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!

So, I have a 2.5 year old. Since my last post she has become even more of the amazing little person she is. She is funny and wise. She is still an old soul. She still loves to read, play with our dog, do basically anything outside. She loves to climb anything and do everything herself. She loves her teddy bear Teddy. She loves Elmo and the Wiggles. She loves to help with basically anything I am doing.

She does have her dislikes. She dislikes wolves (fortunately, this is based only on wolves of the imaginary form). She prefers not to be anywhere close to people dressed up as characters. As a side note, the one time we saw Dora the Explorer dressed up, I was pretty scared myself as Dora was clearly a man and Dora's head was as large as Abby though Dora's body was half that size. But I digress. Abby dislikes wearing dresses.

I love trying to guess the person she is going to be.

Wow. So where to even start? We have had so much going on. Abby was in her first play at school. They did an impressive rendition of The Three Wolves. Abby was one of about eight pigs in the house made of wood. They had a confrontation with a small pack of three wolves. Abby learned ALL the lines and will still repeat them on command to this day (more than a month after the production). So, a career in the theatre for my little star? I do not know the answer to that one but I do know that she is quite good at memorizing lines. I have taught her a few more classic movie lines and she will happily repeat them. She can say "Mind you don't cut yourself Mordecai" from Raising Arizona, "Just when I thought I was out they pull me back" from the Godfather, and "what's happening hot stuff" from Sixteen Candles.

Abby is quite interested in anyone's name. And when I say anyone, I do mean anyone. It could be a news reporter on tv, a stranger in CVS, a random person out for a jog, and Abby will inevitably ask "what her name" (or "what his name" when the situation warrants)? If I say I don't know, Abby will promptly add "her name Go Go". Every single time the person's name is Go Go. The name carries over to stuffed animals, zoo animals, or dogs we meet at the park. At Abby's school, they recently acquired 2 new parakeets. Abby was the first kid there that morning and the director let her name one of the birds. Yes, that green parakeet's name is now Go Go. And a proud bird he is too!

We continue to get together with many friends. A couple of months ago we had a "mommy's night out" as I went out with 2 other friends. We hired one babysitter who came to my house and kept all 3 kids. Abby, Alec, and Avery all had a wonderful time and all 3 moms had a great dinner and even a little shopping too.

In September I had my first out of town work meeting since coming home with Abby. Oh how times have changed. I used to have about three trips a month and now I have more like one a year. I do not in any way miss all that travel. I used to wake up in a hotel and have no idea what city I was in. My friend Melanie and her family kept Abby while I made my trip to Minneapolis. I missed her like crazy but we both did fine. I was sooo excited to get home though!!! Because of a little mishap with my extra house key, our friends Rhoda and Doug had Abby at their house when I got home. Since it was after 10:00, Abby was asleep. I got her in the car and she woke up long enough to say "Hey Mommy. Where are my shoes?" :-)

Last month we went to the World Partners Adoption reunion. This was our second year to attend and it was definitely a good time! It really is incredible to see so many beautiful kids and so many happy families. We got to see friends including Charmaine and her precious daughter Jasmine (and Jasmine's grandmother). We first met them while we were still in Almaty and it is really cool to see how the kids grow and change. Both Abby and Jasmine were so very tiny then!

Last year Abby didn't really understand the whole Halloween concept but this year she was totally into it. She was a dog this year and got the chance to wear that costume quite a few times. Between the party at her school, a carnival at our church, Boo at the Zoo, two birthday parties the week of Halloween, and, of course, trick or treating, the dog costume got its fair share of wear. Heh. My poet skills do indeed still exist. Abby did opt out of wearing the costume for a couple of those events, but all in all, my cute little dog was very visible for the last several days.

We have ventured into the world of children's sports activities. Abby recently began a gymnastics class at our local YMCA. Her first class was spent in the spectator mode as she spent it largely in my lap. The second class started much the same way. But then Miss Angelica brought out the big guns - in the form of an extra cool angled mat and showed the kids how to do a flip down it. That was all it took. Abby was a full-fledged member of the class at that point. The class is pretty funny as poor Miss Angelica spends the majority of the time chasing a little boy named Nicholas all around the gym. And for the record, Nicholas quickly figured out that when Miss Angelica counted to 5, nothing happened. So his game of "I can hands down get you to chase me all around the gym" worked like a charm.

Well, I am off to find ways to recover from my Halloween candy induced coma. When will I learn? Apparently not this year. Suffice it to say that I have had my fill of the sugary stuff. At least until next year.

In the week since I last posted, we have had a lot of milestones in our house. Yes, it has been a busy week for us. So without further ado, here's the scoop.

Milestone #1 - Abby has now officially travelled to 4 states. Well, technically, make that 3 countries (Kazakhstan, Germany, and the U.S.), but we are now counting states and she has been to Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Just 46 more to go.

Last weekend we travelled to Charlotte to see my good friend Jen, her husband, daughter, and sister-in-law. Her daughter is about Abby's age and though the two had never met prior to this weekend, you would have thought they have been playing together since birth. They were so great together and it was really fun to watch them. There was not a single meltdown the whole weekend either. Pretty amazing. Their new house is incredibly beautiful as is the neighborhood. We had a blast and I, for one, am so glad they now live within driving distance. They also fed us so well that I asked if we could just move in with them. They have already learned the polite southern response and just smiled and nodded at me.

Milestone #2 - With only a small setback over the weekend (because Mommy put her back in pull-ups due to a LONG time in the car - double what it should have taken and definitely a story for another day), Abby has continued to do so well with potty training. She had another completely dry day today. I have discovered the upside of potty training is not buying diapers. The downside is one must be prepared and know the location of every public bathroom within a five mile radius, preferably before leaving the house.

Milestone #3 - Abby is now out of the crib and sleeping in her big girl bed!! The first night she only fell out of the bed twice and the first time it happened she didn't even wake up. I should mention that her new bed is a toddler bed and thus the fall was a short one. Last night was not quite as smooth but tonight (so far!) she is quiet and I do believe even asleep. That's my girl!! Of course now, when she wakes up in the morning I have to bust a move to get to her so as I don't later find her up making pancakes or something. Hmmm, I do like pancakes though. Nah, might need to wait another year or two before I have her cooking. :-)

Milestone #4 - Abby is learning how to ride her new tricycle. She is quite the little picture of cute pedaling the little Red Ryder trike while sporting her Nemo helmet. She has really picked up the concept pretty fast. The only downside is our driveway is pretty much a hill (at least from the perspective of a 2 year old on a tricycle) so to really get some practice we are going to need to head to the park down the street. Fortunately it has the perfect (flat!) riding sidewalk.

So all in all, a busy week. All this plus even more talking too. Not a day goes by that I don't laugh at something she says or does.

This week's music of choice is Louis Armstrong. Abby's favorites include "Hello Dolly" (though I change the words and sing "Hello Abby" much to Abby's delight) and "Blueberry Hill" (which was inspired by Jen's daughter).

So that is our little corner of the world. Good night!

I could probably make up a million excuses. I wouldn't even bother with the amateur ones involving dogs and homework. No, I would jump straight to the hard core excuses. Excuses involving convoluted details with me doing things like saving lives or learning the forgotten art of churning my own butter. But in all honesty excuses require more energy than 95 degree weather in Atlanta will allow. So, I'll stick with the truth. I'm the mom of a busy 2 year old.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. It's been more than a little while since I last posted. I even debated not doing this blog anymore. But when it got down to it, I just wasn't ready to give this up. Posting actually reminds me of my time in Kazakhstan. So, with all that unnecessary preamble, let me get to what we have been doing.

