Wicked Wonderful Wednesday!

We had a WICKED awesome wonderful Wednesday, if I may be so bold to say!
My day started off wonderfully with a chat with Sean, full of tales about school and even giving his Mom details. :) I am so happy that he is having such an easy transition getting back in the swing of things after his "holiday" in Kostanai for 7 weeks. I can only pray that Leeza and I will adjust so easily! One thing for sure, I know she will be glad to not have to wear this get up to go outside anymore...






After talking to Sean, and my sweet hubby, I got a call from my Dad! He was sounding SO GREAT after his surgery. He had already been on a walk with his physcial therapist bearing full weight on his BRAND NEW HIP! He sounded great and wasn't in too much pain and he had a great attitude! Now, he can keep up with his little grandaughter! We are probably going to stay overnight in Dallas on the way home because my parents are dying to see sweet Lil Leeza Grace's face in person. We are also pursueing getting Leeza a visa so we can stay overnight in Frankfurt. Since Joe and Sean hit the ground running having that night in Frankfurt, it's worth looking into. Tricia met a couple in Almaty who got their child a visa and said it wasn't a big deal, SO, once we find out more and what's involved, I will let you know in case anyone else would like to do the same thing. There is a German embassy in Almaty but the webiste is all in German. I know that most people are also really anxious to get home, and although I am sure we will be too, I'd much rather ease our transition as much as possible. After hearing Joe compare the 2 trips home, one going straight thru, and the fog he was in, versus hitting the ground running on trip two, I don't need much convincing. :) Less tired Mommy (and Daddy) (and Leeza) makes for a happier trip home for everyone...




Having stared off my morning so well talking to all the wonderful men in my life, I didn't even mind keeping my eyes WIDE SHUT during my shower. The water is brown again and it looks mighty gross swirling around at your feet in the shower. :) So, I just shut my eyes, and pretend it's clear, and it's all good. I just wonder...does one get CLEAN showering with brown water?? I don't know--but at least I don't smell. Well, I don't think I smell, but If I do, I smell like everyone else does so that's ok.:)





Tatiana hung out with us for a couple hours today until her class started at 1:30 at the University. She asked Asiil how often the kids do their sauna treatments...twice a week, on Tuesday's and Thursday. So, woo hooo..tomorrow is another sauna day. Sauna's are a big European thing and they all love them-but the babies sure don't seem too...but I am going to go sweat with them again because I like to sit by my sweet blue eyed princess so she'll stop crying.






Leeza was in a WICKED wonderful mood today. She was happy to see her mommy, and peed in the potty. Hurray for Leeza!! She ate a good lunch, (not her second course though) but Almagoul had the day off so no one made her eat it. :) We went for a walk for about an hour with Tatiana. She didn't mind walking around, and around, and around and around the baby house. :) I missed her, because I hadn't seen her since Saturday since she is off Sunday's, and Monday and Tuesday are her busy days teaching. She has no classes tomorrow so she is going to hang out with us ALL day and then we're going to get a pedicure cuz my toes are not very pretty! Yay!! I am excited for some "girl time". Leeza wanted to come too but we told her she can't come yet..her time is coming soon!! Today after lunch, it was a sunny gorgeous day and there were all kinds of toddlers and momma's and babies outside the coffee shop in the plaza area. I can't wait to walk around with Leeza in her ergo out there. :)

I am also very happy to report that Leeza had ZERO spaz attacks today. She was happy and very talkative and just crawling around like a maniac. She also loves to dance. She is a lot like her Mommy! She has got the crawling thing down pat...and is getting much stronger at walking with just holding onto one of my hands. I really cannot believe the difference in this kiddo. She is getting so much stronger and so much more confident. She's like my lil flower who is blooming. :) (yes, I know, very sappy...)It was hard to snap a good picture because this is how many of my photo's turned out...












I just love to sit back and watch her. I have some Bob Carlisle songs (he sings Butterfly kisses, and another Christian songs) on my ipod and a song came on called Angels are all Around us and i just started bawling like a big baby because Leeza is our angel, truly our dream come true. She is so much fun to play with. Our visits go by so quickly because she is just so fun!! There was a lady in the music room next door and she was vacuuming. Leeza was very intruiged by what she was doing....it was really cute.




