This morning I was in the supermarket with the girls.
As I was lifting a case of bottled water out of the cart the following conversation took place;
Natasha: Mama you need Daddy for that!
Vica: Yeah, because he's got BIG muscles!
Natasha: Don't feel bad Mama, Daddy has big muscles, but you have a big hieny.
I simply don't have any more to say.........
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Viva Viagra!!
In honor of the fact that Viagra is celebrating it's 10th anniversary, there seems to be a flood of commercials for it on just about everywhere besides the Disney Channel.
Anyway, just a few minutes ago, I came in from dropping Vica off at a birthday party to find Matt and Natasha relaxing watching men's golf.
Naturally, you know what commercial came on. In case you haven't see the latest, it's some dork who finds his powder blue tux in the attic and decides to woo the Mrs. by putting it on and then hopefully getting it on with the help of his little blue friend.....
So, I'm sitting there praying that Natasha really isn't paying attention to what's being said because all I can think of is that she's going to ask one of us what sex is.
Gulp!!!
Back to the commercial, it winds up with Mr. E. D. trying to carry his wife up the stairs, but he decides he probably needs to um, conserve his energy and he puts her down to walk up the stairs and then carries her over the threshold of their bedroom.
How romantic....NOT.
First off, I realize that this drug is being marketed to men so the ad agencies need to wake up and smell the coffee.
No woman in her right mind, after being married for any decent length of time is going to get "in the mood" by the sight of her husband wearing some early 80's prom suit.
I don't know about you, but I know VERY few guys who could actually squeeze themselves into anything they wore 20 years ago- and if you happen to be married to a man who can, you go girl!
I think it would do everyone justice if the next Viagra commercial they show is some guy taking out the garbage without being told, or vacuuming, or picking up his underwear and actually putting them INTO the hamper.
All on his way to Tiffany's........ and I DO mean the jeweler.
Now there's something blue to get a gal in a cooperative mood!
But, as usual, I digress- what I really was getting at was Natasha's reaction to this commercial.
She very innocently turned to Matt and said....
"Do you want to do that to Mama???"
This is the point where I fled the room.
After Matt regained his composure he was able to determine that she meant carry me up the stairs.
I'm just lucky the resident KGB agent wasn't home because she would have kept up a line of questioning that I'm not sure how either one of us would have answered!
Anyway, just a few minutes ago, I came in from dropping Vica off at a birthday party to find Matt and Natasha relaxing watching men's golf.
Naturally, you know what commercial came on. In case you haven't see the latest, it's some dork who finds his powder blue tux in the attic and decides to woo the Mrs. by putting it on and then hopefully getting it on with the help of his little blue friend.....
So, I'm sitting there praying that Natasha really isn't paying attention to what's being said because all I can think of is that she's going to ask one of us what sex is.
Gulp!!!
Back to the commercial, it winds up with Mr. E. D. trying to carry his wife up the stairs, but he decides he probably needs to um, conserve his energy and he puts her down to walk up the stairs and then carries her over the threshold of their bedroom.
How romantic....NOT.
First off, I realize that this drug is being marketed to men so the ad agencies need to wake up and smell the coffee.
No woman in her right mind, after being married for any decent length of time is going to get "in the mood" by the sight of her husband wearing some early 80's prom suit.
I don't know about you, but I know VERY few guys who could actually squeeze themselves into anything they wore 20 years ago- and if you happen to be married to a man who can, you go girl!
I think it would do everyone justice if the next Viagra commercial they show is some guy taking out the garbage without being told, or vacuuming, or picking up his underwear and actually putting them INTO the hamper.
All on his way to Tiffany's........ and I DO mean the jeweler.
Now there's something blue to get a gal in a cooperative mood!
But, as usual, I digress- what I really was getting at was Natasha's reaction to this commercial.
She very innocently turned to Matt and said....
"Do you want to do that to Mama???"
This is the point where I fled the room.
After Matt regained his composure he was able to determine that she meant carry me up the stairs.
I'm just lucky the resident KGB agent wasn't home because she would have kept up a line of questioning that I'm not sure how either one of us would have answered!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day
My husband is a very special man. Not only is he the absolute best Father Vica and Natasha could ever have hoped or dreamed of, but he's pretty terrific in a bunch of other ways.
In my book, Matt really "gets" what it means to be successful and rich. Sure, we'd like to have more money, who wouldn't, but Matt understands that a rewarding life is made up of the small stuff.
