Re-Adoption

One of the things that we liked about our Russian adoption is that when EasternStar came home, her name had already been legally changed to our last name and she had a Russian birth certificate to prove it.  However, the only problem with having a Russian birth certificate is that no one can read it!  Every time we have to give someone a copy of her birth certificate we have to make a copy of her certificate and the English translation.  Things have gone smoothly so far, but I just know that eventually someone will give us a hard time about it.

We've gone back and forth over the past few years about should we do the re-adoption here and get her birth certificate from our state (which is the only benefit to doing it....that we see at least...) or should we just continue as we are.  Since we are getting ready to move out of the state, and we found a VERY generous lawyer that donates her time to help complete the paperwork, we decided to go ahead and complete the process.

It is amazing how fast this process has gone.  I was expecting to wait weeks and weeks to get a court date.  However, we turned in all of our paperwork on Wednesday (5/16) and we have a court date set for May 31st!


EasternStar is starting to understand a little bit about her adoption.  We've told her multiple times that she was born in Russia and that we brought her home on an airplane and that we are so lucky that we got picked to be her mom and dad.  But really, how much does a 2 or 3 year old understand.  With the girls talking about this new baby in my tummy, and TinyDancer stating that she was born in Texas and RainbowBaby knowing that she was born here, I think that she's started to understand a little more.  She says now that she came from someone else's tummy and that her first mommy couldn't take care of her.  That she was somewhere safe until we found her and that we brought her home on an airplane.  I'm sure that she still doesn't completely get it and that this will just the first of many conversations that we have.

I continue to be in awe of the process of watching her (and my other girls) develop and change and grow.  She is getting to be quite the little helper around the house, and quite the little mommy to RainbowBaby - despite our reminders that she is only in charge of herself.  8 )  She continues to be our little comedian and while often pretends that she is clueless as to what is going on around her, she is one sharp cookie that doesn't miss anything.  People sometimes remark that she is lucky to have been adopted - but I continue to believe that WE are the lucky ones.  I know that God made her for us; and us for her.  We are so lucky that we were entrusted by the Russian courts to be her parents and there are no words that could show how incredibly grateful we are.

Happy News!

Stranger and I have some happy news to share.  We've told almost no one .........

that we're expecting baby # 5 in November!  We are very excited about our new addition.  The girls are excited as well!  TinyDancer has promised to change lots of diapers and do lots of feedings.  We're assigning her to the hours between 1 am - 6 am.  8 )


Baby#5 doesn't have a blog name yet.  If anyone has any suggestions just leave them in the comments.

New House

Holy crap!  We're closing on our new house today!


And we are moving in like, 2 weeks!  What the heck are we thinking??

More skating videos

Here are some more videos from TinyDancer's last competition.  This is the Elements part of the competition.  The judges tell the skaters to perform a specific skill and one at a time, each skater executes the skill.

In this event, TinyDancer placed first.

Enjoy!


Skill # 1





Whoops!  Apparently all of my videos didn't upload to y.ou.tube properly.

How about a different one instead.  This is from skating camp last summer.

Skating camp 2011


I can't believe how much she's improved this school year!

International Festival at school

Last week, TinyDancer's school had an International Festival.  Each grade learned a song and a dance from a different country and performed it on the stage for the parents.  Afterwards there were snacks from different countries.

Before the first performance there was a "parade of nations" where all of the children from different countries were announced and walked up to the stage.  It was neat because some of them were in the traditional dress from their home country.  I knew that TinyDancer's school was diverse - but doesn't every school say that?  When the school told me that they were "diverse" is just rolled my eyes and thought 'yup.  you and everyone else'.  But they really are!  In her tiny school, there are probably 12 - 15 different countries represented.


The first graders performed a song and dance from China and then the entire school sung the school song.


Enjoy!


Chinese song and dance



School song




As a side note, I really need one of those monopod things if I am going to continue to videotape stuff with a 2 year old in my lap!!    

8 )

Skating - Revisited

So, I decided to stop fighting with my computer and just upload this video to youtube.

Below is a video of TinyDancer from a skating competition a few weeks ago. This was her third and final competition for this year.  After we move in June and get settled in with a new coach (boo hoo!  I love her coach!) I'm sure that she'll do more.

The video isn't that good because I wasn't prepared  and because the only place that the parents could video was behind the glass and the glass was majorly scratched up.  The Basic 8 girls were supposed to skate first and then the Basic 7 girls were supposed to go.  They ended up skating in the opposite order.  We do have a professional video on order and I might be able to post that once it comes.

I should add that she skated GREAT!  She got fourth place out of 5 girls, but she should have been at least second or third!  Thankfully, she is happy as long as she gets *something* and she got a cute ribbon.

Enjoy!

Skating

Quote of the Week

My favorite quote of the week this week was said by Stranger to EasternStar.


"Why are you yelling at her about a conversation that she is having on a fake phone?"




Ha ha ha.  EasternStar was yelling at RainbowBaby who was talking to me on a pretend phone while I was getting dressed for work.

Look at me!

The little girls wanted to show their Daddy how cute they are today.

Look at us Daddy!!

Finally got dressed

Watching the screen saver

Look at my ribbon!

Dancing

A girls gotta eat!

I picked this out myself!



Making some calls before my nap


TinyDancer is weekending with Grandma and Grandpa and doing big kid stuff.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from one of my angels!

Middle Angel

9 years

Happy anniversary to Stranger!  (And I guess to me too!)

Nine years.  Wow.  It feels like 10 minutes (under water).  8 )

We could never have imagined the joy and the heartache that we've experienced over the past 9 years.  What a ride it's been.  I can't even imagine what the next 9 will bring.

Happy anniversary to my husband!

Remembering

Today we remember our sweet, perfect daughter.  Four years ago today our princess passed away so peacefully in my arms.

Finally a family of four

Finally a big sister

A leaf from my big sister

Remberance Garden

A perfect flower.  Made to bud on Earth and bloom in Heaven.

We miss you.  We love you.  We are hollow without you.  We think about you every day.  We patiently wait to be with you again.

Love always,

Mommy and Daddy



Halloween in Strawberry Land

I'm too tired to write anything witty - but enjoy these photos anyway!

What it takes to get three little girls ready to trick or treat

Strawberry Shortcake

Blueberry Muffin

Apple Dumpling

Some attempts to get all three of them to look at the camera and smile -

I can't wait to see what they dream up for next year!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!

I'm sure that I'll have more pictures to post later, but here is how we started our day -

Ready for school!

Sisters with matching ribbons!

An extra dose of cheese!

Check back later for more photos from Strawberryland (that's a preview of their costumes for this year!)

Four

Happy Birthday to our sweet SleepingAngel. 


She'd be 4 today if we were lucky enough to have her with us.  Instead she is sleeping in God's hands - waiting for us to join her when it is our time.

Two sisters sitting on the couch.

The baby that wasn't supposed to make it out of the delivery room.

Sleeping - holding onto the necklace that her big sister made for her.

We miss you sweet baby.  And we'll never forget you.