We had a great day, and I can't wait to see her tomorrow! I will hopefully get some cute pictures too because I'll have "Aunt Tatiana" with us and maybe she can get a cute one of both of us together. Although, my hair is getting very long and I shower with brown water, so I am not looking very foxy AT ALL! But, Leeza ALWAYS looks foxy. :) The EYES have it.....I feel sorry for the boys in her future..yowza...

Seven Sweaty, Screaming, Snotty Sweeties in the Sauna with Susan!!

Today was a really good day!!! I woke up early (at 7!!) because I wanted to talk to Sean (at 9 pm Florida time) before he went to sleep to hear all about the big first day back at school. Joe said he picked him up from Laura's (my dear friend who is taking care of picking Sean up from school, supervising homework, and even feeding him dinner, along with her 4 other kids!!!) and went outside to get the trashcans. He came back in, and Sean was crashed on the couch...at 7 pm! So, I didn't get to talk to him this morning but I just talked to him at 6 am Florida time and it was the longest phone conversation we've ever had! Sean is a typical boy...not really very detail oriented and not very chatty on the phone. However, I guess when your Mom is away and you have a lot to fill her in on, the typical guy rule doesn't apply. :) We just talked about 30 minutes and he is doing great! He had a wonderful first day back and I think his buddies made him feel very welcome. I feel so much better that his transition was an easy one. He said he had no problem getting back in gear with the work load, and was super excited filling me on the happening's in fifth grade. I asked him if he missed me, and he said "YEAH, but I miss Leeza more". LOL Lucky for him, this is an answer that did not hurt my feelings. :)

Also..want to wish happy thoughts and strength and prayers to my Dad. He is having surgery this morning-gettin a new hip! This is the first time he's ever had to go 'under the knife' and I am sure was a lil anxious about it. His surgery is an hour from now, at 7:30 am Dallas Texas time. Love you very much Dad!! Can't wait to see you running marathons with that new hip!!


Anyway-arrived at the baby house to group 11 having their typical "potty party" after nap. They are too cute! The caregivers were asking me if I was taking Leeza in 10 days. I said October 3rd, which I think is 10 days. I have kinda stopped the countdown because I want to live in the moment and enjoy this special time with Leeza and her friends and her caregivers. I almost feel like I've been accepted as "one of them" or maybe that's going too far...maybe they're just not going to kick me out of the club. :) I hope that means that they know that we love Leeza so much and we'll do our best to make sure she has a happy life!!

Leeza did a great job at lunch, but didn't want her second course. I was fine with that, but Almagoul came over and shoveled it in, and Leeza ate over half of it. I felt rather "inept" that Leeza will eat for Almagoul and not for her mother, but I got over it. I think Leeza is a smart cookie, and she knows that she can't mess around with Almagoul, but she knows Mom is a real softie and is not into making you eat if you don't want to eat and you already ate whole bowl of soup with beets. :)

After lunch, we donned our snowsuit and hat, even though it was sunny and gorgeous out. I just had on a short sleeve t-shirt and a pair of "warm up pants". Leeza was not tired today, very peppy, so she learned how to "give fives" and also to strum her lips. We had only walked about 45 minutes or so when Asiil called me in. The "group" was going to the sauna! This is where a few of them were yesterday when I thought they had come back from the shower. DOH! So, off we went to the sauna room. We stripped the kids down to their birthday suits (except for Leeza, she had a diaper on) and put these shower cap thing on their heads. There were 7 kiddo's in the sauna, SCREAMING their lil heads off. I am NOT exagaratting either. SCREAMING! So, say this seven times fast....SEVEN SWEATY SCREAMING SNOTTY SWEETIES IN THE SUANA WITH SUSAN!









Of course, when the sweeties scream, it produces SNOT. So, we had some snotty sweat goin on. Leeza calmed down as long as I was sitting by her. I played "La Dooshki" (the song they sing when they teach the kids to clap) and that kinda distracted some of them for a minute. They had toys in there too. Leeza stopped crying eventually, as did a few of the others, but some cried the entire time. It was rather comical. I was a big sweaty mess as well. Asill (their caregiver)kept telling me i could go out, but then Leeza would cry, and I didnt' want my baby to cry! Yes, I am aware that Leeza is "working" her mother, but I figure she's missed 10 months of working her mother, so she is due 10 months of "overtime."









