Happy New Year's Eve!

First off an apology is in order from me. I had added a short YouTube video of Anna Christmas morning to the blog, I viewed it once, and thought great the link works. I shut the computer down, and did not think much about it. Well...Then last night while we are at dinner I got a call from my Mother who was quite upset. She demanded that I take down the video immediately! When I asked her why even I was shocked by her explanation. Apparently, other videos (not ones I have made) were attached to Anna's video, and not such nice videos from what my Mother has described. In her words TRASH was attached to Anna's video!

Apparently, some think it is funny when a child says a word that is not very nice. I do not think it is funny nor would I video tape, and then share this with the world. So the video of Anna hugging Bambi is gone for that reason.

On to the New Year, I mentioned that for Christmas I made Everyday Russian pancakes. Not being Russian myself I am trying to keep some of Anna's culture alive through different foods, and perhaps traditions that we can also maintain. I have found this wonderful book A Year of Russian Feasts written by Catherine Cheremeteff Jones. The book has many different Russian recipes but what I like most about it is that holiday traditions are explained through the author's experiences living in Russia.

Last night I read about how New Year's Eve is a very big celebration in Russia. I guess having been to Russia and staying with a host family I am able to perhaps picture how some of these holidays be. Every time I pick up this book I feel the need to return to Russia with Anna.

The other night I emailed my Russian coordinator in Cheboksary. We are friends on Facebook so she is able to see pictures of Anna as she grows. She has told me that her son is now living in Moscow attending University there. I can not imagine how proud of him she must be. I feel proud of him and I never met him, silly I know. As crazy as it may sound I am hoping to travel to Russia with Anna in the next couple of years. Perhaps 2014 because vacation plans for 2013 are pretty much set. I think Anna is too young this year to appreciate the trip. My hope is to meet up with Anna and the host family.

Gerard is not sold on the idea of it being good for Anna but I think he is wrong. I believe Anna has a lot of memories of Russia. Yes, I know that over time they will fade but my hope is that it will only be the unpleasant memories that fade.

I read last night that Russians do not make New Year's resolutions. I have always thought that figuring out a New Year's resolution was a lot of pressure so I will be adopting this tradition too. Instead Russians make toast after toast all night long. I think this is pretty cool actually. I find it amazing that rather then focusing on something that could be negative such as "I will get out of debt this year" They would make a toast like "Here's to having enough money to pay off my debt!" I think it is all in the wording but it just sounds more positive to me.

Here are my New Year's Eve toasts:

May you all have a health, happy, and prosperous New Year!

May all the families who are waiting for a referral or to travel to complete their families have a quick, safe journey.

May all the children who are without a parent find unconditional love in the who is caring for them.

Merry Christmas to you

This year I think I had the best Christmas possible! Gerard is a last minute shopper and I am not. While Anna was at school on Thursday, I realized that for Christmas the only thing purchased for Gerard was a plastic travel cup. How in the world did I forget to buy Gerard a big gift. I chuckled on Christmas morning when I opened the plastic cups Gerard bought for me. The truth is we focused more on spending time as a family this year, and way less focus on buying gifts.

Now believe me Anna had plenty of gifts under the tree for Christmas morning. We decided very early on that we would not buy Anna something every time we go to the store. Friday, Anna and I watched a couple pf Christmas cartoons. As a child my favorite Christmas special was The Little Drummer Boy. I think this will also be one of Anna's favorite too. We listened to the cartoon, and then the song. We turned off the TV, talked, and played with our baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

On Friday Anna was so excited on that Santa was coming that she had a very hard time getting to sleep. I looked at Gerard and we both smiled. We decided to go low key this year for the holidays. For the past two years we have hosted a family party on Christmas Eve this year it was just us. We decided to go to the Children's Mass at 4 pm where Anna kept asking "Where is the little drummer boy?" When she heard a baby cry she was convinced that it was baby Jesus.

Anna was asleep by 8:30 pm. I was up until about midnight fixing and arranging. On Christmas morning when Anna's eyes opened she whispered "Momma, Momma I think Santa came last night." I was able to capture her reaction to waking up. I never want to forget the magic in her eyes and the smile on her face.

Christmas morning Gerard's parents stopped by for an hour or so on their way to AM's house. Anna was so excited to show them that Santa came, and left presents. For breakfast I made an easy recipe I found on Pinterest. It was frozen has brown potatoes, mixed with cheese and a drop of olive oil. I baked them for about 20 minutes in a muffin pan then I put a little more cheese, cracked an egg into each muffin and added some bacon back into the oven. They turned out perfect.

