The pictures are going to be a little out of order, but I figure folks won't mind over much. The first one is of Cindy, Katie and me on the Zoo's train. Katie likes riding things like that. The one of Katie sitting on a bench is also at the zoo, specifically at the Sea Lion show. Next is Katie and Livi playing while waiting for the Sea Lion show to start. The one of Katie's bum is really Katie trying to wear some of Cindy's shoes. It is just adorable how she wants to wear Mama's or Aunt Tinny's shoes.

The next few pictures are of Grant's Farm. Jeana and Livi and Cindy, Katie, and I went there the weekend of the CHI picnic. Unfortunately, Kelly and Grace had to leave on Sunday morning, so they didn't get to go with us. Here is Katie petting one of the Clydesdales. Such magnificient creatures!


Here we are at the zoo again! Katie and Livi both enjoyed the Carousel, but I think Cindy enjoyed getting the kiss more than the girls enjoyed the ride. Next is Livi going down the slide in the Children's zoo, with Jeana there to 'catch' her. The 'spider web net' is also at the Children's zoo.

Back at Grant's Farm, we all fed the goats. It was great fun for the most part, but those goats were so hungry (ok, aggressive) that they even tried to eat Katie's ear. Katie did not care for that, and I needed to promptly pick her up! Katie couldn't get away from the goats fast enough after that!

It was an incredibly hot and humid day, so we did enjoy the offerings at Grant's Farm. Ok, not Cindy, since she was driving, and not the girls because they are underage.

Next are some pictures from the CHI reunion picnic. The first is of all three of the girls, Grace, Livi, and Katie having fun with some of the entertainment. Next is a picture of Marty, Katie, and me. Marti is the social worker that worked with me to bring Katie home. Thank you, Marti!!!

Here are a couple more pictures from Grant's Farm. Again, Katie loved the ride on the tram!!

Here is Grace, all dolled up for our tea party. And below is Livi all dolled up.


Above is all of us at the CHI reunion picnic.

Here are the girls having fun at the CHI picnic, having fun playing in the pool of peanuts!

Here is when all of us at the airport, when everyone arrived. Below is our first night dinner at the Russian Bistro, Astoria.

Here is more of the tea party.

And this is Katie all dolled up for the tea party.

I now think that things are pretty much updated for the summer.

Christy

These pictures are from the Fourth of July. This was a special day for me: my baby is celebrating her first Fourth of July as an American! Thus, we had to do the traditional things: Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet. That is, while we were at Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Bob's, we watched the Cardinal baseball game. Albert Pujols is batting in the picture and Kelsey has Katie in the chair. We went to the local parade, and got to see several different Corvettes, including a Stingray. We had hotdogs for lunch, and as desert, we had apple pie! The evening was topped off with fireworks!! Yes, Katie was very tired for that, but she did enjoy them, once she realized that the noise meant that pretty lights were coming.

On Father's Day, I went to Children's Hope International as an adoptive family. Katie had a lot of fun playing in toy room while we waited. After that, we headed down to my Dad's to celebrate the day. That's Dad with Katie on his lap.


Here is Grandma Trish with Katie.

Above is Katie, after enjoying one of her favorite meal time options: creamed spinach. Yes, Katie feeds herself, much to my amazement and sometimes horror. (Have you ever tried to get creamed spinach out of hair????) This other picture is of Katie looking through one of the scrapbooks. She loves looking at pictures, and can just sit and turn the pages of all of the scrapbooks over and over. (Cindy and I figured that she would like the scrapbooks after seeing her reaction to the soft-sided baby picture book that we had left with her in Tver, Russia, on our first visit.)

The first two pictures are of Katie's first swimming experience, on Memorial Day. I had no idea that she would turn into such a waterbaby! She absolutely loves the water. Next is Katie playing with her blocks from Uncle Mike. She loves to stack; ok, knock over the blocks, and she loves to push the little cart box around the house. The other is of Mimi and Katie, just kicking back and enjoying being together.

Time to play catch up on the summer! These pictures are from Katie's first Cardinals Baseball Game. The first is in her stroller as we were heading to the game. The one with Katie walking is of her and her beloved Minifred. We got Katie a regular sized Fredbird, but she fell in love with Minifred! She carried Minifred, and occasionally swung him, all around the stadium, and never dropped him. Then there is a picture of Mimi (my mother), me (holding Katie), Katie, and Aunt Tinny (aka Cindy). The last of the Cardinal pictures is one of Katie just having fun at the ballpark!

July 25, 2007
My goodness how time flies! Katie is continuing to grow, and I can't believe the changes in her. I think that she has really settled in now. She really likes giving and receiving hugs, kisses, and pats on the back. To start with, she wasn't one to cuddle. But that has changed . . . Yeah!!!

