It's not just the Y Chromosome

After reading a friend's blog regarding the aforementioned segment of the population's fascination with bodily functions, I thought this little tidbit was timely.

Sorry Jane, I don't think this is the exception to the rule you're looking for, but Natasha is fascinated by bodily functions.

She is forever interrogating everyone (mostly her father) if they have "farted" this is usually done at the dinner table and takes no prompting at all for the inquisition to begin.

Two days ago I had to call Matt on the phone because I heard her ask her sister if "she liked her poop" Meaning, Did Vica like Natasha's poop... I felt he needed to share that moment of parental pride.

Last night they were playing downstairs and I heard Natasha tell Vica to "Smell her butt"

I do not know for the life of me where she is getting this from. My first reaction was the boys at pre-school, Matt thinks it's from TV, but I can't see that kind of thing going on since I monitor which cartoons they can watch.

This of course makes me wonder if she says this kind of thing at school and just how long it will be before she unleashes this in public.

I'll keep you updated!

Pictures!

Here's a picture of the girls by the fountain at Lincoln Center the day we went to see the Nutcracker.
Sorry these didn't post in order, the first pictures you're seeing are later in the day when we went out to eat and they were showing their true colors!!!

The Nutcracker

Because of an extremely generous gift given to us by Matt's cousins, we were able to take the girls to see The Nutcracker ballet in NYC yesterday. It was the first time I had seen it, and it was Matt's first ballet (big surprise, huh?)

So, before I go any further, a huge THANKS to Bob, AnnMarie, Jeannie, Mike, Maureen and Tom for such a lovely and thoughtful gift to all of us.

We all LOVED it. We're so happy the tickets were for yesterday and not today with the horrible weather we're having- the day was perfect on Saturday. Cold, but clear and the girls did great. Matt managed to find a parking garage only a very short walk from Lincoln Center that did not have any time constraints and accepted on line reservations. We just pulled in and they valet parked our car- super easy and convenient.

I was a little concerned that a two hour ballet would not hold Natasha's interest, but all I can say is that both she and Vica were mesmerized by the entire thing.

How wonderful for me and Matt to be able to watch our girls have this experience. To see them staring literally in wide eyed wonder was nothing short of amazing. As it turns out, Natasha is quite the little ballet fan, she was VERY into clapping enthusiastically for the dancers, and while I'm sure she was taking most of her cues from others around her, she really seemed to appreciate the more difficult choreography and applauded accordingly. Vica was extremely curious about the musicians and the sets. I don't even have to tell you how my sparkle loving girl was floored by the lights!!

This was an incredible experience for any child, but we feel for our girls it was all the more special. A normal childhood, one free from the kind of stress and worry inflicted on our kids early in their lives is the one single thing we're striving for as parents. That's not to say we're not raising them to be responsible, but the trick for us is teaching them, especially Vica what's appropriately responsible. In a million different ways I see her taking responsibility for Natasha as if she were her Mother. It's a very tight rope for me to walk with her. Vica had to be her Mother and now she doesn't- she's not sure what she's supposed to and not supposed to do half the time. While it's great to see that bond between them, the best thing I hear some days is Vica telling Natasha to go and tell ME what she needs or wants. It doesn't help that Natasha is a complete tyrant with her sister and orders her around in the worst way!

Ahhhhhch, I'm rambling- you can tell how confused I am most of the time.

Sounds like every other Mom I know.........

Goodfellas

Today was one of "those" days.

It's late afternoon and the girls have been at it ALL...... DAY....... LONG.......

So, after telling them not to do something at least sixteen thousand times (and that's just today's total) I finally lost it.

As I'm sitting there scolding them once again, I notice that Vica is suppressing a smile on her face while I'm at it.

Before I even realized it, I began channeling Joe Pesci and actually HEARD myself say,

"Oh, you think I'm funny, do I entertain you?????"

I'm not even a huge fan of Joe, or that particular movie.


Long, exasperated sigh........

As I'm sitting here writing this, I can hear them upstairs doing exactly what I told them not to, again.

Sixteen thousand and one and counting.......

Picture it, Kyiv Ukraine, December 2006.....

Today, one year ago we were stumbling off the Aerosvit flight at Borisporil airport in Kyiv Ukraine. It felt like an 8 hour bus ride! The weather in Ukraine was dreary, overcast and cold. We were met by our translator and driver and taken to the supermarket and then to our apartment, which reeked of rotten cabbage.

I also became acquainted with my pet bum outside the apartment on this day a year ago. He's probably still wondering where the crazy American-skya is with the 5 griv bills I'd make Matt hand him every time we passed him.

I'm still glad we took the extra time to get our bearings and prepare for our SDA meeting on the 7th.

I'm going to post on and off during this month remembering our trip last year.

Paging Doctor Mom

So, I finally got to realize my long held dream of becoming a surgeon.

All without the benefit of medical school!

Two weeks ago, we were getting ready to leave the house to visit with Mike, Donna and the kids and to see the new house (which is by the way, gorgeous, but I digress)

As we're getting coats on, I notice Vica has on only one earring. No big deal, the kids lose these things so often, I keep a supply on hand to replace them in the bathroom. So, Vica follows me in and just before I can do anything asks me "Mom, what's this????" She then proceeds to show me the back of her ear lobe which appears to have the back of the "missing" earring still attached to it.

Okay, I'm thinking the earring broke off and the post is still in her ear attached to the back.

WRONG-

Don't ask me how it happened, don't ask me why Vica never, ever not once said anything about it, but what I discovered is that this 1/4 inch piece of metal was lodged IN her ear lobe. Apparently, some how the back of the earring got pulled through the back of her ear lobe into the tiny pin sized hole meant for the earring's post. All that was sticking out was the tiny round ball at the end.

So, I then began sterilizing everything in site and tried to numb her ear with ice. The end was too small for me to grab onto with a pair of tweezers and there was lots of squirming and whining at this point. While I was trying to decide if taking her to the ER on a Saturday night was "really" a good idea, Matt appears with a small pair of needle nosed pliers in hand.

I figured, what the heck, I've got to give it a try. After soaking them in alcohol for a few minutes I got ready to operate. Vica asked me if it was going to hurt and I just told her flat out, "Oh yeah, it's gonna hurt"

Took a deep breath, grabbed onto that sucker and pulled as hard as I dared.

The blood that began spurting made me think I must have opened an artery by mistake. Oh boy, my bathroom looked like a crime scene. Luckily that and the screaming and crying stopped fairly quickly. After a dose of Mom's favorite medicine, Children's Tylenol- we were off to Uncle Mike and Aunt Donna's where upon arrival I promptly accepted the anesthesia offered me by way of wine glass.......

Vica and her ear are both doing fine. I, on the other hand am now at least 75 % gray haired over the whole thing.

Ooooooooooh, this Motherhood thing ain't easy!

Okay, I know I owe a major post about what's been going on. We've been really busy all Summer and the girls have started school and dance classes this fall. I promise, I'm just going to whine myself a little teeny-tiny bit and then I'll get to the girls and all they've been up to, PLUS pictures by the middle of next week.

I just wanted to post this for all of the other Mom's like me out there, or the Mom's to Be who are thinking about the same thing.

I hate being around other women.... especially women and their kids. Okay, I've said it, it's out.

Now, I know this sounds completely anti-social and you may be thinking I've got not friends, but just the opposite is true. I love my girlfriends, and their children. I love spending time with them.

I just hate being part of the breeding herd. You know, that group of Moms that tend to congregate wherever children are. If you take your child to one of these places, you're kinda immediately supposed to join the herd and begin chatting about your offspring. Before I had kids I used to think this was just about the most boring waste of time there ever was. Naturally I assumed this was because I didn't have any children.

WRONG! I still hate standing around with a bunch of women talking about our kids. I love my kids, I really do. And I do talk about them- heck, I've even got an entire blog devoted to the little buggers. BUT SHEESH!!!! WHY DO WOMEN FEEL THEY MUST FILL EVERY SINGLE SILENCE WITH INANE CHATTER?????????

AND JUST KEEEEEEP TALKING?????

What, you ask yourself has brought about this little rant???

Dancing school, that's what.....