Back in June we went to Naples, Florida with our friends Julia and her daughter Katy, and Dawn and her son Alec. It was a really fun week and one I will long remember. Abby did great on the plane down to Naples (the flight home was a different story but hey, the plane did eventually land). She had not flown since last August but she got on that plane like a little pro. We stayed in a nice condo about 2 blocks from the beach. This year we had 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and it definitely made bed and nap time so much easier. The kids all had a blast. We went to the beach, swam in the cool condo pool, took a dolphin cruise, did some shopping, did some good eating, and even found a nice playground. While we there, Abby got bit by something (still not sure just what it was) and it got infected so we also got to spend one morning at Urgent Care. After a week on antibiotics the infection was completely better! Traveling with medication which must be refrigerated though proved to be an interesting feat. We also got to see my brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and niece several times while were down there. They were wonderful hosts and Abby had so much fun playing with her cousins.

We continue to make (mostly) montly visits to Rome to see my mom, grandmother, and Bryan. Abby loves going up there and of course, gets spoiled each time we go. :-) Our last trip in June, we arrived to find the Green Beach. My mom had a pool, sand area, beach toys, chairs, and, well you name it. Short of a pool boy named Coco to fetch me drinks, I think the pool had all the makings of a Carribbean visit. It was a really fun day. Abby now "talks" on the phone to Gigi too. For a long time, she really had very little interest in the phone but now she likes to get her time in and is pretty good at repeating whatever I say to Gigi.

For the Fourth of July holiday, we went with the Brashers to Tybee Island. Tybee Island is on the Georgia coast. I had not been there in years. We really had a great time. The motel where we stayed was, how do I say, memorable. In that it reminded me of the motels where we stayed for spring break in college (with 7 of your closest friends in one room that cost $39.99 a night). But since we weren't even in the room that much (except for naps and night), it was really fine. And the people were so very nice. My favorite night was July 3 (the night they have fireworks on Tybee). We ate dinner at a little beach shack kind of place (appropriately right on the beach). We got to listen to a jazz band and Abby LOVED them. They even let her and Sam play with them in the band. Sam was quite the member of the band but Abby realized after about 20 seconds that she was in front of a lot of people she didn't know and she bolted. But not before she made her musical debut. :-) After dinner, we went to the beach to watch the fireworks. It just doesn't get any better than that.

For the last few weeks, Abby has been taking swimming lessons at Emory University. They do things like put their face under water, blow bubbles, jump in to mommy or daddy from the side, crawl along the side (alone!), and lots of kicking water. I'm really proud of how well Abby has done. She really has not been afraid at all - even putting her face under water. I may look into swimming lessons for the winter too - inside of course.

Abby has learned so many new things that I am quite certain I will leave something out. The big thing right now is potty training!! She has had several days when she stayed dry all day (not all in a row) and I do believe she is well on the way to leaving the diaper behind for good. Her teachers at school have been so wonderful working with all the kids and their patience truly shows.

Speaking of school, Abby still loves hers. She will be moving up to a new class at the end of August and is currently in the transition mode (visiting the new class for awhile each day). They move them up around 2.5 and Abby will be 2.5 in September. I am sad Abby will be leaving Ms. Kim and Ms. Laquita though as they are fantastic teachers.

Abby's vocabulary has absolutely and completely taken off. She talks in actual sentences now and says things that just amaze me. She picks up on everything!!! Below are some of my current favorite Abby sayings and their translations:

baking suit - bathing suit
Cingella - Cinderella
I love you mommy - needs no translation and absolutely melts my heart each and every time she says it :-)
Will cookie - yes, she still calls graham crackers Will cookies
keeta - mosquita
Lucy Liu - our dog Lucy's nickname
fimming - swimming
alligator - elevator

Abby still LOVES books. There is just no other way to say it. Her first request when we get home each day is to read books. She takes 2 books with her when we go to school (and "reads" them on the way). Her first request when she gets up in the morning is to read books. I so hope this love never changes. This is just one of the many many things we share.... our love of books and reading. Last week we made her first trip to the library. We walked in the door and Abby's mouth literally dropped open in awe. She just whispered to me "Books Mommy!!" It was a one of those moments I wish I had my camera even though I will never forget the look on her face.

We still dance a lot here in the Green house. Pretty much every night after dinner. Current music choices include The Carpenters (they sing "Sing a Song" on Sesame Street and Abby loves it - especially the la la la la la part), Squirrel Nut Zippers, some new music from Kazakhstan that another mom sent us, and Van Morrison.

So, my little girl is growing and learning and I am so proud of her that mere words can not describe. She is a sweet and loving little girl who loves to dance and laugh. Life with a two year old is the best kind of life.

Until next time, good night!

And it is finally summer!

Summer and toddlers just go hand in hand. Summer is sticky and relaxed. Summer is all about being with your friends and eating watermelon. Summer is about running around barefoot and getting wet in the pool (or in the daily afternoon thunderstorm-take your pick). On any given day at the end of the day, Abby will be simultaneously sticky, hot, covered in dirt, and completely tired out. It is as it should be.

We are indeed having a good summer so far. We play outside a LOT, take Lucy on walks, and visit with our neighbors most evenings. I love our late afternoon visits with Pete (he is like a grandpa to Abby), Miss Bert (she is 85 years old), Phoebe (the basset hound Pete is keeping this summer), and Kitten (Miss Bert's semi-wild cat). Our discussions range from the Braves' disabled list to potty training to the weather to politics to pop-culture. Pete is usually drinking his glass of sweet tea and Miss Bert is usually swinging in the big swing. Abby adores going over there. Talk about your generation range - I believe we are pretty well covered.

Since I last posted, we have gone to a few birthday parties (5 to be exact - all very fun), been to watch little league baseball and soccer, had friends come to town to visit, been to the zoo, the Natural History Museum, the Children's Museum, and to the Arts Festival. We have gone to Stone Mountain a few times, something Abby really loves this year. The train is still her favorite. I am quite happy that they have replaced the old fashioned gun showdown on the train with a mini-musical about, what else, songs involving trains. Abby clapped and danced through the whole thing. I was quite impressed how many train songs they were able to come up with. On Mother's Day, we spent the day at Stone Mountain and had a picnic by the mountain. It was the perfect Mother's Day.

About a week ago, we went through a mini-monsoon here in Atlanta. Rain. Every day. And then the next day? Some more rain. With a dog and a 2 year old, this got old very fast. It even rained most of Memorial Day weekend. So we took advantage and went to Abby's first movie. We saw Madagascar. I would have to rate it a B-. I have seen Shrek and this, sir, was no Shrek. Nor was it Finding Nemo, Ice Age, Toy Story or any other of a dozen kid movies that I absolutely loved. Not that it is fair to compare or anything. Abby had a good time but she was mostly interested in the popcorn and in moving her sippy cup from one cup holder to the other. So take that for what you will. We really had fun though. If the movie had been 10 minutes shorter, it would have been just right. Abby did get very fidgety those last 10 minutes but for a 2 year old? I was very proud. :-) Next up? Gone With The Wind. Heh. Yeah, I just got an image of that in my head. Maybe we'll wait another 10 years or so on that one.

I have to take a minute to hop up on my little soap box. I think it is time we officially declare Fisher Price to be in charge of national security. Why, one might ask. Well, I can tell you any person who has purchased something from Fisher Price (perfect example is anything involving The Little People) is already out there nodding their head with me. I really can't begin to imagine the shoplifting of Little People that prompted Fisher Price to secure EACH AND EVERY tiny piece with twisty ties that could hold giant flying elephants in place AND clear tape which could hold the space shuttle to the moon. Let's just say, it takes an act of congress, tools which would make Bob Villa drool, and a mighty strong prayer to successfully open Fisher Price toys. Put them in charge of security I say. Problems solved.

I will say this though, The Little People are just the best toy out there for kids. Abby uses her imagination, singing, and talking and creates and plays some elaborate games. For this I am willing to bow to the packaging that is Fisher Price. There is nothing fancy about Little People. No bells or light shows. No computer generated talking voice. No video nothing. And Abby loves playing with them just as much as I did. Not bad when a toy can cross from one generation to the next.

