What we've been up to = A LOT!

I find myself rushing to post this and get to bed. We have been pretty much on the go around here. We signed Logan up for Pre T-ball, he starts in the middle of June, I'm not sure how he will do he has never showed any interest in sports really. One day we were going to my Mom's and the kids were in the school field and we had to stop and watch them. Since then he has talked about baseball and want to try. I hope he likes it if not oh well it was only $27 thru our township and he gets a t-shirt also.

The other BIG thing that I signed Logan up for was Preschool. It was a hard day kind of :0( I can't believe my baby is going off to school. I am sad but happy at the same time. I'm happy because L really needs to go off to school to be with other kids everyday and it's going to be nice having a few hours to get some things done by my self come this fall. I am sad because my baby is growing up way to fast!

We have been so busy working around the house. I lifted all of the pavers on both sides of our driveway and leveled them out. They have really caved in and separated since we moved in 6 yrs ago and I could see it was an accident waiting to happen. That took me about a week total, there is still more that needs to be done in the back by our deck but that is going to have to wait. I must say I did a really good job for having never tried it before;0) We moved a yard of mulch, well Jeff pretty much did most of the mulch because of my neck. I planted the garden and all of my flowers are done, I even pulled a Radish out of the ground the other day and Logan ate it up :0) I had to chop down 2 Sandcherry shrubs because of disease now I need to get the stumps out so I can replace them with these really cool shrubs I bought. We opened the pool, well Jeff did that to :0), I did put some Chlorine in the day before he took the cover off and I could see down inside that the water was clear, yahoo that made it so much easier. We have our Sub garage sale this Thursday, Fri and Sat so the past 3 days I had to get ready for that. Oh and the list can go on because you know then there is all of the inside chores that need to get done also.I had Logan call his Papa and ask him to come over with his new toy (a powerwasher) and clean the play-scape off. It needs to be painted and having papa do it is going to save me a days work, thanks Dave!

I have made time for Logan also, he has really got to hang out with his friends in the neighborhood a lot these past few months since it has gotten warm. The other day there were 4 Mom's and 7 kids just having a BLAST together, it's going to be a FUN summer and a long one all my boy wants to do is play outside with the other kids.

I finally did the storybook from Shutterfly from our journey to Logan. I did from trip one until the day we finally brought Logan home and landed in the US. I hope to take some pics of some of the pages and post them. I really can't wait to see it, I'm so excited:0) It did take me a few days to do it, so if you want to do one plan on it, it is definitely time consuming.

Any ways, here are some pictures of my little cutie and one of Julia thrown in there because she is just so cute :0) And yes I know my boy needs a hair cut, can you believe how big his Mohawk is, LOL! It just so happens we are going today.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all of you Mom's out there and Mom's to be, Happy Mother's Day!
I hope you had a wonderful day.

And She's Not Even an Octopus

A funny by my little man. We were at the store the other day standing in line to check out and the lady behind us had her arms full of stuff. Logan looked at her and then said to me "wow Mom she has a lot of stuff and she's not even an Octopus" I just about died laughing. That kid of mine sure is funny!

Today we met my mom for lunch and when she bit into her sandwich it dripped down her shirt and she said "oh shit" so what does little man say "oh chip" I'm glad he heard her wrong :0)

What a Slacker!

I have been getting harassed by some because I have not posted much in a while. We have just been really busy. It has finally become spring around here and my little guy just wants to be out with his friends all the time :0) I'm not complaining because we had a really nice family move in a couple houses down and the kids love each-other and their mommy and I are becoming pretty good friends.

We went to the Science center and Logan loved it. I forgot my camera so I only had the cell phone and it really didn't take that great of pictures :0( I think Logan is a little young for most of it but he had a good time anyways. We will definitely go back. Actually he has told me almost everyday that he can't wait to go back with his friends and show them everything :0)

My health has been improving THANK GOD! I was really not well there for a while and I am starting to feel much better. I was fitted for this VERY annoying mouth traction to get my TMJ under control. It was really getting bad. My jaw was locking up for weeks at a time and really starting to cause a lot of facial pain, dizziness, eye & sinus problems and some migraines in my eye/temple area. I have to wear this appliance for the next 6-8 months, 24 hrs a day and it is NOT easy. My TMJ expert informed me it was one of the worst cases he has seen in years. He told me not only is it because I am a clincher but my jaw did not line up right since birth, more of a deformity. This mouth piece does not allow my bottom and top teeth to touch, I am on a lot of restriction as what I can eat, how to chew, workouts and the list goes on. The first 11 days were HELL, I had a lot worse symptoms (all normal) but it has been 17 days now and I am feeling the positives coming out.

