My Fair Lady

Here is my fair lady, Lill Leeza Grace Serra, decked out in new dress to go to Dolce Vita for a night out. :)
And, who says they don't have cute kid clothes in Kaz?



One of the other CAI families was back in town for their court date to adopt their ADORABLE 17 month old son, Joseph Damir, and they wanted to meet Leeza. Since it was her "debut", I had to dress her up in something cute!!!





She looked VERY ADORABLE, but it was VERY difficult to get a cute picture of her. Most of them are big blurry "action shots."I took my camera to Dolce Vita, but that was a "bit ambitious" to even TRY to get a picture there since there are NO highchairs and I was way too busy making sure she didn't break anything to worry about taking my camera out. :)
She did really well, I even managed to eat my salad for dinner.

I was being quite risky taking her out, since she decided to "skip" her afternoon nap. She did sleep for about an hour and 15 minutes in the morning, so we waited until after lunch (and potty, of course) before we made the trek to Gros to get mommy more Coke Light and coffee creamer. I figured she'd fall asleep in the ergo, since we went about naptime. She finally did fall asleep, but waited until we were almost home. I took her out of the ergo, and tried to put her down, but she just cried. That is very unlike her typical behavior, so, I set her on the potty.
Wouldn't you know it..she had to go. That is why she didn't want to sleep-amazing.

So, we skipped the afternoon nap and ventured out to Dolce Vita to meet Joel and Lori, and Eugene and Tatiana. I was hoping that perhaps Leeza's "cuteness" in her dress would negate any negative whiny behavior resulting from no nap. However, she was really pretty good and was anxious to leave after about an hour, but besides shredding some puffs all over the seat cushion (I am sure they will LOVE me at Dolce Vita), she was really good and her charming self. She was engaging,and giving "high 5's", and friendly to all, as long as Mommy was right beside her. :)

I was talking to my Aunt Jane, who said that my grandma is quite tickled to hear about how Leeza is pretty much potty trained. She said that's the way they did it when she raised her children. However, when people got washing machines, and disposable diapers made their debut, many people gave it up, and were told it was "damaging to the kids psyche's" to make them sit on the potty. It makes sense that they do it here, in Kaz, because in many ways, it's like living back in the 50's. Leeza doesn't seem to have a damaged psyche, she sits on the potty without a problem. It's a great babysitter-she is on the potty while Mommy makes breakfast, and takes a shower. When Mommy isn't busy, I sit there with her and we play. We have learned how to blow kisses, and where is our belly button, all during potty time. We play catch with ball, pass the stacking cups to each other,and read books. I'm simply amazed how trained she is. I'm not sure why us mom's are compelled to talk about poop,BUT, she poops A LOT! She seemed constipated at the baby house, but not at home. I must be doing something right with her diet!!

Our Monday Morning in Kostanai

Leeza is a GREAT sleeper-she was so tired last night at 9 pm, and slept until 8:45 this morning! I am getting so much more sleep since I have had her with me! I captured this shot this morning...she is so cute. I love these jammies-they were one of my "market finds"



She wakes up very happy!!






She is really smart, and catches on to things very quickly. I'm truly amazed by her-she is so fun!

Where's mommy's nose Leeza?







After lots of hugs and kisses, I put her in the potty, and I fix breakfast. This morning, she ate a huge bowl of oatmeal with a banana in it. She likes oatmeal.
After breakfast, I let her play about 10 minutes, then I set her on the potty again.
(We spent a lot of time on the potty!) However, time on the potty means less mess in the diaper. We got thru 2 diapers a day.

