Since You Asked...

Here's another question we were frequently asked in the States:

What can we send you in packages?

I like this question.  Some people even wrote down a list!  But in case anyone else is wondering, I thought that I'd tell you some of the things that we enjoy receiving.  This really isn't a hint, well not too much of one anyway; because we can get a lot of great stuff here.  But there really isn't anything quite like the things you are familiar with from where you grew up.

So here they are in no particular order (and not limited by this list):

-Chocolate chips (Russians haven't realized yet how delicious fresh Chocolate Chip Cookies are!)

-Hot Tamales (the candy, the other kind wouldn't exactly ship well)

-Lithium batteries (this is to keep the pictures coming)

-Material for making Isaiah clothes

-Elastic (they seem to have 2 sizes here that I can find--itty bitty and really wide!)

-Whole bean coffee

-Decaf coffee

-Sensodyne toothpaste

-Vitamins

-Pictures of YOU

-Peppermint flavored candy

-Jiffy Cornbread Mix

-Index cards (for vocab flash cards)

-Veggie Tales music CDs, or some good kids' music; Isaiah asks for his music every day!

-Doritos (I think they might make it ok) :)

-Construction paper

-Hershey kisses

-Zicam

-Instant Dr. Pepper mix :)  Ok, so this doesn't really exist.

-Any helpful toddler learning tools

-Isaiah LOVES books!

-Contact paper

-Any good book you've read

When I think of other things, I might update the list.  And just in case you want to reference this later, I'm going to keep a link on the sidebar.  I feel really weird doing this, like I'm asking for things, which I guess I am, but it really is because people said that they wanted to know.  So now you know.

Oh, and you should also know that packages take about 6 weeks to get here--sometimes less.  If you would like our address info, email me, and I can send you a pdf version that you can print out so you don't have to fool with the cyrillic alphabet.

Anything you'd like from Russia?

Thanks for Praying

Here's an example of your prayers being answered!  

I've been praying for about a year now for a Russian mother to be my friend.  A couple weeks ago, Thomas and I visited a different church in order to get to know more pastors and believers.  We were able to meet lots of new people.  I even talked to some of them (yes, in Russian).  One lady in particular caught my attention because she was holding a baby in her arms!  At the church we normally attend, the only family (besides us) has grown children.  So I introduced myself and met Oksana, Igor (her husband) and Slava, their 7-month old little boy.  

Anyway, we seemed to get along really well.  She was patient with my Russian and even suggested that we get together.  So we did.  We got together and went to MEGA where there's an IKEA.  We shopped and played with the kids and took pictures of them being cute.  Then we went to her apartment for a little bit.  I spent about 7 hours conversing in Russian!  Needless to say, it really stretched my limited vocabulary, but Oksana was great and very helpful.  We're hoping to get together again very soon!

Here's Oksana with her little boy Slava.  Sorry it's so washed out, but I wanted to be sure that you saw her.

Both the boys enjoyed playing in these "buses" in the play area outside IKEA.  Women in every country like to shop, it seems. :)

Seven-month old sweetheart!

Isaiah driving and saying his second-favorite thing, "GO, GO, GO!"

Hey, that's another little boy, like me!

So, I love this series of pictures.  The boys were having a great time laughing at each other and rolling around on this mattress type thing.  Melted my heart and did me good to hear Isaiah enjoying himself so much, as he always seems to do!

Imagine Me Jumping Up and Down with Joy!

A lady in the park today thought that I was from Finland!  Woohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Cold!

Suddenly it's winter.  We enjoyed some really great days the end of August, but in September the weather took a quick decline to colder temperatures!  In fact, it's so cold that I keep forgetting that it's only September!  "Christmas is not just around the corner,"  I keep reminding myself.

Anyway, I think it shall become a tradition to post some pics of Isaiah sporting his cold-weather gear.

Because we don't control our heat, it's not on yet in our house.  One day he was quite toasty warm in this outfit from my friend Charity.  She sent it to us when Isaiah was born, and now he can finally wear it!  No, he didn't wear the hat around the house, too; we were getting ready to go out, and for that I also added a nice warm jacket and tights under his pants.

And then it got really cold and windy, so we finally broke down and bout him a "polar suit".  I call him my little puffball in this outfit.  Our biggest concern was keeping his legs warm, which tends to be a challenge at times; but this outfit keeps his legs very warm!  This expression is a new favorite for Isaiah to do when he sees the camera.

And I just like this one, not of me really, but of him looking at me.