Matt wouldn't ever brag about his accomplishments, he's almost embarrassed about them. Then of course, there are those who sense that about him and will seize that as an opportunity to try to belittle him out of their own jealousy. Fortunately he's also too smart to really let that happen.
He makes each and every child he mentors through teaching and/or coaching feel special. Even when that child is intentionally not giving it his or her best shot, he's always looking for ways to make learning fun and nurture whatever talent that child has.
Matt's home room wins Field Day almost every single year. The team is known as "Sicilian's Slices" and sport shirts with that name on the front and the motto "You want a piece of this?" on the back. Everyone knows about them. What a lot of people don't realize is that Matt takes the kids who have no home room because they can't be mainstreamed into the rest of the school population for a variety of reasons. Some have learning disabilities, some have emotional or physical limitations. But, every year these kids get to compete on the "winning" team and somehow Matt finds a way for each kid to have a moment to shine.
Yeah, kinda gives me a lump in my throat too........
Matt has won Coach of the Year three years in a row even though he's technically the co-coach of the Golf Team, which only really means that he gets to do all of the work for half of the money. He would never dream of leaving this program that he's built from the ground up, or complaining that someone else gets to ride his coat tails because of who they happen to be related to.
I'm just petty enough to complain about it, even if it's only on my blog.....
When Matt coached basketball a few years back he had what I think was a completely Golden Moment. No, it wasn't winning a championship- which is what he would have wanted, but something much, much better.
He had a boy on his team who had many difficulties, and let's just say there wasn't any way he was going to play much during the regular season. If it had been a bigger school where there were tons of kids competing for a few spots on the JV team, this boy wouldn't have come close to even making the team.
Matt made sure this boy got to play before the season was over, he put him in at the end of a game where the score no longer mattered, but I doubt this boy even had the ability to really understand that. He made sure that he got every boy on that team to stand up and support that child while he was on the court. This in turn got the entire crowd cheering for him too. I don't remember what happened while he was playing, but all I know is that for one moment he got to experience the glory of the crowd cheering for just him.
And his Mother and Father got to feel that outpouring of love for their child and maybe, just maybe it brought them some brief happiness in what has to be a tough journey in raising a child who is always going to be singled out as "different" by the truly ignorant.
At home we have our differences but my life would be a train wreck of epic proportions of it weren't for Matt standing by to often pick up the pieces.
Matt will tell everyone I was the one instrumental in bringing about the adoption of our girls. Yes, I did do the majority of the work and it was a full time job managing that dossier.
For those of you reading this who haven't adopted, can you imagine trying to collect tons and tons of documents that have to be worded "just so" to appease not only your own government's demands, but those of a foreign government, and one who changes it's rules on what often seemed like a whim. And there's no one to complain to like there is here. I couldn't call my congressman and tell him I didn't like the way things were being handled. If we complained about anything to the powers that be in Ukraine we would be jeopardizing the entire adoption.
Yes, it really was that bad, and yes I did ALL of that. It was more than a full time job.
But I was only able to do that because I have a husband who was more than willing to listen to me carry on like a madwoman and rant and rave, screaming, yelling, giving up every ten seconds. It would have sent another man running for his life.
But not this man, and for that, I am always grateful. I am even more grateful, thankful and awed by the Father you are to our children, Matt.
How lucky and blessed we all are for your love and devotion.
In my book, Matt really "gets" what it means to be successful and rich. Sure, we'd like to have more money, who wouldn't, but Matt understands that a rewarding life is made up of the small stuff.
Matt wouldn't ever brag about his accomplishments, he's almost embarrassed about them. Then of course, there are those who sense that about him and will seize that as an opportunity to try to belittle him out of their own jealousy. Fortunately he's also too smart to really let that happen.
He makes each and every child he mentors through teaching and/or coaching feel special. Even when that child is intentionally not giving it his or her best shot, he's always looking for ways to make learning fun and nurture whatever talent that child has.
Matt's home room wins Field Day almost every single year. The team is known as "Sicilian's Slices" and sport shirts with that name on the front and the motto "You want a piece of this?" on the back. Everyone knows about them. What a lot of people don't realize is that Matt takes the kids who have no home room because they can't be mainstreamed into the rest of the school population for a variety of reasons. Some have learning disabilities, some have emotional or physical limitations. But, every year these kids get to compete on the "winning" team and somehow Matt finds a way for each kid to have a moment to shine.
