The weekend past

Two oclock on Christmas morning the boys awoke.
We had to re-direct them after many cries of glee back to their beds.
At seven am, mom and dad agreed that it was time to see what Santa had left:

Nail polish (her number one request), a Dora vanity, and Leapster for Oksana
A Digital camera, razor scooter and a GI Joe for Nikolai
A Razor scooter, GI Joe and a new 18 speed for Vitaly
Assorted Bengal gear, jeans and a new hammer (broken earlier in the summer by Vitaly) for dad
Fry Skillet, muffin pan and a yearly Christmas cold for mom

After a wonderful brunch with Larry's family, it was time to unwind and give thanks for the gifts and the birth of Jesus.

On Saturday it was a balmy 68 degrees in Ohio! We opened our windows and played outside. Saturday night, mom spent a few hours catching up with a dear childhood friend. Sunday, we ventured to my Aunt's house in Columbus. We had an awesome time! My dear cousin is pregnant and as we were talking, Miss Oksana was listening in.

I turned to her and said, Ms. C was having a baby! Oksana's eyes and mouth flew open in awe! Then she turned to me and asked in complete wonder...

"How does the baby get out??!!"

Oh the questions of a four year old in a room full of people~
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I will post some pictures of the past few days soon!

A Christmas Story

I dont know about you ....

but the last movie shot of the couple in a Christmas Story watching the snow fall and the kids asleep with a glass of wine relates to me

the perfect ending of a Christmas day...

Peace and good will to all!

Recovering

It just seems a bit surreal right now.
To think that on Monday night I celebrated 19 years as a wife, and on Tuesday, I could have been a widow with three small children.

Larry is doing extremely well. He is adjusting to his new lifestyle. He is advoiding foods that before were second nature, as a meal. He is not over exerting himself. It is weird to know that my very strong, tall and athletic husband will no longer be shoveling snow or helping my father with his hay baling, during the summer. It is a new adjustment that is for sure.
Maybe, allowing Vitaly the opportunity to mow the grass on his own was definitely a good thing!

Our friends, family, and blogger buddies have been sooooo supportive! Thank you for the flowers and food. Thank you and God Bless you all!

How life can change

How life can change in a day.

Larry has been feeling ill for a few weeks now.

Typical upper respiratory symptoms of chronic cough, ache, wheezing, pain etc… Over Thanksgiving he went to an Urgent Care who gave him some antibiotics and sent him on his way. Still, he just didn’t feel like he was recovering with pain in his chest and arm. Thinking he probably had pneumonia he went to our family Physician on Monday. They took a chest xray, mentioned his blood pressure was higher then typical and ordered some blood work and a stress test in the next few days.

On Tuesday morning predawn, he awoke me saying he needed to go to the hospital. Thinking the pneumonia was the cause of the panic, I packed up the kids and drove to the closest hospital. After letting him off at the ER, I parked and brought the kids in to see how he was doing. He was having tests run and he said bye to the kids, so I could take them to school. I returned to the hospital to find out that he was suffering a heart attack; and would be airlifted to another hospital with a Heart Cath Lab.

Oksana and I said good-bye and left to meet them at the next hospital.

His procedure was successful and they were able to fix him.

Noone saw it coming. Not even our family Physician, who called in complete disbelief.

He is 43. He is active. He is barely overweight. He has never smoked. He eats his veggies and fruits and has a varied diet. He doesn’t look like a heart attack waiting to happen. But, it did.

He has been the model patient and luckily will be going home very soon, and healed.

Wake up call!

Happy Anniversary

Today is my anniversary.
Nineteen years ago, I walked down the aisle and married my husband, at the tender age of 23.
It is amazing that nineteen years have now passed.
It has not always been an easy journey.
There are so many memories good, bad, happy and sad.

We have been each other’s strength through the loss of our mothers. Hand in hand we have walked the Caribbean beaches, skied the slopes, attended football games and traveled throughout Europe together. We bought our first home and dog. We have held each other, as we cried over the loss of our beloved dog. We have met many friends and watched over the years, as some of these friendships slowly faded, and others emerged. We have known years without children and the freedom of doing what we wanted, as a couple.

