Becks Gives Santa 2 Thumbs Up!

Christmas morning. Who has time to put on pants?!

No one would ever guess that this was Beck's first Christmas! He spent the entire Christmas Eve day asking me, "Santa come?". In the middle of our Christmas eve party with family, he eagerly went to bed all by himself while his sister kept a watchful eye on the radar online noting Santa's latest global position. When he turned south from New Brunswick, she made a hurried bee-line to bed, terrified that he'd get to our house quicker than she could fall asleep.

Lucky for her, Santa's arrival was not hinder by any conscious children. Morgan woke us up first at 6am, when she was warily informed that she needed to return to bed or face to very over tired and cranky parents. She quickly obliged and returned an hour later to much more awake parental units. Beck quickly followed Morgan down stairs where the house was filled with squeals and laughter and speculation of what lie beneath the wrapping paper.
Our tradition is to first open the gifts found in the stockings. At first Beck opened his gifts, reluctant to move onto the next surprise due to his interest to just open and play with the first gift. But with the expert example of his older sister, Beck was soon ripping through gift after gift at breakneck speed. Hey, I know we should savor the moment and really take in each gift, but who am I kidding, I remember very clearly that childhood wave of excitement of Christmas morning, when you find yourself tearing through wrapping paper as if your life depended on it. I can't think of anything in my adult life that compares to that feeling... except watching my kids experience it, especially for the first time.
Once all the gifts were opened here, we went to my Dad's house, where the fun started all over again. Word must have gotten out that Beck has a fondness for all things cars and trucks. It is safe to say, Joe may need to build Beck his own garage just to accommodate all his new vehicles. But the day wasn't all just new gifts, Beck also got to meet some more family members and as always he warmed up to them quickly and was soon playing with them and giving them kisses and hugs. By 3pm, with no nap and a belly full of sugar-rific confections, Beck laid in my arms and went to sleep; only the 2nd time he's fallen asleep in my arms. It was a great feeling and reminded me of how wonderfully lucky we are and how amazing it is that he is here with us.

Wishing you all a very happy holiday season and the very best for 2008!


"You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

I've been tagged!

Fellow blogger-momma Lori at Picking up the pieces tagged me, which means I am supposed to list 8 interesting/unknown to others/special things about myself. Apparently when I get to 100 posts on my blog, I will need to list 100 other facts about myself.
1. At 16 years old I worked for a traveling carnival. Yes, I was a carnie. There, I said it! But hey, the money was really good!
2. I played a classmate of Denise Richardson and Neve Campbell's in the movie "Wild Things"
3. In high school I was voted most likely to be found on a runway(still not sure what they meant by that).
4. I once had a lovely dinner with Eric Burdon and I had no idea who he was. My husband is still furious (and totally jealous) with me for being so naive and having no clue I was dining with a Rock Legend.
5. I recently got my first stunt double job for an upcoming film. My husband isn't thrilled.
6. I met my husband when I was 15 and he was 28. Don't worry, we didn't start dating until I was 20.
7. I've hung up the phone on Emilio Estefan several times.
8. I had an internship working for Jesse Briggs, who, among other oddities, made the news when he purchased THE famous dress from Monica Luinsky.

Well that's 8. I now tag Marnie and Sloan,

News from the Frosty NorthEast!

We've been busy with everything Christmas lately (although don't even ask me if I've finished my gift shopping... groan). Beck is very excited about Christmas but I'm pretty sure he has no idea why.

The day after Thanksgiving we went out and cut a beautiful Blue Spruce for our Christmas tree. I think the kids' favorite part was getting pulled around in the sled (sans snow, mind you).

That night we all had fun decorating the tree. Beck took care of placing many ornaments on the very bottom of the tree. The kids did a great job despite the fact the Blue Spruces are known for their ability to fight back and this tree was no different. It was like decorating a big tree of hypodermic needles, but on the upside, we really haven't had to remind Beck to not play with the tree.. OUCH!

We were hit with a pretty good snow storm last week and the kids took full advantage.

Last week we took a horse drawn sleigh ride to go visit Santa. At first Beck wasn't sure he liked this jolly, rotund, fleece-wearing guy with the odd facial hair. When Beck started to cry Santa sat down beside him and comforted him, spending the majority of the party at Beck's side. It was a super sweet gesture, however, Beck's cries seemed to summon the attention of every character at the party and all of a sudden 8 grown adults donning big stuffed furry costumes were staggering towards Beck like a freakish scene from 'Night of the Living Dead', this of course didn't help the situation at all. But then Beck spotted Frosty the Snowman and some other non-descript character having a moment of PDA and he jumped up yelling "huggie, huggie", obviously wanting a peice of the action, and from that point on everyone was a-okay in Beck's book. Santa even sat with Beck and Morgan on the way back to the farm.

