An Estonian Christmas

A friend of mine, Triinu from Estonia, sent me some lovely Christmas candy called Kalev which is a mix of candies. There are dark chocolate covered wafers, dark chocolate covered raspberry candies, toffee, and lemon candies. They are very good! I wanted to share a bit of her letter to me in which she shared her Christmas traditions. I think you might find it interesting, as I did. :)

Excerpt:

Our family does not have any special "traditions". Usually we do the same as usual Estonian families. At first --> we have Christmas day on 24th - as I assume it is the same for you? In the morning we clean the rooms and make dinner. In the afternoon we spend mostly outside - if there is snow, then usually building snowmen and snow- lanterns. If there is no snow (it's very possible usually) then we just walk outside in the nature. In the evening we have our usual Christmas feast. The feast is outrageous. Sometimes we have 4 different kind of salads and dressings. It's usual to have potatoes, roasted meat (beef or pork) and sauerkraut (!). Sauerkraut is usually the thing which creates the "Christmassy feeling". After the big feast we rest a bit and then we have sauna. Sauna is soo good, especially when the weather is cold.

While we are in sauna - the Santa Clause comes (we call him Jõuluvana). He leaves the presents under the Christmas tree. When we come back from sauna - we are happy ;)

Later in the evening we drink sparkly wine or glogg and watch some old Christmas movies. So. That's it!

I hope you had fun reading my letter! I know I did while writing it!

With love,

Triinu

Sleepy Girl!!!

(above) Anna with red-hot feverish cheeks last week.

Why yes, she is half monkey!

Anna and I went to sleep last night (albeit late!) at 12 and woke up around 10. Anna immediately fell back to sleep and slept until 2! Now she's been asleep (again) for a little more than an hour! I think she must be going through a growth spurt! She is well otherwise, just very tired!

Angel of the Week

This angel's name is Aloyna and she's in need of a home! :) Are you her forever family?
Aloyna is 3, high functioning, smart, sweet, and an orphanage favorite! Isn't she beautiful? Please keep her in your prayers and you can go HERE to learn more about her! :)

Feeling Better

Anna's feeling better this week. She's back to her naughty, spunky self! This week is finals week for my hubby and me. I shall be officially free at 3:00 PM Pacific Standard Time tomorrow or thereabouts. I cannot wait! Freedom! I can taste it! I will spend the remainder of the week... cleaning. Oh well. I guess even Cinderella had to make her bed after she married Prince Charming. ;)

New Header

What do you think? I figured I should get with the times. My baby girl is no longer a baby. Every time I look at her, I'm surprised by how much more she looks like a child. Her hair is getting longer. Her face is getting thinner. She tells me about her ideas, thoughts, and imaginings. But I have a feeling that even when she's twenty, she'll be my baby girl.

On another note, please pray she gets well soon. A week and a few days ago on Monday she began vomiting every other day. We went to the doctor this Monday and she suggested it was a stomach bug and if it persists to take her in. She hasn't vomited since, but about an hour ago, we woke up from a nap and her cheeks were warm. I figured it was because she and I were so close together under that comforter, with her arms around my neck, that she was hot from that. But her cheeks haven't cooled off since and she seemed to laze around and didn't want to eat much. She's running a fever from what I can tell (where is that thermometer???), but it has cooled off since I gave her the Tylenol. I am praying that this is just the end of whatever she has had and it isn't the beginning of something new! (Or a continuance of the same nasty bug.)

Being a Mom

The awesome thing about being a mom: discovering two little pine cones in your pocket as you walk home and smiling about the memory of how they got there.

Tonya's Hope

Tonya needs a home before she's transferred to an institution! I always stop and look at this beautiful little girl's face. She is beautiful! Big dark eyes and red lips. She's about to turn 5 and be transferred to an institution where she'll be left to die. Our God is bigger than that! Someone adopt this little girl! And please share her story!

You can go to her prayer site by clicking on the picture below and help by giving a tax deductible donation toward her fund!

To Give Tonya Hope
CLICK HERE

Lookin' a Lot Like Christmas

Whenever I asked Anna what she wanted for Christmas, she answered, "A tree!" or "A Tristmas Tree!" So... she got her wish. This is our first tree since we were married. Mostly what keeps us from getting a tree is the fact that we travel during the Christmas holiday... welcome to the life of being a student! So, this one is fake. And it looks pretty good for a fake tree, huh? Can you imagine that some of the real trees we were looking at were over a hundred and twenty dollars!? Ridiculous, right? Especially when you know you'll enjoy it for two weeks, travel, and come back when it's long past its expiration date and dead as a doornail (too many metaphors there?)... Check these out...

Then we made gingerbread cookies today! It was fun. Anna kept shoveling in the toppings... yikes! She crashed shortly afterward... surprised?





My husband is a weirdo...

The Darya Project and a Wish

So, I heard such an amazing story the other day about a little girl who is eleven years old and fell in love with this sweet little face:
Isn't she a doll baby? This is Darya. She's an orphan in Eastern Europe. Can you believe that once she turns four years old, she was going to be put into an institution and left to die? As it is, nobody picked her up or gave her attention. The reason? She has Down Syndrome. That's it. That's the only reason. Once children age out of their baby homes in these Eastern European countries, they're sent to institutions and forgotten. Most die within a few years. How horrible!

