Catching up

Lucas and I are back in Odessa, Ukraine. We arrived on March 19, 2010 and are finally getting over jetlag. We had such a good time with Everette in Iowa and family in North Carolina. We miss you all very much! Everette will be joining us in Odessa later this summer so we are looking forward to his arrival. But until then SKYPE keeps us close!

My space button is somewhat broken....thanks to the cutest brown-eyed guy...so I will post more pictures than words (its hard to type!). They will not be in order :)

fun with Mom and Dad "Corn, anyone?"
"Mommy thinks I'm pretty awesome..."
who can resist chocolate ice-cream? Not me! favorite past-time: reading with Daddy We wore pink to one of the basketball games to honor and encourage people who are fighting breast cancer. Anita came to visit!!!!! So fun! Pink student body
always wanting more food he used to fit under that table in December "Hmmm..what can I take out of this cabinet?" Sneaky :)

found some hidden candy, and even unwrapped a few. Too bad Mom knew something was up due to the complete silence in the house.

bad parenting idea (although kept him occupied for a bit :) )

celebrating Everette's birthday! My two awesome men.

"Mom, when will the cake be ready?"

first puppy encounter

messy cupid

our friends came to visit - we miss yall!
this boy LOVES corn

Guess who came to visit?!!

we are so beautiful....LOL

great couple, fun times with Anita and Denny

Lucas turned 1!!! Woke up to ton of ballons

he wasnt sure about them at first, but with the help from his obnoxious parents he enjoyed them eventually

blueberry pancakes for the Birthday Boy Two days later we celebrated Lucas' 1st birthday with special friends. He had a lot of fun, and thoroughly enjoyed his cake :)
Awesome people - we miss you all so much

Elmo cakes

"not sure about this, Dad. Mom never gave this to me before."

"ok. this is pretty good" "i meant REALLY good!""I think I'm DONE. Can I have a doggy bag?"

I had to post this smiley picture - it shows Lucas' fun and easy personality.

We love you little boy, and are so proud to be your parents!!! May God Bless you!

Happy 1st Birthday Lucas!

1 year ago today we fell in love; the kind of love we never knew before. The Lord has blessed us with an amazing son, Lucas James.

Our lives have been changed in so many wonderful ways, and each day this boy brings new excitement to our lives. He is teaching us the meaning of true unconditional love, patience, perseverance, and sacrifice.

March 11, 2009

1 year old boy :)

You are one amazing fellow, Lucas. And we love you so much!!! You bring so much joy and happiness into our lives. Your smiles light up the room and melt hearts. You are such a blessing to us! We are looking forward to all your milestones and many many more 'firsts'.

Happy 1st Birthday, munchkin!

P.S. to Lucas: when you get older I'll print these blogs and let you read them :)

P.S.S. more pictures coming soon

11 months boy

Lucas turned 11 months. The highlight of the month is summarized in the video below!! Enjoy!



Yes! Lucas is walking. It's so stinking exciting!!! I have not been this giddy since very long time ago. It is the coolest milestone we have witnessed so far, and are beyond ourselves. Though I am overjoyed and beaming with pride, I am sad too...my baby is growing, getting bigger and much more independent. I miss those sleepless nights everyone grumbles about, I miss the breastfeeding at 1am and then at 3am, I miss watching content sleeping newborn, and I miss the cries at 2 am... Crazy? Yes. I just wish I could freeze those moments in memory box, and relive them each time I open it. But as Lucas is growing, I am looking forward to the new milestones, to the new adventures, new words he learnes, new sentences he puts together...

We love you, precious boy and are so stinking proud of you! So blessed to have you in our lives.

10 months update!

First things first: Lucas turned 10 month on January 11!! Lucas and I came to visit Everette on December 13, 2009, and though it has only been a month, Lucas has changed so much. For one, he is getting tall (the kid is wearing size 12-18 months clothes)!

He does so much these days that I cant keep up writing it all down. Some of the highlights are:

- Lucas weighs 23 lbs (60%l-le), and measures 32 inches tall (100%-le. i.e 99% of children his age are shorter than Lucas..hmmm)

- pulls himself up(!!!) on just about anything, couch, chairs, play pin, mom and dad's knees, etc.

by doing that, he can stand holding onto a couch for hours :)

-falls down a lot, but learning to fall on his butt

- CRAWLS very FAST!