We have traveled to Ukraine in hopes of building our family. We have known the pain of the possibility of returning home childless; and the joy when our prayers were finally answered. We have known the elation of arriving home with our first son, on our ten year anniversary! There was never a better gift to have received. We have shared the excitement of meeting our other children for the first time halfway around the world.

We know that each year is a gift and a blessing, and we have enjoyed them together for nineteen years with many more adventures ahead.

The Results

Well the results came in for Nikolai's growth hormone testing and the verdict....

He is destined to be small.

There are no abnormalities that they can locate to explain his height deficiency, therefore qualifying for growth hormones. Now the only way he could get the growth hormones is if we pay for them ourselves without any assistance from insurance. That is not a possibility. I have heard the cost is in the thousands.

I feel for him. I have been very short all of my life, so I know the challenges he will face.

I know it will be harder for a boy.

Thank goodness he is such a nice, funny and beautiful child and can light up a room with his gorgeous dimpled smile! Besides he doesn't really want to be a basketball player, he would much rather be "the Paralyzer" and cause havoc on the football field!

I still remember

I still remember the smell of Ukraine
I still remember what I was wearing
I still remember the weather
I still remember the smile on everyone's faces at the announcement
I still remember what it felt like when I was officially announced a parent
I still remember my husband's smile
I still remember that I cried
I still remember that it was the most amazing moment of my life
I still remember that I will never forget it

It was the day I became a mom for the first time...
Eight years ago today
Happy Gotcha Vitaly!

Home Sweet Home

I have been on working on a project for work out of town all week and just got home today.

Traveling is definitely hard work but part of the position.

Luckily, this time it was in driving distance and I didn't have to fly. I had my van with me to hit the shopping/dining spots after the work groups so I was not hotel bound!

So, when do those miles finally add up that is what I want to know!!

Home sweet home!!

All I Want..

Two months ago... with a my brokenc clavicle,,,,

They were still there and now.....

All I want for Christmas

Are my Two Front Teeth

I know cliche but it is sooo true!!!

Making Thanksgiving Memories

As a child, I remember the excitement and atmosphere that Thanksgiving held for me. We would travel to my Aunt’s or Grandmother’s houses. The cousins and my brothers/sister would play oblivious to the hard work being done in the kitchen. We would dress in our Sunday best and eat at the kids table laughing and having a blast.

These are the memories I want for my children.

Unfortunately, relatives have passed or moved away and getting together is not as easy as driving an hour or two.

As the years passed, I would tell my cousins, we have got to watch them make the potatoes or gravy or turkey. What will we do without these recipes!!

Sadly there are no more Grandmother’s to cook for the kids. Aunts, cousins, brothers, sister and even my dad are either far away or have other family responsibilities to attend to.

I have now taken the role of the Matriarch for Larry's dad and sister for Holiday functions. I have learned to cook a turkey. I am still not the best with the gravy, and forget a pie crust if I can buy it!

Larry wonders why I even bother, but I know why.

I want my children to look back in awe and excitement of Thanksgiving memories and the wonderment of a day to be thankful for what you have and the family God has given you.

Pics by Kids. Org

Have you ever downloaded pictures to find that your children have used their own artistic talent to complete the set...

I will start with pictures that I took...

Oksana rooting for her brothers at football finals before her surgery


Recovering from her surgery day four

Leaving Shriner's (she looks so skinny she must have lost ten pounds)



Nikolai locating mom's hose on the back of a washed rug and walked up asking what is THIS???

((They look like a smashed cow patty! GROSS))

((( oh and if you double click they max size therefore my smashed panty's grow even bigger.
OH JOY!!!)))

And now presenting anonymous photos by family members under the age of ten:

Suspect photographer number 1 probably photographed himself due to posture of arms and due to evidence of close up number two below..(and others not posted)



Suspect photographer is again number one again due to other suspicious people in the following pictures..of children taking pictures of "rule breaking"; which means jumping on the bed and also throwing a ball in the house.
Busted number one Nikolai..


Busted number Two , Oksana(with busted number 1)

and finally the joy of jumping seen here...


Verdict::: Guilty of breaking the rules and taking pictures!
Now the following only speak for themselves either taken by boy 1 and or 2 due to room where objects inhabit...