Not to be too obsessed with "potty talk", she is a very regular child. She poops after every meal-and before nap, she will pee on the potty. I'm truly in awe of this! Tatiana's mom told me that she started potty training Tatiana at 5 months (as soon as she could sit up) and she was potty trained at 9 months. They just took her potty everywhere they went. I never thought that lil ones could really be potty trained because I figured they lacked the muscle control. Leeza will go in her diaper if I don't take her to the potty-but if I put her in the potty, she'll go there. It's way easier if you ask me! I will be packing her cute pink potty and taking it to Almaty and taking it home. I am going to bring it on the plane too. It's way easier than cleaning a poopy diaper. :)



She is a very easy child to figure out. She is happy most all the time, and adjusts amazingly well to new surroundings. We went to the market with Kelly and Doug yesterday and we left the apt at 2:45 or so. Her afternoon nap is around 3, and you can tell cuz she gets a bit whiny and rubs her eyes. She fell asleep in the ergo about 3:15 or so, while we shopped. She woke up at 5:15 or 5:30, happy as can be. The ergo is so comfortable, I don't even feel her and I can kiss her sweet head.
We went over to Tatiana's for dinner-where her mom made us chicken and potatoes (which Leeza would not eat-WHATEVER GIRL!) so her mom made her some noodle soup, which she ate up with some brown bread. Tatiana said that she herself was a very picky eater so her mom can feel my pain. When we first got there, Tatiana's mom was holding her while I unzipped her coat, and Leeza did not like that. She wanted her momma. However, after sitting in my lap about 5 minutes and meeting Tatiana's brother, his wife, and their son, and Tatiana's dog, she started warming up. She was soon crawling all over making herself at home. :)

After she ate, I knew I had to get her home to sit her on the potty. We walked home, and sure enough-my "regular" girl did her business. I gave her a bath, which she DID NOT like this time, and I wrapped her up in a towel. My skype phone was ringing, so we went to answer it. I was talking on the phone to my girfriend Karen, Mom to the infamous Rayn, who looks a lot and reminds me of Leeza. I was snuggling with Leeza while we talked, and I GOT MY FIRST KISS! She gave her mommy a kiss. I was so touched I started bawling. :) My lil girl is such a sweetie pie. :) I love her lil body snuggled into mine. :)

I am amazed at what a good lil girl she is. She is smart, she is sweet, she is a great sleeper, a great shopping buddy, and a "regular" kind of gal on the potty. She was sooooooooooo worth the wait, and then some. I was hugging her this morning and I just got overwhelmed and started crying because I love her soooooooooooooo very much! Thank you so much GOD for this incredible blessing you have given us. She is definitely my daughter and it feels so incredibly wonderful! This is what it's all about!!!

Getting to know you....

Getting to know all about you....



Tatiana came over with ground beef from her mom, and some salad her mom made for me. Leeza LOVED the dinner we made,(ground beef "cutlets", and mashed potatoes) and we had it again for leftovers for lunch today.


Getting to like you



Tatiana called earlier and said her mom is making a chicken dish today is making extra for Leeza and I. Seriously, could Tatiana and her mom be ANY SWEETER TO US?
They are so wonderfully generous and kind hearted.

Getting to hope you like me...





Getting to know you, putting it my way,





But nicely,



You are precisely,





My cup of tea.





Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you.
Leeza's likes: Apples,pears, bananas, sweet bread soaked in warm milk, Aunt Tatiana's beef cutlets and mashed potatoes, Kazakhstan version of "puffs",animal crackers, apple juice






Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me.
Mommy's favorite thing about Leeza: Easy going, loves to play, always has a smile for her mommy, independent (yet still cuddly and likes to snuggle), practically potty trained, goes to sleep for nap time and bed time without any issues, her inner beauty that just radiates as I spend more and more time with her...





Getting to know you, putting it my way,
Fun things Mommy is doing with Leeza: Letting her run around in just her diaper, letting her have "naked time", watching her dance to some of the videos we brought from home, having many "conversations" (with the same child that 9 weeks ago I wasn't sure if she even babbled..LOL..now she is "chatty Kathy), going to the market, and just watching her her explore her new world.







But nicely,





You are precisely, my cup of tea!


Leeza is so SMART. When asked where is your belly button...she knows exactly what you're talking about!
She has also started to stand for a few moments, unassisted (NO HANDS MOM!) She gets to tickled with herself that she always falls. :)

In "awe" of my daughter!!

