Gotcha Day.....5 Years :)

Hard to believe that tomorrow will be 5 years since I walked out of the Artem Baby Home with Victoria! Happy Gotcha Day to my little girl. Thank you for always smiling, loving and living life to the fullest!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=uH-RUvpZ1cw




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Normalcy!!!

I am not sure why I forget that change and disruption in our schedules can be so difficult until I am just in the thick of it. We had 6 weeks together of travel, family fun and bonding. I started back to work and Dylan started back to school mid August. Tori started back to school on the 16th and also a new after school care program. Things went well the first week; she enjoyed school and seeing friends again. The weekend came and things have been well, “out of sorts”. She somewhat manifests transitions through a display of anxiety and a need to control her environment. With this, the strong willed child emerges; the child that I forget about when things are in sync and we have a good rhythm going. Yes, the one that tries to grab me by my toenails and rake me slowly over the coals. Time out for her is time out for me right? Let’s just say I had lots of time outs over the weekend and most of Monday evening. Of course I become very introspective, trying to figure out what in the world is going on and trying desperately to relate. Usually, about day three or four of this beat down, I suddenly piece it together and become enlightened about the changes and disruptions that are going on. Not sure why I need that “a-ha” moment every time. One would think I would just get it by now and be better prepared to deal. I suppose I have hopes that the “out of sorts” episodes have passed, that security is well established and no longer an issue. Someday, for sure, I still have great confidence in that. And really every day is a continuum in moving forward and growing, all of us growing.

So here is where the normalcy comes in, actually with the observance of a complete and total meltdown from another child….strange, I know. I was driving Tori to school this morning. At drop off there is such a huge amount of parents all doing the same thing, sending their kids off to school for the day. Cars line up on the street along the side of the school and drop off, no parking, just drop off and your child proceeds to the front gates of the school.

I am reminded that last year for the first four weeks, we could not do this. I walked her to a teacher to hand her off because she would cry, yes for four weeks. It was so frustrating, but what really did not help with that is she would bring the other moms to tears as they stood outside the kindergarten gate seeing their children off. Oh my gosh! Yes it was heart wrenching, I worried most of the day about her. But at times, I have got to be honest, wild expletive’s flew around in my head as I turned and walked away, reminding myself that she will be fine and also being assured by the teacher that shortly after I left her sight she was over it and was just fine. This year, none of that, I drop off, put her backpack on her back, kiss her, say “I love you” and away she goes. Progress, yes, celebrate progress! I am thankful there has been not even the slightest hint of that this year.

When I dropped off Tori today there was a white SUV in front of me in this huge line of cars. I could see some activity going on in the car and the profile of the mom in the side view mirror, sensing it was not such a great morning for those in the car in front of me. The car stops to unload its passenger and I proceed to do the same. Suddenly, the side door of the SUV is opened and a pink backpack is abruptly thrown out of the car and onto the sidewalk. Soon to follow the backpack is a lunch box, also thrown out of the car. Seconds later a little girl appears from the SUV, gathering her items on the sidewalk. The mom is very curtly saying, “Get your stuff and go to class!” And the child, “Mom, I don’t want to go to school! Mom, don’t leave me, I don’t want to go!” The mom pulls away and begins to drive off and the child begins to reluctantly walk to class. Suddenly, the SUV makes a U-turn and pulls over on the other side of the road. Apparently concerned and wants to make sure her child proceeds. I am trying to get Tori out of the car, but also distracting her from the child’s behavior. I sure don’t want her modeling this and being back to square one at drop off. The child is very aware her mom has pulled over and is watching her, so she comes back to where she was left, now just across the street from the SUV and begins the sobbing and pleading again, but with much more ferocity. With this, out the driver side window, the mom begins demanding again that her child get to class. All the while, a very meek looking older man is also observing this. I can tell he is just beside himself and disturbed that the child is so distraught. The SUV again pulls away. The child continues with her sobbing and pleading for her mom to come back and get her, the older man continues to appear very perplexed over this whole thing. At this point Tori is heading down the sidewalk to the front gates of the school and I am getting back in the car. I look in my rearview mirror and see the SUV making another U-turn and heading back to the drop off point, to her pleading, sobbing child. I proceeded to pull into traffic and drive away. I do not know the final outcome. I am sure the little girl finally made it to class, the old man moved on down the road continuing his morning stroll and I hope the mom went home and had a very large glass of wine, even if it was only 8 in the morning. ;) I suspect it may sound twisted that I found a sense of relief and inner calming with this entire episode. I chuckled as I drove away, yes, I chuckled and I went away with the thought that things in our world really are normal, quit normal actually. Every day we continue to grow. Life is good!