I also had an MRI done of my neck because I was having a lot of numbness, tingling and pain in my left arm and I found out that I have Spinal Stenosis So I guess in other words give me a new neck and jaw and I'll be fine, LOL! Now I will start to work on that also. The best treatment I think for that is decompression so I ordered this on advice from my Chiropractor who I can no longer have adjustments from only neck stretches BOO HOO, I looked forward to getting cracked every couple of weeks. I also have no curve in my neck, it is bone straight, from a car accident I was in when I was 19 so I am looking into how to get the curve back also. So needless to say I hardly ever pick up my 43 pounder any more :0( I usually sit and have him come and climb in my lap. I do still pick him up every once and a while, it's hard to resist his cute little face.

OK, so back to Logan, he is doing well. I was told by everyone that 4 is such a wonderful age. I do agree that communication is so much better and it is a fun age BUT it is also VERY trying. My little guy now knows it all and can do everything by himself and has become a little dare devil. I am sure we will be in the hospital for stitches or a broken bone of some sort before the end of summer (I hope not but even my neighbors agree) A couple weeks ago he decided he was going for a bike ride whether anyone was going with him or not and despite me screaming for him and then chasing after him he kept going and got way out of my sight. Well he was grounded from his bike for that for the rest of the day and the next. He got a new bike from his Nanny & Papa for his B-day and he is WAY to fast on it. Then just yesterday he decided he was crossing the street by himself and ran across without even looking. My heart sank, thank God there were no cars coming because we live on a pretty busy street. That was about a 10 minute conversation with multiple reminders since so hopefully he does not do that again.

Logan has always been a pretty good boy compared to most, don't get me wrong we have had our share of not listening but his new found "I don't have to" and "I'm going to do what I want" is very hard to take. I was telling my friend I think it is so much harder because he has always listened and been pretty compliant for the most part that the total lack of disregard is throwing me for a loop. I told her that although we had to parent a very unconventional way for a while because of attachment I never had any other children so that was all I know, this not listening thing is driving me nuts. I know this is all a learning process for him and that all kids test and are brats that is how they learn so I hope this phase passes quickly because one can only have so many time outs :0)

Logan's Easter basket





Science Center



Julia's 2nd B-day party, Elmo was there!




The Oscar Mayer car

Happy Easter!

4 Year well visit

Logan had is 4 yr check-up and his Dr. was just amazed how big he is. She showed us his map on her computer of his growth chart since coming home in Sept 06. We could not believe it way down at the bottom, barely on it to now almost off it. She said she never thought he would ever grow this much. I really chalk a lot of it to putting him back on formula for the first 6 months home. He went from 3% for height and weight to 90% now. He is 42.3 lbs and 42 3/4 inches, WOW! His Dr was also impressed that he can hopscotch, he is rather good at it. I thought it was good also I know the little girl who's a month older than L cannot switch her jump up yet to hopscotch.

Logan also got 2 shots, she wanted to do 3 but we decided to skip the booster of the MMR for now. He did get a high fever for a day and half from the vaccines and she also told us he had an ear infection in his right ear. He did well on his eye exam but not so well on the hearing on the right so after he finishes his antibiotic for his ear infection we'll take him back to be rechecked. I am sure he doesn't have a hearing problem but you never know. Logan really was against the shots and totally tightened up his leg so he was really sore for a few day's and boy did he milk it. I tried to video him and his MAJOR limp but ever time I tried it made him upset and he would just sit down.

The picture I posted the other day with the HUGE sunglasses is what he pulled out of the treasure box at the Dr's. Logan's Nanny and Papa took Logan to the Zoo after the Dr's and he wore those things all through the Zoo and then later when he got home and we went to the store. He is so funny :0) He got pushed all around the zoo and didn't walk so that made his leg hurt even more I'm sure. Any ways he is back to his normal hopping self and the leg his all better.

We have had a lot of Easter fun going on so as soon as I can I'll get it all together and post some pics.

Say Cheese, Please :0)

Logan's Referral Pics

I have never posted Logan's referral pics on here, not sure why? Any ways, I uploaded all the pics from our 2 trips to Russia to start making a photo book from Snapfish or Shutterfly whoever I can get the best with. Any ways, I came across these and I wanted to share them. I think these photo's where taken in May 06 so Logan would have been just 14 months. These are the youngest pics we have of him. I thought at one point I found him on the Kemerovo database but some info was missing so I wasn't sure. I REALLY believe it was and so do a few of my friends and family but Jeff did not think so. I unfortunately lost those pics when my computer crashed :0( I have all of our pictures in a photo album and on disc but these story books are so wonderful I just have to have one. I can't wait to start making one every year.

Any ways, here is my little cutie. Boy has the life in his eyes changed. We got these the first of June and traveled July 4th 06 to go and meet him. He had changed a lot from these pics to when we arrived a few months later. I remember his hair was a lot thicker but he was just as tiny.

