One year...

One year ago, we flew around the world. I still believe there is nothing more exciting than getting on a plane to fly clear across the world to meet your child.

One year ago, we were reminded for at least the five hundredth time that this process was completely out of our hands.

One year ago, we sat in a conference room in the Baby House and waited.

One year ago, our perfect little princess was brought through the door wearing a bright orange outfit we will never forget.

During the eight months leading up to our travel, I often wondered about our child. I wondered if we would be blessed with a little boy or a little girl. I wondered if our child had been born yet. I wondered where in Kazakhstan our child was waiting. Even though we had never seen her picture as we traveled completely blind, the second they placed Rylie in our arms, I knew instantly- this is my child. My chubby cheeked baby with dark, beautiful eyes and crazy brown hair was finally in my arms.

While we spent the next ten weeks jumping through the hoops of the Kazakhstan adoption process, from that very first moment she was placed in our arms, Rylie was our daughter and we were her Mommy and Daddy.

October 23, 2007

October 2008

Dear Rylie,

We love you so much and are so honored that we were picked and blessed to be your parents. We are so proud of you every day. We love the way you are so eager to learn about the world around you and try new things. We love how proud you are of yourself when you finally accomplish something you have been trying to do. We love how you love to play in the dirt, wearing pink sparkly sunglasses and play jewelry. We love how you give the best hugs and kisses. We love how you are such a good snuggler in the morning when you first wake up. We love your independent spirit and your desire to only do what you want to do, when you want to do it, and how you want to do it. We love how you discipline yourself by doing things you know you aren't supposed to do, and promptly wagging your finger back and forth saying "no, no, no" or running to the time out spot at school. We laugh how you discipline other people when you believe they are doing something wrong. We love that you dance whenever you hear music no matter where you are, including public bathrooms. We love that you say "hello" and "bye" and blow kisses to every person, animal, bus, and airplane you see. We laugh about how free-spirited, strong-willed, and fiercely independent you are. The truth is, it wouldn't be right if Mommy had a quiet, complacent child. We love how you are stunningly beautiful on the outside, and even more beautiful on the inside.

Before we travelled, people in the adoption world always told us that our child would choose us.
Thanks for choosing us, Pumpkin!

We love you,

Mommy & Daddy

The best!

Thank you Secret Blog Pal!!!

You made my day- and Rylie's too.

We love our box of goodies!!
Rainbow Fish is one of our favorite books, so Rylie loved the Colors, Counting (we've already read this one three times- and the package just came 4 hours ago!), and Opposites Rainbow Fish books. And she loves her belly button, so the Belly Button book will I am sure be a big hit as well. The clothes are ADORABLE and the treats are some of our favorites, and some new ones we're excited to try. And as you can see from the little hands in the corner of the top picture and the picture below, the candy necklaces are a huge hit! We actually had a semi-meltdown when I tried to explain we couldn't wear them to bed. And as for the lotion, body wash, and body spray, thank you. I love that stuff, and I love the pina colada scent.
So thank you Secret Blog Pal!
XOXO-
Sara & Rylie

It is hard to believe it is already the middle of October and in the next few days we will be coming up on the one year anniversary of our trip to Kazakhstan. We've been keeping busy enjoying what appears to be a brief stint of Fall like weather, a visit from Saba and Safta, and just generally busy with an 18 month old who rarely sits still!

We'll start with an update on Rylie's Garden. We've already used a lot of our basil. Still waiting for some tomatoes and strawberries. Our favorite little gardener
After all of my complaining about how Arizona does not have a real pumpkin patch, in fact, I was wrong! We found a fabulous festival in the far south east part of the Phoenix area. We headed down there while Saba and Safta were visiting.The festival was like a real Fall Festival- complete with a hayride, petting zoo, corn maze, rides, good food, and of course, a pumpkin patch.
Rylie took the lead on guiding us through the corn maze.And as seems to often be the case with Rylie, she frequently opted for the path less taken.I'm not a big fan of carnival/ fair rides (and it certainly didn't help that while we were waiting in line for this ride, we noticed the ride next to us has broken down with kids stuck on it.) But this ride seemed pretty harmless, and Rylie is very into bees lately, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity! The second the ride started, Rylie starting giggling so loudly, and of course flapping her arms and "buzzing."Surprisingly, Rylie was not very interested in the petting zoo. She was fascinated with being up close with the animals when they were on the other side of the bars, but once we went in with the animals, she was less intrigued. We ended our visit to the farm with a stop at the pumpkin patch.
Once again, the path set out by the people at the farm was not really on Rylie's agenda. She preferred climbing over the pumpkins. Until she found the perfect one! (We opted for a smaller one to bring home.)
Feeding the ducks at our local train park.
So life is good here in Arizona. New fascinations....
1. Spiders/ants/any bug crawling on the pavement at the park (Rylie usually gets down on her knees, waves and says "hello" and follows the bug. When they disappear into a crevice in the pavement, her arms go out to her sides in a questioning position and she says "Zis it?" Which is Rylie's way of asking "Where is it?")
2. Rylie is very impressed (as she should be!) by her new skills at the park- she can climb the entire playground- even to the very top level. When she accomplishes something, she usually says, "Did it!" I think she learned this from Dora. Wherever it came from, it is unbelievably cute!
3. Shadows- Rylie had been intrigued by these a while ago, but over the past month or so she has become really into her shadow.
4. Realizing that her big bird chair can be used as a step stool and dragging it clear across our house from the playroom to the kitchen, opening the door to the pantry, bringing her chair into the pantry, standing up on in, and reaching for her favorite treats- Nila wafers! Considering Adam and I are both relatively tall and neither of us use step stools, we're not sure where she learned this. Once again, we'll just look at it that she is a good problem solver :-)
5. The Moon. For the past month or two, Rylie has been obsessed with the moon. It is the first thing she asks see in the morning and she loves looking for it at night. On the rare occasion when she sleeps past the time the moon is visible in the morning, she is very disappointed.