Yeah, kinda gives me a lump in my throat too........
Matt has won Coach of the Year three years in a row even though he's technically the co-coach of the Golf Team, which only really means that he gets to do all of the work for half of the money. He would never dream of leaving this program that he's built from the ground up, or complaining that someone else gets to ride his coat tails because of who they happen to be related to.
I'm just petty enough to complain about it, even if it's only on my blog.....
When Matt coached basketball a few years back he had what I think was a completely Golden Moment. No, it wasn't winning a championship- which is what he would have wanted, but something much, much better.
He had a boy on his team who had many difficulties, and let's just say there wasn't any way he was going to play much during the regular season. If it had been a bigger school where there were tons of kids competing for a few spots on the JV team, this boy wouldn't have come close to even making the team.
Matt made sure this boy got to play before the season was over, he put him in at the end of a game where the score no longer mattered, but I doubt this boy even had the ability to really understand that. He made sure that he got every boy on that team to stand up and support that child while he was on the court. This in turn got the entire crowd cheering for him too. I don't remember what happened while he was playing, but all I know is that for one moment he got to experience the glory of the crowd cheering for just him.
And his Mother and Father got to feel that outpouring of love for their child and maybe, just maybe it brought them some brief happiness in what has to be a tough journey in raising a child who is always going to be singled out as "different" by the truly ignorant.
At home we have our differences but my life would be a train wreck of epic proportions of it weren't for Matt standing by to often pick up the pieces.
Matt will tell everyone I was the one instrumental in bringing about the adoption of our girls. Yes, I did do the majority of the work and it was a full time job managing that dossier.
For those of you reading this who haven't adopted, can you imagine trying to collect tons and tons of documents that have to be worded "just so" to appease not only your own government's demands, but those of a foreign government, and one who changes it's rules on what often seemed like a whim. And there's no one to complain to like there is here. I couldn't call my congressman and tell him I didn't like the way things were being handled. If we complained about anything to the powers that be in Ukraine we would be jeopardizing the entire adoption.
Yes, it really was that bad, and yes I did ALL of that. It was more than a full time job.
But I was only able to do that because I have a husband who was more than willing to listen to me carry on like a madwoman and rant and rave, screaming, yelling, giving up every ten seconds. It would have sent another man running for his life.
But not this man, and for that, I am always grateful. I am even more grateful, thankful and awed by the Father you are to our children, Matt.
How lucky and blessed we all are for your love and devotion.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Doesn't Play well with the other Moms
I'm cranky this morning and since this all started yesterday, I figured what the heck, I'd blow off some steam and blog about it and maybe, just maybe I'd take my own favorite advice and "Get over it"
I like to think my impatience with other Mothers of small children is due to the fact that I'm several years older than most of them, or because I've taken such a circuitous route to Motherhood that I just don't get worked up over every little thing that my kids do and want to memorialize it for all time and eternity because I think it's not only precious to me, but needs to be shared with the public at large....
Natasha graduated Pre-school yesterday. It was a lovely little ceremony followed by a picnic for the families. Parents, siblings and Grandparents were invited and it was held on the back lawn of the clubhouse with beautiful views of the lake. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although getting to that point was not without it's frustrations.
What gets me is that none of those had to do with Natasha and the education she was receiving there. She's learned so many, many things being in this wonderful program that's run by two of the most patient, talented women I've had the pleasure of meeting- but hey, you already know I'm pro-teacher, :) The most important thing she's learned is HOW to play. When she was in the orphanage her time was extremely structured. With all of those small children and only two women to care for all of them most of the time, there couldn't be any other way. She was constantly told what to do and when to do it, except at play time. Even though there seemed to be enough toys it was always bedlam and really all I ever observed the kids doing was running around crashing into each other screaming or fighting over every single one of those toys. There just wasn't enough adult supervision and the right kind of interaction to foster any of the socialization skills children learn by playing in groups.
Flash forward to the end of this year. Natasha is one of the most popular kids in her class and has many friends. Watching her run around rolling on the grass with her friends giggling was the best!
The weeks leading up to that moment were not so blissful. It seemed that every day that I went to pick her up at school, or came home from work, or logged on to my e-mail there was yet another "idea" cooked up by one of the Mom's about what a "great" year-end project we should do, or memento to give to the teachers, or.....whatever!
