Facelift & Lights Out

How do you like the new look? I have been wanting to do this to the blog for sometime now, it just kept on sliding off my to-do list.

It has been a month since our last post, and frankly there isn't a whole lot to blog about; particularly as it relates to adoption, which is how this blog got started. With that, we have decided to go dark on the blog. We will keep it running, only because I know, first hand, how helpful blogs can be when you are in the process of adopting and want to know what's ahead.

We still plan on sending regular emails with photos and updates to friends and family. If we have become friends through adoption (you know who you are), rest assured that we will include you in the updates! And if you just want to be sure we do, leave us a comment.

As a quick update, we went to Orlando the first week of March and had a great time. We visited my cousins (Nick's godparents) and Bill's parents who are in Fort Myers for a month. During our time in Orlando we went to Animal Kingdom, and Nick is now a huge fan of Goofy! We also went to Cocoa Beach and are now leaning towards renting a condo in Siesta Key next year so we can enjoy some beach time. Nick certainly enjoyed the ocean.

Nick continues to grow (sometimes I think he grows everyday), has an extensive vocabulary both in Spanish and English, and if I were to use on word to describe him, I would say the kid is just hilarious! I am really looking forward to his 3 year check up in July, only to see the look of shock in our pediatrician's face. He was taken aback by the 11 lbs and 7 inches gained on the first year at home.

To the adoptive families, in the process, who may be reading this, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the process, particularly in Novokuznetsk. Adoption is certainly not for the faint at heart, but absolutely worth it!

Will do one last post with our vacation pictures, just give me a few days to edit them!

Today is Tomorrow

Is it 10:00 PM in Indianapolis and 10:00 AM in Novokuznetsk. At 10:00 AM on February 1st,2008 we were walking into Baby Home #1 to pick up our son and begin our journey home.

While the last year has been somewhat of a whirlwind, the 20 minutes spent getting Nicholas ready and heading out of the Baby Home will forever be etched in our minds; just like still pictures. Too many of them to even begin to list them here; all of them simply magical.

Happy Gotcha Day Nicholas.

Snow, snow, and more snow...

It was hard to get him back in the house, those red cheeks did say it was time to come in!

This sled is actually "vintage"... it used to be Bill's

Red Square Hockey

If Sports Illustrated is one of the magazines you get in the mail, yet sometimes goes unread and in the trash bin, don't discard last week's issue yet!

There's a really neat spread of an ice hockey game being played on the skating rink just outside of Gum. I think this is the same one we saw in January of 2008. The online story and pictures don't do justice to the two page spread in the print edition. The print edition is worth keeping, and possibly framing, especially for those of us who adopted boys.

This is the link to the on-line story, and you may still be able to get the printed edition.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/hockey/more/01/10/russian.all.star.ap/index.html

The picture to the right is one of the pictures that was posted online. I haven't been able to find the nice shot that is in the magazine, anywhere on the net.

First Snow

...and the irony of it all is that I am pretty certain that Nicholas never got to play in the snow until today. Mind you, there were several feet of snow in Novo when we were there for court almost a year ago. We didn't stay out too long. The wind was just brutal and you could tell that he didn't enjoy that part of it.

We have a berm behind our house that is perfect for sledding. Hopefully the next snowfall won't bring the below zero windchills!

Meeting Father Frost

We were invited to a Russian Christmas & New Year celebration hosted by the Kids First Foundation. They are affiliated with a local adoption agency (not ours), but they were kind enough to open the even to all local families that adopted from Russia.

Nick had a great time and wasn't too interested in leaving. He got to hang out with his buddy Jakob and I got to catch up with a few other families that I had not seen since before the completion of their respective adoptions. It was great to see all of them and their children.

Left: Dancing with the other children.

Right: Focused on what Father Frost was saying.














Left: Father Frost
Below: Performers of the different pieces.

Happy Russian Christmas!

Today Russia celebrated their Christmas Holiday. Given that the Russian Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar; Christmas celebrations take place 13 days after the western world celebrates.

When we traveled to meet Nicholas in October of 2007, we did quite a bit of shopping with the thought of buying one Russian made gift to give to him each year until his 21st birthday. This year he got two, the first one was his Christmas stocking and that has been hanging on the mantel since we first decorated in December.

The "official" gift for this year is a white t-shirt featuring Misha, the mascot from the 1980 Summer Olympics that tool place in Moscow. This year we kept it simple, but as Nicholas grows, we will talk to him more about the Russian traditions and maybe incorporate a Russian menu for dinner.