Happy Birthday Victoria!♥

The Gift of Life

I didn't give you the gift of life,

But in my heart I know.

The love I feel is deep and real,

As if it had been so.

For us to have each other

Is like a dream come true!

No, I didn't give you

The gift of life,

Life gave me the gift of you.

--- Unknown

Well my baby girl turns 6 today! She has truly been celebrating all month. We spent the 4th of July in Oklahoma visiting family. While there, we had a birthday celebration for Victoria. She also had an official birthday party on the 20th of July. Friends and classmates joined us at Party Kingdom in Chino. It is an indoor inflatable party place. We all had a great time and she really enjoyed the day. Today Tori, Dylan and I are headed to The Rain Forest Café for lunch.


Victoria is now 34 pounds and 40 inches tall. I am pleased with the physical growth she is making, as is her pediatrician. Since her last birthday she has grown another 4 inches and has gained 7 pounds. Since she arrived home in 2009 she has grown 7 inches total and gained a total of 12 pounds. This is great! For her age she is tiny and still below the 3rd percentile, but she really has had significant growth.


Victoria graduated Kindergarten in June. It was a fun day. Dylan and I attended the graduation. The kids did sing a song and received many awards. Victoria received an award for “Most Improved” in learning her site words. After the events at school, we went to one of Tori’s favorite restaurants. This girl never seems to have enough pasta. She loves an Italian place near our house and always orders spaghetti. Let me just say that graduation from Kinder is not what is was 11 years ago when Dylan was promoted. Wow! Families came with bouquets, balloons, stuffed animals and gifts. Um, we didn’t. Dylan headed out quickly to find some flowers, but it was still early and nothing was open. With that, we made the promise that after lunch we would go to Party City and she could pick out balloons. She had a great time doing that, and watching a large bundle being created for her.


She still loves the beach, swimming and just playing in water. She can’t get enough of the dogs, usually as soon as we walk in the door the first thing she wants to do is go outback and see the dogs. They are so loving and patient, it truly amazes me. Several times I have had to rescue, mostly the smaller one, from being tied up with a shoelace or string to something. She just loves animals, any kind will do. We also have a tarantula as a pet and she is pretty fascinated with it.

Two girls are moving in next door and have been over a lot as their parents get ready for the move in. All three girls have a great time together and are really enjoying play time. The girls are 5 and 7, perfect. I was doing yard work the other day and felt like a Pueblo Storyteller. I was sitting, weeding, digging in the dirt and they were all quite comfortable sitting on my knees, resting on my shoulders and really just on me. The big attraction was not me weeding; it was the roly-polys, of course. All three were eager to grab them as soon they were spotted. Poor things, not the girls, the roly-polys. My pleas to be gentle seemed to fall on deaf ears. They came over another time to help decorate some cup cakes, goodness we had frosting and sprinkles everywhere. It was fun though and Victoria has really enjoyed the girls coming to her house to play.


Victoria will be starting 1st grade in August. We had a difficult time with separation for over a month at the beginning of Kindergarten. That was rough. Finally, by the end of the school year; she would get out of the car at the curb, put her backpack on (which ends at her ankles), gave hugs and kisses, and would run up to the school while yelling several times , “Bye Mom, I love you!” Let’s hope we remember that I will always return at the end of the day when 1st grade begins. In a nutshell, life is good!

