Week in Review

We are quickly approaching the one-year mark when we received the call to go to Russia and become a family. Seems like yesterday -- yet seems like Kristina has always been with us. Where has the time gone?

Everyday, this sweet little girl amazes me. We literally see her growing up daily in front of our eyes as clothes are getting tighter, her bed is getting smaller, and my back is starting to feel the affects of carrying a 31 lb. sweetie to her bed when she falls asleep on my lap.

School is going great. She counts to 20 but somewhere between 10 and 18 we lose some numbers. Kristina successfully comes home with her Dora the Explorer or Blue Clues "big girl panties" 100% DRY. One day we just started sending her in panties and she's never wet them at school. Aw, geez -- I shouldn't have said anything... Nighttime is a different issue usually but that's ok.

On the way home from school last week, Kristina sang to me the entire "ABC's" song without cutting out letters. I happened to have my camera so, of course, I asked her to sing it again so I could capture the moment. She's a tad soft-spoken on this video but thought I'd share anyways...

Video of Kristina singing her ABC's

When I was at Toys 'R Us, I bought a "tire swing" since Kristina is quite the daredevil. Papa wasted no time hanging it from our tree...now all the neighborhood kids are starting to ask "Hey, can we swing on your swing?" Finally meeting some new neighbors...and there wasn't even an earthquake to prompt it!

Thanks, Papa ~ I LOVE my new swing!

Kristina and her friend, Kira, trying out the swing for the first time!

The shrills of little girls having fun draws out other neighbors we never knew existed! (WARNING: No hurt feelings if you choose to "mute" your volume at this time.)

Kristina is still a nightowl. Now that it's daylight savings time, we're using it to our advantage to wear our little one out (and give us a workout in the meantime!). When we come home from work, we take a ride around the block on her Radio Flyer tricycle, take a walk on the neighbor's low brick wall (a gymnast in our future?), and finish the evening on the swing. A refreshing bath with Elmo Bubbles, a nightcap of warm milk and snuggles are soon to be had! Life is grand.

Kristina is always ready to make a break of it and go for a ride.

When she's not screaming with excitement or quietly snoring, Kristina is a motormouth. Some of Kristina's favorite sayings are (and how I wish I had these on video because the facial expressions and hand gestures are priceless):

"Mama, stay here. Tina go get it. Stop, wait here."
"Bye, bye baby" (waving to her doll in the morning when going to school) "Oh, you want me to hode you again? Ok, baby (as she kisses her baby on the forehead)."
"Oh, my godsh." ~ said with lots of drama...
"Tina wants apple juice - no water." (She knows my trick of diluting the a.j. with water!)

These are just a small sample of the ongoing full conversations we have....my mind is just too fried to recall others at the moment. Stay tuned!

So now we are starting to prepare for Easter. She has several beautiful dresses to wear so now I have the daunting task of deciding which one. This is such a wonderful dilemma to have this year!!