Delightful Day at Disney with my sensational son, Sean

I have to say that I feel so LUCKY to live only an hour and a half away from most magical place on earth.. DISNEY WORLD! It was Martin Luther King day, and no school, so Sean I decided to drive up for the day. Joe will go to Disney, but does not find the experience as "magical" as Sean and I do so we went while he worked. :)
They have a really good deal right now for Florida residents, so we got a 4 day pass. We have 6 months to go 3 more times, and I know we'll do that! Our next holiday is Febuary 28th, so we already made plans go to then, for a teacher in service day.

The weather was PERFECT! It was a little bit chilly, but it warmed up, but I was perfect in the turtle neck and "warm up" suit I originally purchased to bring to Kaz with me. Since it's not looking like we're traveling anytime soon, I've made peace with the fact that we may not go until May or June, and I'm fine with that now. I was in a bit of a "funk" last week, but thru lots of prayer and yoga I'm happy again. YAY! I hate being in funks~they're no fun!

Nothing like a gorgeous day at Disney to cure the "funks" away! It's good for us to get away from our daily grind too. Sean was an absolute delight. We had great conversations, laughed a lot, and he even held my hand UNPROMPTED. It was so nice.
I feel like all I've done this year is be "Naggy McNaggerson". Brush your teeth Sean, do your homework Sean, did you practice Guitar Sean, pick up your dirty clothes Sean, please tuck your shirt in, please comb your hair, please turn the lights out when you leave the room, please put the seat down on the potty, THE LIST NEVER ENDS! And, he responds by being "Sassy McSasserson" and gives me the "eyeroll" which drives me insane. On the way home from church on Sunday, he gave some sassy retort. I said, Sean, enough on the sassy and on the disrespect. I don't appreciate your being disrespectful to me. He said, "Mom, i'm getting older, it comes with the territory". So I went into how he can think what he wants about me in his mind, but he can't say it, it's rude to me and even God says to respect your mother and father. I told him if he refuses to try to be respectful to me, then I don't have to be nice to him. I told him I am a really nice mom and I put a lot of time and effort into doing nice things for him and if he wants to treat me like that, then I can be a mean mom, that being nice isn't part of the mom job description. Then, he comes out with..."WHATEVER MOM, YOU DON'T GIVE A FLIP ABOUT ME CUZ YOU'RE ADOPTING!!

We're at Disney, and he's being so sweet, pointing out all the cute baby girls that we see, and asking if I think she'll(meaning baby Kaz) want to dress like a princess to come to Disney.
I said, did you really mean that when you said you don't think i care about you because we're adoptiong baby Kaz? He got a sheepish grin on his face and said, NO, I didnt' meant it. I was just mad.
LOL
So, it was a magical day for Mom and son to get away, and the lines were not long, and we managed to get to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot and ride pretty much everything Sean wanted to. He was very cute pointing out all the baby girls.
We saw quite a few "princesses" in full princess regelia. One little girl, looked to be around 4, walked by in a Jasmine type outfit (from Aladdin) and it was chilly out, and she has on the half shirt thing. Sean looked at me and said, WELL THAT WAS DISTURBING! It was really funny. They have a beauty shop called the "Bippety Boppity Boutique" where your favorite princess can get all "glammed up" complete with glitter to look like her favorite princess. Sean said he hopes baby Kaz is NOT so into princesses and is more into skateboards. :)

One last note...we had 5 minutes until Animal Kingdom closed, so we ran to one last ride. We were right behind this lady, who had 2 kids, a daughter and son. The daughter was not tall enough for the ride. She was argueing with the poor Disney dude, and the girl was screaming. The lady looked at me and asked me, "Would you mind letting me go ahead of you with my son and you watch my daughter for me?" I was bewildered, to say the least. I said, No, I'm sorry, I'm going on it with my son, and we ran ahead. Sean said, MOM, was that lady serious, asking a stranger to watch her kid? I don't think you would ever ask a stranger to watch me. I said, NO WAY, but are you sure, thats what she was asking me? I told him that when Baby Kaz is 3, we will not be able to go on the big rides until she's tall enough. My mature, 9 year old son answered, yeah, thats ok, we live here, and i like kiddie rides, too.
Oh, and Sean also got Student of the Week last week. His teacher told me on Friday. I said, SEAN got STUDENT OF THE WEEK? Really? She said he has had a great attitude and he hasn't given her a hard time about doing all the work ONE TIME! LOL
That's my boy! Sassy McSasserson!!!

