Farewell 2005!

New Year's Eve and our boys were asleep by 7:30pm. We lead such exciting lives. While making copies of our "The Best of 2005" video, we've had time to laugh and reminisce about the last year. Sam's growth has been amazing, as is usual from age 1-2. At the start of the tape he is just taking a few steps between us. Now he runs around like a maniac, is potty trained and will start preschool on Monday. What a change! Ted looks older, of course, but his voice also lowered considerably and he got taller and leaner. His diction improved dramatically, and he started going over to friends' houses to play-sans Mama. While he is tougher now than ever before, thanks to his version of cause and effect (if you put me in time out, I will get up...if you put me in my room I will come out...etc etc) he is also so helpful I can hardly believe it. He fetches diapers, cleans up his toys and helps Sam do things like open his juice box or do a puzzle. He will be a terrific big brother to Mae, and hopefully will teach Sam how to do the same. 2005 has been a difficult year, full of frustrations and slowdowns, yet also full of anticipation and excitement. 2006 will see our family become complete. Happy New Year to all our friends and family!

Matches have been mailed

...and are due to arrive on Mon or Tue with calls going out on Wed morning. I can't wait to see the new little daughters of some of my on-line friends!!! One step closer to our own referral. They matched through April 25. Sadly, there were some people with a 4/27 LID. How disappointing for them.

Tonight for the 5th night of Hanukkah we went to a concert at the mall, by Steve Bronsky's band, like last year. It was at Avid Adventure, a store where the kids can kayak, mountain bike, rock climb etc. I was too chicken to kayak, so luckily Brian from our chavurah was willing to take Ted. He loved it! The kids really loved the concert; they were dancing maniacs!

Rumors

It's funny...now that I'm resigned to a March referral (and looking forward to my 2 mornings a week when both boys are in preschool) there are new rumors circulating. Here they are, just for fun. None have been supported by my agency, and therefore I don't really believe them, but they are good ones. A woman named Ruth on my CCAI board posted this today:

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There has been a rumor floating around several boards since about
12/20 that a batch of referrals is coming out by the end of the year
or beginning of January, and that it could go as late as May 10th.
(Of course we don't have any early May lid's...) and that ANOTHER
batch of referrals would be out before Chinese New Year. (Subtext:
that would probably be our May 23rd gang).

So I've been watching this rumor, looking for some grain of truth in
it, and got nothing for awhile, then it got busy again today.
Someone in Spain reports in on the "Spain Board" rumors, and confirms this rumor........ and also said the Spain rumors are usually dead on.

Then someone else posted the following. I have edited it slightly
for clarity, and I must say I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE GOT HER INFO, (I never heard about the 12/2 meeting she mentions) but since we're
talking rumors here, I guess it's fair to post this.

Here is a summary of facts/rumors . . . that may contribute to why
families/agencies may feel optismic about future referrals:

1. CCAA went over the allotted adoptions they were allowed in 2005.
Dec 1 marked the new fiscal year and hence, new tabulation counter
for adoption for 2006. (people assume that the reason for the slow
down in referrals was due to CCAA reaching the limit in permitted
adoptions for 2005)

2. In the "big" meeting on Dec 2 in Beijing it was evidently stated
to agencies that CCAA does not expect the wait for referral to be
longer than 10 months.

3. CCAA expects to start referring full months very soon. (people
think this is related to point 1 above)

4. CCAA has [historically] sent out two groups of referrals the month
before the Chinese New Year. This year that month is January. So,
people are optismic again that January will see two groups of
referrals - - including the end of April and May with some hope of
early June

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So, there they are. It would be pretty amazing to have two batches of referrals out in January. We shall see!

Tonight for the 4th night of Hanukkah we walked 2 houses down to our neighbors'. Their son Jacob is 4 and hopefully our boys will play more as the weather warms up. There was another family whose kids go to the JCC there and there were other Rock Creek families too. It was fun! During the lighting of the menorah one of the little (non-Jewish) girls sitting next to Jacob looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment. It was because she didn't know what was going on...something Ted has experienced numerous times this Xmas. It's hard to see that kind of discomfort in a child, but it was a good lesson for all the parents I think, that not knowing the words or traditions can really upset them. It was nice of Stephanie & Mike to have this party to show Jacob's friends "what we do." Nice idea! We are beat. Too many parties!!

a wild night

We had a wild 3rd night of Hanukkah! The Krams gang came over for Indian food, lighting the menorah & presents. The kids were sooo hyper! And then, of course, we decided to decorate cookies too...even crazier! They left around 8ish and my guys were still wide awake and bouncing off the walls (in their room!) at 9! It's 9:30 and all seems quiet. Anyone who says a sugar high is a myth never had children! What a fun night.

