Fun-filled Wednesday.

Wednesday is always a favorite for Isaac. He attends a special dance class and then gets to visit with his favorite horses at a local farm. But today was even more special, as he also got to hang out with his favorite girl, Rose. Her Mommy is the dance teacher. The classes take place in a studio at their home.

Here he is playing with the parachute at his dance class:

Here are his fellow *adorable* classmates:

Here is Isaac pointing to his favorite horse. We feed them carrots every Wednesday. They are very sweet horses ... and really BIG!

Rose just loves Isaac. And Isaac loves her ... but not so much when he is eating :)

After lunch, Rose's Mom, Summer and I were chatting ... and when it seemed like we were able to chat longer than usual, I went and checked on our all-too-quiet children. This is how I found them:

Summer had a great idea to go for a walk on the lake. It was a beautiful 40 degrees today (awesome weather for February in Maine).

Thank you Rose, Summer, horses & classmates for a great day today! We look forward to next Wednesday :)

Love,

Jodi

The Children's Museum / January

One of Isaac's favorite places on Earth (thus far) is the Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor, Maine. It is about 45 minutes from our house. And thanks to my Uncle Bill, Isaac has a membership there. So, we go as frequently as possible.

Isaac especially loves that he can just explore the whole museum with wild abandon. He can touch everything and Mommy never tells him "no"! What sheer delight for a 2-year old!

As soon as he enters the building, he heads right to the train set. After a few minutes, he goes to say "Hi" to the turtles, fish, snakes and lizards. Then it is off to explore the many floors of various activities, his favorite of which is the giant "lite bright" set. Here are some photos:



Thanks for looking & feel free to share your own Children's Museum pics.

Love,

Jodi & Isaac

Isaac is FABULOUS!

My son just LOVES to look *FABULOUS* in his Mommy's scarves!

(Picture taken some time in mid-January).

Millionaire by 21?

I have been tossing around this idea (between Halis and I) about putting away enough money for Isaac so that when he is 21 years old, he will already be a millionaire. That way he can choose to do whatever he wants in life, without money being an object (I am secretly hoping that he spends his life travelling). Of course, Mommy and Daddy would dole it out appropriately ... but I believe that we will raise a responsible human being who will be wise with his money (my fingers are crossed).

I know this is a lofty idea, but I believe that ALL things are possible!

Isaac has his own bank account right now and every week he puts money (coins found around the house) into it and delivers it to the lovely ladies at Sebasticook Valley Savings Bank. He has quite a bit saved already. And we plan to invest every birthday dollar, found penny, and lemonade stand earnings :)

But, I must tell you that I just did the calculations ... and Isaac and I had better get to work on selling some lemonade because the numbers are staggering! If I want Isaac to be a Millionaire by 21, then we need to put away or invest $52,631.58 per year! (*gulp*).

Well, okay then! We will just have to start one penny at a time. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Got a penny to spare?

Our Best Christmas Morning EVER!

OUR BEST CHRISTMAS MORNING EVER

The tree was lovingly decorated ...

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care ...

The house was made festive ...

And alas ... on the holiest of days, the gifts for our own "prince of peace" arrived ...

And Isaac was happy at the discovery of them ...

And Daddy was happy that Mommy gave him an entire hockey outfit so that they can play together on the ice ...

Mommy was so happy to share this special day with her boy (finally) ...

And Grammy Bobo and Poppy came to share the love and laughter as well ...

Isaac enjoyed the quilt and pillow that Mommy made for his baby dolls ...

And Santa was VERY good to him this year! He brought Isaac his own ATV ...

Ok, Ok, that is not his ATV ... but check out what Grammy Bobo and Poppy got for him! His very own wheels! And he is SO good at driving it ... at only 21 months old!!! ...

Wow! Grandparents rock!

What an amazing Christmas. We spent it just the way that we wanted to ... at home with eachother ... enjoying every moment with the baby boy that we have waited our whole lives for. It was absolutely perfect.

Thank you God.

Oh yeah, and we had the best laughs at watching this little man drive around on his new wheels. We hope you do too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1XcBFiT8LI

Merry Christmas to All!

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

Lots of Love to all our family and friends - at this joyous season & always!

Happy Solstice, Happy Hannakuh, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad & Joyeaux Noel!

Isaac's First Snow Storm!

To see a short video of Isaac's first trek through the snow, please click HERE.

Isaac's First Haircut & First Visit With Santa

I cannot believe that it has been a month since my last post. And more than that, I cannot believe how much Isaac has grown and changed within that month. His vocabulary has improved greatly, his gross motor skills are such that he has mastered some toddler basketball skills, and he can tell you just about every sound that can possibly be made by any given farm animal (goose, duck, dog, cat, frog, chicken, chick, rooster, cow, sheep, pig, turkey, horse and goat). His "cock-a-doodle-doo" is a favorite around here.

And today, he went to the mall and got his first haircut! What a big boy he was too. We were shocked at how good he was through the whole process. Here is a photo:

And here is his "after" shot taken later that evening with a face full of spaghetti sauce:

Prior to his haircut, Isaac also met Santa for the first time. And frankly, like so many young toddlers around the world... he hated every second of it! Here are some photos:

But he did love the toddler "merry-go-round" that costs a $1 for about 2 minutes! And he thought it was very important to ride it OVER and OVER again.

