Kostanai cuties

Sarah just sent me these adorable pics of the Kostanai cuties. Unforantely, Rustam is not looking in the last one. :)
Sarah told us that Leeza reminds her so much of Addie at her age. I feel so nostalgic seeing Zach and Addie and Andy and Sarah, having followed their blog daily and then staying in the same apartment as they did! They are adorable children and I'm still "High" on all the energy from all families and their children. It's indescribable to explain what it felt like to be around such positive energy all weekend. :)

Kazapoolza 2009 was amazing indeed!

Steve-amazing photographer and Dad to Tougy took these pics of Leeza poolside..love them!




Kazapoolza 2009....we FINALLY got to go this year. It's only the 2nd year they've had it, but man, I wanted to go last year.

I even had a matching outfit made in Kaz colors. Leeza has the dress, and I have the shirt...It was cute. :)




I wondered last year if I'd ever get to go, would I ever get my Baby Kaz??? I can't even begin to describe what this weekend was like for me. To see all these BEAUTIFUL, happy, LOVED children running around together and meeting all their amazing parents "IRL" {In real life}, after having followed many of their blogs for the past year or two was just surreal.








Certainly, when I started this journey to Kazakhstan, I had NO idea what to expect, but how incredible it's been being introducted to a whole new community of fantastic people. Seeing all the kids and talking to their parents, all of whom have been thru this crazy rollercoaster ride, and are now home with their dreams come true is something that touched my heart to the core. I am sad that I didn't even get to meet everyone, and didn't get the chance to chat as much as I wanted to with the people I do know, and have met before "IRL".

I was reminded of the Brad Paisley song "I'm so much cooler online" because I "know" most of the kiddo's and their parents from their blogs. I was up in the room while Leeza napped and Joe and Sean went to lunch. They brought me back lunch and Joe said he was stopped by "a whole bunch of people who knew him" but he didn't know them. I asked him who they were, and he said "I had no idea" but they knew ME and it was WEIRD! HA! However, he did make some friends too, even though he may not have been "as in his element" as I was. :)








Plus, he's just a good "Pack mule" to help carry Leeza's stuff. :)






I guess it was rather fitting that I was awarded "Blog stalker" award at the dinner and auction Saturday night that raised $2500 for 2 Hearts for Hope! I can't wait to watch the slideshow DVD again at home because it was too hard to watch with the commotion of all the kids, and Leeza eating her rock candy. :) Right when the slideshow started with just a few Kaz facts, I got a lump in my throat and my eyes got all watery. Leeza Grace has blessed this family in so many ways, and we are still finding out how!







It was so neat to meet the other families who were with Commonwealth (before they closed) because I remember stalking their blogs religiously. It was so great to meet Taylor, Addie and Zach, and Roxana. We also meet Rinat, Berik, and Quinn, but I didn't get any pictures. :(





It was so great to meet Gigi,Tougy,Anton, Nick,Miras,Max,Josh and Noah, ,Haven and Addison, Sophie and Jack,Natalya and Mateo,Serik, Austin, and Asa, and Milo, and see Zoe,Nina,Sadie,and Rylie again. I wish I had gotten more pictures of everyone...but I think Steve got a bunch so I can't wait to see his. :)

















I had so much fun, and Joe was a trooper, being lugged around to a kid fest where he didn't really know anyone, but knew him. Leeza had a blast running around with all the kids, and Sean loves kids, so he had fun too. It was special for him to see Rustam again, as he got to know him when we were all in Kostanai together. :)






Kudos to the Kazapoolza angels who planned this event...Muriel,Gretchen, Michelle and Kristan. They did an AMAZING job and I'm sad it's over, even though we're ALL exahusted. :)

21 months!!

My baby turns 21 months old tomorrow...and I like to do a blog baby book post each month so I remember her in all of her glory. :) We are leaving for Nashville for Kazapoolza tomorrow so I won't have time to do her "official" 21 month post on the actual day she turns 21 months (on the 5th) but that's ok...this picture was taken today and her antics are still fresh in my memory.