Adoption Day!!!♥

Two years ago today I became the proud parent of Victoria Irina Rae! I know the ticker above says differently, if you are going through the process or have been through it, I know you get that. For others, after the court ruling it takes an additional 10 days for the decision to actually be final. During those ten days Tori was not able to be with me, she continued to live at the orphanage. Also, the ticker is tracking from the date in which we actually landed in the United States, which was May 6Th.

Her name:
Victoria is my mom's name and my great-grandmother's name.
Irina is her birth name and she was known as Ira (Ear-ah).
Rae was my grandmother's middle name.

It is hard to believe it has been two years. We have been blessed! Love my little girlie!!! ♥

Two years ago, at orphanage.

Upstairs playroom, she loved looking at the large world outside the window. I would often pick her up and walk around to the different windows so she could see.

My beautiful children now! :)

Mommy, You are My Very, Very, Very BEST Friend!!♥

It seems like it has been forever….I know, I know!

It is hard to believe I am coming up on the two year mark of when I was standing before a judge in a Russian courtroom. And of course, a couple of weeks after that landing at LAX, finally bringing my daughter home. Today lots of memories came back to me, for a couple of reasons I suppose. My social worker is due to visit within the next month for Victoria’s post adoption report. Additionally, just today I was contacted by a single female living in San Diego. She contacted through email and received my information from CHI. Of course, she is considering adopting from Russia and her note consisted of many questions about my experience.

I met a wonderful couple in Russia on my second trip. They had a court date the day before mine. In Russia, though you have a judgment of custody, you are not able to actually have custody of your child until 10 days after the court decision. Justin and Heather were adopting Blake. Blake was in the same group as Tori at the orphanage. During the ten day wait we would visit the children during the week. So we had several drives together to the orphanage and also enjoyed playing with our children together. I remember one distinct conversation that we had. I cannot remember if it was on one of our drives to the orphanage or in the lobby area of the Vlad Inn, but the conversation has always lingered in my mind.

The conversation centered on the idea that we, the adoptive parents, could quite possibly be their, the adopted child’s, trauma. Sure, as an adoptive parent you would like to think the life you will offer a child will far exceed that of being raised in an orphanage. BUT you are also taking them from their comfort, their familiarity, their life as they know it. You are removing them from their life because you have a better plan….essentially they really don’t know you or trust you. They don’t know the mental preparation you have gone through. They don’t have that same chance, knowledge or ability to do any sort of mental preparation. Sure the caretakers might refer to you as their Mama when you are due for a visit, but really a young child just can’t comprehend or understand what is going on. They just know you have disrupted what they had, whether it was good or bad.

Thinking back to the beginning, when I first brought Tori home, I do think in some ways I was her trauma. The transition was difficult at times for her and rightly so! Our life began together hanging out in a hotel, having a grand time. Soon we were on a long plane ride heading home, what I know as home, not what she considered home yet. Everything was unfamiliar to her; people, food, language, home, bed, etc….those first days were rough. I remember after getting everything taken care of at the airport, we headed to my dad and Jan’s. I requested Tori have a Happy Meal waiting for her. Yep, I wanted my new American girl to have a Happy Meal. She really had no interest in a meal, mostly was interested in the dog and wanted a big drink of water. I remember walking up to my dad’s house and I put her down on the grass. I was stunned (seems really dumb now to admit that) at her reaction to her feet on the grass. It dawned on me; she had never felt grass on her bare feet before. She was not pleased by the sensation, but also not frightened. She really just did not know what to make of it.

