Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Juliana turned 13 this past week. I did not spend $ at Dave and Busters, repeated adding more and more money on our cards. I wasn't addicted, not me!

For Jules' birthday, I did not buy an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery enough for 30 people for just 5 of us! Nope! I do not LOVE their Mint Chocolate ice cream cake and will not gain 20 pounds over the next few weeks nibbling on it.

That is all I'll admit to... for now.

Again

Juliana broke her arm again. Yes, the same one she broke last year. Thankfully the rods were still in it, so when the bones broke the rods kept them stable. The orthopedist at CHOA rebent the arm back and put the cast on it. I was so relieved that there wouldn't be another $10,000 surgery to put the rods back in.

For the next few weeks Juliana will be wearing a black cast.

Juliana in surgery tomorrow

Juliana broke both bones in her forearm on the 25th and is sporting a beautiful green cast. We found out today that she will need to get rods put into the bones because the set didn't take. We will be at the ortho outpatient at 6:00 am for the 8:00am surgery. Great thing to happen right before school starts - 6th grade in middle school.

That skateboard is being thrown away or made into wall art.

30 Days of {Blank}

I was reading one of my favorite blogs Confessions of a Pioneer Woman in which she is talking about a very embarrassing moment. She links to another blog from the other woman's view at Mrs. Flinger Little Black Dress Edition when she mentions she is starting a 30 Days of {Blank}. At 704, it states that it takes 30 days for something to become a habit. Well, there are many habits I need to break, (e.g. diet coke, yelling at the kids, pets, my mom, junk food, etc.). So what will it be? I have until tomorrow to decide -- good time to start on August 1!

I'll let you know, plus next time I blog maybe I'll have some pictures of Juliana in her beautiful cast and tell you how she broke both bones in her forearm!

Water days

Juliana has acted like a fish ever since she figured out that I wasn't trying to kill her in the bath water. (Guess the orphanage didn't bathe the kids much.) She LOVES the water. She likes pools, sprinklers, the beach, and even muddy water under the swing set.


Ginny enjoys being in the water, but until recently, pitched a major fit if her face got wet. Heaven help me if her face got wet and there wasn't a towel around. Ever since we went to the beach in April, Ginny has decided that she loves water and isn't as upset if her face gets wet. In the tub last night she practiced putting her face in the water, blowing bubbles and not wiping her eyes with her hands when she came up.


Now if only I could get Ginny to go to sleep without me sitting on the bed beside her....

10th Anniversary of trip to U.S.

April 28 is Juliana's legal adoption anniversary. We've been a family for 10 years last week. 10 years ago on Wednesday the 6th, Mom and I brought Juliana home to the U.S. and began our life together.

Juliana is such a joy - well, beginning the tween phase, so a joy most of the time. LOL. I've missed seeing the sparkle in her eyes that I saw when she was a toddler, but I finally saw it again in photos taken last month during our Sanibel Island trip.

10th Anniversary

April 28 is Juliana's legal adoption anniversary. We've been a family for 10 years last week. 10 years ago on Wednesday, mom and I brought Juliana home to the U.S. and began our life together.

Juliana is such a joy - well, beginning the tween phase, so a joy most of the time. LOL. I've missed seeing the sparkle in her eyes that I saw when she was a toddler, but I finally saw it again in photos taken last month during our Sanibel Island trip.

My goal is to be a more responsible and attentive mom for both of the girls. I've been lax, leaving a great deal of responsibility to my mom. Dealing with my debt, my perceived failure as a mom, my anger, my impatience, has been a detriment to my purpose of raising my girls. I am now refocusing. My mom has her doubts of this, but I am stubborn and strong. I can do what I set my mind to. Now if only I could persevere with the debt reduction. I realized last night that I can't have a garage sale. If I'm going to be working towards getting our own place back, I need some of the stuff in the basement. I do need to go through it and cull it out though. I'm a pack rat and some of that stuff is junk and unnecessary. It's on my to do list. Maybe after I get back from KC this weekend.

She's 12!

I'm so proud of the young lady that Juliana is becoming.

She's beautiful, a talented artist, and a lover of animals. And she turned 12 today.

Happy Birthday, Juliana!

Snow!

It's nice to see snow every once in a while. Then you remember what a pain it is to keep the kids dry and warm. Sure is pretty watching it come down.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Then (January 2005)















Now (December 2008)

Flashback Friday

Since I have been reminicing about Juliana's adoption 10 years ago, one of my favorite photos is of Juliana, my mom, and me in Red Square. It was so cold and windy at the end of April. We'd even had snow flurries a few days before. We had no idea that we'd need heavier clothing than we'd brought.

Juliana was so petite for a 25 month old. I'd gotten her clothing for a 24 month old, but she really needed 12-18 month old clothes. She was active and curious in the apartment we rented in Moscow. We spent a lot of time saying "Nyet" when she was investigating the owners stereo system.

10 years of memories

On April 28 Juliana and I will be celebrating 10 years of being a family. Over the next couple of months, I will be doing some reminiscing with some pictures of Juliana then and now. She has grown up into such a beautiful and talented tween.

Taken in 1998, this is one of the first pictures I have of Juliana captured from a video. So serious.

Today, she is maturing into her own person with her own likes, dislikes, and opinions.

I am very blessed to have her as my daughter.

Sasha Rodin visits Atlanta

Sasha Rodin is a wonderful man who helped me adopt Juliana 9.5 years ago. He was back in town to visit and update friends on his ministry of finding homes for children living in Russian orphanages. Juliana hasn't seen him in about 9 years, so it made it a double blessing.

Halloween Fun

The girls had a great time trick or treating. Candy galore! Ginny was Ariel and Juliana a gangster/mobster. All of us tried on the red hair, but it only worked for Ginny.

Juliana carved her own pumpkin and it turned out great! Ginny had help. The thought of Ginny using a carving tool is not a fun one.

I found out about Stephanie and Christian Nielson after a fundraiser at Lisa Leonard Designs. Please keep the Nielson's in your prayers as they recover from an airplane crash in August 2008. Periodic updates on how they are doing are here. Christian is recovering at home and Stephanie is still in the hospital. I read her entire blog oldest to most recent. She is an amazing woman and mother and such a beautiful family! Healing hugs to her.

Gwinnett County Fair

We had a great time at the fair this weekend - except for my sunburn. We went with Kelly, Sophia, Barbara, Michelle, and Linda.

The funnel cake was fantastics. We also ate lunch there ($18.50 for the 3 of us!) which consisted of hotdogs, fantastic french fries, and sodas. The lemonade came later.

We got there early and were able to watch the livestock program, pet some sheep and watch the black Angus be bathed and groomed.

The girls had a blast and Juliana won a gold fish. She was over the moon! So now Juliana has a gold fish added to her 3 hermit crabs.

Sitting next to the flowers decorating the livestock area.

Juliana and I had a great time during spring break in April. We visited Zoo Atlanta and the Yellow River Game Ranch. Here's a couple of pics.

Easter Sunday

Big Day on Thursday!

Something happened at birth or poor nutrition in Guatemala and her enamel isn't what it is supposed to be on some of her teeth, so Ginny got 4 fillings in her molars. What a trooper! She was cute being loopy! She was alternating happy, then sad. Drove me nuts!

Juliana got the Fall 2007 Citizenship Award at school! She continues to amaze me with her progress in her first year of public school (4th grade).