One Year Ago Today...

Trip 2, after court, one year ago today
Seeing Cassi in the orphanage, after court--look how tiny!

First time I dressed her--she loved the softness of the clothes!

So small!

Memory Lane: Cassi (left) and her "twin" Dagny (right) in Baby Home #14
They knew each other before we knew they were our daughters! They are about 11 months old here, I believe.

Cassi and Dan, Trip 1

Trip 1, Day 2, Smiling some!

Trip 1, Day 1

Trip 1, Day 1

...a Moscow Russian judge decided we would be the parents of Cassiana, changing all of our lives forever! We were so thrilled and relieved that she was finally officially our daughter. We flew 2 days to get to Russia, had court the next day and then flew home for 2 days the day after court. I remember going to see Cassi right after court, still in our suits, playing with her on the floor of the orphanage. It was so, so wonderful to hold her again! We took about 3,000 pictures and miles of video and tried to soak up every square inch of her being, until we could come back in 10 days to pick her up. There is a 10 day wait most of the time after court, until you can have custody of your child, so we had to leave, knowing that the end of the adoption journey was quickly approaching and that the beginning of our new lives were beginning! :)

Approaching One Year!

Cassi set foot on US soil ("soil" referring to the dirt that I'm sure was in the Houston International Airport's carpet) on November 29th. I still can not believe she is here and that she has been here almost a year! It feels like she has always been here and other than the pain of waiting for her and wondering about her, I barely remember what life was like before Cassi. So, on November 29th, she will celebrate one year home and her 2nd birthday.

I was going back on the blog, looking at pictures and video from all 3 trips to Russia and found myself in tears with mixed emotions. She has grown and developed so much and so well since then! She is such a loving, happy child. She says, "I lofe chew, Mom," ( "I love you, Mom"---I'm not sure why the "Mom" part and not "Mommy" but I will take it!) spontaneously. She showers us and us with her with hugs and kisses all day. I love to see her run and laugh with her curls bobbing all the while, or rolling on the floor with Kai playing and laughing.

The mix in emotions comes into play, because I found myself starting to go down that path that no doubt all adoptive parents go down. What would have happened to her if we had not adopted her? How would she be doing now? What would have happened to her at age 18 when she aged out of the orphanage? I can only pose those questions in my mind because I just can't allow my mind to take me there. I can picture what happens to the other orphans who are still there and those who are being let out into the world by orphanages all across Russia (and the world), but no my Cassi.

So, I pose this question to other adoptive parents. What do you do when your mind wonders "there?" Do you allow it go or do you quickly think of something happier and repress those thoughts? I don't know if I should just think about the possibilities, have a really good cry and then hope I don't go down that mental road again or to keep repressing those images.

On a happier note, Cassi's Gammy will be making her an Abbey Cadabby (spell) cake and an Elmo cookie cake for her 2nd birthday celebration! We are having it at Thanksgiving, so that's why we NEED massive amounts of cake! lol I am still searching for a really cute but comfortable birthday outfit that has a cake on it or some kind of birthday references. I have no idea what the weather will be like by then as it's been unseasonably warm.

We are looking forward to this big celebration of so many important events in Cassi's life. We "lofe chew," Cassi! :)

Halloween Preview

Count Kai and Lady Snow
Why are you standing so still, smiling when you could be jumping around like me?

Pumpkins my students made

Kai playing plinko at the school carnival

Exiting the very scary haunted house at school

CHEESE!

Wait until she finds out about the candy!

Gammy and Cassi

And now for my next act...

My sign at school

Blogger wears me out because it won't let me click and drag photos like the old days, so I'm going to post them and explain what they are in this one big paragraph! :P Anyway, last night was the Fall Carnival at Kai's school, so Kai and Cassi got to wear their costumes for the first time. Kai was Dracula, or excuse me "Midnight Vampire." Cassi was Snow White. They were both adorable, if I do say so myself! I will try to post the video of Cassi running around like a crazy baby, so you can see what I was contending with in trying to get these pictures. At one point, I told Kai to just stand still and to keep smiling because eventually Cassi would stand by him and smile, too. It finally worked! Cassi kept saying, "Cheese!" but she would crouch way down like she was going to jump. Too funny! I'm also going to post a picture of Kai coming out of the haunted house at the school and also of him playing Plinko for the first time. Talk about a generation gap, he didn't know how to to it! lol

This is Cassi's first Halloween home and I'm so excited to take her out next week. Oh, by the way, this will tell you how influential sports are here. Instead of Halloween being on the 31st, they have MOVED it to the 30th because there is a big game on the 31st! What? I give up...

