Family Day

Then:

and now:

Two years ago Ivy was placed in our arms and today we celebrated our 2nd anniversary of becoming a family. We had a quiet, close day at home and Ivy was always within an arm's reach of one of us. We spent time reflecting on the past two years and envisioning our future. We also spent a lot of time playing, dancing, picking up toys, soothing our little girl's cough and going through the routines of our fairly predictable days. These routines are now second nature to us, but at one time they seemed complicated and mysterious. I often forget to recognize the magnitude of our basic daily rituals and I cherish this day, our Family Day, for reminding me that great love and miracles exist within each and every day.

Eight months old

Lyla turns 8 months old today. She's always in our minds & hearts and today we sent extra-loving thoughts across the continent and ocean that, for this short time, separate us. We're preparing special spaces in our home that we hope will provide restful and nourishing places for her in the early days that she's home, spaces that she will grow into as our family grows and evolves through our many years together.

It's been a while... and some news

I took a long break from blogging this summer. Kevin, Ivy and I enjoyed the season and we have wonderful memories of time spent with family and friends. We also spent time thinking about our family and realized that if we're having so much fun with one little girl that, well, we'd double our joy by adding another child to our family! We're thrilled to announce that we're adopting again and we're officially waiting for our second daughter, Lyla Willow, to join us in Madison. Like Ivy, Lyla was born in South Korea and she is now nearly 8 months old. We don't know when her passport and visas will be secured, but we hope to have her in our arms very soon. We'll keep everyone appropriately informed of the exciting turns of events in our family's life and we appreciate everyone sending positive, loving thoughts out into the universe, thoughts of Lyla with her forever family in her forever, loving, home.

I'm going to keep blogging here for a while, but I'm also planning another project that combines my family's stories with my professional passions. Stay tuned for many, many, more exciting adventures, fellow travelers!

A hair-raising experience. . .

. . . nothing serious, folks! Just static electricity on the slide at the park!



Click on this image to get a better view of the hair standing on end!

Raising a strong girl . . .

Ivy can raise herself off the ground! Someday, I know, my daughter will fly . . .

Mother and Daughter

Just a few images of my lovely girls. Here's wishing everyone time to be close with those who are important to you!

Like sands through the hourglass. . .

Why is this little girl so happy? She just helped build a sandbox!

She's quite handy with tools. . .


Raise high the roofbeams, carpenters!

She wanted to decorate the box to make it her own. . .

Intent on her designs. . .

Juice break!

The building team posing with their handiwork.

Before adding the sand, we commemorated the day -- Mother's Day (we hope you all had a wonderful one!). Note Ivy's own marks: "I V"


The sand is in place -- let the fun begin!


Wow, wow, wow, wow!


Decorating a sand cake.

Hm. . . does it taste as good as it looks?

Spring in the park

Spring is here and we've returned to the park across the street from our house. Check out the sunshine in Ivy's hair. Here's wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

Two years old!

Happy birthday, Dear Ivy! We're all recovering from colds, so we had a mellow celebration for Ivy's 2nd birthday. We went to Monty's Blue Plate Diner where Ivy ordered pancakes, HAM and milk for her birthday meal. She was especially thrilled when her milk arrived in a cup with a straw. Straws, pancakes and apple pie. Is there any better way to celebrate one's 2nd birthday?

Happy Korean New Year!

Ivy rang in the Year of the Tiger with happy twirls and dances. We've been celebrating the Lunar New Year all week long and look forward to celebrating this special holiday for many years to come.

행복한 새해 보내세요!
Hang- bok-han sae-hae bo-nae-se-sae-yo!

More resolutions

Resolution #3:

Spend more time with good friends.

We've recently met up with our friends, Natalie and her big brother, Andrew, and baby brother Daniel, and our friend, Holden, at the Kids in the Rotunda programs at the Overture Center on State Street in Madison. I managed to catch a photo of the girls playing together but the boys were too fast to be photographed and, let's face it, I feel a little silly fumbling with my point & shoot camera whenever Holden's dad is around because he's a super-duper professional photographer whose camera is worth more than our Honda.

