Wow, what a year!

I can't believe we have been home as a family for one whole year! I have been meaning to post some memories of our time in Russia, but the past few weeks have just been too busy for posting. Caroline and Chase have now been little Americans for one full year and what a year it has been. I look at them now and can't even imagine life without them in it. I do have to be honest though and there are times when I really would like my old life back for a brief moment, but those are on the days of extreme frustration and fatigue and those days are not nearly as frequent now as they first were. I always expected the kids to have difficulty adjusting to family life, but I never realized just how hard it would be for me to adjust to having two little ones completely dependent on me for everything.

It always amazes me that when I first started this adoption process, I wanted one infant girl and somehow I ended up with a preschool boy and a kindergarten girl. But I can't even imagine any other children than these, they were meant to be mine. So much has changed since I first brought these two home. The days of what I called the "CPS screams" toward the dogs are over. Chase actually says he wants to be a "doggy doctor" when he grows up. Chase's desire to beat the c*^%p out of me in Kroger are over, we can actually have a trip to the grocery store and not put Chase in the basket and he can walk thru the store without any incidents! This is HUGE progress! Both are pretty fluent in English, although Chase still has issues finding the right word to use. Caroline is at the top of her ESL class and have left the others to "eat her dust"! They are both doing so great in school, learning tons and making new little friends. Chase has turned into such an athlete! He is incredibly coordinated and loves anything to do with sports. Caroline is such a "girlie girl". She loves sparkles and glitz anyway she can get it! She is completely a diva and sometimes has the attitude to match! A fashion career will probably be in her future. They have both grown by leaps and bounds, I think they have both gone up 4 shoe sizes since I brought them home. Chase is about an inch taller than Caroline and he is 18 months younger, he is going to be a big guy and she will be a petite little thing. They are both due for their physicals next month and I'll get the exact measurements then. Both are healthy as horses, I think we only made one trip to the doctor this past year for a minor cold!

There have been so many firsts this past year, in fact they have all been firsts to me! Both my kids had their first birthday parties ever, they had their first trips to the dentist, their first days in school, their first taste of pizza and ice cream!
They celebrated their first Christmas, they "partied" for the first time on New Year's eve, they rode a bus for the first time. It's the first time they had as much food as they wanted to eat, first time they have their own rooms and beds! And best of all, the first time they have a family to love them, and that we do! If you ever consider adopting older children, I can assure you, you will not miss out on much!

Last weekend we celebrated our "Family Day". Toycha Gail came down from Chicago to be with us and we had a blast. We started out the weekend by doing our favorite activity - going out for pizza. The next day, Gail watched the kids while I did some much needed work on the house. Sunday, Toycha took the kids out for a bike ride, then some swimming. After that we took Caroline to Libby Lu for her big adventure - she got her ears pierced! This is something she has been asking for for months now and I promised if she improved her swimming ability by the end of summer, she could have it done. Well even though she is not quite the swimmer her brother is, she still has made great strides in that direction, so I let her go thru with it. She did great! After Libby Lu, we all went bowling, another first for the kids! They had a blast. We ended the evening with a trip to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants compliments of Toycha Gail. Monday we spent most of the day in the pool and then out to dinner with Aunt Mary and Uncle Skip. It was a great weekend and one we hope to repeat every September 1st.

I've put together a little slide show of the past year, starting with pics from our first trip to meet the then "Katya and Pasha", the trip to pick up the kids in Russia, and then some of my favorites from the past year home. Enjoy!