March 24, 2012

Last weekend we went on a day trip to Sedona, Arizona, which is about 1 1/2 hours drive north from Phoenix. This place is a tourist heaven! Beautiful red mountains and a large creek that runs through the city. So, we went to the creek and enjoyed a long hike. We took some pictures there with the kids.

 

 A few pictures with Dad and Justin.

Justin, Daddy and Joey. "The boys" is how I call them. 

Here we stopped at a small market to look at some jewelry made by artists. Very beautiful ones! Even Justin enjoys to look at them and especially to touch them! He loves to touch everything, everywhere!! Here he is in the red shirt next to me.

Hello Everybody!

Oh my goodness! It's been so long.... Justin is now 4 and a half years old! He has grown so much!
He is such a great kid! He has been going to preschool this year, but only for 2 1/2 hours a day 4 times a week. His speech development excelled this year, but still have difficulties explaining thing and events.
But lucky for him, he's got an other year in preschool and then Kindergarten. I'll have more next time. Thanks for coming by. Kris

It's been 2 years with Justin

Time flies! It has been 2 years since we picked up Justin from the orphanage in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. At this time we were already in Moscow and I think we were about to leave to the US.

Well, I'm starting to forget details, so I'm hoping to keep this blog for him and us for the future.

For update on Justin: He is doing really well, he is right on time with development. He adjusted to us completely and he is learning everything he needs to know at his age. We enrolled him in a preschool, where he goes 2 1/2 hours a day 4x a week. He loves it. He is very healthy, no problems there.

Summer is here

Justin is almost 2 years and 9 month old. Time flies. He is doing great, happy and healthy little boy!

Family in town

We had Joe's parents visit us in February. The kids had a great time with them. This last week Thursday we went skiing to Sunrise Ski Resort and we stayed in cabin in Pinetop-Lakeside. The kids stayed in cabin with grandparents while we went skiiing. They had a lot of fun in the snow.

New pictures of the boys

A new picture

Justin is playing in the park. He loves to be outside, running, jumping... he is now almost 27 months old.

New Pictures

Court date a year ago

It was exactly 1 year ago when we were in Krasnoyarsk, Russia for the court hearing. Time is going very fast! Justin is now 25 months old and he is the sweetest little guy ever. He says many single words and a few double word, but every day he is getting better. He is very healthy, hasn't been sick since we have him and now he completely fills home with his new family; us.
We also had our 2nd post placement visit with the agency, and everything was fine. These visits are very easy, simple questions about his daily life and health, etc. The next one is going to be next year.

Justin turned 2 years old

It is time.... well, Justin has turned 2 years old yesterday. We are having a birthday party for him this Sunday, so I'll post pictures then. He is happy, healthy and now he really feels part of our family, I can tell. Him and Joey are very close, they love each other and I'm happy that they are a good match. His speech is coming along, he says a few words on his own, but can repeat any. Come back soon for new pictures...

A few new pictures

The third visit with Justin... a year ago

This was our last visit with Justin last year. Again 2 hours to play, sign papers and head back to the hotel. Next day we left to Moscow early in the morning.

Our second day in the Russia...a year ago

Wednesday we went to visit our boy again for 2 hours. Noon to 2 pm. Again we were in the music room. The weather was nice and I wished we could have taken him outside a little, but we couldn't. He took a nap in the morning before we came and after we left. I wanted to see his room, but they told us next time we come back for him. In the 2 hours we played constantly with him, and he really enjoyed the attention. Here are some pictures:

When we first met... a year ago

It was July 22nd, 2008 when we arrived to Krasnoyarsk, Russia early in the morning (5 a.m.). We were taken to the hotel Krasnoyask by our coordinator and had a few hours to settle. Then they took us to the Ministry of Education where we met with the director who presented us with our referral. After agreeing to see the child, our coordinator took us to a city called Sosnovoborsk. 1 hour drive from the big city. We went to the Baby Home #5 at around noon. We met with the assistant director who told us about his medical/family history. After question/answers we were taken to the music room where we waited for someone to bring out our child. We spent about 2 hours with him and later that day we returned to the hotel. It was so exiting, we were so sure that he was healty, on the target for development. Justin was 10 1/2 months old, couldn't walk yet. He put everything into his mouth. He felt pretty comfortable with both of us, I guess he didn't know yet that we are the ONES for him.

9 months to this date

It was exactly 9 months ago in the evening when we got custody of Justin after the 10 day wait ended. It was a Friday and it was October 17th. How interesting. He is doing great, starts to say a few words, the longest he says is: I love you. He likes to sing Jesus loves me, ABCs, I love you- you love me (from Barney) and his favorite movie is the "Cars". It is Joey's favorite, but he likes it too.

Nine months ago in Hotel Krasnoyarsk

Today in Phoenix, Arizona

Getting official with US passport

Joe is at home this week, so we decided to get some paperwork done. It's getting the passport time, since we both have to be there (easier for me with 2 little ones), we decided to go to the Clerk of the Superior Court's Office. I was very unprepared. First off, I didn't take my check book, second I didn't read the instructions well. For the first run, we had to go out and get a $60 money order (they only take checks/money orders), then we go back and when they looked at our paperwork we had to go home.... I didn't take the birth certificate and the adoption certificate with us. It's the one we got in Russia. All I had was the application, the certificate of citizenship and photos. So, Friday we'll go back and try again. I'm just a little afraid of leaving all of our original documents we have for Justin. I know they mail them back, but I always think it could get lost or the mail gets dropped in the neighbors mailbox. Well, I wouldn't know where to get new ones. I've scanned them in, so at least we have something. I'm attaching a picture of Justin which goes into his US passport. The guy at the office said: whoever took this picture did a great job. (it was Joe last night....), but I didn't tell him that.

9 months will be this Friday when we picked him up from the orphanage

Mommy'n Justin time. He doesn't use pacifiers, but he had to try it out a little...


Here, he is drinking his milk with his favorite cup.


I've got a smile out of him.

Justin is now 22 months old

We've had a great weekend, too bad it is over. Last week we went to California. We drove total 6 hours from Phoenix to L.A. We also took my daughter's two friends to Six Flags. We with the little ones went to the beach and visited Joe's sister. None of the kids cried or complained. They had a lot of fun, even sitting in the car for a long time.

I forgot to mention that it was a year ago when we got Justin as a referral. He was so cute on the pictures. We think he was about 6 or 7 months old here, but he was 9 months old when we got these pictures.

Yesterday we went to a pool party. Justin is very cautious of the water and it took him a good 15 minutes before he went in. Later he started jumping, and enjoyed the water a lot.

Kids playing in sand

Today we went to a park close by. It was the first time we visited this park, but the kids enjoyed playing there more than in the others. The weather is actually below normal and it's great to be outside. They need physical activities as they have a lot of energy. Justin finally started repeating more and more words, but we can tell he understands pretty much all we say or at least he pretends he does. I don't know. He is now 21 months old. He is doing great, I think he starts to forget his past life, but I think he still has lots of memories or at least feelings. Sometimes I show him the pictures we took over in the orphanage and he seems to be interested in them, especially when he sees the kids and the caregivers.
Take care,
Kris