I also made some Russian style everyday pancakes. When I was in Russia I had them every morning while I was with the host family. I broke out the cookbook and made them on Christmas Eve so that I could reheat them on Christmas morning. Honestly, these are pretty good. Every time I make them I wonder why I don't make them more often. I have another Russian recipe that I hope to make this week as well.

Watching Anna play with her toys is one of the best feelings I have every felt. Now for the pictures.

A Christmas puppet Anna made

Christmas Eve after Mrs. Claus dropped off the PJs.


Anna heading to school for a day on the Polar Express

Here is the Christmas Craft that we did as a family. Very easy!




Christmas Morning

A week in review

What a weekend! Okay I know it is actually Wednesday but what a weekend we had. Saturday, the plan was to have my family over for pizza and a Christmas craft at 2 pm. Due to my lack of sleep we pushed it back to 5pm which I will publicly say Gerard was right.

Everyone arrived at my house around 5-6pm. We laughed for hours. We ordered pizzas instead of making a big dinner. The children could hardly contain when they saw the presents under the tree. I think the funniest thing is watching Anna and Sloan trying to find their names on the presents. Aristotle who is in the third grade questioned "Why are some of these gifts from Santa?" Just as he was saying this the big man himself showed up on the fire truck. Anna keeps telling us he comes on a truck not a sleigh.

I did make my family partake in a Christmas craft. It was a simple one I saw on Pinterent. As soon as it was dry I pulled out the hammer, and hung it up. I do want to hot glue a red ribbon on the edge.

We gave Jaime and Greg the night off, and kept Hans over night with us. He was so cute in the morning waking up. I love hearing Anna interact with her cousins. She is so loving and bossy all at the same time. I did have to stop Anna a couple of times because she was trying to put Hans into time-out.

Sunday we sent the day with my sister and her two boys, Sloan and Aristotle. Sloan is just 5 months younger than Anna. Sloan is such a sweet boy. They spent the night Sunday and Monday. The three little ones were sick. Sloan threw up actually all over me as Hans and Anna watched. We found out that Anna will throw up in sympathy. I asked her what happened and she describes it as "I sick, like a dragon."

Anna was the first up of course and woke the rest of them up too. I heard Anna tell Sloan, "I the teacher, you be the audience." Anna always prefers to be the teacher which makes me laugh. She was going through her flash cards with him.

In all, the week has been very busy. Anna's blood work came back...all normal! Thank God! Anna did wake me up with pains in her legs again tonight, I gave her some Tylenol, and she fell back to sleep. I have been so blessed to be able to be off for the past couple of days. I know once the new year starts that is when the pace will pick up again.


Anna at the dentist. She would only go if I put on a Rudolph nose. Her cheeks are red from the fifths disease.


Santa, Hans, Jaime, and Greg. I had the camera so again no pictures of me...sigh.



Sloan, Anna, and I made cut outs of our hands one morning and decorated them with "sparkles." I have a really cute picture of Sloan but Jackie prefers that I not put the boys on the blog.

To say Anna is excited about Santa coming is a complete under statement. I think I am going to try to get it on video this year. So that is it for now. I hope to be able to get the salt dough ornaments done today. As I was putting pictures into this post I realized that I did not take any pictures of our crafts with my real camera only my phone. Those of you who are friends of mine on FB have already seen the crafts. I hope to picture them all today if I remember, get a chance.

Bingo...B...I...N...G...O

This song has been in my head for the last two days. I am thinking about switching it up with a version of If your happy and you know. Why you ask because this marks day 3 of Anna being home from school sick.

I am blessed because first off I have been off all week so I have not had to struggle to find someone to watch Anna, and I actually have had a lot of fun with her even though she is sick. Anna has a virus called fifths disease. Which is cold like symptoms, chapped, puffy lips, and feeling a little tired. There is a rash that is described as looking like a slapped face. This could also a count for the pain in her joints. Although she is no longer contagious, Anna's teacher is pregnant, and I want to error on the side of waiting to return her to school. Once you have an immunity to fifths disease you should be good for life which I usually do not believe.

Yesterday we had another visit with the dentist. I did not have a level of comfort with the dentist that we visited with in November and made the decision that if I have to pay completely out of pocket for this visit I would. Anna has a few dental issues but this is something that we have been battling for a while. The enamel on Anna's teeth did not form properly. Anna needs some work done that is not an emergency but rather then putting her through 4-6 visits with sedation in the office we are opting to have her work done in one visit at the hospital.

