Sam's House

Meeting the Cousins

2009-07-02T21:02:00.007-04:00

This last week, we set off on a little adventure to meet the cousins. On Friday, we trekked over to Boone, NC and stayed the night in a Best Western with the worlds firmest mattresses. No kidding, these puppies were like boards. I was participating in a little bike ride called Blood, Sweat and Gears, a fifty mile ride in the mountains around Boone. After the ride, we headed over Knoxville to visit the newest cousin, Jack. Somehow, we did not get any pictures of Jack, but this is one I stole off my Moms blog.

He is a cute little dude, only a week old(almost two weeks now) and we had a great time there. He sleeps alot, and poops even more. After a few days in Knoxvegas, we rolled up to Louisville to meet Kate, our other new cousin from China. She is a dollbaby.

Of course we also saw our favorite Cousin, Leah

Sam loves to talk about Leah and playing with her, they have the best time when they get together. We stayed in Louisville a couple of days, went to the zoo and had a great time with Gramma Re Re and Pop Pop. Here are some random shots of the boy.

Leave Daddy

2009-06-15T22:11:00.002-04:00

Today, Sam started a new program for the summer. His old school closed for good on Friday and we are in between schools at the moment, so we signed him up for a summer program at church. The cool thing about the program is that is less expensive and much much closer ie: walking distance. He gets to bring his lunch everyday now and yesterday we picked up a brand new Spiderman lunch box.

He was very excited this morning when Mommy packed the lunch and put it in the fridge. Just as excited as we were walking down the driveway and he was yelling at her how excited he was. When we got to school we went into the big room that all the kids gather in before the actual program starts. I went in with Sam and while I knew he would be OK, he was a little skittish, understandable. So as I am kneeling with Sam, the teacher comes in to get the kids. They all line up with their lunchboxes and I stand outside the room to follow Sam down to the classroom. When the kids file out of the room, he looks up at me and says...

Leave Daddy.

So I left.

He had a great day and met a bunch of kids and is excited to go back tomorrow. What more could you ask for?

Gotcha!!

2009-05-26T07:51:00.006-04:00

Today is Sam's Gotcha Day, which is the day that we were given custody of Sam in Russia. This is his two year anniversary and he is super excited. We are still trying to differentiate between a birthday and a gotcha day right now, kinda tough to grasp for a 4 year old. We did get him a big boy bike this weekend, not the one pictured below (it was too small), to celebrate and though it was tough the first day, yesterday he rode all over the neighborhood by himself.

Sam has come leaps and bounds since we first saw him in Russia. He is such a sweet and lovable kid, always the first to drop a complement when he sees something he likes. He loves puzzles and going anywhere with anybody. His english is getting better and better each day, now if he would only sleep in a few days a week.

He is funny, sweet, handsome, loving, caring, and so many more things. We are so thankful that he is in our lives.

Dentist!

2009-04-14T17:44:00.001-04:00

Rejoice!

2009-04-06T16:52:00.002-04:00

Well, we are at week 4 officially on the cast, we are over it. Really. That little orange thing is so gross now, it smells funky and everything that was white is now black. Good news is we have an appointment next Tuesday to saw it off his arm. I wanted to keep the cast as a souvenir, not so much anymore. Sam does not let it slow him down at all, he still tumbles, and climbs like normal. And, the cast is a good place to keep your french fries.

Sam had a moment Sunday at church. We are trying out a new church near the house and on Sunday we went to the early service. Sam did not want to go to the nursery/children's church, so he went in the big room with us. He said he wanted to sing. So, the service is moving along nicely, the message this morning is on gratitude. Sam is being pretty good, mostly coloring and eating snacks. Had no idea he was paying attention to the sermon at all. At some point the preacher starting talking about rejoicing and celebrating with others. That was Sam's cue to say "rejoice!" out loud without even missing a beat in his coloring book. We got some smiles out of that one.

First Broken Bone!!!

2009-03-11T11:19:00.002-04:00

Well actually just two fractures, but hey, a kids gotta start somewhere right?

He was playing out in the yard on Sunday night with us. We were sitting on the back deck about 1 foot away from the boy. He was doing some tumbling and flipping and did a flip and came up screaming. It did not seem too bad, he was crying a bit, but it did not seem to hurt him when I pushed on his hand. I figured it was just a sprain. We put some ice on it and let it go.

He had a tough night Sunday. He was up and down all night long complaining about his hand. His hand was a bit puffy and swollen. So Monday we made an appointment to see the doc. She told Sam and I that it was most likely sprained but ordered an x-ray anyway. We then went down to CHKD and got a picture of his hand. She called back at 4 and told me that he had two fractures in his thumb/palm area. Bummer dude. At this point she said just wrap an ace bandage around it until they could cast it. That was fun. He does not like the ace bandage. It likes it better when Mommy puts it on.

So, Tuesday we had an appointment with Dr. Fox for the casting. All the way over to the doctor he tells me he is getting a purple cast. We called Mommy and we told her he wanted a purple cast. We called Grammy too, purple cast. Just as we pull up to the office, he switches over to orange. Yes, orange. Orange is the new pink. He could not be swayed. The nurse took about 10 minutes putting the cast on and then we left.

He does not seem to mind the cast now. The biggest problem we have or had is he usually sucks on two fingers of his left hand when he goes to sleep. He has probably done this since the orphanage. He realized he could not do that last night and had a fit. Maybe this will be the end of that habit!

If it kills me

2009-02-17T19:57:00.002-05:00

So, imagine you have to fix a plumbing leak under your bed, for 5 hours. Yes, that was my Sunday/Monday. Here's the story.

Sunday, Cheri asks me for help in moving the cable connection in the spare bedroom. No problem, just jump under the home, disconnect the cable and move it to the new hole. I don't mind getting under houses and our is a relatively nice crawlspace. So, I crawl over to the bedroom and on the way over I notice water running down the wall between the kitchen and the laundry room, under the house mind you. Things that make you go Hmmm. Well, the cable gets reconnected and I turn to investigate the leak. I find that the leak is actually on the other side of the wall in the crawlspace under the laundry room. A little relief that its not running down the wall from the 2nd floor, which would have been yucky.

Let me interject here that the crawlspace under the laundry room is much smaller than the one under the main house. When this house was built in 1938 the laundry room was a room you stepped down into from the kitchen. At some point during the renovations the floor in this room was raised to be level with the kitchen floor. The space under this room is like crawling under a bed. Tiny.

I am not tiny.

To enter the space under the laundry room I have to exhale to get my chest in and then inhale to get my hips in. Sound like fun? Oh, also, in order to get to the pipe that was leaking, I had to go in on my back.

I make it over to the leak and because of the size of this space, I can only use my right hand to take the pipes apart. The left hand is useless in this drill. I determine that the best course of action is to take out the bad part and go to the Home Depot and get new parts. Nice idea. Home Depot had the right parts, wrong sizes. This will come back to bite us later. So, I get the parts I can work with, reducers and all. Go back to the house determined to make this work. Did I mention you have to slide on your back and only use your right hand in this drill?

I get back under and go to work. OK, looks good, lets turn the water back on. Cheri is in charge of the water turning off and on. So she goes out and turns it on. Please turn it off. Please. Hmmm, that didn't work. Lets try again, redo this, reconnect that. Still leaks. Hmmmm. After a couple more tries, the leaks are gone, calgon take me away.

I go up to shower all the crawlspace off me and about 5 minutes into the shower, the water completely shuts off! Oh no you didn't! I run downstairs and Cheri again runs out and turns the water off. Great. I go back and put on my dirty clothes again and take a gander under the house. Oh good. 40 gallons of hot water is now under the home. Yes, you know what's coming.

Back I go into the crawlspace. Snorkel and mask optional. You know that whole "wrong size" thing I talked about, this was it. The pressure from the water heater blew out the fitting. Just blew it out. OK, readjust this, tighten that, tweak those. Leak test? All good. Yeah!

Shower with no problems, dishwashing with no problems, problems solved. Until about 10PM that night. Cheri was walking through and heard water spraying under the home. Joy Joy. Again the water goes off.

Monday morning bright and early I am at the plumbing supply store to get the right stuff, having the right stuff is so underrated. Back to the house, dryfit everything, looks good, here we go. Hook all of the new stuff up and it still leaks. You may think this is rocket science, but it really is not. All of this plumbing screws together. Problem is I only have my right hand and its super hard to tighten fittings with one hand. Long story short, on this morning, another 40 gallons was deposited into the crawlspace. Really?

You may have called a plumber at this point, heck, you may have called one yesterday, Sunday rates be damned! Not me. I'm the guy that circles the restaurant to get the prime parking spot on the street. I'm the guy that does not flinch in this situation.

We finally got to leak free status around 8ish on Monday morning. I took a shower and yes, you guessed it, leak city. Again the water goes off. We decide to reconvene the water stop loss program after work.

So, finally, all connections are tight, retight and re-retightened. Cheri turns the water on and we run it all over the house for 5 minutes. No leaks. Whats that? No leaks. Say again? No leaks. Thank you very much.

So, yes after 5 hours and $25 worth of parts, the problem is fixed. The people said yeah!

Oh, Sam was so cute. He sang to me through the floor when I was under there.

Craigslist Miracle

2009-01-16T20:41:00.005-05:00

So, I guess everyone probably knows about Craigslist around here. If you don't, it is like a big yard sale online. You list your stuff, or what you want, or what you want to trade your 74 Dodge Dart for.

We were doing some house cleaning and had two of Sam's carseats in the garage and put them up on CL. Didn't get much action for a while, not even the standard "hey, I'll give you 20 bucks for both, pick them up now" e-mail. Until yesterday...

I get an e-mail from a woman who says she would love to by the seats because she is adopting a boy from Russia soon and they would be great. Ok, nothing weird so far. I write back and tell her that yes, we still have them, and guess what, we also have a son from Russia.

