Merry Christmas Everyone….

We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday! Victoria’s excitement for Christmas finally came to a head this week. She had a great time traveling to see family on Christmas Eve, Christmas day and the day after Christmas (and there will be more family to visit this coming weekend). Needless to say, Victoria’s first Christmas at home was a complete hit!

Since it gets dark around 4:30pm, Victoria was very concerned on Christmas Eve that we would not be home in time to go to sleep (she thought Santa would pass by our house). After we assured her that there was plenty of time, she went on to have a great night. Once we arrived at home, she was ready to put out cookies and milk for Santa…she even asked that we put out carrots for the reindeer (very thoughtful little girl, huh?). After the goodies were ready, she was off to sleep. Fortunately, she had such a great time with her cousins that she was completely tuckered out and slept great (we actually had to wake her up on Christmas morning…can you believe that?).

When she saw that Santa came, she was very excited and was even more so when she opened her presents…Santa had brought her what she asked for! What a Christmas it was…words cannot really do it justice.

Just like last week, pictures are the best way to see how much fun Victoria had. So, here are some pictures from the week…

Opening presents on Christmas Eve:

Playing along with her cousin as she dressed up as Santa:
Having a blast on Christmas Eve!
The cookies, milk and carrots that Victoria personally set out:
Is that Rudolph on our tree?
Our stockings on Christmas morning:
Hanging with her cousins on Christmas day:
Sitting with her grandparents on Christmas day:
Posing with Mommy on Christmas night:
Posing with Daddy on Christmas night:
All smiles with her Great-Grandmother after Christmas:
Dr. Fantozzi on call to check Daddy out…hope he’s OK (haha…):
The doctor is in the house:

A Week Driven by the Weather….

Hello everyone! We had some crazy weather here this week. It started with a rain/ice storm and ended with a pretty big snow storm (we got 10 inches of snow, but were spared the 24 inches that folks received only 50 miles south of us). Of course, Victoria LOVES the snow, so she was nearly beside herself in anticipation. The snow started a little later than expected, so Victoria was concerned that it was not going to come at all. Fortunately, she had soccer in the morning to keep her occupied (since one of the kids was not able to make it, Victoria got to scrimmage against Daddy…which she loved).

When the snow finally started (“The Blizzard of 2009”as it was called on the Weather Channel), it came fast and the wind chills were in the single digits. The way the wind was blowing reminded us of our time in Russia earlier in the year. While Daddy was outside stringing up the final set of Christmas lights, Victoria was chomping at the bit to get outside…but, it was way too cold. So, Mommy made everyone some nice hot chocolate and we spent the rest of the day enjoying the warmth of the living room. The next day, the snow storm had subsided and the wind had died down. Victoria barely got out a “Good Morning” before she started asking to go outside. Everyone bundled up and we headed out. First there was some shoveling to do and Victoria was a great helper. Once the shoveling was finished, it was time for play. Victoria was sliding around, playfully throwing snowballs, making snow angels, and even helped make a snow man (unfortunately, it was not good packing snow, so it looked more like Jobba the Hut than Frosty…but, no matter, we had a blast).

Pictures are the best way to see how much fun Victoria had, so here are some pictures from the week…

Getting ready for outside:

Helping out the shoveling:
So proud…what a smile!
She loved being outside:
A snow angel:
Our snow angel:
Making new tracks:

Let’s Make Things Look Beautiful….

Hello everyone from still frigid, but now rainy central Jersey. Truly interesting weather patterns we have been having here. Had this week’s rain been snow, we would likely be under a few feet of snow at this point. The weather tried, but could not stand in the way of Victoria’s acting debut this week. Victoria had a speaking role (yes, she had multiple lines) in a school play this week. The theme of the play was related to modes of transportation. In addition to singing as part of the group, Victoria’s lines were in a skit about taking the bus to school. Victoria was practicing her lines for a few weeks now and did fantastic. When it was time for her skit, she showed no signs of nerves (there was a crowd of about 200 people). She stepped up, turned on her microphone and hit her lines right on cue. Her English has been coming along in leaps and bounds recently. For Mom and Dad, this was such a wonderful sight to see…so proud of and amazed by our little girl…

Victoria is showing a lot of positive interest recently in having conversations about Russia (talking about our plane trips, her times celebrating holidays, etc.). So, it was fitting this week that it came up at a doctor’s appointment. Victoria’s Pediatrician is from Russia...in fact, so is everyone in the doctor’s office). So, when one of the doctors mentioned that she was from Russia, Victoria responded “You’re from Russia? Cool!” It was a very cute interaction.

As we have been driving around our area, Victoria has been noticing all of the houses decorated for Christmas. So, she has been wondering when we were going to make our house “look beautiful”. Last weekend, the snow stopped us from picking up our tree, but we would not be denied this week. Picking out our tree and putting up our outside decorations were truly the highlight of the week for Victoria. The cold weather made the outside effort a little tough, but she was absolutely giddy about decorating for Christmas! As we put up the lights outside, she was smiling, jumping around and kept saying she was “so happy!”. Once the tree had time to settle, she was ready to decorate…first the lights, then the ornaments, then she had the honor of putting the angel on top. It’s really difficult to describe her excitement with words. She had fun, we had fun, and now we decorated our tree for the first time as a family…awesome.

