Novruz Celebration!!!

Happy Novruz!!! Or Happy Spring :) We celebrated Novruz (pronounced "Nov-ruz meaning "New Day") today with the Azerbaijan Society of America, at the Orion Palace in Brooklyn, NY. It truly was a terrific cultural experience for the whole family, especially Ryan :) This was our third Novruz Celebration with the Azerbaijan Society of America in NY and as usual the food and the entertainment were spectacular!

We have always celebrated spring with Azerbaijan in mind (since the arrival of our oldest son, Ryan), and we have tried many, many times to grow Samani - a plate of wheat grass or lentil grass. Every year we try to grow Samani and I'm sad to report every year nothing grows or it only grows a quarter of an inch :/ Here is a website, from Azerbaijan International Magazine, that describes how to grow Samani, perhaps you will have better luck than us :/

http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai144_folder/144_articles/144_novruz_samani.html.

Also, for those who are interested, here is another website from Azerbaijan International Magazine, that describes what Novruz means and a Celebration that would not die...

http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/22_folder/22_articles/22_noruz.html. And here is another website, from Azerbaijan International Magazine, Celebrating Novruz Photo Essay - Readers Capture the Spirit of Novruz...

http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai111_folder/111_articles/111_photos_novruz.html.

Finally, another website, http://www.turkishny.com/en/local-news/4664-amerika-azerbaycanlilar-dernegi-uyeleri-nevruzda-bulustu.html this is in Turkish but if you look close enough at the very first photo you can see Ron and I sitting at the table in the background. I thought this was hysterical, I told Ron we made the news in Turkey/Azerbaijan...LOL :)

As I'm sure you have noticed the photos of our Novruz Celebration 2009, also I've included a video of Azerbaijani dancers-simply beautiful!!!

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

PS-On a side note-Ryan is doing much, much better from his stay in the hospital earlier in the week :) Thank-You ALL for your prayers and loving thoughts! We weren't too sure if we would be able to attend the Novruz Celebration, but Thank-Goodness we were able to!

Remembering as if it were yesterday...

One Year Ago today it was "International Woman's Day" and we were leaving Russia after seeing, meeting, and accepting our referral. It truly was a bitter sweet day, because on the one hand you have a sense of relief, that you have accomplished another task to bring you closer to realizing your dream...the dream of adopting this baby boy. On the other hand, you have to leave this precious baby boy back in Russia and honestly unless you have been through it, it truly is the most agonizing thing we have ever been through in our entire lives! Metaphorically, I tell everyone it's the same as having your heart ripped out and literally left in Russia and/or Azerbaijan. And I do say that YES it is that horrible of an experience!

Our facilitator, Irina, told us that we would return soon enough and you know we believed her :) You may think that these are just merely "words" she tells every PAP but Irina is extremely sincere in her demeanor and I, for one, and still do to this day, believed her because she was absolutely CORRECT!

Because it was "International Women's Day," which is extremely similar to the U.S. version of Mother's Day (which incidentally we traveled for our court date in May 2008 and it fell directly on Mother's Day, we did spend this day in an airplane and we truly did not celebrate it but Lukie is SO worth it!), so Ron went to our hotel's flower shop, at the Hyundai Hotel, and bought Irina flowers, because she deserves them and in our minds a lot more! Before Irina took us to the airport, we made a pit stop at Lukie's baby hospital to give our Goodbyes. I'm not so sure this was such a wonderful idea?! I SO wanted to scoop up our baby boy and bring him home with us, who cares that he didn't have the proper paper work, after all I was a Mommy in agony, surely the Russian Gov. would understand!? I just kept repeating to Luke "we will be back," I think this was more for me than him :/

Here are some photos of just how much Lukie has changed from that very first week back in March 2008 to now :)

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

1 year ago...

Here comes the stork...what I really mean is here comes Fed-Ex with our referral of our future son :) Ummmm, as many of you know, YES...Ron works for UPS and YES he was upset that his second son couldn't be delivered via UPS, just like Ryan :/

Ron & Ryan looking at Luke's referral photo :)

Who would have thought a year ago today that Ron and myself would receive a referral of our

2nd future son...who we now call Luke :) Today was an emotional day, at least for me it was...here are some photos of that day 1 year ago.

