Boo-tiful baby!!!

Just wanted to write a quick blog to say THANK YOU to all those who donated to Walk for Kaz.  We raised over $10,000 and the money will go directly to 2 Hearts for Hope, to pay for new beds for a Children's Home in Taraz, KZ.  My awesome team, the Kazmanian Devils, won several awards, including most money raised, the team spirit award, the costume award, etc.  Yep, That's how we roll.  We had a great weekend in Indy as well.  Shauna and I drove down with the kids Friday afternoon.  We had a big group dinner on Friday, and then after the Kaz Kiddies went to bed, the Kaz Mamas gathered in the hallway of the hotel for wine and girl talk.  I hadn't seen some of my Kaz girls since 'palooza  way back in June, so it was nice to get to catch up with everyone again.  Saturday morning it was breakfast buffet at the hotel and then onto the park for the 5K.  Let me tell you,   I am not as in shape as I used to be!!!  Pushing a stroller up hills for 3 miles  when I could be inside watching Jersey Shore is not my cup of tea. Ah, the things we do for the ones we love!!  Note to self: next year volunteer to man the water table so as to avoid physical exertion, LOL!!
    When I got home Saturday night, I found out my mom had been admitted to the hospital!  She is diabetic and it may have been related to that as well as her sinuses.  Thankfully, she is home now and feeling moderately better.  Today we went with Jaime and the boys to the pumpkin patch at Barn and Bunk.  Since Hannie doesn't have siblings (yet ;-) ) its nice she has lots of cousin to hang with.  They loved it.  Last weekend we took all the kids to Whitewater Park, which was also a great time.  I can't say I loved the paddle boats, but the kids had fun at the playground, feeding the ducks, etc.
      Hannah also had a minor health scare this month, we had to take her to get a stomach X ray because she has trouble, well, pooping.  Luckily, there was no obstruction, but she had to have several enemas and  she now takes Miralax every other day. So far, it's working.  She continues to amaze me developmentally. She talks and talks and talks, geez you'd think her mom was a speech therapist or something!!  She is not walking yet (because of her foot) but she pulls to a stand and cruises.  She can also do a somersault, which I find strange.   She is even putting 2 words together!!!  Unfortunately, now that she is talking, I am finding that she has a lot of complaints!! She wants "mik" instead of juice, and says NO quite a bit.  She is  definitely hit upon an independence stage, she wants to feed herself (she does great with a fork and has proven to be an enthusiastic, if not particularly neat eater), dress herself, brush her (6!) teeth without help, etc.  14 mos is a fun age, but I have said that about all of them so far.  One more weird thing. Last night I had a very clear and precise dream that I had a second child.  She was younger than Hannah, and I named her Saylor Grace, a name I don't think I had ever heard before.  Ha!  That is all for tonight, to all of you out there in blog world, have a great week! ~Erin 

Walk for Kaz

One of the hardest things about adopting from Kaz was not the paperwork, the waiting, the time in country, or the financial burden.  It was being at the baby house and seeing the beautiful faces of all the children left behind, unadoptable for one reason or another.  Two Hearts for Hope is a great organization that is dedicated to providing basic essentials to these kiddos still waiting for a home and family.  In June, we raised money at Kazapalooza for water filtration systems for a baby house in Almaty.  Next weekend, I will Walk for Kaz to raise even more money for this organization.  Hannah could have very easily been one of these kids and the statistics are terrifying....

Did you know . . .

• In 2009, only 295 of Kazakshtan's orphans were adopted into their forever families.
• Orphans are 13% less likely to attend school.
• Orphans are most susceptible to economic hardship; lack of love, attention, and affection; psychological distress; increased abuse and risk of HIV infection; malnutrition and illness; stigma, discrimination and isolation.
• Many children accept job offers that ultimately result in their being sold as slaves. Millions are sex slaves today, simply because they were unfortunate enough to grow up as orphans.
• Every 18 seconds a child becomes an orphan. 

If you are interested in donating (or walking with us!) to this very worthy cause, you can do so via paypal or I can send you a SASE with all the information. All contributions are tax deductible.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves . . . ”
                                                                                                                        Proverbs 31:8

 

Parenting 101

From magicalchildhood.wordpress.com....

What should a 4 year old know?

I was on a parenting bulletin board recently and read a post by a mother who was worried that her 4 1/2 year old did not know enough. “What should a 4 year old know?” she asked.
Most of the answers left me not only saddened but pretty soundly annoyed. One mom posted a laundry list of all of the things her son knew. Counting to 100, planets, how to write his first and last name, and on and on. Others chimed in with how much more their children already knew, some who were only 3. A few posted URL’s to lists of what each age should know. The fewest yet said that each child develops at his own pace and not to worry.
It bothered me greatly to see these mothers responding to a worried mom by adding to her concern, with lists of all the things their children could do that hers couldn’t. We are such a competitive culture that even our preschoolers have become trophies and bragging rights. Childhood shouldn’t be a race.
So here, I offer my list of what a 4 year old should know.

1. She should know that she is loved wholly and unconditionally, all of the time.
2. He should know that he is safe and he should know how to keep himself safe in public, with others, and in varied situations. He should know that he can trust his instincts about people and that he never has to do something that doesn’t feel right, no matter who is asking. He should know his personal rights and that his family will back them up.
3. She should know how to laugh, act silly, be goofy and use her imagination. She should know that it is always okay to paint the sky orange and give cats 6 legs.
4. He should know his own interests and be encouraged to follow them. If he could care less about learning his numbers, his parents should realize he’ll learn them accidentally soon enough and let him immerse himself instead in rocket ships, drawing, dinosaurs or playing in the mud.
5. She should know that the world is magical and that so is she. She should know that she’s wonderful, brilliant, creative, compassionate and marvelous. She should know that it’s just as worthy to spend the day outside making daisy chains, mud pies and fairy houses as it is to practice phonics. Scratch that– way more worthy.

