorieJayne died at almost 12 years of age, she was a great dog, the best! We miss her so much.
-Took family trip to Florida, did Magic Kingdom for one day then drove to Indian Rocks Beach for rest of week, took in Phillies Spring training game.
-Kaiser died soon after being diagnosed with an unknown cancer. He was a great and goofy dog, a big lap dog, hard to believe both our fur babies are gone.
-Maks has dental surgery.
-Jeff and Amy welcome home Little Man from Kirov, another Kirov cutie home to his forever family!
-Alek playing T-ball, gets to parade around Citizens Bank Park before the Phillies game (his 1st one), I get to tag along!
-Took Maks to his first Phillies game, we all went for Father’s Day
-Long weekend to South Beach with Tim and Rach, in July—very hot!
-Nags Head, this time with 4 families (8 adults, 12 kids, one house!)
-Labor Day in Bowers with Pop and Noni.
-Alek started kindergarten!!
-Alek and Maks both playing soccer
-PopPop H passed away peacefully on October 7th and was remembered in a beautiful service on October 12th. He is deeply missed.
-I participated in Breast Cancer 3Day with my team The RackPack, though due to cold rain, it was a 1 day, but our teamed walked on our own all 3 days, for 40 miles and raised over 25k.
-Alek had 3rd set of tubes placed and his adenoids out
-Enjoyed our Thanksgiving and Christmas though it was hard and not the same without PopPop
-Trip to Bimini with Tim, Rach and their kids 12/26-1/2, great escape and a good way to end the decade and begin a new one.
An amazing decade it has been for our family, ups and downs, but many blessings! Can’t wait to see what the next decade in our journey holds!
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein
Monday, January 04, 2010
Escape
Escape. Exactly what you need after a hectic year and hectic holidays. So that is what we did, we ran away, left the tree behind, left most of the presents behind, left the wash and more importantly the cold.
Our advenutre began at 5:30 am on December 26th when the alarm went off. Kevin and I got up, ready, last minute bag checks and then got the boys going. We bundled up, loaded the car and headed to the airport-our ticket out of this cold and our path to relaxation. Alek was armed with his new DS and Maks with his Leapster in hopes that they would provide a great distraction for a day of travel. Santa did well, they loved their games and it kept them content. We met our traveling friends at the airport and headed through security with a little extra pat down thanks to one idiot's antics on a Christmas day flight. Before we knew it we were on the plane and headed towards our first stop, Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. We packed light and only carryon, so we ran outside, relished in the warm air and grabbed a taxi to our next stop, the Ft. Lauderdale executive airport. Then we hit our first snag. Our charter pilot and his plane were not there, but over at the other airport. He apparently had left me a voicemail on my office phone, despite the fact I sent him my cell. After a discussion in which he offered to put us up in a hotel for the night, which I told him was completely unacceptable and a few other words, he was on his way back to pick us up. Apparently he was a little afraid of me since I (in his words), "chewed his head off". I personally dont think I was bad, just adament that nothing was stopping us from getting to our escape THAT DAY!
So there was our charter plane, small, interesting, wondering if it looked like it would make the 20 minute flight? Nervousness was abound in our group, but as for myself, God Bless Ativan, love how much it takes the edge off. Though I will admit, when I saw them loading luggage in the wings my stomach flipflopped a bit! We all climbed aboard and took off. It really wasn't bad and it was actually great when we could see the beautiful blue water and our island escape. Bimini, there it was right below us, the "island in the stream" of Hemingway fame, was there, just waiting for us to settle in and chill. I have to say, landing in those small planes is a dream, that was the smoothest landing I ever felt and they stop so quickly too! So we gave Captain Ray or RayRay as he was known at the airport, his props, our thanks and my apologies and we headed off to next leg. You land on South Bimini, so we had to take a 5 minute taxi ride to the water and then we climbed aboard a water taxi to cross to North Bimini. The ride was another 5 minutes. The dock on North Bimini is right by the site where they filmed the last scene of Silence of the Lambs ("I'm having an old friend for dinner..."). We then jumped in another taxi and headed towards our resort, Bimini Bay. We checked in and then were taken to our house, which was perfect. it was beautiful, clean and very new and 2700 sq feet was perfect for 8 people.
Once we explored resort we came to the conclusion that while yes you can walk, you can't walk into town and really explore, so we rented a golf cart for the week. We enjoyed our first sunset and settled in to relax and unwind, they were our only goals for the week.
The next morning we set out for the pool, we decided on the infinity pool as it was so beautiful with its endless view into the blue ocean. One problem, the water was freezing, but the kids stilled played and we enjoyed a great lunch at the grille. The kids loved the playground as well and we made several visits there throughout the week. We explored the beach close to the pool it was interesting that there was this giant wall blocking the sea from the resort it seemed. You walked down steps to the beach, lots of beautiful large rocks and reefs. The water was warm and gorgeous and we noticed that you could easily snorkel right off that beach.
