Home 3 months...

It really feels like we have been home with Vera much longer than 3 months. I say that in a good way. We did meet her nearly 5 months ago, but she has only been home with us for 3. It just feels like she has always been a part of our family.

She has mastered walking. Now that she walks, we have noticed that she explores a lot more. Not that she didn't get around by crawling, but she will just now kind of amiously walk around carrying different toys.

She really doesn't say any words yet. Maybe "dada" and "mama" once in awhile. But, her jabber now seems to be more defined like she really is trying to say something. Every time she waves goodbye, it sounds the same, "ga-ga".

Vera will also now sit and look at at picture books. She also likes those greeting cards that play a song once you open them up. She has already wore one out and another sounds like it won't last much longer. It is so cute. She will either sit and look through the book or bring a book to me and want me to flip through the pages with her. I never thought the girl would sit still long enough to look at a book!

Vera now takes one nap of 2-3 hours. I have worked it so I put her down just after Kiara leaves on the bus, so I have a couple hours of quiet! I love to see Vera watch Kiara leave on the bus. She will stand in the doorway and yell out the door to her and then raise one of her hands over her head and wave goodbye. She will do that over and over. It is the cutest thing.

Kiara and Vera play much more together now. I love it when they make each other laugh. Kiara can keep Vera entertained with playing peek a boo or with a ball. It has made my life a bit easier.

I think Vera will be a challenge to disipline as she gets older. After you tell her to not do something, she will go to do it again and look at you (and even sometimes laugh) and do it again. She can also thow the biggest fits when you won't let her do what she wants. I mean, full fledge flialing her body and convulsing her body. Sometimes it can be quite humorous to to watch! Unfortunately, she tends to bang her head on something in the process. :(

Sisterly love!

Having fun with daddy!

My cuties. I love them so much!

This weekend we are taking a mini family vacation. We will only be gone one night and going to Fun City in Iowa. It will be a good test to see how Vera travels since we are going to Phoenix at the end of April.

March happenings...

We had been busy this month and have enjoyed the bouts of beautiful weather we have had. Here is a picture of the girls on their picnic table. Obviously, I couldn't get a good picture...

I am happy to say that I did reach my goal of getting the girls to JcPenny to get their picture taken. Yay! They aren't the best, but at least I have done my motherly duty. Vera would not sit in one place for more than one second! It is amazing we got ANY good shots.

I planned the Upward Basketball Award Ceremony that was on March 21st. On the same day, Ryan went to Chicago for his fantasy baseball draft. So, both of the girls stayed overnight at my parent's house. Vera did great! She slept 12 hours and took a nap. She had a great time. Thanks, mom & dad!!

Vera is as busy as ever and is now 17 months old! She is walking a lot, but still isn't completely stable. I put her on the scale the other day and was shocked that Vera weighs 24 pounds! She has gained 5 pounds since we brought her home. It will be interesting to see where she is on the growth charts when we go to the pediatrician next month. Vera loves to open all my kitchen cabinet doors and drawers. Luckily, once in awhile, the Tupperware drawer will keep her attention.

Kiara is as sweet as ever. Some days the things that come out of her mouth make her sound so old, makes me sad. She is growing into a little lady. Kiara loves clothes and will sometimes change her outfit 4 or more times in one day! She loves puzzles and has started to learn to read and can even do some simple addition. She is a very smart girl. Her teachers at school love her.

Kiara went on a field trip to the local children's museum last Friday. A note had been sent home the week before saying that parents could come. Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to watch Vera, so I wasn't able to go. The day before the field trip, Kiara comes home with a sad face asking if I could go with her. I knew I couldn't, but I called Ryan to see if his morning was clear at work. Luckily, it was and the best daddy ever went on the field trip with her. Below is Kiara and Ryan on the "big bus that doesn't have seat belts", as Kiara would say.

Next month we are looking forward to going to Phoenix at the end of the month! We can't wait to spend time with Dani, Bobby and the girls. Before that, Kiara will be off of school for spring break.

Walking...

I finally captured Vera walking on video! She is walking much more now. She can go quite a ways, but is still a bit unsteady.

She can now easily open the door to our basement and bathroom, unfortunately!

Kiara and Vera seem to get a bit closer everyday. Vera likes it when Kiara will get in her crib with her and do what she does. Vera likes it when Kiara comes to get her up from her naps. But, Vera will still let Kiara know when she is doing something she doesn't want her to do.

I am still getting use to having a little one that you have to supervise 24/7. I am so tired! We did get the play pen out and I put her in there when I need to get something done like make dinner. It isn't her favorite place, but after a few minutes she will sit down and start playing with her toys. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband that has let me get away a week ago Friday night to scrapbook and this weekend on Friday night and all day Saturday. It was so nice. But, I am still tired! I even took a nap today and I NEVER take naps. I think I only took a nap twice when Kiara was an infant.

I feel like I am slacking on preserving the memories of my 2nd child, so my goal this week is to get them to JcPenny's to get their picture taken. Hopefully, I am successful!

Home for 2 months...

I wrote this up a week ago and never posted it...

We have now been home for 2 months with Vera. It really seems like it has been much longer, in a good way! Vera is now almost 17 months old.

Her biggest accomplishment this month was taking her first steps! It was very exciting. My parents were at our house on March 4th after they had been in AZ for a week. Out of nowhere, she starts trying to walk. The abundant amount of cheering and clapping she got, just encouraged her to keep trying. There were a few times that she took about 10 steps at a time. The last time she walked that evening, she did a face plant into the hardwood floor, so she hasn't been too eager to do it again. Although, my mom come by yesterday to pick Kiara up, and Vera just starts to try and walk to her. So, I guess my mom is going to have to be around for Vera to walk!

