A Day at Callaway
Saturday we drove down to Callaway Gardens - http://www.callawaygardens.com/. We first stopped by LaGrange and picked up our friend Vicki. In the midst of a lot of days with not so good weather, Saturday was beautiful (78 degrees and sunny). Abby was very excited to see Vicki, her dogs, Scout and Fisher, and to meet her new kitten, Gilmore. The dogs were happy to see Abby and Gilmore was more fascinated with just what Abby was. Vicki's boyfriend gave her Gilmore at Halloween so little Gilmore is still a kitten. He really cracked me up because he acted a little scared of Abby (he has never seen a little kid before) and yet he stayed very close to her just checking her out. It looked like he was saying "what IS she?"

Before she was even dressed, Abby got the things she was going to take with us and put them literally beside the front door. She was so excited!

When we first got there, we started by feeding lots of very large turtles (plus some very large and very sneaky fish). You can buy a handful of food and Abby liked throwing one tiny pellet at a time.

After lunch at the Country Kitchen (delicious food by the way), we checked out the view. Before you worry that this looks like something Michael Jackson would let his kids do, the view is very deceiving. :-) The other side of the little fence was really no drop at all as the ground was level there. The view was really pretty though!

Next we went to the butterfly exhibit. It is really cool and Abby loved walking around it. In fact, she made 3 tours around.

After the butterflies, we went to the beach for a little while. Since the official season opening isn't until Memorial Day, there were only a few people hanging about. Next time I will have to take Abby's bathing suit (or "baking suit" as she still calls it).

After the beach we headed back to the other side of the lake to watch the Birds of Prey show. We had just enough time to partake in a little ice cream snack before the show. We managed to snag a front row bench and got to see Tildon the Hawk, Willow the Owl, and Vinnie the Vulture up close and personal. My favorite was Vinnie. While we waited on the bird show, Abby did her own little parading.

Abby checking out the statue of Mrs. Callaway and her dog.

After the bird show, it was time to head home. Abby was sound asleep before we even got out of the gardens. She slept all the way back to our driveway.

Salad Day
Today was Salad Day for Abby's class at school. Each kid was to sign up to bring some veggies for the salad. We took broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Abby was very excited to take her veggies this morning. Her teachers said she even did a pretty good job eating the salad. Abby really likes broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes but does not like lettuce at all.

Tonight we went to Mellow Mushroom to eat. We had not been there in awhile. The good thing about going to eat with a child is eating early and thus virtually no wait at any restaurant. The only people there are those with kids, those over 70, and those who are trying to eat early so they can begin their night of partying. A pretty interesting group when you get down to it.

We stopped by the mall after dinner. Next week is Teacher Appreciation/Spirit week at Abby's school. Each day we will take her teachers little gifts. Monday is lotion/bubble bath day. Believe me when I say these teachers deserve this week and a whole lot more but lotion/bubble bath day is always a little hard as it is not easy to pick out scents for people you know on this level. But we found some that hopefully they will like. I somehow picture the teachers have a whole closet at home filled with nothing but lotion and bubble bath accumulated from this day each year. :-)

Abby has gotten pretty good at washing her own hair and even dumps the cup of water on her own head. I leave you with my blurry little one.

Babies babies everywhere
The other night while I was cooking dinner, Abby was busy taking care of her extended family. Lots and lots of babies. Her friend Avery gave Abby some doll diapers for her birthday. So, several of the babies were wearing their diapers. We also found an old swim diaper for one more baby. No wet babies around our house. :-) I love how she lined them up.

Today's Abby
Today I got Abby's school pictures back. I love her little lopsided grin.

As I type this, Abby is in her bed singing "The Ants Come Marching One by One". Just two minutes ago she was singing "London Bridges". Her song choices, as well as her abrupt transitions, entertain me to no end. And now, two minutes later, she is sound asleep. She is her own music box.

