I am certain that there will never be a March 18th that passes without Ivan's birthmother thinking about her baby boy. She relinquished him at the maternity hospital in Ust-Kamenogorsk and never visited him while he was in the orphanage. I've always thought about her choice in a very positive way. I've always hoped that she relinquished her rights and never visited him so that he would be eligible for adoption that much sooner. She was young when she gave birth to Ivan and perhaps she had wisdom beyond her years. I've always wanted to believe that anyway. The truth is though, I don’t know. I don’t know if she relinquished her rights willingly or if a family member strongly encouraged her to do so.
There are so many things that I would like to know about who she is and how she came to make the decision about her baby boy. If I am wondering these things then I can only imagine how much more Ivan may want answers to these questions someday.
Anyway, I pray that she knows how loved he is and how grateful we are that she chose life.
Happy Third Birthday Ivan!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
Lessons with PB&J
Last Thursday Ivan and I went shopping at our local warehouse club. As we cruised up and down the isles we talked about the different items that we were buying that day. I picked-up a large package of peanut butter and jelly to donate to our local food pantry. Ivan immediately said, Ivan? I told him no that we were buying this pb&j for those who could not afford their own. He looked at me and again said Ivan? So I told him that we were buying it to share with others and he seemed satisfied.
When we got home and I put the pb&j in the dinning room, a place that guaranteed that I would not forget it on Sunday morning, Ivan again asked if it was for him. I explained again that we had bought this for others. He started to cry and say that he wanted it. I took him into our pantry and showed him our identical jars of pb&j and said that these were for Ivan anytime he wanted them. That made everything better and off we went.
Sunday morning we walked into the Narthex at church and J took the pb&j over to the baskets were we put our donations to the food pantry. Ivan runs after him and says "Mommy!" and begins to sign the share sign.
How cool is that? He remembered from Thursday morning that we were going to "share" the pb&j with others. It reminded me that he is always listening and learning.
When we got home and I put the pb&j in the dinning room, a place that guaranteed that I would not forget it on Sunday morning, Ivan again asked if it was for him. I explained again that we had bought this for others. He started to cry and say that he wanted it. I took him into our pantry and showed him our identical jars of pb&j and said that these were for Ivan anytime he wanted them. That made everything better and off we went.
Sunday morning we walked into the Narthex at church and J took the pb&j over to the baskets were we put our donations to the food pantry. Ivan runs after him and says "Mommy!" and begins to sign the share sign.
How cool is that? He remembered from Thursday morning that we were going to "share" the pb&j with others. It reminded me that he is always listening and learning.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Homemaking Meme
I saw this over at Arwen's and loved it...so here it is!
Aprons (Y/N): No, never. Although I probably should…that or a bib!
Baking (Favorite thing to bake): This is tough. I LOVE to bake. I can’t narrow it down really. I love to bake the old standby chocolate chip cookies, brownies (from scratch is my favorite), lemon squares, cheesecake, cupcakes, you name it and if it is baking I like it!
Clothesline (Y/N): No, although I do use two drying wracks in the bathroom.
Donuts: Love them… hot and fresh is the only way to go though.
Every Day (One homemaking thing you do every day): Make the bed and unload the dishwasher…every single day.
Freezer (Do you have a separate deep freeze?): Yes, and it is slam full
Garbage Disposal (Y/N): Sadly, no. We have a septic tank so you are not supposed to have one.
Handbook (What is your favorite homemaking resource?): Hmmm. That is a good one. I like Martha Stewart.com, Real Simple Magazine and Southern Living a lot.
Ironing (Love it or hate it?): Hate it. In fact, I dislike it so much that I now (even on a budget) send Joe’s shirts to the cleaners. Fortunately I have found a bargain cleaners.
Junk drawer (Y/N) (Where?): Who doesn’t? In the kitchen of course!
Kitchen (Design and decorating): We have a great kitchen. Tons of cabinet space (which we will never be able to find in our next house I’m afraid) We put a border up on the two end walls (peaches, pears, plums and grapes with a yellow background) and we tiled the back-splash a few years ago using white tiles with some accent tiles with fruit on them. It looks much better than it sounds.
Love (What is your favorite part of homemaking?): When my house is all clean and straight…I love it. Unfortunately, once I get behind the eight ball so to speak, I am not very good at getting back in front of it for a while anyway.
Mop (Y/N): Yes, occasionally. I would not say that I am a frequent mopper…just when the floors really need it.
