Ukraine Adoption

A trip to the zoo

There is true joy in watching your kids as they stare at the exotic creatures at the zoo. We spent nearly three hours walking around in the bright sunshine on Sunday, going nose to nose with the seals through the glass tunnel, waving at the Lions to try to get them to wake up, searching in vain for the giraffes that were moved to another area while their exhibit was being repainted. It's always an adventure.

Sweet video

Mother's Day is soon, so this seems like a great time to post this video about adoption. I dedicate it to little Tara Vika and to my family who loved her before they even met her.
And to all of the fortunate children who found families, and the hopeful orphans who are still waiting for homes. And for the parents who took in children as their own. And those still hoping to do so.
Enjoy. And get some tissue.
Here it is: When Love Takes You In.

Spring at last

I try not to dwell on the weather too much, it's not like I can do anything about it. But this weekend, spring finally arrived in full force here, with tons of sun and temps in the mid-to-high 70s. You can't beat that. Tara practically lived on her bike. It's been a long time since we've seen her little knees in shorts, tooling around the yard. We all have spring fever; the kids don't want to go to bed, Tara wants to live on popsicles, no one feels like doing any chores (OK, that happens in all seasons).

Tara totally remembers summer, and she has been talking about the little pool her Aunt Karen has promised to set up for her again. And she wants to go to Grandma's park. She can be very persuasive for a four year old (people have a hard time saying no to her) So I'm hoping she doesn't learn about Disney World just yet.

Say what?

So I was talking to Austin and Tara shortly before dinner the other day about how mama birds feed their babies. I think I was trying to get them to appreciate whatever I was cooking for us. They were sitting on the couch together, watching TV, and I leaned into the room and said, you know, mama birds chew up their food and spit it in their babies' mouths. They both looked at me. I was going for the gross factor. Then Tara said, "That's regurgitation." Crystal clear, every syllable. We all started laughing. That's right, I said, how do you know? "My teacher."

So the next morning I asked her teacher about it. She confirmed that indeed, they have been studying mammals, birds and fish, and regurgitation was discussed in the lesson plan.

Well I guess you never know what's going to stick in their minds. Even a 5-syllable word for a little girl in pre-school whose only language two years ago was Russian.

Tara-isms Part X

Tara stood next to her little friend and then looked over at her friend's daddy and said: "My daddy is bigger than your daddy."

When I dropped off Tara at pre-school yesterday, her teacher asked me if Tara's daddy is tall. I said, excuse me? She said Tara told the class that her daddy is bigger than Mr. Mark, another teacher. I looked at Mr. Mark, a tall man, and said, I think her daddy is taller. Tara beamed.
(I'm not sure why this is so important to her right now. John better beware; she may be trying to pick fights for him.)

Tara threw her little stuffed dolphin and it hit her 11-year-old brother on the eye. Not badly hurt, he was rubbing his eye when I scolded her: "TARA, what do you say?" She froze and looked at him, then grinned and said, "Crybaby crybaby!"

A true celebration

Two years ago today, little Tara Vika was awakened from a nap at an orphanage in Kyiv, Ukraine and told that her mama was back, and she was going to take her to her new home. I was scared that she wouldn't remember, but she walked right to me. I couldn't believe that she was finally ours forever. My cousin Sally was with me for the "gotcha day." We quickly dressed Tara in new clothes and loaded her into a car.

She was only two years old. If you want to read about it, see this site. Today she is a happy, smart girl who loves to help people and ride on her brother's shoulders and sing in the car. She likes pretty clothes and pink nail polish. She loves to tease and make people laugh. And her hugs are hearty and genuine.

Happy Easter to all, and happy Gotcha Day to our precious little girl.

Easter Egg Hunt--Hey how many did you get?

Tara and her friend Annabelle walk along the muddy path in the park after scrambling for Easter eggs in the crowd of 3-6 year olds.

Ok for now

I will keep this blog going for now. It seems to be a place for friends and family and new acquaintances to check in, touch base. I will continue to evaluate it for Tara's sake.

Thanks for your comments and phone calls!