My office held a shower for Ilya today & boy did he hit the jackpot!! We have a Gymboree gift certificate and lots of new books, puzzles and toys to play with. One toy required assembly (always fun!) and here I have proof that Norm actually reads instructions. It's important to get the sticker placement correct after all!

Ilya was so excited to get to his new toys, he decided to show off his escape artist skills!

(Note - he was in here to keep him away from the screwdrivers, which he showed just a little too much interest in!)

As you can tell, the new car is a huge hit. We may have a future NASCAR driver on our hands!

I just had to share these photos. I love the look on Ilya's face as he drives around the basement! Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Kar

You'll never guess who we met and actually got to spend time with today! Go ahead and give it a shot. I have a few minutes to spare while you think...

tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock

Give up already? Okay, I'll free you from the suspense!

We met Rachel, Troy & Daniel and Meghan, Bill & Nick at the Virginia Discovery Museum in Charlottesville and had a blast! I considered asking for their autographs but settled for a group photo instead.

For those of you who don't know Rachel, Troy, Meghan & Bill, they used the same agency to adopt their boys but it is not the agency we used. I've been following Rachel & Troy's blog for awhile and recently found Meghan & Bill's.

It took us close to 2 hrs to get to Charlottesville and even though it was raining, the drive was beautiful. It's been awhile since I've driven through this part of Virginia and I was just mesmerized by the scenery. Ilya was impressed too, as you can tell:

We had originally planned on taking our 3 boys to Round Hill Farm for some fun with pumpking and hayrides, but the weather dictated otherwise. Oh well, we still had a great time.

Our little Blog Union today was definitely worth the change in plans, the weather, and the ride. Rachel & Meghan, it was great meeting you, your husband's and your precious little boys. We must do it again sometime!

Here's a little slideshow of the day's activities. Didn't get many good shots because these boys are FAST!! And, much to my dismay, not the least bit interested in cameras...

Make a Smilebox postcard

Interntaional adoption makes people do some whacky things. Some I've admitted to on this blog, and some will remain a secret forever! hehehe! Here's one thing I never shared with you:

I am guilty of stalking my mailwoman on this day one year ago. Why? I knew our acceptance letter for our wonderful and amazing agency, CSS, was due to arrive. I had to see in writing that we had the first of M.A.N.Y. approvals we would need throughout our adoption journey.

I'm not sure why I was stalking the mailwoman because I already knew we had been accepted. "C" in the Asheville office had assured me the day before that the letter was on it's way and that yes, it did say we were officially part of the CSS family. Still, though, I needed to see it in writing. When Ms. Mailwoman finally did make it to our mailbox I'm sure she thought I was a crazy person. I can't say for sure but it's possible I was drooling from anticipation as she handed me the stack of mail. All I do know is that she beat it outta there pretty darn quickly.

Little did she or I know that that wouldn't be my last mailbox stalking episode! I spent many days from November 07-April 08 just hanging out by my mailbox waiting for whatever piece of paper we needed, but it all officially started on October 23, 2007! Wow, has it really been a year?

...months, that is! Our little boy is getting so big so quickly. It's kinda sad in some ways but his personality is emerging more and more each day, and it's a lot fun to peel away the layers of this little guy! He keeps us laughing with his antics, he's such an inquisitive little fellow, he's about the best diet & exercise plan ever, and he's so smart and so very loving. Just when I think my "Ilya love tank" is at full capacity/overflowing and that there is absolutely no way I can love him more than I already do, he does something that absolutely captures my heart and makes me fall in love with him all over and 10,000 times harder than ever.

He has made me realize that the only thing better than RECEIVING a mother's love is GIVING it. What a priviledge and honor it is to be Ilya's parents. We love you Cubby! Happy 19 months!

Ilya gets a slightly different view!

Ilya is a super cute, super happy, super funny, super active, super eater, super cuddly, super super little boy!

