Fall fun

Well it is officially fall except summertime temps and humidity have decided to stick around for a little bit, makes it hard to get in the fall groove. But we are trying. Alek and I did one of our frequent visits to the farm to visit the animals. He was thrilled to see the new baby calf who is just as cute as can be. The baby peacocks are growing fast.
Alek was a big helper and we brought home a couple decorative pumpkins and a big mum for the front porch to try and put us in the spirit.
We spent a weekend down the beach at Pop's house. Since Pop and Noni were not there we could bring the dogs. Corie and Kaiser had a blast, they loved the beach, Kaiser did his best to avoid the water, Corie really wanted to swim, but showing her age she just waded in.
It was pretty chilly but beautiful, altho it was sad to know another summer has flown by.
Alek is back in soccer and having fun. His first game he did great, second one, not so good. My bad, well Rachel's too. He was up late at Dorney Park for Megs birthday. He had a blast though, he loves rides, but just like mom hates anything that spins. We are rollercoaster fans!

Maks is offically a daredevil, anything he can climb and jump off of is fun for him. He has given me several heart attacks already. Today he wore a t-shirt that sums it up: I do all my own stunts. He is a mad man! But a very cute one.

He is finally set up for a speech evaluation at the end of October. So we will feel better after that.

Halloween costumes are here. Maks will be the Hamburgler since that is his nickname and Alek will be the police officer that will arrest him! Alek likes the idea of that!

Tomorrow night we are all going to the lighting of the Great Pumpkin at Merrymead. It is a fun way to kick off the fall season. I am sure the boys will love it!

Here are some pics and a video of Alek dancing. He is a rock star!!



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Where did the summer go?

It's September? How did that happen? I feel like we did so much yet there was not enough time to do all that we wanted to do.
We enjoyed our time at the beaches, Bowers, to Lewes, to Sea Isle, to Nags Head and especially enjoyed the company of family and friends.
Alek and Maks had a great summer at school traveling "around the world". Each week was a new country to learn about and Alek thought it was pretty neat the week they were in Russia! The trip began and ended with an Alex's Lemonade Stand Fundraiser, which I have been trying to convince Alek it is not his name.
Maks has grown alot this summer, his fine motor and gross motor skills have taken off. He has become alot braver, climbing and chasing his brother where ever he goes. He also is alot more happier in the pool,no more tears and has now mastered the belly flop. Hopefully by next summer he will not be afraid of the waves in the ocean. He is progressing very slowly on speech and while he understands everything we say and tell him, you really have to prompt him to say the ten words he does know. But we are getting there and still waiting for that speech appt!
Alek has blossomed as well over the summer. He finally has all his colors right and loves practicing them. He also knows his left from right and likes to tell me which way we are turning while I am driving. Back seat driver already! He also has grown about an inch over the summer and it all seems to be in his feet! he was wearing a 10 1/2 in June and I just bought him 12 cleats for soccer! Mr. Big Foot for sure!
We ended the summer at Pop and Noni's beach house with Joe and Joseph. Alek and Joseph had a blast playing together, Maks just tried to keep up. They had fun playing on the beach, collecting shells and rocks, playing in the pool and really enjoyed their night at the boardwalk and all the rides. It was a nice way to end the summer.
So we say good bye to summer and move onto the fall. Alek started soccer last Sunday by scoring 3 goals and giving me high fives and thumbs up after each one. He really loves playing!
We look forward to a fun fall season with Maks' 2nd birthday party coming up! I am sure there will be several trips to Merrymead for their fall festivites. We have a trip to Baltimore with Grammom and Poppy coming up and will spend a day at the National Aquarium. And of course there is Halloween, I cannot wait to see what Maks thinks of that--walking around and collecting food! he will think he is in heaven!
Still trying to come up with costumes for the boys, but we think we have a good idea!

So good bye to a wonderful summer, it was a blast and we can't wait to see what the Fall brings for our family!