Now, I'm totally not adverse to doing any of these things, but why, I ask you do I need six pages of instruction, followed up by three phone calls and an e-mail on HOW to do what's requested. I'm not the 5 year old here!
I also realize that every Mother thinks her child is special. I do, but here's the difference, I know she's just a really cute kid with a really interesting back story to you, and I'm completely, totally cool with that. I don't expect you to worship my kid, if you aren't a member of her immediate family I don't expect you to remember a lot about her either. I also know that teachers are touched and care for the children they teach, and some do stand out over the years. An example being the wedding we're going to in a few weeks. This young man was in the very first class of students Matt taught here in NJ. He went on to become an English teacher and even did his student teaching with Matt as his mentor. In the 15 years Matt has taught here, I can count these kinds of students on the fingers of one hand- and I think that Matt has more than the average.
So, I endure the phone calls and instruction sheets and e-mails, dutifully completing each and every one of the requests on time. The best was the one where I had to have Natasha write words of advice for the incoming class of 2009. I wanted to point out to the woman who cooked up that little gem that a 5 year old doesn't know anything about advice and only sees the world in terms of how it relates to them. I mean, come on, if I know that, then I'm sure it's been printed thousands of times in all of the parenting magazines and books these gals rely on as their bible.
So the icing on the crap cake is yesterday. After listening to the parent teacher liaison (can you believe they even have one of these in pre-school) sob her way through her entire speech- ( I kid you not, and she doesn't even have a child currently enrolled in the pre-k program) it was time to hand out the little diplomas. Very cute, except they used Natasha instead of Natalia. I prefer to have her formal name used whenever it's going to be used in any public setting. That's just how I am. I'm not rabid about it, it's just what I prefer. And that's exactly what I said to my Mother who was sitting next to me. "I would have preferred Natalia instead of Natasha, but oh well"
Where upon the woman sitting in front of me reels around and says "Well, I guess you'll have to just wait until High School then!"
Now those of you who know me realize this is the moment where the red flag is waved in front of the bull and the crowd usually comes to a hush.
But I'm more grown up now and instead of saying what I thought, which was "I'm so sorry that you're not only extremely nosy but wearing a dress that went out of style 5 years ago and have you ever thought of investing in a pair of Spanx if you're going to dress like that, and NO it doesn't make you look like someone on Sex in the City, only a washed out hag" I just gave her that little smile and a nod that says much more than all of that and turned to my Mother next to me.
Who was giving her the exact same look.
You just can't help it when you learn at the feet of the Master.
Oh, and as it turns out. The Carrie Bradshaw wanna be is the woman who concocted the "advice" project.
To hell with maturity, I shoulda just pushed her into the lake.
Yeah, I'm over it.....
I like to think my impatience with other Mothers of small children is due to the fact that I'm several years older than most of them, or because I've taken such a circuitous route to Motherhood that I just don't get worked up over every little thing that my kids do and want to memorialize it for all time and eternity because I think it's not only precious to me, but needs to be shared with the public at large....
Natasha graduated Pre-school yesterday. It was a lovely little ceremony followed by a picnic for the families. Parents, siblings and Grandparents were invited and it was held on the back lawn of the clubhouse with beautiful views of the lake. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although getting to that point was not without it's frustrations.
What gets me is that none of those had to do with Natasha and the education she was receiving there. She's learned so many, many things being in this wonderful program that's run by two of the most patient, talented women I've had the pleasure of meeting- but hey, you already know I'm pro-teacher, :) The most important thing she's learned is HOW to play. When she was in the orphanage her time was extremely structured. With all of those small children and only two women to care for all of them most of the time, there couldn't be any other way. She was constantly told what to do and when to do it, except at play time. Even though there seemed to be enough toys it was always bedlam and really all I ever observed the kids doing was running around crashing into each other screaming or fighting over every single one of those toys. There just wasn't enough adult supervision and the right kind of interaction to foster any of the socialization skills children learn by playing in groups.
Flash forward to the end of this year. Natasha is one of the most popular kids in her class and has many friends. Watching her run around rolling on the grass with her friends giggling was the best!
The weeks leading up to that moment were not so blissful. It seemed that every day that I went to pick her up at school, or came home from work, or logged on to my e-mail there was yet another "idea" cooked up by one of the Mom's about what a "great" year-end project we should do, or memento to give to the teachers, or.....whatever!
