Has It Been Another Year Already?!?!

Wow!!  It's hard to believe (once again) that it has been another year since I posted on this blog. Yesterday (12/12/14), we celebrated Alex's 2-yr "Forever Family" Anniversary.

I really can't say that a lot happened this past year in our family and with Alex.  We had an extremely cold and snowy last winter season, so we had lots of snow days and a fair amount of snowy fun.  Some of the temperatures were brutally cold, so it wasn't all fun and games.  We also went to an indoor waterpark in the Dells over Christmas Break.  And, true to form, the roads were mostly bad going up and almost all bad on the way home because of high winds,blowing snow, and the cold temps.  We also celebrated the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in February 2014.  Beyond all of this, Lydia began 5th grade, Maddie began 1st grade, and Alex started Pre-School (K3) in the fall.  All seem to be enjoying school and doing well overall.

Also this past year in April, our adoption agency in Pennsylvania (Adopt-A-Child) that coordinated our Russian adoption, closed its doors.  We were sad to hear this, but we understood the decision. They dealt almost exclusively with Russian adoption and when Russia closed the doors to U.S. adoptions nearly 2-years ago, it left them and many agencies scrambling.  With US/Russia relations being what they are, there certainly doesn't seem to be any relief in the coming future, but time will tell.  Our hearts and prayers are certainly with the many people we met while in Russia, as well as with the children in Russia orphanages who are still longing to find their forever families.

All this being said, we just recently sent our 2-year report to Russia and, as you can see in the pics below, we are enjoying life together as a family.  Enjoy the pics!!

Christmas Cookie Bake with the Cousins - 2013

Alex's 3rd Birthday - 02/2014

Celebrating the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia - 02/2014

Winter Fun

Easter 2014

Alex - Easter 2014

July 4, 2014

Vacationing in Michigan - In front of Big Red, Holland State Park - Holland, MI

Enjoying Oval Beach, Saugatuck, MI

First Day of Preschool - Sept 2014

Halloween 2014 - Elsa, Anna, and Olaf (For those that don't know - Disney "Frozen" Characters)

Fall Family Pic 2014

2-year "Forever Family" Anniversary: (L-R) 12/12/12, 12/12/13, and 12/12/14.
(The first picture was taken in the hotel elevator at the StayBridge Suites in St. Petersburg Russia... Alex had never been in an elevator before that we are aware of and it shows!!  Also, the shirt and the pants are the same in every picture)

Time Flies!!!

Well, as seems to be a pattern, I am updating the blog now that we have completed our most recent home visit.  A few weeks ago, we had our "annual" visit... although it has not quite been a year since Alex has been in the U.S.  However, Nov 9 marked our one-year anniversary of completing court in Russia, which is technically when we were named as Alex's parents.

It's difficult in a paragraph or even an entire blog entry to summarize a year.  Reminds me of the song from Rent ... you know, Seasons of Love - "525,600 minutes... how do you measure, measure a year?"  There have been many times that we have looked back at pictures from when we were in Russia with Alex, and we are always in awe at how much he has grown and changed in this past year.  The year has not been without it's trials and "lessons-learned"; there have been many "ah-ha" moments, as well as many "DOH!" moments!  We have had a fair helping of fits and tears, but also an equally generous portion of hugs and kisses.  And, of course, he has not been the only one changing... the girls (Lydia - 8 and Maddie - 6) have changed equally... they are getting SO big as well.  Both are in school now and loving it, which is nice for Alex as it gives him a lot of one-on-one time with mommy.

Well, enough rambling, here is the most recent set of pics.  Again, they are only a sampling... we have to provide Russia with 12-pics since the last report (in May).  It is always difficult to narrow the pics down to just 12 when he has experienced so many new things in the past year.  Now, our next visit is in a year... I can only imagine how hard it will be to narrow down a year's worth of pictures to 12!!

Enjoy!

Relaxing on the 4th of July at Me-maw and PaPaw's House

Waiting to go on a boat ride while on Summer vacation (Lake Geneva area)

Enjoying a Farm park with Sisters

Riding a dinosaur with my Sisters

Riding a "tractor" at the IL State Fair

Relaxin' with Daddy

Posing for a pic while out at a local park with Mommy (on the Swinging Bridge)

With the whole family (Grampp-side) before Grandma and Grandpa left for Florida

SWIMMING!

Ready to Trick-or-Treat

An Afternoon at Jones Country Gardens

Enjoying the fall Leaves while hiking at the local trail park (Humiston Woods)

5 Months ... A Look Back and Forward

I know it has been right near 2-months since my last post.  And, since Alex has now been home for 5-months and his most recent report was sent off to our agency, I figured this was as good a time as any to update where we are at...

Overall, Alex has been doing great!  He speaks English pretty well ... for a 2-year old, and he understands English very well as well, although he sometimes like to let us think he doesn't. :-)  He loves to run and play and loves to be outdoors.  He is A LOT of 2-yr old boy, but he is fitting right in to our family.