It's 11:26 am in Kostanai,on Saturday morning, and my daughter is in her playpen, sleepin in just her diaper and her pink elephant. I was getting her out of her jammies, and she just was a tad fussy, so I thought perhaps a nap was a good idea. I put her in her playpen, in just her diaper (the horror!!) and she played for about 30 minutes while I grabbed some lunch and cleaned up the kitchen. I kept checking on her, not letting her see me, just to watch her. I think she got more gorgeous overnight.








She has been incredible! She took a bath last night, and was awesome. I expected tears and a very possible freak out episode, but she was fine. I put lil it of "tan water" in the tub, and set her in it. I gave her a cuple cups to play with, and washed her with a wash cloth and washed her hair. She was a super trooper. I put her on the bed and gave her a baby massage with Johnson's baby lotion. I love that smell! She was all smiles and giggles. I love her lil chubby body-so cute!! After a big cup of warm milk with bread in it, and a trip to the potty (where we read books), she went to bed about 9:30 last night and slept until 8:15 this morning. She sat up, and kinda looked around, then got abig smile on her face, like, 'oh yeah, I'm with my mommy..COOL!' I am getting MORE sleep since Leeza is here than I was before she was here! I went to bed later AND woke up earlier pre-Leeza. Last night I was in bed by 10:30, and slept in an extra hour and 15 minutes! Leeza is good for me!!!Upon waking, I put her on the potty and she did her business. The girl is practically potty trained. I give huge KUDOS to the Dolphin baby house-she is so easy going and happy! I haven't changed a poopy diaper yet!

Not sure what to do with your child while you take a shower? Put em on the potty-with some books, cups, and let em go to town! I put her on the potty after milk and bread last night before bed and we read books while she did her business. I think the potty was the best 700 tenge I've spent. I thought I'd try it, since I know she is used to it, but I did not expect it to be this easy!








When I compare Leeza to Sean at this age, I am even in more awe of the baby house. Sean didn't want to sleep in his crib, or poop in the potty. I could never do "Baby Wise"....I am lousy at the 'cry it out' method. Sean was also a real laid back baby, but the sleepin in his own crib and the potty training things were challenging for us.

Leeza is happy, content, and easy going. I am having so much fun with her! I did not expect it to be this easy with her. The challenge is finding things she likes to eat. If I could only feed her cookies,and crackers, it would not be an issue. She did eat over half her "porridge" for breakfast, and she ate 2 yogurts for lunch yesterday. She would not eat the soup I made (well, that I poured into a bowl and heated up in the microwave) for dinner, so I fed her half an apple. Before bed, she did drink a big coffee mug full of warm milk with bread in it. I tried to feed her the milk and cookies yesterday at her normal "milk cookie snack time" from the baby house, but she wasn't interested. She does like apples, because, of course, Apples are from Kazakhstan. She must have read the book. She seems all about wanting to make a new schedule with her momma. She won't eat cheerios (she just throws them) or scrambled eggs, or hardboiled eggs. She likes these crackers that I found some that taste like Ritz, but buttier.
She is RATHER FRUSTRATING to feed. :)

Tatiana is coming over at 1:00 to go to the market with me and we're going to get potatoes and some stuff to make "meat cutlets". She liked that at the baby house, so we'll try that.

I fed her a few bites of yogurt as a snack after breakfast, and she liked it, but you can tell the texture "weirds her out". I am not the baby house chef, and she is acutely aware of that. :) However, there is a new cook in town, and we both have to adjust to mommy's cooking.

However, Sean was never a big eater and his pediatrician told me over and over that he'd never seen a kid starve. I know Leeza won't starve either, but I just want to make sure I get her some protein in her diet.

She is really amazing and I am having the time of my life.I am really enjoying our "girl time", and I love having her all to myself right now. However, I can't wait for Joe and Sean to see her too! I can't wait for everyone to meet this charming little blue eyed pixie. She is so enchanting!

Yesterday evening, I put her in the ergo and we walked around and went to Central park, and then to Gros to get more yogurt. We were out over an hour. She was a trooper, even in the stupid snowsuit that she had to wear while I was too warm for a jacket. :) She was loving looking all around,and then took a power nap too. God bless that Ergo-it's a lifesaver. I am not even going to have Joe bring a stroller-I don't think we'll need it since she is so used to the ergo and there will be 2 of to help with feeding, etc.

