Keeping busy...

Time seems to be flying by. We have been keeping very busy between a visit from Adam's parents, Saba and Safta (that means Grandpa and Grandma in Hebrew,) Passover- including a seder at Rylie's school, a trip to he zoo, and of course an endless number of afternoons at the park and splash fountain.

Enjoy...

Rylie eating matzah (or more accurately licking the cream cheese off the matzah) at her school's Passover seder.

At the zoo with Caroline! Checking out the monkeys.

Visiting with Saba and Safta

Dinner at Havana Cafe with Saba and Safta for Daddy's 31st Birthday! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Rylie loves her wagon. She even pushes and pulls it all by herself. Rylie also loves her shopping cart and her new baby stroller. Rylie has been feeding herself finger food for a while now. But she is recently starting to feed herself with a spoon... it creates a much messier dinner scene, but she is so proud of herself (as are we!)Dancing while Daddy plays the guitar.
Our little Jew on Shabbat.
Giving money to Tzedakah (charity.) Until next time....

Love to everyone...

Hard to believe...

Six months ago today, we sat in a conference room in the Baby House in Astana, Kazakhstan. Filled with emotion, anxiety, and sheer exhaustion, our lives changed forever. The door opened and in came a beautiful, little six month old girl in an orange outfit we will never forget. I had heard different things about what that first meeting might be like. Some adoptive parents had told me they knew instantly, others had prepared me for the reality that it may take time for us to feel like this was our child. I will say, for me, the very first moment they brought Rylie into the room, I knew she was meant for us. It was the most surreal experience of my life. In my head, I had an image of this child with crazy black hair and huge cheeks. Well, you know the rest of the story.... We cannot believe it has been six months since that day. In some ways, time has flown by (I am still trying to find the "PAUSE" button) but in reality, it seems like Rylie has been here forever.

We are thankful each and every day for the gift of Rylie. People tell us on a regular basis how lucky Rylie is. The truth is, we are the lucky ones.

October 23rd, 2007

Now...

We just got back from a wonderful weekend in Philadelphia celebrating our cousin Josh's Bar Mitzvah. It was great to see everyone and introduce Rylie to even more of her crazy family.

Rylie had a blast visiting with people, dancing, and trying lots of new foods (including kugel, potato knishes, and mini hamburgers.)

On Saturday afternoon, Rylie had another birthday celebration with a fabulous Elmo cake! (Thanks Tanta Debbi!)

Nana and Auntie Wendy gave Jordyn a pedicure for the party on Saturday night.

Jordyn and Rylie playing back in the suite.

Rylie's already learned the reality--- you can't pick your relatives! (Nana, Great Uncle Michael, and Tanta Debbi)

Josh's Bar Mitzvah party on Saturday night---
Rylie with Stephanie & Shelly
Rylie dancing--Getting down with Jordyn
Dancing with Daddy

Rylie visiting with Nana and G.G. during the reception.Enough with the pictures already!Hanging out with some of Sara's cousins.
But Mommy, I am so tired. I can't dance anymore...
Getting love from G.G.
Rylie, Jordyn, and Micah at the Sunday brunch.
Micah and Rylie
Our Little Artist...

Rylie proudly displaying her first two art projects- a lady bug and a caterpillar. Have you ever seen anything cuter???
Love to everyone....

RYLIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!

Our little pumpkin is ONE! We had a wonderful weekend celebrating with lots of firsts....

On Friday, Rylie got her first haircut.

This is the "before" picture

Rylie was very intrigued by the whole thing for a few minutes, but unfortunately the woman working there wasn't quite fast enough to finish the whole thing during the "intrigued" phase.

On Friday afternoon as we were coming back from the park, we saw that our new camera had arrived and Adam was busy playing with his new toy. Here's Rylie for her first pictures with the new camera.

On Saturday night, we went to dinner with Auntie Bethany, Uncle Jay, Jordyn, and Micah. We had a great dinner, and Rylie had her first ice cream sundae after the waiters all sang Happy Birthday! For a child who has been pretty picky about food lately, she was not picky at all about the sundae. She LOVED it!

It's almost my birthday!!! The many faces of Rylie....

On Sunday morning, we gave Rylie her birthday gift... a red wagon. She loves it, and especially enjoyed putting her dolls and other toys inside of it. We took Rylie for a walk in her new wagon.

Since Rylie has had so many parties in the three months she's been home, we decided to do a low-key afternoon at the park with some friends to celebrate her first birthday. There is a splash fountain at the park, so we tried on one of Rylie's bathing suits in the morning, but it was a little big, so it will be for next summer.SI Swimsuit Edition, Watch Out.....

Here are some pictures from our afternoon at the park and the splash fountain. Rylie LOVED the splash fountain. She is unbelievably adventurous and eager to try everything. Something we definitely love about her, but her fearlessness makes us extremely nervous!

Yummy Cupcakes!

Getting ready to dig in...Needless to say, we are all exhausted from a wonderful weekend!

Love to everyone...