How you doin'?

My handsome man is doing ok. He had more tests last week to see how he was doing and he's unchanged. We don't expect him to get better but I'm so glad to hear that he's not doing worse.

In fact, he's enjoying the fact that Eliana likes to eat her snacks now at her little desk. It's just the right height for him.


Dudley would like you to know that he's doing just fine so don't MESS!

Oh really?

I bought some cous cous yesterday. I LOVE cous cous and in the past, Eliana has liked it too. I thought Sasha would like it this time because it had feta cheese and tomatoes in it. I gave her some to try with dinner last night and she did try it but again, she didn't like it.

There are very few foods she doesn't like and most of them are foods that she ate a lot of in Russia (oatmeal, milk, potatoes).

She told me that she used to have cous cous all the time in Russia. I have to give her credit for using that excuse to not have to eat it (We do let her off the hook with the whole milk/oatmeal/potatoes aversion.) She said, "Mom, I think I used to eat this...what is it called?" Cous Cous. "Oh yeah, cous cous. I used to eat it all the time in Russia. I'm going to look in my Russia book but mine had chicken and cheese and roast beef and we ate it all the time."

Needless to say, we didn't find cous cous in her book but I'll take her word for it. And I won't be trying to make her Meat Lover's version of cous cous.

AHA!

Eliana has Roseola! Say that 5 times fast (Don't you dare post a comment saying "That That That That That")!

She is the poster child for Roseola:
From the Mayo Clinic:
Fever. Roseola typically starts with a sudden, high fever — often greater than 103 F (39.4 C). The fever lasts for three to seven days. And this is why we didn't sleep all weekend! And this is why she was so miserable...not the molars, well maybe a little bit of that too.
Rash. Once the fever subsides, a rash typically appears — but not always. The rash consists of many small pink spots or patches. And I was just a little bit freaked out when she woke up from her nap yesterday covered in this rash.
Fatigue Check! This would be on a list of symptoms for parents of children with Roseola.
Irritability in infants and children TRIPLE Check! This would also be on the list of symptoms for parents with children with Roseola
Mild diarrhea Oh yeah!
Decreased appetite Check!
Swollen eyelids Check!

So Matt suggested taking a video of her and sending it in to all of the medical sites!

Oh! And Yahoooo for Aunt Kerri because she totally called it! Good thing, because after 3 children, if she didn't know what was going on, I'd be a little worried. ;)

Filling my shoes

Ellie's new thing is trying to put on everyone's shoes, even Daddy's shoes! She's so proud of herself when she can get her feet into them.

By the way, these are my new Mammoth Crocs. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I wear them all the time around the house.

Super Cool

I've been wanting to have a butterfly garden forever. Now that I have children, I have a good reason and MOTIVATION to get it going. For Sasha's birthday, Aunt Kerri got her a butterfly house. We're waiting for our larva (sorry Laura) to arrive.

Yesterday we went to the nursery (the plant nursery) and got lots of buttefly plants and flowers! It was so fun to pick them out and get our hands dirty. We've started small, with just 2 large pots. I think if we're successful, we'll plant a realy garden.

The coolest thing is that today, I let Murray out to go potty (for the billionth time) there was a butterfly ALREADY ON THE FLOWERS!!! If you look closely at the
2nd picture, you'll see it doing a fly-by past the left pot.

Happy Memorial Day

Sasha asked why today was a holiday. I told her that we were honoring people in the military who died serving our country. I told her that to 'honor' someone meant that we were remembering them and thanking them for proctecting our country. I told her that we remembered them in our hearts today. As I said that, I had my eyes closed and my hand on my heart. She said, "Oh kind of like you are sleeping?" Then, she told me, "Well, I can't remember anyone who did that."


Thank you to all of those who have served and who are serving our country, even if we don't remember you! ;)

Bravo! Bravo!

The Kindergarten classes at Sasha's school had their end of the year play on Friday. The play was "Q and U Get Married" and Sasha was the letter W. As you can see, it was a very long wait for her and she had a teeny bit of trouble sitting still.


I did take a few short videos but every time I started one, Sasha would stop and smile at me thinking I was taking a picture. In fact, one time, she said to the teacher, "Wait a minute, my mom's trying to take a picture." If I wasn't trying to get her to stop smiling, I was throwing the camera down to catch Eliana. We were lucky enough to get in the front row but we were right next to where Sasha was standing so Ellie kept running over to her. It was very cute but, alas, no good video.

Worth EVERY Penny

I figured for as much as Eliana likes to play in the dog's water dish, she would love a water table. I was right. It's been the only thing that has kept her happy the past 2 days. Since she likes to eat it, I decided to stay away from sand for now. (Sasha has been enjoying it, too!)

When good braids go bad

Imagine what her bed head looks like with out the braids holding it down!

THE Mommy (part 2)

The past 2 nights were a repeat of the first night. Yay!

(By the way, I'm not exactly sure where I was going with the title THE Mommy when I wrote my other post. Maybe THE Mommy rocks for taking care of a baby with 2 molars coming in. Or, THE Mommy needs some sleep. Or, DON'T MESS WITH THE Mommy! Maybe all of the above.)

Anyway, I've been really tired, so tired in fact, that last night, I was pouring a glass of wine to have with dinner. I started to pour the wine into the open bottle of Apple Juice. Now, that's tired.

I poured the apple juice down the drain. I poured the wine in my glass. We had dinner.

Her fever is gone but those @#$#$% molars have not come all the way through so we'll see how today goes. Wish me luck!

THE Mommy

I was so excited last night. I was in bed, IN BED by 8:15 and had the lights out, LIGHTS OUT by 9. I didn't even finish this week's People. I have to admit, I took a little teeny tiny, quarter of a Tylenol PM because I figured if I was in bed by 9 and I could sleep straight through until at least 7AM, I would be ready to run a marathon...or at least take care of the kids on a Saturday-with no plans-no nap-and no idea what to do.

Remember, lights out was at 9. At 10:10, I awoke to a shaking white dog on my back. It was storming and I had no clue so Dudley decided to seek comfort on me. Somehow, I managed to snuggle him into safety and fall back asleep. At 10:30, I felt another human climbing into bed. It was Sasha, "I didn't know it was going to storm, Mommy. It woke me up." And then, she was asleep, in bed, with me. At 11, the dogs started barking. It was Matt coming home. He left the house to "run to the grocery store" and ended up having a beer at the bar next to it. It conveniently started storming (and at this time of the year in Florida, it's not just a storm, it's a monsoon) while he was having his beer so he had to have another and some chips and dip. So, he came home at 11 and I was awakened, yet again.

All was well until 3:33 when Eliana woke up crying. She's teething. Molars. Two of them at the same time. 'Nuff said. Fortunately she fell back to sleep on her own and I started to drift off dreaming of at least a 7:30AM wake up.

5:45AM, it's still dark outside and Eliana starts crying again. Remembering back to the not so long ago 3:33, I am happily snoozing with the thought that she'll fall back to sleep on her own. No such luck! We were up at 6. Poor thing, she had a fever of 102 and she's been a bear since then.

The good news: IT'S ALMOST BEDTIME!!!!!!

The Boys

They are happy to be home. They did get the Super Star Royal treatment though. They stayed with a friend of mine who is also a maltese mommy to sweet little Bella. I am a little bit jealous because she got to sleep with 3 white furbabies every night.

They were very well-taken care of and are, obviously, happy to be home.

Family Cruise

The whole K family went on a 3 day cruise this weekend to celebrate Zayde's xxth birthday! Sasha had a blast. For any of you who wondered, Royal Carribean's kid's program is excellent. She kept asking to go back to "camp". She even asked when we were on the beach! Eliana had so much fun, too. She learned quite a few new dance moves and has become a French Fry NUT, although I have to admit the Cruise's french fries were really very good. Despite a lack of sleep (Sasha and Eliana slept well but went to bed LATE and woke up EARLY.) We can't wait to go back next year for Bubbe's 30th birthday (cough cough wink)!

You can view a whole bunch of pictures here!

Have you seen anything lovelier?

A Matter of Opinion

Sasha saw this sign today and said, "Oh, so there is a circus that way." You know, I tend to agree with her. One, it does look like a circus tent. Two, when I was teaching, I often felt like I was in a circus!

Happy Mother's Day

I know I'm a little bit late in posting but Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms and of course, to the non-moms (wink wink). We...uh, I mean I had a great Mother's Day with my family. We had a brunch at synagogue and then Sasha and I spent the afternoon shopping. After we came home, much later than Daddy had thought (get used to it, Matt. What woman can find a bathing suit in 2 hours?), we went to a celbration downtown at the lake. We found a nice little outside bar with a local band, even better, 3 guys playing music. It was nice and windy, there were lots of open tables and the music was good. It was a nice ending to a great day with my great loves.

No, I just couldn't let well enough alone.

I had to write another letter.

I suppose you think I should be thankful that Teleflora has changed the
“Non-Mom” category to “Adopting Moms”. I suppose you think that I should just
leave well enough alone.

I suppose I should, but I just can’t. You have missed the point. You see,
there is no reason to separate mothers through adoption from mothers who have
biological children. A mom is a mom is a mom is a mom. Adoption is a way to
grow a family, just like pregnancy. I don’t care if every single person in your
company has adopted. The fact that you chose to include a separate category
entitled “Adopting Moms” really proves that you know nothing about it. I am
honestly shocked to hear that your ‘president and owner’ has adopted. Perhaps
you should give him a call and ask his feelings on this subject. Perhaps I
should. I find it hard to believe that the "Adopting Moms" category would be
acceptable to his wife.

I suppose it’s too late now to rethink your decision but I’m hopeful that next
year’s contest will include any woman who is a mom without discrimination.

Sincerely,
Kristi K
Simply Mom

It's still not right but I'll take it.

I still disagree, it's wrong to signal out parents through adoption. I don't call Sasha and Eliana my "adopted daughters". I don't consider Matt and I "adoptive parents". That means they haven't heard the last of me but I do feel a teeny bit better.

The response I received from Teleflora (the same thing that is posted on the website):
Thank you for contacting Teleflora to share your thoughts about the
"Teleflora presents America's Favorite Mom" program.

In response to your concerns, Teleflora is immediately changing the
name of our "Non-Mom" category to "Adopting Moms." After closer
examination, we can see how this may have been offensive to moms who
have adopted children -- moms who are indeed real moms to their
children in every sense of the word. In fact, many of us at
Teleflora are "adopting" parents ourselves, including our president
and owner. The essence of this category still focuses on a
grandparent, neighbor, step mom, or mom to adopted or foster
children, each one raising and loving a child.

This show of insensitivity on our part was in no way intended and we
deeply apologize for any concern or distress we may have caused. It
was always our intent to salute and celebrate all moms.

In closing, all of us at Teleflora would like to offer our sincerest
best wishes to all the many women throughout the world who have
worked so hard and given so much to earn the name "Mom."

Sincerely,
The America's Favorite Mom Team

And I was mad before...

...check this out. The description for the non-mom category:
The non-mom mom Grandparent, stepmom, or mom to adopted children, each one raising and loving a child. A priceless gift for everybody.

Can you see the steam coming from ears? Had I seen that before I wrote my letter, it would have been a lot meaner. Non-mom my ass!

The email in the previous post went to NBC and Teleflora.
This email went to Marie Osmond:
When I first heard about America's Favorite Mom, I thought, what a nice way to celebrate motherhood, maybe I'll nominate myself---wink wink. When I read this description for a Non-Mom and realized that I would have fallen into that category, my stomach dropped. I am furious at this description. You can't possibly agree with this? I am a mom through adoption and I have never once considered myself a "NON-MOM". The second I knew we would be adopting my first daughter, not my "adopted daughter", MY DAUGHTER, I was her mother. My girls are who made me a mom. Without them, I would certainly be a non-mom but with them I am nothing less than a mom. Anyone who is "raising and loving a child" through adoption is a mother.

I have also emailed Teleflora and NBC. Please think about all the mothers who have been hurt by this description.

Kristi K

A REAL MOTHER to 2 beautiful daughters through adoption

It's time to speak out again.

NBC and Teleflora are sponsoring America's Favorite Mom contest. One of the semi-finalists, Jennifer Keller has been placed in the "Non-Mom" category simply because she is a mother through adoption. Yep, I suppose they are calling her a "non-mom" (Doesn't that term in this context just make you shudder?) because she didn't give birth to her children.

I've already written my letter:
Yesterday, I woke up with MY 16 month old daughter at 6AM after being up with
her off and on all night. She's teething and very uncomfortable. As tired as I
was, the smile I got from her when I entered her room, melted my heart and woke
me up. I got her all ready for the day and settled her in her high chair to eat
breakfast. Then, I woke up MY grouchy 6 year old (she was also awakened by MY
teething baby throughout the night). I sang goofy songs through her groans and
finally got her dressed and fed. That's what MOMS do. Then it was,
unfortunately for them, time visit the doctor for their check-ups.