Nylons: I am with the others on this one…what are they asking me? If it is whether I wear them while cleaning that would be…uhhh no.
Oven (Do you use the window or open the door to check?): Much to my husbands chagrin, I open the door constantly.
Pizza (What do you put on yours?): If it is homemade then it is no sauce, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and chopped kalamata olives…yummy!
Quiet (What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?): These are rare with a 35 month old little boy at home, however, when he naps (which is getting more and more rare) I enjoy reading, journalizing, and surfing the net in general.
Recipe card box (Y/N): Yes. This was one of the greatest gifts that my mother has EVER given me. The Christmas before I was engaged and later married she put all of her greatest recopies on typed index cards. My mom is a kick butt cook, so this was 30+ years of cooking genius in one box. Too cool for a soon to be married lady. I also enjoy recipes from magazines and foodnetwork. I am always open to trying new recipes…it is like a mini adventure!
Style of house: We have a ranch with a two-car garage in the basement. It is a cute house with a nice sized lot, unfortunately the lot is slope
d and not too great for a growing boy to play in…hence one of the reasons we are moving.Tablecloths and napkins? Tablecloth always and paper napkins most days. When we have a formal gathering at our house and I pull out the crystal, fine china and silver, I use cloth napkins.
Under the kitchen sink (Organized or toxic wasteland?): Is an organized toxic wasteland too much of an oxymoron?
Vacuum (How many times per week?): I used to be a once a week vacuumer, now I am once every other week or so…there is no time to get this done with Ivan around
Wash (How many loads of laundry do you do in a week: I am not sure that I can count that high anymore. Pre-Ivan I would do laundry on Saturday and Sunday’s…now it is at least a load a day.
X's (Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off? When I do I am so much more accomplished, but usually I am not organized enough to get one made for the day/week.
Yard (Who does what?): J and I have a deal…he takes care of the outside, and I take care of the inside.
Zzz's: It depends on how Ivan is sleeping that night. Some nights are good and some are terrible.
This was fun. If anyone fills it out on their blog let me know so that I can go and read yours too!
Aprons (Y/N): No, never. Although I probably should…that or a bib!
Baking (Favorite thing to bake): This is tough. I LOVE to bake. I can’t narrow it down really. I love to bake the old standby chocolate chip cookies, brownies (from scratch is my favorite), lemon squares, cheesecake, cupcakes, you name it and if it is baking I like it!
Clothesline (Y/N): No, although I do use two drying wracks in the bathroom.
Donuts: Love them… hot and fresh is the only way to go though.
Every Day (One homemaking thing you do every day): Make the bed and unload the dishwasher…every single day.
Freezer (Do you have a separate deep freeze?): Yes, and it is slam full
Garbage Disposal (Y/N): Sadly, no. We have a septic tank so you are not supposed to have one.
Handbook (What is your favorite homemaking resource?): Hmmm. That is a good one. I like Martha Stewart.com, Real Simple Magazine and Southern Living a lot.
Ironing (Love it or hate it?): Hate it. In fact, I dislike it so much that I now (even on a budget) send Joe’s shirts to the cleaners. Fortunately I have found a bargain cleaners.
Junk drawer (Y/N) (Where?): Who doesn’t? In the kitchen of course!
Kitchen (Design and decorating): We have a great kitchen. Tons of cabinet space (which we will never be able to find in our next house I’m afraid) We put a border up on the two end walls (peaches, pears, plums and grapes with a yellow background) and we tiled the back-splash a few years ago using white tiles with some accent tiles with fruit on them. It looks much better than it sounds.
Love (What is your favorite part of homemaking?): When my house is all clean and straight…I love it. Unfortunately, once I get behind the eight ball so to speak, I am not very good at getting back in front of it for a while anyway.
Mop (Y/N): Yes, occasionally. I would not say that I am a frequent mopper…just when the floors really need it.
Nylons: I am with the others on this one…what are they asking me? If it is whether I wear them while cleaning that would be…uhhh no.
Oven (Do you use the window or open the door to check?): Much to my husbands chagrin, I open the door constantly.
Pizza (What do you put on yours?): If it is homemade then it is no sauce, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and chopped kalamata olives…yummy!
Quiet (What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?): These are rare with a 35 month old little boy at home, however, when he naps (which is getting more and more rare) I enjoy reading, journalizing, and surfing the net in general.