Other than lots of playing and doing as much as we can outside, Abby still loves her books. She is not big on tv but will every now and then watch Sesame Street (my personal favorite), The Wiggles (though the obsession has diminished greatly), and The Muppet Show. My friend Vicki gave her a muppets video and she just loves it. I do too. I have not seen them in ages and they are still very funny. Abby dances to the little opening song.

Abby now has an entourage. At any given time she can be found with Olga (her sheep), Max (her bear), Go Go (her dog), Igor (her Kaz dog) or Baby Jack (little baby doll). She really looks after her little gang. I love to look in the rear view mirror of the car and see her plant a wet kiss on Go Go's head.

So, that's the scoop from our little corner of the world. Good night and happy summer. :-)

Tree planting with Avery and Alec

Tree planting with Avery and Alec
Originally uploaded by gayla059.

Our first annual Kazakh New Year tree planting celebration.

Somehow, it is April. The end of April even. I'm not sure how that happened. So, I last posted in February. I think we have had a lifetime since then.

Where to start? Well, we have a new family member now. Lucy (or Lucy the Wonder Dog as she is affectionately known around here) joined our family 2 months ago. She is a four year old 60 pound black lab mix and is the sweetest, goofiest dog ever. We adopted her from the Dekalb Humane Society (now known as PAWS). I had been periodically checking shelter websites for over a year but just never found the dog. Until Lucy. One Friday afternoon I realized I had not looked at the PAWS site in awhile. The main things I had been looking for included good with children, calm, and housebroken. Lucy largely fits all of these with only occasional slips from "calm". The real test though was whether Abby would like her (and vice versa). Let's just say they immediately kissed upon meeting and it was a done deal. Lucy was meant to be in our family.

Lucy had been left at the shelter by her previous family. One of them had allergies to her. I'm sad that she had been abandonded, but we turned out to be the lucky ones to have found her. She is a genuine sweetheart and she and Abby absolutely love each other. That's not to say that the first couple of weeks she was home I didn't wonder just exactly what I had done. :-) I don't think Abby's feet touched the floor for a whole week. We are past that now and Abby and Lucy play, snuggle, and look out for each other.

In March we celebrated Abby's 2nd birthday. Like Mardi Gras, Abby's birthday celebration lasted a week. Over the course of the week we got together with friends and family, went to the Children's Museum, went to the zoo, blew out candles, ate cookies and cake, and just basically celebrated. The day before her actual birthday I made cookies shaped like Kazakhstan and took them to her class at school. This year the kids were too young to know what they meant but it is a tradition I suspect we will continue. To answer the question likely brewing by now..... Yes, I have a cookie cutter shaped like Kazakhstan. I never cease to be amazed by the things one can buy over the Internet.

A couple of days after her birthday, Abby came down with what at first seemed to be a really bad cold. Usually with a cold though, she still feels just fine. This time? Not so much. Tests run at her doctor's office proved that it turned out she had the flu. And this after she had the flu shot too. My poor little girl felt awful for a whole week. She did not want me to put her down for even one second. It was a rough week and I was so relieved when she began to feel better again.

This spring we began a tradition to celebrate the Kazakh New Year. Our friend Dawn (Alec's mommy) had a wonderful suggestion that each year we plant a tree. So Kris and her daughter Avery, Abby and I all gathered at Dawn and Alec's house as the site of the first annual tree planting. The day was beautiful, the kids were precious, and the tree (as I hear it) is still standing. :-) Dawn did most of the work as Kris and I wound up chasing busy toddlers but all 3 kids were very into the tree planting/playing in the dirt at the beginning. We also managed to only have 2 boo boos, one belonging to Alec and one belonging to Abby, which were fortunately pretty easily smoothed over with kisses.

Abby's vocabulary has taken off in a way that amazes me. I know every parent must go through this but all of a sudden I can have a conversation with my daughter. Now, to be fair, it is one of those conversations that others would only understand half of it, but since Abby and I are together so much, I really know what she is saying (most of the time!) Some of my absolute favorites include:

Tallypidder - catepillar (and my current favorite)
Right der - it is right there
Dat Mommy? - Still a favorite and means what is that Mommy?
My Mommy - She has started saying this when I pick her up because several of her little friends now give me a hug when I arrive
My Lucy - needs no explanation but is so sweet
My supper - again, no explanation needed but you are likely to notice the pattern of "my" :-)
banaid - band aid
puter - computer
stickuh - sticker

There are so many more things she says. Those are the things that currently stand out.

Abby's coordination has really improved in a major way lately too. She can now manage steps (both up and down) really well, she can jump (complete with feet actually leaving the ground), and she loves to climb. Now that the weather is nice, the sand box is first on the request list. Just today she found a "tallypidder" in it. :-) Actually, her first word when we get home is usually "OUTSIDE". Most afternoons we will take Lucy for a walk and/or play in the backyard. During today's walk, we found 3 tallypidders. They were all, um, napping. As in permanently napping. Poor tallypidders.

And so is life in our corner of the world.

You know, life with a toddler is without doubt one of the funniest and best experiences. Yeah, when I decided to become a parent, I will admit I kind of wondered how one really survived the toddler years. I mean look at the rep. Tantrums, moodiness, "MINE", and did I mention tantrums? Sure, all that stuff exists but people forget to talk about the cool and funny stuff. Life with a toddler is truly a lot of fun.

My little toddler is the most amazing creature. Yes, she does have moments of tantrums, moodiness, and "MINE" is definitely the word of each and every day. But hey, who doesn't have those moments? I can name many the adult with the same characteristics. Only they are adults and quite frankly, not as cute. Plus, 98% of the time Abby is just a very happy and incredibly sweet kid.

Abby is learning so much each and every day. And talking, well, mostly non-stop. Some of her key vocabulary words and phrases include:

fick it mommy --> translation: fix it mommy (yeah, that one makes me laugh every time)
bless you mommy --> she says this each and every time I sneeze or blow my nose
Will cookie --> translation: the cookie her little buddy Will brings her every morning to school
eyuh --> translation: ear
doah --> translation: door
hayuh --> translation: hair
that --> translation: what is that?
mine --> needs no translation. The funny thing is everything is "mine"
I do it --> again, no translation needed
MOMMMMYYYYYY --> sweetest sound in the world
no crying baseball --> I taught her to say the "there's no crying in baseball" line from A League of Their Own. It is hilarious!
steppen time --> Current favorite song/dance - Step in Time from Mary Poppins

She says a lot more but those are the things that stand out to me right now.

She loves to help me around the house and has her own little chores. These include putting her dirty clothes in her hamper, bringing in groceries (I rearrange to give her the light bags), handing me "dishes" (tupperware) from her own drawer in the kitchen while I am cooking dinner, and putting away her toys at the end of the day. My little helper.

Abby is a great little sleeper but the last couple of weeks naptime has been a bit of a challenge. Once she finally goes to sleep, she is out for a couple of hours. I think she has begun to realize that while she is asleep she is missing stuff. So far, she is still sleeping well at night and goes to bed without incident. Well, with a couple of exceptions. I have no idea what happened last week but one night every time I tried to leave the room she would screem bloody murder. I even took her to the doctor as a few friends had suggested she might have an ear infection but all was fine and the next night she went to sleep like nothing had ever happened. Who knows what that was about. Maybe just a bad dream.

Then, a few nights ago, I was keeping my friends' kids and they were here during Abby's bedtime. Let's just say she was not going to miss anything that night by going to bed. That was the night she tried to escape from her crib. We all heard this loud "splat" and sure enough, Abby was on the floor. Fortunately a) she was not hurt and b) has not tried it since. I just do not think either one of us is ready to give up that crib just yet. Ok, mostly I am not ready. :-)

As most of you know, Abby and I have just celebrated our one year anniversary as a family. We will call this day (January 21) Family Day. This year we celebrated by going to the park, getting ice cream, and ordering pizza. It was the perfect day. One year ago, my life changed for the absolute better. One year ago, the most serious of judges proclaimed that I was officially mommy to Abigail. I will never forget that moment, or, for that matter, my entire time in Kazakhstan. I was extremely nostalgic all of January. I was then, and will forever be, incredibly grateful to the people who helped my dream to become a mom come true. I really have no idea how they make the perfect match for each family but it is so true. Abby is the perfect kid for me.