Yesterday, Natasha started her pre-ballet class. It started at 9:45. So, we got there at 9:40. The waiting room was full of other Mothers (with a few Dads thrown in, and I won't even talk about them here because I can't even think of enough non-swear words to use and don't want to offend my more moral readers) The level of high-pitched chatter was deafening!!! You couldn't even hear the 14 little/big brothers and sisters that also got dragged along for this event . Oh, did I mention this room measured about 20 by 10 feet??? That, coupled by a serious caffeine deficiency and the ever increasing temperature of the room almost had me in tears. But since I had Vica with me, I figured I'd hold it together.

This is just the group from the pre-ballet class. I swear, there had to be 15 adults in the room and there are only 8 little girls in the class. GET A LIFE! Just when I thought, it can't get any worse, it does!!! While I'm sitting there in that sauna, slowly going deaf, in march 6 more mothers with their various progeny needing to sign up for classes, and oh, yeah- we still need shoes, and little snot nosed Ashley here wants to pick out 12 new leotards. UMMM, why dont' you people go shopping maybe more than 30 minutes before the first class starts??????

Okay, so the slowest 45 minutes of my life goes by and out come our little ballerinas. Natasha is momentarily dazed by all of the adults milling around her but finds me and off we go. As I'm walking out the door to the parking lot, I notice, I've got one kid too many! Some sweet little cutie pie must have decided I looked enough like her Mama to follow me right out the door. Or maybe she stood there so long without being able to find her Mama in that sea of morons that she thought she was outside.

Either way, all it means is her Mama couldn't shut up long enough to notice and that really ticks me off.

Okay, whine/rant time is over. Thank you for indulging me and I promise to be onto better, more interesting things next time.

The Whiners

Vica and Natasha are driving us nuts.

They complain about everything and anything that causes them the slightest discomfort. They always did this and that's what got them named the Gabor sisters in the first place, but it seems they are kicking it up a notch.

I'm hot, I'm cold, this ice cream is cold, this grass is wet, the sun is hot, these eggs aren't salted properly (I'm taking license with the English on that one) and on and on it goes to the point where I'm really getting tired of hearing it. I know it's not just me, because Matt just called to inform me of the latest litany of complaints and he sounded pretty exasperated by it too.

They are all over small minor things but I'm not sure where this is coming from. Is this normal girl behavior, or is this adopted kid behavior- or a combination of both.

My feeling is that they never had anyone that took care of them other than meeting their basic needs and now they have just come to expect that we as their parents will step in and make EVERYTHING to their satisfaction. Maybe we're doing too much for them? I certainly didn't think so. I've been vigilant about teaching the girls to be responsible for their possessions, cleaning up after themselves, making their beds, chores etc. When they complain about something minor, I just say something like "Oh well" and move on to the next thing. Matt tends to acknowledge the complaint and tries to explain to them why their complaint isn't a valid one.
I didn't come wired that way so I'm not sure how to handle this. I thought it would pass, but like I said it seems to be getting worse.

I'd appreciate any advice from adoptive and non-adoptive parents out there who are still reading this thing.

At least I feel better for venting. Thanks for the post Jane about how blogging helps work through a problem, I feel that this is going to an ongoing one.

Six Months Home

Actually, I'm 5 days late. As of July 19th we're home from Ukraine for six months.



This is the first month I can really honestly say that I haven't spent the majority of the time thinking I like the dog better or wanting to tear my hair out. This of course has more to do with my deep seated belief that I am completely inept at motherhood than it has to do with the kids behavior. I guess I'm finally hitting my stride, or at least the Welbutrin is kickin' in!!



The girls are growing at an alarming rate. Natasha STILL hasn't gained any weight since we've gotten home, but has grown taller. Vica has only gained 2 pounds but has grown over an inch since we last measured her in March.

The girls are currently learning to swim. Natasha paddles around happily with her pink swimmies on and Vica is like a little fish- usually has no swimmies, and is working on swimming under water. We just went out and got her some dive toys to help her work on it. This is a million miles from their first time swimming on Memorial Day. Both of them were crying and at one point Natasha was SCREAMING at the top of her lungs. "HELP ME!!!!! HELP ME!!!!" I thought for sure someone was going to call 911 it sounded like we were trying to kill her. Loads of fun, but Daddy's got swim duty as Mama only swims if it means livin' or dyin'.

My justification for all of this is that it would destroy by lovely natural blonde hair, thus wasting the great deal of money I spend "maintaining" my naturally blonde hair, wink, wink.... Funny, Matt doesn't seem to argue with this since he actually came out and asked me what I drop at Antonio's. He just stood there with his mouth hanging open. Wait until he starts getting the plastic surgeon's bills!!!

But, back to the girls. Vica went to her first Yankee game a few weeks ago. Matt took her in for a Friday night game. Poor Matt, he made the mistake of telling Vica in front of me that he was taking her to the store to buy her a shirt. This naturally prompted ME to tell Vica that she was under NO circumstances to accept ANY shirt with ANY number on it other than 13. Matt almost popped a blood vessel in his head over that one. Naturally, my girl listened to her Mama and would have no other number. Even when Matt tried enticing her with a pink Jeter shirt. Oh well!! I told him he could get Natasha a shirt in any number she liked! Vica had a great time, and lasted about 4 innings- which is usually all I can take before I start whining to go home too!

On July 8th we had both girls baptized. I had no indication that they were ever baptized in Ukraine and after I had the girls birth mother interviewed, I'm very confident that they weren't. The ceremony was lovely. Very nice, although I'm sure the other families were thinking I was just the slacker Mom of all time- because there are my two, 7 and 4 and all of the other kids were just babies. At least my kids didn't cry. As a matter of fact, Natasha had the Priest laughing so hard he had to take a moment to compose himself before continuing. Matt picked her up and held her over the baptismal font and she just leaned back as far as she could with a HUGE HUGE HUGE smile on her face grinning away upside down at Father Ray. It just made a really happy day that much happier.

After that we had a big reception for all of our family and friends. I'm from a big family, but Matt's is even larger. In addition to 4 siblings he has so many Aunts, Uncles and Cousins- well it was easy to have 125 people at the party- most of them Sicilians! It was so wonderful for us to see our girls embraced by this extra-large loving family. I couldn't help but stand there more than once and think how they went from nothing to all of "this" when we adopted them. But I have to say that Matt and I feel like we are the really lucky ones. The girls will just accept this as nothing extraordinary, like all kids do, and that's exactly what we want for them. To just feel like any child does, loved, accepted and to take that all for granted. I spent the entire afternoon hugging and kissing anyone that would stand still long enough for me to tell them I was so happy they were there and that I loved them.

If you were one of those people, I meant it, and I still do- it really wasn't the martinis talking :) And if you're one of the people I didn't get to, I'm SO glad you were there, and I love you!! If you were one of the people that wanted to be there, but just couldn't- we missed you terribly, but understand that these things happen, and we love you too!

Okay, love-fest is over, I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm going all soft and smushy now that I'm a Mom.

It was exhausting planning the whole thing, but so well worth it. The girls have now met pretty much their entire extended family and I'm not throwing another party that large until one of them gets married. Amen.

As for the rest of the Summer. Natasha is finishing her little pre-school program this week. She really enjoyed it and this will be a good experience for her when she starts going every day in the Fall. Vica will keep attending her ESL enrichment class until August 3rd. Then we head down to Florida to visit my parents on the 10th for about 10 days. That will leave about 2 weeks to get the girls ready for school, which will be nothing compared to getting Matt ready to go back. Right now he's hard at work on his tan.

English skills are progressing. We've got Vica using "I" more often now. The more we can get her to do this, the more Natasha will start using it. This is by far the hardest thing for them to learn. Natasha is getting better at expressing herself, although some days she's more lucid than others. Matt gets her going telling stories. She usually likes to tell a story about a bear that tries to eat her when she's sleeping, but usually either Mama or Sophia come to her rescue, with me giving the bear a spanking, or Sophia biting the bear and making it run away. Both girls are bonding with Matt really well. They really don't have a concept of what a Father is- at least nothing good, so it's been a longer process for them to make that connection with Matt, but this month has really seen that happen. I think the fact that they are spending so much time with him is making all the difference in the world. All they have to do is call him Daddy and the man is a six foot heap of jello at their feet- further proof of this is that Matt has hardly played any golf since school has let out and completely by choice. I didn't think I'd ever see the day !

So, those are all of the blog worthy events of our Summer, thanks for checking in!

Trip to the Dentist

Yesterday I had to bring the girls to the dentist. Vica needed to start getting fillings for the six cavities she has and Natasha needed to have her cleaning and fluoride treatment.

