Charlie's Obsession with "I Love You"

Both Charlie and Lynnae came to us as very loving children. They love to give hugs and kisses all the time. This may seem like a normal thing, and kind of a weird thing for me to point out, except that our kids don't have a normal background... and often children that have been in the foster care system are not affectionate as an effect of attachment disorder. So we consider ourselves very lucky!

In the last few months Charlie has been progressively building his routine. It started with a "big hug". This is where he squeezes your neck so hard that you actually question if a 2 year old could be strong enough to suppress your breath. Then he started his kissing routine. It is really cute. He will give you a kiss on each cheek, one on the chin, one on the forehead, and one on the top of the head. And then he'll do it again. And again. And again. And if I say that mommy is done, he will kiss his finger and then point to each of the places he wants to kiss. Lynnae explains that this is because they believe that you can move a kiss if you want... all you have to do is touch it and then touch the person where you want the kiss to go. So cute!

Then, a couple of months ago he started with the "I love you" sign. He will wave two I love you's around... and if I tell him I love him, he will hold up "I love you" with one hand and the number "2" with the other hand. Then he'll start saying, "I love you.... too.... I love you... too... etc," while he pushes the appropriate hand forward. Again, so cute.

Speaking of I love you's, the newest thing that he does is suddenly blurt out who he loves. It usually starts out with someone in the family... usually either me or Lynnae... and then it will move on to everything, including his green sippy cup. But this week was different.

We were sitting at lunch a couple of days ago and Charlie just blurted out. "I love Carleigh!" And I said, "You do?" And then he screamed at the top of this lungs, "I LOVE CARLEIGH!!!" So I had to tell him to use his inside voice, so he started whispering, "I love Carleigh. I love JakeJake. I love Joe." This was the first time he had put someone in front of us... it was super cute.

Last weekend we went down to the Stutzmans (Carleigh and Joe's last name) for dinner and games... so they were fresh in his mind. Apparently he had a really good time! We are headed back this weekend for Jacob's first birthday... so let's hope he still loves JakeJake when JakeJake is getting all of the attention. :)

Lynnae's 8th Birthday

While we were in California we celebrated Lynnae's 8th birthday. Actually, Disneyland was something that we did for her birthday as well. She got a lot of presents... we're hoping not too many, because we don't want to set an unhealthy standard! Lynnae got to go shopping with my mom a couple of days before her birthday, and really enjoyed getting to pick out some of her presents and spend time with her new grandma. In fact, I am pretty sure that most of her favorite presents came from her grandparents... two stuffed animals from my mom have taken up the new place in her bed to sleep (Brownie and Caramel - both girls of course, and have you noticed the food name theme with all of her stuffed animals?) She also got a dress that she loves from Grnadma, and a Leapster from Grandpa Kovar. We gave her a big doll house that she has seemed to enjoy playing with, but I think the other stuffed animals are more important to her.

The morning of her birthday we went to church in my parent's ward. It was fun for me because there were several people there that usually aren't... and that I haven't seen in 10 years. She had fun because they sang to her both for her birthday and for being a visitor. Then we came home, had lunch, and later had a birthday dinner for Lynnae. She opened her presents and then we had cake and ice cream. All in all, I am pretty sure it was a good birthday for her.

...Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized...

Road Trip and Disneyland

When the kids first came to live with us in April, we knew that the earliest we could finalize their adoption would be October. And even that depends on the government working quickly, which may or may not happen. (Although I do have to put a plug in that we have been extremely impressed with all of the workers that we have encountered in relation to these kids. They have been prompt, courteous and clearly care about the best interests of the children.) We also knew that we would not be allowed to leave the state with them until the adoption was finalized, unless we received court permission. We pursued this early on, but then dropped it deciding that it would be okay to stay home for the summer. As things started to fall into place, and a new case worker from the adoptions unit was assigned, we started to realize that we very much wanted to leave the state. None of our family live in the area, and the kids had only met their Great Grandma Boyce, my Aunt Laura, and their Grandpa Kovar. So, I asked the new case worker and a week later we were approved to leave the state. We quickly decided to jump into our car and road trip. Our destination started as Utah but ended up to be California.

It was a two day road trip each way. If I ever do it again, (which is questionable,) I will make it three days each way. The kids did awesome in the car. The only meltdowns occurred on the last day on the way home. And they were easily solved because of the way I had stocked the car. I had two Rubbermaid bins between their car seats... full of toys. I also had about 6 books in those bins, napkins and tissues. We had a DVD player hung between our seats and watched about 7 movies during the whole trip... including Charlie's favorite, the Little Einsteins. We had a big, flat box, from Costco juice boxes that had long been consumed, which we used as a desk and/or tray for coloring, practice school work, or anything of that nature. We also had my iPod plugged into the car stereo, filled with kids music... including their favorite, Queen's Greatest Hits. (They love We Will Rock You, We are the Champions and Bicycle Races.) On top of that I had a whole Rubbermaid bin full of snacks so that I could keep their tummies from growling. So, I think the kids were kind of in heaven because they had so much that they could do.

We arrived in Riverside on Tuesday at some time that was close to midnight. We spent an hour or so with my parents and then all went to bed. In the morning we woke up and drove into Anaheim too spend two days at Disneyland. I think it was the first time that I had spent more than one day in a row at Disneyland. I was very excited! The kids were too. All Charlie knew was that we were going to meet Mickey Mouse, and that was enough for him. Lynnae was beside herself with excitement, squealed so loud that I feared for the health of my ears, and every now and then seemed a little nervous. The nervous part grew as we got closer to the park, and then really grew when we entered the gates and Cruella DeVille was standing right there. But, once she got onto her first ride (Star Tours, my favorite,) she was in heaven.

We closed the park on both days, leaving close to 12:30. Our kids are night owls, just like us... and prefer to sleep in just like us, we are so lucky! We did every ride in Fantasyland except for Dumbo. (And Small World is closed until November... boo hoo.) Their favorite rides were the Astro Blasters, which is a cool ride in Tomorrowland where you go in little cars on a track, and each of you has a gun to try to shoot the Zurg from Toy Story. You can spin the cars around to aim better, and you get a score at the end so that you can compare your skills. We did that twice, and they really wanted to do it again. They also loved the big train and the Casey Jr train. Andy and I love the Haunted Mansion, so we had to do that twice... and Charlie's favorite ride? Peter Pan, definitely. It was a priceless moment for me, sitting next to him, as we "flew" over the rooftops of London and I saw him smiling bigger than life and screaming, "I'm flying, I'm flying, we did it!!!" Andy said he was screaming so loud he could hear him in the next car.

This year Disney's theme is, "Year of a Million Dreams." They are doing little things all over the parks all day to basically just make your day. As we were stepping out of the Haunted Mansion on the second day and heading over to New Orleans Square for lunch, we saw two employees handing out lanyards in front of the train station. We all received free "pin trading lanyards" complete with two pins... the kids were really excited. It's always fun to get free stuff. We made a big deal out of it, and the kids wore their lanyards proudly all day. It was special enough that we thought we would save them and get a new pin for each person each time we go. So Disneyland was successful at getting us to buy stuff with their gift. :)

Disneyland is definitely different with kids. We had to find the bathroom more often, and it was a lot more important to find hydration and food timely. We also stuck more around the kiddie rides and Toon Town... but I didn't really mind that! On the second day we were there, we headed over to Fantasyland at 11:40... when most of the other small children were gone. We hit Alice in Wonderland, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, the Carousel, Pinnochio, and snow White. it was a whirlwind of kids rides, and we were getting into them so quickly... it made it difficult for us to want to leave! As we walked out of Snow White, I looked at Andy and realized that we hadn't gotten ice cream (or dessert, really,) the whole time we'd been at Disneyland... and that is just a tradition for us. So we stopped at the Ice Cream parlor on Main Street and got a scoop for Andy, Lynnae and me. I gave charlie two bites in his stroller. With the second bite he just smiled real big and then fell right asleep with a smile and ice cream on his lower lip. It was very cute!

We headed back to Riverside and hit major bumper-bumper traffic outside of Corona... at 2am. Ugh! For many reasons, including traffic, I am so glad that we moved out of there. We got home and crashed and woke up very late the next day. While we were in Riverside Lynnae got to go shopping with Grandma Boyce for her birthday, we went to meet great Grandma and Grandpa Hayman, and we had a birthday celebration for Lynnae as well. There will be more updates to come, but this one was primarily to talk about Disneyland! I apologize for the bulk of what I wrote.... actually I could have written twice as much, but exerted some self control. Since the kids have come to live with us, I find that I have so much to share!

.... Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized....

We went to go see "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" on the first day. The kids were so excited to see a 3D movie, but both of them became scared at some point during it... with big dogs and lions coming right at them.

Charlie was so excited to ride the big train around the park. Lynnae was too, but Charlie loved it so much that we did it again the second day.

This was on the Casey Jr train, which they also loved. It was going quite a bit faster than I remember!

We did Autopia also, of course. Lynnae was too scared to drive, so I had to drive our car. Charlie and Andy went together. Charlie was in heaven!

Both kids loved the carousel.

Lynnae was super excited to pick out a horse for herself.

Of course, we spent a lot of time in line as well... I believe this was outside of the Haunted Mansion.

And this was probably outside of the Haunted Mansion too.

And this was going into the Peter Pan ride. We were trying to find ways to keep the kiddos entertained while we waited. The new rides are better at that because they have stuff to look at!

