Leeza meets her Great Grandma!!

My grandma turned 90 on October 16th and we all flew into Phoenix for the big celebration! I had not seen my Grandma since we left for Kazakhstan 2 years ago. She had never met Leeza. It was such a wonderful celebration. She looks AMAZING and her memory is still sharp as a tack. I am really praying that I got some of her genes. :) It was a wonderful celebration and my aunt did a great job coordinating it all. As little girls dressed up in fancy dresses do, Leeza "stole" the show...all the ladies in Royal Oaks retirement center were "oohing and ahhing" over the lil girl dressed up like a princess. However, I was MOST proud of Sean. He sat at a differnet table from us when we arrived Friday night and went to Olive Garden with everyone, and a different table at the birthday lunch the next day. Everyone that met him came and complimented us on how friendly, adult, and conversational he was with people he didn't know. I was really proud of him. Leeza has a ways to go in that department. :)








Since we flew all the way to Arizona, we decided we should stay a couple extra days and see the sights. We drove to Sedona on Sunday night and spent Monday at the Grand Canyon, then Tuesday out and about Sedona, then back to Phoenix for a visit with the Tennens, and their daughter Rylie, another Kaz cutie who was adopted from Astana.
Taking a 3 year old to Grand Canyon and Sedona was probably not the best idea I've ever had, but it was so breathtakingly beautiful and such a wonderful change of scenery for the Floridians it was still worth it, even though Sean and Joe say they will NEVER GO ON VACATION WITH LEEZA AGAIN UNTIL SHE'S 10!





Even though Leeza was kind of a PITA (Pain In the A$$), I did love having Sean away from his school, friends, xbox, and Leeza away from her princess movies, normal routine because they played so cute together. Sean is really a sweet boy..and really good with his sister. When she wanted carried and I was like "NO, YOU CAN WALK", her big brother would always carry her. She is a lucky lil girl. Of course, he also told her she was "challenged, had no friends, and is spiteful" when she acted like a diva, and wouldn't listen. She just loves to TAKE OFF, as in, open the hotel room door and go down the hall. Lordy, she keeps us on our toes. :)








As we've now been home for 4 days, I'm already forgetting what a pain Leeza was and just remembering what a special time we had as a family. :) I am sure this is why I don't remember Sean and all the antics he pulled at 3, but I do think he was much more chill than his wild and crazy sister. :)














Sedona was BEAUTIFUL! We took a pink jeep tour, and Leeza was actually really good, confined to car seat and just seemed to chill and take in the beautiful scenery! The lil town of Sedona is beautiful and quaint, but Leeza is not very adept at "looking ONLY with her eyes". :)






















The end of our trip was also a highlight--we got to visit with the Tennen family...the spunky Rylie, age 3 1/2 , born in Astana, and her mom Sara (pregnant with her brother or sister due May 1st) and her hubby Adam. The girls got a long immediately and they had a blast playing at the park, then we had a quick dinner. It was a perfect way to end our trip. :)

Busy girls on the go!

Leeza and I have been having so much fun. We are never home, and Leeza is no longer napping, so I really have very little free time but it's VERY IMPORTANT to me to keep up with her blog, so I'm going to try to document everything we've been up to.

School is going great. She is doing so well in the same 2 year old class she was in last year and it is a perfect fit. She loves her teachers, and they love her. She has a BFF named Alana, and she stayed an extra hour for the first time, from 12-1 for "lunch bunch". She has a blast eating lunch and playing with her friends. This week, she stayed until one both Monday and Tuesday. That gives her 4 hours at school and gives mommy more time to get stuff done, so it's a win-win. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her school.
All the hard work putting her bows back in after she threw them out has paid off. She now keeps them in, and will even wear headbands and hats with huge flowers.
She is so much fun to dress up. I still receive the most joy ever from dressing up my lil doll. :)





Leeza is doing SO MUCH BETTER in ballet and gymnastics. The 4th time seemed to be the charm. She was a real nightmare the first few times. I was so embarrassed and I wanted to pull her out. However, Leeza is the kind of gal who takes a while to adjust, so I am glad I held out. In fact, her ballet teacher "thanked me" for not pulling her out because she said she sees so many mom's pull their kids out before they have time to adjust.
After gymnastics on Thursday's, we found a new activity called "Jungle Boogie" that one of our kindermusic mommy friends told us about. It's a hike for us, about a 45 minute drive, but it's so fun. It's at a nature park, and they have a story, a craft, than a nature walk. We met a darling lil girl named Alexsandria and her mommy Mila, from the Ukraine. They speak Russian! It's really neat talking to her.

On Friday's, we save for our "fun day". We have zero planned activities. The last 2 Friday's we have visted the brand new children's museum in Tampa. It is AMAZING! I just chase Leeza around as I watch her imagination take flight. She has a blast. They have so many fun things for the kids to do...she gets tons of excercise running a race with "animals", hopping like a frog, playing in the pretend kitchen, making a show with costumes, making Pizza in the pizzarea, playing fireman in the firetruck, sliding down a fire truck, shopping in the grocery store, etc, etc, etc. It is a total blast for her, and me. :)













I love how social and funny she is. She will jsut walk right up to kids and say "Hi, I'm Eeza Grace Serra", What's your name, wanna play?"
We are having so much fun. I love experiencing life thru a 3 year old's eyes again.
It's so funny having a 3 year old and a 12 year old. The other day, Sean said some guy was 'beast", and Leeza responds, "The beast? Were's Belle?"
so cute. :)

Ryan and Leeza sing 'Pants on the Ground"..

I didn't even realize it until I realized it was October 3rd today, that TODAY is our 2 year Gotcha Day Anniversary. I remember it so well-the day we finally go to "bust Leeza free" from the baby house in Kostanai and take her back to our apartment to await her passport and visa processing. I was prepared for the worst, but her transition to being with me full time was seamless. She took her first steps the 2nd day we had her.

We spent this nice fallish day at the park, riding the train, then playing at the park with Ryan, then out to lunch for chips and salsa. We are doing Christmas card pictures at the park (formal attire) in just a lil bit.

It's hard to believe this headstrong, beautiful, smart, engaging lil girl who sometimes is infuriating was the same baby girl we met who had beautiful, but "dead" blue eyes. Her eyes, how they sparkle...and how MERRY she makes us. We sure love you to pieces Leeza Grace Serra...you and all your moods. :)