I am so proud of her, and I can't get enough of my sweet angel baby.
God is SO good-and Leeza Grace is my daughter. It feels perfect. :)

The "Delivery" Of Leeza Grace Serra

The labor pains are all forgotten already-as my new "roomie" is asleep in her playpen in my room!! My 9 week labor is OVER and now begins the joyous task of enjoying our daughter!!! I am so incredibly grateful for the amount of time we've already spent together because the transition has been so wonderful (well, the first 3 hours and 45 minutes of it, anyway. :) )


I didn't sleep well last night....it felt like Christmas Eve!! It reminded me of when I was little and tried so hard to sleep because I knew if I didn't, Santa wouldn't come!!! However, I musta fooled him by keeping my eyes shut...because I got the best gift ever asleep right now in her playpen!!!




I already have her schedule ALL screwed up. :)
We left the baby house 10:00, which is right at her naptime. She was falling asleep in the car, as much as she could with that big bulky snowsuit on. :)
However, once we got in the apartment, she woke right up!!





She was all wide eyed, looking all around. I put her down to take off my coat and purse, and she fussed, so I picked her right back up and we walked around. I led her over and spread her blanket out and had her oh so familiar toy bag out. She crawled right over and started stacking her rings! I gave her a cracker and some juice, and she was diggin it. I think the key to keeping Leeza happy is to always have food. :)





She did have time for one last snack at the baby house, so she ate some fruit (apples) and a cookie. She was cute eating at the table with her buddies.







I will sure miss all of them but I have so many wonderful pictures that I can fondly look back on. The caregivers were so sweet, and gave me a scarf as a way to remember them. The medical nurse told Tatiana that they all fell in love with me and Sean. Suprisingly, I did not cry saying goodbye like I thought I would. I was so excited and it just felt "right" to move onto our next chapter. The only time I did cry was when Asiil and Almagoul (Leeza's main 2 caregivers) gave me the scarf and hugged and kissed me goodbye and told me to take good care of Leeza. My eyes filled with tears and they wiped my eyes and said "Ne plach" (don't cry!). I told them they were 2 of the hardest working women I'd ever met, and thank you for doing such a good job with Leeza.

Everyone at the Dolphin baby house is so special and so wonderful. I am so glad that Leeza had her start here. They told me again how much Leeza has changed since we met her family, and maybe that is so, but this lil angel had a rough start and they took such good care of her before her parents could come get her! They told me I could come back anytime with Leeza before we leave town. We will be making one trip back that Joe can deliver all the toys, puzzles, and books that he purchased to donate to the baby house.




Even though I have already managed to screw up her nap and lunch schedule, I still set her on the potty after her snack. She "made pecet" like a good girl and had a blast in the bathroom. She is really fun!!!







I tried to feed her some lunch about 12:30, since we totally missed her 11:30 lunch time. I made some soup (opened the bag, and poured it in a bowl, heated in the microwave) and tore up some bread. She took one bite, and blew raspberries at me.
I'm not sure so much if she didn't like it, or if she was just full from all the crackers and juice I gave her. I made her some apple tea too from this HIPP brand, and she drank a lil bit of that.

While I made lunch, I put on Baby Einsein's "Baby Bach" and she watched it and played with her toys. I would come check on her every few minutes and she was fine! After about 20 minutes, she crawled over to the kitchen to see what was up.
She is likin the walker too. I gave her some cheerios, but she just threw them on the floor. LOL





I could tell she was tired, so I laid her down in the playpen, with her "soska", and the elephant I've been sleeping with for months and months. I figured it had the "mommy smell" and that would comfort her. It was amazing..I laid her down, and told her SPOT LEEZA and then I laid down on my bed. She didn't fuss, shut her eyes, and that was that!

I should be sleeping while she is, but I'm too excited and I wanted to update my blog so everyone could see that Leeza and her mom are ROOMIES and getting along fabulously so far!

