C-ville

Way back when I first met Brad, way out in California, he talked about Charlottesville. What a great town it was and how there was this cool little area called "The Downtown Mall". Who knew I'd be walking there one day with our youngest daughter! It's one of our favorite places to go... yummy places to eat, lots of fun stores to browse (and occasionally buy something!), outdoor vendors and street performers on most corners. It really doesn't matter who you are or where you came from, everyone fits in on the Downtown Mall. No one seems out of place. It epitomizes what I love about C-ville, the diversity!

Cadence and I headed down that way today. The weather was perfect and I had a coupon to use at one of my favorite stores. After a major score at Jean Theory, we headed to Marco and Luca's for a hot bun snack, then around the corner for a chai latte for me. Cadence loves to just run down there. She's not one to be contained or carried much, and it safe enough to give her room to roam a bit. She loves to look at her reflection in the store windows and dance when she hears music that moves her! The fabulous couch outside the artist co-op is full of intricate, fun pieces for her to point out. We ended the trip with a stop at the amazing Capellino's Cupcakes. I thought I'd restrain myself a bit so we opted for just an icing shot, sans cupcake (real restraint, huh?!) Then I saw the chocolate caramel cookies with sea salt! Y-U-M-M-Y!! I've been on a huge salted caramel kick, and this was beyond delicious! All in all, it was a very good day with my little girl!

April Fool's Day!

For the past few years I've had fun playing a food related April Fool's Day trick on Sierra & Laurel. I think it's cruel and unusual to present food as something sweet when it's really not (I could never eat the "cupcake" that turns out to be meatloaf and mashed potatoes), so I usually opt for the opposite. This year was "Chicken Pot Pie". Both of my girls dislike it, so I knew they'd be hesitant to dig in... as you will see! Here it is...

The pie consisted of pie crust, vanilla pudding, starburst (corn & carrots), mike & ikes (green beans), bananas (potatoes), and dried fruit (chicken). Topped off with another pie crust.

I rushed the kids in after school saying that they had to hurry and eat because we had to run errands. These are the faces that followed when I said it was chicken pot pie. Nice...

Sierra was starting to get a little skeptical wondering why it was cold.

And then she finally tastes it...!

Despite the fact that Laurel was already going through the trouble of picking out the "peas and green beans", she happily ate them all when she realized it was all candy!

Genetics?!

I may not share a single chromosome with my daughter, but I swear there are some genetics at work here! We were getting ready to walk out of the house the other day and Cadence glanced at the "shoe rug". She noticed that one of the shoes wasn't on the rug, so she deviated from her path out the door to go back and put the shoe on the rug. As she turned and started to head back out she noticed that one shoe was on it's side. Again, stopped in her tracks to place the shoe right side up! Call it Type A, anal retentive, OCD... whatever it is, she IS my daughter!









They have to be "just right"!













And the girl likes to clean too! Can't wait til she can handle a vacuum!

Ponderings

I don't know how the conversation evolved tonight, but the girls and I sat at the dinner table and we were talking about Sierra and Laurels' behaviors while I was pregnant. Sierra was a mover and shaker and occupied every inch of space she could, all the while searching for more. It seemed that she got the hiccups everyday and continued to for about two months after she was born. Laurel was a much more subtle and quiet child as she grew inside me. I LOVED feeling them move, even when it made me uncomfortable, and almost felt a bit robbed of this experience with Laurel because she was such a chill little fetus. I had horrible sciatica and Brad says I wasn't the most pleasant pregnant mama, but I look back on those 18 months with only good, wistful thoughts. I loved it! How can you not feel complete awe when you consider that a whole, entire human being grew inside of you?!

Then I looked at Cadence. Did she move, punch, and kick her mama as she grew? Did her mom love to watch her belly ripple as Cadence changed position? Did Cadence get the hiccups? I suddenly felt so sad for her that she will never be able to ask these questions. Granted, these aren't life altering answers that will change her life, but she will never know. One day, as she grows a whole, entire human being inside of her, this fact won't be lost on her. She will never know about her earliest days and there is nothing that will change this. It doesn't matter how much we love and support her, she will always have a void.

Before and after

This is my girl.... goofy as they get! I think her motto must be "If I made you laugh my job is done!" She truly gets joy from cracking herself and others up. This was the activity that brought down her wall in China and continues to warm our hearts to this day!

On another note, particularly of interest to parents of children with cleft palates is her "before" and "after" picture below. Cadence had a VERY significant cleft palate. As kids grow, if they aren't repaired, their cleft continues to grow. She got along pretty well despite it all. She never had any issues eating or drinking and obviously was growing well when we met her. Obviously her speech isn't where it should be, but there's a few factors behind that. Her cleft palate extended through her gumline and you could see up to the top of one of her nares. Quite interesting to look at with one of her many belly laughs!







BEFORE








You can get a general idea of how things looked pre-op....















AFTER

















And here's a good look now. She's had one surgery in November for her cleft palate and one in January for her cleft lip. She does have a small fistula (hole) just behind the gumline that the doctor constructed. It's about the size of an eraser and we haven't met with him yet to see if we will do anything about it before her hard palate repair when she's older. It doesn't seem to cause her any problems so far.

Just wanted to share this with someone who might be standing in our shoes 6 months ago. It's always nice to see what the outcome will be!

My servant?!

Cadence gets to hang out with me in the bathroom while I shower. She generally entertains herself with her box of toys that I drag in there or sometimes manages to get into the Q-tips! Regardless of what she is doing, as soon as I turn the water off, I hear her drop everything and the pitter patter of little feet. When I open the door, this is what I find....

Happy Chinese New Year!

Sierra dons the dragon head

Cadence & Zac, both from IM



Cadence & Laurel

Pretty in pink!

It's the Year of the Rabbit (my year!) and we had a few celebrations! We started off the morning by eating fortune cookies. Ironically mine said "Your ability to love will help a child in need". To continue the festivities we met up with some friends at a yummy Chinese restaurant - Ni Hao - for dinner. I coordinated with two different families to meet there and, such a small world, they ended up knowing each other! The food was yummy, company was good, but the kids (ok, my kid!) slightly out of control. Hence, no pictures of the event since I spent most of it juggling Cadence!

The next weekend we met up with Families of the China Moon, based in Richmond, for a celebration. I've emailed and followed blogs of some of these families and watched a few of journey through their adoption on a similar timeline as ours. It was great to meet a few new families, even if I feel like I already know them (oh, the world of blogging!). There was one little boy whose blog I found through the Inner Mongolia yahoo group and a couple months later realized they were only an hour away. There aren't too many adoptions from Inner Mongolia so it's pretty cool to have one so close. Once again, not a whole lot of cooperative for the photo ops, but we managed one or two.

Sierra, Laurel, and Cadence all received books about the holiday and money in a red envelope. Sierra's book is about all of the Chinese holidays, so we are excited to have many new things to learn about & celebrate!