"Wonder of Wonders" Wednesday

Leeza hangin with "the boyz"




Watching her brother blow bubbles!!





Future Ballerina maybe? This is how she stands, and walks, on her tip toes! She has some INCREDIBLE core strength though...so maybe future gymnast!
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Reading time with Mom...a big priority in the Serra family! Leeza has probably over 100 books at home waiting for her (not an exagerration!)



Mom's dream come true...sweet baby girl in the ergo!! Bonus that she LOVES IT!




Mommy finally gets the joy and intimacy of sleepin Leeza
What's up with my facial expression....like i'm trying to be sexy and mysterious..LOL



Taking Leeza back to her group for "cookies and milk" and a nap. I let Daddy carry her since I hogged her in the ergo for the 30 minute or so nap..(big of me, huh?)






Aigul and her "protege" Sean
Sean is "caregiver in training"




Aigul and Leeza
Sean says that Leeza is one of Aigul's 'favorites' but I can tell she loves them ALL!
However, she was the one who asked if we could bring Leeza's clothes in so she could dress her in our clothes..truly a woman who appreciates "fashion forwardness"



Aigul,Sean and Leeza
I am so grateful for them allowing Sean to hang out and help them with the kids.


Today, that song “wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles” keeps popping into my head. I can’t even sing the rest of it, nor do I remember what it’s from, but the happy tune keeps resonating in my head!!
We are just loving watching Leeza’s personality emerge. She has always been a sweet, beautiful lil girl, but as each day goes by, she becomes more and more engaged and happy and smiling. There is NO way I could leave her. I know she would be fine, she is very loved and well cared for here, but I think she would wonder where we were, and I think I would cry everyday thinking about her. As it is, I come home and gaze at her pictures on the computer every night!! I think Aigul put it best…that Leeza is sweeter and sweeter every day! Aigul is also quite perceptive…she told Tatiana today that Leeza is a princess, just like her mom!! Ha!! I said, yes, that is even my email address, but I am NO longer the princess….Leeza has taken over my throne and I am glad to give it to her. Today may be the last day we see Aigul. She starts vacation tomorrow, and she will be gone for 48 days.
I believe that would have her returning mid-October, and depending on our court date, we may be gone to Almaty be then, or, we may be here. I am not sure if Dr. Irina will allow me to take custody of Leeza after the 15 day waiting period. Tricia was not allowed to take Rustam, but Tatiana told me that the don’t like to let the kids go in the summer because they are afraid of the kids getting sick from the food, spoiling in the heat. So, I’m not sure, but I am just not going to count on it, and if Iget to take her, then I can stress about that THEN. I’m just worried about what to feed this kid. I’m sure I’ll be fine, but she really eats well here and I’m not much of a cook… I will really miss Aigul She is coming back on the 25th (Monday) to celebrate her birthday with the staff and also to celebrate her one year anniversary of working at the baby house. She is one of those women that you can tell TRULY loves her job and loves all the children. She is so sweet. She also loves Sean. Leeza was tired today, so we decided to take her for a walk around the baby house. I put her in the ergo, and off we went. She fell asleep after about the 6th time around. It’s the most exercise I’ve gotten since I’ve been here. It was so sweet to have this sweet baby girl fall asleep on her momma like that. Joe walked to the store just up the street from the baby house and got me a Coke Light and Sean a Fanta, and I just “reveled in the bliss”. Sean skipped the walk and instead went to the hut to play with the kids. He ended up staying there for an hour. There was a new lil boy in the group today, since one kid moved up, and he was really cute! Sean is much more comfortable with them now, as far as holding the kids. He would get real nervous but Aigul just hands them to him and now his confidence is building. Aigul and the head nurse were so nice today. They said that Sean needs to keep coming back because the kids love him so much, and that Leeza is lucky to have such a good mom, and a good dad, and such a good brother. They said a kid like Sean is very “rare.” Of course, he doesn’t pull his “eye rolls” and his “sassy back talk” at the baby house. They don’t see any “pre-teen” behavior, they just see his gift with the kids. The head nurse asked us if we could adopt all the babies in the group, plus the caregivers, plus her, to supervise the staff. I wish I could, I would bring them all back to Florida and find them all homes!

Leeza was laid back today, I think she was tired. We practiced walking (with us holding her hands behind her) and standing at the table and the couch, but she just plopped down instead most of the time. I think she must have not slept well at her nap today. She started getting a bit fussy, and for the FIRST TIME really, she WANTED HER MOMMA! Daddy picked her up and she reached out towards her mommy. That made me feel very good! Joe started call her a “Mommy’s girl”!! It made me feel wonderful that she wanted momma to comfort her when she was fussy. She has been so enthralled with Daddy and brother, that Mom was pretty boring in comparison. However, that’s how it should be. Dad and brother are fun, but when kids are hurt or sick or scared, that’s when no one will do but Mom. That’s the way Sean was! As I was walking around the baby house with her asleep on my ergo, I just started praying and thanking God so much for bringing us halfway across the world to find this sweet girl. She is such a perfect fit…I could not ask for anything else. I must have been a sight, walking around and around the baby house, tears streaming down my face as thanked God for this beautiful little blessing. I’m just so incredibly blessed and incredibly grateful.


By the way, Joe is feeling MUCH better today. In fact, he was feeling much better yesterday. He was back to his sassy self. Today, I haven’t heard him cough much at all. When he does, we threaten him with a “Nasal puncture”

Thank you Monica for the olive and garlic ear each remedy. My ear feels much better, but I felt like a stunk like garlic.

On a separate note, I thought I would share a song that Sean wrote to play on his Dombra. I was pretty impressed. When we get high speed, I’ll try to post a video of him singing it. (we are hoping for that this week, but we’ll see..Kaz time is all relative…)
Here are the lyrics:

Show me the World

Dombra in my hands like a big brass haaaaaaaaand
Like a big brass hand
Dombra in my hands like a big brass hand
Dombra in my hands

Chorus:
Show me the world, show me the woooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrld
Show me the world

God please forgive me for this sinful life of mine,
This sinful life of mine!
May the innocent people rest in eternal life, in eternal life!
May those who perish, perish for good
Perish for good!

Chorus:
Show me the world
Show me the beautiful
Show me the world
Show me the world!!!!!



Answers to the questions:

Joe had to pay very little for his doctor visit. I am sure that is because of Eugene's dad's friendship with the head doctor. He had to pay for the blood test adn the x-rays...about $11 dollars US. Incredible

The reason Joe is making 3 trips is that he's leaving after pre-court (since it will be AT LEAST 3 weeks until court)
He will come back for court,(trip 2) and leave again.
Then, he comes back for the 3rd and final trip to spring Leeza from the baby house. It's typically 3-4 weeks before we can spring her. We have the 2 week waiting period, then after that, we can file for her passport and visa. That takes a week or two in and out itself. Then we head to Almaty (which everyone says is incredible, so I'm excited about that too!!) to do our final embassy visit and fly home.
I had estimated that we would be home in time for Halloween, so we'll see if I am right!!