20 months was a BIG month for Leeza. It seems to me like she changed the most this month. Her biggest accomplishment is she is offically POTTY TRAINED! She tells us when she has to go potty, which, unfornately, is, like every 20 minutes. :) The travel potty has been a LIFESAVER and I am not kidding. Joe asked me ,as she said she had to go pee in the middle of dinner and I got her up to take her potty, what we were going to do this weekend with her, carry the potty everywhere? I responded..well..YES...that is exactly what we're going to do. My blog friends won't be suprised. Plus, I am sure other parents have gone thru the same thing. :) Our next hurdle is getting her to go on the "big potty" so that will make it a little easier. I am still very proud of her though-even though potty training takes a lot of patience from Mommy, I know that she will learn to hold it longer and longer. I hope that when she goes to preschool next September that it is more second nature by then. :)

She started swimming lessons this week, and she is doing well. The first day I was in the pool with her, and the teacher, and she did pretty well. The second day the teacher had car problems, so Sean and I just swam with her for about an hour. The third day was awful. She cried the entire lesson and did not want to cooperate and clung to Mommy. Today, I decided to stay in the house hidden. Since we had to make up the missed day, Emily, her teacher, spent an HOUR in the pool with her. Leeza did GREAT! She did much better without mommy. She had to take a break to go potty, but that was the only time she saw me. It was fun for me to watch thru the blinds and hear Emily's encouragement. I was hoping I did the right thing springing for private lessons for 3 weeks, (it's so NOT cheap) but after seeing her in action today, I am happy with my decision. :)

Leeza's vocabulary is increasing daily, but her favorite new word is "No". It's so funny-we can tell she is getting close to 2. Even when she means yes, she says "No". It's so cute though. :) She is also turning into a lil flirt! I went to Tech Data today to drop off birthday gifts for 2 of my best friends who are vendors who call on Tech Data. I can't believe it will be 3 years since I left (at the end of August). They convinced me to come in and say Hello to everyone. It was so strange being back, but it was really fun seeing everyone. Leeza was running up and down the halls, with special attention to the boys. She does this thing where she shrugs her one shoulder and tilts her head.....so darn adorable but KINDA SCARY cuz she LIKES THE BOYS ALREADY! I think maybe this is a normal girl thing, but it still freaks me out.

She is LOVING books now, and likes to plop in my lap and bring me her favorites. She is very particular about which ones she wants you to read. Elmo is a big favorite, and Brown Bear Brown Bear, and Good night Moon (yay, Sean's favorites too!). She actually stood still 10 minutes and watch an Elmo video earlier this week when I was cooking dinner. That is the longest she's stood still and paid attn to any video, except when she was confined to her car seat on our road trip to Navarre to visit the Struck family. :) It's really cute to hear her scream "Momo" (Leeza speak for Elmo) at the top of her lungs when she sees him in the video or at Target or Borders on the cover of books. Needless to say, Mommy is a big fat sucker and now she has lots of new "Momo" books. :)








She is growing, growing, growing. She has grown out of some of her cute lil shoes I just bought a couple months ago. I got her a new pair yesterday...a size 7!! They are a lil big but still! I love the way she runs-she has this lil waddle going on, but man she is fast! She has lots of energy and is getting better and better at entertaining herself for longer periods of time.