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Another day, another recall

So I wake up to hear Mattel is recalling more toys. Is anyone else getting completely sick of this? Part of me just wants to toss all the toys in the trash and start hand making or carving toys from wood. Ok all those who know me and how uncrafty I am, stop laughing now! But seriously, enough is enough. How does a CEO of a children's toy company that has been around forever and puts out newspaper ads that he is a father of four himself, not know that lead paint is being used in toys? Lead paint, come on people, it has been known for a very long time how dangerous lead paint can be, yet here it is on our kiddos toys, toys that both my boys have frequently put in their mouths.
It just baffling to me, but then I step back and think, geez, how did any of us even survive childhood? God knows what we put in our mouths, we probably all lived in homes with lead paint, we crawled around the backseats of our cars unrestrained, sat up front on our parents lap, hell my brother and I even rode on folding chairs in the back of my Pop's enclosed pick-up truck on the way to the campground in Lancaster! We were fed foods early on and not spaced out to make sure there were no allergies, no one spent 100's of extra dollars to buy organic foods, because nothing was overprocessed like it is now. We rode bikes and skated without full body armour, we could take off on our bikes or by foot for hours on end without fear of being abducted or attacked, we could explore and play all we wanted as long as we were in when the street lights came on! We could play flashlight tag througout the neighborhood and camp out at night in our yards or the woods behind our home without our parents.
Our days were carefree and free of fear and a big part of me is saddened that it is not the same way for our kids.

We already know we have to watch what our kids eat, read labels, buy the best and safest car seats which should be installed by "experts in the field", if our kids ride bikes or skate, they should be outfitted in helmets, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards (it is amazing they can move at all!), we have to have parental blocks on our TV's, radios, cell phones, because stuff that was considered "adult content" and only on TV after 9 is now on all the time and is everywhere you look.Six year olds are dressing like 18 year olds, preschoolers have boyfriends and girlfriends, 4th graders are going steady (heck I was still playing with my barbies and didn't know Barbie and Ken could even be a couple at that point).We stress and worry over education and how quickly Johnny or Janey knows math, or can write at age 2 or speaks 3 languages and how we can keep up or be better than the Jones'. It is just crazy to me how this world has evolved, the technology and advances which has been beneficial in many aspects of our lives, I believe is also now taking away the innocence of childhood which makes me sad for my children. I hope we can figure out a way to keep our boys innocent and oblivious to so much of the bad stuff in their worlds, and just let them be kids, run, play, enjoy life without constant fear and worry.
I hope that we as adults and that corporations and the government, can get it together and say enough is enough. Hold people accountable for their actions or in this case, inaction. There is more to life than the almighty dollar.
I think we all have to stop and remember that.

Back from the beach!

We just got home from our first official family of four vacation, shared with two other families. So there were 7 kids and 6 adults, relaxing it wasn't, but it sure was fun! We spent a week in Nags Head, NC. The house was great-had everything we needed and then some. The weather turned out to be wonderful considering what was going on at home. We had one bad storm at night and one really overcast day, otherwise it was perfect. The kids had a blast together, everyone really played great together, well aside from Keeley and Alek. They have moved into a new dimension of their relationship and we now call them Mr. and Mrs. Bickerson. She knows how to push his buttons and he knows how to react. So it was interesting, crazy and funny to watch this all unfold.
Alek loved playing with his new buddies: Gwen, Emily and Ben. Kevin loved that Alek was able to finally play with a boy since he seems surrounded by girls. Maks loved stealing everyone's shoes, especially the girls Crocs. Kevin had enough of seeing him walk around in pink ones, that we went out and found Maks and Alek blue ones.
The kids had a lot of fun on the beach, the surf was rough, but that didn't stop them, well except for Maks, who ran away from the waves.
He did enjoy the pool alot though and has perfected his "dive" or flop which you can see in the video.
Ryan was as cute as ever, the little sandpiper!!
The pool was a nice break from the beach and the kids had a blast jumping, diving and being tossed around by the dads.
We did the Wright Brothers Monument and Museum, which was pretty neat aside from the fact it was the hottest day of the week with quite a bit of humidity.
We drove to Oregon Inlet where the fishing boats come in, Alek slept thru most of the that while Maks checked out the catch and tried to pick one for himself for dinner.

The mom's got a wonderful girls night out to dinner and we found a great little store afterwards where we could sip some adult beverages and purchase some cool jewelry.

The dad's got their boys night out as well, altho our evening sounded alot more fun then theirs!

Our last day we drove down to Cape Hatteras to see the lighthouse. I climbed it--that was hard work, but really neat, it was actually tougher to come back down. The view was amazing.
After that we hit the beach down there, it was the perfect beach day and the perfect ending to a wonderful week.
Yes it was full of chaos and lots of children yelling "mommy". Cynthia actually wore a shirt one day that summed it up: "Who are all these children and why are they calling me mom?"

