Nora's 7th Birthday

Yesterday was Nora's birthday - she is finally 7. We have been counting since 6 1/2, 6 3/4, 6 5/6, etc. until finally she made it. Nora wanted cup cakes on her birthday and a big cake for her party with her friends. In the photo you can see the fun with sprinkles.




Nora, Ji Ji and Dad met some friends to go sleding. Nora went down the hill one time with Dad and then decided it was too fast for her - she watched. Ji Ji went down the hill by herself repeatedly, no fear! Later they met Mom after work at a small ice skating rink set up in downtown Wiesbaden for the holidays. Both girls wanted to look like Barbie with her little skating outfit so they both put skirts on over their snow pants. I wish we had brought the camera ;).

Nora wants to learn to ice skate like Barbie and her goal was to do a beautiful arabesque. Once she got on the skates though, she was too scared. We convinced her that she could do one if Dad was holding one hand and Mom was holding the other - and she did. It was the highlight for her! She said "once they see me, everyone will want to do one". This was Nora's 3rd time ice skating and she is more comfortable on skates but she has to hold Mom or Dad's hand all of the time and mostly, she lets herself be pulled around the rink. Mom said she can take lessons when me move back to the US.

Ji Ji used one of these small things to help children keep their balance and learn to skate. It looked like a little dwarf on ski's, was her height and had handles coming out of its head. She could hold onto it for balance and push it around the ice. She was very mobile by herself.

After skating, we went home for cupcakes and presents.


Ji Ji's idea of decorating cupcakes is to add frosting and sprinkles, lick it all off and then do it again. But Ji Ji is always having fun.






Nora opening her presents - with Ji Ji's help, of course! Nora got a password journal (Dad is still trying to get the password programmed correctly, long directions), a Barbie head which you can do the hair, make up and nails and a changing table for her Baby Annabelle.

Explaining the name of the blog

After hearing Mark's story of the blog's name, I thought I should set the record straight (then, maybe I can finally give him the password so that he can post something himself ;) ).

We had always talked about having 3 children, and as we started the adoption processes, we decided upon 2 girls and a boy. After Ji Ji's adoption and our move to Germany, Mark had his hands full with the girls and with Ji Ji at home. We frequently talked with the girls about adding a brother to our family and they liked the idea, but the timing was not right. The adoption of the boy was put on hold indefinately and sometimes we talked about our family remaining with 2 girls.

This past May we were in Brugges for a long weekend and as we were waking up in the hotel, both girls got in bed with Mark and I. It was a tight squeeze but we all fit. There was a small amount of space in the middle between Nora and Ji Ji. Nora then said to both of us "see, there is room for a brother here". That got me thinking and talking about the brother again.

After many discussions, we decided that we would start the process for the brother but as an older child who could immediately fit into our lifestyle such as the travel that we do as a family and being able to play with the girls. Of course there are other challenges inherent in adopting an older child and we are currently reading and learning more about those but I will save that topic for another post!

On September 1st we started gathering the paperwork. We had a few delays waiting for the Singapore and German police reports and then waiting for the I-171H from the US Consulate, but all has been completed and our documents were sent to China last Friday, December 23.

Now we have time to start thinking about how our lives and the dynamic of our family will have changed by this time next year. This decision will impact our intended move back to the US, the time we as parents are able to spend with each girl, and the girls' relationships with each other. We feel that this will be a positive change though it may take some time to work through all of the obstacles to get to that point. We are willing to take this next step and I am very proud that we as a family are open to this new experience and the changes it will make in our lives. This time is very exciting. (JR)

Christmas Day 2005

The girls opening their gifts in the morning. Both girls had insisted on having their hair put into curlers on Christmas Eve so that they could have curly hair for Christmas (ok, Nora insisted and Ji Ji copied her since she follows big sister).


The girls playing with their presents in the afternoon. Both girls received dress up clothes and cribs for their new dolls.

We were very excited to read the location of the GWCA reunion in 2006 - in China! We will be traveling to China in 2006 for the adoption, probably in the fall, and we were thinking of spending an extra week to allow the girls to become more familiar with their birth country. Now, we are contemplating going on the reunion trip in May/June and then when we go again in fall, we will only do the adoption travel and nothing else. This would be in place of our trips to Tuscany and another wine run to Burgundy, France - hmmm, tough trade off but we are thinking about it. We hope others from Nora and Ji Ji's adoption travel groups will also attend as that would really make it enjoyable.

Today is Xmas eve and the girls are excited to get their presents from Santa tomorrow. For us this year, it has been a fine line between spoiling them and wanting to give them everything that we would have wanted when we were young. How much is too much? And if they get everything that they ask for, how do they learn the value of things?

Merry Christmas and I hope you all have joy in your house on Christmas morning. (JR)

First Day

This is our test post - does it work?

Today is Dec 23 and we are very happy because our dossier was received at GWCA and should be sent out to China today. Our LID in China will be next week hopefully. ( LID = Log In Date) This date is important because it will determine when we receive our referral.

We are getting ready for Christmas on Sunday. Without our extended family around, Christmas is a little different. We did get to spend 1 1/2 weeks with Judy's relatives in Florida and that was a nice taste of home. Mark is busy shopping as the stores will all be closed for 3 days solid - Germany shopping leaves a lot to be desired!

Happy Holidays to all ! (JR)