Me & All My Kids (Some Observations)

Something happened yesterday that is becoming a common occurrence as I walk Lydia home from kindergarten, with Birdie in tow and Elliot in the stroller.  An older lady stopped me and said, "Oh, all the children!  Are they all yours?"  (Me:  "Yes, they are all mine.")  Then she gushed with praise:  "How wonderful, just wonderful!  Congratulations, congratulations!"  Then she usually showers me with blessings for health, happiness, good luck, etc.  In the US, three kids wouldn't seem like anything too extraordinary, but here, where most parents only have one child, and the Russian population is declining alarmingly, it's something special!  The other day one of Lydia's classmates and her mom caught up with us on the street.  Her mom said, "Not too many people have 3 kids, so it was easy to recognize you from far away!"  And also, maybe it's the fact that I'm out walking with all of them, instead of leaving one or more at home in the care of the Babushka.  (In which case, I'd probably be at work to help support Babushka and the rest of the family.)  In the US, if I did get comments about having lots of kids, I think the reaction would be more like, "Wow, how do you do it?" and not, "How wonderful!"  I like these old ladies that stop me and shower me and my kids with blessings... it reminds me of what a precious blessing they really are!

Men's Day & Maslenitsa

It's been a fun week at Lydia's detsky sad (kindergarten)!  On Tuesday, they had a celebration for the dads for Men's Day, otherwise known as "Day of the Defender of the Fatherland."  The kids did a performance of singing and dancing, while dressed up like sailors and nurses in World War II.  They also played games that included the fathers.

Today (the 23rd) is actually Men's Day, so Lydia and I made a special breakfast for Daddy.  I made the eggs, and Lydia was in charge of the toast.  You'll see pictures of her at work in the slideshow too.  Later on today we celebrated with a manly lunch at Burger King!

Yesterday at Lydia's kindergarten, the kids celebrated Maslenitsa, otherwise known as "pancake week" or "butter week."  It is the week before lent, when everyone eats blini (Russian pancakes).  One of the old traditions is to have an outdoor celebration, which includes burning a straw doll.  It is part of ushering in spring, which is hopefully soon to come!  (Today is much warmer- above freezing- so maybe it worked!)  Here's the slideshow of that fun:

Three Months!

The little guy is already 3 months old!

Merry Christmas! (Again!)

Tomorrow is Christmas!  Wait, didn't we already celebrate Christmas?  Yes, but in Russia, Christmas is on January 7!  I think it's kind of fun to stretch out the holiday season a little longer, and celebrate Christmas again.  We didn't do presents again, but we did have a Christmas eve service at our church this afternoon.  They had tables set up with lots of food and tea, and we all sat down and ate during the program.  And Lydia got to sing a solo!  She sang "Angels We Have Heard on High" in Russian and in English, and she did a great job.

Of course, we have a video for you!

The rest of the family in front of the tree

This was "take 1" of the picture of the girls.  Actually, takes 1, 2 & 3 were like this, until Birdie finally decided to smile!

Happy New Year and Bangs!

Happy New Year!  "Bangs" could be referring to the sound of fireworks that we heard all night on new year's eve, but I'm actually referring to the hair kind of bangs.  Lydia has been begging for me to cut bangs for her for a long time, and I finally decided to do it.  I kind of liked her hair without them, but since she really seemed sure she wanted them, we went ahead with it today.  And since big sis was getting bangs, Birdie certainly wanted them too!  I discovered that cutting bangs straight isn't as easy as it looks (even after I watched a YouTube video on how to do it)!  So they're not perfect, and I learned a little for next time, but Lydia was beside herself with joy over her beautiful bangs.  She couldn't stop thanking me!  And I decided that my little girls are super cute either way!  Here are the before & after shots:

Before:

 After:

 And even though Elliot didn't get a haircut, I'll throw in a picture of him from today too.  He's having "tummy time," supposedly to strengthen his neck muscles, but he was too happy just relaxing and sucking on his fist.

Lydia's New Year Program

Lydia did a great job yesterday at her Russian kindergarten program.  For part of it, she was a circus horse, and for part she had the honor of being "Sneguochka," the snow princess.  She loves performing, and it was so fun to watch her and the other kids.

Here's Birdie and our neighbor before the program started.  (I had woken Birdie up from her nap to go, and she wasn't too much in the mood for smiling!)

 Some of the other ladies urged me to go get Elliot's picture taken with the tree, since it's his first New Year celebration.

 Finally a cute smile & pose from Birdie!

 The kids lined up to enter the music hall:

And the videos...
Lydia singing her Snegurochka song:

As a dancing circus horse:

Saying her verse to Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost or Santa Claus):


Dancing around Ded Moroz & trying to wake him up:

Elliot's Arrival (2 months ago!)

I'm finally posting some pictures from Elliot's birth, which amazingly, was 2 months ago already!  I can't believe how time is flying by.  It probably seems that way because I'm usually in a tired daze most of the time!  Elliot is a happy, healthy baby though, and we are thrilled to have him as part of the family!

Here's me waiting to go up to the delivery room:

Right after Elliot's arrival!

Not-so-flattering first picture!

Here the nurses decided that Elliot will be a doctor someday...

All bundled up & happy!

Getting set up in my room for the next 3 days:

Proud Papa & son!

Just look at all that hair!

Getting ready to go home:

Our special gift!

Here's our family of 5:

The girls meeting their little baby-doll brother:

Ready to head home!

First bath at home:

Bundled up for first walk to the park:

Story time:

Here's the little guy at 1 month old:

And now, since 2 months have gone by since his birth, here's Elliot at 2 months old!  I finally caught a pretty good smile on camera.