It was a great trip and the kids absolutely enjoyed themselves!

Saturday we headed back north in alot of traffic and stopped in Maryland for the long awaited, yet quickly planned nuptials of Jeff and Amy! Thankfully we arrived just in time. It was a beautiful and fun ceremony and a great party!!
CONGRATS Jeff and Amy!!! We are so happy for you guys, we can't wait to see what the next part of journey brings.....

So here are some pics from the trip and of course Maks famous flop! For the pics, just click on the family photo and then all the pics will be to the right of it.


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August 16, 2004

3 years ago today, in a court room in Kirov, Russia, Aleksandr Smith officially became our son. I remember how nervous we were, it was almost like we held our breaths through the entire 20 minute court hearing(little did we know how easy that court hearing was)! I remember when the judge walked back in to announce his decision, it was like a huge weight was lifted---6 years of trying to build our family and now it was real, we were parents!
I remember feeling shell shocked, it didn't seem completely real until hours later when they handed him to us on the train, closed the compartment door and we were all alone. He was just staring at us, wondering what just happened--thankfully we got him to giggle and smile at us, and then we fed him his first bottle. We thought, hey this is great, this is easy, well he proceeded to cry and scream the remainder of the overnight train ride back to Moscow--we were walking zombies by the time they dropped us at the hotel. But from then on, he was a dream, he went with the flow and stuck to us like glue and we never let go.
I can't believe it has been 3 years, where did the time go? To me, Alek is still that bald headed pale little 5 month old! Each day he makes us smile, he cracks us up with his comments and his silliness, he pushes us to the brink of insanity with his 3 year old defiance and then redeems himself with that sweet smile and goofy laugh. He amazed us on how well he did when Maks came home, he is a wonderful big brother and you can tell how much he loves Maks and how much he loves making him laugh. It is so fun to watch Maks try to imitate everything Alek does, you can tell how much Maks already looks up to his big bro. I love the phrases and comments Alek makes and the little stories he tells us while we are driving somewhere. I love that he is a loving and caring little boy and that he still lets his mommy snug and cuddle with him at night. I love how he sits down with books and reads them to us since he has all his favorites memorized. I love how he tries to imitate his daddy working with tools, working around the pond and playing baseball. I love how he just loves to have fun and how his eyes light up with each new experience.

It has been amazing 3 years as his parents, he is such a blessing, a joy and truly a miracle!

Happy Adoption Day Aleksandr!

We love you!!!!

How PC do we need to be?

I have been thinking about this alot lately. During the past couple months I have seen various discussions, articles and rants in the adoption world over proper and correct "adoption language" and I wonder, is it too much or is there something wrong with me when I don't see the harm in some words or phrases being used?



I will start with the word Birthmother. This is the word we use, not out of any major research or discussion, just because this is what fits our situation. But from what I have been reading, birthmother is not correct, it should be first mother or first family. So I guess I am not sure what is so un-pc about "birthmother"? Believe me, I am forever grateful to our boys birthmothers, they gave them life. But I have had a hard time thinking first family? They were never part of a family until us and they were never "mothered or parented" until us? They gave birth to them, so to me birthmother describes their role best. Not that I have a problem with the terminology, I guess I have a problem with people thinking I will harm my children because I am not using terms like "first". I am sure it is extremely different for people in other areas of adoption, like open or foster or older child, but for us and our situation it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me?



The phrase "gotcha day" which is the day your child is placed with you or the day court is finalized. I always thought it was cute, still kind of do, but apparently it is now a big NO NO since Gotcha is technically a term of posession.
On the annivesary of our court dates, we do use the phrase Happy Adoption Day, but when we actually had the boys in our arms for good, I did say, "Happy Gotcha Day, I gotcha buddy and I am never letting go!!" I guess I just think of it as something cute or fun, like when we are playing tag or hide and seek and I grab one of the boys and say, "I gotcha!!".

Another: The phrase, "Born in my Heart". I personally always thought this was sweet and endearing and I have said it to my boys quite a few times, especially with Alek as we re-tell his story. Right now he has no idea what "birth" actually means, whether it be in the physical, spiritual or emotional sense, so as we talk about his story, I tell him he grew in his birthmother's tummy and she gave birth to him and he was born in Russia. I have read the poem the states, "You didn't grow under my heart but in it". I am sure none of it makes much sense at age 3, given the fact he usually just repeats the story, (he loves the flying back in an airplane part the best), gives me a hug, and runs back off to play.

