Learning to sniff...and whistle!

Wish he would wear his sunglasses! He likes to play with them or just wear them around his neck. Maybe one of these days!
Trying on some new shoes...his feet aren't quite that big...YET!
Taking a load off with Zoe, his water, and ambulance...of course!
Bear Cub and Little Miss...notice his death grip on his cars!

Not too much to report around here! We have had a great, relaxing weekend. Yesterday our friends and Little Miss came over and she and Bear Cub had fun playing with his cars and trucks. Only a few tears were shed on BC's part, so things are getting better around babies! Today we've run some errands and hope to get BC up to the pool. As of last summer, he loved the water, so hopefully he'll enjoy it as much now, too. We plan on taking some swimming lessons this summer.

Some Bear Cub cuteness... he can sniff! Well, not really, but he sure looks cute when he tries. Instead of using his nose, he puckers his mouth and breathes air in and out, in and out. He's very serious while he's doing this...I'll have to take a picture soon! And from this "sniffing" the whistling has begun. Today in Wal-Mart, he was whistling away...again, very serious with his eyebrows knit together, but making some sound all the same! Enjoy the pictures from the past couple of days! Have a great week!

Mid-Week Report...

Ok...so there's not too much to report around here! I guess that's a good thing! We've had a nice week so far. Bear Cub has been keeping us busy, as usual. The great thing is is that he's really starting to try to say new words. Most of his words are just the beginning sound, but he is really trying. For example, just this weekend, he said these new words: "a" for egg, "knee," "em-o" for elbow, "eye," and "thu" for two! So maybe it's true what "they" say...the words just all start coming at once! Here are a few new pictures -- from Monday's trip to the park and just hanging around here at home. Have a great rest of the week!

Picking up some trash on the playground

And look who came to the park with us....surprise, surprise!

Horsin' around with Mama! If you're lying on the floor, he says, "Ahhhh!" and immediately jumps on you. Wow...you have to be ready for it. 25 pounds of Bear Cub can come as a shock if you're not ready!

In deep concentration...he gets VERY serious when he's working on unlocking and locking these doors!

Happy Easter!

Ready for the egghunt to begin!
Check out the scattering of eggs behind us!
BC says, "I think I'll just take one of yours...thank you!"
Wow, so many to choose from!
"Hello? Is this the Easter Bunny on the line?"

Check out his new kicks! His feet are growing fast now! His first Nikes...Helping to water our new tomato plants!Our little "bunnies" on Easter Day!

"Hey, Zoe...you ever wonder what it feels like to have a tractor driven on your back?"

Fun at the park today...and more love for Zoe!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! We were able to relax and just enjoy being at home this weekend. It was very nice. Bear Cub had an awesome time at Saturday's egg hunt. There were hundreds of kids there -- 60,000 eggs were hidden! Well, not hidden, more like tossed, on the grounds of the church. But BC had a great time and seemed to know just what to do when they blew the whistle to get started! He put those eggs right into his bucket (yea, seemed like the only kid there without an official Easter basket...hey, I thought the beach bucket was more efficient for egg-holding!). It wasn't until about the 10th egg that he decided he'd try kicking the eggs that were scattered on the ground. Then once it started sprinkling, and we headed under the tent, that's when the egg throwing began. I knew it would! As usual, we got lots of comments from other people about his "arm." Maybe he's got the skills to pay the bills! :) The Easter bunny came and left BC a couple of new tractors (which he carried with him everywhere today!) and some new books. He seemed happy with it all! We made a run to Panera for bagels, then to Home Depot (what's a holiday without that?) for new tomato plants, and then later, we took him and Zoe to an area park. It was a beautiful day...a great first Easter for our little Bear Cub! Enjoy the pictures. I took 159 this weekend! I go camera crazy....here are just a few.

