Tuesday, December 29, 2009
More December news - meet our newest citizen!!
December also brought us the joyous news that Angelique is now officially a Canadian citizen!!! We are so thrilled!
Unlike in the US, where a child adopted from another country becomes a citizen the moment s/he lands on US soil, Canada's requirements are long and a bit silly. First we filled out one document, added 3 pieces of my own ID and a 3 month wait just to confirm that one of us (parents) are in fact Canadian citizens...... um hello, don't you have any record of my birth, ID, taxes etc? Is it really that difficult for one government department to talk to another government department?
Then we filled in another long document about Angelique, and added records of her birth and our court-approved adoption of her (which are of course in Russian and so need a certified translation), plus her landed immigrant info and 3 strands of hair (just kidding). Then another 3 month wait.
Finally last week we received a BEAUTIFUL document with our government's logo and the words: "Angelique, Welcome to the Canadian family." We are so proud!
Unlike in the US, where a child adopted from another country becomes a citizen the moment s/he lands on US soil, Canada's requirements are long and a bit silly. First we filled out one document, added 3 pieces of my own ID and a 3 month wait just to confirm that one of us (parents) are in fact Canadian citizens...... um hello, don't you have any record of my birth, ID, taxes etc? Is it really that difficult for one government department to talk to another government department?
Then we filled in another long document about Angelique, and added records of her birth and our court-approved adoption of her (which are of course in Russian and so need a certified translation), plus her landed immigrant info and 3 strands of hair (just kidding). Then another 3 month wait.
Finally last week we received a BEAUTIFUL document with our government's logo and the words: "Angelique, Welcome to the Canadian family." We are so proud!
Monday, December 28, 2009
December 28 - Christmas christmas christmas!!!
Dec 28 2009 - hi and MERRY CHRISTMAS, Happy Ho Ho, Happy New Year, etc to everyone who's still looking at this! (and even if you're not!) We've had a wonderful holiday season - sooooooo busy and sooooo fun!!! Hope you have too!
Angelique has had a blast - such a difference from last year's Christmas, where it was still fun but she didn't really know what was going on, and didn't have enough vocabulary to understand Santa or the concept of the season. This year we've been doing a countdown to the big day, and being with the other kids at day care of course she's heard all about Santa!! We've been talking about the idea of giving presents as well as receiving them, and introduced the idea of 'baby Jesus' as the other Christmas story (the first story still being Santa....... lol)
Santa was very generous this year, bringing Angelique the Tinkerbell and Snow White that she specifically requested - Tinkerbell is a tree ornament, and Snow White came both as a soft doll and a perfume bottle! She also received crafts, a butterfly game, a fishing game, LOTS of princess things, adorable clothes, a lovely quilt for her bed, an Easybake oven, strawberry shortcake doll, polly pockets, 3-letter word fridgemagnets, puzzles, movies, and even LaCoste runners (very chi-chi). My goodness!
We had lovely family gatherings every day from the 23rd to the 27th - lots of food, fun, presents and sillyness! We were all very spoiled by Santa and our family, and we feel very lucky! Angelique is now understanding more and more how special our family is, and often adds to her spontaneous songs that her 'family is in her heart' (holding her hands over her heart - how cute!!!)
In addition to the other festivities, we took the opportunity to have Angelique christened/baptized - it was a lovely ceremony and all 5 of her Aunts are her Godmothers (her 'fairy godmothers', of course!) :-) Angelique wore a dress that has been worn at baptism by every child in Paul's family since our oldest niece Ashlee, who's now 23. As the 'baby bonnet' of course didn't fit her, Ashlee created a crown of flowers for her to wear during the ceremony - truly fitting for our princess!
Speaking of songs, this year was also the first we actually listened to the words of christmas music, and Angelique LOVES them all - she sings Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Silent Night like a pro!
She still loves taking care of her 'babies' and her kitchen, puzzles, drawing/colouring/painting, looking at books and dressing up. Lately she's also started playing on the computer - we found some cute preschool-friendly websites, and she is working the mouse and arrow buttons better than some adults we know! She also has a video game system by leapfrog with a one-button mouse and keyboard - she is a pro at these games too!
Sleeping and eating routines have of course gone out the window this last couple of weeks, and we're all looking forward to settling back into normalcy (well, I am at least) :-) Even with all the late nights and extra socializing, Angelique continues to impress us with her adaptability and acceptance. She loves any opportunity to play with her cousins and all the Aunts/Uncles/Grandparents!
I'll upload some pictures soon - take care and have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Lots of love N&P&A
xox
Angelique has had a blast - such a difference from last year's Christmas, where it was still fun but she didn't really know what was going on, and didn't have enough vocabulary to understand Santa or the concept of the season. This year we've been doing a countdown to the big day, and being with the other kids at day care of course she's heard all about Santa!! We've been talking about the idea of giving presents as well as receiving them, and introduced the idea of 'baby Jesus' as the other Christmas story (the first story still being Santa....... lol)
Santa was very generous this year, bringing Angelique the Tinkerbell and Snow White that she specifically requested - Tinkerbell is a tree ornament, and Snow White came both as a soft doll and a perfume bottle! She also received crafts, a butterfly game, a fishing game, LOTS of princess things, adorable clothes, a lovely quilt for her bed, an Easybake oven, strawberry shortcake doll, polly pockets, 3-letter word fridgemagnets, puzzles, movies, and even LaCoste runners (very chi-chi). My goodness!
We had lovely family gatherings every day from the 23rd to the 27th - lots of food, fun, presents and sillyness! We were all very spoiled by Santa and our family, and we feel very lucky! Angelique is now understanding more and more how special our family is, and often adds to her spontaneous songs that her 'family is in her heart' (holding her hands over her heart - how cute!!!)
In addition to the other festivities, we took the opportunity to have Angelique christened/baptized - it was a lovely ceremony and all 5 of her Aunts are her Godmothers (her 'fairy godmothers', of course!) :-) Angelique wore a dress that has been worn at baptism by every child in Paul's family since our oldest niece Ashlee, who's now 23. As the 'baby bonnet' of course didn't fit her, Ashlee created a crown of flowers for her to wear during the ceremony - truly fitting for our princess!
Speaking of songs, this year was also the first we actually listened to the words of christmas music, and Angelique LOVES them all - she sings Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Silent Night like a pro!
She still loves taking care of her 'babies' and her kitchen, puzzles, drawing/colouring/painting, looking at books and dressing up. Lately she's also started playing on the computer - we found some cute preschool-friendly websites, and she is working the mouse and arrow buttons better than some adults we know! She also has a video game system by leapfrog with a one-button mouse and keyboard - she is a pro at these games too!