Now, I'm totally not adverse to doing any of these things, but why, I ask you do I need six pages of instruction, followed up by three phone calls and an e-mail on HOW to do what's requested. I'm not the 5 year old here!
I also realize that every Mother thinks her child is special. I do, but here's the difference, I know she's just a really cute kid with a really interesting back story to you, and I'm completely, totally cool with that. I don't expect you to worship my kid, if you aren't a member of her immediate family I don't expect you to remember a lot about her either. I also know that teachers are touched and care for the children they teach, and some do stand out over the years. An example being the wedding we're going to in a few weeks. This young man was in the very first class of students Matt taught here in NJ. He went on to become an English teacher and even did his student teaching with Matt as his mentor. In the 15 years Matt has taught here, I can count these kinds of students on the fingers of one hand- and I think that Matt has more than the average.
So, I endure the phone calls and instruction sheets and e-mails, dutifully completing each and every one of the requests on time. The best was the one where I had to have Natasha write words of advice for the incoming class of 2009. I wanted to point out to the woman who cooked up that little gem that a 5 year old doesn't know anything about advice and only sees the world in terms of how it relates to them. I mean, come on, if I know that, then I'm sure it's been printed thousands of times in all of the parenting magazines and books these gals rely on as their bible.
So the icing on the crap cake is yesterday. After listening to the parent teacher liaison (can you believe they even have one of these in pre-school) sob her way through her entire speech- ( I kid you not, and she doesn't even have a child currently enrolled in the pre-k program) it was time to hand out the little diplomas. Very cute, except they used Natasha instead of Natalia. I prefer to have her formal name used whenever it's going to be used in any public setting. That's just how I am. I'm not rabid about it, it's just what I prefer. And that's exactly what I said to my Mother who was sitting next to me. "I would have preferred Natalia instead of Natasha, but oh well"
Where upon the woman sitting in front of me reels around and says "Well, I guess you'll have to just wait until High School then!"
Now those of you who know me realize this is the moment where the red flag is waved in front of the bull and the crowd usually comes to a hush.
But I'm more grown up now and instead of saying what I thought, which was "I'm so sorry that you're not only extremely nosy but wearing a dress that went out of style 5 years ago and have you ever thought of investing in a pair of Spanx if you're going to dress like that, and NO it doesn't make you look like someone on Sex in the City, only a washed out hag" I just gave her that little smile and a nod that says much more than all of that and turned to my Mother next to me.
Who was giving her the exact same look.
You just can't help it when you learn at the feet of the Master.
Oh, and as it turns out. The Carrie Bradshaw wanna be is the woman who concocted the "advice" project.
To hell with maturity, I shoulda just pushed her into the lake.
Yeah, I'm over it.....
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Mama Bear and Goldilocks
Yeah, I know I've been MIA for awhile, things have been hectic at best, and there hasn't been too much that's "blog" worthy happening. Things are going well, the girls are doing just great and getting ready to finish up the school year, but we had a little incident on Monday, and well, let's just say, it could only happen to me...
I'm home on Mondays which means that I run around trying to accomplish as many things as I possibly can, including taking Natasha to school. So, this past Monday was no exception. I got Vica on the bus and me and Natasha were flying around the local Shop Rite doing the weekly grocery shopping. No sooner had I patted myself on the back for making excellent time in the store than Natasha notified me that she needed to go to the bathroom N O W!!!!!! I know there isn't much time when this type of announcement is made by a five year old. The timing could not have been any worse. I had a cart FULL of food, and had NO idea where the restroom was, as this was not my usual store to shop in. Naturally, the bathroom was on the opposite side of the store and I still needed to checkout if I was going to get her to school on time.
So, I run with her in the cart to the entrance where the bathrooms are located, yank her out of the cart and follow her into the bathroom.
Where I am greeted by the sight of a MAN standing in the middle of the ladies room, and all I'm going to say is that he wasn't in there cleaning the bathroom.
You know all of those sayings about getting between a Mother bear and her cub and how it's not a good idea and if you do it, you'll be very sorry.
It's true.....
Natasha breezes right past this guy before I can even register what's going on and locks herself into the stall to do her thing.