So she calls me and I ask her where they are adopting their son from...Moscow she says, wow, that's where Sam is from. What baby house is he at? Baby house #2, wow, that is where Sam is from. I don't know how many baby houses there are in Moscow, but these odds are crazy. So, we arrange to meet to exchange cash for seats.

In the meantime, she e-mails me with some questions about the orphanage and the process and tells me that they are using Adoptions from the Heart and Children World Adoption Agency. Now, this is going to sound weird, but yes, those are our agencies too. So I ask her if she knows Alla and Igor, you may remember, Alla is the facilitator in Moscow and Igor is the baddest driver in all of Moscow. Bang, next thing in my inbox is a picture of Alla and Igor in front of Baby house #2. Get the heck out of here!

So they came over tonight with their family and got the seats. We talked for a long time about the process and they were happy to see Sam in full "Sam" mode. They are preparing to head back to Moscow in two weeks for the court process. We figured that their son Ben was born about a week after we left Moscow.

Crazy.

You can meet them here

The moon

2009-01-08T20:27:00.002-05:00

Tonight when I picked Sam up from school tonight the moon was bright in the sky. Sam saw it and told me that Grammy Re and Pop-Pop were looking at the same moon and stars.

Grammy Re told Sam when she was here on Thanksgiving that whenever he saw the moon, Grammy Re and Pop Pop could see the same moon and were thinking of him.

Too Cute

A big horse, a big house and baby Jesus

2008-12-30T19:53:00.002-05:00

Sam was very restless on Christmas Eve. The last time I put him back in bed he said to me" Santa is going to bring me a big horse, a big house and baby Jesus". Santa did not deliver on the house or the horse, but baby Jesus was there. He loved seeing the Nativity scene at the beginning of our block and the living nativity at the church across the street. He still asks about it and gets mad when we don't go down the right block when coming home.

He did very well this Christmas and you can tell he is very loved by all of his family. Everyone sent the best gifts and Sam has played with them all. His favorite gift from Santa was a little puppy that has its own food, ball and brush. Running a close second is the Kung-Fu Panda DVD, followed by a large stuffed bear wearing a snappy little striped shirt. Sam was so good, he even helped Mommy pick out some toys he did not play with to give to other kids. He does however think that Santa is coming back every night and is still looking for that big house and horse.

We did get some sad news over the break. Sam's school that he has attended since October of last year is closing its doors. We always thought he would be at the school until he was 5, but it is not to be. So, we are school searching. I think it is gonna be hard on him to leave his friends and teachers that he loves so much.

Cute Overload

2008-11-20T11:52:00.001-05:00

Try and tear yourself away!

Renovation Update

2008-11-09T17:49:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to post a picture of the before and after of the living room. The cabinet we built is all finished, paint is all done, and it is in use. A friend is building doors for it and the glass is on order. Getting close!

Getting Chilly

2008-11-09T17:17:00.003-05:00

We usually have a very mild fall and winter here in Virginia. The leaves are starting to fall and the air is crisp. Took Sam out on the porch for a few pictures this morning. He recently had his one year check-up and everything is good to go. He grew almost 7 inches and took on a little over 2 pounds. He is really starting to use his words well and is very independent. Today when he got dressed he pulled on a long sleeve t-shirt and then his pink polo paired with a fresh pair of Khaki pants, all on his own. His new favorite stuffed animal is Donkey, with tiny donkey running a close second. Our best friend Doggie has a new home in the toybox and is no longer invited to bed. TImes they are a changin.

Sam Shopping

2008-09-28T07:51:00.002-04:00

Whats in your bed?

2008-09-25T19:55:00.005-04:00

Today we had a Nor' easter blow through town, still blowing actually. We usually get these storms 4 or 5 times a year and they usually bring a ton of rain and high winds. So, not only do we have to worry about hurricanes from the coast, we have to worry about these storms from the west. I had a little time to myself today and decided to change the sheets on Sam's bed and give them a wash while he was at school. This is what was under the top sheet...

You can see several books, Sam likes to read at night, you can also see a moose, Ernie, a horse, several train parts, a puzzle piece, and a dustpan, yes he is a clean kid.

Renovation update:

Yes, I too thought that we were almost done. Wrong. Turns out we decided to build some built-in bookcases just to the right of the fireplace, which we just got done with on Sunday. Here is a great pic of the before and the finished fireplace surround.

And one more of Mr. Cute Stuff

Hey Hey

2008-09-24T21:27:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am going to start updating here again. More importantly: It is time again for the Race for the Cure. It is a 5K run walk with all of the local cancer survivors. Nationally its a campaign against breast cancer. Locally, I am on team Mo-Glo. Mo is a cancer survivor and the mom of one of my friends. The least I can do is ask for your support. Cancer is no joke. I have a modest goal set, and really anything will help. Thanks!

Click here to lend your support

Ironman

2008-09-03T22:33:00.001-04:00

Yes I am, heres the details

Click Me

Going to Pop Pop & Grammies

2008-08-26T20:31:00.002-04:00

Sam is super duper excited to be going to see his Pop Pop and Grammie Re tomorrow. As soon as we got home from school today he rushed upstairs and packed a pair of shorts, a shirt, a pair of underwear and doggie in his backpack and came downstairs. It takes a lot to explain "time" to a 3 year old. All night he ran around saying "Pop Pop"! At bedtime he giggled for minutes when he and Cheri were talking about the trip. I am sure he will get up at 5ish tomorrow, fun fun.

Well, the race is finally here. There is a mix of excitement, anxiety, worry, joy and fear in my head. I am glad to be getting to Louisville on Wednesday to really psych myself out, I mean up for the race. Yes, I do have goals, none that will be published here. This race has been a long time coming and everyone has sacrificed something for me to be able to run it. It means a lot. Here's to 10 hours on the road with boy wonder tomorrow!

Olympic Fever!

2008-08-11T19:33:00.003-04:00

Wooo Hooo, how bout them swimmers! If you have not seen the 4x100 mens relay yet, go here and get ready to be moved. Stop reading now if you don't want me to spoil it.....

100 meters in 46 seconds! This is what the anchor of the US team swam his 100 meters of the race in. Just to give you some reference, I can swim that same distance in 1 minute and 40 seconds. They could cut to commercial and come back to see me finish. 46 seconds is faster than anyone has ever gone at that distance, and he beat the current world record holder in the 100. The best part of this video is at the end when the US swimmers are on the deck when their anchor hits the wall. There is a 2 second delay before they find out they win the gold and you can feel the anticipation. Amazing.

Sam loves the olympics. We discovered this on Saturday when I got him to watch volleyball with me. He loves volleyball! He does not even have a preference between indoor and sand. He also watches soccer, swimming, and gymnastics. The best part is you can go to NBC and watch any olympic sport you want to. He probably watched 2 hours of olympics today. Oh, he was home sick, nothing major just a little fever. I also took down the "happy birthday" video because we are submitting it to Americas Funniest Videos, and they don't want me to post it anywhere.

Go USA!

Mt. Mama and ugly shirts

2008-08-03T21:22:00.005-04:00

Saturday, I went out to a little town in western VA called Monterey for a bike ride called Mountain Mama. It was just another prep for IM Louisville.

I camped out the night before in the pouring rain and they delayed the start of the ride an hour to let the rain clear up. It finally did and we rolled out in a slight rain that cleared right up. Riding in the mountains is cool because you get to see all of the scenery from the top of the mountains.

One of the cool things about doing races is T-shirts. I love T-shirts as Cheri will attest. Normally the race shirt is a cool design on a regular cotton shirt or technical shirt. I like these shirts because they are fairly unique and they remind me of the race. The shirt for Mountain Mama takes the cake. This is one ugly shirt. I will still wear it though.

Ballgame!

2008-08-03T20:56:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday, I took the afternoon off, picked Sammy up from school just before lunch, and we headed over to Harbor Park to watch the Tides play some ball. He was very excited to go to the ballgame. They have a few day games every season and there are always kids and families there. We had seats just 6 rows off the field, and it was screamin hot. I think the temp that day was 96 or so. We grabbed a couple dogs, some water and sat down to watch the game. The seats were hot! I knew that our time in this location would be limited, and it turns out we lasted 3 innings. The highlights of the game included catching a foul ball, yelling at the ump for making a bad call (Sam loved this part), and seeing Rip Tide.

Sam is terrified of Rip Tide, and at the same time, very interested. As soon as Rip came out of the dugout, Sam was keenly aware of his location at all times. Sam also had all the people around us rolling as he tried to throw back the foul ball two times.

We moved up to a shaded area for another 3 innings and then called it quits to take naps in the cold A/C. It was a good day.

Happy Birthday Cheri!

2008-07-29T20:04:00.004-04:00

Today Cheri is 27! We are so proud of her as a mommy and my friend. She had a great day as Sam slept in until 7:15 this morning. He is usually up by 6:30 most days. Then when I told him it was her birthday he totally freaked out and ran around in circles. When he stopped, he busted out one of many "Happy Birthday" songs. We gave her our gift, which was actually a picture of a gift because the real thing was backordered...so its almost like getting two gifts. At work, she got a $10 gas card from the company and a pair of Croc flip flops from Grammie. When she got home she made us soup. Yes, she cooked on her birthday. She wanted to! Then we had cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday one more time, the evidence is below. We love her very much and somehow she gets younger each year.

I wear my sunglasses at night

2008-07-24T17:54:00.004-04:00

This shot was taken a few nights ago. These are the fabulous Diego sunglasses that Sam loves. He wore them to bed.

What you see with Sam in bed his his pillow, the pillow is an essential part of bedtime along with Doggie and Blanket. These three things are vital at bedtime. What you cannot see in the picture are the other animals that sleep with Sam. They are: Puppy, Froggy, Tommy the Triceratops, Big Bunny, Little Bunny, Shifu (from Kung-Fu Panda), the song bear, the black bear, and a random black & tan dog. I think that covers all the things in the bed.