There have been 2 times where I have been able to leave Vera, with Kiara there, too, in small nursery settings. She did great and enjoyed playing with the other kids. The second time I took her, she wanted right down to play. I won't be leaving her on a regular basis yet, but it encourages me that we will be able to leave her and be able to get babysitters!

One of Vera's favorite things to do is kiss! I think we have given her a warped view of kissing because anytime she says goodbye or hello to anyone, she puckers up for a kiss. She won't always actually follow through with the kiss, though. Even the old man at the grocery store who talks to her because he thinks she is adorable, she leans forward and puckers up for him.

Vera has grown at least one inch and 2 pounds.

She is very quick, you can't take your eyes off of her. She is constantly finding something she isn't suppose to open, get into, etc. She is now able to reach our door handles and can open the doors if she works at it a little bit.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Well, I am a few days late, but better late than never, right? Ryan, my husband, turned 33 on February 23rd. I did remember on his birthday and we went out for Mexican and then to Ryan's favorite ice cream place, Coldstone. Yum! Yum! I think we got some funny cards this year...

Here are some pics from Vera's first stroll around the mall in her stroller. She isn't the best shopper, but I will work on that! She likes to grab at everything and she would much rather I carry her!

Just to clairify...that is my mom giving her the soda, not me!

It is FINALLY official!!!!

I have been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks, but there was always much more exciting news to post on. Well, after about 6 months of work, I am finally a certified Les Mills Body Step instructor. I knew it would be hard, but didn't realize just how hard it would be!!! The training was very physically challenging, only second to child birth, and I had a hard labor and delivery!! Then, I had to learn an entire hour long routine, teach it to a class and then send in my tape to be critiqued. Well, on the third try I finally felt it was good enough to send in. I finally got my results in January, I didn't pass and I didn't fail. There were a few things I needed to work on like my fitness level and then my general manager had to sign off on me. I knew my fitness level wasn't where some people's were, especially since I had been in Russia for 4 weeks during this process, but geesh I had lost about 10 pounds!! You would think I had to increase my fitness level to do that! So, after a few weeks of going to other classes and working hard to become more fit, my manager signed off on me and I am now a certified Body Step instructor!! It felt so great to accomplish something so difficult. I would have loved to have gotten a Pass on my video, but I am learning that I don't have to be perfect and there is more than one way to accomplish a goal. Getting that sense of accomplishment is something I have missed since becoming a stay at home mom.

If any of you belong to a gym that has Les Mills classes like Body Pump, Body Flow, Body Jam, etc, I highly recommend them. It will be one of the best workouts you have ever had. I just started doing Body Pump again and I can already see a lot more muscle definition in my arms. And, I probably am using the least amount of weight of anyone in the room. If you want to check out what their classes are about, check out www.lesmills.com.

Vera's Dedication...

We had Vera dedicated at church this morning. Everything went really well. Vera and Kiara both behaved well while we were on stage. Kiara said she wanted to come up with us and I just had visions of Russian court where she first didn't want to go in with us and then wanted one of us to stay out with her and then we basically made her come in with us. Then, a lot of the time, I felt like I was telling her to not cry. But, it was nothing like that at all. She stood up there with us like a very good girl. Vera also did well and even waved to the crowd a little! It was very special to have a lot of our family with us. My parents, Ryan's parents, Ryan's younger brother and his family, one of my grandparents and 2 of Ryan's grandparents were all able to join us.

I pray that we are able to bring Vera up to love the Lord with all her heart, soul and mind. It was emotional knowing that just a couple of months ago she was in a Russian orphanage and might not have ever heard about Jesus.

So, once Vera couldn't stay quiet in church any longer me and the girls went out to the foyer. I was able to get a few cute pictures.

I love the last one, they both look so onry!

After church we were able to get a picture with Pastor.

After church was over, everyone came back to our house and my in-laws did a fish fry for us! It was very yummy. It was nice to have a get together at our house because it motivated me to clean my house and to finally get my curtains up! We have lived in our house for close to 4 years and I still didn't have curtains up. Finding window coverings is one of my most dreaded tasks. After returning several, I finally found ones we liked. Well, that was at least 6 months ago and now they are finally up! A big thanks to my parents. Mom ironed nearly all the panels and my dad installed a lot of the hardware. It is soooooo nice to have that done! So, after that was all done there was a lot of dust and sawdust on the floor. So, I dusted my house which hadn't been done in who knows how long. Everything is so clean and the drapes look wonderful.

Vera took a nice long nap when we got home from church, which allowed us all to eat and get lunch cleaned up. Here is how the princess ate her lunch when she got up.

Then, she opened a few presents with some help from her big sister.

We also celebrated some birthdays while we were all together. Ryan's birthday is the 23rd, Ryan's dad's is the 25th, and my dad's is the 28th. So, here are the birthday boys blowing out their candles.Here are a few pictures of family we took. The first is of my mom, grandma (her mom), Kiara, Vera and me. 4 generations.

This is Ryan's parents and grandma with the girls.

This is Ryan's other grandma with Ryan and Vera.Here is Ryan and our only nephew. He is the happiest most smiley kid I have ever known. He just makes me smile when I see him. He is only about a month older than Vera, so it will be fun to watch them grow up together.
It was a busy weekend with getting everything done, but we had a great day today. It was relaxing and nice to just hang out with family. We missed those who couldn't be with us especially Ryan's older brother and his family who live on the East coast and my sister and her family in Arizona. We missed you guys!