I remember the drive home that night, to our house. She screamed and cried the entire way, all 50 minutes of the drive! The sun had set and it was dark. She was also strapped into a child car seat, something they did not use anytime we were in a car in Russia. She was struggling and trying with all her might to get out of that seat. My poor baby girl! Her brother just kept asking me what was wrong with her, why was she so upset, can't we just let her out of the seat? Everything was new and different, really just about everything. The first few weeks were rough, not all the time of course. Nights were very difficult for her, often crying in the night. All I could do was go in to her room, soothe her, rub her back, kiss her, hug her, do what I could to comfort her….sometimes several times in one night. I often found that while she was crying in the night, she was not even awake. As I write this, in my heart I celebrate the growth we have made. Yes, we….I have grown so much, just as much as Tori. Dylan has grown too, he is an amazing brother! Not only has the growth been huge, but the trust and love that has been established is tremendous. I am totally in love with my daughter! She truly amazes me on a daily basis. When I look at her and think of her personality, words and phrases that come to mind include (Dylan added some words too): strong , persevering, full of life, compassionate, funny, joyful, enthusiastic, fearless, caring, silly, adventurous, loving, eager, comforting….these are just a few…… God has truly blessed me, us!!! Several times a day she tells me and her brother how much she loves us and; “Mommy, you are my very, very, very, best friend!!” Life is grand!

I promise to update again after my post adoption visit….

Happy Birthday Victoria!

My little girl is 5 years old!

I will start with the stats: Victoria is weighing in at 27 lbs and she is 36 inches tall. She has grown! Since this time last year, she has gained 5 lbs and grown 3 inches. Victoria continues to love life and people. She really does find joy in just about everything she encounters. She is curious about everything that crosses her path or comes her way.



We traveled to Oklahoma in March, which was an awesome trip visiting family for Easter. She also had her first trip to the snow in March, which she loved. We have had many visits to the beach. She is unsure of the waves, which I am just fine with. She continues to love her dogs and play with them daily. My son, Dylan, who is now 16 has an amazing bond with Tori. He truly is her protector and at times I marvel at the patience he has with her. I am blessed with two amazing children.






Victoria has done unbelievably well with acquiring the language. She knows several sight words, all her letters, sounds, colors, shapes, writes her name, along with letters and numbers. She is beginning to spell words. She sings and chatters nonstop. Her intellectual growth has been amazing. She is truly a sponge when it comes to learning, as most young children are. I share this mainly because the child I met in the orphanage and the child I have home with me now are completely different. She was quiet, subdued, trembled when she tried to manipulate things, seemed so frail, I suppose I will also add medicated, which I am sure caused some of this behavior. Now, she is thriving, full of life, free spirited, strong willed, compassionate, affectionate, and continues to bring me joy and amaze me daily!


Minor hiccup......Victoria started Kindergarten the beginning of July. She has struggled with the separation in the morning from me. I work full time, so being away from me during the day is not new. I realize there is a lot a newness in the whole Kindergarten experience and that has caused alarm for her. It has been a rough transition for her and has really put things into check for me. I say this because at times I feel the bonding and trust that has grown between us has been exceptional, and I do believe it has been. With this rough transition, I am reminded once again of her past and the importance of me to continually step back, look at things through her eyes, from her perspective, taking her first 3 1/2 years of her life (which I don't know much about, but what I do know is heart-wrenching) into consideration, and internalizing that her past is what she bases some of her thoughts, fears, and insecurities off of. Reality check for this mom, and admittedly knowing I need to check into that reality more often! Every day is a new day and we continue to work through this together and make progress.




Family is coming into town in August. I am sure we will have an action packed week while they are here. We are also heading back to Oklahoma in October for my nieces wedding. Tori will be the flower girl. Again, it will be more fun times and new explorations ahead. I plan to get her in swimming lessons in August, though she is already doing an amazing job with it. She loves the water; swimming, bath, hose, sprinklers, water parks, etc. She will have no trouble with formal lessons. Just Victoria, Dylan and myself will celebrate her birthday on the actual day (July 29th). We will have a family celebration when family comes. All is well in our home and we continue to enjoy life as a family. In a nutshell, life is good!

