Our Little Russian Peanut

On Christmas Eve, we headed to my dad and step-mom’s for a smorgasbord of food.  We all made something to share and then pigged out.  Pigged out so much that we took bets on which guy would fall asleep first and snore first.  I’m proud to tell you that my family took the trophy home in both categories.  Alex was asleep first and Keith snored first. :-)      

The winners (and the faker)!

 

Like last year, Santa paid Andrew a visit.  Blitzen (Andrew’s favorite reindeer) snuck away from Santa and whispered down the chimney to Andrew until he heard Santa coming.  I have video, but need to upload and edit it.  Andrew was in a state of shock this year – just couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t see Santa but could hear him.  It was so, so funny!  It was another winner thanks to my dad’s creativity!

After the kids opened presents, we came on home to set out our milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  Andrew was so darn tired from all of the excitement that it was a struggle to do those two things.  We put him in our bed and then Keith and I headed to the living room to wrap and put toys together.  We didn’t have a single thing wrapped and had a kitchen to put together so we thought we were in for a long night.  Imagine my surprise when we were done by 12:15!

On Christmas morning, everyone slept and slept.  Of the 3 of us, I woke up first and when I realized it was 8:45, I was stunned!  I couldn’t believe everyone was still sleeping!  I tried to lay there patiently but by 9:00 I was whispering “Merry Christmas” to Andrew and tried to ease him awake.  By the time we got out of bed, Alex was pacing.  The first thing he said was “I CANNOT believe you guys are just getting up.  I’ve been up for 2 hours. Andrew is just not cut out for this Christmas thing.”  :-)  I still crack up when I think of the almost 18 year old dying for everyone to get up on Christmas morning. :-)

We opened gifts, Callie chased balled up paper and hid beneath the wrapping and then I made a big breakfast.  I had high hopes of taking a nap (and even posted that I was going to take one) but Andrew had other ideas.  He laid in his bed for a whole 30 mins (just long enough for me to fall asleep) before he was ready to play with his toys again.  Keith was exhausted, so I let him sleep and I hung out with Andrew.

       

All in all, it was a good Christmas.  It came way too fast and I definitely wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked.  I’m bound to get this Christmas thing down pat by the time Andrew turns 18. :-)  I took the Christmas tree down today and happily de-cluttered my living room.  Andrew’s toys are still taking over the living room but that is to be expected!

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and we’ll be heading to a friend’s house for the night.  I’m excited for the New Year and really hope it’s a good one!  It’ll be a big year for us… Alex going to college, Andrew going to Kindergarten and maybe (hopefully) the start of another adoption.  I’m talking Keith into the ground about it to mentally prepare him.  Worst case, I’ll just get him to sign a bunch of papers but not tell him that it’s our dossier.  Getting fingerprints might be a bit more tricky! :-)  (Totally kidding, of course!)

Happy New Year!  I hope the start of the New Year is wonderful for all of you!

Becky

Happy Birthday to Alex who turned 18 today!! He's spending his 18th birthday in Costa Rica with his mom's side of the family and is having an awesome time! We miss you Alex!



Next up... Christmas pics!
Hugs!
Becky

"Do you know my list?" is a question we answer many, many times a day. Every time Andrew goes into a room by himself, the bathroom, bed or even runs into the kitchen for one quick second, we have to answer the question.

So what is this list?? It's a list of who he's afraid of. As long as we know his list then those bad guys (and girl) won't bother him. I'm so grateful for the list and being able to just answer "Yes" because otherwise Keith and I would be full-time ghost busters. On our list is Bobugah (he came home from Russia with Andrew, but Keith has since sent him back and told him he had to stay there), the Big Bad Wolf (who he saw in a parade at Disney), ghosts (all ghosts - we don't discriminate), the witch (from Dora the Explorer), the ogre (from the Little Einsteins), Swiper (from Dora) and Big Jet (from The Little Einsteins). It's been a while since we've added any offenders which is a good thing because I'm not sure I'll be able to remember anyone else.

It's too cute to hear Andrew's little voice at the top of the stairs saying "Do you remember my list?". It's definitely become part of the bedtime ritual.

As a little side story, we decided to have family night on Saturday night. We usually watch a movie and eat popcorn but Andrew wanted to switch it up a bit and have ice cream. I went to the store and got everything needed to make a yummy sundae, we came home, put on our jammies and started making our sundaes. I made Andrew's and then asked Keith what he wanted. Andrew leaned over, put his hand on mine and said "Mommy? You're not just an orderer. You're part of the family too." Good to know that at least one person knows I'm not just a short order chef! :-)

Andrew is at such a fun age right now. He's so witty, expressive and entertaining. Keith and I have noticed an explosion is his sentence structure and the ability to put many big words together. He asks a ton of questions and not just the typical "why" like kids go through, but real questions. It's fun to try to explain things to him.

In teenage land, Alex is off on a family vacation with his mom's family. This year they are cruising through Costa Rica and the Panama Canal. He did get his letter from Vandy and, unfortunately, he didn't get in. He totally took it in stride and after getting the scholarship from Auburn I think he was starting to second guess his decision to apply binding to Vanderbilt. We are still awaiting Clemson's decision which we won't have until mid-February. In the meantime, Alex is going to reserve his spot in Auburn's Honors College. It's not binding, but if you don't reserve your spot by January 29, you will be placed on the waiting list. Just because you accept the Honors College invite doesn't mean you've officially accepted the offer from the school. Confusing, I know.

In other news, Alex turns 18 on Thursday. 18. Can you believe it? Makes me feel old and I didn't even birth the child! I fear we're going to have many "But I'm an adult now..." battles in this house and I'll be repeating something I heard my mother say very frequently... "As long as you live under my roof.....". :-) Only 8 months left with 4 of us in this house. I know it's going to totally fly bye.

