Happy Birthday and Happy Thanksgiving!

We are celebrating at home again this year! It has been a good day! Nick has been playing pirates and castles with daddy. Pat has been cooking like a madman (me lucky girl!) and I have been lounging around with a bad sinus/cough thing AGAIN. I did contribute yesterday by making pumpkin pancakes for dinner and two pumpkin pies for today (Paula Dean recipe, yum!)

Today is also my father's birthday (and my good friend, Carrie!) so Nick had some birthday wishes! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATA BILL!

We thought we would start videoing what he is thankful for every year and I was so happy to hear that we were first on his list since it was unscripted.....my sweet boy....we are very thankful for him!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

oh, and if you happen to notice the missing tooth....another story for another day. :)

Fall, Glorious, Fall

We had a fabulous time at our Fall Photo shoot with our great friends, the Lykins. We have decided that it will definitely be an annual event for us. We had a glorious fall day and the trees were beautiful. Nick is at the "funny smile" stage of life but we still got some fun shots. Thank you d'Art for great memories. Grandparents, pick out your Christmas present.....ha!

He looks so old and handsome!

Pat and I think this is the real Nick....the mischevious "what have you done now" look......notice the hands in the pocket!

Nick looks quite the leader of the family.

The old home place!

The sun wasn't cooperating in this great spot but it is still cute!

They will hate these in their teenage years but AWWWW!

He was tiring of the photo shoot but how handsome he is.......

This was in an arbor with fall colors all around.

This was looking out the window of the kids cabin.....so cute!!

Enjoy the pics....It is National Adoption Awareness Month......Do you support Orphan care or Can you open up your home to someone who just wants a family to call his or her own? We all have been called!......what will you do?

Happy Halloween!

Before Halloween is a memory, I thought we would post some "just cute" videos.....they crack us up but part of the humor was in the moment so it is in our hearts and won't come across in the video. Enjoy!

cool evenings and confidence abounds

We have been enjoying cool fall evenings. While allergies keep us in on windy days, we make a beeline for the park when it is calm and cool. Nick loves the park and I am so thankful that Nick's daddy loves to be right in the mix. They run thru the playground, climb, and crawl. It is a treat to just sit back and watch them play.

Well, our next second time around event came and went today. We had Nick's second halloween party at preschool. Last year, he did not have a clue what was going on and was quite ambivalent about the whole affair. He would not participate in the program and would not even stand with his peers. He had to be with me almost the whole time. While I am so glad that we still had him attend all of the "first time" events, it was hard as a new parent to go thru those events thinking that maybe "this time" he would enjoy it and be like the other kids his age. Most people knew that he was adjusting to a new home and family but there were times that I still found myself wanting to "explain" why he was having a meltdown at a party, sporting event, carnival, etc. I would get so hurt by the "looks". I just wanted to scream with him. I wanted to get a shirt that said "my child is suffering from post traumatic stress, what is your child's excuse?" :) But we have all survived. Nick has really taken on a new confidence lately. He has matured in many ways. Again this last week, his speech teacher said that she has seen a big difference just since August. I think she is as amazed as we are. Today's Halloween Party was huge for me. I got to be a "normal" mom. I watched my child, antsy with anticipation, hurry to his classroom so the party could start. I watched him sing songs, shake his booty, do almost all the hand motions, and even crack a joke that everyone laughed at in the crowd. It was a grand moment indeed! I could write on and on about all the little things that he is doing now that just amaze us but it is hard to describe the change in words that give the full extent of the metamorphosis. Nick went to bed tonight so excited that tomorrow is halloween and that this year he will go trick or treating. He has been talking about it all week. It seems that for us, second time is the charm and the fun and the joy!

Once again, I felt the need to post this year and last year pictures. The pictures are of the same party at his preschool just one year apart. The turtle is last year, and of course, what else but the Pirate this year!

I will finish this post with a sweet Nick-ism from Pat. We were a part of the church service last week as they were speaking on human trafficking. Adoption was discussed as one way we can all be a part of aiding and rescuing children at risk. While we were at the front of the church for after service questions, Pat was walking Nick around and talking about the stage and such. Pat said he asked about the baptismal area and Pat gave him a 4 year old version answer and Nick said "so, like a bath, you go in dirty and you come out clean" ......no wonder Christ told us to have the Faith of a Child.......they get it. So simple, So sweet.

