The Story of the Three Busy Bees

This summer started at my Mom's traveling to Oak Park to see the city's park benches painted and decorated - TV Style. We traveled to Great Grandma Rose's house. We made a trip to Aunt Rita's to see Uncle Jim's awesome sparkly red Harley. We headed to Elmhurst to the free History of the Comic Book museum. We made several trips to downtown Chicago (this past week being trip number 2). Hayden had space camp at a book store, right after meeting Spiderman at a local toy store. Two children and one public museum, all free of charge thanks to our family superpass.
Plus lots more and the summer isn't over yet. Though the summer started with a hint of sadness (knowing that a huge vacation would be out of the question), we have been uplifted with giggles and amusement with our Family Fun Days (usually Wednesday). I have found such a reward, hunting down the cheap or even free (which many of our excursions are/were) places we have gone. Usually just spending money on gas or food (and even then sometimes packing a lunch).
With that, we are eager to look back on our summer and put together our memories. Thus making our huge vacation. Hayden has enjoyed every bit of our travels, whether we find a new park or head to the library for a few hours. Having this time during the summer, being able to have Michael home everyday - is priceless and we wouldn't trade it for the world.

Onto our second trip to the city... we had the opportunity to meet our coordinator from our agency. We knew we couldn't pass this chance up, especially with "K" being able to take our paperwork home with her (saving on stamps!!!).
So we hopped back on the train on Wednesday and met her for lunch with another client of hers, two sisters who are going to be single moms. We were thrilled to hear the one sister is waiting patiently for a Kyrgyz child. In addition, we found out our coordinator "K" is from Kazakhstan. Having lunch with her gave us the chance to chat with her about the process a little more and get to know her. Plus it's always nice to put a face to the person who is helping you bring your child home. :)
Afterwards, we took Chicago's free trolley to Navy Pier, used our family superpass once again and got in for free at the Children's Museum. Hayden had a blast digging for dino bones, playing in the Waterworks, etc. When we finished we lingered around till it was time to catch our trolley to the subway to the train. Whew... Yet again another hot hot day. LOL

This week Hayden starts bike camp (meets once a week with his P.T. for 4 sessions). He's psyched. I'm gonna need coffee, we need to be out the door by 7:30am. *Yawn*
Meanwhile, Michael needs to head to the bank for cashiers checks, I need to scan some forms to email to our agency while we wait on our Dr. to notarize... (this will help us along in the process and our agency can get started on translating our paperwork). We are eager to see things moving again.... starting to feel real again. A feeling that had once dissipated.

Anyway, it's late and I have been dying to watch Design Star (then Big Brother, if I can stay awake).
Us busy bees will keep you guys posted with news as it comes available, in addition to our travels (new slide pics posted on the right). 1 comments

Posted by Mel at 10:00 PM

The Windy WARM City

Last Wednesday was yet another Fun Filled Family Day. Yet, with a bit of a twist and a hidden agenda.

Hayden has been dying to take a train ride for decades... and with the eve of our papers needing to be apostilled, we thought what other way is there to travel to the city... "The way to really fly..."

So we hopped onto the Metra train early Wednesday morning after making a pitstop for a group of papers we overlooked that needed to be notarized. Luckily prior to this, our GREAT AUNT RITA lent her time and hand, notarized the majority of our papers and mentioned our Village having a notary - free and open at 8:30 every day. So we quickly notarized the ones we forgot and headed off to our adventure.

Anyway, we made it to the city without a hitch. Made it to the Sec. of State with no issues. Hayden was a trooper with all the walking. We passed many "skyscrapers" that kept us busy/occupied... not to mention a lunch stop. Once we handed the papers off for apostilling, all we could do was cross our fingers. However, nothing seems to come easy for us, least it doesn't look that way. I had a feeling our doctor's license's were going to give us trouble - and they did. They will have to be notarized separately by our doctor and then apostilled. Fortunately we are waiting on our change of country which coincidentally also needs to be apostilled. Either we will make another trip downtown, or mail these 3 forms to Springfield.

After we finished at Sec. of State, we headed off to do some sight seeing. We planned a surprise for Hayden, since he has also been talking about tall buildings that scrape the sky. We hopped on the subway (another cool treat for Hayden) and made our way to the John Hancock. The 94 floor flight up the elevator was some ride (Mommy felt yucky afterwards). But Hayden will be tickled pink to tell you he saw Navy Pier, and that the Ferris wheel is actually named after the man who made it named Ferris ("get it Ferris Wheel, Ferris made it" then he giggles).

The morning had started out cool, but ended quite balmy. We left the city sweaty, worn out, and in awe. Yes we are ready to do it again, but we should take a closer look at the weather next time :) .

