I hope to have time to add some pictures from Saturday's birthday party soon. In the meantime, here is Blake's rendition of Happy Birthday.
He is singing "Happy birthday to me" "Happy birthday to me" Unfortunetly that phrase contains some of the letter sounds we are still working on, but I still think it is stinkin' cute.
Happy 4th birthday dear Blake!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Stirring Feelings
I am taking a break from preparing for Blake’s birthday party to get out something that has been on my heart all of September. On the 30th Blake will turn four years old. The age of four is when children are moved from the baby home to orphanages. The orphanages then are where they stay until they are forced to leave at the age of 14-16. I know that there are horror stories out there about orphanages, and I know that there are stories of well ran orphanages, but I have just been thinking about the what if’s….. I cannot even fathom the idea of our little Blake going to live with teenagers. The children lose their innocence so fast and experience things that no four year old should ever experience. My stomach just hurts thinking about it. What if we hadn’t listened to our hearts? What if we listened to the people who suggested international adoption wasn’t for us? What if God wouldn’t have kept redirecting us every single time we tried to turn away? I am so very thankful that Blake did not have to make that transition from the baby home to an orphanage. Instead he transitioned from the baby home into the hearts of Justin and I and all of our family. For this I am grateful. I have been haunted for days with pictures of some of the other children. There is the little girl that I wrote about while we were in Russia. When she looked into my eyes it was as if she we trying to tell me her entire life story with the sorrow in those eyes. There was a little red head girl who came up to Justin and I both just wanting attention. There was the little girl whose hair was recently shaved and the little boy whose little tights kept falling down because the elastic was worn out. I could go on and on. Of course we knew we would be changed forever once we went down this path, but sometimes the burden one feels can be unbearable. I will continue to pray for those children. I pray that they too will find the love that all children deserve to experience.
Here is a picture of Blake saying goodbye to his little group mate (the one I was really drawn to).
Here is a picture of Blake saying goodbye to his little group mate (the one I was really drawn to).
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Week Recap
The past week was very busy for us. Being gone for the weekend seemed to put us behind for the week, but we really enjoyed going to Chicago to see our dear friends. The Mystery Machine made the round trip just fine. I must say I was thankful that we didn’t drive my Acadia. The pizza, cake, ice cream, bounce house, heat, etc… from the Peraino’s party didn’t settle well with Madison, and she got sick all over the Mystery Machine. Bridget and Jordan were fantastic hosts. We ended up doing 2 loads of laundry before coming home!
Monday was exciting for us. After school, Blake was playing with Brady’s handheld video game. He came over to me pointing to it and said, “Like Blake.” I asked him, “What do you mean like Blake.” He moved his finger and I could see that he was pointing to the B button. So I took him over to the refrigerator where we have alphabet magnets and said, “Show me what you mean like Blake”. He found the letter B. I was impressed and excited so I went for the closest paper on the counter and had him find another and he did. We have worked so much on his verbal language it is great to see how much growth he is showing in other areas now that he is in school.
Another Monday story… I have started a 5:40 a.m. work out class at the YMCA. I am not a fan of early mornings, but I have been struggling with 10 extra pounds I managed to put on while being in Russia and need to do something about it. With all of the kids in activities after school and being ridiculously busy I have to get my workout in first thing. So about ¾ of the way through the class I see something flopping behind me in the mirror. I couldn’t remember those pants having a pocket like that the week before when I wore them. Then it dawned on me that my pants were on wrong side out. The seams were showing in all their glory and the tags and pockets were flapping freely. A true sign that 5:00 a.m. is too early for me!
Thursday was our visit with the social worker for our 6 month post placement report. We have officially been a family of 5 for 5 months. Blake has been in the US for a little over 4 months. The report has to be in Russia at the 6 month mark. People have asked me what happens if we don’t do the report – if there are any ties or ‘power’ the Russian government has over us. Nothing would happen to us specifically if we did not do these reports (6 month, 1 year, 2 year, and 3 year). Our home study and adopting agency would probably drive us nuts with reminders and calls and such but there is nothing specifically the Russian government can do to us. However, those of you that have been with us through our journey will remember the scare of the black list. That is when the Russian government published a list of agencies they were not going to accept paperwork from since they had not followed up with post adoption reports. This is horrible for people going through the adoption process. I won’t lie to you. I already dislike any post adoption paper work and the visits. I really enjoy seeing Carole, our social worker, and taking time to catch up with her. I don’t feel that we are being judged or put under a microscope or anything, but I already feel that our life has moved on. We will comply with the requirements though. We feel strongly that the governments put enough obstacles in the way for these precious children coming home to waiting families, and we won’t play into their hands by not complying. Plus we are proud to report how much Blake is flourishing and welcome the opportunity to share our photos so they can see the smile in his eyes and how much love we all share.
