Wiggle Wiggle

Anna has been teaching Kristina some dance moves. To have Kristina demonstrate said moves, you only need to say "Wiggle Wiggle" and she'll show you! Enjoy!

Beans in the pot

My friend, Angie, gave me the idea to have a pot and when my kids do something nice, they can throw a bean in the pot. When all the beans are in the pot - we do something fun as a family. I think that navy beans are too small - I will go with something BIGGER next time!



Here is Anna modeling the beans in the pot. Isn't she lovely?



We decided to have a "pizza picnic" while watching MULAN. It was really fun!

Do you have any fun ways to motivate your children to do nice things? Do share!

Snuggle-bugging

Tonight I rocked Keith for a little longer before bedtime. Last night he started fussing/crying a lot when I put him down - which isn't normal for him - so tonight I thought that I would spend a bit more time with him. I am glad that I did. He actually studied my face and looked at me. When I smiled, he smiled back. When I giggled, he giggled, too. I think that Keith is making some real progress in the attachment area. Can I just say that I love this little guy?

Scenario #1 results

Ummm, so, yeah. We finally were able to take Anna in to the ER tonight (we've had snowstorms this week) and the official diagnosis: Anna has a contusion on her heel. They gave her this little boot thing and some crutches. I've been advised to give her tylenol for pain and that she should be completely better in 2-3 weeks. I feel awful for having doubted Anna in her complaints of pain. I'll do better next time!

What would you do?

Scenario #1:
You're at the YMCA. Your daughter, Anna, is playing "gymnastics" in the tunnel room (room with tunnels and slides for kids). Suddenly she falls down and is shrieking that her foot hurts. She has that "I'm REALLY hurt" cry - the one that makes you move faster than you knew possible. I carry her over to the seats and ascertain for any damages - that a non-doctor can see, anyhow. You comfort her and call your husband asking him to come and perhaps take her to the doctor. During the 30 minute wait, you start wondering how "hurt" she is - there aren't any bruises or swelling or any indication of anything wrong. Hmmm. You finally figure out that while there was initial pain in her foot - she is 99% okay at this point, but she is hamming it up for all the attention - something she's been doing since we adopted the twins. What do you do? Do you play along? Do you call her on it? What would you do?

Scenario #2. This coming summer there is a BIG family reunion in June. There is also a potential temple sealing (for my brother Evan & Shelbee) in July or August. PLUS - we're going to be going to OK for Christmas in December. And then today my husband announces a free 3 day trip (his flight + hotel room) in Key West, FL, in April for his work. With our finances being tight already, we have planned to go to OK in December - but what about these other trips? What would your priorities be? I, of course, want to go to ALL the activities this year - but when you're poor, what do you choose? I'd love to see all my extended family and introduce our new twins to them. I'd love to see my brother marry his sweetheart in the Temple. I'd also like to spend some alone time with my eternal companion in FL. What would you do?

Time away

We left Keith & Kristina with a babysitter this past week. I am pleased to say that it went really well! Tyler & I went to the Temple. We left at 5:30pm and our fabulous friend, Valene, watched them until she put them to bed at 7pm. She said it went really well. The kids woke up the next morning and were happy as little clams. I am encouraged by this! Not to get too excited by this past success, but there is a possible trip for my husband to Key West, FL, in April. It would be 3 days there. Part of me says it's too early since we adopted the twins to leave them for more than a couple of hours, but another part of me says that with all the stress of the past few months - Tyler & I could use some one-on-one time. I recognize that we will make our own decision ultimately, but I would like to hear your thoughts. So, speak up!

2009: The year of the OX

Happy Chinese New Year! "Xin Nian Kuai Le!" If you like Jackie Chan or like to eat Chinese food - then it's time to celebrate it! Today we invited over some friends and wore red (the official Chinese color), ate Chinese food, listened to Chinese music, watched Mulan (the kids did), and played games. It was great! My husband, Tyler, served his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Taiwan from 1998 to 2000. I love to hear him speak in mandarin chinese. I even took a year of mandarin in college, myself! Ni hao ma? Here are some pictures from tonight:


This is the second year for Valene & Marie to join us. Valene's husband, Trent, served his mission in Taiwan, too! Unfortunately, he was out of town today. Ben & Sarah and their kids joined us, too. Happy New Year, Chinese-style!