So if we already know this & most of you did too, why'd we waste an hour of our time and $350?? We had our 1st PPR today! Can you believe it? Where has time gone??

For those of you not in the "adoption know", PPR stands for Post Placement Report and Russia requires four. They are due when the child has been home for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years. Granted, Ilya hasn't been home 6 months just yet, but our Social Worker needs time to write the report and get it to our agency, CSS. The CSS office in North Carolina needs time to notarize and apostille it, and get it to the staff in Moscow. The Moscow folks need time to translate it, and I imagine they'll also have to take it to each of the 1 million(+) notaries in Moscow at least 4 times each, and then get it to the right authorities by November 27, which will be the 6 month anniverary of Ilya leaving the Vidnoye Orphanage. Huh...I just realized that's the day before my dad's birthday. Happy early birthday Daddy!

So, if you've been following our blog for awhile, you may recall we had some pretty major issues with our first social worker (the one who did our homestudy). Perhaps you were unlucky enough to get a double dose of my negativity if you also read some of my tyrants about that social worker on the CSS Yahoo Group. My apologies to my CSS friends again!

Anyhoo, we had a major blowout with the previous social worker days before we left for our 2nd trip to Moscow and we knew we did NOT want her doing our PPRs. When we got home, we fired her and hired a new one and what a world of difference! The one who visited us today was extremely nice, didn't yell at us, didn't tell Norm he's insensitive, she didn't hiss when she said words with the letter "s" in them, she didn't belittle us, nothing at all like the old one! In fact, she was very encouraging, supportive and commented a lot on how we were doing things right for Ilya. Yay! Ilya was in a GREAT mood during her visit and she was so impressed with his personality, adjustement, appetite, development, sense of humor, everything! Good job Cubby!
The only awkward moment for me during the PPR was when she asked about Ilya's birthmother. I wanted to make sure I represented "N" with the amount of dignity and respect she deserves. I didn't want to say anything that would make her think that "N" is a bad person or selfish or anything of the sort. I don't think she did think that, but I felt defensive almost when I was explaining what we know about "N". I felt like I was talking about a friend or family member and I wanted to protect her.

Ilya also had a surprise visit today from his Gramps (Norm's dad). We had a great visit with Gramps, but it wasn't long enough.

As for yesterday, our day started with making Mickey Mouse pancakes for Ilya, followed by a dangerous trip to Target, some outside playtime, and ended with a trip to Bangkok Cafe for Ilya's first Thai dinner. Don't worry, it wasn't spicy and he loved it! We had a great day as a family and look forward to many more.

Unfortunately, though, our weekend wasn't all fun, games and happiness. We received news last night of a terrible accident involving my brother-in-law. He remains unconscience and in ICU with multiple injuries, the most concerning being a brain injury. I am very worried about him, my sister and their kids. They'll be in our prayers in the coming days, weeks and perhaps months. This accident has reminded me how short and unpredictable life is, and how we must never take for granted all of the blessings we've each been given.

7 Months ago - March 17 '08 - we walked in to MOE and saw our son for the very first time. Sure, it was only a picture (and an old one at that) but the moment I saw this precious little face, I knew...

Before showing us the photo, the MOE representative began reading his social & medical to us. She was reading all of this from a piece of paper in her hands, and "S" from our agency was translating everything. At first I tried to maintain eye contact with the MOE rep. so that she knew I was really listening and interested in what she was telling us. It didn't take long to notice, however, that the sun was shining through the window very brightly making that paper transparent. I could see a backwards reflection of the little boy who would become my son. I got chills and as important as the info was that she was telling us, what I really wanted was to see his photo. When she finally handed it to us, that photo was black & white and very grainy but it didn't matter. That was my son! My little boy!

After telling the MOE representative that yes, we would in fact like to meet this child we crammed ourselves back into the world's tiniest elevator and then into our driver's car. We made our way to the little town about 45 minutes from the center of Moscow. Our driver & translator pointed out this road sign, and told us we had reached the Vidnoye Orphanage (the sign does read "Vidnoye").