Well, time to sign-off. I'm off from work for the next 6 days. On the schedule - the Alvin and the Chipmunk movie, clean my bedroom from head to toe, finish all laundry and take every single pair of pants I own to the tailor to get hemmed, lining fixed, etc.... Oh, and to make my first standing rib roast. And maybe even stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year. Or maybe not.

Hugs!
Becky

... like a little chef eating Fun Dip for breakfast! :-)


More pictures later... right now it's NAPTIME!! WOOHOOO! :-)

Hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas!
Becky

As with any four year old, Andrew struggles with sharing. He wants what everyone else has and anyone that wants what he has, well... tough luck! Imagine my surprise when he shared his cold with Keith and I, oh so willingly! It is now 3 days before Christmas and we're all on antibiotics. Andrew is on the mend and Keith and I are limping through each day. Both of us have sinus headaches/infections, Keith barely has a voice (now, I didn't say everything about our colds was a bad thing, hehehe...) and of course we have scratchy throats to boot.

Getting sick really happened at a bad time. You see, I'm your stereotypical holiday procrastinator. I pretend to plan my shopping far out in advance, have lists and things circled in flyers and plan on being done 2 weeks before Christmas. In reality, I was out until 10:00 tonight buying stocking stuffers and last minute gifts. Same on Saturday night. Instead of shopping, I should be in bed, right?? Yea, right! I dread sleeping with a sinus infection. Inevitably, I wind up unable to breathe out of one side of my nose and then I become obsessive compulsive trying to lay the right way to make it drain. And what happens? The other side gets stopped up. I become bound and determined to win and instead wind up tossing and turning until my body finally beats me at my own game. Of course, 5 minutes after I give in Keith snores super loud and I wake up. Can't win for losing!

So, back to Christmas... Everything has been purchased (I think) and nothing has been wrapped or put together. Teenagers are virtually impossible to shop for. All they want are gift cards or games or movies. All of these things add up very, very quickly and it winds up looking like they have next to nothing. Now, of course, I know it's not about the quantity but, as parents, there is a certain amount of making sure everything is equal amongst our kids, right? Well, for every 5 of Andrew's gifts, Alex will have 1. Maybe.

Speaking of procrastination, we decorated the tree two weeks later than I had planned (and it took us 3 days to do because of light issues and the need for non-breakable ornaments thanks to the crazy cat) and we still have yet to put up outside lights. At this stage in the game, there will be no outside lights. Keith has had quite a rough month with his business (some good, some bad) and there just wound up not being enough time in the day. It was more important to me that he rest and relax during his downtime then become Gumby trying to hang lights from the porch roof. Due to mandatory rest time, Andrew now knows to cheer "Let's go Dolphins, Let's go!" whenever football is on.

I mentioned in my last post that we have a new Christmas tradition in our house now that Andrew is home (and if I told you this last year, sorry - I can't remember what I did 5 minutes ago much less a year ago!). When we were in Russia, we bought 15 Russian Christmas ornaments. Since Andrew was just about 3 when we brought him home, we planned on giving him one ornament each Christmas to hang on the tree. Once he's an adult, he'll have his own set of ornaments to take with him to his new home. (I actually bought 18 so he'll have 1 for each year of his childhood.)

This year, I took some pictures of my favorite ornaments on our tree. I was playing with Av vs. Tv mode on my camera and the pictures wound up coming out good! I also played in Photoshop and created a quick collage of a few of them.

Alex and Lindsey hanging Christmas lights (Day 1!)

Andrew decorating the tree (with his shirt on inside out - yes, he dressed himself)

Concentrating....

A few of my favorite things... An ornament from Paris (I've recently started collecting ornaments when we travel), a photo ornament with our wedding picture in it, a cute little snowman with Alex's name on it.

Ever since my mom passed away, I make it a point of visiting the Hospice table at the mall and make a donation. The butterfly ornaments always go on the very, very top of the tree right next to the star.

Can you believe how much our boy has grown?? Here he is in 2008 and 2009 hanging his Russian ornaments on the tree. (Yes, a different shirt for the 2009 tree. Did I mention it took a few days to decorate?? :-))

The Russian Ornament from 2008

The Russian Ornament from 2009

... and finally... after 3 days... a finished tree! (Which is now partially undecorated thanks to Callie the cat)

And with that, I think I'll head to bed. I'm sure this is full of typos and I kindly blame that on the medicine I took to hopefully knock me out! In case I don't have a chance to post again before Christmas, from my family to yours... Merry Christmas!

Hugs!
Becky

Ever since Andrew started Pre-K, he has had homework each week. Typically there is a writing worksheet and something having to do with math. It's not a lot of homework, but for a 4 year old it can be overwhelming. I've learned to become a cheerleader - trying to encourage instead of becoming frustrated when he gets frustrated (which happens about 1 minute after he starts his homework!)

Tonight, he had a bit more to do then normal because we were so busy throughout the beginning of the week. I was trying to make dinner, Keith was emptying the dishwasher and Alex had just gotten home. Bless his heart, Alex decided to take on the homework helper role. As soon as I turned around and saw the big child and the little child, I forgot about dinner and grabbed my camera. Too, too cute.

I know you are all so shocked I posted (and by "you all" I mean the one person left reading this blog!). Believe it or not, I miss blogging... really need to get back with it! :-) I have a Christmas post (about our tradition with Andrew) and of course, I need to tell you about Max - the Elf that has come to visit us! Right now, I'm off to spend some quality time with my hubby and watch Julie and Julia!

Hugs!
Becky