Sam woke up early this morning, didn't nap well this afternoon and so was super cranky all day. He cheered right up for the cookie decorating, though!

creekside

The weather is starting to get a little chillier and windier. The van needed servicing today so we went to the library and then outside to Boulder Creek to keep busy. The boys had a blast. Isn't it lovely how simple things amuse them for hours? I need to remember that.

2nd Night

Tonight we went to the official Menorah Lighting on Pearl Street. The Boulder Jewish Day School was performing...lots of Hanukkah songs in Hebrew. Very cute. Then the Lubavitch rabbi, Reb Scheiner, spoke before the lighting. The boys seemed to enjoy it, although only one other family from preschool was there (?!) so it wasn't as fun for them as it could have been if the whole school had turned up! Then we came home and lit our menorah and opened more presents-one from us and one from my parents. After dinner Ted and I played another rousing game of dreidel-I swear his is weighted...he landed on Gimel almost every time and I kept landing on Nun! No fair!! We spent the morning at the park...still enoying this beautiful weather.

It is pretty special to see Ted's excitement about lighting the menorah. He even said the first blessing with me (since it's almost the same as the Shabbat one, he knows it) and was so proud to light his own. Very cool. Sam could care less and refused to be torn away from his beloved LeapPad! Tomorrow night the Krams family will join us for dinner. We will do presents and, if Ted has any say in it, more dreidel!

going native

Last night I ordered from the "Shanghai Menu" section...something I've vowed to do whenever possible (i.e. order 'real' Chinese food, not the Americanized version.) Because my favorite sushi is Eel, I decided to try the White Pepper Sesame Eel. It was delicious, although it did look (and smell) like "Klingon Food," according to Paul! Eel is not kosher, and it's actually one of the more dangerous fish to eat, but hey! I was happy that I tried something scary and enjoyed it. At least I know I can order eel in China and it will probably taste good. It really was good...just different. I also ordered Red Bean Paste Crepes, which are a dessert I'd heard was a huge staple in China...they were also quite good, but different. Sweet, but in a more savory way than the sugary sweets in America. Good though-I will order these in China for sure and serve them at any events where we serve Chinese food. Yum!

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight was the first night of Hanukkah. Our chavurah traditionally goes out for Chinese food on Christmas day, so a few families decided to stick with their traditional Hanukkah plans while the rest of us combined the two: take-out Chinese while lighting the first Hanukkah candle! It worked well and it was refreshing to not have to keep the kids in line. Hannah, Brendan and Ted played well together and were SO CUTE lighting their menorahs and playing dreidel with chocolate gelt (why oh why didn't I take pictures?!?) Ted's preschool had a little fundraiser, selling Hanukkah bags filled with gelt, a dreidel, Hanukkah-themed notepad, crayons and a tattoo. We bought a few but didn't know who to give them to, so this was perfect! They loved playing dreidel most of all I think, and were disappointed to stop (Brendan kept landing on Gimel and Ted ran out of gelt). It was very cute. After our guests left the boys each opened one gift and the screeches of delight were really fun to hear! Ted got a red Power Ranger and Sam a Dora book for his LeapPad. We spent the day at the zoo, soaking up the 76-degree sunshine, so all in all, it was a beautiful day!

Gao Fu Rong

One of my fellow board members filled out the paperwork for a waiting child, which is a child with a health issue. There is a form to check off which 'medical problems' you feel capable of accepting. A common one is a repaired heart valve, although I don't know the details of Fu Rong. She is 14 months old and is currently in foster care in the province of Qinghai, near Tibet. We are so excited for her family!! They just filled out the paperwork last week, frustrated with the delay in traditional referrals. They got a call from CCAI yesterday telling them that a family had withdrawn from the adoption process-after they had already accepted a child!! (Can you imagine? I wonder what happened.) So they got the call yesterday, will fax the acceptance letter back tomorrow and leave on Saturday! Nuts!! Woo hoo!

shabbat shalom!

A delightful Shabbat evening at our synagogue, thanks to excellent behavior! This was the second time (in a row!) that Ted behaved well. He talked about "when I was a baby" how he had to go outside and didn't get any juice. "You know what Mom?" he said. "Tonight I'm going to be good." Sam spent a lot of time in the bathroom, but was also pretty good. I got called up to do gellilah tonight, which I've done once before but somehow kept putting everything on backwards tonight (for my non-Jewish friends, gellilah is the re-dressing of the Torah after it's been out). Good thing Rabbi Bronstein is patient with me! The pic is of Ted and Sam with Cecelia, from our chavurah. She is such a cutie.

last day of work

Today we heard voice juries from 10am-2pm. Of course, one of my students arbitrarily didn't show up and I can't contact her...hmmm. I should probably be concerned but I'm just annoyed at this point. This means lots of paperwork for me if I want to save her grade, which I do...she was a great student, but geesh! In the confusion of her absence, I managed to turn in my grades without signing them. So, gotta go back and do that. I am looking forward to tomorrow when I can 'do the Friday thing' with the boys. PALs with Sam, lunch out with the other moms and then Shabbat Sing at the preschool with both boys. I've only been able to go twice this whole semester, so I'm looking forward to it. Although Sam is starting Caterpillars in January, he will only go Mon/Wed-we will still do PALs in the Spring semester so he can stay with his buddies. Hooray! Bring on the holidays!

I am officially 'on maternity leave.' Woo hoo!

cuddle quilt

The cuddle quilt was ready today. It is so cute. This, unlike the huge twin size, is small enough for her to carry around. The squares are, in order:
Mel, Steinbergs, my mom, Jay
Erin H, Danna, Bart, Rosa
Mindy, Ted, Tara, Haley
Jay, my mom, Sam, Mel

We repeated the squares from the grandparents and used squares from our most direct, like-family, friends. The large quilt is so wonderful because it shows how many people are invested in this adventure...people from my adoption boards, friends from the past, good friends now, and family. And now we have a little, core group of people, sampling. So fun! I am now thinking about having small throw pillows made for each boy, with the same backing fabric and highlighting the fabric they chose, plus some from the large group. Hmmm...this is addictive!

good times

Well the boys had fun today. I taught make up lessons and they went to the farm...the first time it's been nice out all semester! Ted was so good at his violin lesson today...maybe being tired is good for him! She laid out about 10 pennies (not that he knows what money is yet, but...) and he got them ALL! Good listening, Ted! For those of you who don't understand why he doesn't have the real violin yet, it will appear in early January. Next week is our last lesson of the year, then there are three (!) weeks off. January 10 she will check him out, make sure all is well, and we'll bring the tiny violin to the next lesson. Phew! It will be challenging to keep him excited for three weeks without a lesson, but Miss Vari had some fun ideas and mentioned that there are Suzuki message boards out there, so I may look into those. Other people often have fun new ideas. Anyway, that's the news. I'm glad we had that concert last week; it really excited him and helped him see what he was aiming for, I think.

holiday cards have arrived!

Now that people have received our holiday cards I can post the pic here. I love it...I love black and white. Happy Holidays to all our friends and family!

back to reality

Paul and I returned this afternoon from a nice overnight. The B&B was close to Pearl Street and Sanitas. We went to Jax for martinis & oysters, then on to our favorite sushi restaurant (we hit Happy Hour for both..couldn't have asked for better!) then to a funky bookstore to read and have a coffee. The B&B was lovely and breakfast the next morning was delicious-artichoke frittata! Yum. Plus I got a great run in...poor Paul has a cold and wasn't up to joining me. It was great! Then, I had my baby shower. We planned this date because, a few months ago, it looked like this would be my referral month. Oh well. It was fun and I received some beautiful gifts-the hostess gave Mae a hand-knit baby afgan..it is soooo soft. It was a lovely weekend...nice to rejuvinate. As much as I long to hold my daughter, the reality of three little children is also daunting. It's fun to remember who were were, before kids.

Here are some pics from the Holiday Concert rehearsal on Friday night. The concert was on Saturday at Frasier Meadows Nursing Home. I tried to videotape but it was really hard to see Ted. He looked adorable, in his wedding suit again. He was really into the concert, 'fake' bowing on his little box earnestly. It was very cute. We should get the real violin in a few weeks...it will be a huge milestone. Since I am learning right with him, I can honestly say it is very difficult to a)hold the violin under your chin for any length of time, b)hold the bow without your hand cramping up and c)bow without dropping the bow! Tough stuff and he is doing great. The little boy on the right is his buddy Bennet. Bennet is exactly one year and a day older than Ted and has graciously accepted Ted's adoration. He has an older brother Camden, who was one of the students we observed at the beginning. Another boy we observed, Hayden, has a little sister from China, Cella, who is also a beginner with Miss Vari. After the rehearsal there was a pizza party and the kids were so cute, all running around together like a pack. Camden and Hayden took the lead, with Bennet and Ted (Cella wasn't there) following right behind. Very cute. While reviewing the video, I was impressed with how beautifully in tune all those children played. There is something to the Suzuki method, for sure, that 100 children, of varying skill levels, can still all play together and sound like one violin. Fun stuff!

tomorrow is Referral Day for early April

From my board:

CCAI received 48 referrals for April 1-15. They are calling tomorrow morning starting at 10am Colorado time and starting with the East Coast folks first then working west.....