When I told Vica earlier in the morning that she'd be going to see Dr. Mason, she jumped up and down and said "Yeah!!!" I asked her if she knew what was going to happen and she nodded yes and made a noise like a dental drill and pointed to her teeth. Oooooooookay....... We got to the office and the girls were ready to go- they both did great. Dr.Mason was able to do three of the fillings and Vica came through it wonderfully- no anesthesia required. This of course completely amused him because Mommy happens to be the Doctor's biggest chicken of a patient in the entire practice. I want him to give me anesthesia if he's even going to TALK about drilling my teeth.

On Sunday Vica had a birthday party for one of her classmates. This was another first for her and she really had fun. Being new to the motherhood loop, I wasn't sure what the protocol was for these things. I'm from back in the day when your Mom dropped you off at a birthday party and left tire tracks down the road to make the most of the two hours she had, kid, or at least semi-kid free. Apparently, this is not the way it works today. I was expected to sit on a folding chair for 2 hours watching 22 shrieking, screaming 7 year old girls dance and play games. The other choice I had was to engage in conversations with the other mothers and since I didn't know anyone they were gossiping about, that was out. All of this without the benefit of alcohol. Seriously though, it was so nice for me to see how loved Vica is by her new friends. They ran up to her hugging her and kissing her, jumping up and down with excitement that she was there. It's what any Mom wants for their child, but this is more than I could have asked for so soon. I also observed another maternal rite of passage and had a play date requested for Vica- oh boy, something else for me to agonize over.

Do you see the pattern emerging here folks? Orphan child leaves everything familiar to her behind and lands on planet America- adjusts as if she's been here forever. Mom who's been dying to have kids most of her adult life can't figure out how to negotiate a play date. Oh brother..... thankfully Vica is still so enamored of me that she STILL thinks I can do no wrong and that everything I do is just wonderful (except when I make her eat broccoli) so while I've still got about ten seconds left of that lasting, I'll take advantage of it while I fumble through these new experiences and hopefully I won't come out on the other side of it all as Complete Dork Mom!

The Gabor Sisters and The Meaning of Life

You would never know that my two girls ever spent a single moment of their very young lives in any discomfort whatsoever. Both of them feel the need to report the slightest thing that may be bothering them at a particular moment. A few examples;

1. Vica runs into the house from outside specifically to find me and tell me that her arm itches.

2. Both girls will declare in an absolutely disgusted tone that it's HOT outside as if I possessed the ability to turn the Sun off. Sorry, but if I had THAT kinda power, I'd use it to pick lottery numbers kid....

3. The air conditioning- which is relieving said heat is now blowing too strongly on one or more of them.

4. The TV is showing commercials- AGAIN, and why can't I get their show back on IMMEDIATELY.

All of this diva-esque behavior has got me and Matt referring to them as Zsa-Zsa and Eva, which Vica really hates because I think she thinks we're trying to actually change her name to Zsa Zsa.

While all of this can be annoying sometimes, it makes me realize how far my girls have come. They aren't afraid to ask me for what they need, or want and have grown accustomed to being comfortable. They become more and more like every other kid every single day, they become "mine" more and more every day too. The bonding process is a long and complicated one, on both sides between parent and child and it really is a lot of flying by the seat of your pants.

Which brings me to the second part of this post- which is a bit off topic. I got some really sad news today. A woman I worked with passed away from lung cancer on Friday. She was only 34 years old and leaves behind two small babies. She was diagnosed just a few months ago and had been very healthy up until then, she just had a cold she couldn't seem to shake, went to the doctor and it all fell apart from there. I can remember when this woman was pregnant and how jealous I felt of her at the time because I could never hold onto a pregnancy. She seemed to have it all, and well, you already know how the story ends. I learned a long, long time ago (unfortunately the hard way- which is how I have to learn everything) that there's no point in wanting what someone else has, their reality has nothing to do with yours and while you're busy wondering why they have what you don't, your life is going nowhere, but that lesson comes from the benefit of a few thousand dollars worth of therapy, the lesson driven home for me today is that it doesn't matter who you are, how much you've got to lose, how much money you have or don't have, there's simply no way to know when the game is over.

I had an argument with someone I love this past week. I didn't mean for it to turn into what it turned into, but that's how some things go. You think you're just being honest and you wind up hurting the other person more than you started out being hurt by what they said or did. Things get misunderstood, other people interject their opinions and before you know it, it's a bona fide drama. I've had my fair share of drama in my life and I'm sure as hell not looking for anymore.

So, in the spirit of ALL of that, while I won't name names- I'm sorry.

Look out Gwen Stefani

Yesterday we were at a party to celebrate my Mom's 60th- along with a frightening amount of character traits, she and Vica share a birthday. Since we had a big to-do for Vica's, Mom waited awhile to have her b'day bash.



The girls had a great time with the Lymycz/Pacosa branch of their fan club, which while not as large as the Sicilian branch is just as zealous in their adoration...



Well, seems that isn't quite enough for my girls and they felt the need to branch out last night. The party was held in a lovely restaurant. Unfortunately the room we were in had faulty air conditioning and twenty five women who are no longer producing estrogen just don't keep well in an under-air conditioned room. Fearing for their safety, the management relocated us to another semi-private room just off the bar/lounge area. This was also very nice- and very cool I might add. We also had the benefit of enjoying the live entertainment- a very talented lady was singing with pre-recorded music. (kinda like high-class karaoke).



While I was visiting with other guests, Vica worked her charm on the singer and actually conned her into letting her get up and sing. This supports Matt's theory that Vica's English is much, much better than she's letting on. She speaks one version for us and we catch her using another with "outside" people. Obviously it was good enough to get her point across and let's face it, she's tough to resist. Vica absolutely ADORES Gwen Stefani and made me go out and buy her latest CD- which she listens to at full blast every opportunity that I let her. Her very favorite song is the one that gets lots of radio time- Sweet Escape. Now for all of you that are not big GS fans, the chorus of this song is basically Whoooo-hooo, Wheeee-hooo, Whooo-hooo, Wheee-hooo. Vica REALLY likes to sing this refrain, at the top of her lungs, naturally. The rest of the song she just kind of makes up her own words, occasionally getting enough of them right that if you don't listen too hard makes her sound like she knows the entire song. So, she's up there decked out in a feather boa that looks like one of Bob Mackie's Cher cast-offs singing her heart out. My Aunt Anna is making like the paparazzi with all of the pictures she's taking and word circulates among the other patrons that this little girl and her sister were just adopted, have just begun learning English, etc. So all of this combined with Natasha and Angelina dancing and singing back up for Vica gets the Ukie version of Diana Ross and the Supremes practically a standing ovation.

My girl eats this up like it's candy and in five minutes I go from Vica wanting to be a doctor when she grows up to wanting to be a Vegas headliner, Oy.........

Stay tuned blog junkies to see what will win out- Med school or Sin City.....

Info for adoptive parents...

Just a quick note to fellow adoptive parents with kids from Ukraine.

If you or someone you know is thinking about conducting a birth family search, I have someone excellent to recommend to you. He is extremely professional, gets the job done quickly, and is VERY affordable.

Please e-mail me privately at lisasicilian@yahoo.com if you'd like further information.

I may be on to something.....

We had a pretty funny weekend around here. On Saturday, Vica was sent to her room because she whacked Daddy in the head with her new Ariel necklace that she just HAD to keep swinging around despite being asked, then told to stop numerous times. After the wound was inflicted, said necklace was promptly confiscated by Daddy..... sending Vica into a heap of wailing, crying, boogie spewing mess.

I took her upstairs to her room and explained why the toy was taken away and that once she calmed down she could come back out. Matt and I were in our bedroom watching TV and Natasha went into their bedroom to taunt her older sister- it's so rare that it's someone other than her getting into trouble. She felt compelled to notify her older sister that she had "BAD MANNERS" which got a giggle from me and Matt. A few minutes later I got up and caught Miss Emily Post Jr. MOONING her older sister....

Yep, there she was with that tiny heiny of hers exposed wiggling it at Vica.

This, naturally had Matt reduced to complete fits of laughter- actually I thought it was pretty funny too, but temporarily being the more mature parent felt that I should point out to Natasha that exposing one's backside is also considered VERY BAD MANNERS!!!