So I have to wonder, am I scaring my children for life by using these terms or phrases or is this making a mountain out of a molehill? I do find as adoptive parents we naturally tend to overthink and overanalyze every little thing--you can't help it, you just want to do what is best and what is right, but where should we draw the line, how PC do we really have to be when it comes to raising our kids? I think for now I rather spend time enjoying every little minute instead of overanalyzing everything I do or say. And I am sure if down the road one of my boys says to me that any of those terms or phrases bothers them, I would discuss it with them and never use it again, but we will cross that bridge if we get to it.

8 months home!

Cannot believe we are coming up on a one year since getting Maks' referral and next week will be 3 years since the first trip to meet Alek! It is just amazing how quickly time flies.

Maks had made such great strides in these past 8months. I think back to those first two months home and how hard sleep was and how much he fought everything. I can't imagine how stressed he was and how frightening it must have all been for him, between the new surroundings, new language, new foods and smells and then being hospitalized. He is one resilient kiddo, he truly amazes me.

One thing that has remained a constant is his love of food, he likes everything except green vegetables. He is known as the Hamburgler at school because he likes to take other kids lunch when they are not looking. He is truly a redhead with a fire in his belly, he is strong willed, knows how to push your buttons and then laugh at you while you are trying your best not to lose it!

He really has caught up so much, we are really proud of him! He is still lagging behind in speech and will be getting evaluated in the near future though.

Maks is totally into his big brother, loves to imitate him, follow him around and of course push his buttons, he truly knows how to get under Alek's skin, he has the role down pat!

They do have lots of fun together especially with their race cars and trucks and now with their new fort and swing set, although we have to remind Alek the fort is not all his as he closes the door and yells, "No Maxie babies allowed!"

The summer is flying by fast, we have been really busy but enjoying ourselves. Kevin and I managed to sneak away to Baltimore for an overnight leaving the boys in the capable hands of Pop and Noni at the beach. Though I am sure they napped for hours after we picked the boys up! Kevin and I had a great time in Baltimore, it was wonderful to get away and just enjoy ourselves and each other's company, it has been awhile!

We have some fun stuff coming up with Tifany and Kelsey visiting from California next week, then it is off to the beach with Jen and her girls and then our long awaited trip to the OuterBanks-7 kids, 6 adults--are we nuts or what?!?!?!

It has been a busy and amazing 8 months and we look forward to enjoying the rest of the summer with our family and friends!

Tales from the Porcelain Palace

Well it only took a year and half and quite a few set backs but Alek is now King of the Potty! No more Pull-ups here! He loves wearing his cool boxer briefs of Cars, Diego, Buzz or Thomas. We are so proud of him and he is so proud of himself, so now it it on to Maks! We have a feeling Maks will give us an even harder time, just for fun!

In other news, swim lessons are going great, Maks has become alot braver in the water from playing in the kiddie pool so much, he tries to immitate alot of what Alek does.
So last night was Maks' class with me. I walked in to find a new teacher, my immediate thought was a chuckle. Throw a scarf on her head and she looked like an orphanage worker in Kirov or Murmansk.
Class began, Maks was doing great, putting his face in, letting go of me a little, testing the limits of his bravery, it was really cool. She comes over to talk to Maks and cheer him on, he looked up at her and completely wigged out! He grabbed my neck, starting screaming and crying, burying his face in my chest, it was crazy--she didn't touch him or anything, just talked to him!
As soon as she walked away, he was fine and kept playing in the water. Again she came back over and again he wigged out!! So now I am wondering if he was thinking the same thing I did, how much she looked like one of the caretakers and if that is so, it was truly breaking my heart to see his reaction-I can't imagine what provoked it.
So I did my best to stay clear of her in the water the rest of class, and truthfully I think she did her best to stear clear of us!
Not sure what I will do next week, he was fine when she wasn't near us, so maybe another try?

Alek started his private lessons tonight, exactly what he needed. She worked his little butt off. He was kicking laps on the kickboard, swimming laps and he did great on his back, which he always fights me on. I was really proud of him, he loved it. I am so glad we made the switch, this will work out great!

Maks the Sumo wrestler!

Happy 4th!!