For the July 14-15 weekend, we had out of town company. Jeana and her daughter Alivia and Kelly and her daughter Grace came to St. Louis for the CHI annual reunion picnic. Jeana, Kelly, and I all adopted our daughters from Tver, Russia, and the picnic was a wonderful time for us all to meet up and celebrate! Everyone arrived on Thursday evening, and we celebrated by going out for a Russian dinner. Then Friday morning, we dolled the girls up and headed out for a tea party. That was a lot of fun. Jeana has already posted some pictures, and there is one of Alivia beating everyone to the cake! Then we went swimming in the afternoon. The girls just absolutely have a blast swimming! Saturday was the CHI picnic. We had a good time, but all of us Moms agree that we would love to have a better opportunity to meet with other families who have adopted from Russia, and particularly from Tver. Maybe that is something that we will suggest: a pre-event meeting or some area set aside for the families of various countries. That way, we can actually meet some of the people that we have been talking with via the CHI Yahoo groups.

After the picnic, we headed home for naps and then more swimming! Sunday, Kelly and Grace headed home, but Jeana and Alivia and Katie and I (and my sister Cindy) headed out to Grant's Farm. That was nice, but the weather was sure hot and humid. The Clydesdales were a special treat. What magnificient creatures! We even had our picture taken with one of the hitch horses. We then headed home to cool off, give the little and not so little girls a nap, and then it was . . . . (drumroll) . . . . time for more swimming! Monday was a trip to the zoo. We actually managed to get there early enough so that we could ride the carousel for free. (In St. Louis, things that are located in Forest Park, site of the 1904 World's Fair, must offer free admission in some capacity to visitors.) The Peguin and Puffin Coast was a hit all the way around, especially for me and Aunt Tinny, because it is so cool, temperature wise. The train was a big hit with everyone, too. And the slide in the Children's section was a big hit with Katie and Livi! We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the zoo (we brought our lunch), and then decided to head home for naps, and, you know what's coming, that's right, more swimming!

More to come (and pictures, too!)

Christy

May 30, 2007

Katie turns 21 months old today! It is finally starting to truly sink in that Katie is here to stay! It seems hard to believe that I would say something like that, but for as long as I have been wanting a child and as long as the wait feels, it is just strange to have that part of becoming a parent over.

Katie is doing very well. She saw the pediatrician again today. It seems like she is forever going there. Mainly, these are well-baby visits, except that she is being treated as a newborn and getting all of her shots. Medically, we have really only had two issues come up. First, she has been having ear infections. She came home with one, got another one, and then got one in both ears. The doctor said today that her ears look good. Even better is that we don't have to worry about taking her swimming: no problem since her eardrums are intact! However, if she continues to get ear infections over the summer, then we will most likely be looking at ear tubes. The OR nurse in me knows that that is such a simple and common thing that little ones need to have done, so I am not overly concerned. I would prefer her to never have another ear infection, but if she does, I am all in favor of taking steps to eliminate future ones. The other issue that has come up is hypothyroidism. Her thyroid has not been working well enough to make enough stuff, so her pituitary gland had to step in and help the thyroid. Fortunately, Katie's little body (and Mr. Pituitary) have been able to compensate for the poorly functioning thryoid. That is wonderful news as problems with the thyroid, especially in children and very early in life, have devastating effects on mental ability. Silent prayers of thanks have been repeatedly sent. The only negative about the hypothyroid situation is that Katie has to take a thyroid supplement every day and needs to have her blood drawn every 3-4 weeks. While I am not a fan of having my own blood drawn, let alone having to have a child's drawn, I realize that this is a completely doable situation.

Kelly, I hope that all goes well with Grace if she does indeed need her own set of ear tubes.

Jeana, I hope that Livi's path is smooth and painless.

On the more positive side of things: Katie went to her first Cardinal baseball game! She now has her own big Build-a-Bear Fredbird and her own miniature Fredbird. At the game, she was essentially permanently attached to her miniFred! She had a Cardinals logo onesie on, with denim shorts; in her hair was a red bow and in her shorts' belt loops was another red bow! She looked absolutely adorable. I will try to post a picture or two tomorrow. (I just have to remember to do it!) And to top it all off, the Cards won!!!!

Then, on Memorial Day, Katie went swimming for the first time! The water was quite cold, but Katie smiled and laughed almost the entire time. Only once or twice was there a little bit of a cry. However, our time came to an end when her lips turned a little blue and were chattering. Cold water. Bad. But incredibly fun. We got Katie a little inflatable boat so that she could sit and we could go around the lazy river. She absolutely loved it. She really liked the part about splashing water.

Kelly and Jeana: Please know that two more boats await usage here! All that needs to be done at this time is to inflate them. And that will only take us (Cindy and me) 10 minutes a piece max. We figured that each little girl needs to have her own little boat. So, they each have one!

I need to start wrapping things up this evening. Hope all is well with friends and family!

Christy

The first three pictures here are of Katie watching the chimps. On this trip to the Zoo, Katie had been home a month, and the difference in how she engages with the world is amazing! She actually watched the different animals that we saw and wanted to interact with them! The last picture is one with both Cindy and me with Katie perched on top of a statue of a sliverback gorilla.

Katie had her one month appointment yesterday, and she is is now about 16.5 pounds! She is even a half inch taller and head circumference is growing, too! Way to go girl!

Christy