As I feel the blood rushing to my head and I'm checking the guy's hands for a weapon and calculating just how hard I have to come at him to knock him on his psycho pervert pedophile in training @ss and all the while I'm thinking I AM GOING TO KIIIIILLLLLLLLLL YOOOOOUUU!!!!!!!
It occurs to me that I'm standing in the middle of the men's room........
Yep, go back a couple of lines where I say I follow Natasha, who can not yet read into the bathroom.
What was really surprising is how quickly I was able to change gears, I went from murderous outrage to downright apologetic in the blink of an eye. Absolutely brilliant even for someone as close to the edge of insane as I am most days...
The guy was really cool about it and said the doors weren't clearly marked as he had almost gone into the ladies room earlier.
Whatever.
I'm home on Mondays which means that I run around trying to accomplish as many things as I possibly can, including taking Natasha to school. So, this past Monday was no exception. I got Vica on the bus and me and Natasha were flying around the local Shop Rite doing the weekly grocery shopping. No sooner had I patted myself on the back for making excellent time in the store than Natasha notified me that she needed to go to the bathroom N O W!!!!!! I know there isn't much time when this type of announcement is made by a five year old. The timing could not have been any worse. I had a cart FULL of food, and had NO idea where the restroom was, as this was not my usual store to shop in. Naturally, the bathroom was on the opposite side of the store and I still needed to checkout if I was going to get her to school on time.
So, I run with her in the cart to the entrance where the bathrooms are located, yank her out of the cart and follow her into the bathroom.
Where I am greeted by the sight of a MAN standing in the middle of the ladies room, and all I'm going to say is that he wasn't in there cleaning the bathroom.
You know all of those sayings about getting between a Mother bear and her cub and how it's not a good idea and if you do it, you'll be very sorry.
It's true.....
Natasha breezes right past this guy before I can even register what's going on and locks herself into the stall to do her thing.
As I feel the blood rushing to my head and I'm checking the guy's hands for a weapon and calculating just how hard I have to come at him to knock him on his psycho pervert pedophile in training @ss and all the while I'm thinking I AM GOING TO KIIIIILLLLLLLLLL YOOOOOUUU!!!!!!!
It occurs to me that I'm standing in the middle of the men's room........
Yep, go back a couple of lines where I say I follow Natasha, who can not yet read into the bathroom.
What was really surprising is how quickly I was able to change gears, I went from murderous outrage to downright apologetic in the blink of an eye. Absolutely brilliant even for someone as close to the edge of insane as I am most days...
The guy was really cool about it and said the doors weren't clearly marked as he had almost gone into the ladies room earlier.
Whatever.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
My own Christmas Miracle.. Just in time for Valentine's Day
A year ago on Christmas Day, I became a mother in the back seat of a Volkswagen van.
Yep, that's exactly how it happened except the labor and delivery were not what you normally see on TV (or may have experienced yourself, lol)
It was a rotten miserable overcast day and Matt and I were just about at the end of our ropes. We were homesick, sick of being jerked around, feeling completely taken advantage of at every turn. We were both literally shaking in our boots wondering what the hearing would be like. We had heard so very many horror stories about people being grilled by the judge for HOURS before he would allow the adoption.
Our translator had gone in before us to start greasing the wheels and would come and get us when it was our turn. After about a half hour, we see the judge and her assistant coming around the corner, heading for the restaraunt across the street. It's at this point that Matt is seriously considering jumping out of the van and tackling her, but before he can do that, our translator comes back. Expecting the worst, you can imagine our shock when she said, congratulations, you're officially the parents of Victoria and Natalia.
And that's the story of how I became a mother in the backseat of a VW van- just like that.
Not quite as miraculous as the birth that took place on the same day 2000 plus years ago, but the fact that this was all happening on Christmas Day and that throughout this entire time every time something threatened to derail us, the problem just simply disappeared, was not lost on any of us.
We couldn't take custody of either girl until the ten day waiting period was over and that was another reason for concern because while it was highly unlikely, a family member could have contested the judge's decision and it's very likely Matt and I would have been out of luck.
But that didn't happen either. The worst thing that happened was that we were stuck for the 10 days, plus the 10 days for the shut down for the holidays and then couldn't get tickets out of there until the 19th. Even the 10 1/2 hour trek home with both girls went a lot smoother than I had imagined.
It's been an amazing year watching these two little girls blossom and thrive in our family. Someone said to me the other day, "It's like they have always been here" and in many ways, it does feel like that. I sometimes forget how much they have both had to overcome in just this one year, let alone everything that came before that time.
