Reunion with Mama and Daddy....and Holy Cow Stop Growing Up so Fast Zoya!

Leaving Zoya for 3 weeks was the hardest thing I've ever done as a Mama! My heart hurt every day being away from her. Shawn and I were so excited to see her, but we got in at midnight Friday night and thought since we were so tired it wouldn't be a good idea to wake her up in case she didn't feel like going back to sleep LOL. So Saturday morning at 7:30 am we busted in and surprised her in her room!! Look at this sweet smile when she realized it was us! Oh I love this girl!!!

I slightly worried that Zoya might be mad at us for leaving, even though I know that is so not her personality.  Thank goodness she forgave us easily!  She's already trying to see if the rules are the same at every chance she gets though ;) And I think you all should leave your children for 3 weeks....no not really, but oh my goodness it really gives you a good idea of just how much progress your child is making! It is hard to see the changes when you are with your child every single day, but if you go away for 3 weeks you will realize just how quickly they change! Zoya is now doing just about everything except driving....LOL, just kidding...but seriously...she is talking SO MUCH! I got a "wuh woo too mama" (love you too mama) and it melted my heart! She is singing along with her favorite songs.  And she is in love with books all of a sudden. I had to read her favorite story to her about 3 times the first day home and she keeps bringing us books saying "ree pee" (read please). She snuggled up on my lap and just giggled she was so happy I was reading her favorite story, Pip. It's our special thing to read Pip together and I could tell she really missed it!  She is "reading" books on her own. She picked up a bunny book called "Hop, hop, hop" and read "Hop, hop, hop", turned the page and read again, "Hop, hop, hop." I just sat there in amazement as she put her own words with the story! She can now say the dog's name "Mya" clear as day instead of calling her "dog." She asked for my apple and ate the entire thing without having it cut up. We got in the car today to go to the store and she said, "School?" and I said, "No, tomorrow." And she said "morrow." So we turned the opposite way that we go for school and she pointed where the school was and said "cool, morrow" (school, tomorrow).  Aiy, I tell you this girl is not a baby anymore that's for sure! And she seems SO HUGE compared to tiny Mila. I haven't weighed her yet but I think she gained at least a pound while we were gone! LOL. Her face even seems more grown up to me. How can all this be in just 3 weeks??? I am thankful for this perspective because it really reminds me just how fast she is growing up.

We've been talking a lot about baby Mila. When we mention her, Zoya signs, "cry." And we say, "well what will you do when baby sister cries?" And Zoya says, "Shhhh baby." So cute! I can't wait to see Zoya's reaction to her baby sister! I know she is going to be such a great sister and a big helper to Mama and Daddy!! Thanks for all your prayers for our sweet girl! God truly protected Zoya during our time away and I like to think she only thought we were gone a few days instead of three weeks!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

I'm missing my Zoya girl so much! Oh how I miss her hugs and sweet smile paired with her sassy diva-ness! I can't wait to hug her and squeeze her and snuggle her when we get home!! She's going to be a fabulous big sister I just know it!

Anyways...we went to the pumpkin patch the weekend before we left for Mila's adoption. Since October is almost over, I figured I should post these pictures of our fun day!

 

She loves the corn box!

This year nobody lost their wedding ring (aahhhheeeemmmm Shawn)

It's fun to get burried in corn!

It's raining corn!

Loves the big slide!

Picking her Pumpkin :)

Love that sweet girl!!

A "My Zoya-girl is Awesome" Letter

Dear Zoya,

I miss you so much my heart aches. This is the first time Daddy and I have been away from you for more than one night. I know you’re having fun with Aunt Jen Jen and Xavier. I wish we could be with you but we can’t. You know that baby sister we’ve been talking a lot about? We’re going to meet her real soon. And one day I’ll be able to tell your little sister what a big brave girl you were to give up her mama and daddy for weeks so we could travel 5,000 miles away to meet her and bring her home to our family. I’m so proud of you for being such a big brave girl while we are gone. I hear Xavier is wearing you out and you’re happy to go down for your nap or to sleep at night! I’m glad he is breaking you in because when baby sister gets home life is going to get a little crazier, but a little more awesome too!

Everything reminds me of you.  When we were in the airport they had the automatic paper towel dispensers where you wave your hands in front of them and paper towel magically appears. I thought of you and how you love that and how you love to keep waving your hands and getting more paper towels. When we pass by McDonalds I think of how happy french fries make you.  When I heard all the Germans saying, “Hello” it reminded me of your funny accent when you say “Hello.” Zoya girl being away from you makes me realize how special you are. You have a way of making Every. Single. Little. Thing. So much fun! You bring so much joy to this world.

While I’m here I’m trying to worry less and live life big like you do every day.  It is hard to do without your contagious spirit here beside me, but you’re in my heart and that helps!  You’ve helped me to see the joy in things we take for granted. You’ve changed my heart in so many ways. I know all Mamas say this but we are so blessed to have you, we are the luckiest parents ever. I wish everyone could have a Zoya-girl but you’re all ours J Being apart from you makes me even more aware of the fact that you ROCK and you’ve seriously changed my perspective on life.  You’re the reason we’re half way across the world right now. Because through you we’ve seen that God can taken broken spirits and make them whole again. 