Today Abby's teachers asked me if we were in a car wreck. Abby told them a lady hit our car and it is now broken. Pretty good assessment overall. A couple of weeks ago an 87 year old lady hit my car while we were in church. It really isn't too bad - but it was enough that the bumper does have to be replaced. The lady told me she really doesn't want this on her insurance so she had me get an estimate from Honda and then mailed me a check the next day. We are now just waiting on the bumper to come in so I can get it fixed. I'm not sure why Abby brought it up today as nothing new has really happened with the car, but she definitely has a great memory for things.

We don't usually eat dessert but tonight Abby did have ice cream after dinner. She took one bite and said "mommy, there is a stick in there" and the proceeded to eat the whole thing in some kind of record time.

Today's Abby

I took this while stopped at a redlight on the way home from school today. Abby was singing and dancing to I Just Want to Be King from The Lion King. I wish I had the video camera with me.

Abby picked out her pajamas tonight. The Superman pajamas were hand-me-downs from friends. Once she had them on and I got out the camera, the dancing began. I have one silly happy girl!! :-)

What a difference a day makes

Last week I asked Abby's teachers if she was sleeping during naptime and found out that no, she was actually not sleeping at all. Because she was just staying on her mat quietly and not disturbing the other kids, they didn't mention it to me. But this is without doubt the major cause of last week's mood and short temper. Abby is one of those kids who really needs her sleep. She goes to bed at 7:30 and sleeps until 6:30 in the morning. And on the weekends she takes a full 2 hour nap each day.

I hear of other parents who say their kids go to bed at 9:00 (or later) but my sweet little girl is just not one who can function on so little sleep. I feel incredibly fortunate that she is such a good sleeper! Today, in light of this discovery, one of Abby's teachers sat beside her at nap time and repeatedly told her to close her eyes. She said it only took 5 minutes before Abby was sound asleep. And she had a great day today! In fact, it was a two sticker day! Sometimes being a parent is also about a little detective work. :-)

We went on a long walk with our neighbors this afternoon. Francesco (or Coco as Abby calls him) is 3.5 years old and Luca is 20 months old. We have walked together regularly with them and their mom since the kids were babies but now it is funny when we walk because Abby and Francesco actually have conversations. I love to listen to what they discuss. Not quite world peace or how the Braves bullpen is doing, but they are pretty close.

We had a really good weekend. Saturday night we got together with other single mom families (all the moms had also adopted from Kazakhshtan). We ate pizza and then went to Chastain Park so the kids could run around. Sunday morning Abby helped me make banana nut muffins. She is the best little helper you could imagine. And she is also great at licking the bowl. That's my girl!

Sunday afternoon we had one of those rare days where we got to just hang out at home and play. We did some painting, built some castles, played with Thomas the Train, and read some books. Sometimes life is so fast, but these days always slow things down and help put things in perspective.

Today when we were getting ready for our walk, I had to change clothes to put on shorts. After I changed clothes, I heard Abby in my room. She was putting all my clothes in my clothes basket. It was the sweetest and cutest sight. I had not said a word to her, she just saw that my clothes were on my bed and decided to help me out. :-) I love that she likes to help out. I try to include her in as many daily tasks as possible and she is quite amazing what she can do (with a little help of course). She puts her dirty clothes in her clothes basket, feeds Lucy, puts her dishes in the dishwasher after meals, picks up her toys, makes her bed in the morning, and gives Lucy her daily treat. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things on that list too. I'm not a slave driver or anything but I do feel this is the best time to begin learning responsibility. Plus, now she thinks all this stuff is fun. :-)

So, that's about it from our house tonight. :-) Good night.

Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug
Oh but we had a rough week last week. People talk a lot about the terrible twos but for almost every parent I have ever talked to, they say the terrible twos are nothing but a mere warm up for a three year old. I have to completely agree. The tantrums are definitely fewer in number and shorter in duration but they are also way more dramatic.

Last week, Abby had a few days where she did not get stickers because she had trouble listening to her teachers. Thursday we were to go to her friend Alyssa's house after school so the girls could go skating on their new skates. When I picked up Abby, her teachers informed me that Abby had quite the defiant day that day. Not a good sign and in hindsight, even a bit of foreshadowing.