On Sunday Matt had both girls outside while he did some yard work. After about a half hour I could hear Vica whining to go back inside "With Mama" Matt wouldn't let her, so after another half hour I relented and called her inside. Naturally, where one goes, the other follows. So, I asked her if she wanted to help me cook dinner. We were just having tacos, so I let her stand on a stool and help brown the ground beef, add the seasonings etc... When it was done I then asked her if she wanted to vacuum- well, you should have SEEN her eyes light up. This girl is little Suzie Home maker- you would think I offered her the BEST toy on Earth. So, I got her set up with that and she just went to town- this brings Natasha to also wanting to help. I handed her the swiffer with a wet pad and she mopped my kitchen floor with it.

Mommy proceeded to pour herself a glass of wine and went outside on the deck. Matt asked me if I was drinking because they were driving me nuts, I told him "Oh no, Vica just cooked dinner and now they're both cleaning the house, let's go back and get 5 more just like them!"

I know it won't last forever, but you can bet the last dollar you've got that I'm going to enjoy EVERY second of it while it lasts!!!!!

Pictures- Finally!

Since most of you know how technologically challenged I am- I think it's pretty good that I finally figured out how to post pictures to the blog.

This is the picture I had taken of the girls as Mother's Day gifts for Grandma!

She was VERY happy!!!!

Blog Junkies Rejoice!!!!

I have been taking ALOT of flak lately for not keeping up with this blog. It's not that anything hasn't been happening- it just doesn't seem "blog worthy".

But for those of you out there who just need your fix, I'll try to do the best I can.

First and foremost, is Mother's Day. I finally got to celebrate "for real" and it was great. Matt and the girls cleaned the house from top to bottom for me, then went shopping at the mall on Saturday night. I got some very nice gifts, cards and dinner on Sunday. My parents, in-laws, brother and sister in law were all there and the girls had a great time playing with their cousin, Angelina. The girls chose three new charms for my bracelet. A heart that says Mom , Tinkerbelle, and Belle- how cute!!

Vica and Natasha continue to grow in leaps and bounds. They have both gotten taller and are just as cute as can be (if I say so myself) English is progressing nicely, although we're still speaking in the third person. Matt and I are increasing our efforts to teach them me, you, I, we, etc.

Natasha visited her new preschool over the weekend and she loved it. She's back to telling anyone who will listen "Natasha, school- play with toys!!" The preschool is really nice and it doesn't hurt that my neighbor Debbie, who has two great kids of her own will be teaching them.

Vica spent Saturday morning helping Matt shovel mulch. He had some delivered to redo the flower beds and she was right in the middle of it. By the time I got home, she was covered from head to toe in DIRT! I came to find out later that not only did she "convince" Matt to bury her in the mulch pile, but she also "convinced" our neighbor Charlie to let her jump into the giant pile of topsoil he had delivered the same morning!!

I came home to find her playing with the little girl next door- who was dressed in pristine white capri pants and sneakers- and there's my kid in her dirt caked sweat pants, t-shirt and matted down hair- yikes! Thankfully she cleans up really well and loves to be dressed up.

Which brings me to Vica's birthday! She turned 7 on April 28th and we had a really nice party for friends and family at a local restaurant. Vica naturally had a gorgeous pink dress on that Grandma got her and then managed to get every single outfit Gap Kids has to offer a girl in her size- it's insane. She's got more clothes than I do and probably as many pairs of shoes. Funny now, but what is this going to be like in ten more years!!

As part of her birthday present, Vica got her ears pierced. We took her to the mall and she hopped right into the chair. After I filled out the paperwork (almost as much as I had to fill out to adopt her) she looked at me and asked me if it would hurt. I didn't lie and told her it would pinch a little- kind of like when she got a shot at the doctor. So, the lady marks her ears, loads up her little gun, points and shoots- well, Vica's entire body just trembled, you could just see her physical reaction to this. Vica does not shed a single tear, she doesn't even blink- Mama on the other hand feels her entire stomach contents threaten to evacuate. After deciding that this would not be the best thing for me to do smack dab in the middle of Rockaway Townsquare Mall, I regain my composure just in time to see the second earring go in. This time Vica doesn't flinch- I asked her if it hurt and she just looked at me and said "No, Mama" proving once again that Mama is a big sissy.........

That's about all I can think of right now- I promise to be more diligent in updating this blog!

Bye for now!

Trip to the zoo...

We've been enjoying some warmer weather lately, so Sunday I thought it would be nice if we took a family outing somewhere. At first I thought of the New Jersey State Aquarium, but when I realized it would cost us close to 100 bucks just to walk in the door (and spend over an hour getting there) I thought again.

Enter good old Turtleback Zoo- which in looking back was a much more appropriate field trip for the girls just now. The zoo is VERY small and you can get through the entire thing in about an hour. Vica LOVED the snakes and Natasha thought the ponies were adorable. Didn't bother bringing them over to the petting zoo area- Mommy's not quite ready for that complete gross out. Afterward we took them to Mc Donald's for lunch and to play on the indoor playground.

The next day Matt asked the girls if they liked the zoo- they both nodded their heads yes very enthusiastically and then in unison said "Chicken McNuggets"

Score another one for American culture......

Art Project Hysteria and The Blessed Mother

Sue Ann, thanks for the clarification on the creepy Barbie fairy wings/karaoke thing-yeah, fairy wings that you can wear that come with an attached microphone- makes perfect sense.......

So, Vica came home from school with an art project....... Apparently, they are doing a unit on different countries and each child has to decorate a paper doll and flag for their assigned country.

Vica was assigned Russia...........

Soooooooooo, since Matt was going to school for parent/teacher conferences that night, I asked him if he could NICELY ask the teacher if Vica could do Ukraine, I thought it might be nice since I had every intention of decorating, I mean HELPING Vica decorate her doll in traditional Ukrainian costume and having her color the Ukrainian Flag ANYWAY.... I thought maybe I won't make a statement, just this once- but they also have to write three facts about the country they are doing- Ooooooooooh, WHAT fun I coulda had with THAT one if I let her do Russia.


hhhhhmmmm, let's see..... "From 1932-1933, Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin's policy of forced collectivization created an artificial famine which resulted in the deaths of 6 to 7 million Ukrainians....

Oh, yeah- that would really win my kid some popularity points wouldn't it????? And Matt STILL wonders why I won't join the PTA- how fast do you think they'd kick me out???

Of course all of this is in good fun- but after I went out and bought "supplies" for our paper doll, Matt tried to ruin my fun by informing me that Vica was supposed to do the project.

Where, I ask you, is the fun in that??? I guess I've got to let her help a little.....

Today, I was in the kitchen washing dishes while Vica was unpacking her backpack from school. Natasha was talking a mile a minute for a full five minutes, I assumed she was talking to Vica until I walked into the living room and saw her conversing at great length with a figurine of the Blessed Mother that Matt had given me for Mother's Day several years ago. She was talking VERY animatedly to Her- I thought it was pretty cute and thought the nuns who taught me at Saint Nick's are probably all smiling down from Heaven over that one since I was such a "holy" child while I was there- hhhhhaahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

Back to the parent/teacher conferences the other night. Vica's teacher and ESL teacher were both extremely relieved when Matt told them that we had every single intention of having Vica repeat the 1st grade next year. I guess they get a lot of parents pushing to have the child moved up to the next grade before they are ready. We want Vica to continue to enjoy school as much as she does now, once she gets English up and running, then we'll worry about how she's progressing academically- although, I don't think that's going to be a problem at all. Right now we're just concentrating on her learning new English words every day. She's still enthusiastic about going to school every day and comes home all smiles and excitement when I pick her up from the bus.

And that ends the latest chapter of my dull and boring life :)

Vica needs a Barbie...

Remember the post not so long ago where I wondered just how long it would take for Vica to make the connection between what she sees on TV and actually wanting to HAVE it?

Time's up! it's official and not only that, but she hit me with two kid favorites-

Lucky Charms cereal and naturally, good ole' Barbie.

The cereal thing was easy- but you know I'm not feeding her Lucky Charms! She's actually quite happy to have Cheerios and asks for cereal now every morning. Natasha likes the cereal part but isn't having any part of the milk that goes along with it. Oh well!

The Barbie thing isn't just ANY Barbie either- they've come out with some kind of creepy Butterfly wing thing- I don't know. I guess I'll have to pay closer attention the next time the commercial is on and Vica drags me by the hand to see it. Too bad her birthday is still 8 weeks away and by then she'll probably want six thousand other things. I kinda get the feeling this is the floodgates just opening.

