Almost a year!!!

Can you believe we have almost been home a year???? I can't. Where does all the time go. The kids are doing great. Max is in kindergarten and AJ and Olivia are in preschool twice a week. It is amazing how fast they are learning. The potty thing finally clicked with AJ in July but the last 3 weeks he has been having accidents almost everyday. What is up with that???? Olivia is a our handful most of the time. I am hoping that we are going through the trying times with her right now and her teen years will be a breeze. That's how it works right (ha, ha). Max is playing soccer and is really looking forward to going duck hunting with Papa. I have to be honest though, this mom thing is tough. These guys really wear me out. I feel like a police officer all the time. Does that ever change or at least get better? Eric is doing great. The new funeral home is now open and is absolutely beautiful. Hopefully it will not be another four months before I post again.

School is Out!!

School is out for the summer now. Max graduated and will go on to Kindergarden and Olivia and AJ will be in Preschool two days a week next year. We have them signed up for a couple of fun summer camps and vacation bible school at our church. We will be taking a family trip to Indiana this summer to see family and we are hoping that on the way there or on the way back we will get to stop by the Overstreet's in Illinois who just returned from Vlad with their son Blake. We are so excited because some friends of ours, the Fridley's, decided to take the journey to adopt a little girl from Russia. We wish them all the best for a smooth and speedy adoption.

As for us, so far this summer, Max has been doing very well at baseball. He has lost two teeth since we have been home. He has been catching fish like crazy anytime Eric gets the chance to take him and just went swimming for his first time in a lake at Becky's mom and dad's. He is looking forward to swim lessons and spending all his time fishing and swimming. Olivia did great at her school program. It was a King of the Jungle theme and her favorite song now is "No More Monkey's Jumping on the Bed." She is a princess in the making with a very serious shoe fetish. It is really funny though because as much of a princess as she is, she loves to go fishing and play baseball with Eric. She is 95% English now and talks our ears off!!! It is really funny because if either Max or Olivia say something in Russian that the other knows the English word for they are very quick to correct and use the English word instead. They are starting to get aggravated with one another for speaking Russian sometimes. Now for AJ's turn. Mr. Smiley. He is just happy go lucky 90% of the time. He just does his own thing. He loves animals, bugs, and BALL (any kind of ball). Hopefully he will make lots of money someday as some sort of ballplayer. He also loves to fish and we thought would love to go swimming too but swimming in the lake was not something he liked. Maybe by the end of summer he will warm up to it but so far that is the only thing he hasn't liked. He is a flipping fool, literally. He flips everywhere, in the bounce house, in the grass, off the couch and even in the sand pit! He is starting to speak very well since he had surgery so we think by the end of summer he will be talking nonstop too.

It has really been great seeing all of them grow physically and emotionally. They are making such amazing progress here. We see changes almost on a weekly basis. We are all looking forward to a great summer as a family!