Sleeping and eating routines have of course gone out the window this last couple of weeks, and we're all looking forward to settling back into normalcy (well, I am at least) :-) Even with all the late nights and extra socializing, Angelique continues to impress us with her adaptability and acceptance. She loves any opportunity to play with her cousins and all the Aunts/Uncles/Grandparents!
I'll upload some pictures soon - take care and have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Lots of love N&P&A
xox
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Nov 30 09 - wow lots to catch up on...!
Nov 29 - wow where did 2 months go ??? Let's see....
Sept - I started work 1/2 time, Angelique started 5 day/wk daycare 1/2 days, and Paul was very busy at work. We had a VERY fun party for our first 'Family Day' on Sept 20 - I think that's where we left off the last post....
After that, the rest of Sept was also great - preschool and gymnastics started and went really well - Angelique loves to be busy!
Our main daycare provider went away with her husband for a week to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, and her adult daughter (who's also a teacher) covered daycare for the week - that went great, nice to know A has the flexibility to handle a change in her new routine!
In October, we celebrated our one-year-home date Oct 6, then had thanksgiving dinners with our families - yum! We remembered last year at thanksgiving is when A first had trouble with her teeth and our saga with the dental surgeon began - hard to believe it's been a year!
Also in Oct we celebrated Paul's sister/BIL Suzette and Steve's 25th wedding anniversary, with a surprise gathering at a lovely restaurant called Chop - it was a great evening - congrats again you guys!
The 3 of us went to a 'Wiggles' concert in Oct - if you're not familiar, the Wiggles are a foursome of kids' entertainers from Australia - they are excellent and we really enjoyed the show! Angelique thought it was hilarious that we were soooo close to the guys that she usually only sees on the TV!
My Dad finished his chemo/radiation mid-october, and my parents went to their Arizona home for a few weeks to rest and recuperate in the hot weather!
Paul and I celebrated 17 years together at the end of October - wow!
And then of course - Halloween! We had LOTS of fun - Angelique dressed as a cat for her preschool party, and then as a PRINCESS (of course!) for trick-or-treating - we gathered with Paul's sisters and parents at Sue/Steve's house, and Angelique went house-to-house with 5 of her cousins - 4 Mario/Luigi's and a lion - tooooo cute! A understood the idea so much more than last year, when she didn't know what it was people were putting in her treat bag - this year she was all about the candy! LOL...
November - I upped my hours to 3/4 time, still working from home - Angelique at daycare 4-6 hours, depending if it's a preschool day or not. Still going really well - A learning lots of new things, hanging out with other kids all day - there is another 4.5 yo girl (the daycare provider's daughter), a 5 yo girl who goes to school half-days, and 3 two-year-olds. When the 5 yearold goes to kindergarten in the afternoons and the little ones are napping, A and K spend time learning letters, numbers, days of week, etc - our daycare provider Lisa is a teacher herself, and also wants to prep her daughter for kindergarten so it works out great that they have this time to do school-stuff. And A is so happy to learn new things - we're as always so impressed with her memory and ability to absorb new info.
Also in Nov - A was invited to her first non-family birthday party - our friend/neighbour Matthew who turned 6 - they went bowling - how fun! That same day we went to the Santa Claus parade downtown - also a hoot - Angelique waved at every float and could NOT stop smiling!!
Unfortunately A had her first bad cold/flu mid-Nov, fever for 2 days, then coughing and sniffling for a week - poor thing! She feels much better now though! (as do we!)
In general, Angelique has grown soooo much these last few months - physically she continues to stretch and stretch, growing 5 inches and gaining 8 pounds since this time last year! Emotionally she seems content and secure, which is amazing and heart-warming and wonderful as parents. Socially she continues to get more confident - she's still shy with new people (we're OK with that), but warms to them more quickly now - faster with adults than with other children, but we're sure that will also come.
And the talking - omigoodness !! Talking talking talking talking........... she'll tell us about her day, remember little things that happened (good and bad), and she asks lots of questions - lots of 'why?', 'how?', and more 'why???' - which is exhausting but exciting at the same time!
And also - her drawing/ colouring/ imagination has SOARED over the last couple of months! For drawing, her 'people' used to consist of a circle with 2 smaller circles for eyes and a straight line for a mouth - now she adds nose and nostrils, eyelashes, ears, hair, smiley mouth and even teeth! Wow - such detail!!
I think that's all for now - hope everyone is well! Thanks so much for checking in!
Take care - Love ya lots - N&P&A
xox
Sept - I started work 1/2 time, Angelique started 5 day/wk daycare 1/2 days, and Paul was very busy at work. We had a VERY fun party for our first 'Family Day' on Sept 20 - I think that's where we left off the last post....
After that, the rest of Sept was also great - preschool and gymnastics started and went really well - Angelique loves to be busy!
Our main daycare provider went away with her husband for a week to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, and her adult daughter (who's also a teacher) covered daycare for the week - that went great, nice to know A has the flexibility to handle a change in her new routine!
In October, we celebrated our one-year-home date Oct 6, then had thanksgiving dinners with our families - yum! We remembered last year at thanksgiving is when A first had trouble with her teeth and our saga with the dental surgeon began - hard to believe it's been a year!
Also in Oct we celebrated Paul's sister/BIL Suzette and Steve's 25th wedding anniversary, with a surprise gathering at a lovely restaurant called Chop - it was a great evening - congrats again you guys!
The 3 of us went to a 'Wiggles' concert in Oct - if you're not familiar, the Wiggles are a foursome of kids' entertainers from Australia - they are excellent and we really enjoyed the show! Angelique thought it was hilarious that we were soooo close to the guys that she usually only sees on the TV!
My Dad finished his chemo/radiation mid-october, and my parents went to their Arizona home for a few weeks to rest and recuperate in the hot weather!
Paul and I celebrated 17 years together at the end of October - wow!
And then of course - Halloween! We had LOTS of fun - Angelique dressed as a cat for her preschool party, and then as a PRINCESS (of course!) for trick-or-treating - we gathered with Paul's sisters and parents at Sue/Steve's house, and Angelique went house-to-house with 5 of her cousins - 4 Mario/Luigi's and a lion - tooooo cute! A understood the idea so much more than last year, when she didn't know what it was people were putting in her treat bag - this year she was all about the candy! LOL...
November - I upped my hours to 3/4 time, still working from home - Angelique at daycare 4-6 hours, depending if it's a preschool day or not. Still going really well - A learning lots of new things, hanging out with other kids all day - there is another 4.5 yo girl (the daycare provider's daughter), a 5 yo girl who goes to school half-days, and 3 two-year-olds. When the 5 yearold goes to kindergarten in the afternoons and the little ones are napping, A and K spend time learning letters, numbers, days of week, etc - our daycare provider Lisa is a teacher herself, and also wants to prep her daughter for kindergarten so it works out great that they have this time to do school-stuff. And A is so happy to learn new things - we're as always so impressed with her memory and ability to absorb new info.