It just feels natural to have her with me, like this is just the way it has always been and the way it should be. Now, we just gotta get home to see Daddy and Sean, and meet Joey and Jillian, and Nana and Papa, and Mimi and Bobbo, and all her aunts and uncles and cousins!

Joe is planning on leaving on the 11th, a week from tomorrow. He will arrive in Kostanai on Monday, October 13th, and hopefully we will be ready to go to Almaty the 14th, and can leave for Tampa on the 18th. If that works, we found killer flights with very lil layovers (only 3 hours in Frankfurt). We were not opposed to staying overnight in Frankfurt and wanted to try to stay overnight in Dallas to see my parents, but it was too hard to work out. However, my mom called Joe and said her and my Dad will give us a week or two to settle in and then they're coming to Florida to meet Leeza!

Leeza will not be the youngest grandchild for long..my sister Noelle (the one who was married in Cabo San Lucas this past November) and her husband Chris are expecting their first child , due on April 12th!

Life is very, very, very good!

I will do my best to keep updating the blog, if Leeza will continue to cooperate with nap time. :)

I am going to go stare at her again. :)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Before we left, a friend of ours, Kathy Shevlin, sent me this poem, and I find it very fitting for today, the day our daughter, the princess, leaves the Dolphin baby house and starts her journey home to her family!

Today I kissed an angel;
I knew it from the start.
The first time my angel smiled at me;
I gave away my heart.

Today I kissed an angel;
This angel child of mine
Though not of my creation,
My child by God's design.

Today I kissed an angel.
My heart is dancing wild;
Our family, by a miracle;
Blessed by our angel child.

Gotcha day -TOMORROW!

Tomorrow will be 9 weeks to the day that we had our “blind date” with Leeza.
Tomorrow is our "Gotcha Day"…9 weeks to the day.

It just dawned on me this week that this pregnancy is almost over-and my lil princessa will soon be with her mommy ALL THE TIME!
It will be a little different then when I came home with her brother…who decided it’d be fun to arrive 5 weeks early, on April 15th instead of on the May 19th day his LOI was issued for.


He was tiny and skinny-and Joe said he looked like a “Tyson chicken”, and he had no fat on his tiny lil body. I was scared bringing him home…He was so fragile and delicate, I was so afraid I’d ‘break him”. Even changing his lil diaper, while trying to avoid being peed on, and attempting to clean his circumcision scar and his black stump of a belly button was frightening. Joe went back to work a few days later and I was wondering how I’d manage.

Of course, after the first few hours, we were fine. He didn’t break-and we figured it out.
This time, my baby is not a tiny fragile Tyson chicken look alike. She is an active, mobile one year old princess with chubby cheeks and toes she doesn’t get to see very much. I’m not as scared, because I have gotten to play with her for 9 weeks, everyday for almost 4 hours. It will be a big change for both of us, but I’m ready and I think she is too!

I remember reveling in Sean’s “newborn-ness” and holding him constantly, even when he slept, until his Daddy made me put him down because “if you hold him all the time, he’ll never sleep unless he’s being held”. I wanted him to play with toys, but he wasn’t very interested. I remember asking Joe…”When will he want to play with toys?”

I’ve waited a long time for my princess-about 4+ years if you count how long it’s been since we decided we DID want another baby to love. I changed my lifestyle and learned patience, and renewed my faith, over, and over again. My patience was rewarded, and God has blessed us with beautiful Leeza Grace Serra.

This time-I don’t have to wait for her to want to play with toys. She already loves her toys, and she is NOT content to just sit and be held and let her mommy kiss her sweet cheeks and snuggle buggle. She is WAY too busy for that, but she will let me lug her around in the ergo, and we’ll be doing plenty of that!


The gifts are wrapped in tissue, in their gift bags, with sticky notes placed on the outside.
The new snowsuit was purchased at the market this morning, and her outfit is laid out ready to go.


It’s Teacher Appreciation day tomorrow and there is a “performance” at 8 am. I am attending, and bringing the gifts. I hope to be able to take Leeza after that.