I think we stayed in there about 10 minutes. Then we carried all the munckins out wrapped in blankets and set them in these lil chairs. Talk about cute......



Then, it was time to get them all dressed, but of course, it's a must to keep their heads covered. So, they tie the blankets over their heads, around their arms and tie it in the back. These women are EFFICIENT. I am the world's slowest caregiver. I think they would SO fire me because I do not move at the speed of light. Not only do I NOT move at the speed of light, I am so slooooooooooooooooow compared to them. They get these kids dressed so fast! It takes me forever to dress Leeza cuz she is so squirmy!!



After the sauna, Susan was very sweaty too, but not snotty. :) They gave me a scrub shirt to put on because my shirt was DRENCHED! I wore it until 3 when it was time for me to leave and by then it was dry. :)
We stayed and played in Leeza's room and we had fun. The kids had fun with Leeza's toys and Leeza had fun too and is getting better about sharing. :)
All in all, it was a STUPENDOUS sunny day, sweat, snot and all!

Back on Track Monday!!!

I just got off the phone with Sean, and he was getting dressed and ready for his debut back at school! I was so impressed with how he sounded. He was wide awake, chipper, and ready to see his buddies at school.He brought back a bunch of coins so that he could give every kid in the 5th grade some tenge. He also got his teacher a gift and the other 5th grade teacher (who will teach him his very favorite subject, HISTORY)a gift. He picked them out himself. I am really proud of him!! He sounded so incredibly mature. Joe is taking him to school today, to take him into the office to let them know he's back (school started August 20th) and to meet his teacher. He finished all the work he was given, so I am hoping he won't be too far behind! Joe said the phone didn't stop ringing yesterday from his buddies calling him since they knew he was home. Seanie is a pretty popular guy! He had 2 fun days playing with his friends. I know he is excited about playing football at school today. I will be anxious to hear about his day in the morning. It's so weird..his evening is my morning..freaky. I'm a lil teary eyed right now because I miss him. :) However, my frown will be turned upside down soon when I talk about his sister, Miss Leeza Grace! She makes me smile and she is HERE, not millions of miles away. :) Plus, I know we'll be home very soon, but I also have very mixed emotions about leaving here. I really do love it here very much!






It was a GORGEOUS day in Kostanai today. The sun was bright and shining, although right now it seems like the clouds kinda covered it up. Lunch went well today. Leeza ate her soup like a champ, and just turned her head when she was done with her second courses. That is more what I am used to her with her. She just turns her head and shuts her mouth and won't eat anymore when she is full. The past 2 days she was crying and squirming with real tears before I even got a spoon full in. They did show me that another girl in her group downs EVERYTHING, but that's ok with me that Leeza doesn't. I would much rather her stop when she is full! The food her is very nutricious though..she gets carbs and protein and veggies in every lunch I feed her! I would say she eats WAY more than I could ever get Sean to eat at her age. Plus her food is prepared fresh every day, and he ate baby food!





After her lunch, we went for an hour and 15 minute walk. It was so nice out, I didn't even wear my jacket. I had Leeza strapped to me in her ergo and snowsuit, plus walking briskly kept me warm! One of the caregivers was outside with a stroller with 3 lil babies in it, all snuggly together. She had on a coat and hat. She asked me," HOLANDA, HOLANDA" and rubbed her arms. I said, NYET, and pointed to Leeza, hoping she understood that I was NOT "HOlanda" (cold) because Leeza kept me warm.
Leeza took her power nap again and I kept on trucking, around and around and around the baby house I went. Joe and Sean would never walk that much with me, they said they got dizzy. :) We had been walking about 45 minutes when we saw Kelly and Doug and Natasha arrive. Natasha came out with her son and we walked around a few times with them. Leeza was asleep, but when they asked if Leeza was sleeping, she opened her eyes like a little sleeping beauty! I would have stayed out even longer today because it was so nice, but I felt like I was restricting Leeza from playing so we went in. I do love our walks and I love the snuggle time, but we gotta mix it up!!





I was taking off her snowsuit, etc and Almagoul came out and motioned me to come into the kids playroom. All the kids were gone though. After a few minutes, Asiil started bringing them back in. They were all getting showers or baths (or whatever they get here?) and they all had their heads wrapped up in blankets and tied around their chests so they'd stay on. It was HILARIOUS. I got some great pictures. I wanted them to come play on the floor with us, but I THINK the told me they don't want them on the floor with wet heads or maybe cuz they were all clean. So, Leeza and I played on the floor and all the kids watched with rapt attention. I handed them some stacking cups and a couple other toys and they had a blast. I also brought my ipod and speakers in and they were rocking out! I was laughing so hard! I am so in love with these children and I am so attached to them! I am going to miss them so much. They are such sweethearts! I got SO many pictures today. Sean will really like them. A new guy started today, I am assuming maybe he moved up from the younger group. He is a real cutie too! I am really going to miss all the kiddo's. I wish I could know what will happen for them. I don't know their situation, if they will become available for adoption or if they have family right now who visits, or what. I just know that they are very sweet and lovelable children who deserve a family! There are so many families too waiting for their turn to come. It just doesn't seem fair to the kids or to the waiting parents.



They asked me to get more pampers for Leeza. The big jumbo box of 135 is gone already, but I don't care. I THINK they were telling me they used them all when we had the water turned off, but I don't care anyway. Diapers are so expensive here and I would much rather every kid wear one anyway. I am thinking of a a fundraiser for 2 Hearts for Hope. I have friends from my life at Tech Data, and we could put together a slide show off all the incredible pictures I've taken, and perhaps have a silent auction as well. (Patti and Maria...I'm talking about you guys!!)I want to raise as much money as we can for these children!! There is NO WAY that people would not give once they see the faces of these incredible sweet children!
I would also love to figure out a way to ship stuff to Kostanai for the Dolphin baby house specifically. It's so expensive to ship here,but maybe thru Eugene and Tatiana and my smart husband we can figure out a way. There is just NO WAY I can do nothing after having been here and seeing how much these women do for these children. I was watching the caregivers while I was playing with Leeza. THEY NEVER SIT DOWN!! These ladies WORK THEIR ASSES OFF!! They are ALWAYS always always working, and they also love the children too. It's so obvious. Even the one caregiver I was scared of, (who is now super sweet to me and was the one who invited me to come in the playroom) gives them hugs and kisses.


I totally understand why people get home and say they want to come back for another child. It's so hard to get here, but once you are HERE, it's so wonderful that you "forget" the labor pains and you are ready to start all over again!! I so wonder what will happen in the next few months with Kaz adoptions. I know it's getting more difficult and rumors are rampant. I have not read any of them, and I wish I hadn't read them before I came. However, when you are waiting, you are DYING to hear any piece of information that might shed light on the process.




As you can tell, I have a heavy heart today. It's a happy heart, for sure, I am very much in love with my daughter and I am very much in love with her country and where she got her start in life. I just feel so helpless and I want to do MORE for these children!! I know that their lil faces are going to be imprinted on my memory forever. I have such mixed feelings on leaving here! On the one hand, I am so excited to introduce Leeza to her family (she has a very big one!!) and all my friends who are so excited to meet her. I am starting to actually imagine what our daily routine will look like once we are home! However, I know I will cry when I take her out of the baby house, and I will cry when I leave Kostanai. I have heard my other blogger girlfriends talk about these conflicting feelings, and I am experiencing it as well. I get teary eyed just thinking about it!

The Princess Leeza is "working" her mom already!

For sure, no doubt, my princess status has been totally and completely DETHRONED by the newest Serra in town...no other than...Princess Leeza Grace Serra.



We had a great time today, but she is really working her mother. When it came time to each lunch, she pulled the ole crying squirming out of her chair thing.