Today at school a clown came to entertain the kids and paint their faces. Sam had no part of the face painting. His teacher, Ms. Janice said he threw up both of his arms and said no! It is all he has talked about since coming home. Disney next year is going to be a blast. All for now, gotta get back to the Best of Elmo (thanks Grammie Re).

Donkey

2008-07-23T20:21:00.002-04:00

The switch has been flipped. We had a 3 year old who would not spend 2 minutes watching anything on TV. Which is what you want right? Well, I think all parents dirty little secret is YES, it is ok to spend a little time in front of the tube. Well after our trip to Geneva two weeks ago and the "family entertainment system" was discovered, he has not slowed down. His favorite shows thus far are Shrek and Elmo, any Elmo. He will ask to watch TV in the morning, when we get home and after dinner. Crazy. Oh, and baseball. I flipped on ESPN and a baseball game was on. He came running into the room screaming "ballgame" and sat on the chair watching the game, I was amazed just watching him. When the commercials came on, he would yell at me to put the ballgame back on. Oh so much to learn.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-20T20:07:00.003-04:00

One of the great things about living in this area is the history of all the 7 cities. One of those historic places is in Old Towne Portsmouth, which is just across the river from us. The Commodore theater was built in 1945 and was beautifully restored. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and the tickets to the movie are only $7. They have tables down front where you can eat dinner and have drinks, as well as a balcony for enjoying the movie on a 41 foot screen with great sound.

Grammie volunteered to have a sleep-over with Sam, and we usually do not turn those down. He was a little low on Grammie time anyway after not seeing her last weekend. After dropping him off, we shot over to Bed, Bath and Beyond because, yes, we did have time. After that, we went over to Old Towne and had dinner at Baron's Pub, which is just across the street from the theater. We sat outside and enjoyed all the people walking by and some dinner. The feature this evening was The Dark Knight. See this movie. The joker, played by Heath Ledger, stole every scene he was in and was the highlight of the movie. He had all the good lines anyway. I would give this movie 4.5 stars out of 5 and two thumbs up.

20 Hours in a car

2008-07-14T20:49:00.004-04:00

I will not apologize for not updating this blog! Life happens.

Anyway, when purchasing the new vehicle, I opted for the "family entertainment system" for the rear passengers. The "FES" consists of a drop down LCD screen, DVD player and wireless headphones. The FES paid off this weekend when we made the trip up to Geneva, NY for yet another triathlon. Sam,the kid who will watch 2-3 minutes of anything and then ditch it, spent many many hours glued to the FES. Every so often we would hear "mommy, Elmo", or "mommy, donkey" (donkey is code for the Shrek movie), or "mommy, Diego". He looks so cute back there leaning on his hand and laughing when the donkey comes on.

The trip was pretty good. Geneva is a beautiful place and the weather was good at least on Saturday. We stayed at some townhouse dorms on the site of Hobart & Smith, which is a private college in Geneva. The dorm was sparce. There was basically 4 rooms with single beds and dressers. No couches, comfortable chairs, or electronics. The Hampton Inn, it is not.

What did you do this weekend?

2008-06-03T20:10:00.003-04:00

Thats right, Cheri and I dropped it old school. Let me splain. Before Sam came along it was not unlike us to pick out a project and knock it out with the quickness. This included the deck at our old house, hardwood floors, and other little projects. Since Samuel came along our projects have still been scheduled, but the time to do them is missing.

This weekend we decided to start the "back stoop" project. This is something that Cheri has wanted to do since we moved in here 4 years ago. I knew that this could be done in a weekend and vowed to do just that. So, with Sam occupied chasing bugs, which is his new thing, we set forth and built the stoop. He did help a little bit here and there, hammering and drilling. Mostly his skills were utilized in the dirt digging department. We knocked out the stoop in 2 days, no sweat.

Yesterday was Sam's official homecoming anniversary. June 2nd last year he landed on US soil for the first time. He came home to find Daddy, Grammie, Grammie Re, Pop Pop, Uncle Joe, Aunt CoCo, Bella, Aidan, and Evan at the airport waiting to see him. He was so tired and spent a lot of time on my shoulder. His first American meal that night was lasagna, and he even slept in his big boy bed. The next morning he woke us up at 5ish standing in the toy box at the end of his bed crying. I think that is the last of the anniversaries for a while.

Gotcha!!

2008-05-26T20:09:00.002-04:00

Today is Sam's "gotcha" day. This is the day, exactly one year ago that the country of Russia gave us the keys to Sam. We had a party with all of his closest friends and right now he is coming down from a sugar high. He walked around all day knowing we were going to have a party for his gotcha day, and some how thought we were supposed to go to Chucky Cheese for all parties. Maybe next year. Its been a great year and that little guy has grown so much. He loves to play with all his friends so much.

He and Mommy had a whirlwind weekend together as I was riding in the mountains of western VA. The ride was called "mountains of misery" and it was. There were several brutal climbs where I was going only 3 MPH, but some great descents where I got up to 44 MPH. I highly recommend it if you are looking to kick your own butt.

Table for 3

2008-05-11T16:57:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we loaded up the car and went to the Parade of Homes. The parade is a tour of brand new homes that are fully decorated and landscaped. We took Sam with us and knew it would be a nice little challenge. He was branded a terrorist and banned from Parade of Homes till he is 18.

So afterward we set out to find some dinner. After passing by some several nice prospects we settled on a Japanese steakhouse. This place took reservations, but we didn't have one. So, after waiting what seemed like an eternity we were seated at a nice table near the sushi bar. I'd say it took Sam 4 minutes to spill his apple juice. Turns out the restaurant is not really set up for kids. Sam is normally very good in restaurants, but he does require some attention. The rest of the meal was pretty uneventful and Sam had a great time sampling the food. He even tried sushi and after initially spitting it out (on Mommies plate), he regained his composure and finished it. The best part of the evening was watching him eat with chopsticks. He had a fork, but we were using chopsticks, so he was going to use them. Did pretty good too.

Lastly, this is Cheri's first mothers day. Sam and I got her some flowers and chocolate covered strawberries, and Sam made her some things at school. She is our favorite Mommy, and we love her.

One year anniversary

2008-04-02T19:28:00.006-04:00

Exactly one year ago today, our little family met for the first time. Its strange to think we mark things in years when so much happens every single day. I can't even begin to think of all the things we have done, things we have seen, things we have learned, or things we have heard in the last year. Before this day a year ago, Sam, otherwise known as Petr was a friendly little guy living in a baby house in Moscow. We knew about him on paper, deeply searching his scarce medical records for any signs of anything. We had a 5 minute video on VHS that showed Sam at two stages in his life. It was a whirlwind leading up to this trip and when we finally got on the plane to Moscow, it started to come together.

I still remember clearly standing in the little locker room outside of Sams classroom waiting for our first encounter. He came out of the room wearing a spongebob squarepants shirt, blue shorts with pink leggings underneath, and a pair of hard shoes. Cute as can be.

and thats as quiet as he has ever been!

Love that kid!

Easter

2008-03-26T19:58:00.007-04:00

Sam had a great time with all of his Easter baskets this weekend. He had one from the bunny, one from Grammy Re and Pop Pop, one from Grammy, one from Uncle Rich and Aunt Rachel, and a bonus package from Uncle Jerry and Aunt Susie. We have enough candy! Uncle Rich got the "cool" gift award in the form of a turtle that shines constellations from its shell. Sam does not get out of bed when the turtle is on. Its pretty cool to watch when the lights go out.

We made it to church with our pockets stuffed full of candy and ready to roll. Sam's favorite part of the service is when we all stand up and sing, he fit right in. Afterwards we went over to Grammies for a ham dinner, and more candy. We discovered that the squeeze tube of sweet tart candy was like catnip to the boy. Just one dab and he is off running!

The renovation is wrapping up! We are painting the cabinets and trim now and most likely will be done painting the colors by Saturday. yeah!

Fire in the hole!

2008-03-16T20:43:00.005-04:00

Whew, it was a whirlwind day on the ol ranchero. It actually started last night when Sam went over to Grammies for a sleep over. He loves going over to Grammies and has no problem saying goodbye to us when we drop him off, might be something about candy....Anyway, this morning I ran in the Shamrock half marathon while Cheri stayed home and kept on chugging on the renovation. After I got home we went over to church so Sam could have some big fun at the easter egg hunt. Well, I say hunt, but it was more like an easter egg pick-up party as they were littered all over the lawn. He had a great time picking up as many eggs as he could and chucking them in his basket. They had a jumpy blow up thing and hot dogs as well, a great time was had by all.

The title of this post is Fire in the hole, because that is what I say to Sam before I fire up the nail gun. When he hears it he immediately drops whatever is in his hands and high tails it to the couch. I don't want to abuse it, but its pretty cool when I shout it and he runs. Thankfully, we are almost done with the nail gun for this project. Actually, we are down to patching some holes in the wood and then priming and painting to wrap this little project up. We still need to put doors on the cabinets, but that will have to wait till we figure out what style we want.

The circus and other things fun

2008-03-02T18:51:00.003-05:00

Just let me get these cobwebs out of the way before I start this entry.....The circus came into town last weekend and we decided to give it a go. First things first, PETA would like you to know that 26 elephants have died in the 100 plus years of the circus and they are not afraid to hand your kid a flyer. I wanted to ask them if any clowns were injured, but Cheri would not let me. We went with Sam's friend Kelsey on opening night and they had a great time. The circus is a great place to spend some hard earned cash and we did just that. Sam really loved the clowns and the horses and the dogs and the elephants. It was fun to see him laugh and interact with the other kids.

Speech therapy is going well. Every Wednesday he gets on a bus at school and takes a short 5 minute ride to a public school to meet Ms. Laura for 30 minutes. His school is great about making sure he is out front and waiting for it. His english is improving and we can usually figure out what he wants quickly.

The renovations are going as planned. We figure we need one more big push to get the job done. It will all be worth it in the end. Just not sure what we will do next....