With that out of the way, we have continued on our mini one day family vacations. I hope to post in the next coming days pictures of the giant park we encountered. Hayden enjoyed climbing the huge rope contraption - following Michael, with a bit of help. We are so proud of all his accomplishments everyday. In addition to that, his reading is coming along well! The radio in my car shows the name of the song, band, etc... and seeing that we are in the car a lot - Hayden is constantly reading the words and sounding things out (this just being one example of many times a day he asks us about words LOL). We are surprised every time.

Bike camp starts next week for Hayden. We hope this will give Hayden the encouragement and confidence he needs to ride his big boy bike more often - in addition to seeing his peers in the group riding.

We are still chugging along with Baby V stuff, hence the trip to Chicago. I am eagerly looking for a wall mural in a cherry blossom motif in pink and brown to help pull the room together and put some paint on the walls. Etsy,com is a great source with many choices, I'm just undecided.

We will continue enjoying our summer, we hope you will too - before we know it, fall will be here... 1 comments

Posted by Mel at 9:43 PM

Mail's Here

Just a quick note...
As soon as I got off the phone with the FBI - gosh that cracks me up - and was assured my prints were mailed the same time as Michael's, I heard the mail truck. I quickly ran out to the mailbox and instantly got goosebumps when I saw the large tan envelope inside. A slight weight off my shoulders.

;) 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 11:29 AM

How Quickly The Days Go By

In a blink of an eye, June will be over. In two and half more days, Michael will be done with summer school. In a little more than a month Hayden will have finished his theater camp. And our dossier is still not complete.

Currently I should be calling the FBI (how strange is that?) to find out where my prints are. Michael's arrived late last week with the final copy of our homestudy. Once the prints are in I believe we are off to notarizing. From looking at the time line (and remembering back) last year around this time we were in the same boat. Except we didn't get to the notarizing until the first week Hayden was in school. Still... I thought we would have been done with this by now.

On a lighter note - we are enjoying our summer. We purchased a Family Super Pass with a local kids museum and are reaping the rewards. We have already been able to get into the Milwaukee Public Museum (a treat for Mommy's bday) for free and another local museum closer to home for a playdate. This beats the zoo hands down! And they are air-conditioned!

Hayden is truly getting a kick out of summer. He loves loves LOVES camp on Tuesday and Thursday. We are practicing Willy Wonka several times a week (yes Mom too!). He loves to act out his favorite song - just don't ask him to sing on the phone, my poor mom was on the receiving end for at least 4 songs!
In addition to camp, Hayden is still attending his therapies and has swimming lessons on Fridays. We have also added what we assume is temporary therapy - a psychologist on Saturdays. This has been a great sounding board for our family, but also great interaction for Hayden mainly to help with his frustration, etc.

Our little water bug! Hayden's camp has the luxury of taking the kiddos to the local park district pool every camp day. So Hayden gets the chance to swim 3 days a week. This persuaded mom to buy a big boy another suit to aide in the laundry situation. He couldn't be happier.

With camp, that means mom gets quiet time - a taste of what first grade will look like! And I can't wait! Though I miss my guy, it's nice to have the peace and quiet and time to be able to get things done. What a difference. And you would think that camp would tire out dear ol' Hayden? NOPE!

June has definitely been a busy month. We spend our weeks being busy running around, weekends are even more hectic... bdays, playdates, errands, etc. July seems just as crazy, minus Daddy's summer school. We hope to have more summer fun days (Wednesday is our family outing day!) and relax more in August.

For now - we are enjoying Michael coming home early, the late nights catching up on TV, eating icy pops, throwing snappers (kid safe "fireworks, check your dollar store), reading, and eating dinner outside.

I love summer... just not the 90 degree weather. I just wish it would slow down. 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 9:32 AM

Wiping Our Brow

Now that the craziness of the play is behind us... school is ending right before my eyes. Hayden is sad cuz he LOVES school and Mommy is sad cuz school is out for almost 3 months! Only one happy is Daddy cuz he's done teaching - then again, that makes Mommy happy because he can be home with Hayden while Mommy takes a break. Hmmmm.

Anyway, I now know the meaning of "Soccer Mom". It has only just begun. With a full schedule lined up this summer to keep Mr. Hayden busy and active, who has time (or money) for a vacation?