Beck busting up some PDA between Frosty and.... who ever that thing is.

And I had to share this picture. Beck's hair really has grown and he's currently rockin' a faux-hawk!

Smarty Pants

For the past month Beck has been enjoying visits from an Early Intervention PT who comes to our home and works on Beck's lagging muscle development in his abs, neck and mouth - which was due to a simple lack of stimulation during his orphanage years. He has improved by leaps and bounds and generally loves 'playing' with the therapist and showing her all the wonderful things he can do. Due to policy, they can only help Beck until his 3rd birthday (which is only 1 month away!) so we've already begun the process to transition to the local SAU, which is protocol. This week a rep from the SAU went to Beck's school to observe him and the following day I had a meeting with the entire 'team' to discuss the plan for Beck's continued early intervention. To make a long story short, they spent the meeting 'wow-ing' over how well he has adjusted, how good his English is coming along and how incredibly well he comprehends anything they tell him. They could not believe he's only been home 100 short days. Of course, this is a double-edged sword and they told me he was not eligible for continued services. Yup, the kid is too smart. But I knew that already.

RIP Susie Sunshine

Today is a very sad day as I learned that one of my all time favorite bloggers is hanging up her keyboard. Seriously, you need to check this woman out. I admit, I can truly relate to her snarky, foul-mouthed, but-oh-so-accurate take on life and motherhood. I can't say I have ever felt like I've fit in with the "Mother crowd". I have no interest in swapping recipes or getting good hints on how to remove that mystery stain, and I couldn't care less if your child is solely on a soy-based, totally organic, no transfat, no sugar, no preservative diet while my kids' wolf down their 2nd McMeal of the day. Yes, at just about any mother-ly setting or gathering, I definitely feel like the odd square peg. Reading Susie's curse-filled antidotes made me smile daily and reassured me that there are more than one standard of a 'good Mother'.

Yes, my internal monologue often reads much like her posts, but not quite as poetic, and maybe a few more superfluous curse words.

OUCH!!!!......... again

For anyone who is keeping count, Beck's current running total for stitches is now at 7. Yup, we had to make another trip to the ER. It all started when Beck and Morgan were joyfully playing and Beck decided to vault onto his sister's back while she crawled on the floor. This action unfortunately resulted in Beck immediately vaulting off of Morgan's back landing head first into the corner of a wood plant table. After 40 seconds of screaming and blood-letting, it was over and Beck was ready to continue playing... until I examined the gash on the side of his head. He handled the stitches well and the doctor was amazed at how unphased he was about the whole thing. After the stitches were finished he even got up and took of running, crashing into a chair and falling flat on the ground. Sigh. Maybe the ER would consider a punch card program so my 10th visit is free.

Thanksgiving

Sorry this post is a little late. We all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year we really had a lot to be thankful for. Beck enjoyed the copious amounts of food but he reports 2 thumbs down for turkey. Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Today Beck started pre-school at a wonderful school just miles from our house. We visited the school last week and Beck immediately started playing with the kids and having a blast... and of course was quite disappointed when we had to leave. On Friday I returned all our paperwork and once again Beck was thrilled to be back but when I told him it was time to go, he waved "Bye bye Mama" and tried to high-tail it to his classroom. So he was full of excitement today when he knew he was spending the day at "Beck's school". We arrived, found out where all his belongings go and off he went! He could barely pull himself away long enough to give me a kiss good bye. It's a nice feeling to know he is such a confident child. When I returned to pick him up he had the biggest smile on his face and his teachers told me he had a wonderful day and he seemed as though he had always been there. He continues to amaze me every day.

