Mothers Day 2013

What a great weekend! Marc started the festivities on Friday by surprising me with a pedicure at my favorite spa and then he and the boys met me for dinner. Saturday was a relaxing day... Slava spent the night with his Bushka (Marc's mom) so once I put William to sleep, Marc and I were actually able to have a little date night at home. Wine, cheese and some good TV... in my jammies with no makeup on, no uncomfortable shoes, sooo nice! Nothing beats some quality alone time with the hubs :)
Sunday morning Marc, William and I had a great breakfast at my favorite breakfast spot. Slava came home around noon with Marc's Mom and Mr Bob (her partner)... and my brother joined us, as well. Marc made us all an early dinner. I provided him with the menu and recipes and he did an awesome job! Food always tastes so much better when you don't have to prepare it!!! Our company left around 4 and we had the rest of the afternoon to just hang with the kiddos. All in all, a perfect Mother's Day :)
I have to say, however, the days leading up to Mother's Day were an emotional roller coaster. My Mom is never more than a minute from my thoughts but this day always hits me like a ton of bricks. There are not enough words to express the love, gratitude, appreciation and admiration I have for my Mother. She was and is the strongest woman I have ever met. Her faith in family was stronger than most people's faith in God. She is/was a remarkable soul and I carry her with me always.
There were also 2 other women pressing on my mind this weekend... the 2 women that are ultimately responsible for turning my dream of becoming a mother into reality. To say I am grateful doesn't seem to be enough... these women changed my life, my world, and my future. I still look at my boys and wonder what I did in my life to deserve to be their mother. I am astounded by my fortune and I assure you, I do not take it for granted.
I hope you all had a day filled with love and hope :)

Some pics

Tough Guy

Boy, oh boy - what a week last week for my little Slava Bear! Where to even begin? On Tuesday, Slava ran into a friend at school and chipped his front/bottom tooth... took a nice big chunk out of it. Called the dentist and he was on spring break for the week - they were only seeing emergencies. It didn't seem to be bothering Slava so we waited and went this past Monday... no nerve damage so we are just going to wait it out.
Fast forward to Friday. We met up with some friends at our neighborhood park. For the first time in MONTHS, we are finally getting some nice, warm (50 degree) weather so the park was pretty crowded. Slava was chasing his friend and not looking where he was going and ended up running right into the side of a cement garbage can. I knew immediately that it was bad just from his cry... and then lack of cry. He had a seizure for the first time in over 6 months. It was horrible - in the middle of the park surrounded by strangers - absolutely horrible. Thankfully, it was a rather short one. He came to in less than a minute and didn't do his usual screaming for 10 minutes after. I HATE his seizures. I don't use that word often but I hate them and I want them to go away forever. My mind goes to awful places each and every time it happens... I hate it. The Drs said it should stop by the age of 5 and they have certainly decreased but I can not wait for the day when it is no longer a constant worry.
And now for Saturday... Slava was outside playing with the puppy.  We are not sure exactly what happened but Slava ended up with a huge cut right above his lip. This required a trip to the ER for 2 stitches. He was a champ - didn't cry once. The Drs and nurses even remarked what great manners he has - he made me so proud :)
Oh, and I can't leave out my sweet William. We went to Marc's mom's new house for the first time on Sunday. It's beautiful and has a sweet little Koi pond in the back.Well, after being there for maybe 10 minutes, William decided to take a swim! It had not been cleaned/filtered all winter (the fish are inside the house for the winter) and smells like yucky, swampy, stagnant water. William walked up and fell right in... up to his shoulders. I scooped him up and almost passed out from the horrific smell! Ended with a bath in the kitchen sink!! Oh BOY!!!
Needless to say... last week was a long week and I am happy it's over! We have lots going on this week... my niece is with us for a couple days, my sister and family are coming tomorrow for 2 days, Slav's best friend Brady is staying with us for a long weekend, having friends over both Sat and Sunday...  I love it! My boys are so lucky and blessed to have so many people that love them.  LIFE IS GOOD :)

18 month check up

My little WillieBear had his 18 month check up today and he's doing great...

Height - 70%  - -  32.5 inches
Weight - 8% - - 20.1 lbs
Head - 35% - - 18.5 inches

He is still a light weight so he will remain on whole milk until his 2 year check up (at least). He is a great eater so I am really not all that concerned. Plus, his activity level is through the roof... he and his brother are constantly running, jumping and climbing through the house. Given the fact that he still isn't talking (only has about 4 words), my Dr recommended early intervention. I will be giving them a call tomorrow and hopefully we can start services soon. We met with them when William first came home and they were wonderful!

Not too much else new here in the Turco house... Frank the Tank is getting huge and I am pretty sure he outweighs William now. It's like having another baby in the house... one that bites, chews and pees everywhere! However, he is a snuggle bunny and I love him (especially when he's sleeping :)!

My lent started last Sunday (I am Russian Orthodox and our Easter falls the first week of May this year) and I gave up candy and swearing. I was thinking about giving up wine but come on... who am I kidding???!!! I am craving sweets like CRAZY and have become all too aware of my potty mouth. However, I've come to realize that I do the majority of my swearing when I am alone... yes, apparently I talk to myself A LOT! Anyway, I am doing my best to rid myself of certain not-so-nice words!