After bath, she crawls up in her daddy's lap, grabs the blanket, and hands him a stack of books to read. It's very heartwarming to mommy. :)

She is a very affectionate, happy go lucky, social butterfly. While sitting in the back of the MDX on her potty, in parking lots accross the Largo area, she waves and says Hello to people passing by (so much for being discreet!) She does pull the shy bit occasionally around strangers, but I think it's more about her being "coy". :)

She was "reading" her big brother's "Goosebumps" book, and when you open the cover, it "screams", so this is her new "suprised/scared face" that cracks me up. :)




We are having so much fun with her. I am sure I am probably bias, but she seems to just get more beautiful everyday. She is such a joy and I love watching her learn. She has a lovely lil spirit that I hope will just continue to grow. It's nice to be beautiful on the outside, but "pretty is, as pretty does" and what really matters is what she's like on the inside. :)

She LOVES Miles, and he really puts up with her abuse. We were at the vet with Miles so I caught a couple funny pics on my infamous iphone. She threw her bow out so we put it in Miles hair. :) HA!





Happy 21 months Leeza Grace! We have known you for 10 months now, and you sure light up our lives!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Modeling my new 'Patio dress' I got from my Mom for my birthday...they're very "in" you know...

But even though I try to be cool and dress chic, I will NEVER ever ever have a prayer as being as pretty as my daughter. But...Hey..."don't hate the playa".."hate the game", so they say....





I distinctly remember my last 3 birthday's....from this decade of "the 40's".

On my 40th birthday, Joe threw me a big party, and my whole family came down from Texas for a week and we had a blast. Joe gave me the best gift EVER.....my own business..an LLC corporation, with a company logo, etc. I also remember I felt "old" and I needed a new goal to challenge myself. I signed up for an olympic distance triathlon on my birthday, scheduled for September at Disney. I trained my butt off all summer...swimming/biking.running. In August, Joe gave me the courage to quit my job of 15 years at Tech Data to start my own business..only to discover I actually LIKED being a "stay at home mom" and I discovered yoga, and spent a lot more time with Sean.

On my 41st birthday, we had decided to adopt from Kazakhstan, and I spent the summer putting our dossier together, and discovered the "blog world" and I made a lot of incredible new friends. :) What's really amazing is that we all still keep in touch now that we have our incredible children HOME with us. :)

On my 42nd birthday, I wondered if we'd ever get to Kazakhstan and I worried incessantly that my dream of adding another child to our family was not to be. However, after my birthday, we got our LOI to travel to Kazakhstan with a date of August 1st.


Now...here I am on my 43rd birthday, celebrating it with my dream come true, Leeza Grace, and my "baby" who recently turned 11, and of course, my "rock", my incredible husband of 12 years. I feel very blessed, and very grateful for my family, and my friends. Sure..I wish I was 10-15 lbs thinner, much more toned, and I could actually breathe in my "coveted" Seven jeans, and don't even get me started on my "muffin top"........but I've also got so many different priorities in my life right now that being in the best shape of my life has gone by the wayside. I started my day early, for "5 at 5", a 5 mile run at 5:15 am with my girlfriends, and then after sleeping beauty woke up at 9:30, Leeza, Sean and I went out to breakfast at Maggie Mae's on the beach.




We spent the rest of the morning in the pool, until Leeza passed out at 1:15 for naptime. I grabbed my book (Eclipse, the 3rd book in the Twilight series) got on my float, and read for about 45 minutes, then took an hour nap. It was heavenly. :)

Sean's poem:

Roses are Red,
Violets are blue
You really rock and you wear cool socks!
Sometimes you feel like a big klunk of goo
Sometimes you smell like a pile of poo (with an arrow that says NOT) and a smiley :) But it's ok, I smell worse!
Happy Birthday from Sean

I got lots of birthday wishes from my friends (thanks to Facebook!!), 3 pretty dresses from my mom, a dozen gorgeous roses from my stepdaughter, a hilarious poem from Sean, and lots of kisses and hugs from my daughter and husband, plus a dinner out, and keylime pie for dessert. Really..who could ask for anything more?


My pretty roses from Jillian, with a very sweet card to boot...

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A> Goofball who cannot pose seriously for any picture... Just taking pics on the way home in the car....seriously..this child is BEAUTIFUL..it really is unfair... Family dinner at Keegan's...yum!!