I finally got her settled down and she ate her soup. Then, she started having a cow again. Almagoul came over and just started shoveling it in, and she ate it ALL! I rarely get her to eat it ALL. I don't know if I was going to slow for her, or if she just knows Mommy will let her get away with not eating, or she knows I'll coddle her more, or WHAT! It's frustrating though! I could not believe how fast she was shoveling food in, and half was falling out of her mouth. It was really quite unlady like and I know my mom (Leeza's Mimi) would DEFINTELY not approve. It was quite unladylike and not very mannerly!! Leeza has never done this at meal time but it started yesterday. Since many of my faithful blog readers are adoptive parents themselves, has anyone else experienced this? I'm almost afraid Leeza is going to lose weight once she comes home with me! I hear all these stories about how kids gain weight and grow so quickly once they're home with their parents,but I am kinda paranoid Leeza will not eat and she will lose weight! Granted, she will be able to eat as often or as much as little as she wants until we figure it out, and I still remember Sean's doctor telling me that he would NOT STARVE no matter how little he would eat. I do notice that she always give a pretty good size burp after she eats, so maybe she just gets gas bubbles in her stomach or something, I don't know. Oh, by the way, her new tooth broke thru. I knew she was teething again the way she was gnawing on everything like a puppy. I have watched her get 2 new teeth since we've been here! That is kinda cool. She now has 4 on the bottom,and 4 on the top. Both of her new ones have been on the bottom. I still haven't noticed her drooling though..weird. I am sure she is saving drooling for after Gotcha day. She will save the drooling and throwing up for then I am sure.

After lunch, we put on the snow suit and hat and went for an hour and 5 minute walk. She fell asleep after 30 minutes. It was nice--a win-win for everyone. Leeza likes it outside and gets a change of scenery, and Mommy gets much needed exercise, and snuggle time with Leeza. Plus, the "powernap" always seems to do her some good!

We went to the visitation room, but there was a Kazakh couple with a lil teeny baby in there! So, we just played outside Leeza's room. I tried on her new shoes and they were pretty cute! I think they fit her, she also had on the jammies with feets and we won't be wearing those with our shoes, and they still fit with all that extra material, so I think we're good. They have fur on the inside..so cute...and only 900 tenge!





It was fun because it was a new place to play. Almagoul came out and brought 2 lil boys and one lil girl to play with us. Natasha came in with her son too, and we had a big play party. It was really fun. Almagoul was the caregiver I was scared of at first. Now, she's so nice and always give me a smile. I was so glad she brought the other kids out and she was having fun playing with Leeza's toys with the kids. The kids were so FASCINATED with new toys. However, Lil Miss Princess was not sure what she thought of her buddies playing with HER TOYS. She kept grabbing them out of the kids hands. Of course, we made her share and she got over it. On the one hand, I think she is so excited to have toys of her very own after living in a "baby commune" environment, but on the other hand, I don't want a bratty princess who doesn't share with her friends either.

She did drink her cookies and milk today no problem with no muss and no fuss. I went to put her down for her nap and she laid down, and I kissed her goodbye. She then got up, pulled herself up, and was waving at Mommy with a big grin on her face. All the other kids popped up out of their cribs and they're all smiling and laughing. I was laughing and sayin SPOT SPOT and laying them back down, but it wasn't working. They just got back up. SEAN..YOUR BUDDY 'D' said BYE BYE!!! I swear Leeza has told them all...."Guys...my mommy is so in love with me, she will do ANYTHING for you. I have heard her tell my brother Sean that YOU CAN'T SPOIL A BABY!!!



By the way, a huge thank you to those who told us that we cannot stay in Frankfurt since Leeza doesn't have a visa. I had not checked with anyone, but after Joe told me how much better staying overnight in Frankfurt was, I thought we'd just do it too. I hadn't asked Eugene and company yet. My blogger buddies are the best, as usual. Eugene explained to me today that Frankfurt requires a visa if you are Kaz citizen and that is what Lil Leeza is until she lands in the USA. I heard it's a real pain to get her a visa too. So, I guess we will not be doing that!

Mommy's night out
We had fun at the Beerhouse last night. I only had one beer, a "Carlsberg" and a salad biz maynoisa, and some string cheese and these really YUMMY croutons Ivan ordered. They were sauted in olive oil and garlic. No cotton mouth or headache this morning!!! They picked me up at 9 and I got home around midnight. Ivan and I played this "rhmye off" game. I was telling them how I like to rhmye. Ivan wrote down 4 words and had me write a rhyme. Then, I would write down 4 more words,and he would do a rhyme. He defintely has the gift of poetry as well, but his talent is much much more impressive because english is his second langauge. I have a really cute picture of Ivan, Tatiana and I but I want to ask them if it's ok if i post it on my blog.