I'm sure the receptionists were ready for us to leave because while holding MY
cranky, whiny baby, MY older daughter and I played with a superball and we both
were squealing with laughter as it bounced all over the room. Both of MY
DAUGHTERS had to get shots and I held them through their tears. That's just
what MOMS do.

Both of MY daughters were declared healthy and happy. I certainly wasn't
looking for a compliment, but the doctor complimented my PARENTING and said
that I was so lucky to have such great little girls. I had to agree with her
because they are wonderful children, they are my children and I AM lucky to be
their MOTHER.

I am a mother through adoption. I AM A MOTHER. I have never ever thought of
myself as a non-mom because my children were adopted. I am offended that
Jennifer Keller in your "America's Favorite Mom" contest has been included in
the "Non-Mom" category because she has adopted children.

If you ask me, a "non-mom" doesn't even belong in the America's Favorite Mom
contest. There is no such thing as a non-mom. What a horrible way to describe
someone who is a mother or even acts like a mother, regardless of how her
children came to her The other two women who were included in the category
don't deserve the title "non-mom" either but more than anything, you NEVER call
a mother through adoption a non-mom.

I am sure I speak for all mothers through adoption in asking you to remove
Jennifer Keller from that category. She sounds like an amazing woman and a REAL
mother.

Thank you for your time.
Kristi K
MOTHER of 2 beautiful daughters

Butterflies!

Our favorite nursery (plants-not babies) has a Butterfly Garden. Eliana and I met friends there today. I love it there. Eliana isn't too sure about it.


Remember Sasha's first trip there?

Gym Class

I started taking Eliana to gym class at My Gym. Our membership fee includes one Open Gym every week and siblings are invited.

Sasha loves it. She hasn't been taking gymnastic classes since last summer so she just goes nuts.



Eliana follows her everywhere.

It was a good feeling but so hard. I highly recommend it!

Before sending out Sasha's birthday invitations, we talked to her about asking her friends to bring donations instead of gifts. Sasha is almost as crazy about animals as I am (I taught her well) so I thought I could convince her to ask for donations for the Humane Society. I assumed that I would have to twist her arm so I had a whole speech prepared. I took a deep breath and started, "Sasha, since you are going to get so many presents from Mommy and Daddy and Ellie and Didi and Pap and Bubbie and Zayde and Uncle Michael and Uncle Josh and Aunt Kerri and Aunt Laura and Great Nanny, don't you think it would be nice to ask your friends to bring food and toys for dogs and cats who don't have homes?" I held my breath, prepared my next argument and Sasha said, "Oh yeah! That's a great idea!"

That was easy.

I printed the SPCA's Wish List and added "In lieu of gifts, Sasha would like you to consider bringing a donation for us to deliver to the SPCA of Central Florida."

We delivered all the donations yesterday and Sasha really wanted to go look at the dogs. It breaks my heart to see all those poor babies. Those eyes get to me. See the little cutie in the corner? Every single cage you can see in this picture, and a few more you can't see, had at least 2 dogs in it. And yes, there was one dog that I wanted to bring home but the ogre I am married to said, "No more dogs!"

We stole the idea of requesting donations instead of gifts from a friend of ours. I highly recommend doing it for your child's next birthday. There are so many organizations in need.

Happy 6th Birthday Sasha!

All pics loaded at link below.



Can you believe that Sasha turned 6 yesterday? Me either. She's such a big girl now. She has started riding the bus last week and I have to admit that I got a little teary-eyed watching climb up those big, big steps. Now, she doesn't even want me to walk her to the bus stop or meet her there in the afternoon. Uh...I don't even think so!
More pictures here! Her party is on Saturday so you'll get more pictures then.

Just cute

Aunt Kerri---remember this outfit? It used to be Juliana's and Ellie LOVES that Elmo is on her pants! And this is Eliana's favorite new toy. She doesn't sit on it even though it's a chair. She uses it to get on the sofa or to just stand there and smile.

Meat (but no potatoes thankyouverymuch) Girl

Sasha loves her some steak.

Future Contortionist?

I'm not quite sure how she got herself into this one.

This was an easy one to get into.

What's in it for me?

Eliana was reading a book and I guess Dudley thought that there was food involved. Eliana got to sneak in a kiss.