The skating started out well but then the girls got in a bit of a disagreement over who was going to hold a broom. Yes, a broom. The cause of most world wars I do believe. Well, Abby kind of just lost it. She had the mother of all tantrums. The grand poobah. The kind where I was just waiting for her head to spin around. After a very serious warning and behavior that not only didn't stop, but actually intensified, I picked up Abby (as much as one can pick up a kicking and screaming being) and as calmly as I could, told Alyssa's mom we would not be able to stay. Putting same kicking, screaming child into the car seat provided an aerobic workout that most people pay good money for.

Yes, I am one of those moms. I feel very strongly that Abby's behavior that particular day could not be rewarded by getting to stay at Alyssa's house. So I promptly took her home where a time out awaited her. Amazingly, the rest of the night she was her normal happy self. I did also put up the skates and told her she could work to earn them back. Her teachers were in full agreement of this and feel that using it as a reminder during the week next week will help a lot. So, hopefully next Friday, she will have earned them back.

I'm so glad Abby has this amazing spirit. I feel it is going to take her very far in life. In the mean time, it is my job to set boundaries and it is her job to test those boundaries. Plus, she is a little person, and everyone just has rough weeks every now and then. All I know, is that I love being her mommy more than anything and I wouldn't trade it, tantrums and all, for anything in the world.

We have become friends with one of the families at Abby's school. Alyssa is in Abby's class and they just adore each other and play so well together. They invited us to go to Alyssa's grandmother's house for Easter but we already had plans and could not go. Alyssa's grandmother still bought Abby an Easter gift. Actually make that plural. Gifts. :-) Soooo incredibly sweet! One of the gifts was a set of Dora Explorer skates. Anyone who knows a 3 year old girl (or boy for that matter), knows that Dora rules the world. And Dora skates? Well, let's just say Abby squealed when she saw them.

Every afternoon, weather and schedule permitting, we take Lucy for a walk around our neighborhood. Abby gets to take grapes or apples and her water bottle. Lucy gets to attempt to scare every neighborhood bird or squirrel. I get a little exercise and we get to say hello to all our neighbors. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon actually. Well, for tonight's walk, Abby insisted on wearing the knee and elbow pads that came with the Dora skates. She got lots of adoring comments from each neighbor we saw. I have to say, I might just put them on her all the time as the pads just covered all the usual boo boo places. Here is my little fashionata.

Sunday afternoon we went with our friends the Brashers to the big lake at Lullwater Park at Emory University http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/DruidHills/neighborhood/president-park.html. This park is one of my favorites as it is really big, full of lots of undeveloped land, and the developed part is really beautiful. It also happens to have lots of great trails and even a small waterfall. Emory's president lives in the park so the grounds are especially maintained. We are so lucky to live 5 minutes from this park.

The lake is generally full of lots of ducks and/or geese. While there weren't a lot of either, we did get to feed a mommy duck and her babies and a mommy goose and her babies. Said babies were unbelivably cute. Bread was shared and both the feeders and the recipients were quite happy. Oh, and the fish who managed to snag some bread were pretty happy as well.

This afternoon after I picked up Abby from school, I gave her the choice of where we would eat dinner. By Friday I rarely feel like cooking any kind of dinner, so whenever possible, it is our night to eat out. Abby immediately chose Mama Fu's - http://mamafus.com/. It is one of her absolute favorites (and fortunately, mine too). Abby always chooses to eat Mei Mei's (chicken fried rice with carrots) and I usually get Pad Thai with tofu. Abby loves to eat some of mine (especially the "To Food" as she calls it). After we finished dinner and were ready to eat the fortune cookie, Abby proclaimed it as the "cookie with a tag". :-) I love the way a 3 year old mind works!! Perfect way to describe a fortune cookie!

As I type this, Abby is in bed but she is not yet asleep. She is singing "Copacabana". It is pretty funny that she knows almost all the words. She is singing it loud and strong. Barry Manilow would be incredibly proud if only he were here. Perhaps she has a singing career in her future? Can the world use a female Barry Manilow?

