Monday, February 24, 2014

Happy Birthday Dada!

Celebrating THIRTY FIVE! 

Zoya is the best birthday celebrator EVER! She gets SO excited about birthdays! She went to the store with me and helped pick out some things for Shawn's birthday. She just KNEW he would love the sesame street birthday hats and the Mickey Mouse plates! Zoya kept saying, "Oh Dada LOVE IT, LOOOOVVVE IT!" I had to draw the line when she picked out a princess tiara for him!! She was so genuinely happy to celebrate her Daddy's birthday and it was just about the most adorable thing ever! She picked out a card for him that sings "Happy Birthday." She was torn between that one and another musical birthday card with dogs in a conga line! She said, "Yah we get BOTH!" I said, "No, you have to pick ONE." She said, "No, both, just try it!" Ummm no sister, not happening, nice try though :) 


Birthday kisses from Mila! 

Sofia is apparently having a tea party for ONE! :) She freaked out a bit with the hat, which would explain her hatless head! 

They were trick candles that kept relighting....Zoya thought they were great! Shawn? Not so much! 


Mila's face is so funny here....it's as if she's thinking, "Okay looks like they're all out...is it safe yet or are they going to relight again?"

I love this picture because Zoya's face says what we're all thinking with Sofia's FREQUENT outbursts :)  Here, if I remember correctly, she was crying because we were having a silly string war....how DARE we????


Mila's gift to her Daddy was a bunch of sloppy baby kisses! 

"You forgot to tell me this cake is COLD!!!!" 

Feeding the baby bird! It didn't take long to get over her tantrum, nor did it take long to fall into her next one! 






Happy Birthday Dada! 

Mommy and Me Preschool: Take 2, Minus 1

Well after much debate............


Turns out this girl is SO HAPPY to spend her Tuesday mornings with her Daddy while Mila and I attend Mommy and Me Preschool! So we're rolling with it! 

We're still trying to get the hang of parenting "artificial twins".... Sofia and Mila couldn't be more opposite from one another...so although I try very hard to make sure they're getting the same exact opportunities, sometimes they need two completely different things (often times!). As much as I joke that Sofia was ready for preschool the day she was born, emotionally she's in need of a bit more "quiet" time with her family with no pressure or expectations. She's in a sweet spot right now, and just REALLY starting to trust us completely, so we're going with our gut on this one and deciding that for now she just may not be ready, and there will be more opportunities for her to participate in this class...when she's ready! And really, I think if she could tell us, she'd thank us for our decision! The girls dance on Tuesdays too so it was just a bit too much for Sofia girl! She was recently formally diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, which is absolutely no surprise to us...and we're trying to find the perfect balance of "enough but not too much" sensory input and it's tricky I tell ya! But we're in this together...figuring it out, the "trial-and-error" way and revising as we go! At the end of the day, as long as they are HAPPY and growing and thriving, we've done our job! 

And for Mila...well she's still figuring out this Mommy and Me Preschool thing, but she really gets excited for "cool" with Mama and has even asked about it a few times on non-school days!! She doesn't dig the whole "arts and crafts" thing, but loves the time in the gym, and of course snack time! I can't believe she will be 3 in just TWO WEEKS. It seems impossible to me! She seems like such a big girl to me all of a sudden....a big Mila update coming soon! 

Monday, February 17, 2014

Happy Birthday Daddy!



We are the most blessed ladies in all the land to have such an amazing daddy and husband! We are excited to celebrate tonight :) 



Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Mommy and Me Preschool


It doesn't get any more cheery than this right? You're absolutely right it doesn't! And this was the last of these cheery faces. The first day of Mommy and Me Preschool was an utter failure, I'd say :) Thankfully we didn't get kicked out.....yet. The problem seems to be that there is only ONE of me, and TWO of them. I think they plotted to try and bring me down before the class started! Due to a crazy busy morning and things not going as planned, we got there right at 9:31. Class started at 9:30. First fail of the day. All the handicap spots were taken by people without handicap stickers (yes we have a sticker but only use it when there's absolutely no other option-this case would have been a perfect example of when we really NEEDED a handicap spot and yes we qualify for it for both safety and mobility reasons)....anyways........