Birthday Fun!

We went away for a night to Frankenmuth. We had a great time and my boy is just a fish. He loves the water and would have stayed in all day I think. Logan also got his first hole in one Putt Putting. I find that funny because he is not very good at it :0)

We also celebrated Logan's 4th b-day with some friends and family over the weekend. Fun was had by all. One of the kids, the oldest who is 6 said as he was leaving that it was the best b-day party he has ever been to :0) that made me feel good as a lot of time and effort was put into it. I served the 6 kids that game mini corn dogs and FFries along with some fresh fruit. They all loved it and us adults got to have a sub platter along with a few different types of salads, meatballs and fresh fruit. The cake tasted great but I was not happy with its appearance but Logan loved.

Logan got some great gifts and some money to save. Some of the things he got were a new bike, a Leapster 2, Lego's, some Wallie stuff, a hot wheels track and a few games. I think his favorite was the Pixo's. We have used just about all of them so we took 20 bucks of his money and ordered this awesome set online. It's by far the best deal for your money. It's funny I told him he had to use his own money to get it and he was all for it:0) I would normally just get it for him but we spent enough on everything else and he got plenty. I am also trying to teach him the value of a dollar. Any ways, we all had a good time and most importantly Logan had a blast.

Happy 4th Birthday Logan

Daddy draws Buzz Lightyear


Happy 4th Birthday Logan! It is such an honor and privilege to be your Mommy not to mention the most rewarding thing I have have ever done. You are so funny, smart, bright and yes you are a little stinker some times :0) I love watching you discover new first in your life, your expressions are priceless. I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I know how happy you are to be turning 4 your such a big boy.

I love you baby,
Love, Mommy and Daddy too!

P.S. Thanks for helping clean for your party tomorrow, your the BEST helper! I want to note that you vacuumed the house so remember that when your doing your chores when your older that you use to like to help clean, LOL!

It's Been a Long Time!

Gosh we have been so stinking busy I haven't had a moment to post. We painted our great room, it was a big deal because we have really high ceilings so we paid my brother to do them and Jeff and I painted the walls. We then had our fireplace tile cracked out and replaced. We ordered a new door cover for it and as soon as it comes in I will post some before and after pics. We also painted the mantle and I LOVE how the whole thing looks but I am dying to get the new doors, CAN"T wait.

We also replaced our foyer light and the light going up our steps and the ceiling fan in our great room. The lights before were totally NOT my taste and did NOT go with anything in our house. These are all things that I have wanted to do since we moved in 5 1/2 years ago but put on hold because of the adoption. Now we finally had a little extra so we went for it. Well that and we refinanced for the AMAZING LOW rate of 4.875% fixed for 30 years so we rolled our last of the adoption expenses in that and are still paying WAY less than we were. Yahoo for us!

I was also not feeling right for a few weeks. Eye problems, (never had before and still have 20/20) dizziness and just overall not right. I have been through a battery of test, CT and an MRI and thank god everything is coming back normal.
I have been feeling back to normal for the last 5 days, yahoo!

Now onto better things like my cute little man, he is doing great! Smarter than ever and saying some pretty darn funny things like~ not bad, not bad at all, that's interesting and a whole bunch of other things that I can't think of right now of course. I need to start writing things down daily. I can't believe next week my baby is going to be 4, OMG 4! So now I get to get busy for his party next weekend. It is a Buzz Lightyear theme who he still loves and dresses as often :0)

Logan has been sick this past week. I actually think he has/had 2 different things. He had a fever for 2 days around 100 but no other symptoms. Then he was better for a day then came down with a stuffy nose and a dry cough but only coughing once in a while. He woke up this morning with a fever blister, poor baby. We had my friends daughter Sophia for 2 days this week and she was sick with a MAJOR runny nose and a deep cough. Logan already had a weekend immune system from whatever caused his fever so I feared he would get her cold. Logan was great in the morning with her but when he got up from his nap he was jealous of her, he wanted his Mommy all to himself :0) She is only 5 1/2 months so I had to do everything for her and I carried her a lot and he decided he didn't like it. He has been clingy and whiny for a couple days now so we have done some holding time these last 2 days. I know some of it is he is not feeling well but today when he got up we had to rock a bit and he just relaxed and soaked it up and emerged with a totally different attitude, THANK GOD!

Today is a beautiful day here in Michigan. It's like 64 degrees outside so I did some running around for party stuff while Jeff and Logan got outside and made mud pies, played on the play scape and ate lunch out there.