Looking back at the many pictures we have from our time in Russia, it is SO easy to see how much Alex has already grown!

Before I post all of our recent photos, I thought I would take a moment to give an update on some of the happenings with our agency and Russia.  We received word today from a contact at our agency that, as they had dealt exclusively with Russian adoptions, they had to lay off nearly all their employees.  For those who haven't stayed connected with some of the International happenings, Russia banned the adoption of their children by US citizens as of Jan 1, 2013.  Despite having completed court, _many_ parents are still waiting to bring their children home, and any progress towards a resolution seems to be painfully slow (at best).  So, we are sad for all of the people we have been privileged to get to know at our agency (even if only via phone and email) that have had their worlds and livelihoods turned upside-down, as well as the wonderful people we met in Russia, and most of all the children over there in the orphanages who are just ... ... well, stuck!

So, all that being said, here are the most recent photos that we sent to Russia to show some of the events and life with Alex over the past several months, as well as a few extras!  Enjoy!!

Ready for My Birthday party

Enjoying My Own Personal Birthday Cake

Hanging with My Sisters and Frosty

Getting a Wagon Ride from Lydia

Playing in the Sandbox

Fun with Sisters

Dying Easter Eggs

Our 2013 Family Easter Photo

 

Getting to Feed a Nearly-newborn Lamb at Mr. Bob's

Playing with a Baby Goat at Thorson Farms

All Smiles for the Camera

After Child Dedication at Church on 5/12/2013 (Mother's Day)
with Our Friends Colin and Anshu Duncan ...
and no, the color coordination was NOT planned!  :-)

Summer Sprinkler Fun ... Ya-hoo! ... But hose water only comes in "cold"!!  :-)

Eating "Hi-Heam" (Ice Cream) ... well, mostly eating!

! Party Pics !

I know I am late on this, but I wanted to share some photos from Alex's 2nd B-Day party a few weeks ago.  He had a great time, but we're pretty sure he didn't quite "get it" all.  We really have no idea how much of a "hoop-pla" was given for the kids on their birthdays in the orphanage, but given an ever-present need for funding and the challenge of providing care to about 100 kids, we're pretty confident that it wasn't too extensive.  So, that being said, although it was just a bit of family, I'm sure it was quite "the bash" to him and was sure awful special to us!

Enjoy the pics!! :-)

Decked out ... Woody (Toy Story) in hand and new Froggie  rain boots!  Oh yeah!!

Checking out his Doggie B-Day cake ... he needed a bit of assist from sisters and cousins to blow out the candles.

Smash cake ... a brief interlude to inform us all that he is 2 (he uses his thumb and pointer finger)

 

The Big 0-2!!

Alex turned 2 just a week ago today.  So, Leslie took Alex to Bloomington to have his 2-year pictures taken.  We had purchased a "traditional" Russian shirt when we were in St. Petersburg on our second to last trip (after court).  When we tried the shirt on him on his birthday, we could barely get it over his head... and that was after some last minute "alterations".  So, we decided we had better get his picture take SOON!  SO, here it is.  Hope you all enjoy!

Has It Really Been Over 2-Months?!?!

As of yesterday, Alex has been a U.S. Citizen for 9-weeks.  The culmination of those 9-weeks is that Alex has been and continues to do wonderful!  The days have not been without their challenges at times, but he has developed and adjusted in leaps-and-bounds from where we started 10 1/2 weeks ago (when we actually took custody in Russia... cold, dreary, dark Russia!!).  He has all kinds of English words and phrases now... "more, please, up, down, rock, ball, mama, dadda, book, milk, no, yes", to name just a few ... As well as any many combination of these words... "milk please", "mama up", etc.  He does babble in Russian at times during play...we think.  It's sometimes hard to tell...  Many institutionalized children will have their own vocabulary/language that they learn amongst themselves.  We learned that he may have some of these words when we were in Russia and he would repeat a word over and over... when we asked our driver what it meant, he noted it was just babble, but it was quite obvious to us that it meant something to Alex.  Alex also now responds when we call his name... we no longer have to call to him with his Russian name.... Ie: he knows his name is "Alex" now!

Our first post-adoption report is due to Russia in a few short weeks.  One of the requirements has to compile a group of pictures that show Alex and our family life since he has come home to us.  I thought it would be a great update to share those pictures here on our blog as well.

So, enjoy the pictures that document just some of the events and new experiences Alex has had in his short 9-weeks in the U.S.

Our Family - Christmas Morning.  This was just 4 days after he came home... this was NOT an easy shot to get!

Christmas Morning

Rollin' on my new Big Wheel

 

Taking advantage of a nice weather day to enjoy the swing set

 

First Trip to a Zoo ... he REALLY enjoyed it!

 

Playing with the neighbors ... Alex was cruisin'.

Reading a book with Maddie

Sledding with Lydia and Maddie on the little bit of snow we have had

First Haircut ... well, in the U.S.!!

Fingerpainting

Working on puzzles with Lydia and Maddie

Let's . Get . Ready . To . Rumble!! ... Ready for Football!!!