Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Having Fun w/Mr. Cranky Pant's



Some of Logan's art, He writes his name remarkably well for just turning 3. He always forgets the A so I have to remind him but man he's got some skill. I'm proud :)



Logan took this pic. He loves to take pictures and this one turned out pretty good.

Logan and I have been on the go-go. It has been so nice out the past 2 weeks we have been at the park, riding bikes or just going for walks. We love to be out-side and can't get enough of it. Our temps have dropped out of the 70's back into the 50's the past couple of days so we aren't staying out that long but still getting some fresh air. I have noticed with all of the extra things/stimulation we have been doing Logan is being a little stinker :) He was really testing me over the weekend but yesterday and today he seems good. We have been to the Zoo twice already, I think we will be spending a lot of time there. Sunday morning is a great time to go everyone is at church or sleeping in we got there at 10:00 and left about 12:45. There was hardly anyone there at first but by the time we were leaving it was getting pretty packed.

This week is another busy week, today we went to our cousin Jennifer's house to see her new baby. She has Maddie who is just over 2 and Abby who is 3 months. It was a nice visit and Logan played good for the first hour then he wanted to play by himself and Maddie just followed him EVERYWHERE. It was so cute but Logan did not like being followed at all. I told him it was because she liked him and he was the BIG kid, just like he follows the big kids around at the park. He didn't care and wanted her to leave him alone, LOL! We have play-group tomorrow and then on Thursday we have his 3 year check-up. I know we are a month behind. I had to re-schedule it 3 times now for various reasons. I am really looking forward to it. My friend told me it is pretty cool. I wonder how she will judge Logan? I believe he is right where he should be, he caught up really fast.

Another thing that started again the next morning after I posted it a while back is that Logan started sucking his thumb again. I swear I jinx us every time I talk about a mile stone or a step forward on this blog, what the heck. L didn't put his thumb in his mouth for about a month and now it's attached to his face when he has his blanket, UGH! I'm sticking with not saying anything to him about it so we will see how it goes.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

What Goes Around Comes Around :)

In short the ass that scammed us on our first attempt to adopt finally has it coming. There is a warrant out for his arrest for 62 counts of felony fraud and that is what he will be charged with if/when he is apprehended. The numbers where staggering, out of the 62 families named in this case 43 of us DID NOT adopt a child with Orson Mozes/Adoption International Program. Only 19 did and out of that 19 only 4 adopted their referral, some families even lost 2-3 referrals or adopted an older child when they had their hearts set on a baby.

Please watch this video it is a news clip done with one of the other families named in the case. Orson's face is in here. He is a wanted man in California so if you see him please contact the Santa Barbara District attorney or the police. Orson has been on the run since last summer so he could be anywhere. The screen is black but it will start once you hit the play button.



Here is a short version of what happened to us. I summed it up because believe me it is very long and sad. I never really got into it here because this blog was set up after the heartache we endured with AIP and started the process to adopt Logan.

I sent this to a reporter in California today, she wrote a story on this and she has been looking to talk to more families.

Hi Kathleen, My name is Dawn J.

I Know that you have done a piece on this whole mess with AIP/Orson mess. I am an ex-client of his from back in 2004/2005. We also have a heartbreaking story as with many others and are one of the 62 plaintiffs in the case. We were strung along, lied to, belittled and delayed for months with Orson. He eventually let us travel to Kazakhstan only to tell us the day after we landed that our son (referral)was no longer available. Orson had assured us the day before we left the US that our son was waiting for us. We were trying to prepare ourselves for this because we were hearing all over the internet that NO ONE was adopting their referrals with AIP and having difficult times in Kazakhstan once there.

Well they did not even know what to do with us once we finally did get there. They kept us in one region for 3 days then made us pay hundreds of dollars more to fly to another region of Kazakhstan only to find out that there were no children for us to adopt there either or so the Orphanage director said. We set out on adopting two children under the age of 2 and came home with out our babies to an empty nursery.

