LIFE with LEXIE

Yup that's right. I'm counting down to number three - years that is. Lexie will turn three years old this weekend, May 17th. I can't believe it! And of course what was going to be a little something has somehow turned into a Ballerina Dance Birthday Extravaganza. Okay it's not that big but it's certainly going to be bigger than what I had originally planned. I'm not complaining since it's so wonderful to know how many people love Lexie and simply want to share this celebration with us. And of course I'm looking forward to enjoying every minute of it.

I enjoyed making the invitations once I finally found this, so you all have to endure one more SmileBox post. I couldn't find any invitations with just Ballerina's on them because it seems the rage is princesses this year. So I ended up using this scrapbook format for the invitations. Now everyone is invited - just please RSVP!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I just love how each page "builds itself" as it goes along. Okay, invitations done - check. Dance studio reserved and Tanya, the dance teacher, all set to come keep the kids moving and entertained for 2 hours- check. Cake ordered - (thanks Jules) check. Rest of the refreshments - kinda settled on and a few things bought - not really checked. Decorations and gift bags - more or less know what I want and have most of the gift bag stuff but now we have at least 5 more kids coming so back to the stores - not even close to checked. Lexie's outfit - bought a really cute dress but I've been informed by the birthday girl that she will be a ballerina since it's at Ms Tanya's dance class, sooooooo I guess Mommy will be finding a really cute tutu or I'll be dragging the sewing machine out tomorrow night - thought I had it checked but clearly didn't "check" with the right person, namely the birthday girl. So I'm thinking this will be the last anyone hears from me until 5pm on Sunday after taking the ear plugs out, throwing away whatever cake is left over so it's not sitting around the house begging to be eaten and having a chance to re-think how much cake and ice cream a three year old can handle before they totally melt down. I'll let you know what I find out!?!

Make a Smilebox greeting

I put this together for my mom but thought it might be nice to share. I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. And for those of you waiting to become Moms, I can tell you it's worth the wait. I had too many Mother's Days to count that I was grateful for the wonderful Mom I had but really wanted to be called Mom by my own child. So my prayer for you this day is that it will be your last Mother's Day without a child in your life.

Wow...okay. This is my first attempt to post a video on the blog so I'm pretty proud of my non-techie self! Of course, now you may see and hear too much of Lexie! Noooooooooo, you could never see too much of Ms. Lexie Lou!

So this is Lexie in her dance class practicing their recital dance "Elephants on Parade." Can you tell the mirror is to the right of the camera? This is the first time for the girls to practice with their "tails" and as you can see Lexie is much more interested in hers than in doing the dance (she has the red tail if you can't tell which one is her.) It was very smart of Ms Tanya to start with them now so they will not completely fall apart when they have their costumes on. They are not a traditional ballet costume by any means but the girls will look adorable I'm sure as little elephants complete with trunks, big floppy ears and tails. And can you believe how patient the teacher is? I don't know how she does it and she's always so sweet with them. I've posted this on youtube (my first attempt at that as well) at the request of the other moms so that they can learn the dance and help the girls practice at home. I have to say I'm not taking it very seriously but Lexie loves watching herself on the "cumptor" so maybe she's picking up the steps by watching. As long as she has fun I don't care.

Can you find MY cherry blossom among all the flowers? She's wearing her favorite pink camo shirt so it might be hard to spot her.


Lexie and I are fortunate enough to have a cherry tree in our back yard and spring is my favorite time of year partly because of how beautiful this tree is when it blooms. And boy is it blooming right now.


As you can see she got brave enough to just hold on with one hand and blow her pinwheel. She's quit the daredevil these days and she has the scabs & bruises to prove it.


Here she is in profile. She rarely sits still long enough for me to actually plan a shot. Usually I'm just glad she isn't a blur. I guess her sitting in a tree she can't climb down has an advantage.


I love this one too where she's trying to figure out how she can pick a flower without letting go of the branch. She's starting to wonder what she's doing up there.


And by this shot she's decided she wants down. I think sitting still for 3 minutes is her max in the last few months.

Now this is more like it. She very proudly is riding her trike! A few spills and false starts and she was off. It is definitely the toy of the week. Of course the fact that is pink is a plus in her mind. Did I mention she likes pink!!!!!!

It was set up so that the 40+ families could get to know each other for the first hour while enjoying goodies and the playground at the community center. It was great to exchange stories with a few parents about our experiences in Kaz and the children's adjustments once they where home. It was nice not being an oddity when someone asks me about my child. Normally it's someone subtly (or not so subtly) trying to figure out what nationality Lexie is, when I'm asked where she's from. But with this group of families they where just wondering what region she was born and if it was where their child was from. And exchanging baby house and agency information was also great. My only complaint was that the social part was way too short. I really didn't get a chance to meet nearly enough families.

But Lexie jumped right in, big surprise, and met "Big Girl Jane" right away. Soon Lexie was following her around everywhere. Here she is during the group picture with her new best friend Jane (who is 4 1/2) in the blue dress to Lexie's left (picture right) and Meeka (I think was her name) the adorable girl with curly hair pulled up in a ponytail to Lexie's right who just turned 4. Aren't they cute!!! Unfortunately my camera hog daughter decided to be shy and nervous and didn't want to do the group photo. Here she is feeling insecure.

And here she is seconds before they took the group photo running OUT of the picture. So she won't be in the picture they have on their site about the gathering. But as you can see we were there. She just found that one shy moment she has been blessed with and decided to express that.



After the pictures they started the presentation about what their organization does for the orphans of the world. It's simply wonderful and rather pennant. For the full explanation (and if anyone would like to donate to this amazing cause) their website address is http://www.spoonfoundation.org/. In a nutshell their mission is "to improve the health of international orphans and adoptees by providing them with the nutrients they need to grow and thrive." They are working with a number of renowned International Adoption physicians including Dr. Julian Davies from the IA Clinic at the University of Washington where I take Lexie. He was the key speaker for the day and a wealth of information on both the need for these children to receive vitamins to help supplement what they receive at the baby houses as well as the need for adoptees to receive proper nutrition once they come home to the states. Plus the Kazakh moms who were so moved by what they saw while adopting their children in Kazakhstan that they started this foundation where there to explain more about their plans for the growth of the organization and their dreams for the improved health of all children who unfortunately have been sentenced to a childhood growing up in an institution no matter how well meaning the caregivers at the baby & children houses are. So take a minute to go to their site and maybe donate a little something to a cause that is as basic as better nutrients for orphan children.


Okay I'm off my soap box (for now) and on to say that after the presentation we had a chance to enjoy a little more fun on the playground before heading home. Lexie LOVED the old fashions merry-go-round.



The older Kazakh kids on the playground that were also enjoying some last minute playtime before their long ride homes, were very sweet with Lexie and didn't go TOO fast. And it was too fast for Mommy but not for Lexie!Of course we couldn't leave the playground without taking a ride on the swings. And she really liked the big yellow swing.

Sunday morning Lexie decides this is the proper attire for breakfast. Then it's time to get dressed for church and for Lexie that means a dress. She settles on this one even though the green is what she always asks for these day. Once we go outside to get in the car when she sees the sunshine, well I think the pictures speak for themselves.