I Love You Day

2/14/2009 11:01:00 PM Edit This 2 Comments »

Since I spent a good part of my morning listening to Pooh, Manny, Lola, Mickey and the rest of the Disney gang talking about Valentines day I came to realize that yes, most people think of it as a day for lovers but kids see it as a day to make sure to say I love you to the important people in their lives. That is certainly how I am celebrating it this year and it's one of the best Valentines Days I've every had.




Just being able to watch my little Valentine dance and sing whenever the mode struck her was such a pleasure and then to have her grab my hands and say "Dance with me Mommy" was the best invitation to dance I've ever had. She has such a zest for life and wants to share each new discovery with me that I find myself looking for something "new" to show her or teach her or share with her. Last weekend we baked cookies for the first time and what a hoot my little baker girl was! Of course she first had to accessorize her outfit from the apron and oven mitt to the pink hat and pink boots before she could begin. Then she couldn't wait to get her hands on...well everything.




Did I mention she liked licking? Licking the spatula, the spoon and the beaters was of course the highlight of the event. Have no fear though, anything I caught her licking I made sure didn't go back into the dough. Not to say that my back wasn't turned to her now and then but no one who ate them got sick so what more could a Mom ask for?



Of course once the licking was done, I mean the batter was ready I cleaned up so we could scoop the cookies on to the baking sheets which meant that Lexie needed to have a wardrobe change or at least her hats. Her old favorite, the green top hat, was a must for the scooping and counting of the first tray of cookies. I have to say after the first batch went in the oven my little helper was a little too impatient to sit around and wait for the timer to go off. So she went out into her kitchen to bake me some of her cookies. Yummy, they were "alicious!"



Then on Sunday we made Valentines for the family and her friends. I can't tell you how much she loves to paint and draw and create in general. For a child that is not even three yet, she can stay extremely focus on something she enjoys and painting is on the top of her list. So we used markers and stickers and glitter paint and finally paints to create these master pieces of love (all 28 of them.) She took well over an hour to do them and she would have gladly made more if I hadn't run out of construction paper (and room under the cabinets to hang them.)

As you can see she takes it very seriously and really wants to mix the colors and fill the pages and she's even started making shapes or pictures on them. She is so much my daughter in that way as I always enjoyed drawing and painting but I just never find the time anymore. Sharing these projects with her has made me want to get back into it. She and I may be fighting over the finger paints in the near future.



Since her hands were dirty anyway I decided to try to get her hand prints on paper as all my other attempts have failed. I have thrown away 3 different plaster hand print kits so far but this time she thought it was funny that Mommy wanted her to get her hands really messy and let me get several prints before she decided to try finger painting instead of just pushing her hands onto the paper. I'm planning on adding a picture to the top of the paper and framing it. My problem will be in picking just one picture. As you can probably guess I love taking pictures of my sweet pea and she is one photogenic little girl, so we're a match made in heaven.

Our Valentines Day may not have had cupid involved in it but in my opinion it couldn't have been better. So ring the bells and dance around and as Tigger & Pooh & Darby too say "Happy I Love You Day!"


Soooooo Grateful for This Blog!

1/31/2009 10:26:00 PM Edit This 0 Comments »