Way Up High in the Sky

Living in St. Petersburg affords us all kinds of interesting experiences.  Last week we had yet another first to add to the list.  Our field director from InterAct was visiting with us while he met a team of people coming to do some work in Siberia.  We got to hang out with the team for a little bit before they headed further east.  Naturally they wanted to see some sites of St. P while they were here, and we were happy to help out with showing them around.

We went to St. Isaac's Cathedral, a really fascinating place.  During communism it was actually a museum about atheism.  Now it's been given back to the Orthodox church and is a museum for them.  It's really quite impressive.  And if you pay a little extra you can go up to the colonnade and see the entire city really well.  Having never done this before, I was excited to make the few hundred step hike.  Thomas and I swapped Isaiah back and forth as we climbed our way to the top.  But this isn't the "first" that I really want to tell you about.

About half way up, Thomas was carrying Isaiah and made the tell-tale sniff.  Yep, you guessed it, we had a little delivery to take care of.  In case you are wondering, there wasn't exactly a changing station in this twisting stair case leading us to the top.  Nor was there a changing station once you got to the top.  Not wanting to leave Isaiah's, um, gift, unattended, we did what we had to do.  

And now I can say that I've changed a diaper "way up high in the sky" with the wind whipping around and everything.  Yeah, life is never boring with Little Man.

Thomas and Isaiah--notice the relief on both their faces. :)

I'm not actually trying to look like a Russian woman here, it was cold, and my ears needed warmth!

It's fun having visitors for lots of reasons, but one of the reasons is because we have a chance for family photos!

Peterhof Revisited

In January we visited Peterhof, the summer palace of Peter the Great.  It was really, really cold that day, but we had a great time.  We were able to go back with Thomas' friend Dan who came to visit us for a few days on his whirlwind trip through Europe.

Here's how we were dressed in January:

And here's how we dressed in August:  It was a little bit warmer!

Isaiah and Thomas with "Mr. Lion"

And with Mr. Lion yet again!

If you listen very carefully you can hear Isaiah "chatting" with Mr. Lion.  (Thanks, Grandpa!)

How Could You Not....

...love this face, complete with the crumb from his hamburger bun!

Love/Hate Relationships

I don't really like that phrase very much, but sometimes I think that I understand what people mean when they say, "I have a love/hate relationships with..." fill in the blank.  I'm sure you've heard it, too.

Anyway, since Isaiah's not eligible for any type of insurance overseas, we are keeping him on MS Medicaid.  Sometimes I really hate that system.  I've had several incredibly, and I mean INCREDIBLY bad experiences with trying to get Isaiah's medical coverage taken care of.  I'll be told that I don't need this special yellow form only to have the worker at the medicaid office call and say, 

"Mrs. Slawson, we need you to bring in that special yellow form."

To which I reply, feeling a little annoyed, 

"Oh, you mean that form that you told me that I didn't need, so you didn't give it to me?"

Apparently completely oblivious medicaid worker,

"Yes, ma'am."

Me, feeling more annoyed that this person doesn't seem to realize that this behavior is not professional,

"Well, if I come in the next 30 minutes, will you be there for me to pick it up?" (remember this conversation took place when we lived in Yazoo City, not in Russia, though there have been a couple of those, too)

Worker,

"Of course, Mrs. Slawson.  I'll be here."

So, I pack up Isaiah and any necessary stuff and drive over to the medicaid office.  Guess who's not there...

I could go on, but I won't because now I'm having a wonderful experience with our new medicaid worker, and I'm going to praise God for her and enjoy this time of organization.  For instance, Ms. A called us before we left the States to inform me that I needed to get doctors to send her records to forward to another agency.  This means that Ms. A actually was on top of things and able to let me know what I needed to do before I called her to check on the status of Isaiah's file!  This has never happened before.

And today, when I called to check and make sure that everything had been sent to her (while I am 5000 miles away), she knew exactly who I was and knew right away the state of Isaiah's file.  I love this woman!  And right now I'm loving medicaid.

And really, if you think about it, my interactions with medicaid have been wonderful preparations for dealing with Russian bureaucracy; so I should be thankful for that.

Little People, Big Fun

When we returned to St. P, I was really looking forward to getting together with my friend Danielle and her little girl Lydia.  Last year, Danielle and I were able to have rather regular playdates for the kids, which meant some nice mommy time for us, too--quite a blessing so far from home.

Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long before getting the kids together again.  They both hit the park full speed, communicating very well what they wanted to do!  Lydia and Isaiah get along really well.  I think Lydia even seems to understand some that Isaiah needs some help to do things, which can be really fun for both of them it seems; for instance:

There's nothing quite like having a buddy to fly high in the sky with!