As a nurse I feel way more comfortable with her being sedated in a hospital rather then in a doctor's office. There is also the advantage of being an employee at the hospital because I will be able to stay with her as long as possible. Those are the benefits of working in one hospital for as long as I have. So at the end of January Anna is scheduled for our total oral rehab.

I still hope to be able to do a few crafts with Anna today because she is feeling a little better. Yesterday we did decorate our tree which Anna loved. She has been redecorating it most of the morning. The funny thing is she will move a couple of ornaments then stand back and say "Looks perfect!"

All aboard! Who ate the Gingerbread man and I have a snowman in my kitchen

I should know better then to not buy extra tickets. I am one of those crazy people who do love to plan some things in advance, like months in advance. So this past August I started asking who wanted to go on a train ride with Santa with us. Funny I did not get too many people who were as excited about a train ride with Santa in August...hmm...wonder why. So I only bought 14 tickets but then needed more so I sent Me-Me and La-La after a few more. We still did not have enough...sigh. I will not lie I am thinking of buying the whole train next year.

In the end it all worked out and we ended up knowing about 25 of the 60 or so people on the train at Allaire State park. The ride was only about 20 minutes long but it was still a bunch of fun. My friend Karen and her Grand daughter Ava were there and I got some cute shots of Ava talking with Santa. My other friend's (Patti) grandson and two of her children were also on the train. JoanMarie, Eddie and AM made the train too. I just love doing these kind of things together as a family.

We will not all be able to be together for Christmas so I enjoy the activities leading up to Christmas as much as I can. Pictures you ask? Well here they are.

Hans and Anna


Papa chasing Anna

Wayne (my nephew) and Kerri his girlfriend

Hans was so excited that I am thinking we will have to take a trip to see Thomas the Train

Nanny

La-La and Aunt Jenny

Anna with Santa


No pictures of me because I got to hold JoanMarie on the train.

I guess why I love these planned events so much is usually an unplanned event also crops up. The following day a bunch of us got together to make ginger bread houses. Anna has been reading the story about the ginger bread man in school so she was very excited for this project. One of the kit came with a little gingerbread man that she promptly eat. When she does stuff like that it just makes me laugh.
Jim Dear



Samantha (Jim Dear's niece)and La-La









We laughed, and decorated our houses but most importantly we made memories as a family. Ones that I will cherish for a long time. I am hoping everyone can make it on Thursday were I plan on making them all paint with their feet. Got to love pinterest for the Christmas crafts.

Speaking of pinterest I transformed my refrigerator into a super cute snowman. Less then 5 dollars worth of felt and I got two snowmen out of the deal.

Back a Moon

I co-sleep with Anna. The other night Gerard was laying down with us and Anna was having a hard time falling asleep. Gerard will usually lay with us until we fall asleep but he swears we are both to noisy to sleep with and quite frankly we are. Not to mention Anna lays across the bed.

Every night before we fall asleep Gerard tells us "Back a moon" which translates to I love you. This is our shorten version of 'I love you to the moon and back." We have been doing this for a while and I like it. The other night Gerard whispered to Anna "Back a moon."

Anna whispered in my ear "Momma, Daddy needs gum." I open my eyes, because yes I was almost a sleep and giggled because Gerard hates chewing gum. Usually his response is "Why would someone want to chew gum. It looks like a lot of work that never ends."

So I whispered to Anna "No gum, lay your head down and go to sleep. Back a moon." To which Anna whispers to Gerard "Daddy, Momma said no gum! Lay your head down, go to sleep. Back a moon." Anna laid her head down and promptly fell asleep.

This morning Gerard and I laughed over this whole conversation. I am not sure if she thought she heard him ask for gum or if she just wanted gum and thought that if Daddy wanted gum it would be fine. No matter what the case this made me laugh.

Yesterday's blood work was the complete opposite from our last experience. I applied a cream to Anna's arms that numbs the area. It has to be applied for one hour prior to the blood draw and covered and is called Emla. If any of you must take your child for blood work on a regular bases this is a must and again something I would insist on from your doctor.

We registered for the blood work but only had to wait a few minutes. I explained what was going to happen and in walks the one person I would have never wanted to talk Anna's blood. Quite frankly I would draw it myself first, just as I was about to say something another woman I know walked in and started to prep Anna. In less then 5 minutes her blood was drawn, and the bandaid was applied, six tubes and one stick.