We took him for his 4 yr pics and they turned out great. I only got 2 different poses because it was a fortune for more and I would have all of these pics go to waste. I got one with a number 4 and then Jeff picked out the profile one. I keep picking on him telling him it is like something my parents would have done with us you know the typical 1975 pose, LOL! My favorite was one of him standing up with his hand sin his pockets but I really wanted that darn 4 in there. This will be the last number year for a pic so next on to bigger and better things. I think I am going to try JCPenny for some pics next year, I just keep seeing these adorable shot from there. Logan was so funny usually we have such a hard time with him taking pictures and this time he walked in and just started posing. Jeff and I were laughing so hard the lady probably thought we were nuts, LOL!

I'll leave you with some cuteness :0) and a couple pics of our lights before and after.





The top pics are before and the bottom after

Nice Hair, Silly Boy!

I Like You!

My little man told me tonight that he likes me a lot and that he likes hanging out with me. How cute is that :0)

So what do you think of my shiner?

Random Things and Americas Most Wanted

Americas Most Wanted is set to air the story about Orson Mozes on Saturday, January 31st, check your local listing for time. I can't wait to see how they pieced this all together, what if any of us victims were incorporated into the segment. I know that there were a few of us that submitted video, pics and told our story so this is going to be interesting, can't wait to watch it.

So Jeff and I spent our first full night away from Logan since we became a family of 3. We had to go out of town for a funeral so we made the most of it. To say we had a good time at a funeral is kind of sad but we did. It was almost a 5 hr drive so we talked a lot, we even stopped and shopped a little. I got a jacuzzi room with a fireplace but when we walked in our room the smell of gas filled the air. Unfortunately they didn't have any more rooms with a jacuzzi and a fireplace so we just ended up with the jacuzzi. That was no big deal because we most likely would have only had the fireplace on for a few anyways.

Logan did well. He had no problem sleeping or anything else until he saw me the next day. He was very whiny but we got him settled down to stop for lunch but when he woke up from a nap he was a wreck for about an hour and a half. I had to do some holding time with him to settle him down and he ended up telling me he was scared he was going to have to stay at Nan's. I explained again that this was his house and we will always come back for him. He settled down and we had a good afternoon.

I got my first black eye from being a Mom. Logan got me good with his elbow. It was an accident but man it hurts. He is not napping much these days but I am still laying him down for a "rest" around 1:00. Well today him and Jeff went to our cabin and he fell a sleep on the way home and got about a 40 minute nap and he woke up all out of sorts. If Logan can't sleep for at least 1 1/2 hours he is better off with out one. So today I pick him up to take him to the chair to sit with me to settle down and as I am lifting him up he wails back and it got me. I could feel the knot growing as I was walking to the chair thinking HOLY SH#* I need ice NOW! I didn't even need to look in the mirror to know it was going to be a shiner. I don't remember the last time I had a black eye, maybe 15?

We still have some Christmas stuff up outside. It's buried in the snow so there is no way for us to take it down but I am getting bored with looking at it. Snow, snow go away :0( Speaking of those darn lights, I have never had such a hard time with lights before, EVER. This past Christmas every time I turned around a strand was burning out. Inside and out. It started outside and then came inside to the tree, errr. I think lights went out on 5 of the six tree's outside and I think they went our on the tree 3 different times. What a battle that was, LOL!

Logan is now 42.8 lbs and 42 inches tall, He is growing so fast. I love talking to him, the conversations we have are priceless. I need to go buy an outfit for his 4 year pics. WOW, I cannot believe he is almost 4, he is amazing :0) I am going to take him to Portrait Innovation, I love that they have 2 people working with you and they have some great packages. I am thinking this is the time to do a family photo, we will all be there anyways and L has been home for almost 2 1/2 years and we have never done a professional family shot. I guess I am now looking for what we will all wear, HMMMMMM?????

I am starting to think about preschool in the fall for Logan. I am just not sure how many days I want to put him in. I know I am not doing 4 but still undecided about 2 or 3? I have plenty of time, sign up is not until May. I have 2 different open houses to go to in April to figure out what center will be the best fit for him. One is real big more like an actual school and the other one is smaller.

Ice Skating Anyone

Jeff put Logan's skates on, he stood up and fell. He then got right up walked over to Jeff with no problem at all and was ready to go. Logan did not want to hold our hands, he wanted to use the bar thingy they have to help them stay up, so be it.

Logan stepped on the ice and that was it, he just started shuffling his feet and off he went. We went around about 2 times and then he wanted to check out all of the benches and penalty boxes. I told him his daddy spent a lot of time in those boxes when he was younger, HAHAHA! Anywho, he went around a few more times, got going pretty fast, fell a few times but nothing major and then had enough. We skated for about 25 minutes, so a long time for a first. Logan really liked it a lot and he LOVED seeing Jeff fly around on his skates :0) This is only the second time I have been on skates since I was around 15 and the last time was about 6 years ago. I was shaky at first but got more steady as the time went on. We had a really fun time and are going to try and make this a once a week habit. The arena has open skate M-F and it's only $11 for all of us.






Penalty