So, that wraps up my escape to the wonderful land of Walt Disney, my hero. :)
Have a magical week everyone!

ps. It's a good thing we had a most magical time. I came home to find out that we need an entire new AC unit on our house. It hasn't been working, so we finally got a service company out. We need an entire new unit and duct work, the circuit board has gone bad and we HAD MOLD! ick! So, here I sit, while they install new everything, and let me tell you, it's NOT CHEAP EITHER! So, good thing my day was so magical. I think Tink sprinkled extra happy dust on me because I even had to miss yoga and I'm still in a really happy mood, despite being several thousand dollars poorer. :(
But at least we'll have a working unit and be MOLD FREE! Now we're ready for Baby Kaz!! Mold free, and Disney bound, baby!

Sean in front of "It's a small world after all"
I recognized the "Dasvidanya" at the end....goodbye in Russian! :)

Make new friends, but keep the old....

One is silver, and the other gold. Now, everybody sing together, in ROUNDS.
:)

I thought I'd share the picture that was taken last night when a few of the Florida Future Kaz mommies got together! Sandi couldn't make it, as they were celebrating her dad's birthday in Orlando. We missed you Sandi!

For the intro, we have Super skinny Suzanne on the left in the red, behind her is the Sassy Shannon, beside her is me, and Sean.
To the right, we have Matthew, Suzanne's very smart, funny, and talented hubby, and the "newbie", Stephanie, who is just beginning the process.



Suzanne, the most incredible, well informed, dedicated researcher I've ever known, brought a new friend who is just starting this journey. Her name starts with an S too...Stephanie!
So, we have Suzanne, Shannon, Stephanie, Sandi, and Susan. Isn't that funny?

Mellow Mushroom makes great pizza, and they have really good beer too! I sampled like 5 kinds and finally settled on a really good one! It was in a real tall glass and I managed to drink every drop!

Sean got dragged along too, and he was very interested in the conversation, for the most part. When he got tired of listening, he brought along his ipod.

What a wonderful journey we're on -one where you can add new faces and places to your repetoire, and that's all before you get the kid! I feel so incredibly blessed to have met so many wonderful people on this journey. I don't know what we'd do without the internet and the yahoo groups that have been formed. I would not have met all these incredible ladies!!

Proud Mom! Go Sean!!!

I wanted to dedicate a post to future big brother to Baby Kaz, "my baby", Sean. He brought home a GREAT report card yesterday. I have posted before about the trials and tribulations of adjusting to 4th grade. I had heard from other parents that 4th grade was a big change, and, let me tell you, they were right!!! The work gets a lot more involved, requires more thought, focus, and time. The homework requires much more "focus", and "focus" and "homework" aren't really jivin with Sean's personality. :) He actually has "projects" that he has to do, that we get well in advance. Of course, it's hard to convince a kid to start on a project that's not due for another few weeks, but if you don't, you will be sorry! They assign them far in advance because they take FOREVER, and it's hard for a child of this age (especially an active boy, like Sean) to sit still and focus for longer than, about 5 minutes.
Fourth grade is also the first year they get letter grades...no more V's and G's and S's, it's A, B, C, D and F now!! Our first report card, he did fine, he made honor roll, with all B's and one A. I was proud of him but I told him I thought he could do better. Of course, the response was "Mom, I am a B Student, there is NOTHING wrong with B's, you just think I should be perfect, I'm NOT PERFECT MOM"
However, I kept on him about doing his best and being neater and focusing. I pulled out his report card yesterday and he did awesome! He turned that around and he got all A's and 2 B+'s! His teacher (who he thinks is mean, but I don't) wrote the nicest thing. I couldn't even read it, I started crying. Sean grabbed it and read it outloud to me since I was a blubbering crybaby. "Sean amazes me with his knowledge of the world around him. HE is maturing academically and starting to proofread and check over his work. We continue to work on pace and finishing work. Good job on Honor Roll!
I can tell Sean is very proud of himself. He called his Dad at work and got his voicemail and read him his report card and said, how bout that Dad, GO me, go Sean!

