Thanks for the reminder that I haven't posted since Tuesday! I'm really tired right now, so a short update is probably all I'm good for...and hopefully I will be able to post a longer one tomorrow.

Lest you think that my child went to the highest bidder on ebay, I assure you, he did not. I told my mom that sometimes it's good to hear other people say that they get to the point of crazy with frustration w/ their kids. I guess I feel like, since we have wanted a child for so long...and have worked so hard & invested so much in Iliya's adoption, that it is almost ungrateful of me to get frustrated with him. I know that's silly, because life can be frustrating in general, but it's still the way I feel sometimes. And then I feel guilty, because I wonder if we had had him from birth, if I would get less frustrated b/c of all the time we would've had together. And then mom said that there were times she could've stuck us all in the garbage can at one point or another...and I realized that biological, adopted, or whatever...our kids will push us and sometimes make us crazy. But the key is to love them, and work on patience. That has been my prayer this week. To have patience and know how to deal with whatever frustrations are present at any given moment.

And the great update is that our week has gotten progressively better. Wednesday was an okay day...I was still feeling pretty crappy, but we made it through. And today was a really good day. Yesterday, I decided to pull out Iliya's little turtle sandbox and - instead of filling it with sand - I filled it with water. Yes, he had his first pooltime experience. And he loved it. At first, he couldn't figure out the deal with getting in water with clothes still on his body...but then he decided it wasn't so bad because the water still splashes the same!

Here are a few pics from his first water adventure:


A few things I have learned:

• Diapers leak during the night. We have changed so many sheets. But lo and behold, a diaper sold exclusively at W@lmart is the key to our dry-at-night success!! Hooray!
• Little boy clothes and shoes are hard to come by. T@rget has 3 aisles of cute little girl shoes and one side of an aisle of little boy shoes that aren't so cute. Makes me ill.
• There are cute little boy clothes at specialty stores, but this mama ain't payin' $72 for a romper that will fit her child for a month at the most. Even if it was reallllly cute and would be perfect for football season.
• I guess I really need to learn to sew. I have the equipment...I guess that $72 was my motivation.

Iliya now knows how to sign "bath." In fact, he seems to understand that "bath" means "to wash." Last night, he was in the bathtub playing, and he looked at me, pointed to the washcloth and signed, "more, please, bath." So we washed, rinsed, and got out of the tub.

Today, he was fussing about something, wanting more of whatever it was. I didn't know what he wanted 'more' of, until he made the sign for "drink." I said, ohhhhhhhh, okay! And I went to find his sippy cup with water in it. He took a drink, crumpled his face, shook his head with an emphatic "NO" and did the sign for drink again. So I deduced that he wanted some juice. Since he hadn't pooped all day, I went ahead & gave him some plum juice. Made him happy. No tears. Of course, still no poop... but you win some & lose some, I suppose. I hope this doesn't mean a blowout tomorrow!!

I have a very gassy child. I think he may be the gassiest in the world. And not only is he gassy, but he stinks. Nathan made the comment, tonight, that he's really worried about what Iliya is going to smell like in 10 years, if he smells this bad right now!

Tonight, we had some new friends over. Right before we left on our 2nd trip, we learned of another couple in town who is using our agency...and actually waiting for their invitation to travel for their first trip...to Vladivostok! I thought that was pretty cool - and we wanted to get together before we left for our trip, but it didn't work out. So we made plans & got together tonight...they came over & we grilled out. We had a great time - and Iliya seemed to enjoy the company, too! So, Josh & Leslie, I know you read...it was great to meet you tonight & we can't wait to see you again soon!!

And that turned out longer than I had planned. Probably not as detailed as I might normally write. But...for tonight, that's all, folks!