Speaking of busy - Hayden was exhausted by the 3rd performance of Dalmatians. On Saturday evening, he could barely stand and continue singing - he looked physically sick. (Who's bright idea was it anyway to do 4 performances so close and 2 back to back?) As soon as it was over, Hayden was back to his perky self and running full speed ahead. When asked if he wanted to do another play... Hayden's famous words "Oh Yah! - Maybe they have a Stars Wars the Clones Wars play!!!?!!!" I don't think so bud. Either way, we conveniently found a summer camp in our park district doing a Willy Wonka theatrical camp. Two days a week, eight hours a day. When offered to Hayden... he was all over it like pigs in mud, or Hayden and Cheese Goldfish. In addition to this he will be swimming again and some other small activites.

As for Baby V... we are working on it. Our homestudy has been re-vamped. More forms have been completed and Dr. has been visited etc. It's only a matter of time before all forms are done and ready for the next step. Ugh....

So to bid adeu, we leave you with a pic of our Dalmatian. I would post more, but worry about the other children in the play - as I do not have permission to post their picture. Also, some shots turned out dark or have some freaky head in the way (always nice huh?)

Have a great week!

1 comments

Posted by Mel at 11:58 PM

Things That...

For the past week I have gone outside and heard this whistling bird (it seriously sounds like it is whistling). Either I am walking Hayden to the bus, doing some light gardening or watching the kids play outside. Every time I've heard this bird I find myself smiling, sometimes turning to see if I can find it. I haven't but it doesn't stop from adding that little "umph" to my day. With that, some people ask/imagine how we make it through the day or week during this hard time in our life. With what seems like a "return to the beginning" we do keep chugging. I thought I would share how I keep moving along.


Things that make my week a little easier:

• Seeing Hayden’s sweet and charming smile.
• Reading Michael’s morning notes that always end in “I love you”.
• Watching Grey’s Anatomy & The Mentalist (Simon Baker is HOT!) and looking forward to the next episode.
• Hearing the same bird that whistles every time I am outside (either I am a pretty mama or it’s looking for a mate, LOL).
• While taking a break, one of our cats climbs into my lap nuzzling, purring, and begging to be petted.
• Having a good hair day.
• Hearing a friendly voice.
• Viewing the wonderful works of Hayden.
• Sitting down to a hot cooked meal – courtesy of a drive-thru. ;)
• Seeing another bloom on my flowers sprout or open up.
• Hearing my favorite song – and playing it over and over again.
• Driving my car with no traffic, tunes on, on a beautiful spring day.
• Having no electronic breakdowns, no colds, no unexpected bills………………..

0 comments

Posted by Mel at 2:24 PM

Starting From Scratch... well, kinda

It's been quite a whirlwind around here the last couple of weeks. Easter came and went, a birthday was celebrated. And now we gear up for Hayden's 101 Dalmatian play.

It's hard to believe my little boy turned 6 years old. And in celebration of his fantastic day - I created a music video (thanks to animoto.com) to show just how much fun he had. I can't get past the fact that 6 years ago nurses were jumping on top of me trying to get this stubborn child to come into the world. Six years later - he is still just as stubborn, if not more, and just as happy!



Besides that, we have been working on paperwork. Monday morning we had our caseworker from our homestudy agency come and to do an update. In addition to the forms we are filling out - nothing new is going on in the adoption world - which is a good thing. Quite frankly we are glad we made the switch as the corruption in Kyrgyz continues and sounds worse with every update. I just wish we would have switched sooner.

On a happier note... Easter, more birthday and April Fool's pics are posted on the right column. We hope you enjoy! 1 comments

Posted by Mel at 1:08 PM

Heading Down a Different Path

When Michael and I first started our research, the "Stan" countries were ones definitely on our list. Uzbekistan, was once a choice and has since closed and not reopened (least not to my current knowledge). These countries gave us the flexibility of adopting a child of an Asian decent without the strict rules and wait that China has a huge rep for. With more research, came more setbacks... travel time being too long for example. In addition this put Kazakhstan as a country to "fall back on" - not that we ever thought we would need to.

With that, life always seems to toss us a curve ball. The beautiful, yet industrial feeling on my laundry room ceiling proves this. A tiny leak can cause major stress. The ever so leaning backyard fence that may yet again have to wait another year to be replaced. The kitchen appliances that I am surprised have not keeled over or sparked. It just never seems to fail or surprise me that something is always going on in the "V" household.

Enough of my moaning and more on where our baby girl is coming from and what all entails:
For more country info, head to WIKI... I love this site for a quick history lesson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan

To start, Kazakhstan is different from Kyrgyzstan. (As you can see our blogs weather, time and map has now been changed to reflect this.) This country is significantly larger, wealthier and more tourist friendly. Not that Kyrgyzstan wasn't... but from what I've read/understand they are still old-fashioned. Kazakhstan is more populated, hence more people.