We found the other pool near the marina and near our house. Again it was gorgeous, yet cold. But there was a long skinny hot tub type pool, that was perfect for the kids and us. We spent most of the week there. We also found the beach at the end of the resort that was absolutely gorgeous, The further you drove down the road, the more secluded and natural the beach became. There were tidal pools surrounded by coral and there were conch shells everywhere. It was truly paradise.
The week was spent relaxing at the pool or the beach. The guys made friends with a family who was staying on their rather large boat. The boys went fishing for the day while the wife and 3 girls hung with us. They were wonderful people, so nice and a lot of fun. We consider them our new friends in Sarasota and hope to see them again. The boys deep sea fishing was not successful in terms of actual fish but they had a great time. T and W did get a day in of bone fishing with a famous boat maker and bonefisherman named Ancill Saunders. He used to take Martin Luther King Jr out on his boat and apparently MKL wrote his Nobel Peace Prize speech on his boat along with the speech to the striking machinist's right before his assination. Pretty amazing the history. We loved exploring the island, it is very small, two roads (the low road and the high road). The history is fascinating, the people who spent alot of time there, from Hemingway, to MLK, to Jimmy Buffett and countless other. It is a unique place. The guys always seemed to experience some adventure or meet someone crazy while they were out. The people are so friendly and nothing seems to bother them. Along with that attitude is the fact they dont rush to do anything and nothing starts on time. While that would be absolutely annoying to most of us, I have to say for a week it was refreshing, no wonder they are happy!
New Years Eve we made a dinner reservation for the resort restaurant. There was a big party going on but none of us wanted to pay the extra price for it. So we got the kids settled in and headed out for what we hoped was a fabulous dinner. Well, they decided to close the restaurant early, never though to mention it to the people who had reservations after that point. The manager albeit nice was not helpful at all. So my friend and I left the guys, who were cranky, hungry and angry hanging out there, and we headed up to the main office. After several nice but unhelpful staffers, we were guided to the new general manager of the resort. He immediately apologized and invited us all in, free of charge to the tent party. So we went. It was very nice. While we had to wait in line for buffett, the food was amazing!! The drinks were great and the people watching even better. The boys decided to bail on us after dinner since they were going fishing early the next morning, such losers! So R and I hung out and realized that everyone seemed to know each other? We met a very nice man who informed us, yes most people here are related to the owner of the resort or were friends. He said most of them were cuban american's from Miami area and they all had been coming here for years. We also got to watch performance of a latin grammy winner, Fonzi, I think that is what he was called. He was good, we didn't understand any of the songs, but he was obviously very popular. We did know Feliz Navidad, so that was fun! We ran in the new year on the dance floor, watching some funny drunk people. It was a great night, despite not having the hubbies there.
One of the highlights for all of us was seeing a junkanoo band. The first we saw was during a parade for Boxing Day. It was supposed to start at 8, but didn't start til 9. Alek and Maks made friends with a little boy from town, and they had a blast, running around and play hide and seek while we were waiting. The band was so amazing. The costumes and the drums were incredible. The drums were the coolest. The kids loved it, we all did and it was fun to be sharing with the people in town, not just other tourists. We got an extra treat on New Years Day when the band paraded through the resort.
It was a wonderful and relaxing week. We all loved Bimini, the history, the people, the food, the sun and the beaches. I know we will definitely return. We loved that it wasn't touristy, it was small and it was so laid back. Our kind of island for sure!
Unfortunately we had to return to reality and it was a cold reality at that, temps in the 20's? Not fun at all. At least the boys had fun returning home to all the Christmas presents they had left behind. As for me, I bundled up and day dreamed about the sun and sand and wondering what we could plan for our next escape.
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Sunday, January 03, 2010
Countdown continues
5 days til Christmas (well actually I counted wrong, never claimed math was my strong suit-so counting Saturday and Sunday as one day here) and mother nature gave to me a blizzard! We braved the conditions with Jimmy’s stellar driving and made it to the Flyers game only to watch them lose, again. It was a fun afternoon out with Jim, Laurie, Kevin and Joanne. Thanks to Krissy and T for babysitting!! As I was snuggling with the boys and reading books later, Alek told me he couldn’t wait to make snow angels tomorrow and then proceeded to tell me that I was a beautiful angel, Maks followed up with, “You’re my best mama”. Truly doesn’t get much better than that! Had a blast sledding, they loved going down the hill together with mama, we would fall off the sled cracking up. Took Alek for a quick visit to Nana’s, with Pop, Noni, and the McCann clan. Sorry we couldn’t stay long as Alek and cousin Aldo were having a blast. Back home, boys excited for Miss Jessie to babysit and then we were off to fabulous dinner at Dilworthtown celebrating Granny’s 70th (we will be away for the actual day). Crazy, fun filled weekend and again, I got absolutely nothing done for Christmas. I need an elf to come wrap my presents for me.