Kazakh kid fun and apple pickin'

My mom and dad have been in town which has been great! Mom came a little bit under the weather and our allergen laden air has not helped at all for either of them. But, we have been able to get out and do some fun things together.....oh, and Pat and I got to go to a movie, yes, an actual movie. The last one we saw was in Wisconsin in July while around other grandparents! Having family in town would be such a luxury to us....those of you who have it, don't take it for granted! Shower your family with gratitude even if they just watch the kids for a minute so you can run to the store.......trust me, it makes a big difference when you don't have them around!



We (Nick, my mom and dad and I) met two kazakh adoptive families in Cinci for a farm visit. Muriel (the famous mom of Sophie and Jack) and one of the great coordinators of Kazapalooza along with Max's mom (one of the infamous 3 Karens) gathered at Karen's Cinci home and then caravaned to the farm. Karen had bags of goodies for all of the kids (THANKS, Karen!) and she had a special donut just for me because I found out she lived near one of the top 20 donut shops in the nation.....so I asked her for a sample. Very, Very top 20 tasting. She also had cookies for the kids from the same bakery. Nick doesn't know that he had cookies in his bag.....I'm a bad parent! (yes, I still have one left for him but he doesn't know it exists just in case I change my mind) :)




My pictures are random and we did not get a group picture which I cannot believe but we did have 3 two year olds, a newborn, and a 4 yr old so I guess it is not that hard to believe that we didn't get a picture. Muriel treated everyone to pony rides (Thanks Muriel!) and they all loved it......I believe the great Kazakh horse tradition runs thru their veins.





Below, Nick and Max are waiting in line for the ride. At one point during the day when Nick could not find Max, he said "where is my brother"? It was so sweet.


Nick loved the pony and rode like an expert. He looks so grown-up and even less like a preschooler and more like a boy. You know how I love to compare pics. Look at his first pony ride almost a year and a half ago. I cannot believe how much he has grown and the confidence and joy in his face makes me get all teary.

NOW



and THEN (july 2007)






Max looked great on his noble steed also. He wasn't scared at all. This was his FIRST pony ride!



They had little tractors to ride. Nick was loving it except they were really hard to pedal!





This picture just cracks me up. The moms were having Sophie give hugs to Max and they got some great shots. Absolute classic sweetness. BUT, this is the picture that I ended up with and Max is most likely saying, "If this is how it is now, I think I am going to skip Prom and homecoming!" LOL!






Nick loved this pig. It was very verbal and Nick was just mesmerized by him/her?

They had a great big playground that looked like a barn, waycool! Nick called me over to meet "my new friend". She then told her mom that she had a new friend. They were so cute but I hope he realizes that he is not allowed to date until he is 30. I am not kidding!

They did not have tons of pumpkins but I thought this was a cute shot as he was trying to roll this pumpkin away from its original display. Nothing is safe with Nick around! ;)

Nick wanted to push Max at the mall. He was not a focused driver especially if he sees his reflection in the glass doors! lol!

We could not get all the kids to sit at once! Imagine that!

Muriel, did you notice the advantageous shot that I used that will not give away Sophie's feet just in case you want to use this pic to show your mom! lol! The beautiful long curls belong to Sophie's BFF Teagan! I realized that we have no pictures of The Prince, Jack. Sophie's new brother. He was so good all day and added such cuteness factor!

We rode this merry go round over and over again.

All of the kids hit maximum stimulation at the same time so we packed up and headed out. Max was the only one that had a "laid back" attitude.....the rest just had attitude?!? :)

It was a great day of visiting and celebrating our cute Kazakhs! Adoption will bond any families together but Kaz adoptions make you family!

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We went to Evan's Orchard on Saturday. Nick was thrilled to be in Ata Bill's truck again so he could watch movies. That day, he decided that he needed his hat on all of the time even if he had headphones on.......can you say, goof ball!

Daddy showing Nick what the good apples looked like in the tree.

Daddy is tall and that has its advantages when the good ones are up high!

The orchard had a great play area and we spent the majority of the time there.

They had the boy mecca.....a dirt pile with ropes. He looks like quite the mountain climber...he is the one pulling up on the rope!

They had a corn maze and these fun tubes to roll/walk down lanes of tubing. Nick was exhausted at the end of the trip!

We have a few more outings to accomplish while we have "help" so I must finish this post but wanted to get the pictures out for everyone to enjoy.