Good Friday

Hi everyone! We want to wish you all a wonderful Easter weekend! Hope you can spend it with loved ones and enjoy the special time together. Easter is early this year, compared to last. Last year's Good Friday and Easter weekend will forever stand out in my mind. I was in Switzerland on spring vacation with my mom and sister. Our adoption paperwork was in Russia at this point and we were anxiously awaiting a referral. We had had this girls' trip in the works for quite some time, so we were all so excited to be going! And it was a fabulous trip! We landed in Zurich on April 6, Good Friday. It was a beautiful spring day there --- so, so gorgeous. Love that city! We got checked in and the man at the front desk said there was an email from my husband and that I needed to call him as soon as I could. I KNEW that this could mean only one thing...THE REFERRAL. Sure enough, as the gals and I were about halfway over the Atlantic Ocean, the call came through about a 9-month old baby boy with blue eyes and a bald head, waiting for his forever family. Hubbie was able to send me the referral pictures and video through the email. So it was in Zurich, Switzerland that I first laid eyes on this beautiful son of ours. Talk about an amazing Good Friday. Happy Easter to all! Enjoy the pictures - from then and now. :)

Here I am...getting the news from Daddy that we would finally be meeting our son!

One of the referral photos of Bear Cub. What a tiny little guy he was! We were in love with him instantly!

What a difference a year and a family makes! Here he is playing outside yesterday!

I love this photo! The sign of a true ar-teest...chalk on the forehead!This morning...he thought it was great fun to put his cars and trucks on the couch next to him. He was very proud of this!
Giving Brownie the Bunny some love...And giving lots of love to his truck/car pile...And he couldn't forget some love for Zoe! Much to her dismay...he NEVER seems to forget that!

A Visit with Little Miss...

A little school bus action!
What a happy little girl she is!
Notice the look of nervousness on BC's face..."Hey, I said you could LOOK at it, lady!"
But here's a kiss on your head, anyway!
So this was the end of the happy playtime. This is his pre-meltdown look. Pretty pitiful, isn't it? Look how happy Little Miss still is though! Somebody get this girl a school bus! :)

Here are some pics from yesterday's visit with our great friends who used to live in our neighborhood. Sniff, sniff....notice the words "used to" - they moved away almost two years ago now and live about an hour or so from us. Of course, we both had babies (ok, in different ways, but hey, we both have them now!) and now we only see each other every once in a while. I wish they were still 2 houses down...we could get into all kinds of stay-at-home mommy trouble together! :) ha, ha

Bear Cub is pretty anxious around babies that are younger than him. But we had about a half hour of "good" play time when both kids were out of their strollers and playing with the beloved school bus...or as BC calls it, the "oo-oo." Again...this boy of ours has his own language that only Mama and Daddy seem to understand! :) Enjoy the pictures.

Happily Married!

The beautiful bride with her good-looking parents!

The family!
Coming back down the aisle!

Dancing with Mama!
Watching the festivities with Daddy!
The bride and her gals!

Giving himself some love before the wedding
Not so sure about the tie...
Wow, I look GOOD!
Daddy and Bear Cub down the aisle...Daddy carried the ring pillow! :)
Getting some love from Grandma!

Hi everyone! Well, the wedding weekend was a huge success! After a very rainy day on Friday, the sky cleared and the Saturday wedding was GORGEOUS! Bear Cub did so awesome all weekend. It was hectic from the moment we got into town, but we all had such fun. He was a real trooper...never once getting upset. We were very proud! He did have to be carried down the aisle by Daddy...and taken into the reception room by Mimi for the ceremony, but he then partied hard afterwards! He was ALL over the place! I think I lost about 5 pounds chasing after him that night. We made it until about 9:30 p.m. and then we headed back to the hotel where all three of us crashed!

It was a wonderful wedding -- the bride and groom looked beautiful and it was so fun to celebrate with family and friends. We wish the newlyweds a long and happy life together! We were so honored to be a part of their special day. Enjoy the pictures of our dressed up Bear Cub! He was soooooooooooo handsome in his tux.... :)

I'll probably post more pics as I get them from other people...believe it or not, I didn't get one photo of the bride and groom together! Oops! I'm sure that one will come my way eventually!

Laid back and the awesome new toy!