The following photos are just a recap of our first meeting. If you've been following our blog for awhile, you've already seen these. If you're a pretty recent reader, Ilya met mommy first:

Wave of Light (In God’s Hands)

Tonight we light our candles to remember our smallest babes.
They left us much too soon…how we wish they could have stayed.
We carry them in our hearts; we had hopes and dreams and plans.
We love them still today, as they rest peacefully in God’s hands.

Our arms still long to hold them, we long to hear their coo's.
We long to have the chance to just do what parents do.
We long to see the day that little one first stands,
But we do find comfort, as they rest peacefully in God’s hands.

We had to say goodbye, some of us never said hello.
Our babes went up to Heaven, while we stay here below.
If you believe the Scripture, you know that God has plans -
Soon we’ll reunite, and rest peacefully in God’s hands.

So, tonight we light our candles to remember our smallest babes
We miss them, love them, want them…how we wish they could have stayed.
They were taken before we wanted, for reasons we don’t understand
But their waves of light shine brightly, and they rest peacefully in God’s hands.

Written by Karyn Croteau, Mommy to:
Ilya – our beautiful son through the blessing and miracle of adoption 2008
Matthew (joined our Heavenly Father 2006)
Little One (joined our Heavenly Father 2001)

Tonight we prayed and let candles for:
Our Matthew Lawrence and Little One
Katie Rose Thelin
Ryan Victor DiGiosia Holt
Jonathan Petri
Liam
Gavin
Audrey Caroline
Gregory Luke
Isaac Timothy
CS Shaw
As well as all who sent me emails but wishes to remain anonymous - your babies are precious and loved - and those who commented about their loss on Angie's blog (1422 as of 7:45pm 10/15/08).

If you're just now reading this and would like us to pray for your (or a friend's) Littlest Angel, please do not hesitate to let me know. If you're struggling with a recent (or not so recent) loss and need a shoulder, know that mine is always available. Email me anytime!

Katie Rose Thelin and her loving parents:

Ryan Victor DiGiosia Holt:

Did you notice? I did a slight make over. What do you think? I like it but can't figure out how to make the header centered in the frame. Soooo...if you have any suggestions please let me know!

Blog of course!! :-)

So I started going through photos from both trips to Russia, which I meant to share and realized I never did. It was a nice little trip down memory lane.

Susan also stayed in this apartment and mentioned the ladybugs on her blog awhile back. She'll probably agree with me that this was by far the most eclectic apartment in all of Moscow. Very, shall we say interesting, decor!

These stairs led to a small loft containing only a mattress:

Once you reached the top of the stairs, you just kinda crawled onto the mattress. There was nowhere to walk in the loft. I actually loved the mattress, but the spiral stairs left A LOT to be desired!

View from the top of the stairs. Scary stuff!!

View from the loft into the living room, adorned with a very lovely zebra/cheetah throw!

Okay, how weird is this - -

• Norm & I spend 3 weeks in Moscow with Dana & Aaron;
• Our court dates, Gotcha dates and the day we flew home with our son's are all the same;
• Recent blog evidence indicates our boys have the same set of jammies; AND (insert drumroll...)
• We both posted pictures of the boys in their dino jammies on the same day!

Check it out! http://cravensadoptionstory.blogspot.com/2008/10/surgery-update.html. I just think this is so funny! Thanks, Adoptamama for following my & Dana's blogs closely enough to let us know we're dressing our boys in identical outfits. And no, it wasn't planned!

Also, inquiring minds want to know how bedtime went. Let's just say it was very entertaining for all of us! Ilya did end up falling asleep and was just as cute passed out as he was when he was ready to party all night! He even woke up in a great mood and had a very good day in daycare. Tonight he fell asleep at 7:15, which is much closer to his normal bedtime. He's so precious lying here beside me.