Obvious football theme



Trophy theme again (disclaimer not responsible for dust or unorganization due to full time motherhood)


And last I think this shows some artistic talent!

Challenge:::: Now to all of my blogger friends/ familyfriends and anyone else that wants to play just because!-- time to show your children's hidden photo talents
Be sure and post your link so everyone else can enjoy :)

Post Op Appointment

One hour and fifteen minutes drive in minivan
Thirty minutes sitting in the waiting area
Five minutes with the Surgeon for post op check-in
One hour and fifteen minutes return by minivan
One half a tank of gas

Spending the day with my favorite little girl :

Worth every second!

GH Testing

My poor Nikolai is getting tested today for Growth Hormone Stimulation Testing. Yesterday, I talked to him about it and tried to explain they were going to see if how big of a football player he was going to get!!!

He began to cry. I think they are all still a little traumatized from Oksana's hospital stay.

I did not tell him what the procedure would be, but this is what they are doing:

"Growth hormone stimulation: This test requires intravenous administration of medications and the withdrawal of frequent blood samples, which are obtained at 0, 60, and 90 minutes after injection of arginine and/or insulin. The patient should have nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before the test."

We all know having blood drawn is no fun!

So, I didn't tell him.

The good thing about this test is it will determine, if he is small because genetics or if he is small because there are other factors involved. If so, he may qualify for growth hormones. At his last Endocrinology appointment, his growth had slowed even more then the year before. He is in the negative five percentile on the growth chart.

This morning as he prepared to leave with his dad, he came into the bathroom to say good-bye.

He looked at me and said, "Mommy I am going to be brave."

I gave him a hug and kiss and he left.

He is a brave little boy!

Mommy Only Day

Yesterday, I had a “mommy only” day!

It was a federal holiday for me, but the kids still had school (so, I did not feel like I was neglecting them).

Larry dropped the kids off at the sitter’s to catch the bus, and I went back to sleep.

I slept until 9:00 am, without interruption, which was wonderful!

Then, I had a nice long bath and went to the salon to get my hair done.

I decided to treat myself to lunch and some shopping at the mall. I even bought a couple of new tops for myself.
I had hoped to maybe catch a movie, that only I wanted to see and wasn’t rated G, but I ran out of time.

When I got to the sitter’s she said you are early. Then, she said wait you didn’t work it was a holiday and you got your hair done!

I just smiled.

It was definitely a well-deserved treat and completely refreshing!

Check IN WW

Those that have followed our blogs, know I am still doing Weight Watchers, but not at true as I hoped to be..
Anyway, after four days doing fried food at the hospital (their fresh salads and fruit were scary)
and overall bad eating..

Well, in two weeks I am still where I last checked in..
I am still losing and heading for my twenty pounds (close).
By the new year... We will see

Home

Well we came home Sunday (without the teams' 100% support). They wanted to keep her another day and thank goodness we prevailed and were able to leave.

What a strong little girl she has been.

She cried and had bad dreams everynight. I woke up every hour to her crying on saturday night.
How can a parent not cry when your child says:

Dont leave me here (when I was rebooting the computer downstairs)(she was rarely left alone)
I want to go home
I want my yaya (daddy)
I dont want any medicine (crying)
I dont want to eat (crying)
I dont want to drink (crying)
My throat hurts

Well, we are home now. We still have eating/drinking and medicine issues, but they are slowly getting better.

Seeing the other children recovering at the hospital, was very heartbreaking.

Some of the children will be there for weeks, and months.

Oksana's surgery, although not easy will put her one more step on the road to her final cleft repair. She will need more surgeries, but she will recover. Her scars will be few, and in time, almost non-exsistent.

We met many families and Oksana was the only one there for cleft issues, recovering at that time. This particular Shriner's does burns, cleft repair and pinning of the ears!

The other families we met were all dealing with burn issues.

Burn babies/children are not so lucky. There recovery is slow and painful.

Please support your Shriners as they do amazing things for these children

Thank you Shriner's.

Shriner's Day Two and Three

It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon here in Cincinnati. It is crazy to think it is November and it is around sixty in Ohio!

Oksana's day improved about 5% yesterday. She actually was forced to eat a popsicle by the staff nurses after I left to take a small walk and get a salad. Without me there, they flexed their nursing muscles and somehow she caved in. They even had her eating applesauce but the second she saw me it was all over. She began to cry and wanted nothing else to eat. She did eat a french fry and a bite of cottage cheese, when Larry and the boys came down for dinner. The boys loved the hospital of course and all of the gadgets and toys!!!

Today has started off rougher, then I had hoped. She had refused to eat or drink anything! Then it happened for the eighth time, she got sick. So she began to really refuse to eat/drink, because she said it would make her ill.

Around noon, her breakfast came and I bribed her into a toy for eating some food. She took two bites of a pancake, a piece of egg, one spoonful of yogurt and a sip of milk. At least, it was a small step. Then I asked her what she would eat if I bought it, like her favorite chicken nuggets from McDonalds. She agreed to this, so I put on my sneakers and headed a couple of blocks to McD's. She actually ate one nugget, two french fries and three sips of my diet pepsi! Success is slowly coming. Unfortunately, today we will not be our day to go home. She must eat an entire portion of a meal and drink, before being released.

We got to meet about five different Shriner's clowns this morning. What special individuals they are. They each take time out on a Saturday, to put a smile on the faces of little children, all in need of some fun!

Shriners Day One

We got up around 4:45 am to drive to Cincinnati by 6:30. The staff quickly came and got her and prepped her for her surgery around 7:30. Around 10:30 they brought her to her room in ICU groggy, bloody but okay. The staff was aware of her past reactions to anesthesia and prepared accordingly. Still, she began to vomit blood...1,...2,...3,...4,....5,...6, and just this morning 7 times. Poor little girl.

She has been so strong. Not crying much, just asking to go home.

Since a possible risk of the operation is breathing difficulties, someone had to watch her at all times. So that meant while I slept and she slept, a nurse had to be in our doorway watching us sleep! I did prepare them in advance that I have been known to be a loud snorer!

Still the bed they provided was actually quite comfortable and I was very tired and slept off/on for about eight hours.

This morning she is awake, but unfortunately was unable to keep anything down. So, we wait...until her body is ready.

One amazing thing about Shriner's is the awesome staff, and the amazing patients here from all over the world. They had a trick or treat for the children and to see what some of these babies have to overcome humbles one immediately! The little girl from south america, in the room next to us, has been in the hospital for a year and half. She is four years old and burned over her entire body and face. Yet, she is alive and was taking small steps out of her door.
Everyone clapped and danced for her in celebration of her newest comeback feat!
Although she can no longer smile, you could see the joy shining in her brown eyes.

A Brave Little Girl

Oksana is such a brave little girl. She has endured so many surgeries already in her four young years. I can't even imagine what her surgery in Ukraine must have been like! They never even supplied pain medication twenty-four hours after the surgery for her cleft lip was finished!

She has been in the hospital for cleft palate repair, ear tubes, MRI, tooth extractions and tomorrow she will go to Shriner's for her pharyngeal flap surgery. It is such a scary sounding surgery and will be very painful. I have talked to her about having an ouchie for a while and that she will be in the hospital for a few days, but she will get a big "surprise" when she is all done!

She will also miss trick or treat.

She has been asked by others"what are you going to be for Halloween."
And she in a very mature manner past her age has answered, "I will not be doing trick or treat, I will be at the hospital."

What a brave little girl!

eyebrows

As we were driving home Oksana asked me this:

Mommy what are these? (pointing to her eyebrows).

I said they are your eyebrows.

Why?

hard ..thought...why is a good question..(so I debated)

So, I said " eyebrows are to make your eyes happy!"

Then she said:

"Oh, they are eye warmers!"

A lesson learned from a four year old!!!

pests

As innocent as she looks:

and this one too:

They are not...
They have invited an unwelcome guest into our home
which is this:



((Makes me shudder just to look at it!))
All because I didn't spend $200.00 to buy two different doses of this from my vet:

* big SIGH*

So now I have spent $100.00 for flea baths here (not this exact company but you get the idea):

And will be spending money on this:

and other assorted pest remedies.

Lesson learned!

Sauerkraut Festival

Saturday morning, I decided to take Oksana to a local arts and crafts festival based around the theme of sauerkraut! So we got up early to beat the crowd (that didnt happen of course) and headed out. Since the festival involved:

a. arts and crafts

b. sauerkraut

c. huge crowds

I knew the boys would not be interested. Here is Oksana enjoying a hot dog.