On another note, we met one of my best friends and her husband and son today at our favorite donut shop. Sean LOVES MacCaiden, their son. He picked out one of his stuffed animals to give to him, and brought his report card to show them to discuss his "qualifications" to babysit MacCaiden. He really loves to play with MacCaiden and he wants to start babysitting. I told him that 9 is too young, but he can start playing with him and maybe helping out when they are home and have stuff to do. Mac is an adorable 16 month old little boy and he is BUSY BUSY BUSY. He never sits still. It warms my heart to see Sean interact with him. I think he is going to the best big brother to baby Kaz. The other day he asked if he could help dress her, and how much fun I was going to have because I will like to dress her like a "little doll". He asked me how I thought we should do her hair .He is already talking about her learning to write her name and how hopefully her kindergarten teacher will let her write her nickname if her first name has too many letters.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes Sean frustrates me and have our share of "fights", and he can be QUITE SASSY. He is not perfect, but I love him to pieces and I can't wait to see him share his love with his baby sister. :)

Wishing you everything GREAT in 2008!!!

Happy New Year to all of you! I was trying to find a picture that captured what I wanted out of 2008-and i found a couple that caputure it perfectly ! This is the TRUE JOY of Christmas morning and family! This is the kids running out to see what Santa left them. You can see the excitement in their faces-it was so much fun! I don't really "do" New Years resolutions, but I do make a lot of goals during the year that I try to accomplish. Instead, I wanted to leave you with my wishes for 2008. I'm copying off Ann Landers, but she put it so perfectly that I wanted to share it with all of you.
It's a prayer of Saint Francis. For many of us, this is the year we bring our children home. For some of you, it's a year watching your lil miracles grow and thrive, and encouraging those of us who have yet to complete our journey! The support here has been INCREDIBLE and it just reminds me of HOW GOOD GOD IS!

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
"Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
"Where there is doubt,faith;
"Where there is despair,hope;
"Where there is darkness, light;
"Where there is sadness,joy;
"O, Divine Master, grant that I may not as much seek to be consoled as to console;
"To be loved as to love.
"For it in giving that we are pardoned;
"It is in dying that we are born to eternal life;"

AMEN!
Wishing everyone much love, faith, laughter, good health, patience, friendship, and joy in this wonderful year of our Lord. :)

After Christmas Shopping!

I ventured on over to Tampa yesterday to my very favorite mall...INTERNATIONAL PLAZA! It has all the fancy schmancy stores like Nordstrom's, Neiman's, and my new favorite store, Lush, but more on that in just a second.
My husband was cleaning out his drawer and he found a Nordsrom's gift card that he never used from last Christmas, so he gave it to me. I took that as a "sign" that I should by those way cool Northface boots that I had looked at months ago with Sandi and Shannon. I had liked the white ones, but realized that they would get super dirty walking thru mud and slush in the cold land of Kaz, so I got the brown, waterproof ones. I LOVE THEM! I have them on right now, and they are making my feet hot, maybe because it's like 85 degrees in Florida. I had my hubby take a picture of me, he rolled his eyes and said 'NICE OUTFIT' even though I said, IT'S FOR OUR BLOG. So, what do you think, I am trying to pretend I'm a hot Kazakh chick. I don't think it's working...

Anyway, the boots are great and they only cost me $5 since we had the gift card. I figured if we don't travel until March, I'd still need them as it's cold and snowy in March in Kazakhstan. We are also getting a cold front here this week and it' getting down to 35, so I can wear them then too. HA HA

Next, my stepdaughter turned me into this new store at the mall, called LUSH. It's based in Vancouver, Canada. It's ALL NATURAL cosmetics. Sean and I were in there Christmas shopping for Jillian and I thought it looked cool, but I wasn't buying for me. After Jillian opened the huge gift box we got for her, I was intrigued, so I went back with my Christmas money. My skin is soft as butter now! I swear, I am as soft as a baby. The stuff is awesome! It's very weird though, but they have sales girls who help you out. I got this awesome body butter that you put on in the shower after you soap. It's fantastic. I got their eye creme, I got this facial cleaner with seaweed in it, as my skin is dry, but I sweat so much since I run 5 days a week, my pores get clogged. It's cool stuff. I got this shampoo that looks like a round bar of soap. It smells good, you just rub it on your scalp and it lathers up.
I got a whole bunch of stuff.
Check it out at lush.com. See if there is a store near you!
I LOVE IT! My skin is very dry and I feel like I look like I am 60 years old instead of the youthful 41 that I am. I don't want Baby Kaz to think her mom has grandma skin. The stuff is expensive, but it's concentrated and all natural. It's rather funky stuff, but I feel so hip and new age now. My hands are also really dry so I got this stuff called "Handy Gurugu". This is what they say about it..
Fabulous, herbal hand cream with fair trade shea butter .Handy Gurugu is a fabulous, easily absorbed hand cream made with rose water, six natural oils and butters, and luxuriously soothing essential oils. When sourcing the rich shea butters, our creative buying team traveled for 15 hours on a rickety bus along potholed roads to find villages where it is handmade by the local women. Handy Gurugu makes a big difference to your skin and a huge difference to the villagers who make the shea butter.