Temple Trip

Nicole & Jon invited Tyler & I to go with them to the Temple in Columbus, OH, last night. We were able to do some temple work for Jon's Grandfather. It was a very special experience and we're so grateful to have been a part of it. A big thanks to Valene for watching our children so we could go to the Temple. I hadn't been since last September and I literally cried during my time in the Temple - I had missed it so much.

I am happy to say that Nicole & I both share the sentiment that coats and jackets aren't really necessary. If you're going to be outside for less than 30 seconds - why bring a coat?!? I feel very validated by this commonality that we share. :o)

After the Temple we drove to Outback Steakhouse for a scrumptious dinner!

Thanks for an excellent evening - let's do it again, soon!!! :o)

Catch-all post

This is my mountain of laundry. 90% of it is currently put away. Who would have thought that 5 people could dirty this many clothes in one week's time. Amazing.


One moment Keith was here...


A few seconds later he was halfway up the stairs...he can now crawl up the stairs. I know. Wow. There's a video below of him doing it. It's amazing.

I snapped this photo of Anna & Kristina the other night - isn't it sweet? You can't see it, but Anna's right arm is around Kristina. Say it with me: "AWWW!"

Kristina enjoying her scooter:

Keith crawling up the stairs:


Kristina showing some gymnastics moves. In related news, both Anna & Kristina started gymnastics today. Kristina is olympic material, people. She's tiny, she's strong, she's Ukrainian. What more does she need? (besides years and years of training, of course).

Say it with me

Fact: when your awesome friend has a BIRTHDAY and invites you to eat at Texas Roadhouse, say YES!!!


Happy Birthday Sarah! Thanks for being such an amazing friend!


Sarah & Ben

Ben, Sarah, Jill, & Tyler at Texas Roadhouse. It was way fun! Thanks for inviting us, Sarah!

Let's review this friendship, shall we? Sarah moved in the ward this past summer. We try to have new families over for dinner so we invited them over one day. We instantly clicked (I thought she was WAY out of my friendship realm: her cute hair, nice way of dress, un-sarcastic personality...which I'm working on, by the way) and we've been hanging out since then. Here are some pictures to recap:

Sarah is an amazing person. You can't help but smile when you're around her. She doesn't judge others - in fact, she loves everyone she meets. She encourages you and lifts you up when you're feeling down. She has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ which emulates from her. And she gives great hugs, too. If you haven't gotten to know Sarah yet - I encourage you to do so. She's wonderful. :o) (did I embarrass you enough, Sarah?)

Therapy sessions continued

Today we took Kristina to her OT assessment. She was already overstimulated just being in the waiting room. *sigh* The occupational therapist said that Kristina qualifies for OT. She also said that she has quite a few strengths in her OT, which was good to hear. (that's my girl!) By the time the assessment was over, Kristina was kicking and screaming. Nice.

This past Tuesday we met with our Attachment Therapist. She said that there are certain attributes or qualities of emotional development which children typically get from a primary caregiver during the first few years of life. This emotional development is the foundation for future learning and relationships. Kristina has as much or more of these qualities than any other child that our therapist has worked with during her many years of therapy. Pretty amazing, eh? She says that Kristina is already making HUGE progress! She has given the green light for us to begin some pre-school activities for Kristina. We are going to have some pre-school teachers come to our home and work with Kristina. I am excited about all the progress that she will be making in the next few months.

After some observation from our attachment therapist and from our reports on Keith, the therapist said that it is clear that Keith was both neglected in the orphanage and physically abused. Whenever we pull Keith away from something he shouldn't be playing with (something that would hurt him, etc) he will throw himself on the floor and begin slapping his face with his hand. Of course this behavior concerns us. The therapist said that children are not born with this type of self-abuse, they learn it from others. I'm guessing that in the orphanage when Keith was perhaps crying or doing something that the workers didn't like - they would slap him. Very, very sad. :o( It makes me want to snuggle him all the more - something I don't have to be forced to do, let me tell you! He is QUITE the snugglebug! :o)

Chronic bad mood

I really need to hear from all of you out there who have adopted a child (or children) AFTER you have had a biological child. Anna is struggling. Everyday she says that she is "having a hard time". Every. Single. Day. Her constant whining and complaining and rebelling and drama is wearing us down when we're already worn down with all the changes going on in our home.