Catch up

It's been a while since I've written an actually post. The best I've managed is a few pictures here and there. I do apologize.
Things are going well. Beck has finally come to love the dog, as well as other people's dogs. Thank goodness! His speech continues to improve every day and (unfortunately) he has learned to say "Mama No!" when he doesn't want to do something. It's amazing to see him puzzling words together to get his point across. Whether it's with words or pantomime, we usually figure out what the other is trying to say.
We recently got a call from his doctor. Initially we were going to re-do all vaccinations from bring to current just in case it's assumed that vaccinations were missed or perhaps out dated or stored improperly. We were looking at months of series of shots, but then his doctor had a change of mind and decided to test his blood for evidence of immunity (titer). Well we got the results yesterday and he apparently is current on ALL vaccinations, except for one little booster which we'll get from the nurse next week. He's a total champ when it comes to shots, but I'm so relieved that he won't have to go through all those shots! Oh, and did I mention that the numerous tests we did for parasites all came back NEGATIVE!!! YAY!
On the home front, Beck totally looks up to his big sister. Morgan is enjoying the celebrity status although perhaps she enjoys it a bit too much as I've caught her a few times coaxing him into doing thing she knows he's not allowed. Of course, he'll do anything his big sister tells him to! Enjoy it girl, because that won't last.
Last night was Halloween. I had a hard time finding a costume for him. Let's face it, little boy costumes are not fun if you have no interest in Buzz Lightyear or some other character that I'm lucky enough to have never seen before. So we settled on a lion. In the end it was a wasted effort, all the excitement leading up to the big moment took it's toll on Beck and he fell asleep immediately after dinner. So Morgan and cousin Courtney brought along an extra bag on their hunt for cavity-causing goodness so that Beck could at least enjoys the spoils.
And of course a post from yours truly would never be complete without a picture!

3 words

A friend sent this to me and I wanted to share

smoooooch!

They're so darn cute when they're not fighting over a toy!

New England Fairs

I know I haven't been keeping up on my blog.. shame on me! We've been super busy. Beck's grandmother from Florida has been visiting and we've been enjoying all the wonderful-ness of Fall in New England, which of course means FAIRS! Beck's a BIG fan of Fairs, he just can't get enough of that fair food and rides! We concluded this year's fair with a plate of deep fried oreo cookies! Hmmm, what was that the orphanage said about no greasy fried food and no sweets?

Maybe he'll follow in Mommy's hoof-prints

Beck definately has interest in the horses (YAY!). He enjoys joining me out in the barn in the morning while I clean stalls. He tries to help out but of course he doesn't really have the hang of it yet, which usually means it takes me twice as long to get the morning chores done. But I think he'll figure it out. First I'll teach him how to muck stalls, then I'll teach him how to barrel race!

A day in the life...

All dressed up for his big IA Doctor appointment in Boston! Things went great! She said he's one of the best kids (physically, mentally, developmentally) that she's seen coming out of an orphanage! YAY!



A little drinking and driving...




Mr. Dee's all ready for his show tomorrow!



A little light baking for dessert... YUMMY!


And nothing ends a day better than a nice bubble bath!

An Apple A Day...

Yesterday I took Morgan, Courtney and Beck apple picking. They had a blast! It reminded me of when we picked Beck up at the orphanage, our coordinator brought a bag of apples for Beck's house. Apples are indeed a special treat for those kids and they eagerly devoured the juicy treats, stems, core, seeds and all. It made me wish I could have all those kids with me at this breath-taking orchard, the trees bending with their bountiful harvest. I wish they could be here, running, laughing and eating their fill of the delicous apples.




Today we head to Boston to meet with the IA Doctor.

TALLY HO!!!

This morning Beck went to his first Fox Hunt! Of course, he's not quite ready to ride along so we left the horses home but still enjoyed the beauty of the event. I was just about half way to the hosting farm when I remembered that one of the key components of a good hunt is of course THE HOUNDS!!! Lot's of 'em! Howling, sniffing and scampering about. Honestly, I had a moment of panic. But as we gathered in the field and the hounds were released Beck hooted in pure joy (after all, it wasn't him they were sniffing after!). He ogled at the horses, making it obvious he wasn't totally fulfilled sitting on the sidelines. Luckily one of the riders, riding the biggest Clydesdale/TB cross I've ever seen trotted up to Beck and told him that "Spanky" (oh what a horrid name for such a commanding mount!) wanted to say Hi.
Yes, I do believe we have an equestrian in the making!



Just as a side note: In American Fox Hunting there is NO FOX used for the hunt. Those who know me well know I would never participate in a 'sport' that require a poor creature to be run to extreme exhaustion and then mauled. In American Fox Hunting a scent is laid out by, in this case, a local vet on her bicycle. So fear not! No cute little foxes even attended this event.

Hitting the Gym

As you may have figured out, Beck is a little challenged in the balance department. In fact, I would describe him as a watermelon on a toothpick. Yes, he's a bit top heavy, added to the fact that he's not a huge fan of actually looking in the direction in which he is running. So to help him learn balance and strengthen his coordination I have enrolled him in gymnastics. Yes, a nice padded environment in which he can learn how to run, jump, climb and tumble safely. Today was his first class and he LOVED it! We worked on the balance beam (where he quickly discovered the importance of looking where you are going) and did some tumbling. He's a big fan of the somersault! His coach was very impressed and stated that maybe he'll excel in gymnastics, as the team is always looking for strong boys. And he is definitely strong!