Here are some examples of our rhyme game:

I gave Ivan these words: happy, sappy, grow, and snow
I had to explain what sappy meant. :) I was quite impressed with Ivan because Lord knows I could NEVER RHMYE in Russian!

At the baby house , I feel so happy
Seeing Susan with Leeza , it's so sappy
They're like flowers, slowly growing
In the winter when it's always snowing

I gave him book, look, pretty, and city . At the time, I was looking at Tatiana's english book (for her students at the university) had in her purse and it was called Straightforward English.

There's a Straightforward english book
A woman's going to have a look
Though I'm not drunk she looks so pretty
Perhaps the best that's in our city

He gave me dear, beer, face and grace. Here is my masterpiece!

I have to tell you, Ivan dear
I really like this Kostanai beer
But not as much as my sweet daughter's face
There's NOTHING as good as Leeza Grace!






12 days to go until Gotcha day!!

Super Saturday (but no pics.sorry!!!)

Joe and Sean are HOME!!! They arrived in Tampa last night and the first thing Sean said was "Wow, it's humid here!!!"

They both had a good nights sleep and are having a busy Saturday today, getting haircuts, and seeing if Sean's school uniform still fits for school on Monday!

Joe said staying the night in Frankfurt made a huge difference in how they both felt. They are both on the right sleeping schedule and Joe said he felt a million times better than he did last time. We are going to spend the night in Frankfurt on the way home with Leeza as well.

Sorry I have no pics, I got some cute ones today I think, but I left the camera in Tatiana's car with my bags. Leeza was in a very happy mood today. It was weird though, when I sat her down to feed her lunch, she started crying and fussing, and crying really hard, with real tears and everything. I put her on my lap, and she ate a few bites, and I gave her a drink, and she started again. I got up, walked around,and we tried again and she finished her soup. Then, she spazzed out again and we got up, and sat down and she ate her rice and meat,no problem. I am not sure if she had gas or a stummy ache or what...poor baby! However, it was kinda cool because if that had happened before, I would have looked to the caregivers for guidance. Not anymore...I did my own thing and didnt' look for them to tell me what to do at all. GO ME! LOL I bundled her back up in the snowsuit and her hat and we went for another walk. She did not spaz out as much this time either. LOL We walked for an HOUR around the baby house. I even ran a little bit and she liked that. I am defintely going to regiser for a nice baby jogger. She likes to run I think! She fell asleep and took a power nap and when we got back in the baby house, I was all sweaty from having the bundled up baby girl on me in the ergo. :)

She was in a great mood playing today. She was so very happy and busy busy busy. We were joined by Natasha and her lil boy, but he wasn't in a happy mood. Natasha kept apologizing and telling her son to act nice like Leeza. LOL Her lil boy is adorable even when he's crabby though!! Once again, our time was over so quickly and it was time to go.

Ivan picked me up and we went to the coffee shop. I met a girl there named Natasha, who is from Kostanai, but was in Orlando for 1 year and a half. She worked at Golden Corral. She was really pretty and funny. She asked how I liked Kostanai and I told her how much I loved it. She asked WHY?? She said living in the US is so much easier and you can get everything at WAL MART! It was funny.

I wanted to swing by the Kazakh souvenir store to see if they had anything new, but they didn't. However, there is a REALLY cute children's store in the same building. It's where I bought Leeza the cute purple jumper and the lil outfit with the headband. WELL...I bought more stuff. I couldn't help it! She needed some jammies with feets and some warm shoes cuz it's getting cold here. I ended up getting her some adorable lil pink shoes with fur, 3 bibs, 2 long sleeve t-shirts and one short sleeved t-shirt, a sweater dress with matching sweater (so adorable!!), 2 soft jammies with feets (and one of them will work as her exit snow suit as long as she has on 2 other layers!! yay!!), plus 3 other outfits (pants and shirt) for only $16,000 tenge! That is a lot of stuff for $133! I had heard that the kids clothes in Kaz were ugly and expensive, but that is not the case here in Kostanai. Sure, I have been in one very expensive store in the Central Mall, but this place is wonderful. The clothes are soft and cute and not badly priced at all. :)

I am getting excited about busting her out! Today was day 13 of the waiting period.:)
Tatiana told me today she will come over and help me cook for Leeza. She is such a doll!!!