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Luke :)

My very First Haircut!!!

Well, I think the headline says it all!!! Here are some photos and a vidoe of this event! And YES Luke no longer has his mullet :) I was sad to see him get his first haircut b/c he no longer looks like a baby but rather a big boy now :(

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

Lukie getting his First Haircut...he looks soooo happy doesn't he???

Reflecting on the past year...What an AMAZING year!!!

Lukie & Ryan vegging after the Holidays

Ryan & Lukie playing with Ryan's new toy (Lightening McQueen Car) from Pop-Pop

Our boys standing by the Christmas tree with their favorite presents...well for the moment

Big Brother finally gave up reign of his car and let Lukie drive Lightening

Ryan & Lukie on Christmas Eve

Our boys again by the Christmas Tree

Lukie adored all the wrapping paper!

Ryan loves anything that has to do with Lightening McQueen

Christmas cookies for Santa and reindeer food, of course :)

Our trip to Storybook Land from the Ferris Wheel

The boys in Santa's sleigh at Storybook Land

The boys "before" we even got to Storybook Land :)

The boys coming out of an igloo...that was one of the coldest nights it felt like we were in an igloo all night long!

The boys making Christmas cookies...FUN!!!

We certainly hope that everyone had a spectacular Christmas!!! We did!!! We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present...he came a bit early but better early than never :) Of course we are talking about "Lukie"!!! Lukie has enriched all of our lives, especially Ryan's, every time we see them hug, kiss or even have the "typical" spat over some toy or another we can't help but shed a tear and think this was what we wanted to achieve...our boys/siblings forever. Family members and friends, who may I add were against the idea of us adopting again, at least in the beginning, are now saying to EVERYONE who will listen what a terrific thing we have done, especially for Ryan. Thank-You Everyone :)
As you know, or may not know, this was our second Holiday Season without my Mom and you know what I think this season was the hardest, as a matter of fact this second year not having my Mom around has been extremely difficult. They say that time heals all wounds?!? Who ever came up with this was obviously on drugs or drinking heavily! B/C I will state that this year, it will be 2 years since my Mom passed in February, has been the hardest. It's almost as if you expect that one you love to come through the door, as if they have been on vacation all this time. But, then by the second year you actually realize that they are not coming back from that vacation. So, needless to say it has been difficult. I've talked to my sister and she too feels this way. She thought she was the only one who felt like this :(

With the New Year approaching, after all it is December 31st, we hope that all of our Family Members and Friends have a WONDERFUL upcoming year...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
By the way...my New Year's resolution is to post more and I must get Lukie's timeline up on here. PAP's and others have been asking us about this, this is our next project. After all, we received a call from EAC that we had a referral on 1/31/08...we can't believe that this anniversary is fast approaching!!!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

Lukie eating his favorite candy of the season...Candy Cane!!!

So much to talk about...

Lukie's 2nd Thanksgiving Dinner...at our house

Lukie's 1st Thanksgiving Dinner...at Babci and Dzydzyia's house...looking a little full aren't we???

Lukie's Birthday Party...it's Lukie and Joy playing Basketball at Kid Junction (this is where we had his Birthday Party)

Daddy, Mommy, Ryan and the BIG Birthday Boy!!!

Lukie truly did enjoy his 1st Birthday cake!!!

My boys holding hands at Lukie's Baptism celebration...word to the wise, if you are going to have a celebration after the Baptism (with food) PLEASE bring extra clothes :) We learned the hard way with Ryan :/

Sorry about this, it's confusing but here is a photo of Lukie's Birthday cake, in with the Baptism photos :/

Lukie smiling pretty at his Birthday Party at Kid Junction :)

Lukie looking at us all from the jungle gym they have at Kid Junction...he LOVED the jungle gym!!!

Ryan and Lukie driving...they both look so serious, don't they???

And here we are again, back to the Baptism photos :/ This is the Church of the Sacred Heart, where he was Baptized. As a matter of fact, this is the church where my Mom & Dad were married, Ron & I were married, Ryan was Baptized, and now Lukie too :)

Poor thing, do you see him holding onto Aunt Re for dear life :(

Cool photo, huh...Lukie running?