I have to say that I am grateful for this blog because it's a wonderful way for my family and friends to keep up with what Lexie and I are up to as well as how much she's changing and growing. I'm also grateful that I'll have something to share with Lexie when she's older and wonders when she was potty trained (still isn't so the final date is sometime in the future - hopefully before she goes to the prom) or what her first Halloween costume was or about when we first met in Kazakhstan. But I'm MOST thankful for this blog as a storage tool for my pictures. Unfortunately the computer Geeks and all my computer wizard friends couldn't find the 6 months of pictures my brother-in-law Jim accidentally deleted. He was only trying to help and I was sitting right there next to him when he did it but the end result is ALL my pictures from mid June through the end of Dec are gone. Yes that includes Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, the Fair, dance class and all the wonderful moments in between. My mom and sisters are gathering what they have for me and anything I might have sent on Yahoo is saved in my sent mail box (yahoo Yahoo!) and at least all the great ones that I put on the blog are preserved for all time but all the simple little smiles, multiple costume changes and silly little dances that I caught of Lexie will just have to be fond memories of mine alone. I know there are a lot of true tragedies in the world right now so I'm drying my foolish mommy tears and learning from my mistake. One ALWAYS back up my pictures as I down load them. I have had my little external hard drive sitting right next to my computer since I returned from Kaz (where I always back them up) with the intention of backing them all up but never getting to it. And TWO if I do delete something that I want to save, be it pictures or documents, immediately shut the computer down and take it to my nears computer geeks. I guess when you delete something from your computer you then write over the space you deleted them from. So if it happens to anyone else, don't try to fix it or download software from a website since you will be writing over what you want to save. Either buy the software now before you need it or better yet, shut down your computer and call for a police escort to get it to your closest computer expert without delay. And rest assured that everything will then be okay.


The good news is that Lexie is still as cute as ever and I have had my camera out taking more pictures to try to make up for the lost ones. I do hope to get some Christmas pictures from my sisters and Mom to share with you sometime. Lexie looked so cute in her dress and had such a ball Christmas morning. But until then I'll keep sharing pictures of the ever growing, funny, smart, silly and even more beautiful Miss Lexie Lou!


We made this PRETTY hat for one of our weekend projects. She thinks it's sooooo fabulous that she won't wear it yet. And who can blame her? I'm just glad she hasn't asked me to wear it out of the house. How could I say no to that sweet little face?




And here she is being silly and charming and trying to tell jokes. Just a few of her many tricks that she uses to try to delay me from saying "it's time to go to bed." You would think I was asking her to lay down on a bed of nails the way she resists getting into it.

These hats were given to Lexie by a good friend of mine and when I gave them to Lexie she was so excited she wanted to wear them to bed. When I told her she'd have to take the dark pink one off.....well you can see the results. She was sobbing (not crying but sobbing) so hard that I let her wear them while I changed her into her jammies but she first had to get pictures taken wearing both. I promise you will NOT see her on "Toddlers and Tiaras." This girl just loves hats.


And here's why she could never be a pageant queen (besides the fact that her mother is completely against that nonsense.) This too is a favorite look of hers - a shower cap. Who knew what a big forehead she had under all those bangs?

A Typical Saturday Morning with Lexie Lou

1/17/2009 09:52:00 PM Edit This 2 Comments »
So this is what a typical Saturday morning with little Miss Lexie Lou is like. After she wakes me up with a "WAKE UP MOMMY" yelled very loudly in my face followed by a tickle under my chin or a wet kiss somewhere near my mouth and a 29 lb body thrown across my stomach if I haven't actually gotten out of bed. Then we make our way into the bathroom to go potty on the big girl potty, get a princess sticker for our efforts followed by an "M" (aka M&M) and wash our hands and then our famous "pat pat pat front and back" drying technique of course. Next we are off to feed Kit and Boodle (AKA Kaboodle) which she always gives Kit his food but she fills Kaboodles bowl up so that it is fair. Then we let them go out to do their duty and Lexie's not sure why they can't have princess stickers as well. Finally its a breakfast of champions - oatmeal, fruit & juice.
Now for the fun part. She heads over to the family room which is also her play area where she proceeds to check out ever toy - I guess to make sure they are still there as well as to destroy the room in under 5 minutes while she watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Darby, Pooh & Tigger Too or whoever Disney is pushing this week. They are actually pretty educational and I love that Disney has no commercials on until noon. Yeah Disney. While she's watching the show Lexie is also playing with various toys but most importantly trying on different outfits or looks or characters, I'm not sure which. Here's last Saturdays looks.

First it's the Ladybug wings - a favorite for anytime of the day right now.

Next we add the sweet little pink hat...

But no that's not right. So she goes for her all time favorite, the green top hat. It's getting a little small but no matter, she'll just jam it on. Now there's a look.