Also in Nov - A was invited to her first non-family birthday party - our friend/neighbour Matthew who turned 6 - they went bowling - how fun! That same day we went to the Santa Claus parade downtown - also a hoot - Angelique waved at every float and could NOT stop smiling!!
Unfortunately A had her first bad cold/flu mid-Nov, fever for 2 days, then coughing and sniffling for a week - poor thing! She feels much better now though! (as do we!)
In general, Angelique has grown soooo much these last few months - physically she continues to stretch and stretch, growing 5 inches and gaining 8 pounds since this time last year! Emotionally she seems content and secure, which is amazing and heart-warming and wonderful as parents. Socially she continues to get more confident - she's still shy with new people (we're OK with that), but warms to them more quickly now - faster with adults than with other children, but we're sure that will also come.
And the talking - omigoodness !! Talking talking talking talking........... she'll tell us about her day, remember little things that happened (good and bad), and she asks lots of questions - lots of 'why?', 'how?', and more 'why???' - which is exhausting but exciting at the same time!
And also - her drawing/ colouring/ imagination has SOARED over the last couple of months! For drawing, her 'people' used to consist of a circle with 2 smaller circles for eyes and a straight line for a mouth - now she adds nose and nostrils, eyelashes, ears, hair, smiley mouth and even teeth! Wow - such detail!!
I think that's all for now - hope everyone is well! Thanks so much for checking in!
Take care - Love ya lots - N&P&A
xox
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Forever Family Day cake!!
Angelique's Tante Nicole does amazing cake decoration, as you can see! She did this for us for our Gotcha Day/ Family day dinner - thanks again Nic!Monday, September 21, 2009
Sept 20 - Happy Family Day!!!!!
Sept 24 - hi everyone! Last weekend (Sept 20) we celebreated our first FOREVER-family day, on the anniversary of last year's GOTCHA day! It is unbelieveable to us that a year has gone by so quickly! As much as it feels like a short time ago, it also feels like Angelique has been here with us forever - she is the family we were waiting for all along!
So Sunday we had the families over for a BBQ, looked at pictures from last year, and generally just sat looking at Angelique in complete awe. She is such an amazing girl, so beautiful and so smart!
We had a picture-perfect September day - sunny and warm, so we stayed outside and enjoyed the day and the company. A big thanks to our wonderful families!
Other than that things are also going really well - I (N) started my new job on Sept 1, and Angelique started going to day care 5 days /week, 4-6 hours/day. She is doing great - quite tired from the all-day playing, so bedtimes are getting a bit earlier and the afternoon nap has snuck back in a couple of times, but all in all it's going very smoothly.
Same with my new job - the people are very nice and the software is interesting, i'm working part-time and mostly from home - not too much to complain about! :-)
Paul's work is also very busy - Sept is always a busy month for cable, I guess due to back-to-school and people coming back from cottages/ vacations.
Angelique started a few new activities this week - preschool two afternoons/week, gymnastics once a week and in Oct she'll do another swim class - lots of fun!
Thanks for the emails and calls about my Dad - his treatments are going smoothly now (the first week was pretty rough), but he's staying strong and keeping his sense of humour, which for those of you who know him, know that he's always been such a character! He amazes me with his patience and faith through this ordeal, and I'm so very proud of him!
Have a great rest of September, and I'll post a couple of pictures when I can!
take care,
N&P&A
xox
So Sunday we had the families over for a BBQ, looked at pictures from last year, and generally just sat looking at Angelique in complete awe. She is such an amazing girl, so beautiful and so smart!
We had a picture-perfect September day - sunny and warm, so we stayed outside and enjoyed the day and the company. A big thanks to our wonderful families!
Other than that things are also going really well - I (N) started my new job on Sept 1, and Angelique started going to day care 5 days /week, 4-6 hours/day. She is doing great - quite tired from the all-day playing, so bedtimes are getting a bit earlier and the afternoon nap has snuck back in a couple of times, but all in all it's going very smoothly.
Same with my new job - the people are very nice and the software is interesting, i'm working part-time and mostly from home - not too much to complain about! :-)
Paul's work is also very busy - Sept is always a busy month for cable, I guess due to back-to-school and people coming back from cottages/ vacations.
Angelique started a few new activities this week - preschool two afternoons/week, gymnastics once a week and in Oct she'll do another swim class - lots of fun!
Thanks for the emails and calls about my Dad - his treatments are going smoothly now (the first week was pretty rough), but he's staying strong and keeping his sense of humour, which for those of you who know him, know that he's always been such a character! He amazes me with his patience and faith through this ordeal, and I'm so very proud of him!
Have a great rest of September, and I'll post a couple of pictures when I can!
take care,
N&P&A
xox
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Aug 30 2009 - 1 year since trip #2
Aug 29/30 - Hi everyone! I can't believe it's almost September! The summer (such as it has been, weather-wise) is going by so fast! Hope you're all well and enjoying some nice weather!
Angelique continues to be a delight, such a bright shining star in our lives! She loves to be outside, enjoying swings and monkey bars and especially (did I mention?) swimming in a pool! She enjoys playing on her scooter and rides her bicycle with the neighbourhood kids.
Indoors, she still loves playing in her kitchen and with her 'babies', and has started to be such a big helper in the house! She loves to help make dinner and/or cleaning - what a fun girl! She really loves her books and has many of them memorized so she now 'reads to us' before bedtime - wow! Her fave books for this are the 'Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?' series, by Bill Martin Jr/ Eric Carle. FANTASTIC and beautiful books, if you haven't seen them - they're gorgeous! (thank you to our friends Pam and Ray for this lovely gift!)
Angelique now counts to fifty with no prompting (and to one hundred with a bit of help), and recognizes almost all the alphabet letters! She can print her name (and I mentally apologize each time for how long her name is). We have started telling her some French words (colours, animal names, numbers) and she is doing AWESOME with these! Immersion school, here we come!
She has grown almost 4 inches since we got home in Oct 08, and her 2 bottom big-girl teeth are now almost fully grown! We saw the dentist in August (follow-up to her dental work last fall) and all is great!
Angelique will be starting at the daycare full-time next week, as I go back to work. As I'm working part-time she won't have a full day there, but it will be 5 days/week which will be enough of a change for her! She has been going once/week for a while now so it won't be too difficult a transition (I hope). Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Other than that we're doing well. My Dad has received scary health news and will be starting treatments for this also next week. Please keep him in your prayers/positive thoughts!
Thank-you for checking in on us!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
As I type this it has been exactly one year since we left Winnipeg for trip #2 to Almaty to see our precious Angelique. I have trouble remembering all the emotions of that day but I certainly remember being excited (to see her), nervous (that she wouldn't remember us), terrified (about going to court) and EXCITED! We'd been through so much already last summer that it was all a bit of a blur! Hard to believe a whole year has flown by!