And because Mommy is always the one who is taking pictures, one might wonder whether or not I truly exist, seeing as Daddy is always the one being photographed with Isaac. Well, on most days I do exist ... and I also got a haircut today at the mall. Here is a photo of my much shorter mane. I am SO happy with it:

We had such a great day together at the mall... a simple pleasure that we don't ever seem to have the time for. We got to do a little shopping, eat some Chinese food & ice cream, get haircuts, and play on silly mechanical rides. It was such a treat just to spend the day together in "the outside world"!

And at the end of the day, Isaac took a nice long bath ... until he pooped in it. Really, he did. Just like Caddyshack. Anyway, we leave you with this photo:

Goodnight :)

Isaac's First Halloween

Have you ever seen a more gorgeous giraffe in all your life?

Isaac had a great time trick-or-treating. Although he was initially thoroughly confused at the idea that we would walk up to the front door of someone's house, knock on it, and then NOT enter into it once they had opened the door. However, he soon adjusted to the fact that we were not staying over at anyone's house, but rather, we were just looking for them to hand us some candy!

And even more than that, Isaac had no idea what candy was or why he might want some. Yeah for Mommy and Daddy! More candy for us. But by the fourth or fifth house, he got the idea that once a stranger handed you a treat, you then put it into your "trick-or-treat" bag and then saunter off to the next house. He just had a great time walking around and yelling "Hello!" to all of the other kids out walking the streets ... no matter how funny or scary they looked.

We also dropped by our local fire station for an ice cream and some apple cider. That was the highlight of Isaac's evening!

Isaac Befriends the Seagulls of Bangor

Last Tuesday, Isaac and I took a stroll by the Penobscot River in Bangor in an effort to befriend some seagulls. It was such a great time! I took some video of Isaac chasing the seagulls and throwing foood for them. I will upload it later. But for now, here are some sweet photos:

Isaac is officially "ours" in every way!

On September 27th, 2006, the State of Maine officially recognized our international adoption of Isaac. At this court appearance he also had his name legally changed from Watson Metellus Sirimoglu to Isaac Watson Renshaw-Sirimoglu. We were so happy to have finished this final stage in the adoption process (although we still have 4 home visits until our adoption is truly complete).

Isaac's Grammy (Gisele Renshaw) attended the court appearance. And we all celebrated afterward with a meal and a tour through Toys R Us. Here are some photos of the event:

Mommy, Daddy, Isaac, the "Judge" and Grammy.

Playing with Grammy's glasses.

Isaac's favorite toy at Toys R Us.

That evening, we had our good friends, the Stankevitzs) over to celebrate the occassion. I made a simple cake, the kids got naked (for reasons unknown) and we enjoyed some laughs. Here are some photos:

Mommy and Isaac - blowing out the red, white & blue candles.

Isaac's friends Zoe and Alyssa and their Mommy, Auntie Michelle.

Daddy and his good friend, Ryan.

Isaac likes the cake!

Later that night, Isaac got his jammies on and watched an Elmo movie in the bed that he shares with his Mommy and Daddy. As he watched his movie, we watched him and reflected on what a wonderful life that we have begun creating - together.

Sleep peacefully, our little man, Mommy and Daddy are here for you always.

Article I Wrote Before Isaac Came Home

Who hasn't "googled" their name on the internet? If you haven't, you'll be surprised by what you may find. I google my name every once in a while to find out what the world thinks I am up to. Here is what I found today:

http://maineindymedia.org/newswire/display/3304/index.php

It is an article that I wrote regarding my fundraising efforts during Isaac's adoption. Wow, what a different space Halis and I were in at that time. Our son wasn't home yet, and every thought and deed centered on trying to get him home. Now he is home safe and happy, and every thought and deed centers on raising him in a nurturing atmosphere.

The above article was featured in at least 3 newspapers and a couple of internet sites. We raised about $500 for Isaac's orphanage. But better than that, we raised alot of awareness regarding the plight of Haiti and Haitian adoption. I still have people come up to me to ask questions about adoption because they remember the article. I am thankful! Sometimes, in our local area, people will come to Isaac and say, "I saw your picture in the paper when you were still in Haiti." It is wonderful that he gets recognized. It opens dialogue.

Isaac Gets His Day in Court!

On Wednesday, September 27th, 2006, Isaac will be readopted in the state of Maine. Though he is already considered a US citizen and his adoption has been recognized by the United States, this readoption is necessary in order to change his name, secure his Social Security number and obtain a US passport. On this day his name will officially be changed from Watson Metellus to Isaac Watson Renshaw-Sirimoglu.

We are SO excited! This is the last time we have to petition the courts for anything related to Isaac's adoption. Hooray! (But we still have to endure 3 more home visits from a caseworker before he is considered completely "ours". Ugh!)

Anyway, for anyone interested in attending, we are going to celebrate this occassion with a visit to the Maine Discovery Museum and lunch at Portla's (both in downtown Bangor). The Superior Court proceeding is at 9am on Sept. 27 (Click HERE for directions). It should last about an hour (including pictures taken with the judge). Afterward we will walk over to the museum and then walk over to Portla's at lunchtime.

Admission to the museum is $5 per person and lunch at Portla's usually runs just $5 per person as well.

PLEASE JOIN US IF YOU CAN.

Isaac Playing w/ Mommy's Scarves, Sept 3rd