Love to everyone...

A Taste of Real Fall

It has been a busy few weeks, which has not left a lot of time for blogging. We have a lot to catch up on...
Rylie is now 18 months old! The pediatrician was happy with where Rylie is and what she is doing and even okayed the fact that we've returned to some co-sleeping habits of late. Aside from some less than desired sleeping skills and some normal experimentation with aggressive behavior and testing limits, Rylie is doing great.

We had a special treat in mid- September as Nana and Pa came for visit for a week.


Pa with Rylie and Micah
And just a few days after they left, we headed back to Maryland for a visit and to celebrate Rosh Hashonah. Rosh Hashonah is unquestionably my favorite holiday. Getting to spend Rylie's first Rosh Hashonah in Maryland with Nana, Pa, Auntie Bethany, Uncle Jay, Jordyn & Micah made it extra-special.


Rylie and Nana

As the holidays fell on Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we were able to spend a few days just hanging around- visiting with friends, exploring the wonderful city of D.C. (every time I go back I realize just how much I miss it,) and introducing our little girl to the world of Fall- squirrels, chipmunks, acorns, pumpkins, stomping on leaves, playing in a shady park with a creek, Fall clothes, and more. While the desert has its own special offerings, there is nothing like Fall.

Rylie loved getting to spend time with her cousins. The three kids had a great time together, and as always- when coming from the land of one story Arizona homes, the stairs in Nana and Pa's house were a big hit.

I don't think I've written about this before, but it is pretty funny. And as this blog will one day serve as a Baby Book for Rylie, it must be included. Our nephew's name is Micah. He and Rylie are together all the time. Aside from our family outings, they are in the same class at school. They play together constantly. In fact, the past few days when we were all in Maryland together, Rylie's first word when she woke up in the morning was asking where Micah was. Here's the problem... Rylie can't say Micah. She says the "M" sound beautifully- Mama, More, My, Mine, Marla (her teacher,) Miller (one of the other children in their class.) But Micah comes out "Kycah"- not such a polite word for a little Jewish girl to call a little Jewish boy! Lately, it has turned more into a "Kahcah" sound. We're not sure which is worse- a derogatory term, or another word for poop!

Nana and Pa had a Princess chair, a Dora chair, and an Elmo chair. Who knew Micah would love the Dora chair so much! It became a pretty hot commodity!

I love Micah and Rylie's expressions in this picture.

We headed downtown on Monday. Rylie slept through her first Metro ride.She woke up while we were walking somewhere around 12th Street and Pennsylvania and was on serious stimulation overload.

We spent the day visiting the Natural History Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and a special exhibit on Jim Henson and the Muppets.

Rylie loves airplanes and gets so excited to see them. Here she is demonstrating what the airplane does while in front of the cockpit in the Air and Space Museum.

Love this face! I couldn't resist this picture. Yes, I am a liberated female, my mother reminds me constantly that she "marched for me." But I still couldn't resist. And I love the little pose she is striking with her hand up and her left knee bent!We had lunch while sitting outside on the Mall. Rylie loved chasing and feeding birds and playing in the leaves.

Earlier in our visit, we headed out to Butler's Orchard for some pumpkin picking. The festival was cancelled because of some rain, but we still spent some time in the pumpkin patch. Pumpkin picking in Arizona usually occurs in Target or Walmart, so I was pretty dead-set on taking Rylie to a REAL pumpkin patch!

Rylie searching for the perfect pumpkin- or apple as she calls them.

And finally, the actual holiday.

Rylie, Jordyn, and Micah on Rosh Hashonah

We had a wonderful time, and we were all exhausted by the time we got onto the plane. Thankfully this resulted in Rylie sleeping for the first 3 1/2 hours of the 4 1/2 hour plane ride!

Love to everyone...

A Rylie update...

I've heard people talk about a switch when all of a sudden children really start talking. Rylie's switch is now on. It is really amazing how all of a sudden we have gone from normal words like more, down, water, ball, shoes, etc. to having a parrot in our house. While her pronunciation isn't completely understandable in everything she says, the number of words is multiplying daily, and we are now very careful with the words we say versus the words we spell. Despite all of her new words, Rylie's favorite is "No!" I will admit, this gets annoying rather quickly. Though sometimes, Adam and I do start laughing out loud when we ask Rylie a question (something that will prompt her to do one of her "tricks") and she very matter of factly looks at us and says "No," and proceeds to go about her business.

When I picked Rylie up at school one day last week, her teacher told me that all day Rylie went up to every other child in the class and while wagging her finger back and forth said "No! No! No!" Apparently, Rylie did this when children were eating their lunches, reading books, and doing other normal and appropriate things. The funny thing is that we don't say "No!" to Rylie all that much. Unless something is truly dangerous or very rude, we really let her explore pretty freely. Some people could look at this behavior and consider Rylie to be bossy, we just like to believe that she is a born leader :-)

One of Rylie's favorite words is "bra." This is highly embarrassing as we walk through Target and pass the lingerie section and there is my 17 month old- pointing and screaming "Mama, bra! Mama, bra!" I can't help but laugh. Adam, on the other hand, is completely mortified.

Last week, I had the RNC on in the background (we are still waiting for Rylie's "My Mama's NOT for Obama!" shirt to arrive) and Rylie and I were doing some puzzles on the floor. All of a sudden, Laura Bush came out to speak and Rylie shot up from the ground, ran up to the television, started clapping along with the audience and waving, repeatedly screaming "Hi Nana!" I had to laugh- I mean, the resemblance between my mother and Laura Bush is closer than that of Adam and Kobe Bryant, but still not so close.

As I've mentioned, Rylie is fearless. I often wonder the origins of this. Are children wired to be fearless or fearful, or somewhere along the spectrum? Do they all start fearless until adults instill fear in them by continuously telling them to be careful? One possibility I've eliminated (at least in Rylie's case) is that fearlessness is not ended after falling, scrapes, bruises and blood :-) In a nutshell, that is what our past 10 days have looked like. We are VERY thankful, no serious injuries, but man- this girl keeps us on our toes. It started with some scrapes in Sedona. Then Rylie collided with an older child at the splash fountain and ended up with a bloody, scraped up knee. A few days later, Rylie fell into a shelving unit at school and acquired a big bruise on her cheek. And the grand finale of the week- Rylie was running (she rarely walks these days) at the splash fountain on Friday, fell face first on the ground, and had her top two teeth go into her upper lip. It was not a pretty sight. Thankfully, once the tears were wiped and the blood was cleaned up, all we were left with a big gash on the inside of her upper lip and some swelling. All of her teeth are in place. But man, this girl is one tough cookie! She still hasn't stopped. I took her to the park yesterday and thought perhaps she would be a bit more cautious given these recent incidents, and there was still no fear. Maybe it is just how she is wired.

Rylie is big into dressing up these days. Unless I occupy her hands with her water cup and a cracker, she usually won't leave the house without her purse (please see black sequined hand bag from previous postings,) her sunglasses, and her beaded Mardi Gras necklaces. And she loves wearing Mommy's dress shoes.

Some pictures....

As previously mentioned, Rylie is all about accessories these days!

Have I mentioned that she is growing up WAY too fast? This is such a fabulous age. We are completely enjoying life with Rylie as it seems each day brings some new discovery. Pause button, please?

Until next time....

Love to everyone!

17 months old

Rylie at 17 months old.

We spent the day in Sedona- a morning hike, a picnic for lunch, and an afternoon drive home that fell perfectly during naptime. Rylie amazed us with her hiking abilities. We knew she loves to walk, run, jump (getting better at this everyday), and especially loves to climb, but we had no idea she would love hiking this much! Needless to say, we're thrilled :-) We were really impressed by her balance. By the end of the hike, there were some scrapes on her knees and lots of red dirt on her legs, shorts, and hands, but our Rylie was all smiles.
No more postcards, Safta! I ready for Mt. Whitney!

Our little Rylie is also a Parrothead, much to her Daddy's happiness. Rylie loves Buffet and has some serious dancing moves. She dances everywhere- we think she hears music in her head. It is adorable!

Check out my moves!

Love to everyone...