Empty Bowls Dinner

Last Friday night we all headed over to my school for a fundraiser put on by my friend Robin's fourth grade class. The Empty Bowls Dinner raises money for our local food bank and has a pretty fun concept. The View Ridge kids get together with families from the home school program to make and glaze clay bowls. When you arrive at the dinner you get to choose your favorite bowl to fill with yummy soups, bread and delicious desserts. The kids raised $1,800 in one night! Not bad for a group of nine-year-olds!

Isabelle managed to find one of the largest bowls and thoroughly enjoyed her Italian Wedding Soup.

Having fun
Madeleine, how do you feel about supporting the food bank?

Let Me Take You Back...

...back to a time when hot pink and neon green clothing were the norm, nay, the stylish. Don't worry ladies, W magazine says that fluorescent colors are making a comeback. Guys, fingers crossed for the resurgence of parachute pants. But, I digress.
A time where mile high bangs and shoulder pads were chic and it didn't matter that blue eye shadow and frosted pink lip gloss may not have been flattering for your skin tone.
What has brought on this bit of nostalgia you ask? Why, a trip to the roller skating rink for a birthday party! Remember the good old days of disco balls and brown boots with orange wheels? Little did I know this magical place still exists! Sure, the music's not the same, but it's still loud. I remember fondly careening (holding onto the wall) around the rink shouting Ghostbusters! (yes, you know I was that cool) and singing along to Material Girl. It was pretty awe...wait for it...some.

This was Isabelle's first time at the Skate Deck so I didn't really expect that she would do a whole lot of rollerskating and indeed, I was correct. The skates were on for approximately five minutes but I managed to take a couple of blurry photos for posterity.

Happily, the Skate Deck has inflatable toys to play on so Isabelle had a great time at her friend Laney's birthday party.

Madeleine of course had other plans. This child will sleep anywhere!

Sisters

My two sweeties are doing such a great job together as siblings. I thought Isabelle would grow tired of the new squirmy ball of pudge but that's not the case! She is still eager to play, bathe and dress Madeleine everyday and wants to teach her everything. Last night she was intently watching Madeleine's feet, checking to see if they were growing so they could try on shoes together. For Madeleine's part she adores Isabelle. She laughs when Isabelle dances and makes funny faces for her and, in a sign of sister solidarity our usually non-fussy Madeleine cries when she sees Isabelle crying. I'm sure at some point this relationship will dissolve into squabbles over toys and clothes but for right now we sure are enjoying this sisterly bond.

Now that I have two girls I'm finding it extra challenging to get pictures where both are smiling at the same time. I think I need to learn how to use PhotoShop better so I can splice some pics. together!

Take 1: Nice smile Isabelle!

Take 2: Great job Madeleine!

Isabelle hates to be away from her sister for even a moment and languishing outside the tub just wasn't working for her anymore - she just had to jump in!

Isabelle thought it was hilarious to share a bath.

Kazakhstan Friends and Fundraiser

Last Sunday we went to a gathering with a bunch of other families who have adopted children from Kazakhstan. We aren't able to get together too often but when we do it is so much fun to see all the children together.

Isabelle with some of her Kazakh friends.

This was a great event because it was also a fundraiser for the Spoon Foundation, which is raising money to pilot a vitamin and formula program in several baby houses in Kazakhstan.

Click the link below for more information.

There have not been any major longitudinal studies done to monitor the effectiveness of multi-vitamins on children living in orphanages. The Spoon Foundation will be conducting this research during the vitamin program. We were very fortunate that Isabelle received vitamins on a daily basis when she was being cared for in the baby house in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Sadly, this is not the case in many care facilities across Kazakhstan and in other countries. The goal of the Spoon Foundation is to pilot the study in Kazakhstan and then spread the program to other countries. The foundation is close to reaching its goal of raising $150,000.00 to begin their research, needing only $25,000.00 more ($22,000.00 after Sunday's event). They are working in conjunction with the Kazakh government, as well as several sponsors. Our pediatrician, Dr. Davies is also involved in the program and spoke at our gathering about the importance of nutrition, specifically the impact Iron can have on the cognitive, social and motor development of a child. Dr. Davies is the co-director of the Center for Adoption at the University of Washington and is also the editor of adoptmed.org where you'll find answers to questions ranging from which formula is the best to how to foster strong attachment and bonding in your child.

If you're so inclined the Spoon Foundation would appreciate your support.

Now for some pictures!

The group

Isn't the Kazakhstan flag pretty?
Of course there were treats involved! We brought Russian Tea Cakes.

