In July, we visited our friends in St. Louis... Christy adopted Katie (Aunt Cindy is holding Katie) and Jeana adopted Alivia. We are all single moms and our daughters were born in the Tver region, seven weeks apart. We've attended the Children's Hope Reunion in July 2007 and July 2008. Soon, I'll post pics of our trip to the Caribbean.

The following pictures are from October 2007, when Grace was 26 months old. She can really ham it up for the camera! The photographer placed her hand in a certain spot and Grace held the pose as instructed! I wish she would do that for me!

I apologize for not blogging, but motherhood takes a lot of time! These pictures are from our first photo shoot in March 2007, when Grace was 19 months old. Isn't she sweet? She enjoyed herself at the time, but didn't give us big, wide smiles until later. In March, we had only been together a month and I was still the "most familiar stranger". I'm pretty sure that I'm "Mom" now... more pics coming soon!

One of the best things about bringing Grace home is having all of my friends and family come and visit. Below, my golf-buddy Laure is playing with Grace. And even better... Laure brought dinner with her! Lynn, Laure's mom, and Melissa, another golf-buddy also visited that day.

Grace likes even the simplest toys. We had a lot of fun with a brown paper grocery bag!

Here's a shout out to my fellow adoptive mom - Christy! Can't wait for you to bring Katie home! Congratulations on becoming a mom! Katie is beautiful and you two look so happy! It truly is a wonderful journey. Grace and I are still learning from each other every day. God bless!

Grace and I visited her cousin Noah and her Grandpa Piper last weekend. Everyone had a really good time! Thank you Uncle Greg, Aunt Krista and cousin Ryan. Your home is a fun place to stay!

Grace ate her first pizza and really enjoyed it. She even likes pepperoni! But, no sausage. I'm happy that she's eating well.

OK. I have to admit that Grace is definitely growing on me. There were a few tough moments last week, but this week is much easier for me. For one thing, I'm healthy again and rid of the jet lag. For another, Grace is a GREAT sleeper (with the exception of one nap) and allows me to get the sleep that I need. It seems like we're really getting used to each other. I understand her more and can anticipate some problems ahead of time. Not all of them... she has poor behavior during most diaper changes but I'm going to find a special toy to distract her.

I think that I'm falling head over heals in love with this little one. She's got me wrapped around her finger! I'm so blessed to have her.


Tomorrow we're having professional pictures taken, so we were practicing smiling tonight... it's hard to capture the exact moment on film! I'm sure the pros will do better than I did.
She really likes to mimic me. Below, Grace is wearing my shoes. If she starts babbling, I mimic her and change it slightly. We're working on all of the consonants.

Notice that she stands well below the height of the kitchen-island counter top. I hope she starts growing... that reminds me that I need to pick up a growth chart to document this.

My sister advised that Grace start using a spoon. I had already begun letting her feed herself, but this spoon business in hilarious! Yesterday, her first day using a spoon, she could scoop up the food but then turn the spoon upside down as it went into her mouth, so she would lose a lot of it on her bib. Today, she only turns the spoon part way so more food reaches the goal. However, she learned how to flick the food! AAAAHHH! :)


How can I resist these big, blue, almond-shaped eyes?? She knows that I am her slave and will do everything for her. What a drama queen! The temper-tantrums are starting, but the majority of them are due to sleepiness. We have only been home five days and her body is still adjusting. She falls asleep in the car and is beginning to take morning naps instead of afternoon naps. It's a good thing that I don't have a schedule to keep.

We went to work today to sign up for health insurance. She's a little ham and will run to anybody with out-stretched arms! She also quickly remembers me and wants to come back to me! I am truly blessed with a healthy little girl. She seems to be adjusting very well.

My baby has a new pair of shoes!

She just loves to play dress-up! She's wearing plastic Barbie-doll shoes. She really struggles to put them on and usually has to ask me for help. But once they're on, watch out! She takes off and walks in circles around the house!

Now I get to show off my angel! Great-Grandma was at my house on Saturday - here's a picture below... In Russia, Grace always seemed afraid of the bath. She complained and cried a lot. Tonight, she got to take a bath with her cousin, Alexander, who is 17 months old. He weighs 29 pounds and she weighs 19 pounds. She's 29 inches tall, and he must be about four inches taller! But, they seem to be very similar developmentally -at least from my biased eyes! What cuties!

We're home!

Sorry that I didn't post earlier, but the time change and the 18 mo. old have kept me busy! Also, my family is here and I have a head cold with laryngitis. I guess I'm worn out.

We spent two nights in Moscow at the Holiday Inn Solikini - my agency led me through the doctor's visit) for Grace and the process at the US Embassy. It was really interesting to see the 15 or so other adoptive families that were waiting with me - I'll try to write more about that later.

We made it from door to door in 26 hours. Travel was OK except for the 4 1/2 hour delay in Warsaw, with our connection on Lot Polish Airlines. Grace did so well! We arrived just at the start of her normal nap time, so she slept and I carried her around the airport - asleep! I was thinking that she would sleep through the entire lay-over, but she woke up during the delay.

We took advantage of this time off of the airplane and walked with her around our gate area. She got sick of holding my hand and liked to explore on her own. I really don't see much delays physically. I think the language delay is very small, too. But, she didn't get a chance to feed herself, so we're going to start working on that.

She did great on the airplanes. She played on the floor a lot, and was VERY interested in the duty-free magazines. She's likes to turn pages and look at the Versace perfume, cigarettes, pearl jewelry, and Congac. She has expensive taste! The plane was about half empty, so we spread out on two seats to sleep. I tried to stack our carry on bags next to the seats, but she was still able to roll off and fall on the floor. She didn't cry so I didn't notice right away - and she was still asleep.

We made it through customs and immigration at O'Hare very quickly. Karen was waiting to pick us up, and I really had to keep from melting down at that point. I was completely exhausted and could barely keep it together. Mom and I wanted to kiss the ground, because we were so happy to be back in the United States! International travel is the best way to appreciate how good we have it here. But, we weren't home, yet! IT STARTED TO SNOW. The drive was long and slow, but Grace and I slept through it. Karen took good care of us and we made it home safely. At 12:30 am Saturday morning or 2130 Moscow time. We didn't know which way was up due to jet lag.

Jenny, my friend that watched my house (etc.!) while I was gone turned the lights on for us and turned on the water and increased heat. She also left fresh cut flowers in a vase and a gift for Grace. What a nice way to come home. Thank you, Jenny!

Grace wasn't tired, so we stayed up until about 3:30 am. Sleeping was tough until today (Sunday). I think we're pretty much back to her normal schedule. At least, she went to bed at the normal time tonight - we'll see what time she wakes up tomorrow morning.

Here are a few pictures from our stay in Tver. We really had to bundle up - it was -30 C! She enjoys playing with her hat and mittens and getting dressed.

Grace was pretty good about wearing all the winter clothes... And, when she tripped, it never hurt her to fall because there was so much padding! Of course, we had to help her stand up again!
Here, Mom is feeding Grace on the sled that we bought in Tver. People with young children either had super-dooper baby strollers that completely zipped up the babies, or a sled to pull/push a toddler on . We really tried to get her to like it, but she really cried when we used it outside. I left it at the hotel for future adoptive families to use. Maybe their kids will like it.