Oh, and they both also do the take the gift out of the bag, put it down and peer into the bag tearing through the tissue paper looking for MORE thing too!

Well on their way to being typical American kids! LOL!!!

We have a parent/teacher conference tomorrow, so I'll update more on that for those of you still reading this boring stuff!

Vica loses a tooth and the Teacher Death Stare

Everyone is finally feeling almost 100% around here. No one is as happy as Mama around here.

Vica lost her first tooth (with us) Matt and I naturally thought this was a big deal. We tried to explain the concept of the tooth fairy. I got the Russian equivalent of "Yeah, whatever, Mom"She was more excited about GETTING the tooth OUT. Matt jokingly told her about the string around the tooth/doorknob trick- she was all ready for him to do it. Once the tooth was out she was completely enthralled by the hole it left behind and the fact that it was grossing her little sister out. When she woke up and found the 5 bucks under her pillow (Matt's call, not mine- it would have been 1$) she simply told me to put it in her piggy bank- excitement over....

The kids are all back in school this week, so this will actually be Vica's first full week of school. We had some not eating her lunch issues earlier in the week, but they seem to have resolved themselves. Tuesday she came home with Spanish homework. My first reaction was that I hoped she wasn't getting confused. She had the worksheet completed pretty well considering. I just have to laugh- I guess this qualifies her as being tri-lingual???? Oh, by the way, anyone know the Spanish work for the color Purple?? It's driving Matt crazy, and my 4 years of French 25 years ago won't help here either :)

Matt has been reading the complete works of Dr. Seuss to the kids every night before bed and they just LOVE it- can't tell you how happy that makes both of us- they both are starting to memorize the stories too- it's VERY cute!!

Natasha has been crying almost every day when Vica gets on the bus- it doesn't last long, but I've got to get on the ball to get her into some kind of preschool program. With her being sick, that set everything back a few weeks. Right now she's enjoying watching Cinderella 3 snuggled up with Sophia on the sofa. I finally broke down and got a stroller to cart her around in. What was I thinking???? This Motherhood thing seems kinda slow to sink in on some levels. Here I am with my 40 year old back and knees lugging this toddler around- can you say STUPID! She absolutely loves riding around in it like the queen-in-training she is. Matt put it together with Vica last night- he said she had it figured out before him. Kristin- if you're reading this, I know how hard you're laughing right now.....

This weekend we're going to start getting the larger bedroom re-painted to be the girl's new room. Our neighbor, Debbie gave the girls these gorgeous butterfly decorations as part of their welcome home gift and I think I'm going to do the room around that theme.


Oh, I almost forgot, I caught the Teacher Death Stare from my own husband in my own house the other night- the nerve of him! Matt was doing homework with Vica while I had the audacity to speak to Natasha in the other room- I wish you could have seen this look I got for disturbing his lecture, I mean "Lesson" I felt like I was about 8 years old getting busted for talking to the kid next to me- not that it EVER happened when I was in school!!!!

Next week I'm gonna pass the kid a note.......

The sick house

Natasha seems to be doing better. Her fever hasn't gone over 101 in two days and is mostly near normal during the day. She's just got a cough I can't ease for her. The cough medicine I'm giving her seems to be doing absolutely nothing. Fortunately she's sleeping through the night and even took a 3 hour nap today. Vica's bug is still hanging on, but is much, much better- I forced her to nap too.

Now Matt has fallen ill. He went to the doctor yesterday and she took one look at his throat and told him she wasn't even going to swab it- it was strep throat- so he's laid up with that, a fever and body aches.

At least the dog isn't limping anymore, and I'm trying to avoid being coughed and sneezed upon as much as possible, all while trying not to inhale the steady stream of Lysol I've got misting around every room of the house.

On a positive note, we were able to file for the girl's social security numbers with a minimum of fuss yesterday and we received their certificates of citizenship in the mail today. Complete with a nice letter on White House stationary signed by W his-self!

So, not much more than the obvious going on around here. Hopefully in a day or two the girls will be back on track and Matt will be feeling better too.

Boring stuff, I know........

Mommy goes on a guilt trip.

Yesterday I had a lunch date with two friends that I had been looking forward to for over a month. The weather was finally not freezing and I got to see my friends as well as a few others from work that I've been missing and just enjoyed myself completely.

That is, until I called Matt from the road on my way home. Seems Natasha woke up from her nap with a fever of 103.8. Up until that point I had been patting myself on the back for dealing with my very first round of sick kids in a pretty calm way (totally NOT like me, I might add) even my own Mother paid me the highest compliment in her book telling me it sounded to her that I had everything completely under control.

HAAAAAAAA!, Yeah, right! So, after managing to avoid a speeding ticket, Matt had gotten an appointment with the pediatrician by the time I got home. The poor thing was just miserable and burning up. Luckily the Motrin had started to do the trick right away and she perked up a little, but not much. Then Matt tells me, she's been crying for Mama since she got up.

Uuuuuuuuggggghhhhhhhhh, tear my heart out why don't ya????

Turns out our girl has strep throat. So, she's on antibiotics. Vica seems to have bounced back from whatever bug she had, but then again, we'll see what TODAY brings.

Guess I'll be running over to Costco and buying a case of children's tylenol and motrin. The doctor did say that her fever should be much better by today and probably gone by tomorrow- "Unless she's got something else with the strep" Thanks Doc....

So, after I spent the night planning the quickest route to the local emergency room, the girls slept pretty peacefully and are still sleeping as I type this.

Another busy weekend

Well, we all survived the trip to Chuck-e-cheese, I'm the most surprised that I made it out alive... although everyone I was with kept telling me it wasn't "that" bad.

500 screaming kids- at least one of which vomited right near our table (thankfully none of ours) and that's not bad??? I'd hate to see what bad really looked like.

Oh well, the girls had a ton of fun and as it turned out we had a really nice impromptu birthday party for Natasha thanks to all of her Aunts and Cousins. Not only was my best friend Tracy there with her 9 year old son, Kurt, but my sister in law Donna, niece Angelina, sister in law Christine, nephews Anthony and Joey and my other sister in law Donna with my nieces Jenna and Ariana all came. My girls are very very lucky to have a family that loves them so very, very much, and me- I'm just plain lucky. Best moments in the day were watching Vica help Angelina get up into the habitrail like climbing thingy they have there, Kurt helping the girls learn to play all of the different games, PLUS giving them all of the tickets he won throughout the day and Anthony and Joey cashing in their tickets specifically for hair accessories for their cousins. Jenna and Ariana are like little mother hens to the girls- when they are around, I don't need to worry for a second where my kiddos are, or what they are doing, they are usually being carried around like little princesses by their older cousins.

After we got home, my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin all stopped by with some birthday gifts for Natasha- they got gorgeous party dresses that they immediately fell in love with. I'm really surprised that Vica didn't ask to wear hers to school. We have a big family party coming up at the end of March, so the girls will have a chance to wear them pretty soon. They also got toys, jewelry, etc.. etc... What was great was that after only meeting my Aunt once, when Vica saw her getting out of the car and coming up our front walk, she started jumping up and down saying "Cho-cha, Cho-cha!!!" (that's Aunt in Ukrainian) I was really happy that she recognized her and her relationship to her.

Yesterday the girls attended their first birthday party. Our little pal Drew also turned 4 this past week and the girls had a blast. They held the party at one of these kiddie places that organizes everything for you. They had all kinds of stuff to jump on and into, plus organized games. At one point they had the kids sit in a circle and sing a little rhyme that ended with each child saying their name. My two actually figured this out and participated right along. They had so much fun, they were both crying when they had to go home. I wish they had a place like this out here by us- I'm going to have to look for one. They also did a craft project and of course, at pizza-their absolute new favorite food. Then later in the afternoon, my Aunt Jeanne and cousin Teresa came by to meet the girls. We have asked Teresa to be Natasha's Godmother and it was so nice because Natasha was really huggy and kissy with her. My Aunt Jeanne is also MY Godmother, so that makes it all the more special!! :)

Now we're all off this week, the girls will have their first trip to the dentist later in the week and Natasha has to go back to the pediatrician for her MMR vaccine so she can go to preschool and we'll probably take them on a few day trips, one of which I hope is ice skating here on our lake!

I've spent too much time at home....

It's official, I'm done- Had Nickelodeon on for Natasha and actually got a "happy" feeling when I caught that Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends will be on next......

Sad, but true......

Luckily, my good friend and adoptive Mama-mentor Shelly gave me some GREAT ideas on how to facilitate the girls learning English. We'll be going to the library next week and Foster and friends will have to wait.

Get on the Bus!!!!!!

Vica took the bus for the first time today- as per HER request. When I informed MY Mother of this, I could hear the panic in her voice all the way from Florida....


...... Will she be at the bus stop by herself???

....... Yeah Ma, I was thinking I'd just kind of shove her out the door and let her figure out how to get on the bus by herself- her English is getting pretty good!!!!

....... Will the bus leave her off in front of your house???

....... No, it will leave her off right where it picked her up, but her sense of direction is right up there with her English skills, so I figured, what the heck! Let her find her way home and if she doesn't turn up by night fall, I'll send Sophia out looking for her.


While those were the questions posed to me by Grandma-the nervous wreck, I was much nicer in explaining the whole thing to her.

Vica has been pestering me since before she even went to school to take the bus. This morning it was all she could talk about, and when it was time for her to leave, she gave me a big kiss and a hug and bounced out the door. Matt took her down to the corner and he said she jumped right on in the first seat and was READY TO GO!!! I'm the one sitting here, watching the clock- three hours before she even gets out of school to make sure I'm there at the bus stop when she gets off. The great thing is that Vica isn't worried one tiny little bit that I WON'T be there waiting for her.

Natasha, on the other hand, is not pleased at all that she HAS TO stay home with Mama. Of course it doesn't help that her older sister taunts her with things like "Natasha is little, she doesn't ride on the bus" "Vica is a big girl, she goes to school" So, I told Natasha she'd be going to school soon too and that was enough to put a smile on her face again.

Vica had another good day at school yesterday, she got lots of Valentine's from her classmates and she did a little Valentine's Day themed arts and crafts project- and then of course there were the COOKIES- which she could not stop talking about- judging by the amount of chocolate smeared on her face, she really did like them.

So, there I was standing right in front of the main office, waiting for my kid to be dismissed. It's the end of the day, and here she comes with her coat on and backpack in hand, all smiles- Great, off we go!!!

Wrong! Apparently, Mama committed a major mommy faux pas and did not sign Vica out of school before I left with her.

HUH?????????? I was just about home when my cell phone started ringing, when I retrieved the message, it was the school calling me to make sure I had Vica with me because I had failed to obtain the proper security clearance, by the time I made it into the house with two freezing, squirming, kids who are both screaming that they have to PEEEEEEEEEE at the TOP of their lungs, there was another message waiting for me. Okay, whatever, now I try to actually call the school to notify them that I do, in fact have my child and they should recall the National Guard and I think the FBI probably has better things to dowith their time when I get caught in the mother of all voice mail directory nightmares. Fortunately by this time, the school was calling me on my cell phone- AGAIN!! Now, I know that all of my friends and family are letting out a big fat groan right about now, thinking, uh, oh, Lisa flipped and probably won't be asked to join the PTA after all- I handled it completely appropriately, I didn't even raise my voice and I was the one who apologized for the oversight.

I guess you can call it my new found Motherhood Zen-like aura.

Yeah right! You know it took everything I had not to blow my top- but I was actually impressed to see how the system kicks in once the alarm is tripped. It really stood out in stark contrast to the way kids live in Ukraine. There is no such thing as a child car seat, seat belts are even hard to find- kids are all toddling around in cities where the driver, not the pedestrian has the right of way- and no one thinks twice about it. Hard pressed as I am to say anything positive about this, I have to admit that I never once saw a single accident while we were in Ukraine and we did a lot of traveling around by car. Still, I think I like things better the way they are here :)

Now we'll have a week off from school, but luckily Matt is also off at the same time.

Oh, and two bonus points for anyone who knows where the title of today's blog comes from.

Vica's First Day of School and Natasha's Birthday

Yesterday was a BIG day around here. Although she doesn't grasp the concept of a birthday at all, we had a little celebration for Natasha's 4th last night. Basically we did the small ice cream cake, candles and party hat thing so we'd at least have a picture to show her when she's 16 and becomes indignant over the fact that we didn't do ANYTHING for her first birthday in America, let alone the catered affair with engraved invitations and orchestra I'm sure she'll feel was more befitting the occasion. We can show her the picture and well, basically lie......

I'm taking her and Vica to Chuck-E-Cheese this weekend. I'm convinced that I've completely lost my mind, but I'll have backup in my friend Tracy and her son Kurt. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll just run themselves to exhaustion. Something tells me Mama is coming home with one big headache :)

The more important event in the Sicilian house was Vica's first day of school. Mama seemed to be the only one with any anxiety over this. I'll have to say it was a challenge getting both girls up, fed, dressed and out the door as they are Olympic caliber dawdlers. Matt took the day off so it was a bit more easy with two of us. Anyway, we took Vica to her new classroom and she seemed to really enjoy seeing kids her own age. The teacher also explained that one of the children in her class spoke Russian, although when Matt asked him "Do you speak Russian" he looked at him blankly and said "Whaaaaaaat??" Now, Matt's Russian leaves a lot to be desired, but I do know he asked him correctly and simply enough for a child, so I wasn't having too much hope about that scenario. Luckily, there is a little girl in the second grade who also speaks Russian and the teacher had her sit with Vica at lunch. When I asked Vica about her, she told me that the girls "talks alot" and that she had to tell her to be quiet.

Is that MY girl, or what- well on her way to establishing those critical interpersonal skills. I could have completely misunderstood what Vica was trying to tell me- so I'll just assume like a good Mom, that my kid was just perfectly behaved :)

When we went to pick her up at the end of the day, her class was just returning from Gym. She bounced right past us and I could see she was having fun and had a HUGE smile on her face. That minute right there told me I had nothing to really worry about. Matt reviewed some of the math work she did in class and she seems to be getting it and is working at the 1st grade level.

Unfortunately, we were hit with a huge snow storm last night and school was cancelled today. Then, they are off for an entire week next week, but we'll keep working with her during the down time so she doesn't "forget" about school!

I'm making a list and checking it twice...

Or three, four, five, six thousand times a day!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an obsessive list maker- hahhaahha, have another little Motherhood surprise Lisa- make ALL the lists ya want- nothing gets done!

I'm considering it a sign of progress for myself that I made a fairly ambitious list yesterday and got about 90% of it done, and no melt downs for the girls, or me for that matter! Matt was probably very pleased to come home and not find one or more of us in tears.

Just to give you an idea of what my life has become like- we've been home over two weeks and I just got our bags unpacked from the Ukraine trip last night- oh well!

The girls continue to do very well. They met my Aunts and Uncles this weekend and did great. They also got to meet their cousin Angelina and it was so cute to see her and Natasha together as they are the same size.

Everything looks on target for Vica starting school next week. I'm going to go in with her for a few hours the first day and then we'll try an entire day and see how she does. The English is coming along slowly, although I think they understand more and more every day- part of the "problem" is that they have each other to converse with in Russian so there isn't a need to use English as much.

But then again, what do I know?? As I'm finding out- nothing!!!!

Shopping and Mc Nuggets

We took the girls for their first retail experience yesterday. Matt took the day off from work because I was losing my voice, so once we all started to go stir crazy we decided to take the girls to Walmart and then maybe McDonald's for lunch if all went well...

Wrestling Natasha into the cart was an experience in itself as she didn't quite have the hang of what she was supposed to do and tried to tuck her legs underneath herself. After some assistance from Matt, we got her in and then she really enjoyed being run around the entire store by Daddy.

What was really nice for evil Mama Lisa was the fact that now it was ME getting in the way of everyone with my kids and cart!!! hhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaaa (evil Mama laugh) revenge is GOOD!! because we were in the store at a time while most kids are in school, so now I got to just sit still in the middle of an aisle while the girls looked at and touched everything acting completely oblivious to all around me trying to get through.

I know, it's shallow, it's petty, it's immature- it was GREAT!!!!!!!

We got a few more things for Vica for school and then it was off to McDonald's. I refused to take them while we were still in Ukraine because I was just so anti- the entire place that I decided their first experience with American fast food really should be done in America.

The girls had their first Happy Meal (chicken McNuggets) and they really liked them- imagine that! I'm never gonna be able to get them to eat chicken and french fries at home ever again.