While the grown-ups talked baby care, the kiddos played in the gym. This is at the Montlake Community Center in Seattle - Isabelle loved the gym so much she's been asking to go back everyday!

Look at that wind-up!

Playing catch with a new friend.

Even a small slide is a fun slide.

Getting Back to a Routine

Since we've been home for almost a month now we've been trying to get back into our regular routine - plus one new routine for Madeleine. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to.

Isabelle is still enjoying preschool... ...and begs to wear a dress everyday...

...for maximum twirl potential.
She got to be snack girl again right when her class was studying caterpillars and butterflies so this is what she took:

Butterfly Pretzels (with cream cheese and mini m & m's)

Caterpillar Cocoons (miniature lemon poppyseed muffins with a powdered sugar glaze, rolled in coconut)

Madeleine has a very different sort of schedule as you'll see here. It consists of:

Sleep

Bathe

Play

Eat

Chill

Poor Madeleine has also had a terrible time getting her little tummy on a routine. I won't go into embarrassing details (she'll read this someday and hate me) but she required the help of some prunes the other day. She is not on solid foods yet but we were given the go-ahead to let her have a bit of the regularizing powers of purple mush. Here she is getting a taste of yummy goodness for the first time.

She was a little unsure at first but then she practically sucked my finger off! If you turn up the volume you can even hear the sucking. :)

Peek-A-Boo is a favorite game at our house.

Saturday Afternoon Conversation:

Aubrey: Hey Isabelle, why don't you go help Daddy pull the weeds in the front yard.


Isabelle (with excitement and glee): Daddy! Mommy said I could do weed with you in the yard!


**Okay, I know we're from Eugene, but I promise we're not growing pot in our front yard!**

Happy Adoption Day Isabelle!

It's hard to believe that three years ago today (April 23rd - blogger's wrong on the publishing date) I stepped off the plane in Seattle with a 10 1/2-month-old wide awake baby named Isabelle Zamira and our little family was born. There are so many milestones and important dates in an adoption from Kazakhstan that we could really be celebrating for months. Should we celebrate the day we first met Isabelle, the day we officially became her parents after appearing before the judge in Ust-Kamenogorsk, the day I was finally able to take her out of the baby house or the day we re-adopted her here in the States? We decided that the first day we were all together as a family, home after spending six weeks in Kazakhstan would be Isabelle's Adoption Day.

I don't want to brag (okay, I do a little) but she is the most amazing, wonderful child ever and we are so lucky to have her! She is silly and funny, smart and beautiful, kind and helpful. Isabelle is also showing us what a fantastic big sister she is by being so patient and gentle with Madeleine.

We reserve Isabelle's adoption day just for our little family and usually just take the day to do something fun together like go to the zoo or the Children's Museum. This year was a little different though since we're still trying to keep things low-key for Madeleine. So, I resorted to presents and cake. Never a bad combination! I also got out some little items I'd been saving for Isabelle that I bought while I was in Kazakhstan. Some of these she'd seen before but the children's books were new to her. They're written in Cyrillic but Isabelle doesn't mind if I just make up a story to go with the pictures. While we were in Kazakhstan we tried to buy things that we could give Isabelle as she grows up. I know we're going to run out of items at some point but I think we've got at least a few adoption days left before this happens.

The Matryoshka doll was a big hit.

Nothing says "so glad you're in our family" like Barbie.

Her first Barbie doll - a moment of excitement, a lifetime of esteem issues. :)

On Isabelle's first adoption day I put together this video of our first year together. If I was really on top of things she'd have one for every year but sadly, I haven't gotten around to this. In my defense, I'm a blogger now so I'm pretty sure I've chronicled most everything. Watching this video again really makes me miss Kazakhstan. For all you Ethiopia families out there - it's sooo different! In Kazakhstan you spend two weeks bonding with your child, visiting two times a day. After that you wait for a court hearing and have to appear before the judge and read a letter about why you're adopting and what you will teach your child about their country of birth. After you're granted custody you wait and visit some more while your paperwork is being processed. Finally, you get to take your child out of the orphanage - but it's still not time to go home. You then fly to Almaty (the former capital) and spend another couple weeks waiting for medical appointments and processing through the U.S. embassy. The process is extensive and daunting but so worth it in the end.

I'm not one to quote from the Bible but I think Isaiah 43:6 applies to us. "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth-" We really have traveled to the ends of the earth to make our family and it's been the best experience of our lives. Enjoy Isabelle when she was just a wee one!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com