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