In regards to a referral, Kazakhstan is completely different. We will meet our child after we travel to the country once our dossier has been approved/processed. There we will spend about 15 days (at least) during the bonding period and either wait for our court date or return home and then come back again for the 2nd trip to go to court. Once we have been to court, we wait to hear word that our daughter is officially ours and we are able to go back to get her... or we can choose an escort to pick her up.

Here's the fun part. Since we are switching countries, we get to do our dossier papers all over again!!!! YEAH! So much fun. Back to the doctor, another round of finger prints, and more notarizing. We also need an update visit for our home study.

In the end, we hope changing directions benefits us as we truly weren't sure if and when Kyrgyzstan was going to move. Deep down it's heartbreaking and I personally feel like I am losing something by letting go. I'm sure over time it will heal... 4 comments

Posted by Mel at 12:36 AM

Are You Calling God?

On our way home from therapy this morning Hayden and I were discussing the important phone call that Daddy and I were going to receive about baby sister. He was under strict instruction to go downstairs, have lunch, watch a movie and be hush hush. Of course... a curious 5 (almost 6) year old wants to know why. So I explain to him that Mommy & Daddy need to talk about baby sister. Somehow out of the blue, Hayden drops the God comment on me... I didn't know whether to laugh (which I did) or hit the breaks and pull over the car for a discussion about God making phone calls.

Anyhoo... it was quite sweet and humorous to hear Hayden say later that he is going to pray for baby sister. You and I both kiddo. Which brings me to the big news. This time last year we thought we would have a girlie bundle of joy to welcome to our family and friends. It just won't happen soon enough. Unfortunately with the shake up in Kyrgyzstan there is no promise when (or if) the process will start picking up again for anyone who did not receive a referral.

With that, Michael and I have mentioned switching countries, thought about it back and forth, and today received the information we needed to make our final decision.
Kazakhstan here we come.

Travel will be hard, but our daughter will be worth it. We know she will be worth the wait.

More news coming soon.
Hoppy Easter! 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 11:48 PM

Spring Is Here... Or Is It?

I remember when I was younger, running outside in the springtime waiting to climb into the car for school. While I waited, I anxiously combed through our yard for dandelions (now a days death to anyone's lawn). Growing up, I learned this was a sure tell tale sign Spring was here... Unfortunately, as much as Michael calls dandelions a weed (and fights to keep them at bay), I don't see these yellow bursts of color coming anytime soon.

Which highlights another topic of ours that hasn't been blooming much lately. We haven't received much word that things have been moving - though we continue to keep chugging along.

Though there is a possiblity of snow today (yes for those not in our local area you read it correctly), my orchids have been having the time of their life. The picture above simply does not do it justice. And though I see no signs of spring in my yard yet (though my neighbor has some) I can always count on my blooms on my kitchen sink. I may not have a green thumb - but I am able to make these babies thrive!

We've been keeping busy here. "Daddy" just had a birthday and his spring break all rolled up into one. Hayden's spring break will be this following week. Birthday parties galore and weekends filled with play practice. I can now tell you Hayden is vibrantly singing most all the words on his 101 "Dog" CD and requests it frequently. (Yeah mom!)

Speaking of Hayden, my little boy is growing up. We are so proud of him and excited to share the news of him attending a Reg Ed 1st grade class next year (with an I.E.P). He is also most excited. He woke us up this morning all roaring to go. He dressed himself and even put the toothpaste on the toothbrush (the later took some coaxing). The fact that he didn't need us to tell him blew us away.
And more on the growing up front... Hayden will be turning 6 in a couple weeks. Invites are mailed and party supplies, etc. are being planned as we type. Too bad he grew out of the simple stuff, like trains and cars.

A funny quip from a still 5 year old... We are driving in the car - the 3 of us, Michael and I talking, and as usual, Hayden butting in. This is our everyday occurrence. It gets frustrating after awhile. So we tell Hayden that Mommy and Daddy are talking and he needs to wait his turn, to take a break from talking. He answers back... "But I love talking!" LOL
Now, anyone who knows Hayden would understand he didn't talk until 3 years old (ish) and once he did he popped like a firecracker and hasn't stopped since. So for him to make a remark like this shouldn't have come to us as a surprise.... but it did.

Hayden managed to stay pretty healthy the past couple of weeks. Though Michael and I caught the stomach flu, we were lucky enough that Hayden didn't catch it. However, shortly after the stomach bug, Mommy mysteriously caught strep throat. We are all crossing our fingers that that one stays out of harms way for everyone else.

That's it for now. We are anxiously awaiting spring, tooth #2 to fall out, and Hayden's birthday (Mommy secretly wants summer so Daddy can be home and give her a much needed break). I could sit here all day and list things. ;) 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 10:29 AM