Below is the email I sent my other single mom friends on our Family Day. I thought I would post it here too.

One Year Ago - Celebrating our first year as a family
I truly can't believe I am writing a "one year ago" email. It justdoesn't seem possible that it has already been one year. And yet, one year ago today a very stern and serious judge in Uralsk, Kazakhstan officially proclaimed me to be the mommy of the most amazing baby girl in the world. This year with Abby has been the best of my life. My daughter has grown from a sweet and loving baby to a sweet, loving, happy, giggly, and very funny toddler. She has captured the hearts of all my family and friends. I am so incredibly proud of Abby and so incredibly proud to be her mother. I love watching her learn something new every single day. I love watching her figure things out. I love her laugh. I love her hugs and her wet kisses. I love how excited she gets when she eats ice cream. I love to see her dance. I love how she runs to me smiling and yelling "MOMMMMYYY" when I pick her up each day. I love how she "helps"me with household chores. I love that she adores books.

We have had so many firsts this year. So many new things. So many things we have outgrown. Abby long ago gave up the bottle. She no longer fits in the baby carrier and she no longer uses a pacifier. I have been witness to her first kisses, her first day at "school", her first trip to the beach, her first parade, and her first grown up food. She has taught me many things too. How to store the remote in the refrigerator, how to wear spaghetti in your hair, how to love theWiggles, how to sing all the way through Target, how to squeal with delight at the appearance of bananas. It has been an amazing year. I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything in the world. As much as the trip to Kazakhstan itself was a journey, the best one began once we got home.

Reading on the couch

Reading on the couch
Originally uploaded by gayla059.

My little book lover. No, I did not pose her. Just got lucky and had the camera close by. I'm just checking out the posting of pictures. If this works I will do more!

I'm not even going to make up excuses. I confess I have gotten out of the habit of writing here. If I were someone who believed in new year's resolutions, I would make one to get back in the swing of writing regularly. But for me new year's resolutions are something that last until the end of January and I would rather this journal last longer so I'm not calling it a resolution. Pure coincidence that I'm starting again at the beginning of January.

So where was I? :-) I do believe I last left off around Halloween. Yeah, a lot has happened since then. Here goes a little catch up. It might be a good time to play some moving end of year music like all the networks like to do around the last year in December. Just a suggestion.

I finally bought a new car (had my last one for 9 years). Exactly 2 weeks after I got it, Abby and I were stopped at a redlight when all of a sudden we were plowed from behind by a woman driving (and I use that term loosely) a jeep wrangler. The woman was speeding and looking down. An excellent combination for someone driving. Fortunately Abby and I were okay (I was just very sore for a few days). The car? Not so much. Five weeks later I got my car back. Yes, the woman did a lot of damage. Amazing how something like that can make you grateful, but I felt so incredibly fortunate that we were not hurt. The car was a mere after thought. I did suggest the woman slow down. And look up. I doubt she did either but I can hope.

The holidays were wonderful for us. Abby had her first Thanksgiving, her first Christmas (at home that is) and her first New Year's (at home). Though sitting on Santa's lap simply did not happen this year (she became velcro toddler whenever Santa was close by and would not budge), she seemed to love all the rest of the excitement of the holidays. Especially the tree. Every day the first thing she wanted to do was check out the tree. She loved to play beside it and dance beside it and read beside it. I have always loved the holidays but nothing can compare to this year and seeing everything through Abby's eyes.

One of her favorite parts of Christmas was handing out gifts to others. She was quite good at it too. :-) She was so cute handing all of her teachers their gifts. She would give each one a gift and then give a hug. That is one image I will never forget. Her Christmas party at school was one of the sweetest sights ever. Mostly the kids just danced. And oh how they danced.

Abby still loves her class, her teacher, and especially her friends. Every single morning one little boy, Will, brings Abby a "cookie" (graham cracker really). He walks in each day with a cookie in each hand and makes a beeline for Abby. Abby now starts saying "Will! Cookie!" when we are about 3 blocks from the school. Last week was "A" week. They did apple art and read "A" books (among other A things). This week will be "B" week. I'm sure you are seeing a pattern here. :-)

Christmas Eve night we went to the family oriented service at church. Abby did very well considering it was her first time in big church (since her baptism). She is normally in the nursery. I mean, the bulletins are really there for coloring, right? She did like to clap after someone sang. Christmas day we went up to Rome to spend a few days with my mom, grandmother, and Bryan. They had a great time spoiling Abby and she had fun being spoiled.

New Year's Eve we went to the Children's Museum with Kris, Avery, Dawn, Alec, and Gerri and Corre (and some of their friends). It was a really fun morning though the kids were mostly off and running in their own directions. We did manage to corral them long enough at noon to celebrate New Year's (Kazakhstan time) with a toast of sparkling cider. Abby did drink some but seemed to wonder why that juice was all bubbly. We finished the day with her first lunch at The Varsity (which she really loved). We rarely eat fast food and The Varsity is the definition of fast food but hey, you have to celebrate the end of a wonderful year in style.

This week we had a really huge milestone at the Green house. The end of the pacifier. We are still in the middle of withdrawal but have now made it 6 days without. The real tough times were bed time and nap time as she mostly used the pacifier when going to sleep. I'll suffice it to say we have had significantly less collective sleep but I think we are moving in the right direction. It has been a 2 steps forward, 1 step back kind of week. I'm very proud of her!! It is hard to kick that first habit!

Abby is talking so much now. She flat out repeats everything that is said. She has even said her first curse word. I'm going to put in her baby book that Papa Bryan is responsible for teaching the word to her. :-) I'm just glad it wasn't me! I'm also proud to report that she even repeated his inflection and tone. Hey, if you are going to do it, then you must do it right. Some of Abby's other words/sentences include: I love du (I love you), Allo (telephone - means hello), tank tu (thank you), peas (please), hug, shoe off (usually said just as she manages to take off her shoe), mommy's shoes (usually said just as she has put my shoes on), Giggles! (Wiggles), applesauce (stands for anything in a small container such as yogurt, applesauce, etc.). These are just to name a few of my favorites. She truly is talking all the time now.

Well, the last couple of months have been a major fit of nostalgia for me. November 19 marked one year since I received Abby's referral. December 19 marked one year since I received travel dates. January 5 marked one year since the day I left for Kazakhstan. Yesterday (January 8) marked one year since I first met Abby, first held her, first kissed those cheeks. Those around me have been politely nodding and smiling when I mention these anniversaries. For me, I simply can not believe it has been a year. I scarcely remember my life before Abby. In some ways, I can't believe we have been home a year and in some ways it seems she has always been with me.

My sweet, goofy, funny, smart, loving girl has captured my heart in a way I'm not sure I even knew was possible. It's hard to have a bad day when a 21 month old brings you a plate she "cooked" in her new kitchen containing chocolate cake, garden peas, and ketchup. It is hard to have a bad day when you hear a little voice asking you to read a book. It is hard to have a bad day when you hear "MOMMMMMYYYYY" as your daughter runs to you at the end of the day. Never before did I ever think to store the remote control in the refrigerator. Never before did I think I would love (and know) the words to "Hot Potato Cold Spaghetti" as I now do.

Yeah, it has been an incredible year. I'm sure I will have much more to say on January 21, our first Family Day (the anniversary of the day we became a family). But for now, I will sign off determined to update this journal on a regular basis. :-) Good night from Atlanta.

October 26, 2004 - Oops! Forgot to publish this one.....

Never before has the anticipation of Halloween been so much fun. I have always loved Halloween - the cheesy heroine in trouble movies, eating candy corn and m&m's until you feel your teeth will just pop out of your head, pumpkins everywhere - what's not to love? But this year, well, this year, I get to witness Abby's first Halloween.