Norm & Ilya are heading back up to New England tomorrow and coming home on Sunday. Please keep them in your prayers for safe travels. Unfortunately I won't be joining them on this trip, so please pray for my peace of mind while they are gone. I'm going to miss both my boys terribly. And I'm going to be bored - VERY BORED - which means you might be victims of rambling blog entries all weekend!

Toodles, Kar

It's getting close to an hour past normal bedtime...does this look like the face of a little boy ready to go to sleep? We don't think so either! Wish us luck!! :-)

Mommy's new favorite picture:

I've been tagged by Joy! Yay me! (and thanks Joy!) In this round of tagging, I am responsible for passing along 6 random facts about myself to you, my loyal readers. I decided to go more with embarrasing than random, but whatever. So here goes:

1 - Growing up my nickname was Midget Monster. I was the smallest/youngest kid in the neighborhood. No, I'm not proud of this name. I pretty much hated it but I'm sure we all have childhood memories we'd rather forget about. The nickname traumatized me for years and I was on the road to recovery but now that I'm posting this for the world to see, I fear a relapse may occur.

2 - I once shot soda out of my nostrils...in public...and stood paralyzed and horrified as it dribbled down my blouse while my loving/supportive husband laughed his butt off at me but did NOT offer me help. Nice mental image, huh? The aforementioned loving/supportive husband & I were walking through the mall sharing a soda. Apparently his desire for the soda overruled the fact that I had the straw in my mouth, mid sip. He yanked the cup from my hand, soda flew out of the straw, I started to choke which made the soda go up & out of my nose (burning all the while of course), and I ended up with soda all over my front because it poured not only from my open mouth but from my nose as well. Of course, this happened in front of an extremely large audience in the food court, and they were all laughing right along with Norm. CLASSIC KARYN MOMENT! Classic...

3 - I throw food at my cat, Ivan. Yes, you read that correctly. I throw food at him. Before any animal rights activists (like me!) go into a frenzy, let me explain. Ivan likes to think of himself as a great hunter but being a housecat who's afraid to sit in an open window, there's not much prey to take down. Err...at least that's our goal! I do NOT want a "present" left on my pillow! Anyhoo, to satisfy his huting need, I throw treats at him to stalk and hunt. I know, you're probably thinking "You might be a redneck if..." but it's actually pretty funny to watch. He gets as low to the floor as he can, wiggles his little butt and waits in anticipation for me to throw food in his direction. He pounces on his "kill" and waits for the next victim to come his way. This provides hours of entertainment for us both, and gives Norm a couple hours to ponder what, exactly, he got himself into when he said "I do."

4 - My very first paycheck ever at my very first job ever BOUNCED!! To think that would happen after I scraped ABC gum off of movie chairs - and was forced to do other equally unpleasant tasks - for 2 weeks! I was 16 and needless to say, was not impressed with the business world! My dad felt bad when I told him what happened, and gave me the $$ I should have received from that wretched movie theatre.

5 - I took surfing lessons in Hawaii the summer before 8th grade from an enormous Samoan guy. Here's the really interesting part, I still have the bathing suit that I wore that summer, and get this...it still fits! Not that I WOULD wear it, but I COULD! It's kinda sad that I haven't grown since I was what, 13? Hmmm...maybe the neighborhood bullies had it right when they nicknamed me Midget Monster.

6 - I have allowed myself to have an extremely bad 3-4 weeks, which I'll post about in a few days. While I'm not proud of the pity party I've thrown, I will say that this has been a lesson in self discovery and forced positive thinking. There is no way I could have prevented the cause of my downward spiral but I DID have control over my reaction to it, and realize now that I should have exercised better judgment.

On that happy note! Now my task is to tag 6 others. The nominees are:
Beth
Ana
Becky
Amy
Teresa
Dinia

If I tag you, here are the rules!!!
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random facts about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the taggers know when your entry is up.

Happy reading everyone, Midge