No!

2008-02-11T21:06:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is Sam's new word. He says it about 100 times a day. Even when he wants to reply yes, such as "do you want a cookie Sam?" he will say no! Hopefully it is just a phase, hopefully. We think the "get up 30 times from bed" phase is coming to an end, however, the "waking up at 5:30" phase is in full swing. At least he is happy when he wakes up.

Today when I picked him up from school he made the whole class laugh. Whenever he sees me or Cheri at school he does his best touchdown dance. Today all of the kids and teachers got a great laugh out of it. He loves school and he is doing well in his new class. His speech therapy was supposed to start last Wednesday, but his bus never showed up. We are going to try again this Wednesday.

The renovation is coming along nicely. The drywall is up and being taped and mudded now. Cheri is the best mudder. She loves to put on some Mozart, get a glass of wine and mud away. Should be painting soon and then its onto the cabinets. Oh the fun.

The renovation continues...

2008-01-30T19:46:00.000-05:00

Well the project is going along as smooth as possible. I had hoped that we would be done with this project by March Madness and it looks like we are going to come in early. As always the finish work takes the longest and that is what we are starting now. The beam is still holding in place and now we are framed out for drywall. Last weekend we kicked butt and it has paid off. Today I was able to wire all the new receptacles and switches for the new lights in the cabinets as well as in the soffit above the cabinets. Very rewarding to get that done. I still need to wire all the A/V connections in the wall, gonna be cool. So...by the superbowl, we hope to have the drywall hung and the frames in place for the cabinets.

Sam is having a great time learning the tricks of the trade. He is a great helper when it comes to opening doors for debris removal and then saying "thank you Daddy". He loves to play with his little tool set banging on his scraps of wood when we are working. He had a great time with Grammie last Saturday, he loves to go over there and never has a problem when we leave. He is a smart little guy and we see flashes of brilliance all the time. Love that kid.

The Mayor

2008-01-24T17:58:00.001-05:00

This is Sam's new nickname. He has his Uncle Rich's personality in so many ways. I call him the mayor because at school all of the kids in his new class call out "Sam"! when he comes into the room in the morning. They also yell goodbye to him when he leaves. He in turn returns the greetings with hugs and waves. When we walk down the hallway to his room he stops at all the open doors and greets everybody in the room. He even went and said hi to his old classmates when he saw them on the playground. He is the Mayor of the Discovery Center.

We did have a breakthrough in Sam recognizing himself in pictures as Sam. Previously, whenever he saw a picture of himself, he called out "Peter". Just last week I heard him say Sam when he saw a picture of himself at his birthday party. Pretty cool.

The renovations are going well as planned. The 16' long beam is in place thanks to the help of Tim, Joe, Grey, and Peter. It went in pretty easy and having the material lift here really helped. This past weekend we removed all the studs from the old wall and cleaned the place up. Cheri has designed the layout for the bookcases and we are going to start that this weekend...after a much deserved date night on Friday.

They say its your birthday!

2008-01-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes we did the birthday party! Our lovely little boy turned 3 on Sunday and we had his party on Saturday. At least based on everything we have in print he is 3, we secretly think he might be 15 or 16. We decided to take the big leap and have the party at Chuck E Cheese. Having only been to one very low key party at CEC before, we really had no idea. It was loud. Sam had a great time as he always does at big events. After he warmed up to Chuck he was able to stand on his chair and belt out his very best Happy Birthday song ever. He got lots of love from his friends and some great presents. Only one recommendation for future parties at CEC, earplugs.

Tonight American Idol starts, thusly another hour of my life a week is lost. I do love it so.

The renovation is going as planned. Today, the steel I-beam we are using for supporting the 2nd floor showed up and is currently on the front lawn. It weighs somewhere around 360 pounds, thats why its on the front lawn. Me and the dude delivering it put it there. Tomorrow, me and 3 of my BEST friends will help get it inside and on the lift. Should be fun.

When the walls come tumblin down!

2008-01-04T20:05:00.000-05:00

Well now that the holidays are over, the tree and ornaments are put away, the exterior lights are down and the family has been visited, its project time. We are taking on perhaps our biggest project yet, outside of traveling to Russia twice last year to pick up a certain someone. Our house is known as ad Arts & Crafts style Craftsman. This was a popular house in the 30's and Sears actually sold this style house at one time. We love our house very much and it lets us do projects on it without much hassle. To date we have completely renovated the kitchen, as well as the upstairs bathroom. We have refinished the floors in the bedrooms and the sunroom. We have replaced the windows in the sunroom and done some minor renovations in the mudroom. Our last project took us outside to the garage and patio area where we resided the garage, replaced doors and windows, and moved the brick patio. So, what is this new project you ask? We are taking down the load bearing wall that separates the living room and the dining room. The finished project will have built in bookcases with seating on top where the walls once stood. This will give the house a new look on the inside and open it right up. At this point we have removed all the drywall and lathe and are looking at wall studs. Here are some shots of the action. Sam is doing great!

Fortunate Son

2007-12-26T20:09:00.000-05:00

The tree has been shook! The good thing about this Christmas is that Sam does not know its Christmas. Sounds funny, but as many times as we told him that Santa was coming and bringing gifts, he really did not comprehend it. Not to say that the boy does not enjoy opening gifts! So, Christmas morning for us started around 7 AM when Sam got out of bed. Mommy and Grammie were waiting downstairs with baited breath for his arrival, and he made em wait. The first thing he ran for when he got downstairs was .....a cup. He was really excited about the cup too. He eventually warmed up and got into almost everything. He has to take all the paper off the gift before he says "wow". We opened everything and played with it all. He really loves the kitchen set that Santa brought and as soon as he figures out how to steer the Jeep, he will be big time. The little guy is really tuckered by this season as he has taken to sleeping in until 8 and taking 3+ hour naps. We are heading to Louisville this weekend to see Pop Pop and Grammy Re. Merry Christmas!

Dont look at my bum

2007-12-23T20:03:00.000-05:00

This is Auntie Em and her new boots, I have removed the unauthorized portion of the photo....

Party at the Peters

2007-12-23T19:46:00.001-05:00

Yes, yes tis the season. We just got back from a weekend excursion to Michigan to celebrate Christmas with Cheri's family. We flew up on Friday morning and Uncle Robbie and GrandPa picked us up at Flint International. The flight was uneventful as Sam is as Sam is a seasoned traveler and enjoys flying. There was little traffic at the airport and nobody at security when we left on Friday. On Saturday, all of Cheri's cousins, uncles and aunts came over for a family Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Sam had a great time playing with his cousins Andrew and Ryan all weekend long. Sam got a WHOLE bunch of gifts up there, his favorite part of opening the gifts was making sure every single piece of wrapping paper was off the box. His favorite part of the whole weekend was singing the ABC's at the top of his lungs at 6 AM both days. This made Auntie Em really happy. All in all we had a great time and it was great to see everyone up there. Merry Christmas.

Christmas Party!

2007-12-16T20:07:00.000-05:00

Last night was our annual Christmas party. We have been doing this event since we got married 6 years ago. It is always a fun event and the invite list grows each year. Last year we started the tradition of inviting the kids and having Santa show up for a bit. Santa is a great sport and nobody has any clue it is the same guy they were just enjoying meatballs and crackers with. I am going to play Santa at Sam's holiday party on Thursday, should be fun. Anyway, this is always a hectic week for Cheri as she goes into max party planning mode. One of Sam and my responsibilities was to make the sugar cookies for the party. So on Thursday I made the dough when I got home and Sam and I made the cookies after dinner. He had the best time spreading the flour out on the counter and decorating the cookies with sprinkles. He kept chanting eat, eat throughout the whole process. Cheri did a great job with the party and everyone had a great time as usual. On a side note, my fantasy football team, the Amish Rake Fighters put up a great fight but will probably be bounced from the playoffs a week too soon. Thanks for listening.

Yet another singing video

2007-12-13T22:50:00.000-05:00

Do you know that Sam loves to sing? Well he does! He has a wide range in his vocal ability, and has several tunes in his head. You should see him on the piano, its pretty cool. He can set up all the beats and tracks by himself and rock out. He also discovered a new trick, which you can see at the end of this video. He is quite the acrobat...only 11 more shopping days.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ho Ho Ho

2007-12-09T21:58:00.000-05:00

Sam is really picking up on who Santa is and anytime he sees anything that resembles santa, he says Ho Ho Ho in his little voice. Today we took some Christmas photos in front of the tree and we actually got him to pose, which is tough to do. We also went over and played with Aidan and Evan during the football game. He is doing so good, in fact we missed his 6 month anniversary home with us. He loves school so much and even better, they love him. His speech is getting better and his therapist is working on pronouncing words correctly. He might as well be the posterchild for potty training. After graduating from Co Co's potty training bootcamp he has not looked back. We put a rubber sheet on his bed a week ago and he has not even tinkled a little bit. He is so casual about it all. He still loves his Mommy very much and if he could be surgically attached, he would.

Pic with Santa

2007-11-25T20:03:00.000-05:00

Here it is.....

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Thanksgiving Weekend!

2007-11-25T19:30:00.000-05:00

We have been busy around here! We stayed in town for Thanksgiving this year and we all went over to Courtney's moms house to have dinner with her family. All of the usual suspects were there and Sam got to enjoy his first Thanksgiving with all his friends. We were very thankful to have all these great people in our lives. Friday, Cheri got up super early and hit the black friday shopping which is her crazy tradition! Aunt Co Co called and since she wanted to go shopping too, I volunteered to watch all the childrens. So, Sam, Bella, Aidan, Evan and I partied our butts off with no supervision and gorged out on ice cream and pie.