Tuesday was a fun day here as our new play/swingset arrived!! John at GreenTree Woodworks did a fabulous job, you can tell it is amazing Amish craftsmanship!
Kevin still needs to frame out around in and fill in the playground mulch and fill in the sandbox too.
Alek was so excited when he walked out back. As predicted he loved the fort best. Maks loves the slide the most and they both love the swings. I know there will be hours of entertainment out back for sure!
We had to pack up and head down to Grammom and Poppy's as the boys were spending the night there. They had lots of fun playing with the tool bench, trucks, having a catch and reading all the books--Grammom went a little nuts with the book club thing!
Kevin and I had a nice night out, we watched Will's game and they won! It was nice not having to chase little people around at the field. Then we hung out for some drinks and adult conversation.

The 4th was low key, we thought about heading to the parade to watch Keeley on her Captain America trike, but the boys needed naps after partying with the Grands.
Mike, C, Steve and the girls all came up for a BBQ and fun. The kids all enjoyed the swingset, well except for Ry, but she is still too little.

It was a nice day despite the rain, maybe next year we will attempt a fireworks display, but we were thinking Maks would be frightened.
So Happy 1st 4th of July Maks!! Check out the video below for Maks and his amazing slide!

I know the 4th for also extra special for alot of families currently in the process of adopting from Russia as the re-accreditations of agencies started and the first batch included our agency--so big CONGRATS!! Can't wait to hear about lots more referrals and congrats to Kristen and Chris on their referral and travel dates-can't wait to be stalking your blog again!!

Summer time fun

So far our summer has been fun, trip to the beach, playing in the sprinkler and pools, a couple parties, but it going by too fast already. I feel like there are not enough weekends left in the summer for all I want to do!

The boys started swim lessons recently. I got Alek approved to be up a class since technically with his age he should still be in with parent/child class. He is a good swimmer and of course is in constant motion, which does not bode well for a YMCA class, I should have known and remembered this given I taught Y swimming for 10 years! But I am a mom, I am supposed to sign them up for this stuff!

Well he is the child that annoys the teacher, he doesn't stay put on the wall, he goes under all the time, he flips, he jumps, definitely not a good situation. As I sat there Monday with a bright red face, the placed the lifeguard directly in front of Alek's group to keep an eye on him. I realized then, my big mistake. So hopefully I can get him in a private lesson for the remainder of the session or get my money back! they won't let me move him up to the next class which is his skill level because they are more focused on his age. Oh well. That's my little fish.

Then there is Maks. The first class he screamed, cried and whined throughout. I was wondering if I made a mistake, but I thought I better give it one more week.

This past week, no screaming, but holding onto me tight, whining, throughout the class part. Then they pulled out the toys, well he was putting his face in, reaching and pulling, kicking his feet, no tears at all. I am sure if we dangled a hoagie over the pull he would have swam the length of the pool! He definitely needs to have some sort of reward or incentive to participate. So at least I know now it isn't fear--I have him pegged!!

Today we went for some summer pics at the Picture People. It didn't go as well as the Easter pics. Maks was not cooperative at all, wasn't getting into it this time. Alek was not helping either, I was dripping sweat in the air conditioned studio and was wondering if I should have had a bloody mary or something before our morning appointment!

But we managed to get two cute pics out of it! Thankfully our next session won't be until the fall! Definitely have to space those out.

My own child

I can say that througout both our adoption journies and after we have been pretty lucky not to run into some of those comments or preconceived ideas about adoption, that make you want to cringe. For that I am thankful.

But every so often you do get one that catches you off guard, just like when we were going thru treatments for infertility. I became really good at firing back on some of those and holding my tongue when I knew I was fighting a losing battle.



I was speaking with a woman who was trying hard to have a baby, they had gone thru the initial testing and some basic treatments, I nodded in both empathy and sympathy and shared what treatments we had undergone and our 5 year journey thru the world of reproductive medicine.

She asked why we stopped, why didn't we keep trying. My answer as it has always been, it was more important for us to be parents than be pregnant. Simple truth. She nodded in what I thought was agreement and then the zinger...

"I don't know, I would just really want my own child".

Deep breaths, Kris, after all most comments are made due to lack of understanding or knowledge on a subject.

So I calmly responded, I assume by "your own child" you mean biology? (Hoping I was giving her the out), but.. She said, well yes, I guess, but I just don't think I could raise someone else's child.

