LIFE with LEXIE

Of course her cousin Cody is a very special Prince. He even found her glass slipper and placed it on her foot. Naturally it fit!

And here is her littlest cousin Blake. They had a ball together - when they weren't disagreeing over whose ball it was - haha. He's 2 1/2 and we were in his house so it was a little tough for both of them. Overall though they did just great. This was one of their sweet moments together. Thanks Z.

Here is one of the moments she shared with her Gamme.

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They had a end of school block party the day after we arrived so Lexie got to mix it up with all the kids in the neighborhood.

They got the bouncy house out that I gave them years ago and turned it into a water slide.

Those Texans sure know how to put on a little get together. The spread was amazing and well worth the heat and bugs. Did I mention it was REALLY hot and humid and the bugs were bigger than my hand?

So of course we had to do a little swimming in their pool since Lexie thinks she can swim now. For Lexie it was all about the look!!

We brought her puppets which were a huge hit. They were so cute putting on their shows. Of course I videoed each one but I won't bore you with them. But you can take my word for it - they were Tony winners!!

Cody & Mackenzie had great report cards for the year so I got them the latest Wii game. And here they are "sharing" with the little kids. Funny thing is Blake & Lexie don't know this is a game that only 2 can play. Their controllers aren't turned on. What they don't know can't hurt them - right? And you can't tell from this picture but they actually were having fun.

Then we were off to ITZ to celebrate their great school year and Lexie's 4th birthday. Yes the family wanted to celebrate her birthday too and who am I to say no!

For those of you who don't have an ITZ in your town as Mackenzie says it's like a Chuck E Cheese for older kids. They have these indoor rides,

even an indoor mini-roller coaster that Lexie proudly road by herself so Z could ride with Blakie.

Of course they have lots of cool games you can play to win tickets (don't you love Lexie closing one eye for better aim? This is serious business you know!)

This one Z play was a jump roping one. Really fun!

They even have a free section for the younger kids with bouncy houses and a little train and plane and all kinds of things for them to do.

Then Z took the kids for a spin in a big rig. Lexie was shifting gears and Blakie was on the horn.

One of the cooler things was this machine where you can "ride" 6 different roller coasters and the laid back seats move with the show. I had to drag them off after 4 rides.

Of course the evening had to end with them turning in their tickets to get some kind of prize. Whenever we go we've always put all the tickets together and divided it by the number of kids. I am pleased to say we didn't come home with some blow up Dora or even a crown. Lexie had enough to get this lovely parasol. Way better than most of the stuff I've thrown away, I mean, that she's won.

Then we actually had her 4th and final 4th Birthday party - this one being the family party. Going to ITZ was the party and then we had cake and presents the following day. The rule is you are suppose to have a party for every year they are celebrating - right? Someone please tell me if that's not true since her 16th birthday could go on for months! Everyone was more than generous as usual and Lexie was thrilled with everything she got. Thank goodness mom had an extra suitcase I could bring home and will bring it back with me when we return for the birth of the twins - filled with stuff of them.

Blakie was obsessed with the cake. He just keep saying "cake - cake - cake" while Lexie was opening her gifts. The mischievous little guy!

Mom picked up these party favors while we where in Kaz 3 years ago. She had enough foresight to think it would be nice to have something from Kazakhstan to celebrate at Lexie's birthdays. Way to go Mom!

One of the gifts I had suggested was a doctors kit since Lexie is still playing doctor all the time at home. Well Angie & Mom went one step further and got her the full outfit. Needless to say Lexie had to put it on immediately and get to work. Here is Princess Doctor Lexie Lou working on her first patient of the day - Cody Bear. What a trooper!

Sadly the patient needs surgery so Princess Doctor Lexie Lou has suited up and is ready to go in.

So it's official. Lexie has turned 4 and will not have another birthday party.....until next year!

One of the few things I requested we do while in Texas was to head to the beach. Well Wed there was a tornado warning in our area so we waited until Friday when the weather would calm down and Jim-Jim would be home. Galveston beach was still feeling the effects as you can see by the waves. The water was very muddy and there was so much sea weed on the beaches there were bulldozers pushing the piles of sea weed off the beaches. But none of that stopped Lexie from working her outfit!

We decided if you can't beat them then join them so instead of a sand castle we made a mud fort complete with sea weed on top for decoration. Thanks Mackenzie.