Braving the crowds

And people watching (it is quite entertaining to see people eating sauerkraut dishes at 9:00 in the morning!)

We had so much fun shopping and the weather was beautiful! A perfect autumn day to spend together.

Extraction

Well I have decided I have found something to add to my list of least favorite experiences which have included:

Seeing a big spider on the couch
Losing a nail
Getting jalapeno juice in my eye
Major turbulence on a plane
“Picking up” after the dogs
Riding anything that spins around

And the list goes on…

Today, I am adding tooth extraction!

Nothing as fun and exciting as having a Dentist tugging, and pulling on your front tooth, while you lay there looking at the bright light and thinking…please just don’t let me hear it crack…please just don’t let me hear the tearing!!

Fun to be had by all!!!

It all began after my front tooth was chipped at the age of nine while:

Falling down while roller skating

Then around ten:

Being hit in the mouth by a bad kid throwing rocks at school,

Then around the age of twelve:

Hitting my same tooth at the bottom of a swimming pool,

Then capped for the next thirty years…

And now, I have a permanent shiny white new tooth (bridge) at the age of 41!

Summers End

As summer came to a close, Vitaly was granted the little boy rite of passage known as Mowing the Lawn!

He was allowed to mow with a push mower!!! How excited was V? Well, he talked about it for days!

While V was busy beautifying the yard, the virtual wonder twins were up to their silly antics! Who knows what promise they made but I guarantee it is probably being up to NO good and involves a prank!

(disclaimer (in case anyone wonders) this is not a "real" kiss they were just teasing each other.)

Drumroll...

And now for mommy's summer pride! I had purchased a four pack of sad looking pepper plants for a quarter from a church yard sale. I planted them in a cute mexican style pot, and put them on my front porch ...

I have a beautiful large pepper! My plant now has three more peppers coming, but I feel bad to pick them!

I guess I will make some stuffed peppers, store some of the seeds and replant them next year!

Doctors, hospitals and baby teeth

These past few weeks have been crazy!

Catching up last Wednesday, Nikolai was hurt playing football with his brother in the yard. He cried and kept saying his shoulder hurt.

We couldn't see anything wrong, so we decided to wait a day to see if it was just a sore muscle..well Friday, I took him to the Doctor and yep a broken clavicle. Split right in two. Poor Nikolai, his football season has ended and he will be wearing a brace for a few weeks.

On Wednesday, Oksana went in for outpatient surgery to remove an abcessed tooth in her cleft line. When they came to me to sign the paperwork, they said they were extracting two permanent teeth. Then they said they were also taking her two front baby teeth.

Of course, I wasn't prepared for THAT notion and tears welled in my eyes, as I thought of her without her teeth for years! The Oral Surgeon said it would be best, to help her permanent front ones come down. Well after surgery, he said he only removed one of her front teeth and the two others. (so that was a little relief)

Slowly she came off the anesthesia, miserable of course. I gave her a little juice, and then we sat her on the bed. Right before they were getting ready to take out her IV to be released, she began to throw up mass amounts of blood and from her nose.

The nurses were alarmed, as well as me, and they ran around in nurse fast mode. The Oral Surg came in, checked her out, and said the cleft kids often have lots of blood when extracting the teeth. He said he would stay around a while, just in case, and to call him if she did it again. So, we waited. She did seem lethargic but time had passed and she drank a little juice.

As she was getting ready to possibly go home a second time, it happened again.
Blood everywhere. Talk about ALARM!

At this point, the ansetheologist came to see what was happening. She said she was reacting to the anesthesia (no kidding) and gave her a drug to control naseua and we waited...and waited...five hours post extraction. Finally, she began to show her bubbly personality again and she was so positive about going home. So, they decided to release her.

On the way home, it happened again. Not as much as before, but still blood in the van, carseat and on her clothes.

I took her home and let her sleep, where she finally began to get better.

Now, she is very proud that she lost her front tooth before her big brother Nikolai lost his!

Growing a Foot

Oksana to mommy, “Guess what I am FOUR!”

“I know look how tall you are getting! You must have a grown a foot!”