Abby is going to be a very cute bunny this year. A week or two ago I put her costume on her to make sure it would fit. One of my very favorite movies is "A Christmas Story" and one of my favorite scenes in that movie is the "Deranged Easter Bunny" scene. Imagine Abby's face with the same expression as the kid in that movie and you will pretty much have her reaction. It was priceless. In addition, she could not figure out just what happened to her hands. She kept holding out her little paws and saying "hands!" I will never forget it. Fortunately the bunny costume has the option of popping her hands out of the bunny paws so I do believe all will be right with the world.

This fall has been a lot of fun. The weather in Atlanta has, for the most part, been very beautiful and very mild. We have taken full advantage of this fact and spent the majority of time outside. At the beginning of October, Abby and I went to an arts festival with Kris, Avery, Dawn, and Alec. It was a lot of fun and Abby got to experience a few firsts. She got to listen to her first really really bad local singer. The quality of music did not matter to her as much as the fact that she got to dance. I realized that watching Abby, Alec, and Avery enjoy the music more than made up for what the man's "singing" (and I do use the term loosely) was doing to my ears. That day was also Abby's first snow cone. The verdict was mixed. She seemed to like it but didn't really understand the necessity of the cold.

The next weekend we attended the World Partners Adoption reunion. This reunion is held every October in Atlanta. We got to finally meet friends in person. We also got to see 2 of the families we spent time with in Kazakhstan. While we were in Almaty, we had dinner with Charmaine, her mother, her new baby Jasmine, and their driver Emil. It was so cute to see Abby and Jasmine together again! They were both so tiny back in January. We also got to see one of the families from our first flight (Almaty to Frankfurt). Their son Lucas (also Abby's age) has grown a ton too. I am already excited that this reunion will be something we attend every year. We really had a terrific time. We were completely and totally worn out afterwards but it was absolutely worth it. It was especially nice to meet so many other single moms and their adorable kids.

Abby is so much fun right now. I absolutely love this age (19 months). She learns so much every single day and yet she is still so little. It is the best of both worlds. Bath time is extremely entertaining these days. Abby loves to play with a plastic cup and a plastic bowl. She will pour water back and forth between the two. It looks like she has a future with beakers. Splashing is also still a favorite past time, as it reading the plastic bath books.

Yesterday we had to stop for groceries on the way home. While I am pretty creative, even I realized the limitations of what can be created with mustard, 1 slice of bread, and noodles. I decided to have Abby help me carry in the groceries in the house. She carried in the bread and was quite the little professional about it. No squished bread. My mom has reported that my brother and I also used to help with this same chore and we would proceed to have flat sandwiches for the next week. Clearly Abby is more advanced in bread toting than her mother was.

Abby is really loving her class at daycare. Her teachers are just wonderful and Abby can name all her friends (complete with her very cute southern accent). She gets very excited to see them in the morning but still runs to me smiling from ear to ear when I pick her up in the afternoon (hands down best part of my day!!). I know she is learning so much there - especially things like sharing and playing with other kids. One of her teachers told me that last week Abby, Alissa, Marissa, and Caroline all spontaneously began to do ring around the rosie together (without any teacher help). They were all laughing and having the best time. This Friday the whole daycare is having a Halloween party (complete with costumes). I am kind of expecting chaos but can't wait to see all the kids dressed up. Oh, and Abby is signed up to bring the hot dogs.

Abby is talking more and more. And more and more she is saying real words on her own. She even puts together some short sentences. My baby is growing up.

We spent last weekend in Rome and Abby got to spend time with her grandmother, great-grandmother, and Papa Bryan. It is cute watching her interact with them and seeing how much they all love her. She definitely knows who they are too! My mom kept Abby for me Saturday night and was in grandma (Gigi) heaven.

I had always heard that once you have kids, time speeds up. I am here to tell you this is absolutely, unequivocally true. Now our first few weeks home, I might have put up a big of an argument. Not because time went slow but because Abby was not changing as fast she is now. But as I sit here looking back at the last time I posted, I know time has gone into a kind of warp mode. I know this by watching Abby. My little baby has been replaced with an adorable, funny and happy toddler. I can almost see her growing and learning before my eyes. Part of me wants to just slow down the time but most of me loves watching her pure joy when she figures out something new.

So what is new? Well, Abby had her first complete haircut. I say "complete" as the last attempt ended in only half her hair being cut. This time took a team of 3 but the result was quite adorable. I have discovered her hair does grow as fast as mine (which is indeed very fast) so we will likely be back for another hair cut very soon.

A few weeks ago we attended Sesame Street Live with Avery (and her mommy Kris) and Alec (and his mommy Dawn). Abby really adores Alec and Avery and was so excited to see both of them. As for seeing the dancing Elmo, Oscar, Big Bird and company, well, she was pretty scared for the first 10 minutes or so. She definitely had a death grip on me but managed to still watch the show over my shoulder. That's all it took though - 10 minutes - and then she joined the clapping and dancing. I have discovered this is Abby's approach to anything new. She is very reserved around situations in which she does not feel comfortable, but usually after a few minutes she will jump right in. I love this about her.

Last week I had a work meeting here in Atlanta. Since we had evening activities, Abby had babysitters for 2 nights in a row. She cried each night when I left but ultimately did fine both nights. I think we were both extremely happy to get back our normal routine though. I really missed her that week since for 3 days I mostly saw her when I was taking her to/from daycare. It made me appreciate all the more that I normally work from home and get to spend more time with her since I don't have to spend time in traffic going to the office.

Abby continues to be obsessed with The Wiggles. This is very funny to me since Abby watches a grand total of maybe 30 minutes of tv a day. She will carry around the DVD case like a security blanket. She will yell out "GIGGLES" (how she calls them) and if we do watch them, she will dance right along with them. I must admit that "Do the Monkey" and "Hot Potato Cold Spaghetti" have grown on me.

Let's see - other favorites this week include: bubbles, Wiggles, playing in the dirt, sliding, our 2 year old neighbor Francesco (or CoCo as she calls him), knocking over mommy's block masterpieces, and dancing. Favorite music right now includes anything on the Blue Disney CD (especially The Tiki Room), the soundtrack from Chicago, her Kazakhstan CD (also still my favorite - this one really gets her clapping!), and Van Morrison.

Abby is talking up a storm. She can and will repeat just about anything and has also gotten very good at announcing things without prompting. There is not a dog in a 5 block area that will go by without her shouting "Doggie!!". Same goes for any baby. And the "baby" can be any child up to and including about 5 years of age.

For the last 2 weeks Abby has stayed in her new classroom all day long (without venturing back to Ms. Kim's room as she was doing). Her new teacher Ms. Cheryl keeps the kids very busy with lots of art, music, and reading. This week is "Chicken Week". Heh. I love theme weeks.

So, it has been a busy and fun few weeks. I have new pictures and promise to post them in the next day or so. Good night from Atlanta.

So finally, a new update. I have no real excuse other than a very busy summer and a beautiful, busy 17 month old. Actually, this week Abby will turn 18 months old. Yeah, she will be driving soon. I don't want to even think about that.

We have had a lot of firsts since my last post. Abby's first post Kazakhstan flights, first "promotion" to a new class at daycare, first real (as in mommy had to pay) babysitter, first trip to the Natural History Museum, first naked swimming party. Not a bad list actually.

Let's see, where to start. At the beginning of August, Abby and I flew to Fort Myers, Florida (and then drove to Naples) to visit my brother and his family. I must admit that I was pretty much expecting anything for the 2 flights. I had not gotten her a seat because at the time I made the reservations my mom had planned to go with us. Unfortunately she had to change her plans. Now, keep in mind that Abby and I flew (by ourselves) from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Frankfurt, Germany and then on to Atlanta. Basically over 24 hours straight travel. And yet, at the time, Abby was only 10 months old. The flight to Fort Myers was only 1.5 hours. As we approached the gate at the airport, I could see the instant rolling of eyes and hear the silent prayers that people would not be sitting next to us. Back when my job required that I travel 3 weeks out of each month for work, I was that person. I used to dread sitting next to The Toddler. It was nothing personal. Toddlers simply don't take well to confinement or hurt ears and well, flying allows for both.