Hmmmm, ok. I am not raising someone else's child, I am raising my own children. No I didn't give birth to them, no there is no biology between us. But these boys are my son's, there is no connection more tighter or no bond more stronger and no love more deeper than what I feel for them. They are my life, I listen for their breaths as they sleep, they are the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last as I fall asleep. I don't remember much of life before them and I can't picture any part of my future without them in it.
I feed them, hug them, shower them with kisses, I help dry tears and kiss boo-boo's and make sure all the monster's are in the trash before bed. My eyes fill with tears when I hear "mama", and "mommy I love you" or the newest, "mommy you are my princess".
I will try to fill in the blanks of their past, I help make their todays happy, safe and fun, and I help to plan and shape their futures.
I am not sure how much more of "my own" they can be because I can't imagine ever feeling like this if I gave birth. I am the mom, yes they both have birth mother's and I am forever grateful to them, they chose to give them life and we chose to help that life be all it can be.

Well I was so proud of my response (not as detailed as above, but I hit the big points), she looked at me blankly and said, that is an interesting way to look at, "bye and have a nice day".

Ok, so I tried, adoption is definitely not for everyone, but it would be nice to not have people truly believe I am raising someone else's child and for them to understand that I am the real mom!

Maks' Baptism Day

Sunday Maks was finally baptized. It took awhile to nail a date down, but the day finally arrived. Maks looked very dapper in his outfit, actually he looked like he was ready to hit the courts at Wimbolden!

Maks was fiesty and noisey the first 15 minutes if church, I believe Pastor Dave said that Maks was announcing his presence to the congregation.
We did our best to contain him in the pew (it was a good reminder of why he normally heads to the nursery on Sundays!). Aside from tossing his sippy cup over the pew, shredding some offertory envelopes and standing on a Hymnal, he wasn't too bad!

It was time for his Baptism and we stood up with Maks' godparents, Joanne and Mike, Maks was still being vocal at this point as well and squirming back and forth from Kevin to myself. Then Pastor Dave cradled him in his arms for the actual baptism, Maks looked completely freaked and I was bracing for the hysterics, but they never came. He was blessed with the water and seemed to get a bit mellow as the Pastor Dave walked him around so the congregation could meet the newest member. It was funny to see. Then the children who sat up front presented us with the baptismal certificate and a flower, it was very sweet.
We sat back down and Maks started back up with his antics again. Thankfully Pop walked him around thru the church and outside until the service was over!

We had a nice party back at the house despite the heat and humidity, the food was great, the kids had fun with the sprinkler ball, it was a very nice day!

Later that night I called my grammom to see if she enjoyed herself. She told me she was moved to tears when Maks was blessed with the water and he seemed to settle down and get very quiet--she said she truly felt it was the hand of God on him, because we had prayed hard to get him home and get him healthy, she felt it was God acknowledging all was ok. That really struck me, because my grammom doesn't usually speak that deep about things and events and now looking back I do have to agree with what she said. What beautiful sentiment to end a beautiful day.

Happy Father's Day (a little bit early)

I wanted to make sure I got in a Father's day post before craziness of this weekend kicks in. We have a family wedding on Saturday and then Sunday Maks is being christened which is followed up by a party at our house.
So I did not want to forget to post about the #1 Father around these parts!! Or as Alek likes to call him, Papa Bear!

Kevin is such a great dad and I feel bad I probably don't tell him that enough, but all you have to do is see how excited and happy the boys are when he is around, to know how special he is. Everyday when I pick Alek up the first thing he asks is if he can go home and play baseball with daddy. He loves his nigthly batting practice with daddy. He also loves their weekend trips to the big boy store (aka Lowes) or down to daddy's work with a pit stop at Dunkin donuts for coffee and a donut.
Maks lights up like a firefly when he sees Kevin, he was stuck to Kevin since day 1, he loves sitting on daddy's lap chuggin his milk and watching baseball, he loves climbing on daddy, chasing after the balls daddy throws and pretty soon he may just be eating daddy under the table.

So Happy Father's Day Kevin--you are truly an amazing and wonderful dad!!

