Happy Campers!

Both girls are going to the JCC camp this summer. It is 'big girl' camp- they take the bus, play all day and swim twice. Jena quickly figured out that camp means all day away from mommy and no nap. She starts each morning saying she doesn't want to go but gets off the bus with a big smile and excitedly tells me all about her day. She is now swimming underwater all by herself. Stef went to camp last year and is having a blast. She loves learning the latest songs and fashion trends from her teenage counselors. This summer she has mastered diving and is working on a "flip". She has been a great big sister and takes her responsibility very seriously. Jena sleeps on the bus on the way home but Stef tells me that is OK because she puts her arm around her so Jena doesn't fall off the seat.Before you think Stef is all sweetness, in the next breath she complains that she ALWAYS has to sit with Jena. Ahh- sisterly love.

piano 2008

another great performance

end of the year program

Stef had her end of the year program today at it was adorable. The kindergarten teacher calls the class "the Bookaneers" and they have had pirate ship theme all year. The program was a "cruise" through the past year. Here a a few pictures of Stef and her friends. I also added a picture of Jena from her "fathers day" brunch. She is hanging out with her pack of boyfriends. She loves to play with the boys and according to the teacher, they all call her 'my Jena'. This is the one I need to keep an eye on!

a day well spent

Our pool opened on the memorial day weekend. The girls didn't seem to care that the water was barely about freezing. They spent two hours in the water and fell asleep while I was making dinner. Party till you drop!

Happy Mothers day

I was showered with priceless works of art and serenaded with songs. What more could a mother ask for!

Tent City

It seems the best thing about a tent is keeping your sister out. I may be wrong but I think this was how the Great Wall got started.

Springtime in NJ

It's "snowing pink" at our house!

Last hurdle jumped!

We had Jena's readoption court date on April 22nd. It was just a formality and basically all it will give us is birth certificate from the state of NJ that lists me as the mother and 'place of birth' as China. The big excitement is this is the very very last thing I have to do as far as the adoption is concerned. This time around I had a friend,Cindy, who is an attorney give us a hand. I met Cindy when I took take of her son Conner in the NICU. He was born extremely premature and is dong great. She was working towards bringing Connor home while I was waiting and waiting for Jena's referral. We used to joke about which one of us would get our baby home first (she did). We both felt it was right that she be a part of Jena's adoption, since I had been a part of Connors homecoming. Here are a few pictures from the day in court, as well a picture of Cindy's kids, Connor and Lindsey.

passover pictures

Here are a few photos of the girls and also cousin Rafi from passover. Jena is still not quite 100% but,as you can see,that didn't hold her back. Stef did an amazing job at the Seder with a flawless Hebrew reading of The Four Questions. She stayed up for the whole Seder, which wasn't over until almost midnight. Jena didn't want to miss out on the fun (always the party girl) so she took her pillow and blanket and slept on the dining room floor.

Passover break and broken lungs

We are just starting the long Passover Break- no school from Friday until next Monday. Jena has decided to celebrate Passover by getting pneumonia- again. She started with a little cough on Tues, trip to the doctor Weds and trip to the ER Weds night ( or really thursday morning). After loading with all kinds of meds they let us go home, thanks in part to my playing up the fact that I am an NNP. I promised to bring her back if I got worried. It also helps that Stef's new best friend at school just happens to be the daughter of our pediatrician, so I had Jena seen twice by the doctor the next day, as we were picking up and dropping off for a playdate. Jena is feeling much better but having a serious case of 'steroid rage'. It seems she needs to scream for no significant reason- like last night when she didn't like the way the water was coming out of the sippy cup. I was seriously worried a neighbor was going to call the police! This should be a lot of fun at my parents over the next fews day. I'll let you know how it goes.
The one positive note here is that I can cross another thing off my "as a single mom how will you ever...?' list--- I managed to get Jena to the ER at 4am with just one phone call for someone to come stay with Stef. Thank goodness for Margurite and other good friends.

this is what '6' looks like

and, of course, "metoo!" wanted to be in the picture.