We've been having lots of fun this summer - daytrips to the zoo, the beach, Tinkertown (amusement park), and playgrounds/ water parks in the neighbourhood. We're lucky that a couple of our friends have pools and we'v had very fun visits - Angelique absolutely LOVES swimming and jumping in a pool!Angelique continues to be a delight, such a bright shining star in our lives! She loves to be outside, enjoying swings and monkey bars and especially (did I mention?) swimming in a pool! She enjoys playing on her scooter and rides her bicycle with the neighbourhood kids.
Indoors, she still loves playing in her kitchen and with her 'babies', and has started to be such a big helper in the house! She loves to help make dinner and/or cleaning - what a fun girl! She really loves her books and has many of them memorized so she now 'reads to us' before bedtime - wow! Her fave books for this are the 'Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?' series, by Bill Martin Jr/ Eric Carle. FANTASTIC and beautiful books, if you haven't seen them - they're gorgeous! (thank you to our friends Pam and Ray for this lovely gift!)
Angelique now counts to fifty with no prompting (and to one hundred with a bit of help), and recognizes almost all the alphabet letters! She can print her name (and I mentally apologize each time for how long her name is). We have started telling her some French words (colours, animal names, numbers) and she is doing AWESOME with these! Immersion school, here we come!
She has grown almost 4 inches since we got home in Oct 08, and her 2 bottom big-girl teeth are now almost fully grown! We saw the dentist in August (follow-up to her dental work last fall) and all is great!
Angelique will be starting at the daycare full-time next week, as I go back to work. As I'm working part-time she won't have a full day there, but it will be 5 days/week which will be enough of a change for her! She has been going once/week for a while now so it won't be too difficult a transition (I hope). Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Other than that we're doing well. My Dad has received scary health news and will be starting treatments for this also next week. Please keep him in your prayers/positive thoughts!
Thank-you for checking in on us!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
Sunday, July 19, 2009
July 2009 - 9.5 months home!
July 19 09 - Hi everyone - all is great here, hope it's the same with you! Funny weather in the Peg this week - cool and rainy until yesterday, then hot and sunny - tomorrow supposed to have a thunderstorm. Ahhh - summer ?!
We've had another busy month - we've gone to beaches, amusement parks, and had lots of fun at playgrounds! Angelique has learned how to get on and push herself on the swings, and how to swing hand-to-hand on the monkey bars! So exciting!
We've seen 2 of our nieces and nephews graduate from high school - congrats Megan and Sean, we're soooo proud of you both!
We've had great visits with extended family - my (N's) Auntie Dee came in from Thunder Bay, ON, my Uncle Jack/Aunt Terry in from Nova Scotia, and cousins Alan, Andrew and Jack in from Barrie ON.
We also had a fun visit with our friend Gretchen, in from Ottawa with her beautiful daughter Anna. We met Gretchen in Almaty last summer, as she was travelling to meet Anna same time as we were meeting our Angelique. It was great to catch up with them again!
Angelique lost another bottom tooth in June, and now the 2 bottom ones are coming in fast - what a difference it makes in a little girls face!
A has had a great month - lots of new experiences, and her language skills continue to amaze us! Her pronunciation is improving by leaps and bounds, and she remembers the little corrections we provide- such a smart little sweetie! One thing she self-corrected that makes us a little sad is that she now correctly says 'double-yoo' for the letter 'W', where before she had said 'double-woo'. We'll miss hearing 'double-woo'! :-)
I've had news on the job front - I'll be starting at another software company later in the summer, part-time. Yay! Now I can enjoy a bit of summer without the job-search looming over my head. And by working part-time we'll be able to take Angelique to some of the activities she had been enjoying, like preschool . We're really excited about this opportunity!
As I finish writing this post (July 16), it is the anniversary of when we had to leave Angelique in Almaty, to come home and wait for our 2nd trip. It was incredibly difficult to leave her but it was a necessary piece of the puzzle, and brought us a step closer to bringing her home with us for good. We are forever grateful.
Have a fantastic summer!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
We've had another busy month - we've gone to beaches, amusement parks, and had lots of fun at playgrounds! Angelique has learned how to get on and push herself on the swings, and how to swing hand-to-hand on the monkey bars! So exciting!
We've seen 2 of our nieces and nephews graduate from high school - congrats Megan and Sean, we're soooo proud of you both!
We've had great visits with extended family - my (N's) Auntie Dee came in from Thunder Bay, ON, my Uncle Jack/Aunt Terry in from Nova Scotia, and cousins Alan, Andrew and Jack in from Barrie ON.
We also had a fun visit with our friend Gretchen, in from Ottawa with her beautiful daughter Anna. We met Gretchen in Almaty last summer, as she was travelling to meet Anna same time as we were meeting our Angelique. It was great to catch up with them again!
Angelique lost another bottom tooth in June, and now the 2 bottom ones are coming in fast - what a difference it makes in a little girls face!
A has had a great month - lots of new experiences, and her language skills continue to amaze us! Her pronunciation is improving by leaps and bounds, and she remembers the little corrections we provide- such a smart little sweetie! One thing she self-corrected that makes us a little sad is that she now correctly says 'double-yoo' for the letter 'W', where before she had said 'double-woo'. We'll miss hearing 'double-woo'! :-)
I've had news on the job front - I'll be starting at another software company later in the summer, part-time. Yay! Now I can enjoy a bit of summer without the job-search looming over my head. And by working part-time we'll be able to take Angelique to some of the activities she had been enjoying, like preschool . We're really excited about this opportunity!
As I finish writing this post (July 16), it is the anniversary of when we had to leave Angelique in Almaty, to come home and wait for our 2nd trip. It was incredibly difficult to leave her but it was a necessary piece of the puzzle, and brought us a step closer to bringing her home with us for good. We are forever grateful.
Have a fantastic summer!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
July 1 2009 - with a whole lotta memories of July 1 2008
June 29 2009 - hi everyone! It is so hard to believe it has been a year since we left for trip # 1 to Almaty! We left Winnipeg June 24, spent a few days waiting for our travel visa to be fixed, then finally on July 1 - we met our beautiful, amazing, sweet Angelique!
We'll post more of an update soon, but we just wanted to mark this momentous anniversary! We will NEVER forget this day - what a lovely addition to our Canada Day celebrations!!!!
Here's a few photos of Angelique taken on July 1 2008 - so shy and unsure of us, but oh my goodness she captured our hearts!
Have a wonderful Canada Day!
take care,
N&P&A
xox
We'll post more of an update soon, but we just wanted to mark this momentous anniversary! We will NEVER forget this day - what a lovely addition to our Canada Day celebrations!!!!
Here's a few photos of Angelique taken on July 1 2008 - so shy and unsure of us, but oh my goodness she captured our hearts!
Have a wonderful Canada Day!
take care,
N&P&A
xox
Saturday, June 6, 2009
May 2009 photos
Here's a gorgeous smile - what a natural beauty!
This is Angelique enjoying a pony ride at her birthday party!
And this one is pretty self-explanatory..... :-)
This is Angelique enjoying a pony ride at her birthday party!
And this one is pretty self-explanatory..... :-)
June 2009 - 8 months home and wow what a month!
June 6 2009 - Hi everyone! It's been a busy, full and FUN month!
On May 9 Angelique lost her first tooth! (naturally, anyway, as the top front one had been removed surgically shortly after we arrived home) This was very exciting, and we welcomed the tooth fairy with open arms (and wallet)!
On May 10 we celebrated Angelique's 4th birthday (her first with us), and what a party it was! We were blessed with a picture-perfect May day, sunny and warm enough to sit outside, which was helpful as I wasn't sure where we'd put everyone if we'd had to come into the house! :-)
The kids all played outside, and as a special treat Angelique's Tante Monique arranged for a PONY to arrive and give rides up and down the street - what a fun surprise! The kids LOVED it!
The birthday princess took everything in stride, impressing us yet again - what a strong, special girl she is!
The rest of the month has also been fun - we made a spontaneous trip to Calgary to visit with Angelique's Tante Joanne, M'oncle Marc-Eric and the adorable bebe Ania (who, if you were following our journey last summer, you may remember was born during the same week we met our Angelique). We had fun visits with Aunts, Uncles, cousins and friends - we packed a lot into 6 days!
Angelique has had another remarkable leap in her language development this month - she expresses herself much more clearly, uses more 'filler' words (before it was just nouns and verbs) to make sentences, and has more of a musical lilt and tone in her voice, showing her growing confidence! Her sense of humour continues to amaze and delight us, and keeps cracking us up!
On May 9 Angelique lost her first tooth! (naturally, anyway, as the top front one had been removed surgically shortly after we arrived home) This was very exciting, and we welcomed the tooth fairy with open arms (and wallet)!
On May 10 we celebrated Angelique's 4th birthday (her first with us), and what a party it was! We were blessed with a picture-perfect May day, sunny and warm enough to sit outside, which was helpful as I wasn't sure where we'd put everyone if we'd had to come into the house! :-)
The kids all played outside, and as a special treat Angelique's Tante Monique arranged for a PONY to arrive and give rides up and down the street - what a fun surprise! The kids LOVED it!
The birthday princess took everything in stride, impressing us yet again - what a strong, special girl she is!
The rest of the month has also been fun - we made a spontaneous trip to Calgary to visit with Angelique's Tante Joanne, M'oncle Marc-Eric and the adorable bebe Ania (who, if you were following our journey last summer, you may remember was born during the same week we met our Angelique). We had fun visits with Aunts, Uncles, cousins and friends - we packed a lot into 6 days!
Angelique has had another remarkable leap in her language development this month - she expresses herself much more clearly, uses more 'filler' words (before it was just nouns and verbs) to make sentences, and has more of a musical lilt and tone in her voice, showing her growing confidence! Her sense of humour continues to amaze and delight us, and keeps cracking us up!
Speaking of music, this girl sings - a lot - and really well! She remembers words and music to songs she's only heard once or twice, and also makes up songs to amuse herself. Incredible!
Also, I'd mentionned in the last post that Angelique seemed to be at the point of stopping her afternoon naps - well since that time I think she has napped maybe twice! So our days are more full and busy, but most evenings she's asleep around 9 pm, sleeping until around 7:30 am. Until we're on a more rigid schedule (read: when I eventually start working and we have to get up earlier in the mornings), this is working well for all of us!
The latest favorite entertainments are her doctor kit, play kitchen, dressing her animals (gotta love build-a-bear!), and playing outside on the swings/slide. Angelique is almost always in motion! The sports class and swimming lessons have been wonderful; she enjoys any kind of physical activity! Those and her preschool classes all end this/next week so we'll be looking for new sources of fun!
That's it for now - hope everyone is well and happy. Thanks again for following our family journey!
Love N&P&A
Sunday, May 3, 2009
May 2009 - 7 months home and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELIQUE!!!
May 7 - Hi everyone! Another BIG month in our house, lots of fun! This coming weekend we're celebrating Angelique's 4th birthday! Her first with us, and on Mother's Day too! Very exciting!
It's impossible to put into words how I feel this Mother's Day - I am extremely thankful for our amazing, beautiful, sweet daughter, who has added so much love and joy to our life!
Angelique has passed many milestones in the last few weeks, from counting (now consistenly to 30) and ABC's (no more missing letters), to talking a bit/ socializing with other children, to being OK with our leaving her at pre-school and returning to pick her up later, to playing by herself for short periods of time in the house/yard, to figuring out how to swing on a swing and climb on monkey bars, and lots of other fun things! Our little miss independent - she says 'Ada Self!' when she wants us to let her do something herself - we're thrilled as it shows her growing confidence, in herself and in us!
A has started going to a dayhome one day/week, starting with staying for 2 hours, and most recently staying almost all day! We're very pleased with this dayhome so far, and will increase the # of days/ week over the summer to ease Angelique into it.
New fun activities: playing outside in her sandbox, on her bicycle, on swings/ slides/ monkey bars, decorating the driveway with chalk pictures, going for long walks, playing with our neighbours' kids, and taking her new pink unicorn 'Unibelle' out for walks in a stroller.
Angelique's sport class and swimming lessons are going beautifully, and the preschool class is sooo much fun! She talks about them all and says how much fun they are!
And in big news, Angelique has been 'skipping' some days of her afternoon naps for a while already, but this past month has seen them happening less and less frequently. As I write this it has been 7 days since her last nap, and especially combined with outside play, has resulted in a tired little pussycat by early evening! When she does nap in the afternoons, Angelique is still awake at 10:00-10:30 at night, so by taking away the nap she has been tucking in around 8:30, which is muuuuuuuch better, for all of us! This has been quite a learning experience, but it looks like we're almost in the home stretch!
I'll try to add some pics of her birthday party soon. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
Happy birthday Peanut! We love you sooooooooooooooooo much!!!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
It's impossible to put into words how I feel this Mother's Day - I am extremely thankful for our amazing, beautiful, sweet daughter, who has added so much love and joy to our life!
Angelique has passed many milestones in the last few weeks, from counting (now consistenly to 30) and ABC's (no more missing letters), to talking a bit/ socializing with other children, to being OK with our leaving her at pre-school and returning to pick her up later, to playing by herself for short periods of time in the house/yard, to figuring out how to swing on a swing and climb on monkey bars, and lots of other fun things! Our little miss independent - she says 'Ada Self!' when she wants us to let her do something herself - we're thrilled as it shows her growing confidence, in herself and in us!