I was so proud of Abby though. On the way down, Abby sat in my lap and we read books for about 30 minutes when she fell asleep and did not wake up until we landed. No way did I expect the same for the return trip but my little seasoned traveler fell asleep as we took off for Atlanta and did not wake up until we landed. It was wonderful.

Our time in Naples was fun. We went to the beach where Abby consumed as much sand as she could. Her cousins adore her (and she them). We were also there just 1 week before Hurricane Charley hit. Thankfully, they had no major damage.

Right after we returned from Florida, Abby was moved up to the next class at daycare. She is now the youngest in the class. Her first week was definitely a transition. Abby loves her first teacher, Ms. Kim and was not happy one little bit about leaving her classroom. In addition, 2 of her first 4 days, I arrived to find she had been in time out for "fighting". Before I had to worry if I was raising a little bruiser, the teachers told me that it is totally normal for kids to do this when moving up. Fortunately, the fighting stopped after another day or 2 and several times since I have arrived to find Abby hugging and/or kissing other kids.

I also arrive every single day to find that Abby has managed to get herself back to Ms. Kim's room. Her new teacher just points to Ms. Kim's class and says "she is back there". Ms. Kim also told me that whenever she goes to the bathroom (the teacher's bathroom is in Abby's new classroom), it never fails that she hears a loud knocking on the door and it is always Abby. Pretty funny.

Abby is getting pretty good at things like naming animal sounds. She can quite confidently tell you that a cow says "moo", a sheep says "baa" and a cat says "meow", (to name a few), but my personal favorite is the pig. If you ask her what a pig says, she will proudly answer "la la la". Before you wonder if we have a bizarre form of pigs here in Atlanta, I will say that Abby has a favorite book called Moo Baa La La La. It quite frankly states that "3 singing pigs say la la la" and this is what Abby remembers. Now it does correctly say later "no, no, that isn't right, the pigs say oink all day and night", but for Abby, the pig says "la la la". :-)

Abby still loves to dance (still the most precious thing in the world). Her current favorite songs are Funky Town, ABC (Jackson 5 version), Dancing Queen (yeah, not sure where her disco craze has originated from), anything by Black Eyed Peas, No Woman, No Cry (Bob Marley), and her total favorite is A Little Less Conversation (Elvis). She shakes her hips and everything. It is priceless.

So, I still have lots of catching up to do here but for the moment, that is a little update into the goings on of one amazing Abigail Green. Take care and good night from Atlanta!

The dance of the turtle and the exotic bird.  Yes, this is a relatively new activity that I do each night with Abby.  Let me back up a bit.  :-)  Pretty much every night after dinner, Abby and I go for a walk.  We did, that is, until summer hit Atlanta.  Many nights lately have either been too hot or too wet.  So, we had to find a new form of exercise.  We chose to dance.  Each night I find some new music that Abby has not yet heard and we dance.  It is the funniest sweetest time!  Abby laughs and dances and laughs some more.  Which, of course, causes me to laugh right along with her as her laugh is pretty infectious.  A couple of weeks ago, my mom gave me 2 hats for me to give my dear friends Meredith (8 years old) and Sam (6 years old).  Both hats are kind of like visors.  One is a turtle and one is an exotic bird.  Since I have not seen Meredith or Sam since I got the hats, they have been sitting in my living room.  Abby loves carrying them around.  Well a few nights ago I put a hat on each of us while we were dancing and that was it.  We have a new tradition - dancing while wearing those hats.  If anyone were to see this through my window, I'm sure a quick call would be made to a mental outpatient facility as I doubt Abby is visible through the window and it likely looks like I am dancing alone wearing a turtle hat.  :-)

So, what music do we dance to?  Well, I try to really mix it up.  So far Abby's favorites include Etta James, Barry White, the Jackson Five, Green Day, some cool jazz and blues from the 1940s, Black Eyed Peas (yes, she still loves them), Martina McBride, and anything from Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music.  My little music girl!

This past weekend was a very full one for us and Abby finally recovered from it just today.  We definitely had a lot of fun but I have long since discovered that Abby needs her full 12 hours of sleep at night plus a good long nap in the afternoon (if not a morning nap too).  Friday night we met up with several other single moms who had also adopted from Kazakhstan.  These are people from a variety of agencies and it was great meeting all the beautiful children.  They ranged in age from 10 months to about 7 years old.  We also met up with them Sunday morning at the Children's Museum (Imagine It) in downtown Atlanta.  We had been to this museum before but this time, being a few months older, Abby absolutely had a blast!  She fell asleep before I even got out of the parking lot.

Saturday we went to Athens to celebrate my friend Ginger's daughter's birthdays.  Kiersten turns 16 this month and Maya just turned 1.  The weather in Georgia that day hit a record for the year.  I did not hear the actual temperature but can officially say that it felt like 127 degrees.  It was a great party though with lots of good food, good cake, and good people.  If you are keeping count, that would be 2 nights in a row where Abby got to bed late.  As a result, we spent Sunday afternoon at home.  We did not go anywhere after the museum.  We had the best afternoon.  Abby played and played and I read.  I am working on helping her to be able to play by herself some.  Right now this is not a popular thing in her mind.  I figured out though that if I am in the same room, she is content to play.  So we are starting there.  I actually prefer to be playing with her but I know this is something she needs to be able to do.

Yesterday when I picked up Abby from daycare, her teacher told me there must have been something in the milk because all the kids had some kind of meltdown that day.  Yes, this included Abby.  Apparently hers was shortlived.  I know this was a leftover from the busy weekend.  Today she had a good day!

I have been increasing the number of books we read each night.  Abby absolutely loves to be read to which thrills my heart to no end.  We are currently up to about 6 or 7 books now.  Of course these books are all pretty short but it is cute when I finish each one and Abby says "more!"  :-)  Makes this mom who loves to read very proud!

So, it has been a great week!  Take care and good night from Georgia!

Six months ago tomorrow, in a court house in cold and snowy Uralsk, Kazakhstan, a very stern and serious judge proclaimed that Abigail Emma Green was officially my daughter.  It was the single greatest moment of my life up to that point.  I remember not even realizing what the judge had said until Assia and then Olga each gave me a big congratulatory hug.  It is so hard for me to believe it has been 6 months.  The time has truly flown by.  When I look back at pictures from our time in Kazakhstan, I scarcely recognize my now happy, sweet, giggly, music loving girl.  And as for me?  Well, I now have trouble remembering my life before Abby.
 
I realize I may sound like the incredibly proud mommy that I am, but this kid is just so amazing.  She is funny and sweet and so laid back.  I mean she pretty much just rolls with any situation.  And yet, she also has quite the stubborn streak.  Not a day goes by that she doesn't do something new.  Her latest conquests include:  "reading" to mommy, climbing, lifting her shirt to show off her tummy (she also likes to lift my shirt to show my tummy, but that is a whole different story!), pointing out where her (or anyone else's) nose, eyes, ears, and mouth are located, repeating just about any word, and playing "catch" with a ball.  I love watching her figure out how she is going to do something.  You can pretty much see the wheels turning just before she kicks into action.  And talk about a memory?  If she sees something you can better believe she will remember and likely try it again later. 
  
So, what have we been up to lately?  We continue to have a very busy and fun summer.  We go swimming, go for walks, visit friends, do lots of reading, and we dance lots to music.  Since I last wrote, Abby and I made a trip to Macon, Georgia with my mom to let my aunt, cousin, and cousin's baby meet Abby.  Abby had fun meeting her relatives.  She is a wonderful little traveler.  She will either sleep or entertain herself in the back seat.  As long as there is music playing Abby is happy. 
 