After a short while of that she decides it's time to cook so we must put on the yellow apron and then for some reason she decides to stand on her Zebra from Kazakhstan which she still loves to ride or just sit on or in this case stand on while she watches from there. Maybe she can see better? Who knows.












So now she decides to change the whole look. She wants her top changed so she can ware it with her favorite princess dress...purple Cinderella (now if I remember the movie correctly Cinderealla never wears purple but hey who am I to argue with a HAPPY 2 1/2 year old?)



Nope that's not quite right....wait... she needs a hat and she even picks one that matches the dress. I'm so proud! And of course it's the perfect outfit to play doctor in and check everyones heart beats in, right?


No, let's go for a whole new look instead. Something in....yellow that's it! So on goes her Snow White skirt and yellow bunny ears (I swear I just sit back and watch and take pictures of course. I didn't suggest what might go together. This is all her doing, really!)


Now this... I'm just not sure about. Was she trying for the old man pulling his pants up to his armpits look or to make this into a mini dress? I guess I'll never know.


But wait. She remembers the tutu she got from her cousins for Christmas (we are supposed to decorate it with ribbons, bows and jewels but we haven't had time to do it yet) so we have to give it a try as well.

Cute! Mommy likes it and she seems to as well since she wears it to do her puzzle (please note that she is putting the right shape in the right whole) while she watches the show. Oh my little multi-tasker.

Then they do a dance on the show so she does to.



I'm so glad to know that my money isn't being wasted for her tap and ballet classes on Wed mornings. Now she's pretty tired out so she takes that off puts on her other princes tutu skirt over her comfy sweats and lays down for a little break. We've now been up less than 2 hours!

Oh it's a hard life for my little Miss Lexie Lou on a typical Saturday morning!

Reflections on New Year's Eve

12/31/2008 09:00:00 PM Edit This 2 Comments »
I've never been much for New Year's Eve parties. Instead I like to enjoy a safe, quite night at home reflecting on the past year but rarely making resolutions for the next year. After all, why start out the new year KNOWING there is something you should accomplish and more than likely won't. I'd rather just think about the past year and hope for prosperity, good health and happiness for everyone I love and now especially for Lexie. So I'm sending those wishes out to all of you too.
(Mommy & Lexie at Angie's House)

Now for the reflections. Of course they revolve around the amazing little girl I am so proud to call my daughter and am honored to have the raising of. I have hoped and dreamed of having a family for most of my life and I still find it hard to believe I was exactly 2 months shy of my 46th birthday when we landed in the US as a true legal family. I had often wondered why my dreams of meeting the right man and having a family in the more traditional sense never seemed to come to pass and then when I started pursuing adoption several years before this, things didn't work out like I had hope either. Well all I have to do is look into the face of my daughter and I know the answer. God knew my daughter hadn't been born yet so I just had to wait. So much for setting goals or planning the future. God has a plan and you'd better not mess with it or you'll just cause yourself a lot of frustration and heart ache and then still end up where he planned all along. I know without a doubt that Lexie is the child God meant for me to have so I just need to trust that I had to go through a lot more of my life than most woman do to be prepared to be Lexie's mom. I was fortunate to do so much before God gave me Lexie that I feel like she must have a lot of surprises in store for me that the 46 years leading up to her are going to prepare me for. We shall see. Life is never dull around my little fire cracker.
(Lexie at the Baby House on our 5th day together)
So in review, 2007 was The Year of Lexie. The first 5 months were all about the anticipation of traveling for Lexie. Then finally, finally getting on that plane to meet Lexie. Then two months of the challenges of living in Kazakhstan, praying the adoption would be successful and the wonder of getting to know Lexie. Next settling into life WITH Lexie. The adjustments to having her in my daily life plus all the medical testing and issues at first and simply learning how to be a mom to this amazing little girl. And all the firsts....my first birthday as a Mom, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. It all went by so fast it seemed like she'd always been in my life because she was so perfect for it but everything seemed so much better and richer and just plane more fun because I was sharing it with her.
(Lexie Jan 1, 2008 -My Kazakh Beauty smiling with all 4 teeth)
Then on to 2008 The First Full Year of Being Lexie's Mom (see I can still manage to get a first in.) It was really hard because I simply didn't want to work let alone leave her with someone else to enjoy all her new discoveries but I started her in daycare in Jan. It was actually a really good thing for her and I guess for me too. She is such a social little person that she is just so happy interacting with the other kids. There are only 4 or 5 kids from 1-3 years old in her in home daycare so she isn't just one of a big group. She learned a lot from the older kids as well as how to share with the younger ones since she doesn't have to share much of anything at home. She has grown a lot emotionally, socially and developmentally with Kristie and the kids so I know I made the right choice. Some time this year it may be time to move her on to a bigger more structured environment but I'm sure she'll do well where ever she goes.

