Leeza meets Spiderman!

Leeza went to a birthday party yesterday for Brody, who turned 3. Spiderman made an appearance. Leeza doesn't really know who spiderman is, but she gave him a hug and a few kisses, and was the ONLY KID at the party who was not scared and the only kid to get her picture with him. I wish I was quicker with the camera to capture the hugs and kisses. Leeza cracks me up. She really is quite brave. :)

I love this lil dress I had made for her from one of my new ebay friends. I wish little girls clothes weren't so FREAKIN ADORABLE!!

Share day at Preschool

Today was Leeza's turn at "share" day at preschool...which I suppose is the same as "show and tell" back in the day. Per my suggestion, Leeza brought her Kazakhstan flag and her Kazakhstan bow. :) If you ask her, she will tell you she was born in Kazakhstan. :) During the opening ceremony at the olympics, Kazakhstan was introduced and she proudly pointed the flag and exclaimed "My favorite!" It was really cute. :)

Her sweet teachers both bought a Cake for a "Kaz" and cut one up to share with the kids. Leeza was ESTATIC, I don't let her every have any cake, cuz I sell it all.:) Yesterday was a record...I baked 33 cakes!! Sean asked me..."didn't you mess ANY up?"

It was a perfect day for Leeza to "share" her Kazakstan flag and bow (though i am told she did NOT share, she said "Eeza's" and hung on tight, ha!) since Mommy is SO BUSY baking Cakes for a Kaz. :) She is LOVING school. I have to drag her out of there kicking and screaming! I wasn't sure if i was going to keep her at the same school next year (even though I LOVE IT!!) because she has a Sept 5th birthday, she will be repeating the 2's again. I was just afraid she might be bored. However, one of my good friends is now one of her teachers, and I just LOVE her, and both her teachers think she has so much fun,she would enjoy being the "oldest" in class. I am also considering letting her go three days (from 9-12) instead of just two. I was just bummed cuz I love our Kindermusic class, but they told me that we could pick which days she could go, so that makes me happy. :)

Leeza seems so smart to me. She learns quickly, and impresses me with her fine motor skills. She drew a heart for me yesterday! She loves to count EVERYTHING and knows all her letters and numbers. We need to work on lowercase letters now. The child who I used to worry about not liking to cuddle or read books with me, now will sit on my lap and read 20 at a time, and whine when I saw it's time for bed. :)

I am getting SO excited about our mission trip back to Kazakhstan!! Our plane tickets are booked! We leave April 30th, fly Tampa-Dulles-London-Almaty. We arrive May 1st at 1:20 am! We also just found out we are going to be able to visit the baby homes in Almaty city and deliver supplies they need and play with the children. Time is gonna be filled EVERY SECOND! I am SO excited I can't stand it. I just know it's going to be so emotional though.

My next fundraising venture is going to be "Bananas for Kaz" and I am going to sell Banana bread. I already have orders for 10! I have been working SO hard on Cakes for a "Kaz", but I am thrilled it's been so successful. It's really been a full time job! I really owe my family a huge debt of gratitude as well. Dinner is not often cooked these days as the oven is busy baking cakes. Poor Leeza, the sweet child who inspired the passion to help orphans, doesn't even get any cake. :(

Here are some recent pics of sweet Leeza Grace, the girl who never gets any cake. :)

Gettin taller! 3 months..2 inches! Grow Leeza Grow!

I took Leeza to the dr today because she has been coughing up a storm, and felt warm to me last night. I was soooo glad I did, because she has a double ear infection. Since our last dr's appt was at 26 months, 3 months ago, they wanted to get her weight and height to chart her growth. Everyone had been telling me she looked tall, and I have noticed that some of her pants are shorter.

In 3 months, she has grown 2 inches! She was 36 1/2 inches today, compared to 34 1/2 at 26 months, and she is 28 pounds today, compared to 27.8 three months ago.
I wish I would get taller and gain less than half a pound! She is still in the 50th percentile for weight (where's she's been since we brought her home) but is now in the 60 to 65th percentile in height!

Despite the ear infection, she doesn't seem to be feeling bad. She's just coughing so much it's hard for her to rest. Our good friend Shelly loaned us a humidifier and I put Vicks on her chest and feet last night and it seemed to help her a lot. YAY!

They always marvel at how well she's doing at the pediatrician's office and how smart she is. :) Oh yeah, that's my girl!! :)

I love the Valentine picture they took at preschool. She looks so European here to me. :) I think she is such a pretty girl. :)

Kazapoolza-Florida Poolza!!

I really love living in Florida. Not just because of the beach, and the no snow, but because we get to see so many Kaz cuties that come our way!!

Last Monday, 2/8/10, Kristan and Sadie drove 8 long hours to come stay with us. I was BAKING all the live long day, to deliver my Cakes for a Kaz the next day, for our drive down to Naples to visit Kaz cutie Aila, her darling baby brother Jude, and her parents, Jen and Marshall, who were down from Rhode Island (soon to be Germany!), to visit Marshall's mom. We met at the aquarium, and Sandi and gorgeous Finley drove up from Orlando. I had never met Jen and Marshall and their BEAUTIFUL children 'in real life" before so it was a real treat. They are wonderful, as I expected, and the girls had SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER! It was Marshall's birthday,so I baked him my 'infamous" Cakes for a Kaz, and some banana bread too.:)

Marshall was snapping pictures like crazy,and his pictures are truly a work of art!!! Leeza was a wild woman, climbing on the rails every 5 seconds. :)






















We had so much fun!! After saying our tearful goodbye's to the fabulous Robinson's, we drove 2 hours to Orlando, to meet the Morrison's, who had just arrived in Orlando, visiting family in Vero. Tougy, almost 3,and Nurai, 13 months, only 4 weeks home from Kazakhstan were a delight to see. I had actually met the marvy Morrison's at Kazapoolza last year, but I hadn't met the lovely Nurai yet. We went to dinner at the Rainforest cafe and walked around Downtown Disney. The girls rode the train ALL BY THEMSELVES. They were so proud ad so sweet. The girls were SO precious together. It was really cool for me to see, as last year at Kazapoolza, the older girls really played together, but Leeza was only 20 months, so she really didn't engage much. Now that she is a month shy of 2 1 /2, they all played so well together. It was SO CUTE! We are all so blessed with our friendships.