July 13/08
It is hard to believe that a year ago on the 13th of July, we got on a plane to travel half-way around the world to meet our child. We feel ill at the thought of how close we came to not being able to go at all. We can't imagine Matthew with anyone but us! A year ago on the 16th they brought in this tiny, skinny legged little baby who had the biggest smile! He is no longer skinny, in fact he has great calf muscles! He does however, still have his big smile - it is now full of teeth instead of just one!
Matthew is a bit of a dare devil and really has no fear. He loves water but hates to wear a life jacket. In fact, he doesn't even want to hold your hand anymore as he walks deeper into the water! The pool in our town has a beach entry and last week we went with Matthew's cousins. He walked all the way in until the water was up to his neck and was mad because when he went farther, his feet wouldn't touch! He also had a ball going down the little water slide, especially since his cousins took turns going down with him! In the bath, he LOVES to splash still and now has progressed to splashing water on himself and grinning as it pours down his face. He is also a big fan of laying on his tummy and becoming a motor boat complete with sound effects!
Aug. 29 - Sept. 5/08
I can't believe it is actually our 1st anniversary of Gotcha Day already! In some ways it feels like yesterday that we were in Kazakhstan and in others it is like we have always had Matthew with us. We decided to have a party for Gotcha Day and had it on the Sunday the 31st instead of the 29th. Matthew had a ball since he was surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents! He has spent the last few days recovering from all the attention he received! He finally fit into the "I'm a Keeper" t-shirt that I had made before leaving for Kazakhstan last year! At the time I was convinced that our child would be 18 months so I got a size 2 shirt!
I can't believe how much Matthew has changed in one year! He is not a baby any more that's for sure. He is such a boy too! He LOVES trucks, tractors and semis. He drives his all over the house and always wants to go along with daddy. He has already been seeding, cutting hay and hauling canola in the semi! Any time we see a tractor or a semi he says, "Daddy brrrmm?" He also loves tools. He has toy tools, but if daddy gets out the real deal you can bet Matthew will be in there before you can even blink!
Matthew has really started to talk now. In just the last few weeks he has started trying to copy a lot of the words you say to him and I bet he added ten just in the last week alone. This doesn't mean that they are totally clear though! If you ask him "did you say ..." he will either nod his head vigorously yes or keep saying it until you get it! One of the words he started to say last week was beebee. I thought he was saying baby but it turns out he was saying peepee. I figured it out when he came to me carrying his potty seat and saying the word! He likes to sit and try to pee and my big boy even managed to squeeze out a few drops once! I'm not pushing it but I'm not going to tell him no when he asks to go!
This summer we tried to do some family things like going to the zoo, to the beach and visit with family and friends. We also met up with Jila and Kiana so that our Can/Kaz kids will know each other. We feel so fortunate that they live close by! We also took in our agencies annual picnic weekend at Minnedosa in August. We (Kaz families) were out numbered by the families from Ethiopia again but we were excited when there was a grand total of four Can/Kaz kids (including Matthew) there! Hopefully next year there will be more able to attend. We had a lot of fun and were in the water quite a bit. In fact, 5 minutes after we arrived, Matthew was soaking wet! He spotted the water seconds after his feet hit the ground and he immediately sprinted towards the lake! We waded for a brief time before he slipped and fell in fully dressed! He didn't care, of course! Good thing we were staying only minutes away at my Aunt's cabin. Boy did CAFAC do a good job of the weekend again. I seriously doubt there is a harder working, fun loving, competent group of people than them and we are so glad that they are there to help us through the adoption process.
Matthew is a bit of a dare devil and really has no fear. He loves water but hates to wear a life jacket. In fact, he doesn't even want to hold your hand anymore as he walks deeper into the water! The pool in our town has a beach entry and last week we went with Matthew's cousins. He walked all the way in until the water was up to his neck and was mad because when he went farther, his feet wouldn't touch! He also had a ball going down the little water slide, especially since his cousins took turns going down with him! In the bath, he LOVES to splash still and now has progressed to splashing water on himself and grinning as it pours down his face. He is also a big fan of laying on his tummy and becoming a motor boat complete with sound effects!
Aug. 29 - Sept. 5/08
I can't believe it is actually our 1st anniversary of Gotcha Day already! In some ways it feels like yesterday that we were in Kazakhstan and in others it is like we have always had Matthew with us. We decided to have a party for Gotcha Day and had it on the Sunday the 31st instead of the 29th. Matthew had a ball since he was surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents! He has spent the last few days recovering from all the attention he received! He finally fit into the "I'm a Keeper" t-shirt that I had made before leaving for Kazakhstan last year! At the time I was convinced that our child would be 18 months so I got a size 2 shirt!
I can't believe how much Matthew has changed in one year! He is not a baby any more that's for sure. He is such a boy too! He LOVES trucks, tractors and semis. He drives his all over the house and always wants to go along with daddy. He has already been seeding, cutting hay and hauling canola in the semi! Any time we see a tractor or a semi he says, "Daddy brrrmm?" He also loves tools. He has toy tools, but if daddy gets out the real deal you can bet Matthew will be in there before you can even blink!