Saturday was Uncle Joes birthday. We all went to the mall and saw Santa and the Cat in the Hat. Sam was a tiny bit scared of Santa, he did eventually warm up to him and did not look at all uncomfortable in Santas lap. We did not get much of a smile for the picture, but we did get a very cute one of Santa reading to him. He is stating to grasp the concept of Santa and what he does. He knows Ho Ho Ho very well. We spent the rest of the morning at the story time with the Cat, playing on the big food at Macarthur and eating pizza at Granby Street Pizza. Sam is growing so much everyday in so many ways, it is so fun to watch. The way he interacts with the other kids is fun to watch.

Today, I did my best Clark Griswold impression and hung the exterior lights on the house. It is a process that takes about 5 hours, pending burnt out light slowdowns. As of right now, all the lights are functioning and burning bright. Inside we were able to get all the Christmas stuff out of the attic and get the tree set up with all the lights. We will probably start decorating tomorrow or Tuesday. Sam is good at hanging the lower ornaments.

He is such a sweet kid and we can't wait to see the glow in his eyes this season.

Sams Weekend

2007-11-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

Before the video below was taken, Sam was having a great weekend. Actually, those of you that know Sam, know that simply falling off a chair will not dent that kid. He can take a lump or two. Saturday night we went over to Kelseys house for her 3rd birthday party. There were a bunch of kids runing around and Sam jumped right in and ran around with them. Kelsey got a great little pink jeep and she took Sam out on the inagural ride. They laughed and laughed so hard, it was great to see. Santa might bring Sam one of these things, not in pink though. Christmas is going to be fun fun this year as we transiton from Father Frost to Santa Clause. Boy oh Boy....

No Kids were harmed in the filming of this video

2007-11-11T19:54:00.001-05:00

Sam is a singer, he loves to sing, mostly at the top of his voice. Kid has a little Joe Cocker in him I think. Anyway, this morning I set out to catch some of this singing on tape and apparently singing makes him a bit woozy......

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

School and other stuff

2007-11-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

Wheee! We are having fun now....Mommy is in Memphis this week on a business trip, so its just Daddy and the boy for a few days. He started school on Monday and he is having the best time. The first morning he walked in and started playing right away and played all day until I picked him up. He cryed a little bit the other two days when we walked up the stairs to his classroom, but when he gets in, he calms down and gets down to business. All the teachers at school are great and they give us daily reports on his progress. He is also the potty champion with no accidents in at least 5 days. His teachers at school walk around and tell the other teachers how well he does on the potty. I know its crazy.....so tonight we went down to the Macarthur Center after school to play on the big pieces of food in the play area, have some dinner, get some winter clothes, and walk around the mall. He is becoming quite the independent walker. We got a call today and his speech therapy is starting on Firday morning and will continue once a week until January or as needed. We are very excited and Sam is too! He is the happiest kid when he comes home from school. Love that kid.

PS, no new pictures, so these are from the archives!

First Day of School!

2007-11-04T20:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, tomorrow is Sam's first day of school. Well, yes I know its just pre-school and you get to take naps, but its still school! Mommie leaving for Memphis for 4 days and she is going to take Sam in the morning. We had to assemble all his school stuff which includes, a sheet and blanket, toothbrush and toothpaste, a bib, and two changes of clothes. He is doing very well using the potty, 100% today and oh 90% yesterday. He will be wearing the big boy pants tomorrow. He has changed so much just in the last two weeks alone. We really think the time he spent with Co Co really made a big impact. Tonight he and I went to Beth & Adam's house to watch the Patriots game with at least 15 other people. He had a great time chasing the kids around and an even better time chasing the kitty around. He is interacting very well with the other kids and you can tell by his belly laughs. Lately he has taken to naming all of the things he sees, such as Daddy, Mommy, Maggie, socks, shorts, juice and then points to himself and says Peter. If you ask him his name, he says Sam. Hopefully we will be able to put those two things together in the near future, or we might be calling the boy Pete. Love that kid.

Halloween!

2007-10-31T21:27:00.000-04:00

So this is what its all about! So far in my 35 years I have not been on the "walking down the street collecting candy" side of the equation. That all changed tonight as we spent our first night walking the streets asking for candy from strangers! We went over to Joe and Co Co's for some pre haunting lasagne and salad. All of the ususal suspects were there to include, a pirate, a cheerleader, tinkerbell, Tom Brady, Wolverine from X-men, and a chicken. Sam was the chicken. Grammie joined us as well as G, who is the pirates, cheerleader, and Tom Brady's grandpa. We had a great time roaming the streets in the neighborhood. It did not take Sam long to figure out how to get candy. He stayed with the full chicken outfit for quite a while and then he said "all done" and off the suit came. He made sure to say bye bye to everyone that gave him candy and he loved to see the dogs at all the houses. Even better news was although he was wearing a diaper under his chicken suit, he came home dry! He is asleep now, and except for the ring pop he got, all his candy booty will be out of sight!

Petting Zoo

2007-10-30T21:08:00.001-04:00

Yall, its ok to buy houses! Due to the market being a little slow around here, Sam and I had Daddy day today. We started our day by spending 2 1/2 hours at the car dealership while my car was worked on/repaired from the break-in. Kinda tough entertaining a 2 year old at a car dealership for 2 hours. Sam ended up test driving a Honda Pilot as well as the new Accord. He really liked the trunk room in the new Accord. The salesdude was really pushing all of the kiddy stuff on the cars, like cupholders and third row seating, for one kid? So, we finally got out of there and went to meet Mr. Dan, our accountant. Mr. Dan has a water cooler in his office and the spout was right at Sams level. In no time Sam was pouring us all cups of water. Carmen, Dans office manager trusted Sam enough to give him a pink highlighter! Must be the smile. So, after some hugs and kisses, we rolled out to meet Mommy for lunch. Lunch was fun and Sam ate more than his share. Co-Co called and said everyone was going to the farm and so Sam and I jumped on the train and went out to the petting zoo. He had a great time chasing around the chickens, goats, puppies, and the other kids. His favorite was a goat named Oreo. One last thing, Sam loves his Boston Red Sox hat that Uncle Joe gave him. He wore it all day today, including his nap and at last check, he wore it to bed. Love that kid.

Co Co

2007-10-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

It is great to hear what comes out of Sams mouth when he trys to say something. He calls Courtney Co Co and it is the cutest thing ever! He is having a great time hangin out with Co Co and the kids this week and last week before he goes to pre-school next week. His potty training is going fantastic and he has only had 3 accidents in 6 days. One of them was daddy induced when I did not hear him say "potty". Hopefully by the time he goes to school next week he will be all ready to be a big boy. His speech therapy has not started yet, we are waiting on the therapist to set up his appointments. He is ready to learn! This kids is so easy, I wish everyone had it this good! Case in point....he has to take two medicines twice a day now, one for a cold/ear infection and another for a rash on his scalp. When medicine time comes he opens his mouth like a baby bird and down the hatch! Supercool...

You say potty, I say lets go!

2007-10-25T19:45:00.000-04:00

So, only two days of potty training boot camp and somebody wore the same pair of big boys pants all day! Make that two of us...anyway, Sam is doing great with his potty training. We are about 95% in the toilet for the last two days. Apparently all we needed was a pair of underwear. He is having fun with Aunt Courtney and the kids everyday and is pretty pooped out when he gets home. He talks about them all the way home and his current song is Happy Birthday. That kid can hit some high notes. Will keep you updated, good thing we bought that huge box of 240 diapers from BJ's last week.....

Preschool

2007-10-23T21:11:00.000-04:00

We had a big day today. I took the whole day off to tote Sam to all his appointments today. We began with a light breakfast of honey nut Cheerios with a banana and some juice. We then went down to the Discovery Center where Sam will be starting school in two weeks. We wanted to take Sam there to show him the school and for him to meet Miss Anna, his teacher. We went into the classroom and met all the kids in the 2 year old toddler class. Sam played with the kids for a while, had some dancing time and then did some coloring. We said our goodbyes and got in the car to meet the doctor. Sam has had a case of the sniffles and a cough, so we went and saw the doctor for some meds. He also needed a flu shot, ouchie. He did not like the shot, or the finger prick for the blood sample. He has some intuition that tells him a needle is in the room because he starts screaming as soon as the nurse comes in.

We got out of the doctors office and then went home for some lunch. Lunch was chicken patties, tater-tots, applesauce and juice! We got ready to meet the team for Sams therapy. There were 3 women that came to the house and Sam met them all with smiles. They came right in and got friendly with Sam. He brought out a lot of his toys and books and they played with them all. They basically ran through a developmental checklist. They determined that he was in need of some speech therapy to catch him up. So once a week Sam will have some one on one time with a therapist. We are very excited about the opportunity he is going to have. We think we will see some big changes.

Dadya

2007-10-21T20:34:00.001-04:00

Dadya is what Sam calls me, sounds Russian to us and its pronounced dad-ja. Sam is making big strides everyday and he will get some more help this week when he starts speech therapy. We found a great program here in Norfolk in which counselors will come to the house and help Sam in any area he is developing slowly in. For Sam it is his speech. On Tuesday two teachers are coming to the house and we are pretty excited about how its going to go. We are also transitioning from our nanny Laura to a full time Pre-school for him. He is going to spend the next two weeks with Aunt Courtney, who Sam calls Co-Co. Anyway, Courtney has a boot camp for potty training and Sam is packing his bags for camp.

Today we had a house full of people over to watch football. All the usual kids were over and had naps, cookies, movies, more naps and finally KFC for dinner. It was a busy day and he went right to bed. Lately just after we put him to bed, which is super easy, he will sing or talk, usually saying the names of everyone he knows. It is cute to sit downstairs and listen to him chatter. I am posting pictures of Sam at the pumpkin patch last weekend. Maggie ate one of his small pumpkins.....

Wedding Pictures

2007-10-02T22:05:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to post some professional wedding shots from Rob and Em's wedding that we went to this summer. I love the shot of Cheri with the bridesmaids and me holding Sam...