Here are some pictures from the week…

All smiles after the play:

With her proud parents:
At the tree farm…she could not stop smiling!
Daddy hanging lights:
Supervising as the lights went up:
Excited that the front of the house looks beautiful:
Smiling from ear to ear as we decorated the tree:
Helping Mommy and Daddy string lights:
“This is fun”…helping to clean up the pine needles:
All decorated…just the angel topper to go:
Up high to put on the angel:

A Whole Week Wrapped Up In One Day….

Hello from frigid and snowy central Jersey. This week, Mother Nature wanted to remind us that it is December and that winter will soon be here. After a day in the 60’s early in the week, the temperature plummeted and we had snow this weekend. It’s hard to believe that the year-end holidays are fast approaching and that 2009 is coming to a close. We clearly remember back to last year at this time…the anticipation of being invited back to Russia so that we could bring our little princess home. What a year this has been!

From Monday to Friday of this week, there was really nothing much going on. However, when Saturday came, that all changed. First thing Saturday morning, Victoria had her second soccer class. She was a pretty good listener and was a lot more adept at stopping/re-routing the ball with her feet (rather than using her hands). When the session ended, Mommy and Daddy could not help but laugh…we noticed that the other kids were all on the floor gasping for air (tired), but Victoria was up and still ready to go (even though she had run as hard if not harder than the other kids). She has nearly endless energy when she is having fun.

After soccer, we had about an hour’s break before we were back out the door to a birthday party for one of Victoria’s classmate/friend. They had the party at the indoor play park that Victoria and Mommy went to a few time this past summer. So, Victoria knew her way around and had an absolute blast! While Mommy and Daddy had a nice time getting to know a few of the other parents, we were so pleased to see how social Victoria was being with the other kids. When they saw her, they were clearly delighted to see her and she was happy to see them. A few parent mentioned that their children had been asking to have play dates with Victoria. So, it’s easy to see just how much more settled Victoria is becoming.

After the party, we switched gears and went to an open house for a business where Mommy knows the owners. The folks there were so happy to see Victoria (some for the first time). While there, Victoria mentioned how much she loved the snow…and a lot of it. Someone asked her where she had seen so much snow. Her response was excellent…”Russia”. Indeed she had seen a lot of snow there. Everyone at the open house was simply amazed at how clear Victoria’s English was after only 8 months. She really seems to have a way of impressing everyone she meets.

After the open house, we grabbed a quick lunch on what, up to this point, was a dreary, rainy day outside. We filled our bellies then headed home, so Victoria could change into her beautiful Christmas dress…because it was time for her to go and visit Santa! Suddenly, the fact that it was not snowing did not matter anymore. Up to her room she went and put on her dress…she looked so beautiful (Mommy even put little barrettes in her hair that said “Victoria”). We put on our jackets and headed for the door. As Daddy picked up the car keys, he noticed something different outside…it was snowing (our first snow since coming home in April). Victoria ran for the window and giggling with delight…seriously, she was downright giddy! How fitting that it started to snow as she headed to see Santa.

In the car and off the see Santa we went. The whole ride, Victoria was singing and laughing. When we arrived at Santa’s New Jersey house, Victoria was ready to go. As walked in the front door, Victoria dropped a few dollars in the Salvation Army bucket and told the woman that she was here to see Santa…this was clearly a little girl on a mission (hahaha)! We walked along, and then there he was! Mommy said “Look there is Santa” and Victoria responded with an excited “Yes, it is!” After a short wait, it was finally her turn to speak with Old Saint Nick…who even greeted her by name (Daddy snuck up first to let him know). She sat for her picture and gave a huge smile. When he asked her if she was good and what she wanted for Christmas, she was ready with her answers. She was beyond happy!!

After that excitement, we were off to one final stop. Victoria’s school was having a bookstore charity event. The bookstore was matching donations to the school equivalent to the price of any books purchased between specific hours at a bookstore. With the snow full on at this point, we headed out from Santa’s house. Thanks to the weather, it took just short of an hour to get there, but Victoria did not mind one bit. She was still glowing from her visit with Santa and she really loves her teachers from school (who were going to be at the bookstore). When we arrived, Victoria caught sight of the school Principal. Victoria ran right up and told him about her visit with Santa, after which she settled down to listen to some stories (a number of the teachers were reading their favorite holiday books to the kids…who loved it, of course). After the stories and picking out our fair share of books, we headed home for a late dinner…then, it was off to bed. What a long, wonderful day it was!!

Here are some pictures from the week…

Ready for her friend’s birthday party:
Enjoying a slide at the party:
Ready for more fun at the party:
Having lunch at the party:
Looking beautiful and ready to see Santa:
In line and ready to see Santa:
Posing with Santa:
Sporting a set of reindeer antlers that Santa gave her: