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........
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, February 19, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, February 16, 2007
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.
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.
...... 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.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
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 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!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
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!!!!
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!!!!
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