We spent quite a bit of time in Toon Town on the second day. Charlie was needing some good old-fashioned play, so I took him to Goofy's Playhouse while Andy and Lynnae did the roller coasters in Toon Town. He loved it!!!

After Goofy's we headed over to Mickey's house. This was one super-excited kid!!!

We got lucky with Mickey and had at least 5 minutes with just Mickey and Charlie in the room. Mickey traded hats with Charlie. Charlie was so excited and happy when we left the room. Andy and Lynnae came through about 10 minutes later... but I missed being able to had the camera to him. :(

Right after getting the free pin trading lanyards.

Waiting for dad to come back with Fast Passes to Indiana Jones... she was staring at the tree house longingly. Unfortunately, we forgot to come back to the tree house... next time!

This happened a lot both days, so I took a picture of it. We're still mastering the shoe tie thing.

Had to get the traditional picture. I like to take it on this bench because you usually don't end up with other people in front of those you want to see.

Had to include a couple of my favorite scenic pictures. This is from the side of the castle.

This one was while we were in line for the monorail... it was perfect timing!

Fourth of July

Andy and I moved into our new house two years ago this August. We absolutely love our new neighborhood. Almost everyone has kids, a lot of them work from home, and they're just generally very friendly people. However, we were warned by the sellers of our house that things can go a bit over the top on the Fourth of July. All the neighbors come out into the cul-de-sac, have barbecues, and set off their own fireworks. one of our neighbors likes to make some of his own. In addition, we have a fading 16-year old shake roof... perfectly prone to catch fire. i think in order to appreciate how paranoid I get on the Fourth of July here, you also have to understand that I grew up in Southern California, where amateur fireworks were banned due to fire hazard. There, you had to watch one of the big shows to get your fireworks. I also heard a lot of propaganda about how fireworks start fires and injure people. So, naturally, they are already not my favorite thing in the world. Add overzealous neighbors, teenagers lighting fireworks unsupervised, a shake roof, and a wind that blows all fireworks in the cul-de-sac right at our house... and you have a great recipe for a Dzana panic attack. Of course Andy is aware of my freakish paranoia, so he is telling me about how we can move the car, how he's gong to hose down the roof and keep the hose out during the night, etc... all in an attempt to keep me calm.

I appreciate his efforts, but last year it didn't really work. I had to go inside because it was all making me so nervous. One of our neighbors had really pulled out all of the stops. There were homemade concoctions, reservation bought items, and very few mild firecrackers. What made me most nervous were all of the kids running around with fireworks setting them off wherever they pleased. So, this year I was trying really hard to be excited... but I was actually incredibly nervous for the week preceding.

The day started out really nice. Andy's dad was still in town. We had a very lazy and wonderfully relaxing morning and afternoon. Lynnae and I made cupcakes and then she and charlie frosted them. Charlie was especially funny with the sprinkles. When we ate them we had to brush some of them off. He used a whole bottle of sprinkles on 6 cupcakes! it was hard for me to keep him from eating what he was supposed to be frosting, he was very excited! The kids played outside for awhile, I took some pictures (of course.) Andy and his dad barbecued carne asada for us and we had a little Mexican feast... it was very good! Every year since we started dating, Andy and I have enjoyed the Twilight Zone marathon on the Fourth of July... first on KTLA and then when it moved to the Sci Fi channel. (We are both obsessed with the Twilight Zone, and even though we own every episode on DVD, the marathon is an important tradition we don't miss!) We weren't sure how the kids would take to it... but they loved it! So we watched a few episodes of that as well.

Then it was zero hour, time to go outside, socialize and deal with the neighborhood's fireworks. I gave Lynnae about a 15 minute lecture on firework accidents. And then I let her loose. Charlie stayed with Andy, me, or grandpa the whole time. You know what? There were still some really idiotic kids doing stupid things with bottle rockets and roman candles... but they were farther away from us this time. And the other fireworks were way more in control than the previous year. Lynnae had fun with all the neighborhood girls as well. Boone was outside enjoying his socializing with the other neighborhood dogs for most of the night. Overall it was a great holiday!

............Pictures will be posted after adoption is finalized....................

Swimming

Growing up in California, swimming was something that we did every summer. I loved the water and some of my best summer memories took place in a swimming pool. I still love the water, but... since we moved to Washington, swimming pools are not as available to us. however, we do belong to a club that has a lap pool, a small therapy pool, and an outdoor sundeck. It is important to me that both Charlie and Lynnae be very comfortable in the water, especially with so many lakes and rivers in the area.

One of the things that is weird about acquiring someone else's children is that you don't really know what their capabilities are. We knew, from one of Lynnae's previous foster moms and a picture from last summer, that Charlie did not care for the water at all. And when Lynnae told me that she was "like a fish" in the water I believed her. I have learned, gradually, not to take such statements at face value.