A has started going to a dayhome one day/week, starting with staying for 2 hours, and most recently staying almost all day! We're very pleased with this dayhome so far, and will increase the # of days/ week over the summer to ease Angelique into it.
New fun activities: playing outside in her sandbox, on her bicycle, on swings/ slides/ monkey bars, decorating the driveway with chalk pictures, going for long walks, playing with our neighbours' kids, and taking her new pink unicorn 'Unibelle' out for walks in a stroller.
Angelique's sport class and swimming lessons are going beautifully, and the preschool class is sooo much fun! She talks about them all and says how much fun they are!
And in big news, Angelique has been 'skipping' some days of her afternoon naps for a while already, but this past month has seen them happening less and less frequently. As I write this it has been 7 days since her last nap, and especially combined with outside play, has resulted in a tired little pussycat by early evening! When she does nap in the afternoons, Angelique is still awake at 10:00-10:30 at night, so by taking away the nap she has been tucking in around 8:30, which is muuuuuuuch better, for all of us! This has been quite a learning experience, but it looks like we're almost in the home stretch!
I'll try to add some pics of her birthday party soon. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
Happy birthday Peanut! We love you sooooooooooooooooo much!!!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Apr 6 - six months home already - unbelievable!!
Apr 5 - Hi everyone! It is SO hard to believe it has been 6 months since we arrived home as a family of 3! At times it feels like only last week, but mostly we feel as we've been a family forever, and Angelique has always been with us!
Since our last update, Angelique has mastered counting to 20 (that pesky # 13 kept disappearing, but is now almost always playing along with the other numbers); and also the alphabet (same with the silly letter L - really, is it a necessary letter??) Her vocabulary is constantly growing, and with her amazing memory she can recall words we haven't used in days/weeks. She sings songs all the time, and has a definite ear for music!
Angelique has discovered that Mama and Papa can also be called Mommy/Daddy, or even Nicole/Paul on occasion - she thinks this is sooooo funny!
She is wonderfully affectionate, giving lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles - ahhhhh! A also has the BEST facial expressions - no hiding her feelings for this girl! She also still loves playing with her 'babies', as well as building forts, climbing on furniture (!), washing dishes, helping Mama clean the house (yay!), and looking at books. We play outside as much as we can, and Angelique loves climbing on play structures, going down slides and swinging on swings! She's also a big helper with a shovel - yay again! :-)
Paul got her up on skates once over the winter and she did really well, and of course she wants to 'play hockey with Papa' as soon as possible!!
We'd recently set up our basement as a new play area, but then had a VERY quick snow-melt and took a bit of water in the basement - no damage thankfully, and it turned into an excuse to clean up and organize the storage area a bit more - so now the play area is even bigger! Because of this newfound space, Angelique is now able to practice riding her bicycle so she'll be ready when we can finally take it outside - very exciting! She is a natural on her bike!
We've also had a couple of fun playdates with our neighbours who also have a 3.5 year old girl - Angelique and Audrey sized each other up for a while, then everything seemed to click into place and they started playing like they've been doing it all along - it was wonderful to see!
The April session of activities starts this coming week - this time we're doing a playgroup twice/week and also an 'intro to sports' - very excited to see how it goes!
We've lined up a day-care provider who is willing to take her part-time for a few months, starting with .5-1 day/week in April and transitioning up to full-time sometime in the fall. The woman and her family have also adopted internationally which is an added bonus; their youngest daughter is also 'almost 4' and was born in Ethiopia - she and Angelique have played together once already and it was so cute!
I'm still on the job-hunt (as I'd been laid off from my previous employer before we travelled to KZ), so I'll look for something part-time for over the summer.
And BEST of all - all of Angelique's grandparents get home from their 'winter homes' this week - YAY! We will have SO much fun playing with them and being spoiled !!
Next month we'll celebrate A's 4th birthday - it happens to be the same day as Mother's Day this year - so both Mama and Angelique get to be pampered allllllll day - right Papa?!?
That's all for now - have a great month!
Take care, love N&P&A
xox
Since our last update, Angelique has mastered counting to 20 (that pesky # 13 kept disappearing, but is now almost always playing along with the other numbers); and also the alphabet (same with the silly letter L - really, is it a necessary letter??) Her vocabulary is constantly growing, and with her amazing memory she can recall words we haven't used in days/weeks. She sings songs all the time, and has a definite ear for music!
Angelique has discovered that Mama and Papa can also be called Mommy/Daddy, or even Nicole/Paul on occasion - she thinks this is sooooo funny!
She is wonderfully affectionate, giving lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles - ahhhhh! A also has the BEST facial expressions - no hiding her feelings for this girl! She also still loves playing with her 'babies', as well as building forts, climbing on furniture (!), washing dishes, helping Mama clean the house (yay!), and looking at books. We play outside as much as we can, and Angelique loves climbing on play structures, going down slides and swinging on swings! She's also a big helper with a shovel - yay again! :-)
Paul got her up on skates once over the winter and she did really well, and of course she wants to 'play hockey with Papa' as soon as possible!!
We'd recently set up our basement as a new play area, but then had a VERY quick snow-melt and took a bit of water in the basement - no damage thankfully, and it turned into an excuse to clean up and organize the storage area a bit more - so now the play area is even bigger! Because of this newfound space, Angelique is now able to practice riding her bicycle so she'll be ready when we can finally take it outside - very exciting! She is a natural on her bike!
We've also had a couple of fun playdates with our neighbours who also have a 3.5 year old girl - Angelique and Audrey sized each other up for a while, then everything seemed to click into place and they started playing like they've been doing it all along - it was wonderful to see!
The April session of activities starts this coming week - this time we're doing a playgroup twice/week and also an 'intro to sports' - very excited to see how it goes!
We've lined up a day-care provider who is willing to take her part-time for a few months, starting with .5-1 day/week in April and transitioning up to full-time sometime in the fall. The woman and her family have also adopted internationally which is an added bonus; their youngest daughter is also 'almost 4' and was born in Ethiopia - she and Angelique have played together once already and it was so cute!
I'm still on the job-hunt (as I'd been laid off from my previous employer before we travelled to KZ), so I'll look for something part-time for over the summer.
And BEST of all - all of Angelique's grandparents get home from their 'winter homes' this week - YAY! We will have SO much fun playing with them and being spoiled !!
Next month we'll celebrate A's 4th birthday - it happens to be the same day as Mother's Day this year - so both Mama and Angelique get to be pampered allllllll day - right Papa?!?
That's all for now - have a great month!
Take care, love N&P&A
xox
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mar 14 - 5 1/2 months home!
March 11 2009 - hi everyone! We have been doing great and having fun, hoping the weather starts to turn soon!
Well let's see..... since last month's update, we have finished our weekly playgroup and swimming lessons; both went very well and we're looking forward to doing more of these, plus another class or sport, in the April session! We are so proud of Angelique and the progress she's making, playing with other kids! It has been a joy to see, and it warms our hearts to know she is getting past her anxiety about being bullied.
We've also noticed a huge change in her vocabulary this month - not only has she started using pronouns (I, you, me, etc) instead of referring to us and herself by name, she is stringing more words together to make thoughts and sentences, sometimes very detailed ones! Very exciting! A still has her amazing memory, and recalls details of events weeks or even months past, as well as details of books we haven't read in a long while.
Angelique has started writing some letters and numbers, and 'signs' her initial on most of her drawings - too cute! She also really likes sticker books - any kind of book really - and playing with her kitchen set and her 'babies'.
Well let's see..... since last month's update, we have finished our weekly playgroup and swimming lessons; both went very well and we're looking forward to doing more of these, plus another class or sport, in the April session! We are so proud of Angelique and the progress she's making, playing with other kids! It has been a joy to see, and it warms our hearts to know she is getting past her anxiety about being bullied.
We've also noticed a huge change in her vocabulary this month - not only has she started using pronouns (I, you, me, etc) instead of referring to us and herself by name, she is stringing more words together to make thoughts and sentences, sometimes very detailed ones! Very exciting! A still has her amazing memory, and recalls details of events weeks or even months past, as well as details of books we haven't read in a long while.
Angelique has started writing some letters and numbers, and 'signs' her initial on most of her drawings - too cute! She also really likes sticker books - any kind of book really - and playing with her kitchen set and her 'babies'.
We had our first babysitter experience at the house and it went really well! A huge thanks to our wonderful niece Amy - Angelique had a blast, and we got to see The Eagles in concert, which was a FANTASTIC show! Leaving her for the evening was hard (I'm sure more for us than for her, the big sucks that we are), but everyone did great!
Angelique talks and sings all the time now; she's happy most of the time while still showing her her ever-stronger personality! She certainly lets us know when something is not to her liking (!), and repeats back to us many of the words we say to her - the hardest part for us is not laughing when she tells us what to do! :-)
Hope everyone is well - we'll send another update soon!
Take care,
Angelique, Nicole and Paul
xox
Monday, February 9, 2009
Feb 9 - wow I forgot one HUGE thing A is up to!
Feb 9 - Hi again - I forgot to add in the last 'update' post that Angelique is doing AMAZINGLY well with her ABC's !!
We do the alphabet song a LOT - it's her fave song to sing, she reaches for the learn-to-read books before all others, and even recognizes some of the letters out of order, such as A 'for Angelique', P 'for Papa' and M 'for Mama'! (with a big smile!) We are so proud and impressed!
We do the alphabet song a LOT - it's her fave song to sing, she reaches for the learn-to-read books before all others, and even recognizes some of the letters out of order, such as A 'for Angelique', P 'for Papa' and M 'for Mama'! (with a big smile!) We are so proud and impressed!
Feb 9 - while we're talking about talking...
Feb 9 - hi everyone! A weird day here in Winnipeg, as it's RAINING! The roads are sheer ice, the airport and even some schools are closed! Should stay above freezing all day today, then the rain will turn to snow overnight - so we'll see how tomorrow looks! Needless to say Angelique and I are having a 'stay-home' day....
We've been keeping lists of 'words we don't hear anymore', to help us remember the Russian and Kazakh words we had been using with Angelique during our visits and for the first few months of custody - you always think you'll remember these but even now we're struggling to recall some of them, so better jot them down now!
Here's the list we have so far (in no order), with meaning and the new English replacement word for each:
1 - Masak - Kazakh for 'cat' - Angelique now says 'pussycat'
2 - Tamak - Kazakh for 'food' - Angelique now says 'supper' (for all 3 meals, which is adorable)
3 - Quaida - Kazakh for 'where?' - Angelique now says 'horsey', which we believe is how she hears the words 'where is?'
4 - Kittap and Koitup - Kazakh (we think) for going to the bathroom - Angelique now says 'pee pee' and 'kaka' and recognizes when we say the word 'bathroom'
5 - Artanda - Kazakh for 'later' - Angelique now says 'later', 'not today', or 'another day' (but often objects with a 'no - right NOW!' :-)
6 - Ooh-itka - Kazakh for 'bed' - Angelique now says 'Angelique's bed'
7 - Paka - Russian for 'bye bye' - A now says 'bye byyyyyyyye!'
8 - Kokoga - Russian for 'hairclip' - actually we decided to keep this one as it's so darn cute!
9 - Alma - Russian for 'apple' - Angelique loooooooves apple juice, so this one changed quickly!
10- Applesin - Russian for 'orange' - if you note the similarity to the word 'apple', you'll understand why this one was so confusing we had to get her saying 'orange' right away!
11- Soo - Kazakh for 'water' - this became 'waaadaaa' back during our babyhouse visits and was Angelique's first real English word!
That's it for now - we'll add more as we think of them! Have a great day!
take care
N&P&A
We've been keeping lists of 'words we don't hear anymore', to help us remember the Russian and Kazakh words we had been using with Angelique during our visits and for the first few months of custody - you always think you'll remember these but even now we're struggling to recall some of them, so better jot them down now!
Here's the list we have so far (in no order), with meaning and the new English replacement word for each:
1 - Masak - Kazakh for 'cat' - Angelique now says 'pussycat'
2 - Tamak - Kazakh for 'food' - Angelique now says 'supper' (for all 3 meals, which is adorable)
3 - Quaida - Kazakh for 'where?' - Angelique now says 'horsey', which we believe is how she hears the words 'where is?'
4 - Kittap and Koitup - Kazakh (we think) for going to the bathroom - Angelique now says 'pee pee' and 'kaka' and recognizes when we say the word 'bathroom'
5 - Artanda - Kazakh for 'later' - Angelique now says 'later', 'not today', or 'another day' (but often objects with a 'no - right NOW!' :-)
6 - Ooh-itka - Kazakh for 'bed' - Angelique now says 'Angelique's bed'
7 - Paka - Russian for 'bye bye' - A now says 'bye byyyyyyyye!'
8 - Kokoga - Russian for 'hairclip' - actually we decided to keep this one as it's so darn cute!
9 - Alma - Russian for 'apple' - Angelique loooooooves apple juice, so this one changed quickly!
10- Applesin - Russian for 'orange' - if you note the similarity to the word 'apple', you'll understand why this one was so confusing we had to get her saying 'orange' right away!
11- Soo - Kazakh for 'water' - this became 'waaadaaa' back during our babyhouse visits and was Angelique's first real English word!
That's it for now - we'll add more as we think of them! Have a great day!
take care
N&P&A
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Feb 6 - 4 months home!