We've tried showing her extra attention, we've tried to be very positive around her and help her feel special - giving her "big girl" opportunities, etc. We've tried discipline. I think that Anna is jealous of our attention to Kristina (naturally) but she will try to get her in trouble saying that Kristina hit her, etc...but neither Tyler nor I am ever around to see this behavior. We don't know if it's happening or not and that is frustrating.

I hadn't anticipated that Anna would be having such a hard time. I'd like to know if you've experienced this and WHAT YOU DID TO HELP IT GO AWAY!!!!!!!!

1 year ago...

In January 2008, my new friend, Charissa, adopted her adorable daughter, Ava, in Artemovsk, Ukraine. While she was there she took these pictures of my son, Keith.

Can you see Keith reaching for Ava's hat strings? That's SO like Keith, who loves playing with his cords. ;o) Now, contrast these pictures with more recent ones. I can already see a difference! Plus, he's gained two pounds already! Woo-hoo! If nothing else - look at how happy he is now! :o)

My friend, Carrie, sent this shirt for Keith. If you can't see it very clearly, it says: "My dad is my hero." This seems to fit in so many ways. Thanks for the shirt, Carrie!

Friendship never dies

One thing that I like about myself is that I am a loyal friend. I have been known to meet someone on an airplane, exchange information and still keep in contact 5 years later. I met Melisa 8 years ago in Oklahoma and we still stay in contact to this day. This past weekend we drove up and spent time with her family. We played Settlers of Catan & Ticket to Ride while the kids played wii. A great time was had by all. Enjoy the pictures:

Anna, Jaden, Daven, & Kristina playing wii.

Anna & Kristina in their Sunday dresses.

Melisa & I outside in the marvelous snow and inside playing Settlers of Catan. (what else?)

All the kids together - aren't they adorable?

As for politics - today is history in the making. This post seems to reflect my feelings on the subject of Barack Obama becoming president. Enough said.

And for the upcoming Valentine's Day - enjoy this quiz.

Random things

When we went to Keith's first feeding specialist appointment, she said that Keith doesn't use his lips to eat. Since then I've been very focused on trying to touch Keith's lips a lot - kissing them, rubbing the, etc. Well, I think it's paying off. He isn't using them to eat with (yet) but he IS giving kisses! He tightens his lips and leans towards yours. PROGRESS!

We are working with Kristina on potty training. Yes, she was potty trained when we adopted her. Yes, it was dumb to put her back in diapers because I read somewhere that I should. Yes, it's frustrating to re-potty train a girl that I can't communicate with to tell her to tell me when she needs to go potty. *sigh* But, we found out that for her rewards she does like to eat DOTS.

Can you guess who doesn't like group photos?

I know it's early, but...

What will you do to celebrate VALENTINE'S DAY?

And Tyler, if you're reading this, Valentine's Day is February 14th.

Family Resolutions 2009

It's still bizarre to write (or in this case, type) 2009! Am I alone on this? Wow. I feel like the 1990's were just a few months ago...anyhow, tonight for FHE (family home evening - an evening that our family spends together without distractions) we wrote out two resolutions for our family this year:

• Have family prayer in the morning and evening every day
• Have FHE every week

Here are some photos from tonight:

Sunday Dress

Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints means that when I was young we always dressed up every Sunday for church. It was just "how things were" and that's "how things are" now. Here is Kristina:

And Keith:

And Anna:

Since November we've been going to church for just Sacrament meeting and then usually I would take Keith & Kristina home afterwards - since church is overstimulating for them. Today we thought we might stay a bit longer - until Kristina's meltdown halfway through the meeting. We found someone to bring Anna home so she could stay in Primary and we brought them both home - FYI we're down to just one car right now - and I am glad that we made that choice. Within 10 minutes of being home - both children had diaper blowouts. I don't want to imagine having to deal with that 10 minutes away from our bathtub at home. Tyler took a picture of Kristina's blowout - but I'll save you that mental image, much to your gratitute, I'm sure.