We Are The Truth!

We Are The Truth
Today is Adoption Blogger Day-part of the Joint Council of International Children's Services Call to Action- We are the Truth. Here is my story...

One year ago, on April 17th 2009, Victoria Irina Rae Elbe became a member of my family. The judge ruled in my favor to adopt this beautiful little girl. I met Victoria in Sept. 2008. I had to wait 6 month to return to court because her birth mother never filed appropriate paper work for her citizenship in Russia. Prior to meeting Victoria, I had been given photos and medical information. Her eyes in her photos are what initially captured my attention and my heart. I was drawn to her.
I accepted the invitation to travel and meet her. I was ready to go in three weeks time. I met her and I was, in all honesty, scared. What if I could not meet her needs? Those thoughts just kept going over and over in my mind. Additionally, I criticized myself about being a single parent, and am I being fair to her…..maybe there was a couple that would be a better placement for her. As the week went on, I fell in love with her and knew that I wanted to give her all of my heart and offer her a chance at a life outside of growing up in an orphanage. When the children turn 4 in Russia their placement changes and their chances of being adopted diminishes. Four for her was not that far off.

While in Russia, I learned that a family had come to meet her and considered adopting her, but declined due to her health issues. On my second trip, I did find out it was more than just one family, actually there were a few that declined embracing her and bringing her into their families. Victoria had not had much stability as it was. She was with her birth mother until she was two. At that time she was removed from the home and placed in a hospital for 5 month. Yes, 5 months, due to severe neglect. She had all kinds of things going on. Furthermore, the day she was removed, she was wrapped in plastic and handled with gloves because of the filth and parasite infestations on her body. She had some other serious health issues going on and was gravely ill. After leaving the hospital, she was in the baby home for a year and then I met her. Just after I met her, actually the day I left, she was again placed in a sanatorium (health facility) to assist with her health issues. I am not kidding, if you met this child today you would ask yourself, “What health issues?” Home, here with me, she is a completely different little girl than the one I met in Russia. She was shy, timid, and quiet. She is now full of life, affectionate, carefree, and strong willed (which I have decided was what gave her the ability to survive). I love my daughter, she is my own. She is my family.

There is much talk, concern, and controversy about the psychological problems institutionalized children face; head banging, rocking, self soothing, food hoarding, etc…… along with adjustment and attachment problems. I have experienced some problems that could very well be related to the fact that she was institutionalized; sleeping, adjustment issues, food hoarding (terribly in the beginning), defiance, testing boundaries, etc….some of these we still work on, on a daily basis. Of course some are normal 4 year old behaviors.

I know that my love for her must be unyielding, the same as any other parent with a child. I can honestly say that Victoria is a very happy, loving, affectionate little girl. She loves life! We love her tremendously. My family and I all feel truly blessed to have her here, home, where she belongs. She really is amazing!

Happy New Year!

Have I been bad about blogging, or what? Life is good! It is so hard to believe Tori has been home for almost 8 months now. So much has happened since my last post. I will just give brief updates.....

Tori loved "trick-or-treating". It did not take long for her to figure out there would be candy given at each door. I had to remind her as she approached the door to not just walk into the house like it was her home!

She finally had surgery on both of her eyes the beginning of November. We just had a follow up appointment a few days ago and both eyes are aligned and look great. She told us for almost a week about how the doctor made her go goodnight and made ouies in her eyes. Though he made ouies, she loves that man. Even when we went for her most recent check up, she very loudly yelled, "Bye, I love you!" and of course blew him kisses as we were leaving the office.

We had our six month post adoption visit from our social worker. I really like him. He is so laid back and always makes me feel at ease. His report was glowing and I was proud to send it off to Russia. He commented on how well Tori has adjusted and on how outgoing her personality is.

Thanksgiving was very fun for Tori. We spent it with Grandpa and Grandma Jones. It was the first time family on their side had met Tori. She is not one to give others an option about interacting with her. She is usually open to interacting and playing with just about everyone she comes in contact with.