I'm also posting some re-takes of Cassi in her Russian shirt from her "twin" Dagny as the last ones were so cloudy from "someone's" fingerprints on the lens and Cassi' hair isn't as fro-like as the last pictures showed. lol That is my mom holding Cassi in the one shot.

We had Cassi's 2nd post placement report last Saturday. YAY! So, on top of painting the house, going to the U2 concert, we decided to throw that in, too.

I'm also adding a picture of my classroom sign because I love the apple theme at the school. And, my kids all decorated little pumpkins and we have them on display outside of the door. They turned out so cute! I only have 5 students in case you are wondering why there are only 5 little pumpkins. And, the stuff hanging in the doorway is spiderweb.

HAPPY 1st HALLOWEEN, CASSI!!!!!

One Year Ago Yesterday...

The Day We Met You! :) Age 10 1/2 months, Moscow City, Baby Home #14
She is looking at the photo album we brought her to leave behind and get on the final trip.
...we met our Russian Sweet Baby, Cassiana! :) I would have loved to have posted yesterday, but between working a full day, power washing the house getting it prepped for painting over the long Fall Break weekend (love these teacher vacations!) and then getting the kids to bed, I just couldn't do it last night. Plus, I had the flu for 2 weeks and only recently started to feel better.



My how our lives have changed since this time last year, all for the better! Cassi was still an orphan, 10 1/2 months old, Dan was a stay-at-home dad, I was working in sales, traveling all the time, and Kai was in kindergarten. Now, Cassi is almost 2, doing fantastic, Dan is finishing his degree and working part time, I am an elementary deaf education teacher (love it!) and Kai is a big first grader.



One year ago yesterday, was an amazing day! We went to the Department of Education, completely jet lagged, running on adrenaline and met a table of 5 Russian women who showed us the picture of our future baby. She was not was I was expecting, with her sparse dark hair and deer in the headlights big black eyes (see picture to the right)! She looked very scared in the picture, but you could tell she was a cutie. So we went to meet her.



Walking up to the baby home for the first time was so exciting! I was not particularly nervous, more anxious about, "Would this be our baby? Would we know right away?" We were led inside by Max and escorted into the big music room. Masha began to go over the medical history with us and in walked the baby home worker with a beautiful baby girl with coal black eyes. She had her bottom lip sucked in because she was so scared and I remember being concerned that her lip wasn't formed right--lol! She had on baby blue boys clothes and big black boots, probably a size 4. I know now that she wore a size 1 or maybe smaller (she still has tiny feet--only wears a size 3 now!). I wonder if they were trying to conceal her teeny feet? The worker handed me to her and she began to cry, so I walked around the room and talked to her and kissed her sweet cheeks and hair. She soon calmed down and let me sit with her snuggled to my neck, while we tried to focus on what Masha said about her history, as this would be the only time we would hear it! Talk about difficult! All I wanted to do was see my new baby, head to toe, and to tell her how much we already loved her! She was definitely our daughter, no doubt!



That day, we took about 1,000 photos and several videos. We got to see her the next day and then signed the intent to adopt and it seems like we saw her one more day and then had to go back home until court November 10th. That was tough leaving her, however, they had kept her safe this long and I figured they could do it a while longer.


Here is Cassi the day after we met her, a year ago today...

And from the other day, by the way, her hair is NOT that big! lolol This shirt is from her "twin" sister, Dagny, who has a matching one. So sweet of Dagny to give the shirt to Cassi! :) They were in the same groupa at the orphanage and we are still in touch and will meet in person one day. Dagny and Cassi knew each other before we knew they were our daughters! :)

I have returned!

Okay, I didn't go anywhere, but I have never gone this long without posting! We've been busy little bees around here. Kai started 1st grade August 20th. He loves it and is doing great! He lost another tooth, too. That makes 3 total. Here he is on his first day of school:

Kai's First Day of 1st Grade

I also started my new job as a teacher at a different school on August 20th. I teach 1st-4th grade hearing impaired students and love it! I had to wait until last week to sign a contract while my license was being processed so I had to sub in my own classroom, which was kind of weird. I didn't like having to wait to see what happens (you'd think I'd be more patient after adopting! lol). A few weeks before school started, I went in almost every day to work in my room, not knowing for sure this would be my job. It's all working out and going great! :) My school and students are awesome!

