I'm Not Vanya, I'm John....

Well as many of you know John's birth name was Ivan, in Russia he was called "Vanya" which is another form of Ivan. Gloria and I decided to Americanize his name and in doing so changed it to the English form of Ivan which is John. We have spent a few months transitioning him to his new name and have been calling him John exclusively for the last 6 or 8 weeks or so. Yesterday in the car I was trying to get his attention and he was ignoring me. I finally said "Vanya!"...well this got his attention alright, he shot right back with "I'M NOT VANYA, I'M JOHN!" Mission accomplished with the name transition.
We had a great day yesterday at some friends of ours who live a few miles away and have a heated pool (ours is not open yet). This came just in the nick of time as our Central Air conditioner died late Saturday night and it was in the upper 80's here yesterday. The kids spent all afternoon in the pool.
Keegan's birthday party is this coming Sunday...he'll be 16 on this Thursday...Look out Illinois drivers! We will be continuing our breakfast tradition, taking him out on his birthday to his favorite breakfast place, The Country Charm...

One year ago today.......

...Our lives changed forever...We first met Kristina and John, fell in love with them and began finalizing our transition to a family of 5. We could not be any happier...We knew immediately that we found our kids and continue to grow as a family today. The pictures on the left are from our visit one year ago and the pictures on the right are the kids recent school pictures.

John doesn't really like others taking his picture. He will smile for us but not for someone he doesn't know!

One year ago today.......

.......we met "Scary T" at the MOE (Ministry of Education) and got our formal invite to visit the kids.

One year ago today.....

.......we were on a flight to Russia to meet the kids!!!!

The kids and I have been home for six months today

Things around the Duda house are a little different these days….

…….girl things like dresses, dolls, nail polish, barrettes, ponies, hair clips, etc.

…….little boy things like monster trucks, matchbox cars, toy trains, etc.

…….No more sleeping in…our air breathing alarm clocks climb in bed and snuggle us awake (and we love it).

One thing hasn’t changed…………….. The fun this Duda family can have. We know it has been six months since the kids have been home and some days it feels like that but most of the time it feels like they have been in our family forever. We all could not be happier. Keegan is an awesome big brother who loves to be with the kids. He can’t get enough of them and they can't get enough of him.

There is little to no Russian spoke in the house anymore unless it is “Speak Russian Night” (Kristina’s idea). But that usually does not last very long because none of us know enough Russian (any more) to speak it for an entire evening.

There are very few foods that the kids won’t eat as a matter of fact, I can’t even think of any in particular. Not only have their tastes changed, but so has their volume…they are eating more, growing, filling out and looking so much healthier.

They love the American Flags that their Grandma and Papa Harry gave them and wave it very proudly every chance they get. Every time we see a US flag the kids proclaim “look mom or dad there is a flag”

Kristina says that she loves her house, her yard, her toys, her dogs and mostly her family.

John says that he loves his monster trucks, his cars, his toys, his dogs and his family.

So even though it has only been six months, we could not be happier.

Thank you all for your support from this very grateful and happy Duda Family of Five!!!

Kenny, Gloria, Keegan, Kristina and John

Getting it off my chest....

I was just reading another blog (Cupcake and Caseys) and there was an entry about some of those stupid conversations that us adoptive parents have with people...you know those questions that really make you want to reach out, slap the person and say "do you hear what you are saying?" Ok so here's the question that I despise the most regarding our kids..."Are they brother and sister?" Immediately the hair on the back of my neck stands up!!!! I get that surge of adrenalin and have to work hard to control my response. My mouth opens to reply and I really want to say something like "no you idiot they are cousins!" or "Well we adopted them both so what the H#$% do you think?". Typically I take a deep breath and reply with just a simple "Yes", but oh so tempted!

Brothers and Sister...

We get many questions as to how Keegan is doing having a little brother and sister in his life. Well he is doing great! I was away for business last week at the McDonalds World Wide Convention (and I was loving it). Keegan stepped up and helped his mom get his siblings ready for school each morning as well as taking care of his usual responsibilities. He really does enjoy being a big brother and we love having his help with his brother and sister. Their relationships continue to grow as we all spend more time together and We are enjoying each and every day. The pictures I have attached show Keegan and Kristina watching Saturday cartoons together and Keegan and John sleeping in Johns bed during a weekend afternoon catchup nap. We could not be more proud of how our oldest son has taken to his new role as "Big Brother".