I can not tell you how much I appreciate your kind comments. I do so hope these are growing pains. If they are then we are going to have to have a talk with Anna to stop this growing business. I want to always remember how excited she is when I do not have to work. One of my other favorite things is how she sings and if she does not know the words she just makes them up.

Blood work!

Over the past 20 years I have given many shots, started a number of IVs, and drawn tons of blood work. I have been conditioned that these things just need to get done for an important reason so I do them. Now when I say that I know it sounds very matter of fact and cold but this is a part of the professional me that keeps my mind safe from the not so nice things that I have seen over the years.

I often think about how the caregivers may be haunted by caring for the children in the orphanage. There is little they can do besides going and meeting the superficial needs of these children. In the past I have felt burned out and the conditions I work under are light years better then the conditions the caregivers in the orphanages work under.

Back to the blood work, when Anna came home from Russia I insisted that she not be vaccinated twice and instead that she has the titers drawn to see what diseases she was having an immune response towards. I remember that day very vividly, 17 tubes of blood were drawn. This afternoon I will take Anna for more blood work. My guess after looking at the orders is about 5-6 tubes of blood, please I pray it is not more than that this time.

This fall Anna was bitten by a tick. I marked it on the calendar and counted out 8 weeks which brought us close to the end of October. The night before Thanksgiving Anna had a crying episode and started to complain about her knees. Anna does not complain so I held her, gave her Tylenol and watched her. The pains went away until this Monday night. Tuesday I took her to the doctor's office to discuss three issues, the leg pain being one of them. I fear she may have Lyme's disease. I will post more about the other two issues after I have processed the discussion between Anna's pediatrician and I first.

I will say that I will have a couple of more doctor appointments in the near future. I am a little worried but I am doing my best to put it in God's hands. I want what is best for my baby. I will do what is necessary and right.

So today I will pick Anna up from school and drive her to he hospital where I work so I can hand select who will draw her blood. Yes, I am that bossy. I will pray that she will not cry for long after the blood draw.

I NEED that on my roof

Last week Gerard met my Mother and I at the mall to have Anna's Christmas pictures done. Anna's Christmas dress is somewhat plain by some standards but I just love it. No glitter or glitz. The dress is a cotton, red dress with white poka-dots. I love the little peter pan collar and tab with her first initial monogrammed on the tab of the dress.

We brought a few of our special things with us to the appointment. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer that Jim Dear and La-La bought her last year made the cut. So did the alters that Gerard and Anna play with on a routine bases. With some help from Nanny's red lip stick Anna was adorned with a red nose. The pictures turned out beautiful. What was even better was Gerard took Anna to the indoor play area so I could pick out the pictures without worrying where Anna was.

On our way home we stopped for some frozen yogurt which is my new love. On the ride home Anna started to notice the Christmas decorations outside. Now we usually put out the nativity with a star but in the past no lights on the house. Now if it were me the house would be light in white lights with colored accents but since I dislike being on a ladder lights usually do not go on the house.

I was getting a sleepy little Anna out of the car at home and she lifted her head and pointed at the neighbor's house and said "I NEED them on Anna's house!" When Gerard got home I asked him to just take her outside and she repeated her demand to him as well. He laughed and smiled. Saturday he went to the store and came back with the clips needed to hang the lights. So maybe today he will get a chance when he gets home to get up there and hang the lights.

Saturday we were able to get the Nativity down and just like the past two years Anna took charge of placing the people in the front yard. I just sat back and pictured her this year and with no guidance from Gerard or I she took the plastic characters out and placed them on the lawn. I was amazed by the order in which she decided who was going to be on the lawn first.

Baby Jesus was first, then Mary, and then Joseph all found their special spots on the lawn. The animals were next then the Sheppard and wise men. She is so interested in Baby Jesus which we just love. She made sure that each of the statues had a view of Baby Jesus.

Pinterest

I have a new love. Pinterest...anyone else a part of this site? I love crafts, decorating and the photo tips that are posted on this site. I found this really neat reindeer ornament that I plan to do with Anna and the family this Christmas. I would love some suggestions of people to follow on this site.

Today I decided Anna and I are going to spend the day together. Hopefully I will be able to get an appointment to have her pictures for Christmas done. I would also love to get a few cookies made. What a beautiful today is going to be.