Oh, I almost forgot- yesterday morning, the girls were playing in their room and clear as day, Natasha yells "Papa! can you come here??" Matt and I just looked at each other- in ways her English is coming together faster than Vica's- probably because her Russian vocabulary isn't as extensive. Speaking of which, we meet with the principal of Vica's new school today and hopefully in another week we'll have the immunizations up to speed and off she goes. She asks every single day about going to school, I think the poor kid is bored off her rocker!

Other than that, this should be a quite week, we're getting together at my Aunt's house this Sunday so all of my Aunt's and Uncles can meet the girls- that (hopefully) should be the last large wave of loot to haul home and then I can start getting organized.

I've heard some rumors that some people who submitted dossiers in December have received March appointments, but that there is still some uncertainty regarding dossiers for people still waiting since September (and in some cases, even earlier) I hope all this means is that they are getting it together at the SDA and everyone waiting so long finally has the chance to go an get their kids.

Meet the Sicilians

The girls met their new Aunts, Uncles and Cousins this weekend, and I think it went great.

Vica and Natasha were shy for approximately 6 seconds and then I didn't see them for most of the night as they were thoroughly enjoying being the center of attention (are these my girls, or WHAT?)

Naturally, they were unloaded upon by said family members to the point where it will take another trip back to Uncle Mike and Aunt Donna's house to bring the remaining loot home.

One of the most memorable scenes stuck in my mind is watching my two very girly girls being taught how to hit a ball with a bat by their two cousins, Anthony and Joey, who showed infinite patience and interest in these two little creatures. Anthony and Joey even took it upon themselves to learn some Russian via the Internet and asked me to teach them a few words. How cool is that? I get choked up every time I think about it....

What will also stay with me forever was the phenomenal outpouring of love these girls receive every where I take them. What more could I ask for than to watch them just soak up every last bit of it. If an abundance of love can make up for the hardships they've already experienced in their short lives, I'd say they've already reached, then surpassed that point- if only it worked that way. But, what's important now is that they are surrounded by people who love them and want to see them thrive.

I'd also like to point out that the girl's behavior really is not the norm for kids just home from Ukraine. I don't want to paint an unrealistic picture of what those waiting to adopt can expect. All of the books you will read will tell you to sequester the kids for at least a month, to keep the stimulus to a minimum and expect frequent melt downs and temper tantrums, and in the majority of situations, this is exactly what should and does happen. On the other hand, some children, like Vica and Natasha do well being right in the middle of it all, but that's due to a combination of things. Most importantly their individual personalities allow for it, but we also did much more bonding while in Ukraine than most parents get to do. Once we had Vica back in Yalta we took her to restaurants and out walking around, she was able to get used to being around groups of people on her own terms- and we also had the benefit of having our translator right there to explain things to her. This went a long way with establishing trust in us for her. The great thing about Natasha being so much younger than Vica is that she takes many of her cues from her older sister- the only time this backfires is when Vica decides that she doesn't want to eat what I've made for dinner- THEN Natasha will also decide she doesn't want it too- even though she just spent the last 5 minutes shoveling it all in shouting "Koosna, Mama!" (kinda like, Yum! Mama!) :) :) :)

I think the important thing is that your kids have to understand that YOU are their Mama and Papa- no one else. In some cases the kids grasp onto this quickly, and in others it takes more time, but once they have that down, they are good to go. You will know what your child can and can not handle very, very quickly- believe me, as this comes from a woman with absolutely NO parenting experience- heck, I barely even babysat as a teenager so this Mama thing is really coming to me as I go. I though for SURE I'd never be able to interpret anything regarding their needs, etc. and I'm continually amazed at how this "Mother's Intuition" thing REALLY kicks in! With my kids, I try to make sure they get enough sleep, limit the sugar and I certainly don't let them have access to the overwhelming abundance of "Stuff" they have collected in being home one short week. I let them play with some of the things, but then it will magically go into our spare room to be brought out another day :) The girls are very loving, they are generous with hugging and kissing, but when it's time for comfort, it's all Mama, Mama, Mama and even Papa sometimes. By no means am I saying that the bonding process in complete- nowhere near it, we are baby stepping this the entire way and I'm oversimplifying this just so you stay awake while reading!

But, the new Motherhood hysteria is material for another blog all in it's own.

oh, btw- poop patrol is almost complete, 4 down, 2 to go.......

"Poop" Happens

Okay, I promise, this will be the last time I post regarding this completely gross topic.

Shelly and Jane, yes- I remember you posting about having to collect these little specimens, what you failed to mention was just how downright DISGUSTING it would be. Yes, I realize that the disgust factor was implied- but come on, you could have warned me a little about what a laborious process it would be. LOL

Yeah, yeah, yeah, to the rest of you, I know- Welcome to Motherhood.

Now, for those of you waiting to travel, you will probably go through this at least once when you get home- here's my advice, so you can't say you didn't get any from me. Feel free to e-mail me privately, and I'll be more than happy to give you a complete tutorial via the telephone- free of charge!!

1. Buy yourself a box of latex gloves.

2. Have a pen handy IN THE BATHROOM, and label everything before you get, um, started.

3. Heavy duty aluminum foil- the BIG roll- 'nuff said......

4. As with everything else in this entire journey, keep your sense of humor intact. Surround yourself with those who will laugh right along with you, and count on me as one of them!

Okay, we're closing the chapter on this- unless, of course the girls test positive because I DO remember from Shelly's blog what a pleasant treatment regimen that turned out to be.

Good thing I've got hard wood floors throughout the house.


Today, the girls will be meeting their Aunts, Uncles and Cousins- we're all VERY excited for this to happen. Hopefully today will not be the day the girls decide to melt down on me publicly- but if they do, it will make for a much more entertaining post tomorrow!

Yesterday, My Mom brought my Grandmother here for lunch so she could meet her two new Great-Granddaughters. That was absolutely the BEST. The girls were shy at first, but very loving to her quickly, and she really enjoyed them too. Matt took a really nice picture of Me, Mom, Grandma, Vica and Natasha- Sophia tried to get in too- that picture is priceless to me. How lucky I am that I've got a Grandmother alive to witness all of these milestones in my life. When she was leaving, she gave me a great big hug and said I was still her "baby". That was pretty funny since I've got about a foot on her :)

I could not, in a million years have guessed how much my life would be changed- it's still a big shock to me sometimes, or just how tired I could be at 7:30 at night. But I would never, ever, ever for any amount of money want my old life back, not even for a second.

It's almost 7 a.m. and I hear noise upstairs- do I pretend I don't hear them and let them wake Matt up- or be nice and give him an extra 15 minutes of sleep?

Hmmm, wonder if there's anything on sale at Old Navy for Vica to wear to school- maybe I should check it out while I'm online!!!!!!

WAIT A SECOND, NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!

Okay, for all of you who brought kids home from Ukraine and failed to fill me in on this little bit of fun, SHAME on you- you, too, Shelly!

Warning, the content of the following is not at all "nice-nice" blog chat, so if you're easily offended or made queasy, please check in another day.

Took the kiddos to the pediatrician yesterday. They did GREAT! Vica is right on target for height and weight for her age, and Natasha is in the 50% for weight and 75% for height. They behaved themselves beautifully and generally worked the charm completely on the entire staff. Matt and I are also extremely pleased with our choice of Dr, and naturally, as it turns out he grew up in the Bronx. He also did work with orphans early in his career and was just the sweetest, nicest man- so we were quite happy. The girls didn't even make a peep when they did the TB test. We'll see how sweet they are when I bring them for bloodwork tomorrow. Yipeee.

Soooooooooo, we're sitting in the exam room and the very nice nurse is taking their vital statistics and then proceeds to hand me a cup with Vica's name written on it. Oooops, yeah, kinda forgot about that whole thing, but hey, I'm a MOM now- I can do anything! So, off we went to the bathroom. After only a minor "mishap" I successfully collected the required specimen. Natasha did even better- Mama does much patting herself on the back, but does inform Matt how lucky his is that he's got two girls at this point.

We finish up and the doctor hands me the orders for the blood work and stool samples for intestinal parasites.

WHAT?????? I've got to go and pick up THREE containers for these specimens????? OY..........

So, off Mama goes to Quest Diagnostics fully expecting to be handed three little "somethings" for each girl.

WRONG!!! Try two separate vials for THREE different, um, experiments for EACH girl. I'm going to spare you some of the more gory details about WHAT I've got to do, but this is out of control! I don't remember reading this in my contract- somebody get my Union Rep on the phone, will ya.

So, now you all know what I will be doing over the next day or so. All I've got to say is that it better be one heck of a Mother's Day present this May.