The holiday season has been fun, to say the least. She really did not understand Christmas presents and such until Christmas Eve. She opened a gift she really liked that night, a laptop. I knew this would be great for her because she is always trying to use mine. It did not occur to me that she would not understand the gifts were for her to keep. She kept telling me she wanted to take it home, I mean telling me repeatedly! I continued to remind her that it was hers and we would take it home. A couple of times she came over to me holding her laptop and saying that she wanted to go home now! She was very concerned! After more presents the next morning and afternoon, she quickly realized that it was okay to attach to a few other gifts. It really was a very fun time for all.

I am finishing up a 6 week break from work and have enjoyed spending time with my beautiful children during this holiday season. I am off again all of April, in time for Easter and hopefully a trip to Oklahoma to visit family. I pray you all have a wonderful year and 2010 is awesome for you and your families.

I think I have finally conquered obtaining a social security number for her after 3 visits to the office. I am expecting it any day now, really need it for taxes! If any of you have adopted your child again when you returned from Russia and have info about how to do that, please let me know. I do feel at this point it might be the best option for me, considering the issues I have had just getting her a ss#.

It has been nice to log on here and see updates from my friends that I have encountered along the way, great to see pictures on families and wonderful updates of lifetime memories. Those of you still waiting, I am thinking and praying for you. I know it is hard. I was reading a friends post that ironically lives about a mile from me, and whose older daughter attends the same school that I teach at. We connected here and found out we are practically neighbors! They have had their first trip and are having a tough wait for the court return. I am familiar with the wait. I had to wait six months before I could hold Tori again and finally bring her home. It does make the holidays tough, which I really just plowed through last year. Hang in there Shelly! All of the sudden you will get the call, you are in my thoughts friend! Love and best wishes to you all!

San Manuel Indian Pow Wow

First pony ride

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Boat ride to see Christmas lights.

Christmas Eve

Preschool

I have enjoyed the month off of work with my two beautiful children. I teach on a year round schedule, so every three months I have a month off. No big summer break, but I really do like my schedule like this. I will be going back to work tomorrow for meetings and prep., starting with students returning on Monday. My next chunk of time off will begin the week of Thanksgiving and I will return to work after the New Year, 6 weeks because of the holidays…NICE =)

Dylan went to Oklahoma for 12 days this past month to visit family. He really had such a great time and came home exhausted. I know this for sure because when he is over-tired he walks, talks, and does very strange things in his sleep! This month took the award of weirdness so far in his life. He had a really bad dream and decided to take on his furniture while sleeping. Furniture won, he ended up with a black eye! We spent some time the next day researching bad dreams, mostly because he needed some reassurance that he is not psychotic. Sometimes these dreams happen and we really are unsure why. He does feel there might be a relation to some of the things recently in the news that occurred her in CA. Happy to report we have all been sleeping fairly well since.

Tori is done with Dr. appointments for a while, I hope! She does have a follow up eye appointment in a two weeks. I guess I should say at least a huge bulk of Dr. appointments are done with. I attended an IEP for Tori yesterday through the school district. It went really well. I had gone to the school district shortly after arriving home, requesting a speech and language assessment for her. Her medical information from Russia indicated she was speech delayed. I felt I wanted to tackle this right away and not wait for her to begin school. I gave the district some information on Tori’s background and the decision was made to do a full assessment on her; which includes speech, language, cognitive, health, etc…..They came to my home to do the assessment and hired someone that speaks Russian to assist. In a nutshell, she has no qualifying conditions for Special Education services. The conclusion, she is doing really well and has learned so much for just being her a short time. I agree wholeheartedly. After reviewing the paperwork I had given them from Russian doctors, they were not sure what to expect when they arrived at my home. Upon leaving my home and at the IEP, they were very complementary about what an amazing little girl she is and as to how well she is doing! She really is pretty amazing!!!! =)

Along those same lines, Tori has started preschool. This is her second week of attending. I was fortunate to find a lady about a mile from my home that runs a preschool out of her home in the mornings and offers daycare as well. For now, Tori has just been attending a few hours in the morning to get her used to it. Starting Monday, while I am at work, she will be going all day. She is really enjoying it and continues to learn so much!!!! =)

Ready for her first day of preschool!