Backing up further, the kids took a gymnastics class to try it out over the summer. Cassi wasn't super excited because everything was so new. Kai had taken the Mommy and Me class a few summers and had attended some birthday parties here, so he kind of knew the ropes (no pun intended). Cassi and I went to the Mommy & Me class while Kai was in his big kid class. Cassi's class wore me out because I was lifting and moving her everywhere. I think we will wait until she's a little older to enroll her. The pictures below aren't really representative of her experience. There was more crying than laughing. Kai loved his, so he's going once a week now. Here are pictures, if blogger will let me move them!

Kai on the parallel bars. I have no idea why everything is so fuzzy! I couldn't get too close because I was watching Cassi on the air tramp at the same time. Multi-tasking!

Waiting for class to start

This is a picture from the other day in her new leotard. She LOVED wearing it! I found it at a second hand store for .99cents! Love that!

Please don't look at the clutter in the video. Our house is usually "Home and Garden" ready (yeah, right!) but today was a little crazy w/ the toys. Cassi can do somersaults. We call it "downward dog" as in the yoga pose because she was doing that all over the place. One day Kai just gave her a little push and now she's doing somersaults all over the place. She also loves to jump in her crib and on the couch and land on her rear end. I hear gymnastics calling her name! Also, I love how she managed to hang on to the hanger the whole time--lol!

Then, last weekend was Kai's 7th birthday. I can't believe he's already 7! Mom made him a gymnastics cake. She couldn't find any cake set ups for gymnastics, so she had to make them. It turned out really cute. Thanks, Mom!

Then, on Labor Day, I ran my first 5K because starting a new job just wasn't enough! lol I trained for about 6-7 wks. beforehand. I have NO pictures of this event. They are NOT good! lol Anyway, I finished the race and my time was pretty good! :) I'm ready to sign up for my next run!

Something is kind of fishy...

Okay, this post is only a week over due! Last Saturday Grandma and Grandpa H. took the kids and I to the aquarium. Dan had to work, so we took off to have some fun! We had a blast! Kai's favorite part was the shark room (mine, too!) and running around in the stroller area like a wild banshee (I did not partake in this activity.). I let Kai and Cassi run amok for a while before we got back into the car for the trip home.

Here are some pictures from our trip. Hopefully blogger will behave and let me rearrange these this time! First we went out for Mexican food---yummmy!!!

Cassi loved the mariachi band
Kai being mischievousKai feeding the turtles at the aquarium. Dad put some bait on a stick that had a clothe pin at the end. These turtles probably have a Body Mass Index of 100! lolBaby friendly turtle viewing window. Keep in mind it's about 15 minutes into the trip and Cassi has already removed her shoes! Still has her bow...for now.
Next was the tide pool to pet starfish, etc. Kai was content with just looking at them.
Grandma H. and Kai at the stingray tankGrandpa H. and Kai
Cassi has had enough of the stroller--her bow has fallen out somewhere along the way...
SHARK! They have a shark tunnel and shark room. Love me some sharks!
They have this awesome program where for an extra fee, you can swim with the sharks, so I did! Okay, if you believe that, then you guys will believe anything!!! :P
Their eyes don't glow in real life--ha,ha.
Alligator Gar---creepy!
Grandma and Cassi shopping in the gift shop
Burning off energy before the car trip home. :)

Anyone out there having trouble with blogger? I used to be able to drag and drop the pictures and now I can still do that, but it will only move one picture length at a time---took forever to do this post! :P

Anyway, we had a wonderful time at the aquarium. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa H.! :)

The Perfect Gift

Announcing a new fundraiser to help Russian orphans!!!!