4 days til Christmas and back to work, trying to tie up loose shopping ends as well. Counting down days to Santa and beach. Angels are at day care and headed to nursing home to perform for the residents and have a Christmas party with them. I love that the school has a relationship with the nursing home, it is great for the kids and the residents. Get a call that Alek is having a rough time listening now that they are back at school and he was not being very nice to his teacher, so we need to pick him up. Hmmm, wonder if Santa was watching this? The joys of the season and all its busyness and overstimulation. Once I got to school, he was in better shape and back in his group, but I still took him home to drive the point home. He was devastated, my herat broke watching him cry, I know it can be so hard this time of year to keep yourself in check. Hopefully lesson was learned though. Guilt ridden he headed into home, prepared to have a better day tomorrow.
3 days til Christmas and all was quiet, thankfully. We organized for our trip, did some wrapping. Maks is so set on the Bahamas, he keeps telling everyone, I go to the Bahamas. He seems to be skipping right over Christmas. Alek of course is correcting him, reminding him of the excitement for Christmas. He is definitely the big brother.
2 days til Christmas, Alek is pumped for his kindergarten party, but bummed mommy wont be there this time. They only allow so many parents for each party, so even though I helped organize, I had to give other parents a chance to be there. He had a blast. Maks wanted a party too. Alek told his teacher that, so she sent home extra goodies for Maks. Alek is a sweetie when he wants to be. I spent most of the night wrapping after the kids went to sleep. Wish I could hire an elf. I am exhausted and battling a sinus thing, hope it goes away, I don't have time to be sick!
1 day til Christmas and it is crunch time. Boys are pumped, mommy’s frazzled and daddy’s ambivalent and not worried at all. Got my hair done and a pedicure for the trip, did my food shopping and rushed home to try and relax before the official festivities begin. JoJo’s for Christmas eve dinner. Fun as always! Maks was always hungry especially for the desserts. Food was great. Alek managed to rip another pair of pants, he has put a hole in a knee in 4 pants this week! The kids were extra excited this year between Christmas and upcoming trip, they were bouncing off the walls, who could blame them? After a great time it was home to get ready. We got our cookies (thanks Jo, as mommy forgot to get some or prepare the brake and bakes) and milk and letter out for Santa, brushed our teeth, said our prayers and off to bed. I ran to catch 11 pm church, which was a beautiful, peaceful candlelight service that I enjoyed very much. It was good for me to slow down, have that time and remember the real meaning of Christmas. Of course as soon as it was over, I had to rush home to finish the stockings. I managed to get in bed by 1 am. It was cold, and I fell asleep dreaming of warm sandy beaches.
Christmas!!! It’s here!! Mom and I got on the same page and made sure they arrived by 8:15am, they have been known to pull in our driveway and we are all still asleep. Maks was up and ready, I had to wake Alek up—like Grammom says, what kid has to be woken up on Christmas? They opened their stockings in our room. It was time to head downstairs. The paparazzi was waiting with cameras and video! The boys ran excitedly to their piles. Alek blew through his as if it was a race, paper flying everywhere! Maks was methodical, carefully unwrapping each present, inspecting each one and wanting to play with each one. Of course Alek thought Maks had more since he was still opening, but we put that issue to rest quickly. We had a wonderful breakfast from Chef Kevin. Meem loved her omelet, she looks forward to this each year. Her own special time with the boys. It was a great morning! Grammom, Poppy and Meem packed up and headed home. Pop and Noni then arrived for their visit, more presents, more excitement. Loved that Noni was resourceful again this year and had their presents in great big beach/overnight bags. They are perfect for our trips to South Bowers in the summer. We enjoyed our visit and I started getting everyone ready to head to dinner with the Harkins clan. Granny and JoJo stopped by with their presents, more excitement for the kids—it was non stop on Christmas day! Granny bought their bags for our trip, they were a big hit, perfect size. They loved the toys from JoJo. We all got ourselves together and headed to Jim and LaLa’s for dinner. It was an amazing dinner as usual and a good time. It was definitely hard this year without PopPop, he was in all our minds and our hearts. The boys enjoyed more presents and big hit was their new ZhuZhu pets, hopefully these will stop the pestering for a new pet for a while. They are cute, but they do need cages, those buggers crawl all over the place!! It was another wonderful Christmas and we are thankful to have such an amazing family so close by. Off to home we went, last minute packing as the alarm would be waking us up early for our adventure to Bimini. Sunshine and warmth, here we come!
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