Well that weekend turned out to be the weekend of Abby's first (since we have been home) fever.  At one point it hit 103.8.  Talk about one worried mommy!  After a trip to the doctor on Monday, it turned out she had a sore throat.  No antibiotics were needed - just had to let this one run its course.  Fortunately she was back to her usual happy self by Wednesday.  To add insult to injury though, Abby also wound up sharing her bedroom with a hungry mosquito.  Poor kid woke up with huge welts all over her.  She is a little trooper though and no silly bites would keep her down.
 
Last weekend we also went to Stone Mountain with Dawn and her son Alec (who was in the same baby house in Uralsk as Abby!) and Gerri and her daughter Corre (also born in Kazakhstan).  Aside from Abby's fever spiking while we were there, we had a wonderful time.  Abby loves being around other kids and Alec especially has become her buddy.  When they arrived at our house that day, Abby's face absolutely lit up when she saw him.  They are so cute together. 
 
This past weekend we went to our friend Avery's first birthday party.  Avery was also born in Kazakhstan.  She is 4 months younger than Abby and was such an adorable birthday girl.  Abby had the best time at the party.  It was a princess party and Abby got her own princess hat to wear.  She even kept it on her head long enough for me to take a picture.  Abby is fascinated by hats.  She is fascinated by how fast she can take them off her head.
 
I finally took Abby to get her picture made.  My mom has been gently reminding me each week that I needed to do this soon, but this was our first photo session since we have been home.  Well, I should say first professional photo session.  Abby has been photographed more than most movie stars in the time we have been home.  If I put the pictures in a stack and flip them, I'm pretty sure I can make a silent movie of the last 6 months.  Anyway, I was incredibly proud of my little girl and the pictures turned out great.  I have posted some of the proofs on my yahoo site:
 
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gayla059/my_photos
 
The new ones are under a folder called July 2004 Continued.
 
Pretty much every night that it is not raining or that we don't have plans, we wind up going to my next door neighbor Pete's house.  It usually turns out to be a gathering of neighbors including Lourdes and her 21 month old son Francesco (who Abby seems to call CoCo), Pete (who is like a surrogate grandpa to her), Pete's ex-wife Sandy, and Miss Bert (Pete's elderly, precious tenant).  It is a lovely gathering of generations and the kids have the best time in Pete's yard.  We all sit out there and talk and watch the kids play.  It will be sad when the weather gets too cold for us to be out there.  It is probably the closest thing to having a front stoop that we can have in this kind of neighborhood.
 
And so, here we are.  Six months later.  I am the mother of the sweetest and most beautiful little girl in the world.  And loving every second of it.  
 
Take care and good night from Georgia!

This was Abby's first Fourth of July as an American citizen. Actually, it is one she will likely never remember. And it is definitely one I will never forget. Our plans weren't even that incredible. It was just such a fun weekend with her.

Abby's daycare was closed both Friday and Monday so we had a whole 4 days together. We kept them very full but the best part was just spending time with Abby. On Saturday, we met my mom, grandmother, and our friend Bryan for breakfast. This is a tradition for us. We meet in Cartersville GA as it is roughly halfway between Atlanta and Rome. Abby is already beginning to recognize that when we pull into the Cracker Barrel she will get to see her G.G., Mama Margaret, and Papa Bryan. While we were there, Abby proved once again how very much my daughter she really is. An older lady walked by us with the most bizarre shade of pink/orange hair. I realized I was blatantly staring. I looked down to see Abby was staring at the woman's head just as I was. To really complete the family thing - my mom and grandmother were, yes, also staring. Fortunately the poor woman was much more interested in the goings on of other restaurant patrons and was oblivious to our "glances".

Sunday (the actual Fourth) we started out the day with a trip to the zoo. For those of you who do not live in Atlanta, it has pretty much rained every day for the last month so this was our first time to the zoo in a little while. Sunday, we woke up to a large shock. At first it caused much confusion. What was this bright yellow thing in the sky? Slowly, the memory of the sun began to creep back. I very quickly decided to take full advantage. We had a great time. Did all the usual zoo stuff. Watched animals. Watched even more people. Rode the train. Rode the carrousel. The sweet life.

That night we went to downtown Decatur's Fourth of July parade, concert, and fireworks. Only we didn't so much make it to the fireworks part. When you usually go to bed at 7:00, staying up past 8:00 is a pretty big deal in and of itself. :-) Abby did love the parade and the music though. Oh, and the strawberry ice cream. Can't forget that.

Today when I picked up Abby from daycare, I found her teacher Ms. Kim sitting on the floor, surrounded by 1 year olds. This part is nothing new. When it is raining in the afternoon (as it was AGAIN today), Ms. Kim usually hangs out on the floor with her little ones. Today, however, Ms. Kim was banging a drum and singing/rapping "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to the beat of that drum. All the kids were "dancing". I will never hear The Itsy Bitsy Spider in the same way again. For those of you wondering, this song to rap is quite cool. And extremely catchy. I have been rapping it in my head since we got home.

I'm so proud of my dancing little one. You should see her eat by herself now. I mean she has been using her fingers to eat for quite awhile now but suddenly last week, she really began to figure out that fork thing. She is quite good at stabbing her food with it and even making it to her mouth with the majority of food on the fork. Not bad! Today, she decided the whole plate thing was just inhibiting her, so she dumped all her food on the high chair tray and proceeded to eat it that way - all mixed together. Now as long as she gets most of it in her, I don't care, but I should mention that the food she had so happily mixed together included bananas, green beans, and chicken. Mmmm hmmm. That is what I thought too. But hey, she liked it. Perhaps she is the next culinary genious of the world.

OK, well, one of my still remaining guilty pleasures - The Amazing Race - starts tonight and I still have dishes and clothes and all the usual night time stuff to do before it comes on, so for now I will sign off. Abby's sign off is the blowing of many kisses so I will leave you with that image.

Well, if is official, I have one constantly talking baby girl. :-) And I do mean constant. She has a lot to say (like her mother). Not all of it do I understand, but there are many words now that I know exactly what she is saying. For example, "Bamby" is how she calls "Barney". Yes, we do love the big purple guy in our house. Other Abby words include mommy, mama (depends on what she wants/needs as to which one she says), G.G. (her grandma), dog, uh oh, thank you (sounds like "tank tu"), Pete (our next door neighbor), ball, purple (the only color she will repeat), and Will (a little boy in her class - only she says it "Wiiiiiiiiiiill"). She truly has the cutest little southern accent ever. I have discovered she likes to repeat everything. This means mommy has quickly needed to learn to say different words when cut off in traffic.

Today Abby had her first official public fit. For those of you in the North who may not use the word "fit", this means she had her first public tantrum. "Fit" seems to better describe it though. We had a play date with Avery and her mommy Kris. They came to our house and the girls played around each other in Abby's playroom. It was very cute. Then we went to lunch. Abby actually did well until the check came. You would have thought I asked her to pay it for us. Actually the screaming was relatively quick. In reality it was about 20 seconds. But I have created a different way of looking at it in a new concept I call The Toddler Index. Much like the heat index used by weather forecasters ("today will be 90 degrees but with the heat index it will feel like 110"), The Toddler Index translates how it feels to the parent of said publicly screaming toddler. Abby was only about a 2 today (on a scale of 1 to 10). I have no disillusions though as to know today was only the beginning. Poor kid was so tired. She literally fell asleep before we left the parking lot. The good news is the baby who woke from her two hour nap was my sweet happy-go-lucky Abby.

We had to run a few errands after Abby's nap and she was so good that we stopped by our neighborhood park. The story I am about to relay is true. I don't believe I could have made this up even if I wanted to. A dad was pushing his daughter (2.5 years old I later found out) in the swing. I put Abby in the other swing and proceeded to also push her. The little girl next to us then announced (loudly I might add), "I am swinging high. I have a vagina." I paused a moment to see if she had said what I thought she did. Realizing she did not get any kind of reaction from me, the little girl said (much louder this time) "I SAID I have a vagina". Her father at this moment had officially turned every shade of red to be found in the Crayola 128 pack of crayons. I replied in the only way I knew how by saying "um, ok".