I set out on a crusade myself back in June of 2005 to get this man shut down. I contacted all people in authority in the US Government and the Kaz Gov. I reached out online in different chat group's, I spoke to many people, I was trying to get the word out. I emailed the media and then finally I was contacted back by Ms.Laura Cleves, we talked for about an hour and she decided to open the case against Orson. Unfortunately not enough people came forward back then but she kept this case open, thank God.

When I found Dawn D's. blog and I was reading her horrible story and I realized that she was with AIP/Orson. I reached out to her and gave her all of my contact info I had. I forwarded a link to her blog to Ms. Cleves, and told her that Orson was up to it again and she started taking another look at things. Dawn D. contacted Laura and then did something very smart, she started a yahoo group to stop Orson Mozes. Well the word got out and now after all of these years my family is going to get justice :) I am so proud of all the families that have finally come together as a group and made things happen. We are no longer victims and there will be no more victims because of Orson.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

"Mommy Come Here I Have A Secret"

And then he whispered "I love you your the best Mommy"

That is what Logan said to me today :) :) :) :) :)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Spring has finally arrived

The weather has finally broke around here and things are getting warmer. I have flowers that have bloomed and the grass is getting green, AAHHHHHH! I love the warm weather :) I can't wait until all of my plants are looking good.

We took advantage of it today, we went to the zoo this morning and then this afternoon I took Logan to this amazing park. A couple of friends have told me about it but I never went, well we will definitely go back. When we pulled up Logan said "mommy lets go there it looks fun" my boy is so cute and he was right. We had a blast and he was really good. This park is right on the lake so it was a bit cooler there, I am glad we had our hoodies on. At the zoo today we actually got to see some butterflies mating, I guess I didn't realize they did the nasty :) The guide told us they have no host plant so there will be no babies. Learn something new everyday :)

About a half an hour after we got home L ran up to me and gave me a big hug and kiss and said "mommy, thank you for taking me to the park today" what a sweetie, he is maturing daily. The other day we were going to the store and he says "I'm frustrated" I was thinking you don't even know what that means until I turn around and he is sitting there with both hands on his cheeks with this look like eerrr on his face. How funny is he.

Our play group started back up Weds morning and I am thinking about putting L in gymnastics. A couple of the other Mom's at play-group have their kiddies in it and they assured me that he would not be the only boy. In everything we have been in there are many more girls than boys. In play-group this time there are only 2 other boys and they are about 1 1/2 younger. I am going to talk to Donna the teacher there and see if we can switch to the 10 o'clock because there are a few more boys in it. We stopped going to the library because the librarian was VERY boring that did the tot-time. I am looking into other things also but we did buy our yearly pass to the zoo so we will probably hang out there more this year. I am hoping to get a park pass again this year to the park by my SIL house that has a great water/splash zone and a great play ground.








Thursday, April 10, 2008

A True Tragedy

On Tuesday afternoon April 8th, around 2:00 pm there was a fatal accident involving 4 teens in my area, 3 died. 2 of the young men who passed lived on my street, one just 5 houses down. I really didn't know him but have said hi to him many times, I have chatted with his parents a couple of times also. The driver of the pick-up is our friends son. James is a wonderful young man, he actually helped take care of our house when we were on our trips for our adoption. He is in critical condition now and needs all of our thoughts and prayers. He is going to have a very long road of recovery ahead of him, not only physically but mentally and emotionally also.

I am not going to say to much about the details of the accident and what happened because first, it is all speculation right now. However, I do know that there was no alcohol involved and they were on there way home from school. The police say it is going to take at least 2 weeks to reconstruct the accident and figure it out, I am telling you it was a HORRIFIC sight. Second, I can't get the picture of that truck out of my mind. Third, Jeff only talked to our friend for a brief moment the morning after the accident to let him know we are here for them if they need anything. We will make our way to the hospital early next week, I know they have a lot going on medical wise. There are a lot of classmates right now visiting their friend and showing love and support to him and that is what he needs right now. Fourth, I have read and watched about 10 different versions of what happened, the reporters have all given their own spin on things and have reported the story very badly I think, except one.

