Family Day

Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, was our Family Day. November 26 was the first anniversary of our becoming a family.

One year ago Ivy was placed in our arms and now I cannot imagine a time when the three of us were not together. There are so many things to be thankful for this year -- for family and friends who helped us find our family feet, for our colleagues who daily encourage us and who keep us laughing, and to the universe for helping the three of us find one another. I am most thankful for our daughter, who continues to guide us and who teaches us the true and honest definitions of love.

Thank you, Ivy, for being our little girl. Thank you for your good nature, for your creativity, for your curiosity, and for your loving, trusting spirit.

Grandma & Grandpa Apple

Ivy is blessed with two sets of grandparents who love her very, very much. We Skype with the Virginia Grandparents every Monday night and try to visit the Wisconsin Grandparents as often as possible.

We made the trek to the western WI earlier this month to partake of the annual Lyster Lutefisk Supper at Ivy's great-great grandparents' little white church in the valley. Ivy didn't eat any lutefisk (and neither did her mother), but she loved her first taste of lefse and meatballs.

Ivy read to Grandma B. on the drive back from the little white church in the valley. A good book helps everyone forget the aroma of lutefisk.

Ivy loves the apple trees in her WI grandparents' backyard. Because of this, she calls them "Grandma and Grandpa Apple." Last week her Apple Grandparents spent a few days with us and they took care of Ivy while Markie was out of town. Ivy is smitten with Grandpa Apple -- he plays his guitar on her command, feeds her all of his own breakfast, and doesn't seem to mind when she jumps on his belly while he's napping on the couch.

Anniversary of THE CALL

One year ago today Kevin and I received the Phone Call that changed our lives.

On Thursday, November 20, 2008, I was at the Monona Public Library at an all-day workshop, one that I had planned and presented at earlier in the day. Lunch had just ended and the afternoon session had just begun -- I was standing next to my friends & colleagues, Jean A. and Anne H., when Kevin called to tell me that not only was Ivy coming home, but that she was being escorted to the Detroit airport in mere days. My friends literally held me up as I spoke to Kevin (who was being held up by his own colleagues across town) and when I got off the phone Jean looked at me and said, "Go call your mom. Now."

So what does this photo have to do with today's special anniversary? The night before we received The Call I spent the evening with a creative friend who surprised me with a gift of lovely hand-dyed balls of fabric. (Earlier in the year I had casually mentioned that I wanted to make a rug for my study; my lovely friend dyed thrifted sheets, cut the fabric into strips, rolled them into balls and presented them to me in a beautiful repurposed basmati rice bag.) I crocheted an old-fashioned rug for my study and every time I see it, which is about 3 dozen times a day, I think about how our family and friends supported us, held us up, and kept us sane during those months of waiting. Thank you to our community, to the far-flung as well as those across the alley, who have helped us nurture our little family. Ivy is growing up surrounded by loving, supportive Ones.

Honeybeatle

Ivy **loves** the Beatles. She listens to her favorite Beatles compilation cd, the one that her daddy (and fellow Beatles fan) made for her, at least three times a day.

Not only does she know that a cow says moo and a sheep says baa, but she also knows that the Beatles say, "yeah, yeah, yeah." She's been singing and dancing to She Loves You for quite some time and put on a really great show on Halloween night. Here's a video of her grooving to the music and trying out her new big girl shoes after our adventures on Halloween night. At 2+ minutes it's one of the longer videos that we've posted, but I just couldn't bear to edit out any adorable bits.