Our boy knows how to get comfortable! I can see the future teenager in him in this photo!
Here he is showing Daddy his new garage ramp...this was hours of endless fun yesterday!

Well, here I am....up at the crack of dawn this morning, for some unknown reason! Bear Cub is sleeping peacefully, so I decided I'd post a few new pictures of our man from yesterday. I also have to admit that I woke up and the first thought I had was..."I can not wait to see BC this morning!" I'm always anxious to see that precious face of his in the morning, but today, I'm really ready! This little guy has totally stolen my heart...

An All-Better Bear Cub...

BC says, "Are you talking about me...again??"

Good news that BC is back up and running full speed ahead again! We're still laying low this week, just to be sure he's getting enough rest and is home for his usual nap time. This weekend is a big one for us....THE WEDDING!!! We're all ready to go. We'll be leaving on Thursday and spending the weekend in Clearwater for the big event. We're all excited about it and ever-so thankful that BC will be healthy enough to do his ring-bearing job and wear that snazzy tuxedo! I'll be sure to post pictures from it all next week.

On a totally different note -- I made a fantastic recipe in our slow cooker last week and I'd like to share! I've finally gotten into using our cooker since I've been staying at home. I was always a little nervous to have it plugged in and hot all day when we were both away at work -- thinking of Zoe's safety, of course! She unfortunately would not be able to turn the heat down on her own...she's smart, but not that smart! ;) Ha, ha... So here it is!

Cola Pot Roast

3-4 pound roast

One envelope of dry onion soup mix

One can of cream of mushroom soup

16 0z. of any kind of cola (I used generic Coke)

Cook on high for 6 hours

It was SO delicious...juicy, tender, and flavorful! I definitely recommend it! :)

A heat wave...but not outside

Thursday morning started off as it usually does...with BC and I heading to our weekly activities class. He ran in happily, waved to his friends with a big smile and tried to throw his water bottle around. These were all signs that he was OK at the moment. It was a special week because instead of our usual play time, a fantastic puppet show was done for the kids. BC seemed really into it...sitting in my lap, chuckling on his own, and pointing at the animal puppets. It was then that I thought to myself, "Wow... it feels warm in here...." Come to find out, the heat wave was radiating from my SON, not any heater or open window in the place. We headed home early so I could check his temperature, and sure enough, he had a fever. Things quickly went downhill from there...well, UPhill, I guess (when thinking in terms of his fever, that is!). His fever went up and down all day and my usually active boy was wiped out completely. Of course, it was around 6:00 that evening when his fever really shot up and he had the whole teeth chattering, lip quivering thing going on. Mind you, we are new parents of a boy who so far has barely had a fever of anything higher than 99 degrees since we've had him. When the temperature was getting close to 105....we knew it was time to go somewhere. Long story short, we took him to an after-hours pediatric office and found out that he had an ear infection. He was a pitiful sight...he didn't even look like his usual self! I'm happy to report though that after 2 days of his antibiotics, and a continue flow of Motrin and Tylenol, he's getting back to his happy, truck-throwing self. Phew! Health crisis #1 resolved! Daddy and I both are so happy about that...

Special thanks to our favorite pediatrician (and best friend)...Dr./Auntie Erica for taking such good care of us by phone!! You are the best! :)

Sea World...Take 2!

Amazing dolphin encounter!
Hey...look at those cool frogs!
Who cares about the sea life here? They have awesome trucks, too!
The dynamic duo...
Taking a load off at the Shamu Kids play area!

Bear Cub and I had an awesome day at Sea World today with our great friends, Sharon & B. BC and B are just one month apart in age and have been spending a lot of time together lately. These are our friends that we walk with on our local trail and play with at the park. It's pretty amazing too because Sharon and I met at Publix, our local grocery store (back in August), and then caught up with each other again a week or so later during story time at the library. We were meant to be friends! Anyway, we had a wonderful day...the boys did great, we saw lots of cool things, and the weather was perfect. Who could ask for a better day? Enjoy the pictures!