I am off to have a glass of wine with my hubby and enjoy an hour or so of quiet. Ahhh.... love this time of day :)   LIFE IS GOOD!

18 months!!

Sweet Baby Will

My sweet baby boy turned 18 months old this past week - unreal!!! Finding time for the blog is more than a little challenging (especially with the addition of our crazy puppy, Frank) but I had to take a minute to jot down why I am so incredibly in love with this angel.
William LOVES his Mama. I am not saying that to be boastful. To the contrary, it is one of the most humbling things I have ever experienced.  He looks for me... smiles when he sees me... reaches for me... always. He runs to me when I am away for only minutes as if he hadn't seen me in days. He holds my hand... rubs my back (seriously, the sweetest thing ever) and tries to make me laugh with silly faces. I have not been away from this boy for more than a couple hours since he came home and I wouldn't trade our time together for anything in this world. He makes every day, every moment, better.
Some fun facts about William:
1 - He LOVES seltzer (plain old soda water). My husband and I drink a ton of it and he has taken a liking to it. He screams when he sees it and chugs it as fast as he can. He was drinking so much I actually asked my Dr if that was ok and she said as long as he can stomach it, it is fine.
2 - He loves shredded cheddar cheese - truly, it's probably his favorite snack. He eats it strand by strand by strand... too funny. He also loves peas and eats one at a time, as well!
3 - He likes to eat on the run! He has decided he no longer likes to sit in his high chair to eat. To get him to really eat a good meal, I take it into his playroom and just shovel spoonfuls into his mouth. He will eat a TON this way!
4 - He is getting so big... in 18-24 month clothes. This is a big deal for us. At the same age, our Slava was in 9-12 month clothes. I'm pretty certain he is going to surpass his brother in height at some point but we will deal with that when it happens.
5 - He is becoming a boy's boy... loves to run, climb, throw the football with dad and rough house with the dogs. We are working on teaching him "gentle" and "quiet" ... not going so well :)
6 - He's a great sleeper... goes to bed at 6:30 and wakes up 12 hours later. Takes a 2 hour nap each day.
7 - He loves to read and has about 5 books that are his favorite. They are completely destroyed but he laughs and smiles when he sees them.
8 - Not talking much yet but he understands everything. The words will come...

I love this child... with all of my heart. Oh sweet, William, thank you for being exactly who you are.

Franklin Charles Turco

Brought this little angel home this past Saturday. Slava loves him... William is warming up. Life just got a little crazier!
Life is good!

Jan trip to Miami

Slava's 3rd Gotcha Day!

Well, Slava's Gotcha Day didn't exactly go as planned. We drove 30 minutes to this awesome Russian restaurant (same one we went to the year before) only to find out it is closed for renovations! We ended up having some really great pizza and Slava loved it... so that's all that matters. The next day we celebrated with family and cake - what a great weekend!

life is good : 0

Pics from my phone...

Russia and Taiwan

My primary reason for creating a blog was so that my boys could look back and experience the journey we took to bring them home. With Slava, I kept the blog going for several months after he came home and then it became harder and harder to find the time to sit... let alone blog. However, upon William's arrival, I have tried to make a concerted effort to keep it updated... selfishly... for me. I am AWFUL at taking pictures and the rare occurrence that I actually do take pictures, they sit in my camera forever!  I am becoming very aware of how quickly time goes by... and I want to remember these times forever.  However, not everything recently has been rainbows and butterflies but I still think it's important to remember... and keep hope that things can change.

That being said, there have been a couple recent events that I haven't posted about...

I found out recently that the organization we went through to bring William home... New Hope... is no longer facilitating international adoptions. This news was extremely hard to hear. Knowing we were one of the last families to bring their baby home and knowing there were so many other families still waiting for their babies... it's such a strange feeling. I feel so blessed, lucky, grateful to have my sweet William home. At the same time, imagining the disappointment the other families must feel truly tugs at my heart. I contacted our caseworker and apparently, New Hope must focus on domestic adoptions to gain accredidation. Hopefully, things will change in the future... fingers crossed,  prayers being said...

Russia!!! Truly, I haven't posted about this because it's been too hard to even think about. Obviously, I am speaking about Russia no longer allowing Americans to adopt Russian children. I literally cried for 2 days straight when I heard the news. I could go on and on about how I feel but that's not what's important. I pray each night that God (and my mother) takes care of all those children who will never know the love of a family. I pray that Mr Putin will reconsider... and decide to put politics aside and do what is best for the children of his country.
We will celebrate Slava's 3rd Gotcha day this Saturday, the 12th.  This year will be a little bittersweet for me. I look at my sweet boy and I can't help but think of all those babies that never made it out of the orphanage and some that never will. Slava is too little to understand the magnitude of what has happened and so we will keep the day light and happy. We will have a yummy Russian dinner and tell stories about our time in Russia. Daddy even bought him a special gift (a new Tom Brady jersey since the one he has is worn to shreds!). Each year he understands a little more... which I am sure will get a little trickier the older he gets but for now... we will just celebrate the amazing country that allowed us to be parents to this perfect little boy.

LIFE IS GOOD

Long time...

It's been a busy, busy couple of weeks! We had an incredible Holiday celebrating with family and friends... they say a picture is worth a thousand words so here you go...
I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and I wish you a happy, healthy 2013!!

Life is Good :)