(first day of dance class Feb)


(last day of dance class June)


The Mommy & Me tap/ballet class we started in Feb was also a wonderful way to enjoy Lexie while she learned to express herself creatively through dance and music. Plus she looked so darn cute in the outfits I just loved taking her there. We both had fun and I was really sorry in Aug when she started classes again that she was put in the regular class without Mommy. She really surprised me yet again with how much she retained from the couple of months that we took the first time and how well she's done on her own. She's still one of the youngest in the class but she just loves Miss Tanya and does just about anything she tells her to do. Of course they are already talking about taking measurements for the costumes for the dance recital in June and I'm hoping the moms in this class won't be as fanatical about everything like they were in '08. I guess I'll put up with it since Lexie seemed to really like preforming last year.
(The Recital - so cute)
In between the first day of dance and the recital we also had her first birthday celebration even though it was her second birthday since I missed her first birthday by 8 days. We went down to Houston for that as well as for her Baptism so she could share that special day with her cousin Blake who was also Baptized at the same time. Being able to share her special moments with the family is really a treat since all my brothers and sisters live way south of Washington state. We even worked in a trip to visit my oldest brother and his family in Mexico. It was wonderful that Lexie finally got to meet cousins Dylyn & Damian as well as Uncle Kyle & Aunt Irma and play with the rest of the family since everyone but Casey made it down. It was great for me too since I got to turn off my cell phone and just relax. I feel it so important for her to spend as much time as possible with the whole family so I've really made the effort to see everyone as often as possible. Of course, now she just doesn't understand why she can't see CoCo or Z-Z or Brook-Brook all the time. She so loves spending time with her cousins that it really makes it hard to get on the plane when I know she'll wake up the next morning and ask for them. This morning she woke up and with a little quiver in her voice said "CoCo and Z-Z too, I lost them!" Poor baby. How do you explain to a 2 year old about distance?

The biggest change for both of us this year was Mom moving down to Houston in Sept. She's lived with me since Dad passed away 3 1/2 years ago. She needed to live on her own which she's never done in 70 years. It's simply too expensive for her to live here so Cypress (a suburb of Houston) seemed like the best choice and her new house is just a few blocks from my sister and her family. So I'm very proud of her and know she'll do just great but we both miss her and Lexie goes into her room almost daily and checks to see if GaGa is back.

The rest of the year went by in a blur. Aug Lexie had tubes put in her ears to help prevent the constant ear infections she'd had plus with the hope of improving her hearing. Which it did. She's become a chatter box ever since and it's just astonishing what she's picked up in such a short time. My birthday then Halloween onto Thanksgiving and Christmas which where spent in Houston helping Angie after her gal bladder surgery in early Dec, all happened faster than I would have liked. It seems like it's hard to savor the moments when they whiz past you but I do my best to enjoy it while I can. I've decided to make a list of what I love best about Lexie right at this moment to help me remember how I was feeling and what she was doing at this time in our lives. Here goes:



What I Love About Lexie

1) That she's mine and I'm her's and she won't let me forget it...like when I pick her up at daycare and she runs to me saying "MY Mommy - MINE!!!"
2) Her big brown eyes!
3) When she eats something she likes and says "alicious!!"
4) When she checks the dogs heart beats with her stethoscope and even when she checks every stuffed animal in her room to delay getting into bed.
5) When she see something small and big and she says "mamma & baby" then she'll pick up the little one and hug it to her cheek.
6) Her "That Girl" flip hair-do.
7) When she says "oh NO" when she drops something or something goes wrong with all the passion and drama of an Oscar winner.
8) When she sees something she likes and says "oh, sooo cuteeee"
9) How brave she is. This child has no fear.