Friday and Saturday night Madison participated in dance clinics with our high school team and the WIU Leathernecks. She performed at halftime of both games. She loves to perform and we love to watch her. Brady is taking a stroke (swimming) clinic. He is pretty sure he wants to be on the swim team this year. Next weekend we are having Blake’s birthday party. We are excited!
I hope this week to find time to blog a couple more times. I want to share some photos that our friend Mary Efflandt took of us, and I want to share with you something that has really been bothering me since the month of September began. But for now I need to go get things done. Before I go, I want to congratulate the Duda family. They have had a long wait getting word of their court date in Vladivostock. They found out last week that they will be leaving on October 3rd (Brady’s Birthday) and will have court on October 9th (Madison’s birthday). Also the Curran's will be heading to Vlad on October 3rd! We hope their journey goes smoothly and those days are as much of a blessing to them as they are to our family!
Here is Blake at Nicholas' birthday party.
Here are Brady and Paul Peraino racing through the bouncey thing. Look at that grin on his face!
And here is Madison at the MHS Bomber and WIU Leatherneck football games.
Monday was exciting for us. After school, Blake was playing with Brady’s handheld video game. He came over to me pointing to it and said, “Like Blake.” I asked him, “What do you mean like Blake.” He moved his finger and I could see that he was pointing to the B button. So I took him over to the refrigerator where we have alphabet magnets and said, “Show me what you mean like Blake”. He found the letter B. I was impressed and excited so I went for the closest paper on the counter and had him find another and he did. We have worked so much on his verbal language it is great to see how much growth he is showing in other areas now that he is in school.
Another Monday story… I have started a 5:40 a.m. work out class at the YMCA. I am not a fan of early mornings, but I have been struggling with 10 extra pounds I managed to put on while being in Russia and need to do something about it. With all of the kids in activities after school and being ridiculously busy I have to get my workout in first thing. So about ¾ of the way through the class I see something flopping behind me in the mirror. I couldn’t remember those pants having a pocket like that the week before when I wore them. Then it dawned on me that my pants were on wrong side out. The seams were showing in all their glory and the tags and pockets were flapping freely. A true sign that 5:00 a.m. is too early for me!
Thursday was our visit with the social worker for our 6 month post placement report. We have officially been a family of 5 for 5 months. Blake has been in the US for a little over 4 months. The report has to be in Russia at the 6 month mark. People have asked me what happens if we don’t do the report – if there are any ties or ‘power’ the Russian government has over us. Nothing would happen to us specifically if we did not do these reports (6 month, 1 year, 2 year, and 3 year). Our home study and adopting agency would probably drive us nuts with reminders and calls and such but there is nothing specifically the Russian government can do to us. However, those of you that have been with us through our journey will remember the scare of the black list. That is when the Russian government published a list of agencies they were not going to accept paperwork from since they had not followed up with post adoption reports. This is horrible for people going through the adoption process. I won’t lie to you. I already dislike any post adoption paper work and the visits. I really enjoy seeing Carole, our social worker, and taking time to catch up with her. I don’t feel that we are being judged or put under a microscope or anything, but I already feel that our life has moved on. We will comply with the requirements though. We feel strongly that the governments put enough obstacles in the way for these precious children coming home to waiting families, and we won’t play into their hands by not complying. Plus we are proud to report how much Blake is flourishing and welcome the opportunity to share our photos so they can see the smile in his eyes and how much love we all share.
Friday and Saturday night Madison participated in dance clinics with our high school team and the WIU Leathernecks. She performed at halftime of both games. She loves to perform and we love to watch her. Brady is taking a stroke (swimming) clinic. He is pretty sure he wants to be on the swim team this year. Next weekend we are having Blake’s birthday party. We are excited!
I hope this week to find time to blog a couple more times. I want to share some photos that our friend Mary Efflandt took of us, and I want to share with you something that has really been bothering me since the month of September began. But for now I need to go get things done. Before I go, I want to congratulate the Duda family. They have had a long wait getting word of their court date in Vladivostock. They found out last week that they will be leaving on October 3rd (Brady’s Birthday) and will have court on October 9th (Madison’s birthday). Also the Curran's will be heading to Vlad on October 3rd! We hope their journey goes smoothly and those days are as much of a blessing to them as they are to our family!
Here is Blake at Nicholas' birthday party.
Here are Brady and Paul Peraino racing through the bouncey thing. Look at that grin on his face!