Beck mid-air!

Bloodless Saturday! YAY!

I figured you all might be wondering what facial trauma was sustained yesterday. I admit, I held my breath all day, wincing at every mis-step. But I'm happy to report we had our first Saturday that didn't involve stitches or blood-letting of any sort. There was a sigh of relief as I tucked him into bed and gave him a kiss (or 20).
Today we spent the day at Canobie Lake Park, a local amusement which is one our family's favorite hang outs. As some of you may remember just a few short months ago Beck was totally terrified about riding in a car. Who would have thought he would now be riding as many rides as he could; the carousel, the autobahn, the horse-n-buggy, the seaplanes (which he screamed jubilantly as he made it fly high in the sky), the firetruck, and the train that circles the park. He laughed and smiled all day... except when it was time to get off the ride.... he wanted them to go and go and go. I wish I had remembered my camera!!!

.jpg">

It's gettin' better all the time

I had forgotten what it was like to hang with a 2 year old. And however toddler-ific Morgan was at 2, Beck is that times 10! Last Saturday, on the 1 week anniversary of receiving his stitches, Beck celebrated by doing a header down the stairs at the Hampton Beach playground. He managed to scrape his face from the bridge of his nose to his bottom lip. I considered blogging about it but I feared this would turn into the "Beck's latest boo-boo" blog. I swear, if his face is ever scrape, cut and stitches free I'm rushing his immediately to the photo studio to get Christmas pictures done! Ahhhh, life with a toddler boy!
But besides mastering how to land on his face, Beck has made some incredible progress in language and comprehension. I'm often so surprised myself how much he understands. He enjoys learning, he devours it. This morning after breakfast Beck had his plate and a banana peel. I instructed him to go throw away his banana peel and take care of his dish. He smiled and headed into the kitchen in the other room. My husband was mortified and said "he's not going to know what to do!", I assured him he would and followed him slyly, peaking around the corner and watched him as he opened the garbage, threw away his banana peel and then continued to the dishwasher to place his dish in. I was full of pride when I said "see, told ya".
I have talked to him as if he understands English from the beginning, which seems to confuse people and they always ask me, "he doesn't speak English, does he?". But he is picking things up like a sponge. I can instruct him to go wash his hands, throw away in the garbage, get your shoes, get Mommy's shoes (I love that one!), get dressed, put away your toys, and he understands, and moreover complies.
He also likes to practice words, he can say and identify eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair. He also says "please" "banana" "apple". Not bad for a kid who's medical claimed he was "retarded"
Things have gotten better with our pets as while. The cat now intrigues him (although he's not ready to cuddle him), the dog only produces a blood-curdling scream if she sniffs him. He loves the horses! When I ask what a horsey says, he replies with a clopping sound. He gets as excited as me when he sees one. Hmmmm, perhaps we have a little equestrian in the making?
This week I will be driving Beck to Boston to meet with Dr Laurie Miller, a international adoption specialist. He'll be undergoing 2 hours of tests for development and psycho-motor skills. By the way, all other medical tests have come back fine! All his little organs are functioning perfectly, no illnesses, no parasites. I'm not even sure how he got so lucky!
Well, it's Saturday, cross your fingers we break our Saturday tradition.... no blood today, please!

Summertime Fun

Yeah, I know it's September but it feels like summer has decided to never say quit! Morgan, Beck and their cousin Courtney decided to play in the sprinkler and today Beck trained Morgan to be quite the carriage horse!
(I know, you're asking 'why is Morgan in a bathrobe?', well Beck and Morgan had just finished a marathon bath which consisted of 3/4 of a bottle of baby wash and flooding the bathroom floor. Normally such a situation would cause me to pull my hair out but today I threw caution (and sanity) to the wind and let them go crazy!)

The dog still freaks him out but.....

Beck cries if you DON'T let him ride the horse. Yup, that's my boy! I know this post really deserves a picture... but unfortunately I don't have one. While my niece was riding today, Beck cried and cried until we let him on Mr. Dee. Once in the saddle he beamed!
And yet the mere sight of the cat sends him into outerbody fits!

Stitches and smiles

Here's some pictures of Morgan and Beck meeting for the first time. And of course a shot of his new stitches.