Meet Jasper

So one of the items on Anna's list for Santa Claus was a cat. Yikes. I grew up with persian cats, but Tyler? Well, let's just say that he loathes felines. Tyler mentioned that while I was in Ukraine he was teaching Anna about prayer. He said that you should think of something that you want and pray about it. Immediately afterward, Anna prayed and asked for a cat. Tyler was surprised, to say the least. Well, the prayer worked because my husband's heart has been softened to allowing a CAT into our home. "Santa" brought Jasper on Christmas Eve. And there was much rejoicing by Anna in the morning! Here are some pictures:

Jasper is 16 weeks old. He seems big to me for that age.

Maggie got her hair and nails done - isn't she cute with her two red bows?

I think that Maggie & Jasper are going to be good friends. Currently they are sleeping side by side on the bed. What do you think of our new addition?

8 Wonderful Years later...

Happy Anniversary to my fabulous husband, Tyler, & me! We were married on January 6th, 2001. Here are some pictures of that wonderful day where it all began:

Outside the Oklahoma City Temple, where we were married for "Time and for All Eternity".

Okay, so while we were cutting the wedding cake, I thought the knife was on top of one of the cake tiers (the flat pieces of plastic that holds up the pillars to hold up the cake layers...am I making sense here?) and I was suddenly worried that our wedding cake was going to fall on us! The photographer caught my expression of fear perfectly. How many people have a picture like this in their album? Thankfully the cake didn't fall. :o)

To this day, Tyler still says that this is his favorite picture of me. His says that my smile is so beautiful here.

Ah, youth. It was a very happy day for me and now, 8 years later, I am the happiest of women. I am married to the most patient (with me), intelligent, thoughtful, affectionate, and loving husband in the world. He knows me better than I know myself and he loves me more than I love myself. He is the perfect companion for me. I love you, Tyler!

And just so you can see how well we are ageing, here are some pictures taken on our anniversary this year:

This year we went to a local Italian restaurant and then played Caylus - my gift to Tyler for Christmas. We decided that on our anniversary we would buy something for both of us. I found a shiatsu massage chair that was on clearance for $40! Then when the cashier scanned it - it came up for $20! Woo-hoo! And for dessert we ate this:

When I knew Tyler back in college at Oklahoma State University, he commented on how something I was eating looked like baklava. When I didn't know what baklava was - he promptly went out and bought it for me that week. We should have known then that it was love! :o)

Anna's birthday party pics!

The Balloon Fairy comes to our house every year. She leaves balloons in the bedrooms of children the night before their birthday. Anna LOVES the Balloon Fairy!




13 girls (ages 4-7) + pizza + cupcakes + ice cream + piñata + piñata candy + presents + sleepover = 13 giddy girls, two tired parents and one very happy birthday girl! A big THANKS to Marlene for introducing me to Picasa to do photo collages!



The party was Barbie themed. I found some barbie word games on eBay and there were a huge hit and were SO cheap!



I also found this piñata on eBay. This is always a huge hit with the kids, I've noticed. Perhaps it's all the candy that falls out of it? A huge THANK YOU to my husband, Tyler, and to my friend, Sarah, for helping to make this party a success!!!

Here's my beautiful birthday girl! Isn't she gorgeous? (Thanks for the dress, Carrie!)

And there was much rejoicing: presents galore! Thank you, thank you to all family & friends who made this day special for my Anna Belle!

It's hard to believe that my baby girl is 7 years old. She is growing into a lovely, intelligent, talented young lady. She enjoys school and does quite well in math. She can sing on pitch and enjoys music and dancing. She is the best player on her co-ed t-ball team and is already looking forward to next summer to play again! She LOVES playing the wii with her Daddy and sister, Kristina. Her latest craze is playing with Barbies. I played with them when I was young and I enjoy seeing her creativity come alive with her new dolls. She is an excellent big sister to Kristina (who is Anna's shadow) and to Keith. Her request for snuggles cannot be denied and her hugs and kisses help me realize what an amazing opportunity I have to be Anna's mama. I sure love this baby girl!