And here is Madison at the MHS Bomber and WIU Leatherneck football games.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Blake’s school experience
Well so far things are going ok with school. Blake sees several busses in the morning and still says, “Me bus” each time. Of course I am the one that told him he was going to get to ride the bus once school started. Ugh! I wish I hadn’t made that mistake. The first day he claimed he did nothing. Several people asked several questions. Did you eat lunch? – “No” Did you look at books? – “No” Did you sit by new friends? “No” Did you take a nap? “No”. Finally I asked, Do you want to go back to school? “Me, school tomorrow.” I figured as long as he wanted to return it wasn’t that bad. Day two was better. This time he claims they did feed him, he did look at books, he did take a nap, and he played. So we shall see how the rest of the week goes.
So some interesting things have crossed my mind as we worked on registration papers for school. One thing is I really want to get the ball moving on getting a US issued birth certificate. The Russian birth certificate is not something I wish to share with the school. I feel it should be Blake’s choice on who knows his Russian name and the name of his birth mother. Then I realized I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure what to put as his place of birth. Sounds funny I know, but really it is complicated. His birth certificate and other documents we have list Artem City as his birthplace. This is correct. However, for reasons I cannot explain (welcome to the world on international adoption) a step in finalizing the adoptions in that region actually registers the birth certificates with Vladivostock. So some of the paperwork list Vladivostock as his place of birth. I think it best to stop procrastinating and figure out what we need to do to get the US birth certificate.
We have a busy weekend planned. We are going up to Chicago to see some great friends. We are excited for each of them to meet Blake and to see their families as well. We hope all is well with each of you!
First day of school photos…
So some interesting things have crossed my mind as we worked on registration papers for school. One thing is I really want to get the ball moving on getting a US issued birth certificate. The Russian birth certificate is not something I wish to share with the school. I feel it should be Blake’s choice on who knows his Russian name and the name of his birth mother. Then I realized I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure what to put as his place of birth. Sounds funny I know, but really it is complicated. His birth certificate and other documents we have list Artem City as his birthplace. This is correct. However, for reasons I cannot explain (welcome to the world on international adoption) a step in finalizing the adoptions in that region actually registers the birth certificates with Vladivostock. So some of the paperwork list Vladivostock as his place of birth. I think it best to stop procrastinating and figure out what we need to do to get the US birth certificate.
We have a busy weekend planned. We are going up to Chicago to see some great friends. We are excited for each of them to meet Blake and to see their families as well. We hope all is well with each of you!
First day of school photos…
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Blake's bubble deflates a bit.
Yesterday was an open house for Blake’s school and he will start on Tuesday. He was so excited about school and about riding a bus. Well it didn’t take long and his poor little bubble of happiness was deflated. As soon as we pulled up to the school he began to get a concerned look on his face. He was polite to his teacher and the other children that came into the room, but he wasn’t his normal happy-go-lucky self. Some may attribute it to nerves, but that is very unusual for Blake. After we left the school we went to my office so he could say hello to everyone there. Blake opted to ride with dad because dad’s truck is so much manlier than mom’s car! Justin was able to get to the heart of what the issue was. Blake was fully expecting his school to be the same as Brady and Madison’s school. He was not happy to see that his two best friends were not going to be at his school. I wish I would have been clarifying that all along, but for some reason it never dawned on me that that was what he was thinking. In hindsight it seems so obvious!
Then I was under the impression that Blake would get to ride a bus from MacArthur School to Lincoln School so that all three children could be picked up at the same time. It is about 5 minutes from point A to point B. Well we learned that he could ride a bus, but he would go from MacArthur and transfer to another bus at the high school and then head over to Lincoln about 30 minutes AFTER Brady and Madison dismiss. To make this 5 minute trek he would be on the bus for about 50 minutes! The school’s dismissal time is about 20-30 minutes before I can get off work. You can imagine my frustration learning all of this the Friday before he starts school. I decided to stop in to the office and talk with the secretary and see if I was mistaken about the bus that went straight from MacArthur to Lincoln. Wellllll there is a bus that goes straight to Lincoln but only children with an IEP (special education students) are eligible to ride. All of the other children have to transfer at the high school. You can imagine how well that news was settling with me. Now keep in mind I am a school district employee that works closely with all of these nice folks so I have to be extra careful to keep my temper in check, be patient, polite, and professional. I WANTED to say that really if I wanted to push the issue Blake would more than qualify for an IEP. He can’t speak English; he will need speech services, etc… I have seen IEPs written for far fewer reasons. There is a big push right now to try to get the number of IEPs down. I have not pushed this issue because Blake will be getting speech services after school at Western Illinois University, and I fully believe that any delays we are seeing now will be made up for in a short amount of time. BUT if I weren’t a district employee and didn’t mind if I created waves, for the bussing issue alone, I would demand an IEP. I believe that things will work out just fine, but you can probably tell that I am still a bit annoyed. How is it that it is ok for any 3 or 4 year old to be on a bus for 50 minutes with junior and senior high students to take a 5 minute bus ride? Especially a child who cannot speak English and articulate if there is anything inappropriate going on. Ugh! (So glad this blog went private. I feel much better just venting a bit here!)