Time Flies

Where does the time go. I can't believe it has been almost 5 months since we became a family. It is amazing how much the kids have changed during that time. It really feels like we have had them for their whole lives. I am really going to miss when AJ gets to big to rock to sleep. I just love that quite time with him. Since he had his tonsils and adnoids out he is like a new little boy. He was always pretty happy before even though he could hardly breathe but now his nose does not run at all and he speaks so much clearer. Olivia is just our little princess (she is princess Dora right now!). She wants everything done for her and loves to be pampered. She has a shoe fetish too. She is constantly changing her shoes and can sit in her room for a long time trying them all on. Her feet are so little though that it is hard to find shoes that fit good for her right now. She learned the word "why" from someone (boy would I like to get my hands on that someone!) so she says this after everything I ask her to do. You can pretty much have a conversation with her in English now and she does not miss a beat. She wants to know what everything is. Max is just sweet Max. He started baseball last week and had two hits and scored two runs. He is not really all that into it though so maybe that will come with age. The toothfairy came to visit on the same night the Easter Bunny came. He lost his front bottom tooth and the other is on its way out today or tomorrow. We went to see a pediatric dentist a week ago and by the time he was done telling me everything he needed to do to Max's teeth I had to ask if he would have any teeth left. I know he just has to be miserable but he never complains about his mouth hurting. I can't understand why we pay for insurance though when they don't want to cover things that need to be done. Our medical insurance does not want to cover Max going to a surgery center to be put under to have all the dental work done. It is very frustrating. He is very into the computer and tv games. He could sit for hours if we let him.
We had the best day on Sunday. We started out at the zoo. It is so great to see them get excited about the animals. The one thing Max has wanted to see the two times we have gone is the lions and I am not sure where the lions are hiding but we have been all over the zoo looking for them. Maybe next trip. They fell asleep on the way home so we stopped by our friends TJ and Frana's house and they asked us to come back for dinner and go fishing. The kids were so excited to go fishing and could hardly stand to be home. The pictures say it all. The kids had a blast! Olivia was the one catching most of the fish at first (which made Max mad) but then the fish really started biting and everyone was catching fish.

These are pictures from the kids Baptism on Valentine's Day (easy for everyone to remember). Everything went wonderful and it was a beautiful service. The kids are doing great. We have had three school days now that Olivia has not cried (Yeah!!). I have to apologize because Heather Overstreet tagged me for a book tag but I have to be honest, I have not read a book since we have been home! I am still trying to get used to the whole "Mom" thing. It has really been hard for me. I feel guilty sometimes because I wanted children so bad but their are days now that I wish I worked outside the house. I am with at least one of them if not two or all three 24/7 and it is wearing me out. Eric works everyday (even weekends) almost all day so I usually do not have the break when Dad gets home. These feelings aside, I am so grateful to be blessed with three beautiful and healthy children. Olivia does not cry when it is time to go to sleep (unless I make her take a nap) and AJ goes into his room and goes to sleep without any problems and he does not rock himself to sleep. Max will have to have some oral surgery because his teeth are in bad shape but otherwise is healthy and happy. It was so cute, a couple of weeks ago a Mom at school stopped me and told me her daughter had a crush on Max.
It will be really nice when we can communicate more in English though.

Snow Day

OK, OK, OK, we know we have not written anything since we have been home. Sometimes I think the day is so ordinary that there is nothing interesting to write and other days are so crazy that it is too busy to write. The kids are really doing great. AJ, who everyone thinks is just as cute as a bug (which he is), is our biggest trouble maker. He can find trouble and cause trouble with the best of them. He is also our animal lover. He has an abundance of love to give to Bubba and River and they are sometimes not to sure they want all this love! Olivia is as smart as a whip. We started her last week in preschool on Tuesday and Thursday. Last week was great and she went right into class and had a great time but this week she did a 180 and cried both days. I know that she has realized that this is now a routine and she is not sure if she likes it but we will continue and hope that this is just a phase. I think she will be the first to speak English. She is very competitive with Max and can already count to 10 and knows a lot of her ABC’s. She has started to repeat things I say to them when she is talking to her brothers (it is really very funny and takes us by surprise). We tried dance and tumbling at Aunt Angie’s dance studio but she quickly learned that if she cries and throws a fit Mama has to come in. We decided to stop dance right now and wait until the fall session so she does not begin to dread what should be fun. Max is also smart as a whip. He really sits and tries to figure things out and is very eager to learn. It was very cute the other night because they were all in the tub and Max started saying “We love Jesus”. I was so shocked to hear this that I asked him if that was what he was saying and he replied “Dah” and I asked him if he learned that in school and he said “Dah”. In just two weeks he has learned how to write his name, the ABC’s and the important things like loving Jesus. We have gone to church twice and it went really well both times. We plan on getting them baptized in February. We have a snow day today so hopefully I can keep them entertained and out of trouble!