Easter PictureLast weekend was a whirlwind of events, but we still took time to enjoy the sunshine, each other and remember what Christ did for us. Good Friday was great Friday in that Andrej had to work only half a day. Kaiya and I so enjoy having Daddy around during the day! Saturday was kicked off by a trip to the ole dentist. We usually try to put off our six month appointments as long as we possibly can, and not because we are afraid of the dentist. We actually have a wonderful dentist who holds Saturday hours without any assistance from hygienists or dental assistants. Because of this we have gotten to know Dr. Neuman and really like him. We however do not look forward to any bad news he has for us, as our dental insurance isn't that great and we usually end up paying quite a bit to keep our mouths healthy. Paying for Andrej's root canal last year was painful, literally and fiscally. However, Saturday we got good reports! No cavities! Andrej does have an old filling that needs to be replaced because he has been having a good bit of pain. We are praying that the replacement will do the trick and no further work will need to be done. Dr. Neuman also gave Kaiya her first "real" toothbrush. So far, we have been brushing her little teeth with a rubber brush that fits over my finger. She really likes it, or maybe it's the fruity baby "toothpaste" that goes on the tip. Speaking of Kaiya's teeth, she now has two more coming in. They look really funny because she is getting one big one on the top and another on the bottom. That's a total of three on the bottom and one on the top. Hopefully, they will even out soon.

Easter was a special day spent with friends. We are so thankful to have such great friends here since both of our families live so far away. We have actually started a little Easter tradition (two years in a row) with the Ernsbergers, which involves a yummy leg-o-lamb. Kaiya looked adorable in her Easter duds. We had two dresses to choose from, one was a baby shower gift and the other a gift from Babka. The decision turned out to be an easy one in that the shower gift dress was way to short. This is the problem with having a 97th percentile baby. Anyway, the other dress (size 18 months) fit perfectly and looked lovely.

The weekend ended by a trek across the state to the Detroit Immigration Office on Monday. It takes all kinds of people to make this world go round and I think we saw many of the more interesting ones as we sat and sat and sat in the waiting room. You can hear languages from all over the world and some pretty interesting stories as they try so hard to explain their situations to the angry officers. We were not exempt from this practice.

Andrej's green card expired back in August. We did apply for a new one before the old one expired, but with a new baby and Andrej finishing up school we failed to set up our interview in a timely manner, at least in the eyes of the immigration officer. Our paperwork said we had until August 2006. To make matters worse, we were also missing a crucial document, again only in the eyes of the immigration officer, not according to our paperwork. As I sat trying to keep Kaiya entertained and from annoying the man sitting next to us (she kept beating on his arm), I prayed that everything would work out. I was sitting across the room and I heard the officer in a rather loud voice say to Andrej, "Failure to comply with this…" Yikes! I prayed harder. I just couldn't stomach leaving empty handed and having to come back another day. It's about a three hour drive and did I mention that we sat and sat and sat in a very crowded room (with our very mobile almost 9-month-old) until they finally called Andrej up for his interview.

Anyway, our prayers were answered and the officer finally put an extension stamp in A's passport and said his new green card would arrive within a few months. Whew! Also, our sweet Kaiya was an angel the entire time. Even the man she was beating on thought she was adorable. She made many friends. Everyone she made eye contact with would start speaking broken baby talk and making silly faces. She also did great on the drive there and back. When she wasn't napping, I instituted a plan to keep her busy and it worked. She is in this "I would rather throw my toys than play with them" stage, so I took a bag full of toys and after she would toss one and start to get bored a new fresh toy would suddenly appear from the front seat. Then, each time we stopped along the way we would collect all the toys and begin again. I know it didn't help in teaching her the consequences of throwing her toys, but it sure helped us all keep our sanity during the six hours spent in the car. Our next step in the whole "immigration" process is possibly citizenship. Not so much because we plan to live in America for the rest of our lives (because we probably won't), but more so because it's a pain to keep dealing with the bureaucracy. We shall see!

All in all, it was a wonderful Easter weekend.