Other than that, the girls are doing very well. I'm waiting to see how long it takes Vica before she asks for something she sees on TV. They both recite the ABC's and are starting to count in English. Vica understands more and more of what I'm saying to her every day.

Oh, that reminds me- whoever gave us the Cinderella DVD- may you be blessed by good fortune the rest of your days and know that you may have saved more than one life in this house. The girls can watch it twenty thousand times (and just about have already) and it's provided a useful tool when the "Ni Hoht-choos" (I don't WANT to!) start up around dinner time. I've come to the conclusion that I am the quintessential slacker mom and am completely not above bribery or threats.

Guess I won't be getting the June Cleaver Achievement in Motherhood award this year, oh well.....

We're looking forward to introducing the girls to Matt's brothers and sisters and friends this weekend. We can't wait for the girls to meet all of their cousins!

Who ARE these kids and why are they calling me MOM????

Well, we are FINALLY home. When we finally got through customs at JFK and I saw our family waiting for us, I just burst into tears.

Matt literally got down on his knees and kissed the ground. He said the floor at JFK was far cleaner than anything he walked on in Ukraine.

The kids did just great and FINALLY fell asleep on the car ride home, which only served to give them plenty of energy when we got to the house. Our dear friends had the place all decorated with a big welcome home sign and balloons. It was overwhelming for all of us and very emotional. Since my internal clock is still set to UA time, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. I thought this would be a good opportunity to go through the six tons of mail that came in and open our Christmas cards. I also wound up walking around the house just crying my eyes out. I've been so tense during this trip that I haven't allowed myself too much emotion because I've just been trying to endure each day and focus on getting my girls home. Well, it all hit me like a ton of bricks but I needed to just get it all out and have been trying to get some sleep. NOT any easy thing to do when you hear MAMA as soon as you are out of sight for more than 5 seconds :) When I woke up this morning, I just couldn't believe that our girls are home, sleeping in the beds I prepared for them so very long ago. The whole thing still seems like a dream.

Vica and Natasha are doing great and adjusting very well. We've got the usual meal and bed time battles, but it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary for any 6 and 3 year old, let alone two kids who have been through everything they have in such a short time. We'll be getting them to the pediatrician next week and working on enrolling Vica in school. I think she's going to do just great. I also want to get Natasha enrolled in nursery school for two mornings a week because I think she misses having other kids to play with. Both girls had a lot of structure in the orphanage and I want to keep that going for them at home, plus there is the very important language issue. I'm running out of Russian phrases to use already!!! But the girls are learning more every day, I heard them singing their ABC's last night. Thank God for Leap Frog!!

We'll try to post periodically, I know how much these blogs helped me when we were waiting forever to travel, and how reading them is helping me now that our kids are home. You are so overwhelmed when you get home and if this is your first experience being a parent, well that just adds to your anxiety. So at least I knew some of the things to expect during this adjustment phase and it's helped me tremendously. Shelly Fisher, if you're reading this, your blog should be required reading for anyone even thinking about doing this! The girls will do something and before I can get myself worked up, I instantly remember reading about your first days home and realize it's all normal, and how it really will start to fall into place!!

Like I've said before, I'd do it all again in a minute.........

"Let My People Go Go" -Moses-

Moses spent his time wandering the deserts looking for theland of milk and honey...Lisa and I have drifted through Ukraine and the outskirts of Russia for nearly 47 days. I hope to God that this is the last post I make before heading home tomorrow. I wanted a nice quiet farewell, but no......what do I get? I get a vagrant drifter, more than a few sheets to the wind, sleeping outside of our apartment yesterday afternoon. What to do?
Ask him what he wants, throw him down the stairs, call a cop or militzia? Go next door to the US Embassy and ask for the goverment pamphlet on how to handle this, or get an official Ukrainian document of permision to toss him, complete with the required triplicate raised seal blue @#$%& stamps!!!! None of the above....I wait him out. A test of wills I say!

I have battled beauracracy, "negotiations", cars parked on sidewalks, cars driven on sidewalks,nobody accpeting large bills because it would require thought to make change, men spitting on sidewalks, men blowing snot rockets into the street,being publicly scolded for whistling (in complete pitch and tune I might add), half naked women on tv variety shows all day and night (ok this was somewhat tolerable), biatholon skiing, soccer, Everybody Loves Raymond dubbed in Russian, customer service where I am always wrong, 4 hour bump fest rides to a city that makes Syracuse NY look like Oz, Alla our translator, the Scooby Doo hallways of Ukraine's Municipal offices--remember the hallway where doors open and close, people move from one door to another, in and out of offices?--
the lack of local hygiene, the land where bathing regularly is a bimonthly event,squat toilets (just a hole in the floor--you get the picture?). statues of Poppa Lenin in every town square in every city, spending 47 straight days with my wife and my mother-in-law, 24/7 (actually it was a nice bonding experience), the locals bundling up for the Arctic despite 55 degree weather only because the calendar says it is winter, strangers chastising me for not making my kid wear a hat on aforementioned 55 degree day,and, finally toilet paper with a sandpaper grit of 50.....and I'm going to let one misguided miscreant stand in my way? NYET!!!

I finally have enough, wake him up and tell him to "behome" which means hurry up and leave or I will call militzia, the police. His response? "What time is it"? (he pointed at my watch) I show him its 3 o'clock. He bolts upright, and begins to gather his things quickly like he actually has to @#$%& be somewhere and he's late! Where could this guy possibly have to be that he actually looks panicked because he might have missed something important? Does that sum things up for you? It does for me.

And, on the other hand, I have experienced a lifetime of memories from my travels abroad. I have met some people, Ivan our driver, the cookie lady in Yalta, the gold toothed produce lady in the markets, the Internet boys in Yalta, Vasilly, the golf club owner, all of which added color to what at times was a drab existence.

And...I got my girls....just the way it was always supposed to be. I am a man among women now....Lisa, the girls and Sophia..no where to run, no where to hide. I can't wait to get home and see where this all takes me next.

I thank you for following our trip abroad and allowing me to regale you with our stories and anectdotes. And I swear, there has been no embellishing of the facts here.

I bid "pakah" to all of you from Ukraine.

If you're going to spew, spew in this!

Ah, I get to use a line from Wayne's World. As Lisa mentioned, Natasha had a little difficulty witht eh car ride from Yalta to Simperofol. For you home remodelers and pundits of the plumbing world...this kid spewed with a psi of momumental proportions.
Can you say Exorcist, kids on bus in Old School, Stand by Me? Our translator, who has felt the need to orchestrate every one of our movements (bowel included) had just moved out of the line of fire before natasha unleashed a torrent of cabbage, mixed mystery meat and soup. One split second longer and she would have had full facial coverage. Quick clean a few guffaws and all was back to normal. The kid was knocking back a salami sandwich within minutes. Lisa did bring everyone up to speed on the trip from Yalta to Kiev. I'm killing time atthe Internet until the visas are ready at 4 PM today. Good ole US Embassy...a bastion of efficiency. The "interviewer" even had roots in the Bronx. His family was a 2 generation owner of a wholesale flower business. All went well. Now, just to get out on Friday.

We're hoping to take the girls to either the circus or the zoo one day before we head out.
It would be nice to have some fun outside of the apartment. They travel very well. Lisa doesn't know this, but I was trying to get the girls to go around and knock on sleeper compartment doors in the middle of the night. They crashed at about 8 PM on the train, but were back up at midnite....we watched a little Ali G on dvd, knocked back a few bottles of water and flushed stuff down the train toilet for kicks.

Right now it'sa feeling out process. I made Natasha cry last night. She snuck off by herself into the bedroom and was trying to switch on a light by the bed that was made of these glass rods that hung loosely. She was pulling on the rods for balance while trying to flip the switch. I startled her with a booming "Natasha, nyet"! After i peeled her off the ceiling, she just started to mew like a little kitten. It's the cutest and saddest thing. But, hey...don't play with glass rods and electricity..they are not your friends, especially at 220v. I made a few fart noises and she recovered quickly enough to give me kisses good night. They are not used to the sound of a man's voice yet. And if I have my way, they won't until they're 35.

I will post one more time before we leave and try to sum up this trip while still in country. I think once we return home, the blog will only serve to update the other adoptive families in our group as a "share" for each other. But then again, it may not.
i have journalled and chronicled the trip with video and text, so we'll see what comes of that.

Matt