Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to you all, and happy birthday to Conner, and happy two-month anniversary for the Marsh family. A big week! Sorry to report that we've decided to delay the boys' first Halloween experience for a year. We're convinced they won't really understand the whole thing, and might even get unduly scared by some of the things going on. Frankly, we haven't given them any candy yet and are a bit afraid of making Halloween their first experience...



"Krasnoyarsk is that way! Come on, horsey, can't you move any faster?!"


Language is coming along nicely for both boys. We had really hoped that bringing home two at once would mean they could help each other with the transition. It feels like they are certainly doing that. Carson is learning lots of words from his older brother. For several weeks, Conner has impressed people with his favorite full sentence, "I like Jayhawk basketball!" That required no coaching from his father...

We are so happy to report that a corner has been turned in the area of bedtime. For the last two months, Carson would bawl for quite a while after we put the boys down. Conner had become content with simply telling us goodnight without the crying. The turning point came one night when Conner decided to take matters into his own hands. Obviously tired of the bawling, he started telling his brother, "Papa all gone! Mama all gone!" As Carson's crying got louder, so did Conner's replies. Carson finally accepted his brother's logic and quieted down. Since that night, we've had less and less crying, and now he says a quiet goodnight to us just like his older brother, and commences to falling asleep.

What a beautiful weekend it was in our part of the country last week. Temps in the 70's and a great big pile of leaves in our yard. Please understand that these are the boys who were not even comfortable sitting in the grass two months ago. It was so great to see them doing all sorts of gymnastics in the leaf pile. And then helping their parents rake them back up!! They are starting to warm up to some of the sweet neighborhood dogs too. They saw lots of them over the weekend, and even offered a few of them some tenuous kisses.

Squirrels are all over our neighborhood, and the boys love them. Here is Carson doing his impression of one. They both ask to be lifted into a tree to pretend. Our adoption agency is soliciting pictures for their 2007 calendar, so we submitted the two above along with several shots of both boys from our past entries. The Parracks are doing the same, and we are just now thinking how fun it would have been to try and get a picture of all four of the boys who represent the Kansas City Kras Connection (KCKC). We'll be sure to let friends and family know if we or the Parracks submit a winning pic.

"This is the biggest birthday cake I've ever seen!"

Conner's 3rd b-day was a quiet, happy event. Both boys got to wolf down mini-cupcakes and Conner blew out one ceremonial candle. We are still feeding the boys every meal, so it was fun to watch how carefully they ate their cupcakes. They really are taking to good behavior. Carson especially is saying please and thank you, even unsolicited at times. Both boys are learning to say excuse me when they want to pass someone in our little rooms. But they haven't mastered the "s" sound, so it sounds like, "Coo-Bee." They have also started saying Bless You after someone in the house sneezes. But on occasion, they test their new parents and have to sit in time out...

Contrary to what is going on in the scene above, the Time Out Chair is working miraculously well. The moment either boy begins to whine about something, they are set in the chair. And the moment they stop whining, the parent who set them there comes back and quietly explains why they were placed there. They are asked to say, "sorry Mama," or, "sorry Papa," and after a quick hug, time out is over. This is usually the extent of it unless a longer stay is necessary for a more serious offense such as hitting a brother or throwing a toy. On occasion, one of the boys will point to the chair when his brother begins to whine, or even take his brother's hand and lead him to the chair himself!

The four of us are growing closer every day. There are still some major struggles and lots of times that we don't know if we're doing everything we can to build a normal, healthy family. Heartfelt thanks go out to our friends and family who have been so supportive and patient with us as we learn how to make this crazy, exciting transition.

Siberian Tigers

Hello from the Marsh family! We've been mildly scolded for not updating the blog for a while. We didn't really think about the purpose of the blog once the Siberian adventure was complete, but if there are still those of you out there that would like to hear how things are going, we'll be glad to keep you posted. There are three important dates approaching. Next week, Conner turns three! One day before his birthday marks our two month anniversary of bringing them home. And a week after that is Halloween...


Now there's a coat with a good, solid, boy color! No pink in sight.

That is a fine looking coat, and nothing girly about it. Happy early birthday, Conner! Carson's b-day was just over a month ago, and it was a quiet, small celebration. Conner has decided to take his younger brother's lead and invite just his parents and his bro to his 3rd b-day party. We're pretty sure they still wouldn't grasp the concept of a big b-day party, so we explain the gifts and who sent them, and show them the thank yous we write for them in hopes they'll get the picture soon.

How cool would it be to dress them up as Siberian Tigers for Halloween? How confused would they be to see all the people in wild costumes? And how wired would they be if their first real experience with candy was an overflowing bad of Halloween treasures? Yeah, we haven't decided yet what their first October 31st will look like. We've joked about running to a half-dozen neighbors and giving them bananas to offer the boys at the door.

Carson loves wearing Papa's shoes. But rarely in the living room...

If you visit the Marsh home, you'll find that shoes are a big part of the household culture. We decided to keep all the shoes by the front door, and the boys have taken that pretty seriously. When they know it is time to go outside, they prance around saying, "shoes! shoes!" They'll bring their parents' shoes to them, and sit on the first step and put theirs on--with varying degrees of success. If you walk into the house with your shoes on (even though adults are allowed to do so), the boys will patiently explain that you need to remove them and put them by the door.

They are sleeping through the night, and still eating really well. They have begun offering hugs and kisses to their new parents, which melts our hearts. They play nicely with toys and books during the day, and are starting to embrace their new routines. We still have problems here and there, but it is starting to be more the kinds of problems that come with parenting a couple of two year olds rather than the problems that come with learning how to become a family of four.

Kissing the flash cards? "Nice doggie...awww, nice doggie."

One of the ways the boys have been learning their words is playing with flash cards after each meal. This has brought some surprising benefits. Some of the cards are of animals. Once they identify a cat or a dog, they get to pet the card. That has led to the boys kissing the card. They are pictured above, with Carson offering the doggie card to Conner for a kiss. Pretty darn cute! We're hoping this might help to quell their fear of dogs.

Both boys are doing so well in their transition from Russian orphans to Kansas brothers. Their language skills are growing stronger every day. They are learning to count and can identify every machine from bulldozer to fire truck. Conner can even say, "I like Jayhawk basketball!" Making Papa proud. As the whole family walks the steps for bedtime, we all sing Twinkle Twinkle. Carson pretty much sticks to "Cawcaw Cawcaw," but sings right along with us. You should hear them do the Rock Chalk chant!