And Isaiah LOVES watching Lydia go down the slide.  Just imagine the biggest smile possible and laughter that would hurt your sides, and you've got his face pictured in your mind.  He's not quiet ready to try the slide solo yet, but we did figure out a way for them to "race", which they both really seemed to enjoy!

A Day in the Life of Little Man and His Mama

So, while we were in the States, I got this question a lot:

"What does a typical day look like for you?"

I don't know that I ever actually had the time to fully answer this question, so I thought I'd blog about it, just in case anyone else was curious as well.

First, let me just say that I like routines.  One of my dear friends says that routine drives her crazy, but routine gives me comfort.  Therefore, I try to have as "normal" a day as any mom of a 2 year-old can have who also lives in a foreign country and is trying to learn the language so as not to have to ask someone to repeat themselves 20 times in a conversation.  

Second, I'll add this:  Russian lacks 2 words that are very important in America--"convenience" and "routine".  Ok, not literally, but it sure does feel like it sometimes!

Now, let me walk you through my day, at least the days without language lessons when I am gone from home a good bit of the day.

I try to get up around 6:30am (sometimes not making it up until 6:45am) so that I can have a quiet time before Isaiah gets up.  I find that if I don't get up at least 30 minutes before him, that I'm not able to get my quiet time done until later in the day, and naturally the later that I wait, the less likely I am to do it.

About 7:00-7:15 Isaiah wakes up.  Praise God he is sleeping a little later, or at least waiting patiently until we come to get him.  For such a long time he would ALWAYS wake up crying really hard.  He would calm down quickly, but I'm so thankful that now he wakes up happy!  Sometimes before we get out of his room, he says, "Outside?!"  We usually check email together and look at any pictures posted on facebook.  Isaiah really seems to enjoy that--especially pictures of other kids.  

Then we get breakfast.  As a family we've started doing our meals a little differently, which I really like.  Every day but one, when Thomas has to leave really early, we have breakfast together.  Then we have some family worship time.  It's such a great start to the day.

Next is therapy time.  That's another thing that I have to do right away, or I get busy and the day slips away from me.  Isaiah is now using a Walkabout, which leaves his legs free but straps his trunk safely in place.  This is designed to help him learn how to move his legs and bare weight on them, so that he can then move to a smaller walker that doesn't require any

 strapping in.  We do various exercises with him in the Walkabout and just stretching on the floor.  Usually he does really well!

Depending on chores or projects, I try to take Isaiah outside in the morning.  This is how he rides:

He's always pulling himself up to sit really tall and be able to see everything that's going on.

That is, unless he's turned around to flash me a "thank-you-so-much-for-bringing-me-outside-Mama-I-love-you" smile.

Next is lunch, then nap for Isaiah while I either take a nap as well or try to get some projects done.  When my lessons start in full swing again, I'll probably try to do homework during his naps.

After nap is more outside time, usually to do food shopping or run other errands.  Then we have snack back at the flat, and if it's my night to prepare supper, I work on getting supper started.  Thomas is marvelous in many ways, but one of the ways that I really appreciate is that he is willing to alternate cooking nights!  He's such a good cook, that I'd hate for him not to utilize his talent. :)

We eat, have another family worship time, then get Isaiah ready for bed.  In the evening I try to be productive with sewing or homework or blogging or corresponding or something like that.  

So, I hope that answers the questions.  Sorry for all the details, but that's just me.  Hopefully the cute pictures help.

So what's your favorite part of your day?

Ever Wonder...

Ever wonder what it might feel like to stand in the flow of a fire hydrant while the water gets hotter and hotter?  Come visit me and use my shower, and you'll find out.

McDorman Photography

With all the turmoil from Gustav and the other 2 storms apparently getting ready to hit the States later this week, I thought that I'd add a little happiness and cuteness to the blogging world.  Not to make light of what is going on, but maybe this will relieve a little stress.

While we were in NC we had the privilege of Aimee McDorman of McDorman Photography and MommyWho? fit us into her busy schedule.  She came to my parents' house and took these amazing photographs of Isaiah!

You can also view some of these pictures here.

First News

We heard from Thomas' sister in Hattiesburg, MS.  She let us know that all our family in Baton Rouge, LA is all right.  The 3 sets of families there did have some roof damage, mostly shingles blown off.  Thomas' brother did have a limb down on his house over the playroom, with minimal water damage.  No one was injured.  They did lose power and phone service--nobody has a landline phone anymore these days!

Thank you for your prayers for our family.  Let's all continue to pray for those who have been affected by this hurricane!