I am going to the "Beerhouse" tonight with her and Ivan. They are picking me up in 30 minutes!!!

I do miss Joe and Sean, of course, but I am enjoying some "Susan" time and I am excited to go to this Beerhouse!!!

Maybe tomorrow I will post pictures of all Leeza's cute new clothes.

I will post an old picture so you can get your Leeza Grace "fix" for today. :)

Leeza WAVES!!!

When I arrived in my daughter's (I am so loving the sound of that!!!) room today, she was in the playpen standing, hanging onto the rail. I got a big grin from her (never get tired of that either!!) and I picked her up. Usually, she is very content to be held until it's time for lunch. However,not today! She was squirmy and wanted down! I put her down and she crawled a few feet, turn around and looked at me, and sat up. I said HI LEEZA-and guess what! SHE WAVED and said HI MOMMY! Ok, I'm just kidding about the Hi Mommy part but she REALLY DID WAVE! We have been working on waving, but she had not waved on her own. I mean, seriously, is this girl a genius or what??!!!!! I was a pretty proud Mommy! Kids are so perseptive, and I know that Leeza KNOWS in her heart of hearts that I am her mommy. She is acting differently, more confident, smiles for me a ton, and is just learning new skills so quickly! It's the coolest thing to watch. I have never had so much fun playing with stacking cups before. Well, honestly, I have never played with stacking cups before . I am sure I have stunted Sean's intellectual development greatly because I never got him any...but, I sure never THOUGHT stacking cups could be so fun!! I guess playing with Leeza is like having your nanny be Mary Poppins...every day is just like a jolly holiday!! It's a jolly holiday in Kaz....7 weeks of Leeza every day~!!!





She is crawling on all four's like a maniac now, and she also likes to walk, just hanging onto one hand. She can only take a few steps before she loses her balance, but she is getting stronger!!!! It's so amazing to watch it. She should totally be on the Discovery Channel! LOL!!





Isool, the head teacher came in today while we were playing. Tatiana stopped in between classes and we were playing with Leeza. Isool told Tatiana that the difference in Leeza is really incredible, that she is advancing very very rapidly and she is even looks so different! She said that Leeza won't let her hold her anymore, that she pushes her away because she wants her Mommy to hold her. I wanted to get a picture of them together, but Leeza didn't like it. She wanted her Mommy! I have to say, this girl time has done BOTH us girls a lot of good!!!

It was a nice sunny day today, but kinda chilly. I was fine in my "shrug" black Steimart sweater though, but since it was finally sunny, and Leeza appears to be all better, I wanted to take her for a walk. I think it's good that Leeza Grace will be a Florida babe, because when I put on her hat and her SNOWSUIT, she pitched a fit. It's very hard to tie a hat with a screaming child having a spaz attack, THEN to put them in a snowsuit, THEN, put them in the ergo. Kudos to the ergo though....Even with a very bundled up child, screaming, I can put the ergo on, get the kid in, with NO ASSITANCE REQUIRED! Perhaps Ergo would be interested in hiring me to be in their ads-Leeza is certainly pretty enough to be an ergo model, don't ya think? I mean, if the ergo can fit a baby bundled up like THIS, and a very uncoordinated mother can fit the bundled up SCREAMING child into it, and the bundled up screaming child immediatly STOPS screaming once she's in....wouldn't EVERY MOM BUY ONE? I could even write a poem or a jingle!




As you can probably tell, I had a wonderful day with Leeza today. I think she is ready to go home with Mommy. I can just tell....mother's instinct!! It's very quiet here without a certain 10 year old boy. Joe and Sean arrived in Frankfurt last night around 11:30 pm Kaz time. They were going downstairs to have a CHEESEBURGER! As of right now, they are in the air on the way from Frankurt to London. I do miss them, but I'm not lonely. I have Leeza 4 hours a day, and that is enough to keep my heart very full, and I have the internet and my friends only an email or a skype phone call away...LIFE IS REALLY REALLY REALLY GREAT!!

DAY 14 OF WAITING PERIOD..done!