And I guess that's part of "my" problem. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop and you'd think I'd have learned by now that there's nothing I can do about it.
I just read in someone else's blog who's dealing with similar "control" issues "Who died and left me in charge of being in charge of how things turn out"
It's a tough behavior to unlearn- to say the least!!
I know it's been forever since I've posted. The girls are doing great. Vica got her first report card and is doing very well in all of her subjects. EXCEPT the in the listening and following directions department. She seems to um, need improvement in that area.
Sounds just like her Mom, LOL!!!!!! Seriously though, we had a complete Parenting Magazine Moment around here and talked to Vica about it- no yelling, no screaming, no tears- on anyone's part!! But I'll reserve patting myself on the back until the next report card comes out.
We've been dealing with some other behavior issues with Vica- but that's another post for another time and I just don't have the energy to dive into that one right now- although blogging about it really does help me get my brain around things and I usually feel MUCH better afterward. The cyber-therapy will just have to wait. The laundry is threatening to take over here.
The weather has been G-L-O-O-M-Y to say the least. I'll be so happy when February is over.
Next week is Natasha's 5th birthday. I may even post pictures.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Yep, that's exactly how it happened except the labor and delivery were not what you normally see on TV (or may have experienced yourself, lol)
It was a rotten miserable overcast day and Matt and I were just about at the end of our ropes. We were homesick, sick of being jerked around, feeling completely taken advantage of at every turn. We were both literally shaking in our boots wondering what the hearing would be like. We had heard so very many horror stories about people being grilled by the judge for HOURS before he would allow the adoption.
Our translator had gone in before us to start greasing the wheels and would come and get us when it was our turn. After about a half hour, we see the judge and her assistant coming around the corner, heading for the restaraunt across the street. It's at this point that Matt is seriously considering jumping out of the van and tackling her, but before he can do that, our translator comes back. Expecting the worst, you can imagine our shock when she said, congratulations, you're officially the parents of Victoria and Natalia.
And that's the story of how I became a mother in the backseat of a VW van- just like that.
Not quite as miraculous as the birth that took place on the same day 2000 plus years ago, but the fact that this was all happening on Christmas Day and that throughout this entire time every time something threatened to derail us, the problem just simply disappeared, was not lost on any of us.
We couldn't take custody of either girl until the ten day waiting period was over and that was another reason for concern because while it was highly unlikely, a family member could have contested the judge's decision and it's very likely Matt and I would have been out of luck.
But that didn't happen either. The worst thing that happened was that we were stuck for the 10 days, plus the 10 days for the shut down for the holidays and then couldn't get tickets out of there until the 19th. Even the 10 1/2 hour trek home with both girls went a lot smoother than I had imagined.
It's been an amazing year watching these two little girls blossom and thrive in our family. Someone said to me the other day, "It's like they have always been here" and in many ways, it does feel like that. I sometimes forget how much they have both had to overcome in just this one year, let alone everything that came before that time.
And I guess that's part of "my" problem. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop and you'd think I'd have learned by now that there's nothing I can do about it.
I just read in someone else's blog who's dealing with similar "control" issues "Who died and left me in charge of being in charge of how things turn out"
It's a tough behavior to unlearn- to say the least!!
I know it's been forever since I've posted. The girls are doing great. Vica got her first report card and is doing very well in all of her subjects. EXCEPT the in the listening and following directions department. She seems to um, need improvement in that area.
Sounds just like her Mom, LOL!!!!!! Seriously though, we had a complete Parenting Magazine Moment around here and talked to Vica about it- no yelling, no screaming, no tears- on anyone's part!! But I'll reserve patting myself on the back until the next report card comes out.
We've been dealing with some other behavior issues with Vica- but that's another post for another time and I just don't have the energy to dive into that one right now- although blogging about it really does help me get my brain around things and I usually feel MUCH better afterward. The cyber-therapy will just have to wait. The laundry is threatening to take over here.
The weather has been G-L-O-O-M-Y to say the least. I'll be so happy when February is over.
Next week is Natasha's 5th birthday. I may even post pictures.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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!!!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
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.........
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.........
Saturday, December 08, 2007
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.......
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.......
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
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!
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!
Monday, June 04, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
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.....
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.....
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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.
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!!!!!
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!!!!!
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