- gets into everything he can lay his hands on

- loves to walk around in his walker, but more than that loves when we hold his hands and takes us around

- babbles all kind of cute stuff

- still eats baby food and drinks formula, though has tried table food like 'paghetti, mashed potatoes, mexican refried beans, and even...ice-cream :)

-tries to feed himself with the spoon

-drinks juice from a sippy cup

- sleeps thru the night! Blessing :)

- new thing: can't stand getting his diapers changed

- plays shy when sees strangers, but doesn't mind people holding him anymore

- loves to rough play with Everette

- still cuddles with Mom :)

the one night Mommy had makeup on, Lucas didn't get the memo to smile at the camera
getting ready for a long flight to see Dad By the grace of God, we made it home safe and sound and after few days of jet lag, we hung out with BBall Varsity Girls. Lucas got so many hugs and "ooohhh" and "ahhhh's" - its rediculous :)
Christmas party with Hemsptead girls

So excited for Christmas!!!! We had Christmas for Lucas before we left for North Carolina to spend time with Everette's family.


He seemed to like it

hanging out with cousins in North Carolina

at gramma's for Christmas!

time to open presents!
First time standing in his play pin

And here comes...T-R-O-U-B-L-E

he figured out how to open drawers, and take things out of them

now when I look for my kitchen gadgets, I find toys

crawling EVERYWHERE!!! breakfast with Dad we went to visit our dear friends, Amanda and Travis, who had beautiful baby Vanessa! Congrats guys! Lucas' girlfriend is gorgeous :)

Everette and I went to a Christmas party Crossroads had on January 9th. It was so fun to see everyone!!! We had a blast!!! I miss my peeps :(

"hmmmm...how can I get on this chair?"

always happy :)

42 Things That Change When You Have a Baby...

I get "baby" emails on daily basis about baby development and parenthood. Some of them are very educational, some are fun and entertaining, some are nerdy, some are dumb. Today I got on with the title "42 Things That Change When you Have a Baby." Some of them made me laugh, and some made me say," How true..."

You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.
Your heart breaks much more easily.
You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day
You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place
Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.
You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo."
If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do!

The funny ones:
You become a morning person.
Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
You discover how much there is to say about one tooth
You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one.
You finally find out the real reason you have those breasts :)

Yes, since having a baby life has changed. It has been exciting and fun, challenging and trying...Its not about me anymore, its about this little guy in my lap. Its not easy, and every day brings something new. But I wouldnt have it any other way!

Lil Man is 8 Months!

Our silly guy and his new smile. He also says "Ghee" when he does it - its hilarious!

Cracks me up

blackberry face

walking with granpa who is very persistent and is planning to teach Lucas walk before he is 1 year old

"Oh, Daddy! see the shirt I'm wearing? ;P Mommy dressed me, and I love it! Happy BBall season!!!!"

Lucas at 8 months:

- more independent

-sits without support

-uses both hands to play with toys

- wants to feed himself but mommy wont let him

- does not like strangers AT ALL! CRIES and CRIES! and clings to mom

- loves aunt Vika and mommy's friend Vika, trying to talk her into letting her future daughter marry him :)

-grasps things with fingers

- says "ba-ba, ga-ga, grrrrr, mba-mba"

- eats chicken, broccolli, potatoes, carrots, apples, cauliflower, cereals, cottage cheese, baby cookies, bubliki i.e. russian bagels, and other baby food. Drinks milk, apple and peach juices, tea with Vitamin C.

- loves to smile!!!

- loves to cuddle and snuggle

- sleeps during walks, but when awake is very curious and loves to watch loud cars and buses

I love you sweet boy! Thank you God for your precious gift, give us wisdom to take good care of this wonderful child...

Little Pumpkin - Lucas' 1st Halloween

In the morning Lucas was the Jack O'Lantern :)

"give me the camera, mom!"

After his nap, he became a Zebra!

and mommy was a doctor

Lucas' best friend - Vika, also known as his future mother-in-law

We celebrated Halloween with friends, pot of chilli, baked ziti and pumpkin pirozhki. Lucas hung out with grandparents while I hung out with my friends, remembering good ol' times from childhood and highschool. Oh my...