Abby is officially off the bottle now. It was actually a non-event according to Abby. One night I just did not give her a bottle but gave her milk in a sippy cup. And that was all there was to it. She was already on a sippy cup during the day so the only bottle she has been getting was the bed time bottle. So, now for bed time routine, we do bath, pajamas, brush teeth (all 8 of them), then we read several books in her rocking chair, and bed!

Abby is just the sweetest, happiest, most loving baby in the world. She is incredibly cuddly (with me or other people she knows very well). In public, she is a little ham and loves to smile and wave at strangers, especially in stores like Target. She also loves to wave at people in the cars next to us when we are stopped at a redlight. I just get a lump in my throat when I think that a few months ago she had never even been in a car. This kid is so incredible and I am the luckiest mommy in the whole world. Every night before I put her in her bed I tell her "of all the beautiful babies in the whole world, how did I get the best one?". And I mean that with all my heart.

Until next time.

As I write this, my precious baby girl is asleep in her crib in the next room. She was so tired tonight. It has been a busy week. Heck, it has been a busy 2 months. :-) I'm just so amazed at how Abby just kind of rolls with whatever it is we happen to be doing though.

Alright, let me go back a bit and see if I can capture some of what we have been up to. Last week Abby and I went on our first real vacation. Oh it was wonderful!!! We went with my friends Julia and Dawn. I met them for the first time last summer. Both are now also single moms of precious children born in Kazakhstan. When we first met, Dawn had just that day received her travel dates to go to Uralsk (yes, the same city, and in fact the same baby house where Abby was!) to bring home her adorable son, Alec. Julia and I have truly gone through our adoptions together. It was like being pregnant with a good friend. She was even in Kazakhstan (though a different city) at the same time I was there. Her beautiful daughter Katy is just 2 months younger than Abby.

So we all decided to head to St. Simons Island for 5 days. Julia and Katy live in Ohio so they flew down the night before we were to leave and spent the night with us. The next morning we picked up Dawn and Alec (they live about 45 minutes from us) and we packed up the van and headed out. I must admit that though I was incredibly excited about the trip, I was fully prepared for a lot of crying and fits. I mean, we were after all traveling with one almost 3 year old, one 15 month old, and one 13 month old. But I needn't have worried. The kids were amazing. I mean we had minor stuff but nothing lasted long and the vacation proved to be wonderful!! The only downside the whole trip was when poor Katy got sick one day. Fortunately, she recovered fairly quickly.

Abby's first day at the beach was priceless for me. She was actually pretty hesitant at first and did not want me to put her down. Katy, on the other hand, was ready to dive right in. :-) It didn't take Abby or Alec long though and we were all out in the water with our kids. Suffice it to say Abby had a blast. She spent most of our time at the beach covered (and I do mean covered) in sand. She got pretty brave running towards the water too! Her mommy had to quickly put down the camera and chase after her. :-)

We pretty much ate dinner out and ate breakfast and lunch in our condo. The kids did great. For our dinner at the Crab Trap, Abby was pretty much dinner entertainment for the people sitting beside us. Lots of clapping, waving, and blowing kisses. I guess if she was a 45 year old woman doing those things, people would have been nervous, but as a pretty adorable 15 month old, Abby got away with it. :-) After dinner that night we went to the pier and walked around, ending the night with ice cream. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Dinner the next night was, shall we say, comical. We had decided to eat at Barbara Jean's Restaurant by the pier. It was early but apparently not early enough as we had to wait awhile in a tiny hallway by the bathroom. This meant that every time someone had to go to the bathroom they had to do a dance to get by the strollers, kids, sippy cups, and Aldo the Alligator (Alec's new acquisition that night - a 2 foot plastic alligator that I helped him find at the toy store). Going by the number of people frequenting the bathroom, I do believe they kept the sweet tea refills coming.

By the time we finally sat down, we were all pretty happy to do so. Another family had taken up all but one of the high chairs they had, so Abby sat on my lap. Imagine everything on the table (ketchup, silverware, napkins, glasses, sugar packets, etc.) and how fun that looks to a baby. Poor Dawn was sitting across the table from us and had EVERYTHING on her side of the table. It was really fun though. I personally love seeing how fast my little Stretch Armstrong (Abby) can reach for something. Probably my favorite part of that dinner though, was when the waiter asked us if the kids were adopted, or were we all married to Asian American men. I guess we did attract attention. :-)

It was really great seeing the kids play and interact with each other. They are all the cutest kids ever. We have decided to make this a yearly thing so next year it will be fun to see how much the kids have grown and changed.

The rest of the last couple of months has been a blur of baptisms, birthday parties, a graduation party, and just, well, wonderful normal stuff. Being in Kazakhstan for a month truly made me appreciate the normal regular stuff. In the middle of that though, we did get to meet another precious baby from Kazakhstan. My friend Kris returned home from Almaty in May and we already had a play date with them. Avery is the same age Abby was when we returned home. She is such a cutie!

Abby is doing so incredibly well. She is talking up a storm now and pretty much repeats whatever I say to her. She still loves music and dancing, being read to, playing with her toys, the pool, and cuddling with mommy. She is doing so well at her daycare. Her teacher is fantastic and Abby adores her. They do fun stuff like Splash Day. Ms. Kim reports that Abby talks all day long (ha!), rarely cries, and loves to repeat Ms. Kim when she says the kids' names. She can drag out Will into about 15 syllables too. She also did this with Katy's name. Thank goodness both Dawn and Julia heard her say it or no one ever would have believed me. My little girl already has a southern accent. :-)

Friday Abby had her 15 month check up. Aside from 5 yucky shots, it went well. Abby now weighs 24 pounds and is 32 inches long. If you are into such stats, this puts her in the 75% for weight and 95% for height. My tall little girl.

So, we are doing great. Abby is all I ever dreamed of and so much more. Till next time.

Well, it is the Tuesday after Memorial Day. For those of you who do not have children, let me say that weekends and holidays are like any other day. Sleeping late is a thing of the past for me. Not that I was ever one to sleep late anyway. But I now get up at 5:45 whether it is a work day or holiday. Somehow Abby came with her own built in alarm clock.

Many of you know that Memorial Day is not a holiday I like at all. Nine years ago, my father died on Memorial Day. It was the most difficult day and time of my life. And to this day, Memorial Day is still a day that I would rather just go on by. This year was really no exception for me in that regard. But I did cherish having a whole day to just play with my daughter. I spent the day thinking how very much my dad would have adored Abby. She is so much like him in so many ways. She loves to "read", loves to go on walks, loves dogs, loves to laugh, loves to "dance". These are all things my dad loved too. To me, Abby is the very symbol of loving and living life. So was my dad.

I don't mean this to be a sad post. Time does make the pain and sadness of losing someone close more bearable. After awhile, we tend to remember the happy and fun times rather than just the end of one's life. I can still hear my dad's very contagious laugh. I still remember him trying to convince me to jitter bug with him when he came home from work. I can still picture him with a book in his hand even if he only had a few minutes to read. I still remember my dad at each and every school event. I still remember taking long walks with my dad around the Berry College campus as he listened to my young philosophy about life. I still remember how incredibly excited he got about Christmas.

Abby will never know her grandfather except in stories but I do hope I can teach her many of the things my father taught me. He taught me to take the time to listen to both sides of a story. He taught me to always try to help others. He taught me that if you can laugh at yourself, life really becomes more fun. He taught me to always follow through when you make a promise to do something. He taught me to avoid rocks when mowing the grass. He taught me that driving an old car you bought with your own money is far better than driving a new car someone gave you. He taught me that you can always find a place to read a book.

For anyone reading this journal, I promise I will return to the usual stories of Abby next time. And I do have lots of good Abby stories. She is one funny kid. But for now, I sign off thinking about my dad. I do know Abby has one incredibly special guardian angel in the form of Larry Green watching out for her.