Recipe card box (Y/N): Yes. This was one of the greatest gifts that my mother has EVER given me. The Christmas before I was engaged and later married she put all of her greatest recopies on typed index cards. My mom is a kick butt cook, so this was 30+ years of cooking genius in one box. Too cool for a soon to be married lady. I also enjoy recipes from magazines and foodnetwork. I am always open to trying new recipes…it is like a mini adventure!
Style of house: We have a ranch with a two-car garage in the basement. It is a cute house with a nice sized lot, unfortunately the lot is slope
d and not too great for a growing boy to play in…hence one of the reasons we are moving.Tablecloths and napkins? Tablecloth always and paper napkins most days. When we have a formal gathering at our house and I pull out the crystal, fine china and silver, I use cloth napkins.
Under the kitchen sink (Organized or toxic wasteland?): Is an organized toxic wasteland too much of an oxymoron?
Vacuum (How many times per week?): I used to be a once a week vacuumer, now I am once every other week or so…there is no time to get this done with Ivan around
Wash (How many loads of laundry do you do in a week: I am not sure that I can count that high anymore. Pre-Ivan I would do laundry on Saturday and Sunday’s…now it is at least a load a day.
X's (Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off? When I do I am so much more accomplished, but usually I am not organized enough to get one made for the day/week.
Yard (Who does what?): J and I have a deal…he takes care of the outside, and I take care of the inside.
Zzz's: It depends on how Ivan is sleeping that night. Some nights are good and some are terrible.
This was fun. If anyone fills it out on their blog let me know so that I can go and read yours too!
Friday, March 02, 2007
That's Just God...
I have found myself saying that a lot lately. There are some things in life that just can’t be explained any other way. Here are some that I have been reflecting on lately:
1) J and I meeting. We went to two different colleges. His was in the mountains and mine was two hours away in Charlotte. The only reason that I was even there the weekend we met was because my two best friends attended the same college. Furthermore, J had been offered (he says tempted) a Teaching Fellows Scholarship (AKA a full ride) to attend a different university at the eleventh hour in 1991. J put himself through college, so this was a huge deal to turn down.
2) Our adoption of Ivan. Our paperwork was in a whole different country for crying out loud! However, God knew where He wanted us to be and more importantly where our son was. My Dad has always struggled with the fact that Ivan was 15 months old when we met him. He just can't get his head around why he hadn't been adopted yet (My Dad is a little biased perhaps, however, he was and is a really cute little boy). Whenever this comes up (and it is infrequent now that we have been home for 19 months) I just look at him and say "That's just God, Daddy."
3) Ivan himself. He's the greatest blessing that we have ever received and he is loved beyond words. God placed this child in our life for a reason. I think that I know some of the reasons, but I am certain that as we move forward together as a family God will reveal even more to me.
I know that there are many other things that have been TJG moments in my life. As I continue to reflect on them I hope to revisit this journal entry and add to it.
1) J and I meeting. We went to two different colleges. His was in the mountains and mine was two hours away in Charlotte. The only reason that I was even there the weekend we met was because my two best friends attended the same college. Furthermore, J had been offered (he says tempted) a Teaching Fellows Scholarship (AKA a full ride) to attend a different university at the eleventh hour in 1991. J put himself through college, so this was a huge deal to turn down.
2) Our adoption of Ivan. Our paperwork was in a whole different country for crying out loud! However, God knew where He wanted us to be and more importantly where our son was. My Dad has always struggled with the fact that Ivan was 15 months old when we met him. He just can't get his head around why he hadn't been adopted yet (My Dad is a little biased perhaps, however, he was and is a really cute little boy). Whenever this comes up (and it is infrequent now that we have been home for 19 months) I just look at him and say "That's just God, Daddy."
3) Ivan himself. He's the greatest blessing that we have ever received and he is loved beyond words. God placed this child in our life for a reason. I think that I know some of the reasons, but I am certain that as we move forward together as a family God will reveal even more to me.
I know that there are many other things that have been TJG moments in my life. As I continue to reflect on them I hope to revisit this journal entry and add to it.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
On the contrary mom...
So we have finally hit it, the no stage. Every, and I do mean EVERY, single yes/no question that is posed to Ivan is met with a resounding NO! When it is in fact something he wants and I begin to act on the no, he quickly changes his tune and we move forward accordingly.
I know that this is only a phase and no gives him a lot more power than yes ever could. However, there are times that I would just love to hear a resolute YES, just for a change of pace.
I know that this is only a phase and no gives him a lot more power than yes ever could. However, there are times that I would just love to hear a resolute YES, just for a change of pace.
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