They are having a huge sale right now, buy one get one free, because the product has a shelf life so they are trying to get rid of it. Mine is all good for a year. Plus, the really nice gift boxes are buy 1, get one free, and the Christmas gift boxes are buy 1, get 2 free, (but, they are like over $100 for one gift box)


So, while my dossier gathers dust at the MFA, I will work with my seaweed soap, my bath bombs, my body massage bars, and my funky new face cremes so I can look younger and be soft for this baby so I won't scare her away with my wrinkly old eyes and dry old hands. :)

Last Christmas celebration without Baby Kaz

Merry Merry everyone and a happiest of New Years! Isn't it crazy to think, that for most of us "bloggers" and "blog stalkers", if you don't already have your Kaz babies, that this year was the last Christmas we'll be spending without our Kazakh additions to the family? That just blows me away!! We had a wonderful holiday in Dallas, Texas, with my family, 3 sisters, 1 brother, 1 sister in law and husband, and 7 cousins, oh, and 7 dogs too. It was COLD in Dallas, too, so that made for some SWEET running weather, but gave my hubby a raging cold and Sean a bad cough, but only because Sean refuses to wear a coat. I think Joe's cold is because of a couple night with my Dad, Mom, and the brothers in law and Yagermeister shots! Since I am "adopting", I was in charge of the kiddo's so I went to bed with them! And, humm, I am the only one NOT SICK in my family. Good thing, cuz Mom's can be sick, can we!!!

The picture above is a new baby I just met, my "grandfather's" (not technically my grandfather, but my stepmom's great uncle, and he has been like a grandfather to me) new wife's daughters child, named Francis, is just 3 months old. I was a big ole certified " baby hog". She was an angel baby, hardly ever cried and she's just gorgeous.
My 2 nieces, aged 9 and 7, spent the night at my parents every night, and my mom put me in charge of getting the kids in bed because "I am adopting a girl". It was hilarious. Of course, I gladly put my nieces to bed with Sean, made sure their jammies were on, teeth brushed, and then we'd read Christmas stories. It was really fun. Giulia told me they've been saving all their clothes (and they dress super precious) For my baby. She is so excited about this baby. Of course, like many of you have stated in your blogs, everyone needs to know...when are you going? when do you get the baby? Can you come to dallas for easter? When I say, hopefully Febuary, then they're like, ok, so for sure Feb? NO, NOT FOR SURE! I DON'T KNOW!!! I guess they did not get the memo that "One more be patient and flexible in international adoption".

My mom got me 3 GORGEOUS cashmere sweaters from Neiman's for Kaz. She said, I know you won't wear them in Florida, but you NEED warm clothes for Kaz. I didn't tell her I had bought $5 sweaters at OLd Navy outlet store because I will be getting spit up on and layering like crazy. However, I will be able to fit in with all those hottie fashionable Kaz women with my fancy sweaters. One is brown with fur on the sleeves and fur around the hood. I am hip, like my son, I Have a "hoodie". But, i have BONUS Fur and cashmere. :)

Being the coolest "Aunt Susan" that I am, I got all the kids matching jammies. I dragged my sweet hubby to the mall 3 days before Christmas. It took 45 minutes to find a parking spot. I love Dallas malls at Christmas! But, they all look so darn cute in their matching jammies, don't they? It was NOT easy finding 7 kids matching jammies either with their various ages and stages. They were awfully darn cute!