10) When she gives me an unexpected kiss or hug - those are truly the best.
11) How she will dance anywhere and I mean ANYWHERE!
12) How she sweet smells....okay most of the time.
13) When she says "Hi" and waves to everyone. I call her my WalMart greeter!! She'll also shake hands with someone she knows and says "ice to meet you."
14) Her smile. First her beaver smile since she only had her top two front teeth for months. Then the bottom two came in and her smile got even cuter. Now she has a mouth full of pearly whites and she is her most charming when she smiles her big bright smile. And you can't forget her laugh or even better her giggle.
15) When she sings Jingle Bells or Twinkle Winkle Little Star just out of the blue.
16) Going to dance class with her. I miss the Mommy & Me class when I could be in there with her. But now it's fun to watch her interact with the other girls more. It's one of my favorite 45 minutes in the week.
17) How she loves all her cousins and can't wait to see them and then how she will mimic them whatever they are doing!

18) How she can make almost anyone smile. It's fun to be out shopping with her and she gets people to smile or talk to her. She's really charming and loves to flirt.
19) When she says "me do, me do!" or "me too, me too" and "gotcha" and "mama do."
20) Just recently everything is "my favorite." Needless to say Christmas was full of "favorites."
21) She's very polite so I get lots of please, thank you, escuse me and especially "thank you very much."
22) If anyone burbs she will put her hand over their mouth and say "cuse you." It's pretty darn funny when it's Grandma!
23) How when I'm telling her something she doesn't want to hear she'll grab my lips and push them together saying "shhhh, shhhh mama." Luckily she can't hear my laughter with my lips pushed closed but it works pretty well to get me to stop scolding her.
24) How much she loves glasses and people wearing them.
25) How whenever she comes home she runs over to her hat collection and chooses her hat of the day (or hour or minute in some cases.) Pretty soon shoes and gloves maybe a scarf or apron will be added to her outfit but she simply must put on a hat.

26) How she constantly amazes me....a new word, grasping a concept so quickly and using it correctly or sometimes incorrectly, she'll just give a hug or kiss right at the perfect time or how she can count to 13 and identify all the letters (which I think is pretty darn brilliant) or how she's just so darn smart.
27) When she sings along with a show or song on the radio and she'll always sing the last word of the sentence or phrase very loudly often humming the first part.
28) Her sense of humor, she is a really funny girl.
29) When I said something I shouldn't and she repeats it, especially when I don't think she's listening. Nothing like hearing Crap from your two year old in the back seat.
30) When she puts her pointer finger up to her lips and says "hummmmmmmmm - thinking."
31) How happy she makes me. Just simply happy.



I guess I'll stop at 31. That makes one for each day of the month even though I could go on and on. I know it sounds selfish but I'm kind of glad I'm a single parent to her right now since it means I get all her love, hugs & kiss and attention. Of course I also get to make all the decisions, the hard ones and the fun ones and then have to take responsibility for the bad ones but it seems like a fair trade. I'm sure I won't always feel that way but for now it's just great. I know I make her sound like a perfect child and of course she's not. But to me she's pretty close and I also choose not to dwell on the not so cute things that she does, as any two year old will, and simply try to enjoy this wonderful child I've been blessed with.
That seems about right for how my year went and how I hope next year goes as well. Wonderful little moments with Lexie followed by bigger moments. What more could a mom ask for.


Happy New Year to everyone from Lexie and her Mommy.


PS - I'll have to catch up on Christmas and add more pictures later as my brother-in-law was helping me clean up my computer and now I can't get to any of my pictures older than June of 08. We're sure they are still in the hard drive, we just don't know how to get to them. I am trying not to panic since I know he was only trying to help and of course didn't do it on purpose. I love you Jim. So I'm taking my laptop to the computer Geeks and praying for success.
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