Sunny Days

We are enjoying our time together this week and have managed to stay pretty busy. Last weekend we had a welcome home party for Tori. It was tons of fun and she had an amazing time meeting new family and friends. We had a bounce house with an attached slide and climbing area, which she loved. The party started at 1:00 and was over at about 8:00 in the evening. Long day!



The weather has been really nice here. I bought Tori a little pool for in the yard. She loves it.! I put her in her suit and took her out to the yard. She immediately started taking off her suit, I suppose thinking she was having a bath. I showed her that it was ok to get in with her suit on. She loved the water and so did Lucky (big dog). Charm (little dog) just loves getting her toys and taking off to a place he might be able to chew away in private. We have been pretty good about catching him. Charm usually takes off at any sign of water. Even if I am just hosing down the patio, I usually have Lucky joining in and getting as wet as she can, now Tori is just as eager to compete for the hose spray. While enjoying her pool, she makes sure many of the plants in the yard get some water and Lucky gets her fair share too! When swimming is over for the day and it is time to go in, she is very disappointed and let’s me know. =)

Tori continues to learn and soak up so much in her environment. It really amazes me at times. She enjoys learning. She now gets her picture/site word cards and asks me “what is this?” in Russian. She is learning her letters, singing lots, counting and learning more and more English every day! Yesterday, she was even counting backwards! I didn't realize it until later that one of her Dora videos about school has a section that counts backwards.

Dylan continues to be amazing and adore his sister. Every day he asks me if I am sure I have given Tori a vitamin. When he arrives home from school, they have lots of hugs and kisses for each other.

Me? I have had the flu or something most of this week. Tori had a horrible cold in Russia. I suppose I could have caught something from her. Never really a cold for me though, just a sore throat. I have also developed a new addiction to animal crackers. I guess it could be worse as far as addictions go! I know the Dora theme song by heart and the Leap Frog letter song….”every letter makes a sound….” I have also forgotten just how therapeutic coloring can be! Haha!

Today we are having lunch and swimming at a friends house! That will be fun!

My beautiful children!

Visit from Auntie

My sister came into town on Thursday night, straight to my house from the airport. She and Babushka visited until about 10:00 pm. Auntie brought lots of clothing items for Tori, along with a wonderful pair of red cowgirl boots! Very cute! She did wear them for a while, as Karen had to try every bit of clothing on her possible. For some reason we never got a picture of Tori with the boots on. Aunt Bridgette and Uncle Eric sent some things for Tori too! It was great fun and Tori did not have much choice, but to bare and enjoy it all. It was a nice visit, Aunt Karen and Babushka were back again today at about noon and stayed until 8:30. They will be back tomorrow too! Tomorrow we are having a welcome home party for Tori.

Today, after Auntie and Babushka arrived, we had lunch and did some things around the house to prepare for tomorrow. Aunt Karen decided to water some plants out front and of course Tori and Dylan got involved in what quickly became play and no more plant watering. Tori loves the water. I figured this out when she swam on Mother’s Day. I could not really keep her out of the pool. No, she does not swim, but jumps off the side to her brother. Also, I cleaned up the yard yesterday and hosed down the patio. Usually, I can’t keep Lucky away from me and the water, Charm hides. Well, this time I had Tori and Lucky in front of me trying their hardest to get sprayed by the hose. She had a very fun time slopping around in the water, wet from head to toe.





This evening we went for frozen yogurt and a drive near the dairy farms. There are a few dairy farms close to my house and I thought Tori might enjoy seeing the cows. Did she ever! She certainly has a love for animals, or at least a very strong curiosity about them. Again, wanted to touch, talk, and try to kiss (nope, not this time). It was very cute!



Going to bed at night is becoming much better for us all. I am hoping she is feeling loved, safer and secure knowing that we will be here in the morning too! She slept well at the hotel, but once we got home things were not so great there for a couple of days when it came to bedtime. It honestly just gets better every day.

She is saying so many new words and phrases, it is hard to believe she has only been home with me for a little over a week. Mama is pretty smitten and so is brother!!!

When I sing to her “Old McDonald had a Farm” I tell her that on his farm he had a Tori…..“with a Mama here and a Mama there, here a Mama, there a Mama, everywhere a Mama Mama”…just teasing her about saying “Mama” all day….she laughs and thinks it is the funniest thing. =)

I think she was done playing dress-up with her Auntie!

Resurfacing....

I was so worried about the dogs and now I just can’t keep Victoria away from them. She has been slowly introduced to them each day, but today she had a big dose and that was still not enough. When she woke this morning, she just started her day saying and looking for the sebaka’s. Tonight when she went to bed I could hear her talking to herself and of course talking about the sebaka’s and Lucky. She says Lucky’s name really well, some trouble with Charm still. She really enjoys them though. I had to put them outside today (a lot of the day), just to give them and myself a break. They are very tolerant to say the least. Especially Charm, he is just the right size for her. She loves for them to kiss her and really it is kind of gross. I am working on getting her to tone down her requests for kisses from them.






Coming home, the plane ride was really just fine. She was not afraid at all, just got a little cranky. I totally understand that because so did I. I still don’t feel caught up on my sleep yet and am ashamed to report, finally did the last of the unpacking tonight.

She adores her brother! I mean adores him! And he adores her just the same! He can’t stand for her to be upset or denied anything….ugh! I have been reminding him a lot today that she needs limits, everything can’t be her way, she is exploring, everything is new, etc….. He is understanding. I am really proud of him and the adoration he shows her.

Wednesday, when we arrived home, it was a very long day for us. Tori had a difficult time that night sleeping, which means we all did. You would think she would have been exhausted and that would have worked in her favor…apparently not. Also, Thursday night she fell asleep, but woke in the middle of the night and was up for about 2 hours…..ugh! I told Dylan the only thing I was interested in for Mother’s Day was a good nights sleep. Last night I did get that. It went really well and tonight (so far) even better, she is tired and snoring away. Yep, she has a little snore going on! Also, she bites her nails…hmmmmm…