I parked across the street and put Mila on one hip and Sofia on the other. Mila weighs 34.5 pounds and Sofia weighs 28 pounds, you do the math...and add in puffy winter jackets and hats, a purse over my shoulder, and slippery snowy terrain if you forgot we live in the snow capital of the world! I tried 3 different doors and a woman (who was parked in the handicap spot with no sticker) stared at me just watching me try all 4 doors, all which were locked. I noticed she was looking at me STILL, so I said "Is there a different door?" She cheerfully said "Yes down there" and continued to stare at me. So I walked to the other end of the building and by that point could no longer hold the 62+ pounds of baby jello so I set Sofia down....Fail #2. You would have thought I was pulling her eyelashes out one by one or something. Nice person #2 stared at me, smiled and said, "Don't you have your hands full." If I wasn't carrying 2 kids (one now screaming) I would have.....ahh nevermind.  Next obstacle is the stairs, because their class is in the basement of the building. My arms were burning (who needs a gym) but I made it down the stairs with them and set Sofia down hoping she'd walk down the hallway to the classroom at the end. You can guess what happened there. So thankfully a friend who is in the class carried Mila into the room and another helpful friend took out coats and put them away :)

Sofia is in a stage (oh Dear God please tell me it's just a stage...now that I think about it she's sort of always been like this but it's gotten worse lately.....oh no.....) where she can't be without me for a fraction of a second without freaking the heck out. I'd much rather have this problem than attachment issues that some adoptive families experience....but we need to help figure out a way to help her have a less anxious attachment. I can't even take Mila potty without her losing her head. I can't even walk into another room. I can't even get out of my seat in the car to open her door without her losing it because she can't see me for 1/2 of a second. So of course Mila had to use the potty when we got there, I offered to Sofia to go with us but she refused so I left her in the classroom with the teacher and friends....thankfully Mila was quick and Sofia only screamed for about the last 10 seconds of me being gone. And THAT was just the beginning ;)

They took turns throughout the rest of the class having melt downs or just randomly screaming/growling for the fun of it. Walking from one room to another way tough too because Mila isn't steady over thresholds or in new environments and Sofia was being plain old stubborn and refusing to walk, so that was funny to watch I'm sure. Sofia has a really hard time with transitions and we transitioned 6 times in the hour so each time there was a melt down...once she got going with the new activity, though, and warmed up to the new surrounding, she did a bit better. And then it was time to go and of course she threw a fit! The teacher was really sweet and helpful and kept commenting about how calm I was. Well, ya know, what can you do really when your kids decide to plot to overthrow their mother. Just grin and bear it! 2 against 1, I'd say they won today!

I guess if anything good came out of today, we very successfully debunked the myth (in case any of the parents in the class believed this myth) that kids with Down syndrome are always happy....HA HA HA :)

I remember 3 being the toughest age for Zoya....so with my calculations we have about 1.5 more years of these shennanigans....Lord help me!

All I have left to say is next week I'm bringing back up...we're changing this Mommy and Me Preschool to "Mommy and Daddy and Me and Me." I'm rounding up some battle gear and going back for Round 2....and if we fail again, at least I'm not going down alone!

And because I can't leave a post on a bummer note, here are a few more pictures of my adorable perfect little angels, BEFORE the S**T hit the fan :) (P.S. don't mind the bruise on Sofia's cheek....she had an unfortunate trampoline accident but all is good!)







Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Sofia's Readoption!

We had Sofia's "readoption" today, which is just a fancy term for "registration of a foreign birth and request for US birth certificate." It was a special day, none-the-less! Uncle Bub took some time off work and came to visit for Sofia's special day! I took it as an opportunity to get her all prettied up and take 100 pictures :) They happen to be some of my favorite pictures ever of Sofia.....so enjoy! 

Sofia got the princess treatment and got all prettied up :) 





















Sofia started throwing a fit the moment the judge and attorney tried to start the process. I wouldn't expect anything less from her! When she wasn't screaming and kicking Shawn, Mila was yelling MAMA at the top of her lungs just for fun :) Even though this is just a formality, they still ask, "Do you understand you will have the full rights and responsibilities of a natural parent and do you agree to these responsibilities?" I believe while that question was being asked Sofia was at the peak of her freak-out so it was pretty humorous :) Of course we said yes!

 Can you see our attorney laughing quietly in the left side of the picture and me looking at Sofia all like, "cool it child!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

After Sofia was out of the limelight and it was my turn to answer questions, Sofia was just fine. Little stinker! 

This is the same judge we had for the other two readoptions as well. She is super sweet! She was very interested to hear about the the plight of special needs orphans in other countries!
The little ones are looking at the ceiling fan which was on HA! 


We decided to celebrate by going out for lunch! The girls were pretty well behaved with an endless supply of juice and snacks and Elmo on the iPad! 


Love this picture of Uncle Bub and Zoya! 

And just for fun, the sweet little dress she wore has some history! Zoya wore it for Gotcha Day at 22 months old, Mila wore it for her readoption at 19 months old, and Sofia wore it for her readoption at 28 months old :) I compiled a little collage to remember my sweeties wearing this pretty little dress! I dropped the ball with the bow for Sofia, but who are we kidding? She would have ripped that thing out in 2 seconds flat!

We love you Sofia Joy!!!!!!!!! Forever and ever!