But more important, here’s what parents need to know.

1. That every child learns to walk, talk, read and do algebra at his own pace and that it will have no bearing on how well he walks, talks, reads or does algebra.
2. That the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers, but mom or dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.
3. That being the smartest or most accomplished kid in class has never had any bearing on being the happiest. We are so caught up in trying to give our children “advantages” that we’re giving them lives as multi-tasked and stressful as ours. One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.
4. That our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them. Most of us could get rid of 90% of our children’s toys and they wouldn’t be missed, but some things are important– building toys like legos and blocks, creative toys like all types of art materials (good stuff), musical instruments (real ones and multicultural ones), dress up clothes and books, books, books. (Incidentally, much of this can be picked up quite cheaply at thrift shops.) They need to have the freedom to explore with these things too– to play with scoops of dried beans in the high chair (supervised, of course), to knead bread and make messes, to use paint and play dough and glitter at the kitchen table while we make supper even though it gets everywhere, to have a spot in the yard where it’s absolutely fine to dig up all the grass and make a mud pit.
5. That our children need more of us. We have become so good at saying that we need to take care of ourselves that some of us have used it as an excuse to have the rest of the world take care of our kids. Yes, we all need undisturbed baths, time with friends, sanity breaks and an occasional life outside of parenthood. But we live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit to 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That’s not okay! Our children don’t need Nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccer practice nearly as much as they need US. They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They need us to take walks with them and not mind the .1 MPH pace of a toddler on a spring night. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes it twice as much work. They deserve to know that they’re a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them.

And now back to those 4 year old skills lists…..
I know it’s human nature to want to know how our children compare to others and to want to make sure we’re doing all we can for them. Here is a list of what children are typically taught or should know by the end of each year of school, starting with preschool.

Since we homeschool, I occasionally print out the lists and check to see if there’s anything glaringly absent in what my kids know. So far there hasn’t been, but I get ideas sometimes for subjects to think up games about or books to check out from the library. Whether you homeschool or not, the lists can be useful to see what kids typically learn each year and can be reassuring that they really are doing fine.
If there are areas where it seems your child is lacking, realize that it’s not an indication of failure for either you or your child. You just haven’t happened to cover that. Kids will learn whatever they’re exposed to, and the idea that they all need to know these 15 things at this precise age is rather silly. Still, if you want him to have those subjects covered then just work it into life and play with the subject and he’ll naturally pick it up. Count to 60 when you’re mixing a cake and he’ll pick up his numbers. Get fun books from the library about space or the alphabet. Experiment with everything from backyard snow to celery stalks in food coloring. It’ll all happen naturally, with much more fun and much less pressure.
My favorite advice about preschoolers is on this site though.
What does a 4 year old need?
Much less than we realize, and much more.

Chicago Kaz Weekend

This Labor Day Weekend my friend Shauna, who adopted her little boy Dalton from Semey KZ, and I packed up the kiddies and headed out for a fun filled Kaz meet up in Chicago.  The trip up with 2 babies was a little rough.  Traffic jams, highway shutdowns and chemical spills caused us to spend close to 8 hours on what should have been a 5 hour drive.  Dalton and Hannie were AMAZING in the car, armed with snacks and books, toys and movies, they were serious troopers.  I guess when you have flown days at time from Kaz to Ohio, a car trip to Chicago isn't really all that big of a deal. 
    Friday night we had a pizza party, which was great because the kiddos, who had been strapped in car seats all day, could run wild while the adults socialized.  I got to meet some facebooks friends IRL, including the Stanskis, the Jenkins, the Thorntons, and the Carr families.  Saturday morning was the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Hannie loved the chickens most of all.  It's a great zoo, and free!  We spent the afternoon shopping on the Magnificent Mile (I LOST MY MIND in Gap Kids.  And don't even get me started on how much I LOVED taking my daughter into the American Girl Store...aka GIRL MECCA).  That night was Navy Pier.  Sunday we hit up Millenium Park, where the kids played and splashed in the fountains and the adults said goodbye. 
   It was a great weekend and once again a reminder of how amazing the Kaz community is.  Hannie and I are so blessed to have such amazing friends.  I celebrate my birthday this week, I will be 29 and Hannah will be 14 mos on that very day.  My life is very different this year than last year.  I got a lot of raised eyebrows, questions, and even some criticism when I told people (about this time last year) of my adoption plans.  Why not just get married and have your own kid?  But God spoke to my heart and led me to my the child who was meant to be mine, and this birthday will be truly special because I get to share it with my sweet girl.     

    Speaking of Hannah....she is still doing great.  She talks nonstop, and endless string of "dog, mama, more, nana (Banana), all done, no, mine, bye, etc" and her newest trick...calling me Erin!!!  She has figured out that it drives me crazy and does it a hundred times a day.  She also has started throwing anything and everything in the toilet.  Some days I think she may be advanced in that the terrible twos have started at 13 mos.  But honestly, I feel lucky that she is developmentally on par. So many adopted kids are at risk for developmental delays due to the time spent without stimulation in the baby houses. We work every day on gross and fine motor tasks and receptive and expressive language and it has paid off.  For those Gleeks out there, above here is a pic of her in her "Sue Sylvester" track suit that my friend Amber bought for her...   In two weeks we are packing up again and heading to Indianapolis for "Walk for Kaz" to raise money for 2 Hearts for Hope.  We are also having a mini girls weekend with the Kaz mamas and hitting up the Children's Museum.  I am lucky Hannie is easy going and a good traveler because this family stays very busy!!  I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend, I will post again after the walk :-) XOXO Erin