Lexie was so covered in mud at one pint she wanted to go rinse off...

but I'm not sure how much good it did rinsing off in that muddy water. And BTW, there was no oil in these water. The spill is further east by Louisiana.

Here was the end results. The waves didn't beat us even if the mud actually won!

So that was our low key visit at Angie & Jim's house in Texas. The last 4 days were spent at my sister Lynn's house in Louisiana just across the lake from New Orleans on her horse farm.We went last year and Lexie got to have her first lesson with Yin-Yin so she was very excited to head back. I never did post the pictures from last year so I'm going to stop now and do a whole horse farm post later. I promises Lynn & Broke you will have your own post. In the mean time here is a little teaser.

Yes she was a princess even on the horse!

I can't end this post without noting that three years ago today the judge of Court #2 in Aktau Kazakhstan gave a "positive decision" to allow me to adopt Alexis Falen Quast. I had to wait another 14 days for the final decision but as anyone who has adopted in Kazakhstan knows, getting through court (and my day in court was anything but a formality as I was told it would be) and getting a positive decision is a big milestone in the whole adoption process. God works in mysterious ways to create families and our family is proof of that. I thank God every day for the beautiful baby girl He gave me to raise.

Then she decided to add another new toy to the mix....the bubble maker.

She was very serious about this when she started making bubble bridges and boats and in general bubble messes!

Earlier in the day I cut my hand. When Lexie saw it she took my hand and said in a very serious voice "Hello, I'm Dr Lexie. Please sit down patient and let me fix your hand. This shot won't hurt a bit. I'm very good you know. I promise." Clearly she's still re-living her time in the ER but at least she thinks the doctor is nice and that a shot won't hurt.

Here's my Dr. Lexie on her last day of school.....pre-school that is!

Interestingly enough today was also our last required post-adoption visit with the social worker. Kazakhstan requires reports from a social worker the first 3 years after adoption then from the parents every year after until they turn 18. And no, they can't take her away or in any way affect her adoption. We are a family forever!! But they have stopped allowing other families to move forward in their adoptions until adoptive families have sent in their reports. So if meeting with the social worker or sending in that annual report will mean one more child will find their family then I am more than happy to do my part. Besides, I'm very proud of my little Kazakh daughter and find it no hardship to brag about her. We actually traveled up to the social worker today who is north of Seattle. We met at a great park so Lexie could play while we talked and she observed how we interacted. Lexie got to play for a couple of hours and I got to share with someone how great Lexie is and she actually wrote it down instead of just rolled their eyes like most people. It was a wonderful way to spend our anniversary. And we took the ferry home which Lexie loved.

She had to explore every part of the boat. Sit in every type of seat.

She saw a guy taking a nap so she told me she HAD to take one too.

Like I said, it's the simple pleasures of life that I am enjoying so much now. Before Lexie I would have probably sat in my car and read or gone up to sit by the window but after a momentary glace outside I would have been on my phone calling clients. Thank you Lexie for helping Mommy see the wonders of this world through new eyes. And you are the best wonder of all!

Happy Born To Me Day Lexie!!

 Mommy loves you with all my heart!

At Montessori they ask parents to make a board with pictures of the child & their family and then write their accomplishments for each year. Since Lexie's first year was rather unusual they read about her first year at the baby house and my going to meet and adopt her. Then they sing this sweet song for every year they have been alive and at the end say what their accomplishment for the year was. Here is for Lexie's second year.

As you know she opened this from her cousins and had to do a show with it on (see earlier post for the dance.)

I gave her this special ballerina doll and she promptly called her Cinderella - don't ask me why. She had a very full day on her really birthday but second birthday celebration.

Saturday she woke up with a cold but we were both determined to open all her presents from Mommy and some of the family. She wanted to be Tinker Bell (one of her gifts from a friend at the party) and away we went.

Something I've been looking for a long time for her was a pink jewelry box with a dancing ballerina and music box like I had as a girl. I found this one on eBay and it was a big hit.

While Grandma was here I also picked her up a heart necklace with her name on it so that was in the "treasure box" as well. She is ALL girl!!

But what I knew would be the biggest hit of the day was the puppets. I found the coolest sets of puppets that aren't available here in the states on - you guessed it - EBay. These are hand puppets with the whole cast of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella even with Gus & Jac!

They are adorable and she couldn't wait to do a show. It came with this blow up "stage" for the Aerial show that was very cute.

Here is her first little show.