PSA

2007-10-01T19:11:00.000-04:00

This is just a public service announcement. Last night my car was broken into in our driveway. The cowards broke out the passenger side window. They stole my GPS, Sirius radio, gas cards, my computer bag with my printer in it, no computer though, and lastly my wallet. Yes, I keep my wallet in the car, it was convenient and easy. Do not keep your wallet in the car! I spent at least 2 hours on the phone this morning cancelling credit cards. I was not fast enough as the thieves had already spent a little over $300 at Hardees, Walmart and Food Lion. The glass is fixed and the radio can be replaced, it is just stuff anyway. What sucks is the feeling of being vulnerable. I get angry and then I cool down when I think about some slug going through my wallet picking out cards to use and money to steal. At least they were able to get some food and clothes before I shut the cards down. So, in closing, no personal items left in cars! Here are pics from Sams first haircut to lighten the mood!

Baby Talk

2007-09-26T20:05:00.000-04:00

Sam has taken to big long very dramatic explanations of things. He will say "Dada" and then sputter off in baby talk or Russian explaning what he needs. It is quite entertaining as he also uses sweeping hand jestures.

Today Sam got to show off for our social worker as we had visit #2 of 6 in his adoption process. The visits are required by Moscow and they take them pretty seriously. We threw in one more visit so we cold officially readopt Sam in Virginia. I took Sam over to Adoptions From the Heart in Chesapeake to meet her. AFTH were instrumental in giving us the opportunity to meet Sam, so we are pretty thankful we met them. So, Sam got to woo the ladies in the office and sealed the deal by blowing them all kisses on his way out the door. Ladykiller. Uncle Charlie would be proud. We are still working on Sam saying "s" and he says his name as "maam" and he calls Graham "maam" as well, which is better than what Graham calls Sam, which is Maggie. He still loves Graham.

Pottty Training 101

2007-09-19T19:57:00.001-04:00

After we left Chicago, we enjoyed a day and a half at Pop Pop and Re Re's in Louisville. Sam got to see Uncle Rich and Aunt Rachel again, and meet his Aunt Sis, Uncle Shawn and his cousin Leah. Leah was adopted from China two years ago and is quite the little peach! Sam had a great time playing all day with Leah and Re Re. Oh, before we left, I signed up for Ironman Louisville 2008....

Back to the reality! The past few days we have been talking about getting Sam back on the potty training schedule again. We have successfully untrained him from anything he knew about using the potty from the orphanage. He is almost 3 and word has it that 3 years is the magic age for boys. So, tonight, at 6:10 PM Sam donned a pair of big boy pants. At 6:12 PM, he said "potty" and was taken quickly to the toilet. At 6:14 PM in the laundry room, Sam went in his big boy pants and the floor. Just a minor setback. At least he was saying potty as it ran onto the floor.

Sweet Home Chicago Part Deux

2007-09-11T20:49:00.000-04:00

Just some more wedding photos

Sweet Home Chicago

2007-09-11T20:19:00.000-04:00

We finally arived in Chicago and sat in about an hour of traffic at the end of our 9 hour drive, fun fun. We actually beat Rob and Em home, so Cheri took the opportunity for some mommy time while Sam and I walked over to K-mart for some stuff. We knew the weekend was going to fly by and it sure did. On Saturday we Rob, Ems dad and I were supposed to play Cog Hill, but the weather was iffy and we called it off. Should have gone. So on Friday we met Grandpa and Grandma for lunch at a great little pizza joint. Uncle Rob, Sam and I went to get our tuxes at the shop while Cheri, Grandpa and Grandma went to the Hyatt to check in. Sam dazzled the ladies in the tux shop with his amazing singing skills. That kid has some lungs. We finally made it to the Hyatt, and wow what a place! We knew that this hotel was going to be cool and it was. Our room had and amazing view of the city and we overlooked the restaurant on the 6th floor. Sam loved to get right up to the picture window and look out over the city. The room had a huge king bed with a great fluffy blanket and a sliding door that opened up into the bathroom. The doors were above the garden tub and the bathroom was very cool. The only thing not cool was the $88 per day valet parking charge....do what? So, Friday we do a quick wedding rehearsal and head off to the dinner at a very cool Italian restaurant. Cheri, Sam and I walked to the restaurant while everybody else took cabs. I kinda made a command decision not to ride in a cab without a car seat...well, it was a long walk. Uncle Rob, bless his little heart, said it was 15 minutes, more like 40. We did see Clint from "What Not To Wear" , as well as "Big & Rich" during our walk, so that was a plus. Sams first celebrities.

Saturday Sam and I were men about town as Cheri was off getting her hair and nails did. We had a great lunch and and even better nap. Sam got dressed in his little Tux and we set off for the wedding. Because Cheri and I were both in the wedding party, Sams cousin April took the duty of Sam wrangler during the ceremony. She did a great job and only a couple of "mommies" and "la la la's" could be heard from the back row. The reception was amazing and everyone commented on how cute Sam was and he was having a great time with his charming little self. He finally was too tired to dance anymore and we called it a night.

It was breakfast on Sunday with all the family and the Bride and Groom and then off to Louisville to see Re Re and Pop Pop. Sam loved the whole thing and he was ready to get back in the carseat, or not. Sam will always look up to Uncle Charlie after this trip.

Niagra Falls

2007-09-09T20:23:00.000-04:00

I do love football! Sam does as well, he loves to cheer when our teams score and he is a wild man! Anyway, our trip continues as we leave the beautiful state of Mass and begin our drive to Chicago. I think the GPS had us at 900 some miles, yes it took two days. Near the end of our first day of driving we were nearing Buffalo and starting looking for a place to stay, when Niagra Falls came up in the conversation. Since Sam nor I had ever seen the falls, this would be a perfect opportunity. We were a little unsure about taking Sam into Canada, so we went to the American side of the falls. We checked into the "Grand" Ramada and it was far from grand, not even in the same zip code. I should have been tipped off by the $79 room, but no. So, we all venture out for some dinner and sightseeing in Niagra. This is a wierd little slice of America. Apparently this is the honeymoon capital, if your honeymoon is one day, this is the place to be. We walked by the putt putt, haunted house, sidewalk peddlers, sidewalk karaoke guy?, and at least 10 Indian restaurants on our way to the Hard Rock Cafe. Seemed like the safe bet. After a nice dinner, we went to see the falls. From what Cheri says, the Canadian side of the falls is the better view, although what we saw was impressive. There was a light crowd at the falls mostly hanging out on the observation deck and having a good time. We took some photos and went back to the Ramada.

There were no showers the next morning as we were both skeezed out by the bathroom in this joint. We got up and out of the curry inn and headed toward Chicago. Two days of driving can really take it out of you and by the time we got to Rob and Ems in Chicago, we were beat. Sam had a great time as he did not have to drive at all. Chicago is next!

Cape Cod and Nantucket

2007-09-05T20:29:00.001-04:00

Before I contine the journey, Sam is doing funny stuff I must report. Laura, his nanny, is at our house this week and when I get home in the evening, he screams with delight and in the same breath says "bye bye" to Laura. She thinks its funny and he says "bye bye" to her even as she walks down the driveway.

So, the next part of the trip takes us to Cape Cod, and Nantucket. The Shelnuts (Adam, Beth and Ryan) really stepped up on this trip with the lodging. We had a great place to stay on Cape Cod which is Adams parents condo. We all had our own rooms and the lake on the property was beautiful. Our time here was pretty limited as we only had two days and then two more days to get to Chicago. It is a place we would love to go back to. We spent much of the first day on Cape Cod just unwinding from the day and eating dinner at 99, called "the nines" in Mass. We had a great time as you know that 6 adults and 5 kids under 5 can have! The nines was glad to see us go I am sure. Day two we had big plans to go over to Nantucket and after a great Dunkin Donuts breakfast, we set off for the ferry.

Let me just say that there are alot of Dunkin Donuts in the New England area and those donuts are real good. I am sure I shoveled just under 300 donut holes in my mouth in two days.

The ferry we rode to Nantucket was the fast ferry. There is also a slow ferry that takes an hour longer. The fast ferry is an hour ride and it moves very quickly across the water. The ferry had a little snack bar in the back and TV's all over the place. Unncle Derrick who is Joes best friend from way back lives on Nantucket and he set up a cool little beach BBQ on a secluded part of the island. We all rode in his boat over to the island and had a great time. Oh yea, it was a bit cold that day and now we all have Nantucket sweatshirts. The kids had a great time on the beach, digging and playing in the sand. We made our way back to the mainland and did some shopping and then had dinner at a seafood place. Again, as much fun as 7 adults and 5 kids under 5 can have! We rode the ferry back to Cape Cod and everyone was very tuckered out. We had a great time on the island and can't wait to go back.

New Hampshire

2007-09-03T15:13:00.000-04:00

This is part II in the series, I thank you for your attention...So, by the time we finally got out of the Boston traffic, we hit the New Hampshire lake traffic. We finally arrive at the lake house late on Friday night after a serious wrong turn in which I was told to"honk the horn" so they could find us. It was dark. We stayed here at the lake house for three nights and it was a great house. We had 4 familes in the house, only one that did not have kids, and he had earplugs. The kids liked to get up at around 7 and have a sceaming contest. Lake Winniepesauke is a beautiful location and the weather that weekend was perfect. Saturday morning we got up and had a huge family breakfast with all the fixins. Uncle John, who is Beth's brother brought his boat and jet skis for the weekend and the kids had a good time playing in the boat on Saturday. We were not able to get the boat out due to the wind, but they had fun anyway. The girls got away and did some shopping and whatever else girls do when they get away. Saturday evening Cheri made dinner which was the required pre-race "carb loading" pasta. Everyone enjoyed it and thankfully moved the party to the basement so I could get some sleep. The race was Sunday morning and I got up at 4:30 to eat some breakfast and get on the road. The lake house was about 40 minutes from the race site. Sam decided it would be cool to get in bed with us during the night and so the sleep was not the greatest! I have the greatest race support team anyone could ask for and they showed up on Sunday in full force. I saw them several times during the race and at the finish line. I finished the half Ironman in just over 6 hours. After the race, we all went back to the house and I took a nap while everyone else went out on the boat, it was real nice. This was a great weekend with our friends and Sam really enjoyed playing with all the kids. It is very interesting to see how he interacts with other kids. The next post will take us through Cape Cod, Nantucket and the drive to Chicago....