Here is a picture of me and my "baby" for this Christmas. I can't believe he's so big. Fortunately, he will still hug and kiss on his mom, when he's not busy rolling his eyes at me and thinking I'm not as cool as him.


I guess this is the last year of Serra, party of 3, when we go out to dinner too. We are really a party of 5, but Joey and Jillian are on their own and don't live with us anymore. It is so exciting, strange, and wonderful to think that in a few months, we'll have a new Serra in our midst!

School+Shopping+Season=Slacker

Hello! I am have been a real blog "slacker" and I apologize! However, with regards to Baby Kaz, we have no new updates. We're still at the MFA, entering week 8 this week. I think we hit the holiday rush of dossier's at the ole MFA. I fully did not expect to hear anything until the end of January, but then Catalina posted that her dossier moved to the MOE last week, and hers hit Kaz the same week as ours. However, that doesn't really mean anything because everyone's timing is different. I must take care to remember that this is God's timing, not our timing. :)

When we "officially" started the adoption process and signed on with our agency, I remember asking the question..."Do you think we could travel by Christmas?" and they said, possibly, but "one must be flexible and patient in international adoption." As time went on and I collected my paperwork, I made my self imposed deadlines, but soon learned that while dossier collection was IN my control, receipt of my I-171H was not! So, right then, I realized that Christmas in Kaz was most likely not my reality. However, as the weeks rolled by, I realized that I really would like to spend Christmas here in the states, with my family. As much as I may complain about my Florida weather, and going to the beach after Christmas decorating yesterday, I have super thin blood and I would be freezing in Kaz this time of year. Even if we travel in March, it's still snowing in Kaz, which is plenty cold for this southern gal.

In the meantime, 4th grade has been keeping us most busy. I had heard from fellow parents that 4th grade was a big change, but I am now experiencing it for myself. The work is much harder, and the homework takes longer, and the projects require much more thought and preparation. Getting our work done while still playing sports and getting ready for the holiday has been a test in time management and patience. :) I have also realized that taking Sean out of school for 8 + weeks would really be a struggle for him. Thus, the 2 trip option that is being advised by our agency is really a best case scenario for us. We have also been super busy putting the house back together after installing the wood floors in our 4 bedrooms, and getting ORGANIZED and trying to get somewhat "baby proofed". We have this awesome coffee table with baskets underneath that we got when SEan was a baby. It will full of JUNK and small things that baby could put in her mouth. Sean was busy cleaning those out. It feels good to get organized. We are the biggest pack rat family EVER. We finally decorated for Chrsitmas yesterday, and went to the beach when we got done. Sean was skim boarding in the water, which was freezing, but not to him!! I have also been busy trying to start Christmas shoppping too. So, see, I have been doing lots of stuff, just slacking on my blogging because I have NO NEWS TO TELL!

The question of the day by everyone is "When are you going"? to which I reply, maybe end of Febuary or March, but WE DON'T KNOW. Then people say, Oh, I'm so sorry, I know you wanted to be there by now, and I have to reset their expectation and say NO, I am fine with not being there now, it's not our time. :)

One of my best friends has an adorable son of 15 months. He is now a fully mobile toddler and I had forgotten how BUSY they are. Mommy Maria never gets to sit down! I sometimes wonder what I've gotten myself into. :) Sean, however, is adorable with MacCaiden and is just enthralled with my friends babies. It's really cute. I think he is going to be such a good big brother, until, of course, Baby Kaz goes into his room and grabs all his stuff. :)



The wood floors are in and they look great. Baby Kaz has a room now!! I dont have a mattress for the crib yet, or bookshelves, for the 2 huge boxes of books that were handed down by her big brother. I also took a picture of her closet.




It's a shame she doesn't have anything. We could also bring home a boy, so if so, the baby house is going to get a lot of really cute girl clothes. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't purchased any clothes, but I did, and what's done is done. In reading blogs and advice, the best advice I took was to have NO preconceived notions of your child, gender, or age. I thought that way at first, but then though, oh , we'll get a girl and I went a little psycho. Oh well!!!

Miles follows me around everywhere, so he is in the picture too. :) You will notice my lovely boxes in the background-those hold books .I haven't found a bookshelf I like yet.




Have a very Merry Christmas everyone and keep blogging!!! Just because I am a slacker does not excuse you guys. :) I so enjoy reading the blogs, but I just don't have any updates on baby Kaz just yet. :)