How exciting. How hard to go to sleep tonight!

Pomegranates

Where have these been all my life? I had never eaten a pomegranate "aril" before (an aril is a juice sack surrounding a nutritious seed...you eat the entire aril and get a burst of juice and a crunch of seed...it is truly amazing). Becky brought them to the chavurah last Saturday in a salad. I had seen the Velicks carefully extricating arils from a pomegranate last year and dismissed the entire process as too laborious. WHY DIDN'T I TASTE ONE?! Well, Becky made it easy and brought an "arils pre-separated" bowl...you can purchase the arils alone at the supermarket. Pomegranates are only available from September til January so they are WORTH THE HASSLE. After balking at the $5.99 arils-only container, I decided to brave it and purchase a $1 whole pomegranate. Luckily for me there is an entire website devoted to this fruit! It explains the 'easy way' to remove the arils from the fruit (no, it wasn't easy and it WAS messy, but I still think it was worth it.) This morning I sprinked some over my oatmeal- warm nutty oatmeal with cold juicy pomegrantes...I honestly beg you to try them.

I was curious as to the pomegranate's nutritional punch and found this here:

Why Eat It
The pomegranate, affectionately known as the "jewel of winter," has recently been acclaimed for its health benefits, in particular, for its disease-fighting antioxidant potential. Preliminary studies suggest that pomegranate juice may contain almost three times the total antioxidant ability compared with the same quantity of green tea or red wine. It also provides a substantial amount of potassium, is high in fiber, and contains vitamin C and niacin.

Used in folk medicine (to treat inflammation, sore throats, and rheumatism) for centuries in the Middle East, India, and Iran, the pomegranate is about the size of an orange or an apple. It has a tough, dark red or brownish rind. The seeds and the juicy translucent scarlet red pulp surrounding the seeds of the pomegranate are the edible parts of the fruit, although only the pulp has any flavor. Encased within a bitter-tasting, white, spongy, inedible membrane, the seeds can be gently pried out with your hands. Perhaps one of the reasons the pomegranate isn't as popular as it deserves is that it takes time and care to get to the seeds. The flavor of these juicy seeds is delicate, sweet, and tangy.

So, have I convinced you? What are you waiting for? Put it on your grocery list-you won't be disappointed!

April 14

People whose LID was on or before April 14 will receive their referrals this weel. CCAI had LIDs of 4/12 and 4/22. If this pattern holds true, we will receive our referral in March. Then again, CCAI has no May referrals except 5/23, so perhaps the CCAA will match up through the 23rd...?? That would land us a February referral. It's all too depressing. I am very grateful that this slowdown has occurred at the absolute busiest, most festive time of the year. At least we have that going for us. Once January arrives and it's back to the routine, it's going to be VERY hard to wait til March, and then again til travel. Makes me wonder if I should keep Sam out of preschool and keep teaching. No, that is even more depressing! Hmmm.

Referrals have been mailed

Referrals are due in to Denver on Friday. Probably only the first 2 weeks or so of April will be matched. This is taking forever, but at least it's still moving along. How exciting for the early April families, who were so disappointed last month.

From my agency:
We have learned that the CCAA has mailed matches. CCAI hopes to receive these matches within 2 to 4 business days. At this time, we cannot verify how many families have been matched for the month of April LIDs. We will update this site as soon as more information becomes available.

The April families who receive their matches this month will be on an 8 month timeline. The remaining April families who will be matched in January will be 9 months from LID.

For the foreseeable future, it appears that the referral timeline might be in the range of 9 – 10 months from LID (log in date) to child match. We will keep our CCAI families posted as soon as we are able to confirm any timelines changes or receive official notice from the CCAA (www.china-ccaa.org).

30:48

I ran the Colder Boulder 5K in 30:48...an excellent time for me. Especially since I was technically running with "friends" who left me in their dust after about the 1st mile. Oh well. I'm happy I ran 'under' 10-min miles. My goal is to run the Bolder Boulder 10K in under an hour (fastest I ever ran it was 61:02). We shall see!

My fans (hee hee) wondered why I wasn't blogging over the weekend. I think it was a combination of being honestly busy and also a bit put out. The whole point of this blog is to document the adoption (although, once Mae is home, I hope to continue it to keep everyone up to snuff on her charming attributes!) but now that everything has slowed to a crawl it seems rather pointless. Still, these months will be a vague memory soon enough, when we're chasing our three little children around, right? Right?!?!?

time flies

Could this child be any cuter?! Henry is going to be ONE soon...I can't believe it's been a year already. I had hoped Mae would be Henry's age but now it looks like she'll be significantly younger. Hopefully they will still be buddies...every girl needs a cute boy to look out for her.