Happy Birthday STEFANIE!

A full day of partying on sunday started with a pottery painting party for 16 of Stefanie's closest friends and ended with cake at home for just the 'family'. Stef had a blast and Jena had fun with a friend of her own there too. You know it was a good day when both girls were asleep on the sofa by 6:45.

Purim Empress-es

The girls and I celebrated Purim by attending the children's Megilla reading at our synagogue. Stefanie has decided that, at almost 6, she is too grown up to wear a princess costume (the traditional outfit in honor of Queen Ester and the triumph of the Jews in ancient Persia). She reluctantly agreed to wear her tiara and some of Mommy's make-up. Jena was thrilled with the whole concept and was happy to wear her costume over her pajamas. Even at 3, Stefanie would have refused to leave the house in such an outfit. Jena is all about the fun and Stefanie is all about the fashion. Funny how two girls can be so different.

has it really been 5 years?

On March 25th, 2003 I walked into an office in China and my life changed forever. Can it really be five years ago that I held Stefanie for the first time? Those baby teeth are gone, that little bald head now grows hair down her back and that mouth that cried for 3 hours now reads. I knew then that Stefanie was someone special and she has continued to amaze me everyday since. Happy "gotcha day" Stefanie-- look how you have grown.

Mommy's Birthday

While I was at work, the girls spent the day decorating the house for my birthday. Here is a picture of the wonderful birthday sign they made. I've also posted a few pictures of everyone enjoying their cake, as well a picture of Jena and her buddy Katie making the most of their cupcakes. What more could a Mommy ask for!

tales from the toothfairy

The toothfairy has been working overtime at our house. Stef is loosing teeth faster than a minor league hockey player! The top front tooth was helped along by a big fall. Since it was the fall that helped it fall out I think we will be looking at that big hole for a long time. The tooth next to it is also getting ready to go so that hole is only going to be getting bigger!

CNY, real mommies and red balloons

I went to Stefanie's class to celebrate Chinese New year. We showed all our pictures from the trips to China and also many of the things we bought, the pearls jade and papercuts. We read a book about a paperbutterfly and then the kids all made papercuts of a panda and pasted it onto red paper. The children were very interested and Stefanie loved being the center of attention.
Of course, there were lots of questions about "Stef's real mommy in china" Stefanie explained that we don't know who her birth mommy is or why she couldn't take care of any babies. When I told them that we don't know what her birthmommy looks like one of the kids said 'sort of like G-d', which I thought was a nice way of looking at it. I tried to explain to the kids that we call the china mommy the 'birth' or 'tummy' mommy because that is the mommy who grew Stef in her tummy, but that I am the 'real mommy forever'. On the way home Stef announced that she wanted to send a balloon to her china mommy. This was something we had talked about in the past but at that time stef wasn't interested ("why in the world would I want to let my balloon fly away?).She said that she wanted to send her chinamommy a balloon because it was CNY and she wanted her to be happy. She wanted her to know that she was happy that I was her mommy now and that she loved me. We bought a balloon. Stef wrote 'happy new year', signed her chinese name and we let it go. She says she hopes it makes it all the way to china. It was very sweet. She was then so tired from all the excitement of the day that she was a miserable beast all night; the mac and cheese wasn't cheesy enough, Jena was sitting in the exact spot she needed to sit in, the cookies were too crunchy etc. What happened to all that sweetness?!?
Happy Year of the Rat to all our China buddies and their Real Families!

birthday-party-palooza!

Yes- Jena's birthday was back in November but we decided to wait and have her party with Jessica, one of her friends from school. All Jena cared about was making sure she had a Dora cake. It was full birthday craziness, singing, dancing, coloring and lots of cake eating. I think the pictures do a good job of showing that everyone had a blast!