Not so good times

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know we had a house fire last Tuesday and lost everything in our house including our beloved dog Sandy,and all Ulias memmories from Russia/Perm.We are still pretty much in shock and are dealing with things on a day to day basis.Zack (7) is having a really hard time so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as we deal with this.
If anyone needs me you can reach me on my cell phone and that number is in my Tastefully Simple link on this page.

Kelly

Happy Halloween

We had Zack the Phantom,Ben the blue power ranger..(3 years running)& Ulia the scarecrow/witch girl

Giving Back

Hi,
I wanted to share with anyone that is interested,I am doing a fundraiser through my Tastefully Simple Business with Children's Hope International.I am donating back my sales until the end of November in Honor of National Adoption Month.The link is http://orphan.childrenshope.net/
After you get to the site you can click on the Tastefully Simple Banner
For some reason I cant make the link work

Random Pictures

Not much help

Ulia had her testing today up at MUSC,unfortunately we didn't find out much more then we all ready know. They did some testing and again said she is Developmentally delayed this was not something new to us.We thought today's testing was more with the Behavioral Therapist to get more ideas if we are dealing with some FAS issues or what not but I guess that will be another appointment.What we did find out /confirm is that she is still very behind in her skills but we all still feel she will still catch up some in the next few years.I'm not sure really what the behavioral therapist will be able to tell us I think we are just trying to find some sort of RX to as to how to deal with her issues,if that makes sense.

Fall TV

So what do you watch on TV? I watch Grays Anatomy,Brothers & Sisters and shows on TLC mostly nothing to exciting.Most nights it depends on if the kids have all gone to bed on time and how much cleaning up I have to do.

Lacrosse

Alex is playing for a Fall Lax team,until the school Lax season starts.

Alex is big kid 6'3 and is like a wall running down the field!

Batman or Spiderman?

Ben just could not decide which superhero he wanted to be!so he went 1/2 & 1/2

Dear Mr Obama

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More Doctors appointments

We have decided to go ahead with some more testing for Ulia.She will be going next week for a NeuroPsyc Evaluation.This will hopefully give us some more info on what might be going on with her. Its really hard to explain what is wrong with her as its really a bunch of little issues that I'm Hoping are not going to be a big issue in the end,she seems to be miss firing just a bit on what she understands and how she acts.So we will see how it goes.I really wish I could explain to people its just hard to put words to.

Alex has a job!

Finally! Alex has gotten a job he is a food runner at the Wild Wing Cafe,now to get him to save $$$

No Hanna

Well, we escaped any trouble from Hanna and it looks like Ike will be not heading our way either. I'm very happy about that but do feel bad for the places they have and will affect.
This weekend was quite around here,Alex started his fall Lacrosse league today so we went and watched his first game.Its just way to hot to be out there running around!

No School

Well after having no school on Monday or Tuesday,we now have another day off thanks to Hurricane Hanna.It is not supposed to directly effect us but they fear we will have some strong winds later in the day when the buses would be bringing kids home so they canceled.
Now we have to hope and pray that Hurricane Ike and all his friends stay away from us too.I really don't want to have to evacuate,I have had to 3 times since living here(25 years) and it is not fun,or something I want to do with 4 kids and 2 dogs,unfortunately Bob would have to stay and be one of the last people to leave so he would not even be with us.
The kids have also informed me that we would have to also take our 5 hermit crabs and 3 fish! that would be fun.

2 years

I can't believe that 2 years ago I was in Russia on my first trip! you can read about it under the "06" section.
Its so hard to believe how much our life has changed in the last 2 years by adding a daughter. I never thought I would have so many different emotions about it. I am in love with my daughter totally, but with all her issues we are still trying to deal with and get diagnosis for, there are days that I think why the heck did we do all this!I don't mean that in a bad way. I just think we really where kind of naive and thought OK another kid no problem,I had no idea the things that can come with an adopted child(Yes I know that many can come with a Bio child also). I think one thing that really bugs me is that people that we know just don't get it! they think she has been here 2 years she is fine! and to most you would think she is fine its some of the behind the scene things that are what we deal with.
That being said I would do it again in a heart beat!

Bed wetting

Ok, So Ulia has been dry for months, no accidents nothing. Now for the last week or so she is wetting the bed at night and twice now I have found her with wet pants during the day while she is playing and she lies and makes up some story as to why she is wet, whats up with that? I'm guessing maybe starting school or something ? I have no idea.

Last chance For Tastefully Simple

To all you Tastefully Simple Fans just a little FYI the spring/summer line is going away Sept7th and our new Fall/winter line will be out. If you need to order anything there is a link on the bottom of my page

1st day of school

School started here last week Ulia & Ben started Kindergarten and Zack is in 2nd.

Can I suck your's?

We are trying to get Ulia to stop sucking her thumb,so tonight as I was laying beside her trying to get her to sleep she says "can I suck your thumb If I cant suck mine?" Poor thing is really trying to stop.

Alex,Zack,Ben & Ulia

Some new pictures

Check up at MUSC IA Dr

Ulia had an appointment last week to go over some things we have been working on/ dealing with.We are going to do some basic IQ testing in the next few weeks. We(Dr's included) are concerned with the fact that she really just doesn't seem to "get" some stuff,they think she has some impulse control issues which could play an issue in it also so we are going to dig a little deeper with some testing.

If anyone has any insight they would like to offer we are all ears!

ON another note we spent the last few days up in Myrtle Beach at the firefighter combat challenge.Ulia had a blast on the little race cars and all the rides,I think that stuff just feeds her sensory processing needs!
Here a few pictures of the trip Bobs is in the red helmet getting ready to compete,he does the over 40 challenge

Some cute stuff

I met a lady and her family today that sell some really cute stuff I will put a link up on the side bar soon but for now here is her online store.

www.grandmascrafts.com

Alex is home from Camp

Alex made it back from CO this AM,he had a great time with maybe a little to much down time?



"Beef" is what all Alex's school friends and Lacrosse friends call him!

Adopting from Perm

I'm happy to hear that there are more families adopting from Perm.I am so attached to Perm even thou we "lived"there only 1 month.It brings great joy to me to hear more kids are getting homes!

If you are visiting this blog and adopting from Perm please leave a comment!I love to hear about the adoptions from there.

Summer Time

Is it July 30th yet? My 3 youngest kids are in year round school so we go back on July 30th. I don't know if it is because it has been so hot lately or what but gosh they are bickering a lot!@
Alex is in Colorado with his Young Life group having a great time,he will be back on June 30th. My mom and step dad came to visit for awhile it was a great trip(probably not so much for them) they helped us remodel our playroom into another bedroom and it looks great!Thanks guys

All Fun And Games!

UNTIL SOMEONE HITS THE BASE AND ALL GOES WILD

Last day of School

Ulia completed Pre- K and is moving on! our schools are year round so they got off today and will head back July 30th. Ulia has progressed so much in the last year, her last report card her teachers just praised her on learning so much this year.We met her Kindergarten teacher the other night at the school picnic,we love her! she was Zack's K teacher and was awesome,plus we were going thru the adoption while Zack was in her class and while we were in Russia she would have the class log onto our web site and have Zack leave us a note each day!
End of year water party

Pay It Forward

If you'd like to receive a special surprise (of my choosing) from South Carolina, this is what YOU need to do: simply be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this 'Pay It Forward' exchange. Then you must agree to do the same on YOUR blog for the first three people responding.


If you want a surprise from me and are willing to play the game on your blog, let me know! I will need your snail mail address to send you your gift - we can email each other off list for that. So remember to leave your e-mail! Thanks and have fun!