My friend Tamara, whose daughter was in the same orphanage as Cassi, is the consultant for Initials, Inc. This is a really fun company, run my stay-at-home moms. They make adorable personalized purses, bags, blankets, duffel bags, backpacks, towels, acrylic ware and whole lot more! Here is a message from Tamara:


We’re excited to announce the first of two months (July & August) of fundraising to benefit those children that remain in Russian baby homes awaiting their forever families. All money raised will go directly to Russian orphanages to support projects that make the lives of the children that live there better.
For every item purchased, all of the profit will go towards this effort (approximately 20% of your purchase)! Each item is created, designed and personalized by you! You pick the fabric, trim (where applicable) and the personalization (font and color).
Please check out our catalog of FABULOUS items at: www.initials-inc.com/Tamara
To purchase any item, please contact Tamara @ psitsinthebag@yahoo.com. The July order will be submitted on July 25. The August order will be submitted on August 25.
Great items, GREAT cause - COOL STUFF!!

~Tamara



This is a great idea for people with unusual names who have always been left out by the lack of variety of personalized items carried in stores--this includes me! LOL! Also, if you have anyone with an upcoming birthday, wedding, anniversary, house warming or anyone going back to school, these are some great, unique ideas. Who doesn't like to feel special and know that an item was selected just for them? PLUS, your purchase helps out those left behind in Russian orphanages! It's a win-win! :)

Holly

The Farm Report

It's too hot to blog. Our house gets up to 80 degrees right around 3PM until we go to bed because it's so hot and the a/c unit is too small to keep up. It runs all night and only gets down the 73 (I have it set way lower to try to "get ahead" but it doesn't work.) The only thing that seems to be thriving in the yard is the watermelon plant. Everything else is holding on for dear life, literally! Here is the "Before" picture, planted May 14th:

Now, here is what it looks like 2 months later. There is one watermelon the size of a tennis ball (toward the bottom, middle of picture) and 2 smaller ones the size of grapes (on same vine as larger one). Go watermelon, it's your birthday! We love watermelon and I can't wait to dive into these when they are ready. Oh, that is supposed to be mid-August...who can wait that long, so we've had watermelon via the store several times already. Still, I think these watermelons will taste even sweeter since we grew them. :)

Cassi's First 4th! :)

A year ago this weekend, another family was carrying our paperwork to Moscow for us. They were on their way to meet their baby boy. Our journey with Lighthouse Adoptions was just starting and we hoped to have our baby girl home by the end of 2008. I remember going to watch fireworks that weekend, and thinking of the dossier on its way. I looked up at the moon and said, "That is the same moon that our baby girl can see in Russia. This time next year, she will be home!" And, it was so. She has been home for 7 months and is now 19 months old! :)



Here are pictures from today (they say the 4th, but apparently the date is wrong in my camera). Why not yesterday? It RAINED! Not only rain, but lightening and thunder for hours last night. It hadn't rained in about 2 weeks here and it picked last night to rain. Our lawn (well, what's left of it--it's been so hot!) and flowers loved it though. It was not the first 4th of July I had pictured for Cassi. We were going to go to an area that doesn't have a lot of people that is close enough to see the fireworks display, but they aren't too loud. Oh, well...



We took these pictures that we took this morning on our way to church. They turned out pretty cute considering we had all of 30 seconds to take them! Also, some of the neon blue Rice Crispy treats with sprinkles that we made to take to the display last night that didn't happen. I also made ice cream sundaes that I froze and was going to take those in a cooler. The kids enjoyed them anyway, running around the living room like wild banshees last night, listening to a song Kai loves from the internet called, "I'm A Gummy Bear." It was still a fun day, preparing the treats and all.

I bought this little outfit for Cassi last year on clearance after the 4th. It just fits! :) Kai with blue Rice Crispy treats

Good thing I took a picture, because these are history now!

Hope everyone had a great 4th! :) We sure did!

Buy A Shirt, Help The Orphans! Also, pictures and video of summer fun

Finally, I have taken pictures of the kids in their shirts that their Grandma bought for them. These shirts can be purchased from Lighthouse Adoptions, Ann Arbor, the folks that brought us Cassi. The proceeds will go to help orphanages that Lighthouse works with in Russia.

Cassi was adopted from Moscow, but they also work in Vlad and several others. At the end of the year, Lighthouse will send the money to the orphanages and the crew over there will take pictures to show what has been purchased for the kids left behind.