I am so lucky to be your mama and when I’m away from you it feels like I’m a ladybug missing her spots. Soon enough we will all be together my sweet girl!

*For those of you wondering Zoya is doing fabulous so far! Keep the prayers coming!!! We are so blessed to have Aunt Jen Jen in our lives!! We got to skype with Zoya tonight and she was amazed at being able to see an hear us. She sat and listened to us and talked a little for 15 minutes! She requested her favorite song, "More Beep Beep" and blew kisses and said, "Wuh wu" (love you). Oh how I miss her, but so good to see her doing so well!!! And I know I said I was taking a break here, but I needed to write a letter to my girl because I'm missing her!

ADOPTION BREAK!

Taking a break from blogging here while we fly across the world to meet our second daughter!

Hoping to post frequent updates of our new babe on our adoption blog:

www.hopefulheartadoption.blogspot.com

Can't wait to see Zoya's reaction to her baby sister when we get home!

Hello!

This morning when I went to get Zoya up, I had opened the door but not yet turned on the light and I hear her little voice say a perfect, "Hello" in a voice that sounded like it had an accent. It cracked me up. We had been working on saying "hello" but mostly just got "lo" or "hi." But this morning she nailed it and she's been saying it all day. It's just the cutest little word I think I've ever heard her say! It makes me laugh when I hear her little voice say it! Zoya's speech has been showing a lot of progress since she started preschool. I've been working with her on words that start with the "h" sound. It's tough for her to go from an unvoiced sound to a voiced sound but she's been doing a lot of vocal play and whispering lately and I'm loving the progress she's making! We've also been working on stopping sounds, especially "p" for "up" and "help" without saying "up-a" and "hepp-a." I took this little video after her bath tonight. Zoya girl is too sweet for words!

Surprise!

We celebrated Uncle Bub's birthday this weekend because we will miss it when we are gone. When I told Zoya Uncle Bub was coming and it was his birthday she signed "surprise." A few weeks ago we went to a surprise birthday party. Zoya was so intrigued by this concept. We all sat in the garage and when the door opened everyone of course yelled "SURPRISE!" Zoya signed "surprise" the rest of the night and kept saying "more" and "up" (for the garage door to go up).

Ever since then she has been wanting to surprise people. She thinks its fun to send someone out of the room, turn the lights off and then turn the lights on when they come back and yell "surprise." LOL. She signs it and says "PRY" So when it was time for cake we sent Uncle Bub out of the kitchen, turned the lights off and when he walked in (so unsuspecting hahaha) we all yelled SURPRISE! Oh Zoya was sooo enthusiastic about it! We actually had to repeat the scene several times per Zoya's request. She looked at me like, "we really got him good mom!" So proud of herself!!!

SURPRISE!

It just never gets old!!!

Signing "Surprise!"

(Here is the ASL sign for surprise...pretty close!)

And what happened next had us laughing so hard we almost peed our pants  cried! This girl is something else! At least she made it a memorable birthday for Uncle Bub!

(girl just started shaking her head like a wild woman and smearing frosting all over her face!)

"Aaaaannnnnd I'm DONE!"

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed watching our crazy girl! And let me just say, that was one heck of a bath she needed after!! Oh how I'm going to miss my crazy love while we go adopt baby sister! But it will all be worth it in the end :)



Fall Fun!

We are trying to enjoy our last weekend together as a family of three :) The weather here is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. I'm convinced there is no place more beautiful than where we live come fall time! The oranges and yellows and greens and reds and browns of the trees are breathtaking!

Here are some fun pictures from our day today at the fall festival!

Beautiful girl

Petting some animals...keeping a tight grip on Mama ;)

Mama doesn't love Llamas! Can you see it written all over my face?? LOL

I am showing this picture for no other reason than to show you this cool haircut on this animal LOL!

Feeding the goats

Zoya was trying to feed them hay instead of the food Daddy bought for 50 cents!

LOVE this picture...Zoya was thinking "don't move and he'll go away, just don't move a muscle!" She was frozen like that until the goat stuck his head back inside hahaha!

Helping Daddy feed her favorite goat

Love when she looks at me like this...my sweet girl loves me so much!

Matching faces here :)

They were shooting pumpkins at a target and it was loud and every time it went off Zoya did this and said "Weeeeeeee"

This girl FINALLY LOVES and appreciates ice cream!!!  If you don't remember watch this video to see Zoya's first and typical reaction to ice cream for a long time!

But just look at her now...she appreciates the finer things in life...like chocolate peanut butter ice cream!!! YUM!

Daddy making her laugh!

Focusing...

Brain Freeze!!!

But it's sooooo worth it!

No idea what she was saying here....

Blurry but too cute not to share...so excited!

I am astounded by her beauty every day!

So beautiful this time of year!

On the way back we rolled the windows down and let the breeze blow through our hair! Zoya just loves doing this! Here she is signing "green" because we are stopped at a red light and she said "GOOOO" so the wind would blow through her hair and I told her we had to wait for a green light!

Oh this girl knows how to enjoy life....

Happy Fall Friends!!