Today was a two sticker day. We are working on being a good listener at school and this seems to be the thing that works the best. If she is a good listener for her teachers, they let me know and Abby gets to pick one sticker when we get home. She puts it on after bath time so she can wear it to school to show her teachers. Today Ms. Asiatu and Ms. Cheryl told me she was such a good listener that they recommended two stickers. So my little listener went to bed with a Goofy sticker on each hand. Proud day!

I leave you with a picture of my little Urkel. Most nights when she puts on her pajamas, she pulls the pants as high as they will go and tucks in her shirt. I have no idea what prompted this fashion statement but at least for now, it is limited to bedtime wear. Okay, she has moved from Barry Manilow and is now singing "I Got You Babe". I can think of no better way to end for tonight. :-)

Easter
We had a great Easter this year. We went up to Rome on Saturday to celebrate with Abby's Gigi (grandma), great-grandma Margaret, and Papa. Suffice it to say there were colored eggs, an Easter basket, and a yummy lunch. Despite some lovely traffic (I would like to know just who thought putting the Steeplechase on the Saturday before Easter would make a good idea), it was a fun day.

Sunday was spent going to church, hunting eggs in the backyard (fortunately our dog, Lucy, had zero interest in plastic eggs and even wondered what all the fuss was about) and then eating another great meal with our friends the Joyners and some very fun egg hunting with their grandchildren.

I can't believe I am just now updating my journal. So much has happened and Abby has changed so much since I last posted. I am going to try a new tactic and update every couple of days but just keep the posts much shorter. Rose, you have inspired me to do better! Your blog is so great and I know Astrid will one day love to read it.

One quick Abby story for tonight. Abby is in the stage where she loves to play hide-and-seek. When I am the one hiding, our dog will come stand about 3 inches from me, stare at me and wag her tail. Yes, she totally rats me out. Every single time. Abby can always find me. At 65 pounds, Lucy is not exactly a small, easy to miss dog. So, after she "finds" me, Abby will immediately hide in the exact same place I was hiding. :-) And she barely waits for me to move before assuming her new hiding place. It is the sweetest, funniest thing. Oh, and when Abby wants to be found, she will call out "Peek me, mommy!"

Happy New Year!

Well, it is that time of year for me to be extremely nostalgic. Two years ago today I was in Uralsk visiting with Abby twice a day. Two years ago I was surrounded by people speaking in a language I did not understand. Two years ago I was surrounded by more snow than I had ever seen in my life. Two years ago I spent days and nights largely alone. Two years ago I met the most amazing baby who was meant to be my daughter.

The things Abby has learned and taught me in the last two years are too many to list. Yes, this list includes the basics of walking, talking, eating solid food, drinking from a cup, potty training, and sleeping in a big girl bed. But this list also includes learning to do flips, blow bubbles, show compassion, tell a joke, and face a fear. I am so incredibly proud of Abby that mere words can not describe. Each day I see a bit more of the person she will grow to be. Not a day goes by that I don't think of the people who helped us become a family. My time in Kazakhstan was but a month of my life. At the time that it sometimes seemed an eternity, but now I realize how brief it really was.

Last year I did something that I have continued this year. Each day in the month of January, I read out loud to Abby what I wrote in my journal for each given day. Last year she was still too young (not even 2 at the time) and she just played while I read but this year Abby actually sits and listens and comments on what I say. It is a way for me to relive my trip and a way for Abby to hear about it (without me forgetting something). She loves hearing about when she was a baby and can readily tell that she was born in Kazakhstan and that mommy came on the airplane to bring her home.

So, this post is all about the nostalgia. I think a lot of parenthood is that way but when you adopt internationally, you leave a part of yourself in your child's birth country. A large part of my heart is in Kazakhstan. And that is as it should be.

I leave you with some pictures of Abby at the baby house. I took these our first days together. I took the last one when we arrived in Almaty. I will post again in a day or two with lots of updates and Abby stories so please check back!