"I just being a barber "

We thought it would be better if Nick told you what he did............






And then we took pictures of Mikey so he could SHOW you what Nick did.......

Yes, we were having a playdate and in less than 5 minutes, Nick had stealthed off to our upstairs bedroom, gone into our bathroom, climbed onto the toilet and then reached up into the cabinet where daddy's mustache/nose/ear hair clippers were stashed and became a Barber all on his own! So proud of his willingness to get a job in these tough economic times!

Luckily, Mikey already had his 3 year old pictures taken and his mom is one of my dearest friends so she will not refuse further playdates. He kind of has forgiving hair and you don't notice unless you look twice.

Nick is so speedy and tall now that I have to watch him almost every minute as he still likes to reach and touch and investigate.....and now obtain .....and then cut, draw, eat whatever. We have always kept things high and behind closed doors but he grabs things before you can even turn around and put them away. The fact that he even knew daddy had small scissors upstairs amazes me.......nothing gets past him now. I want to install video cameras everywhere so I can just watch him without being with him every moment of the day....it gets exhausting. There are things that he has learned are "off limits" but for him and his "way too creative" mind, we never know what he is going to go for next. I expect GREAT things of him some day with all of this creative and investigative energy. Our challenge is how to remain calm and get him to tell us what he did and not lie or sneak. At least for now, I know the look he gets when he instinctively or obviously knows he has done something he is not supposed to so as long as he tells us what he has done he gets a consequence but not as severe as if he continued to hide what he did. Parenting is so hard...........these are the days when I have to talk to God again about why we didn't get Nick as a baby so we could just have survived the sleepless nights and crying for a few years before he started locking himself in lockers and cutting his friend's hair! :)

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Speaking of how smart and observant our son is.......

A few weeks back, we had a conversation regarding Nick wanting to go to a hotel. He loves hotels and wanted to go swimming. I explained to him that we stay at hotels when we travel and that they cost money so we only stay at them when we travel. We had another conversation on another day regarding why daddy goes to work. I explained that he worked so we could have a home, food, and travel to see our families. A third conversation regarding what travel toothpaste was for and when we use it.

The following conversation brought all those ideas together in the most hilarious dinner talk one night last week.

Nick : I want to use my travel toothpaste (pause)

Nick:(with very serious look on his face) Dad, you need go to work!

Dad: No, I have been at work all day long already

Nick: (we) need to travel! (pause) You need to make money so we can travel!

Pat looked at me like are you kidding me....did my son just tell me to go work so he could travel? I thought in my head....well, yes, I agree, Wyoming , Utah, Idaho, California here we come! LOL!

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This months phrases......

1. ummmm, mom (or dad)......"problem is (weak excuse for why he can't do something)"

2. "not exactly"

3. While walking by a stroller at the store....."cool baby"

4. OK, whatever! (followed by me saying, what did you say?) "I mean, Yes, Man (mam)! :)

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We sure do love this crazy boy! He charms the pants off of all his teachers. They think he is just so cute! (he is) This week his speech teacher told us that she sees great improvement in his ablility to sit and attend to his lesson or task. She is so pleased. So are we!

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Hope everyone is having great fall weather like we are.....my folks are coming on the 14th. We can't wait and then we just found out Pat's parents may try to make a trip in November. Soooo exciting! Nick said he wanted Ata Bill to bring his big truck so they could go on a "benture" (adventure). He is so his mom's son! Now, if we just had some $$$$ for gas! I think it is a sad representation of our nation when we need to encourage our children to be a college athlete vs. a college graduate, a college coach vs. a college professor so that we can make a comfortable living! oops, off my soap box....lets just say, I am not surprised AT ALL with our economic crisis......Our priorities are reflected in our current mess. 'nuf said"

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Just one last picture for my sister and her family. Nick is loving the police uniform. BJ did he learn to pull up the socks all the way from you?? :)

For Cousin Dakota................

Dakota passed along his first "guitar" as he is playing the real ones now. Nick enjoys it and I thought everyone would enjoy watching. We have been trying for several hours to figure out how to compress videos so they will fit on blogger....anyone have any tips? I hate being just outside the "computer generation" and not being able to flawlessly flow with ease thru technology....I scrape and claw and somedays just turn the thing off. ugh!

Pat is hoping that he has a chance with the next generation Metallica......maybe?