I wasn't sure if I even wanted to talk about this on my blog because it is such a sad thing but this has really hit home and touch me deeply. My heart is aching for all of these families, I hope they can find a way get some closure and heal. I really feel that way for all of us around here, I was shopping today and I heard people talking about it all over in the store. I know it has definitely impacted me deeply. Please say a prayer, send a good thought or what ever your choice of words are to all of these families and my community.

Friday, April 4, 2008

New Bike = Happy Boy!



Logan got a new bike, he is way to big for his trike from last year. We took some things back that he got for his B-day that he already had and got him a bike. He loves it. We've been crazy and have been letting him ride it around the house for a few days. It has been cold, wet and windy so we have been couped up plus it really is small. Blue and Yellow his favorite colors. Today we did get a chance to get out and he peddled like crazy. Last year he would pedal every once and a while, he usually scooted around on his trike out of pure laziness ; ) We went pretty far today and got him some good fresh air. He was getting pretty fast in the house so it had to get out, he has definitely mastered it.

How cute is my boy : )


Meijer had a kids day going on and all sorts of things to do. Logan got to throw a ball thru a hole, he won a pin just what a 3 years old needs. He also got to have his picture taken and put into a cool baseball card. It came on one of those things you hang around your neck, he loved it. We had no idea any of this was going on we just went to pick up a few things so it was fun. Also for all of you digital photo people out there they have 10 cent print going on until Saturday. Meijer has this special every couple of months. I always take advantage of it usually getting around 3-4 hundred prints for around 14 buck, GREAT DEAL.

So is it just coincidence or do I always jinx my little man. He woke up the very next morning of my last post about no thumb sucking and sucked his thumb off and on all day. Jeff and my friend Tania say it's probably because his lip hurts and he needs the comfort. Unfortunately he is making it worse because it won't dry out, I talked to him a lot about it yesterday and I haven't seen his thumb back in his mouth today. We will see how it goes the next couple of days. I am not going to say anything to him about it again, he will let it go on his own.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

My Poor Boy is Cursed : (

Poor Logan has a huge cold sore/fever blister. The other day He told me his lip hurt but there was nothing there but it was a little puffy. Well, when he got him up from his nap there was a cluster of tiny blisters, OOHHHHHHH my poor baby. I I have ALWAYS gotten them ALWAYS and I have been VERY careful the 2 times that I have had one since Logan has been home. I have not had one in several months so I know I am not the cause, thank God I would feel awful. I know how painful and YUCKY they feel :( not to mention how they look.

I thought when we were still in Moscow that L got one but with his Chicken Pox it was hard to tell. It had appeared several days after all of his spots were in place and it was between his nose and lip that's why it was really hard to tell. It took forever to heal just as a cold sore would if it was not treated. I feel so bad that he has to go through the rest of his life with this. I got a script for him and it looks pretty good for only 2 days. I got it when I went to the Dr. for my yearly check up but never filled it. I called L's Ped and she said it was fine to use it on him, I was very happy to hear that, she said I could use Abreva also. I filled the script, I was shocked when my part after insurance was $25.00 it was a little 1 oz tube of cream. WELL WORTH It, it works great and I wish I would have asked her for something years ago.

In other news Logan has pretty much STOPPED sucking his thumb, this is so HUGE. He no longer needs that security, YAHOO for you Logan! Jeff and I have never really said anything to him about it. I have read several times to ignore it and it will go away on its own and usually faster than if you push the issue. Plus that was his soother when he was all alone and scared in the baby-house that's what made him feel better. Just before he turned 3 it just stopped. He really only did it when he had his blanket or at bed time. It was not like he had his thumb in his mouth all of the time. My Step-mom never even knew he did until we were in Florida this past January. I have seen him still sucking it a few times when he is sleeping and I check on him before bed but I have not seen his thumb in his mouth for over a month other than that. I kept forgetting to post about it and then when I have remembered a couple of times I decided not to talk about it because I have a tendency to jinx myself.