Ryan dancing or maybe posing?...too cute, heehee!

Lukie's cake that Ron's cousin, Cricket, made for his Baptism...isn't this beautiful?!?

As many of you will take notice, YES, this is the same photo from our Christmas Card :)

Summer, our 12 year old dog, the kiddos sure do wear her out!!!

Again, sorry about the order of photos here...I love this photo b/c you can barely see Ryan's head peeking above the Baptism bowl :)

Our dapper Lukie looking spectacular in his white mini-tux :) Thanks Aunt Re & Goomba :)

Ryan putting the angel on the top of our Christmas Tree, as you will notice, you can barely see Lukie looking at the Christmas Tree :)

Hi Everyone,

WHEW!!! Is truly all I can say right now! As usual we have been busy, busy little bees, with Holidays coming and soon to be gone.

The BIGGEST news is that Lukie celebrated his 2nd Birthday with us :) We can't believe he is 2 already!!! Where on earth did that time go? Then we had Thanksgiving, which I will say he was a trooper. Here's the scope on Thanksgiving in our household...every year we have 2 (yep, that's what I said...count them 1, 2) dinners for Thanksgiving. You really need to space these 2 dinners out. Ron's nephew actually had 3 dinners this year, God Bless him! We start off with Thanksgiving Lunch at my in-laws (Ron's Mom & Dad) and then we went onto the next. This year was extremely sentimental b/c not only was I missing my Mom (it will be 2 years since she passed 2/17/07) but I also had the guts to make my Mom's stuffing...which was a hit!!! Thanks Mom :) Ron made the Turkey and the trimmings, he is an amazing man!!! I really don't say that enough!

After Thanksgiving it was time for Lukie's 2 year old check-up. We are extremely HAPPY to announce that after being home 6 months he is now in the 50% for BOTH height and weight...WOOHOOO!!! We couldn't be happier!!! But as many parents know with check-ups come those dreaded shots...ugh! After Lukie received his, he looked up at me and said OUCH!!! And started rubbing his arm, awwwwwwwwwwww!!!

We have also been decorating the house in Christmas attire...mostly SNOWMEN!!! I realized WHY Ryan likes snowmen sooooooo much, it's b/c Mommy has hundreds of snowmen :) And you may be asking when I realized this??? Why, that would be when I was pulling all of my snowmen out of the Christmas totes :/ Luke is thrilled with the Christmas Tree, he absolutely adores it! The cutest thing is that right now he loves blowing candles out, learned how to at his Birthday Party, and literally this is all he does when we put the Christmas Tree lights on...tooooo cute!!! And of course he loves taking the ornaments off, bringing them to me and saying Uh-Ohh. I constantly tell others it's never a good thing when you "Uh-Ohh" out of your toddlers mouth b/c you truly do know that something happened :/ It's cute though and so far so good, b/c he has not broken a single ornament...well yet. However, now that I've said that, well you know :)

In the meantime Lukie has qualified for Speech services thru our Early Intervention Program. What happened was, we weren't happy with where his speech was, let me put it this way...he wasn't regressing but he also wasn't progressing, he was just stagnant. In our honest opinion, we thought he should have qualified for services back when he was initially evaluated, back in June. So, we had the EI team out at our house to re-eval him, last month, for his speech and he now qualifies :) The EI team and myself our working our schedules right now, which seems next to impossible but we will work it out.

Finally, yesterday was Lukie's Baptism :) It turned out beautifully! After the Baptism itself we celebrated at Braddock's and that too was spectacular, we couldn't have asked for anything else! A note to the wise...if you are going to have a celebration after the Baptism, PLEASE bring extra clothes! We learned the hard way with Ryan :/ Toddlers do not mix with all white Baptism outfits :)

WOW!!! I didn't realize that this much has happened to us in such a short amount of time?!? Ohhh, I almost forgot on December 4th Lukie has been home for 6 months now...OM! Again, time is flying!!!

And of course I have photos and a video :) Enjoy :)

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

PS-Yesterday right before we got him dressed for the Baptism, we found Lukie on our bed, with my crocs on, trying to do somersaults...he never ceases to amazes us :)