One day about a month ago, I packed up the kids in the car and took them to the club with the intent to use the outdoor sundeck. When we arrived a the club we learned that the sundeck was closed due to a problem with the heater. (Yes, in Washington we actually have to heat the water in outside pools because it is not warm enough otherwise.) "No problem," I thought, "I'll take the kids into the little therapy pool, make sure Lynnae is good and then she can go into the big pool." Well, let me tell you, she is NOT "like a fish". For the first 15 minutes I had Charlie clambering to keep as much of his body out of the water as possible while Lynnae tried to show me how well she could swim... sinking with each first stroke. Good thing the pool is only 3.5 feet deep!

I was just about to surrender and exit the pool as quickly as possible when Charlie miraculously calmed down. I saw little life vests near the pool and grabbed one for him. This gave him the security he needed to have some confidence and relax in the pool. Then I was able to start working with both of them. We have gone swimming several times since. Charlie now propels himself around the pool in the life vest... he gets mad when I even touch him because he's so independent. he loves to go under the water, and in fact tells us all the time, "I want to go under the water!" (He also puts his hands up, take a deep breath and then mimics holding it while going under water... really cute!) I'm trying to teach him how to respect the water as well by removing the life vest and letting him float... and see what happens if he pushes me away without the vest. He actually has done a back float and is kind of getting close to the doggy paddle. Lynnae can do the dead man's float and float on her back... Mostly I have had to teach her to relax and use larger, slower movements when swimming. At first she was so frantic and tense that she would sink like a brick. I have actually been able to let her into the big pool lately. She starts lessons in two more weeks... and I'm hoping she'll be a confident swimmer by the end of the summer.

I have really enjoyed my swimming time with the kids. It has been good bonding for us, and a great outlet for energy. We also were fortunate to receive a backyard swimming pool as a gift from the Stutzmans, and the kids have been enjoying it as well. I don't have pictures from the big pool because I am actually in the water too... but here are some of my favorites from our backyard pool. Thank you Carleigh and Joe... they love this pool, especially the slide!

...........Pictures will be posted after adoption is finalized.....................

Grandpa Kovar's Visit to Washington

This summer we all had a fun treat, Grandpa Kovar packed up into his trailer and drove the 1200+ miles from Riverside to Snohomish. He arrived at the end of June and spent nearly two weeks with us, leaving just after the Fourth of July. The kids have lived with us for three months now, but had not been able to meet a lot of family due to the fact that we are all so spread out. They did meet their Great Grandma Boyce and my Aunt Laura a couple of months ago... but other than that, we hadn't been able to introduce them to any direct family. So, naturally kids are excited to see grandparents... but they were even more excited to meet Grandpa Kovar and learn a little more about their new family.

Grandpa hit it off with them imemdiately, and they were in love with him from the first moment. While he was here we were able to get some projects done. The best for me was the completion of painting in our downstairs bathroom/laundry room and the painting of Miss Lynnae's room. Lynnae wanted so badly to have a blue room, (it is her favorite color.) Now she has a nice "Robin's Egg" blue... and she even got to help with the painting! Grandpa also took everyone out to the swap meet, where Lynnae got a "moon" ring. She was so proud to show me her "moon" ring when she got back, I think I crushed her when I explained that it was actually a "mood" ring. While he was here we made it to the Seattle Aquarium for the first time and celebrated both grandpa's birthday and the Fourth of July. of course, we also did some of the random normal things... like visiting the park and going to dinner. We were so glad that the kids and grandpa hit it off so well, they were a little crushed when he left... but we are expecting they will get to see him again at Christmas!

.......Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized...............

The Many Faces of Charlie

So - I am finally catching up on going through my pictures! I haven't had a lot of time at the computer in the last couple of months, and I have struggled with keeping up with the monstrous amount of pictures I have taken. I just wish that I could post them up... instead, for now, I will tell you about them. :)

One of Charlie's favorite things to do is to make faces. He makes them constantly. He has so many I can't even count them. (I think we may finally be able to stop teasing my sister about the looks she used to make... Charlie is definitely just as full of expressions, if not more so!) Here are a few of his favorites. Some day I'll have to get the one where he rolls his eyes back in his head.

.......Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized.......

This is the "surprise" face. Usually he puts his hands on his cheeks too, but this day one was too full of grass and the other was keeping him up.

This is "bashful" Charlie.

Got a guess? Yep, this is sad. He puts his lower lip out just right.

This is "mad" Charlie. I get this look every time he goes in timeout.

Say hello to "thoughtful" Charlie.

This is "whazzup?" Charlie.

This could be either a good or a bad sign. This is the face of Charlie when he is pleased.

And this is our absolute favorite face.... Happy Charlie!!!