2 Years ago

Its hard to believe that 2 years ago this month we started the process of adopting.It pretty much went from a conversation one night

Me : I think we should adopt a little girl
DH : fine as long as I don't have to do any of the paper work and just have to show up in the country where our daughter comes from.
Its funny we had no idea what adoption was all about or where to even start .I called a bunch of agencies and was pretty much open to any country as long as it was a girl 18 months -3 years old. I had no idea about re-accreditation or any of the stresses I pretty much just thought it was sign some papers and there you go. I ended up getting a call back from a person from the agency we ended up choosing who was very helpful(why we decided on them) she was pretty much like ok how fast can you get us your stuff? we think we are going to have a referral for a little girl in June/July(not sure how they knew this) we got our HS and all of our paperwork done in record time it was all done and in the agencies hands by June 6th I think it was. A few weeks went by and we did get a referral (late June early July) got ready to leave and referral fell thru I still have the little girls picture on my computer .Anyway our agency found us another referral and I traveled at the end of Aug,I went by myself due to the other 3 kids and babysitting issues. I ended having to turn down that little girl in country,which was so hard without Bob there with me. The next morning Roma called the MOA and had another referral that I got to spend about 1/2 with before I had to leave for home! I said yes and here we are 2 years from the start.Our whole adoption process was 7 months start to finish!

Things move along

Ulia has been with us now for almost 16 months! in some ways it feels like she just got here but in others it feels like we have had her forever. We are working thru a few things.Ulia has been diagnosed with Sensory issues,not really a big deal but it really explains why she never stops(she seeks Sensory)so we continue with PT and OT. She does really well in school and will be moving into Kindergarten in the middle of summer(we are year round schools)with a few special services to help her out.

Some ramdom shots

Zack,Ben & Ulia after playing around on a friends farm (all the dirt on Zacks shirt) we went down to the dock and hung out


Alex has finished his School Lacrosse, but was picked to be on the All Star Team so we continue to play

A few pictures of Zack(6) & Ben(5)

Time Flies

I cant believe that today is already April 2nd, Today is Alex's 16th Birthday! It seems like just yesterday he was playing with matchbox cars and now he can drive! I am very lucky to have such a great kid, Happy Birthday Alex,we Love You!

Take II another ER visit

I think I have been to our local Hospital more times in the last 6 months then I have in my life! Ulia was outside playing today,spinning, jumping just messing around and tripped over her own feet and landed head first into her bike peddle.She managed to cut her forehead open and bust her lip.Not as bad as it looked luckily they but glue on it instead of a couple of stitches.
I'm thinking we jinxed the poor girl by giving her the middle name Grace,because she is just not very graceful..lol

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Look what we are doing with the Cadman Foundations Help

Help a Firefighter Adopt a Child

The average firefighter makes less than $35,000 a year – which makes the cost of adopting a child prohibitive. One firefighting family is trying to change that.

Bob and Kelly Pairman adopted their daughter, Ulia, from Russia in 2007. To help raise funds for their adoption, Kelly made blankets, for her husband to sell to fellow firefighters.


The Pairman's want to help other firefighting families adopt, so Kelly is continuing to make blankets.

Cadman Foundation will create a grant to help firefighting families adopt a child.We will hosting a silent auction to help raise funds.

Firefighters give sacrificially. Adoptive families love unconditionally. Buy your blanket today to help an orphan child find a loving home.

Still moving forward

Things are going pretty good with Ulia right now, she has started to settle down some and realize that she is in a family and is here to stay. I think she worries about that sometimes as she will ask if she is going to live here forever.
I met a couple online that is in Perm right now and also using Roma in Perm, its so cool to have that connection as not to many famlies adopt from Perm it seems, as it is one of the harder regions to adopt from. I know they will love Roma! and have a great first trip.


Ulia & Daddy

Taking blanket orders

I am taking orders to make some blankets again,they are toddler size and you can choose the color of fleece you would like. The blankets are $45.00 and 10% is going to the Cadman Foundation ( Who we got a grant from for our adoption)