Tag Archives: Lena

Everyday Life

Life

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Reed’s appointment is tomorrow. He wants an orange cast, if they have orange. I am ready to know the verdict…. really hoping he can have some mobility. He has yet to complain about what he can’t do. He has a tendency to whine about it only when he doesn’t want to do something. He can be very helpful at times, and then other times, he flops like I am carrying dead weight or refuses to put weight on his good leg so I can pull up his pants.

Lena is also struggling to adjust to our new circumstances. I decided to bring in our umbrella stroller to put Reed Sunday evening. Thought I could use it to push him around the house. We got this umbrella stroller for free when we were buying Lena’s toddler bed on Craigslist. We barely ever use it and it typically just sits in a corner in our garage. So, I went out there at 9pm– just before the kids went to bed, but I wanted to have it ready in the morning. Aaron had a job at 4am, so he was in bed. I grabbed the stroller, saw a couple of spiders and dropped it quickly. I needed it, so I was going to get some paper towels from the car to take care of the spiders. As much as I try to convince myself that I should not be scared of most spiders… I jump every time I see one. So, I stood there for a minute, reminding myself those spiders are harmless. And then I look down… there’s one on my foot! I freaked out, flung it off and gave up on the umbrella stroller. So, I decided to get our nicer, much bigger green stroller. I took off Lena’s seat in the back, the front bar and the sun cover to bring it inside. I hauled it inside and loaded Reed up. He was pretty amused about it. Then, Lena says to me “Lena? Stroller?” This girl throws a tantrum at the sight of the stroller, even if I just told her we are bringing it to carry our water bottles– not to ride in. So, I said to her “Oh, no, you don’t need to ride in it. Just Reed does, since he broke his leg.” Cue her gigantic tantrum. I was not my best self in that moment– pretty frustrated with her and the fact that I can never guess how she is going to react.

We did get some good news today… Lena will be getting weekly speech therapy. She is in the first percentile for articulation and her difficulties are not typical of an English language learner who spoke Russian first. I am so glad that she is getting help. I really like the speech pathologist who will be working with her– a big plus. My biggest pet peeve with any type of professional is when they assume they are more knowledgable than me, especially related to myself or my kids… she listens to my concerns and makes sure I am on board with what she is saying… big points for her.

I’ll try to update tomorrow with some cast photos.

Everyday Life

First Full Week of Preschool

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This was Reed’s first full (3-day) week of preschool. I already see him becoming a bit more independent, seeming a bit older. He says “hi” to EVERYONE at preschool. He has been incredibly shy in the past, and while I’ve always felt that was very healthy, saying “hi” to people at this new, safe place is a very good thing for him. He loves to tell us about his day and what he did.

I was still sort of wondering if this was the right decision, sending him… until today. One of his teachers introduced me to her daughter, who was very obviously not her biological daughter. She has adopted internationally and has a heart for it and for Reed. How awesome is that? And, I had absolutely no idea, until today, four days into the school year!

Lena and I have been enjoying our time together. She does not seem to be sad that he is gone at all and she gets more freedom without him around. She doesn’t having any of her crying tantrums when he is at preschool, which seems really odd. She still bursts into tears frequently. My latest approach is to just tell her to stop what is is doing, calm down, and then go back to it. It happens a lot when she is washing her hands, so I just have her step aside and wash her hands when she can do it without crying. This seems to work and keep me from getting too frustrated with her.

We had a nice weekend– did some geocaches and some hikes. We went to Leavenworth on Saturday, where Aaron had to pick some stuff up, so they paid him for gas and miles (making it a free trip!) And on Monday, we drove to Manhattan, Kansas, which was a nice place to spend a beautiful day. They allow dogs off-leash at any park in their county outside the city limits.

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Reed was practically running up this hill (it’s steeper than it looks in this photo). He got pretty far up until he wanted me to help him a bit. It’s nice that he asked for my help!

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Reed LOVES this headband. He traded for it in a geocache. It is too cute, but I did have to tell him not to wear it into preschool the other day… that’s not what he’s crying about though (he’s crying because he wasn’t allowed to put the geocache back after not listening). I call him “Baby Gaga” when he wears it.