Feb 4 8:30 am - started this post. Finished on Feb 6 2:30 pm. Hi everyone! Hope all is well and you're staying 'warm' in this ridiculously long and cold winter! We're enjoying a small break in the weather this week, getting outside more and LOVING it!!
All is good here, Angelique continues to amaze us with how much she has learned, and how much she has changed in just 4 months! She talks more clearly all the time, and is starting to put more words together to make sentences with nouns and verbs - and she does really well with please and thankyou!
The current fave activities are play-doh, having tea parties, and singing - lots of singing! Yay! A also likes Dora and The Wiggles on tv, plus of course taking care of her 'babies'.
We've started a couple of activities on weekday mornings - a playgroup on Tuesdays and swimming lessons on Thursdays - both are going great! A has taken to the water like, well - a fish! The level she started in is called 'sea turtles', reserved for 3 year olds to get them comfortable in the water - well she is now the only one in her class who will put her face in and even her whole head under the water - so I guess she's comfortable! :-) She jumps off the side and goes down the slide with no assistance, which is amazing to see!
And the playgroup is going well too - we were a little worried that Angelique would have 'babyhouse flashback' as that's what the room looks like, even to us! But it seems to be a bit easier each week, and I've managed to leave the group for a little bit longer each time - it'll be good for both of us to have a break from each other for a couple of hours! There are 9 kids there plus the teacher - they do crafts, sing songs and have a snack - looks like fun to me!
All is good here, Angelique continues to amaze us with how much she has learned, and how much she has changed in just 4 months! She talks more clearly all the time, and is starting to put more words together to make sentences with nouns and verbs - and she does really well with please and thankyou!
The current fave activities are play-doh, having tea parties, and singing - lots of singing! Yay! A also likes Dora and The Wiggles on tv, plus of course taking care of her 'babies'.
We've started a couple of activities on weekday mornings - a playgroup on Tuesdays and swimming lessons on Thursdays - both are going great! A has taken to the water like, well - a fish! The level she started in is called 'sea turtles', reserved for 3 year olds to get them comfortable in the water - well she is now the only one in her class who will put her face in and even her whole head under the water - so I guess she's comfortable! :-) She jumps off the side and goes down the slide with no assistance, which is amazing to see!
And the playgroup is going well too - we were a little worried that Angelique would have 'babyhouse flashback' as that's what the room looks like, even to us! But it seems to be a bit easier each week, and I've managed to leave the group for a little bit longer each time - it'll be good for both of us to have a break from each other for a couple of hours! There are 9 kids there plus the teacher - they do crafts, sing songs and have a snack - looks like fun to me!
We're starting to cut back on Angelique's afternoon naps, in an effort to get her to bed a little earlier in the evenings - it's hit-and-miss so far but we'll get there!
Better run - hope this finds you well and happy!
Take care,
Angelique, Nic and Paul
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Jan 6 09 - 3 months home and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Jan 6 2009 - 8 pm - Hi everyone! Happy New Year and we hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a blast of course, the way only a 3 year old can add fun and wonder to an already magical time of year!
December started out with prepping the house with decorations - Angelique thought it was soooo funny to have a tree 'in the house?' especially with the pretty lights! Every day she waited until it got dark outside then we made a big deal of turning on the outside lights that Papa put on the house - too funny!
We also did lots of shopping during the month, for presents and regular stuff like groceries - A has such an amazing memory and often helps Mama remember what it was we're supposed to get at the store -'what are we forgetting?' 'Ummm - bananas and bread, Mama!' You're right!
Also in December Angelique got her ears pierced as a gift from her Auntie Lise - she was sooo excited! We wouldn't have done it so young but she's actually been asking for them! She has had lots of fun showing them off, to anyone and everyone!
And we went for our first visit to Santa Claus! I was anticipating that A would be a little afraid of the big guy, but nope - she laughed at the kids who were crying ahead of us in line, and when it was her turn she marched right up, sat on his lap, told him she'd like a bicycle for Christmas and even gave him a kiss! What an amazing kid!
We talked about Santa Claus coming to the house to bring her presents and she got very excited about that too - asking every day if Santa was coming tonight? When Christmas Eve finally came, she couldn't wait - actually she thought he'd still be there when she got up - are we supposed to invite him for breakfast? And Christmas morning she had lots of fun, opening her stocking and presents - wow Santa's a good guy!
We had many family gatherings over the holidays, and Angelique is completely comfortable with her many Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents and cousins - she knows everyone by name and definitely seems to know this group of people are special to her. As she is to them and to us!
On New Years Eve we stayed home and had a nice quiet night - and the next day she said 'Happy New Year' to everyone we saw!
She talks and sings all the time now- so hard to believe this is the same child who only 3 months ago barely said a word! Actually it's impossible to believe only 3 months have passed since we came home from Almaty - it feels like Angelique has been part of our family forever!
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009! (and no travelling - yay!!!)
take care
Angelique, Nicole and Paul
December started out with prepping the house with decorations - Angelique thought it was soooo funny to have a tree 'in the house?' especially with the pretty lights! Every day she waited until it got dark outside then we made a big deal of turning on the outside lights that Papa put on the house - too funny!
We also did lots of shopping during the month, for presents and regular stuff like groceries - A has such an amazing memory and often helps Mama remember what it was we're supposed to get at the store -'what are we forgetting?' 'Ummm - bananas and bread, Mama!' You're right!
Also in December Angelique got her ears pierced as a gift from her Auntie Lise - she was sooo excited! We wouldn't have done it so young but she's actually been asking for them! She has had lots of fun showing them off, to anyone and everyone!
And we went for our first visit to Santa Claus! I was anticipating that A would be a little afraid of the big guy, but nope - she laughed at the kids who were crying ahead of us in line, and when it was her turn she marched right up, sat on his lap, told him she'd like a bicycle for Christmas and even gave him a kiss! What an amazing kid!
We talked about Santa Claus coming to the house to bring her presents and she got very excited about that too - asking every day if Santa was coming tonight? When Christmas Eve finally came, she couldn't wait - actually she thought he'd still be there when she got up - are we supposed to invite him for breakfast? And Christmas morning she had lots of fun, opening her stocking and presents - wow Santa's a good guy!
We had many family gatherings over the holidays, and Angelique is completely comfortable with her many Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents and cousins - she knows everyone by name and definitely seems to know this group of people are special to her. As she is to them and to us!
On New Years Eve we stayed home and had a nice quiet night - and the next day she said 'Happy New Year' to everyone we saw!
She talks and sings all the time now- so hard to believe this is the same child who only 3 months ago barely said a word! Actually it's impossible to believe only 3 months have passed since we came home from Almaty - it feels like Angelique has been part of our family forever!
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009! (and no travelling - yay!!!)
take care
Angelique, Nicole and Paul
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