Hitting the beach

We had our first beach weekend this summer and Maks' first time at the beach. We headed to Delaware with LaLa and Jakey. We had a great day on the beach on Saturday, Maks really liked the sand and thankfully didn't eat it and even Alek didn't munch on it like last year. The water was a bit rough and wavy for the bay and still chilly, so we were not in there and Maks wanted no parts of even getting close to it!
Alek and Jake had a good time playing and digging in the sand and Alek loved collecting stones in his bucket--I couldn't believe how long that entertained him for.
We headed to the boardwalk and rides that night and the boys had a lot of fun. Maks was tentative about the rides but seemed to enjoy the firetruck, he may have even cracked a smile on it. It's funny, he has become such a climber and daredevil in that regards, but for anything else he is really cautious and tentative.
He did love sitting on porch with LaLa and watching the birds fly by, he got really excited each time he saw one.
Sunday we drove to Pop and Noni's beach house for lunch and then took a walk on the beach. Jake found some really cool conch shells and Alek and Maks loved throwing stones in the water.
It was a nice weekend and I can't wait to head back down.
yesterday I signed the boys up for swim lessons. This will be Alek's first time without me, I am sure he will do great. Maks and I will be doing the mom and me class, I am sure he will be pretty scared at first, but hopefully he settles in and enjoys it.

Maks

6 months home

May 20th marked Maks 6 month anniversary with us! We had our post placement report for him which went well. He really has changed alot since coming home. He has done alot of catching up, he has grown 2 inches and gained 4 pounds, he still remains our little tank though, short and stocky! His health has been really good since those early days home and his asthma has been under pretty good control.

He loves playing race trucks with his big brother, he loves throwing a ball and loves running now. His leg turns out a bit while walking and running, so we have a PT appt set up for next week.

His favorite thing though is the rocking horse, he could ride that all day--might have ourselves a little cowboy in the making?

It has been fun watching the change in the interaction with Maks and Alek and how much they can play together now, Maks tries to do whatever Alek is doing and take whatever toy Alek has, so a few little heated battles have arised over a truck or train!



While he definitely still remains a daddy's boy, he now really likes mommy alot as well--our attachment and bonding have taken off in the past couple months and now he doesn't automatically run to daddy whenever he sees him.

His speech is slowly coming along, not a lot whole lot of new words or noises but we are working on it. He does say mama very frequently now so that makes me happy!

One thing that hasn't changed at all is his appetite, the boy loves his food!

I was thinking that right around this time last year, we were changing up our dossier from requesting a girl to either gender.

So happy 6 months Maks, what an amazing half year it has been!!

Check out the quick slide show above of Maks' 6 months home!!

Holiday weekend fun!

Work has been so crazy lately, I have been completely fried--so I was extremely thankful for the long holiday weekend with no plans except for Memorial day-what a great feeling!!
We became members of the Philly zoo this year, so saturday morning we headed down to visit the animals. It was fun, although hot, Kevin swears everytime he is at a zoo it is stinkin hot!
Alek LOVES the elephants, he says they are his friends! Sadly the elephants are only at the zoo until fall and then they will be moving.
The lions and tigers were pretty boring and pretty much hiding. But the polar bears made up for that, Alek loved watching them swim and play around with a beach ball.
Maks definitely wasn't impressed with the zoo, he wanted to eat or walk on his own and NOT hold our hands, so some temper tantrums ensued.
Alek is in the lovely 3 year old stage now, I am not sure why people say terrible twos, because twos has been a breeze compared to the 2 months he has been 3. ATTITUDE, talking back, selective hearing, just to name a few (though I am beginning to think that this is the developmental age many men stop at, especially the selective hearing!).
He really has been pushing us to the limit, so we have been trying to find new and creative ways of discipline, since the time-out no longer works.
Just when I am wondering where my sweet little boy went, he will come up and give me a bug hug and say, "I love you to the moon and back".

The other night, he had me cracking up at 2am. Maks was very restless due to an albuterol treatment and was kicking the crib and growling in his sleep. Alek, half awake starts yelling for me, and crying, I get in there and he grabs me and says, "mommy theres a bear in my room". I said don't worry it is only your brother. It was so cute and funny!

Maks and Alek are playing alot together these days, the favorite game is trucks, they push them all around the kitchen and into the playroom, it is really loud, but so cute. They also enjoy the little baby pool together--it will be so cute when they can really start talking to each other.

Memorial Day, Maks saw his first parade and really loved it. He sat and watched and ate. He loved the fire trucks and the music. Alek had a blast playing with his cousins.
It was nice day, albeit a bit long for them, they were wiped out Monday night for sure!!

So summer here we come, can't wait for Maks' first time on the beach next weekend! I wonder if he will be a sand eater like Alek was?

Here is the link for some fun new pics:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZuWbdu1bNmjI

Memorial Day

"Greater love has no one than this,than to lay down his life for his friends."~John 15:13~

God Bless all those who have laid down their lives for our country.