Hopefully we'll get the final stamp from the judge tomorrow morning as well. Tatiana is at the notary office now translating our apostilled marriage licenses and passports to get Leeza's final adoption paperwork completed and ready to go since the court order will be in it's full force after TODAY!


My DSL is down right now, and even dial up is sporadic, but I hope this is just a temporary problem and we’ll be up and running tomorrow. Dial up wouldn't even work this morning-no dial tone. I am on dial up now, but have no idea how many minutes this card has left. :)

If I am not, PLEASE DO NOT PANIC if I don’t post.

Thank you EVERYONE for all your support in this journey. It's been wonderful!!!
I love everyone so much!!

This pic cracked me up...looks like she is saying..."Mom, are you sure you are gonna feed me when you take me home?"

Amazing Grace (well, Leeza Grace, that is...)

I am SO happy today!!! Leeza Grace was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING today.

Leeza in the car: No problem
Leeza getting her passport picture: No problem
Leeza's first time in a restaurant: No problem!!!

I am so proud of my brave lil princess!
Today was the day we went for passport pictures.
After a big ole lunch (she ate 2 courses), and they gave me a "new outfit" for her pictures, off we went to the photo shop to get her pictures taken.

She was just looking all around in the car, like she thought it was cool.

We got to the passport place, and I had her on my lap and sat in the chair, but nope, she needed the white background, not Mommy background (duh!). So, I had to sit her in the chair by herself and that kinda freaked her out. She cried for a minute, but we brought the stacking cups, and she was distracted and they got the picture. :)
She looks a lil scared in the picture, but I thought she looked beautiful!

They said it would be 30 minutes before the pictures were ready (Not like the 5 minutes it takes at Walgreens) SO WENT OUT TO LUNCH!
Leeza went to the Russian bar and she was an absolute delight!





I was giving her lil pieces of bread, and she grabbed the entire piece out of my hand and ate the whole thing. She drank half my vanilla milkshake too. She was really good and she was DIGGIN feeding herself. It was really cute! I was so proud of her!

It was SO MUCH FUN having her out and about-It just makes me THAT MUCH MORE EXCITED to spring her! She was really so cute and just one cool cucumber. She also ate a couple bites of my greek salad and a few drinks of my water.

Her mother is NOT SO AMAZING

Ivan picked me up from the baby house and took me to the photo shop to get the pictures printed for the caregivers. He got a call and had to be back at work, so I walked home, after shopping for awhile in the mall. I was so 'HIGH' after having so much fun with Leeza, I was on cloud nine. Ivan said to me "Susan, you are always so happy and very enthusiastic". I WAS CERTAINLY THAT!

However, after being up until about 1 am in the morning and waking up at 7 to talk to Sean, and having that "superbly happy feeling", i started to feel tired. I walked home, only to find that my key was not in my purse. I guess it fell out somewhere......ugh. Tatiana was teaching, Ivan was busy at work, SO, I walked around the market for awhile, then walked to Central Park and sat on a bench and people watched. It was really nice and we had another GORGEOUS day outside. I even wore my "fit flops" today and was very comfortable in jeans and a short sleeve shirt.
I loved seeing all the lil kids chase after the pigeons. I will be taking Leeza there too, I think!

Tatiana called me when she got out of class, and invited me to her home because she had a private lesson (teaching english) and her mom treated me to dinner. Her mom is really sweet. I had some potatoe pergoies and tea. :) Ivan came over after work and took me to the landlord's office to get an extra key made. I felt like such a STUPID AMERICAN! UGH!

So, I am home, safe and sound, happy, yet somewhat exhausted.

Tatiana was saying something about the judge's secretary being out with her daughter who has pneomonia, so I hope that this news does not affect Gotcha Day because we need the judge to stamp the final court order (or something.) Tatiana goes tomorrow to get that for us, and she says she will INSIST we just get the court order stamped so I can get Leeza on Friday.
I will update tomorrow with that news. I will be surely disappointed if that affects us, but I will roll with the punches because that's just HOW I ROLL!

I am so proud of Leeza. She is gonna have a blast outside the baby home...cuz that's how she rolls too!!