All the fun stuff Tori made the first week of preschool, learning about the farm!

Dylan and Tori, Oklahoma style!

Tori, unsure about this stuff on the chip.

BUSY BUSY!!!!

All is well! We have just been BUSY! Tori has been home for 2 and a half months now and continues to learn and grow in every way....well almost. I weighed her yesterday and much to my dismay she weighs the same as see did with her first Dr. visit....a whopping 22 pounds! I do wish she would have gained some weight by now. I am feeding her, I promise =)

I have to admit, she is very active, so I am trying not to be very concerned about the weight. She goes all day long. No naps, but does sleep about 12 hours each night.

My mom is a member of a Red Hat group. Those wonderful women had an amazing "Princess Party" for Tori! It was absolute fun! I have never met some of these women, they just wanted to celebrate Tori's homecoming. Tori enjoyed tearing through all her gifts and showed her appreciation through her verbal gestures!!! The ladies absolutely enjoyed her!!! We all had a great time!

We have been to a BBQ and the beach. She is a fish! She loved the pool at the BBQ. She would go under water and just laugh while under with her eyes wide open. There really was no chance of keeping her out of the water. She really loved the waves at the beach too and it was awesome to watch her having so much fun.

Before I left for my second trip, I was participating in a cardio boot camp in the mornings, sometimes 5-6am and sometimes 6-7am depending on the month. Shortly after I came home, I thought it was going to be difficult to get back into a work-out at that time of the morning. Dylan had been begging me for a while now to get him a gym membership....so yes, much to his pleasure that is what we did and it has worked out really well. Dylan and I will work out for about an hour or so and Tori will go to the Kids Klub for an hour. It did take a few visits for her to get comfortable and understand that we won't be away from her for long. Now she enjoys going most of the time. When we start getting ready to go she recognizes our change of cloths and says, "Go play!" When I drop her off she says, "See you in a little bit!" and, "I love you!" at least 4 or 5 times before we depart from each other.

Lots of Dr. appts. going on here, lots! So far I have a very healthy little girl, tiny, but healthy. We have another cardio appt. this week for an ultra-sound. On my first trip to Russia I was told Tori had a murmur. The second trip I was told she had another abnormality besides the murmur. The Dr. visit for the embassy stuff, I was even told she would need surgery in a couple of years. Not the same findings here at all, interesting....possibly a slight murmur and that is it. We will know more this week, after the ultra-sound. Tori does have a chest deformity due to rickets. Her Dr. feels that because her chest cavity has a different shape, the heart beat would have a different sound. Suggesting that possibly Dr.'s in Russia thought there were some issues because the beat sounded abnormal due to the shape of her chest cavity. All blood work came back just fine. She did get two shots, no big deal. I suppose I thought the list would be long medically. I am happy to report all is well. She has an ophthalmology appt. the end of the month. She also has a home assessment from the school district at the end of the month. I do hope to get her qualified for a preschool program offered through the district.

She is not comfortable getting in a car besides mine, I am fine with that and it is just something we will work on so she can feel safe. She honestly just continues to really enjoy life. Still singing and talking all the time. Babbles still at times, but also lots of English going on. She loves to say, "I love you" and "kisses" to both me and her brother. We love her so much too!!! Her birthday is the end of the month. We are looking forward to that and also, I will have all of August off to play with my kids all day long. =)

At Princess Party.

Swimming to our friend Michelle.

Sliding into pool.

At the beach.

Tori and her friend Bryan in a towel fort.

By the bonfire with Michelle.