Cassi and many others are very fortunate to have found their forever home, but many, many others will not be so lucky. These kids need food, clothing, etc. too. Here is the website so that you can buy one of two designs of shirts or you can donate money directly:
http://lighthouseadoptions.net/fundraisers.aspx

These are not the best pictures, but keep in mind it was 1,000 degrees and windy!!! :)

Bakugan, Dragonoid (See bel0w)

Off roading with "Baby"

This one is hilarious! This is the first one I took. Cassi turns her head to the side and says, "Cheese!" but will only do it once. Then you just have to chase her to get a picture of any sort--lol!

The rest of these are the kids playing in the backyard. It's too hot to even go out there for this long now!

And a video to keep the grandparents up to date on the fun! :) All of these things that Kai is asking Cassi to repeat are these toys called Bakugans. He is OBSESSED with these things and talks about them morning, noon and night. Here is what one of these toys looks like (this is Dragonoid, picture taken by Kai): ARGH! Blogger isn't behaving. The picture is above. Won't let me drag and drop again!

Standing in the chair with supervision! :S

Hugging doggie while watching Sesame Street

Which is apparently HILARIOUS! Notice the bug bites on her leg. :(

After her bath, brushing her doggie.

And, as a side note funny, to make you all feel old. Kai asked me what life was like "back in the 19's" as in 1900's!!!! LOLOLOL!!! He said, "You did live back then, didn't you?" Yu-huh, but it was the last half of the 1900's not the first half! :)

Sum-sum Sum-sum Sum-sum Summer Time! :)

Covered in sand and sunscreen, lovin' every minute of it! Have a great summer! :)

Home 6 Months and 18 Months Old! :)

Where has the time gone! I think that since we aren't waiting, minute by minute, for a referral, travel dates, etc. that time has reverted back to normal speed, instead of snail speed.

Today, Cassi has been home for 6th months! She is also now 18 months old! It's very hard to get her to look at the camera these days, since she is on the move much of the time. Here are some recent shots, which took about 500 shots to get--lol!

First Pigtails!

Playing with disc

Helping "baby" play with disc
Hugging baby doll

Kai and Cassi drawing with chalk

Memorial Day fun!

Big Kindergarten Graduate! :)

Finally, got Cassi to stand still, look my way and smile, all at once! :)

In case anyone noticed, I didn't post on Mother's Day. I really wanted to, but I was sicker than a dog with some kind of flu (swine?) for several days.

Memory Lane:

First picture we took of Cassi, age 10 months

Cassi and Daddy, Trip 1, Day 1

Day Two, Trip 1

Trip 3, First Grocery Trip, Moscow, Almost 12 months old

Cassi, happy 18th month birthday! You have now been with us for 1/3 of your life, but it feels like you have always been here! We love you and Kai so much! :)

Can it be true? Is it really here?

IT'S FINALLY SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Candy Lou Lou, Cassi and Peppy

Finally, we are able to play outside!!! It's been raining and raining here or too cold and windy to get outside. Cassi is walking well enough now that she can traverse the backyard and just has a ball exploring! I can actually pull a few weeds, etc. while she and Kai play. Kai loves having a playmate! :)

Cassi trying to tickle her own tummy.

Cassi and Peppy
Mowing the "grass" (ignore the "grass"--we don't spray the backyard since the kids run around barefooted in it--it's on its own and I can't help it otherwise if it has failure to thrive!)

She's a climber!

Trying to get a cute shot of Kai on the playset, Take 1
Take 2

Take 3, I give up! :P I will spare you the other 2000 shots!

Kai only has about a week and a half of school left and then he will be a big 1st grader---what? Where did the time go??? We planted a watermelon plant that he's in charge of this summer. This is our first foray into farming, so we'll see how it goes. The label says that we should have watermelon in 75 days.
Grow, baby, grow!

Becoming a Daddy's Girl

Laying on the floor with her Daddy, watching TV in her pj's, fresh from a bath...gotta love it! :)

P.S. We tried to get the free KFC dinners today at lunch and they were already issuing rain checks. Oh, well...it was a nice concept.

FREE KFC CHICKEN!!!

For anyone who missed Oprah today, here is the coupon. You have 24 hrs. from today's Oprah airing to print out up to 4 of these coupons for free 2 piece Grilled Chicken dinners from KFC. You have until May 19th to use the coupons. Guess who's havin' chicken tomorrow night for dinner? Bock, bock!

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090430-tows-kfc-coupon-download