Gameday

2007-08-30T20:58:00.000-04:00

Sorry to interrupt the trip story, but today is Gameday! For those of you who don't know, Louisville Cardinal Football starts tonight on ESPNU. I love this time of the year for this reason....you just can't beat college football. Anyway, we are ahead 42-10 right now and I am a bit disappointed in the defense thus far. I kinda expected for the defense to allow 0 points, oh well. Sam wore his game jersey all day long, so the mojo is in full effect. Cheri asked me to say some things about Sam's develepment tonight, so here goes.

We really feel that the last two weeks he spent with us really moved him along very well. He was always with us and he seems to be listening much better now. He seems to understand that when we say something, he should listen. He understands so much more than we give him credit for. His english and words are becoming clearer and he can usually tell us what he wants. 49-10. He expresses joy when he sees his mommy or me, and expresses sadness when we leave for the day, although temporary. He is such a great kid and its hard to believe that he was just sitting in an orphange waiting for us. Love that kid.

Oh, thats where I left it....

2007-08-29T19:44:00.000-04:00

Yes I know, in the world of blogging, I am not a great updater. I plan on making up for it, so give me a chance! We just got back from a 12 day trip/vacation with Sam. The trip took us to Boston, Lake Winapisakee, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Niagra Falls, Chicago, and Louisville, with several stops along the way. I will hopefully be able to break down the trip here in the next few weeks. We had a great time, however a road trip is not in our near or far future. Sam was a super trooper. He spent alot of time in the car seat and passed the time by sleeping, singing, eating, reading, and playing with his animals.

Our first stop on the trip was Boston. We stayed the first night at Uncle Joes sisters house just south of Boston. We had tickets to the Red Sox game on Friday, which was my and Sams first major league baseball game. So, Friday morning we load up all the kids and rolled out to find Fenway. We took two trains and the park was within walking distance. It was fun to experience Boston this way. We had stading room tickets just behind the 1st tier of seats in a nice little covered area. As soon as we walk in, Big Popi hits a home run and the place goes nuts! Fenway is a great ballpark and the experience was incredible. Sam did not watch any baseball. Hmmmm. We had the required hot dogs and beer, and to top it off, the Sox won.

We left Boston and headed north to meet Adam, Beth and Ryan in New Hampshire at Lake Winapisakee, which is where the half ironman was being held. It just so happened that that Friday was also our 5th wedding anniversary, so we stopped and enjoyed a nice dinner with everyone on the way up. This is a great place to stop, stay tuned for the rest of the trip.

More Pictures

2007-08-02T20:06:00.000-04:00

Picture Blitz!

2007-08-02T19:50:00.000-04:00

There is no rhyme or reason for this post other than to post some pictures. Sam had a big boy glass of chocolate milk for dinner and got some on his shirt. He also played strongman on the bar on his playset. On a completely different subject, they were debating on sportscenter that there is no such thing as a shark attack because if you are in the ocean and get bit its just trespassing, but if you are on your couch and a shark bites you, that would be a shark attack. Discuss. Oh...the knot that you see on Sam's head is an old war wound from Nam.

Singing Machine

2007-07-31T17:26:00.000-04:00

This is not the greatest video of our singing boy, but you get the picture. The best part of the video is when he sees the camera and says cheese over and over. He did get is SS card yesterday, so now he can pay taxes. He has spent the last two days with Laura his nanny in preparation for when Cheri goes back to work tomorrow. He is having a good time playing with his friend Graham all day! Enjoy...

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Poison Ivy

2007-07-29T20:31:00.000-04:00

Rich and Rachel were the last victims of the Samplosion! They left this morning and Sam had a great time. He really loves his Aunt Rachel and had no trouble jumping up in her lap and playing animals or reading books. Uncle Rich showed Sam how to make a song using garage band and also how to work an IPOD. Uncle Rich was fighting the poison ivy and lets all hope that clears up soon! Sam spent the whole day with Grammie and let Mommy have a very peaceful birthday. He loves his Grammie and he always learns something when he goes over there. We had a date night for Cheri's birthday at a new Brazilian steakhouse. It was a great time and a pretty cool experience. They had a huge salad bar and they brought meat to your table based on a little wooden thing with red on one side and green on the other. When you wanted more meat, you put the green side up. All the meat was different and very good. Tomorrow I will post a video of Sam singing in the car, that kid has some pipes.

I'm a wild and crazy guy!!!!

2007-07-24T20:36:00.000-04:00

Today was silly time for the camera, as you can see. There are plenty of silly times around here that are not caught on film. What did we do before the instant gratification of the digital camera? Today Sam and Mommy went to the social security office to get Sam a card. I envsioned a complete morning wasted fighting red tape, however it was a 30 minute breeze. In just a few short weeks the boy will be a card carrying member. They then went to get him some big boy underwear, not that the potty training is going THAT well, but just to be hopeful. Actually, he is pretty good at telling you he either has gone or needs to go. He also graduated from the bo-bo velcro sneakers to a shiny pair of Nike's that you can see in the pictures. He loves his new shoes and new undies, just like his Mommy. Uncle Rich and Aunt Rach are coming to visit this weekend and we are making sure that Sam is well rested to be at his fullest potential. Game on!

Bad Habits

2007-07-22T09:08:00.000-04:00

Seems that when you do things around a toddler, anything mind you, they are watching. Case in point when I tipped up my cereal bowl one morning a few weeks ago to drink the milk out. Sam has perfected the task already. When Cheri I and discussed if this was rude, apparently, if you would not do it in a restauant, it is rude. Consider me rude! Sam and I are bachelors this weekend because Mommy is in Chicago. Yesterday Uncle Joe and Aunt Courtney stepped up big as my planned 55 mile bike ride turned into a 76 miler with one wrong turn. Sam got to spend a lot of time with his friends and even went to Uncle Mikes pool for some swim time. He is really into kicking! We might try the pool again today if the weather holds. This morning we had homemade waffles and now we are watching the Tour de France, Sam is rooting for the guy in the yellow....

Good one Dave

2007-07-16T20:48:00.000-04:00

Sorry, only you fans of Flight of the Conchords on HBO will get the title of todays entry. If you have not seen it, its great. Anyway, Big Sam had a great time at Grahams birthday party and then over at Grammies for his first sleep over. Sam said his favorite part of Grahams birthday party was playing with all his new toys, swimming in his pool, and then finally his cupcakes. Yet more people at the party were surprised that Sam was adopted. The best part of the day was when we got mommy and daddy time when Sam went over to Grammies for a slumber party. Apparently what happens at Grammies, stays at Grammies, so....you will have to ask her what happened. Today, he and Maggie played in the toilet and had big fun running all over the house. Its business time...

Just more cuteness

2007-07-14T12:50:00.000-04:00

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Long Time Gone

2007-07-14T12:26:00.000-04:00

My apologies for not updating the blog in 6 days, Cheri & Sam had a whirlwind cross country trip and things are starting to settle down. They got back on Wednesday afternoon, just in time for Cheri to prepare for Bunko on Thursday. Sam got to meet most of his Michigan cousins, aunts and uncles. He apparently does not mind hanging out in his car seat, because that is where he spent most of his time! His english is getting better and better each day. Some words are very clear and some are only ones Mommy and Daddy can understand. He has a play date today with Kelsey, a potential girlfriend if he plays his cards right. Later we are going to our neighbors house for Grahams 1st birthday party. Later, even more fun ensues when Grammie babysits overnight so we can have some adult time! Fun city.

Rest In Peace Grandma Peter

2007-07-08T11:10:00.001-04:00

The blog will be in limbo for a few days as Cheri and Sam make their way up to Michigan for Grandma Peters funeral. Although I only knew her for a short time, she will be in my heart forever. She was a great Grandma and would kick your butt anyday at cards.

The pool is cool

2007-07-05T20:53:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Pop Pop! Hope you got the check we sent, its in the mail....The pool was great fun yesterday and Sam had a blast with Daddy for about two hours straight in the water. There were alot of people at Uncle Mikes and we had a great BBQ and swim time. Sam got to play in the kiddie pool with Marli and Adidan too! We did screw up and forget to bring any of our cameras to the event so we are gonna have to do without this time. Later, we went over to Grammies to celebrate her birthday, July is a busy birthday month around here. We had some fruit and cherry pie with ice cream, which Sam did not like at all. No cherry pie? That aint right. Grammie got a picture frame with three shots of Sam being Mr. Cutie Pie and some more prints of him to put in other frames. Since there are no pictures from the pool, I am attaching a picture of my fantastic calve muscles and no those are not implants!

Baseball has been very very good to me!

2007-07-04T12:04:00.000-04:00

We got an early jump on the 4th holiday by going to the ballgame last night. This was of course Sams first baseball game and we went with Grammie, Uncle Joe, Aunt Courtney, Bella, Aidan and Evan. Aidan was the most excited as he screamed "baseball"! when we got into the park. Sam didn't watch any baseball. He did however have a great time as all the rules were thrown out the window. After a month of his schedule of napping after lunch, tubby at 7:45 and bed at 8:15, he got a break last night. I think his bedtime was somewhere around 10:30, but he did sleep til 8! He had a great time playing in the isle and eating french fries, pretzels, and his first funnel cake, mmmmm funnel cake. His favorite part of the night was the fireworks after the game and he just looked up at the sky in amazement and awe. This was just a primer to his first big league game in August and he did quite well. We are going to a pool party today at Uncle Mikes, stay tuned for details.

Swingset!