Of course God presented a solution almost immediately. Justin and I left the office, and I was stressing big time about how we were going to make this all work. A sweet lady that attends our church and has a boy in Blake’s class pulled up to us and said that she overheard a bit that we might be having trouble with afterschool arrangements. She said she would be willing to pick Blake up and bring him to me at work or take him to Lincoln or whatever we need. I could have just kissed her! To have a solution right then was a God send. I would have been stressed about the situation all day long. So for now we are going with that plan. Blake won’t be happy when he sees the busses and he isn’t getting on it, but this is best for now. I will still be having a couple of conversations about this situation with ‘the powers that be’. Justin thinks maybe this is better in the long run anyway. We will think about it over the weekend and see.
I wanted to share a picture with you. There is an amazing woman that works in our office as the financial secretary. On Monday she turns 70 something and you would never know it. She served as the notary for our stacks and stacks of adoption papers and always asks about Blake. She has decided to retire in December, and everyone is going to miss her. This is Charlotte Morrow with Blake on Friday, September 5th.
Ohhh my! When I went to get the picture of Blake and Charlotte off the memory card, I found these pictures of Blake and Madison in a pair of my boots. I have no idea what I was doing while this fashion show was happening, but it sure is hilarious!
Then I was under the impression that Blake would get to ride a bus from MacArthur School to Lincoln School so that all three children could be picked up at the same time. It is about 5 minutes from point A to point B. Well we learned that he could ride a bus, but he would go from MacArthur and transfer to another bus at the high school and then head over to Lincoln about 30 minutes AFTER Brady and Madison dismiss. To make this 5 minute trek he would be on the bus for about 50 minutes! The school’s dismissal time is about 20-30 minutes before I can get off work. You can imagine my frustration learning all of this the Friday before he starts school. I decided to stop in to the office and talk with the secretary and see if I was mistaken about the bus that went straight from MacArthur to Lincoln. Wellllll there is a bus that goes straight to Lincoln but only children with an IEP (special education students) are eligible to ride. All of the other children have to transfer at the high school. You can imagine how well that news was settling with me. Now keep in mind I am a school district employee that works closely with all of these nice folks so I have to be extra careful to keep my temper in check, be patient, polite, and professional. I WANTED to say that really if I wanted to push the issue Blake would more than qualify for an IEP. He can’t speak English; he will need speech services, etc… I have seen IEPs written for far fewer reasons. There is a big push right now to try to get the number of IEPs down. I have not pushed this issue because Blake will be getting speech services after school at Western Illinois University, and I fully believe that any delays we are seeing now will be made up for in a short amount of time. BUT if I weren’t a district employee and didn’t mind if I created waves, for the bussing issue alone, I would demand an IEP. I believe that things will work out just fine, but you can probably tell that I am still a bit annoyed. How is it that it is ok for any 3 or 4 year old to be on a bus for 50 minutes with junior and senior high students to take a 5 minute bus ride? Especially a child who cannot speak English and articulate if there is anything inappropriate going on. Ugh! (So glad this blog went private. I feel much better just venting a bit here!)
Of course God presented a solution almost immediately. Justin and I left the office, and I was stressing big time about how we were going to make this all work. A sweet lady that attends our church and has a boy in Blake’s class pulled up to us and said that she overheard a bit that we might be having trouble with afterschool arrangements. She said she would be willing to pick Blake up and bring him to me at work or take him to Lincoln or whatever we need. I could have just kissed her! To have a solution right then was a God send. I would have been stressed about the situation all day long. So for now we are going with that plan. Blake won’t be happy when he sees the busses and he isn’t getting on it, but this is best for now. I will still be having a couple of conversations about this situation with ‘the powers that be’. Justin thinks maybe this is better in the long run anyway. We will think about it over the weekend and see.
I wanted to share a picture with you. There is an amazing woman that works in our office as the financial secretary. On Monday she turns 70 something and you would never know it. She served as the notary for our stacks and stacks of adoption papers and always asks about Blake. She has decided to retire in December, and everyone is going to miss her. This is Charlotte Morrow with Blake on Friday, September 5th.
Ohhh my! When I went to get the picture of Blake and Charlotte off the memory card, I found these pictures of Blake and Madison in a pair of my boots. I have no idea what I was doing while this fashion show was happening, but it sure is hilarious!
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