Matthew has really started to talk now. In just the last few weeks he has started trying to copy a lot of the words you say to him and I bet he added ten just in the last week alone. This doesn't mean that they are totally clear though! If you ask him "did you say ..." he will either nod his head vigorously yes or keep saying it until you get it! One of the words he started to say last week was beebee. I thought he was saying baby but it turns out he was saying peepee. I figured it out when he came to me carrying his potty seat and saying the word! He likes to sit and try to pee and my big boy even managed to squeeze out a few drops once! I'm not pushing it but I'm not going to tell him no when he asks to go!
This summer we tried to do some family things like going to the zoo, to the beach and visit with family and friends. We also met up with Jila and Kiana so that our Can/Kaz kids will know each other. We feel so fortunate that they live close by! We also took in our agencies annual picnic weekend at Minnedosa in August. We (Kaz families) were out numbered by the families from Ethiopia again but we were excited when there was a grand total of four Can/Kaz kids (including Matthew) there! Hopefully next year there will be more able to attend. We had a lot of fun and were in the water quite a bit. In fact, 5 minutes after we arrived, Matthew was soaking wet! He spotted the water seconds after his feet hit the ground and he immediately sprinted towards the lake! We waded for a brief time before he slipped and fell in fully dressed! He didn't care, of course! Good thing we were staying only minutes away at my Aunt's cabin. Boy did CAFAC do a good job of the weekend again. I seriously doubt there is a harder working, fun loving, competent group of people than them and we are so glad that they are there to help us through the adoption process.
Speaking of adoption process, we are finally feeling motivated to get moving on the next one. We have had the papers for quite awhile now, but I just haven't felt "the urge" to get working on them until a couple of weeks ago. I figured that meant that our second child just wasn't ready for us yet! A few weeks ago while shopping with a friend, "the urge" made me buy a little pink onesie that says "Worth the wait" on it! When we began the process for Matthew, we didn't specify gender, but for some reason we feel "the urge" to say girl this time. We are working with the Kazakhstan program again and hoping to go back to Astana. Did I mention how glad I am that we have CAFAC behind us? I have already been pestering them with questions!
Matthew and Mommy are heading back to work at the daycare on Monday. Yikes. I don't know if I am excited or horrified! Once I am back, I'm sure it will be fine. Just letting go of the freedom and getting back into the routine is hard. One good thing (I think) is that Matthew will be with me until he turns two.
To sum up this last year in one word ... wonderful! Even that seems inadequate. Everyone agrees that he just fits into our family as if he was meant to be here and we firmly believe that to be true. I recently said that I wished that we would have skipped all the years of treatments and tests and trying to adopt locally - all without success - and gone straight to Kazakhstan. But then I realized that would have meant some other child and not our Matthew. You know what, he is worth every painful minute of those years. I just can't believe that we are some how allowed to be his parents.
Matthew one year ago!
Playing at the playground in the spring.
Helping Daddy build our new chairs..jpg)
Ewww, mud doesn't taste good!.jpg)
After falling in a mud puddle!
Matthew loves cucumbers!.jpg)
Going seeding with Daddy!
Hanging out with my cousin!
Our strawberry monster strikes again!
I LOVE steak!
Kazak version of Godzilla!
Sneaking cousin Stephanie's pop at the Gotcha Day party!
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Mommy's attempt at a cake!
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Goofy cousins at the Gotcha Day party!
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Happy Gotcha Day!
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Our little farmer!
3 comments:
So glad to see an update! We miss you guys so much! Happy Gotcha Day! I know it is late but hey, just the same. Love the cake! And I have to say that I LOVE the picture of Kazakh Godzilla! Hopefully we will be able to get together sometime soon, as Tony is having Mike withdrawls!
Love,
Mae, Tony and Taylor
bonjour ,
je me permets d'écrire sur ce site ou ce blog .
je me présente : Françoise Boulnois ( francoise.boulnois@tele2.fr ) vivant en France et ayant adopté une petite fille à Pavlodar en mars 2008 .
Ma fille Léopoldine avait 2 ans et quatre mois quand je l'ai connu .
j'ai découvert par hasard sur un blog de canadiens : Julie et Stephan ayant adopté Angélika Allard une photo de ma fille de profil .
Je cherche à les joindre , peut-être auraient ils d'autres de photos de ma fille prises notamment le 02 septembre 2007 lors d'un spectacle donné à l'orphelinat .
ce serait une joie immense de pouvoir y parvenir .
merci d'avance .
Françoise , maman de Léopoldine, Anastasia
Hello,
Alow me to write you.
My name is Françoise Boulnois ( francoise.boulnois@tele2.fr ) ; I live in France and since march 2008 I’m the adoptive mother of a little girl from Pavlodar’s baby house.
My daughter, Léopoldine (Anastasia), was aged of 28 months when I met her.
By chance, I discovered on the web blog of Julie & Stephan (Angelika’s adoptive parents) a photograph of my daughter.
I’m trying to contact them, perharps could they have others photographs of my daughter at the orphelina’s show the 2th of september (2007).
It will be a huge joy for me to have a contact with them.
Thanks a lot.
Françoise, Léopoldine’s mother (Anastasia).
Hi! Unfortunately, the situation with orphans in Ukraine isn’t much better as in other developing countries. Often there is no funding for the most needed things. That’s why we are helping orphans here . You can also join us and provide some kid with better living conditions.
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