2007-07-01T22:09:00.000-04:00

Whew! It has been a whirlwind weekend around here and I apologize to my many fans for not updating for a few days. Saturday we took a trip to the big orange box store and bought all the supplies(save several trips for more parts) for the swingset for Sam. We always like to put Grandpa's building skills to good use when he visits! The swingset is 16 feet long and it really only fits in one place in the yard. We spent all day on Saturday putting the set together and getting it set in place. Sam loves to climb up the ladder and cruise down the slide, over and over. He is not too keen on the swings just yet. He thinks its a great idea, but after two pushes he wants off. Sunday was spent putting the finishing touches on the set (cool canopy and rope ladder). Cheri and Grandma planted some shrubbery in the back flower beds and then we went to the mexican restaurant and had chicken fingers. They have the best chicken fingers. Grandma and Grandpa leave tomorrow and Sam and Maggie will miss them. Until our next adventure.....

Pool Time!

2007-06-27T20:39:00.000-04:00

Mr. Sam got up at 5 AM this morning, Daddy did not want to get up that early, so we moved to the big bed and we stayed there until 6.....Sam got a nap at 10, Daddy didn't! After his 2 1/2 hour sleepfest, he and Mommy went to the pool. They met Courtney, Bella, Aidan, Evan, Maya, and some other kids at Uncle Mikes pool. He was a bit tentative a first but he gradually found a bit of courage and had some fun. He loved playing with his friends and playing with Mommy in the water. He might be a little water bug soon. Only two days till Grampy and Gramma come to vist the big guy. We is gonna have some fun...

Have Guitar, Will Travel

2007-06-25T18:04:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post today. We had family band hour tonight and Sam loves when the guitar gets out. We also played with the drums, recorder, bells, and the tamborine. We will be cutting a demo later...peace out

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Social Outings

2007-06-24T20:27:00.000-04:00

We had an exciting Saturday as Sam was invited to his first party and then we had a cook-out at Uncle Joe's and Aunt Courtney's. The party was a fun time, there were a lot of kids of all ages there. Sam had the most fun standing at the gate to the backyard and looking at the St. Bernard. He also went down a slide all by himself about 40 times and even got some swim time in the kiddie pool. There were quite a few people at the party who had not yet met Sam, and he wowed em all. After a great nap, we loaded up and headed over to Joe and Courts for a BBQ. Fewer kids this time, not by much though. Sam had on his long pants because the skeeters really love him, and it is skeeter season. Sam had a great time playing with all the kids and showing the adults his cheeky side. Little cheeky monkey. Sunday, as intended, was a day of rest around here. Potty training awaits....

Uncle Rob and Auntie Em

2007-06-22T21:13:00.000-04:00

Uncle Rob and Auntie Em came to vist us for a couple days and we had a great time! Sam loved his time with them and tonight at bed time he lifted his head when I told him that Uncle Rob loves him. Last night we grilled out and had some fajitas with all the fixins. Grammie came over to see Rob and get some more Sam lovin. Today we took a trip to the zoo. Went ahead and ponied up for the family pass so Mommy and Sam can go all summer every day if they want to! We got to see the elephants, lions, prarie dogs, snakes, cows and pigs. Sam really liked the cow the best. Moo. Sam also got a cool surprise when he got up from his nap when he saw the trike that Aunt Kari sent him. He got right on and started going like he had ridden it before. We did have a bit of bad luck as Maggie claimed another of Sam's animals. RIP baby elephant. Sam's first birthday party is tomorrow....yea

Pediatrician!

2007-06-20T16:50:00.000-04:00

Sorry about not updating the blog recently, we have a toddler running around! Anywho, Sam had his first doctor visit here in the states yesterday. We use a doctor at CHKD (Childrens Hospital of Kings Daughters), he was the first doctor to see the video of Sam back in March. The visit started fine as Sam weighed in and got measured. He has put on a couple of pounds and an inch in his four weeks with us. He is still off the radar as far his height and weight, but that is to be expected and we aint worried. The 2nd half of the visit is where the wheels fell off. Sam got several shots in his legs and arms as well as giving up 8 vials of blood. The whole experience took just over 3 hours and Sam slept in this morning! Mommy & Daddy have the fun job of collecting the stool samples. He got to go to the vet this morning to take Maggie in for her skin itchiness, and then to the hardware store, mr. cutie has left the building. Uncle Rob and Auntie Em (sorry) are coming tomorrow to see Sam and he can't wait to show them abacka.

2007-06-17T21:05:00.000-04:00

Well today was out first Fathers Day. Seems like there is a lot of "firsts" with Sammy around here! I started the day with a nice 30 mile bike ride and then came home to dress Sam in his "my dad is the man" t-shirt. It was the first shirt I bought him and today was the most appropriate day to don it. We then went outside to work on the patio/garden in the backyard. We broke out the Nemo sprinkler for Sam, but he just wanted to stop the spinning Nemo and so we switched to the hose. Faithful readers know that Sam loves the hose. Today did not disappoint, see exhibit A & B. We also had a Fathers Day cookout with Joe, Court the kids and Grammy. The new grill cooks burgers just fine. We had a great time running around and playing. The kids had a picnic on a blanket until Mommy moved to the big table, and Mommies shadow followed her. He loves his Mommy (and Daddy).

Sam the Guitar Man

2007-06-15T21:44:00.000-04:00

After dinner tonight, which was Sams first trip to our Mexican restaurant, we went into Daddys office to play the guitar. Sam sat right down in front of me when I began to play and just looked up in amazement. Not sure what he was amazed about. Anyway, he sang a little and even helped strum the guitar. Might have to get him his own soon. We also had silly time on the floor and then we had a great tubby and even better bedtime. Tomorrow will mark two weeks home with him and he must be smiling at least 90% of the time.

2007-06-14T18:25:00.001-04:00

Well, Mommy and Sam had a zoo trip scheduled with his friends Bella, Aidan, and Evan but mother nature had different plans as it was raining today. The good news is the zoo is only 3 minutes away and Sam will have plenty of opportunity to see the animals. Plan B as it were, was to meet at MacArthur Mall and hang out in the kids play area. If you have never been there it is a great place with a very squishy floor and oversized food on the floor. Sam, Bella, Aidan, Evan and Marli all got together and ran all over the joint. I came up and met them all for a very clean, mess free lunch.....uh right. Mommy has Bunko tonight and she can't wait for big people time!

2007-06-12T20:35:00.000-04:00

Well fathers day came early this year for me in the form of a new grill! Daddies last grill lasted 8 seasons and it was time for a change. Sam helped me put the new one together this afternoon after I had a last minute cancellation for a home inspection. He got to play with all the screwdrivers, wrenches, and socket sets. He likes the sockets the most as there are very many to choose from. Unfortunately, I didn't get it put together in time for dinner, so it looks like we get to break it in tomorrow night. Sam is a good little helper and aside from the num num breaks, I would not hesitate to hire him again, or give him a good reference.

Fun with the hose

2007-06-11T20:29:00.000-04:00

Today was my first full day back to work and it was hard to leave the little dude. I kept picturing him making his sabacka face and screaming with delight. On a lighter note, Cheri thought it was fun to hear this come from tubby time last night: "come on dude, you farted in the tub three times". This was after I put him on the potty because I thought he had to go. We are making a bit of progress in that department, tonight he got right on and went within seconds.

So, Sammy and Mommy had a great time today kicking around the house. They spent much of the afternoon outside under the new umbrella we got yesterday! When it was time to pull out the hose to water the plants, Sam was in charge of the whole event. That kid does not mind the water one bit! He even tried to water Maggie, she didn't seem to mind either I am told. Sam is adjusting nicely around here and giving us hugs and kisses on his own sometimes. He loves num num the most and is not afraid to tell you when he is hungry.

Shampoo Mowhawk

2007-06-08T20:04:00.000-04:00

Sam really enjoys bathtime around here. He screams with glee when we turn on the water for the bath. The little guy would get naked all by himself if he could untape his diaper. We use duct tape. Anyway, Sam had a passage of childhood last night when he got his first shampoo mowhawk. He wore the look rather well and we may see this look again in another bath. He got scores of 9, 8.5, 7.5, 10, and a 6 from the Russian judge, that score was thrown out on a technicality. We went to Harborfest today and saw the parade of big ships. He had his first taste of festival food in a gigantic turkey leg that I bought. It was super hot out today and we drank a bunch of water. Sam had a great time with his friends Bella, Aidan, and Evan. His favorite part of the day was collecting sticks in the kids pirate section. He is winding down now, getting a story with Momma, then its Momma and Daddy time!

Igor & Alla

2007-06-07T16:31:00.000-04:00

I just saw that Cheri took a picture of Alla & Igor on her way out of Moscow and since you have never seen Igor or Alla, here they are! Alla did an amazing job helping us in Moscow and of course we would have gotten nowhere without Igor! He is stylin in this picture.

Our first trip to the beach!

2007-06-06T20:01:00.000-04:00

The one great thing about living in Hampton Roads is we have easy access to the beaches. We have several options when it comes to beaches and today we picked the beach closest to the house in Ocean View. After Sam had a fantastic 2 hour nap, we loaded up the wagon and the car with all the beach essentials. He had a great time playing in the sand with his buckets and shovels. Once he figured out that sand was not good to eat, things got a lot better. He had a heck of a time with his hat as he would take it off every time I put it on, go figure. Mommy and Sam ventured down to the surf and Sam got his first dip in the Chesapeake Bay. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but he got right in and had a great time. I am sure that he will have much fun this summer on our beach trips! The good thing about 2 1/2 hours at the beach....bedtime was cake!

First post with the new blog

2007-06-04T21:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I thought I would try this blogging thing since our family is spread all over the country and this is an easy way to keep everybody updated. Sam is adjusting as well as we thought he would if not better. This is his 3rd night with us and he is sleeping and eating very well. His current obsession is Maggie, our dog. He calls her Abacka which is kinda Russian for dog. He has not touched her yet, but it is coming very soon. He loves his bathtime and his dinner almost as much! I hope I can figre out how to make this blog pop......