We like the idea of all of these great kids growing up with one another. Ivy and Natalie are very close in age and are becoming good friends. I think that they'll begin borrowing fancy hair ribbons from each other very, very soon.

Resolutions, cont.

Resolution #2:

Catch up on some reading.

New Year Resolutions

Resolution #1:
do more yoga.

Happy New Year, Friends!

xoxo & Namaste,

Agile Ivy

One fine-dressed year

One year ago, December 2008:

Then: wearing a dress that I wore on my very first Christmas and standing, thanks to some help from Daddy. See that darling white edging on the dress? That's hand-tatted lace, made by Ivy's great-grandma to adorn this red corduroy dress that Ivy's grandma (aka, my MOM) made for me when I was a baby.

Now, December 2009:

Today: wearing an outfit that friends sent last December and Ivy is standing (and walking, dancing, running, jumping, etc.) all on her own -- this dress used to drag on the floor and I thought that she'd never be tall enough to wear it, but now, 12 months and 12 inches later, it's a tunic top. Ivy and I both love this outfit and she's going to wear it as often as possible before she outgrows it.

Christmas in review

We've had a wonderful week of Christmas Joy. We started celebrating last weekend at Grandma & Grandpa B.'s house in Cochrane and we're still ringing in the season with treats and special times at home in Madison. Santa received our letter, telling him that we prefer creating special holiday memories with family and friends to an influx of material things, and our Christmas was simply lovely, elegant and calm.

That said, we discovered that rounds of races in an antique rocking horse helps burn up some of the energy that simmers during the season. This is particularly useful after we've been cooped up in the house for days on end.

We also learned that ringing a brass singing bowl after breakfast on Christmas Eve catches the attention of eight flying reindeer and their jolly driver:

While our Christmas was simple, it was far from empty. Santa brought a wonderful little wooden kitchen that Ivy absolutely loves. Both sets of grandparents helped furnish the kitchen with necessary foodstuffs and crucial utensils:

An important part of the holidays is the post gift-opening clean-up. Fortunately, Ivy is on top of this task.

And, of course, our favorite memories are of the times we spent with one another. We're all on vacation for another week and look forward to reading many books to each another, cooking warm meals in our small and large kitchens, and spending more time with family and friends.

**Some of you may have noticed the red and white hat that Ivy wears in most of the photos taken this month. She LOVES this hat and asks to wear it every morning after she wakes up. We think that she looks like a precious little elf and seeing her in this hat fills my heart with Christmas cheer. I just might let her wear it all year long -- we could call it a firecracker hat in July, right?

Season's Greetings!

Happy holidays from Santa's most adorable little helper (and her parents). The three of us send all our love and wishes for a safe, healthy and happy Christmas.

Snow Day!

And since we've no place to go. . .

. . . let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

At the farm

Ivy adores farm animals and especially loves sheep. We recently enjoyed a late-autumn drive and stopped at a picturesque sheep and poultry farm, the Rainbow Fleece Farm, near New Glarus, WI. I'm a knitter, spinner and occasional crocheter and have purchased a lot of fiber from this lovely farm.

In addition to early-Beatles tunes, Ivy's favorite song is Baa Baa Black Sheep. Here she is, wearing a wooly sweater that I designed & made for my niece when she was a baby, discovering sheep in the meadows of Green County:

We visited the farm on the weekend before Thanksgiving and Ivy was very excited to see actual turkeys. She communicated with them in their own language and proudly told the farmers and other shoppers that turkeys say, "gobble-gobble."

Ah, to be 20-months old, 31-inches tall, and nestled in sun-warmed fleeces on a glorious November day:

When we returned home we drew pictures and wrote stories about our adventures on the farm:

We look forward to visiting the farm next spring to see the newborn lambs; Ivy will be a big two-year old girl next spring and will have so much more to see and experience.

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.