Back to Darya's story. Eleven year old Lydia fell in love with her. She already has two siblings with DS. She asked her mom that if she could raise $20,000 dollars--the cost for an international adoption-- (yes, twenty THOUSAND) in EIGHT days, if they would adopt her. Her mother agreed to it, thinking it would be impossible and if she raised the money, it would be obvious that it was what God wanted. Not only did Lydia raise $20,000 dollars, but she raised another $6,000+ by Thanksgiving morning. Now the extra money is going to fund another adoption for another family. Wow!!! :)

You can read the whole story HERE at Reece's Rainbow Blog. I can't get enough of this. God's pretty amazing. I've also been following Renee's blog as they've been trying to bring little Kellsey from Eastern Europe. She's almost home! :)

Which brings me to something that I want to share with you all... I know family reads this. I have felt that I've been called to adopt since I was very young. And I feel that I should adopt from RR. I'm not sure if I'll adopt a child with DS... other children with other special needs are on Reece's Rainbow. There are blind children, children with HIV, children with CP, children with missing limbs, Little People, etc. I'm not sure where God will lead me, but it's pretty exciting. As it stands, we cannot adopt. We are far below the required income, but since we're both in college and working hard, that time will come eventually. And when eventually comes, I hope to bring another little face into our family through a Paper Pregnancy.

Pictures: Anna & Family

My sister's kids. The oldest boy is Tell. He's autistic and didn't like the attention from the photographer and the lights. Poor kid. He's going to be 14 in January! That makes me feel old! The next oldest boy is Cade. He's a bit of a monster, but I love him like you wouldn't believe. :)
Alayna is a love bug. She has attitude issues, but I always want to kidnap her and keep her as my own lol. Anna loves her and asks for her constantly when we're in Oregon.
Case is the youngest boy. He's a sweetheart and a cuddlebug. We cuddled for a while when we visited them yesterday. :)

Anna a few days after her 3rd Birthday! She's my dollbaby... my Shirley Temple! :)

Anna's 3rd Birthday Pics

She loved her soccer presents: a ball & shin pads.

My hubby's so good at making cakes. :)

Happy Third Birthday, Anna Daisy!

Born November 19, 2006
8:10 PM
7 lbs 11oz
19 inches long

{3 year picture yet to be added}

(Above) 2nd Birthday

(Above) 1st Birthday

Newborn

Daughter, you bring us so much joy. You make life unpredictable in the most amazing ways.
Today you turn three and I still remember the teeny little baby that I birthed and nursed. I miss those days sometimes, but I'm so excited to see you turn into an amazing woman. Strong. Knowledgeable. Funny. Obstinate. Sweet. Loving. Silly. God-Following. Mom-Correcting. And eventually... Maternal.

Every year, every day, every step is an adventure being your mother. Thank you for teaching me what true love is. Thank you for teaching me the meaning of motherhood. If ever I had a purpose in life, I know that it is to be your mother. I have no doubts about that. You make me proud to be called Mama. I tell everyone that I'm a mother. Because it is a privilege to be your mother.

I cannot tell you how thankful I am for you. I prayed for you before you were born. I prayed for you while you were in my womb. I prayed for you. You were the child I prayed for in every way. I am blessed by you. I look forward every day to be hugged by you and to kiss your little lips. My prayer, sweet girl, is to someday earn that unconditional love you so easily give to me. I don't deserve it, but I promise to try every day of my life to deserve you.

You are my greatest blessing.

~Mama

Wedding Weekend

This weekend my brother-in-law got married. Here are some pictures. Just a few! :)

Blast from the Past

(Above) Geek Day at NU... actually, it was COLLEGE then. I'm second from the left. These girls rock.

(Above) I'm somewhere on the right. Camo day?

(Above) Some of the girls on my floor. I was not pictured.

BIRTHDAY TWINS! I had totally forgotten what this was all about until about a second ago, but this was my birthday and Kortney's birthday (the other girl holding the cake). October 5, 2003

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Don't you love social networking? One of the girls who was on my floor my freshman year of college posted these photos. Wow! I do not even remember some of these things! It was six years ago now. Yikes! I've been in school way too long. Actually, I've taken lots of breaks to be a mommy and marry Paul. hee :)

Some Photos...

(Above) I found her in front of her bathroom's mirror checking out her reflection today. She knows she looks cute when she wears bows and dresses.

(Above) I asked her to smile and she's smiling... at her reflection. lol

(Above) My cuddlebug.

(Above) She drew and I labeled. She drew the shapes first and then I asked her what they were and she told me which was the circle, the square, and the triangle! *proudmama*

(Above) This is the tree Anna drew. I was impressed. There are limbs and foliage! And it actually looks like a tree. This kid inherited daddy's artistic gene.

Anna Daisy is now just 9 days away from being three years old. I recently taught her her middle name. Sometimes she gets it mixed up with the age question, but it's cute to see her reply to these questions. I ask, "How old are you?" and she'll say, "Um... fwee" and hold up three fingers. Then I'll ask her, "What's your name?" then she sometimes says she's 'fwee' to this, but then when I clarify, it's cute to hear her say, "Anna Daisy". :) She's so cute... OK... here are some pictures...