Looking at me quizzically…

Looking at her feet for a few seconds…

Looking back at me…

Looking down at her feet again…

Giving me a look like you must be “cuckoo mom”…

“No, I didn’t!”

Turning Four

Oksana turns four today.

She has been waiting for this day with great anticipation and excitement!

Oksana what would you like for your birthday?

"A pony".

"Well we would need a barn for a pony."

"Oh, okay I want a Barbie."

"What kind of Barbie?"

"A pink Barbie!"
((And that is one of her presents.))

Yesterday at school, they celebrated her pre-birthday. She proudly wore her birthday hat and carried her birthday picture card to show everyone! At Speech Therapy, she proudly walked up to all of the parents and showed them her picture! When asked if it was her birthday, she said no it is tomorrow! How old are you they asked. I am three today, tomorrow I will be four!

As, I tucked her in last night. She sleepily she told me the following:

When I am four, I can get my own fruit snacks down. I will be able to swim in the deep end. I get to use big people shampoo! Then she fell asleep...smiling.

This morning, she awoke excited knowing that today is her birthday. We have it all a surprise but she knows it will be fun!

She is going with Grandpa to the children's museum, then to lunch. After her nap, Grandpa will take her with him to a log cabin park and then we will pick her up for her birthday surprise just the way she dreamed with pink ballons, cake, presents and fun!! ((but no pony))

Happy Birthday Oksana!

Buckeyes

I love to watch HG TV Network! They have a Show which allows you to see What You Get for the money, for the same price, in different areas of the country.

I am always amazed by the prices of some of the homes with about 1800 sq feet, in Southern CA for example, that might cost $450,000, and you could buy the same house here in Ohio for
$80-120,000.

Well on Yahoo today, the city we live near was rated number seven for the most affordable housing markets:

7. Dayton, Ohio Median home price: $102,000 Median household income: $59,800 Share of homes affordable to median-income families: 85.4% Share of affordable homes in Q2 1998: 83.8%.

Amazing!

Just think what you could buy if you sold your home in San Diego and moved to Ohio! You would suddenly have a 5,000 sq ft mansion!

I guess being a Buckeye is pretty cool after all!

brussel sprouts

Can someone please explain, what is the problem with one of these in a bowl ready for dinner?

I know they are not everyone's favorite persay, but it is just a little baby cabbage after all right?

Anyway our dinner went something like this:

Oksana (prior to the boys coming to the table as bad influences)

Mommy May I have one?

Sure honey!

Then.. the look. You know the one that says it all...gross!

Then she cried," I don't like it" and there it sat on the table, like a squished green ball.

Enter the boys for dinner..

Larry advoiding eye contact with them. As if by not seeing them, then perhaps they don't exsist and I won't ask why he didn't have any.

Vitaly proudly taking one (as he is not a picky eater and will try everything) and then.. that look (again)..and then "YUCK!"

Nikolai just laughing, because we all knew in advance he would rather eat dog food, then a dreaded brussel sprout or any cabbage.

Mom (big sigh) eats half the bowl with no problems.

I guess I know the only person that will be eating the leftovers!

August in Pictures

First we celebrated Vitaly's birthday at his choosing which was a chicken wings place known here locally (Frickers for all that know LOL). He chose it for the "game room"

and his dear "special aunt and uncle" joined us for his awesome birthday (love ya aunt rah and uncle Mark)

Here is the bday kid with his Kidz Bop cd and new CD player.

Here is Oksana practicing her favorite sport soccer or ballon kicking inside the house

she is a natural!
Mia Hamm watch out!
Success!

(a new in style bobbie socks notice they dont match- one must be nik's and one Oksana's)

The shirt though I designed myself for the 2007 UA angel reunion. It says adopt an angel!

Are you ready for some football....

Nikolai "The Paralyzer" waiting for his first game

The Paralyzer!

And now for the half time the cheerleader.

Introducing Vitaly "Slammin" S.

The third grade terror

Over the weekend we attended a friend's birthday

Luau partywhich was a lot of fun.

Where is the surf dude

Aloha Ohio style

(V and Dad scoring some food!)

Check out the feast and my cool shirt

The best of friends ready to have some birthday party fun!

Happy August!