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And then someone stole it while he was at preschool. I love how she even has some faux teased hair going.


I was a little bit offended that he has me eating cookies in his song! I have been very careful and don’t remember the last time I touched a cookie!


Reed colored a bunch of pictures at preschool about how God made the universe. Then, he did a little lesson for us. Here he is quizzing Lena after the lesson. I love seeing him reflect my actions, like “think about it” and how he “whispers” the answers to her. It makes me really happy to see him copying what I do right, not the bad moments.

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Here is Reed’s mugshot. Can you guess his crime?

Everyday Life

First Day of School

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Today was Reed’s first day of school! He has been so excited, counting down the days. We shopped for his supplies, packed up his backpack, he picked out a design for me to print on a shirt. Anytime I mentioned preschool for the last few days, he’d clean up his toys and ask me if he should go get his shoes on. Including at 8:45 last night. No, not yet, you need to go to bed and then get up and eat, play, and eat some more first.

Well, today, he was so excited and we got all ready, took some pictures and we were off. We walked into the preschool room and he made a beeline for his teacher, Miss Kathy and just kind of hid next to her. Lena and I said for their singing time and prayer time and then told Reed we would come back for him. He was obviously very excited and very nervous. Not so concerned that we were leaving, though (yes, that’s doesn’t seem so healthy).

Lena and I had a nice time. A trip to the grocery store, then to the playground. I am always shocked how much easier things are with one kid, especially that one. When she’s in a good mood. She does the cutest thing, when I go to get her out of her car seat where she looks surprised to see me and says “Mama?!” She was also a lot of fun at the playground. I wasn’t too interested in playing… it was 104! So, I sat in the shade with her bottle of water. I would reach my arms out big when she was coming for the water and yell her name. She loved this and would come running into my arms.

We came to pick Reed up and he was finishing up his snack. He said he had a great time and was actually talking to everyone… a big improvement from when we left. His teacher said he did fine. He told me he played with trains, diggers, colored and had a snack. He was certainly ready for his nap this afternoon… yay! He goes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so he will not be back until next Tuesday.

Everyday Life
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I had to go to the health department to get a TB test to volunteer at Reed’s preschool. The clerk gave them a paper airplane. They are throwing it back and forth and Cache(pronounced like Cash) is laying right behind Lena. So, the airplane keeps hitting him. Whenever it hits him, she yells out with concern, “OH CATS! OH CATS!” Of course, I’m not even sure “Cats” has noticed that the airplane is hitting him. Now, it just hit our TV console, and she yelled “OH, MOVIE!”

She calls our dogs Cats (Cache), Nini(Nina), An-joe-de ( and Josie). Or sometimes Josie sounds like “Juicy”. She is getting evaluated for her speech this Thursday. While her speech can be funny (and yes, she can have a sense of humor about it too), it can also be VERY frustrating for all of us.

We did have another funny moment this week, when after did, she announced she wanted “straw-ies”.
Me: “Straw-ies?”
L: “No! Straw-IES!”
Me: “Straw-ies?”
L: “PAPA! Mama dun’t it-ten.”
Me: “What?”
R: “She SAID, ‘Mama doesn’t listen!”

And then sometimes her speech is dead-on and just as funny…

A couple weeks, we were out to eat. Both kids wanted chicken fingers and fries– can you tell they are Americanized? I always try to get them to eat their chicken before the fries. I told Lena to take a bite and held it up to her mouth.
L: (with a smile and said clearly) “I don’t need to take a bite.”

Aaron and I were talking about how she had gotten bigger.
A: “Do you want to be this tall? Like me? (motioning up to his height)
L: “No.”
A: “As tall as Mama?”
L: “Little bit taller. (Pinching her fingers to about an inch apart)
Me: “Hey, Lena. You need to be as tall as me or short.”
L ignores me.
Me: “You don’t get any bigger than me.”
L ignores me.
Me: “Don’t grow taller than me, you got it?”
L: “I can’t [not grow bigger than you].”

And here is a funny video of Reed…